Florida Books

Historical fiction is a fun way to learn history. Here Mr. Varnes has given us a glimpse of early Florida pioneer life and the Seminole wars. I'm thankful to Pineapple Press for a great selection of Florida historical fiction.

Dunn's book is a MUST READ for anyone who "truly" desires to learn the history of Miami. Black Miami is fantastically written and maintains the utmost quality and clarity. His work is short and snappy, based on fact and quickly gets to the point. It covers specifically the history of Miami, utilizing the Black perspective. Dunn intelligently separate his work into four sections. Beginning with the first Blacks in South Florida, ending with modern times. Dunn stresses various social, political and economic challenges that persons of African descent residing in Florida faced. He goes into extensive details with the 1980 riot, mentioning its origins and elaborating on what exactly took place.

In all, Dunn does an excellent job aiding readers to better understand the complicated inner politics of 20th century Miami. Black Miami in the Twentieth Century is certain edify one as to why Miami is in the position it is today.

The Black Seminole Legacy And North American Politics 1693-1845 by educator and historian Bruce Edward Twyman is a scholarly, accessible study of fugitive slaves who fled to Florida and formed alliances with Native peoples, mostly Seminoles. Known as "Black Seminoles", these independent-minded people had a profound effect on the politics of Spain, Britain, and the United States especially from 1693 to 1845. The influence that Black Seminoles had on United States presidents, and the particular contributions of the Black Seminole leader Abraham, are scrutinized in depth in this fascinating account that delves deep into an often-overlooked side of American history. Ideal for both academia and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in Native American Studies, The Black Seminole Legacy And North American Politics 1693-1845 is highly recommended reading.

The history of the Floridas and its Black peoples has for many years been relegated to the back pages of American history. Jane Landers' important work will move the history of Black Florida before 1820 to the forefront of American history. She presents the people of color of Eastern Spanish Florida free and enslaved, as active participants in shaping 500 years of American history. Landers helps to dispell the one dimensional template (and inaccurate) of slavery taken from the central Southern states: cotton fields, the big house, field hands and the few and despised priviledged house slaves. Life during Spanish rule was similar but different. Landers certainly doesn't let the Spanish off the hook, but brings another dimension to Blacks living enslaved or free in the eastern Floridas. These were multi-lingual people Blacks, who traveled throughout the ports in the Caribbean, or interacted with the many cultures of the Florida's port cities. Landers forces the reader to look at Blacks in Florida in a different light. The early sons and daughters of Florida "MET" the immigrants from Europe, the Upper South and the Caribbean at the docks of St. Augustine, Tampa etc.

Jane Landers' thorough research of St. Augustine unearths fascinating histories of Black families who live in present day Florida.

Hopefully the readers of this book will look for the imprint of Florida Blacks beyond the Spanish Rule.

For historians, or fans of African-American history, or American history, Lander's style will captivate and compell them to search for more histories on the Afro-Caribbeans of Florida.

Connoisseurs of C-SPAN's Booknotes are familiar with one of the great, and unusual, questions that host Brian Lamb uses : How did so-and-so come to write this cover blurb for the dust jacket of your book ? The genius of this question is that it calls attention to--though, typical of Brian Lamb, he doesn't dwell on it--one of the real scams of the book industry, the fact that the folks who are blurbed frequently have some previous relationship with the author. Someone, it may have been The New Republic, actually used to have a terrific feature where they untangled these relationships. My favorite recurring motif is where the Author's Acknowledgment thanks a person who, we suddenly realize, has not so coincidentally provided an encomium for the cover. Harder to track down, but equally amusing, are the mutual blurbs, where authors' words of praise appear on each other's books.

Now, I'd read Geoffrey Norman's Morgan Hunt series several years ago in paperback, and thoroughly enjoyed it. But had I not, what right-thinking man could resist the blandishments on the back of this hardcover that I found; the authors quoted are : James Hall and Loren D. Estleman, an outstanding thriller writer and the best private eye novelist of his generation respectively; P.J. O'Rourke, one of the funniest political writers going; and not just one but both Buckleys, Christopher and William F., Jr.. I mean, c'mon, even once you realize that Geoffrey Norman is a contributor to National Review (founded by WFB) and Forbes FYI (edited by Christopher) and has written for The American Spectator (once home to PJ), you just aren't likely to ignore that collection of famous fans.

As I said, the books are outstanding irrespective of who endorses them. Morgan Hunt is a former Green Beret and an ex-convict, having killed the man who was physically abusing his sister. He lives in the Florida Panhandle, and the natural world is an integral part of the stories. He's tough but likable, and though he's got a streak of machismo and a fearsome moral code, it's not as if Norman is trying to brainwash unsuspecting readers with conservative dogma.

