This Week in Reading November 16 - 22

One would imagine that this week gives us authors whose names any student of literature has heard of but whose works, except for a couple, one may not have gotten around to reading.

There are four Nobel prizewinners, France's Andre Gide (1947), Portugal's Jose Saramago (1998), South Africa's Nadine Gordimer (1991) and Sweden's Selma Lagerof (1909) who was the first woman to win it for literature. Nigerian Chinua Achebe and Canadian Margaret Atwood may yet win it, and though there was no such prize in his day, Voltaire certainly achieved that status. Other current writers with strong reputations include novelist Don deLillo and historian Shelby Foote.

Also on the list are several authors who will appeal to young adults and lovers of comics and graphic novels. There are some well known politicians, some poets, and quite a few names from television and entertainnment, as well.

Apart from the distanced works of the above literary names, two authors named George, on the other hand, have been encountered by many a high schooler. Algonquin Round Table member George S. Kauffman was the cowriter of the quintessential American comedies of the 1940s that have played on nearly every high school and amateur stage in the country and George Eliot wrote the novel, Silas Marner, which nearly every teen student has had to read for class.

This Week's Question: Once out of school, however, anyone with a taste for literature will find that the rest of the novels George Eliot wrote, Middlemarch, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, are some of the finest novels ever written. Though everyone should know that George Eliot was the pen name for a woman who wanted her books to be taken seriously in the Victorian Era in which she lived, not everyone knows a) what that real name was, b) what other famous British personality had the same name nearly at the same time, and c) that the author's highly controversial real life would have made a great novel by itself but would have needed a more enlightened era in which a movie, or at least a cable or PBS miniseries about it would find a more receptive audience.

Answer to Last Week's Question: Literary critic Roland Barthes enigmatically described literature as "the question minus the answer." Out of context, that obviously tells us nothing, but in the context of his anti-tradition structuralism, it makes some sense. That is, if you believe in another of his quotes, "the death of the author is the birth of the reader." Leading others, such as Jacques Derrida, to the theories of deconstruction, Barthes felt that there was no neutral writing and that a text is not completed until the reader "recreates" it for himself. He differentiated between writerly text which causes the reader to actively give it new and presumably personal and immediate meaning, and readerly text which allows readers to accept whatever has been stored or displayed in the text in common sense ways. While libraries are depositories and deliverers of that commonly agreed upon literature, today's new electronic media actually allow textual interactivity in ways that will show how seemingly paradoxical and nonsensical critical theories such as Barthes' will make new sense. New works by new Shakespeares will come out of new media in new ways. We can all be Shakespeares for ourselves if we play with text enough by both reading and writing.

Califorina's New Poet Laureate

On November 14, 2008 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Arts Council appointed USC professor, novelist, poet, and essayist Carole Muske-Dukes as the new California Poet Laureate. During the next two years Muske-Dukes will promote poetry in the state. (Photo from USC Faculty webpages.)

She is the founder of the university's graduate program in literature and creative writing, and has reviewed books for both the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, as well as many articles. Among her novels is Channeling Mark Twain, and her book of poems entitled Sparrow was nominated for a National Book Award. Her book of essays called Married to the Ice Pick Killer: a poet in Hollywood was a bestseller and refers to her marriage to the deceased actor David Dukes. She has won many other awards and replaces poet Al Young as California Poet Laureate.

This Week in Reading November 9 - 15

Some strong names pop up this week. The British Isles gave us two novelists, Scotland's prolific storywriter and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, and Ireland and England's Oliver Goldsmith, a playwright and novelist. There are two important Russians from the nineteenth century, playwright, novelist Ivan Turngenev and novelist, storywriter Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Naturalist German playwright, poet and novelist Gerhart Hauptman won one of the earliest Nobel prizes (1912) and later Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco won awards in France where he was the leading light of the Theatre of the Absurd.

