The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining

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Reliving the Past

PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST IN THIS GENRE

NO IDEA what they're saying

buy it and use it

An incredible resource of "oldtimer" wisdom

The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining
Inc. Foxfire Fund
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Foxfire 2: Ghost Stories, Spring Wild Plant Foods, Spinning and Weaving, Midwifing, Burial Customs, Corn Shuckin's, Wagon Making and More Affairs of Plain Living

Foxfire 3 (Foxfire)

Foxfire 4 (Foxfire)

Foxfire 5 (Foxfire)

Foxfire 6 (Foxfire)

ASIN: 0385073534
Release Date: 1972-02-17

Book Description

In the late 1960s, Eliot Wigginton and his students created the magazine Foxfire in an effort to record and preserve the traditional folk culture of the Southern Appalachians. This is the original book compilation of Foxfire material which introduces Aunt Arie and her contemporaries and includes log cabin building, hog dressing, snake lore, mountain crafts and food, and "other affairs of plain living."

Customer Reviews:

Reliving the Past.......2007-09-04

If you are interested in learning how our forefathers lived without the modern day conveniences that we enjoy today, this book is a must read. You will learn how they survived without much income and you could learn something beneficial that you never knew.

PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST IN THIS GENRE.......2007-03-26

The Foxfire books are a wonderful thing and we are so lucky to have them. Many of the ways, crafts, planting lore, animal lore, and as the book says "affairs of plain living" are preserved here. This particular volume includes different wood and it's uses, Mountain Recipes, Slaughtering Hogs, weather signs faith healing and so very, very much more. this is a wonderful recording of life the way it was and probably never will be again. The book is quite well written and has faithfully recorded even the dialect of these wonderful people, from which so many of us sprung. That is a big part of the charm of these works. This book includes actual interviews with folks from that region of the country which I am sure are long dead now. Their knowledge would be completely lost without works such as this. Another generation or two and it will all be completely gone. Thank goodness we have recordings such as this. Recommend this one highly.

NO IDEA what they're saying.......2007-01-18

I heard about this book and thought, "OH I'm from the South and this book will be lovely to read to find out about how things used to be." And I would probably have been right if I could have made out what they were talking about. The slang is much too thick for me. I'm not sure anyone could understand it except people who actually are from this region. Thumbs down for no translation.

buy it and use it.......2006-06-18

Don't get me wrong the entire series is amazing. Book one is the best and one of the more practical. The chapter on log cabin building was my inspiration to build my own cabin. At least 75% of the cabin was directions from this very book. Reading a Foxfire (any of them) does something to you that's hard to explain. I think of Foxfire books as almost a self-help guide that teaches you how to slow down for a minute. I recommend this book for anybody with high blood pressure or some kind of anxiety problem. It's therapeutic. These students met some really neat people of Appalachia. We can't let this way of life fade away as it almost has in my hometown, Knoxville.

An incredible resource of "oldtimer" wisdom.......2006-04-15

I've inherited the first seven, origional print books from my dad, and bought 8 and 9 for myself just a year ago, and I must say that I've always enjoyed reading these books. The people who contributed their knowledge & wisdom to these books are a resource that has largely been lost to us, and it's a shame that more of us don't realize the wisdom that is missing in this world with the deaths of these oldtimers (as the books were written in the 70's primarily).

I rate this book right up there with Carla Emery's books, as a great resource for folks trying to get back to a more self-sufficient way of life and providing for themselves, their families, and even friends & neighbours. These books definitely give a sense of old-fashioned camaraderie and willingness to help your neighbour in time of need (and in times of plenty).

Average customer rating:

Timely, Thoughtful, and often very funny!

The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories
Tayeb Salih
Manufacturer: Three Continents Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 089410201X

Customer Reviews:

Timely, Thoughtful, and often very funny!.......2003-04-28

"The Wedding of Zein" actually includes three separate stories, all set in pleasant, rural, Muslim villages of the Sudan, in Africa. The book is named after one of the stories. The other two are called "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid," and "A Handful of Dates." Each tale has the universal feel of a fable -- the wisdom they encode in their simple language can speak to anyone, anywhere, anytime. The Muslim characters have a few traits which could seem odd to Western readers, but basically they are just like small town folks all over the world. They walk with dignity, they live in peace amidst old friends and loved ones, and they cherish their own dreams of love and happiness.

