Eudora Welty : Complete Novels: The Robber Bridegroom, Delta Wedding, The Ponder Heart, Losing Battles, The Optimist's Daughter (Library of America)

Amazon.com

This Library of America volume gathers all the long fiction published by the beloved Mississippi writer Eudora Welty. Throughout her long and storied career, Welty has been most famous, perhaps, for her short stories. But it's in her novels that she attempted some of her most ambitious and powerful creations: the idiosyncratic fable that is The Robber Bridegroom, drawing on legends, local history, folktale, and myth; the underrated, wickedly funny short novel The Ponder Heart; and Losing Battles, a familial epic 15 years in the making and begun in bits and pieces while Welty cared for her sick mother. In a strange inversion of the author's usual career trajectory, Welty's only attempt at a roman à clef came late in life, with the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Optimist's Daughter, the quiet, moving, largely autobiographical story of a woman coming to grips with her father's death. The novels alone earn Welty a place as one of the finest writers our century has produced; taken together with the Library of America companion volume, Stories, Essays, & Memoir, it's a body of work that William Maxwell calls "beyond human power of praising." Welty rarely strayed for long from the place of her birth, but her fiction is as capacious as the human heart itself. Like Faulkner, she has taken her own corner of Mississippi and made it encompass the world.

Customer Reviews:

Mistress of Southern Fiction.......2006-12-21

Each new volume from The Library of America, the non-profit publisher that has become the de facto literary hall of fame, is a cause for celebration. Its goal of preserving in an enduring format the best fiction and non-fiction is a significant bulwark against the encroaching tides of cultural relativism that attempts to render any value judgments meaningless, as well as a consumer society that insists that if it ain't new, it ain't good.

In the case of Eudora Welty, we're given two volumes: a collection of five novels ("The Robber Bridegroom," "Delta Wedding," "The Ponder Heart," "Losing Battles" and the Pulitzer-winning "The Optimist's Daughter"), and another of her essays, her memoir "One Writer's Beginnings" and her short stories. From her first published short stories, "Lily Daw and the Three Ladies" in 1937, to her last novel in 1972, Welty captures with her highly readable style and sharp eye and ear the varieties and eccentricities of Southern life.

But while the South claims Welty as one of its own, she may not necessarily return the favor. Teh cause is both geographic and a matter of choice. Although she was born in Jackson, Miss., in 1909 and lived there all her life, her father was from Ohio and her mother from West Virginia, a state created by the Civil War that went for the Union. This isn't Margaret Mitchell we're talking about here.

Then, in her essay "Place in Fiction," she stresses that while it is important for a writer to capture the feeling of an area, it is not the paramount goal in fiction:

"It is through place that we put out roots ... but where those roots reach toward ... is the deep and running vein, eternal and consistent and everywhere purely itself, that feeds and is fed by the human understanding."

But what pedigree does not provide, her environment probably did, for her work contains those elements poularly associated with Southern fiction. "Delta Wedding" celebrates the Southern family through the sprawling Fairchild clan and its passel of sons, daughters, cousins, aunts, great-aunts, nieces and nephews, all involved in each others' lives to a degree rarely seen today.

Many of her stories revolve around characters marginalized by society, struggling to exist and reach out to others: the simple Lily Daw who tries to evade the determination of the town's ladies to either marry her off or send her to the asylum; the generous, slightly retarded Daniel Ponder who would give away everything he has at the drop of a hat; the demented Clytie in "A Curtain of Green," who rushes about looking in people's faces until, seeing her reflection in a barrel of rainwater, dives in and drowns.

Eudora Welty was a sharp, perceptive writer, and her enshrinement by the Library of America is most welcome.

Greatest living southern writer.......2001-06-15

I began my acquaintance with Eudora Welty's works in college with One Writer's Beginnings and fell in love with the lyrics of her writing. I moved on to her short stories where I believe Ms. Welty surely shines brightest, but her novels are almost as wonderful. Very few people have the depth of insight into the mind and motivations of southerners that Eudora Welty has. She is right up there with William Faulkner. She has the gift of seeing and conveying the universal experiences of her decidedly regional cast of characters.

