Tennessee Books

Blood Kin is a novel about the Burden family and the struggles they endure after the Vietnam war. Will, the father, has a hard time with his sons fighting in the war, while the mother, Maddy, just wants some attention. The three sons: James, Roy and Enis, go through different struggles of their own from drug addictions to loving someone already engaged to feeling left out of the war by having no combat experience. This novel is one that critics called bleak, but I believe that is the point of the novel; to portray that everyone's life is not perfect and that everyone doesn't have a "fairy-tale ending." I thought it was a pleasant read and broke away from the staus quo of normal literature. In most novels, the ending is somewhat predictable and the ending for the most part ends decently for the main characters. It seems strange that I would call this a "pleasant read" because it is a sad story, but the way that Mark Powell includes such intimate details lures the reader in and makes the reader want to learn more about each character, even though they might not have the best situation possible. The stresses that the characters endure help channel the readers stresses through reading about the Burden troubles and realizing that their life may not be so bad. Overall, I liked this novel and would recommend it to anyone with an open mind and who is looking for a novel that is different from many others out there today.

Blood Kin is a distressing and depressing book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a commentary on life and how happy endings don't always come through in the end. Most people would say that this book was too depressing and too bleak but the bottom line is that the storyline is real. The author took the ideas for this book from his real life and different things that are known to have happened. His characters are wonderfully developed throughout the entire story and make the reader feel compassion and anger for some of these characters. The voice is wonderfully simple and it embodies what the south is.
The Burden brothers are so wonderfully named and have such different personalities. There is at least one main issue that plagues each of them throughout the book. The issues they suffer from are basic with interesting and sometimes subtle twists. I enjoyed the anecdotes that were thrown in because they fit with the theme of the story but didn't necessarily contribute anything to the main storyline. The side stories added a different level of entertainment. The story ends in tragedy for most of the characters but it leaves a spark of hope in the form of one of the brothers. He made a great choice because even though the overall tone of the story is bleak it leaves a tiny ray of hope. As sad as it is, this is a more realistic portrayal of life and how events really occur.
Blood Kin is a great read and I would suggest it to anyone who enjoys the combination of thinking and entertainment. This book slowly draws the reader in with a mental death grip. The reader will find that the book is hard to put down and will not want to think about putting it down until they discover the ending for each of the characters. Do not get depressed upon reading the somewhat gloomy ending but realize that the author has left the reader with the same realization that Pandora had after she opened the box; that there is still hope. Read this book and enjoy.

Mark Powell's Blood Kin is a story about a family of war veterans. Will Burden, a pastor and Korean War veteran, is married to Maddy, and the two of them have three sons. All three of the sons go off to war at different times in the story. The oldest one, James, who was thought to be either dead or captured, returns and hides out for a while becoming addicted to drugs. The middle son, Roy, is in love with a woman who is promised to another man. The youngest one, Enis, is the only character that seems to have a decent life. The three brothers deal with love, drug addiction, alcoholism, and much more. During all of this, their father suffers some sort of mental or emotional breakdown, while Maddy is the rock of the family.
The chapters of Blood Kin move between the stories of the different characters. It is a very heart wrenching and emotional story. There is a lot of death and loss, and the story just does not turn out the way you want it to. If you are looking for a happy ending, then I would not recommend this book. The upsetting ending is almost surprising. While reading, I expected everything to end happily. I was surprised to find that that was not the case. Overall, it is an enjoyable book if you like to read about other people's misfortunes, which many people do, including me. If you do plan to read this book, I would stop before the ending if you are hoping for a happy one. Blood Kin left me disappointed at the end. However, Mark Powell is a wonderful writer and he has some great stories to tell. For the most part, it is worth the read.

the whole book is a series of interconnected, side stories containing absolutely no plot. it revolves around the main charecter james, but nothing ever happens. the book is filled with profound and incredibly detailed insigh, but it gets to a point where the whole thing just turns to "mush". 237 pagess later, I was still waiting for something (ANYTHING) to happen. there was an overwhelming amount of emotion conveyed, but unfortunately, I was never personally attached to any of the charecters due to his spastic writing style and lack of concrete action.

Powell's voice is the most original I've read in years, and his prose is dead-on gorgeous. His is a wrenching, uncompromising, and undeniably Southern vision. It is a dark vision, but not unredeemed, and in my view he is not only a good writer, he is a great one. Blood Kin is a very good novel. It has wit, beauty, honesty, pain. I'm looking ahead to what is going to come from this author's pen in future years; but for now, if you want a gripping story told with an art and a clarity of perception that never falters, read this book.

For a variety of reasons, the successful Union assault upon the Petersburg defenses on April 2, 1865, has been largely ignored in Civil War histories, barely getting a passing mention as an incident just before Lee's retreat to Appomattox. But the battle of April 2, as Greene ably demonstrates, was a crucial military action. It was, quite simply, the battle that broke the backbone of Lee's defenses and necessitated the immediate evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. The story is told largely from a Union point of view, not because of any innate bias on Greene's part, but due to the very pragmatic reason that there are few Confederate primary sources dealing with this stage of the fighting. He crafts an rapidly moving, but comprehensive story of the military struggle, illuminating it with vivid details of incidents and personalities. I count it as a first-rate addition to any library of Civil War titles.

