Twenty Years at Hull-House: With Autobiographical Notes

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Summary: WOW!
Review: This is a wonderful book for those interested in the Progressive Era. It gives the reader first-hand documentation of great events in American History, and I found it fascinating.

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Summary: A GOOD BOOK
Review: This was a different kind of book for me, and I found it a challenge to finish it. It was heart breaking in many ways to see how some people might live, and for sure it woke me up to reality. I am glad I read this book. If you want to read another book that goes straight to your heart, read Stolen Moments by Barbara Jeanne Fisher. . .It is a beautiful story of unrequited love. . .for certain the love story of the nineties. I intended to give the book a quick read, but I got so caught up in the story that I couldn't put the book down. From the very beginning, I was fully caught up in the heart-wrenching account of Julie Hunter's battle with lupus and her growing love for Don Lipton. This love, in the face of Julie's impending death, makes for a story that covers the range of human emotions. The touches of humor are great, too, they add some nice contrast and lighten things a bit when emotions are running high. I've never read a book more deserving of being published. It has rare depth. Julie's story will remind your readers that life and love are precious and not to be taken for granted. It has had an impact on me, and for that I'm grateful. Stolen Moments is written with so much sensitivity that it made me want to cry. It is a spellbinder. What terrific writing. Barbara does have an exceptional gift! This book was edited by Lupus specialist Dr. Matt Morrow too, and has the latest information on that disease. ..A perfect gift for someone who started college late in life, fell in love too late in life, is living with any illness, or trying to understand a loved one who is. . .A gift to be cherished forever.

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Summary: A unique mix of journalism and social policy.
Review: Though Addams' prose often gets mired in the florid and highly mannered style of her era, this is a surprisingly compelling book. Free of the ethnic racism and stereotyping that blight many similar works of the era, Addams' account of her groundbreaking community center in one of the worst parts of late 19th-century Chicago fairly overflows with compassion and almost unbelievable fairness. Addams's intelligence is evident, and many of her ideas and attitudes seem decades ahead of their time. It's not light reading by any stretch of the imagination, but "Twenty Years at Hull House" contains many gripping portraits of the desperation of immigrant life and the simple power of human decency.

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Summary: Twenty Years at Hull house
Review: Twenty Years at Hull House is an outstanding example of the humanitarianism movement in America at the turn of the century. Jane Addams, the author and narrator of the book, was born in Illinois. Early in her life she began to see the effects of poverty on people. She recalls one incident early in her life of seeing a homeless man on the street. She asked her father why that was, and he replied that that was just the way things were. Her father was a Quaker and the most prominate role model in Jane's life. As a child she grew up wanting to be just like him. For a while, she aspired to be a mill owner just like him. Her mother is not mentioned in the book at all. Jane went to Rockford College and soon toured London. It was there that she came up with the idea of the Hull House. Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago. It offered day care and college level classes for women. Spawning from her work at the house, Jane joined many causes that she passionately fought for. These causes included working hours for women, child labor laws, and juivenile court. She could be considered an early feminist. Also from her work at Hull House, Jane started studing the causes of poverty and the effects it had on society. She was not satisfied with just the success of her house; she wanted to know why there was a need for it at all. Later in her life she joined the womens sufferage movement. Jane Addams was a wonderful reformist and feminist that sought to better the country. Twenty Years at Hull House offer insight into one of America' most interesting time periods.

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Summary: More context...
Review: Two great books that discuss Addams huge contributions to society are the more general "That Jazz!: An Idiosyncratic Social History of the American Twenties" and the Chicago-specific (where she ran Hull House), "Altgeld's America." Check these out as well as this source material by Addams herself (quite a good writer, actually, despite what the 20-year-old reviewer said!).

Rating:
Summary: More context...
Review: Two great books that discuss Addams huge contributions to society are the more general "That Jazz!: An Idiosyncratic Social History of the American Twenties" and the Chicago-specific (where she ran Hull House), "Altgeld's America." Check these out as well as this source material by Addams herself (quite a good writer, actually, despite what the 20-year-old reviewer said!).

Rating:
Summary: Zzzzzzzzzz....
Review: You have to be insane to like this book... wait... You have to be insane to even READ this book.