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Books to read if you're planning a vacation in "Polk", sorted by average review score:

The Practice of Printing: Letterpress and Offset
Published in Hardcover by Bennett & McKnight Pub Co (February, 1971)
Author: Ralph Weiss Polk
Average review score:

The standard letterpress printing manual
The most ubiquitous letterpress printing manual of the twentieth century, and one of the better ones. This is the standard, in print for over 40 years, from which most current letterpress printers first learned, and is an indispensable reference for the print shop. Although out of print, it is readily available, in one or another of its many editions, from most book arts dealers and online sources. In later years, it was distributed by the Kelsey Co. as the advanced printing manual for their mass-market presses. By 1971 (the edition you've found here at Amazon) it was updated to de-emphasize handset type, and was re-issued as "The Practice of Printing: Letterpress & Offset". If you are primarily interested in letterpress printing, try to get one of the earlier editions. It is unlikely that this book will be back in print per se, but certainly check Amazon zShops or Auctions for copies available for sale.


Sunny Side Up (The Kids of the Polk Street School Series/Audio Cassette, Book and Guide)
Published in Paperback by Listening Library (August, 1990)
Authors: Patricia Reilly Giff and Suzanne Toren
Average review score:

The saddest of all the other Polk Street books
It's summer vacation and school's out but Richard, Matthew and a handful of other kids have summer school. Richard is depressed. Mrs. Paris, his reading teacher gives him good advice on how to handle changes and things he doesn't like. Then Richard's friend Matthew says that he is moving to Ohio. Matthew doesn't want to go and Richard fixes up a place for Matthew to live in his garage. It's a good book with a non-saccarine ending. There are a lot of good messages to the readers, such as it is okay to cry. That's the best advice! I think I cried when I read this about Richard's best buddy Matthew moving away and although it seems an un-satisfying ending to this book, be sure to check out the other Polk Street books, and there are two books about Matthew's adventures in his new town, Deposit, Ohio ("Matthew Jackson Meets The Wall" and "Shark In School"--both delightful!) Beast and Matthew stay in touch even across time and distance!!


The Candy Corn Contest (Kids of the Polk Street School, No 3)
Published in Hardcover by Delacorte Press (September, 1986)
Authors: Patricia Reilly Giff and Blanche Sims
Average review score:

Yummy
My third grade teacher read us this book during the fall holidays. At the age of 23, I still remember the title and how it made me like candy corn. I think it's a great story. I'm going to buy this book for my nephew.

Memories
I read this book when I was in the third grade and I loved it!!! I probably read the book 20 times during my childhood. I am now 24, and still remember the yummy candy corn contest described in this book. :)

Two illustrators
Publisher and Amazon, ect., should list the cover artist as well, if it is different from interiors. Many reasons for this... Public can find the specific book they are looking for, and equal time is given to each artist. (instead of leaving the cover artist out altogether-which, unfortunately has been done since paperbacks were invented. I know, because I am a children's book cover artist. We get neither money or fame, but our work helps sell the book....It is criminal if someone else gets all the credit.


Intruder in the Dust: Typescript Draft, Typescript Setting Copy, and Miscellaneous Material (William Faulkner Manuscripts, 17)
Published in Hardcover by Garland Pub (August, 1987)
Authors: William Faulkner and Noel Polk
Average review score:

Great Short Story; Only Somewhat Satisfying Novel
This book had incredible potential right from the beginning and in many ways, this potential was fulfilled. However, as Faulkner got further entrenched in his stream of consciousness technique and he continued to reiterate the significance of the events on what essentailly is a 24-36 hour period, I began to come to the conclusion that this must have started off as a short story and was extended strictly to satisfy elements of style and to send a message to the rest of the country (let The South solve its own Civil Rights problem). I have previously successfully navigated the stream of consciousness style in such books as Absalom Absalom! and found that in the retelling of a 50 year saga it was very effective. Here however, it seems to get in the way and serves only to extend a basic (but interesting) storyline from an evening read, to an extended read. I recommend it for the Faulkner fan since it was one of his rare commercial successes, but the Faulkner novice may be better off with easier books such as The Unvanquished or even for that matter Light in August.

A near-classic
No it's not one of Faulkner's "big four" (the classics "The Sound and the Fury," "As I Lay Dying," "Light in August" and "Absalom! Absalom!"), but "Intruder in the Dust" is certainly in his next tier of top novels, and is the one book that can fly in the face of the "he never wrote anything great after World War II" way of thinking. I enjoyed this book immensely. Yes, the sentences tend to be extremely long and the book is slow to get going, but find Faulkner's rhythm and stick with the story; you'll be glad you did. As always, the highlight is Faulkner's beautiful use of language, which always towers over whatever story he's writing and whatever flaws you may stumble upon along the way. This story of a black man wrongly accused of murder doesn't always go where you think it will or even where you want it to, but somehow it works brilliantly. Faulkner throws in his take (apparently) on how the South should handle civil rights on its own -- not really necessary to include and a small flaw in the book, I think. But stick with it, get drunk on the prose and enjoy an underappreciated work from a master. This relatively short book will be over too soon.