The above is a review of the original edition of this book, published in 2000. A revised edition has now been published (2008) and I would repeat exactly the same things. The new edition has some minor corrections and expansions, but for the most part these are aimed at updating the text to reflect the current status of development and battlefield preservation in the Petersburg area and to ensure that references to Civil War era roads correlate to 2007 route designations ("The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign" is an invaluable guide for anyone wishing to trace out the activities of late March and early April on the actual ground). The most evident change from the original edition is the improvement of the maps for clarity and detail.

The perfect complement to this volume is a visit to Pamplin Historical Park southwest of Petersburg which preserves the earthworks successfully overcome by the Union attackers as described in "The Final Battles". (And even better is to have the good fortune of visiting around the anniversary of the battle and being able to participate in a pre-dawn battlefield walk to actually see the ground in question at the appropriate season of the year and time of day; such was my own good fortune.)

For several years, Wilson Greene's book has been among my very favorite Civil War history volume, and this new edition even makes it better. This book is an absolute necessity for anyone wishing to understand the closing weeks of the Civil War in the East, the end of Lee's army, and the final triumph of the Union Army of the Potomac.

I did not have any histories on this last phase of the Petersburg campaign, so I picked up this study. The maps are decent---the best part of the book. However, what just puts me to sleep is Greene's prose. Better take some appropriate medication prior to cracking this one if you want to stay awake! The facts about the campaign and battle are there, but, in my opinion, the read is as dry as dust. This, in turn, renders the book a bore for this reader.

The style of writing reminds me of a detailed battlefield tour with the Park Historian and other senior personal. The details, perceptive insights and clear overview of the fighting are what you find in this type of tour. The sixteen years the author worked for the National Park Service and being President of Pamplin Historical Park may have contributed to this feeling. Personally, I like this style of battle history. It is detailed, covers how the terrain affects both the attack and defense, lays out the problems and results. For me, it conveys the reality of Civil War combat in an understandable informative manner. I have never found this style of writing a boring read.
The Petersburg Campaign lasted for months. Expect for the Crater and Five Forks, most of it is covered in a paragraph or two. The standard is an explanation of the North extending their line to the West until the South broke. The siege of Petersburg did not end at or because of Five Forks nor was extending the North's lines west a simple matter of marches. The moves and counter-moves from February to April 2, 1865 is the story this book tells. The author prepares a solid foundation of about one hundred pages that place the armies, identify the major players and define the conditions of the armies. The image of starving almost naked southern soldiers is not completely a myth but it is embellished. The author shows how poorly the men were fed and clothed and how well they managed to work within the system to make up this deficiency.
Hatcher's Run, Fort Sedman, Jones's Farm, McIlwaine's Hill and Lewis' Farm are not battles that most of us know about. They were important steps in breaking the siege in 1865. Each of these battles is covered with one or more maps and place within in the campaign. The critical days from March 31 to April 2, 1865 have 175 pages and 18 excellent maps. This keeps the reader fully in the picture with the ability to understand the importance of each action. In addition, we understand the magnitude of the disaster that Robert E. Lee and his generals face. While the area is small, the numbers are not. Thousands of men and hundreds of guns fight in areas of two miles.
The VI Corps Break Through is excellent writing. This is the critical piece of the battle usually lost as authors cover Five Forks. Except for A. P. Hill's death, the perfunctory treatment of this critical action robs readers of a complex tactical battle fought with great courage on both sides.
The author takes the time to detail how the defeats at Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks, the Break Through, Fort Gregg and Fort Whitworth build into the total defeat that surrenders Petersburg and Richmond. The book abounds with small personal details and accounts from major and minor participants. This is much more than the 12th Whitsitt lines up to the left of the 75th you know. The richness of the details, coupled with clear writing produce a compelling complete story.
Documentation is important in detailed histories. The book has over 200 pages of appendices, Order of Battle, notes, Bibliography and index. This is an impressive history that is a must read for anyone trying to understand the end of The Army of Northern Virginia.

An excellent study on the final union thrusts at Lee's defenses at Petersburg that culminate not just with Sheridan and Warren's combined collapse of Picket at Five Forks but the final break through with the VI corps punching a hole in A. P. Hill's defenses that virtually cause a hemorrhage in the Petersburg defenses only staved off by the heroic defenses at Fort Gregg and a line of artillery giving time for Lee to organize the final retreat. Petersburg was a very complicated campaign that contains a series of modest to large battles as Grant constantly moves forces west to cut off supplies and avenues of escape. As Greene describes well, Lee constantly parried with creative engineering and counter attacks. Greene provides a detailed account of all these battles that stretched over one time farms and wilderness outside of Petersburg. Petersburg was a very complicated campaign and just driving the roads today around Petersburg to some of these still remote sites makes you appreciate the effort of Greene's work. The final break through is at the center of Pamplin Historical Park for the Civil War Soldier where Greene is the Chief historian and CFO. Read the book then visit Pamplin Park, and see the extraordinary well preserved trenches where the final break through occurred and walk the trail that leads to the Union jump off point and then follow it right into the Confederate trenches where it leads right to the unique vulnerable spot of the line where the union attack punched through. It is well worth seeing park with its living history, historic headquarters, outdoor exhibits and a great modern museum. An excellent book for the serious Civil War student.

OK. So you what to know about the final weeks of the Petersburg Campaign during the War Bewteen the States. This book gives an in-depth picture of what General Lee had described the previous year as "a mere matter of time." The piece is well-documented, which you would expect from the head of the park (the author) where the Federal forces broke through Confederate lines. And there are lots of good maps to follow the action. But, in my opinion, the prose is VERY pedestrian, resulting in a narrative lacking any sense of drama, and therefore is far less than an exciting read.

East Tennesseans are used to being stereotyped, but this time even the stereotype isn't done well. The setting receives no descriptive treatment, the characters are thinly developed, there is no attempt to capture the vernacular, and the narrative is not believable. Would the Virginia state police let this man sleep on the shoulder of the interstate? Why would he rent a log cabin from someone waving a weed-eater at him, when he hasn't even arrived at his destination? This weak yarn may amuse those who hold fast to their Beverly Hillbillies view of the southern highlands, but it will annoy anyone who actually knows the place.

This was just a wonderfully fun book to read. The characters were engaging, the dialogue was excellent and the setting was fantastical with very real aspects of what East Tennessee life is like. I believe the author attempted to make a caricature of Tennesseans from this area to create a wild and absurd yarn that should delight any reader. The fact that the author has spent a lot of time in this area leads me to the conclusion that was his intention. Also being born and raised in this area I can assure readers that the caricature, at times, hits close to home. Mr. Whorton's story made me laugh out loud, so I will forgive him for indulging in some stereotypes to create this wonderful book.

What really makes this book is the dialogue. The writing is very tight, and the humor and the wit have a very Helleresque quality to it in that it's the author's use of irony to expose the absurd that dwells within the mundane that makes the dialogue so engaging. The author doesn't really create outrageous settings to infuse his story with humor, but instead uses irony to highlight the humor in the ordinary details. It is fabulous, and this type of writing (when done well) is some of my very favorite styles of writing. I do not make the above comparison lightly. I found the dialogue to be extremely good.

The whole book is a great, wild ride that any reader will enjoy. Any book that can make me laugh out loud deserves a good review and a good rating. It is a quick and easy read that I was unable to put down. Treat yourself today and get this excellent book. You will not regret it.

I had a great time with this book! Being from East TN, it felt like coming home! The "quirky" characters were relatable to many of the natives I've known during my lifetime of growing up here. There were several times I laughed out loud during this book! Being a former student and huge fan, this is not the first book I've read of Mr. Whorton's. In both of his books, I've found his attention to detail and thorough description to be dead-on (especially in Approximately Heaven). I look forward to the next one!

This really is a funny book. The comparisons to Confederacy of Dunces are no lie; the main character, John Tolley, an amateur Andrew Johnson scholar, has the same mix of cluelessness and erudition as Ignatius Reilly, and one of the book's great pleasures is that Tolley also serves as narrator. His voice alone is enough to carry the book. But there's a strong cast of characters along for the ride, all of them both odd and real. There's also a really engaging plot with scraps of mystery and conspiracy of the East Tennessee variety. The dialogue is sharp, the writing first-rate. Buy it; you won't regret it.

Well, I felt a need to respond to the reviewer who was so disheartened by reading FRANKLAND that he needed to sigh in the title of his review. This book is completely charming! I am not comparing Mr. Whorton to Shakespeare, but the complaints the aforementioned reviewer levels against FRANKLAND make me wonder: Has the same reviewer posted a sighing review of Richard III because of its "inaccuracies"? The reviewer seems especially concerned about Tolley sleeping on the side of the interstate. I am not suggesting that the reviewer knows from painful personal experience how hard it is to sleep on the interstate, but I am struck by the intensely personal nature of his overwhelming despair at the detail. FRANKLAND's narrator is a beautifully realized, shy character whose internal monologues are rich and revealing even when he is trying to hide his tenderness from us. The villains in the book are equally lovingly crafted and human, the reprobates of Falstaffian dimensions. Yes, come to think of it, I AM comparing Mr. Whorton to Shakespeare. And I am comparing the whining... I mean sighing... reviewer (who is, I imagine, a tour guide at a dilapidated museum of Tennessee folkways, bitter about its lack of funding which caused him to cancel publication of his Tennessee dialect newsletter) to someone who whines and sighs about Shakespeare and eagerly hops from web site to web site, sighing obsessively about meaningless "inaccuracies."

Thoroughly enjoyed the suspense and the romance in this book. I loved getting another glimpse of Dallas and Genny. Caleb and Jazzy definitely have chemistry as well. The suspense/mystery was great and kept me guessing until the end!

