Author: Evelyn Lord File Type: pdf In this intimate history of the extraordinary Black Plague pandemic that swept through the British Isles in 1665, Evelyn Lord focuses on the plagues effects on smaller towns, where every death was a singular blow affecting the entire community. Lords fascinating reconstruction of life during plague times presents the personal experiences of a wide range of individuals, from historical notables Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton to common folk who tilled the land and ran the shops. She brings this dark era to vivid life through stories of loss and survival from those who grieved, those who fled, and those who hid to await their fate. **html

Author: Truman Capote File Type: pdf Perhaps no twentieth century writer was so observant and elegant a chronicler of his times as Truman Capote. Whether he was profiling the rich and famous or creating indelible word-pictures of events and places near and far, Capotes eye for detail and dazzling style made his reportage and commentary undeniable triumphs of the form. Portraits and Observations is the first volume devoted solely to all the essays ever published by this most beloved of writers. From his travel sketches of Brooklyn, New Orleans, and Hollywood, written when he was twenty-two, to meditations about fame, fortune, and the writers art at the peak of his career, to the brief works penned during the isolated denouement of his life, these essays provide an essential window into mid-twentieth-century America as offered by one of its canniest observers. Included are such celebrated masterpieces of narrative nonfiction as The Muses Are Heard and the short nonfiction novel Handcarved Coffins, as well as many long-out-of-print essays, including portraits of Isak Dinesen, Mae West, Marcel Duchamp, Humphrey Bogart, and Marilyn Monroe. Among the highlights are Ghosts in Sunlight The Filming of In Cold Blood, Preface to Music for Chameleons, in which Capote candidly recounts the highs and lows of his long career, and a playful self-portrait in the form of an imaginary self-interview. The book concludes with the authors last written words, composed the day before his death in 1984, the recently discoveredRemembering Willa Cather, Capotes touching recollection of his encounter with the author when he was a young man at the dawn of his career. Portraits and Observations puts on display the full spectrum of Truman Capotes brilliance. Certainly, Capote was, as Somerset Maugham famously called him, a stylist of the first quality. But as the pieces gathered here remind us, he was also an artist of remarkable substance.ReviewA must-have treasure for Capote fans . . . These are delicious, dramatic, and tender nonfiction portraits and tales.NPRs Morning EditionA wonderful volume . . . Nearly every page can be read with real pleasure. . . . No matter what his subject, [Capotes] canny, careful art gives it warm and breathing life The Washington Post Book WorldEvery piece is a treasure. . . . Pages and pages of remarkably evocative, careful and well-observed prose [delineate,] in a measured and elegant manner, one of the most remarkable American literary lives of the twentieth century. Jane Smiley, Los Angeles Times Book Review About the AuthorTruman Capote was born September 30, 1924, in New Orleans. After his parents divorce, he was sent to live with relatives in Monroeville, Alabama. It was here he would meet his lifelong friend, the author Harper Lee. Capote rose to international prominence in 1948 with the publication of his debut novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. Among his celebrated works are Breakfast at Tiffanys, A Tree of Night, The Grass Harp, Summer Crossing, A Christmas Memory, and In Cold Blood, widely considered one of the greatest books of the twentieth century. Twice awarded the O. Henry Short Story Prize, Capote was also the recipient of a National Institute of Arts and Letters Creative Writing Award and an Edgar Award. He died August 25, 1984, shortly before his sixtieth birthday.