The Book Shopper - Atlanta

Mini-review: Robert Craig's Lecture at the Decatur Public Library

Where & When: Decatur Public Library Auditorium on May 23, 2012. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

 Attendance: ~40 people with so many architects and preservationists present that Robert M. Craig, a professor emeritus of architectural history at the Georgia Institute of Technology, quipped that he was quite intimidated by the distinguished audience (excluding me, of course).

What He Read: Craig didn't read. Instead he presented an extensive slide show based on his new book from the University of Georgia Press, The Architecture of Francis Palmer Smith: Atlanta's Scholar Architect. For a half a century, Francis Palmer Smith (1886-1971) either designed or influenced dozens of commercial buildings, hotels, elegant homes and churches. Smith was the first department head of the Georgia Institute of Technology's architecture program.

Why I Went: I've always had an interest in history, architecture and gorgeously printed books like Architecture. Craig is correct in saying his book is no coffee table book – though it has over 400 color and black and white photos. The book is chocked full of building descriptions and detailed history about the architecture and architects of Atlanta. I especially liked the appendix that has the list of all the houses, buildings, and churches including addresses where you can drive by and see them for yourself. (Shown at the top of the posting is the Druid Hills First Presbyterian Church on Ponce De Leon Avenue built in 1939-40. And don't worry, Craig's photos are much better than mine.)

What Craig Talked About: Everything. The lecture was divided into four parts: 1.) The early influences of the Ecole des Beaux-Art on Smith ( who grew up in Cincinnati and studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania). 2.) Smith's partnership with another influential Atlanta architect, Robert Pringle. (1922-1934), which included many beautiful homes – many in the Druid Hills area. 3.) Smith's commercial work which began with Pringle and included hotels and Coca-cola bottle plants all over the Southeast. The bottling plant construction supported Smith's work during The Great Depression. 4.) Smith's design of churches including his crowning achievement, The Cathedral of St. Philip, here in Atlanta. Preliminary sketches were began in 1937, but the church wasn't built until 1960-62.

 

The Trouble with Book Shopping

The trouble with book shopping is the exhausting work of having to move them, which is what I did last weekend.

Shown here is my older daughter Cynthia after we packed about ten boxes of books out of her graduate school office at Harvard.

 

 

MARTA Book Club #19: Yes, It Exists

The other day I was reading Gabriel Zaid's fine book about the pitfalls of author-as-celebrity worship, The Secret of Fame: The Literary Encounter is an Age of Distraction (2008), and a young man sitting next to me stares unabashedly at the cover of my book. I look up and I was slightly taken aback, because in book spotting, there is a unwritten rule of viewer discretion. So the man says to me, “I am always interested in finding out what people are reading.” I show him the Zaid book and told him that there is a secret brotherhood and sisterhood of readers and riders called The MARTA Book Club.

 “Really, you mean there is a MARTA book club!?!” he asked.

I gave him the website address, (just type MARTA Book Club in Google) and you can find us. The only membership requirement is to read a book while riding Atlanta public transportation.There are no meeting times, no organizational rules, no t-shirts, and no dues. Very convenient.

 What We Have Been Reading

It's been a couple months since our last MARTA Book Club compilation (see the links category for all the lists) and there is much reading on the train to report. We regret since we cannot determine the title, electronic books are not tabulated. Here's the last offerings:

Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder by David Weinberger

Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences (Inside Technology) by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

Agent X by Noah Boyd

Living Crazy Love: An Interactive Workbook for Individual or Small-Group Study by Francis Chan and Mark Beuving

Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Finding the Favor of God: A Discovery That Will Change Your Life by Ronnie W. Floyd

The Bill: How Legislation Really Becomes Law: A Case Study of the National Service Bill by Stephan Waldman

Research Methods in Information by Alison Jane Pickard

Fire and Ice by Julie Garwood

Schism and Continuity in an African Society a Study of Ndembu Village Life by Victor Turner and Bruce Kapferer

