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| 1. As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-12-01)
list price: $26.00 -- our price: $15.49 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0547417713 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Sales Rank: 78 Average Customer Review: 
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Editorial Review
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) It's easy to recommend this book to dedicated foodies, and certainly to fans of Julia Child. "As Always, Julia" is the collection of the correspondence between Julia Child and her friend, mentor, and editor Avis DeVoto, from the time in 1952 when Julia wrote a fan letter to Avis' husband (regarding an article he'd written about kitchen knives) and mentioned in-passing that she was working on a cookbook, until the time several years later that the cookbook finally was published.
If you're interested in Julia Child the person (and My Life in France wasn't enough for you, whether or not accompanied by the Julie & Julia movie), then "As Always, Julia" is a no-brainer, because these were the letters shared by two intelligent and opinionated women who were confiding in one another, not talking to a microphone. And confide they did: about Avis' child-raising and Paul Child's job as well as the difficulty of finding fresh shallots. It is, more than anything else, the story of a real life friendship, and better than any epistolary novel you can imagine. You will know these women well, at their most personal, such as Avis writing, "I like every part about growing older except what happens to your feet." (It's hard to imagine anyone compiling such a collection now, with all of us writing e-mail -- if that -- and only packrats like myself keeping copies of everything for decades.) But the book is interesting for several other reasons. Watching the creation of a masterpiece: Mastering the Art of French Cooking was an instant classic, and it was the result of years of hard work. But the words "it was the result of years of hard work" does not begin to capture the number of cooking experiments Julia (and Simca) did, or contract negotiations, or research into the equipment that Julia could expect a typical American housewife to own. She experimented with pressure cookers, for instance, to find out if they were okay for making chicken or duck stock. "First time the [pressure cooker] brew was so horrible I threw it away." Then, after adding the vegetables only at the end, "Again it was loathsome so I threw it out." Many ducks gave their lives for such research, and the Childs often found themselves "bilious" after all these experiments. Would-be writers (or any creator waiting for her ship to come in) may be heartened or inspired by the knowledge that even Julia had self-doubts. She wrote in 1953, "There is so much that has been written, by people so much more professional than I, that I wonder what in the hell I am presuming to do, anyway." A snapshot of foodie history: My mother was never excited about cooking, and I don't think she owned a copy of MtAoFC. But I do remember shopping for groceries in the 1960s and early 1970s, when cookbooks had to give detailed explanations about what cilantro is, or how to make your own coconut milk. It was worse in the 1950s, and much of the Avis-Julia correspondence is about what was (or usually wasn't) available, from decent jarred chives to fresh clams anywhere but the coastal cities. They also debated the wisdom of getting those newfangled dishwashers, Waring blenders, and other devices that, they started out agreeing, nobody really needed. A "daily history" of the McCarthy era: Nowadays, we tend to think of the time when Senator McCarthy held sway as a bizarre interlude in American history, but few of us remember it personally. Julia and Avis were extremely political women; one constant theme in their letters was the current political landscape, which they actively abhorred, and their letters become a chronicle of living through that time. "Oh god I wish this madness would subside, as I know it will, but it is exhausting watching all this go on," wrote Avis in 1953. "I do not enjoy watching the Senate floor turned into a bear-pit." There's so much political discourse, in fact, that it might lower the book's value for some readers. (Or raise it for others, if you're more political than I.) While I care about their views (or at least their passions) it often was more than I needed to know. But I could comfortably skip ahead through those parts. A view of intelligent, accomplished women in a pre-Betty Friedan world: Both Julia and Avis were upper-class women who saw themselves as "housewives" but simultaneously were engaged in serious endeavors. Avis was active in Boston-area intelligentsia (Bernard DeVoto had taught at Harvard), in politics (dinner guests included the Schlessingers and Kennedys), and in book publishing (not the least of which was her initial introduction of Julia to book acquisition editors). Julia was part of the government agency's social scene throughout Paul Child's career, not to mention her own cooking accomplishments in the 40s and 50s. This book is a picture of the years before "Women's liberation" were coined, including social mores. The poet May Sarton, a friend to both Avis and Julia, has a "special relationship;" the editor's footnote explains this meant that Sarton was lesbian. It was indeed a different world, and I'm grateful for a peephole into it -- and even more grateful not to live in it. As you can tell: I've really enjoyed this book. I think you will, too -- and not just for foodie reasons.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Who would have guessed that Julia Child was a control freak?