Since this is a collection of all of Ms. Welty's novels it is difficult to give a concise review. Suffice it to say that for reading pleasure you will not spend better money. The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize, but Losing Battles may be even better (the novel centers on all of the family stories told at a huge family reunion--great framing device for so many wonderful tales). The Robber Bridegroom is a southern fairy tale.

Eudora Welty is a giant of literature. This is a great Library of America collection. Buy it!

Average customer rating:

Necessary reading for the leaders of the Western Nations

Excellent Historical Review

The Losing Battle with Islam

An essential key to understanding the modern Islamic revival from 1947 to the present

Why the violence?

The Losing Battle with Islam
David Selbourne
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Islam | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Religion & Spirituality | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Religion & Spirituality | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within

The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion

Religion of Peace?: Islam's War Against the World

The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims

Islamic Imperialism: A History

ASIN: 1591023629

Book Description

In this comprehensive study of the Islamic revival from 1947 to the present, historian David Selbourne traces in detail the causes motivating the rise of Muslim fundamentalism in many countries and the West's largely uncomprehending response to it. He frankly describes the hostilities, cruelties, and errors of judgment on both sides.

Writing neither from the 'left' nor the 'right', Selbourne pieces together up-to-date information from more numerous sources than in any other work on the subject. He highlights the grotesque role that some sections of the Western media have played and seeks to do justice to the Islamist cause, demonstrating how many of the real issues of the Islamic revival have been evaded.

Selbourne argues that whether the 'reawakening' of the Islamic and Arab worlds has taken the political form of Arab nationalism, as under the leadership of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser in the 1950s, or the economic form of the OPEC oil embargo in 1973 and 1974, or the religious form of the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the present al-Qaeda suicide squads, in all its guises it is motivated by a sense of entitlement in Muslims to determine their own destiny free of Western subordination. The book contains separate chapters on: the immense scale of the Islamic resurgence and the upheavals and bloodshed it has caused, including between Muslim and Muslim; the concentration of the media on the violence and atrocities committed in the course of it; the deepening conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims in countries where Muslims have settled; and the types of lies, half-truths, deceptions and near-insane rhetoric which have been used both by Muslims and their antagonists in the struggles between them.

The book then looks at the role played by Israel and Jews both in provoking hostility and as a source of obsession on the part of others; examines impartially and in detail the positions taken, and the moral trickery used on all sides, in such disputes as the Rushdie case; analyses the role of civil libertarians and human rights activists in promoting the Islamist cause, and in permitting liberties to be taken with, and from, Western democratic societies; and in its eighth chapter looks at the various methods and alibis employed in order to shift responsibility for violence away from the perpetrators.

In the penultimate chapter, the author pays tribute to the great moral energy of the Islamic resurgence, showing that it has the beating of the frail ideologies of the West. He argues that this is particularly so at a time when much of Christianity, and especially the Catholic Church, have a diminishing moral status. And in the last chapter, he rejects as an illusion the prospect of a significant 'democratization' of Muslim and Arab nations, and shows how a combination of demography, Islam's ethical power, and the West's dependency on oil have the non-Muslim world on the run.

Selbourne concludes with a warning against the illusions of the West about its superiority and ability to contain a force that is confident of its own moral superiority and certain of its ultimate triumph.

Addressed both to general readers and to policy makers, academics, and journalists, The Losing Battle with Islam will stand for some time as one of the most impartial and authoritative accounts of a half century of Western conflict with Islam.

Customer Reviews:

Necessary reading for the leaders of the Western Nations.......2007-01-19

This book was so insightful on it's criticism of the Western Nation's indecisiveness of the onslaught of the Islamic march. At the end of each chapter I would think to myself, I wish our President of the United States would read this book and learn something from it.

Excellent Historical Review.......2007-01-03

This is an excellent historical review or Islam. The book has an enormous amount of information concerning Arabic studies.

The Losing Battle with Islam.......2006-10-16

David Selbourne's "The Losing Battle With Islam" is the quintessential guide to understanding the past and present Islamic movement. Selbourne traces in excrutiating detail the history of violence and the Islamic rebirth. I find nothing particularly objectionable in the discourse and believe he makes a good case for Western misunderstanding of the Muslim sense of moral superiority and belief in the eventual triumph. I only have a bachelors degree and found Mr. Selbourne's Oxford style of writing difficult to get through and it took me a long time to read. That may just be me, but I did find the book very informative. He does not, however, offer any solution for the "losing battle." Good not Great!

An essential key to understanding the modern Islamic revival from 1947 to the present.......2006-04-04

David Selbourne's The Losing Battle With Islam is an essential key to understanding the modern Islamic revival from 1947 to the present, and how the rise of Muslim fundamentalism in many countries is partially due to an uncomprehending response in Western society. Information from numerous sources seeks a median course in examining how the West has reacted to Islam, the role of media and reporting in these reactions, and how many of the issues of Islam have been missed. His argument is that no matter how you look at it, the economic, social and religious rise of Islam is motivated by a sense of Muslim determination to free their world from Western subordination: a determination which could hold wide-ranging impact for the West.

Why the violence?.......2006-03-28

This well written book brings to light several important facts.

The only thing more shocking than the ridiculous level of violence coming out of the Islamic world is the genuine indifference shown by most of those Muslims who are not directly involved. Though the number of terrorists is relatively small, they are sustained by the apathy of hundreds of millions, even in the heart of the Western world. One of the biggest questions asked in the aftermath of 9/11 was "where's the outrage?" as Americans had trouble understanding why Muslims did not act as people of other religions would have in the wake of a horrific mass murder committed in the name of their faith.

The simple fact is that Islam is not like other religions. The roots of the faith, the history, and the teachings from basic texts explain both the violence and the apathy that sustains it. Despite the drive that Westerners have to believe that other people are just like us, and that other religions are just like ours, it is anti-intellectual to ignore the broad evidence that demands otherwise.

The Custody Wars: Why Children Are Losing the Legal Battle, and What We Can Do About It

Average customer rating:

Why is it that ladies with a voice, like the author, rarely show any sympathy or compassion for other women?
What every family judge, attorney, and parent should read
Mason's book demysifies The Custody Wars brilliantly.

The Custody Wars: Why Children Are Losing the Legal Battle, and What We Can Do About It
Mary Ann Mason
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Legal System | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Children | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Domestic Relations | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Private Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Adolescent Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0465015328

Book Description

An impassioned and groundbreaking argument for the restoration of childrens rights to the foreground of the custody debate, from one of the countrys foremost Family Law experts. Should an abusive husband be given custody of his child? What about unwed fathers? Gay parents? Full- time working mothers? How much say should young children have in court? The recent exponential increase in the number of custody disputes due to divorce, adoption, surrogate motherhood, and artificial insemination makes child custody one of todays most hotly debated issues. And the legal shift to "equal treatment" of men and women has translated into parents rights taking precedence over childrens needs.

The Custody Wars is the first book to offer a framework for considering all custody issues from a childrens rights perspective and to offer proposals for changing the way disputes are settled. Fairness to parents must not come at the expense of children, Mason insists.

Drawing upon a wealth of legal cases and research--as well as the personal stories of families caught in these disputes--Mason presents a program for reform that is certain to change the terms of the debate on one of the most highly charged topics on the national agenda.

Customer Reviews:

Why is it that ladies with a voice, like the author, rarely show any sympathy or compassion for other women?.......2007-06-18

"Custody Wars" is just another attempt by some pseudo-feminist. Mary Mason obviously doesn't believe in the importance of children being with their mother's, or in women's equal rights, or in the equal rights of middle class Americans.

On pages 213 and 214 the author briefly discusses the Baby M case with an obvious slant towards the sperm donor/allegedly-infertile couple. (Why is it that ladies with a voice, like the author, rarely show any sympathy or compassion towards other women?) If you're not familiar with the Baby M case then I urge you to read Mary Beth Whitehead's book, "A Mother's Story." In her book, Mary Beth details that contracts cannot legislate love and no amount of money was able to buy her flesh and blood.

What every family judge, attorney, and parent should read.......2002-02-14

The author, who happens to be a judge, writes from the unique point of view of the child's interest -- not the mother's, father's, attorney's or GAL's (the latter two who usually run the show in family court). While it's well-known that most divorces are won by whoever has the most money and the best-connected lawyer (still, about money and paybacks to courts and judges - yes, it's a fact!) -- it's wonderful to discover that there are still a few wise people out there who care about the children involved.

A *must read* for parents, judges, GALs, and child psychologists.

Mason's book demysifies The Custody Wars brilliantly........1999-03-10

The thesis of Berkeley Law Professor Mary Ann Mason's highly readable and powerfully argued The Custody Wars is that the U.S. legal system fails to provide adequate representation and concern for the interests of children in custody disputes. Judiciously articulated irony abounds, as when Mason exposes the court system's vulnerability to the cynically utilized self-interest of many middle/upper class fathers and mothers for whom parenting is on the back burner. On the other hand, it is equally ironic that parents of both genders who practice self-sacrificism (not healthy, involved parenting) are sometimes the most childishly selfish in insisting upon their entitlement, regardless of the child's feelings. We learn of children whose lives are ridiculously fragmented and enervated by joint custody shuttlings, and yet we also hear of children who have benefited from the arrangement, thanks in large measure to the parents' maturity. As evidenced by the specificity and nuanced analysis in her case studies, Mason's scrupulous fairness and flexibility in offering parameters of judgment about custodial fitness are rooted in compassion for the child's well-being. She simultaneously seeks reasonably objective standards while realizing how difficult they are to determine, especially on ideological battlefields. Hers is wisdom unavailable to radical relativists or the theologically impaired. To note only two of many fine examples of her clear thinking about how the court system can be changed to make custody decisions more child-centered, Mason proposes that judges be educated in child development and that reviews of custody arrangements be mandated when the child is 7 and 12. Professor Mason has much of interest for various potential readerships. There are chapters on the unwed father, stepparents, domestic violence, gay and lesbian parents, and "test tube troubles." Mason's argument merits serious attention from a broad spectrum of policy-makers, academics, and warring couples and ex-couples. In fact, as a friend of mine, a single mother faced with absurd demands from a father with an abysmal track record, declared, "This book should be required reading for every couple considering marriage or children."

Average customer rating:

Winning the Losing Battle
Eda J. LeShan
Manufacturer: Bantam Books (Mm)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0553141473

Average customer rating:

Adorable
Takes me back
Lose this book
Am I having a bad hair day or is this novel boring?
Southern Heratige Shines Once Again

Losing battles
Eudora Welty
Manufacturer: Book-of-the-Month Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 096537467X

Book Description

Three generations of Granny Vaughn's descendants gather at her Mississippi home to celebrate her 90th birthday. Possessed of the true storyteller's gift, the members of this clan cannot resist the temptation to swap tales.

Customer Reviews:

Adorable.......2007-05-23

This book has a certain sweetness to it. So sweet that diabetics can only read it when fastened to an insulin pump. It is laden with vegetable metaphors, comparing things to flowers, trees, leaves. Involving an adorable southern family, an adorable county in rural Mississippi and little towns so adorable that they make your saliva curdle, after one hundred pages you get this great urge to commit adorable mayhem. No racism, no clans, after 150 pages, nary an African American.I notice that you can buy it used for a penny. Purchase it only if you intend to recycle it to Kimberly Clark.

Takes me back.......2007-02-08

You can never go wrong with Eudora Welty, she IS the South!

Lose this book.......2006-03-04

This novel is hideously overlong and completely unfunny. Eudora certainly knows how to create an atmosphere, that much is true, but this is an atmosphere I was eager to be done with, featuring the most miserable family reunion and godforsaken little town I've ever heard of. Don't waste your time.

Am I having a bad hair day or is this novel boring?.......2006-02-07

What's wrong with me? I love Eudora Welty's short stories. But this novel was exasperating. The story opens at a family reunion in backwoods Mississippi, where the author "overhears" endless conversations about nothing carried on by the Renfros and their kin. For hours, they debate whether the family antihero,, Jack Renfro, will appear at the reunion (after several years in the penitentiary).

