Books with author Laura Shaine Cunningham

Harper Lee: “A beautiful story I shall cherish for years to come.” Critics raved:"A model memoir, funny and sad.." Michiko Kakutani, the New York Times.Laura Shaine Cunningham’s memoir of being orphaned at age eight and raised by two bachelor uncles in the Bronx- “In the glow of Yankee Stadium Twi-Night doubleheaders”, has become one of the most beloved classics of contemporary autobiographical literature. Anne Tyler wrote:“Reads like a novel…You may find yourself sitting very quietly, mulling over the marvels of this truly wonderful book.” - The Baltimore SunWhen her single mother dies, her bachelor Uncles Len and Gabe step in- a wildly divergent pair- Uncle Len is a self-styled cross between Sam Spade and Abe Lincoln, who travels on “secret missions”, carrying only a manila envelope- while Uncle Gabe composes and belts out Jewish Gospel songs and proposes to every woman he meets… Len makes popcorn for breakfast and Gabe warps the wooden floor with bleach. Their lives taken on a similar odd angle- and then they are joined by the grandmother, Etka from Minsk who carries her own memoir “Philosophy for Women” and begins most sentences with “Plato and I believe…” To top it off, they get a cocker spaniel puppy who “isn’t a dog but a democrat.”Excerpted in The New Yorker, presented at Selected Shorts, read by Linda Lavin, the book, published first by Alfred Knopf and then by Plume and Riverhead Books (Penguin Putnam), the book soon became a bestseller in the U.S. and was featured in The New York Times magazine, which ran several excerpts, including the popular Uncle Food, Bachelor Uncles, and a Hers column on being raised by men. Her column devoted to her single mother appeared in The New York Observer. Laura may have been raised by two eccentric men who knew nothing about running a household but they knew how to love. Her family story is interwoven with her adventures with her little girl friends as they played forbidden games in the “Babylonian Bronx. Jessica Mitford: “Absolutely delightful…a terrific treat!”Muriel Spark: “A great pleasure…very interesting, moving and amusing.”Chaim Potok: “Wise, sobering and witty.”“Compassion and wit are a rare literary combination but Sleeping Arrangements is illuminated by both” - Los Angeles Times“Cunningham transforms her “Bronx of the emotions” into the ‘Babylonian Bronx’, a world simmering with sex and death and intrigue…Sharp- witted and funny but never mean …"- Julie Salamon The Wall Street Journal.“Comic, touching, delightful…the kind of book you buy multiple copies of to send to your mother and best friends…"- People

A second memoir by the author of the acclaimed Sleeping Arrangements, Laura Shaine Cunningham's quest for the perfect country house is both hilarious and touching. The New York Times hailed this book as a New York Times Notable Book and The New Yorker published an excerpt...The New York Times Book Review promised would give as much joy as the classic "The Egg and I." Hilarious yet poignant.Having grown up as a city child- 7 people to 3 rooms- she always longed for green acres and a romantic Colonial style house. Her search takes her on many adventures- to a kosher "Country Club" in the Catskills to a movie set on a dilapidated farm where she must enact a survivor of a nuclear holocaust- to a rented castle in gated Tuxedo Park and then at last- to the estate of an English Lord that exceeds her fantasies but features many surprises. She finds herself raising a fat flock of geese, two demented goat sisters and falling in love with the herd of Holsteins whose life is a gustatory march to an endless lunch. Lugging 50 pound sacks of Chow, she gets little product from her lazy livestock but loads of pleasure.

memoir of a girl orphaned at 8, raised by two bachelor uncles in the Bronx. Harper Lee said "a beautiful story I will cherish for years to come" ... hailed in the New York Times as "a model memoir, funny and sad, irreverent and generous." Excerpted in The New Yorker magazine and praised by critics and authors. Anne Tyler called it "a truly wonderful book." People magazine said:"The kind of book you buy multiple copies of to send to your mother and best friends." From the Los Angeles Times: "Loving and witty memoir...Compassion and wit are a rare literary combination, but Sleeping Arrangements is illuminated by both." The Seattle Times:"Enchanting...superbly funny." Chaim Potok wrote:"Wise, sobering and witty." Muriel Spark wrote:"A Great pleasure"

"Your first memory is your point of view," says Zoya's mother. But what is Zoya's first memory? When her mother must leave home, promising to return in seven days, Zoya Blume begins a midnight diary to keep the dark forces at bay. She writes of secrets and of nightmares -- most frightening of all the Buka, a monstrous witch, composed of shadows, who seized her once long ago and now, in her mother's absence, threatens to reclaim her forever.Can Zoya conquer her fear by facing her past? Memories come like a chill blast from the country of her birth. Yet Zoya finds a guardian in Leon, her mother's magician friend, an ally in her Gypsy neighbor Flynn, and a beacon of hope in the Stone Girl -- a hauntingly beautiful statue in the courtyard.Only love and truth can save Zoya Blume. On the chance she will lose everything and everyone she loves, Zoya takes the ultimate journey alone one midnight and crosses the border out of childhood and into the adult world, in which joy must coexist with the knowledge that those you love are not immortal. A heartfelt mystery tour that sheds light on every young girl's deepest feelings.

Vernal pools, protected lagoons, grassy hills rich in bunchgrasses and, where the San Francisco Bay is today, ancient bison and mammoths roaming a vast grassland. Through the use of historical ecology, Laura Cunningham walks through these forgotten landscapes to uncover secrets about the past, explore what our future will hold, and experience the ever-changing landscape of California.Combining the skill of an accomplished artist with a passion for landscapes and training as a naturalist, Cunningham has spent over two decades pouring over historical accounts, paleontology findings, and archaeological data. Traveling with paintbox in hand, she tracked the remaining vestiges of semi-pristine landscape like a detective, seeking clues that revealed the California of past centuries. She traveled to other regions as well, to sketch grizzly bears, wolves, and other magnificent creatures that are gone from California landscapes. In her studio, Cunningham created paintings of vast landscapes and wildlife from the raw data she had collected, observations in the wild, and knowledge of ecological laws and processes.Through A State of Change, readers are given the pure pleasure of wandering through these wondrous and seemingly exotic scenes of Old California and understanding the possibilities for both change and conservation in our present-day landscape. A State of Change is as vital as it is visionary.

Vernal pools, protected lagoons, grassy hills rich in bunchgrasses and, where the San Francisco Bay is today, ancient bison and mammoths roaming a vast grassland. Through the use of historical ecology, Laura Cunningham walks through these forgotten landscapes to uncover secrets about the past, explore what our future will hold, and experience the ever-changing landscape of California. Combining the skill of an accomplished artist with passion for landscapes and training as a naturalist, Cunningham has spent more than two decades poring over historical accounts, paleontology findings, and archaeological data. Traveling with paintbox in hand, she tracked the remaining vestiges of semi-pristine landscape like a detective, seeking clues that revealed the California of past centuries. She traveled to other regions as well, to sketch grizzly bears, wolves, and other magnificent creatures that are gone from California landscapes. In her studio, Cunningham created paintings of vast landscapes and wildlife from the raw data she had collected, her own observations in the wild, and her knowledge of ecological laws and processes. Through A State of Change, readers are given the pure pleasure of wandering through these wondrous and seemingly exotic scenes of Old California and understanding the possibilities for both change and conservation in our present-day landscape. A State of Change is as vital as it is visionary.

For anyone who has ever wanted a country house, or a different kind of home than the one they have, this account of a young woman from the Bronx improbably finding her place in the country, a rambling early 19th century house called The Inn, is a breath of fresh Atlantic air. But it goes way beyond the tourism of so many other accounts about buying houses, because it delineates a whole life, beginning with a young child's weekend outings looking at real estate with her romantic mother, while living in cramped quarters in various relatives' houses, including for some time under an aunt's dining table. This is a lovely and lyrical account, filled with charm and wit, and of finding one's true home.

"Your first memory is your point of view," says Zoya's mother. But what is Zoya's first memory? When her mother must leave home, promising to return in seven days, Zoya Blume begins a midnight diary to keep the dark forces at bay. She writes of secrets and of nightmares -- most frightening of all the Buka, a monstrous witch, composed of shadows, who seized her once long ago and now, in her mother's absence, threatens to reclaim her forever.Can Zoya conquer her fear by facing her past? Memories come like a chill blast from the country of her birth. Yet Zoya finds a guardian in Leon, her mother's magician friend, an ally in her Gypsy neighbor Flynn, and a beacon of hope in the Stone Girl -- a hauntingly beautiful statue in the courtyard.Only love and truth can save Zoya Blume. On the chance she will lose everything and everyone she loves, Zoya takes the ultimate journey alone one midnight and crosses the border out of childhood and into the adult world, in which joy must coexist with the knowledge that those you love are not immortal. A heartfelt mystery tour that sheds light on every young girl's deepest feelings.

This new picture book takes readers on a one-of-a-kind tour of the Bay Area. Each turn of the page ventures further and further back in time: from a mere three hundred years ago, not long after the arrival of the first European explorers, to when Columbian mammoths lumbered about waterfall-ringed meadows (40,000 years ago); to when saber-toothed cats pounced on three-toed horses (10 million years ago); to when dinosaurs foraged for food on golden, sandy beaches (80 million years ago); and finally to 400 million years ago, when today's San Francisco Bay was a watery realm dominated by bizarre invertebrates. Fun and fastidiously researched facts about each era's animals and plants enhance the full-color spreads by A State of Change artist Laura Cunningham. After finishing The Bay Area through Time, readers of all ages will wonder which form the bay will take next.