"Angela's Ashes" meets "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in this inspirational, true story of an enterprising mother who kept poverty at bay with wit, poetry, and perfect prose during the "contest era" of the '50s and '60s. "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" is the biography Evelyn Ryan, whose joy for life overshadows both lean times and her husband's alcoholism to raise children who seek out their own winning ways.
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"Angela's Ashes" meets "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in this inspirational, true story of an enterprising mother who kept poverty at bay with wit, poetry, and perfect prose during the "contest era" of the '50s and '60s. "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" is the biography Evelyn Ryan, whose joy for life overshadows both lean times and her husband's alcoholism to raise children who seek out their own winning ways.
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Add this copy of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by Crabtree's Collection rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sebago, ME, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Simon & Schuster.
Add this copy of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother to cart. $12.00, very good condition, Sold by Crabtree's Collection rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sebago, ME, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Simon & Schuster.
Add this copy of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother to cart. $24.91, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Simon & Schuster.
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Add this copy of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio How My Mother Raised to cart. $49.45, very good condition, Sold by RARE BOOK CELLAR rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pomona, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2001 by Simon & Schuster.
If you enjoy entering jingle/writing contests, then you really should read this book. Since it was first published, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio deservedly made its way up the book charts to become a New York Times listed best seller. And a film of the same title - starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson - was released in 2005 by DreamWorks Pictures.
Terry Ryan (sixth of Evelyn's ten children), tells the true story of her mother, Evelyn, who was a dab hand at winning jingle promotions during America's contesting heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. But unlike most of her fellow competitors, Evelyn's quest to win was driven by a desperate need to feed and clothe her large brood, and was not undertaken as a light-hearted hobby.
Married to emotionally-repressed alcoholic Leo (Kelly) Ryan, whose wage packet was more likely to be spent at the local liquor store than on groceries, Evelyn's lot was not a happy one. But an eternal optimist who believed "everything is possible", she was never one to quit when the going got tough - quite the opposite. In fact it was hardship that time and time again brought her inner strengths and ability to the fore - her witty poems and contest wins becoming the means by which her large brood survived.
A must for an entertaining and thought-provoking read!
Loungelistener
Apr 7, 2008
An amazing and touching story
Some guys might think this is a "chick book". Well, perhaps, but I it's a book for anyone (unless you have no heart). I first saw the movie (which is quirky and entertaining), then I wanted to read the book. The book covers things better (I think), and really made me feel like I was a fly on the wall in the life of this family. I felt the pain, I felt their panic of "will we be able to pay the bills", and I certainly felt the joys, large and small as this amazing woman did what she had to in order to make a better life for her family. It's an easy read, breezing by before you know it.
I can't recommend it highly enough.
swankster
Mar 28, 2008
It is amazing how Evelyn dealt with all the struggles of raising her 10 kids, and how strong she was to survive.
slacker
Jan 24, 2008
Defying the odds
The Prize Winner...is a light hearted easy read. Any one growing up in the 1950's can relate to family ties and respondsibilities of a large family. We have come a long way from fathers being the sole bread winners and stay at home moms. Through the trials and trebulations of each member of the Ryan household, it was mom who came through. Perhaps Evelyn Ryan was ahead of her time!