Splendor In The Grass

THE STORY: Good looking, a star athlete, and son of the richest man in town, Bud Stamper is the prize catch in his high-school class, and Deanie Loomis is the girl lucky enough to get him. But both Bud and Deanie are disturbed by the powerful feeli

"Dave Hickey gets it exactly right in his preface to this collection of journalism, poetry, fiction and memoir: Lewis, who died in 1997, was indeed 'the most stone wonderful writer that nobody ever heard of.' Writing for Rolling Stone in the early '70s, he almost singlehandedly invented the movie set piece, and no one's ever improved on his flint-eyed profiles of Sam Peckinpah and the Allman Brothers. But the best piece here is his searing memoir of his white-trash Texas parents, who died in what was ruled a double suicide. Etched in acid and heart's blood, it is a terse masterpiece." —Malcolm Jones, Newsweek "The least known of the New Journalism's founding fathers, Grover Lewis has long been a legend among nonfiction writers, and this overdue collection shows us why. A beautiful stylist blessed with a blistering honesty, Grover saw it all and wrote it like nobody else could. Put Splendor in the Short Grass up on the shelf with the best of Tom Wolfe, Hunter Thompson and Gay Talese. It belongs there." —Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio's Morning Edition "Grover Lewis, the most literary of journalists, did things his way, simultaneously inventing a genre and setting the standard. These days ambitious feature writers, whether they know it or not, all strive to do it Grover's way. But, as this long overdue collection shows, not only did Grover do it first, he did it best." —Tim Cahill, author of Lost in My Own Backyard and Hold the Enlightenment "Grover Lewis was a gift to American letters. He had a hard eye, a sharp eye for hidden reality, and the unique ability to raise a popular journalism piece to the level of a universal truth. Plus he wrote like an angel. This collection, Splendor in the Short Grass, is not just a terrific read, it's an important work. I loved every page of it." —James Crumley, author of the hardboiled mysteries Dancing Bear, The Last Good Kiss, and The Final Country "Your gonzo journalism library isn't complete without him." —Ruminator "Grover was, after all, the most stone wonderful writer that nobody ever heard of....His job was to hammer the detritus of fugitive cultural encounters into elegant sentences, lapidary paragraphs, and knowable truth; and, in truth, the loveliness and lucidity of Grover's writing always rose to the triviality of the occasion." —Dave Hickey, from the foreword Grover Lewis was one of the defining voices of the New Journalism of the 1960s and 1970s. His wry, acutely observed, fluently written essays for Rolling Stone and the Village Voice set a standard for other writers of the time, including Hunter S. Thompson, Joe Eszterhas, Timothy Ferris, Chet Flippo, and Tim Cahill, who said of Lewis, "He was the best of us." Pioneering the "on location" reportage that has become a fixture of features about moviemaking and live music, Lewis cut through the celebrity hype and captured the real spirit of the counterculture, including its artificiality and surprising banality. Even today, his articles on Woody Guthrie, the Allman Brothers, the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont, directors Sam Peckinpah and John Huston, and the filming of The Last Picture Show and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest remain some of the finest writing ever done on popular culture. To introduce Grover Lewis to a new generation of readers and collect his best work under one cover, this anthology contains articles he wrote for Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Playboy, Texas Monthly, and New West, as well as excerpts from his unfinished novel The Code of the West and his incomplete memoir Goodbye If You Call That Gone and poems from the volume I'll Be There in the Morning If I Live. Jan Reid and W. K. Stratton have selected and arranged the material around themes that preoccupied Lewis throughout his life—movies, music, and loss. The editors' biographical introduction, the foreword by Dave Hickey, and a remembrance by Robert Draper discuss how Lewis's early struggles to escape his working-class, anti-intellectual Texas roots for the world of ideas in books and movies made him a natural proponent of the counterculture that he chronicled so brilliantly. They also pay tribute to Lewis's groundbreaking talent as a stylist, whose unique voice deserves to be more widely known by today's readers.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

A comprehensive anthology of Chinese poetry from the 12th century B.C. to the present. "This magnificent collection has the effect of a complete library rather than of an anthology of poetry.... A lyric quality comes through into our own language... Every page is alive with striking and wonderful things, immediately accessible." -- Publishers Weekly "Sunflower Splendor is the largest and, on the whole, best anthology of translated Chinese poems to have appeared in a Western language." -- The New York Times Book Review "This remarkably fine anthology should remain standard for a long time." -- Library Journal ..". excellent translations by divers hands. Open to any page and listen to the still, sad music... " -- Washington Post Bookworld

