Mississippi Books

The first question that jumped into my mind on reading the title to this book was wondering just who Ott was and why I should care. This short book is the biography of Arthur C. Guyton. Don't know that name? Neither did I. However, the author is such a skilled writer that the book keeps the reader's interest despite reading the life story of someone they probably never heard of. Actually Arthur C. Guyton was quite a remarkable man and serves as an inspiration to all who would learn of him through this book. In some circles his is a common name as he invented the electric wheelchair, became known as the Father of Modern Cardiovascular Physiology, and fathered ten doctors. Written in short chapters and at a middle school level this would make an excellent book for school assignment or as an inspirational text. Inventing Ott is highly recommended as an interesting biographical text and a fine example of how biographical texts should be written.

Reviewed by Susan Pettrone Reader Views (8/06)

"Arthur C. Guyton never thought of himself as extraordinary. Maybe that's what made him so special". And so begins this book on the far from ordinary life, dreams and inventions of the man, known simply as Ott. Written by Jerusha Bosarge and published by Quail Ridge Press, within this book lays the story of a man who proved that great things can be accomplished by combining need with imagination.

At first glance this book seems pretty elementary; man accomplishes great things despite a handicap. Most would say that this is a story that has been told a hundred times over. And it has. But this book has something more. Perhaps it is the personal touch of the stories of Ott's childhood, or maybe it is the captivating pictures included within its pages. Whatever it might be, it transforms this book from what could easily be a "ho hum" biography, into a book that clearly illustrates just how one man overcame obstacles, not to help just himself, but others as well.

Throughout the reading of "Inventing Ott", I was reminded of "Character Education" curriculum widely taught in schools today, and how Ott's story provides great examples of traits in this program. "Inventing Ott" clearly illustrates traits such as: Trustworthiness: Ott proved himself to be invaluable and trustworthy while working as a lens refractor in his father's eye clinic. Responsibility: although Ott was burdened by his own physical limitations, he still felt a responsibility, by meeting "needs" with his inventions. Respect: Ott helped many to learn respect, not only for those who had physical limitations, but he helped those with the limitations to find self respect as well. Fairness and Caring: caring was why Ott invented devices to help others, and with regard to fairness, Ott refused to make money off the suffering of others, preferring instead only to meet the needs of others.

This book, written for young readers, would be an excellent addition to any classroom. In fact, with the problems many pre-teens and teens have today with self confidence and self esteem, "Inventing Ott" is a book that could easily pave the way for discussions on these subjects. The fact that physical limitations did little to stop Ott and his dreams of making life easier for others would make wonderful classroom material on the subject of perseverance, especially with an emphasis on "the only limitations we really have within our lives, are those which we put upon ourselves."

I was honestly impressed and humbled by this story of Ott. His character shone through from the first page through his death and beyond. He reminded me of my father, who despite all the `curve balls' his health has thrown him in the last few years, refuses to give up and stop living. Like Ott, he is an independent man who is always thinking of ways to help others and like Ott he serves others for the single purpose of "filling a need", with little or no fan fare for his accomplishments.

In my opinion, this book should be front and center of all Junior High classrooms, libraries, counselor's offices and homes. For within its pages, the reader finds not just the story of a man who overcame physical limitations, but the story of a man of great character and integrity as well. And great stories that touch the soul and teach at the same time are very rare indeed. Stories such as "Inventing Ott", inspire and encourage today's youth to follow a dream despite limitations that may seem insurmountable and provide hope to all who read them. And we all know how precious "hope" is in this today's uncertain world.

I've read many biographies in my lifetime, but I can't remember reading any more enjoyable than Inventing Ott. The book tells of a boy growing to manhood with a particular type of optimism. His optimism in the face of such trouble is awe inspiring. Dr. Guyton's life story will inspire young people to be all that he or she can be. The author has done her research. The science is correct and easy to understand. The individual personal stories are so much fun and add interest to the biography. I especially enjoyed the pictures. They helped pull the stories together and gave the man and his life more meaning. I bought several copies to give to both adults and children in my life. I recommend this book highly, and would like to read more by this author.

My daughter and I both loved this book! That's really saying something, because my 12-yr-old avoids reading unless required to... that is, she avoids reading fiction. Something she does like to read is magazine articles about real people, so, I wondered if she would enjoy biographies. I chose Inventing Ott because I love inspirational stories, those that highlight the role adversity plays in the success of many people, and because "Ott" accomplished most of his work from a wheelchair (my 12-yr-old is also confined to a chair). I am also interested in stories set in my home state of Mississippi. Well, turns out it was an excellent choice! Jerusha Bosarge writes in such a relaxed and fun style that you forget you are learning! Somehow, even the scientific content is readable and enjoyable. Ms. Bosarge does an excellent job of conveying information accurately to kids without "talking down" to them and without boring them to tears. I would be willing to buy anything written by this author. She really is unique in her ability to teach "painlessly".

Fine stories of men's world
By ERIC MILES WILLIAMSON

ISLANDS, WOMEN, AND GOD.
By Paul Ruffin.
Browder Springs, $24.95 hardcover,
$16.95 paperback.

PAUL Ruffin, poet, short-story writer and professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, writes about Texas and the Gulf Coast so well that his new story collection is likely to define the literary territory for many years to come.

The 17 stories in the collection are about common people, folks from Texas and Mississippi who live quiet and humble lives -- factory workers, farmers, fishermen, husbands and wives and youngsters and oldsters. Although the characters are common people, the book is not. These stories are masterful, every line honed and tight and true, the sentences spoken by the characters in phrases we've often before heard but never before seen on the page.

Ruffin's work has been compared with that of William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor, but his stories are not derivative. Rather, they're part of the new wave of Southern fiction generally and Texas fiction specifically, a wave that includes Southerners such as Barry Hannah, Padgett Powell, Chris Offutt and Charlie Smith, and Texas writers such as Glenn Blake and Tracy Daugherty. Not insignificantly, Ruffin occasionally pays tribute to Cormac McCarthy, a Southerner-turned-Texan like Ruffin himself.

Islands, Women, and God is a man's book about the world of men. The stories center on the conflicts inherent in the stifled, brutal and often senseless world of masculinity.

Manhunt, the opening story, is about the apprehension of an escaped convict. The hunters of the convict are local men who normally spend their days selling cars and working for insurance companies, these otherwise calm men turned into bloodthirsty bigots and would-be killers, the manhunt a legal excuse to do what they would be doing were there not the constructs of "civil" society. Underpinning our culture is a violence that needs very little to turn supposedly peaceful family men into primordial beasts, Ruffin seems to say.

In Tattered Coat Upon a Stick, Ruffin writes of an aging man who, rather than live out his days in senility and helplessness, emasculated, chooses to return to the family property in the country and end his life properly and with dignity. His end is far from morbid or maudlin, but instead glorious and beautiful.

Interloper relates the tale of a family man who discovers a burglar in his house and takes care of him. Just before the protagonist of the story meets the burglar, Ruffin writes,

No, it is nothing that would warrant calling the police or awakening your wife, nothing to justify wrenching off a table leg and swinging it wildly through the dark. But it is more than simply nothing. So you must summon whatever resolve you are capable of and go down the stairs into the cold darkness of what a few hours earlier was your warm and well-lit den. You are in charge -- it is your house, your domain, and while your wife and children sleep you must stand watch if there is a threat. This is the law. A very old one.

When Ruffin's men pop, when their natures surface, he is there with some of the most perceptive and powerful observations in American literature, or any literature for that matter.

One of the best stories in the collection, The Sign, shows the brutality of father to son and son to father. At the beginning of the story we find a description of the father beating his son:

"I will beat your skin off, boy. You hold still." And the belt came down time and time again on his back, lapping around his protruding ribs like a devil's tongue, then curling about his legs, snapping until all the feeling went away and there was only sound, only sound -- and he could feel the warm of his blood trailing down from the welts, seeking its way, gathering and dripping. He stood like something carved of wax, not feeling the belt but feeling the blood. He would not cry. He clenched his eyes and teeth, but he would not cry.

The story centers on the father's wedding anniversary and a family reunion. The son returns home for only the second time in 40 years for the event. The father is dying of cancer, and the son exacts his revenge in spectacular and appropriate fashion, not by killing the father but by doing something far worse and more enduring.

The title and final story of the collection, Islands, Women, and God, is about a man named Ray who fakes his own death and deserts his wife and children to live on the barrier islands of the Gulf Coast. He is discovered by a former co-worker and friend, and the story gives occasion for Ruffin to present a sad and unfortunately viable solution to the condition of men: solitude and atavism, regression into an animal state in nature. Ray says, "I'm in harmony, man, with this island, with this Gulf. I got everything I need out here to live, and everything's in balance." Later he explains that every man is called to this state of being:

"It comes for every man. ... Every man. Only most don't know what they're seeing or feeling, or they don't know what to do about it. I'm telling you, Roger, an old man over there [in society] is, as Yeats says, just a scarecrow. Out here he's more. He's everything. He's a skull full of lightning. He's -- he's God, or he's soon going to be, because God is all of this."

We leave the book with Ray on his island and Roger back in civilization, longing to be living on an island of his own, afraid to do so yet wanting to do so.

Islands, Women, and God is an astonishing book. Every page is beautifully written, splendidly rendered and bold. Where weaker writers grow timid and shrivel, Ruffin burrows deep into truths we know but don't admit to knowing. In a time when American writers seem to strive to either shock or soothe, Ruffin instead gives us an honest vision of what lies beneath the veneer of manners and society. He is a master of language and a peerless teller of tales, and he will surely be known as one of the best writers of his generation.

Eric Miles Williamson is the author of the novel East Bay Grease and a graduate of the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. He lives in Missouri and is at work on his second novel.

Islands, Women, and God. By Paul Ruffin. In Islands, Women, and God, Paul Ruffin returns to the Alabama, Mississippi and Texas regions he rendered so memorable in his 1993 critically acclaimed short story collection The Man Who Would Be God. They are tales of passion, suspense, violence, racial injustice, renewal, and the inexorable human quest for meaning and identity, laced with flashes of humor. Ruffin's ear for dialogue is impeccable, and his narratives are ripped, pulsing and breathing, from the unmistakable fabric of reality. The author wastes no time engaging the reader's attention. On page one of "Manhunt," the first story of section I, in searing prose pungent as the smell of burning flesh, Ruffin drops his reader deep into the pit of human violence. "The Pond" features Gerald Roper, an aging man who trespasses across Mr. Earl Palmer's pasture to fish in an artesian-fed fishpond. During his fishing expedition, Roper snags a great white thing rolling "like a dumpling in oil as the hook pulled loose and the bobber whistled past his head and clattered onto the gravel behind him, and two eyeless sockets in a white face, cradled by trembling reeds, looked right past him toward the ghostly moon." Next the reader finds Roper questioned by a deputy to whom he has gone to confess his shocking finding. Though the deputy, after viewing the "catch" and recognizing what it is, tries to convince Roper he's hooked a pig, Roper adamantly insists that what he snagged was the bloated body of his former mistress. Among the male protagonists of the other stories in section I are Mr. Turner of "Tattered Coat Upon a Stick," who, terminally ill, returns to his beloved Texas hill country to face his own death; Johnny of "The Sign," who, brutally physically abused during his childhood by his father, returns to his home after a lengthy absence and exacts his sweet revenge; the two graduate students of "Corn-Silver" who are hilariously duped by an illiterate, white-trash kid; and Buddy of "The Dog," a tragic figure who, in saving a dog caught up in a trotline, has his nose bitten off by the very beast whose life he saves, only to end up so monstrous in appearance he's abandoned even by his wife and kids, assuming a huge and dark presence "like some kind of old imagined or remembered sin." "The Dog," tragic though it is, is balanced with a moment of hilarity characteristic of Ruffin's brilliant humor. In section II, "woman" takes center stage: woman as "Nature," the mirror of mortality, the instrument of renewal, and seducer. Ruffin bares the hearts and minds of his female characters with a dispassionate clarity reminiscent of the late Eudora Welty. In "Peaches," one of the most sensual stories in the collection, a white woman misinterprets the remark of a black man who tells her that she has "nice peaches." She and her husband, Murle, are peach orchard keepers, and sell peaches in cardboard boxes by the road. Having packed his pistol and journeyed deep into the woods to the black man's cabin to address the presumed insult, he finds him on his porch steps fondling the exposed breasts of his lover. She sees Murle and rushes inside their shack, standing just inside the doorway. Upon repeated questioning by Murle as to what he meant when he said Sally had "nice peaches," Cliff insistently assures him he was only referring to the actual peaches they were selling. Meanwhile, Cliff's lover, realizing his trouble with the white man, seduces him and relieves Murle of his frustration. During the intimacy which ensues, Murle overhears an animal shrieking in the barn. She assures him that it's "just that mule," and that Cliff will stay in the barn until they're finished. Later, after Murle receives the sexual fulfillment he's so long desired, he changes his demeanor toward Cliff completely, feeling like they're friends or brothers. The "gods" revealed in the collection are as multifarious as the men and women who turn to them in their hours of darkness. There's the Great Spirit of the Kiowa in "Tattered Coat Upon a Stick;" the wrathful God of "The Sign;" the jealous God of "Peaches;" the comforting God Buddy turned to in his huge and dark loneliness; and the God of Nature of "The Drought," "April Treason" and "Islands, Women, and God." In many ways, "Islands, Women, and God," the final and title story of the collection, is a brilliant summation of the men and women who dominate the stories preceding it. Ray, the story's protagonist, fakes his death at sea to live out the rest of his life alone on a barrier island off the coast of Mississippi. Philosophizing with his friend, Roger, who "finds" him but swears to keep the find a secret between the two of them so Ray's wife can collect his life insurance, Ray says: "About women. I'm gon' tell you something else about women, some more gospel, long's I got your attention. Women are a hell of a lot closer to the center of things than men are or ever were. They're closer to the Godhead. Women are Nature. Like this island. Man, they got dark currents in them, deeper than ours run, and their bodies and minds are a great mystery, which is why men will never understand'm. They're in synch with the motion of the universe. Men are just dreams, or worse, just half dreams, but women are real. Men look for the reasons, but women are the Reason." With his second collection of stories, Ruffin makes another significant contribution to Southern and American letters. In spare, muscular prose seamless as a tendril of kudzu, Ruffin probes, with haunting insight, the light, darkness and yearning of the human heart. --Larry D. Thomas, author of Amazing Grace

