Portrait of the artist as an American;: Ben Shahn: a biography with pictures

by River Jordan and Selden Rodman

Book Overview

""Portrait of the Artist as an American"" is a comprehensive biography of Ben Shahn, a celebrated American artist known for his social realism style. Written by authors Rodman and Seldman, the book... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0007DUIYS
• Release Date: January 1951
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Dive in...

If you'll just think about it, you KNOW these people - especially if you've grown up anywhere close to what's called The South. And when you rest in this beautiful writing, you'll realize that you know a little of each one in yourownself. River Jordan managed to scare the daylights out of me, comfort me with warmth and light, bring me some hope and finish me off with joy - What else could I ask for from a story? Dive in... Find that "Spirit" actually comes by the ordinary - a rock, a scraggly apparition, a best friend's loyalty, or the love of a son. SAINTS IN LIMBO was my first River Jordan book...I'm hooked!

Is it the rock, or is it the writing?

River's writing is like a melody that you find yourself humming along to. Her words are brushstrokes that paint a picture so vivid that you know that place exists somewhere, that the characters are real people, and you've just been visiting them. Each character is a person in his or her own right, not just 2 dimensional props to help the story along. Each has strengths and weaknesses, flaws and redemptions. "Saints in Limbo" is River Jordan's best yet out of truly great works. The main character, Velma, is a strong, steadfast old woman who seems a very unlikely person for a main character. She is mourning a recently lost husband, sorrowful over a seemingly lost son, and given up on a future that she will never have. Her own story seems to be winding down to it's end until a stranger gives her a gift that helps her relive it all again. As her own story unfolds for her the second time, we are allowed to glimpse a life of quiet beauty and simple, strong love with roots so deep that the long years and even death can't shake them. A something is out to steal her gift, a stranger is on her way home, mysteries unfold and people aren't everything they seem. In this book you're invited to lay aside your prejudices and snap judgments, because people are just people and yet so much more. This is a story you'll want to read twice.

Another Great Story

Saints in Limbo is a wonderful journey into a fading past. River Jordan's characters are so vividly described that you feel you have known these people, and have interacted with them personally. She has a way of drawing you into her stories, so much so, that you not only do not want to put the book down, but don't want the story to end. Mystery runs through the pages and holds you to the end. Thank you River for another wonderful trip !

4 1/2 Stars...Bubbling, Boiling

In her previous books, River Jordan has danced the line between character-driven stories about family and rediscovering home, and gripping plots with Southern Gothic sensibilities. I think of her prose as a mix of Harper Lee and Dean Koontz, which from me is high praise. "Saints in Limbo" is another winner from River's recipe box of wonderful surprises. She stands over the stove and slowly stirs up the story of Velma, a fearful yet resilient woman living in the past. She has memories of her husband, her son. She is afraid of moving off her property. Thanks to a friend, she is forced to start dealing with her issues, and soon River stirs the story with more force and suspense, mixing in a wandering young woman with secrets of her own. River knows what she's doing in the kitchen of great fiction, and "Saints in Limbo" begins taking on a magical, spiritual quality that erupts in a bubbling, boiling, and beautiful final dish. There are wise observations, touching character interactions, and thought-provoking peeks into the world beyond our eyes. This is a book that wins you over gradually--but win you over, it does!