The title story is my favorite. Zein is sort of a "holy fool" in his little village. He is not exactly retarded, or crazy, but is clearly eccentric. He seems to promote laughter and good feelings wherever he goes, although sometimes this is at his own expense. Many of the villagers laugh at him. All of the villagers laugh with him. Zein seems unaware that there could be a distinction between these groups of people, and, perhaps, therein lies his potential for healing... He is betrothed to the beautiful, solemn, almond-eyed Ni'ma, before whom he has NEVER made a fool of himself. She, and she alone, holds this honor... Their courtship, and the impact it has upon the village, comprises a highly provocative, and ultimately warm, view into human nature. You won't forget this comedic, yet highly serious, love story.

Book Description

This second Foxfire volume includes topics such as ghost stories, spinning and weaving, wagon making, midwifing, corn shuckin', and more.

Customer Reviews:

BOOK(S) WITH A WONDERFUL PURPOSE........2007-04-13

THis work, Volume II, is like the others. A wonderful history of how it was. In this day and age of having most needs meet and something for everyone on the Wal-mart shelf, we tend to forget just what it was like in our not too distant past. These books, the Foxfire books, brings to light skills, attitudes and a way of life that is all but forgotten. This is a good thing. When a people lose their history, they lose part of their soul. As the title of this work states, Ghost Stories, Wild Plant Foods, Spinning, Weaving, Midwifing, Corn Shucking, and there is so much more. The editors have done a wonderful job. They have made a very honest effort to replicate the dialect of those places and times and I feel that this is a big part of the charm of these books. I am old enough to have known many of the kinds of folks featured in these books, being only one generation past them, and have a great appreciation for what and how they did all the little things we take so for granted now. I might also suggest that you actually try some of the things mentioned in these volumes. It will give you even more of an appreciation for what they did, and hey, who knows, the skill you develope just might come in handy one of these days! Recommend this and the other Foxfire books highly.

Survival Guide for Hardy Individuals.......2007-03-28

Have enjoyed all the Foxfire Books for years. They are a wonderful peek into the lives of hardy people who survived without a single benefit from the U.S.Government.........and were proud of it.

Great Book!.......2006-03-15

I bought this book for my husband and he loves it! There are so many interesting facts in these books. I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in how things were back in the "old" days. Everyone, no matter how young or old, will learn something from reading this book.

Foxfire books are excellent.......2003-07-29

Years ago we owned all the Foxfire books, and then we donated them to the library so others could glean the wisdom they had, and we have slowly begun to but copies for our home library and this is one that I wanted first. Simply because it had information on burial customs and I make plain pine burial boxes. And because it has excellent information on wild plants that are edible in the spring and we love to forage for wild plants for food like stinging nettle, fiddle fern and dandelion. The section on bee keeping is also informative. Then there is the wonderful section on midwives which is of personal interest to me, as well as the wonderful section on how to wash clothes in an iron pot, because being vagbond-homestead-mountain mode people we like good clean clothes washed in an environmentally sound manner using the least amount of soap possible.

The Foxfire series is one that comes up on various simple living, homestead, frugal websites and web boards. So I know that millions of people have over the years found the series of books to be invaluable.

I love the series of these books.......1999-09-13

The series of Foxfire books takes you back in time when life was hard physically but simplier mentally. While reading these books I fell like I am in a time capsule being transported back in time ninety or so years. I enjoy past history and anything to do with mountain country around the Smokies. These peope lived off the land and took the time to enjoy life and their families. These books provide tips for things that are still done the same way, such as tanning hides. Norma Doyle, Florida

Kiss, Bow, or Shakes Hands Asia: How to Do Business in 12 Asian Countries (Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands)12

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Kiss Bow or Shake Hands Asia

Kiss, Bow, or Shakes Hands Asia: How to Do Business in 12 Asian Countries (Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands)12
Terri Morrison , and Wayne A. Conway
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 159869216X

Book Description

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Asia reveals the subtleties of interaction, negotiation strategies, and professional skills you need to keep poised for success in your business travels. This comprehensive guide to Asia contains up-to-date information to lead you through social situations, business meetings, and understanding local culture.

Americans must now consider how economies are continuously shifting all over Asia, and how Asian countries interact with the West and each other. Learn about business practices, cognitive styles, negotiation techniques, and social customs. Give the right gift; make the right gesture.

