This book analyzes and offers fresh insights into the trickster tradition including African American; American Indian; Euro-American; Asian American; and Latino/a stories; Morgan examines the oral roots of each racial/ethnic group to reveal how each groups history; frustrations; and aspirations have molded the tradition in contemporary literature.
#266383 in eBooks 1999-02-01 1999-02-01File Name: B00G958598
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I love itBy Dorothy KaminsA handbook for designers; honest and applicable to the present day. Some of the colors featured are not popular now; but the intent is applicable to today0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Alexa HamptonThe best!4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. If I could have only one book on interior design; this book would be it!By giAbsolutely the best book on American home design of the contemporary period!It is not a "picture book;" though it contains room sketches made by designer. In it Hampton writes about the principles of home decorating and interior design in a style free of professional jargon and in some of the purest; cleanest English to come from a design writer in our time. His prose is like his design style---deceptively simple; clear; welcoming; and entertaining.He has chapters on the elements of design----Colors; Elements (fireplaces; dressing windows; lamplight; mirrors; deep comfort in seating; beds and bedposts; parameters of framing; setting the table; pattern underfoot); Styles (Victorian comeback; Classicism Is Always New; The Delights of Chinoiserie; Fresh Look at Baltic Styles; Early American Purity); Plans (Furniture Placement that Makes a Living Room Work; How to Create Interior Views; etc); Rooms; Materials (fabrics; uses of wallpaper; tassels and fringes; gimps and cords; rugs).Each one is eminently practical and insightful. One has the feel of the writer speaking. In writing about furniture placement in the more "public" rooms of a house; Hampton writes; "To dwell on large parties can begin to sound silly. Think; instead; of room in which conversation can flourish; whether between two people or among ten; rooms in which visitors feel immediately at home and would rather sit than stand---rooms that really work. I believe the rooms in which all these things happen are those that are very well arranged. They appear to be comfortable to the eye even before one has experienced the physical comfort."He offers "a little syllogism" for approaching furniture arrangement. "All rooms look their best if they are used by the people they belong to. Unless a room is arranged in a way that allows it to function comfortably; it will never be used. Therefore; no room will look its best until it is comfortably arranged." How many unused; expensive American "living rooms" could be improved with this simple logic! Hampton continues to elaborate and illustrate this principle with examples and drawings; but that little syllogism alone is enough to guide even the rankest first-time homeowner who wants to plan her or his own home.His chapter on framing is a jewel in this day when one sees walls of identically framed art. He reminds readers that frames should match the subject and time period of the painting. If they do that; they will find welcome homes in any room. "When I frame a number of pictures that I am going to hang together;" Hampton writes; "I use several framers to avoid a mass-produced look." While most do not have access to the variety Hampton had; one can always take the paintings in one at a time; asking the framer to work with the work of art to be framed; not the color scheme of a particular room. And how typically practical Hampton is in this; for framed with the proper considerations; paintings can be moved about with redecorations or changes of mind.The chapter on colors is also terrific and is oh-so-Hampton American clear. Look in any style magazine for the home today ; and you will see white walls with blue-and-white china. I dont think Ive seen one green room that used this porcelain as decoration. Yet in the chapter "The Versatility of Green;" Hampton reminds the reader that green walls welcome blue-and-white china. He encourages reconsideration of all the shades of green; from the rich darks to the light green that Robert Adam used; and he explains exactly how to use this color in a room.I wish I had this book at hand when I began furnishing the well-designed; sturdy home my husband and I had built in the late 1960s in a classic style in an era of ranch-style houses. I would have been more confident in some of the decisions I made as we furnished it; piece-by-piece over time; from "finds" and inherited pieces and furniture my husband produced in his amateur workshop after traditional pieces. Looking back; I think it turned out so well as it did because we followed the central principle Hampton commends: comfort and practical usage produce beauty. And because wed trained our eyes by looking at lots of Southern rooms that had been lived in over time.I purchased it now that I am reworking a room or two; thinking it would be filled with large-page photographs of Hampton-designed rooms. Im so glad it was not that. If I were able to give but one book to a young couple just starting out in their first apartment or home or someone remodeling a room or so; this would be it. For when one understands the simple principles of design for the home; he is freed to make his home an expression of his own taste and time and needs----and in a beautiful; comfortable; highly usable way.I think this is also a book for anyone considering "the American mind"---the worldview of America.Some books are joys to read. This is one of them. It is also the most helpful interior design book for the average person Ive come across. Youll never regret owning it!