Folks--

    Apropos of the comments of Greg Furness and Richard Frisbie on
factual vs. fictional sources, perhaps it is worth remarking that both
are useful resources.  Mine is to be a course that treats the history of

NY State and its peoples; certainly I'll be using factual sources
thoughout.  But we might consider that, as Billy Joel sings, New York is

a "state of mind" as much as it is a place.  For my money, fiction, as
much as fact, can help us understand that situation.  For students,
especially those with a propensity to gauge the state's history
primarily from their own vantage, the potential in fiction for opening
up different angles of vision on the state's development is probably one

of that imaginative form's greatest benefits.  Any comments?

    That being said, for this course I'm leaning toward novels written
in the past, rather than historical novels (that is, those contemporary
novels that treat the past fictionally), as the most helpful choice.
But I thank all of the post-ers for their suggestions to this point, and

I'd welcome further guidance.

Cheers,

Tom Baker
SUNY-Potsdam