Before Federer versus Nadal, before Borg versus McEnroe, the greatest tennis match ever played pitted the dominant Don Budge against the seductively handsome Baron Gottfried von Cramm. This deciding 1937 Davis Cup match, played on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon, was a battle of titans: the world's number one tennis player against the number two; America against Germany; democracy against fascism. For five superhuman sets, the duo’s brilliant shotmaking kept the Centre Court crowd–and the world–spellbound. But the match’s significance extended well beyond the immaculate grass courts of Wimbledon. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the brink of World War II, one man played for the pride of his country while the other played for his life. Budge, the humble hard-working American who would soon become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles in the same year, vied to keep the Davis Cup out of the hands of the Nazi regime. On the other side of the net, the immensely popular and elegant von Cramm fought Budge point for point knowing that a loss might precipitate his descent into the living hell being constructed behind barbed wire back home. Born into an aristocratic family, von Cramm was admired for his devastating good looks as well as his unparalleled sportsmanship. But he harbored a dark secret, one that put him under increasing Gestapo surveillance. And his situation was made even more perilous by his refusal to join the Nazi Party or defend Hitler. Desperately relying on his athletic achievements and the global spotlight to keep him out of the Gestapo’s clutches, his strategy was to keep traveling and keep winning. A Davis Cup victory would make him the toast of Germany. A loss might be catastrophic. Watching the mesmerizingly intense match from the stands was von Cramm’s mentor and all-time tennis superstar Bill Tilden–a consummate showman whose double life would run in ironic counterpoint to that of his German pupil. Set at a time when sports and politics were inextricably linked, A Terrible Splendor gives readers a courtside seat on that fateful day, moving gracefully between the tennis match for the ages and the dramatic events leading Germany, Britain, and America into global war. A book like no other in its weaving of social significance and athletic spectacle, this soul-stirring account is ultimately a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.

THE STORY: The setting is a small Oklahoma town in the early 1920s and the home of the Flood family. Here we find Rubin, a traveling salesman for a harness firm, Cora, his sensitive and lovely wife, Sonny, their little boy and Reenie, their teenage daught

Seventeen-year-old Franny and her friends, The Ordinary, fill their time in traumatized Spendor, Ohio, filming their investigations of local legends for YouTube, but when they investigate a cosmic event, everything changes.

From the national bestselling author of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany's comes the story of three endearing misfits—an orphaned boy and two whimsical old ladies—who take up residence in a tree house. Set on the outskirts of a small Southern town, The Grass Harp tells the tale of three misfits who move into a tree house. As they pass sweet yet hazardous hours in a china tree, The Grass Harp manages to convey all the pleasures and responsibilities of freedom. But most of all it teaches us about the sacredness of love, “that love is a chain of love, as nature is a chain of life.” This volume also includes Capote’s A Tree of Night and Other Stories, which the Washington Post called “unobtrusively beautiful . . . a superlative book.”

Inspired by a meeting with Tennessee Williams, American playwright William Inge found success early, winning a Pulitzer for drama and an Academy Award for best screenplay. His small-town upbringing profoundly influenced his writing, and one of his major recurring themes was the traditional roles of gender. This close study of Inge's work focuses particularly on his technique of "gendermandering," patterns of gender-role reversals which Inge exploits not only for dramatic effect but also to subvert social expectations. Fully considered are stereotypes and established gender roles, especially as they were reinforced socially during the 1940s and 1950s. The author concentrates largely on material that is strictly Inge's, not adaptations or collaborations, and on work that has been published and is readily available to the general public. All major plays; a collection of his short plays; the screenplay of Splendor in the Grass (1961); and his novel Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff are covered. Some of Inge's more inaccessible material, including a few short published plays as well as some of the unpublished manuscripts held in the Inge Collection at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, is also addressed.

As a child actor who smoothly transitioned to adult stardom, Natalie Wood made an unforgettable impact on the world with her sensitive performances and her spectacular beauty. In a span of less than twenty years, her talent graced a dozen classics, including Miracle on 34th Street, The Searchers, Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, West Side Story, and Gypsy, earning her three Oscar nominations and two Golden Globes. Few actresses in Hollywood history have carved out careers as diverse and rich as Natalie Wood's, and few have touched as many hearts in a tragically short lifetime. Natalie Wood: Reflections on a Legendary Life boldly redefines Natalie not by her tragic death, but by her extraordinary life. This is the first family-authorized photographic study of Natalie Wood, and the first book to examine her glamorous film career as well as her private off-screen life as a wife and mother. Highlights include a special section on the making of West Side Story, a foreword by her husband Robert Wagner, a family album with never-before-seen snapshots captioned by daughter Courtney Wagner, an unpublished article written by Natalie in her own words, and an afterword by friend and costar Robert Redford. Natalie Wood: Reflections on a Legendary Life will change the way the world remembers a Hollywood legend.