Tuck Everlasting

Product Description

Natalie Babbitt. In this ALA Notable Book, 10-year-old Winnie Foster discovers the magic spring that has given the Tuck family eternal life. She is faced not only with the difficult decision of whether or not to drink from it, but whether to tell all when a stranger wants to know the secret in order to sell the water. Paperback.

Amazon.com

Imagine coming upon a fountain of youth in a forest. To live forever--isn't that everyone's ideal? For the Tuck family, eternal life is a reality, but their reaction to their fate is surprising. Award winner Natalie Babbitt (Knee-Knock Rise, The Search for Delicious) outdoes herself in this sensitive, moving adventure in which 10-year-old Winnie Foster is kidnapped, finds herself helping a murderer out of jail, and is eventually offered the ultimate gift--but doesn't know whether to accept it. Babbitt asks profound questions about the meaning of life and death, and leaves the reader with a greater appreciation for the perfect cycle of nature. Intense and powerful, exciting and poignant, Tuck Everlasting will last forever--in the reader's imagination. An ALA Notable Book. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Story for Teenagers and Adults.......2007-10-04

Note: There are a couple Mormons who are angry over my reviews of books written in defense of the Book of Mormon, and they have been slamming my reviews. Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks.

My review for "Tuck Everlasting" is not long, but it is to the point. I didn't want to tell everything. The person who has been giving me "not helpful" votes is probably not a reader.

On "Tuck Everlasting":

This is a great story about a fountain of youth, and the terrible consequences of drinking from it. There is a lot to think about in this beautifully written story. What if you never grew old, but everyone around you did? Would you drink from the fountain?

It's a short easy read, and I highly recommend it.

What's your favorite kind of book? by Nagrom.......2007-09-10

Hey! Do you love romance and suspension? If you do you will love Tuck Everlasting by Natallie Babbit. Tuck Everlasting by Natallie Babbit describes the love story between Jesse Tuck and Winnie Foster and how they help each other. Initially, Winnie wants to run away, so she won't be bossed around anymore. She has a great desire to be in the wide open spaces. After that, she finds Jesse Tuck and meets his family. The Tucks take her away. Not against her will though. She wanted to go. Last, she helps the Tucks in their time of need. She helps them make a very important decision. This book was top notch in my opinion. Read it! I dare you!

Disturbing and beautiful.......2007-08-27

I read this 30 years ago. The details are gone but the central dilemma still haunts me: what would it be like to live long enough to watch everyone you know die? It's a strange, deeply sad book that stays with you.

This will give you something to talk about.......2007-08-21

I was first introduced to this enchanting story in a children's literature course, and truly believe it should be required reading for all middle school students (as well as their parents). The theme is living forever. Everyone has an opinion about this, but after reading this mesmerizing tale about 10-year-old Winnie and the Tuck family, there will be plenty to ponder upon. It is a breathtaking fantasy, unfolding like a gorgeous summer sunset. I hope that all lovers of literature will take the time to check out this gem of a book.

just mediocre.......2007-07-26

This book was a requirement for me to read in an education class. If it was not required, I would have put it down at chapter 4 if not earlier, but having read the entire book the overall story is pretty good. My biggest problem is that Babbitt gets so hung up in the details that it takes forever to get to the realness and excitement of what is going on.

All the Small Poems and Fourteen More (Sunburst Book)

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Teaching tool
A great book for grown ups too!
A delightful read!
A wonderful collection!

All the Small Poems and Fourteen More (Sunburst Book)
Valerie Worth
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0374403457

Book Description

All four Small Poems books in one volume plus fourteen new poems "every bit as worthy as their predecessors" (The Horn Book)

Customer Reviews:

Teaching tool.......2006-06-04

My second grade students really enjoyed these poems. They were inspired to compose their own poems in our school's computer lab. Later, they illustrated their poems and we compiled them in a book for everyone to take home.

A great book for grown ups too!.......2004-09-11

Valerie Worth's incredible perspective of finding beauty and interest in simple things is a great lesson for all of us. I use this book with my 10 and 4 year-olds and enjoy it as much myself as they do. If I take a moment to really bask in each poem's simplicity and attention to detail I glean much wisdom from the expertly chosen words. Porches, Zinnia's, Old Tom, Rosebush are just a few of my favorite.

A delightful read!.......2003-02-08

The late Valerie Worth is well remembered in this volume of nature poems. They are short and sweet, with neat imagery. I used this book to help my daughter, a struggling reader, to read, by reading with her, and sometimes singing the poems as though they were lyrics.
Simple titles like "Pie" and "Toad" evoke a simple life...yet the poems stir the imagination, too: "The watering can rusts among friends." Mm. Natalie Babbit's line drawings complement the poems without fail.

A wonderful collection!.......2000-07-19

This book is a great collection of poems about nature. My children love these poems, and they are great to teach with.

Voices of spirit: Through the psychic experience of Elwood Babbitt

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I knew the medium

Voices of spirit: Through the psychic experience of Elwood Babbitt
Charles H Hapgood
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press/S. Lawrence
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0440059836

Customer Reviews:

I knew the medium.......2006-03-18

I had some experience of attending his trance sessions. Though not mentioned in the book, the most interesting was Sam Clemens.

2007 Means Contractor's Pricing Guide: Repair & Remodeling (Means Residential Repair & Remodeling Costs)

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2007 Means Contractor's Pricing Guide: Repair & Remodeling (Means Residential Repair & Remodeling Costs)

Manufacturer: RSMeans
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0876298730

2007 Means Contractor's Pricing Guide: Residential Detailed Costs

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2007 Means Contractor's Pricing Guide: Residential Detailed Costs

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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0876298722

Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America

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babbitt always knows best
Rational Thoughts on a Typically Irrational Topic
A good prescription for a "realistic" 21st century environmentalism
Book Review
Excellent Read About Land Use

Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America
Bruce Babbitt
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1559630930

Book Description

In this brilliant, gracefully written, and important new book, former Secretary of the Interior and Governor of Arizona Bruce Babbitt brings fresh thought to questions of how we can build a future we want to live in.

We've all experienced America's changing natural landscape as the integrity of our forests, seacoasts, and river valleys succumbs to strip malls, new roads, and subdivisions. Too often, we assume that when land is developed it is forever lost to the natural world--or hope that a patchwork of local conservation strategies can somehow hold up against further large-scale development.

In Cities in the Wilderness, Bruce Babbitt makes the case for why we need a national vision of land use. We may have a space program, he points out, but here at home we don't have an open-space policy that can balance the needs for human settlement and community with those for preservation of the natural world upon which life depends. Yet such a balance, the author demonstrates, is as remarkably achievable as it is necessary. This is no call for developing a new federal bureaucracy; Babbitt shows instead how much can be--and has been--done by making thoughtful and beneficial use of laws and institutions already in place.

Babbitt draws on his extensive experience to take us behind the scenes negotiating the Florida Everglades restoration project, the largest ever authorized by Congress. In California, we discover how the Endangered Species Act has been employed to restore regional habitat. In the Midwest, we see how new World Trade Organization regulations might be used to help restore Iowa's farmlands and rivers. As a key architect of many environmental success stories, Babbitt reveals how broad restoration projects have thrived through federal- state partnerships and how their principles can be extended to other parts of the country.

In this inspiring and informative book, Babbitt offers a vision of land use as grand as the country's natural heritage.

Customer Reviews:

babbitt always knows best.......2007-01-10

Bruce Babbitt continues to labor under the self deception that he know best in determining the future of the "common people" his ideas always consume like serfs found to be useless in the feifdom. Read it for the future it suggests of an end to private property and a beginning of the sort of Stalinism and federal tyranny that Babbitt favors. Don't think it was written by any true westerner who "grew up on a ranch." It was written by a political lackey and opportunist who was kicked off his grandfather's spread in Arizona and has always yearned for power--especially power over what he calls the "agricultural apparatchiks."

Rational Thoughts on a Typically Irrational Topic.......2006-06-23

Babbitt begins by telling us that relentless building of highways have spearheaded landscape destruction as land speculators and developers follow. Local governments generally have neither the political will, expertise, nor financial resources to stand up to well-financed developers and their political contributions. Babbitt then goes on to make the case for federal leadership in making land use regulation more effective, and uses examples from his experience involving the Everglades, Southern California, and the Chesapeake Bay to make the point.

The shrinking Everglades problem was caused by farms, canals, dikes, housing developments; its solution began during the early '90s, and moved forward despite Congress' tilting towards reduced spending. The first step occurred when then Interior Secretary Babbitt met with the Army Corps of Engineers, and reached agreement with them to develop a study and proposal on changing the drainage system. There was also a problem with excess fertilizer draining from sugar plantations into the Everglades - causing cattails to displace natural saw grass. They agreed to cut their fertilizer applications in half (were using too much - at the chemical companies behest), and to plant cattails at the draining end of their fields to soak up the rest of the excess. (Babbitt points out that the "ideal" solution would have been to simply end expensive sugar subsidies, allow foreign sugar into the U.S. at much lower price, and allow the sugar plantations to revert to the Everglades.) Another requirement was buying out landowners "suckered" into buying swampland that were clamoring for more levees so they could use their land. The happy outcome was a proposal backed by all sides that was enacted by Congress in 2000. (Side Note: Everglade bog land used for sugar growing has a limited life anyway - it had already dried out, was blowing away, and sunk 12 feet, and had not much further to sink before reaching limestone.)

Babbitt learned in other efforts that it was much simpler to work on a project limited to a single state, and the importance of using sound science in administering the Endangered Species Act.

Babbitt points out that the federal government has always been involved in land-use planning - improving river navigability, surveying, staking out, and subsidizing transcontinental railroad routes, flood control projects, dams, interstate highways. While these efforts were all aimed at land development, he believes that it now time to also boost land conservation as well.

A good prescription for a "realistic" 21st century environmentalism.......2006-04-11

I use "realistic" in scare quotes as an alternative to "idealistic" environmentalism without commenting on the moral value or desirability of either approach.

Babbitt, Clinton's sole Secretary of the Interior, and governor of Arizona before that, is a career politician with a non-extractive industries Westerner's love of nature of his native land.

Those two come together in his thoughts for how the Endangered Species Act and the 1906 Antiquities Act, used in new ways, can be two of the cornerstones of a 21st century environmentalism, primarily in the West, but indeed nationally.

The other cornerstones are state lead-taking in land-use planning, in conjunction with federal support, and a new day in federal-state environmental cooperation in general.

More obvious observations about the anti-environmentalism of people like President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Congressman Richard Pombo aside, Babbitt offers a moderate amount, but not a great deal, of prescriptive specifics on how to do this.

His own success as Interior Secretary was constrained by the change of administrations.

Babbitt pushed Clinton into "new-style" national monuments remaining outside National Park Service control, such as Grand Staircase-Escalante NM in Utah and Giant Sequoia NM in California (not to be confused with Sequoia NP). The idea was that the landholding federal agency of record (the Bureau of Land Management in Utah and the National Forest Service in California) would develop a better conservationist ethic through being committed to national monument management of a monument that retained multi-use characteristics.

While this might be true to some degree of the BLM, it certainly isn't of the Forest Service, and likely won't be unless that agency sees a MAJOR shake-up. (My prescription: Move the Forest Service out of Agriculture and into Interior.)

That, and the book's relative slimness, keep it from a better rating, as it barely hits 4 stars.

Book Review.......2006-03-24

Cities in the Wilderness
By Bruce Babbitt

Book Review
By Dan Warren

In today's republican political arena with the Bush administrations compelling interest in land expansion the outlook for Environmental causes let along protection would appear to have a dark and gloomy cloud atop any progress. However, Bruce Babbitt the author of Cities in the Wilderness has some new innovative ideas about land use in America. As the U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1993 to 2001, governor of Arizona from 1978 to 1987 and as Arizona's Attorney General for three years he brings with him experience and a most impressive track record of success in an effort that is largely opposed and unsuccessful; Environmental land preservation efforts and even restoration.
Within the pages of his book Babbitt gives illustrations of success and of failure. He provides detailed rational in each instance drawing on history, public opinion, media, legal requirements, county state and federal involvements, as well as a plethora of other mitigation factors that explain the success or failure. From these Babbitt pieces together an extraordinary working illustration of how we can be better stewards of our land in America.
Furthermore, whether directly or indirectly Babbitt addresses the political climate and gives examples of how to over come the counter movements that oppose his unique vision of land use. Within the confines of his five short easy to read straight forward chapters Babbitt is clear, concise, and well structured in order to piece his ideology together followed by appropriate explanation. His thesis is essentially a parallel, contrary to much of his opposition's belief, as will be detailed later in this review, that our country has historically viewed land development not as a local, county, or even State matter, but as a Federal matter. As such Babbitt will contend that we need to continue to have a Federal interest in land use and development while making a joining effort with more localities but still governed by Federal legislation and direction.
As a native Floridian the everglades are a state treasure. Anyone who has ever driven route one through this magnificent area will feel immersed in nature. For anyone who has not experienced this, all you have to do is watch CBS's hit show CSI: Miami and in most of the episodes as well as in the shows introduction can get a glimpse of what the everglades are from viewing it across their television sets. However, this schema that will be created by this in no way gives justice to the real thing. While either which way will introduce you to the Florida Everglades, it will not reveal its unique history.
In Babbitt's first chapter he uses his experience with the preservation of the Everglades as an introduction to his idea. The devastation caused by hurricane Andrew in the early 1990's also included the destruction of Homestead Air force base in Florida. In the aftermath the government came to the decision to not to rebuild this base, but rather to sell the property commercially for redevelopment. The proposed plan was initially to make the property into a jet port thus generating jobs and commerce. While at first glance this idea makes serves to help the many who became jobless with the closure of the Air force base, it was highly controversial because the proposed site was only miles from the entrance to the everglades.
The balancing of these two conflicting interests: land preservation and development for the sake of commerce is the first conflict that Babbitt faces. It is within these conflicts that are the heart of his book and subsequently in looking at each of these that the most benefit for policy and future decision can be justified on. In this particular issue Babbitt allied with the Army Core of Engineers, a most unexpected partnership. The Army Core who wants to build and Babbitt whose interests are to protect creates a uniquely original idea; the two can actually achieve preservation by essentially constructing preservation.
As pointed out by Babbitt, in earlier years it was the Army Core of Engineers who by direct engineering was in-directly causing devastating affects to the Everglades. As such the remedy was to undo that which was previously done by the efforts of the Army Core of Engineers. While this sounds simple in concept it was very costly and took great effort before it would be later approved for its application. So what exactly would this "undoing" so to speak entail? It would set a new precedent, we would actually spend money not to development but essentially to UN-develop already developed land and for what cause, to preserve the Everglades. This is essentially a step in a new direction in favor of environmental preservation. However, this did not come easily or without coincidence. It was a project that took over eight years, had an eight billion dollar price tag, and according to Babbitt, "the everglades success was an aberration, a case of being in the right place when in came to make a down payment on a presidential election" .
So what is there to be learned from this experience and success in the Everglades? Babbitt goes on to say,
"is there an urgent lesson to be derived from the Florida Everglades, it is that we must invent new federal-state partnerships for managing and restoring our lands, partnerships that have sufficient charisma and public support to withstand destructive efforts by later administrations. Which leads us back to the central question posed: could the Everglades effort mark the beginning of a national commitment to large-scale restoration of degraded ecosystems" ?
The answer to Babbitt's question is two fold. In law when a case is decided the decision is called stare decisis which essentially equates to a precedent that other cases can be decided upon. In the same this narrowly tailored example does in its most simplistic form create a sort of precedent that may act as a catalyst or at least a reference to which other matters related to land conservation can be decided upon.
As Babbitt moves on in his book he provides another success story in California however this is contrasted with a failure Mississippi. In a later chapter Babbitt faces a new conflict of interests. The issue at essence here is a legal one, it involves the interpretation of what constitutes an endangered species and how exactly the Endangered Species Act is used in conjuncture with the rights of landowners. The discussion centers on an endangered bird. What is truly interesting in this example drawn from Babbitt's personal experience is that it utilized a scientific research study in order to investigate the natural habitat of the endangered species so as to have an information base to which decisions can be based off rather then guestimating. Again Babbitt's efforts were successful; however he cited that this is due to good press and public support.
The Endangered Species Act was the legal key to success according to the author. It provided the legal authority to act and to protect in this case. What seems difficult about this is the actually application of the act itself. From the text it does not appear that there is a guideline as to how to implement the acts authority and for the most part serves as a guideline that is to be implemented on the local level and the only Federal participation is to create the act itself but does not provide any governing agency to enforce the act. Rather it relies on its compliance at the local level who it seems in most instances are the ones opposing the act as it in most cases reduces expansion and thus tax revenues for that city, county, or even state.
An interesting remark made by the author is that when it comes to The Endangered Species Act, it is not proactive in protecting but rather reactive in that it does not take affect until after the damage is done. What is gained from this is the ideology that perhaps we need to be proactive with our environment, land use, and species conservation. As with youth we try to teach intervention programs that seek to solve the problem of juvenile delinquency before it starts, in the same we need to solve environmental concerns before they start. Again with this parallel prevention programs cost far less and have much less damage when successful with juveniles as this applies to our environment. We spent 8 billion to undo land development that we had already paid to have developed. Here if we add the research and science base before we make a decision we can avoid these types of environmental concerns before they even exist.
In subsequent chapters Babbitt applies the concepts thus far discussed to the Midwest in regional restoration. He does a great job of finding money in already current budgets to use towards restoration efforts. For instance he mentions a fifteen million dollar account used for a farm program account. Babbitt also explains that all that needs to occur for this to work is to make it into the farmer's best interests to embrace this program and with the requirements of the global economy they will be more then willing.
One molecule of oxygen and two of hydrogen create the world's universal solvent and the substance that sustains life on earth: water. The tragedy is that we are wasting it. Again returning to the argument that we need not leave matters to a localized government, but rather we must make them a federal concern, water with all of its importance needs be a chief central concern. As brought up by Buttell, one avenue in promoting environmentalism is a global view point. Babbitt does a good job emphasizing the importance of making water a Federal matter in the U.S. (as his book's title contains the phrase "Land use in America", I feel that on a matter as internationally important as water it only makes sense to start at the top being Federally regulated and then enforced on each level. Again how we Federally regulate it is just as important but I think we can take this a step further and Internationally regulate water as it is more important then any petroleum based resource, everyone globally needs it to survive and I think more emphasis should be given to this concern, not specifically to this text as again it seeks to speak out about U.S. policy, but rather in other avenues.
While Babbitt's text has a feel good syntax to it, his conclusion brings reality back into play. He finishes up by giving an impressive history and emphasizes the importance of our land. He goes so far as to call it an "American Treasure". Despite this he ends his text with
"Today, however, our public land institutions are under unprecedented attack from both the president and the Congress. This is a season for all Americans to take renewed interest in defending their heritage- the freedom and glory of wide open public spaces."
This call to action that he ends with is a powerful one. However, I am doubtful that with the low voting rates of my generation and the ignorance we as a country have towards our Environment I am weary of our future. Will we use the powerful tools that Babbitt has empowered us with; will we be proactive and preventative rather then responsive after the fact before we have done irreversible harm to our Continent? These questions are serious and meaningful and will affect later generations of Americans.

