29/06/2024

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Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. “Why Women Should Vote” (Jane Addams, 1910) is one of several selections devoted to women’s interests, as are Martha Foote Crow’s “The Young Woman on the Farm” (1910), Alice Freeman Palmer’s “Three Rules for Happiness,” and Myrtle Reed’s recipes for “Coffee Cakes, Doughnuts, and Waffles.” Tradition and belief are treated in two selections from Kierkegaard, a letter from Japan (“When the Dead Return”), a creation myth (“Sky Weds Earth”), and an essay by Mark Twain on “Mental Telegraphy.” Topics in history and political theory include “The Original Draft of the Declaration of Independence,” “An Audience with Abraham Lincoln,” “Government” (Bastiat), “Constitutional Law” (Bentham), “War Scenes Across the Canadian Border ” (1915), “Americans Lose Men in Fight in Siberia” (1919) and “Quentin Roosevelt’s Last Letter Home” (1918). Sport receives its due with a history of the bicycle, while “In the Land of the Wild Yak” portrays the hardships endured by 19th century explorer Sven Hedin. Finally, “Mr. NAMIKAWA Yasuyuki’s Cloisonné” celebrates the life of a Japanese artist and his exquisite enamel work. – Summary by Sue Anderson