Fiction_L Archives Novel to sum up USA Dates: 1/22/02,12:50 PM  through  1/24/02,11:19 PM  (18 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2002 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/22/02, 12:50 PM

I have a patron who is looking for a book to send to a penpal in Scotland that sums up the US, possibly NY/NJ area as well.

We suggested two nonfiction titles: A Walk in the Woods and Undaunted Courage as well as one fiction title so far, The Shipping News.

Any other ideas? Thanks so much.

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: Kathleen Stipek <[removed]@exchange.acld.lib.fl.us>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 1:11 PM

Just one? Yipe! If they're talking "American Character," there's The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men.
Those deal with the contradictions and complications of the "AC" as well as
anything else--humor, charity, loyalty, and violence.

........................................................................
Kathleen Stipek, Adult Services/Interlibrary Loans, Alachua County
Library District (FMG), 401 E. University AV, Gainesville FL 32601
[removed]@exchange.acld.lib.fl.us)
352-334-3938 (v) 352-334-3948 (f)

"Non, merci."--Cyrano de Bergerac


-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@aol.com [[removed]@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 1:42 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Novel to sum up USA


I have a patron who is looking for a book to send to a penpal in Scotland
that sums up the US, possibly NY/NJ area as well.

We suggested two nonfiction titles: A Walk in the Woods and Undaunted
Courage as well as one fiction title so far, The Shipping News.

Any other ideas? Thanks so much.

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: "Deborah T. Walsh" <[removed]@geneva.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 1:11 PM

>>sums up the US, possibly NY/NJ area as well.


As a Jersey Girl, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say she'd be better
off sending a Bruce Springsteen album!! (The Wild, the Innocent...,
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. or Born to Run would all be more evocative
than any book I can think of.)

I'll be very interested in seeing what else the members of the list suggest.

Deborah T. Walsh
Geneva Public Library District
Geneva, IL
[removed]@geneva.lib.il.us

FROM: "ROBIN BEERBOWER" <[removed]@mail.open.org>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 1:23 PM

Two travelogues comes to mind: William Least Heat Moon's BLUE HIGHWAYS and Bill Bryson's LOST CONTINENT (and perhaps I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF for more of a jaded view :-) ).

Robin Beerbower
Outreach Services
Salem Public Library
PO Box 14810
Salem, OR 97309
503-588-6089


>>> [removed]@aol.com 01/22 10:42 AM >>>
I have a patron who is looking for a book to send to a penpal in Scotland that sums up the US, possibly NY/NJ area as well.

We suggested two nonfiction titles: A Walk in the Woods and Undaunted Courage as well as one fiction title so far, The Shipping News.

Any other ideas? Thanks so much.

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: "Lisa Colcord" <[removed]@ci.glendale.az.us>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 1:33 PM

I'm confused....why the Shipping News? It takes place mostly in Newfoundland, not the US.

Lisa


Lisa Colcord
Librarian
Glendale Public library
Glendale, AZ

....my views are my own....

-The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time- James Taylor

>>> [removed]@aol.com 01/22/02 11:42AM >>>
I have a patron who is looking for a book to send to a penpal in Scotland that sums up the US, possibly NY/NJ area as well.

We suggested two nonfiction titles: A Walk in the Woods and Undaunted Courage as well as one fiction title so far, The Shipping News.

Any other ideas? Thanks so much.

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: Andrew Smith <[removed]@mail.wrl.org>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 1:33 PM

Ilene,

The recent thread on The American Dream produced some wonderful
titles that would fit (I think) your request. I second Deborah's
endorsement of Springsteen's music for another view of the NY/NJ
character.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Andrew Smith [removed]@mail.wrl.org
Readers Services Librarian
Williamsburg Regional Library (757) 259-4050
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On Tue, 22 Jan 2002, Kathleen Stipek wrote:

> Just one? Yipe! If they're talking "American Character," there's The
> Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men.
> Those deal with the contradictions and complications of the "AC" as well as
> anything else--humor, charity, loyalty, and violence.
>
> ........................................................................
> Kathleen Stipek, Adult Services/Interlibrary Loans, Alachua County
> Library District (FMG), 401 E. University AV, Gainesville FL 32601
> [removed]@exchange.acld.lib.fl.us)
> 352-334-3938 (v) 352-334-3948 (f)
>
> "Non, merci."--Cyrano de Bergerac
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [removed]@aol.com [[removed]@aol.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 1:42 PM
> To: Fiction_L
> Subject: Novel to sum up USA
>
>
> I have a patron who is looking for a book to send to a penpal in Scotland
> that sums up the US, possibly NY/NJ area as well.
>
> We suggested two nonfiction titles: A Walk in the Woods and Undaunted
> Courage as well as one fiction title so far, The Shipping News.
>
> Any other ideas? Thanks so much.
>
> Ilene Lefkowitz
> Reference Librarian
> Kinnelon Library (NJ)
> [removed]@aol.com
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/22/02, 1:43 PM

"I'm confused....why the Shipping News? It takes place mostly in Newfoundland,not the US."

I confess that I believe what happened was that my director showed the patron -The Shipping News- as an example: something like this that took place here would be good. I misinterpreted what she then told me and erroneously put it on the query for Fiction-L.

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: Katherine Johnson <[removed]@epexchange.epnet.com>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 2:59 PM

The subject line says novel, but the text of the message says book, so
I'm going to suggest another non-fiction title: John Steinbeck's
Travels with Charley. I suppose it's dated now, but it has the
advantages of being written by a novelist and of offering a panoramic,
if idiosyncratic, view of the U.S.

--
Katherine Bradley Johnson
NoveList Database Specialist
NoveList/EBSCO
[removed]@epnet.com
2634 Chapel Hill Blvd., Ste. 208
Durham, NC 27707-2830 USA
(919) 489-9412 x206 (voice)
(919) 489-7263 (fax)

Die Welt des Märchens ist die, der Welt der Wahrheit
durchaus entgegengesetzte und eben darum ihr so
durchaus ähnlich, wie das Chaos der vollendeten
Schöpfung ähnlich ist." -- NOVALIS.

FROM: "Karen Kleckner" <[removed]@nslsilus.org>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 3:21 PM

Not the most flattering portrayal, but Philip Roth's "America" trilogy
(American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, and The Human Stain) chronicles
life in the 2nd half of 20th-century America, and New Jersey in particular.

Karen Kleckner
Deerfield Public Library
920 Waukegan Road
Deerfield, IL 60015

(847) 945-3311

[removed]@nslsilus.org

FROM: Mary Ann Bakken <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 1/22/02, 3:21 PM

I've been sending books to a librarian friend in New Zealand for years,
and
I'm not sure it's possible to find A novel to sum us up! I can, however,
tell you what she and the people with whom she shares books have
particularly liked. She likes the Mitford novels for their portrayals of
rather ordinary, good-natured, small-town characters, and also likes
Paretsky's novels for the gritty feel of the inner city. (And for the fact
that they take place close to where I live.) She has also mentioned a
fondness for Anne Tyler's and Anita Shreve's works and usually likes
anything that depicts the people of the westward expansion. One year I
sent
Laura Ingalls Wilder and recently I sent some Mildred Walker that she
really liked, particularly Winter Wheat, the story of a young teacher in a
one-room schoolhouse in Montana. Admittedly, this doesn't do much to
celebrate New Jersey, but maybe, along with that Bruce Springsteen
CD......

Mary Ann Bakken
St. Charles (IL) Public Library

FROM: "Elizabeth Tidd" <[removed]@metrocast.net>
REC'D: 1/23/02, 8:04 AM

To: Fiction_L
Subject: Novel to sum up USA

It's non-fiction, but "The New New Thing" by Michael Lewis is a great book
about Silicon Valley, but more, it's about America's 'new frontier'--how
going against the current consensus can produce stunning results. I
concur--send some of The Boss's music, but if she does send fiction, I would
suggest anything by Anna Quindlin (NY) and since I'm from New England, I
would add "A Stranger in the Kingdom" by Howard Frank Mosher, "Beachcombing
for a Shipwrecked God", by Joe Coomer, and another non-fiction, "The
Orchard", Adele Crockett Robertson's memoir of trying to save the family
orchard in Ipswich, MA during the depression.

Betty Tidd, Gilford Public Library
Gilford, NH

FROM: "christine jeffords" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 1/23/02, 8:04 AM

Did anyone suggest "A Walk Across America" and its companion, "The Walk
West"?

Also any book on small towns might fit here. National Geographic and
Reader's Digest have both done such titles. Richard Lingeman's "Small-Town
America." And that title I can't remember--someone here gave me the name
and author--that's full of color and BW photos of successful small towns
Then and Now. (It's medium-height, thinnish, black under the dj.)


