Kentucky Books

The editor of this book, Steven M. Sanders, is Prof. Emeritus of Philosophy at Bridgewater State College, Mass.

This book breathes new life into some old doctrines. It is part of a series on the Philosophy of Popular Culture which takes a deeper look at some of the things we watch and enjoy.

Science fiction has always intrigued audiences, whether it predicts a titillating future or a dark one, and here the editor has collected essays from 13 other noted scholars, who look into popular films like "Blade Runner" and "Dark City," You'll recognize science fiction films new and old in here: "Total Recall, Metropolis," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Terminator"--to name a few.

The discussions range from searching the films with questions about what it means to be human, and what is the self and how do we identify ourselves as individuals?- to technology and ethics, and even paradoxes of time travel, in such films as "The Terminator" and "12 Monkeys." These classic questions of ancient philosophy are wood for the fires of the new philosophies like existentialism and nihilism--which find science fiction film a great source for speculation.

That this book exists at all is a joy to me, who has heard the science fiction genre dismissed as irrelevant and not applicable to modern life--even when it was most of modern life which the genre predicted! I know a few critics who could stand to read it immediately.

I can recommend this book to philosophy students and their teachers, along with the rest of us who are still searching to answers to the mystery of humanity and its place in the cosmos.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

Expertly compiled and edited by Steven M. Sanders (emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Bridgewater State College, Massachusetts), "The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film" focuses upon science fiction films in terms of their philosophical implications and issues including 'Engimas of Identity and Agency'; 'Extraterrestrial Visitation, Time Travel, and Artificial Intelligence; and Brave Newer World: Science Fiction Futurism. From Deborah Knight and George McKnight's 'What Is It to Be Human? Blade Runner and Dark City'; to Aeon J. Skoble's 'Technology and Ethics in The Day the Earth Stood Still'; to Jerold J. Abrams' 'The Dialectic of Enlightenment in Metropolis, "The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film" offers erudite insights that are thoughtful and thought-provoking, superb examples of scholarship, and a seminal contribution to the study of science fiction films. "The Philosophy Of Science Fiction Film" is highly recommended for academic library collections, as well as the supplemental reading lists for students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Cinematic Studies, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Philosophy.

When I began reading this book, I must admit that I was a bit hesitant about my own ability to be able to understand and appreciate its many nuances. And frankly, I was also a little suspicious of its intent, given the plethora of "Philosophy of ...[you name it]" books that have been appearing on the philosophy and popular culture shelves of bookstores everywhere in the last few years.

However, I plunged ahead. What I found was a tremendously varied and insightful volume that turned out to be both stimulating and enjoyable. Best of all, one does not have to be a philosopher or a hard-core science-fiction film buff to find Steven M. Sanders' volume so fulfilling.

Also, what sets this volume apart from other philosophy and popular culture texts I've perused is its immense readability. Editor/author Sanders has compiled a roster of contributors that present new and stimulating ideas about the relationship of philosophy and the science fiction film, in the most enlivening and comprehensible ways. The writing here is clear and insightful. Sanders' own introduction, as well as his essay on interpreting the concept of paranoia in the 1956 film, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," is both illuminating and memorable.

Each essay takes a different science fiction film and holds it under a philosophical looking glass. After reading this book, I rented some of the films being discussed, and sure enough, I was afforded some new ways of looking at each film, even those I've seen many times over the years.

The University of Kentucky Press has given us a sure-fire winner of a book, and I recommend it without hesitation.

I've just recently begun studying Shaker furniture and I am very pleased with this book. It covers a wide range of pieces from the Pleasant Hill community and it provides some good background on each piece. The photographs accompanying each piece are also excellent. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in learning about Shaker furniture.

This is a good book with amazing photos. The background story is very informative.

Shaker furntiture has always appealled to me and seeing the pieces in a traditional setting is an extra.

I would recommend this book.