The econd in a series of books located in Cherokee, TN was okay. It was not quite as good as the first. Caleb and Jazzy's tale started off with likable but rather combustible characters in an interesting situation. I was somewhat disappointed with Caleb at the end. He goes off, leaving the woman he loves, when she is in considerable danger. Even though he swore to stay with her, he did not. He has not been honest with her. It made her very angry as she should have been. He leavces with his rich grandfather instead of staying and protecting her. Jazzy should consider selling out and seeing something of the rest of the world. This particular part of it has not been particularly good for her. The end of the book just sort of petered out with Jazzy appearing to lose some of her confidence in herself. I guess the author is going to tie things up in the final book, but she has to make us want to go there. Right now, I am not sure I do.

I didn't realize until I'd finished the book that it was a part of a series. With that in mind, I had real trouble connecting to any of the characters. And I found the violence a little more graphic than I was expecting from a suspenseful romance. The murderer's calling card is to cut off a man's genitalia and stuff it in their mouths. Yuk!

Jazzy Talbot, owner of Cherokee Point, Tennessee's diner and bar, has spent her life longing for ladies man and member of the upper crest, Jamie Upton. Though they were high school sweethearts and he impregnated her at sixteen, he refused to marry her because he would lose his inheritance. But that hasn't kept him from hound-dogging her door even while he's engaged to be married to another woman. Jazzy's reputation as a loose woman and the fact that she'd publicly threatened Jamie's life makes her the prime suspect when Jamie's dead body is found.

Caleb McCord is hiding from his past while living just outside his future. He's the only one aware that he is the lost Upton grandson and Jamie Upton's cousin. He works as a bouncer in Jazzy's club and finds himself drawn to her more and more everyday, but she can't seem to see him past Jamie's larger than life presence. When Jamie is murdered, Caleb is one of the only people who believe Jazzy's innocence. Struggling to keep her safe while fighting his own inner demons and his insecurities about becoming part of the Upton family, Caleb learns what it means to be part of a small town and the sacrifices one must make in the name of love.

With enough characters milling about to keep you guessing just `who done it', Beverly Barton weaves a good mystery. Though most of the characters reach no real resolution by the end of the book, and two serial killers coming to one small town in less than three months is highly unlikely, "The Last to Die" was still an interesting read. I'm definitely going to have to go back and read the first book "The Fifth Victim", and we'll all just have to wait to see what happens next.

I think I like this one even better than The Fifth Victim. While Jamie was a complete jerk, he didn't deserve to die like that! Jazzy & Caleb's relationship was great and I enjoyed catching up on Genny & Dallas. I can't wait for the third and final book of the trilogy!

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the return of Reve. What a shallow, arogant creature she is! She believes she's better than everyone else who wasn't raised in money! Which is ironic considering she wasn't born into privilege but found in a dumpster! She was a complete snob, insulting, bigoted and downright cruel and those were her best qualities! I hate to see her involved with Jacob (the neanderthal savage, as she thinks of him) since he deserves so much better! But regardless I'm still looking forward to seeing more of Jazzy and the rest of the folks in Cherokee Pointe!

Another killer is on the loose in Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. Town bad boy Jamie Upton is found brutally murdered, and all hands are pointing to his former lover, Jazzy Talbot.

Jazzy and Jamie's lives have been intertwined since they were teens, and their illicit romance resulted in a teen pregnancy. Finding herself dumped, since Jamie would face disinheritance, Jazzy has always been Jamie's fall back gal when he is in town.

With new man Caleb McCord suddenly playing an important role in her life, she works to exonerate herself from accusation. When another murder occurs, Jazzy has an alibi - Caleb - but when she finds out the secret of his past, will she be able to continue the relationship? Further complicating her life is the emergence of a woman bearing a striking resemblance to her - one that wants nothing to do with her.

But there is a host of possible suspects including Jamie's latest fiance, her sister, any one of his other conquests in town, and Jazzy's "twin". Once again, psychic Genny steps in to help the police solve the mystery. What would the sheriff do without her?

Fantastic. I study religion, and this book provided fascinating new insight into a movement that has changed and gone through many hands. I learned a lot, and chnaged my point of view as a result...I guess that the number one thing that I learned was that all people just want an identity...and Elijah Muhammad provided that African American with that. There are a lot of interesting facts that one can glean from this book.

Ms. Tate writes about her experiences growing up in the Nation of Islam (NOI). She discusses her bizarre education at the Nation of Islam school and her difficult adjustment to the public school system after the NOI school was shut down. In a span of several years she listens as the adults around her complain that the leaders of the NOI are not following their own rules (and there are a LOT of rules). Then she discovers that her parents are also not following the rules; they have a stash of marijuana in their bedroom, which she steals and smokes several times per day. She describes her mother's movement from NOI, to orthodox islam, and finally to the Church of Scientology. Unfortunately the book is repetitive and there are many statements that you will read twice. I don't know where the editor was on this one. This book is written in an adolescent voice and actually reminds me a lot of another memoir: "Red Scarf Girl" by Ji-Li Jiang (about the Chinese Cultural Revolution). A good book for teens and pre-teens.