Includes:

Cultural IQ tests
ÒKnow Before You GoÓ tips
Alerts on international security issues

Countries profiled are China (Hong Kong), India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Customer Reviews:

Kiss Bow or Shake Hands Asia.......2007-10-04

I bought this for my daughter who does a lot of business travel. She said it is an awesome resource and a must for those doing business abroad.

New French Country: A Style and Source Book

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French Country decorating
A real gem
Love this book!
VERY INFORMATIVE
love it

New French Country: A Style and Source Book
Linda Dannenberg
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0609610414
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Customer Reviews:

French Country decorating.......2007-08-22

The book was very informative. It gave me many ideas on how to include my furnishings with a French feel.

A real gem.......2007-05-21

I can see this book is going to sit on the top of the coffee table book pile for a long time to come. Aside from the fabulous photos of French Provincial homes, Dannenberg delicately picks apart the details that make a typical Provincial home and garden. It does the job so much better than we sitting in another continent can grasp from a few photos in a book. It teaches us how to copy this style and really appreciate the quality of each piece of furniture, artwork or chattel we acquire for own little pretend patch of France.
I love this book!

Love this book!.......2007-04-05

Really a wonderful book - both beautiful to look at and informative. Very interesting reading, as well as artistically lovely with wonderful, colorful photography. I am not a decorator or designer by trade, but go to this type of book for creative inspiration, and this one was a winner.

VERY INFORMATIVE.......2007-02-26

Wonderful book on French Country Style. This book is packed with lots of vivid photos but what sets this book apart from all the other styling books is the wealth of information that the author shares with the reader. It is truly a must for any Provencal styling fan.

love it.......2007-02-12

If you want detailed descriptions of French design elements, including their history, this is the book for you. If you just want room pictures, this may not work for you, as it is text-heavy. I just love it.

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries (Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60)

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Understanding
A Quick Reference on Cross Cultural Sensitivities
Dubious advice at best
Another inaccuracy
Kiss Bow or Shake Hands

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries (Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More Than 60)
Terri Morrison , Wayne A. Conaway , and George A. Borden
Manufacturer: B. Adams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1558504443

Amazon.com

In a global economy, it is crucial for business people to be sensitive to cultural differences. And although the best reason for doing so may be ethical, it's great for business as well! This is an invaluable book for "doing well while doing good" in your intercultural relations, covering the protocols of appointments, business entertaining, greetings, forms of address, gestures, dress, and gifts in 60 of the nations you're most likely to be doing business. Some interesting excerpts:

Australia: The "thumbs-up" sign, which in the U.S. indicates "O.K." is considered rude.
Brazil: The colors of the Brazilian flag are green and yellow, so avoid wearing this combination in any fashion.
China: Avoid making exaggerated gestures or using dramatic facial expressions. The Chinese do not generally use their hands when speaking, and become distracted by a speaker who does.
Indonesia: Since it is impolite to disagree with someone, Indonesians rarely say "no"...a clear way to indicate "no" is to suck in air through the teeth.

The authors are very aware that no generalizations apply to all residents of a nation, and are careful not to stereotype or judge. Highly recommended to any business traveler--or any student of the diversity of human cultures.

(Note: a great companion volume for this book is Gestures, which is devoted entirely to explaining the varieties of hand gestures in 82 countries!)

Book Description

You're doing business abroad. Do you know how to understand a country's political climate? Identify how decisions are made? Negotiate effectively? Properly address and entertain your contacts? In today's rapidly expanding global marketplace, business people must understand the distinctive customs of the major nations. This guide help you do exactly that. It's filling with important facts about business customs, behavioral styles, social customs, and much more!

The listing for each country includes complete information on:
Country Background
Brief History
Type of Government
Language
Religion
Demographics
Cultural Orientation
Value Systems
Sources of Anxiety Reduction
Issues of Equality/Inequality
Business Practices
Appointments
Negotiating
Business Entertaining
Time
Greeting Protocol
Titles/Forms of Address
Gestures
Dress
Gifts

Customer Reviews:

Understanding.......2007-06-18

This is an excellent resource to assist those of us who live in the United States to better understand and relate to individuals from other countries. Behaviors are very often driven by culture. I use this with Homestay families when I place students from other countries in their homes.

