Peg Bracken wrote several wildly funny and practical cook- and housekeeping books in the 60's and 70's. Frankly, I think she's better than Erma Bombeck, who is way overrated IMHO (her fame seems more based on her humanitarian work than her actual content). Bracken leavens the standard lament of housewife hell with erudite quotations, good sound advice and tasty classic Californian recipes -- you really do feel that this is a woman who has more in her than mere housekeeping, and so would like to simplify her chores to make time for her interests. Hillary Knight's wicked illustrations help, too.
Helen Gurley Brown: At various times, the publisher of Cosmopolitan also wrote books. It's easy to sneer at her how-to-catch-a-man scheming and cutesy-poo writing style, except that women still (despite all feminist machinations) want to have sex, and want to be entertained. Here again, I like the advice, love the recipes (especially in the older books) and have used her techniques to great success!
For something really different: The Liebers. The Liebers wrote math books like no others. Really. They must be seen to be believed.
writing
each phrase on
a new line
Lillian makes
heavy ideas
seem easy.
No, it's not free verse. It's actually a system whereby English can be written in the same manner as mathematics. Again, great illustrations, with a touch of the surreal, this time (many would make fine psychedelic posters). Each book contains a philosophical/historical background, a chunk of (usually) meaty math, several great drawings, and a summary. Yum!
The Snake Pit: the best yet asylum memoir/novel. You may remember the movie. Virginia Cunningham, a nice young woman, awakes one day in the garden of a mental institution, a year gone from her life. This book is how she recovers, relapses, and finally triumphs because/despite the best care available at the time (hydrotherapy, shock treatments, psychoanalysis). What distinguishes it from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, is that no one (except the heroine) comes out as being particularly evil or heroic -- you must remember that Cuckoo's Nest was written by an orderly, and Rose Garden by someone who read a case study. Nothing is spared here: it's life among the looney in all its squalor, boredom, and flashes of touching self-sacrifice. The best part comes near the end, when she talks as an equal with the nursing staff and learns their side of the stories. A must-read!
Three Weeks, by Elinor Glyn. One of the most romantic novels I've ever read, and a natural for a Merchant/Ivory production. Paul Verdyce, a nice young man, is sent abroad by his family to keep him from marrying the "wrong" girl, a horsy, mannish, parson's daughter named Isobel. Moping around in a Swiss hotel, he meets a mysterious older woman who promises to keep him from writing to Isobel if he accepts her tutoring in the social graces and art of living. Who is she? Why is she spending so much time and money on him? You'll never guess...
Parallels with Sunset Boulevard abound. You'll like this one.
Peg Bracken wrote several wildly funny and practical cook- and housekeeping books in the 60's and 70's. Frankly, I think she's better than Erma Bombeck, who is way overrated IMHO (her fame seems more based on her humanitarian work than her actual content). Bracken leavens the standard lament of housewife hell with erudite quotations, good sound advice and tasty classic Californian recipes -- you really do feel that this is a woman who has more in her than mere housekeeping, and so would like to simplify her chores to make time for her interests. Hillary Knight's wicked illustrations help, too.
Helen Gurley Brown: At various times, the publisher of Cosmopolitan also wrote books. It's easy to sneer at her how-to-catch-a-man scheming and cutesy-poo writing style, except that women still (despite all feminist machinations) want to have sex, and want to be entertained. Here again, I like the advice, love the recipes (especially in the older books) and have used her techniques to great success!
For something really different: The Liebers. The Liebers wrote math books like no others. Really. They must be seen to be believed.
writing
each phrase on
a new line
Lillian makes
heavy ideas
seem easy.
No, it's not free verse. It's actually a system whereby English can be written in the same manner as mathematics. Again, great illustrations, with a touch of the surreal, this time (many would make fine psychedelic posters). Each book contains a philosophical/historical background, a chunk of (usually) meaty math, several great drawings, and a summary. Yum!
The Snake Pit: the best yet asylum memoir/novel. You may remember the movie. Virginia Cunningham, a nice young woman, awakes one day in the garden of a mental institution, a year gone from her life. This book is how she recovers, relapses, and finally triumphs because/despite the best care available at the time (hydrotherapy, shock treatments, psychoanalysis). What distinguishes it from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, is that no one (except the heroine) comes out as being particularly evil or heroic -- you must remember that Cuckoo's Nest was written by an orderly, and Rose Garden by someone who read a case study. Nothing is spared here: it's life among the looney in all its squalor, boredom, and flashes of touching self-sacrifice. The best part comes near the end, when she talks as an equal with the nursing staff and learns their side of the stories. A must-read!
Three Weeks, by Elinor Glyn. One of the most romantic novels I've ever read, and a natural for a Merchant/Ivory production. Paul Verdyce, a nice young man, is sent abroad by his family to keep him from marrying the "wrong" girl, a horsy, mannish, parson's daughter named Isobel. Moping around in a Swiss hotel, he meets a mysterious older woman who promises to keep him from writing to Isobel if he accepts her tutoring in the social graces and art of living. Who is she? Why is she spending so much time and money on him? You'll never guess...
Parallels with Sunset Boulevard abound. You'll like this one.