Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 059


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(3.2 stars; 2 reviews)

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 59 contains an eclectic mix of readings, ranging from a description of a Coney Island elephant colossus to meditations on mental telepathy and baseball. Philosophical essays by Leibniz, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Francis Bacon and William Blake touch on the topics of truth, prejudice, poetic genius, suicide, and preparation for a Christian life. An educator at a women's college in the early 1920's bemoans the decline in the way high school girls dress for school and recommends a "serge jumper dress, made with a washable under blouse." In the same span of years, a female reporter, going undercover to research conditions in the Detroit House of Corrections has herself arrested and is "stripped to the skin and searched for narcotics" and then made to don prison garb: "a faded gingham coverall, prison-made and drab." A medical doctor, writing in the 1870's, examines the connection between clean living and longevity, while a historian discusses how slave labor was employed in the salines of Southern Illinois. Native American Indian speech patterns are explored in an essay on the evolution of language, while a a chapter from a children's science book explains what happens "when the dew falls." Lastly, a spirited defense of the Bodleian as a research institution rather than a circulating library rounds out this volume of the nonfiction collection.

Preparation for a Christian Life III was translated by Lee M. Hollander. (5 hr 5 min)

Chapters

All Religions Are One 2:29 Read by Gerwin Kramer
Appropriate Clothes for the High School Girl 25:50 Read by Colleen McMahon
The Colossal Elephant of Coney Island 8:55 Read by J. M. Smallheer
Fear and Trembling: Introduction and Preparation 15:39 Read by Craig Campbell
Further Remarks On The Policy Of Lending Bodleian Printed Books And Manuscripts 31:52 Read by Donald Cummings
How to Pitch to Babe Ruth 4:52 Read by Utek
Human Longevity 18:49 Read by Lynne T
I Have Been in Hell! Or, In Search of Prison Knowledge 20:05 Read by Colleen McMahon
Leibniz's Critique of Locke's Essay on Human Understanding 14:30 Read by Craig Campbell
Mental Telegraphy Again 16:20 Read by Thomas Rose
Of Truth 6:12 Read by Gerwin Kramer
On the Evolution of Language 47:18 Read by Availle
On Suicide 13:39 Read by Gerwin Kramer
Preparation For a Christian Life III 5:58 Read by Craig Campbell
The Salines of Southern Illinois 57:53 Read by Sue Anderson
When the Dew Falls 15:28 Read by Sue Anderson

Reviews

beautiful story however


(2 stars)

the reader is awful