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9781640660137

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Not Only Ours: A Story of Greene County - New York by Oriana Atkinson. (Durham, New York, 1970. Pp. 150. $6.50. Distributed by Hope Farm Book Shop, Cornwallville New York 12418.) In 1928 Oriana and Brooks Atkinson, with Oriana acting as protagonist, acquired a summer home at Prink Hill in the village of Durham, New York. In time, as often happens with sensitive people, the home came to own the Atkinsons. Mrs. Atkinson didn't put it that way, but it seems implicit in the 150 delightful pages of this book. Her story deals with three general subjects: The Atkinson s adventure in acquiring and living in the house at Prink Hill; the history of the house and of the families who lived in it before the Atkinsons -- the history of the area around Durham. Whether she is dealing with her own experiences or with the history of her house and region, Mrs. Atkinson is able to bring the past to life in a manner calculated to arouse the envy of many, maybe most historians. She is humorous, she is pungent, she is honest, she is compelling. The most absorbing part of the book (a subjective opinion) are those in which she describes the Atkinsons' life at Prink Hill. The first chapter dealing with her arch for the house and her first contact with natives of Greene County is marvelous. The same is true of accounts of her relationships with local artisans and especially of her triumphant construction of an Atkinson family pond. (Anyone who has dealt with genuine old-line rural artisans -- from paper hangers to backhoe operators -- knows that they are not dominated by a desire for mere financial success; above all, the job they are doing must make sense to them.) The story of the pre-Atkinson families who owned the house and of the history of Greene County is equally absorbing. The author has done a superb job of reconstructing the lives of such men as Leverett Chittenden, the man who built the house, from such relatively sketchy records as church minute books and a general store account book. (The account book belonged to a rural merchant named Selah Strong, and Mrs. Atkinson does an equally remarkable job in bringing him to life. In fact, the only fussy comment that can be made about the book is that she does not list the location of such sources. She does say in an afterword that she has a long list of books and pamphlets that she used as source material. It would not be pedantic to list them, including records of conversations with informants when possible. If this were a dull book and bad history, it would make less difference; but it is excellent in all respects. New York History Vol. 51, No. 5 (OCTOBER 1970), pp. 583-586 (4 pages)

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ORIANA ATKINSON (1895-1989) was a native New Yorker who has traveled widely-Russia, England, France, Ireland, all over the United States, and around the world on a freighter. She lived for a year in Moscow and her experiences there produced a best-seller, Over at Uncle Joe's: Moscow and Me. Mrs. Atkinson is also the author of three novels about the Catskills: Big Eyes, Twin Cousins and The Golden Season. Her most recent book was Manhattan and Me, a New Yorker's book about her home town. She has written short stories and articles for magazines and newspapers. Her husband, Brooks Atkinson (1895-1984), is drama critic of The New York Times. Mrs. Atkinson says of herself: My hobbies are really not pursued; they more or less stand still and wait for me. I like trying to learn the Russian language; raising roses; reading all kinds of strange things; and going to the theatre.

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