Antigua and My Life Before: A Novel

Average customer rating:

Beautifully Evocative

great book!

Thought-provoking

Antigua and My Life Before: A Novel
Marcela Serrano
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0385498020
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Book Description

Josefa Ferrer, a famous Chilean singer and star, awakens one morning to read in the Santiago newspaper that her best friend, Violeta, has been involved in a brutal act of violence. Overwhelmed with regret and plagued with guilt for not having foreseen the tragedy, Josefa feels compelled to tell Violeta's life story--one marked by lost ideals, disillusionment, and grief--which is ultimately Josefa's story, too. Through the interwoven lives of these two women, Marcela Serrano explores how the demands of a woman's role as mother, wife, lover, and friend are frequently at odds with her own dreams and aspirations, and how easily the fragile bonds of friendship and family can be strained to the breaking point. For Josefa and Violeta, it is only in Antigua, under the watchful eyes of "the others"--a chorus of female ancestral spirits who testify to the women's defining moments of strength and courage--that Josefa and Violeta will discover that even in the aftermath of violence and betrayal they have control over their destinies and their redemption.

Exquisitely crafted and written in beautiful, lyrical prose, Marcela Serrano's unforgettable novel about friendship, forgiveness, and second chances speaks to every woman who has experienced the wrenching divide between professional ambition and family responsibility, who has been torn between the excitement of illicit passion and the security of marriage, who has craved the thrill of success while yearning for solitude in an often chaotic, invasive world.

Download Description

Through the interwoven lives of these two women, Marcela Serranoexplores how the demands of a woman's role as mother, wife, lover, andfriend are frequently at odds with her own dreams and aspirations, andhow easily the fragile bonds of friendship and family can be strainedto the breaking point. For Josefa and Violeta, it is only in Antigua,under the watchful eyes of "the others" -- a chorus of female ancestralspirits who testify to the women's defining moments of strength andcourage -- that Josefa and Violeta will discover that even in theaftermath of violence and betrayal they have control over theirdestinies and their redemption.

Exquisitely crafted and written in beautiful, lyrical prose, MarcelaSerrano's unforgettable novel about friendship, forgiveness, and secondchances speaks to every woman who has experienced the wrenching dividebetween professional ambition and family responsibility, who has beentorn between the excitement of illicit passion and the security ofmarriage, who has craved the thrill of success while yearning forsolitude in an often chaotic, invasive world.

"Marcela is heir to Scheherazade. In Antigua and My Life Before,a woman again saves our lives by telling, every night, a new story.[Her novel] is an answer to the primeval death surrounding us. Thanks towriters like Marcela, life will never speak its last word."
   CARLOS FUENTES

Jacket illustration by Diego Rivera, Women with Flowers andVegetables, 1928
Jacket design by Amy C. King

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully Evocative.......2003-08-02

I really loved and enjoyed this book. I thought it was a beautiful tribute to Antigua (a city I have very good memories of) and to female friendships in all their complexity. The characters stayed in my mind after I finished the book. I think a good deal of this credit goes to the English translator who was able to capture the beauty and romance of the Spanish language and allowed you to forget that you were reading a translation. If you love poetry, have ever traveled in Latin America, and have a good female friend, you should read this book.

great book!.......2000-06-22

Marcela Serrano is a great writer, she is able to communicate emotions and feelings in a very strong and effectiveness way. When you are reading you can really feel what the characters experience, and at the same time you get to know the reality of south America: great book!

Thought-provoking.......2000-06-18

Violeta, one of the main characters, has commited murder in order to save her daughter, and her best friend, a famous singer who knows her since they were both children, is entrusted with Violeta's journals. From that point on, Josefa tells the stories of their childhood, the beginning and growth of their friendship, and the circumstances of their marriages and families, in a seamless collection of stories that glide smoothly from Violeta's imprisonment to the two friends' reunion in the small city of Antigua. This is a very, very good book, although some characters can be terribly unnerving with their neuroses and meddling, but overall, this is a perfect book to curl up with during a quiet afternoon.

Book Description

The acclaimed, Eisner award-winning team of writer Jeph Loeband artist Tim Sale return to Gotham City, home of Catwoman, for a talethat takes the Feline Fatale into a dangerous new realm.WHEN IN ROME chronicles Catwoman's mysterious trip to Italy and herdealings with the deadly Falcone crime family.It's a colorful tale ofGotham's sexiest cat burglar at her most intriguing.

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Following The Long Halloween Catwoman sojourns to Italy, and becomes entangled with the Falcone crime family.

She tries a jewel heist from the Vatican, and ends up getting into quite a bit of trouble, from many sides, and the whole Gotham City thing isn't reall that far away after all.

Catwoman gets the Loeb/Sale treatment.......2007-09-01

So being the Batman fan that I am as well as a Loeb/Sale fan, I devoured everything I could of theirs. Knowing that this story of Catwoman, trying to discover her roots in Italy, took place in between The Long Halloween and Dark Victory just made it that much more enticing. Unfortunately I can't say that the magic they were able to pull off with Batman and other heroes was put to good use with Catwoman's solo story.

Not to say that their talents were put to complete waste. The artwork was terrific as always. I just couldn't get into it the same way I got into their work previously. Maybe it's because I'm not as big a fan of Catwoman as I should be to enjoy this. There are plenty of characters from the Bat universe thrown in there for good measure (Batman never makes an official appearance, just in Selina's dreamlike hallucinations), but still that wasn't enough to satisfy.

The Riddler plays a big supporting role in this and while he is one of my favorite Bat villains, the fact that he was there couldn't elevate it for me. I actually much prefer the way other writers handle Riddler better. I would love it if these guys would collaborate on another Batman project at some point in the future because Catwoman just wasn't a good enough substitute. No offense to Catwoman or her fans intended! I still love these guys' work and if they were to write another Catwoman tale set in Gotham I would be all over it.

Loeb and Sale Strike Again..........2007-08-07

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the masterminds behind Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory are at it again, and this time they've brought Selina "Catwoman" Kyle and Edward "The Riddler" Nigma along for the ride. Catwoman: When in Rome finds the pair on a mission of Catwoman's own devising in the eternal city, fraught with beautiful locales and all manner of peril; and to top it off, Selina is suffering from some very disconcerting nightmares. What does it all mean? Is someone following her? Will she find what she's looking for in Roma's well trod thoroughfares? Intrigued? Then pick this one up.

Chronologically, this book seems to fall in between Long Halloween and Dark Victory, but for those looking for a good read, you don't have to be familiar with those other works to enjoy this gem. Jeph Loeb ranks among the likes of Kurt Busiek as a writer who "gets" the comic genre and can write characters with equal amounts of pathos, humor and joie de vivre. He is perfectly paired with Sale, whose artwork walks the razor's edge between charicature and straight illustration and mirrors Loeb's own literary style. Indeed, Sale's artwork, which - as in Long Halloween and Dark Victory - has a sort of 1950s-1960s feel to it (see, for instance, Selina's jaunt through the twilit streets of Rome on a Vespa scooter) was, for me, one of the chief attractions of this volume. If you're looking for a fun read, with great dialogue, a chuckle or two, and fantastic artwork, you would do well to pick up Catwoman: When in Rome

Nothing too special from Loeb and Sale.......2007-04-24

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have always been a winning team. With Marvel, they crafted Daredevil: Yellow and Spider-Man: Blue, and with DC they crafted the even better Superman For All Seasons, and three classic Batman stories; Haunted Knight, Dark Victory, and the Long Halloween. Needless to say, I expected better than what they put together with Catwoman: When in Rome, which while not bad at all, isn't anything special and is disappointing for those expecting the same kind of magic they've come up with before. The story picks up shortly after the events of Long Halloween with Selina "Catwoman" Kyle in Italy searching for the missing key to her past. Along with her is the Riddler, who makes for some great comic relief that is undoubtedly one of the best aspects of this TPB. Other than that though, there are inconsistencies throughout the overall story, and the noir-ish feel that Loeb typically gives the Batman universe doesn't work as well here as before. All that being said, Tim Sale's artwork is still nice to look at, and his renditions of Catwoman are plenty sexy. All in all, When in Rome isn't bad one bit and on it's own is a solid Catwoman story, but Loeb and Sale have definitely done better together.

An Average Cat.......2006-07-23

Story and art are both firmly average. It is hard to believe this is the team that created the very good Batman: Dark Victory and other heralded Batworks.

It is hard to believe Sale is the artist, Catwoman in no way resembles the sleek, sexy version portrayed in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Though cheesecake and semi-nudes are thrown in galore she just doesn't look the sophisticated seductress she's portrayed as in other Loeb/Sale works.