Excellent Read About Land Use.......2006-03-18

I enjoyed reading about bruce Babbit's interpretation of where land use should focus in the years to come. He also laid the groundwork for the development process for several urban areas and national parks. I found it to be a very worthwhile read and I would recommend it to othere.

A Literature Unit for Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

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Tuck Everlastiong
Tuck Everlasting Review from 5-A Hillcrest
my reveiw
A wonderful story on the "circle of life".

A Literature Unit for Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Caroline Nakajima , and Sue Fullam
Manufacturer: Teacher Created Resources
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Product Features:

LIT UNIT TUCK EVERLASTING CHALLENGING

ASIN: 1557344086
Release Date: 2004-11-03

Product Description

This resource is directly related to its literature equivalent and filled with a variety of cross-curricular lessons to do before, during, and after reading the book. This reproducible book presents an exciting approach to teaching well-known literature! It includes sample plans, author information, vocabulary building ideas, cross-curriculum activities, sectional activities and quizzes, unit tests, and many ideas for culminating and extending the novel.

Customer Reviews:

Tuck Everlastiong.......2003-10-30

We did a reading log of this book in English class. I thought that it was a great book and at the same time that I was learning life lessons and doing reading logs, I was having fun. I noticed that Natalie Babbit loves using descriptive words and similies which are great in a book to show settings and what is going on.

Tuck Everlasting Review from 5-A Hillcrest.......2003-01-23

Tuck Everlasting was a wonderful book because it shows people to be grateful without the use of living forever. It also tells a lesson that you should be grateful for how long you live. The book gave you examples of how you would feel when you are already in the situation of living forever.

my reveiw.......2001-11-01

Tuck everlating was defently a five star book!
it is mainly about a 10-year old girl who finds herself in the middle of a problem between a everlasting family and the rest of the world.
To find out more i suggest that you read the bok, eather for a book report(its not to long, not to short)or just for fun.