The author's paternal grandparents joined the Nation of Islam in the early 1950s and by the time she was born in 1966, the family enjoyed a leading position in the Washington, D.C. temple. With a memory that borders slightly on the unbelievable, Tate recounts her early childhood in the Nation, followed by her mother's conversion to mainstream Islam, the discovery of her family's religious hypocrisy, and then her own crisis of faith and exit from Islam, followed by a journalistic career that included a stint at The Washington Post. Tate's account has particular value for giving a sense of the life of the poor but defiant life that NOI membership entails. The awkwardness of being marked by NOI customs (clothing, diet, female modesty, no extracurricular activites or games) comes through as one strong motif ("I felt like an ugly duck"), plus the extreme relief at being able, once no longer a Muslim, to blend in with the crowd. Tate makes vivid the narrow scope of her ambitions ("I knew . . . the only reason I was on this Earth [was] to become a good wife and mother") and describes the total protection by her male relatives against non-NOI men ("If somebody made your sister cry, you gotta beat him up!") -- though, alas, not against non-NOI women and their cutting remarks. She recalls rumors of Fruit of Islam hit squads, the agony as an eight-year-old sitting straight through an eleven-hour temple service, and her Christian grandmother who tried to trick her into eating pork ("we knew better than to eat any pink meat"). More surprising is the author's endorsement of her education at an NOI elementary school, despite its obvious drawbacks ("We didn't have textbooks, so the dictionary pretty much became our spelling book").

Middle East Quarterly: Islam in the United States December, 1998

I do not understand why *Little X* went out of print. I was assigned it in a university course and loved it. Where else can we read about women's experiences in African-American Islam and Christianity?

There are big differences between the various kinds of Islam in this country and we need to know them all. It is human to interpret a religion according to one's own community needs, and that is what the Nation was for in Tate's early days. It is well-written. Why copy edit out the dialogue of family truths and pains and growth. Where is Tate today? Everyone in my class enjoyed reading *Little X* - and when I went to get a copy for a gift, I couldn't believe they stopped printing them.

While many texts in religious studies focus on the conversion moment of significant, historical religious figures, few discuss and deal with the issues of a child growing up within a particular system. This book does an outstanding job of addressing just such a need. The areas of children's life and children's culture within the study of religion has gained a great deal with this text. Tate gives the reader an insightful look into the world of a family torn apart by changes in religious affiliation. She also directly adresses the problems that such changes can cause to the children of such a family. Her account of becoming involved with drugs as a teenager is heartbreaking. To those looking for an insightful and informative look into the Nation of Islam, changes that occured to the Nation and the practice of Orthodox Islam in the inner cities of the United States will also find the text extremely useful. The book is not a practical guide of Islamic praxis, but more importantly, an account of a young person exploring the limitations of herself and her relgious upbringing. Tate's experience with the Nation of Islam as a child, and her first expereinces outside the Nation's schools (going into the public school system) should be a wake up call to those who view their worldview as superior to others. Her eventual triumphs in life and her own maturity in acepting relgious systems should be inspiring to all who claim to be religiously tolerant.

Tennessee Williams represented a major advance in American drama as he introduced a lyricism that had previously been missing. Eugene O'Neill helped the American theatre grow up, but Williams was the one who made it sing.

Williams was able to create complex, vibrant plays which gave intense life to all of the contradictions, nastiness, dysfunction and beauty of American life and families. America has never produced a more honest or sincere playwright. His characters are always searching for ways to hang on to their humanity as the forces of repression and authoritarianism threaten to swallow them up or destroy them.

But above all else, Williams' dialogue is superbly, sublimely poetic. For Williams, the drama is in language itself, and no one has ever used words to greater effect than Tennessee Williams. Both Library of America volumes of Williams' plays are essential reading for people interested in theatre, America, and/or the possibilities of hope and grace in turbulent times.

Why American critics are so desperate to make Tennessee Williams into the "great" American playwright is beyond me -- perhaps they feel inadequate when compared to the genius that's come out of England and Continental Europe (e.g., Shaw, Shakespeare, Moliere).

The characters are seldom well-developed, and frequently, I found myself not caring what happened to them. Or rather, I hoped that Mr. Williams would kill them all off a little quicker so he could end the wretched work.

Tennessee Williams is in the top ranks of American playwrights. His works are a MUST for serious students of the American theatre. Moreover, they are wonderful works for actors to read and learn from -- some of the finest characters, most poignant scenes, and brilliant insights on human nature AND theatrical staging that you can find anywhere. Cheerful? No. Uplifting? Usually not. Brilliant, stageworthy and gripping? Always. This collection, both volumes, gives you all the plays, plus some very worthwhile notes and prefaces from Williams himself.

I, for one, worship the pulp Tennesse Williams typed upon, but I think Mark E. Baxter's review below might just give Tenn himself a run for his money when it comes to audaciously witty, ironic, shocking, and ultimately moving writing. At the very least, Williams (a man who was once seen at a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" cackling "Haha, she's off to the nuthouse now!" as the curtain fell) would have enjoyed this hilariously, astonishingly off-kilter review. Brava, Mark E. Baxter! Well done!