God Speaks to Me: Stories of Triumph Over Tragedy from Women Who Listened to God by Valerie Love

It by Stephen King

Structure in Architecture: The Building of Buildings by Mario George Salvadori

Susanna's Choice by Sara Luck

Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star by Kitty Kelley

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (thanks Emily Britt)

The Boss's Survival Guide by Bob Rosner, Allan Halcrow and Alan Levins

Sample Book Art in Decatur

This next week if you're in downtown Decatur and you like books, check out the Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur's book arts exhibit, Wallbound. The exhibit opened in March (how did I miss it?!?! I walk past the building all the time) and closes Monday, May 14th , so don't delay. Wallbound features the work of 23 local, national and international artists who accepted the challenge of creating of  book art that had to be hung on a wall. The gallery coordinator Angus Galloway,  Institute faculty members Jerushia Graham and Alicia Griswold, all who are bookmakers, artists  and paper makers as well, curated the exhibit. (Gallery hours are at the end of this article.)

Wallbound is an exquisite mini-celebration of the book and serves as a reminder that books are something we can touch and hold and enjoy visually. (Insert your disparaging comment about e-readers here.)

Books can also have a narrative that extends beyond the content. For example, in Claire Siepser's, Survivor Jacket (collage, lower right) she has transferred photocopied book jackets of plant and insect guides to  a Size 6 field jacket to create something that practically belongs in a L.L. Bean catalog.   Another artist who also appreciates word play and fashion is Johanna Renbeck. Her wearable book -- made from curly paper leaves is called Every Leaf (collage, center) and another wearable book – a tiled breast plate -  both belong on the runway, albeit at the American Library Association fashion show.

The geometric properties of words are investigated in Ruth Bardenstein's Geometry/Galileo, a large digital print on mylar, (partially shown, in the lower left). At first, the large print looks like abstract wallpaper from a chic boutique, but when your gaze deepens, letters emerge and then you begin to read the embedded words as well. (I appreciate the gallery permitting me to take these photographs even though they were warned ahead of time, that my camera skills are limited. )

Atlanta Area Book Calendar – May 2012

Here are your local opportunities for literary discourse during the month of May in the Atlanta area. I basically scout around various sites looking for what interests me and provide the links. (I purposely don't include the details, in case there is a last minute change of schedule, etc.)

It's the final two weeks for The Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur's exhibit, Wallbound where a number of national and international artists rethink the idea of the bound book. For more information, check the comments section below. ("Precarious Balance" by Serey Andree is shown at the left.)

Austen Burroughs, author of the novel This is How will be at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Ivy Hall on Saturday, May 12th ($10 admission or free with book purchase).

On Thursday, May 17th, Jonathan Odell, author of the novel The Healing, will read and sign books at the Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater. Other authors visiting the Carter Library in the month of May include Steve Coll (Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power) on May 23rd and Nancy Gibbs & Michael Duffy (The Presidents' Club) on May 24th.

Ron Rash, author of Serena and Michel Stone will be at the Decatur Public Library on Tuesday, May 15th. Rash celebrates the publishing of his new book The Cove and is joined by his friend Stone whose first novel The Iguana Tree has recently been published. Robert Craig who has written a new book about architecture in Atlanta, The Architecture of Francis Palmer, Atlanta's Scholar Architect will be at the DPL on May 23rd. Craig, Rash and others are just a few of authors brought in by The Georgia Center for the Book in the month of May.

 The Auburn Avenue Research Library is hosting several events in May including a reading and signing of author's Javon Brothers latest book, A Deadly Night in the Harbor of Hospitality on Saturday, May 5th.

Mini-review: Kevin Wilson's Performance at the Decatur Public Library

Where & When: Decatur Public Library Auditorium on April 18, 2012. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

Attendance: ~30 people including one woman who was doing her knitting.

