Richard Wright Books

"Changing Stages," the companion volume to the PBS television, is a triumph. Bravo to the authors Richard Eyre and Nicholas Wright for bringing their insider know-how on to the page. Eyre was the artistic director of the Royal National Theatre. Wright was an associate director with the Royal National Theatre, as well as being an actor and playwright.

There are no wasted breaths here. One cannot spare any as 100 years of theater are seamlessly encased in this volume. The encyclopedic knowledge is enhanced with stunning and arresting black-and-white photos. The subtitle, "A View of British and American Theatre in the Twentieth Century," however is misleading. The main focus is the British theatre. Eyre and Wright examine the American (Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams), Irish (William Butler Yeats) and other nation's theatre only to illustrate the effects on Britain's theater community and vice versa. Some exceptions are the Bavarian-born enigmatic Bertolt Brecht and Ireland's Oscar Wilde; both are given ample room due to their profound influence. But British playwrights and their plays are the lion's share of the book. British actors, such as Laurence Oliver and John Gielgud, are mentioned for their contributions to the "structural change to the theatre."

"Changing Stages" is broken down into 14 topics, including: Shakespeare, Wilde and After. A timeline is also furnished: a reference to grasp the past century of live performance in an easy manner. The witty and lucid writing is irresistible. Both novice and seasoned theatre lover will find this book a welcome addition to their library. One can read straight through or pluck jewels via the topics or index guide. Eyre and Wright are magicians for materializing a concise package of 20th century theatre within 400 pages. A joyous read for any fan of this living art.

Bohdan Kot

More broadly, this is a tale of two countries: France and America, and how artists are perceived in each.

American expatriates living in France, especially Paris, between the great wars, are well known - Hemingway, Pound, Wolfe, Stein, Miller, Fitzgerald, Cummings, Elliot - just to name a few. What is not as well known or realized is that the exodus continued well into the '60s with Black writers Wright, Baldwin, and Himes, with the Beats, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Corso, Burroughs, with mainstream writers, James Jones, Irwin Shaw, Terry Southern, and William Styron, and with academics such as W.H. Auden, Ashbery, Mathews, Brion Gysin, and many many others. What brought them all to France, especially Paris?

Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno's account of American expatriates in France reads like a novel. He enters the minds and hearts of the various authors - their inner thoughts and motivations - in a seemingly effortless narrative, drawing on a vast scholarship. He has read all of their works and letters as well as news and magazine articles of the times. Gertrude Stein was thought to be peculiarly anti-semitic as she sided with the Vichy government, the irascible Hemingway had a vendetta against James Jones (author of *From Here to Eternity*) and Richard Wright noted that "I've learned more about America in one month in Paris than I could in one year in New York." In addition to chronicling little-known facts and anecdotes about the first wave, the author continues the saga with later writers.

He covers all kinds of writing. A most interesting chapter deals with an obscure (in America) experimental French author, Roussel, and the American writers influenced by him - Ashbery, Mathews, Burroughs, Koch. They reinvented what the Dadaists had begun 40 years earlier, a turning of images in cinematic variation, a "systematic derangement of the senses."

Paris is "artistically electric" they agree. Racial prejudice isn't a factor in France (except for the French treatment of the Algerians) but only Baldwin seems to have been upset by this. Where but in France could Ferlinghetti wander into a cafe and find a paper tablecloth with a poem written on it, (signed by Jacques Prevert). "For Ferlinghetti, this was the France of which the legends had been made. On leaving the cafe, he took the tablecloth with him. The incident was prophetic. Fourteen years later, City Lights [in San Francisco] would issue Ferlinghetti's translation of Prevert's 'Paroles'".

Where but in France would landlords lower the rent when they discovered that their tenants were writers or artists? "In short," says this author, "Paris empowered, granted permission to be an artist in a way the United States never had. In the accounts of almost all of the writers profiled in this book, Paris was equated with artistic freedom, with the ability to experiment, to succeed, even to fail, without feeling oneself to be a social deviant [while] In America, they felt, one was more often measured by how financially successful one was, not by what one actually did. Status accrued to those who made money, and the writer, generally not so able to generate an enviable income, was rarely accorded a position of importance in the eyes of the general public."

Said Ginsberg, "You can't escape the past in Paris, and yet what's so wonderful about it is that the past and present intermingle so intangibly that it doesn't seem a burden." Indeed, Paris allowed "la grande permission" for writers "to work out their own aesthetic directions without being unduly swayed by convention, anti-convention or fashion."

