- Hardcover
- Publisher: see notes for publisher info (1969)
- ASIN: B000OMUMV6
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
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More About the Author
Barbara Kingsolver was born in 1955 in Annapolis, Maryland, and grew up in rural Kentucky. She counts among her most important early influences: the Bookmobile, a large family vegetable garden, the surrounding fields and woods, and parents who were tolerant of nature study but intolerant of TV.
Beginning around the age of nine, Barbara kept a journal, wrote poems and stories, and entered every essay contest she ever heard about. Her first published work, "Why We Need a New Elementary School," included an account of how the school's ceiling fell and injured her teacher. The essay was printed in the local newspaper prior to a school-bond election; the school bond passed. For her efforts Barbara won a $25 savings bond, on which she expected to live comfortably in adulthood.
After high school graduation she left Kentucky to enter DePauw University on a piano scholarship. She transferred from the music school to the college of liberal arts because of her desire to study practically everything, and graduated with a degree in biology. She spent the late 1970's in Greece, France and England seeking her fortune, but had not found it by the time her work visa expired in 1979. She then moved to Tucson, Arizona, out of curiosity to see the American southwest, and eventually pursued graduate studies in evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona. After graduate school she worked as a scientific writer for the University of Arizona before becoming a freelance journalist.
Kingsolver's short fiction and poetry began to be published during the mid-1980's, along with the articles she wrote regularly for regional and national periodicals. She wrote her first novel, The Bean Trees, entirely at night, in the abundant free time made available by chronic insomnia during pregnancy. Completed just before the birth of her first child, in March 1987, the novel was published by HarperCollins the following year with a modest first printing. Widespread critical acclaim and word-of-mouth support have kept the book continuously in print since then. The Bean Trees has now been adopted into the core curriculum of high school and college literature classes across the U.S., and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
She has written eleven more books since then, including the novels Animal Dreams , Pigs in Heaven, The Poisonwood Bible, and Prodigal Summer ; a collection of short stories (Homeland ); poetry (Another America ); an oral history (Holding the Line ); two essay collections (High Tide in Tucson, Small Wonder ); a prose-poetry text accompanying the photography of Annie Griffiths Belt (Last Stand ); and most recently, her first full-length narrative non-fiction, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. She has contributed to dozens of literary anthologies, and her reviews and articles have appeared in most major U.S. newspapers and magazines. Her books have earned major literary awards at home and abroad, and in 2000 she received the National Humanities Medal, our nation's highest honor for service through the arts.
In 1997 Barbara established the Bellwether Prize, awarded in even-numbered years to a first novel that exemplifies outstanding literary quality and a commitment to literature as a tool for social change.
Barbara is the mother of two daughters, Camille and Lily, and is married to Steven Hopp, a professor of environmental sciences. In 2004, after more than 25 years in Tucson, Arizona, Barbara left the southwest to return to her native terrain. She now lives with her family on a farm in southwestern Virginia where they raise free-range chickens, turkeys, Icelandic sheep, and an enormous vegetable garden.
Beginning around the age of nine, Barbara kept a journal, wrote poems and stories, and entered every essay contest she ever heard about. Her first published work, "Why We Need a New Elementary School," included an account of how the school's ceiling fell and injured her teacher. The essay was printed in the local newspaper prior to a school-bond election; the school bond passed. For her efforts Barbara won a $25 savings bond, on which she expected to live comfortably in adulthood.
After high school graduation she left Kentucky to enter DePauw University on a piano scholarship. She transferred from the music school to the college of liberal arts because of her desire to study practically everything, and graduated with a degree in biology. She spent the late 1970's in Greece, France and England seeking her fortune, but had not found it by the time her work visa expired in 1979. She then moved to Tucson, Arizona, out of curiosity to see the American southwest, and eventually pursued graduate studies in evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona. After graduate school she worked as a scientific writer for the University of Arizona before becoming a freelance journalist.