Judging by her own letters, it seems that she was often in various stages of irritation at her two co-authors of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the book that launched her career. One co-author didn't do her share of the work, although in her defense, it's unlikely that any of them realized when they began, that they were embarking on what would be a 20-year-long project that was anything but smooth. Her other colleague was a hard worker, but something of a perfectionist, often second-guessing Julia's meticulous research. It's amazing the book was published at all. Julia became pen pals with Avis DeVoto, a reviewer of mysteries and wife of Bernard DeVoto, a writer and editor. Julia had written to Bernard about an article he had written and he asked Avis to answer the letter. Julia and Avis hit it off immediately and began a correspondence and friendship that lasted the rest of their lives. Julia was an expert at French cooking, but she knew little about book publishing and oddly, little about American cooking. She had never cooked when she lived in America, and had learned everything she knew about cooking in Paris, so she had peculiar gaps in her knowledge, such as that Americans keep their fresh eggs in cartons in the refrigerator, not in a bowl on the counter. Avis was able to keep such clangers from getting into the book, as well as steering Julia to editors who would be open to the idea of such an ambitious cookbook. Avis also acted as Julia's stateside researcher, answering questions such as whether cake flour was available, or just all-purpose flour. Avis alerted her to new trends in American cooking, such as the use of mono sodium glutamate (MSG) in the form of sprinkle-on Accent. They wrote about politics as well, with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for communists the topic of the day. Julia and husband Paul moved from Paris to Marseilles to Germany to Oslo during the 1950s, and she wrote Avis how they were adapting to each new home and how their attempts at language learning were going. Julia loved getting to know new places, but her heart always belonged to Paris. After two years of letter writing, Avis and Julia finally met in France, and they met a few more times over the years, until the Childs finally returned to the States for good and could see the DeVotos on a more regular basis. The letters span the years from 1952 to 1961 and are remarkably interesting despite their share of mundane matters such as the weather and who had what seasonal disease. Julia and Paul went to a play while they were visiting New York in 1957 and were impressed by the "young male lead, Richard Burton...he is English, I believe." In a prescient letter dated 1952, Julia told Avis "I'm enjoying [teaching French cooking to Americans] immensely, as I've finally found a real and satisfying profession which will keep me busy well into the year 2000."
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Picture a young wife, circa 1963, faced with entertaining her husband's European business associates and friends (one of whom was a Swiss trained chef!), but whose only cookbook was "Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook." Now, imagine her astonishment as she thumbs through her brand new book entitled, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Talk about prayers being answered! Yes, Julia was responsible for awakening my passion for cooking that continues to this day.
But much as I appreciated Julia as an excellent instructor and enjoyed her television appearances, I had no clue how intelligent, witty and warm hearted she was until I read these letters. In addition, what a pleasure it was to meet her friend, Avis DeVoto, every bit as charming and erudite as Julia. How extraordinary that these two "met" when Julia sent a couple of good French knives to Avis's husband, the writer Bernard DeVoto, after reading his article complaining about the lack of quality in American kitchen knives. That simple gift was the seed of a friendship that is beyond heartwarming to read about. For those of us who remember the late `50's, these letters also remind us of the turmoil surrounding the McCarthy witch hunts and the latter hearings, years that can only be described today as "bizarre." But it reminds us of how easy it is for just one person to create an atmosphere of suspicion and hearsay so poisonous, that, for awhile, it can intimidate an entire country. When I first began reading this rather large book, I thought I would keep it by my bedside and read a few letters each evening. Ha! "Bet you can't eat (read) just one!" Instead, I promptly gave in and let the rest of the world go by while I devoured every word until the end. I can't remember the last time that happened. History, humor, inspiring and unforgettable personalities -- what more can you want in a book?
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) A great and lasting friendship was born on March 8, 1952, when a young American housewife living in Paris, Julia Child, wrote a short letter to historian Bernard DeVoto, complimenting him on an occasional piece he had written in Harper's lamenting the absence of good carving knives in the States, where knives seemed all to be made of stainless steel, which would not hold an edge. Mrs. Child included a French knife in her letter -forged carbon steel. Mr. DeVoto was swamped with work at the time so his wife, Avis, wrote back. Avis and Julia are one of the great pairs of friends in modern times. They were both sharp as pins, they were irreverent and opinionated, and, most of all, they both were genuinely interested in the people and things around them. Avis's letters are now released from archive and veteran culinary historian Joan Reardon has done a labor of love, combining Avis's and Julia's letters across the span of almost ten years (1952-61) to tell the story of a lovely friendship and of the growth to maturity of the author of one of the classic cookbooks of modern times.