For 60 pages, I waded through trivial dialogue as family members eagerly awaited Jack's appearance. I gather from other reviewers' comments that the family bad boy did show up eventually, but by that time I'd left the party. I'd closed the book and drifted off to sleep.

If you want plot action, this is not the book for you. I'd suggest you pick up Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor or even William Faulkner.

Southern Heratige Shines Once Again.......2002-04-24

Eudora Welty truly shows her Southern heratige in the novel, "Losing Battles." Three generations of Granny Vaughn's family come to celebrate her nineteth birthday. The family is also celebrating her grandson, Jack's, return home from prison. Welty writes this novel almost entirely in dialouge. At first it is very hard to keep up with all of the aunts, uncles, grandchildren, etc. talking, but as the novel progresses, it gets easier to read and you learn about each individual character. Even though this technique gets easier as the plot unfolds, it gets very tiring. It takes away a certain zest by not telling how the characters are feeling and thinking. Welty shows the great value of small towns. This novel brings about the closeness that communities should have. Take for example the fact that Jack ends up helping the judge who sentenced him to prison. The Banner community is very welcoming to other people, like Jack's new wife. The jargon used by Welty also creates a sense of closeness you feel toward the audience. "Losing Battles" reveals the importance of your roots and the people in which you come in contact with. On the day of the reunion a teacher who had taught three generations of Banner inhabitants passed away, giving the family more reasons to reminence about the old days. This part of the story created a twist and it allowed the novel to become more closer to heart. The laughter and the tears associated with the novel make it a 'losing battle' if you try to put it down. Even though it isn't my favorite novel in the world, it is well-written and one worth reading. So pick up a copy soon so you will be lost in the Southern heraitge that shined once again!

Blacks Need Not Apply: Losing the Battle for Equality in 21st Century America

Average customer rating:

Blacks Need Not Apply: Losing the Battle for Equality in 21st Century America
Collie Brown
Manufacturer: Claystone Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0976893606

Book Description

If you think job discrimination is a thing of the past, this book will change your mind.

In this astounding true story, author Collie Brown shatters the wall of secrecy surrounding the "new" discrimination that's being practiced at companies big and small even today. His fact-based memoir describes his personal three-year battle to drag a backwards-thinking corporation into the era of equal rights.

Why were only white men at his plant getting promoted, wondered the African-American steel worker?

Even with his spotless record and years of experience, Collie was constantly passed over by managers who favored white colleagues of lesser qualifications. As reader soon learn, one new requirement for promotion after another seemed to target Collie specifically, each designed to keep him from advancement. Finally, after years of hurdling one company -- imposed obstacle after another, his bosses relented -- he'll be promoted as long as he agrees to a smaller pay check and a transfer to a different plant. Frustrated and dejected, Collie files a discrimination lawsuit, only to find even more unfairness from the only place he could turn for redress -- the courts.

Average customer rating:
Cowboys and Samurai: Why the United States Is Losing the Industrial Battle and Why It Matters
Stephen D. Cohen
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Exports & Imports | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0887304168

Average customer rating:
The Golden Apples / Losing Battles / The Ponder Heart
Eudra Welty
Manufacturer: Quality Paperback Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IQU2CC

Average customer rating:

Exciting to read, yet very factual account

Leander McNelly, Texas Ranger: The Story of a Courageous American Winning Battles With War, Terrorism, and Bureaucratic Red Tape, While Losing His Battle With Illness
Robert Scott
Manufacturer: Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Midwest | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1571681760

Customer Reviews:

Exciting to read, yet very factual account.......1998-11-29

As a history professor, I expected this book to be little more than another cops 'n robbers story. Instead, it gives a fascinating insight to a little known Civil War campaign, followed by a sweeping review of Texas/American/Mexican politics in the post-War era. It manages to give enormous detail without ever becoming boring.

McNelly himself could have been created as hero of a fictional novel; he was a really incredible man, who excelled at everything he did.

I started to read the book reluctantly; once I got started, I couldn't put it down. This is an excellent, well written book! I recommend it to anyone interested in the Civil War, the Texas Rangers, state and national politics and human relations!

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books