A Nude Singularity: Lily Peter of Arkansas : A Biography [Hardcover]

Annielaura M. Jaggers (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jaggers chronicles the life of poet and millionaire Arkansas plantation owner Lily Peter (1891-1991) in a detailed scholarly study. Although she was born into a poor family in the Big Cypress Arkansas bayou, Peter acquired a university education and earned her living teaching school until the 1940s, when she began helping her brother manage his cotton plantation; she went on to build it into a million-dollar farming empire after his death. A conservationist, Peter refused to use pesticides and played a leading role in Arkansas environmental struggles. She also published several books of poetry, including The Green Linen of Summer (1964) and The Great Riding (1966), and in 1971 she was named Arkansas's poet laureate. Unfortunately, Jaggers's great admiration for Peter (who cooperated with her biographer), together with her stilted writing style, results in flat and subjective prose that does not do justice to a talented and dynamic woman. Jaggers is a professor at Arkansas Tech University. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 407 pages
• Publisher: Univ Central Arkansas Pr (November 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944436137
• ISBN-13: 978-0944436134
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,270,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Arkansan, November 10, 2010

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Elizabeth Hill - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Nude Singularity: Lily Peter of Arkansas : A Biography (Hardcover)

Having enrolled in a graduate-level class entitled Writing for Children, Adolescents and Families at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, I was tasked with preparing one chapter of a biography for children. I chose Lily Peter because I want children to know about her, and I'm afraid even Arkansas adults are not aware of her legacy within our state. (I remembered only that she used her extensive East Arkansas farm as collatral to bring a classical orchestra to Little Rock for a weekend. However, I assumed, incorrectly, that she was born and reared within a wealthy family. Her childhood actually was that of an extremely bright child growing up in poverty.)

The book is scholarly and thorough, and I so appreciate the author for the work she put into it. I focused on Lily's childhood, which I found enchanting. However, I discovered this book is the only source of information about her childhood--other than the primary sources housed in a nearby university. My concern is that only scholars and students will continue to read it. I would love to see her story in a more reader-friendly form--and I just may take on that challenge after I finish my graduate degree in nonfiction writing.