Poets Anne Sexton, Vachel Lindsay, and Marianne Moore share the week with more recent literary names which include Kurt Vonnegut and Mexico's Carlos Fuentes. Many other names, from many other genres of writing, both fiction and nonfiction, make up the rest of the week's list, some literary, some not. Or is this being too traditional?

This Week's Question: What, after all, is literature? Why do we reward those who achieve it and give short shrift to those who do not aspire to it? Yet, why do some who do not aspire to it achieve it anyway? There are other things to read besides what is traditionally called literature. Or is there not? Can just anything written to be read be called literature? A literary critic born this week says simply "Literature is the question minus the answer." Who said it? And what the heck does that mean? Is what was said clear?

Answer to Last Week's Question: "Those who write clearly have readers; those who write obscurely have commentators." was said by Albert Camus. "I don't think it ever hurts the writer to sort of stand back now and then and look at his stuff as if he were reading it instead of writing it." was the advice of popular novelist James Jones and perhaps that's among the reasons he was popular.

Recent Tempting Titles - 900s

Click on any image or title link to place a hold via the online catalog. You can also now see a full list of the books librarians have ordered in the last two months by clicking on the Coming Soon button on the left of any library web page or as a tab on the catalog page. (Not all are in the online catalog yet, as these few selections are, but they're on the way.)

The nonfiction books of Tempting Titles are arranged by Dewey Decimal order, just the way they would be arranged on the New Book Shelves. Here are today's offerings:

900s - Geography, Travel, History

A History of Histories: epics, chronicles, romances, and inquiries from Herodotus and Thucydides to the twentieth century by John Burrow

"This unprecedented book by one of Britain’s most admired historians describes the intellectual impact that the study and consideration of history has had in the Western world over the past 2,500 years. Treating the practice of history not as an isolated pursuit but as an aspect of human society and an essential part of the culture of Europe and America, John Burrow magnificently brings to life and explains the distinctive qualities found in the work of historians from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to the present." (Publisher's description)

The Complete Travel Detective Bible: the consummate insider tells you what you need to know in an increasingly complex world! by Peter Greenberg

"This ultimate "physician’s desk reference" for travelers addresses the questions, anxieties, concerns, and desire for essential information that are common to seasoned and novice travelers alike." (Publisher's description)

Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? : a swashbuckling tale of high adventures, questionable ethics, and professional hedonism by Thomas B. Kohnstamm

"The colorful adventures of a budding travel writer in Brazil. After pursuing an advanced degree in Latin American studies, Kohnstamm reluctantly took a position as a researcher at a large Wall Street firm. The restless author quickly tired of the corporate drudgery and, after some hesitation, accepted an assignment to update Lonely Planet's guidebook on Brazil. - Readers will relish the countless stories of the author's misadventures, but Kohnstamm brings more than just anecdotes: He offers a solid understanding of the mechanics of the travel-writing industry and a unique ability to illuminate that world to readers. Notable for its spirited prose and insightful exploration of the less-romantic side of travel writing." (Kirkus Reviews)

Honorable Bandit: a walk across Corsica by Brian Bouldrey

"Bouldrey teaches creative writing at Northwestern University, and his own writing here certainly qualifies as creative. There are real gems as he describes his family life, his fellow travelers down Corsica’s GR20, and his blue passport 'outing' him as an American. His style is chatty, humorous, and self-deprecating, which makes for an enjoyable read." (Library Journal)

In Arabian Nights: a caravan of Moroccan dreams by Tahir Shah [No image available]

"Shah delves into Moroccan society and culture; his experiences will make readers want to trace his footsteps abroad. Although comparisons to Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun and Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence are obvious, this account is unforgettable because of its author's innate storytelling abilities." (Library Journal)

The Year of the Goat: 40,000 miles and the quest for the perfect cheese by Margaret Hathaway

"Back-to-the-land fantasies aren't new, but Hathaway gives theirs a modern twist by emphasizing 'terroir,' the idea that 'food is rooted in the land,' and of connecting 'the palate to the place.' Local-eating, slow-food activists will find much to chew on here." (Publisher Weekly)

