Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisIn this often-surprising book of essays, Krista Eastman explores the myths we make about who we are and where we’re from. The Painted Forest uncovers strange and little-known "home places" —not only the picturesque hills and valleys of the author's childhood in rural Wisconsin, but also tourist towns, the "under-imagined and overly caricatured" Midwest, and a far-flung station in Antarctica where the filmmaker Werner Herzog makes an unexpected appearance.The Painted Forest upends easy narratives of place, embracing tentativeness and erasing boundaries. But it is Eastman's willingness to play—to follow her curiosity down every odd path, to exude a skeptical wonder—that gives this book depth and distinction. An unlikely array of people, places, and texts meet for close conversation, and tension is diffused with art, imagination, and a strong sense of there being some other way forward. Eastman offers a smart and contemporary take on how we wander and how we belong.Trade ReviewThe Painted Forest is a surprising and tender book in which a reader might be reminded of the considered natural observations of Annie Dillard, the unrelenting gaze of Lia Purpura, or the masterful storytelling of Jo Ann Beard. Eastman is interested in interrogating the history and ethos of several specific places, including her own home state of Wisconsin, as well as elegantly demonstrating the ways in which landscapes shift and morph through generations and recall.”- Caryl Pagel, author of Twice Told “In this shimmering collection, Krista Eastman blends imagined scene with researched fact to bring us fresh visions of places we thought we knew. From examinations of home to 'laughter from nowhere,' from the Wisconsin Dells to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station, from an itinerant painter’s elliptical masterwork to gestation’s feral undertow, Eastman casts a spell that renders us 'still captive to the mystery in distance, still loyal to the pledge found in story.”- Joni Tevis, author of The World Is On Fire: Scrap, Treasure, and Songs of ApocalypseTable of Contents Scrap Metal (A Prologue) Insider’s Almanac Wonder Spot Middle West The Painted Forest Everybody Comes Round Here Animals My Youth Layers of Ice Notes Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisAn adaptation of Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative published for Black children in 1829, now given new life in a major scholarly edition. In 1829, Samuel Wood and Sons, a New York publisher of children’s literature, printed and sold the Quaker Abigail Field Mott’s Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano. Mott adapted Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative, a bestselling autobiography first published in London in 1789 for Black children studying at New York African Free Schools, one of the first educational systems to teach individuals of African descent in the United States. By reissuing Mott’s neglected adaptation with contextualizing scholarly apparatus, Eric D. Lamore disrupts the editorial tradition of selecting a London edition of Equiano’s Interesting Narrative, and positions Equiano in the United States instead of Great Britain. Lamore’s volume contains Mott’s children’s book, which includes a series of illustrations, in a facsimile edition; instructive notes on Life and Adventures; a provocative essay on the adaptation; and selections from relevant texts on the New York African Free Schools and other related topics. With its focus on the intersections of early Black Atlantic and American studies, children’s literature, history of education, life writing, and book history, this edition offers a fresh take on Equiano and his autobiography for a variety of twenty-first-century audiences.Trade ReviewEric D. Lamore’s multifaceted edition of Abigail Field Mott Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano challenges textual paradigms in early Black Atlantic studies by bridging divisions between literary history and book history. This much-needed volume documents an important chapter in the evolution of Equiano’s transatlantic posthumous reputation while introducing readers to a signal contribution to early African American children’s literature."—William L. Andrews, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill"Think you’ve read the ‘authorized’ edition of Olaudah Equiano’s narrative? EricD. Lamore’s edition of Abigail Field Mott’s Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano might have you question your choice. It is an incisive, must-read primer for anyone considering Equiano or early American book history, Black subjectivity, and authorship. Read this book—and learn to think in new ways about what it means to tell a Black person’s story."—Tara Bynum, University of IowaTable of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction A Note on the Text The Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavus Vassa, the African Explanatory Notes Appendix A: Rethinking Textual Paradigms in Early Black Atlantic Studies Appendix B: Pedagogy, Politics, and Regulations at the New York African Free Schools An Address to the Parents and Guardians of the ChildrenBelonging to the New-York African Free-School(1818) Charles C. Andrews, Letter to John B. Russwurm,Freedom’s Journal(1827) “A[frican] F[ree] S[chool],”Freedom’s Journal(1828) A “[R]esolution,”Commercial Advertiser(1828) Selections from Charles C. Andrews,The History of theNew-York African Free-Schools(1830) Appendix C: Additional Works by and about Abigail Field Mott A Short Account of the Last Sickness and Death of Maria Mott(1817) “G[eneral] R[emarks]” from Abigail Field Mott,Observations on theImportance of Female Education, and Maternal Instruction(1825) Selections from Abigail Field Mott,Biographical Sketches andInteresting Anecdotes of Persons of Colour(1826) Selections from Abigail Field Mott,The Mother and Her Children(1828) “Report of [the] Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society of Albany,”The Albany Patriot(1845) Abigail Field Mott, “[Narrative] of Douglass,”The Liberator(1845) Memoir of Purchase Monthly Meeting, Concerning Abigail Mott(1852) Appendix D: Selected Commentary on the Institution of Slavery inBooks Published by Samuel Wood and Sons “To the Reader,”The Penitential Tyrant(1807) “A Family [C]onversation on the Slavery of the Negroes,”The New-York Reader, No. 2(1813) “Master and Slave,”The New-York Reader, No. 3(1819)

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Book SynopsisKatya Cengel became patient number 090 71 51 at the Roth Psychosomatic Unit at Children's Hospital at Stanford in 1986. She was 10 years old. Overwhelmed by feelings of abandonment, worthlessness and anger at having to care for her depressed father, she wanted out. She found it the only way she knows how – by starving herself.Thirty years later Katya, now a journalist, discovers her young age was not the only thing that made her hospital stay unusual. The idea of psychosomatic units themselves, where patients have dual medical and psychological diagnoses, was a revolutionary one, since largely fallen out of favor. Katya documents this, tracking down the doctors, psychologists and counselors who once cared for her.What happened to her as a child is told in the voice of the troubled 10-year-old girl she once was. The two narratives unfold simultaneously. The result is a gut-wrenching account of childhood mental illness told from the inside interspersed with updates from experts in the field.Table of ContentsPrologueBook I: Remember to ForgetThe PrisonersA Taste The PatientsStory TimeHungerThe PrinceThe End (Almost)His SubjectAdmissionA Very Special CategoryBook II: Then and NowBack Behind BarsRothThe QueenShadows Number 090 71 51Incredible Shrinking KidsLittle Difficult OneEscapeAntipsychoticBloodsuckersThe StorytellerThose Who Haunt the MirrorBy ProxyA Rock Feels No PainEverybody Loves DanThe PretendersDedicationGet Well SoonReading Between the LinesExtracurricular ActivitiesBook III: AfterComprehensive Care UnitScared StraightTalk TherapyMementosCountdownPricelessGiving UpThe Warmth of a GhostFlowers on Your GraveFake SantaHaunted GroundDischargeWhat Might Have BeenSmokeStraight FlushTo Be ContinuedLas AmigosAfterwordAcknowledgmentsNotes

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Book SynopsisIn addition to the urge to distinguish themselves under the eyes of the king, to gain fame and honor, it was mainly economic reasons that moved the Pomeranian nobles in the 18th century to enter the Prussian military service. Their commitment was well above that of the nobles from other parts of the monarchy. The approximately 1,600 short biographies in the first volume trace the military career and provide insights into the social and economic circumstances of the officer''s families. The list of estates contained in the second part of the volume shows that there were only a few properties that remained with one family for generations.

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