Wisconsin Books

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, Danes In Wisconsin is a brief history of Danish immigrants and their contribution to Wisconsin settlement and history during the 1800's. Vintage black-and-white photographs illustrate this fascinating introduction, written for lay readers, to how Danish settlers lived and how they struggled to preserve their culture. New to revised and expanded addition are the letters of Andrew Frederickson, written over a forty-year span, which succinctly capture the personal experiences of a Dane who made a new life for himself in Wisconsin. A brief yet savory and entertaining tidbit of Wisconsin history, especially recommended as a gift or souvenir book.

Lucretius isn't an author most come across, but nevertheless the DE RERVM NATVRA is truly a classic. In it he explains his version of epicureanism, taken from Epicurus and tweaked by Lucretius himself. Don't think our word 'epicurean' and this epicureanism are the same thing: epicurean has taken on a set of meanings that usually aren't present in the early philosophy, or in Lucretius's laying-out of it. Epicureanism should appeal to moderns as a very scientific view of the universe (L. offers scientific explanations of natural phaenomena, and isn't afraid to suspend judgement), including early atomic theory. On the other hand, the poetry and storytelling are moving. It is philosophy rimmed with the honey of poetry (as Lucretius puts it himself). As per this edition, it's pricey, but well worth it to completely understand the poet. The book itself is handsome and just the right size, and layed out well. The commentary is actually useful, unlike so many classical commentaries. It's advanced, but doesn't neglect or take for granted too much. At the same time, it doesn't concentrate on matters with a specialistic or only tenuous connection to the poem. In all, this is the place to study Lucretius, and to read a beautiful poem containing a beautiful (because thoughtful and insightful) philosophy.

THIS BOOK WAS VERY WELL-WRITTEN, IN DETAIL, OF GERDA'S HUSBAND GOING THRU THE LAST STAGES OF HIS LIFE WITH AN ASTROCYTOMA TUMOR. SINCE MY DAD IS NOW AT THIS POINT IN HIS LIFE, IT GIVES ME AND MY FAMILY INSIGHT AS TO WHAT MAY HAPPEN NEXT AS HE LIVES EACH FORTHCOMING DAY. IT IS A NEEDED BOOK FOR INSIGHT FOR THOSE WHO ARE CARING FOR ONE WITH THIS TUMOR. WE WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN OF ALL OF WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING, AND IT'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE BRAIN CANCER IF WE HAD NOT READ THIS BOOK. THIS IS OUR SECOND COPY WE ARE GETTING! A MUST-HAVE BOOK!!!THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE JOURNAL, GERDA, AND FOR HELPING THE REST OF US COPE.

When reading of the locations Dennis goes to you feel you were in the back seat with him. He gives very vivid detail of exact places.
One place he reviewed was Manistee Michigan the Victorian Port City. the Milwaukee House was owned by Great Grandfather and Grandfather Diefenbach and we know the information was factual and interestingly portrayed.
There are many such articles that make you want to go to these byways he deplicts.

This is an atlas put out by Oxford that depicts wonderfully global flows of everything from cars to copper. Inexplicably, it has not been updated since 1972 --and so much has changed since then.

But that too, makes the old edition fun to look at --to see how much the world has changed. Eg, under global sales of autos, there are huge think bands emanating from michigan and reaching all around the globe denoting the volume of exports of autos from the US. The flows out of Europe are also very large.

--And from Japan/Asia they are tiny. Korea I don't even think registered. What a difference a few years makes.

I'd be interested to see what the flows are now, as so many Toyota plants [eg] are based in the US and other local markets.

This book is crying out to get back into print.

If by chance an Oxford editor reads this, I would suggest more attention to human labor force flows, and would include, by way of comparison, maps from the earlier edition ['then and now' comparisons].

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Have a pilot to fly you out to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, whereupon you will skydive. Not a parachute on your back, mind you, but instead, a thousand pound anvil strapped to your ankle. Into the briny water you descend, past sharks, giant squids, down to area where the sun's glow is as foreign as another universe, all the way until you reach the bottom. Your feet connect with a ground you had almost forgotten existed within this beautiful netherworld. Welcome to "Don't Explain".

