Product Description
Indian clubs, once popular exercise equipment used by people of all ages throughout the United States, are now appreciated as a form of American folk art. Tracing their history, this book discusses their progress from training equipment for the British Army in colonial India to fashionable status first in Victorian England and then in America, where choreographed club swinging became both an exercise mania and a competitive sport. Colour photographs illustrate the wealth of decorative detail - inlaid wood patterns, tin and brass appliques, and painted designs - offered by manufacturers, as well as some of the whimsical decorations owners used to personalize their clubs. Archive material documents the sport of club swinging. Intended especially for the collector of folk art, the book includes a directory of dealers, auctions, flea markets and antique shops across the USA. It also discusses major considerations for the collector, such as artistic features of the clubs, and their shape, size, weight, surface finish and manufacturer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Everything old is new again! Exercise a new passion.
Alice Hoffman has uncovered a forgotten piece of American history and inspired me to begin collecting Indian clubs. Hoffman has written an informative book complete with stunning photographs and personalreflections.

Indian clubs now prized for their sculptural, artisticmerits were once a must for every man, women, and child who hoped to obtainphysical and spiritual well-being in the late 19th, early 20th century.

It's amazing to learn that Indian clubs were once thought to be anexercise that would stand the test of time. Hoffman has shown they have,not as muscle builders but as a collectible.

If you're interested inlearning something new and not afraid of becoming an Indian club collectingaddict as I have since reading this book, I suggest you order Indian Clubstoday.

A new discovery-everything old is new!
Excellent resource for serious collectors and the curious. Photographs are inspirational. Can't wait to start my own collection. Historical information very comprehensive. Good read as well as informative.

Confirms there is a new "exercise" in folk art collecting!
A wonderful read...informative.Photographs are ready for framing. Definitely will inspire you to begin to collect Indian clubs. As stated by Gerard Wertkin, Director, Museum of American Folk Art, "(AliceHoffman) has recovered an all but forgotten subchapter in the history ofAmerican sport and, at the same time, helped us appreciate another aspectof American artistic creativity. Hats off to her!" I agree with Mr.Wertkin andthe following reviews: Antiques & Auction News, "Acolorful exercise in collecting,"..."documents the"life" of this colorful and practical form of exercise...acharming addition to any antiques library." Antique & CollectiblesNews Service, "Inside Antiques, Good Reading,"..."we love(this) book...a folk art gem." Antiques Review, "TheBookshelf,"..."Superb color photographs...Fascinating archivalmaterial." Denver Post, "What's Up,"..."If you'researching for the most unusual art book of the year don't overlook IndianClubs." Maine Antiques Digest, "Books, Calendars,CD-ROMS,"..."a case for Indian clubs as folk art." The StarLedger, NJ, "A new life for Indian clubs,"..."new coffeetable book...If TV infomercials had been around in their heyday, chancesare the physical fitness mavens of the day would have been pitching Indianclubs in the same way abs machines and treadmills are endlessly hawkednow." ... Read more

Product Description
Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people's dreams when they sleep. Granddaughter Stella has a mental window to the future - a future that she might not want to see.

In Alice Hoffman's latest tour de force, this vivid and intriguing cast of characters confronts a haunting past - and a very current murder - against the evocative backdrop of small-town New England. By turns chilling and enchanting, The Probable Future chronicles the Sparrows' legacy as young Stella struggles to cope with her disturbing clairvoyance. Her potential to ruin or redeem becomes unbearable when one of her premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide. Yet this ordeal also leads Stella to the grandmother she was forbidden to meet, and to an historic family home full of talismans from her ancestors. ... Read more

Product Description
Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people's dreams when they sleep. Granddaughter Stella has a mental window to the future - a future that she might not want to see.

In Alice Hoffman's latest tour de force, this vivid and intriguing cast of characters confronts a haunting past - and a very current murder - against the evocative backdrop of small-town New England. By turns chilling and enchanting, The Probable Future chronicles the Sparrows' legacy as young Stella struggles to cope with her disturbing clairvoyance. Her potential to ruin or redeem becomes unbearable when one of her premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide. Yet this ordeal also leads Stella to the grandmother she was forbidden to meet, and to an historic family home full of talismans from her ancestors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Audio Book from Brillance Audio.
In the middle of listening to this story I put in a tape that had a lot of noise on it which became increasingly loud. I called the Brillance Audio toll free number on the side of the box and they are sending a replacement cassett tape. No questions asked and no charge. You can't beat that.

A RICHLY INTERPRETED READING
Three women with magical gifts form the ladder on which Alice Hoffman hangs her latest mesmerizing tale.Voice performer Susan Ericksen brings a rich interpretation to the words of each as suspense mounts in a small New England town.

The Sparrow women's gifts or liabilities, as some might wish to see them, began many years ago when a young girl who was inured to all pain entered a tiny settlement.Elinor, the first of her descendants, can tell a liar from a mile away.Her daughter, Jenny, can actually see people's dreams as they sleep.And, the next in line, Stella, is able to look into the future.

"The Probable Future" is aptly named.What does the future hold for a trio so abundantly blessed or cursed?

- Gail Cooke ... Read more

Product Description
A breathtaking storybook about a timid girl and her magical horse.

Jewel is terrified of everything - especially the horses on her ranch. But when her grandfather puts the fate of a scrawny newborn foal in her hands, she has no choice but to care for the sad little thing she names Bug. As the two grow fond of each other, Jewel discovers an extraordinary secret about Bug - he can fly! Unfortunately, someone else has discovered the foal's secret. Can Jewel overcome her fears in order to save her best friend?

