The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe

The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe
Author: Stephen Fox
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 606
Release: 2024-06-03
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1648430538

Birdsall P. Briscoe (1876–1971) practiced architecture from 1912 to 1956, the span of years during which Houston was transformed from an ambitious town on Buffalo Bayou into an international city, its economy powered by cotton, trade, and oil. The country houses Briscoe designed for three generations of affluent clients, sited in such Houston neighborhoods as Courtlandt Place, Shadyside, Broadacres, and River Oaks, display his exceptional skill in formulating stylistic and social identities for his wealthy clients and their families. In The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe, architectural historian Stephen Fox examines the country houses designed by Briscoe, offering a glimpse into the architect’s methods as well as analyzing how Briscoe constructed a “social architecture” to frame his clientele during periods of economic expansion and contraction. Fox demonstrates how Briscoe cultivated and managed elements of taste, style, and fashion to embody assertions of class identity and solidarity in the context of Houston’s capitalist economy. Additionally, Fox shows how Briscoe and his peers interpreted and reflected early twentieth-century Progressive Era design ideals in giving shape to the vision of local civic leaders. Illustrated throughout with masterful color photography by Paul Hester, this original study of one of Texas’ most distinguished residential architects will enthrall readers with both its detail and its contextual clarity. As he did in his book on the architecture of John F. Staub, Fox delivers a treasure trove of insight into a vital period of Houston’s social history and the architect who helped design it.

Social Q's

Social Q's
Author: Philip Galanes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2012-11-27
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 145160579X

A series of whimsical essays by the New York Times "Social Q's" columnist provides modern advice on navigating today's murky moral waters, sharing recommendations for such everyday situations as texting on the bus to splitting a dinner check.

Good Neighbors

Good Neighbors
Author: Sarah Langan
Publisher: Atria Books
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 198217143X

“A modern-day Crucible….Beneath the surface of a suburban utopia, madness lurks.” —Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish “Sarah Langan is a phenomenal talent with a wicked sense of wry humor. Good Neighbors knocked me out. Like Shirley Jackson, Langan’s work blends a bleak streak with an underlying sense of the humane that wrung my heart.” —Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling Celeste Ng’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this propulsive literary noir, when a sudden tragedy exposes the depths of deception and damage in a Long Island suburb—pitting neighbor against neighbor and putting one family in terrible danger. Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world. Arlo Wilde, a gruff has-been rock star who’s got nothing to show for his fame but track marks, is always two steps behind the other dads. His wife, beautiful ex-pageant queen Gertie, feels socially ostracized and adrift. Spunky preteen Julie curses like a sailor and her kid brother Larry is called “Robot Boy” by the kids on the block. Their next-door neighbor and Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely community college professor repressing her own dark past—welcomes Gertie and family into the fold. Then, during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, the new best friends share too much, too soon. As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes that spins out of control. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood. A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, Good Neighbors excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and fear.

Chicago's Block Clubs

Chicago's Block Clubs
Author: Amanda I. Seligman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 022638599X

What do you do if your alley is strewn with garbage after the sanitation truck comes through? Or if you’re tired of the rowdy teenagers next door keeping you up all night? Is there a vacant lot on your block accumulating weeds, needles, and litter? For a century, Chicagoans have joined block clubs to address problems like these that make daily life in the city a nuisance. When neighbors work together in block clubs, playgrounds get built, local crime is monitored, streets are cleaned up, and every summer is marked by the festivities of day-long block parties. In Chicago’s Block Clubs, Amanda I. Seligman uncovers the history of the block club in Chicago—from its origins in the Urban League in the early 1900s through to the Chicago Police Department’s twenty-first-century community policing program. Recognizing that many neighborhood problems are too big for one resident to handle—but too small for the city to keep up with—city residents have for more than a century created clubs to establish and maintain their neighborhood’s particular social dynamics, quality of life, and appearance. Omnipresent yet evanescent, block clubs are sometimes the major outlets for community organizing in the city—especially in neighborhoods otherwise lacking in political strength and clout. Drawing on the stories of hundreds of these groups from across the city, Seligman vividly illustrates what neighbors can—and cannot—accomplish when they work together.

People Power

People Power
Author: U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs
Publisher:
Total Pages: 428
Release: 1984
Genre: Consumer cooperatives
ISBN: