Mississippi Books

For those who like social history written by the comtempories of the actual events, this book is a delight. Mrs. Dana's own writing style is quick and to the point. The editors had the good sense not to get in her way. Thus, the reader gets the true flavor of what had to be an extraordinary event at that time. We just do not have that many contemporary observations from the softer sex. Mrs. Dana's comments are direct and insightful, not unlike those of another female diarists, Mary Chesnut.

I haven't read this book. I don't even know what it's about. I like Faulkner, though. So, go to town, boys...

This little known volume comprises one of the few collections of how religion impacted Faulkner's literature, and how important understanding religion's impact on the South is to the understanding of Southern history and its literature. This collection is a series of lectures given at the 16th Annual Yoknapatawpha Conference sponsored by the University of Mississippi in 1989, and includes papers by the likes of Alfred Kazin, Charles Reagan Wilson, Richard King, Glenn Meeter, Virginia V. Hlavsa, Doreen Fowler and Evans Harrington on a diverse range of subject material within the discipline of religion and literature: William Faulkner and the Southern Religious Culture, the God of Defeat by Kazin, Quentin as Redactor: Biblical Analogy in Faulkner's "Absalom! Absalom!" and the Crucifixion in "Light in August" among other thought provoking papers. This is a must have for any serious student of Faulkner or the serious student of Religion and Literature.

This is a well-researched work that's easy to recommend. Doyle is an excellent historian who is well-versed in Faulkner.
The combination makes this fine book both an interesting history of Faulkner's native "postage stamp of soil" and an excellent introduction to Faulkner's world. It also provides a wonderful example of what a historian actually does (although not without some cautions along the way).

The excellent description of the social contexts for fiddling is one of this book's major strengths. Throughout the book, Beisswenger also presents numerous interesting stories that Melvin Wine told to him during various interviews. These texts provide a good understanding of fiddle traditions in Appalachia, and there are vivid discussions of house parties, public square dances, and contests. Melvin Wine's life history is also interesting. Like many fiddlers, Wine stopped playing for a long period of time but then decided to pick up the instrument once again. Beisswenger explains "the missing years," and the analysis provides insight into tensions between religious sentiments and the musical spirit. The excellent transcriptions of Wine's complex playing round out this thorough study of a folk music tradition. The author has a rich understanding of fiddling, and the transcribed tunes are excellent resources for understanding this particular style of fiddling. The book is an excellent tribute to a great fiddler.

The past is recalled and the present celebrated in Gaskin-Smith's (Fire, Ice and Roses: A Mississippi Story). An astounding, well written, first novel, the story details the lives of a group of ordinary people in Northern Mississippi in the 1940's. The depth of the story undeniably takes the reader in search of ones own emotions and reactions to racism, hatred, and bigotry. Gaskin-Smith searches into the soul of the African-American hero, worker, scholar, Paul looking for meaning and understanding of him as a man and a friend. The writer's treatment of Paul's ties to his white ancestry and his bondage by his black skin is remarkable. As Paul struggles to find his own identity as a man, and human being; Rosie, the daughter of a blacksmith, searches to love the soul of Paul and form a bond that crosses racial barriers in an era in American history where such bonds were unspoken of. Fire, Ice, and Roses: A Mississippi story is about so much more than black and white and love and hate. Rather, it is a revelation of the depth of human relationships. Its about what happens when one dares to look into another's soul to find truth, dignity and love. Gaskin-Smith emerges as a delightful narrator as she ushers her readers into the depths of the relationships of these characters as no writer before her has ever done.

"Fishweirs: A World Perspective With Emphasis On The Fishweirs Of Mississippi" by John M. Connaway is a 564-page compendium of descriptive, archeological, and historical information on a form of trap used to catch fish. Called a 'Fishweir', these traps come in many forms and (accordingly to the archaeological record0 have been utilized in steams, rivers, lakes, and oceans for thousands of years. An impressive and seminal work of exhaustive, comprehensive scholarship, "Fishweirs" is organized into two main sections. 'Fishweirs in a Global and Regional Context' describes what fishweirs are, provides a global perspective into their uses and designs, and the development of fishweir law in North American waters. 'Fishweirs in Mississippi' draws a tighter focus into the use and design of fishweirs in the Mississippi from prehistory and in Native American cultures down to the present day. A third section is devoted to four appendices: an 'Annotated Bibliography: Worldwide Archaeological and Historical Source Material on Fishweirs'; 'Fishweirs Listed in or Being Nominated to the National Register of Historic Places'; 'Fishweir Questionnaire'; and 'Glossary of Selected Terms Related to Fishweirs and Mass Fish Procurement'. Enhanced further occasional illustrations and maps, as well as the inclusion of an extensive bibliography and a comprehensive index, "Fishweirs" is a unique and valued contribution that should be a part of professional and academic library reference collections.

Gentry focuses on the role of the narrator and the strategies Flannery O'Connor uses to move characters in her fiction toward achieving redemption.

Contends that Mrs. Shortley of "The Displaced Person," and the grandmother in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" serve as "extreme examples of the two contrasting transformations O'Connor dramatizes." Suggests that "the energy for Mrs. Shortley's redemption comes primarily from within her own psyche, while the grandmother's awakening is forced upon her." Suggests that O'Connor "dramatize[s] Mrs. Shortley's peculiar sort of redemption in many works," while "the grandmother's more traditional version of redemption -- requiring a conscious response to outside forces -- appears rarely" in her fiction.

Groups O'Connor's stories into those which demonstrate "the positive grotesque" wherein characters "bring about their own redemption," (as in "Revelation," "The Enduring Chill," "A Circle in the Fire," "Greenleaf," "A Temple of the Holy Ghost," "The Partridge Festival," "Parker's Back," "The Artificial Nigger," and Judgement Day"; and those in which "transformation comes from outside," wherein "negative grotesqerie" prevails, (as in "A Late Encounter with the Enemy," "A Stroke of Good Fortune," "The River," and "Everything That Rises Must Converge."

Examines Mrs. McIntyre, of "The Displaced Person," and The Misfit of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," described as characters "who do not complete a grotesque self-redemption." Notes two other stories with similar outcomes: "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" and "Good County People."

Offers readings of O'Connor's two novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, demonstrating how they "constitute her most complex involvement with the grotesque." Concludes that "the reader of O'Connor is encouraged to produce an extremely personal reading," as it appears that her "greatest act of faith as a writer [was] to assume that 'misreadings' of her work might turn out to be so many more paths to redemption."

R. Neil Scott / Middle Tennessee State University

Brice's Crossroads was the most classic battle of the Civil War. It demonstrated the innate military genius of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, who out-manuevered a Union force twice the size of his. The battle duplicated Hannibal's tactics at Cannae and was considered by Rommel as a classic. Edwin Bearss is the retired chief historian of the National Park Service and cannot be equalled in Civil War battlefield knowledge. This treatment of the battle follows the ill-fated Union forces from Memphis to their defeat in Mississippi and their disorganized retreat back. Having had a great-great grandfather who fought the rear-guard action in the battle with the 9th Minnesota Volunteers, I had a particular interest in the book. Mr. Bearrss' explanation is thorough and compelling. He explains why, even though the battle was lost, the greater strategy i.e. preventing Forrest from interupting Sherman's March To the Sea, was accomplished. Mr. Bearrss has been designated as a "National Treasure" b

Excellent. Note for note. Has tunes such as When I lay my Burden Down and You Gotta Move. Zip-Zoop-Zabulous.