A guide to more than 200 varieties of apples! This fascinating and helpful guide will offer practical advice about rare heirlooms and newly discovered varieties, chapters on the rich tradition of apple growing in New England and on the “fathers” of American apples—Massachusetts natives John Chapman (“Johnny Appleseed”) and Henry David Thoreau. Apples of New England will present the apple in all its splendor: as biological wonder, super food, work of art, and cultural icon. Apples of New England will be an indispensable resource for anyone identifying apples in New England orchards, farm stands, grocery stores—or their own backyard. Photographs of the more than 200 apples discovered, grown, or sold in New England will be accompanied by notes about flavor and texture, history, ripening time, storage quality, and best use.

A guide to more than 200 varieties of apples! This fascinating and helpful guide will offer practical advice about rare heirlooms and newly discovered varieties, chapters on the rich tradition of apple growing in New England and on the “fathers” of American apples—Massachusetts natives John Chapman (“Johnny Appleseed”) and Henry David Thoreau. Apples of New England will present the apple in all its splendor: as biological wonder, super food, work of art, and cultural icon. Apples of New England will be an indispensable resource for anyone identifying apples in New England orchards, farm stands, grocery stores—or their own backyard. Photographs of the more than 200 apples discovered, grown, or sold in New England will be accompanied by notes about flavor and texture, history, ripening time, storage quality, and best use.

“For all of us who cherish the apple, its utility, its flavors, and its powers of revelation and connection.” —Adrian Higgins, garden columnist, The Washington Post The apple is one of the most iconic fruits, traditionally picked on cool fall days and used in pies, crisps, ciders, and more. And there is a vast world of varieties that goes well beyond the common grocery store offerings. With names like American Beauty, Carter’s Blue, and Fallawater, and flavors ranging from sweet to tart, this treasure trove of unique apples is ripe for discovery. There is no better guide through this tasty world than Tom Burford, whose family has grown apples in the Blue Ridge Mountains since 1715. His celebratory book Apples of North America is brimming with beautiful portraits of heirloom and modern apples of merit, each accompanied by distinguishing characteristics and common uses. You will also find information on growing apples at home—with specifics on planting, pruning, grafting, and more—and instructions on how to preserve apples through pressing, fermenting, cooking, and drying.

An incisive biography of E. E. Cummings’s early life, including his World War I ambulance service and subsequent imprisonment, inspirations for his inventive poetry. E. E. Cummings is one of our most popular and enduring poets, one whose name extends beyond the boundaries of the literary world. Renowned for his formally fractured, gleefully alive poetry, Cummings is not often thought of as a war poet. But his experience in France and as a prisoner during World War I (the basis for his first work of prose, The Enormous Room) escalated his earliest breaks with conventional form the innovation with which his name would soon become synonymous. Intimate and richly detailed, The Beauty of Living begins with Cummings’s Cambridge upbringing and his relationship with his socially progressive but domestically domineering father. It follows Cummings through his undergraduate experience at Harvard, where he fell into a circle of aspiring writers including John Dos Passos, who became a lifelong friend. Steeped in classical paganism and literary Decadence, Cummings and his friends rode the explosion of Cubism, Futurism, Imagism, and other “modern” movements in the arts. As the United States prepared to enter World War I, Cummings volunteered as an ambulance driver, shipped out to Paris, and met his first love, Marie Louise Lallemand, who was working in Paris as a prostitute. Soon after reaching the front, however, he was unjustly imprisoned in a brutal French detention center at La Ferté-Macé. Through this confrontation with arbitrary and sadistic authority, he found the courage to listen to his own voice. Probing an underexamined yet formative time in the poet’s life, this deeply researched account illuminates his ideas about love, justice, humanity, and brutality. J. Alison Rosenblitt weaves together letters, journal entries, and sketches with astute analyses of poems that span Cummings’s career, revealing the origins of one of the twentieth century’s most famous poets.

"When you open 'The Apple Lover's Cookbook', you will be surprised to find a guide to 59 popular varieties of apples. Each apple has its own complete biography with entries for origin, best use, availability, season, appearance, taste, and texture, and is accompanied by a color picture. Amy Traverso organizes these 59 apples into four categories -- firm-tart, tender-tart, firm-sweet, and tender-sweet -- and includes a one-page cheat sheet that you can refer to when making any of her recipes. One hundred scrumptious, easy-to-make recipes follow, offering the full range from appetizers, salads, soups, and entrees all the way to desserts. As bonuses, 'The Apple Lover's Cookbook' contains step-by-step color photographs of how to core and peel an apple, detailed notes on how to tell if an apple is fresh, and information about the best times and places to buy apples across the United States. In the introductions to each chapter, Amy takes you around the country to meet farmers, cider makers, and apple enthusiasts. At the end of the book you'll find her extensive list of the best apple products, apple sources, and apple festivals, making it easy to seek out and visit local orchards , whether you live in Vermont or California."--