In this novel about the post-Wobbly American labor movement we meet the entrancing, hot-blooded Pooles: Cora Elliot, family matriarch and famous Wobbly leader; Reuben, her son, a rabble rouser and unrepentant idealist; and Roselle, Reuben's wife, self-styled princess and "a treacherous woman to snuggle up with." Most old Wobblies have faded away, but passions are still hot, the atmosphere charged with danger, and the memories of Joe Hill, Mother Jones, and Eugene Debs still fresh. Conflict between generations, struggle between mother and wife for the mind and heart of Reuben, their high-tempered populist dreams now failed: the drama of the Pooles matches the spirit of the times in this town called Pismo Bay on the coast just south of Boston. This is an engrossing tale written with panache and psychological precision, reminiscent of the novels of Walter Pater, Ronald Firbank, and Henry James. Volume One of The False Messiah Trilogy. A Raymond Saroff Publication

This new 6th edition of Best Places Northern California recommends the very best restaurants and lodgings throughout the region. Local food and travel experts uncover the finest and most interesting places to go for a romantic getaway, a weekend retreat, or a week-long family vacation. Locals and travelers will find recommendations, attractions, and convenient Three-Day Tours for all major destinations, including updated, star-rated restaurant, winery, and lodging reviews. New sidebars cover free Wi-Fi in San Francisco, the fascinating Paso Robles Wineries, and where to find the most scrumptious desserts. An expanded Central Coast chapter covers the areas of San Simeon, Estero Bay, and San Luis Obispo. Updated maps and a wealth of illustrations help make this the ideal travel companion for any visit, whether a romantic getaway, weekend retreat, or weeklong family vacation.

Keeping track of prolific authors who write fiction series was quite challenging for even the most ardent fan until To Be Continueddebuted in 1995. Noew, readers will be happy that the soon-to-be-released second edition has added 1,600 new books and 400 new series. To Be Continued, Second Edition, maintians the first volume's successful formula that featured concise A-to-Z entries packed with useful information, including titles, publishers, publication dates, genre categories, annotations, and subject terms. Among the genre categories that can be found in To Be Continued are romance, science fiction, crime novel, horror, adventure, fantasy, humor, western, war, Christian fiction, and others.

Portrayals of America's people, places, and events in historical fiction integrate literature with history and make an exciting supplement to U.S. history classes. This book helps educators and students locate the best in classic and contemporary fiction in this subject area. Arranged in major chronological divisions of U.S. history, the annotated entries include standard bibliographic information, time period, subject, location, research base (if known), and whether the title is more appropriate for mature students or younger secondary students. VanMeter often lists prequels and sequels or notes when a title is more than 600 pages long. Extensive indexing provides access to entries on a wide variety of topics, from women, immigrants, and ethnic groups to military, political, and social events.

Volume Three of The False Messiah Trilogy.?Although The Marrano was the last of the "False Messiah Trilogy" to be published, its action is mostly contemporaneous with Oak Street Beach, the volume immediately following The Pooles of Pismo Bay (both issued in 1990). The three novels together refract facets of Rose's preoccupation with the loss of ideals in American life, as represented through Matthew Lenart, Gordon Abul, and Reuben Poole. The story begins in Minneapolis ("There is much madness in Minneapolis," the narrator declares), where young Matthew Lenart, who tells the story, grew up as the wealthy son of a newspaper tycoon, and within sight of the estate of Shem Abul, Gordon's father, a wealthy Sephardic Jewish merchant. The Lenarts move on the highest rungs of Minneapolis society, and the Abuls contrive a similar station, but after Gordon steals Matthew's wife, appearances start to disintegrate, revealing a clandestine agenda. Two brutal murders set Lenart off in search of Gordie, whom he finds on Chicago's Oak Street Beach oscillating between a smart set of society hangers-on of polymorphous sexuality, and the tenderloin district riffraff. A mad mix of people and almost surreal events collide with subterranean Israeli espionage.

Folk art is as varied as it is indicative of person and place, informed by innovation and grounded in cultural context. The variety and versatility of 300 American folk artists is captured in this collection of informative and thoroughly engaging essays. American Folk Art: A Regional Reference offers a collection of fascinating essays on the life and work of 300 individual artists. Some of the men and women profiled in these two volumes are well known, while others are important practitioners who have yet to receive the notice they merit. Because many of the artists in both categories have a clear identity with their land and culture, the work is organized by geographical region and includes an essay on each region to help make connections visible. There is also an introductory essay on U.S. folk art as a whole. Those writing about folk art to date tend to view each artist as either traditional or innovative. One of the major contributions of this work is that it demonstrates that folk artists more often exhibit both traits; they are grounded in their cultural context and creative in the way they make work their own. Such insights expand the study of folk art even as they readjust readers' understanding of who folk artists are.