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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2002, 288 pages
Paperback:
Apr 2003, 288 pages
Sometimes grave, occasionally hilarious, and ultimately persuasive, Small Wonder is a hopeful examination of the people we seem to be, and what we might yet make of ourselves.
In her new essay collection, the beloved author of High Tide in
Tucson brings to us, out of one of history's darker moments, an extended
love song to the world we still have.
Whether she is contemplating the Grand Canyon, her vegetable garden,
motherhood, genetic engineering, or the future of a nation founded on
the best of all human impulses, these essays are grounded in the
author's belief that our largest problems have grown from the earth's
remotest corners as well as our own backyards, and that answers may lie
in both those places.
Sometimes grave, occasionally hilarious, and ultimately persuasive,
Small Wonder is a hopeful examination of the people we seem to be, and
what we might yet make of ourselves.
God's Wives Measuring Spoons
Most of the time I go right on growing tomatoes and basil and broccoli simply because they are good, we like them, I'm determined to figure out the right planting time for cole crops, and broccoli attracts hordes of green looper caterpillars that throw Lily's chickens into paroxysms of chicken joy. I do it because the world has announced to me, loudly, that it's time to make a choice between infinite material entitlement or a more modest, self-reliant security, and this is a step I can take in the right direction. Most of the time I raise up my wonderful daughters to have what I hope will be a useful blend of smart-aleck acuity and politeness, and once in a while we go down to help out the homeless shelter or dig a community vegetable garden because I want my kids to understand that compassion involves not just the heart but the hands. I write my ...
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