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Limited edition of 1,000 numbered copies, of which this is #499. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Cultural Geography, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2007. The length of the article is 10615 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Yellowstone as "landscape idea": Thomas Moran and the pictorial practices of gilded-age western exploration.
Author: Gareth E. John
Publication: Journal of Cultural Geography (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 24Issue: 2Page: 1(29)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
James lies in the intensive care unit of a New York hospital, ravaged by mysterious infections and cared for by Irish immigrant nurse Nuala. As Nuala gets to know him, she begins to connect the handsome man in the photograph above the bed with her wasted, feverish patient and a love grows.Amazon.com Review
In Thomas Moran's first novel, The Man in theBox, his title character was a Jew hiding from Nazis in atiny, hidden space at the back of an Austrian farmer's hayloft. In hissecond novel, The World I Made for Her, Moran once againconfines his protagonist--this time making him a prisoner of his ownbody. James Blatchley is the victim of a freak illness--chicken pox, anormally harmless disease that can, on occasion, kill otherwisehealthy adults. One of the unlucky few, Blatchley ends up in anintensive-care ward, unable to eat or even to breathe withoutmachines. Numbed by morphine, his body ravaged by one infection afteranother, the one anchor in his life is Nuala, the Irish immigrantnurse who is assigned to his case: "Nuala means 'white shoulders' inIrish, but no one much remembers these old things anymore.... Nuala'ssmall, not above five and a half feet. Her shoulders are thin butbroad, like a young boy's and creamy white where I've glimpsed them."Nuala's shoulders may be thin, but it's her strength that is keepingJames Blatchley alive. Though he slips in and out of coma, and whenconscious, is able to communicate only by mouthing words or spellingthem out on an alphabet board, Blatchley manages to developrelationships with his nurses, and he becomes fascinated by Nuala inparticular. The little he knows about her difficult life leads him toimagine a better one for her--a cozy cottage in Ireland, a trip aroundthe world. Eventually, however, Blatchley's fantasies become moreintimate and soon the line between imagination and a real, ifunspoken, love becomes blurred.

The World I Made for Her is an intensely personal novel and onestraight from the heart. For five months, Thomas Moran hovered at thebrink of death, a victim of the same rare condition that afflicts hisfictional alter ego. He was given only a 5 percent chance ofsurviving. The fact that he lived is something of a miracle; that hewas able to take such suffering and turn it to the service of thismemorable, profoundly moving novel is a testament both to the author'stalent and to the power of art to make even the most uniquelyindividual experience universal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

left me with goosebumps
Definitely one of the best books I've ever read.Left me with that mystical, goose bumped feeling like I just experienced something amazing and powerful.What an artist and talented writer to create something so beautifully enveloping.

Everyone else has said it better
What particularly struck me was James' lack of self-pity.I was constantly amazed that he was able to put his condition aside and imagine a better life for someone else.It was also a paean (sp?) to ICU nurses.

I've been disabled (temporarily, thank heaven) and was amazed at Moran's knowledge of how it feels to depend on others so totally.I didn't know until I finished the book that it happened to him, just this way.(His "dreams" were particularly horrific.)

Well done, without being smarmy or sappy.

A Compelling and memorable read
I read a great deal and tend to read the works, particualry the earlier works, of an author whose workI have enjoyed ..This was the case with this book. I had read Anja The Liar (and have no idea how I got to it) but I found it quite absorbing and it covered, in an interesting way,a lot of new territory for me as far as the locale and the period it covers.And then I chose "The World..." which I found to be anincredibly involving but uncomofrtableread -- but, saying thta, I wasquite moved by it and the plight of the patient, which I now understand is based on Moran's own experiences after suffering adevestating illness. It made me very aware of our own precarious senseof morality and impending disaster without warning or notice...andI really enjoyed the way the authorintroduces bit and pieces of "James''" previous life and experiences. It is a very sad book but it really takes you inside the head and body of this poor unfortunate man who has been stricken down and has lost all buta verylimited connection with his increasingly diminshing world and perspective -- I won't say more but I do recommend it as a most compelling read.

Beautifully written, thought provoking
Mr. Moran has taken his experiences as a patient and written a novel that reflects the hidden world of a man trapped in his own body.The story is moving and realistic, and quite touching.His interaction with the nurse is the vehicle for the novel, but I think he could have written it without other characters, and simply let the experience and thoughts of the protagonist flow to carry the book.I really enjoyed this, and passed it on to an Irish nurse who I thought would appreciate it.