On February 12, 1953, Julia Child wrote her new pen pal, Avis DeVoto, to describe a dinner Julia and her two colleagues in their new Ecole des Trois Gourmandes had attended the night before with famed Parisian gourmand Maurice Curnonsky ("the Prince of Gastronomy"). "At the party," she wrote, "was a dogmatic meatball who considers himself a gourmet but is just a big bag of wind. They were talking about Beurre Blanc, and how it was a mystery, and only a few people could do it, and how it could only be made with white shallots from Lorraine and over a wood fire. Phoo. But that is so damned typical, making a damned mystery out of perfectly simple things just to puff themselves up." She concluded, tongue in cheek, by writing: "I didn't say anything as, being a foreigner, I don't know anything anyway." Two pares later, she's rhapsodizing over the kind of kitchen she'd like to have if she were rich: "I am going to have a kitchen where everything is my height [over six feet], and none of this pigmy [sic.] stuff, and maybe 4 ovens, and 12 burners all in a line, a 3 broilers, and a charcoal grill, and a spit that turns." That's Julia to a T, always unbuttoned in her opinions, wobbly in her spelling, bursting with energy, savoring whatever life offered her. She wasn't yet the world authority on French cooking she would soon become but she already knew where she was heading and she knew how she wanted to get there -every recipe tested, adaptations made to American materials, tastes and equipment, the `secrets' of French cuisine made clear and obvious to even the neophyte cook. (She commented once about another French cookbook that it should spell out what weight hen to buy for coq au vin -a five-pounder, which is what the recipe called for, would be an old hen: it wouldn't cook in forty-five minutes as the recipe stated; it'd still be tough as leather.) Julia hadn't finished her immortal Mastering the Art of French Cooking yet, but Avis and she were talking about it. Avis lived in Cambridge, Julia in Paris. Avis hoped to get Julia a decent publishing contract with Houghton Mifflin, a publishing house with which she had contacts. The letters continue through 1961, by which time Mastering had been published, not, alas, by Houghton Mifflin, but by Alfred Knopf. Bernard had died unexpectedly in 1955. Julia and her husband Paul had paid for Avis to visit them in France. The flurry of letters back and forty continued unabated but by that point the continuing themes of their correspondence are in place. As much fun as their letters are to read, at this point there are few new revelations. But who cares? These are first class letters by two first class people, and who would not want to know more about the forging of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I? A warning: There is a lot about cooking in these letters, typically gone into in great detail. Julia asks Avis for American ingredients (dried spices, for example) and cooking equipment and counsels her how to make dishes, Avis corrects errors and un-Americanisms in Julia's prose. Other topics pop up repeatedly, most notably, in the earlier portions of the book, their caustic commentary on the Red Scare, Senator Joe McCarthy, and the spineless elected officials who time and again failed to confront him. These are two tough (but very warm) ladies. It's a treat to be let in on their intimate and prolonged conversation with each other.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) In 1951, American West historian Bernard DeVoto wrote an article for Harper's magazine in which he deplored the lack of adequate knives for the American housewife. In Paris, Julia Child read the article and sent him a French kitchen knife. Avis DeVoto, Bernard's wife, who answered her husband's mail, wrote back to Julia. From this start, the two women corresponded until Avis' death in 1989.
"As Always" covers only ten years of their 38-year friendship. During that 10-year period, Julia attended Le Cordon Bleu to learn how to master French cooking and decided to write a French cookbook for American women. Over the course of a 38-year friendship, the two women wrote hundreds of letters. Reading these letters was fascinating because interspersed in the two on-going topics of cooking and eating were discussions of politics, living in foreign countries, and many other topics. One has to wonder whether these two erudite and intelligent women would produce such a body of correspondence in this day of 140-character tweets, 500-word blog posts, and emails. If you love cooking, eating, Julia Child, cookbooks, and intelligent women, this book will fascinate you.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Julia Child's legacy still lives on whether through her foundation or her revolutionary television show on public television, "The French Chef." Despite her own WASPY upbringing in Pasadena, California in a well-to-do family, she had planned on becoming a novelist in New York City and went to serve her country in Ceylon where she met Paul Child, her loving husband. He accepted an assignment in France. There Julia decided to expand her knowledge on French cuisine and gastronomy with enthusiasm, fascination, and interest.
THis book is not just about Julia Child but about a friendship between her and Avis De Voto, the wife of author Bernard DeVoto. Avis replied to her letter and there began a friendship of love, devotion, honesty, and candid between these two women until the end of their lives. Their letters also express the time in the 1950s whether set in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Avis lived with her family and all over Europe where Julia and Paul had managed to live in Paris, Marseilles, Germany, and Oslo among his assignments. In the duration, Julia had worked with Louisette and Simca, two French chefs, on a cookbook that was years in the making. In many ways, Avis was the fourth author of this book. She was the force to get it published in the United States through her contacts. In reading this book compiled by the author, the letters do go into details about food a little too much for me. Avis was also an accomplished chef. But it's a fascinating look at American life and the world of letter writing between two exceptional, brilliant women who revolutionized the publishing and cuisine industries to this day.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This is the kind of book where you come to know the writers like friends, grow to love them, and feel their joys and tragedies as your own. In the opening sections I was captivated by the chatty, literate voices of Avis and Julia, their generous wit and intelligence, and the exciting political and cultural circles in which they moved even more than any of the specific--and also wonderful--information about food. Avis is married to the noted Harvard historian, novelist, and Harper's columnist Bernard DeVoto and knows everybody, writing about Adlai Stevenson, Archie MacLeish, and the scions of American publishing as houseguests and `lambs.' Speaking of Dorothy de Santillana, a top editor at Houghton Mifflin, she remarks, "She used to be married to Robert Hillyer [a Pulitzer prize-winning poet and novelist]. She is now married to Giorgio de S., who is an Italian marquis and teaches history of philosophy at MIT and is a darling. . . You'll die when you meet Dorothy because she is very beautiful and enormously fat--I think this is really one of the rare glandular cases--it makes no difference because she is a great natural force and men gravitate towards her like flies. I'm quite sure she'd give her eye teeth to get this particular book."
