Best of
Essays

1970

Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society


Dorothy L. Sayers - 1970
    The role of both men and women, in her view, was to find the work for which they were suited and to do it. While Sayers did not devote a great deal of time to talking or writing about feminism, she did explicitly address the issue of women's role in society in the two penetrating essays collected here. Though she wrote several decades ago, she still offers in her piquant style a sensible and conciliatory approach to ongoing gender issues.

Fame and Obscurity


Gay Talese - 1970
    . . Poignant." The Wall Street JournalIn this extraordinary work of insight and interviews, bestselling author Gay Talese shares with us the lives of those we don't know and those we might wish we did: Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, Manhattan mobsters, Bowery bums, and many others -- fascinating men and women who define our country's spirit and lead us to an understanding of ourselves as a nation.From the Paperback edition.

The Glass Teat


Harlan Ellison - 1970
    The Borealis Legends line is a tribute to the creators of the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres as we know them today.

The Invisible Pyramid


Loren Eiseley - 1970
    The boy who became a famous naturalist was never again to see the spectacle except in his imagination. That childhood event contributed to the profound sense of time and space that marks The Invisible Pyramid. This collection of essays, first published shortly after Americans landed on the moon, explores inner and outer space, the vastness of the cosmos, and the limits of what can be known. Bringing poetic insight to scientific discipline, Eiseley makes connections between civilizations past and present, multiple universes, humankind, and nature.

Men in Dark Times


Hannah Arendt - 1970
    Peter's Chair from 1958 to 1963- Karl Jaspers: A Laudation- Karl jaspers: Citizen of the World- Isak Dinesen 1885-1963- Herman Broch 1886-1951- Walter Benjamin 1892-1940- Bertolt Brecht 1898-1956- Waldemar Gurian 1903-1954- Randall Jarrell 1914-1965IndexAbout the AuthorFootnotes

Women and Writing


Virginia Woolf - 1970
    This spectacular collection of essays and other writings does justice to those efforts, offering unique appraisals of Aphra Behn, Mary Wollstonecraft, the Duchess of Newcastle, Dorothy Richardson, Charlotte Bronte, and Katherine Mansfield, amongst many others. Gathered too, and using previously unpublished (sometimes even unsigned) journal extracts, are what will now become timeless commentaries on 'Women and Fiction', 'Professions for Women' and 'The Intellectual Status of Women'. More than half a century after the publication of A Room Of One's Own, distinguished scholar Michele Barrett cohesively brings together work which, throughout the years, has been scattered throughout many texts and many volumes. . . affording these very valuable writings the collective distinction they deserve at last.

The Tyranny Of Structurelessness


Jo Freeman - 1970
    However, as Hilary Wainwright wrote in Z Magazine, Freeman described how "this apparent lack of structure too often disguised an informal, unacknowledged and unaccountable leadership that was all the more pernicious because its very existence was denied."As a solution, Freeman suggests formalizing the existing hierarchies in the group and subjecting them to democratic control."The earliest version of this article was given as a talk at a conference called by the Southern Female Rights Union, held in Beulah, Mississippi in May 1970. It was written up for Notes from the Third Year (1971), but the editors did not use it. It was then submitted to several movement publications, but only one asked permission to publish it; others did so without permission. The first official place of publication was in Vol. 2, No. 1 of The Second Wave (1972). This early version in movement publications was authored by Joreen. Different versions were published in the Berkeley Journal of Sociology, Vol. 17, 1972-73, pp. 151-165, and Ms. magazine, July 1973, pp. 76-78, 86-89, authored by Jo Freeman. This piece spread all over the world. Numerous people have edited, reprinted, cut, and translated "Tyranny" for magazines, books and web sites, usually without the permission or knowledge of the author."Available here: http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyran...

Benchley Lost and Found


Robert Benchley - 1970
    The discomforts of travel on trains, large and heavy suitcases that must be carried by unwilling porters, standing in line at the post office (then to learn that your package is improperly tied), malicious fogs that blot out the race track at the last lap, the sand that gets kicked into one's face at the beach, vitamins and their puffery, and all the petty annoyances that we grumble about ourselves but laugh at when they befall others.The 39 prodigal pieces greatly enlarge the corpus of the best Benchley. Forty-four original illustrations, mostly by Peter Arno, are included.

