Writing the pioneer woman

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Amy L. Wink

"Virginia Woolf's story "The Legacy" describes a self-absorbed widower's all-too-typical response to the fifteen-volume diary left by his wife: he dismisses it as "nothing in particular." In contrast to that character's trivializing, contemporary feminist scholars have found diaries to be a rich resource for investigating the lives of "ordinary" women. No other documents reveal so completely what one scholar has called "life lived as a process."". "In this book, Amy L. Wink offers a probing examination of diaries kept by nineteenth-century American women. Her sources include accounts by women who chronicled their lives on the Overland Trail, the journals of two women married sequentially to the same psychologically abusive man, and the diaries of Confederate women who used their writings to comprehend their emotional and spiritual responses to the turmoil of the Civil War. As Wink notes, such writings demonstrate not only what these women experienced but also how they dealt with and understood that experience."--BOOK JACKET.

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Larry McMurtry

"What was achieved and destroyed, what was made up and forgotten in the American West as the continent was mapped, the natives were displaced, and exploits were transformed into legends? In this new collection, Larry McMurtry profiles explorers and martyrs, hucksters and scholars - figures in the West's enduring yet ever-shifting mixture of myth and reality."--BOOK JACKET.

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James R. Mead

James R. Mead arrived in Kansas Territory from his family home in Iowa in the spring of 1859. His journey west was a young man's adventure undertaken only with vague ideas of what he might do or just where he might go. He was 23 years old and soon fell under the spell of the wide open spaces of the plains, the prospect of encounters with Indians, and the great herds of buffalo. This lively memoir, long out of print, chronicles his life and experiences in Kansas from Territorial days to early statehood. In it we are taken along pioneer trails to Indian camps, sometimes in the company of Jesse Chisholm, William "Buffalo Bill" Matthewson, and Kit Carson; at other times with famous Indians such as Satanta, War Chief of the Kiowas. Mr. Mead's career on the plains began as a buffalo hunter, which he soon abandoned in favor of trading with the Indians, and then went on to become town founder (Wichita) and State Senator.

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Chris Welch

"Written by an award-winning authority on the band, Led Zeppelin documents the incredible journey of four talented rockers as they achieve musical glory. It takes you deep into the world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll in the heady days of the 1970s, revealing the personal stories behind the recordings. Iconic rock photography and spectacular images of rare memorabilia capture the excitement of the era, including posters, art prints, tickets to the biggest concerts, invites to after-parties, superbly designed flyers, and even "The Object" from the cover of Presence. Led Zeppelin is an exhilarating celebration of a group whose unique sound has never been equaled and will never be bettered."--Amazon.com