Download or read book Meanwhile Next Door to the Good Life written by Jean Hay Bright and published by Brightberry Press. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Updated a decade after its original publication, this memoir by Jean Hay Bright chronicles the years in the 1970s when the author and her first husband, a traumatized Vietnam veteran, homesteaded on 25 rugged Maine acres sold to them by Living the Good Life authors Helen and Scott Nearing, and the aftermath of that experience in the decades that followed. Jean also used her investigative reporting skills to try to resolve some long-standing and nagging questions about the Nearings, focusing particularly on their finances over the decades. Her research also turned up some surprising and enlightening facts about how Helen and Scott Nearing actually lived and died. The revised edition has a new Prologue by Susan Hand Shetterly, more family photos, an expanded Afterword, as well as details and a new chapter pulled from Scott Nearing's FBI file, including documentation of Scott's listing in J. Edgar Hoover's Custodial Detention program.
Download or read book Back to the Land written by Dona Brown and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 2011-06-01 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many, “going back to the land” brings to mind the 1960s and 1970s—hippie communes and the Summer of Love, The Whole Earth Catalog and Mother Earth News. More recently, the movement has reemerged in a new enthusiasm for locally produced food and more sustainable energy paths. But these latest back-to-the-landers are part of a much larger story. Americans have been dreaming of returning to the land ever since they started to leave it. In Back to the Land, Dona Brown explores the history of this recurring impulse. ? Back-to-the-landers have often been viewed as nostalgic escapists or romantic nature-lovers. But their own words reveal a more complex story. In such projects as Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms, Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Broadacre City,” and Helen and Scott Nearing’s quest for “the good life,” Brown finds that the return to the farm has meant less a going-backwards than a going-forwards, a way to meet the challenges of the modern era. Progressive reformers pushed for homesteading to help impoverished workers get out of unhealthy urban slums. Depression-era back-to-the-landers, wary of the centralizing power of the New Deal, embraced a new “third way” politics of decentralism and regionalism. Later still, the movement merged with environmentalism. To understand Americans’ response to these back-to-the-land ideas, Brown turns to the fan letters of ordinary readers—retired teachers and overworked clerks, recent immigrants and single women. In seeking their rural roots, Brown argues, Americans have striven above all for the independence and self-sufficiency they associate with the agrarian ideal. Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians
Download or read book We Are As Gods written by Kate Daloz and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1970 and 1974 ten million Americans abandoned the city, and the commercialism, and all the inauthentic bourgeois comforts of the Eisenhower-era America of their parents. Instead, they went back to the land. It was the only time in modern history that urbanization has gone into reverse. Kate Daloz follows the dreams and ideals of a small group of back-to-the-landers to tell the story of a nationwide movement and moment. And she shows how the faltering, hopeful, but impractical impulses of that first generation sowed the seeds for the organic farming movement and the transformation of American agriculture and food tastes. In the Myrtle Hill commune and neighboring Entropy Acres, high-minded ideas of communal living and shared decision-making crash headlong into the realities of brutal Northern weather and the colossal inconvenience of having no plumbing or electricity. Nature, it turns out, is not always a generous or provident host--frosts are hard, snowfalls smother roads, and small wood fires do not heat imperfectly insulated geodesic domes. Group living turns out to be harder than expected too. Being free to do what you want and set your own rules leads to some unexpected limitations: once the group starts growing a little marijuana they can no longer call on the protection of the law, especially against a rogue member of a nearby community. For some of the group, the lifestyle is truly a saving grace; they credit it with their survival. For others, it is a prison sentence. We Are As Gods (the first line of the Whole Earth Catalog, the movement’s bible) is a poignant rediscovery of a seminal moment in American culture, whose influence far outlasted the communities that took to the hills and woods in the late '60s and '70s and remains present in every farmer’s market, every store selling Stonyfield products, or Keen shoes, or Patagonia sportswear.
Download or read book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes written by Dan Egan and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award "Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." —Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.
Download or read book The Good Life of Helen K Nearing written by Margaret O. Killinger and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2007 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lively biography of the famous homesteader and author Helen Knothe Nearing
Download or read book At Home in Nature written by Rebecca Kneale Gould and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2005-10-24 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Gould's attention to the ironies and ambivalences that abound in the practice of homesteading provides fresh and insightful perspective."—Beth Blissman, Oberlin College "This luminously written ethnography of the worlds that homesteaders make significantly broadens our understanding of modern American religion. In richly textured descriptions of the everyday lives and work of the homesteaders with whom she lived, Gould helps us understand how the tasks of clearing land, making bread, and building a garden wall were ways of taking on the most urgent issues of meaning and ethics."—Robert A. Orsi, Harvard University "This is a fascinating, authoritative, and accessible look at one of America's most important subcultures. If you ever get around to building that cabin in the woods, or especially if you don't, you'll want this volume on the bookshelf."—Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape "Rebecca Gould's compelling book on American homesteading brings the study of the religion-nature connection in the U.S. to a new place."—Catherine L. Albanese, author of Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age "Gould provides brand new data and sheds new interpretive light on familiar figures and movements. At Home in Nature is a model of how to seamlessly blend ethnography and history."—Bron Taylor, University of Florida, editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature
Download or read book Love Aubrey written by Suzanne LaFleur and published by Wendy Lamb Books. This book was released on 2009-06-09 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I had everything I needed to run a household: a house, food, and a new family. From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else." A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them. With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future. Readers will care for Aubrey from page one and will watch her grow until the very end, when she has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life. Love, Aubrey is devastating, brave, honest, funny, and hopeful, and it introduces a remarkable new writer, Suzanne LaFleur. No matter how old you are, this book is not to be missed.