I have read the book through twice now and it just keeps getting better and better. I have read extensivly of the eastern settlements but knew very little about the western groups. I enjoyed seeing the differences as well as the similarities in the way of life and the furniture. The book was a nice balance of how life was day to day and the furniture they created. This is the second book I am aware of written by an experienced woodworker so the insights are of more interest than the usual picture/history book we see so many of. The other is by Chris Becksvoort, which I have equally enjoyed.

I also enjoyed the drawings by Kerry's brother. I think those added greatly to the book. I know when I look at an old piece of woodworking I am some time before I can see the structure in the design. The drawings help me to see this much cleared and sooner.

All in all, I highly reccomend this book be added to the libraries of the serious funiture builder or collector as well as those interested in history. It gives an overall view of what was going on in that part of the country at that time and how the Shakers reacted to it.

Jim Bolus offers yet another memorable book filled with vivid recollections and Derby stories. Highly recommend. You don't have to be a horse racing aficionado to enjoy this book, but Thoroughbred enthusiasts will find it of particular interest.

REMEMBERING THE DERBY is the second book in the five-book series written by the late Jim Bolus, the man who knew all the stories and all the trivia of the great race. Like the other books, this is a must-have for racing fans.

Included in this volume is a chapter on Flip Sal, a horse who was injured in the centennial running of the Derby in 1974, another on Sir Barton, the first Triple Winner, one on Northern Dancer (1964), a chapter on the 1957 Kentucky Derby in which Bill Shoemaker misjudged the finish line, and who could forget to read about Silky Sullivan?

Your racing library would be incomplete without the Bolus series.

This book explores the stories that come with a race as big as the Derby. The author writes of horses, people, and their experiences at the Derby; wether they won or not. A must for racing fans.

Growing up, I always wanted to go to Europe, after all that was the center of history and art in my school books...nowhere was there the idea of exploring the areas around home and across the US. I now realize that we have a lot to see and do right here in our back yard. This is the kind of book that opens doors to things you never knew were there. If you want to plan a Kentucky getaway for two, this is the book for you.

Disclaimer - Moonlite is mentioned in this book. Moonlite is an authority on Southern Food and Barbecue.


Patrick Bosley of the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn
Author/Editor - Family Favorites From Moonlite
Recipes That Founded A Kentucky Tradition
ISBN: 0-9766896-0-x

What my Review Stars mean to me at a glance:

5 stars = A Must have for your Book Shelf - perfect for cooking or a guide for traveling! Worth Full Price

4 stars = A great read - may fit special interests - I recommend you to buy it if the subject appeals to you. Worth Full Price

3 stars = Interesting material - read it if you have time; buy it if the subject appeals to you. Look for it used at a discount. Also, it is worth looking for it at your local library (if not available, try interlibrary loan).

2 stars = It is worth a look at your library if the subject interests you

1 star = Look at it if you come across it, or try another title on the same subject

As a displaced Kentuckian limited to visiting once or twice a year, I was looking forward to this book to enhance my wife and mine's experiences. Although I am intimately familiar with the Lexington area, I was nonetheless delighted to find many central Kentucky locales that were new to me. The authors have obviously done their research, and have represented all regions of the state well. Most satisfying to me personally was the inclusion of Joseph-Beth Booksellers of Lexington. It is indeed a wonderful place for romance. This book is perfect for anyone looking for a romantic experience, and hopefully it will encourage more people to recognize Kentucky as the special place that it is.

I've visited many of the places in this book and the authors are right on target with their recommendations. I'll be planning other romantic getaways with my significant other with the help of this book. A must for anyone who is thinking of visiting Kentucky, as well as those of us fortunate to live here!

Scissors, Paper, Rock is an unusual novel. On one level it is about dying - from AIDS, cancer, heart failure, war. Death comes in so many different ways, yet it results in loss, both of the deceased and of the memories that lived with that person. Death changes people in unique and complicated ways. Johnson explores this theme with tenderness and grace.

