Amazon.com Review
This charming collection of poems that Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling, Cross Creek) wrote in the 1920s were so popular that they appeared one-a-day in a New York newspaper for two full years. Organized by task, the poems graphically depict the life of a housewife (mending, baking, dusting, and the joy of a sunny window) with wisdom and humor. In the days before convenience stores and microwaves, Rawlings reminds us of the horror of having company show up with nothing fixed to feed them. Or in a more timeless vein, the disdain a harried mother feels for the neighbor who has all her Christmas shopping done and wrapped early. Songs of a Housewife is one of a kind.
From Library Journal
There was a time when the major newspapers of this country published poetry regularly. Some even had poets on staff: Frank P. Adams at the Chicago Journal, William Nesbit at the Baltimore American, and Edgar Guest at the Detroit Free Press, to name a few. It is in this tradition of respected light verse that Rawlings met a daily deadline at the Rochester Times-Union for nearly two years, beginning in 1926. Six days a week readers found wit and humor and more than a little common sense in her "Songs of a Housewife" ("The woman who can make good pie/ Stands on her own Gibraltar"). Syndicated in more than 50 papers nationwide, she could claim literally thousands of readers for what, by all accounts, was an immensely popular feature. It is important to remember the times during which these poems were written. The Twenties was the Age of the Modern American Woman; the feminist movement that preceded it gave rise to self-esteem, assertiveness, and great expectations. Rawlings's foray into the workplace may seem a small victory, but it was one of the early hard-won battles. First steps, interesting to look back on.?Louis McKee, Painted Bride Arts Ctr., Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