Genealogy Online by Elizabeth Powell Crowe

"With years of experience online, Elizabeth Powell Crowe has become an authority on online genealogical research. She explains how to trace your family tree in an easy-to-understand way that anyone can follow." (AOL Genealogy Forum)

The Plot Against Pepys by James Long and Ben Long [No image available]

"Samuel Pepys is most famous for the diary he kept between 1660 and 1669, as well as his eyewitness accounts of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. As Secretary of the Admiralty, he played an important role in the development of the British navy. Yet in 1679, Pepys was imprisoned in the Tower of London on suspicion of treason, charged with being a secret Catholic and supporter of the Catholic Duke of York. [Authors] investigate the mystery behind this arrest." (Library Journal)

Metro Stop Paris: an underground history of the City of Light by Gregor Dallas

"Seasoned historian Dallas ... serves up exquisite slices of Parisian lore. Twelve Métro stops in the city of lights come blazing to life in this unusual tome. 'There are many histories of Paris,' the author writes, 'but they won't fit in a pocket or a traveling sack.' Instead he gives us 'little vignettes drawn from Paris's rich two-thousand year history.'" (Kirkus Reviews)

That Summer in Sicily by Marlena De Blasi

"In 1995, De Blasi and her Italian husband sought a place to stay in the Sicilian mountains and were directed to the Villa Donnafugata, a grand hunting lodge populated by widows, farmers and an imperious mistress: Tosca Brozzi. This book reads like a suspense novel complete with a surprise ending, and though Tosca's story is compelling, it's in De Blasi's telling of it that the true magic lies." (Publisher Weekly)

The Last Day: wrath, ruin, and reason in the great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 by Nicholas Shrady [No image available]

"Shrady takes a brief, brilliantly encapsulated look at the physical and spiritual damage wrought by a famous catastrophe. ... Shrady takes stock of a disaster second only to the destruction of Pompeii and pursues the city's gradual regeneration thanks to the tireless work of Portugal's secretary of state, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo. [who] attempted to silence the sermons of woe by the powerful Jesuit Gabriel Malagrida, among others, and encouraged scientifically minded thinkers to look into the earthquake's natural causes. Faced with the task of rebuilding, Carvalho embraced the Enlightenment's new spirit of urban planning, endorsing plans that reflected 'the kind of social and economic change that was necessary ...'"

The Imperial Capitals of China: a dynastic history of the Celestial Empire by Arthur Cotterell

"From British scholar Cotterell, a thoroughgoing history of China's ruling dynasties and their extraordinary achievements in architecture. Cotterell's work takes the traveler deep into the fascinating recesses of each dynasty." (Kirkus Reviews)

Basrayatha: the story of a city by Mohammed Khudayyir

"Basrayatha is a literary tribute by author Mohammed Khudayyir to the city of his birth, Basra, on the Shatt al-Arab waterway in southern Iraq. Just as a city’s inhabitants differ from outsiders through their knowledge of its streets as well as its stories, so Khudayyir distinguishes between the real city of Basra and Basrayatha, the imagined city he has created through stories, experiences, folklore, and insights." (International Publishers Market)

A Voyage Long and Strange: rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz

"What do Americans really know about the discovery of their continent? Visiting the sadly puny Plymouth Rock prompted this energetic, likable author to delve into the historic record and sniff out the real story behind America's creation myth, from one section of the country to the other." (Kirkus Reviews)

The Hudson: America’s river by Frances F. Dunwell

"Fifteen chapters trace the river's history, beginning with Henry Hudson's exploration and the Dutch who settled along its banks in the 17th century and moving on to the colonial wars between the English and the French and their Native American allies, the American Revolution, the Industrial age following the Civil War, and the 20th century, when the river was best known for its pollution. Dunwell also reveals how the river has inspired artists (the Hudson River school), writers (Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper), conservationists who worked to preserve the scenic vistas and historical sites, and environmentalists who worked to clean up the river." (Library Journal)

Author Passings

Two more authors of note, popular exemplars of opposite political views, passed away in the last week.