A Quick Reference on Cross Cultural Sensitivities.......2007-05-19

I run leadership programs for high potential Fortune 500 women in NYC, Boston and NJ and I meet so many talented men and women from Eastern Europe, Europe, South America, Asia, South America and even Iceland. This book gives me a quick reference on business culture, mores, traditions and social culture. I know these get out of date quickly but it's sure better than not knowing and allows you to be more responsive.

Dubious advice at best.......2007-04-25

I lived in South East Asia for nearly 12 years including over 8 of them in Indonesia. From tiny villages in Java with just under 30 families to the skyscrapers of Jakarta, running industrial projects and developing business. I even gained a native level fluency of the language.

At no time during that entire period did I EVER find an Indonesian who would hesitate to tell me "no". They can say it, do say, and even have a few different words for it. The only time I've ever seen someone suck air between their teeth is when they've eaten something really hot.

It's naive to think a single book or individual can cover the customs of 60 countries. Having spent considerable time in one geographic region with my feet on the ground for years in nearly a dozen countries, I couldn't even begin to start to explain the cultural traits and habits of maybe four or five of those countries.

Find yourself a real cultural etiquette book that focuses on the specific country you want to visit, and forget this superficial treatment that looks like a rehash of every other general cultural etiquette book I've ever read.

Another inaccuracy .......2007-03-30

Perhaps many of the people who are rating the book so highly did not take the "cultural IQ" quizzes. I took the one for Spain, a country I have visited. The answers were correct in identifying the Prado as being in Madrid, but the last time I visited the Alhambra, it was in Granada, not Toledo (where the book puts it). That's quite a distance to move a major cultural landmark!

Kiss Bow or Shake Hands.......2007-01-12

Excellent reference book. Especially useful if you do international business of any kind.

Average customer rating:

Charming, Oblique
the wildness and irregularity of the country
The Best Autobiography I've ever read
There Is No Africa
Here I am, where I ought to be.

Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass
Isak Dinesen
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679724753
Release Date: 1989-10-23

Amazon.com

Out of Africa is Karin Blixen's love letter to the country she called home for nearly 20 years. Arriving in British East Africa (now Kenya) from Denmark in 1914, Blixen--Isak Dinesen was her pen name--was immediately seduced by the landscape of the Ngong hill country, not to mention the animals and people who inhabited it. Her descriptions bring this wonderland alive for readers: out on safari, she recalls the movements of a group of giraffes, "in their queer, inimitable, vegetative gracefulness, as if it were not a herd of animals but a family of rare, long-stemmed, speckled gigantic flowers slowly advancing." Blixen laces into her reverie the account of her coffee plantation--which ultimately succumbed to high altitude, droughts, and tumbling international coffee prices--and tales of her friendships with other colonials in Nairobi. But one should read her memoir for the stories she tells of cooking with her Kikuyu chef (who almost never ate any of the European delicacies he so expertly created), adopting an abandoned infant antelope, flying over the countryside in her lover's plane--"the greatest, most transporting pleasure of my life on the farm"--and watching the children of her tenant farmers collect at her house each day at noon for the spectacle of her cuckoo clock.

Though some of her references to native Africans will likely make today's readers uncomfortable, Blixen can also be perceptive, particularly in her articulation of the differences between European and African culture and her excitement over what she learns from "her" Africans. It is not long before she is attuned to the rhythms of nature: she can foresee when the rains will come, can spot the new moon before anyone else on the farm, and knows exactly what the silence of night should sound like. Though her sorrow is almost unbearably palpable when at last--after the collapse of the farm, the loss of her lover, and the war looming--Blixen leaves Africa, the reader will close the book richer for her sojourn. --Jordana Moskowitz

Book Description

With classic simplicity and a painter's feeling for atmosphere and detail, Isak Dinesen tells of the years she spent from 1914 to 1931 managing a coffee plantation in Kenya.

Customer Reviews:

Charming, Oblique.......2007-05-24

I came to this book expecting to read one woman's personal experience of living in Africa, and that's what I found. There is no sociology here, and very little historical context. She does not illuminate THE African experience. She records HER African experience. Certainly that is all she owes the reader? One woman's experience, one woman's life in a time very different from our own.

Do some of her observations shock the modern reader's sensibility? Oh certainly. There are things one simply does not SAY, and back when she wrote, she did. On the whole, her love and respect shine through when speaking of the people who entered her life as neighbors, employees and friends.