Kingsolver's short fiction and poetry began to be published during the mid-1980's, along with the articles she wrote regularly for regional and national periodicals. She wrote her first novel, The Bean Trees, entirely at night, in the abundant free time made available by chronic insomnia during pregnancy. Completed just before the birth of her first child, in March 1987, the novel was published by HarperCollins the following year with a modest first printing. Widespread critical acclaim and word-of-mouth support have kept the book continuously in print since then. The Bean Trees has now been adopted into the core curriculum of high school and college literature classes across the U.S., and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
She has written eleven more books since then, including the novels Animal Dreams , Pigs in Heaven, The Poisonwood Bible, and Prodigal Summer ; a collection of short stories (Homeland ); poetry (Another America ); an oral history (Holding the Line ); two essay collections (High Tide in Tucson, Small Wonder ); a prose-poetry text accompanying the photography of Annie Griffiths Belt (Last Stand ); and most recently, her first full-length narrative non-fiction, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. She has contributed to dozens of literary anthologies, and her reviews and articles have appeared in most major U.S. newspapers and magazines. Her books have earned major literary awards at home and abroad, and in 2000 she received the National Humanities Medal, our nation's highest honor for service through the arts.
In 1997 Barbara established the Bellwether Prize, awarded in even-numbered years to a first novel that exemplifies outstanding literary quality and a commitment to literature as a tool for social change.
Barbara is the mother of two daughters, Camille and Lily, and is married to Steven Hopp, a professor of environmental sciences. In 2004, after more than 25 years in Tucson, Arizona, Barbara left the southwest to return to her native terrain. She now lives with her family on a farm in southwestern Virginia where they raise free-range chickens, turkeys, Icelandic sheep, and an enormous vegetable garden.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rose-Johnny is the shining star,
By Manola Sommerfeld (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Homeland and Other Stories (Paperback)
Rose-Johnny is the shining star in this awesome collection of short stories. It deals with many different small-town prejudices, and the outrage at the 11 year-old level that little Georgeann feels. My favorite story, from a humor standpoint, is Blueprints. Although it is not a funny story per se, the comments and thoughts that Lydia makes about Whitman's friends are hilarious. These friends are so concerned about Mother Nature and the environment, but haven't bothered to visit them once they moved out of the evil city into the foothills. These same friends insist that fertilized eggs are better for you than unfertilized eggs (show me the scientific evidence), and name their children after vegetables. I am sure these guys look at you wrong if you don't buy organic coffee beans from Guatemala. I think Barbara Kingsolver has little tolerance for those nature-type-wanna-be's (here, here). All these and the rest of the stories are beautifully crafted, with many reflections on nature. Wonderful book, not to be missed.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Home with Kingsolver,
By
This review is from: Homeland and Other Stories (Paperback)
"Homeland and Other Stories" showcases Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable ear for heartland speech as well as her talent for painting the every day struggles of people through exquisite but understated detail. Kingsolver never falls into melodrama nor does she show disrespect for her characters. This is a beautiful and powerful collection.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At Home with Kingsolver,
By
This review is from: Homeland and Other Stories (Paperback)
"Homeland and Other Stories" showcases Barbara Kingsolver's remarkable ear for heartland speech as well as her talent for painting the every day struggles of people through exquisite but understated detail. Kingsolver never falls into melodrama nor does she show disrespect for her characters. This is a beautiful and powerful collection.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
My great-grandmother belonged to the Bird Clan. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Kay Kay, Great Mam, Mary Etta, Aunt Minnie, Obeah Man, Vieux Fort, Blind Gap, Miss Regina, Sister Armande, Aunt Reima, Morning Glory, Father John, Vonda Fangham, Eel River, Gro Maman, New Hampshire, Ice Cream Heaven, Island Breezes, Jackson Crick, Leon Trotsky, Roland Talmadge, West Virginia, Willie Bunford New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
My great-grandmother belonged to the Bird Clan. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Kay Kay, Great Mam, Mary Etta, Aunt Minnie, Obeah Man, Vieux Fort, Blind Gap, Miss Regina, Sister Armande, Aunt Reima, Morning Glory, Father John, Vonda Fangham, Eel River, Gro Maman, New Hampshire, Ice Cream Heaven, Island Breezes, Jackson Crick, Leon Trotsky, Roland Talmadge, West Virginia, Willie Bunford New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 7
books:
See all 7 books this book cites
13
books
cite this book:
See all 13 books citing this book
- High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Main Street (Signet Classics) by Sinclair Lewis on page 6
See all 7 books this book cites
- The Bean Trees: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- Single Mother's Companion (Trade) by Marsha R. Leslie in Copyright, and Back Matter
- Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Aftermath: Violence and the Remaking of a Self. by Susan J. Brison in Back Matter
- Aftermath: Violence and the Remaking of a Self by Susan J. Brison in Back Matter
See all 13 books citing this book
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