The Second Tree from the Corner [Paperback]

E. B. White (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Collection of literary miscellanea by E.B. White, published in 1954. Most of these essays, poems, and stories originally appeared in The New Yorker magazine over a period of two decades. White treats modernity and progress with skepticism and nostalgia. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

From the Publisher

"The variety of subject matter to be found in these graceful pages is enormous. But no matter what his subject, Mr. White always writes about it in a prose that is a joy to read."--New York Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060915161
• ISBN-13: 978-0060915162
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #824,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

E.B. White, the author of twenty books of prose and poetry, was awarded the 1970 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his children's books, Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web. This award is now given every three years "to an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have, over a period of years, make a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." The year 1970 also marked the publication of Mr. White's third book for children, The Trumpet of the Swan, honored by The International Board on Books for Young People as an outstanding example of literature with international importance. In 1973, it received the Sequoyah Award (Oklahoma) and the William Allen White Award (Kansas), voted by the school children of those states as their "favorite book" of the year.

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mr. White attended public schools there. He was graduated from Cornell University in 1921, worked in New York for a year, then traveled about. After five or six years of trying many sorts of jobs, he joined the staff of The New Yorker magazine, then in its infancy. The connection proved a happy one and resulted in a steady output of satirical sketches, poems, essays, and editorials. His essays have also appeared in Harper's Magazine, and his books include One Man's Meat, The Second Tree from the Corner, Letters of E.B. White, The Essays of E.B. White and Poems and Sketches of E.B. White. In 1938 Mr. White moved to the country. On his farm in Maine he kept animals, and some of these creatures got into his stories and books. Mr. White said he found writing difficult and bad for one's disposition, but he kept at it. He began Stuart Little in the hope of amusing a six-year-old niece of his, but before he finished it, she had grown up.

For his total contribution to American letters, Mr. White was awarded the 1971 National Medal for Literature. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy named Mr. White as one of thirty-one Americans to receive the Presidential Medal for Freedom. Mr. White also received the National Institute of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Essays and Criticism, and in 1973 the members of the Institute elected him to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a society of fifty members. He also received honorary degrees from seven colleges and universities. Mr. White died on October 1, 1985.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Indispensable Facet of The E.B. White Legend, September 5, 2011

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Don Reed "Don" (Cliffside Park NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Second Tree from the Corner (Paperback)

The Second Tree From The Corner, E. B. White; Harper & Brothers various copyrights, 1935-54)


Somehow, this book didn't surface until this year, in a book store on Deer Isle, ME - decades after I had first learned about & became entranced with the writings of E. B. White.

TSC is a slim volume, but there's nothing shy or retiring about its impact, which is tremendous, if you will give it a chance.

When you see the "social media" zombies in the streets - staring vacantly at electronic gossip, oblivious to all else (& leery of actually meeting "friends" in person), remember that their grandparents were children at about the time that Mr. White wrote this, in the 1950s:

"Television was the ultimate peepshow... Children early formed the habit of gaining all their images at second hand, by looking at a screen; they grew up believing that anything perceived directly was vaguely fraudulent. Only what had been touched with electronics was valid & real."

And thus our gradual debasement began, which is now complete.