Kentucky Books

This is a mighty tome that has something intelligent to say about virtually every war movie made in Hollywood, and even some that weren't from the Hollywood studios.

More amazing yet, where I have a good remembrance of, and a firm opinion about, a given movie, I find that Suid has hit the nail on the head with his comments. Especially notable was the treatment he gives to two fairly recent films, Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor. Almost everyone I know, and the critics as well, hailed SPR as a work of genius. I thought it was dreck, that it got just about everything wrong that it could have gotten wrong, and finally I walked out of the film when the beleaguered Yank says he's run out of ammo and does anyone have any "bandoliers"? Over the course of half a dozen pages, Suid explains to my satisfaction exactly what I found SPR unsatisfying.

He even gives a preview of such very recent films as Blackhawk Down, and there too he's right on the money.

Full disclosure: I know Suid, because he interviewed me about a book that became a film that is mentioned (mostly favorably) in his text.

THE HANGING IN THE FOALING BARN is the book many of us have been looking for ever since the tragic death of Heather Lewis, who wrote about horses and horse people with an unequalled insight and depth. Susan Starr Richards, who has been breeding horses for decades, doesn't have Heather Lewis' transgressive anger and transformative vision, but she is a delectable writer, who knows Kentucky and its creatures animal and human like she knows the delicate lines that trace the palm of her hand. Like Dick Francis, the detective story writer whose return we are awaiting for bated breath, Starr Richards knows how to animate the denizens of the track and the breeding shed. In our house, we call her, the "Dick Francis of high art."

Worklng in the modernist, Agrarian tradition of Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Peter Taylor, and Andrew Lytle, Starr Richards isn't afraid to plow these well worn fields with a welcome female energy. While racing and touting have long been masculinist provinces, her stories go into the hearts and minds of her animals and their jockeys and trainers. In this way she reminds me of the wonderful author of SEABISCUIT, the one who has agoraphobia and won't go to her own book signings. And yet this author, caught up in fiction, has other interests besides horseflesh. One of the best stories here has nothing to do with the breed, and that is "Magic Lantern," which investigates the mystery of photography by focussing on the relict of a now-dead photographer genius, who made oodles of pictures of her the way Stieglitz obsessively photographed Georgis O'Keeffe, and how the "widow" feels when she must develop all these photos after his death, for him who is no longer here to do so. The model, Barbara, becomes the model of another phhotographer; wise Charlotte, observing their love affair, ponders the affinities between the "shutter" of the camera and the dangerous shudder of orgasm. Both let you into places that sometimes, one regrets having seen. And the author has unexpected reserves of a Barney-Fife like humor (warning, mild spoilers ahead)"

"Still, there was Barbara, not killed at all. Blooming, in fact. Pregnant, in fact. Hugh would at last have the family to match his mustache." I wonder if it's too early to nominate prize-winning author Susan Starr Richards for the greatest honor of them all--the next Pulitzer Prize.

I have been looking for this book for many years. Harvest of Youth is the very first book that Jesse Stuart published. Only fifty copies were printed back in 1930 and only about 15 copies remain in collector's holdings. This new reprint is wonderful. Not only can I now complete my Stuart collection, but this book contains some rare photos of Stuart's early life and an essay detailing Stuart's first publishing experience. Thanks to the Jesse Stuart Foundation we can all enjoy the early poetry of a Kentucky legend.

I am a fan of William Lynwood Montell. Great stories and well written. A must read for anyone interested in the paranormal or spooky stories.

Rose Pressey
Author of "My Haunted Family"

This book is written by an English professor from Illinois who has closely examined images of women in the eighteenth-century English novel. As a result of her research, the author has concluded that women are depicted as "strong, capable and responsible members of society in a surprising variety of works" by major male and female novelists of eighteenth-century England.

Scheuermann believes that other scholars who have examined the literature of the eighteenth century in the past have put too much emphasis on woman as "a nonfunctioning member of society, essentially excluded from any but the role of sufferer." In addition, the author offers the following fascinating quote, which represents one of the major premises of her book: "Relatively few eighteenth-century female characters spend much time worrying about their virginity. There is much more concern with making a living--whether the woman is single, which means finding money to live, or married, which implies managing finances." Scheuermann states that a frequent theme in eighteenth-century novels is the inability of men to manage money and how wives try to deal with that harrowing problem. She claims that Austen's Pride and Prejudice has a strong financial base and that in Emma, as well, finances are virtually synonymous with matrimonial pairings. In addition, the author doesn't agree with traditional interpretations of Richardson's Pamela and Clarissa as being defenses of virtue. She believes they, as much as Austen's works, are also "money centered."

Scheuermann believes that the world of eighteenth-century women in English novels is not so terribly restricted as the current scholarly "misemphasis" on chastity implies. She feels that women "get away with quite a lot" in these books. They leave home a great deal, are not always very well chaperoned, often have extraordinary adventures, and the world is not perceived as horribly dangerous by them. In fact, if a young woman comes to harm, it is usually at the hands of someone she knows. (Very much in keeping with what we know these days statistically about rape.)