My review refers to the two Ten Williams volumes of the LoA.
I love the LoA. The books give me the supreme pleasure in reading. They are so beautifully printed on optimal paper in an optimal size, that I sometimes read stuff that is not worth reading.
I have read '10' for two reasons: 1. because I had bought the LoA, and 2. because I had read a lot about the 'glorious bird' in Gore Vidal's 2 volume memoirs. And then, of course, I had seen the Glass Menagerie on Stage and the Cat on the Hot Tin Roof in the movies. Can't remember what else I might have seen before I read this. I saw Suddenly Last Summer only after I read it. I never saw A Streetcar or the Iguana. Pity.
Let me say straightforward, that I love half a dozen to maximum 10 of TW's plays. They are pulp material, they are trash, they are melodrama, and they are true, and gripping, and honest, and vulgar...
And they are great.
But the early plays are plain nothing, while the last few ones are abominable.
It is impossible to draw a strict line when he started to write readable stuff and when he declined so badly that he stopped doing that. But for me it is clear: his early attempts are trash, and so are his last.
My conclusion: the LoA would have done better to restrict themselves to one volume and then focus on the main phase.
If they want to re-issue, I can offer advice as to which plays to include and which ones not.

"Treasures in Your Attic" is a great read for the novice collector and expert alike. It's worth every penny just for the well-written, easily understandable section of important terms. As the authors point out, knowledge is power and knowing the lingo can save you money. Inspired by the book, I was looking around in my mother's basement just the other day and found an old piece of T. Anthony luggage. Unfortunately it was rather beaten up, and as Rosson and Fendelman informed me on page 282, such pieces are only good if "they have not been sideswiped by a bus and have not spent the last forty years rotting in a damp basement." Too bad for me. Humor pervades the vast amount of practical knowledge in this book, making it really fun to read. It's a reference that belongs on the shelf of anyone who hopes to make a deal or a profit on an unexpected find--or who simply wants to keep the treasures to himself. P.S. I tossed the suitcase.

Good walk through of what you might find in your parents home that is valuable. I won't just repeat what others have said about this book. I would have put the dictionary style entries in the first section of the book as an appendix. Just jump ahead to section two and the book is more interesting. I didn't appreciate the third section on buying and selling. The authors told war stories about antique dealers and auctioneers that, while entertaining, would scare off any novice collector. Sure, buyer beware, but how about conceding that the vast majority of antique store owners and auction companies are honest and fair?

If you are at all interested in "collectibles" or antiques, "Treasures In Your Attic" by Joe L. Rosson and Helaine Fendelman will be a treasure in your bookcase. After you have been bitten by the bug and scoured your house and/or that of your parents for treasures, "Treasures" will be remembered or frequently referred to on the way to or from Antique Stores, Garage and Estate Sales and Flea Markets. Unlike Mr. Jussell who wrote the book's Foreword, I can't comment on its usefulness to "seasoned antique collectors" because I am a novice who became fascinated by collectibles from watching antique discussion and appraisal shows on television. I can, however, recommend this book to both the beginner and to the individual whose interest and curiosity eclipses his knowledge. This very entertaining, informative, and easily read book is organized in three parts: "The Basics" (things you should know about your hobby), "The Treasure Hunt" (a discussion of collectibles that you may find in each room of your house or on display at "sales" and how to recognize them) and "Professional Advice." The Basics Section is just that - what you must know to communicate and understand communications about your addiction. Professional Advice is a distillation of knowledge learned by the authors in the school of hard knocks and includes an indispensable discussion of how to buy and how to sell treasures over the Internet. If Rosson and Fendelman had included a chapter on references useful for research and authentication, the book would be awarded "5stars"; and the authors a General Electric D-20 toaster. As is the book deserves the 5 stars and perhaps the toaster will be awarded for the next book.

If you never know what to bid on at all of these great estate auctions, then this is the book for you. Having just started going to auctions this summer, I have been amazed at some of the prices items are bringing. That's because I didn't know what they were. Joe and Helaine's book will let you know what to look for at these auctions and they will also give you tips on knowing what is selling right now. I read the book with great fascination knowing that I had old post cards my grandmother collected...marbles that appear to be homemade...some glass bought in Murano, Italy some 35 years ago and more. I think we all like to think we have something of value just waiting to be found. This book will help you know what you have and then how to market it. I highly recommend this book for the novice collector or for the new auction attendee. It will get you started on the right foot and hopefully you too will have "Treasures in Your Attic" even though Helaine and Joe say..it's the worst place to store valuable items." See you've learned something too. As a Program Manager for a PBS station, I am anxious to air and view their new series...coming to a TV set near you at the end of June.

I love the way this book is arranged. It takes you through your house in a logical fashion. Finally a book for the average person . It is for those of us with things tucked away for years and and years and no idea if they could be valuable. This book should save a lot of people like me from making an expensive mistake.I was so surprized at the things that are valuable. I didn't have a rare piece of art but I do have many everyday items that belonged to my grandparents . they proved to have a lot more than sentimental value. I consider this book a good investment. JSM

This is another one of Kat Colorado's stories. Her best friend is getting death threats and it's up to Kat to find out who the sicko is.

