I'll admit it right up front, I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I like to eat meat. I wear leather shoes. I like to think, though, that the source of these products has had a comfortable life and a quick, stress-free death. But I'm kidding myself, I know. And Anna Krien's essay, Us … Continue reading Anna Krien, Us and them: On the importance of animals (Review)
Review – Essays
Dorothy Porter, On passion (Review)
Do you read "little" books? You know those small books that are carefully placed on bookstore sales counters where you are buying the book you really came for? I don't often, but every now and then one catches my eye. Today's review is of such a book from Melbourne University Press's Little books on big themes … Continue reading Dorothy Porter, On passion (Review)
Bettye Rice Hughes, A Negro tourist in Dixie (Review)
I have plenty to read at the moment, but when I see a Library of America story come through that is set in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement in the American South, well, I can't resist. I've never heard of the author Bettye Rice Hughes, which turns out to be not surprising … Continue reading Bettye Rice Hughes, A Negro tourist in Dixie (Review)
Ana Menéndez, Celebrations of Thanksgiving: Cuban offerings
I love food and I enjoy reading about food. I particularly enjoy reading about food - and food traditions - from other cultures. And so, when Ana Menéndez's story popped up on the Library of America last month I made a note to read it. The last piece of food writing that I read from LOA, … Continue reading Ana Menéndez, Celebrations of Thanksgiving: Cuban offerings
J. Herman Banning, The day I sprouted wings
There are a couple of reasons why I decided to read James Herman Banning's (1899-1933) short essay, The day I sprouted wings, which was this week's offering from the Library of America. Firstly, it is about the first male* African-American who achieved his pilot's licence, which ties in nicely with the novel, Caleb's Crossing, that I … Continue reading J. Herman Banning, The day I sprouted wings
Mary Austin, The scavengers
I've never heard of Mary Austin but when I saw this story (essay), "The scavengers", appear as a Library of America offering, I had to read it, because it's about the deserts of California - and I love those deserts. Mary Austin (1868-1934) was an early nature writer about the American southwest. LOA's notes tell us that she moved … Continue reading Mary Austin, The scavengers
Willa Cather, When I knew Stephen Crane
I haven't reviewed a Library of America offering for a while and so have decided it's time I dipped again into its offerings. Willa Cather's essay/journalistic piece "When I knew Stephen Crane", which they published last month, appealed to me because of a couple of synchronicities. One is that Lisa of ANZLitLovers reviewed Crane's The red … Continue reading Willa Cather, When I knew Stephen Crane
Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia. Book 1, Convict stories
So true may fiction be in the hands of a genius (from "Convict in the gold region", by Richard Horne) Richard Horne, in his article "Convicts from the gold region", describes a scene from Don Quixote in which Quixote meets and sets free some convicts by driving away their guards, only to have his generosity … Continue reading Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia. Book 1, Convict stories
Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia: Selected essays from Household Words 1850-1859
It was not to be a high-brow intellectual periodical. Above all he wanted to reach and entertain the masses and, at the same time, help shape discussion and debate on the important social questions of the time. (from Introduction, by Margaret Mendelawitz) Charles Dickens' Australia is a set of five volumes containing essays, stories and … Continue reading Margaret Mendelawitz, Charles Dickens’ Australia: Selected essays from Household Words 1850-1859
Mary Church Terrell, What it means to be colored in the capital of the United States
I heard a radio interview this week with Jane Elliott of the brown-eye-blue-eye experiment fame, and she suggested that racism is still an issue in the USA (through the efforts of a vocal minority) and is best demonstrated by the determination in certain quarters that Barack Obama will not win a second term*. It's therefore … Continue reading Mary Church Terrell, What it means to be colored in the capital of the United States
Whispering Gums 