This is not, in my opinion, one of those books that you can't put down. There is so much material here to digest and ponder. But if you're interested in the subject, even though it may take you weeks or even months, you will keep picking it up. The only question I have on finishing it is - the continual pilgrimage -is it still continuing? And if not, why not?

pamhan99@aol.com

One of the best grab-you-and-won't-let-you-go books I've read in a long time! You never knew what would happen next. I'm looking forward to reading more of Mr. Wright's books!

This is not a "how-to" book on dowsing, but more a spiritual guide directed towards dowsers. It may, however, have fairly practical value to many dowsers who are struggling to master this etheric art. This is because beyond the Zen "Beginner's Mind" or colloquial "Beginner's Luck" stage when everything seems to work, comes a more difficult phase when deep struggles emerge between the logical and intuitive facets of the mind.

At this point one must honestly review one's motivations and goals, and decide to "put one's heart into it" or not. Without this honesty, commitment, humility and dedication, I don't think the necessary connections can be established and maintained in one's psyche to be a good dowser. This is because with dowsing it's an all-or-nothing issue - once confronted with the true nature of dowsing, one can no longer claim ignorance to its underlying miraculous nature. At that point one must decide whether to surrender one's ego, or simply give up the game.

There are many ideas presented in this book in a rather friendly and rambling style, like an after-dinner conversation in the living room. But any book that recommends starting the day with the prayer "Allow me to be of service today" shows its true colors.

After the end of the Second World War, a number of African Americans, including many of our most talented intellectuals, decided that America was just not a sufficiently hospitable home. Those who could left for Europe. Many, landed in Paris, which provided a far more civilized society.

Literary giants like James Baldwin, Richard Wright and other intellectuals found a place where their worth was determined by things more significant than skin color. This is the story of their experiences.

Another book worth searching for.

The great thing about this book is that there is an engaging, funny illustration on one page to set the stage and pique the child's interest, with simple rhyming text, and then on the other page there is a detailed paragraph on the featured critter full of interesting facts, vocabulary, and science concepts. So this book can be used by beginning and more advanced readers. The combination of humor and information is a winning combination for kids. I can see preschoolers and parents reading this book together, and then middle elementary school kids coming back to it later when they are looking for information to write reports.

Ever since I read "Native Son" in the early 60's I was overpowered by the sheer scope and magnitude of its reach in telling the story of a black man in racist America. The provocative prose with which it is written and its naked force upon the reader is like a shock wave, even today. Although the memory of that story remained with me throughout my life, it wasn't until this month that I came across a newly-published biography and decided it was time to indulge my fascination for Richard Wright. I was repaid a hundred-fold with a painstakingly resourced biography which not only revealed the incredible life story of a black boy raised to "know his place"in the racist South, but his rise to become a self-made intellectual author, speaker,and poet, as well as a voice for Black America. His success as a leader in Chicago's Communist Party of the 30's and 40's, which he joined primarily to attain a voice in what was then the only intellectual community open to blacks, his assessment later of that party and break from it, his numerous romantic liasons, his marriage and children, and his final period of liberation from Jim Crow America to become a resident of France are carefully delineated by Hazel Rowley with a firm grasp of her subject and a mature, objective voice. There is no doubt that Wright's history is every bit as important and fascinating as his literary work. It is a life lived to the fullest by a man who did not stint to speak the unspeakable about his views on racism in his own country, as well as abroad. Bigger Thomas, the protagonist of Native Son, is perhaps the archetype of possible outcomes of a life devestated from birth by the sanctioning of unparalleled racist oppression. It is well to read Wright's magnum opus before one can truly appreciate the biography of this complex, outspoken, and ingenius personality.

If you are interested in the genre of mystery and you appreciate the freedoms of an audio script when compared to television, then you will certainly enjoy these episodes of Quentin Nickles. The series is well constructed and accurate without detracting from the entertainment value in the slightest. One of the most action packed mystery scripts I have ever come across. I would certainly recommend this for anyone who is looking for something new.

I love this book - It is full of gorgeous designs adapted from kimonos used as costumes for traditional Japanese theatre. There is a great variety of projects beyond cushions to complete and keep the avid needlepointer busy and intrigued (including a bed rest!) plus plenty of interesting background information for each design. Charts and instructions are detailed and accurate, and all projects have color photos

Written for people involved in placing workers in jobs, such as rehabilitation counselors and employment counselors. Discusses the obligations of these professionals to people with disabilities under ADA. Although the reading level is high, the information can be handy for job seekers who need to understand the point of view of placement professionals. The book also includes a section for job seekers with disabilities titled "Talking About Your Disability in the Interview: A Question and Answer Study Guide." Provides legal details about handling the issue of disclosure in the interview.

From Annotated Bibliography of Learning A Living, A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding A Job for People with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia by Dale S. Brown