She sent her first story to a woman’s magazine, stating bluntly: “My object is remuneration.” Much like Louisa May Alcott before her, she did so more from a desire to support her family than out of any grand literary ambitions. There were parties and picnics, but also great struggles to earn enough money to keep the family afloat. Her girlhood, according to the biography of her life by Ann Thwaite, Waiting for the Party, had its ups and downs. Frances always showed an independent streak, was very clever, and had a knack for storytelling. He died when she was three, and the family’s fortunes plummeted.įrances’s mother took her and her siblings and emigrated to the U.S., settling in rural Tennessee. When she was born in England in 1840, she was one of five children in a household headed by a prosperous tradesman. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s own life reflected that theme. Victorian literature often had a rags-to-riches theme, or vice versa. with her mother and siblings when she was in her teens, and started publishing stories in magazines to help support her family.īurnett is best remembered as the author of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, though her prolific output went far beyond these now-classic works. Frances Hodgson Burnett (Novem– October 29, 1924) was born in Cheetham, England.
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It is a stupendous coup de théâtre.īook, play, film: In any form this story is a coruscating indictment of racism and poverty in America, themes that rush like a polluted river through our history, across the headlines of our newspapers and our media monitors. Kelley’s 90-minute whirlwind premiered in 2014 in Chicago, the setting of Wright’s novel. Two previous theatrical adaptations, as well as two films (one of them with the novelist himself playing the lead role of Bigger Thomas), have been made from this iconic work. Kelley’s theatrical adaptation of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel Native Son (seen opening night, April 19) reveals how this work becomes more powerful, more relevant and more disturbing with each passing year. GLENDALE, Calif.-The Antaeus Theatre Company’s Southern California premiere production of Nambi E. From left, Ellis Greer, Noel Arthur, Jon Chaffin and Matthew Grondin / Geoffrey Wade She sees uniformed policemen stationed outside her room. Worse than her physical state, she is afflicted by memory loss and a nagging sense of guilt. In a Dark, Dark Wood opens in a hospital room, where a young woman wakes with contusions, scratches and a woeful head injury. No cell service, of course, and no neighbors, with a long, rutted, unpaved driveway between the hens and civilization. The titular woods, so striking by day, turn blank and threatening when the sun goes down. In the U.S., women celebrating an impending wedding might be more likely to party with Magic Mike, but the bachelorette bash in Ware's book takes place in a modernist glass house in the English countryside. That one of the main characters here is nicknamed "Flopsy" doesn't help things along any. Like so many phrases that describe all-female gatherings, such as quilting bee or kaffeeklatsch, that hen business has a slight cluck of the patronizing to it. I am slightly embarrassed to admit I had never before encountered the term "hen party" before reading Ruth Ware's suspenseful debut novel In a Dark, Dark Wood. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title In a Dark, Dark Wood Author Ruth Ware When British archeologist Howard Carter first opened King Tutankhamen's tomb in November 1922, his patron, Lord Carnarvon, standing behind him, impatiently asked if he saw anything. Based on stunning tomb records, lost since their discovery, this revolutionary biography begins to answer one of the twentieth century's most compelling archaeological mysteries: Who was Tutankhamen? In Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of the Boy-King, Christine El Mahdy finally delivers a coherent portrait of King Tut's life and its historical significance. Traditional histories, founded on incomplete investigation and academic dogma, shed almost no light on the details of a life as complicated and as fascinating as it was short. Despite the young monarch's almost universal recognition in death, Egyptologists know very little about his life. Thirty-five hundred years ago, the mightiest empire on Earth crowned a boy as its king, then worshipped him as a god. Lost in a frenzy of speculation-anthropological, scientific, and commercial-was Tutankhamen himself. What kind of society could produce such spectacular treasures only to bury them forever? When Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in 1922, even the most experienced archaeologists joined the international community in marveling at the incredible wealth-and seemingly bizarre rituals-of ancient Egypt. Christian teaching understands the transfiguration as the moment at which Jesus revealed his true divine nature to his disciples. All she could discern was a shadowy shape ablaze with light -sees the cedar "charged and transfigured, each cell buzzing with flame." Even though she later believes galls, or abnormal growths, might have caused the golden color, the vision remains the same -echoes the New Testament story, with which Dillard was undoubtedly familiar, of the transfiguration of Jesus. the blind girl's tree and the cedar tree in Dillard's backyard -girl whose sight was restored by surgery saw a tree in her garden and did not recognize it at first with her new vision. This amount of mystical perception-this 'ordinary contemplation', as the specialist call it, -is possible to all men: without it, they are not wholly alive. Thus he may become aware of the universe that the spiritual artist is always trying to disclose to the race. In this work, she explores meditation, spirituality, mindfulness, recollection, contemplation and mystical life.īegin with Evelyn Underhill a journey of peace today on the path to a better, more balanced life.Įxcerpt: " Therefore it is to a practical mysticism that the practical man is here invited: to a training of his latent faculties, a bracing and brightening of his languid consciousness, an emancipation from the fetters of appearance, a turning of his attention to new levels of the world. Underhill's little book on the topic deserves to be read since it is still used in most courses that discuss mysticism and still attracts contemporary spiritual seekers. For her, true mysticism is, first of all, active and practical, an organic life process in which the whole self is engaged, rather than simply an intellectual apprehension. Evelyn Underhill was one of the greatest spiritual writers of the twentieth century. The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light-less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are. Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin-a "microbe’s-eye view" of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on earth.Įvery animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life Create interview questions, practice and be prepared to present in front of the class.
And you’re not the only one.īy the time he’d reached his mid-30s, author Neil Strauss felt like one of those asocial bedroom nerds who can name the DP on every Jim Jarmusch movie but can’t chat up a girl to save his life. You should be assured, urbane, confident. You could be attending all the hippest parties and getting laid regularly. You’ve got an interesting job that involves mixing with A-list celebrities, film stars and musicians. You’re a reasonably good-looking guy with respectable income. You’re a well respected Rolling Stone and New York Times journalist who has published three best-selling biographies: The Long Road Out Of Hell with Marilyn Manson the semi-legendary The Dirt with Motley Crue and How To Make Love Like A Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale, with adult movie actress Jenna Jameson. Let me share some sights and reflections on the world of work. De Botton describes the organizations we work for, the global implications of everything we buy, sell, do, decide, and the world we create while doing so, both as leaders and professionals, and as consumers, parents, and neighbors. It made me wonder again about our world and how everything is connected. He paints an epic picture of our global economy and modern lifestyles, as if he were an eagle hovering over industrial landscapes, modern buildings, big cities, and then, suddenly, zooming in on an office and joining one of the accountants he finds there, for yet another day at the office.ĭe Botton’s is not a business book nor an easy read for the busy professional, but I enjoyed the reflective and observant parts, covering diverse occupations and scenes. He writes poetically and observant about work. The British philosopher Alain de Botton could have been a novelist or a journalist. |