Plotwise it is a mishmash, Cheetah showing up, Mr. Freeze's gun, all allegedly brought over to Italy by The Riddler. They seem to serve merely to cause fight scenes, not develop any plot. Catwoman actually spends very little time pursuing the agenda that brought her to Italy, and there is no real resolution to it. Which normally I wouldn't mind, but after the meandering set pieces instead of a tightly woven plot I would have liked some payoff. The brevity of the work is also disappointing after having experienced the much longer works they have created.

Well nobody hits a home-run every time at bat. Not even Loeb and Sale.

Amazon.com

"Homo sapiens is an amazing animal.... Get God and Aristotle off its back, and miracles start becoming the norm," theorizes a hapless human in James Morrow's The Eternal Footman. Capping off the hilarious trilogy that began with Towing Jehovah and Blameless in Abaddon, Footman tells the story of what happens after God is undeniably dead. If His giant, deteriorating corpse in the first two novels wasn't enough, now His holy skull stares down from orbit like a melancholy moon, offering daily proof to the Western world that there's nobody left to pray to.

Cirrus clouds rimmed God's skull. He appeared to be wearing a white toupee. At least there weren't any ads today. Why the Vatican permitted the multinationals to aim their lasers at His brow was a mystery she couldn't fathom. Contemplating the Cranium Dei was depressing enough. You shouldn't have to read COKE IS IT in the bargain.

Depressing? That's not the half of it, as Judeo-Christians, sure at last that nothing but blackness awaits beyond death, become "Nietzsche-positive" and are stalked by the leering embodiments of personal apocalypse. Nora Burkhart's son Kevin is the first of millions to succumb to the awful symptoms of abulia, the fatal result of death-awareness. Western civilization crumbles while Nora struggles to take her comatose son to a legendary clinic in Mexico, where a strange, powerful man is rumored to have a cure. Meanwhile, a spiritual sculptor finds inspiration in a new pantheon after his masterpiece is mangled by the Vatican--but the new gods may require the ultimate sacrifice.

This is James Morrow, after all, and despair is always accompanied by enlightenment in his satirical morality tales. Taking cues from Dante, the legend of Gilgamesh, and an imagined debate between Erasmus and Martin Luther, Morrow finds redemption for humanity in the simplest acts of decency. Giant stone brains, God's evil intestines, and the still-guilty captain of the oil-spilling tanker Valparaiso make memorable appearances in The Eternal Footman, a worthy finish to Morrow's trilogy, and a fair but passionate defense of "the West's greatest gift to the world, the miraculous faculty of rational doubt." --Therese Littleton

Book Description

The Eternal Footman completes Morrow's darkly comic trilogy about God's untimely demise. With God's skull in orbit, competing with the moon, a plague of "death awareness" spreads across the Western hemisphere. As the United States sinks into apocalypse, two people fight to preserve life and sanity. One is Nora Burkhart, a schoolteacher who will stop at nothing to save her only son, Kevin. The other is the genius sculptor Gerard Korty, who struggles to create a masterwork that will heal the metaphysical wounds of the age. A few highlights: a bloody battle on a New Jersey golf course between Jews and anti-Semites; a theater troupe's stirring dramatization of the Gilgamesh epic; and a debate between Martin Luther and Erasmus. Morrow also gives us his most chilling villain ever: Dr. Adrian Lucido, founder of a new pagan church in Mexico and inventor of a cure worse than any disease.

Customer Reviews:

Bizarre and Intriguing.......2004-12-16

This tale is a strange mixture of existential philosophy, apocalyptic fantasy, and a search for meaning after the 'death of God.'

Morrow's previous two books in this trilogy (Towing Jehovah and Blameless in Abaddon) set the stage for the bizarre plot of this concluding novel. But the reader need not have read these prior two books to appreciate the content and plot of The Eternal Footman. Morrow does a nice job of rehashing the necessary details from the earlier stories.

At the center of this book's plot lies the notion of a terrible plague coming to decimate civilization after the dead body of God has been found and publicized. This is a hilarious and ridiculous notion but as metaphor serves as a powerful reminder of our present stage of social and philosophical development.