It makes me cringe, having the first review of Betsy Sholl's "Don't Explain", quite simply the finest work in poetry this past quarter century. Great penmanship has become lost in an increasingly stupid and commercialized society. And thus great writers a sadly unable to gain even the smallest snippets of recognition.

"Don't Explain" isn't for the casual reader. Nor is it for the beginning poetry reader. Betsy Sholl writes in a style unwitnessed in the works of any other. If one were to make a seismograph of the bodies of Sholl's poems, they would be charted as a 10 on the Richter scale; thoughts and conveyed ideas constantly diverting from the center, yet always managing to come back to the main point. This is literary brilliance which simply can't be mimicked. She writes in a similar style that her jazz idols such as Coltrane played sax/trumpet: mind bursting, seemingly sporatic, yet all the elements adheasing together in ways one would think impossible. Sholl's trademark style is most well executed in "Don't Explain". I have the impression that this is what Sholl was aiming for in "The Red Line" and other older works, yet "Don't Explain" is when all the elements of her writing seem to congeal into it's most solid state. This is writing at its highest peak, which in Betsy Sholl terms, amounts to the deepest depths of the human experience.

"Don't Explain" is a bit different from Sholl's other works. While its predecessor, "The Red Line" dabbled relentlessly in sociological issues, and its follow up, "Late Psalm" was a bit more timid and mellow in tone, "Don't Explain" seems to be the one which Betsy Sholl wrote for Betsy Sholl. Such courageous leaps of addressing personal issues, untouched for far too long, ultimately amount to the finest caliber poetry collection possibly ever written.

Highlights of the book include WITH YOU IN DARKNESS (a stark and poignant poem about the suicide of her schizophrenic friend, somber in its tone, yet peppered with magical, almost hallucinatory language), CHANCES, and BETWEEN PICKETS (my personal favorite, and certainly one of my top three poems ever).

Like the deep, however, "Don't Explain" will be too far over the heads of most readers. This is a very difficult read, yet one of the most rewarding experiences one could receive from language. Betsy Sholl is a goddess, though she'd probably be the last to admit it to herself.

I read these books when I was a young girl in the early 80s. They were passed down from a family friend. Loved them! They have such a charm and innocence that is so lacking in books today. Even though there's lots of 50s & 60s references that will make you smile (that even made me laugh in the early 80s), any girl would still enjoy them. Most of the struggles Donna faces are still so relevant today. It's obvious from the success of the movie Grease, TV show "7th Heaven" and & Happy Days & The Brady Bunch on DVD that people still love to relive these magical times and that teenagers never really change. They just have different fads and habits but the emotions and problems are still the same! PLEASE ask for a reprint of the whole 7 books in the series! Anyone know who I can contact to make it happen?

Double Take: A Rephotographic Survey Of Madison, Wisconsin is a decidedly impressive collection of black-and-white photography by Wisconsin native Zane Williams and celebrates the beauty and uniqueness of Wisconsin's capital city of Madison. Impressive quality images of urban landscapes, monuments, and grand architecture fill the pages of this memorable collection from cover to cover. Enhanced with informative commentaries by Zane Williams, Thomas H. Garver, Harvey M. Jacobs, George A. Talbot and John O. Holzhueter, Double Take is a superbly appropriate sightseeing souvenir, as well as a true delight for Madisonians to simply page through.

Once upon a time a river forked, and one family went West and the other South. The one who stayed in control and healthy prospered; the other just seemed to lose its way, dissipate, and fade away. This is the legacy of Orrin Ingram. For those who enjoy the very early days (1850-1900) of our historically significant industries, this book establishes the creation of the Empire Lumber Company, which became in time, the base which produced Inram Industries and Weyerhaeuser Company.

If you love animals, you'll love this book. Rory Foster is an amazing man!!!