Constant Reader


Dorothy Parker - 1970
    It was an open secret that 'Constant Reader' was Dorothy Parker, though her name never appeared. Her original books of poems and short stories were being published in those same years, but no one collected the Constant Reader pieces - partly, perhaps, because of the convention of pseudonymity, which would have prevented the use of her name. Yet these light-hearted essays about reading and writing played as much part in creating the Parker legend, and were as much a part of the times, as her stories and poems. They were a new and very personal kind of book reviewing. Without pretending to the Higher Criticism, they were still far from being merely fun. In the more close-knit literary world of the late twenties and early thirties, they often made or unmade reputations. And time has confirmed most of her judgments.Of the forty-six Constant Reader pieces that appeared, thirty-one have been reprinted here in whole or in part."

The Omni-Americans: Some Alternatives to the Folklore of White Supremacy


Albert Murray - 1970
    Provocative and compelling, Albert Murray debunks the "so-called findings and all-too-inclusive extrapolations of social science survey technicians," contending that "human nature is no less complex and fascinating for being encased in dark skin." His claim that blacks have produced "the most complicated culture, and therefore the most complicated sensibility in the western world" is elucidated in a book which, according to Walker Percy, "fits no ideology, resists all abstractions, offends orthodox liberals and conservatives, attacks social scientists and Governor Wallace in the same breath, sees all the faults of the country, and holds out hope in the end."

The Mortgaged Heart: Selected Writings


Carson McCullers - 1970
    These pieces, written mostly before McCullers was nineteen, provide invaluable insight into her life and her gifts and growth as a writer. The collection also contains the working outline of “The Mute,” which became her best-selling novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. As new generations of readers continue to discover her work, Carson McCullers’s celebrated place in American letters survives more surely than ever. Edited by McCullers’s sister and with a new introduction by Joyce Carol Oates, The Mortgaged Heart will be an inspiration to writers young and old.

Moby-Dick as Doubloon: Essays and Extracts, 1851-1970.


Hershel Parker - 1970
    

The Buckminster Fuller Reader


R. Buckminster Fuller - 1970
    - Index.Dates of available copies: 1972.398,[16]p. : ill., facsim., maps ; 20cm.

Landscapes: Selected Writings


J.B. Jackson - 1970
    This collection of essays is written for the general reader and features articles without footnotes. The subject matter ranges from disquisitions on ordinary houses, yards, farms, and farmsteads to notes on ecology and from the impact of automobile use, mobile homes, shopping centers, and rural and urban planning to philosophical arguments about the meaning of human space and arguments for and against preservation.

Revolutionary Notes


Julius Lester - 1970
    Lester's radical analysis and incisive wit are turned on all aspects of the struggle for radical change in American society—subjects ranging from the Yippies to Robert Kennedy, from Women's Liberation to the image of Che Guevara, from SNCC and the Black Panthers to George Wallace and white student radicals. The aphoristic prose style comes from Lester the poet; the rage and bitter humor from Lester the black militant; the tenderness, self-criticism, and commitment from Lester the revolutionary.

An Anthology of Chance Operations


La Monte Young - 1970
    

The Films Of Robert Bresson


Robert Bresson - 1970
    His style and hs films, including Diary of a country Priest, Pickpocket, and Balthazar are analysed by a group of critics with widely divergent attitudes to his work.

The Trail of the Dinosaur


Arthur Koestler - 1970
    At that time the West was on the defensive and the majority of its progressive intellectuals were still turning a benevolently blind eye to Soviet foreign policy and the facts of life behind the Iron Curtain. "Reflections on Hanging" started as a pamphlet, but grew into a book, as Koestler became more and more fascinated - and horrified - by the historical, psychological and philosophical background and implications of the death penalty in general, and its theory and practice in England.

Selected Writings: Sir Thomas Browne


Thomas Browne - 1970
    Browne's discussion on death and resurrection, sneezing, astronomy, ostriches, hieroglyphics, and rainbows are included, as are thematically arranged extracts, annotated texts, and a detailed introduction with a list of further reading.

