The Best of the Kenyon Review

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Citation Details
Title: "It's all in the art".(The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon)(Another Bullshit Night in Suck City)(Cutty, One Rock: Low Characters and Strange Places, Gently Explained)(Book Review)
Author: Vivian Gornick
Publication: Poetry (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2005
Publisher: Modern Poetry Association
Volume: 186 Issue: 2 Page: 161(4)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The Best of the Kenyon Review (Volume XXI Numbers 3/4)

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The Best of the Kenyon Review (Volume XXI Numbers 3/4)

Manufacturer: Kenyon College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FJLU46

Book Description

AMERICAN EMPIRE: BOOK TWO

In this spectacular, thought-provoking epic of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has created an unparalleled vision of social upheaval, war, and cutthroat politics in a world very much like our own—but with dramatic differences.

It is 1924—a time of rebuilding, from the slow reconstruction of Washington’s most honored monuments to the reclamation of devastated cities in Europe and Canada. In the United States, the Socialist Party, led by Hosea Blackford, battles Calvin Coolidge to hold on to the Powell House in Philadelphia. And it seems as if the Socialists can do no wrong, for the stock market soars and America enjoys prosperity unknown in a half century. But as old names like Custer and Roosevelt fade into history, a new generation faces new uncertainties.

The Confederate States, victorious in the War of Secession and in the Second Mexican War but at last tasting defeat in the Great War, suffer poverty and natural calamity. The Freedom Party promises new strength and pride. But if its chief seizes the reins of power, he may prove a dangerous enemy for the hated U.S.A. Yet the United States take little note. Sharing world domination with Germany, they consider events in the Confederacy of little consequence.

As the 1920s end, calamity casts a pall across the continent. With civil war raging in Mexico, terrorist uprisings threatening U.S. control in Canada, and an explosion of violence in Utah, the United States are rocked by uncertainty.

In a world of occupiers and the occupied, of simmering hatreds, shattered lives, and pent-up violence, the center can no longer hold. And for a powerful nation, the ultimate shock will come when a fleet of foreign aircraft rain death and destruction upon one of the great cities of the United States. . . .

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

In this spectacular, thought-provoking epic of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has created an unparalleled vision of social upheaval, war, and cutthroat politics in a world very much like our own -- but with dramatic differences.

It is 1924 -- a time of rebuilding, from the slow reconstruction of Washington's most honored monuments to the reclamation of devastated cities in Europe and Canada. In the United States, the Socialist Party, led by Hosea Blackford, battles Calvin Coolidge to hold on to the Powell House in Philadelphia. And it seems as if the Socialists can do no wrong, for the stock market soars and America enjoys prosperity unknown in a half century. But as old names like Custer and Roosevelt fade into history, a new generation faces new uncertainties.

The Confederate States, victorious in the War of Secession and in the Second Mexican War but at last tasting defeat in the Great War, suffer poverty and natural calamity. The Freedom Party promises new strength and pride. But if its chief seizes the reins of power, he may prove a dangerous enemy for the hated U.S.A. Yet the United States take little note. Sharing world domination with Germany, they consider events in the Confederacy of little consequence.

As the 1920s end, calamity casts a pall across the continent. With civil war raging in Mexico, terrorist uprisings threatening U.S. control in Canada, and an explosion of violence in Utah, the United States are rocked by uncertainty.

In a world of occupiers and the occupied, of simmering hatreds, shattered lives, and pent-up violence, the center can no longer hold. And for a powerful nation, the ultimate shock will come when a fleet of foreign aircraft rain death and destruction upon one of the great cities of the United States.