Dinesen brings to life a physical landscape that most of us will never get to see. She takes passionate delight in her work, her companions, and her surroundings. Even her setbacks are embraced, as they compose part of a life she knew was slipping away from her.

I was intrigued by what she didn't write. The book maintains almost complete silence about her husband, her health, and her relationship with Denys Finch Hatten. It is only in writing of his death that we understand how deep her feelings were. She writes around that love. Her discretion made my heart ache.

Very highly recommended.

the wildness and irregularity of the country.......2007-03-22

Now eclipsed by the Streep-Redford film presentation that appropriated its title, Karen Blixen's memoir of life on her Kenyan coffee farm speaks movingly of the more benign side of colonialism in Africa and of one European's self-evident love for the land she had made her own.

Sadly, Blixen's lush descriptions of 'her people' are often judged too quickly by modern criteria of racial attitudes, a game that is like asking this early twentieth-century writer to wrestle with one arm tied behind her back. If it can be granted that there was anything good about Europe's colonization of Africa, then Bliksen (Isak Dinesen was her pen name) is its face.

She loved the land and its people, entering about as far as was plausible in her time into the remarkable rhythm of both. What more can be asked of any of us, all children of our moment and enveloped in its limitations?

This is a book for lovers of Africa, no matter whence they come. Blixen not only pushed an eloquent pen, she was herself shaped in the biblical and classical language of educated Europeans in a way that prepared her to bridge Africa and Europe in a day when few were equipped to do so.

Blixen's Africa no longer exists, as she already realized within the window of her writing of OUT OF AFRICA and SHADOWS ON THE GRASS. Yet the Africa Blixen knew has children, not to be disinherited for the generations that have passed and the unsavory disease that a legacy of failed leaders has wrought upon this great continent. Though the primary fruit of reaching behind the celluloid to *read* OUT OF AFRICA is the satisfaction of the read itself, it is also true that today's Africa and today's Africans can be glimpsed in the great-grandparents who knew and lived in proximity to this enigmatic and uniquely gifted Danish colonist in a land she mistreated only by calling it hers.

The Best Autobiography I've ever read .......2005-10-13

I find most autobiographies to be masterbatory exercises in which the authors attempt to explain themselves.

But in Out of Africa, Denison does no explaining, no apologizing. It is love poem to the Africa she knew, and while she does display racist views, it is as she unashamedly shows her heartbreak over a world she loved and was lost.

Denison also wrote some very powerful short stories, most notably the ones in "Winter's Tales." "The Sorrow Acre," is technically one of the most masterly presented short stories I have ever read. Despite her later skills, though, Out of Africa sets itself apart as a masterpiece for its ability to elegantly show an individual's gushing sense of loss.

There Is No Africa.......2004-11-28

Underlying Blixen's tale of early 20th century Africa is the presumption that there was such a place; that is, a people or nation of peoples existed to which she went and from which she was forced to depart by economic circumstances. This presumption a priori allows her to reminisce about Africa the way it was or was supposed by her to have been.

As she observed, Africa was, in a sense, leaving her. Peoples were being moved around, new laws restricting tribal behavior were being passed, and the Ngong Hills were being laid out as a suburb of Nairobi. She was there, she professed, before all these changes began.

But was she? Was there a time and place, "Africa", or is this concept mainly her and the European view of the times? Blixen's Africa in fact was not any sort of original. Europeans had already produced vast changes: the tribes were by then being herded into reservations and European ways and goods prevailed. European reporters never reported Africa the way it was or had been. That information remained "dark."

The informational darkness is not entirely their fault. An observer always alters that which he sets out to observe. It is only a presumption that his observations are an approximation of the reality the way it would be without him observing it. That presumption is least justifiable in human affairs. We will never know what the original Masai or Kikuyu were like, or the exact configuration of flora and fauna among which they dwelled, or how they reacted to their environments or each other.

Similarly Blixen's little white light doesn't shine very far. We get some ethnic generalities as the vehicle of which she devises some stock identities, "the Kikuyu", "the Masai" and the like, which, on closer examination, turn out to be of European origin. Blixen manufactures masks and tries to get the Africans to wear them. Sociological and anthropological data are nearly entirely in deficit from these supposed traits. She probably is not alone in this process of inventing peoples. It accounts, perhaps, for why the Mau-mau insurrection caught the Europeans totally by surprise, as though you were to paint doodles on a sleeping man's body and he were to awake suddenly and demand angrily to know what you were doing.