He also explores the role of myth in history. Are those things that we know as true really fact, or are they those things that we believe are true because they define who we are. Are our parents really who we believe them to be or is our understanding of them based on the stories that they choose to tell? Does this lessen the power of the stories or lessen the veracity of the story tellers? Johnson very adeptly addresses this theme.

Among these deep levels, there is a story of a family in rural Kentucky and their lives together and separately. The characters are well portrayed and the background is very true to life.

This is not an easy book, but it is well worth your time.

No other book has ever moved me the way this one did. Picture this: me, 20, working at a mall kiosk on Christmas Eve, and crying as I read this beautiful, moving work. It was not my finest public moment, but the book should not be faulted. The story of Raphael and his difficult relationship with his distant father is one that you can feel. This is the best work of gay-themed fiction that I have ever had the pleasure of owning. It is a must buy!

Author Fenton Johnson tells a moving story peopled with colorful, believable characters. Raphael, the gay son of Tom Hardin, returns home to his dying father. Each chapter is a complete and satisfying story. The stories are told from perspectives of various family members at different points in their lives. The chronology is not linear, engaging the reader's attention in interesting ways. Johnson convincingly presents the emotions of human relations, against the detailed backdrop of one southern family. He transports the reader into the world of a son striving to come to terms with his father before it is too late.

This is a beautiful book full of terrific songs (all expertly arranged) and great writing. Jean Ritchie divides her life into thirteen chapters and weaves two or three songs into each one. The songs illustrate the memoir, and the memories provide a context for the songs. And the whole thing is so tightly organized that it reads like a novel.

I found myself laughing while reading this book, and crying, at times, too. Jean has a style of writing that makes the reader feel like he/she's there. The people come to life, and you find yourself living with them in the Kentucky Cumberlands. I don't think I've ever even been there, and this book made me homesick.

Of course, if you're looking for crime and action, this isn't the book for you. This book is about 'down home' living when chores were really chores and food was home grown. In ways, it was a simpler kind of life, but in other ways, it was a lot harder.

You won't find this information in a history book. History books always put a tint on the past, leaving out peoples' mistakes and their imperfections. This is a real family story told by a real family person. It's evident that the two most important things in the writer's life were her family and their musical life together.

On a different level, I can't tell you, as an amateur genealogist, how valuable this book is to me. Every page has stories about the people who grew up in the time and place of my kin, many of them even mentioned by name. The next time I read it, I will be gleaning information for my tree! And this is one of the few books that I will read again and again.

Good job, Jean Ritchie. Thank you for bringing the Cumberlands of Kentucky to life for your readers.

The book is absolutely beautiful. It makes Jean Ritchie's songs more relevant, to read the words and the stories she associates with them. The mention of mining in the last chapter saddens me because I know what happened to all such communitites when the coal ran out. The book is beautiful.

Following the weird but vaguely sensible logic of a dream, a teacher finds his school's field trip buses redirected to his father's house, where he grew up.

Once there, the father presents the son's life in a dry slide show. The son rushes from room to room, encountering memories and blocked escapes. A mother and a former lover that he pleads with to hide so that no one should see them. That his lives, past and present, should remain segregated.

And throughout, despite his attempts to put clothes on, the son finds himself naked.

Field Trip, a story from Greg Downs' collection Spit Baths, paints the haunting hopelessness of the great Southern exodus -- the withered roots that never quite break from a region that's all but died. And the guilt that always hangs with the accumulating weight of generations. Each story aches with the same pains.

They flow into each other, each one an expansion on the same themes. The blending of stories is subtle, rich, and connected by the universal string of the past. The prose throughout has a Southern informality to it, making an accessible and enjoyable read which still manages to glimmer with fluid and evocative observation. Cans twang in impacts against the ground, a girl's skin coats her lover's tongue with dried sweat. It all has the familiar, dry, dead beauty of a preserved antebellum house, with furnished rooms all coated in dust.