The author points out that the themes in British eighteenth-century novels are very different than American ones. In American fiction of that era, the slightest mis-step on the part of a female character leads to "irreparable loss and imminent death." Female characters in American novels who "deliberately or accidentally venture beyond the bounds of polite behavior...die in droves...for the very smallest of peccadilloes." In contrast, in all but the most "sentimental" British fiction, women are "quite robust."

Importantly, the author distinguishes between the social patterns in novels and the real-life legal situation of women in the eighteenth century as well as the extremely limited employment options they had. She comments on the well-known fact that widows and women who are unmarried and unbetrothed could control their property and money, but that a married woman had no such rights, nor had she any rights over her own children. The author says that in spite of this gloomy reality, however, eighteenth-century British novels portray a "relatively optimistic view of women in society." Scheuermann believes this is because people simply lived their lives. They didn't spend their time lamenting "their disadvantages before the law."

At the beginning of the book, the author explains clearly her research methodology. Speaking from my own background in sociology, political science, history and literature, it is very clear to me why Scheuermann feels compelled to defend the approach called "text examination." I agree with the author's contention that many literary scholars do not believe it is valid to inspect the actual text of novels and compare portions of the content of one novel to the content of another. They insist that text can never be "stable and transparent" because it has no meaning outside the narrative it belongs to. In contrast, Scheuermann holds to the competing theory that literary text can indeed be examined, in whole or in part, just as any other historical text can be examined, and that it can also be compared to other literary text. She also clearly subscribes to the theory that artists (in this case writers), whether consciously or unconsciously, exist as mirrors of society and its mores.

Both of these theories have gone in and out of style with literature, sociology and history professors over the past 30-40 years. But though they are currently slightly unfashionable within academia, they still remain valid approaches to learning about social attitudes of a given historical period. Particularly in the hands of a careful scholar such as Professor Scheuermann.

Dr. Scheuermann's book is well written and well annotated with a full index. Her conclusions are clear, meaningful and logically drawn from the material at hand. In short, the book is both highly informative and a pleasure to read.

great book in first person telling a story of a time and place that is little known in american history. she writes with great skill, and houmor abounds as she takes you on a trip down the river with her familey and actor friends. here comes the showboat is a great read for the whole familey.

Reviews:
Well-written, with a genuine human appeal."-Thomas D. Clark
"The real juice in this book is in Ardery's recollections of farm life, the people of the farms, and the history and atmosphere of Bourbon County."-John Ed Pearce
"The Bluegrass is indeed fortunate to have produced someone who captures its rich legacy as capably as Ardery." -Georgia Historical Quarterly
"Ardery's description of growing up as the son of a gentleman farmer-attorney is so vivid and loving you'll feel you are roaming through the woods and fields in his shoes." -Spur Magazine
"Ardery writes about his family and his boyhood, portraits of a time gone by when life was gentler and far more respectable. He picked his topics well and set about to tell each story in a way to please anyone with even a passing interest in Kentucky." -Louisville Courier Journal

An impressive analysis on contemporary fiction. The breadth of material reviewed is comprehensive and each chapter offers an in-depth analysis of Rebein's particular sub-theme (i.e., "hick chic" or "tribes" etc...). In truth, a lot of these kind of lit-crit analyses can end of being hollow: novels and writers become roadkill on the highway of some critical theory dogma. Rebein actually appears to have enjoyed the work, and the respect for the work or the writer is apparent. Genuine good humor is suffused throughout the book, which is always good to see in literary analysis. The strengths of this study are definitely his discussions on the West, "New" West, and the Western writers given that label: Cormac McCarthy, Erdrich, Kingsolver etc... His chapter on Cormac McCarthy and his literary cultural mileu is the clearest and sharpest discussion I've read about the work. It's hard to discuss realism and regionalism in general without mentioning the Southern writers and that long history and I found his anaylsis and arguments of Dorothy Allison and her ilk helpful as well. Less compelling for me were the discussions on "Tribe" and minority-American writers he discusses, but the fact that he includes them in his work is a statement in itself. One area I was not well-read in and enjoyed immensely was the "White Prison Novel," which despite the subject matter sounded like something that would be fun to read. In short, I would have to say that anyone interested in contemporary american fiction or anyone writing contemporary American fiction can learn a lot from this well-considered, comprehensive, and well-written study.

This is a well thought out book for any hiker, from the novice to the expert. With 100 day hikes to choose from, there is something for anyone.

The "boot" rating system is a wonderful way of finding just the right hike for any level.

Kudos to the Elliotts

For those who plan on visiting the Red River Gorge for the first time as well as for those familiar with this natural treasure, Stone and Warne's new book is a valuable and enjoyable companion. It offers the reader pragmatic information on where to go and what to do, but it also gives more: a sense of love for the Gorge and its environs and gentle reminders to tread lightly and leave no trace in this much-loved and much-visited area.