Islands, Women, and God, Stories by Paul Ruffin. Browder Springs Press, 2001. 237 pp. These seventeen stories play themselves out in the Deep South, East Texas, and West Texas, three areas as dissimilar--in geography, social mores, and philosophy--as, say, Iceland, Bolivia, and Ethiopia. And while Paul Ruffin does employ his considerable skill to give vivid descriptions of these places, his poet's eye and voice and heart focuses tighter and truer on his characters, who, as credible characters must be, are spit-polished mirrors of people everywhere. And what a parade of individuals he sends forth. There's Sam, who undertakes, with a tunnel vision worthy of Ahab, to capture an enormous manta ray in "Devilfish". And Mitchell, in "Tattered Coat Upon a Stick", who wants nothing more than to have his ashes scattered among the mesquite bushes and rocks of the place where he grew up, rather than end up planted in the upscale, manicured cemetery that his children insist upon. And Loretta, perhaps the most haunting of the bunch, who uses the only tool at her disposal to save her husband in "Peaches." Loretta, who is black, has to make her unique sacrifice in the unrelenting era of racial inequality. A young insurance salesman, in "Manhunt", must make his among kudzu-draped backwoods. In "The Interloper", a husband and father must seek out something in the dark rather than lose his family to it, and characters in two of the tales choose to face their final darkness on their own terms. Sacrifice and reconciliation abound. Several of the stories chip away at the old, hard strata of established society in their various settings, and prejudice and cruelty and pomposity are served up in equal measure with love and trust and devotion. In "Corn Silver", a haughty graduate student is duped by an ignorant boy; in "The Sign," a middle aged man whose greatest accomplishment was to move permanently away from his harsh, Mississippi delta upbringing must go back to finally confront it. They were his people only in biological fact. From the eldest to the ones in diapers, they were an illiterate lot, mostly day laborers, fundamentalist in their worship and ultra-conservative in whatever politics they followed. If evolution had had a hand in improving the line over the decades, he could not imagine what they must have been like a century before - he doubted that the generations had witnessed much more than a gradual separation of forehead from cheekbones and thinning of hair from the backs and shoulders of the males. And on and on, in trailer parks, at fishing holes, on wide front porches of bourbon swilling lawyers, the themes of facing death, and, perhaps more importantly, facing life, weave their way through. And it is refreshing to read a writer who chooses not to veil his work in deep symbolism and puzzling time shifts. Every offering in Islands, Women, and God is told carefully and beautifully and forthrightly. Like the works of O'Conner and Welty, they don't have be worked at, but simply enjoyed. Whether the situations are humorous--especially when the author's letter perfect use of regional dialect runs rampant--or intense, or sad, the characters ring always true, and might just be the lady you find yourself standing behind in a grocery line. The man leaning over his bacon and eggs down the counter. The little boy not paying attention two pews up. There's a comfort level that comes with recognizing folks--be they lovable or detestable or anywhere in between--and it is as beneficial when reading good fiction as it is when stepping into a crowded room. Some reviewers have said that Ruffin is at his best when writing about fishing, a pursuit that he loves, and is good at. He's managed to work it into his poems and stories countless times and, I agree, it makes for fine reading. But I hold that he shines brightest when dealing with average people facing the daily dilemmas that life and fate just plop down in their paths. In "Drought", a couple of city dwellers have sunk all of their savings into a farm, only to be dealt a stunning setback by nature. In bed that night they listen as frogs and crickets drum and chirp around the ponds and down along the creek. The air is fresh smelling, almost cool. They lie across the bed with their heads at the open window. "I suppose," he says, "that we'll get over this." "Oh, yes, we always do." "Still, wouldn't it be good just once to get something without having to give something up?" "Somehow," she says, "it usually seems to work that way." And it usually does. In stories and in everyday life. Facing each day as it comes. Giving things up. Getting over something. And Ruffin chronicles the delicate dance nicely. In "The Pond", an old man has fallen hopelessly, headlong in love. There were times when but for the fact that he had not a dram of creative blood in him he would have gotten up and written her a poem, so deep was his passion for her. Such is the depth of Paul Ruffin's passion for the ongoing drama of living. And the reader benefits greatly from the fact that his creativity far surpasses a dram. --Ron Rozelle, author of Into That Good Night, The Windows of Heaven, and A Place Apart

A REVIEW OF PAUL RUFFIN'S ISLANDS, WOMEN, AND GOD Periodically a writer comes along whose flashlight shines a little brighter, probes a little deeper and more discerningly into that cave we call life, with the result that now and then we get a glimpse of something we never saw before. Such an author is Paul Ruffin, whose Islands, Women, and God (Browder Springs Press, 2001) gives us that whiff of something we find in unusual relationships. Already a well-known wri ter of short fiction, a poet, and a novelist, Ruffin in this work turns up the blower, as well as the acuity . Certain of his insights are breathtaking, as in the story "Peaches," wherein a black woman, in order to save her husband from a baseless and trumped-up charge, completely disarms his accuser through seduction. Or as in the small story "Interloper"--which I am ready to call the best of the seventeen stories (and world-class fiction in its own right)--a passive but dutiful and intelligent husband and father rises to the occasion in the middle of the night to save his family from a stranger in their midst and in their home, whose motives are unknown but unreliable, therefore treacherous. "You are in charge here--it is your house, your domain, and while your wife and children sleep you must stand watch if there is a threat," Ruffin says. "This is the law. A very old one." The point here is that in our progressive society now we denigrate aggression, which is probably a good idea; but in such we neglect to foster and nurture aggressive capability in the thinking individual. And aggressionýalways a function of frustrationýand aggressive capability, which can be a savior at a moment's notice, are completely different things. And we do not know this, because we use the same word for both, and tag it pejorative. In Islands, Women, and God Ruffin draws such distinctions, time and time again. The book is in two parts, the first containing random insights: the best description of the kudzu vine you will ever read; hog-killing time down South, a la Faulkner; Revelations' sign of the devil, superbly rendered; how you fee when you are out in a small boat in the Gulf and you float over a ray that is twenty feet across and quite realistically can be seen on both sides of the boat at the same time . . . . The writing is sharp, comprehensive, and heady; the dialogue tuned to perfect pitch. And perhaps the most important lagniappe in Islands, Women, and God is Ruffin's treatment of women. He is gracious, liberating, and understanding in this, but he also has a passion for the psychology underlying the man-woman relationship. Homo Sapiens is not really the rational animal we sometimes think he is, Ruffin seems to be saying, and thus when we gloss over what is really going on beneath the surface in people's lives, we invite trouble. Even chaos. It is a supreme irony that Southern Methodist University Press turned down this collection after the great and widespread success of his first collection published there, The Man Who Would Be God (which was given a half-page in the New York Times Review) because a strident feminist reader found fault with his treatment of womenýbut, then, I have faced that same problem with them too. All eight stories in the second section of the book are about some aspect of the male-female interaction. In is a time when man and woman seem to be moving apart in our country, these stories offer solutions. This book is a tour de force in our modern dilemma of the Twenty-First Century. ýRobert Winship, author of The Brushlanders, Every Man Also, and Flannery's Crossing

If Ernest Hemingway had made movies, they would have looked something like John Huston's. The passion, intelligence, and joie de vivre of Huston's films are reflected in this set of articulate interviews. Pour yourself a good drink, and listen as one of Hollywood's best raconteurs spins yarn after yarn in this splendid volume of a valuable series.

Ably edited by independent scholar and freelance writer Robert Long, John Huston: Interviews is an informative and insightful compilation of interviews with the late John Huston (which took place from 1952 to 1985) in which he personally comments on his life and projects as an acclaimed filmmaker. Among the movies that are surveyed within this context are The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Night of the Iguana, Prizzi's Honor, and The Dead. The observations range from his approach to directing; the influence of painting upon his camera work, and his association with stellar actors, to his beginnings in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and the influences of James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway upon his movies. Replete with numerous anecdotes about writers, directors, and actors with whom he collaborated, we are presented with a body of work and a filmmaker's life that will be immensely appreciated by students of his work and a man whose personal life was as prodigious as his professional career.

This is a terrific book. It consists of interviews with John Huston from 1952-85. Not only does the reader find out about Huston's ideas on filmmaking and get some inside info on the making of classic films, but he will find out about the breadth of Huston's interests, which extended beyond filmmaking to art and philosophy. Here, truly, was an intelligent man.

The most interesting thing to me about Huston was that he started in the classic studio age and survived its downfall to make films that were fresh, interesting and important even in the Eighties. These interviews show Huston's mental flexibility. He admires "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," "Rocky," and "Taxi Driver." Huston is also quite frank about his own films. I will never be tempted to see "Roots of Heaven" or "Barbarian and the Geisha." I have to see "Moby Dick," which he considered one of his films that never got its due.

I was sorry when this book ended.

Ably edited by independent scholar and freelance writer Robert Long, John Huston: Interviews is an informative and insightful compilation of interviews with the late John Huston (which took place from 1952 to 1985) in which he personally comments on his life and projects as an acclaimed filmmaker. Among the movies that are surveyed within this context are The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Night of the Iguana, Prizzi's Honor, and The Dead. The observations range from his approach to directing; the influence of painting upon his camera work, and his association with stellar actors, to his beginnings in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and the influences of James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway upon his movies. Replete with numerous anecdotes about writers, directors, and actors with whom he collaborated, we are presented with a body of work and a filmmaker's life that will be immensely appreciated by students of his work and a man whose personal life was as prodigious as his professional career. John Huston: Interviews is also available in paperback ..., [price]

In a world in which everyone is thinking about knowing the most hidden secrets of the life, Borges, when is asked to give some advice to the younger generation, only says:

I don't think I can give advice to other people. I've hardly been able to manage my own life. pp 75.

what a man.

He lived in Literature and Literature lived in him. Books were for him his truest friends and the secret intimates of his soul. When he spoke to another he spoke always to himself and to the books within him. But because he knew books so well and loved them so much all his speaking too became a book .And in the end even his final words there were books talking to books and talking to more books.
So for those of us who also love books , his particular love of books taught us so so much - but only in books.

Borges is great in in his writings, and almost as good in conversation. Witty, urbane, stylish, Borges shows that conversation can be as exciting as literature. Buy now!

This offers a series of interviews in chronlogical order (from 1966 until shortly before his death in '85) While he is good humored and self effacing he never lets you know more than he wants you to. There are also certain repetitons of ideas that occur, but anyone that has read Borges before will be used to that. To some extent it happans with most of the better writers in varying degrees anyways. Even with the repetitions it never comes across like he is doing memorized routines (which sometimes happans with William burroughs interviews)all in all important insight into the mind of an important writer.

I just ran across Satan and Adam a few weeks ago and have thouroughly enjoyed the 3 CDs they released. This book is a very interesting look into some of the experiences they had while touring as well as an outsider's view of making into an insider's position as regards Adam's acceptance into the blues community.

I have been following Adams teaching for a while. His new book "Journeyman's Road" only increases his street cred. After reading the book I got a better feeling for talking the talk and walking the walk. If your a harmonica player, a New York blues fan, or a street musician this book is a must read. Adam Gussow give a first hand look at music in Harlem, his adventures with Mr. Satan, and becoming a respected musician.

Over the last several years I have written a lot of reviews for Crowsfeet Productions. They handle publicity for several labels. Betsie Brown has been my contact for the West Coast. It has been a pleasure to bring the wonderful entertainment of the East coast to the attention of readers and listeners here in Washington. Occasionally the review I'm asked to write is on other than music releases. Such as in this case. When I was asked if I was interested in reviewing this book I jumped at the chance. Even though book reviews are a lot more time consuming, than reviewing CDs or even DVDs, I feel that they are a media source that need more coverage in Blues reviews.

The secondary title to this book might suggest a very highbrow and hard to read tome concentrating on the literary works of Faulkner. Fear not. While there is a healthy chapter dedicated to the analysis of Faulkner's relationship to the Blues the majority of this text is an appealing, and easy to follow, observation of life as a street musician, jam session veteran and club performer. There are highlighted profiles of New York area Blues musician's that are compelling as well as occasionally touching.

Gussow is not only an award-winning scholar and an Assistant professor (English & Southern Studies-University of Mississippi). He is also a very accomplished harmonica player and recording artist who has been nominated for a W.C. Handy award. His partnership with Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee was remarkably unlikely from the beginning. Adam Gussow was young, white and Ivy League and "Mr. Satan" was older, black, street-wizened and an accomplished one-man band. Nonetheless together they built a very large fan base, made a few albums, and performed all up and down the East Coast. In reading this book I became so intrigued that I bought two of their three CDs and have played them on my radio show. For my money that's why it's good that we, on the West Coast, can hear about this stuff. We need to know that there is some wonderful music that normally doesn't get distributed to this side of the country.

There are many parts of this book that I can point to as a highlight for me. Gussow's words of disgust for southern racism are similar to my own beliefs. His mentoring of young Bluesman Jason Ricci is a good read because I was participated in a post-concert interview with Jason and heard of his victory over his troubles with substance abuse. I found him to be a sensitive and talented artist. Addam Gussow can claim a little credit for that. My favorite part is Adam's writing about his own mentoring by Sterling Magee. This relationship is covered well in Gussow's first book, "Mr. Satan's Apprentice". There is enough of the Satan & Adam storyline here to serve as an excellent backdrop to the bigger dissertation. It blends together well compilations of articles Gussow has written for Harper's and Blues Access as well as critical essays. The comprehensive examination of William Faulkner's relationship with the Blues is covered here fro the first time. It is deep but I found it enlightening. It made me think about the famous author's place in literary history a little more.

What I assumed would be a slightly self-indulgent semi-autobiographic of Mr. Gussow's life in Blues actually became more of a modern day true life text book. This would serve well any class on black history, Blues history or literary history. There is so much more to Journeyman's Road- other than what I have outlined here. Find out more by visiting his web page & on YouTube (www.modernbluesharmonica.com & www.youtube.com/kudzurunner). To purchase contact www.utpress.org ($30 hardcover)

Well done Mr.Gussow! I believe I shall now have to find Mr. Satan's Apprentice. I can't wait to read it.

I first became aware of Adam Gussow through his YouTube blues harmonica lessons. That is how I became aware of the fact the he was writing this book. I have read many books. This is the first time that I have ever felt the need to write a review.

At first glance it would seem to be a collection of short stories or articles which could stand on their own if read as such. It is much more; it is a book that should be read from front to back in its entirety. It is actually several books in one, each with their own appeal.

It is the story of Adam Gussow, an interesting man, who is both a street blues musician who played the streets of Harlem, and toured the blues joints, and a teacher of much more than the blues harmonica. He bares his soul through his music (his CDs are available at Amazon.com), and with this book.

It is the story of blues musicians, and indeed, it is even the story of the blues itself. A story of the call and response music form that is the cry of love lost, or unfound, and the promise of how good life could be if you can just find it.

He reminds us of the "bad old days" that spawned the blues, where the black man's call for love went unanswered. It is a bit painful to read, but he takes the reader to a place of hope. Perhaps the influence of the music itself is an answer to that call.

It is the story of Sterling Magee (Mr. Satan), and Adam's relationship with him. It is a story of respect and love for the man that he apprenticed himself to.

Mr. Gussow gives the love to the blues men, and women, who gave him the gift of their music. He passes on their gift, and he finds the love. The long awaited response to his own blues call.

The first readers of this book will undoubtedly be blues harmonica players. The book deserves a much wider audience than that. It will appeal to a wider audience than that. I hope that many people discover this book, and read it. I'm glad that I did.