Download or read book Extra Lives written by Tom Bissell and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-06-14 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Extra Lives, acclaimed writer and life-long video game enthusiast Tom Bissell takes the reader on an insightful and entertaining tour of the art and meaning of video games. In just a few decades, video games have grown increasingly complex and sophisticated, and the companies that produce them are now among the most profitable in the entertainment industry. Yet few outside this world have thought deeply about how these games work, why they are so appealing, and what they are capable of artistically. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is a milestone work about what might be the dominant popular art form of our time.
Download or read book The Great Leader written by Jim Harrison and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A wild ride . . . [and] a thoroughly enjoyable tale of religion, sex and money . . . this is not your grandfather’s detective novel.” —Tim McNulty, The Seattle Times New York Times–bestselling author Jim Harrison has won international acclaim for his masterful body of work, including Returning to Earth, Legends of the Fall, and over thirty books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In this enthralling, witty, and expertly crafted novel, he follows one man on a hunt for an elusive cult founder, dubbed “The Great Leader.” On the verge of retirement, Detective Sunderson begins to investigate a hedonistic cult, which has set up camp near his home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. At first, the self-declared Great Leader seems merely a harmless oddball, but as Sunderson and his sixteen-year-old sidekick dig deeper, they find him more intelligent and sinister than they realized. Recently divorced and frequently pickled in alcohol, Sunderson tracks his quarry from the woods of Michigan to a town in Arizona, filled with criminal border-crossers, and on to Nebraska, where the Great Leader’s most recent recruits have gathered to glorify his questionable religion. But Sunderson’s demons are also in pursuit of him. “Jim Harrison is unsurpassed at chronicling man’s relationship with wilderness . . . The Great Leader is hugely enjoyable.” —Tom Bissell, Outside Magazine
Download or read book Abi and the Boy Next Door written by Kelsie Stelting and published by Kelsie Stelting Creative LLC. This book was released on 2023-10-11 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Could the hot boy next door ever fall for a curvy girl like me? He’s the popular kid at school with a perfect family and tons of friends. Meanwhile, I just moved in with my grandma because my parents got busted for selling prescription painkillers. Not the best way to start your senior year. I’m determined to have a fresh start, make friends, and stop relying on food for comfort. And the best part is? My neighbor doesn’t care about my past. He’s become so much more than the boy next door. I’m falling for him every day, but I can’t help but wonder… could he ever see himself as more than my friend?
Download or read book The New Village Green written by Stephen Morris and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2007-09-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The village green is the focal point of any community, a gathering place where the best ideas take root and the brightest voices are heard. The New Village Green gathers some of the best ideas and brightest voices of the green community, some famous and familiar, others fresh and unknown. Each tells an absorbing story, and collectively they comprise a powerful chorus that profiles the current state of the environment. This remarkable book gathers wisdom and insight from a compelling and thought-provoking virtual community. Each contributor brings a unique perspective that mingles reverence for the environment with provocative thoughts for the future. Topics range from spirituality to solar panels and, just like a real village green, are juxtaposed with opinions from “the new village people,” including: Writers Bill McKibben and Michael Pollan Scientists James Lovelock and Donella Meadows Spiritual leaders Gandhi and Buddha And practical, homespun topics are given equal time: Good reasons to embrace alternative currencies Tips for growing great garlic Meant to be devoured in one sitting or sipped a little at a time, this book springboards the green movement into the future by acknowledging its roots in the past. Rachel Carson, Paul Ehrlich, and Helen and Scott Nearing are as relevant today as the Slow Food Movement and Peak Oil. This book will touch the heart of anyone who lives with conscience and hope. Stephen Morris is editor and publisher of Green Living Magazine and co-founder of The Public Press.
