Little Edens

"Each of Moss's surprising, beautifully constructed, and soulful stories brilliantly illuminates the paradox of paradise." --Booklist

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during Louisa's youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher and a friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and from his family. Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted—her father's understanding—seemed hardest to win. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.

"Each of Moss's surprising, beautifully constructed, and soulful stories brilliantly illuminates the paradox of paradise." —Booklist These eight magical stories address the Edenic spaces that people create in their lives and the serpents that subtly inhabit them. In "Rug Weaver" (selected for Best American Short Stories 2001) an Iranian rug dealer makes a paradise of his prison cell by weaving an elaborate rug in his mind. Grieving parents in the title story transfigure a luxury subdivision in southern California into a vision of heaven. And in the novella "The Palm Tree of Dilys Cathcart" an unlikely love story unfolds between an Orthodox Jewish butcher and a lonely English piano teacher, who discovers a hunger for intimacy and ritual as she helps the butcher transcribe the mysterious songs he hears in his head. These and other stories constitute an elegant and richly evocative collection about the complexities of worldly and spiritual desires. Reading group guide included.

"The skill with which [Slater] combines various levels and modalities of narrative, utilizing her personal experience as a colorful unifying thread, is truly remarkable."—Antonio Candido, author of Antonio Candido: On Literature and Society (Howard S. Becker, editor) "A very important book, that quite gracefully, elegantly, and persuasively moves beyond the usual 'myth and history' format to put at its center stories about the Amazon and the people who tell them. Entangled Edens persuasively argues that the Amazon can only be grasped, understood, and come to terms with through its myths and stories. It addresses a very real failing of modern environmentalism, which for all its virtues, tends to dehumanize and metaphorically depopulate, when it does not villainize, populations that do share its concerns or share them in very different ways. Instead of forcing us to choose between land and people, Slater uses the stories and the people who tell them to rethink human relations with nature and each other."—Richard White, author of The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River "Elegant, erudite, profoundly serious, Entangled Edens is a source of inspiration and knowledge for the reader interested in the Amazon. Without the cultural tradition and the life experience of Amazonia’s people, any analysis of the Amazon risks becoming inconsequential or opportunistic. This is one of the powerful messages of this important reflection on the Amazon, whose greatest riches are ultimately its people. Candace Slater has written a book that will last."—Milton Hatoum, author of The Tree of the Seventh Heaven(1994) and The Brothers (2002)

This is not a book for the fainthearted. It is a thrilling adventure story that carries the reader through the entire pageant of history, from the farthest reaches of antiquity to the utmost limits of prophecy, complemented by supporting secular knowledge, focusing on the awesome plan God has put into motion. Throughout this anthology, the chosen people of promise are brought into sharp relief against the unceasing tactics of Satan to derail the plan, and bring an end to history's climax: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, and the resurrection of the saints to bring new government - the renewed Eden on earth. In the process of this thriller there are shown to be not one, not two, but three Edenic periods on earth! Follow the chapters of this book and its thorough documentation into an exciting and new experience that will tantalize and inspire you to the higher thoughts of the Almighty. Paul W. Syltie was raised on a crop and dairy farm in western Minnesota, and attended universities in the Upper Midwest, obtaining a Ph.D. in Soil Fertility in 1980. He married his high school sweetheart Sandy, and they are the parents of six children and nine grandchildren. Dr. Syltie is a farmer, writer, and instructor in natural agricultural methods who travels worldwide to help farmers improve their health and productivity by returning the soil to its God-intended vitality. Other books by the same author: The Syltie Family in America The New Eden: Millennial Agriculture, a Key to Understanding the Kingdom of God Understanding God's Government How Soils Work: A Study Into the God-Plane Mutualism of Soils and Crops

All twelve years of Eden's life have been spent in an antique oil lamp. She lives like a princess inside her tiny, luxurious home, but to Eden, the lamp is nothing but a prison. She hates being a genie. All she wants, more than anything, is freedom. When Eden finds a gateway to Earth inside the lamp, she takes her chance. In a moment, she's entered the world she loves. And this time, she won't be sent back after three wishes. Posing as the new kid at a California middle school, Eden revels in all of Earth's pleasures—but quickly learns that this world isn't as perfect as she always thought it was. Eden soon finds herself in the middle of a centuries-old conflict between powerful immortals. A ruthless organization run by a former genie will stop at nothing to acquire the lamp and its power—including hurting Tyler and Sasha, the mortal friends who have given Eden a home. To save her friends—and protect the magic of the lamp—Eden will have to decide once and for all where she belongs.

Private country paradises boasting remarkable plant palettes and combinations. Garden design expert Jack Staub presents more than twenty beautiful and sumptuous private country gardens in Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts. From a romantic garden with cottagey plantings that pays homage to the best of English garden vernacular to a splendid Eden of Maryland countryside meets Himalayan serenity, these garden paradises stand alone on their own terms but offer us examples of what we can all achieve with a modicum of respect, partnership and imagination. A passionate edible gardener and locavore advocate, Jack Staub is the author of the celebrated "75" series of edible gardening books, which includes 75 Exciting Vegetables for Your Garden, 75 Remarkable Fruits for Your Garden, and 75 Exceptional Herbs for Your Garden. With his partner, the renowned landscape designer Renny Reynolds, he is the owner of historic Hortulus Farm in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania: www.hortulusfarm.com. Rob Cardillo's work appears regularly in books, magazines and advertisements. You can see more of his award-winning photography at www.robcardillo.com.