"Exciting action, well-drawn characters who draw you into their lives and joys and sorrows, a tightly logical and engrossing plot, and an encyclopedic knowledge of history that enriches the narrative without slowing it -- what's not to like? Buy the book!"
Ã,Â Ã,Â Ã,Â S. M. STIRLING

Customer Reviews:

Storm clouds on the Horizon.......2007-04-14

In this latest installment of the American Empire trilogy, which in itself is part of the greater Southern Victory series, Turtledove shows us an alternate version of the Roaring 20s. The USA, under the liberal Socialist Party, enjoys unlimited prosperity as business and trade booms, and millions of people invest in the stock market. Utah and Canada chafe under continued Yankee domination, but without outside support cannot overthrow the Stars and Stripes. The CSA, having staggered earlier in the decade under the blows of subordination to the USA's will and hyperinflation, is just now recovering from the Great War. Like their fellow Americans across the border, Confederates enjoy their everyday lives. Few Southerners take Jake Featherston and his militant Freedom Party seriously, for there is no reason to listen to an angry, embittered crackpot. After all, they did murder a Confederate President. But then the Wall Street market crashes. Both USA and CSA experience business collapse and the descent into the Great Depression. The U.S. Socialists lose power, while Featherston's Freedom Party all of a sudden doesn't look so bad...

This was an alright book, but since it's basically just filler between the ends of the series, and even more so filler for the upcoming second world war between the USA and CSA, it suffers. Plotlines that began in the last book, and books beyond, don't get resolved. Characters die and get replaced. Still, an enjoyable read and an excellent prelude to the final part of the trilogy.

Freedom and Featherston!.......2006-05-06

I throughly enjoy the entire Timeline-191 stories as I like the characters. Mostly.
I love it when the characters mostly in the CSA come up. Particulary Jake Featherston.
Best. Character. Ever. Written.
Sure, he's supposed to be the Hitler of this world, but you can't really see the Hitler in him. All he is a bitter, resentful individual that wants more power and doesn't care how he gets it.
The best passage in the book is when Col. Morrel, stationed in a far away part of Canada because President Sinclair has cut the military budget, meets up with a German attache that he served with in the Great War.
With the German officier is an unnamed sergeant. This sergeant is resentful to one of the soldiers becuase he's Jewish and has a "Just Kill them all" attitude regarding German gains in the War.
Now, although they don't give his name, readers will know who he is. You probably know already. It's Adolf Hitler.
This is the key part of the Alternate History. Here we see the most important world leader of the 20th Century, merely being subjective to an officer as he has no place to truely vent his frustatrations as Germany won the war.
It just makes you wonder.

More Alt-Hist from the Master.......2004-11-28

"Blood and Iron" is the first of the author's interwar trilogy. It's set between 1918 and 1923. The series is based on the idea that the Confederacy won at Antietam, won the Civil War, won what is called the "Second Mexicn War" 20 years later, and while allied with hardly mentioned France and Britain lost to a Teddy Roosevelt-led USA allied with the German Empire ("Kaiser Bill" is still in charge Over There as the trilogy commences).

This series is pure alt-hist. No invading space aliens, no magic; and it contains all the plusses (and alas the minuses) Mr. Turtledove's readers have come to expect. We have the usual vast array of characters, most of whom are carried over from the WWI trilogy, from different social classes and different parts of the alternate world (among my favorites are Lucien Galtier, a farmer in what is now the free repubic of Quebec and the delightfully revengeful South Carolinian Anne Colleton, who's lost her plantation to an uprising by black communists in the previous trilogy and now schemes with a crackpot facist, Jake Featherston, to gain power). Most of the characters are fictional, although Upton Sinclair appears here as a Socialist candidate for president of the USA and, in the most interesting flight of his imagination, the author imagines General Custer had never met up with disaster at Little Big Horn and has survived until the 1920s, where he is engaged in fighting terrorism in USA-occupied Anglophone Canada at the age of 80.

Those are the plusses. As for the minuses, well--Mr. Turtledove just can't do sex and he really shouldn't bother (just put in three dots when the hot stuff starts and move right along please) and while he tries to be helpful to the reader, reminding who this particular character is (and some of them reappear only 80 pages apart), we do not need to be told that Custer's adjutant is overweight every time he puts in an appearance, nor that Boston factory-worker Sylvia Enos paints red rings on yellow galoshes. Then, too, while the problems the author poses are often fascinating, his solutions are sometimes too simple (a criminal case is made to disappear with amazing ease).

Fans of alt. hist. in general, and fans of Mr. Turtledove are unlikely to be deterred by these minor annoyances, however.

A tad too formulaic.......2004-10-27

I have to admit that there are things that I really do like about the book, but the problem is that the things I dislike intertwine with them.

I have to admit that I am somewhat intruiged by Turtledoves supposition that the Depression would have happened and would have been severe regardless of who was president and the kinds of programs in place. I also like the continuance of Hipolito Rodriguez, he helps to show that not all that followed the madman leaders were bigots or madmen themselves, some wanted it to help improve their lives or because it was the first time they had been shown respect.

My problems with the book are almsot as volumnous unfortunately. I really wish that there was more telling us about Europe, to be honest sometimes I wish that Turtledove would release a big book giving historical details of his alternate history worlds, I'd see it as helpful, not to mention entertaining. My other problem is the almost slavish devotion to the historical timeclock, yes some things will follow but plenty of things would change. Part of what made the depression, and the roaring 20's before it, was all the loans taht were made to europe, used in the US, and thus the economy had a major boom. Maybe I wasn't looking at it properly but I really didn't see it. The other thing was the CSA recovery, Germany recovered due to US offering loans, with France and Britain broke I want to know who was backing the CSA.

Things Fall Apart.......2004-10-07

The latter phrase from W. B. Yeats' poem is more dramatic, the previous line is more appropriate as a title. Indeed, in Turtledove's alternate 1930s, things are falling apart.

The Confederate States soon loses its reprieve from inflation in time to suffer natural disasters and the weight of the Great Depression. And Jake Featherston is ready to reap the despair with his demogogery.

Up north, Canadians are continuing a struggle against the United States occupation. The United States, meanwhile, struggles to maintain supremacy against the Confederates and Canadians, and suddenly, the Japanese.

Turtledove continues to weave a tapestry of event of people caught up in a world they can't control. All walks of life intersect and diverge, as a real world does.

3 Titles By Harry Turtledove American Empire Series (1-3) : 1. Blood and Iron 2. The Center Cannot Hold 3. Victorious Opposition

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3 Titles By Harry Turtledove American Empire Series (1-3) : 1. Blood and Iron 2. The Center Cannot Hold 3. Victorious Opposition
Harry Turtledove
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WCNEV8

Product Description

multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.

Book Description

"This eloquent, lucid, and complex work is the product of remarkable intelligence and erudition; it is a profound contribution to the understanding of the cultural hegemony of the West."--Ralph M. Coury, Religious Studies Review.

"All articles are extremely well written, exhibit impressive scholarship, and are thoughtful and are thoughtful and stimulating. Asad's criticisms are neither judgmental nor self-righteous but are generally driven by the will to understand."--James R. Wood, Contemporary Sociology.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting.......2004-03-02

A fascinating book, in which the author argues that "religion" as a historical and political category was created in Europe, an interesting book.

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Herbal Soups, Salads, Breads And Sweets: A Fresh from the Garden Cookbook
Ruth Bass
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Herbs, Spices & Condiments | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0756790735

Product Description

Here is a deliciously imaginative exploration of the potential of garden-fresh & dried herbs. Learn to use common herbs, such as parsley, sage, rosemary, & thyme, in new ways. You'll also experiment with out-of-the-ordinary herbs such as lemon verbena, geranium leaves, & chervil. In this elegant cookbook for gourmet & novice cooks alike, Bass assembles a captivating array of ideas & enticing recipes for using herbs in all types of dishes, in all seasons, & in appealing, succulent, & unusual ways. Set your senses reeling with succulent dishes such as: chili pepper soup; shrimp dill salad; fruited chicken salad; thyme & cheese biscuits; sweet potato muffins; peppermint angel food cake; & many more! Illustrations.

Herbal Soups,Salads,Breads & Sweets: A Fresh From The Garden Cookbook

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Herbal Soups,Salads,Breads & Sweets: A Fresh From The Garden Cookbook
Ruth/Rich,Mary Bass
Manufacturer: Storey Communication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 158017289X

Book Description

When investigated with curiosity and enthusiasm, items that may seem mundane and commonplace can prove to be fascinating subjects! Commercial oyster cans have become important collectibles today. This book has over 800 color photographs of oyster cans, jugs, and bottles, and the text provides wonderful details and anecdotes about the history of the oyster industry in Europe and America.

Customer Reviews:

Nice Photos, No Prices .......2006-06-20

The Oyster Cans book contains many exciting and colorful photos but I was disappointed that there are no actual prices listed. What the authors provide is a star rating system that tells you if the can is common, rare, and so on. I would have preferred a price range, and that is what I expected.

Book Description

The people of Deal's Island make their living by harvesting the various fisheries of the Chesapeake Bay. The people were there before the roads and the bridges. They got around in the boats that they designed and built by themselves. With beautiful color photographs, helpful drawings, and a wealth of knowledge that comes from years of craftsmanship, Steve Rogers leads the reader through the building of a model of the North Carolina Spritsail Skiff, one of the many truly ingenious and unique craft that developed in this environment. The model is in one-inch scale and is built in much the same way as the actual boat was. Clear step-by-step directions are given for everything for the jigs to the sails.

, 250+ color photos, 8 1/2" x 11"

Customer Reviews:

great beginners book.......2000-06-27

This is a great book to get ones feet wet in the world of boat building. It is extemely useful for the person thinking about building a full size boat becasue the ideas and methods are the same but smaller. This book is very complete and thorough with easy to follow instructions. The full color photos are excellent and provide extra assistance in certain diffucult steps. Overall it is a very good book.

Good Book!.......2000-06-21

This book really helped me with my hobby of model building. So far the pictures and diagrams helped me build a total of 3 boats so far. The first one I rushed through and hardly read the book. Well it didn't float that well. Oh well. The next two i sailed across a lake in my neighborhood. I recommend that a model builder get this book.

Book Description

Create beautiful faux finish effects with the Color Shaper, a new painting tool from Forsline & Starr.

Transform your home with lovely malachite, marble, stone finishes, or with the soft patina of grained wood; or choose a fresh look from a collection of fanciful, new faux patterns. In these pages you will find twelve easy projects, along with a host of colorful, creative variations to add drama to your décor.

--Simple, step-by-step instruction, plus dozens of faux finishes to try on furniture, moldings, floorcloths, shutters, tile, borders, and blinds

--Seventeen faux finish "recipes," to decorate any surface you choose

Customer Reviews:

Great easy-to-create projects, neat effects.......2001-04-30

This is a great book for the decorative artist. The effects you can achieve are both stunning and easy to create. They give a unique look to any project.

The book starts out with an overview of wide color shaper types and basic strokes as well as instructions for preparing and finishing surfaces. Then it shows you how to create faux stone, faux wood, fabric looks and fantasy textures. Some projects include a malachite chest, marble table, blue patterned cupboard, kilim floorcloth, damask roller blind and ceramic tile trivet.

Further pattern recipes are in the back. Some of these include lapis lazuli, woven plaid and wavy cross-band design. The instructions for everything are excellent, demonstrated step-by-step with photos. Most projects use latex paints, glazing liquid and a water-base varnish and include a complete materials list.

My only wish for the book was a suppliers list. Wide color shapers can be difficult to find. Buy this book with the color shaper included if you can.

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This Way: Graphic Ideas for Sign Systems and Way Finding (Hardcover)
Connie Sprague James Grayson Trulove
Manufacturer: Rockport
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LZMGX8