Download or read book Resisting Illegitimate Authority written by Bruce E. Levine and published by AK Press. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The capacity to comply with abusive authority is humanity’s fatal flaw. Fortunately, within the human family there are anti-authoritarians—people comfortable questioning the legitimacy of authority and challenging and resisting its illegitimate forms. However, asResisting Illegitimate Authority reveals, authoritarians attempt to marginalize anti-authoritarians, who are scorned, shunned, financially punished, psychopathologized, criminalized, and even assassinated. Profiling a diverse group of U.S. anti-authoritarians—including Thomas Paine, Ralph Nader, Malcolm X, and Lenny Bruce—in order to glean useful lessons from their lives, No Badges is the first self-help manual for anti-authoritarians. Discussing anti-authoritarian approaches to depression, relationships, and parenting, it provides political, spiritual, philosophical, and psychological tools to help those suffering violence and marginalization in a society whose most ardent cheerleaders for “freedom” are often its most obedient and docile citizens. Resisting Illegitimate Authority is about bigotry, but not bigotry directed at race, religion, gender, or sexual preference. It is about bigotry directed at rebellious personalities and temperaments.
Download or read book Homesteading in the 21st Century written by George Nash and published by Taunton Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not since Thoreau made his home in the woods at Walden Pond has the notion of self-sufficiency held more universal appeal. There's no question we're going through some tough economic times, but this book offers an alternative. It's a guide for anyone who imagines a better life--from struggling families tired of energy dependency to dreamers who always wished they could live off the land someday. This ultimate DIY guide holds to the premise that anyone can homestead, and raise at least a portion of their food themselves--even if they live in the city. Homesteading in the 21st Century is absolutely brimming with ideas on how to take control of your life by degrees--whether that means keeping chickens, growing a garden, or brewing your own beer.
Download or read book Nearly Forgotten written by Floyd Greenleaf and published by TEACH Services, Inc.. This book was released on 2017-04-19 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Nearly Forgotten: Seventh-day Adventists in Jamaica, Vermont, and Their Place in Vermont History, Floyd Greenleaf traces the birth of not only the local Seventh-day Adventist congregation in the rural township of Jamaica but also the rise of the Seventh-day Adventist movement itself, with its roots in Millerism and the development of second-advent and Sabbath theology. Greenleaf explores the complex and dynamic relationship between the trajectory of the church and a multitude of social, economic, political, and religious forces at play during the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century. The book gives us an intriguing glimpse at the church's heyday and a mysterious decline that now leaves us with only memorabilia, brief personal accounts, diaries, some church records appearing in denominational publications, and overgrown tombstones. And yet, based on all the clues Greenleaf examines, the vibrant lives appearing in his narrative are important to the story of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They not only reflected Adventism of the time, but Vermont history as well, and left a mark on the local scene. What life forces remain active, and what elements of identity have persisted to bring us to where we are today?
Download or read book Trouble Next Door written by Karen English and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young boy must come to terms with the school bully moving in next door in this charming, illustrated chapter book. In the fourth book in the Carver Chronicles series, third grader Calvin is dealing with his next-door neighbors moving away—and the school bully moving in. Meanwhile, competition at the school science fair is heating up, and Calvin must decide what to do when his data doesn’t prove his theory . . . This lively installment in a chapter book series about a diverse group of elementary schoolers by Coretta Scott King Honoree Karen English offers spot-on storytelling, relatable characters and situations, and plenty of action. Praise for Trouble Next Door “Chronicling the importance of empathy and openness, this fourth in the Carver Chronicles is a pleasing addition to a series in which diverse readers can recognize themselves in starring roles.” —Kirkus Reviews
Download or read book So Lucky written by Dawn O’Porter and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Dawn O’Porter’s brand new novel, CAT LADY, is available to buy now! * *The Sunday Times bestseller and Richard and Judy Book Club pick* ‘A total joy’ Matt Haig ‘Unputdownable’ Marian Keyes
Download or read book Playboy and the Making of the Good Life in Modern America written by Elizabeth Fraterrigo and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-05 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Launched by Hugh Hefner in 1953, Playboy promoted an image of the young, affluent, single male-the man about town ensconced in a plush bachelor pad, in constant pursuit of female companionship and a good time. Spectacularly successful, this high-gloss portrait of glamorous living and sexual adventure would eventually draw some one million readers each month. Exploring the world created in the pages of America's most widely read and influential men's magazine, Elizabeth Fraterrigo sets Playboy's history in the context of a society in transition. Sexual mores, gender roles, family life, notions of consumption and national purpose-all were in flux as Americans adjusted to the prosperity that followed World War II. Initially, Playboy promised only "entertainment for men," but Fraterrigo reveals that its vision of abundance, pleasure, and individual freedom soon placed the magazine at the center of mainstream debates about sex and freedom, politics and pleasure in postwar America. She shows that for Hugh Hefner, the "good life" meant the "playboy life," in which expensive goods and sexually available women were plentiful, obligations were few, and if one worked hard enough, one could enjoy abundant leisure and consumption. In support of this view, Playboy attacked early marriage, traditional gender arrangements, and sanctions against premarital sex. The magazine also promoted private consumption as a key to economic growth and national well-being, offering tips from "The Playboy Advisor" on everything from high-end stereos and cuff-links to caviar and wine. If we want to understand post-war America, Fraterrigo shows, we must pay close attention to Playboy, its messages about pleasure and freedom, the debates it inspired, and the criticism it drew--all of which has been bound up in the popular culture and consumer society that surround us.
