"Instant City," "Magic City of Steel," "Sin City," "Chocolate City," "Plywood City," "Murder Capital." Once the second-largest city in Indiana, and home to the world's largest steel mill, Gary has suffered and shrunk greatly in the postindustrial global economy. Population numbers now approach pre-Great Depression lows. Large swathes of its land are urban prairie, and a recent survey found a quarter of the Gary's built environment is in a dilapidated or dangerous condition. But Gary is also a center of Black culture and political power. It is home to the Indiana Dunes National Park and globally rare ecosystems. Union, community organizing, and environmental justice struggles based in Gary have profoundly shaped social and political life in the United States. It is the setting for everyday joys and tragedies, and very much alive. The Gary Anthology's contributors include not only the essayist, poet, and journalist but also the graffiti writer, the minister, the activist, the singer, the organizer, and of course, the steel worker. Their work complicates standard narratives about steel, violence, and urban decay, and offers readers the chance to hear from those who are reshaping the city from the bottom up. Taken as a whole, the collection is a vibrant rebuke to the notion that Gary is "dead."

“Instant City,” “Magic City of Steel,” “Sin City,” “Chocolate City,” “Plywood City,” “Murder Capital.” Once the second-largest city in Indiana, and home to the world’s largest steel mill, Gary has suffered and shrunk greatly in the postindustrial global economy. Population numbers now approach pre-Great Depression lows. Large swathes of its land are urban prairie, and a recent survey found a quarter of the Gary’s built environment is in a dilapidated or dangerous condition. But Gary is also a center of Black culture and political power. It is home to the Indiana Dunes National Park and globally rare ecosystems. Union, community organizing, and environmental justice struggles based in Gary have profoundly shaped social and political life in the United States. It is the setting for everyday joys and tragedies, and very much alive. The Gary Anthology’s contributors include not only the essayist, poet, and journalist but also the graffiti writer, the minister, the activist, the singer, the organizer, and of course, the steel worker. Their work complicates standard narratives about steel, violence, and urban decay, and offers readers the chance to hear from those who are reshaping the city from the bottom up. Taken as a whole, the collection is a vibrant rebuke to the notion that Gary is “dead.”

Soto writes with a pure sweetness free of sentimentality that is almost extraordinary in modern American poetry. -- Andrew Hudgins. Soto insists on the possibility of a redemptive power, and he celebrates the heroic, quixotic capacity for survival in human beings and the natural world. -- Publishers Weekly. Soto has it all -- the learned craft, the intrinsic abilities with language, a fascinating autobiography, and the storyteller's ability to manipulate memories into folklore. -- Library Journal.

The literary Sierra Nevada as seen by writers from Muir to Twain to Stegner and Snyder. Over 50 inspired pieces from Indian tale to modern story.

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This monumental collection gathers the essays, travel journals, letters, poems, and translations of one of the most influential literary voices of the 20th century.

This unique anthology offers the best of popular fiction - 45 short stories and one short novel - that highlight the major genres of popular writing including: horror, fiction, romance, science fiction, detective stories and adventure. Supporting this definitive collection of stories are ten non fiction essays written by well-known authors discussing some of the key elements for writing in each genre.