I was both amused and intrigued by this breezy kind of talk and the up close and personal views of American literati, their dinners and cocktail parties, and Julia's and Avis's thoughts on such subjects as the `new' stainless steel knives, Dick Nixon, frozen vegetables, roasting chickens, the French, Peyton Place, and McCarthyism. It was like being steeped in pitch-perfect Fifties culture as experienced by tremendously talented, intelligent women immersed in domesticity and serving others and yet somehow managing, quite heroically I might add, to craft lives where their own remarkable gifts shine through. It took me a while to realize just how courageous these women were because part of their outward cheeriness and generosity towards others is making it all look not that hard. As the years roll by and their labors on Julia's manuscript and for their families continue, you start to see along with all the recipes and other commentary more of the very real hardships they face and the steadfast determination that gets them through. The book is organized by editor Reardon so that you know when something very tragic or really wonderful is about to happen, and then you live through it with the women in their letters as it occurs. This makes for an incredibly engrossing, affecting read. As the Booklist reviewer pointed out, Avis thought Julia's book was as exciting as a novel, and their correspondence about creating a culinary masterpiece and surviving the ups and downs of midlife is certainly the same. In fact, it's richer, more sumptuous, true, and moving than almost anything I've read this year. You don't even have to be that interested in food or cooking to get swept up by the story. Thank goodness Houghton Mifflin had the good sense to publish their book this time!
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) For those of us whose appetite for all things Julia was whetted by My Life In France and the movie Julie and Julia, As Always, Julia is a gift. A bonus is getting to know the inimitable Avis deVoto, a vibrant and memorable character in her own right, whose role in creating the phenomenon that was Julia Child and Mastering The Art Of French Cooking deserves to be better known.
Things began in 1951 when Harvard historian and foodie Bernard deVoto wrote an article for Harper's on the abysmal quality of American made kitchen knives. Julia Child wrote in response, mentioning her interest in French cooking for American kitchens and sending along a French knife. Bernard's wife/secretary Avis wrote back in thanks, requesting recipes for a couple of French dishes she remembered fondly from a trip abroad. Their ensuing correspondence resulted in a deep friendship and the eventual publication of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, revolutionizing American kitchens, supermarkets and, it can be argued, quality of life. As Avis would say, "Wow." The French Chef and the Cambridge hostess had much in common. They were both curious and avid readers, loved parties, wines, politics, jokes and cooking and eating great food. These letters sparkle, even when the contents are gloomy. Julia's humor, honesty and exuberance leap from the page, her zest for life evident even when relating an anecdote about a truly awful ladies' luncheon in Oslo. It's prefaced with a succinct, "Gawd!" and ends with "Ugh." In addition, there is delightful commentary on people and events and wonderful glimpses inside Julia's marriage to that Renaissance man, Paul Child through their many moves, language lessons, health issues and conflicts between his job and her own ambitions. For her part, Avis' letters reveal a sharp and rigorous intellect, a deep commitment to home and family, and wide ranging interests. They provide a fascinating picture of domestic life among the Cambridge intelligentsia in the second half of the last century. Highly entertaining descriptions of what was available in grocery stores, uses of aluminum foil, quality of frozen vegetables, meals she cooked (often with the benefit of Julia's coaching) and parties she attended are interspersed with blunt and perceptive characterizations of public figures; Sen. Joseph McCarthy "...really insane," President Eisenhower "a dope;" and Adlai Stevenson "a nice man." It was Avis who knew the ins and outs of publishing and while MTAOFC might have seen the light of day without her help, it was her suggestions, contacts and guidance that made the book what it is. From initial feelers to Dorothy de Santillana (resident of The Pnk Palace), the only woman editor at Houghton Mifflin, through the devastating news that after seven years of consideration and work, HM turned it down, Avis was its indefagitable champion and just as euphoric as the Childs when it found its home at Knopf. Her letter to the Childs delivering the news is one of the most eloquent and charming in the book, espressing love, respect and admiration and joy. My only complaint is that the footnotes are somewhat distracting and perplexing. On the one hand Ms. Reardon provides a great deal of information on people we already know about (Richard Nixon, Arthur Schlesinger, Archibald MacLeish), information on people mentioned once in passing at a dinner party or something but ignores juicy details of incidents and anecdotes we'd love to know more about. Avis and Julia run away with two-thirds of the book, leaving Ms. Reardon and her footnotes in the dust, but she really tried. The section introductions are informative and good if perhaps the book could have done with more editing--there's a lot of step by step cooking in it, and some dullish passages about long-over political debates--but better too much than too little, and one can only imagine Ms. Reardon's state of mind when faced with the task of compiling these letters. Overall it's an heroic effort, and minor quibbles are just that. Highly, highly recommended. ... Read more | |
| 2. Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters by Marilyn Monroe | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-10-12)
list price: $30.00 -- our price: $16.97 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0374158355 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Sales Rank: 324 Average Customer Review:
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| 3. Querida Dra. Polo: Las cartas secretas de 'Caso Cerrado' (Dear Dr. Polo: The Secret Letters of 'Caso Cerrado') by Dra. Ana Maria Polo | |
 | Paperback
list price: $15.99 -- our price: $10.87 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1616050721 Publisher: Aguilar Sales Rank: 1297 Average Customer Review: 
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| 4. Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary by Daniel Patrick Moynihan | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-10-12)
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $23.10 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1586488015 Publisher: PublicAffairs Sales Rank: 2267 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review Before his four terms as Senator from New York, Moynihan served in key positions under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. His letters offer an extraordinary window into particular moments in history, from his feelings of loss at JFK’s assassination, to his passionate pleas to Nixon not to make Vietnam a Nixon war, to his frustrations over healthcare and welfare reform during the Clinton era. This book showcases the unbridled range of Moynihan’s intellect and interests, his appreciation for his constituents, his renowned wit, and his warmth even for those with whom he profoundly disagreed. Its publication is a significant literary event. Reviews
