Sharp; thoughtful and mysterious; How the World Began is a powerful story about an outsider in a close-knit; devastated community.Susan; a science teacher from Manhattan; starts work in a small rural Kansas town thats been ripped apart by a tornado. When one of her pupils - the damaged; articulate Micah - takes offence at an off-the-cuff remark about how life on Earth began; Susan is thrown into an ethical firestorm about science and faith that leads to her fearing for her safety.Casting light on the tension between religion and secular liberalism; How the World Began explores the debate between creationism and evolution; and how this is taught in schools. With hints of American classics like Inherit the Wind and The Catcher in the Rye; the play traces the inexorable; fatalistic momentum from a single casual act into an all-encompassing dispute. A dispute which then threatens the very foundations of a community still reeling from a colossal disaster. In addition to its relevant and complex themes; the play is also about human psychology and what drives people to extreme ideological positions in times of duress.With writing which is provocative; moving and intelligent; Catherine Trieschmann asks important questions alongside in-depth character studies. This shrewd and compassionate drama is astute; perceptive and controversial.
#116527 in eBooks 2013-03-05 2013-03-05File Name: B00EVWHEZC
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Artist and his personal worldBy Doug FreyA thoroughly researched and highly detailed history of Sargent and his many connections; this book brings a deep context to the paintings and to the epoch. The recreational reader may feel a little overwhelmed by the flood of details and the spillover across continents and cultures; but the historian will surely revel in the finely grained picture of the world of art and cosmopolitan privilege at the end of the 19th century.0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy SandrapaintsLove it!9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A New Look at Sargents World and WorkBy jaylyn olivoThis wonderful book; which focuses on the life of Rosemarie Ormond; niece of John Singer Sargent and his most beloved subject; pulls together the history of Sargentrsquo;s times; the lives of the cultured class on the Continent; and the love story of two shining lights of that class; both cut down in their prime and at the beginning of their married life. For a work of non-fiction; it is as close to a page-turner as Irsquo;ve read in some time; the stories of love and war and art merging to paint a vivid picture of WWI and its horrors and its particular tolls on one prominent family. The fluid writing; the brilliant setting of the scene of Rosemarie and Robertrsquo;s lives; the insights into Sargentrsquo;s life and his devotion to friends and family; and the particular slant on the history of a period we think we know but can always know better make for satisfying and illuminating reading. I commend this book to anyone interested in Sargent; his world; and the trials of Europeans faced with a brutal war.