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Hardcover Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism Book

ISBN: 0060566671

ISBN13: 9780060566678

Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism

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Format: Board book

Condition: Very Good

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Book Overview

March 1848. Mysterious knocks are heard in a little house in rural New York, throwing the community into turmoil. Are the children who live there -- Kate and Maggie Fox, sisters aged eleven and fourteen -- making the raps to trick their parents? Or are the girls mediums for otherworldly messages? From a battery of strange sounds and the excitement they create, modern Spiritualism is born. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism follows the remarkable story of the Fox sisters, who were catapulted to fame after word spread that they communicated with spirits. Within a few years, tens of thousands of Americans were flocking to seances. An international movement developed. Yet forty years after those first knocks, the sisters shocked the country by denying that they had ever been in contact with the dead. Shortly after, in another stunning reversal, they changed their story again and reaffirmed their faith in the spirit world. Were the Fox sisters con artists who had taken a childhood prank too far? Or were they really in touch with "voices from beyond"? In this riveting biography, Barbara Weisberg traces not only the lives of Kate, Maggie, and their family -- including the girls' shrewd and charismatic sister, Leah -- but also the social, religious, economic, and political forces that helped shape the Spiritualist movement. A vivid, compelling overview of a remarkable period in U.S. history, Talking to the Dead provokes questions about belief systems, the power of celebrity, the wish to reconcile faith and science, and the timeless quest for knowledge about life after death.

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Rated 4 stars
Heartfelt Memoir

Charming story of growing up small, but never insignificant. Simple and straightforward storytelling; does a good job of being objective, not melodramatic.

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Rated 5 stars
Kylie's thoughs on Zippy

Do you remember what it is like to be a child? The crazy thoughts and assumptions that ran through your head? A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana, by Haven Kimmel, has exactly what it takes to remind you of your carefree days of being a kid. With no specific storyline, Kimmel uses pieces of her childhood from the 1960's and 70's to entertain her audience. She vividly describes what it is like to grow...

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Rated 5 stars
Utterly beguiling and wonderful. Deeper than it appears

This book is proof that each of us has plenty of material in our `ordinary' lives to use as material for writing a memoir. What most of us DON'T have, however, if Haven Kimmel's ability to write so well that what was really a very simple small-town childhood can be elevated to a 280-page book that utterly captivates. Kimmel achieves what many others have attempted to do and failed: she writes entirely from the child's voice...

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Rated 5 stars
One of the best memoirs ever...

I just read the last page in A Girl Named Zippy, and now I'm at a loss. I want Zippy back! Normally, I'm not a fan of memoirs or non-fiction in general, but I had heard nothing but praise about this book. Thankfully I listened...Haven Kimmel, or Zippy as she's come to be known due to the fact she used to zip around the house as a toddler, has opened her life to us. The laughter begins on page 2 when Zippy's sister comments...

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Rated 5 stars
My Hands Down Favorite Book of Last Year

I have given this book to so many people, of all ages, and every single one has ended up laughing out loud, and going on about how much they loved it, and even up buying it for still others. It's a treasure, simple without being simplistic, funny and sweet without being sacchrine, true without being cruel. There are so many memoirs out there, but you should read this one, absolutely.

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