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| 5. Saul Bellow: Letters by Saul Bellow | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $23.10 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0670022217 Publisher: Viking Adult Sales Rank: 2745 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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| 6. Other People's Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See by Bill Shapiro | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $22.50 -- our price: $15.30 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0307382648 Publisher: Clarkson Potter Sales Rank: 4048 Average Customer Review: 
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| 7. P.S. I Hate It Here!: Kids' Letters from Camp by Diane Falanga | |
 | Paperback
list price: $12.95 -- our price: $8.82 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0810982951 Publisher: Abrams Image Sales Rank: 3346 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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| 8. Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America) by Ulysses S. Grant | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $23.10 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0940450585 Publisher: Library of America Sales Rank: 5157 Average Customer Review:
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This is one of the most important books written an American. There is something huge and seething about these memoirs. To be sure it is not from the cool tone; Grant was old fashioned in that way, and these are not confidential memoirs. This is the story about a down at the heels middle-aged man working as a clerk in Galena, Illinios shop when the Civil War started and how that man would become the nation's first four star general. But don't think of this as a success story in the ordinary sense. This lucid and clear story is one not of a man's success but of a nation's torment. Throughout the book Grant goes out of his way to praise his subordinates for his successes. Grant's modesty however does not obscure or hide his ability. There are many reasons why Grant was the best general of the Civil War, but one that is often overlooked is that Grant wrote the best orders. We know from others that he would haunch over his desk for hours writing. These orders, some of which are included in the autobiography, are models are concise and breviloquent writing. From these orders we can tell that he was involved in every element of his troop's victories and defeats. Grant gave great attention to details, and was meticulous in his preparations, and planning. There are a number of editions of Grant's "Personal Memoirs" in print, but I am recommending the Library of America edition because it contains the Report of Lieutentant-General U. S. Grant of the Untied States Armies dated July 22, 1865 and a selection of his letters. The letters to his family are particularly valuable because they show Grant at his most personal and intimate.
This edition of Grant's memoirs is wonderful because the appendix contains several hundred letters he wrote over the years. Most of these missives were written to his wife, Julia, and they shed an enormous light upon this shy man's character. Grant's letters show him to have been a tremendously gentle, decent man, with a great sense of humor and profound love in his heart for his wife and family. This is an excellent edition, which will bring to you only one of the greatest books written in the English language, but also a selection of Grant's letters. Both make for engrossing, gripping reading.
Who better to tell Grant's story than himself? His memoirs are somewhat self-serving, and Grant does not hesitate to point out the flaws of others. All too often he reminds his reader that, had things been done his way, disasters would have been avoided and everything would have been all right. There is some reason for his ego, however. Grant had a lot of critics, and was treated unfairly by many from the beginning. When his army was surprised at Shiloh, people said he was drunk. When he stalled outside of Vicksburg, they blamed it one the bottle. Grant's name was connected by some scandal or other through most of his Civil War career (as well as during his presidency). If he seeks to right some wrongs and, in the process, comes across as a little full of himself in his memoirs, who can blame him?
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| 9. Dear Mrs. Kennedy: The World Shares Its Grief, Letters November 1963 by Jay Mulvaney, Paul De Angelis | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $19.99 -- our price: $13.59 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 031238615X Publisher: St. Martin's Press Sales Rank: 17340 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review From the bestselling author of Kennedy Weddings and Diana and Jackie comes a powerful and moving collection of the condolence letters Jacqueline Kennedy received after the assassination of John F. Kennedy In the weeks and months following the assassination of her husband, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy received more than one million letters. The impact of President Kennedy’s death was so immense that people from every station in life wrote to her, sharing their feelings of sympathy, sorrow, and hope. She received letters from political luminaries such as Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., and Charles De Gaulle. Hollywood stars like Lauren Bacall, Vivian Leigh, and Gene Kelly voiced their sympathy, as did foreign dignitaries including Queen Elizabeth II, the King and Queen of Greece, and the Prince of Monaco. Distinguished members of the arts and society—Ezra Pound, Noel Coward, Babe Paley, Langston Hughes, Oleg Cassini, Josephine Baker—offered their heartfelt condolences. And children, with the most heartbreaking sincerity, reached out to the First Lady to comfort her in her time of grief. More than just a compendium of letters, Dear Mrs. Kennedy uses these many voices to tell the unforgettable story of those fateful four days in November, when the world was struck with shock and sadness. It vividly captures the months that followed, as a nation---and a family---attempted to rebuild. Filled with emotion, patriotism, and insight, the letters are a poignant time capsule of one of the seminal events of the twentieth century. Dear Mrs. Kennedy offers a diverse portrait not only of the aftermath of the assassination, but of the Kennedy mystique that continues to captivate the world. Reviews
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| 10. My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Abigail Adams, John Adams | |
 | Paperback
list price: $19.95 -- our price: $13.57 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0674057058 Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Sales Rank: 12789 Average Customer Review:
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Editorial Review Listen to a ten-minute interview with Margaret Hogan Read Margaret Hogan's HUP blog posting: "The Romance of John and Abigail Adams" Watch the video of The Massachusetts Historical Society's November 2007 event at which Deval and Diane Patrick, Edward and Victoria Kennedy, and Michael and Kitty Dukakis read selected letters from My Dearest Friend Visit the Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive Watch the March 2008 HBO miniseries--"John Adams"--based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography In 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to "Miss Adorable," the 17-year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801, Abigail wrote to wish her husband John a safe journey as he headed home to Quincy after serving as president of the nation he helped create. The letters that span these nearly forty years form the most significant correspondence--and reveal one of the most intriguing and inspiring partnerships--in American history. As a pivotal player in the American Revolution and the early republic, John had a front-row seat at critical moments in the creation of the United States, from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to negotiating peace with Great Britain to serving as the first vice president and second president under the U.S. Constitution. Separated more often than they were together during this founding era, John and Abigail shared their lives through letters that each addressed to "My Dearest Friend," debating ideas and commenting on current events while attending to the concerns of raising their children (including a future president). Full of keen observations and articulate commentary on world events, these letters are also remarkably intimate. This new collection--including some letters never before published--invites readers to experience the founding of a nation and the partnership of two strong individuals, in their own words. This is history at its most authentic and most engaging. Reviews
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| 11. Letters to a Young Contrarian (Art of Mentoring) by Christopher Hitchens | |
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Editorial Review In the book that he was born to write, provocateur and best-selling author Christopher Hitchens inspires future generations of radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, angry young (wo)men, and dissidents. Who better to speak to that person who finds him or herself in a contrarian position than Hitchens, who has made a career of disagreeing in profound and entertaining ways. This book explores the entire range of "contrary positions"-from noble dissident to gratuitous pain in the butt. In an age of overly polite debate bending over backward to reach a happy consensus within an increasingly centrist political dialogue, Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast. He bemoans the loss of the skills of dialectical thinking evident in contemporary society. He understands the importance of disagreement-to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress-heck, to democracy itself. Epigrammatic, spunky, witty, in your face, timeless and timely, this book is everything you would expect from a mentoring contrarian. | |
| 12. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke | |
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The first letter gives the greatest advice anyone can give to someone aspiring to be anything. You have to ask yourself the following question: "must I?" If you answer in the affirmative, then "build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into it's humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse." That you must only judge Art by the following value, has it arisen out of necessity? The second letter, he warns against the role of irony running through your life and one must guard against it by searching "into the depths of Things: there irony never descends." The third letter argues that one must always trust in yourself and your own feelings. Do not fall victim to convention. Which is nothing more than unwillingness on each of our parts to not fully engage life, but rather to take what others have said and done as well-traveled roads to walk through life upon. For the person living a poetic life, "everything is gestation and then birthing. To let each impression and each embryo of a feeling come to completion, entirely in itself, in the dark, in the unsayable...and with deep humility and patience to wait for the hour when a new clarity is born: this alone is what it means to live as an artist: in understanding as in creating." The fourth letter argues for one to trust in Nature. We all must learn how to "win the confidence of what seem poor." A fundamental change in our mindset must occur in our hearts, a shift from convention to authenticity. We have "to love the questions themselves, as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language." The incredible thirst for quick and easy answers to life's most difficult questions must end. We have to take in the questions, which are really emotions or feelings without names into our bloodstreams. To "live the questions." He goes on to expand upon our relations to sex. "Sex is difficult." We all have to create out of each of our own unique lives an individual relation to sex and hence to our lovers, without carrying the luggage that society and convention loads us down with, then you will approach being a human being. Sex has to become more than a stimulant or balm to cover a more fundamental ache in our spirits. We should be stewards of our own "fruitfulness" to "gather sweetness , depth, and strength for the song of some future poet." (DO YOU DO THAT INBETWEEN THE SHEETS! ) The sixth letter concerns the notion of "solitude." We all create a "vast inner solitude." To walk inside yourself for hours without meeting anyone, that is what you must be able to attain. Through this you gain a child-like perspective, a great "wise not-understanding in exchange for defensiveness and scorn (of adults)." It is within the vast ocean of your solitude that we can truly approach and understand the dimensions of divinity that exists. How do you confront God? By being "patient and without bitterness, and realize that the least we can do is make coming into existence no more difficult for Him than the earth does for spring when it wants to come." The entire series of letters find its zenith in the seventh letter in which Rilke takes the notion of Solitude and marries it with Love. He argues that yes "love is difficult." But that we must put our trust "in what is difficult as Nature does, to exercise our beings to their fullness." The act of Loving another human being is the "most difficult task...for which all other work is mere preparation." Each of us must "learn" how to love. To know that it springs from our oceans of solitude not from a formless merging of ourselves to another. But rather that each of us must "ripen" into individuals that can experience and give love, "to hearken and hammer day and night." To Love is to accept a "burden and apprenticeship" that allows each authentic person to grow and become rather than fall back and lose what makes them unique and rare. The ultimate aim of life is "the love that consists in this: that two solitudes protect and border and greet each other." The seventh letter deals with the meaning and confronting of sadness. Rather than running away or fearing sadness, Rilke argues that it is something that must be embraced as an opportunity. These are the moments when something new is entering us "our feelings grow mute in shy embarrasment, everything in us withdraws, a silence arises, and the new experience, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it all and says nothing." In the face of this sadnessthe only courage required is to "face the strangest, most unusual, most inexplicable experiences that meet us." Not to run and cower before the immensity of those feelings and experiences, but to recognize them for what they are, an opportunity to blossom. The ninth letter argues that we must trust our feelings. But only those feelings that uplift us entire, not by portion. Feelings that raise only a part of us, distort us. The final letter argues for this poetic life. For Rilke, "Art too is a way of living, and however one lives, one can, without knowing, prepare for it." These ten letters show you how.