Oral history - radio and television interviewer Louis "Studs" Terkel died on Friday, October 31, 2008. He is most well known for Working: people talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do. Early works included Hard Times: an oral history of the Great Depression, and Division Street, America, as well as The Great Divide: second thoughts on the American dream. Later he compiled Coming of Age: the story of our century and the people who lived it, and a compilation of his best interviews in My American Century, which show his strong interest in the social issues that plagued and divided people. He told librarians and their friends, "The average American has an indigenous intelligence, a native wit. It's only a question of piquing that intelligence." Because of involvement in WPA theatre programs in the 1930s he was among authors and performers who were blacklisted for supposed Anti-American views during the McCarthy era of the early 1950s. He was 96.

Blockbuster suspense novelist and screenwriter Michael Crichton died on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 here in Los Angeles. He wrote to raise a little money for medical school and even before he became a doctor his books became huge hits because he knew how to maintain interest and supense. Appropriately, most of his "techno-thrillers" involve biololgical or scientific fears, but later ones exploited poltical, particularly conservative, fears and beliefs such as global warming. His early books include The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man, Jurassic Park and many of his novels became movies, and in some cases, theme park rides. He directed as well, and wrote screenplays for movies, for example Westworld. He was only 66. (Picture from Gale Biography Resource Center.)

This Week in Reading November 2 - 8

Just so you know, there will be much to read in the future about this week in history because of the monumental event that has happened to America .There are two Nobel prizewinning authors this week: Albert Camus, the existentialist French novelist and poet Odysseus Elytis from Greece. Essayist Andre Malraux and historian Will Durant are known names. Besides those, it's novelists galore again with Margaret Mitchell and James Jones leading the pack of lesser knowns. Along with them -- born on a day which is often apropriately enough Election Day -- are the famous humorist Will Rogers and equally revered, but still living to see what happened this week, newscaster Walter Cronkite.

This Week's Question: Which of this week's authors said the following? "Those who write clearly have readers; those who write obscurely have commentators." Which one said this? "... I don't think it ever hurts the writer to sort of stand back now and then and look at his stuff as if he were reading it instead of writing it."

Answer to Last Week's Question: Napoleon Hill was a young reporter who was given the assignment to interview some successful men. Among the first he encountered was Andrew Carnegie who liked the concept so much he gave Hill letters of Introduction to the most successful people of the day. Hill spent years then learning and then distilling what he called the "Philosophy of Achievement" and later with Carnegie published home study courses called "The Law of Success." As part of that path he edited his own magazine entitled Hill's Golden Rule.

Emily Post was born into money and attended finishing school. After marriage difficulties she needed to write to support herself and turned to magazine article and story writing. After a while she wrote travel books with humor in them, and several novels (none of which the library has, sad to say.) Her ettiquette books, through she became the country's leading authority, grew out of a column she had written about the topic.

This Week in Reading Oct. 26 - Nov. 1

This week, as in most, there are more novelists than poets and playwrights, but only a few and several of these wrote in various forms, If you throw in story writers, essay writers, literary critics, historians, editors, biographers, politicians, celebrity journalists, and celebrity humorists it's a well rounded group.

Some of the more well known novelists are Stephen Crane, Evelyn Waugh, Sylvia Plath, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Pat Conroy. Genre writers are historical mystery writer Anne Perry, mystery writer Dick Francis, and fantasy / science fiction storyteller Frederic Brown.

Big names in poetry are John Keats, Ezra Pound, Dylan Thomas and Paul Valery. Restoration comedies by Richard Sheridan and fantasies by Jean Giraudoux played in many theatres. James Boswell, Henri Troyat, and Edward Said's literary ruminations have been studied in many a college.

This Week's Question: Two of this week's authors, contemporaries in the first half of the twentieth century, were extremely influential writers for patrons of libraries. Emily Post was the first name to go to for etiquette advice and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, about how to achieve success, has been one of the most frequently requested books in libraries. Many other books have been created in their names to continue offering advice about success and behavior. Both Hill and Post published more than one book and both many wrote columns and articles for magazines. One of them even edited a magazine. Which of them, however, also wrote novels?

Answer to Last Week's Question: We asked you to look at the Recommended Reads of the Glendale Public Library online resource Novelist Plus to tell us which of twenty-seven types listed there you might like. Nothing official there, but besides the usual categories of historical mysteries, flatfoots and gumshoes, noir or cozy mysteries, amateur sleuths and police procedurals, you can find mysteries around many kinds of themes. There are mysteries with humor, mysteries with seniors, mysteries about food, about books, about dogs ...

"Woof what?" says Taz, the Glendale Library Blog Dog. "Hey, there's too many cats in here!"

Okay, about pets of many kinds. From the Novelist Plus recommender: "If you enjoy pampering your own pets, you might like these light mysteries. In some, the story is told from the animal's point of view. While in others, the owner solves the mystery."

Give it a look. Before you set your clock an hour back this Saturday night you might find a new series or mystery writer with whom you'll really like to spend your extra hour.

Tony Hillerman 1925 - 2008

Immensely popular mystery writer Tony Hillerman passed away at the age of eighty-three Sunday night. A chronicler of the Southwest, his nineteen mysteries and other nonfiction works explored the archaeological tensions and parallels between the past and present. His two main sleuths were members of the Navajo tribal police, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sargeant Jim Chee, whose skills included the understanding of mythic ritual, unspoken codes, mixed with psychological and sociological insight. Booklist reviewer Bill Ott said of him, (reprinted in our Biography Resource Center database,) "Nobody uses the power of myth to enrich crime fiction more effectively than Hillerman."

Among his more acclaimed mysteries were A Thief of Time, Coyote Waits, and The Shapeshifter. Also, Hillerman was an outstanding journalist throughout his initial career and later taught journalism at the college level. He did not begin writing novels until his mid-forties, giving more time to his literary career after retirement. His nonfiction books, as well as the bestselling mysteries, all gave rich detailed description of New Mexico and native-American culture.

Forgotten Modern: California Houses 1940-1970

Forgotten Modern reveals the work of the innovative architects building homes in California from 1940 to the 1970s. With innovative examples of what now exemplifies typical California architecture, the author, Alan Hess, and photographer, Alan Weintraub, focus on examples of early mid-century modern, variations on minimalism, and organic architecture.

Some of the architects included in the book are Jack Hilmer, William Krisel, Beverly David Thorne, A.E. Morris, Fred and Lois Langhorst, and Charles Warren Callister. Though these names may not be recognizable to most, the images of the homes they designed will certainly be reminiscent and have a certain familiarity.

The furniture and design details that furnish the homes will certainly elicit fond memories and also serve as a reminder of their influence on later designs. This concept is explored in the author’s conclusion.

A fairly easy to read non-fiction book and a great source of images to muse over! Books on domestic architecture in California are a great source for design ideas in your own home, and there are many more in the library’s collection.

Recent Tempting Titles 700s - 800s

Click on any image or title link to place a hold via the online catalog. You can also now see a full list of the books librarians have ordered in the last two months by clicking on the Coming Soon button on the left of any library web page or as a tab on the catalog page. (Not all are in the online catalog yet as these few selections are but they're on the way.)

The nonfiction books of Tempting Titles are arranged by Dewey Decimal order, just the way they would be arranged on the New Book Shelves. Here are today's offerings:

700s - Art, Music, Entertainment, Sports

Journey of a Thousand Miles: my story by Lang Lang

“The 25-year-old Chinese piano prodigy chronicles his coming of age. . . A true rags-to-riches story told with fervor and variety.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Even More Outrageous Pop-up Celebrity Meltdowns by Heather Havrilesky

We don't have the first one, but the subject headings say it all.

