Armchair Book of Gardens by Jane Billinghurst
People have always created gardens. Where survival depended on fruitful crops, gardens were a link to the divine. Desert dwellers planted trees to banish heat and offer respite. Gardens were the oases that sheltered mythical heroes during their travels, and many religions portray the garden as the closest spot to paradise on Earth. Painters, sculptors, poets, and novelists from all parts of the world have celebrated the garden's beauty, pondered its mysteries, and lamented the frustrations it can bring.This marvelous collection of prose and images explores gardens from many angles, capturing their sensual, spiritual, aesthetic, social, and even political dimensions. Writers as varied as Pliny the Younger, Homer, Ji Cheng, the Emperor Jahangir, Boccaccio, A. A. Milne, Colette, Willa Cather, Tom Stoppard, Derek Jarman, Joy Kogawa, W. O. Mitchell, and Jamaica Kincaid evoke the garden in its many incarnations, sometimes lightheartedly, sometimes wittily, sometimes expressing regret or sorrow. Whether the selections portray the garden as a source of sustenance, a showpiece, a place to wrestle down weeds, a bower fi lled with ghosts, or simply an excuse to spend time in the outdoors, readers will delight in the endless variety of ways humans have carved out a spot for themselves in the natural world
Jane Billinghurst was born in Bombay, India, and lived there for her first two years. Then she moved to Surrey, England, where she grew up. Jane received an M.A. in German and philosophy from St. Anne’s College, Oxford. She has also lived in New Haven, Connecticut; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Jane has worked in book publishing, primarily as an editor, for the last twenty years. After working in-house for Oxford University Press and Yale University Press, she began freelancing for western publisher Prairie Books based in Saskatoon. In 1983 she joined that press full-time and worked her way up to publishing director. She left Prairie Books to become manager of production, editorial, and art at Douglas & McIntyre in Vancouver. Since 1992, Jane has been a freelance editor and writer, specializing in scholarly titles and non-fiction trade books for adults and young adults. Her books include Grey Owl (Greystone, 1999) and Spirit of the Whale (Raincoast, 2000), both of which were nominated for the Saskatchewan Book Award in the non-fiction category. Her book Temptress (Greystone, 2003) has been translated into six different languages. Since 2005 she has been a coordinator at the Washington State University Skagit County Extension Master Gardener Discovery Garden. She currently lives in Anacortes, Washington.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780762769896 |
| ISBN 10 | 0762769890 |
| Title | Armchair Book of Gardens |
| Author | Jane Billinghurst |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Rowman & Littlefield |
| Year published | 2011-04-01 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |