This week in The Reading Life, it's time to get ready for Words and Music: A Literary Feast in New Orleans, which runs through Sunday at the Hotel Monteleone. TV columnist Dave Walker interviews special guest Ted Turner, whose "Call Me Ted" is rapidly ascending bestseller lists.
We also look at John Scott's new biography of his great-aunt, "Natalie Scott: A Magnificent Life," mystery maven Diana Pinckley reviews the latest from Laura Joh Rowland and C.S. Harris, Marigny Dupuy reviews the new children's book, "Marshall," from Whitney Stewart, and Mary McCay reviews Stewart O'Nan's Songs for the Missing."
Also, read about Joseph Boyden, writer-in-residence at the University of New Orleans, receiving the 15th annual Scotiabank Giller Prize!
Susan Larson, Book editor
More in books . . .
• Hot reads: New in bookstores
• Shelf Life: Adventurers in Reading
• This week: Literary events around New Orleans
Post a comment | View comments (0)
The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, is a nationally recognized non-profit arts organization sponsoring the renowned Words & Music arts festival; the Faulkner-Wisdom writing competition; the Double Dealer literary journal; outreach programs for high school and college students; continuing education; and a year-round calendar of Meet the Author and other events that honor and assist writers. Here's a look at their schedule for Words & Music Festival:
"A Mercy" by Toni Morrison."A Mercy"
By Toni Morrison (Alfred A. Knopf, $23.95)
In her best work since "Beloved, " the Nobel laureate shows us our land in the 1680s, and how race, religion and gender issues have been part of the tangled fabric of our country since its very beginning.
"Outliers: The Story of Success"
By Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown, $27.99)
The New Yorker writer, author of the bestsellers "The Tipping Point" and "Blink, " offers studies in success and potential.
When I imagine my ideal dinner party with figures from New Orleans history, writer Natalie Scott (1890-1957) and her friends, writer Lyle Saxon and artist William Spratling, are always near the top of the list. In his long and loving biography, "Natalie Scott: A Magnificent Life, " John W. Scott has written his great-aunt into vivid life.
Here she is, in all her intrepid glory, and here at last is a fine collection of her writing, especially her wartime letters and journalism, as well as a charming selection of photographs.
SPOTLIGHT ON: PEGGY POST
What: The etiquette expert presents a Children's Holiday Etiquette Luncheon to teach children ages 4-7 about gift-giving etiquette and the importance of holiday table manners. She also signs her new book, 'Emily's Christmas Gifts.'
When and where: Noon Saturday at the Hotel Monteleone.
Admission: $30 per adult and $15 per child; proceeds go directly to the New Orleans Public Library's recovery efforts. For reservations, call 504.681.4452.
Lagniappe: Post also signs 'Emily's Christmas Gifts, ' Sunday, 1-3 p.m., at The Magic Box, 5508 Magazine St.
The high-born, well-bred, easily bored Sebastian St. Cyr has a maverick streak a mile wide, which feeds his appetite for asking hard questions, donning downscale disguise, and urging fast horses after ne'er-do-wells when murder is afoot.
In the fourth of C.S. Harris' series set in Regency London, the imperious, fearless Hero Jarvis -- the daughter of St. Cyr's nemesis, the most powerful man in 1812 Great Britain -- fishes St. Cyr from a sea of alcohol, enlisting his help in a quest to find out why eight prostitutes at a safe house were murdered.
"Marshall: A Nantucket Sea Rescue " By Whitney Stewart Illustrated by Dennis Lyall (Soundprints/Trudy Corporation, $4.95, paperback; Ages 4-8).Part of the American Veterinary Medical Association's Pet Tales series for young readers and written by popular New Orleans author Whitney Stewart, "Marshall: A Nantucket Sea Rescue, " illustrated by Dennis Lyall, is the true story of a ship wreck and rescue that occurred in the 19th century on Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Loss -- wrenching, terrible and unending -- grounds Stewart O'Nan's 11th novel, "Songs for the Missing." Just a month before she is to leave for college, Kim Larsen disappears from her home in Kingsville, Ohio, a small town that she has both looked forward to escaping and dreaded leaving.
The mystery of her disappearance changes everyone, from her parents, Ed and Fran, and sister Lindsay, to her friends, her church -- the entire town. The novel moves through mystery to despair, to acceptance, and finally back into life.
Writer-in-residence at the University of New Orleans, Joseph Boyden received the 15th annual Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel "Through Black Spruce" on Nov. 11.Joseph Boyden, writer-in-residence at the University of New Orleans, received the 15th annual Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel "Through Black Spruce" on Nov. 11. The largest annual prize for fiction awarded in Canada, it gives $50,000 to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English. "Through Black Spruce" will be published in the United States in March.
Author Tom Piazza talks with readers about his latest work, "City of Refuge" on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at noon. Join Author Tom Piazza for a live chat at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 12, about his One Book/One New Orleans citywide reading selection, "City of Refuge."
Then meet the author on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Loyola University's Nunemaker Auditorium. Piazza will read, discuss and sign his book in a special One Book/One New Orleans event.
This week in The Reading Life, we catch up with bestselling novelist Wally Lamb, who will sign "The Hour I First Believed" Nov. 17 at Garden District Book Shop. If you're online around noon today (Wed., Nov. 12), be sure to check-out author Tom Piazza's live chat. On Thursday, Tom will read and discuss "City of Refuge," at a One Book/One New Orleans event at Loyola University.
The annual Jewish Community Center Book Fair features a broad selection of writers: David Andelman, author of "A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today," appears at the patron party Thursday (Nov.13) and Lily Koppel ("The Red Leather Diary") appears Monday (Nov. 17) at 10:30 a.m.
The NOLA Bookfair, an annual celebration of alternative and small press publishing, takes place all day Saturday (Nov. 15) in the 500-600 blocks of Frenchmen Street.
Susan Larson, Book editor
More in books . . .
• Hot reads: New in bookstores
• Shelf Life: Adventurers in Reading
• This week: Literary events around New Orleans
Author Wally Lamb is back with "The Hour I First Believed," which he will sign copies of at Garden District Book shop at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 17. When Wally Lamb came to the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival in 2001, he was at a difficult point in his career. After the thrilling success of dual Oprah Book Club selections for his novels "She's Come Undone" and "I Know This Much Is True, " he was struggling to get his next book under way. And in one of those charmed events that we'd like to think could happen only in New Orleans, he stopped in at St. Louis Cathedral to light a candle.
Whoever said that the longest journey begins with a single step didn't know Lily Koppel.
Her long journey to writing her first book began with, a Dumpster dive on New York's Riverside Drive. The trash bin held a treasure-trove of vintage trunks, marked by travel stickers from exotic destinations, and when a building engineer offered Koppel a young girl's diary that he'd found with the trunks, she knew she was on to a story.
The abandoned red leather diary had long lost its key; it begged to be opened.
Koppel was a young journalist making her way at The New York Times when she stumbled upon the diary, which became a story, then a book, "The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal."
"American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House" by Jon Meacham. Hardcover
"American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House"
By Jon Meacham (Random House, $30)
The Newsweek editor takes on the fascinating life of our seventh president.
"Testimony"
By Anita Shreve (Little, Brown, and Co., $23.99)
A scandal at a boarding school is caught on tape, changing the lives of all those involved.
"Just After Sunset"
By Stephen King (Scribner, $28)
A truly gruesome collection of 13 tales from the horrormeister.
The Jewish Community Center Book Fair schedule: All events take place at the Uptown JCC, 5342 St. Charles Ave.
Hours are: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday (Nov. 13), 5-9 p.m.; Sunday, (Nov. 14) 10 a.m.- noon and 3-6 p.m.; Monday, 9 a.m.-noon; Nov. 19, 9 a.m.-noon and 3-8 p.m.
Special events: Reserve tickets by calling 504.897.0143.
-- Wednesday, Nov. 12, noon: The Booklover's Luncheon features Rabbi Sherre' Hirsch, author of "We Plan, God Laughs." $30.
The seventh annual New Orleans Bookfair will be held Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., in the 500 and 600 blocks of Frenchmen Street, in Faubourg Marigny. The celebration of independent publishing and alternative media features small presses, zinesters, book artists, children's activities, book signings, and an exhibit of artists' books at Lazziza, Ray's Boom Boom Room, d.b.a., Cafe Negril, Yuki and the Hookah Cafe.
Author Laurie Halse Anderson will sign her book, "Chains" at Octavia Books on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008. SPOTLIGHT ON: LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON
• What: The critically acclaimed writer reads from and signs her National Book Award-nominated young adult novel, "Chains."
•When and where: Friday, 4:30 p.m., Octavia Books.
This week in The Reading Life, we catch up with Tulane University geographer Richard Campanella, whose '"Bienville's Dilemma: A Historical Geography of New Orleans," is a compelling history of human interaction with the local landscape. And we share a few tough laughs with the satirical writers of NOLAFugees.com. who have a new anthology, "Soul Is Bulletproof: Reports from Reconstruction New Orleans." Check out who's coming to NOLA Book Fair, the Tom Dent Literary Festival, and Words and Music: A Literary Feast in New Orleans.
Susan Larson, Book editor
More in books . . .
• Hot reads: New in bookstores
• Shelf Life: Adventurers in Reading
• This week: Literary events around New Orleans
NOLAFugees is a writing group that just published it's third anthology. Front row, left to right: Jackson Moss , Tara Jill Ciccarone (with dog Guadelupe), Joe Longo, Kelly Gartman , Andrea Boll. Standing, left to right: Justin Burnell , C.W. Cannon, Sarah Inman, Bill Loehfelm, Jarret Lofstead and Christine Horn.
Three years into the post-Katrina recovery period, the writers of NOLAFugees.com are still churning out their provocative mixture of investigative and personal reportage and inventive satire.
"Soul Is Bulletproof," their third published volume, includes a selection of work from 23 writers who have contributed to the Web site. Recurring narrative themes include the deaths of Helen Hill and Dinerral Shavers, and the passage of 2007, a year that began, as editor Joe Longo said, "with all that hope, and ended with that ridiculous riot at City Hall, where people were Tasered and pepper-sprayed."
"There's the instinct to pass judgment on New Orleans," said Richard Campanella. "Many times it's flattering. There are so many, myself included, who are so enthralled by this city on first sight. And others who are repelled." Everyone in New Orleans will recognize the truth behind the title of geographer Richard Campanella's new history of the city. "Bienville's Dilemma" -- which he succinctly distills to "questionable geography, questionable future" -- has been an issue since the city's 1718 founding. And "dilemma," defined by the dictionary as "a problem involving a difficult or unpleasant choice which will bring undesirable consequences," characterizes the state in which all New Orleanians find themselves post-Katrina.
For Campanella, who is the associate director of Tulane University's Center for Bioenvironmental Research and a research professor with Tulane's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Orleans has been a case of obsession at first sight.
"Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey" by William Least Heat-Moon (Little, Brown, $27.99).HARDCOVER
"Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey"
By William Least Heat-Moon (Little, Brown, $27.99)
The author of "Blue Highways" is back with a journey to "quoz, " which means "anything out of the ordinary."
"Faberge's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire"
By Tony Faber (Random House, $30)
Here's the story behind the fabulous pieces of Russian art.
"he H.L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy" by Tom Chaffin.SPOTLIGHT ON . . . TOM CHAFFIN
• What: The historian discusses and signs "The H.L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy."
• When and where: Today, 6-8 p.m., at the Presbytere, Jackson Square, presented by Friends of the Cabildo.
Mark your calendar for these events:
The Tom Dent Literary Festival: The New Orleans Public Library's African American Resource Center is hosting its eighth annual Tom Dent Literary Festival, Thursday through Saturday. This event includes a poetry session, an authors' showcase and the Tom Dent Forum.
The Spoken Word session, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Main Library, features poets Nik Richard, author of 'Love and Water'; Asia Rainey; Frederick 'Hollywood' Delahoussaye; Brandon 'Stallion' Brewington; Sha'Condria 'iCon' Sibley; and other poets from Artist in Action.
In this week's Readling Life it's time for Halloween books, and we've got a trick bag full. Marigny Dupuy reviews the best in picture books, and I have some suggestions for older readers. We also have a round-up of recent news in the book world, from award-winners to changes at the New Orleans Public Library.
Susan Larson, Book editor
More in books . . .
• Hot reads: New in bookstores
• Shelf Life: Adventurers in Reading
• This week: Literary events around New Orleans
Adults with very young children walk a fine line at Halloween time, striving to create atmosphere and activities just spooky enough to be fun, yet not so scary that they are frightening. Children enjoy the thrill of fear just as older people do, but in tiny, tiny doses. As the queen of Halloween (a character in one of the books reviewed here) says, "You have to be a little scared, so you can be brave!"
Reading about the elements of the Halloween celebration -- introducing, for example, stock characters such as witches, jack-o'-lanterns, goblins and ghosts, or explaining the etiquette of trick-or-treating -- can be a pleasure in itself, but it also can help make the first Halloween experiences more enjoyable for beginning trick-or-treaters.
"THE ACCIDENTAL SANTERA"
By Irete Lazo (St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $24.95)
Gabrielle Segovia, Ph.D., is at a crossroads in her life when she comes to New Orleans for a scientific conference, so it's easy to find herself seduced by the music and the dancing -- and the voodoo. After predictions made at a voodoo shop reading come true, Gabrielle is ready to explore the santeria roots which run deep in her family. Before long she has embarked on the spiritual path of santeria, is undergoing her initiations within the circle of her family, and has become "The Accidental Santera."
HARDCOVER
"The Longest Trip Home"
By John Grogan (William Morrow, $25.95)
The best-selling author of "Marley and Me" is back with another memoir, this one centered on his return to the Catholic Church.
Moira Crone is the winner of the 2009 Robert Penn Warren Award. Applause, applause: Here are the latest accolades for some of our local writers.
Novelist and short story writer Moira Crone is the winner of the 2009 Robert Penn Warren Award for fiction from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Crone, who teaches at Louisiana State University, is the author of "Dream State" and "What Gets Into Us."
Ken Foster, author of "The Dogs Who Found Me," is the winner of a Louisiana Division of the Arts fellowship in fiction; Hillary Joubert received a fellowship in poetry.
New Orleanian Joseph Boyden's second novel, "Through Black Spruce," has been shortlisted for Canada's prestigious Giller Prize; it will be published in the United States next spring.