Celebrities -- conduct of life;

Celebrities -- caricatures and cartoons;

Celebrities -- pictorial

The Secret Life of Siegfried and Roy: how the tiger kings tamed Las Vegas, by Jimmy Lavery

“In this light biography of Siegfried and Roy, the authors note that the entertainers kept their intimate lives private, leaving little for would-be biographers to reveal. ... This isn’t a comprehensive study of the work of Siegfried and Roy, but fans will still have fun with it.” (Publisher Weekly)

Doris Day: the untold story of the girl next door by Kaufman, David

“This is an eye-opening, fair-minded bio of a woman who brought a lot of joy to fans but has found very little herself.” (Publisher Weekly)

800s - Literature

Cite it right : the SourceAid guide to citation, research, and avoiding plagiarism by Tom Fox, Julia Johns, and Sarah Keller. 3rd ed.

"A straightforward compilation of the four major writing-style manuals -- American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the Modern Language Association (MLA) -- this fully revised handbook distills the major concepts into easily understandable terms and provides complete citation examples for each source type." (Publisher description)

Shimmering Images : a handy little guide to writing memoir by Lisa Dale Norton.

"For the purposes of this book, I am dealing with the slice-of-life memoir in which you identify one potent period and you explore it through vivid imagery, honest voice, stunning compassion, and a deep awareness of the larger issues at play that guide your story in a subliminal way—myth, metaphor, and current issues of the day." (Book excerpt)

How Fiction Works byJames Wood [No image available]

"What makes a story a story? What is style? What's the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely--from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings--Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step." (Publisher description)

Ray Bradbury : Uncensored! : the unauthorized biography by Gene Beley

Speeches, interviews, unauthorized views and reactions to Los Angeles' own library loving free speech hero. (Summary)

Mother on Fire: the truth about parenting by Sandra Tsing Loh

"Radio commentator and performer Loh (A Year in Van Nuys) has penned a hilarious memoir with the same title as her one-woman comedy show, which ran for seven months in Los Angeles. The story begins as a droll little breeze that soon sucks the reader into a frenzied whirlwind as Loh recounts her harrowing quest to find a suitable kindergarten for Hannah, her four-year-old daughter (Loh habitually calls Isabel, her two-year-old, simply The Squid.)" (Publisher Weekly)

Milton : poet, pamphleteer, and patriot by Anna Beer.

Chronicles the life of the master writer, offering insight into his involvement in the politics and religion of his era, and covering such topics as his writings against King Charles, his troubled relationships, and the impact of the Restoration on his survival. (Book summary)

The same man : George Orwell and Eveyln Waugh in love and war by David Lebedoff

"For those wearied by doorstop biographies, this lean and urbane dual portrait is a breath of fresh air. As lawyer and writer Lebedoff (Cleaning Up) makes clear, on the surface no two British writers could be more different. Evelyn Waugh was a loud convert to Catholicism, an even louder social climber and very much a man of Empire. George Orwell (Eric Blair) could best be described as a long-suffering atheistic humanist, a utopian socialist and dreamer." (Publisher Weekly)

Mrs Woolf and the servants : an intimate history of domestic life in Bloomsbury by Alison Light

"Virginia Woolf is a feminist icon, and her husband, Leonard, was a committed socialist and supporter of workers' rights. Yet, says Light, in this fresh take on Bloomsbury, the couple perpetuated the class system by paying a pittance to their charwoman. In her attempt to restore the servants to the Bloomsbury story, Light also ruminates about whether the dependence of Woolf and her sister, Vanessa Bell, on their assorted live-in maids and cooks plays havoc with the idealized image of them as bohemian, free women creating a new kind of life." (Publisher Weekly)