This lyrical story, rich with Alice Hoffman's signature magical realism and paired with sweeping, lush paintings, is a delightful read-aloud experience for the whole family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A little girl's dream
My six year old daughter lists "Horsefly" among her favorite books. We have owned this book for almost a year, and still read it frequently. A lover of horse stories since she first saw the movie "Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron", this book has set the stage for many nights of what we call dream building. We will continue to enjoy this book, and will add more by this author to our home library.

An adult's guilty pleasure...
Okay, okay. I'm 41 years old and I have no children, so what am I doing reading children's fiction? The answer is simple---Alice Hoffman.Hoffman, who deftly blends forklore and fairy tale like qualities into her adult novels (HERE ON EARTH, THE RIVER KING, among many others) uses these skills to great advantage in HORSEFLY, and it translates effectively into children's fiction. HORSEFLY is the story of a timid little girl, Jewel, and her magical horse and is a delightful tale for both children and children at heart alike! ... Read more

Product Description
When the women in the Sparrow family reach thirteen, they develop a unique ability. In young Stella's case, the gift, which is both a blessing and a curse, is the ability to see a person's probable future. Stella foresees a gruesome murder, and tells her charming, feckless father about it, but it is too late - the murder has already been committed and suspicion falls on him. Her mother Jenny, on the other hand, can read other people's dreams, but so often misinterprets them, to her own cost. Hoffman unlocks the caskets of family life and the secret history of a community in this magical story about young love and old love, about making choices - usually the wrong ones - about foresight and consequences, all suffused with the haunting scent of roses and wisteria, and the hum of bees on a summer evening. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another very good Alice Hoffman book.
I am a fan of Alice Hoffman's novels.This was very good.I got it at a great price.Thanks again Amazon! ... Read more

Product Description
The courage to face the unthinkable is at the core of this magnificent novel. How do we manage to confront the truths in our lives and find forgiveness in the most unforgiving of circumstances?

When Ethan Ford fails to show up for work on a brilliant summer morning, none of his neighbors would guess that for more than thirteen years, he has been running from his past. His true nature has been locked away, as hidden as his real identity. But sometimes locks spring open, and the devastating truths of Ethan Ford’s history shatter the small-town peace of Monroe, affecting family and friends alike.
... Read more

Product Description

" "Tell me about the war" -- these words launched a ten-year project in oral history by a husband-and-wife team. Howard Hoffman fought in World War II from Cassino to the Elbe as a mortar crewman and a forward observer. His war experiences are of intrinsic interest to readers who seek a foot soldier's view of those historic events. But the principal purpose of this study was to explore the bounds of memory, to gauge its accuracy and its stability over time, and to determine the effects of various efforts to enhance it. Alice Hoffman, a historian, initiated the study because she recognized the critical role of memory in gathering oral history; Howard Hoffman, the subject, is an experimental psychologist. Alice's tape-recorded interviews with her husband over a period of ten years are the basic material of the study, which compares the events as recounted in the first phase of the interviews with later accounts of the same experiences and with the written records of his company as well as the memories of fellow soldiers and the evidence of photographs and other documents. This engrossing story of World War II breaks new ground for practitioners of oral history. The Hoffmans' findings indicate that a subset of human memory exists that is so permanent and resistant to change that it can properly be labeled "archival". In addition to describing some of the circumstances under which archival memories are formed, the Hoffmans describe the conditions that were found to influence their storage and retrieval.

Customer Reviews (2)

Showing the Best for Oral History and Memory Research
Throughgoing in pioneering scholarship and artistic in execution, this unique wife-husband collaboration advances the art of oral history, butresses the case for using memory and recognition in histories, and readslike a fine novel.Thanks to Alice's interviewing craft, Howard's richmemories of his varied WW11 experiences are validated.Oral historytechniques are thereby improved, and the reader is treated all along to avery good read.Bold in conception, careful in completion, the book willreward all curious about the strengths and limitations of recall andrecognition as scholarly aids.Any others open to learning more truth thanever about war will also be well rewarded

Showing the Best for Oral History and Memory Research
Throughgoing in pioneering scholarship and artistic in execution, this unique wife-husband collaboration advances the art of oral history, butresses the case for using memory and recognition in histories, and readslike a fine novel.Thanks to Alice's interviewing craft, Howard's richmemories of his varied WW11 experiences are validated.Oral historytechniques are thereby improved, and the reader is treated all along to avery good read.Bold in conception, careful in completion, the book willreward all curious about the strengths and limitations of recall andrecognition as scholarly aids.Any others open to learning more truth thanever about war will also be well rewarded ... Read more

Product Description
Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, Jenny, can see people's dreams when they sleep. Granddaughter Stella has a mental window to the future - a future that she might not want to see.

In Alice Hoffman's latest tour de force, this vivid and intriguing cast of characters confronts a haunting past - and a very current murder - against the evocative backdrop of small-town New England. By turns chilling and enchanting, The Probable Future chronicles the Sparrows' legacy as young Stella struggles to cope with her disturbing clairvoyance. Her potential to ruin or redeem becomes unbearable when one of her premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide. Yet this ordeal also leads Stella to the grandmother she was forbidden to meet, and to an historic family home full of talismans from her ancestors. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more