Spit Baths is a subtle but stunning achievement. A must-read for all Southerners, both resident and expatriate - Greg Downs has given us as grand a eulogy as any for our lost homeland, but tucked it quietly into the obituary page of a small town newspaper.

I am generally not into this genre of fiction, but, a reading group that I follow picked the book up and I decided I would try it out. I'm glad I did. Greg has an uncanny ability to get deep into his characters with what seems like minimal effort and smooth transition.
I'm looking forward to his future work.

I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Downs characters have a very unique view of the world they inhabit. Their pasts weigh heavy on them as they struggle or push themselves to move forward in an ever changing world. Their take on events and often peculiar advice is refreshing, if somewhat bizarre. It's a good read.

I read all three of the books in this series by Janice Holt Giles: The Enduring Hills, Miss Willie, and finally Tara's Healing. I was captured in the first book by the style of Ms. Gile's writing, her verbage, metaphors, and the wonderful style in which she writes similar to the way the people talked. Each book was so realistic, and had so much drama in it. Real true to life stuff, as realistic as it gets! The third book, Tara's Healing, is needed...ties up loose ends left in the other books (although each book is definitely complete within itself). I would HIGHLY recommend all three of these books. I also read the western series, but preferred this series by far. She is drfinitely one of my favorite authors. You will NOT regret reading this book. You will be enriched by it. I was.

I have read all of the books written by Janice Holt Giles, both the Piny woods series of which this is one and the moving west series many times. I loose myself after the first page or so and am completely immersed until I sadly turn the last page. Her research is fantastic. If she says it rained that day, you can bet it did. I was saddened to hear of Mrs Giles death and wish I could find an author I would enjoy as much.

I began reading this book, against my will, simply to become more familiar with the authors of rural areas. Yet, after skimming the mere first chapter, I became entrapped into the unbelievable writing style of Mrs. Janice Holt Giles. I would recommend this book to anyone - especially to those who do not truly understand what life is like in a rural area. The characters are rich and easily related to, and I was utterly captivated by this realistic and creative tale!!

I started this book and couldn't put it down. Then when I put it down I couldn't get it out of my head. Mike Smith has written a complicated, funny, heart-breaking and head-farming narrative of the damage a smart, sensitive, and inquisitive kid can sustain -and survive- in a frightening and brutal environment. Images of cough syrup buzzes and dead dogs will hang around with me for a long time. This book is written with raw courage and a lot of heart. Keep 'em coming.

Mike Smith is that substitute teacher you had in high school, the one you were certain didn't know what he was doing, and were pretty sure he was in the bathroom writing weird graffiti in the stalls. Trained in English, Mike is given a long-term assignment in an Algebra class, where he shows movies and asserts his authority randomly and to mixed results.

Mix these stories with a good dose of Mike's own upbringing in Fairdale, Kentucky, and you've got one book full of dead floating cows, a 30-year-old neighbor with a toy soldier lodged in his nostril, and a man named Uncle Malcolm. Tell Christian rocks the mic.

A grand burlesque of over-educated, white trash, "Tell Christian I'm Sorry" spins a complex tapestry of intrigue, hypocrisy, voo-doo, sex, crime, and corrupt, small-town politics. Walking a fine line between visionary prophet and ill-tempered curmudgeon, Mike Smith tells a harrowing story that is guaranteed to keep you reading till dawn.

Wow. I read my first Wendell Berry Novel, and I'm virtually "speechless". The more I read, the more I had to read. Reading Wendell Berry is not only addictive, but deeply emotional. I fell in love with Port William, Kentucky and the wonderful characters to whom he introduced me. I literally could not put the book down. As soon as I finished the first novel I began reading the second and then the third.

I knew I would be sad to finish reading, but I was compelled to read until I finished! Don't you hate that?!?!