Here I am, where I ought to be........2004-11-19

I'm another reader who comes to Out of Africa by way of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye; and it became recommended reading before I visited Kenya for myself in the early 90's. So, having just finished it and now half way through Shadows on the Grass, my overall impression is a pleasant one. I enjoyed Dinesen's writing style very much, and would agree with many readers that Out of Africa deserves a place among the classics in English literature. It's Karen Blixen's memoirs of her time in Kenya around WWI, living and working on her coffee plantation near Nairobi. Her descriptions of the Natives, her European friends, the land, the animals, flora and fauna are incredible. The chapters shift back and forth in time, some focused on specific events and individuals, some more whimsical and anecdotal. Reading Out of Africa transports the reader into early 20th Centrury colonial Kenya, and more concretely, onto Ms. Blixen's farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Years later she takes up her time in Africa again in Shadows on the Grass, talking more about her loyal Somali servant & right-hand man, Farah, taking a more philosophical tone regarding "masters & slaves", Native superstitions, manners, and so on. Shadows is inferior in many ways to Out of Africa, and it feels more like an "addendum" to the main work, which is poetry by comparison. By the time she writes it, she seems to have grown slightly more distant, and well, Colonist European.

As for Out of Africa, if you've seen the movie version and are looking for it here you're in for a surprise because the book contains no overt romance between Karen & Denys, nor mention of siphylous, nor much in the way of Karen's own personal life. Her ex-husband, Bror is almost non-existant. That makes sense seeing that she wrote under a pseudonym for whatever reaons. Still, I was slightly disappointed not to find more personal thoughts or emotions from her, or discussions regarding the politcal, historical, or economic backdrop of Kenya. Or the workings of the coffee business there. (I have yet to read it, but from what I gather "Uhuru" by Robert Ruark is an excellent novel dealing with these types of affairs in Kenya in the next generations after Blixen, in the 1950's & 1960's). Also, Blixen is very much a product of the times and her colonial attitudes and mindset sometimes come across as condescending or negative towards the Africans (mostly in certain passages in Shadows though). However, I do believe that in her frequent comparisons between the animals, land, and Natives Blixen is actually praising and admiring the people, not being racist or mean, as one reviewer here claims. She frequently praises the Kikuyus, Masai, and Somali she lives with for their numerous attributes (as well as the European settlers) and for their simplicity and harmony with nature, versus the repressed and "civilized" Europe she comes from. One other thing that's different from the movie is her attitude towards hunting. In the movie it's as though she doesn't hunt at all, but in the book she specifically mentions her intitial desire to shoot one of every kind of local game (though she does later express some distaste for hunting, she remains enthusiastic about shooting lions, comparing it in Shadows to "a declaration of love" and hunting to being a sort of "love-affair"). She means respect, but oh how the times have changed now with all the big game enthusiasts shooting game with . . . cameras from pop-top mini-vans!

Once I let go of the movie (its own masterpiece of beauty & cinematography) and my intellectual curiosities, and came to accept Blixen's memoir as it is, I enjoyed it more and more as I read on. I took my time reading it, savoring it, and reflecting upon my own safari experience (with a camera) in Kenya not too many years ago, and found much to admire and contemplate in her writings, even if from a different era. While Out of Africa isn't especially deep or philosphical, nor dramatic or emotional, it somehow comes across as a grand novel, and there are moments when all of the above hit you. This is due primarily, I think, to Blixen's having lived a fascinating life in a unique period and place, and knowing how to tell a story without overdoing it - she just writes her own experiences. One good example of this balance can be found in one of my favorite chapters entitled, "A Fugitive Rests on the Farm" from Part III. In it, a Swedish immigrant and traveler named Emmanuelson stays briefly on Karen's farm, discusses his lonely and peripatetic life with her, and eventually walks off into the Masai reserve all alone, putting his fate into God & the Masai's hands. The sparse detail and images are great. Likewise, her rememberances with Denys Fitch-Hatton are wonderfuly scenic and memorable as well, and subtly romantic. All the vignettes she relates are mostly undramatic, straight-forward, and though unforgettable. Out of Africa is a unique literary memoir and journal of a diverse group of people come together in one specific place and time, bonded together by the very soil in which the coffee trees they lived for were once planted, and live on in these organic pages.