On solitude and the ability to be childlike (not childish), that is, living in the present moment in appreciation of what simply is, apart from all concepts, occupations and fundamental thinking and answers of security and certainty, Rilke writes: "There is one solitude and that is great . . . a great inner solitude. Going into oneself and for hours meeting no one - this one must be able to attain. To be solitary, the way one was solitary as a child, when the grownups went around involved with things that seemed important and big because they themselves looked so busy . . . and when one day one perceives that their occupations are paltry, their professions petrified and no longer linked with (real) living . . Only the individual who is solitary is like a thing placed under profound laws, and when he goes out into the morning that is just beginning, or looks out into the evening that is full of happening . . . all status drops from him as a dead man, though he stands in the midst of sheer life. pp. 45-47 Rilke knew that life was creative, an art not grasped by criticism and intellectualism: "Words of art are of an infinite loneliness and with nothing so little to be reached as with criticism. Only love can grasp and hold and be just toward them." p. 29 This is because life is not about the answers, for truth only stands in relativity, as the intellectual fails to realize, only living in despair or in bogus formulas for safety. For life is about living dangerously in the difficult, not in the comfort zones, which ultimately are not real comfort, but illusion of such. Living in the fast lane but with discernment, there is a balance, like a tamed down Dr. Faust. "Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now." p. 35 " We must assume our existence as broadly as we in any way can; everything, even the unheard-of, must be possible in it. That is at bottom the only courage that is demanded of us: to have courage for the most strange, the most singular and the most inexplicable that we may encounter." And finally to sum Rilke's incredible insight, "Nobody can counsel you and help you, nobody. There is only one single way. Go into yourself."
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| 13. In Tearing Haste: Letters between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor by Patrick Leigh Fermor, Deborah Mitford Devonshire | |
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| 14. The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams by John Adams | |
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Editorial Review Lester J. Cappon's edition, first published in 1959 in two volumes, provides the complete correspondence between these two men and includes the correspondence between Abigail Adams and Jefferson. Many of these letters have been published in no other modern edition, nor does any other edition devote itself exclusively to the exchange between Jefferson and the Adamses. Introduction, headnotes, and footnotes inform the reader without interrupting the speakers. This reissue of The Adams-Jefferson Letters in a one-volume unabridged edition brings to a broader audience one of the monuments of American scholarship and, to quote C. Vann Woodward, 'a major treasure of national literature.' Reviews
It is very interesting to read their letters to find out what really was on their minds concerning issues of the day. Americana at its best is what you come away with after reading these letters. The letters are in chronological order and are placed in order of response to the letter sent. Thomas Jefferson was a very prolific letter writer and the subjects the he discussed with John Adams vary greatly, but that is what made these letters very interesting. Also, the depth and the detail of the letters is remarkable. Abigail Adams for a woman of her time was well versed and her letters to both Jefferson and her husband showed character, wit, and resolve. She was well aware of what was going on around her and you could tell by her letters that she loved her husband while he was away in the duty of his country. This collection of letters is a real treasure, if you read or study the American Revolution, you have to own this book. This makes an excellent reference volume to fall back on when you get to the footnotes and want a more detailed reference, you can with these letters readily at hand. I would recommend this volume for your home library.
The fact that our current government has departed so far from their vision is the fault of lesser men who followed these early men of genius, who were so devoted to the ideal of a workable constitutional republic. Indeed, for the last several generations of politicians it sometimes seems that principle has been replaced by expediency in our public servants. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were, without any doubt at all, true geniuses who mastered a large variety of disciplines, from literature to philosophy, theology, governmental design, the mastery of several languages, engineering, astronomy, navigation (see their remarks concerning Nathanael Bowditch, pp. 534,536,540), and especially diplomacy and political intrigue. Jefferson's remarks about the pronunciation of the ancient Greek language (pp. 536-539) shows a deep and penetrating interest in a subject that today is of interest only to advanced scholars. Indeed, most of their correspondence in their later years demonstrates an interest and, indeed, vast knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. Theirs was an age of generalists -- men who were conversant on a broad range of subjects -- as opposed to today, when we tend to specialization. Much of their early correspondence included references to Dr. Benjamin Franklin, with whom they were associated while the three of them represented the United States in Europe and England, in creating trade treaties and diplomatic ventures, including relations with the Barbary states (pirates). Abigail Adams also engaged in correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, and many of her letters are included. We are in debt to several scholars who compiled the materials in this book from the libraries and writings of Jefferson and Adams, of whom Lester Cappon, the editor of this volume, has given much credit. This book is a gold mine for anyone interested in either of these great men, or in the early history of the United States, or for that matter, the world during that epoch. Joseph Pierre
In this book, skillfully edited by Lestor J. Cappon, we see the inner workings of the minds of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The letters of Abigail Adams add so much to this dialogue, since she was her husband's confidante, sounding board and best advisor during a time when women were usually kept in the background. These two men, while disagreeing about some of the issues of the day, saw the value in a friendship where "iron sharpens iron." Both were intellectuals who loved the exchange of ideas and the growth that comes from open debate. They also shared a profound respect and a deep friendship for many years, a friendship that clearly shines through their letters. You will gain great insight into the politics of early America, as well as the friendship shared between these three founders of our country.