I've read 2 or 3 others by this author and although she's not my favorite mystery writer, her books are consistently enjoyable (at least the ones I've read so far).

This rather lengthy mystery could have been edited down to about 300 pages, I think, and the book would have been better. I thought the start was slow -- it took me a 100 pages or so to really get into the book. Eventually, however, this developed into one of those books that you were eager to get back to but did not stay up all night finishing.

The story line involves a country western singer, Dakota Jones, who is a lifelong friend of our tough private investigator, Kat Colorado. Dakota calls on Kat because she's been receiving threatening letters. Dakota immediately flies from Sacramento to Nashville to find out what's going on and keep her friend from harm. Almost immediately, a dramatic attack convinces Dakota that her friend is genuinely in danger. Although Dakota is fearful, she refuses to do as Kat tells her, so keeping her safe (and solving the mystery of who is stalking Dakota) is difficult.

There are long-lost relatives of Dakota who may be suspects, ex-husbands, sometime boyfriends, a manager or two -- many possibilities, but none that obvious.

I can't say I was terribly surprised by the person exposed as the stalker, but I also found it a bit hard to believe even then. Still, this is enjoyable reading for a rainy night or a long plane trip or a day on the beach.

This was my first Karen Kijewski book, and I really enjoyed it. Fun, realistic characters - and you are kept wondering who the culprit is. It makes me want to read more of her books. If you're looking for something to change your life, this isn't it. It's just fun to read.

While this is not among the best books written by this author, it comes a close second. Kat is largely away from home in this book so her interactions with her family, best friend and boyfriend are not as frequent in this book as in most others. For me, it is the interactions among these characters that are a major strength of the books in this series - along with the usually terrific plotting. But, the plotting was a bit lacklustre in this outing and not as compelling as other books in the series. Nevertheless, this is still a good read from reliable story teller.

I usually have an idea of who the culprit is in mystery stories. In Honky Tonk Kat I had not a clue. There were so many different suspects I just could not pick one person to focas my attention on. The part I enjoyed most about this book was the flashbacks. Overall this was a very gripping mystery. The only reason why I didn't get a whole full five stars was because some of the family history part was very hard to keep straight. But, overall a very good mystery and worth taking a look at. Even if you are not intrested in country music. A fun read!

Having experienced the obvious many times, this book helped me to find new, fun things to do on my frequent weekend trips to Nashville. I love all the background info, too.

My overall impression is that this guide is poorly researched, inaccurate and, worst of all, may be disguised advertising.

For example, the authors devote a page-and-a-half to describing the Gaylord Opyrlyand Resort & Convention Center. The description is not only fawning, but inaccurate: they say (twice)the facility has a "1,500-foot-high roof," which is totally untrue. Clearly the authors have never visited the property.

Other properties get two or three paragraph descriptions, all of which sound as if they were lifted from press releases or property brochures.

Overall, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that the authors are actually familiar with any of the places they describe or recommend. Certainly the book doesn't discriminate between worthwhile attractions and the souvenir shops that pretend to be "museums."

There is also a notable absence of maps --- unusual for a tourist guide, I'd say.

This work has soured me on everything in the "Insider's Guide" series. It is a waste of money. Frommer's offers far more and far more accurate information for less money

Jerry

This book, with great velocity, pulls the readers through the "must know" aspects of one of the most exciting cities in the US. Very well written and highly recommended.

I HAVE THE NEW INSIDERS GUIDE AND I HAVE ENJOYED IT VERY MUCH. I WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE AREA AND THIS BOOK IS A GREAT SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW RESTAURANTS, SITES,TRIPS,SHOPPING, ETC.

I got a truly "inside" perspective with Q&A's from some Nashville natives including singers and songwriters --- where they like to eat, where they like to spend free time, etc. The guide gives quite a view of all that Nashville has to offer including annual festivals and events (for example, I live here and I never even heard about 'mule day'! ) and all kinds of recreational activities. not to mention the sections on real estate and education --- essential for anyone moving into the area. all of this in incredible detail. i say "y'all go out and buy yourself a copy".

If you like memoirs, written by great writers about themselves, you'll love this one.

I was born in 1970, this was written not long after--my sense of being is way different than this guy. He wrote this himself in his later years, meanders here and there, but more in the end. Charming all the way thru.

I'd heard that maybe this was a little racy, but again--only in the beginning. And even then, not nearly what you see when you tune into any television station. Really, just a glimpse into what gay men of his era went through (a good glimpse).

When I realized what gold I had in my hands I slowed way down with this one--he writes in a way that makes you want to savor. It's a whole different time, you hafta listen.

Thank you older gay men, you paved the way.