I can't begin to tell you how very much I enjoyed reading 'Kissing Babies at the Piggly Wiggly'. I already felt close to the characters when I read 'Waltzing at the Piggly Wiggly' but this book made me want to meet the Nitwits and Mr. Choppy even more. It is one of the most refreshing and entertaining books I have read in awhile. The author did an amazing job of writing this book and keeping the reader involved with the action. I found myself laughing out loud so many times and smiling through most of the book. I really hated for it to end. I wanted to hear more news of the Nitwits and what was to become of this town of Second Creek. My southern roots drew me to this charming book but I am sure those from any area would enjoy meeting the Nitwits and other folks in Second Creek and reading about all of the crazy things they do in their journey through life. I highly recommend this book and I long for more of the series.

What a wonderful world Robert Dalby has created in Second Creek! Kissing Babies is another fun filled romp with his now familiar characters. The entire election is such a page-turner and keeps you in suspense until the very end! A great summer read, although it fits well in any season. I hope to see more books from Mr Dalby and hopefully more from this series!

I was given an advance copy of "Kissing Babies". If you enjoyed "Waltzing", it would be almost impossible not to like "Kissing."

The entire plot fits tightly together like a puzzle with a few twists & turns at the end, of course, which I won't reveal.

This sequel to Waltzing At The Piggly Wiggly adds more depth to the quirky characters in Second Creek, Mississippi, as Mr. Choppy, the beloved former owner of the Piggly Wiggly, runs for mayor against the cheesy, long-time incumbent Mr. Floyce, who has the instincts of a Vegas lounge singer. The Nitwitts are back--those widows of a 'certain' age--supporting Mr. Choppy to the hilt with their own radio spots.

Happily, Mr. Choppy's long-last love, Gaylie Girl Lyons, whom he reconnected with after fifty years in the first novel, returns, providing more 'autumn years' romance. Along the way, there is a bit of tragedy and a lot of chicanery before we get to the results of the mayoral election.

Second Creek is a universe I love visiting, and I heartily recommend it to others.

This is my kind of book. It brought back some great memories for me. in my younger days. What a great story teller. If you like the outdoors and hunting & fishing this is a must read.

An interesting peak into another life style. As a woman, I feel like I'm looking into a man's life, but a life that I can't relate to. I know there are men out there who would love this book. Since I am not a hunter and have no desire to build a cabin - I put the book down. I will definitely send it to a man who loves the great outdoors, hunting, and exploring. It would make a great gift.

I have known Kenny since 1980, although I've only started reading this story I am extremely comfortable with the pace and grace Mr. Bestul uses. Kenny is everything the book says he is a very hard working, deliberate, honest, kind and caring person, without a mean bone in him. I've shared stories and bread with Kenny, and he really is the type of person you would like to know personally. Mary Kay's illustrations are graceful and a pleasure to view alongside this wonderful story.
In my opinion this book is a must for any outdoorsman, or for a quiet read next to a fire. I sincerely hope you enjoy Kenny's story as much as I am.

I have never met Kenny, but after reading this book, it seems as though I have known him most of my life. I grew up on a farm in Winona County in the 50's and 60's hunting and fishing every chance I had. Reading chapter after chapter, from my experiences which are a bit different, but similar, than Kenny's, I relived part of my life again and many of the phrases found in the book jogged my memory nicely. I spent four years at Winona State and did my share of fishing below the dam and wandering around some of the backwaters on the Wisconsin side of the river amid much of the wildlife Kenny encountered. Each almanac chapter, as well as the Rat Tales, are filled with information and feelings that only a true naturalist could convey. This book is a facinating account of a river rat's calendar year and all the beauty and excitement in and around the Mississippi River from one month to the next. A must read for anyone who lives in this area or wishes they did.

"Understand Mississippi, and you understand the world." William Faulkner ... And he was so right. What's so good about Todd Moye's book is that he provides the needed clarity to understand this microcosm in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Moye's research is excellent; this is particularly note worthy since it is not easy to find such information in the Delta. Mississippi's libraries - public and educational - are notorious for their dearth of newer Mississippi books. (Forget the archives.) So thanks to Moye for providing this unique piece of history that needs and deserves attention and preservation.

Todd Moye has written an excellent book about the civil rights movement in the Mississippi Delta. The power of the book lies in its simple prose and nuanced analysis, a rare combination in historical nonfiction today. The storytelling will pull readers into the book and the analysis will change the way many readers think about the civil rights movement, not just in Mississippi but across the South.

_Let the People Decide_ is the best historical perspective on Mississippi I've read since _Rising Tide_. And I'm not just saying that because J. Todd Moye is my brother.

The book is focused on the freedom movements in a specific time and place, but I think it gives insight into how similar movements evolve elsewhere. It is definately a scholarly work, and the author footnotes many of his own oral history interviews as source material. Yet the author's prose is not stuffy, and you don't feel like you are doing homework while reading this engaging book. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in our nation's history, especially in the evolution of civil rights movements in the south.

Ruth Prigozy has written a balanced account of the life of a man who was tipped for mega stardom in his formative professional years but who through bad judgement and sometimes fate was destined to struggle for the rest of his life.

Several marriages including to film beauties Joanne Dru and Rita Hayworth not to mention the sultry Fran Jeffries kept his name in the press but after a short term contract with Capitol Records in the middle 1950s failed to interest the public or music industry his career faltered. In the early 1960s after the failure of his marriage to Fran Jeffries he left the USA and headed for Europe, which was to be his home for almost a decade.