Blue Chipper might even surprise some folks, who tend to pigeon hole conservatives. The story centers around the exploitation of poor black athletes, in this case a basketball phenom, by scholastic athletic programs and coaches. Norman lives on the Florida Gulf Coast for part of the year, his column for National Review is on sports, and he writes about hunting and the outdoors for Sports Afield. This entry in the series gives him the chance to flex all his muscles, which he does to good effect.

Of course, the other half of the year he spends in the People's Republic of Vermont and you should really be sure to track down his columns on the increasingly frightening politics of the Green Mountain State. They are a hoot.

GRADE : A

The author was a reporter in a small town south of Tampa when serial killer Bobby Joe Long held the city in hs evil grasp for nearly a year as he murdered 11 prostitutes. Bernie Ward has researched the life of serial killer Bobby Joe Long, including his abominable upbringing and his later crimes. Ward brings out the fact that Long was a serial rapist before graduating to serial murderer. This book is well-written and will hold your interest to the very end. Highly recommended.

I found myself always wanting more of this book. The author has done a great job presenting the life of Addison Mizner. The starting point is interesting. Caroline Seebohm discovered a cache of records from the architect's office. What she failed to mention and may not know is that these records were split sometime after the death of Addison so there is another book to be written!

Very powerful and unusually funny, K.M.Norris knows how to put things into poetry that the majority of us wouldn't. She does it with hunor and pure artistry. For those of you who love poetry it is a terrific read and a great addition to your library.

Bone Love takes it's title from one of it's poems by the same title in which the poet writes of the visual power of Anne, his wife's, bones beneath her skin. He loves "The corners/ of your geography." Her 'geography', "Ankle bones, elbows,/ and knees/....pull me inland/ to the sea."

Shapes and textures of shadows, landscapes, people, animals, buildings, dreams and even braille provide a rich imagery drawn from the memories of a lifetime.

The author and I were friends in college. His mention of people (his parents), travels (to Australia and France), and experiences (climbing a belfry and ballooning over his house in Winter Park, Florida) brought back to me smells, frights, climbs, and sounds from long ago.

When the poet speaks of images of Paris I can remember his seeking a hideaway (in Hulley Bell Tower)where he could parse irregular French verbs without interruption. Climbing a belfry ("I like a diver/ going up for air") brought back memories of climbing water towers late at night, going where we had never gone before.

Indeed, water plays an important role in this book of mindscapes - journeys through half-forgotten forms in search of stones to be turned over - just to see what's underneath. In "The Well of the Sky", a child's truck in the driveway becomes the fulcrum for a kaleidoscope of images as he rolls on the ground and looks up at trees through the hair brushed over his forehead.

The images of death and water intermingle as the writer reflects on "Martin Collins" who killed and butchered hogs in the old fashioned way, "And I remember dreaming of him/ riding in that carcass, huddled/ dying in the hog's boned hull,/, floating like moonlight on a lake,/ a shoreless hero adrift./ He has left me only death./ And I cling to it as if it were my own.

This book is dedicated to the reader "because I write primarily for my reader--whoever it might be. The poems are gifts I cannot keep but must give again to anyone who will take them. As a writer, I care for only one thing: that anyone who picks up this book will find at least one poem he will keep."

The one I keep is like the one which gives this book it's title, "One Day"

it was/ night for a week/ like a heart/ murmur/ of the sun

her hand/ on the drowning match

salt on my/ lips and teeth

One week we did/not breathe/to keep the sun/ crushed/ between our/ hip bones

Mr. Sacks has done the scholarly world a great service in teasing out the nuances of one of the most difficult "dialogues" of the Bible. Sacks' knowledge of Hebrew is excellent, and his lifelong acquaintance with the rival Greek poetic/philosophical tradition enables him to transcend the usual dogmatic regurgitations that pass for exegesis today. "Job", as Maimonides suggests, is "the" book for understanding God's Providence (i.e. His direct influence on human affairs). Although Sacks' commentary is intentionally allusive, his analysis is far more accesible than Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Sacks' exegesis rivals Thomas Aquinas' semi-Aristotelian treatment of Job and invites comparison to it; Sacks' prior commentary on Genesis, together with this volume, constitutes an indispensible first step in the re-evaluation of the tradition of modern biblical criticism (inaugurated by Spinoza). Highly recommended for both students of Scripture and of philosophy.