This book shocked and disappointed many upon its release in 1975. Many were expecting something resembling a predictable literary auto-biography, though, with the authors notorious history and reputation, should have been prepared for what they got instead. This is a fascinating book about and by the man many called genius, the author of "A Streetcar Named Desire", "The Glass Menagerie", "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", "Sweet Bird Of Youth", "Night Of The Iguana", etc..., and the events in his life that help one better understand just how autobiographical many of his works were. From his upbringing by a tyrannical, indifferent father, who was disappointed in his "sissy" son, his overbearing mother, and his relationship with his lifelong, deepest love, his sister Rose, whose tragic mental illness and lobotomy froze her in time, and perhaps was the most important factor in his troubled life and his creative genius. He was all too human, in his relationships and insecurities. He exposes himself, warts and all, at once being an extremely sensitive, caring human being, who at other times in his life, could turn into an irrational, paranoid, abusive chore to be around. Substance abuse certainly played a major part in his progressive personal and professional demise, and he is brutally honest about that also. He is also unapologetic about the many promiscuous periods of his life, the bluntness of his recounting of sexual escapades usually so humorously told, that it defuses what could have been just vulgar bad taste, to some. His 14 year love relationship with Frank Merlo, who died of cancer in the early 1960's, was, aside from Rose, the most important relationship of his life. Though he and Merlo were estranged towards the end of Merlos life, then had a reconciliation just prior to his death, Tennessee was to never recover from the loss. He also tells about the beginning of his career, and certain pivitol moments in his professional life when, before fame and praise came, it was doubtful that the poor, struggling writer might ever find success. There are also wonderful first hand insights into his contact with the likes of Brando, Anna Magnani, Capote, to name a few. But, admittedly, this book is more about the man than the career. He readily concedes that he is not about to bore himself and some readers to death with chronological descriptions about the fruition of each play. As he says here: "The plays, what about them? If this was a book only about my plays, it would be a very short book. The plays speak for themselves". In fact, there is nothing chronological about this book. It was published about ten years before his tragic death, a period in his life that , after a brilliant career with successive hits, was marked by professional failure, the progression of which was publicly recorded by ,what many perceived to be, unusually aggressive critics who were intent on destroying him personally. If you're looking for a standard auto-bio of a literary career, you may be disappointed. But you also may enjoy, as I did, this wonderfully touching and often humourous book by a sad, troubled, brilliant human being, who battled with his demons his whole life, trying to give a voice to the lonely, the outcast, the misunderstood...the "gentle people", as he referred to them. We are all contradictory, perhaps those the Gods touch with genius more so than others. It's the totality of a life that matters, and the total sum of his life was that he tried his damndest to be a GOOD MAN. An honest man. And, he also created some of the most brilliant works, with some of the most memorable characters, speaking some of the most beautiful words, in the history of theater. Don't judge dear Tennessee too harshly.

Before reading this I knew absolutely nothing about Tennessee Williams....after reading it I wish I knew even less.

Williams writes with no continuity, constantly jumping back and forth with stories from different times in his life, making this book difficult to follow.

His drug addictions, prima donna temper tantrums, numerous homosexual trysts, and infidelity to his dying lover are nothing to be admired yet he writes about them as if they were badges of honor.

Don't waste your money or time on this one.

I think "badges of honor" (from a previous review) misses the mark. "Badges of dis-honor" would be closer to the truth. I think Williams' extremely destructive drug abuse and alcoholism are obvious escape hatches - escapes from his inner deamons, his possible self-loathing, and certainly an attempt to reconcile the loneliness that each artist has to contend with. The same isolation and deamons that Williams faced nearly destroyed Michelangelo - and they did kill Virginia Woolf, Francis Bacon, and Oscar Wilde. I still think "Iguana" and "Streetcar" are among the finest literature in the American canon, while "Suddenly Last Summer" is among the most compelling psychological (if not philosophical) horror stories ever written. In fact, it's worthy of Poe. Tennessee Williams can be difficult and disturbing, because he NEVER lies to us. Every one of his works renders him defenseless - and by extension our defenses are stipped bare as well. Only the greatest authors, artists, and poets are able to do this. No thoughtful person is quite the same after delving into the work of Tennessee Williams. I think that's an awesome power to possess - and William's never abuses it. Instead, he saved the abuse for himself. I'm still coming to terms with this.

If you are looking for a well organized overview of TW's life and career, look somewhere else. For someone truly interested in Tennessee Williams, I would suggest first reading a biography of him, and if you are still interested, read this to find out what made this man tick, what made this man get out of bed each day and write, and what a (....) guy he was. This is a nitty-gritty, confessional look inward at the personal aspects and thoughts of the life of a very talented writer.
I am sure what shocked his public when it was published in 1975 was his frank description of his love life and sexual affairs. For Ernest Hemingway it was okay to describe his love life because he was straight, but for a gay man it was (and still largely is) expected to be kept discreetly sub-rosa. But Tennessee was not ashamed of his nature and not ashamed of his life and in that way this memoir (and his life itself) is an act of cultural defiance. It pours out in a fairly disjointed stream of recollections. To be honest, it reads like a rough-draft that needs a lot of editing and filling in. But all-in-all, the inherent drama, passion and thirst for life itself jump out of the page and carry one through to the end and you can't help but be touched by his humanity and his passion and his drive to express himself through his art.