A wonderful story on the "circle of life"........1999-12-02

This book is an excellent lesson on the circle of life and why no one should want to live forever. Also included is the lesson of acceptance of others that are different from yourself.

Lewis: Main Street and Babbitt (Library of America)

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Beautiful edition of two important American novels
Relevant to today's Society
America the beautiful?

Lewis: Main Street and Babbitt (Library of America)
Sinclair Lewis
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450615

Book Description

Sinclair Lewis drew on his boyhood memories of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, to explore middle-class life in America as no writer had done before. These remarkable novels combine biting satire with an lingering affection for the men and women who, as he wrote of Babbitt, want to "seize something more than motor cars and a house before it's too late." "Main Street" was a phenomenal event in American publishing and cultural history; it is a wry, sad, funny account of a woman who attempts to challenge the hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness of her Midwestern community where the romance of the frontier has dwindled to drab reality. "He is America incarnate, exuberant and exqusite," H.L. Mencken said of George Babbitt. With this boisterous, vulgar, gadget-loving real estate man, Lewis fashioned a new and enduring figure in American literature, the total conformist--and captured the noisy restlessness of American commercial culture.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful edition of two important American novels.......2004-11-09

These two novels have changed their reason for importance since they were written. When new, they were very current. Full of fashionable slang, capturing the rising tide of America's urbanization, female independence, new machines, greater sexual license, and the pressures all this put on an agrarian culture. Now they capture memories of a time that seems more distant than it is. All of it seems so innocent and simple. Yes, the writing is very good if not great and the characters still do live, but their context is a memory.

Lewis' writing is certainly effective, memorable, and attractive. All reasons to keep reading him and enjoying the stories and thinking about what he has to say. I think what keeps him from being timeless is that it seems to be all about evoking a time and place. There is certainly nothing wrong in doing that; it is just that as the times change the writing may not survive being transplanted into the new context. I think it is a testament to the author's power that he is still read and lives in our present, even if his influence continues to diminish.

At the end of "Main Street" when Carol Kennicott says, "But I have won in this: I've never excused my failures by sneering at my aspirations, by pretending to have gone beyond them." I think we admire her. However, when she continues, "I do not admit that Main Street is as beautiful as it should be! I do not admit that Gopher Prairie is greater or more generous than Europe! I do not admit that dishwashing is enough to satisfy all women! I may not have fought the good fight, but I have kept the faith." any intended irony is made more strange by the added irony of history and cultural change since these words were written. It all feels more distant and even unnecessarily argued given where we are now. Do young people today even wash dishes? Europe generous?

The name Babbitt lives on as a kind of archetype. When someone is called a Babbitt, everyone of a certain age and older knows exactly what is meant. When I grew up in the `60s he was revived as an epithet for our parents' generation and yet the baby boomers became more conformist and materialistic than any previous generation. Maybe that is why we haven't taught George F. Babbitt and his exploits to our children as well as we might have.

The perfect sentence for Babbitt is, I think: "Nothing gave Babbitt more purification and publicity than his labors for the Sunday School." Will anything else help you understand his character more fully?

The Library of America is a largely magnificent series of very handsomely done editions that are of such quality that they are permanent additions to your library. I love having them on my shelf. They are a joy to read, hold, and admire. In addition to the two novels there is a chronology of Lewis' life that serves as a mini-bio, John Hersey provided the notes on the text. A fine edition of two important American novels.

Relevant to today's Society.......2002-03-21

I read "Main Street" several years ago. It impressed me then and the memory of it has stayed with me. I had previously read "Babitt" and "Arrowsmith" which were both good novels but neither compared to "Main Street". Both previous novels poked fun at small town middle America. As a resident of North Dakota, I got a good chuckle over Lewis's portrayal of Arrowsmith's brief trip to our fair state. My recollections of "Babitt" are that it was rather satirical in its' imagery of a shallow well-to-do man. All of us could chuckle at him because he reminded us of so many people we knew. The impact of "Main Street", to me, is how we see the world through the eyes of the main character; the doctor's wife. She is a real person dealing with real observations about real people in a real community. Something in her clicks and says, "this is all too shallow, too plastic, too predetermined". We agree with her and yet feel somewhat uncomfortable in doing so because there is so much that she questions and much of it we have already accepted. I was extremely impressed with Lewis's portrayal of this feminine character and how he chose her (as opposed, for example, to her husband) to be the eyes of his reality. For that time and place, it was, I think, a bold move on the author's part. And it works! I remeber the impact of her questioning her relationship with her husband. It almost seemed like a scene out of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

This book was the one that made Lewis notorious in his own home town. I expected to have to appreciate the times to be able to appreciate the book. I found myself sensing issues and scenarios that are just as common and real today. If you only have time for one book by America's first Nobel Prize-winning author, I recommend that you select this one to read. You won't be sorry!