Jill Freedman: Resurrection City, 1968


Jill Freedman - 1970
    and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and carried out under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy in the wake of Dr King’s assassination. Three thousand people set up camp for six weeks in a makeshift town that was dubbed Resurrection City, and participated in daily protests. Freedman lived in the encampment for its entire six weeks, photographing the residents, their daily lives, their protests and their eventual eviction.This new 50th-anniversary edition of the book reprints most of the pictures from the original publication, with improved printing and a more vivid design. Alongside Freedman’s hard-hitting original text, two introductory essays are included, by John Edwin Mason, historian of African history and the history of photography at the University of Virginia, and by Aaron Bryant, Curator of Photography at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Alone With America: Essays on the Art of Poetry in the United States Since 1950


Richard Howard - 1970
    

Revolutionary Nonviolence: Essays


David T. Dellinger - 1970
    During WWII Dellinger went to jail proclaiming that "all war is evil & useless." This collection of short essays from 1943-69, many of which originally appeared in Liberation magazine, bear witness to a quarter century of pacifist protest & civil rights activity. An abiding humanism is central to his tactics & tenets: no pig-hater he: "The only way we can begin to break the vicious circle of blindness, hatred & inequality is to combine an uncompromising war upon evil institutions with an unending kindness & love of every individual--including the individuals who defend existing institutions." But he never forgets where his sympathies ultimately lie: better to resist oppression violently than not at all. Visits to & vindications of N. Vietnam, Cuba & Peoples China are relatively scrupulous affairs, since he makes point of seeking out opposition elements & asking embarrassing questions of the authorities. The bulk of the essays report & analyze movement developments right up to the Chicago police riot of '68. He closes with a comparison between the indictment of the Chicago conspirators & Hitler's attempt to discredit Communists in the Reichstag Trial.

An Exhortation to Peace and Unity (A Classic Religious Commentary)


John Bunyan - 1970
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Che: A Permanent Tragedy [with] Random Targets


Matija Bećković - 1970
    

We Have Been Invaded by the 21st Century


David McReynolds - 1970
    

The Pendulum Years


Bernard Levin - 1970
    Name on FEP. DJ clipped. Spine lightly sunned. DJ has some wear, now in protective covering. No other markings etc - good copy.

The Sovereignty of Good (Routledge Classics)


Iris Murdoch - 1970
    What was obvious to Murdoch, and to all those who read her work, is that Good transcends everything - even God. Throughout her distinguished and prolific writing career, she explored questions of Good and Bad, myth and morality. The framework for Murdoch's questions - and her own conclusions - can be found here.

American Ideals: And Other Essays, Social and Political


Theodore Roosevelt - 1970
    But in this sense he is known chiefly as the "Rough Rider" of the Santiago campaign; whereas those who read this book will see that his experience as a volunteer officer in the war with Spain is only one incident in a life which has been singularly varied in thought and accomplishment and useful in many fields. In 1900 when American Ideals was originally published, Theodore Roosevelt was the governor of New York. During the three years from 1894 to 1897 he wrote the greater part of the essays on political subjects which are printed in the volume of American Ideals. Here you will find his theory of politics, based on honesty, courage, never-ending hard work, and fair play; and coupled with these a certain measure of expediency which without sacrificing principle strives to get things done, and to accept the second best if what he considers the first best is not attainable; realizing that in a government of universal suffrage many minds must be consulted and a majority of them brought to the same conclusion before anything can be accomplished. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States (1901-1909). A Hero of the Spanish-American War, he served as governor of New York (1899-1900) and U.S. Vice President (September 1901) under William McKinley. In addition to holding the elective offices he was also a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, Police Commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Colonel of the Rough Riders, all by the age of 42, at which time he became the youngest man ever to hold the office of President. In 1906 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for this mediation in the Russo-Japanese War.

American Radical Thought: The Libertarian Tradition


Henry J. Silverman - 1970
    Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Josiah Warren, Benjamin R. Tucker, Lysander Spooner, William B. Greene, William Lloyd Garrison, Adin Ballou, Voltairine de Cleyre, Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Ammon Hennacy, Alice Lynd, Staughton Lynd & Thomas Hayden, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Gary Snyder, Karl Shapiro, Martin Duberman, Y.A.F., Murray Rothbard, Paul Goodman, Murray Bookchin, C. Wright Mills, Carl Oglesby, "The Port Huron Statement," Abbie Hoffman, Martin Luther King, Robert F. Williams, Malcolm X, and Eldridge Cleaver.