Book Review: The Waters of Kronos
Conrad Richter, The Waters of Kronos. University Park PA: Penn State University Press, 2003. Pp. 176, $16.95
Book Reviews: Guide to the Homes of Famous Pennsylvanians and The Best Places You've Never Seen
Arthur P. Miller, Jr., and Marjorie L. Miller, Guide to the Homes of Famous Pennsylvanians: Houses, Museums, and Landmarks. Mechanicsburg PA: Stackpole Books, 2003. Photos, 224pp., $18.95.
Therese Boyd, The Best Places You've Never Seen: Pennsylvania's Small Museums: A Traveler's Guide. University Park PA: Penn State Press, 2003. Maps, photos, 209 pp., $18.95.
The old question never goes away: why go? Don't you have enough to do at home? Would you want complete strangers to visit your home, to ogle your furnishings, to tramp about on your lawn? And horror of horrors, would you want someone to dress up in your old clothes and "re-enact" you for these strangers?
Fortunately, by the time someone could ask you the latter two questions with serious intent, you would be unable to answer. You would be safely dead. Thus we need guidebooks to tell us how to get to your home and what to expect when we arrive. This summer saw the publication of two Pennsylvania books with markedly different styles, formats, and interests, and yet they not only succeed on their own merits, but they are unexpectedly complementary.
The Millers, in their hunt for famous Pennsylvanians, have given us an old-fashioned but unusual format. The reader is escorted chronologically, beginning with William Penn and ending with Andy Warhol, thirty-six names in all, adding up to even more museums. Superb short biographies, well-written and matter-of-fact in tone, are given before the visiting details of the home or museum. Photographs are plentiful, including portraits and buildings. Each site has a detailed sidebar set off from the text with all the nitty-gritty information: phone numbers, websites, tours, directions, and much else. At the end of the book, the Millers present a list of four dozen more notable Pennsylvanians that do not have sites, which they see as an honor roll, but the reader, being inspired by their book, may see as a call to action.