A powerfully original and moving story
James Blatchley, the narrator of Thomas Moran's second novel, "The World I Made for Her" finds himself in a terrifyingly real predicament: stricken by a minor childhood disease that leaves him unable to walk, speak, or breathe on his own.

Completely helpless, he is cared for by two Irish nurses--the bawdy, outgoing Brigit, who has a penchant for shooting up the narcotics meant for her patients, and the graceful, softspoken Nuala, nicknamed St. Nualala by Brigit for her demure behavior.James fixates upon Nuala and begins a love affair with her that exists only in his mind.

As the days wear on, James drifts in and out of consciousness, envisioning Nuala's daily routine, her past, and her aspirations and desires, as it soon becomes clear that Nuala needs James almost as much as he needs her.

The story is augmented by Moran's vividly straightforward prose and utterly believable characters. Told from James's point of view, the novel is also highly personal, as Moran himself fell ill with a minor childhood diease and spent five months in the hospital as the virus attacked his organs and nearly killed him.He recalls his own visions in hypnotic detail that underscores the redemptive, life-affirming power of love. ... Read more

Product Description
Issue #60Publication Date: May 2009Cover Artist: Stacy DrumInterior Artists: Zach McCain, Tom Moran, Will Renfro, Nicola Robinson, Chad Savage, Shane SmithPage Count: 128Fiction "The Woman in the Club Car" by Thomas Tessier "Living by the Highway" by Daniel G. Keohane "The Devil Came to Mamie's on Hallowe'en" by Lisa Morton "Faded into Impalpability" by Bruce Holland Rogers & Jeremy Robert Johnson "My Knife Collection" by Jeff Strand "Case White" by Thomas Sullivan "Some of These Cons go way Back" by Simon R. Green "Conversations Kill" by Tim Waggoner "Taipusan" by Eric BrownNon-Fiction "A Conversation with Thomas Tessier" by Sam W. Anderson "A Conversation with Ray Garton" by Michael McCarty & Pamela Briggs "New Voices: A Conversation with Jeff Strand" by Steve Vernon "A Conversation with Tananarive Due" by Michael Lohr "A Conversation with Jeff Long" by Cristopher DeRose & Michael McCarty "A Conversation with Glenn Chadbourne" by Rick HautalaThe Usual Suspects "Words from the Editors" by Robert Morrish & Richard Chizmar "The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association" by Thomas F. Monteleone "Stephen King News: From The Dead Zone" by Bev Vincent "MediaDrome" by Michael Marano "Collecting Modern Horror" by John Pelan "CD Reviews" by Various ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The bible of Human Computer Interaction
The should be required reading for anyone in the Human Factors field, or anyone without a HF degree who wants to build something humans will use.

The Source
Most of us who have written GUI design books gained much of our knowledge of human-computer interaction from reading this early book.This book, though little known outside of academic Human-Computer Interaction circles, is one of the most heavily-cited books in the field.It is *the* classic source.

A little known classic - should be required reading
The ten or so others out there who have read this monster are probably experiencing a facial tic at my suggestion that it be required reading for all who design software.Its not a quick read, but its definately a page turner.I couldn't put it down.

I'm serious.

For me, a guy with a solid background in networking and systems architecture but without the classical human factors education required for intelligent product design this one document did a far better job of firmly rooting me in the basics than anything else.

Mad props to Norman and Neilsen for pointing me in this direction in the first place.But with this book I finally felt "full."

There were a solid list of findings I'd never heard of until I'd opened this book.Not only did this book introduce me to these sorts of things, it also illustrated them to me. I walked away understanding.

Like all of my other faves, this book is opened often.I've bought many copies for friends (with friends like me...) and I reference it often.

Its notable that the most leading edge work today related to this topic is being driven by the same guys who wrote this book so long ago.Its among my top five most suggested books for those I know who want to take their design to the next level.

A too-little-known classic
Designing human-computer interfaces is still an art, learned best by creating many interfaces and carefully observing how real users interact with them. However, there are many tools from cognitive psychology that, ifunderstood and applied, can yeild at least two benefits. First, by learningwhat is known about how humans operate, you can avoid many pitfalls indesign. Second, you can make quantitative design decisions.

This book,though nearly 20 years old, contains much essential material that isunknown to many practitioners in the field! If you are designinginterfaces, on the Web, for PCs, or for information appliances, you shouldread and understand the basic material in this book, which can never go outof date as long as humans use keyboards and mice with their hands and scanthe screen with their eyes.

My own recent book, The Humane Interface, is-- in many aspects -- just following in the footsteps of this pathbreaking,pioneering, and important work. ... Read more