Kitchen, Judith, ed. Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction.KITCHEN, Judith, ed. Short takes; brief encounters with contemporary nonfiction. Norton. 399p. c2005. 0-393-32600-4. $14.95. SA * Seventy-seven authors contributed short essays (a few paragraphs to 2,000 words) on various subjects: a drowning in Tucson, hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as lifting, thumbing, hitching, autostop or thumbing up a ride) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people (usually strangers) for a ride in their automobile to travel a distance that may either be a short or long distance. , sounds, colors abandoned by the Crayola company, Mexican farm workers, small towns such as Murdo, South Dakota Murdo is a city in Jones County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 612 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Jones CountyGR6. Murdo is named for Murdo MacKenzie, a Texas cattleman, and was the hometown of current Republican U.S. , a scarlet fever scarlet fever or scarlatina, an acute, communicable infection, caused by group A hemolytic streptococcal bacteria (see streptococcus) that produce an erythrogenic toxin. epidemic in 1944, an Armenian grandmother watching the Yankees, the Taj Mahal Taj Mahal (täzh məhäl`, täj məhŭl`), mausoleum, Agra, Uttar Pradesh state, N India, on the Yamuna River. It is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian , fishing and sleeping in the woods, gay love in Amsterdam, ugly women, winter, trains, French lessons, the semi-colon, gray whales, jet lag jet lag Period of adjustment of biological rhythm after moving from one time zone to another, experienced as fatigue and lowered efficiency. It reflects a delay in the synchronization of changes in the level of blood cortisol, the major steroid produced by the adrenal cortex , human cruelty, fatherhood, the ghetto girls' guide to dating and romance, and ritual meals. Themes range from American/Immigration/ Settlers through Danger/Violence/Recklessness and Male Identity to War, Water, and Work/Jobs. Readers will encounter "some of the most exciting writers in present-day America." This collection is an excellent resource for young writers. Readers can tackle the essays in sequence or dip at random into this varied pool. As the author notes, "this collection speaks to a self-conscious American identity." Recommended to teachers of writing and their students. Janet Julian, English Teacher, Grafton, MA |
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