Still controversial after all these years.
This novel has a traditional detective story plot and a conventional attitude about race relations (although it was progressive for the South in the late 40s). After that, all bets are off. The style is like a thicket, but that's because Faulkner puts you into the head of a confused boy caught up in events beyond his control. Chick Mallison is white, and his friend Aleck Sander is black (Aleck Sander doesn't know his name isn't two words, because he can't read or write). The paired adult characters of equivalent race are Chick's uncle, Gavin Stevens, a lawyer, who defends Lucas Beauchamp (pronounced "Beecham"), a black tenant farmer accused of a murder he didn't commit by the people who did it. They know that in a prejudiced society, white people are likely to believe a black man is guilty, so they try to palm it off on him. Lucas is a rather severe character who often doesn't seem to appreciate the help he's getting (part of the plot involves trying to prevent the citizens from pulling him out of jail and lynching him), but he's a marvelous character and something of a father figure to Chick by the end of the book. Reading the book is a bit of a chore at first, but I got through it in high school years ago, and am reading it now for the third time. If you want some help getting into the book, you might try a "Masterplots" description of it or a reader's guide to Faulkner (there are several around). You might also look for the 1949 film based on the book, which was filmed in Faulkner's home town of Oxford, Mississippi, with local citizens as extras, and with the great Juano Hernandez playing Lucas.


The Presidency of James K. Polk (American Presidency Series)
Published in Hardcover by Univ Pr of Kansas (May, 1987)
Author: Paul H. Bergeron
Average review score:

JAMES K. WHO?
When I point out that James K. Polk and Jerry Ford were the two Presidents who promised only what they could deliver and delivered all they promised, people generally reply "James K. Who?" The man who stretched the USA from sea to shining sea has got to be fascinating. All Kudos to the author for a much-needed book.

Particularly fascinating in it is the hilarious story of the negotiation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave us California et al. It proves the Mark Twain saying that God protects fools, drunkards and the United States of America.

A very thorough and informative study.
Polk is frequently ranked in the top third of US presidents. The years of his presidency fall between Jackson and Lincoln - a period where the presidents around him were generally considered among the worst in history. Polk clearly learned lessons about management and control from the failures of Tyler before him and these lessons led to a most effective presidency. While sectionalism begins to tear apart the preceding presidency and those that followed, the Polk presidency sees a chief executive who manages to be in charge of events during his 4 years. This book was a good read about an import man in a dangerous and exciting time and perhaps a lesson in not promising only to serve one term.


Snaggle Doodles (Giff, Patricia Reilly. Kids of the Polk Street School (Delacorte Press), 8.)
Published in Hardcover by Delacorte Press (September, 1986)
Authors: Patricia Reilly Giff and Blanche Sims
Average review score:

This book is the WORST book I've ever read
"Snagle Doodles," what a weired title. This book is NOT written well. The sentences are way too short. Some sentences only have one word! The characters are very dumb. In the story, kids had to envent something( I mean to make something out of boxes, gloves, paper, and all kinds of stuff in groups). And two gruops made trees, but they were supposed to envent somethig. Dumb, isnt it? So don't read it.

A Fond Trip Down Memory Lane
I honestly have no idea how I stumbled upon this book now, so many years after reading it. I'll be twenty years old this year and am attending college with the intent of becoming a writer/teacher myself. Miraculously, despite not having seen or read these books in many years, I am able to remember this entire series and its characters perfectly: The realistic and relatable heroine of most tales, Emily Arrow; her younger sister Stacy (star of the New Polk Street School kids series), who 'smiled like Elwood, the dog down the street'; Beast (aka Matthew Best), the considerable leader of the class and a star of the series in his own right; his best friend, the smelly Matthew Jackson; the beautiful, prim and proper, "perfect" Dawn Tiffani Bosco (whom you later learned wasn't so bad, thanks to her own series, the Polka Dot Private Eye); Ms. Rooney, the pure embodiment of a stereo-typical perfect teacher; and, of course, the other classmates who frequent the adventures (like Sherri Dent)... I could go on and on.
I've always been somewhat of a.. OK, somewhat of a dork, to be completely honest. I learned to read when I was 3 years old, and haven't been able to put a book down ever since. I delved into this series when I was about six years old and fell in love with it. The characters always managed to entertain me, but still taught lessons of great moral values without making them too obvious or preachy. The oft-outrageous and hilarious predicaments the children get themselves into time and time again keep its readers from losing interest, a problem that frequently occurs to its target age group. The books also depicted scenes and situations most children have found themselves in at some point in time, providing an outlet for alliance.
Overall, having experienced the pleasure of reading this series at the age it was intended for and seeing that I still remember specific details from it almost 14 years later, I think it is safe to say that these are fabulous books for children. In a day and age where simplicity and innocence is becoming harder and harder to come by, these timeless books provide a fantastic escape for kids. I am thankful that I still own my collection so many years later; perhaps one day I will have the pleasure of sharing them with my future children.
Kudos and hats off to the author for creating such a wonderfully relatable and captivating assortment of characters and antics still cherished today!


