Missouri Books

Jason Horn offers the first thorough investigation of the relationship between Mark Twain and William James, emphasizing Twain's friendship with James beyond their shared intellectual interests. He uses James to understand Twain as thinker and to illuminate Twain's often vaguely defined religious and philosophical observations. The book provides a fresh estimate of Mark Twain's later years and challenges readers to discover a new way of seeing one of America's important and endearing writers.

This book was produced by Milton Meltzer. It is a very moving record of Twain's life in which the many pictures are made more meaningful by Twain's accompanying words. It is the story of one who is printer, pilot, soldier, miner, reporter, lecturer, editor, humorist, businessman , publisher, and above all America's greatest comic writer.

The title and cover of this book suggest a book about men and their struggles; however, my favorite short stories by Michael White in this collection are the ones told from a woman's perspective - and there are quite a few of them. Michael White's men are all one and interchangable. Perhaps, a male himself, he is better able to detatch himself from the female characters. They are real: unsteady, afraid, human, and a must-read. I have read his novels and find that this carries over; the female voices in A Brother's Blood and The Blind Side of the Heart are captivating - the narrator in A Dream of Wolves pales in comparison.

MARKETING THE BARD: SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE AND PRINT, 1660-1740 is more than just another biographical sketch of the bard: it offers a business perspective in considering exactly how he rose above the rest of his colleagues to make his reputation over the centuries. Performance and publication alike affected his growth, with London theatre and key performances changing him from just another author to the most popular playwright of his times. Chapters focus on both theatre and publishing history, providing close inspections perfect for college-level audiences studying in either theatre or literature. In fact, the latter would do well to absorb the business/marketing aspects of this unusual approach to a often-covered bard.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Dr Kuehne takes on an important aspect of the political thought of the time and how that influence is important in US political development into the modern era.

"Consistently intelligent, thoroughly researched, gracefully written.... This is an excellent study, probably the definitive study of the criticism of James and Howells."
--John W. Crowley, author of The Dean of American Letters: The Late Career of William Dean Howells

written to portray life as lived by Afican -Americans from the perspective of the boy/the man who searched constantly in his work for truth,for reality and to artfully paint the word pictures which he labored to make the real stuff of life.not sweet or easy.

Set in a small American town after the turmoil of World War II, Merry Town, Missouri 1945-1948 is a novel about a 12-year-old boy and his talented politician grandfather, who has a gift for being able to "read" people an events. Their adventures together bring the spark of change to history, economy, politics, religious, social, and musical life of their home. An upbeat look at small-town life, written with the sparkling wit and charm of a Missouri native.

This excellent book is about the the long and difficult battle to do away with the Central Jurisdiction in order to integrate the Methodist Church, at least at the regional and national levels. The Central Jurisdiction had been established in 1939 when northern and southern Methodism --split in 1844 over slavery-- were reunited. It was an organizational and structural device designed to keep the Methodist Church segregated, so that no white pastor would be under the authority of an African-American bishop and so that no white church would be assigned an African-American pastor. Once established, the Central Jurisdiction was almost impossible to do away with, even when the larger society was rapidly moving beyond Jim Crow.

The book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the United Methodist Church and for those who are interested in the history of racial integration in the US.

Find a longer discussion of this book at http://untiedmeth.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_untiedmeth_archive.html#111695396969978434

Meuse-Argonne Diary: A Division Commander In World War I is unique, for during the length of America's participation in World War I, only one commander of a division - the author William M. Wright - is known to have kept a diary. It chronicles General Wright's two months at St. Mihiel and particularly the Meuse-Argonne, the largest and deadliest battle in American history. Wright's division of 28,000 draftees from Missouri and Kansas was one of two American point divisions when the U.S. First Army pressed the German defenders back to the Meuse River. A remarkable and pinpoint-critical eyewitness account of a pivotal time in world history, that bravely commisserates with those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country in desperate times.