Book Description

Mel Torme is one of the world's great jazz vocalists, a veteran of radio, movies, television, recordings, night clubs, and concert halls. He is also a highly respected arranger and composer, the co-author of one of the enduring seasonal classics, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an
Open Fire)." And were that not enough, he is also an accomplished writer, having penned, among other books, a moving biography of his close friend, drummer Buddy Rich, Traps, the Drum Wonder; and an unblinking portrait of Judy Garland late in her career, The Other Side of the Rainbow. Now, in My
Singing Teachers, Torme sums up his vast experience in a tour of American music that is spiced with insightful commentary, vivid anecdotes, and Torme's own take on the art of the song.
Here is a pantheon of popular music and jazz, a sweeping look at American song from the perspective of one of its great practitioners. Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer, Ethel Waters and Nat "King" Cole, and many many more--all in one
way or another helped Torme shape his inimitable style. Torme has drawn inspiration from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, so the book has an enormous range--covering jazz, big band singers (such as Helen Forrest or Bob Eberly), Hollywood musical singers (such as Judy Garland and
Deanna Durbin), even cowboy singers (Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, among others), not to mention lyricists, composers, and arrangers. It brims with personal anecdotes and astute observations about the greats of American music, and reveals how they have influenced his craft. For instance, Torme recounts
how, at age five, he first saw Bessie Smith in a one-reeler "The St Louis Blues" and how she still influences his blues singing. He reveals how playing at the Paramount with Ella Fitzgerald converted him from bobby-sox music to jazz. And most surprisingly, he shows how listening to instrumentalists
such as Ben Webster on tenor sax and Roy Eldridge on trumpet shaped his scat singing--even more than listening to the great scat singers. Torme also pays homage to many lesser known figures, such as composer Harry Warren--whose songs include "I Only Have Eyes for You," "The More I See You," "We're
in the Money," and "Down Argentine Way"--and singer Connee Boswell, who was an important model for Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Tormehimself. Perhaps most important, Torme concludes with a chapter that captures his thoughts on singing, a section that every singer will find invaluable.
American popular music has been graced with many talented men and women whose wit, intellect, ingenuity, and craftsmanship have made this music immortal. My Music Teachers pays homage to these remarkable people as it celebrates the glories of the American song. All fans of pop or jazz, and
especially all fans of Mel Torme, will find this book a treasure.

Customer Reviews:

MEL TORME...a great singer/intellect discusses singers.......1999-10-11

This may not be Mel's best book, but as a former professional singer I found its observations fascinating. Mel's knowledge and taste make this de rigeur reading for anyone who sings, or wants to! Mel always projects a warm, regular-guy feeling in his writing, and doesn't lecture. How wonderful that he left behind these volumes(he has written 6 books) for posterity.Mel Torme himself the singer is the ultimate voice...absolutely music at its best.

My Singing Teachers Reflections on Singing Popular Music

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My Singing Teachers Reflections on Singing Popular Music
Mel Torme
Manufacturer: Oxford U.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0NARG

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My Singing Teachers Reflections on Singing Popular Music
Mel Torme
Manufacturer: Oxford U.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0PE2K

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My Singing Teachers Reflections on Singing Popular Music
Mel Torme
Manufacturer: Oxford U.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0NEXG

Teacher's Guide Grade 1 Celebrate Reading OUR SINGING PLANET (1C) MY FAVORITE FOODLES (1D)

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Teacher's Guide Grade 1 Celebrate Reading OUR SINGING PLANET (1C) MY FAVORITE FOODLES (1D)

Manufacturer: Scott Foresman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 0673821242

Product Description

Contains the pages of the student books, with teacher's information in the side and bottom margins.

Teacher's Guide To Celebrate Reading 1C 1D Our Singing Planet, My Favorite Foodles (Scott Foresman Celebrate Reading)

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Teacher's Guide To Celebrate Reading 1C 1D Our Singing Planet, My Favorite Foodles (Scott Foresman Celebrate Reading)

Manufacturer: Scott Foresman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 0673801128

Product Description

Spiral bound TEACHER'S GUIDE TO CELEBRATE READING 1C (Our Singing Planet) and 1D (My Favorite Foodles). Contains the pages of these books, with teacher's information in the side and bottom margins.

Teacher's Guide to Celebrate Reading, Texas Edition (Our Singing Planet, My Favorite Foodles)

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Teacher's Guide to Celebrate Reading, Texas Edition (Our Singing Planet, My Favorite Foodles)
Richard L. Allington
Manufacturer: Scott Foresman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 0673801179

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My Singing Teachers Reflections on Singing Popular Music
Mel Torme
Manufacturer: Oxford U.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0KCWC

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My Singing Teachers : Reflections on Singing Popular Music
Mel Torme
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKNKY4

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My Singing Teachers: Reflections on Singing Popular Music
Mel Torme
Manufacturer: Oxford Univ. Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQM2HK

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