Friday, March 15, 2013

Now Exploring "An Insect View of Its Plain"


During the nineteenth century, insects became a very fashionable subject of study, and the writing of the day reflected this popularity. However, despite an increased contemporary interest in ecocriticism and cultural entomology, scholars have largely ignored the presence of insects in nineteenth-century literature.

This volume addresses that critical gap by exploring the cultural and literary position of insects in the work of Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, and John Muir.

An Insect View of Its Plain
Insects, Nature and God in Thoreau, Dickinson and Muir
by Rosemary Scanlon McTier
McFarland, 2013

Nature Writing and Natural Histories
Thoreau
The Nature Pages
Outrider Books

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Divine Appointment of Animals


In 1542, the great German monk and Protestant reformer Martin Luther lived in a household that included horses, pigs, cows, calves, chicken, pigeons, geese and a dog Tölpel "whom Luther expected to meet in heaven."

Luther believed that animals were witnesses and messengers of God's glory -- an intended worldly presence -- and not simply created for the convenience and sustenance of man, according to Laurie Shannon's analysis in "The Accommodated Animal."

"Fruits were created chiefly as food for people and for beasts; the latter were created to the end we should laud and praise God."

In his Lectures on Genesis 1-5, Luther writes that "the mouse, too, is a divine creature... It has a very beautiful form - such pretty feet and such delicate hair that it is clear that it was created by the word of God with a definite plan in view. Therefore here, too, we admire God's creation and workmanship. The same thing may be said about flies."

Shannon's analysis of Luther's comments concludes that "the here-and-now facticity of observed animals grounds their privilege and divine appointment, and their presence as such warrants a spiritual attention."


Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales
by Laurie Shannon
University Of Chicago Press, 2012

Saturday, March 2, 2013

The Accommodated Animal


"Likewise to every beast of the earth and to every foule of the heaven, and to every thing that moveth upon the earth, which hath life in it selfe, every greene herbe shall be for meate."
Genesis 1:30

While the early Bible attentively noted the presence of other creatures in our world, they are never referred to by the English word "animal" in the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560 or the King James Version of 1611.


The widely used noun is likewise missing from almost all of Shakespeare's oeuvre, save eight instances, while the words "beast" and "creature" appear more than a hundred times and references to specific species are everywhere:

"Exit, pursued by a bear."

The distinction is significant, according to professor Laurie Shannon, reflecting an important change in our relationship with the natural world and its non-human creatures, denying "animals" a place in the world that our thinking previously accommodated.

Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales
by Laurie Shannon
University Of Chicago Press, 2012


Thursday, February 28, 2013

Farm and Garden Picks: Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys


Not only are turkeys an excellent source of succulent meat, rich eggs, and nutrient-dense manure, but they are curious, social, and friendly as well: a perfect and profitable choice for many farmers. Don Schrider brings his hands-on experience to this one-stop reference for humanely raising healthy turkeys.

Here is everything you need to know to raise turkeys successfully, from selecting the right breeds to housing, feeding, breeding, health care, marketing, and much more.

Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys
Breeds * Care * Marketing
by Don Schrider
Storey Publishing,, 2013



Thursday, February 21, 2013

Review: Contagious


Word-of-mouth often leads to popularity, or notoriety. It is much more effective than any form of traditional advertising and it seriously impacts the products people buy, the way they behave, and what they discuss.

So, how do you get it? What makes people talk about certain subjects rather than others? What makes some online content go viral? According to marketing professor Jonah Berger, the answer came be found in the psychology of social transmission.

Continued in Selling Points
Why Things Catch On
by Jonah Berger
Simon & Schuster, 2013



Review: Drinking History



Food historian Andrew F. Smith takes some 300 pages in his latest book to examine the wide assortment of beverages that Americans consume, try to figure out why certain drinks have become popular, and distill his findings down to 15 pivotal events that defined the culture's drinking habits.

Those "pivotal" events include Prohibition and the Tea Parties, of course, as well as the diversity of beverages introduced to the continent with colonial settlement from Europe. The growth of the rum trade in the Americas was pivotal, as was the development of local whiskeys, hard cider, and beer.

Subsequent chapters focus on the development and impact of milk, cocktails, fruit juices, soft drinks, kids' beverages, wine, bottled waters, and coffee on Americans.

Continued in The Book Stall
Fifteen Turning Points in the Making of American Beverages
by Andrew F. Smith
Columbia University Press, 2012




Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Reading the History: The Kentucky Derby


If the Super Bowl had been played in the same city each year, say a working class community like Green Bay, and still grew up to become a multi-billion-dollar spectacle attracting the world's rich and famous as well as the beer-swilling, tattooed commoners then it would be an event comparable to the Kentucky Derby, especially if you added an extra hundred years of tradition to its history.

An unabashed  thoroughbred horse enthusiast and Kentucky Derby fan, the author nevertheless provides a straightforward history and honest assessment of the event and its evolution.

The book follows the progress of the Derby through the decades as it broke away from a pack of other races to become America’s premier thoroughbred event.

How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event
by James C. Nicholson
The University Press of Kentucky, 2012