South African born BBC DJ and Record Producer Alan Dell rediscovered Haymes in 1969 and managed to get him into a recording studio for an album entitled "Then & Now" which was instrumental in getting him back to the USA and giving him another chance.

Ruth Prigozy unravels the story of a man who was a complicated gentleman almost from another age. Loved and respected by his peers Ruth delves into the insecurities that dominated his life.

A mix of facts, memories via interviews with family, friends and those associated with Haymes and even extracts from his own unfinished autobiography. Plenty of excellent pictures too. This is an "I couldn't put it down" book.

A compelling read full of highs and lows, surprises and sometimes despair. This long awaited biography addresses many of the stories that had been circulating around Hollywood about Haymes and presents the facts for the first time.

A must for any fan of the 1940s, musicals, crooners and film stars.

Ruth Prigozy has done an admirable job in bringing Dick Haymes life story to light. He is certainly someone who had been forgotten and whose story deserves to be told. I found this to be a well-researched biography that held my interest and which I enjoyed reading.

This book shows how a person can totally mess up his life by not addressing some basic problems -- for instance, the way he was raised clearly was responsible for his inability to foster healthy relationships. He kept repeating the same mistakes, drinking too much, etc. Certainly this was a man with a lot of troubles -- many self-inflicted. Interestingly enough, this book shows he never really did find stability and peace in his personal life. I agree with a previous reviewer who said high school students should read this book -- how NOT to live your life.

However, at times I think author Prigozy is too quick to excuse some of these faults and too willing to make allowances for Haymes' behavior. Here is an intelligent man who was handsome and talented, who nonetheless "blew it" in both his professional and personal life. He does not seem to be a very nice person -- cheating on his wives, mean or neglectful to his kids, a drunk, selfish, a deadbeat, at times arrogant, etc. He may not have been "Mr. Evil," as he has been dubbed, but he apparently wasn't "Mr. Nice Guy" either.

I think it would have been interesting for the author to explore more of his professional decline and the reasons for it. Why exactly did he fail to become an established movie star? Why did his popularity fade in the late 1940s and early 1950s? What happened to his radio career? His record contract was cancelled several years before the rock revolution -- was it his style of music that was passe, was the public tired of him, or did he exhibit a lack of range or an inability to adjust with changing tastes and times?

This book doesn't delve into that as much as I would have liked, but it's still an excellent read, and very worthwhile in bringing the story of this forgotten star to today's public.

Many better biographies have been written over the years, but none more urgent than this. High schoolers should read this book and discuss it with friends. Dick Haymes was a great talent, and intelligent. But he couldn't seem to make the right decisions in life, his values were screwed, and he suffered dearly because of it. The comedown was crushing.

Ruth Prigozy writes a poignant biography of an otherwise neglected big band and beyond singer whose rich baritone rivaled Bing Crosby's. Ruth Prigozy is an accomplished author and English professor at Long Island's Hofstra University. She spent a number of years researching this story and presents it faithfully and validly engaging many in interviews to promote accuracy. She has covered all the bases in this very meritorious book that is a long time coming. It tells the truth. And makes it a very valid book.It places Dick Haymes in his rightful place in music and singing.

The author expended a tremendous effort in researching the Jeff Davis Legion. He has created an interesting history of this unusual cavalry unit. Any one who is interested in the Confederate Cavalry will enjoy the detail information the author has dug out of the archives.

Amazon says book has 40 pages. It has 325

The author obviously performed a great deal of research in order to extract such detailed and little known facts about the "Little Jeff". Truly a gem for all interested in the Civil War. Highly recommended.

This is the first complete history of The Jeff Davis Legion, initially designated the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry Battalion. Fighting under Jeb Stuart and Wade Hampton it later followed Hampton to Georgia and the Carolinas. Though companies from Georgia and Alabama joined the regiment, it remained officially a "Mississippi" cavalry unit. They were the only Mississippi cavalry to fight as part of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Among the men of the "Little Jeff" were educated elite from Natchez and Savannah and rustic farmers and country tradesmen from Kemper County, Mississippi and Sumpter and Barbour Counties, Alabama. Through first hand accounts we follow these soldiers from their early enthusiasm until camp life and sickness brought war into perspective. They fought their first engagement in late 1861 and from then on fought in most of Lee's campaigns. They were at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Seven days, Antietam, Trevilian Station, Brandy Station, Gettysburg and countless smaller engagements They sustained some of their greatest losses at lesser known places like Upperville, Funkstown, Stony Creek, and Bentonville.

Readers of this history should come away not only with an accurate characterization of the Confederate cavalryman, but also with an understanding of their place in the overall strategy of Lee's army. The related book, published simultaneously, "Horsemen of the Jeff Davis Legion" gives information taken from the individual cavalryman's service record from the National Archives as well as a wealth of information from other sources about each man. This should be useful as a geneological reference. Also contains statistics related to the Jeff Davis Legion and brief biographies of senior officers associated with it.

Donald A. Hopkins