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Full Description
We Americans love to look at ourselves. How we vote, where we work, what we think about church and school -- studying ourselves is a national pastime. What has been missing in all this self-examination, until now, is a book about the greatest national obsessions of all: the hobbies we pursue, the collections and amateur sports to which we devote so much of our lives.
The Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady, and the All-Night Swimmer chronicles the amazing variety of ways in which we relax, compete with others and ourselves, and indulge some of our richest fantasies. Here are wonderfully warm and witty accounts of Americans as they: attempt to swim all the Great Lakes, often in horrible conditions; quit a job and begin raising sheep to accommodate a newfound passion for spinning; eat at every McDonald's in the nation; carve The Last Supper from wood; cross all the world's suspension bridges; build huge banana sculptures; roller blade, scull, and bake; and collect marbles, Noah's arks, talking birds, and much more.
In these pages you'll meet a marvelous array of ordinary people who do unusual things, sometimes to extremes, as they define for themselves worlds of imagination, contest, and excellence. These are people who thrill to the chase and sometimes plain wear themselves out having fun, whether it's flying kites as big as a king-size mattress, canoeing in the Canadian wilderness, or meticulously recording the daily details of their everyday existence.
In Working, Studs Terkel gave us an unforgettable oral history of the working life of an earlier generation. The Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady, and the All-Night Swimmer is a history for our own times -- of the passionate pursuits by which so many of us define ourselves and of the universal search for happiness and a sense of fulfillment.
Maybe you'll find yourself in the forty people profiled here. Maybe you'll find a hobby that you'll want to make your own. Either way, your life is likely to be enriched, just as the lives of the people you will read about are enriched by the depth of their commitment and the beauty of their accomplishments.
Contents
Contents
Preface
Part 1 Artful Expressions
Doug Fishbone: Lots of Bananas
James Pettus: Essential Natures
Robin Tarbell-Thomas: To the Fair
Ann and Sam Ritter: To Fly
Leonard Lauder: The Beauty of Small Things
Part 2 Thrill of the Chase
Alexandra Stafford: Food of Life
David Hanschen: On the Road Again
Barry Popik: First Words
Cathy Henderson: Buried Treasures
Henry Sakaida: The Go-Between
Part 3 Going to Extremes
Gig Gwin: Wordly Riches
Jim Dreyer: Far Shores
Peter Holden: Macs Without End
Marietta Phillips: Bossing Around
Roger Swicegood: Song of Myself
Part 4 Pleasures Small and Large
Cathy Runyan: Got Her Marbles
Peggy Dickson: Bird Brains
Harry Kloman: Matters of Fact and Fiction
Judy Konnerth: Two by Two
Steve Spreckelmeier: All Steamed Up
Patricia Corrigan: "Thar She Blows!"
Part 5 Motion Pictures
Lisa Ball: Snow Job
Steve Everett: Blade Runner
Mike Gaines: Hot into the Corner
Jim Murphy: Call of the Wild
Part 6 Callings
Jerry Traufler: Masterwork
Walter Pforzheimer: I, Spy
Claire Miller: Family Ties
Ted Furey: For God and Man and Old Ireland
Rose Kramer: Spinning Yarns
Part 7 The Sporting Life
Tom Blake: Tiger! Tiger! Burning Bright
Robert Strupp: Good Deals
Kim Eisler: Odds-on Favorite
Larry Kahn: Tiddly Wonks
Matt Dodyk: Holing Out
Part 8 Passionate Pursuits
John Sylvester Jr.: The Things We Die for
Sonia Young: Color Me Purple
Claudia Perry: Love of the Game
Daniel Chapin: Route Man
Don Betty: Crossover Artist
Acknowledgments