America the beautiful?.......2000-04-08

Both Mainstreet and Babbitt are critical and realistic apraisels of life in America. More specifically mid-western America. Carl Van Doren commented saying,"Not one of them ( the contemporaries of Lewis) has kept so close to the main channel of American life as Mr. Lewis or so near to the human surface. He is part of a channel and a surface. To venture into hyperbole, not only is he one American telling stories, but he is America telling stories." These books once swept the nation with controversy due to their honesty of American life. I would recommend these books to anyone who enjoy books about people and the details concerning their lives, dreams and aspiratins. Lewis slowly draws the reader into the ever intricate and mediocre lives of the characters. While the stories are rarely fast paced they are certainly worth the read. If I had to make any recommendation I would advise reading Babbitt first due to the fact that it is more involving and fluid than Mainstreet. In addition to the two novels this book is published under a beautiful binding made to library standards. Enjoy.

Amphibians and Reptiles: Status and Conservation in Florida

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A wealth of information on specialized biological investigations in Florida's uplands, wetlands, rivers, and estuarine systems

Amphibians and Reptiles: Status and Conservation in Florida

Manufacturer: Krieger Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1575242516
Release Date: 2005-06-01

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For the first time a broad cross-section of distinguished researchers come together to address the conservation of Florida's rich but imperiled herpetofauna. The 27 contributions represent original research, essays, and reviews that identify contemporary threats to amphibians and reptiles and to the system that supports them. In the Synthesis of the book, Meshaka and Babbitt draw from these works and from prior discussions with the contributors to provide consensus regarding the most important threats facing the conservation of Florida's herpetofauna and proffer clear courses of action to ensure a viable future for this segment of Florida's natural legacy. Ultimately, the reader will see convincingly that conservation of Florida amphibians and reptiles can be achieved at several levels. Readable in style, contemporary in subject matter, this work is a snapshot of the present and a blueprint for the future of conservation action in Florida.

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A wealth of information on specialized biological investigations in Florida's uplands, wetlands, rivers, and estuarine systems.......2005-11-14

Jointly compiled and edited by Walter E. Meshaka Jr. (Zoology and Botany, State Museum of Pennsylvania) and Kimberly J. Babbit (Department of Natural Resources, University of New Hampshire), Amphibians And Reptiles: Status And Conservation In Florida is a compendium of articles of Floridian herpetofauna. From "The Florida Herpetofauna in a Changing Environment" by Walter Meshaka and Ray E. Ashton, to "The Value of Dead Tree Bases and Stumpholes as Habitat for Wildlife" by D. Bruce Means, to "The Conservation of Box Turtles on Public Lands in Florida" by C. Kenneth Dodd and Marian L. Griffey, Amphibians And Reptiles presents a wealth of information on specialized biological investigations in Florida's uplands, wetlands, rivers, and estuarine systems. Also included are three ground-breaking articles addressing issues in the commerical harvesting and Florida's herpetofauna, and two excellent pieces on exotic species and the Floridian herpetofauna. Concluding this outstanding collection is a "Synthesis" summary. Enhanced with a bibliography of cited literature and an appendices ("County Records of Native Amphibian and Reptile Species in Florida), Amphibians And Reptiles is a welcome and seminal contribution to herpetofauna in general, and Floridian amphibians and reptile wildlife in particular.

Plutarch: Moralia, Volume I (The Education of Children. How the Young Man Should Study Poetry. On Listening to Lectures. How to Tell a Flatterer from a ... in Virtue) (Loeb Classical Library No. 197)

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Plutarch: Moralia, Volume I (The Education of Children. How the Young Man Should Study Poetry. On Listening to Lectures. How to Tell a Flatterer from a ... in Virtue) (Loeb Classical Library No. 197)
Plutarch
Manufacturer: Loeb Classical Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0674992172

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Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45-120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Moralia is in fifteen volumes, volume XIII having two parts.

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