"To understand why people say 'Dear old Kansas " is to understand that Kansas is no mere geographical expression, but a 'state of mind, ' a religion, and a philosophy in one," writes historian Carl Becker in the classic 1910 essay that leads off this volume. Like Becker, the twelve other essayists and four poets try to map the spiritual topography of Kansas and explain why this particular patch of prairie is so dear. They share the conviction that Kansas represents something powerful, something significant, something noteworthy. The seventeen selections are put into perspective by Thomas...
"To understand why people say 'Dear old Kansas " is to understand that Kansas is no mere geographical expression, but a 'state of mind, ' a religion, ...
Falling under the spell of these short stories by O. Henry Award winning author Thomas Fox Averill, a reader might well wonder: What in the world is ordinary? If there really are just plain folks anywhere at all, they d surely be in the solid Midwestern Kansas of Averill s fiction. And yet the ordinary people we meet in these stories lead us into one startling encounter after another with the mystery, the magic, and, yes, the transcendence that even the most mundane life secretly holds.In writing that has been called lyrical (New York Times), compelling (Kansas City Star), and...
Falling under the spell of these short stories by O. Henry Award winning author Thomas Fox Averill, a reader might well wonder: What in the world is o...
It s Christmas, and Carol Dickens s life is in major transition. Her son Finn, a talented trumpet player, is about to leave for college. Her ex-husband, a real-estate wheeler-dealer, wants to sell their properties in Kansas and move to Arizona. Her wheelchair-bound friend, Laurence, has fallen in love with her. To top it all off, Scraps, the family dog, is dying. As her world spins out of control, Carol seeks refuge in her research on the use of the semicolon and in her ritual of cooking the perfect series of Victorian holiday meals inspired by A Christmas Carol."
It s Christmas, and Carol Dickens s life is in major transition. Her son Finn, a talented trumpet player, is about to leave for college. Her ex-hus...