I found myself reading parts of the book over and over. I simply couldn't believe that someone could write the way Berry wrote. The words by themselves weren't powerful, but when put together in a sentence constructed by Wendell Berry, they became works of art that left me shaking my head, smiling, crying, or simply saying, "wow".

I don't suppose everyone will like his writing. I've come to learn that it isn't books that are good or bad, but the soil into which they fall. This explains to me why someone will read a book and rave about it, while someone else will read it and fall asleep. The parable of the sower is not just true for the words of Jesus.

Wendell Berry has fallen into the soil of my life at just the right time.

For those who know Wendell Berry only as a poet and/or environmentalist, this collection of three short works is a perfect introduction to his fiction which is an expansion on the poetry and centers on the same themes of relationships and devotion to the earth

The first of the novels, "Nathan Coulter," is a coming of age story, and the first of Berry's Port William stories. It describes the relationship between Nathan and his brother, Tom, and their lives with their grandparents after the death of their mother.

The second, "Remembering," is a denser, darker tale, focusing on Andy Catlett, an agricultural journalist and farmer, struggling to find himself after losing a hand (and his direction in life) in a farming accident. Reviewing his memories during a trip to an agricultural conference he is finally able to come to terms with the realities of his life and their value. This book is a testament to the virtues of the simple life Berry has been preaching for years.

The third novel, "A World Lost," introduces us to the young Andy Catlett in the year his uncle and namesake is murdered, an incident which impacts his life to come. It is only when he is older and able to investigate the incident himself that he is able to learn the truth about his hero.

Wallace Stegner wrote that he found it hard to say whether he liked Berry better as poet, essayist or novelist, that he is all three and at a high level. The man lives the life he writes about. The author of more than 30 books, he lives and farms with his family in Henry County, Kentucky.

A long time fan of Wendell Berry's poetry, I have truly enjoyed discovering the town of Port William and the lively characters that inhabit and haunt the land that Berry has crafted through various novels. "Three Short Novels" is a collection of some of his prize pieces, including 'Nathan Coulter', 'Remembering', and 'A World Lost'. All three novels stand on their own, but are interconnected in one book due to the fact that the lives of every character intermingles with that of others.

'Nathan Coulter' is a tender coming-of-age story, as our young narrator explores and explains his life and the world around him. Poetically we are told the ramblings and fights of Tom and Nathan, the two Coulter brothers raised by their grandparents after the death of their mother. Nathan is an honest and perceptive storyteller, revealing the innocent and wondering notions of a young boy's mind.

'Remembering' is a starker novel in contrast to the other two in the collection. It tells the story of a grown Andy Catlett, an agricultural journalist and farmer, trying to come to terms with a devestating injury. During the process of farming, he lost his right hand and struggles with both the physical demands of his deformity, as well as the psychological and emotional demands it places upon himself, and his family and friends. The novel shifts in perspective from past to present, fluctuating between Andy's memories, and his rememberings of the stories he has been told about his family and his town. The ending is bittersweet and poignant, as Andy returns home and comes to terms with the life he must now lead.

After being introduced to the grown Andy Catlett in 'Remembering', readers are introduced to him as a boy in 'A World Lost'. In this novel he reminisces about his childhood and the idol of his younger days - Andrew Catlett, his uncle and namesake. When Andy was just a young boy of nine, his uncle was murdered and he accepted the story that had been fed him. He experiences his own grief as well as that of his family, all the while painting a vivid image of the wild man his uncle was. It isn't until his later years that Andy begins to question the story surrounding his uncle's murder, and searches out sources to learn the truth about the man he most admired.

Berry's stories always unfold delicately. He has imagined the lives of every inhabitant of Port William and its surrounding communities so well that they come to life of their own initiative in the reader's mind. His novels are odes to a simpler time and life, to the relationship man should have with the earth, to the ties that bind all of us to each other. His novels are welcome escapes into a world that seems irrevocably lost. Berry offers readers the hope that this world could exist again.