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the heart of French Provence style

Pierre Deux's French Country
Linda Dannenberg
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517547872
Release Date: 1989-01-13

Book Description

What has come to be known as the French country look is really the style of Provence -- the sun-drenched region in the south of France centering on Arles, Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence. It is a land of cool stone chateaux, farmhouses painted in ochres and dusty roses, country roads bordered by rows of graceful cypress trees, fields of lavender, trellised grapevines, red tile roofs, ancient hilltop cities such as Les Baux, and the vivid blue of the Mediterranean along the Cote d'Azur. The clarity of the light and the intoxicating sensuality of the landscape inspired Cezanne and Van Gogh.

In over 450 full-color photographs, Pierre Deux's French Country explores all the rich ingredients of Provencal style. There are chapters on colors, fabrics, pottery, furniture, decorative elements, houses, gardens, and French country adaptations in the United States. A ten-page directory offers U.S. and French sources for regional antiques and contemporary products.

From the brightly patterned paisley cottons of Souleiado in Tarascon to the hand-blown glass of Biot and the hand-molded faience platters of Moustiers, from the massive 18th-century armoires and rush-seated banquettes and chairs to bread boxes, saltboxes, and chests with intricately carved floral motifs, the craftsmanship of the region imparts a special luster, a vibrancy and warmth of color and texture that survive in the works of today, Whether presenting a charmingly rustic ranch deep in the horse country of the Camargue, a Renaissance mas in the foothills of the Alps, or a wine-producer's estate near Saint-Remy, this book paints a vivid portrait of a land of grace and simplicity that is at once exuberantly beautiful, seductive, effortless, and sophisticated.

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the heart of French Provence style.......2007-09-07

A "must-have" for those who want to capture the essence of Provence, France in their home, or in just a corner of a room. This out of print book represents the earlier, pure beginnings, the "je ne sais quoi" of this warm style. Lovely photographs, good text will provide ideas for large decorating projects as well as subtle touches in one's own home wherever it may be in the world.

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love'd 'em 30 years ago & still do
WE OWE THESE PEOPLE A LOT
Good place to get ideas but don't expect a solid how-to

Foxfire 3 (Foxfire)
Inc. Foxfire Fund
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385022727
Release Date: 1975-07-15

Book Description

Volume 3 of this series covers animal care, banjos and dulcimers, wild plant foods, butter churns, ginseng and more.

Customer Reviews:

love'd 'em 30 years ago & still do.......2007-06-21

I loved these books as a kid and now my kids are learning from them

WE OWE THESE PEOPLE A LOT.......2007-04-22

I own, read and use almost all of the Foxfire books. Actually, we owe both the Foxfire people and we certainly owe the characters of a gone generation. This work, Volume III, is like the others. A wonderful history of how it was. In this day and age of having most needs meet and something for everyone on the Wal-mart shelf, we tend to forget just what it was like in our not too distant past. These books, the Foxfire books, brings to light skills, attitudes and a way of life that is all but forgotten. Do be warned though, as one reviewer has pointed out, these are not step by step "how to do it" books. But This is sort a good thing as the how to books out there are sort of a dime a dozen any more. When a people lose their history, they lose part of their soul. As the title of this work states, this addresses many of the old forgotten skills and there is so much more. The editors have done a wonderful job. They have made a very honest effort to replicate the dialect of those places and times and I feel that this is a big part of the charm of these books. I am old enough to have known many of the kinds of folks featured in these books, being only one generation past them, and have a great appreciation for what and how they did all the little things we take so for granted now. I might also suggest that you actually try some of the things mentioned in these volumes. It will give you even more of an appreciation for what they did, and hey, who knows, the skill you develope just might come in handy one of these days! Recommend this and the other Foxfire books highly.

Good place to get ideas but don't expect a solid how-to.......1998-10-23

All of the foxfire books have a similar format: interviews with elders who practice a specific handicraft. And in the telling you can learn a lot of good details, but these books are not meant to teach you how to do any of these crafts, they are simply recording the knowledge of these elders. There are much better how-to's out there for skills. For a general book, get "The Encyclopedia of Country Living", for a book on hide-tanning get "Deerskins into Buckskins", both available from amazon.com

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