Another Kind of Writer, 1946


Book Description

Where do writers come from and how do they get that way? Good question. With a lot of answers. Wallace J. Gordon has been writing for a living for something like forever-fifty five years and counting- and after piling up mountains of rejection slips for short stories and a novel, he made a successful and satisfying detour into the advertising business, writing ads and commercials for clients ranging from Coca-Cola and Dodge to the neighborhood bank.




Why I Write


Book Description

George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times




Writing in the Snow, 1962-


Book Description

Okay, time for a little confession. Three things: 1. I spent about forty years writing ads and commercials for various advertising agencies, and for about 85% of that time I absolutely loved it. 2. For the other 15% of the time, I absolutely hated it. 3. But in spite of the disasters involved in that 15%, I wouldn’t have traded jobs with anyone. Not even the President of the United States. But why in the world had I chosen to do it all in Minneapolis? Beats me. Minneapolis, as you probably know, is in Minnesota. And Minnesota means unusual weather, to say the least. In June—which is when I decided to take the job—there are several wonderful days. Maybe four or five. But the rest of the time it’s mostly winter. With snow up to your ears and the thermometer plunging helplessly. And that was only the beginning of the problems...




MADISON AVENUE, OHIO, 1970-


Book Description

All the best ads and commercials are written in high-powered advertising agencies in New York City, right? In fancy offices perched high on the gleaming towers of Manhattan, right? By mythical creatures just returning from three martini lunches, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. And once more, just for good measure. Once upon a time I was fired. Again. I’d been writing ads for agencies in Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and New York. For almost twenty years. Then one day I found myself writing them in the sometimes sleepy, sometimes far from sleepy little city of Marion, Ohio. How I got there, what I did there, and all the rest of it makes a rather interesting story. At least to me. Although Gertrude Stein famously said, “There’s no there there,” don’t believe it for a minute. She sure wasn’t talking about Marion, Ohio. Read on, gentle reader, read on...




Madison Avenue South, 1964–


Book Description

Put yourself in my shoes: You’re an advertising copywriter in the days when advertising was if not king, at least somewhere close by in the royal court. You’ve got thirteen years of good work with good agencies behind you and the same wife you fell in love with twelve years ago. Plus three young sons with healthy appetites. To say nothing of a mortgage to match. So what’s the problem? Three problems: (1) I was fired several months ago; (2) I’m thirty-nine; (3) and the industry calls me “over-qualified.” That’s shorthand for “too old.” At 39! Ye gods-- Ah, but all isn’t lost. Eventually, due to luck, an accident of timing, and the intercession of various saints--plus the fact that I’m pretty good at what I do--I’ve just landed a fantastic new job. With one of the biggest agencies in the business. Writing ads for Coca-Cola, the best-known brand around. With good money, nice title, promising future, the works. Wonderful, right? Right. Except that all that good news was going to give birth to headaches the size of which I could only imagine...




The Grant Years, 1958 -


Book Description

November, 1958. A sunny day and I was feeling pretty good about things. I’d been writing ads and commercials in Chicago for over eight years, and found it both rewarding and satisfying. Heck, I’d only been fired once. Even that wasn’t all that horrible; my boss offered to cancel the firing, but I told him to forget it. Who wants to work for a guy who’s just fired you? So that day I was on my way to my new job at Grant Advertising. Good job, good agency. Things looked terrific. But how was I to know that in a year I’d be transferred to the Detroit office to work on the big Dodge account? And how was I to know we’d lose the account within days and transfer me to the New York office? And how was I to know that New York would be fun for a while and then a pain in the neck? And how was I to know—? Well, you get the idea. And I hope you enjoy coming along.




One Day in Paris...


Book Description

Conventional wisdom said it could never happen. For starters, he was from >Arizona and she was from Pennsylvania.Almost a whole continent apart. And he was a widower and she was a widow. With 42 and 47 years, respectively, of happy marriage behind them. And if that wasn’t enough, he was a young 75 and she was a lovely 69; old enough to know better, one might say.Then one day they boarded a plane for . They noticed each other, but didn’t meet. When the plane landed they ended up in the same hotel. Arranged by the same tour group. But both so engrossed in Paris they still didn’t see each other. Then it happened. On the third day their group gathered for an introductory meeting and dinner. They ended up sitting across from each other. ">He said, “Hi.” She said, “Hello.” And the sparks began to fly. That’s when the love story that couldn’t happen began to happen...




Little Fur Family


Book Description

There was a little fur family warm as toast smaller than most in little fur coats and they lived in a warm wooden tree.




George Orwell


Book Description

The year 2003 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Orwell, one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century. Orwell's books are assigned today in over 60,000 classrooms annually. In this book essays by prominent writers and scholars explain why his impact continues in a world much changed from his own. The essays explore new aspects of Orwell's life and work and his continuing relevance for the interpretation of modern social, political, and cultural affairs. Thematic topics include: the use and abuse of 1984; ideas, ideologues, and intellectuals; biography and autobiography; literary and stylistic analyses; and the reception of Orwell's work abroad. The volume is an ideal secondary source for those who continue to be influenced by Orwell's insights and for teachers of Orwell's work. Contributors: Christopher Hitchens, Jonathan Rose, Ian Williams, Morris Dickstein, John Rodden, Thomas Cushman, Ronald F. Thiemann, Lawrence Rosenwald, Todd Gitlin, Erika Gottlieb, Dennis Wrong, Daphne Patai, Jim Sleeper, William Cain, Lynette Hunter, Margery Sabin, Vladimir Shalpentokh, Miquel Berga, Gilbert Bonifas, Robert Conquest.




Statistics of Income from Returns of Net Income


Book Description

Volumes for 1934-53 issued in 2 pts.: pt. 1. Individual income tax returns, estate tax returns, gift tax returns (varies); pt. 2. Corporation income tax returns and personal holding company returns. 1954- issued in 4 pts.: Corporation income tax returns; Estate tax returns; Fiduciary income tax returns; Individual income tax returns.