These two men started off as friends during the climatic years of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution, that unfortunately later on during the infant years of the United States they found themselves at odds with each other due to political beliefs and ideas that turned into personal attacks. Adams was more of a politcal conservative who believed in the gentry and status quo of the class system, while Jefferson was more liberal in his beliefs of personal freedom and thought. This lead to many years of "back-stabbing", quarrels over issues great and small, and bitter feelings. Thank goodness, these two men put aside their differences of their younger years, and developed their friendship annew, with wisdom and gentility. Their insights on how the younger generation of Americans is interesting, their continued hope for the future of the United States is promising, even today, and their genuine affection for each other is heart warming. Adams and Jefferson even realized that they shared alot of the same ideas and beliefs in their later years, and it is good to hear this. John Adams last words before he died on July 4th, 1826 (the same day that Jefferson died) was "Jefferson Lives"! Well Thomas Jefferson certainly does live as well as John Adams, in their beliefs and hopes for the great country of the United States, and their inspiration and intelligence is what every American young and old, great and small should strive for. Highly Recommended!
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| 15. Love Letters Of Great Men - Vol. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Byron, Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Keats, Vincent Van Gogh, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jack London, Franz Liszt, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald | |
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| 16. Other People's Rejection Letters: Relationship Enders, Career Killers, and 150 Other Letters You'll Be Glad You Didn't Receive by Bill Shapiro | |
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| 17. Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation by Ellen Fitzpatrick | |
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Editorial Review It is perhaps the most memorable event of the twentieth century, a moment that left a family and a nation mourning, one that many Americans recall as their first historical memory—the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within seven weeks of the President's death, Jacqueline Kennedy received more than 800,000 condolence letters. Two years later, the volume of correspondence would exceed 1.5 million letters. For the next forty-six years, the letters would remain essentially untouched. Now historian Ellen Fitzpatrick has selected approximately 250 of these letters for inclusion in Letters to Jackie, a remarkable human record that perfectly preserves the heart-wrenching grief and soul searching of the nation in a time of crisis. Capturing the extraordinary eloquence of so-called ordinary Americans across generations, regions, race, political leanings, and religion—in messages written on elegant stationery, scraps of paper, in pencil, type, ink smudged by tears, and in barely legible handwriting—the letters capture what John F. Kennedy meant to the country, and how his death for some divided American history into Before and After. In Letters to Jackie, Fitzpatrick allows Americans to write their own history of these tumultuous times. "The coffin was very small," as one sixteen-year-old girl observed, "to contain so much of so many Americans." In reflecting on their sense of loss, their fears, and their striving, the authors of these letters wrote an American elegy as poignant and as compelling as their shattered and cherished dreams. Reviews
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| 18. Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics) by Lucius Annaeus Seneca | |
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| 19. Letters to Juliet: Celebrating Shakespeare's Greatest Heroine, the Magical City of Verona, and the Power of Love by Lise Friedman, Ceil Friedman | |
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Editorial Review The enduring legend of Shakespeare’s pair of star-crossed lovers draws millions of visitors to Verona, Italy, each year. But that is just part of the story. Every day, letters, frequently addressed simply, “Juliet, Verona,” arrive in the city. They come by the truckload, in almost every language imaginable, written by romantics seeking Juliet’s counsel. Most of the missives talk of love, of course —love found and love lost, love sought and love remembered. And, amazingly, not one letter goes unanswered. Letters to Juliet tells the story of these letters and the volunteers who have been writing responses for more than seven decades —volunteers who first acted privately, and who are now sanctioned by the city of Verona as part of the Juliet Club . Featuring more than seventy-five heartfelt letters, this poetic book retraces the history behind Shakespeare’s tale and tours the monuments that have fueled the world's enchantment with Juliet and her Romeo. | |
| 20. Brother of Mine: The Civil War Letters of Thomas and William Christie | |
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Editorial Review In 1861, as President Lincoln called for volunteers to defend the Union, Thomas Christie wrote to his father, voicing desires shared by many an enlistee: “I do want to ‘see the world,’ to get out of the narrow circle in which I have always lived, to ‘make a man of myself,’ and to have it to say in days to come that I, too, had a part in this great struggle.” As it turned out, Thomas had an excellent partner in his quest: his brother William. Both signed on with the First Minnesota Light Artillery, working as “cannoneers,” responsible for loading and aiming big guns at the enemy. The First Minnesota saw action in major battles at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, and Atlanta. But the adventurers also endured the monotony of camp life, the hunger of poor supply lines, and, in William’s case, the challenges of enemy capture. The ups and downs, the doubts and thrills are recounted from their differing perspectives in this collection of letters to worried parents, a winsome sister, and a younger brother eager to join in the fight. Their vivid epistles are enhanced by the familial connection of brothers in arms who eventually did see the world—and returned home changed. Hampton Smith is a reference librarian at the Minnesota Historical Society. In his many years at the society, he has developed expertise in Civil War and military history. The Christie letters are a treasured part of MHS collections. | |
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This book was more of the tv show. Not impress at all!, December 11, 2010
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