The literary precursor to The Eternal Footman is Nietzsche's idea of the death of God. Morrow has set it as his aim to expand and explore this philosophic notion. In The Gay Science, Nietzsche wrote: "The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him-you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? ..." Nietzsche was quite concerned that Western culture having come to a place of religious skepticism, now faced a formidable challenge which may well be our doom: the innovation of a new value system without the foundation of God and religious ethics. Nietzsche's arch-nemesis was nihilism. He feared that Western culture would not adapt quickly enough and might fall into a state of pathological nihilism, the inability to form values and hence, the inability to continue a life of suffering without meaning.

Morrow's novel, because it addresses Nietzsche's concerns and provides some pointers towards their solutions, stands out as a profound literary testament in the grand tradition of Dostoyevsky and others. However, his storytelling is at times clumsy and rushed. The uneasy blend he has whipped up, a mixture of fantasy, philosophy, and comedy, requires a 'suspension of disbelief' of, well, disbelief. We must accept, as Morrow's postapocalyptic world has come to accept, that the virtual body of God has fallen into the ocean, has rotten and exploded, and whose skull now hovers in geosynchronous orbit above the Western hemisphere.

Shortly after this skull has come to grace our skies, a terrible plague descends upon humanity and decimates the population. People become 'Nietzsche positive' and begin to have confrontations with their 'fetches.' This is a fascinating idea: Morrow creates these characters called fetches who are the embodiment of a person's awareness of death and a representation of nihilistic pathology. As Morrow writes (in character): "The fetches are coming, millions of us, spawn of the holy skull. Fetches dancing in the Forum, swimming through the Tiber, hiding under your bed. We are the children of Nietzsche and the vectors of nihilism, and as surely as rats carry Pasteurella pestis, we bring a plague of death awareness and a contagion of malignant despair."

The main character of The Eternal Footman is a powerful woman named Nora Burkhart. Her beloved son Kevin has become a victim of the plague and the plot revolves around her attempts to seek a cure for Kevin's terminal sickness. At one point, she converses with her son's fetch (Quincy Azrael) in an attempt to understand what this plague is all about:

"You're planning to kill us all?"

"Death awareness doesn't kill people. Death kills people. Death awareness merely turns them into quivering blobs of ineffectuality. You're a Grecophile. You know about Prometheus. His transgression, you may recall, lay as much in blessing people with death amnesia as in telling them the recipe for combustion."

True enough, she thought. Death amnesia: a fitting term. According to Aeschylus, prior to Prometheus's intervention everyone on Earth knew the exact date and hour of his death, a situation inflicting chronic lethargy on the majority of humankind. When at last unburdened of this awful information, people gradually-inevitably-began acting as if they might live forever. They built cities, pursued sciences, practiced arts, and challenged the gods.

"So even if we weren't carrying a lethal disease in tow," Quincy continued, "the postindustrial world would still be doomed. Don't deny that death denial is central to the human enterprise. Take away the average person's obliviousness to oblivion, and he becomes as torpid as Hamlet on Prozac. Speaking personally, I shall be sorry to see Western civilization disappear. I think it was a hoot, especially the Stanley Cup and stud poker. "

Morrow paints a thought provoking canvas with otherworldly characters, mortal dilemmas, and an occasional bit of wisdom that truly inspires. While some of the story is annoyingly unpolished, much of the language is poetic and captivating.

Ho-Hum.......2004-02-22

This is the third installment in Morrow's "God-head trilogy." He should have left it at just the first two. While his first two books often pushed his ridiculous atheistic views, at least they were interesting stories. This one is just plain dull. His writing style has become so cumbersome. I can imagine him sitting at his typewriter and consulting a thesaurus with each sentence he writes. It's as though his ego needs to try and prove how intelligent he is to the reader. However, he comes across as bombastic and boring. There were many times that I almost gave up on finishing the novel because it was lulling me to sleep.

I won't go into the details of the story since so many other reviews have already done that. However, I will recommend that you pass this book up. At least, check it out from the library and don't waste your money.

The best of the 3!.......2002-12-18

As with the other 2 books in this trilogy, I couldn't put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed this last book, which was the most nontheism-in-action. "Abbadon" got a bit bogged down in the philosophical for my tastes, whereas this book had a straightforward narrative with few forays into the philosophy. The Corpus Dei now the malevolent Craneo Dei, hovers over the book like a wraith. The struggles of Gerard and Nora compelled me to find out how it would end. And bringing back Anthony Van Horne and Cassie Fowler caused this reader to smile.

There are a couple of "Rowlingesque" touches in this book. Naming Nora's fetch "Goneril" was a wonderful stroke, and the scene with God's Entrails was literate South Park. I howled intermittently through this book (which was a problem as I read it at my cubicle at work). Also the visions of the future were hopeful and refreshing. I liked that there was commentary about today's big issues.

One thing that's unfortunate, but I'll mention it. This book was written before 9/11. I wonder how Morrow's future work will alter its course after the disaster. Coming up with a post-organized religion way of life, as well as a postcorporate world is becoming more and more urgent. Possibly even emergent. I couldn't help but think about 9/11 through the trilogy, perhaps inevitably because the towers were prominent in "Towing Jehovah" as the Valparaiso passed them on its way out to sea.

Atheist's Doomsday.......2002-11-08

This is the final work in Morrow's excellent trilogy on the "death" of God. Unlike the wacky and satirical "Towing Jehovah" and the extremely intellectual "Blameless in Abaddon," this third installment takes on the tones of Stephen King or Dean Koontz in a slightly creepy doomsday scenario. Here God's giant corpse from the previous books finally decomposes, with the skull ascending to the sky and orbiting the Earth, constantly reminding all of humanity that God is really gone. A psychosomatic plague of death wipes out most of the western world before people come to their senses and embrace a new age of rationalism. Once again this is all a vehicle for Morrow's highly structured Atheist theories. He's not an agnostic who believes nothing, but an intellectual who has arrived at Atheism through reason and research. This novel continues to represent Morrow's theology, which is surely thought provoking regardless of your religious persuasion. Unfortunately, this installment is the weakest of the trilogy, with Morrow's post-apocalyptic wasteland showing little imagination or creativity (see King's "The Stand" for a better example), followed by visions of a politically correct future world of enlightenment that are too rosy for belief. Also, the conclusion takes way too long wrapping up too many subplots. But still, Morrow's highly articulate and visionary trilogy will never cease to provide food for thought.

The Most Complex Addition to the Trilogy.......2002-04-03

"The Eternal Footman," the final book in James Morrow's Jehovah Trilogy, serves as an interesting capstone to the series. It's much different from the other books; not so much about psychology or philosophy, it's more a re-telling of the tale outlined in The Book of Revelation, although with an obvious Morrow twist. As such, it might not appeal to the same kinds of readers that the other two books attracted, but "Footman" is in no way a lesser book because of it.

Years after the trial at The Hague, God's body disassembled itself piece by piece, His intestines swimming through the ocean like a gigantic snake and His skull sits in geosynchronous orbit over Times Square. The Vatican rents His skull for advertisers, so people are treated to Microsoft and Coca-Cola ads 24/7. But, it causes other problems as well...

In Nora's struggle and the development of the Temple in Mexico, Morrow reveals the ultimate philosophical lesson in his Jehovah Trilogy: that human value should not be created by external things, even God. It's what Nietzsche referred to as the "metaphysics of the hangman," and is echoed by those who claim that if there is no God, there is no point in living. That is what the plague victims seem to think, and that is what the Antichrist seeks to capitalize on. It is also what God wants humans to grow beyond.

It's the ultimate religious/existential lesson, one that Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and even Heidegger stressed in their works. It is also one of the most complex philosophical concepts to communicate, and Morrow manages to do it in one novel (actually, the setup was there through all the books).

Old characters are brought back, and new ones introduced. Like "Blameless," "Footman" is a walk in the forest to read, pleasant and dense without being oppressive. Morrow again finds the correct mix of story and philosophy by which to tell his tale, and by so doing weaves as juicy and delicious a narrative for which one could ask. "Footman" is much heavier than his other works, and is not simply the tongue-in-cheek satire of the first two volumes. ...

Average customer rating:
ETERNAL FOOTMAN
James Morrow
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJBQX2

Average customer rating:
THE ETERNAL FOOTMAN
James Morrow
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MV7LKE

Average customer rating:
A race for eternal life: Being an extract from The heavenly footman : a sermon on I Corinthians ix. 24
John Bunyan
Manufacturer: Printed by Thomas Cordeux, sold by T. Blanshard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Bunyan, John | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Sermons | Ministry & Church Leadership | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Bunyan, John | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008CM3Z0

Average customer rating:
A race for eternal life: Being an extract from The heavenly footman, a sermon on I Corinthians ix. 24 / written by the author of The pilgrim's progress
John Bunyan
Manufacturer: Printed at the Conference-office, by Thomas Cordeux, agent, for the Methodist Tract Society, for the Promotion of Religious Knowldge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Bunyan, John | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Bunyan, John | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008BODU4

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Inspirational

"Picnic" Inspires

what a grump

A Return to Family Picnics
Russell Cronkhite
Manufacturer: Multnomah Gifts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Culinary Arts & Techniques | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Special Occasions | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Festive Picnics: Recipes Crafts & Decorations for Outdoor Occasions

ASIN: 1590521404
Release Date: 2005-02-25

Book Description

A Recipe for Reviving Family Fellowship

A Return to Family Picnics, a beautiful gift-quality cookbook, captures our imagination and fosters the ideal of family gatherings, fellowship, and community...outside! A follow-up to A Return to Sunday Dinner, this cookbook takes us out-of-doors, where we experience the fun and fellowship of family times and extended family gatherings in the splendor of God’s magnificent creation. With over 120 mouthwatering recipes, inspirational quotes, and heartwarming memories, your heart will take an inviting and nostalgic journey, setting the stage for the Christ-centered message of celebration and our American family heritage.

From the moment the first blossoms of spring unfold, we start to dust off our winter blues. Through the long, lazy respite that is summer and well into the gold and deep-red hues of autumn, we are drawn outside to experience anew the splendor of God’s magnificent creation. We are called to return to those uninterrupted memories far away from the hustle and bustle of the world pressing all around—and to celebrate life!

The glorious pleasure of one of America’s favorite pastimes beckons—a group of brightly covered tables, baskets of fresh flowers, frosty pitchers of lemonade, children laughing and spinning and swinging high in the warm, gentle breeze…

It’s time for the best picnic ever!

****

A century ago, when Henry Ward Beecher

was asked how we could makeour nation

better, he answered, “Multiply picnics.”

He was right then, and his answer is right for us now.

robert d. putnam, author of bowling alone

INSIDE LEFT FLAP COPY:

Picnics

Fresh country air fills your lungs under the cool shade of towering oak trees. Soft blades of grass tickle your feet as you relax in the classic setting for America ’s favorite gathering.

of All Shapes and Sizes

From a romantic fete for two along the riverside to an extended celebration for the entire neighborhood, laughter rings forth to seal priceless ties between young and old.

Are for Celebrating

With more than 120 mouthwatering recipes, stunning culinary photographs, and inspirational quotes, A Return to Family Picnics blends leisure with pleasure.

Food and Fun for All

This unique cookbook includes recipes that accommodate gatherings of up to forty people, with dishes from every corner of the country. Delightful salads and scrumptious sides accent each menu. Favorites showcasing our nation’s heritage include Herb-Marinated Rotisserie Chicken, Heavenly Deviled Eggs, Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches, All-American Deep-Dish Cherry Cobbler, and Maine Blueberry Buckle.

Inhale deeply, and let the enticing aroma guide you outdoors to that special place where loved ones gather…and the memories created are simply the icing on the Coconut Cream Cupcakes.

Story Behind the Book

“I remember well those wonderful celebrations and community events when our neighborhood parks rang with the sounds of rollicking, wholesome fun—pickup softball games, group volleyball, horseshoes, or three-legged races. On special days such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day, we gathered for solemn remembrance—then headed for the picnic tables to celebrate our glorious past together. So many of my own childhood memories involve picnic moments—flying kites on a hill, singing songs in the car, trips to the zoo, days at the beach, fascinating visits to historic sites, not to mention those wonderful, home-cooked foods. Doesn’t the very thought make you want to pack your picnic basket and head outdoors for a picnic celebration of your own?”

Customer Reviews:

Inspirational .......2007-04-30

I don't know who from Publisher's Weekly wrote the review for this book, but I think they need to go on a good picnic and chill out! I got this book as a review copy since I'm working on an article about family picnics for a newspaper. What I like most about this book, which I will be suggesting to my readers, is that in addition to the beautiful photos, soothing writer's voice and time-saving tips is that the recipes aren't a major deal to do! Most of the recipes do not come with an arm's length of ingredients and the need for huge amounts of time. I like that....a lot. Sure, some recipes are for a quick, rather unplanned jaunt and others are for a more planned-out, lavish feast. But that's the beauty of a picnic...it can be as simple or extravagant as you want it to be. This book gives you nice options for both. And yes....Mr. Publisher's Weekly...outdoor tea parties do count as picnics.