Why I Went: Both Kevin Wilson's 2011 novel The Family Fang and his collection of short stories Tunneling to the Center of the Earth have received considerable critical acclaim the past few years. (The Family Fang was one of the finalist for this year's Pultizer in fiction.) I missed his earlier visits to the Atlanta area.

What He Read: A somewhat unconventional selection. For about 25 minutes, Wilson read an excerpt from The Family Fang and three freshly written scenes for the Fang book that didn't appear in the book (requested by his publisher for promotional purposes?). The Family Fang is the story of two performance artist parents who use their children as part of their act with consequences that are detrimental to the children.

 Q & A: At first, the unassumming Wilson nervously zipped and unzipped his hooded sweatshirt, but then relaxed when members of the audience asked specific questions about The Family Fang. (Something comforting when a writer connects to his or her readers.)  Wilson also talked about how he first became intrigued by performance art of Chris Burden as a fifteen year old growing up in Winchester, Tennessee. Wilson admires the work of performance artist Joesph Beuys and network of artists known as Fluxus as well, but said he was careful not to study their work too much because he didn't want to risk tainting the imaginative performances he created for characters in his book.

 Question-I-Was-Too-Timid-to-Ask-But-Didn't-Have-To-Because-Someone-Else-Did (thankfully). One audience member asked about the recent decision of the Pulitzer committee not to award a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2012. Wilson said that naturally he was disappointed that he didn't win (Ann Patchett wrote that Wilson was certainly worthy), but thinks Denis Johnson's Train Dreams was definitely a book that deserved the prize.

Did I Buy Something? Yes. I picked up a copy of his collection of short stories and had it signed. I debated whether to have him pose for a picture for the blog, but Wilson who thanked everyone repeatedly for attending, seemed shy about the whole “reading” experience. I didn't want to be pushy.

Worth Mentioning: Wilson has a different approach to writing that you don't often hear. Unlike some writers who insist that you have to put on a tie and write every day like it is a job, Wilson, who teaches fiction at the University of the South, says he will go months without writing. He lets the story “spend time in my head.” When it's time, he will write continuously for six or seven days, breaking only for meals.

The Joys of Losing: My Life as a Baseball Fan

The English won all the battles but the Irish went home with all the songs.-- Wilfred Sheed

Books such as Wilfred Sheed's baseball-laden 1993 memoir, My Life as a Fan eloquently rekindles one of sports' ongoing debates, “Is there happiness rooting for a perpetual loser?” As a Cubs fan, who has allowed his daughter (shown here with her fiance) to go down this mine-filled base path, this is a topic I'm always interested in.

With prose that rivals John Updike's short account of Ted Williams' last game for the Boston Red Sox, Sheed addresses this question. As a nine-year old, Sheed arrived in Philadelphia from England in 1940 in the wake of a possible German invasion and found that baseball was a way to assimilate into his new country. Sheed's first allegiances were with Connie Mack's hapless Philadelphia Athletics. Slowly, Sheed switched leagues to become a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, expecting the glory to begin immediately.” Little did the young Sheed know that there would be a delay in gratification.

Sheed's years of disappointment began when Dodger catcher Mickey Owens dropped a third strike leading to a loss in Game Four of the 1941 World Series. Sheed writes, “Anyone can root for a winner, but it takes a stab of pain to initiate you all the way."(My daughter's initiation was the Bartman game during the Cubs loss to the Marlins in the 2005 NLCS. Young Atlanta Braves fan were baptized last year during their September collapse.)

However the book is much more than a fan's love of baseball, which is a subject that often borders on the cliché. Sheed illuminates the often forgotten baseball played during the World War II. 1941 was a memorable season with Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hit streak, and Ted Williams hitting over .400 for the season. Though Sheed maintains that Williams was willing to put his .400 batting average in jeopardy on the last day of the season, because he was facing the miserable Athletics. In general, the quality of play suffered during the war. Sheed writes, “the shortage of baseball talent was critical, and even more painfully noticeable than the substitution of phony meat in the frankfurters—a a hot dog still looked like a hot dog and you could paint your margarine yellow, but there was no hiding that chunk of Spam you had playing shortstop or a pitching staff made of powdered eggs.”

 

A Trip to Shiloh

Inspired by reading Winston's Groom's latest book Shiloh, 1862 and the fact that Friday is the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh,  I wrote up a list of other Shiloh-related works and sent it to Like the Dew, A Journal of Southern Culture. You can read the article  here.

Check the April Calendar of Events for details about Groom's appearance in Atlanta on April 11th.

If by chance you have migrated from Like the Dew to this blog, you can check other Civil War related books by typing "Civil War" in the search box.

Photo: Courtesy of National Geographic

 

Atlanta Area Book Events Calendar – April 2012

Here are your on-ramps for literary discourse during the month of April in the Atlanta area:

The Auburn Avenue Research Library is hosting many events this month ranging from a signing and reading of acclaimed journalist and civil rights icon Charlyne Hunter-Gault's To the Mountaintop: My Journey through the Civil Rights Movement ( Monday, April 2nd) to Langston Out Loud: Celebrating the Power of Langston Hughes' Poetry in the Modern World (Saturday, April 21st).

Lauren Groff, author of the novel Arcadia will be at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Ivy Hall on Tuesday, April 3. Stephen King, Lorrie Moore and Richard Russo have all praised Groff's fiction. Groff is part of this spring's SCAD Ivy Hall Writer Series. Andre Dubus III will be there April 12th. Admission ($$) is charged.

On Wednesday, April 11th, Winston Groom, author of Shiloh 1862, (and Forrest Gump) will read and sign books at the Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater. Other authors in the month of April include syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson, author of the memoir Hank Hung the Moon...and Warmed Our Cold, Cold Hearts appears at the library on April 30th.

On Wednesday, April 18th Kevin Wilson author of the novel The Family Fang and the book of short stories Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (he was at the Decatur Book Festival a couple of years ago) will be at the Decatur Public Library. Wilson's appearance is just one of authors appearing locally via the Georgia Center of the Book. Austin Kleon author of Steal Like and Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative appears at the library on Wednesday, April 11th.

Different Worlds: On Reading Ben Okri's The Famished Road

by Chantal James

Ben Okri's The Famished Road (1991) is a novel about being caught between two worlds. Maybe we all know the feeling; compelling books disorient us, don't they? They hook us. As we wrench our eyes away from an unfinished book for a few hours, to go about our daily lives, it can feel like having the left foot in one world and the right foot in another.

Books weave spells, so that the very rooms we read them in fall away from us. They spin visions in our minds more real, for the moment, than quotidian reality.

And so, The Famished Road enchants. At its center is the narrator Azaro, a very young child in Nigeria on the eve of its national independence. Azaro has not yet lost his memory of the spirit world in which he lived before birth. In fact, the world of the spirits is still more real to him than the world of the living. The book so far is dreamlike, full of ghosts.

This novel is sectioned into several "books." I've now finished the first of these. I am securely past The Famished Road’s point of no return. Most novels have one: the point after which you know you won't escape it, and that it will pull you deeper through its tunnels, until emerging on the other side, you shake yourself from its hold and re-enter the world.

Azaro, floats into and out of the world of the dead, unsure if he really wants to be here with us, and tempted by friends of his from the spirit realm. His spirit “buddies” literally set death traps for him, hoping that he will be killed and so return to them. He narrowly escapes several times. At one point the young boy is kidnapped by a couple whose son has died. He is given the dead boy's clothes to wear, while his parents across town search high and low for him, fearing the worst. For Azaro, the spirit dimension is superimposed on the physical. He does not easily distinguish between the things he sees that are invisible to everyone else: he can see the dead, the unborn, and forms that will never live or die. Because the child who tells the story cannot tell the difference, the reader doesn't always either.