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

FROM: "christine jeffords" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 1/23/02, 8:15 AM

>From: Mary Ann Bakken <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
>Reply-To: "Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
>To: Fiction_L <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
>Subject: Re: Novel to sum up USA
>Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 15:14:18 -0600
>
>I've been sending books to a librarian friend in New Zealand for years...
>She has also mentioned... anything that depicts the people of the westward
>expansion.

Rolvaag's trilogy about the Swedes in the Dakotas. "My Antonia," "Death
Comes for the Archbishop." On a more popular level, Dana Fuller Ross's
various series, and Donald Clayton Porter's "White Indian" books. Any
history of the West--Mari Sandoz! J. C. Furnas's "The Americans: A Social
History of the United States, 1587-1914." "The Americans: A New History of
the People of the United States," by Oscar Handlin. "A Brief History of
American Culture," by Robert M. Crunden. (These last three read like novels
and will give her a good picture of where we as a nation came from.)
Time-Life has some great series you could look into. Also "The States & the
Nation series" (the Bicentennial Histories) and Duell, Sloan & Pearce's old
"American Folkways" series.

If you have NoveList, why not do a search under "American Character," then
another under "Pioneers" or "Westward Expansion"? And look in any
bibliographies of historical fiction you may have. As for fact books, just
go to your 900's and start browsing.

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

FROM: Spencer Ms Martha <[removed]@usmc-mccs.org>
REC'D: 1/23/02, 9:09 AM

Clyde Edgerton's novels have a funny perspective on the culture clash
between the old and the new South.

Martha Spencer

-----Original Message-----
From: christine jeffords [[removed]@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 6:14 AM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: Novel to sum up USA

>From: Mary Ann Bakken <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
>Reply-To: "Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
>To: Fiction_L <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
>Subject: Re: Novel to sum up USA
>Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 15:14:18 -0600
>
>I've been sending books to a librarian friend in New Zealand for years...
>She has also mentioned... anything that depicts the people of the westward
>expansion.

Rolvaag's trilogy about the Swedes in the Dakotas. "My Antonia," "Death
Comes for the Archbishop." On a more popular level, Dana Fuller Ross's
various series, and Donald Clayton Porter's "White Indian" books. Any
history of the West--Mari Sandoz! J. C. Furnas's "The Americans: A Social
History of the United States, 1587-1914." "The Americans: A New History of
the People of the United States," by Oscar Handlin. "A Brief History of
American Culture," by Robert M. Crunden. (These last three read like novels

and will give her a good picture of where we as a nation came from.)
Time-Life has some great series you could look into. Also "The States & the

Nation series" (the Bicentennial Histories) and Duell, Sloan & Pearce's old
"American Folkways" series.

If you have NoveList, why not do a search under "American Character," then
another under "Pioneers" or "Westward Expansion"? And look in any
bibliographies of historical fiction you may have. As for fact books, just
go to your 900's and start browsing.

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/23/02, 9:41 AM

I wanted to thank whoever it was that sent me to the archives for the American Dream thread. It was very helpful. The archives on this listserv are so easy to use, it is fabulous.

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/23/02, 10:03 AM

"If you have NoveList, why not do a search under "American Character," then another under "Pioneers" or "Westward Expansion"? And look in any bibliographies of historical fiction you may have. As for fact books, just go to your 900's and start browsing."

All excellent suggestions...Thanks!

Ilene Lefkowitz
Reference Librarian
Kinnelon Library (NJ)
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: "Mallett, Margaret" <[removed]@itpld.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 1/23/02, 1:47 PM

"The Corrections" by J. Franzen deals with very contemporary America. And
yes, NY and NJ are featured.

Margaret Mallett
Indian Trails Public Library
Wheeling, IL 60090
[removed]@itpld.lib.il.us

FROM: Bradley A Scott <[removed]@juno.com>
REC'D: 1/24/02, 11:19 PM

Joel Garreau's "The Nine Nations of North America" probably did more than
any other book I ever read to explain to me the culture(s) of the US.
It's not a novel, it's not new, and it's probably out of print, but your
patron could still probably glean much useful information from it.

Bradley A. Scott

"Virgin land of forest green, dark and stormy plains,
here all life abounds...."
-- Kansas, "Song for America"

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