"Picnic" Inspires.......2005-06-10

Nicely done, A Return To Family Picnics by Russell Cronkhite is a nice gift idea and an even nicer way to inspire a personal event surrounding friends with a planned but simple sharing of food. I write this following our plan to set up our own picnic at Ravinia (sorry, rain knocked that one out, but we moved it to the park instead). It IS possible to throw a micro-party, a moveable feast, pretty easily and you're really going to like it.

Being a regular guy, I need occasional cheaters when it comes to looking smart; A Return To Family Picnics is just such a crib note: glossy enough for a coffee table and piled with enough clas s to make any shlep like me come off looking classier.

Great photos; nice menu ideas from Cronkhite, a man who knows his stuff about serving great food very well.

Food books? Don't get me started: too many miss their mark. But not Cronkhite's nicely done tome; I liked it enough to buy a copy for my mother who may never throw another picnic but will know that her son knows how it's done...

what a grump.......2005-04-21

To Whom It May Concern:

I normally don't bother responding to critics - I find that I am usually far more critical of my own work. However, reading the recent Publishers Weekly review of my newest cookbook I really can't help myself. I had heard it was a rather "lame" piece. And judging from the general tone, one that seems to imply picnics are either for latte sipping yuppies or red state warriors, it sounds as though this snide little curmudgeon may think a great picnic would include a package of Twinkies and a (full of) baloney sandwich.

Picnics come in many shapes and sizes. Had someone bothered to actually read my "text book" on picnic history they might have discovered picnics have been and still are leisure affairs filled with festivity, imagination, and romance. Whether a grand Southern picnic with platters piled high, an afternoon tea party, a fun-filled family reunion, New England clam bake, July Fourth barbecue, a springtime brunch, or a fall festival tailgate - picnics can be in the back yard, out in the country, in the garden, or down at the local park.

A Return to Family Picnics is filled with picnic perfect menus: some elegant menus featuring poached salmon or country pate - great for a wedding shower, Mother's Day, or an autumn hot air balloon ride. But I also included a good balance of sandwiches, wraps, cup cakes and bar cookies, as well as easy to prepare dishes like our juicy herb marinated rotisserie chicken and festive salads for an impromptu day in the park.

A Return to Family Picnics is a wonderfully well-crafted gift book designed by one of the industries top firms. It is beautifully photographed, with stunning food styling, and by most accounts filled with romance, warm memories, and charm.

Still, I could see how some might be turned-off to the book's splendor: the same cynics too sophisticated for Hallmark cards, Miss America, county fairs or small town parades. So, call me "corny" if you will. But golly gee, Mrs. Cleaver, saccharine...? Sorry, Saccharine is an artificial sweetener, while my love for all things bright and beautiful is quite natural and sincere. Most Americans, no matter what their supposed political stripe, still salute the flag with pride and still stand respectfully for the National Anthem.

So, this is a "red state" picnic book...Really? It's a given that reviewers generally think they are being oh so clever when often they can't see the beauty beyond their own murk-colored glasses - but is it possible someone is taking their Neanderthal rhetoric a little too seriously here? It's a cookbook for heaven's sake.

My guess is your reviewer has not recently been to an old fashioned community picnic. Around the Potomac where I live, like parks around America, civic groups, extended families, and groups of friends are gathering every weekend to enjoy lively games and conversations in the warm inviting breeze. Beneath awnings, umbrellas and shaded trees they fire up grills and propane cookers and spread tables with their own movable feasts - true, this takes a bit of forethought and pre-planning as all things worth doing well.

Picnics are a passion. For several years I was a judge at the Montpellier Steeplechase tailgate competition here in Virginia and I can assure you these picnics were anything but simple: crystal candelabra, sides of smoked salmon, fine china set out in the open trunk of a classic Rolls Royce. And yes, trifle!

Presently, I'm helping to organize a picnic at my church: we'll have macaroni salad, glazed ham, fried chicken, corn on-the-cob and deviled eggs. We'll play balloon toss, have a square dance, and run three-legged races. And if we can round up enough hand-cranked machines we'll churn frozen custard for the peach cobbler or for making ice cream sodas.

The point of a having a picnic, the point of my book, is one of fun and celebration. It is sad to realize that there are still people who can't manage to enjoy a bit of serendipity.

Russell Cronkhite author of A Return to Family Picnics

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