You Might Be a Disciple If
Published in Paperback by Chalice Press (December, 1997)
Author: David P. Polk
Average review score:

A church laughs at itself
The Disciples of Christ are one of the smaller "mainline" denominations in America. We're used to people not knowing who we are.

Through completing the sentence of the title, Polk (and others who have sent him their ideas) spell out a little bit about who we are in ways that cause those of us in the Disciples to get a chuckle.

Most of the humor is only appreciated by those of us on the inside, but the humor can also help us to understand ourselves a little better.

I may use it in church as a way of explaining a bit of our history and polity in a more informal setting.

A fun final exam!
I occasionally teach a short 6-week Sunday School class at our church on the history of the Disciples, designed especially for new members (but open to anybody who's interested, of course). The last time, I presented the class members this little book as a kind of parting gift/diploma/final exam, all rolled into one. My basic educational objective: by the end of our class, each member should get all the jokes in this clever little book!

The class members really loved it, and I'm looking forward to using it again soon, when a new class starts.


The Salonika Bay Murder: Cold War Politics and the Polk Affair
Published in Hardcover by Princeton Univ Pr (April, 1989)
Author: Edmund Keeley
Average review score:

Murky Waters of Politics and Murder
The eve of the cold war in Greece provides the political setting for the murder of American journalist George Polk and the stagy trial that followed. In this thorough examination of the meager evidence and doubtful testimony, what becomes clear is that the "official version" was at best a shadowy distortion and at worst a clumsy fiction. Essential reading for those intrigued by the immediate circumstances, the prominent personalities, the leading theories of the crime and the general cold war context.


Outside the Southern Myth
Published in Paperback by Univ Pr of Mississippi (Trd) (October, 1997)
Author: Noel Polk
Average review score:

Unnecessary Self-Pity
This is a self-revealing and boring book. Polk argues that he is not a product of his Southern background, no, he is somehow "better." But even if he abhors the fact, nothing could document more thoroughly his being solidly within "the Southern Myth" than his own pronouncements. So he is ashamed of bare feet, who cares? What on earth convinced the press to publish this vain cry of unnecessary self-pity.

An Oxford reader

Engaging, Captivating, and Unique
Hardly the pity-fest that an earlier Amazon reviewer would have you take it for, Noel Polk's Outside the Southern Myth is a fascinating glimpse into a South that, although probably closer to the South that most Southerners live in, often goes ignored in literature, television, music, and film in favor of depictions of hard-drinkin' good ol' boys or genteel aristocrats. Sure, the South has plenty of both (though I haven't seen a white linen suit or a mint julep in a while), but Polk's book complicates the traditional view of Southern life and shows that a middle-class Southern experience can be just as rich, tragic, perplexing, and worthy of study as any Faulkner novel.


Requiem for a Nun (William Faulkner Manuscripts)
Published in Hardcover by Garland Pub (November, 1987)
Authors: William Faulkner and Noel Polk
Average review score:

Simply Dreadful
Avoid this Faulkner work. It will not enhance your appreciation for his writing; rather, you are likely to regret ever having guiltily enjoyed Sanctuary. Other than his two Snopes novels, none of Faulkner's work after World War II is worth reading, and I include Intruder in the Dust in that assessment. Instead, go back to the works that demonstrated a gift for story-telling and language, rather than sales. Sanctuary is unique in that the lurid story of course was sellable yet Faulkner was able to infuse it with his own unique vision and style.

Disappointing but readable
Two-and-a-half stars. In Requiem, Faulkner pens a sequel to his sensational novel Sanctuary, attempting to navigate the troubled marriage of Gowan and Temple Stevens. He delves deep into Temple's psyche, revealing a woman unable (or unwilling) to escape her troubled, violent past in Memphis. Just as her marriage is spiralling to destruction, Gowan and Temple's daughter dies at the hands of their nurse, Nancy. Faulkner seems to be trying to lend some serious philosophical weight to the otherwise lightweight Sanctuary. Two problems. First, Sanctuary was fine as it was; a sequel was unnecessary. Second, the narrative structure of Requiem--half prose, half play--while initially intriguing, ultimately hinders Faulkner is his attempt to probe psychological depths. (There's only so much of that you can do when you're limited to dialogue.) Oh, and of course that annoying ubiquitous allknowing lawyer Gavin Stevens has to put his $.02 in. I recommend this book only for true Faulkner lovers.

An "off day" for a literary genius.
I'm gonna make this review short. If you've read "Sanctuary", then this book might be worth reading....once. Don't expect the usual Faulkner greatness, however - it's readable and that's all. There are about, oh, say, 20 or so Faulkner works I would recommend before this one. "Sanctuary" really didn't need a sequel, IMHO.

If you haven't read "Sanctuary", don't even bother. I can almost guarantee you'll dislike it and/or be confused by it. Not highly recommended.


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