- Sloane, Eric.
The Cracker Barrel.
Mineola, NY: Dover, [1967] 2005.
ISBN 0-486-44101-6.
-
In the 1960s, artist and antiquarian Eric Sloane wrote a
syndicated column of which many of the best are
collected in this volume. This is an excellent book for
browsing in random order in the odd moment, but like the
contents of the eponymous barrel, it's hard to stop after
just one, so you may devour the whole thing at one sitting.
Hey, at least it isn't fattening!
The column format allowed Sloane to address a variety of topics which
didn't permit book-length treatment. There are gems here about word
origins, what was good and not so good about “the good old days”,
tools and techniques (the “variable wrench” is pure genius), art and
the business of being an artist, and much more. Each column is
illustrated with one of Sloane's marvelous line drawings. Praise be
to Dover for putting this classic back into print where it belongs.
October 2005 