Louisiana Books

Kathryn Byer's BLACK SHAWL follows the thread of her earlier prize-winning WILDWOOD FLOWER, that is, it remains fascinated by the lives of women in the southern mountains. Whereas the earlier book presented the voice of one woman named Alma, this latest book gathers up the voices of many women, most of them singers, quilters, story-tellers. The poems weave Byer's distinctive music into every line, creating a verbal tapestry that haunts long after one has closed the book. Byer is one of the country's best poets and deserves a far wider readership. Highly recommended.

BLESSINGS AND INCLEMENCIES, Constance Merritt's second published collection of poetry, is best read aloud so the cadences and the rhythms may swirl from the tongue through the ears to reverberate in the mind. Let the echoes and caprices of memories, nature, and classical gods linger.

"Isn't it the naming that we love" the poet wonders, and surely the verses in
Prologue: Song: At the Edge of the Sea,
I. Requiem,
II. Among Shades: A Fragment,
III. Turning: A Sequence, and
Epilogue: Chamber Music
give both beatific and remorseful tribute to this very human current of desire.

"Charon plies his oars. Sweat glistens / On his grizzled brow..." as Merritt steers out into deep waters of loss. "Don't go and leave me stranded on this shore," she entreats. She rages against the inevitability of the deaths of loved ones and pounds the notion that the guiding hand of an Almighty can make all things well: "Let others justify / the ways of God to men; she never would / She'd already stood the s.o.b. on trial."

Yet the mourning poet is yet here, not turning to loam, so "At three o'clock, I wake to rain" and "...know it is I who will labor to be born." Then "...the lengthening light, the robin's song / That wakes me... / (For the first time in my life I want to see!)." Merritt is, after all, a sightless poet, and, as the blind do, she expands the reach and delicacy of her other senses. By way of illustration, she mingles her own poetry of heightened sensitivity with the verse of Hilda Raz: "My every organ sings you like a psalm: Sun, sun come to me here, come here I am."

In BLESSINGS AND INCLEMENCIES, beauty and poignancy consort with uncomforted mourning. Love answers every call on its own terms; but friends, family, and lovers whom death parts, but cannot be returned so..."Me, I'd like to think the rhythm moved / Us, until the dance, itself, was what we loved."

A brave, methodical, and ultimately musical excavation of spiritual image and the instinctive memory of family. Its resonance beyond subjectivity is its keen insight, allowing access and shared grief at the terrible wonder of human interconnectivity that invisibily shapes us. This is a voice that commands attention, in an era whose noisy carapace beggars worthy 'safe places' in which to process contemplation, if not healing.

I first read "Bobby Rex" some 12 years ago at the tender age of 12. At that time, it was one of the first non-classic grown-up books I'd read, and I found myself unable to believe that someone could capture such simplicity and depth in single sentences. I loved the book so much I even stole a copy of it from the local library (don't worry, i've more than payed for it in overdue fines throughout the years) because I couldn't stand the thought that someone else would check it out and never return it. But I digress... Why is it such a beautiful book? Because it speaks sweet, insightful and often hilarious volumes without falling all over itself the way so many writers do these days. It's the sort of book you read and then sit back and think, God, I could write that... because it's just like someone relating stories to you. Its the tale of a young girl, Pally Thompson, who over the course of 3 or 4 years discovers the truths and myths about those people with whom she surrounds herself. -- Marianne Gingher does an absolutely brilliant job of painting smalltown lives and loves during the latter part of the 1950's. She treats her characters, all of them (even those who may not deserve it) with respect and dignity. Never sacrificing even a single word, she allows her characters to grow and breathe and, perhaps most importantly, to learn. "Bobby Rex" is a novel of discovery. Rich and honest and oozing with charm.

This self-published guide got many a student through their state and national exams. Long out of print, there are still several second hand copies floating around. Only about 2-3000 copies were originally published.

Not to worry. This has been replaced by a newer textbook from the author's wife, Susan G. Salvo - Massage Therapy: Principles and Practice (which can be purchased here on Amazon). The self-tests at the end of each chapter will prepare the student for the NCE.

I originally read this book in 1974, published under the author Patricia Maxwell. I loved it. The author knew how to build the suspense, while also creating a tense anticipation. Claire, clearly torn by her ambivalent feelings towards the man she was forced to marry, begins to fall under his spell, as well as her new home, the plantation Sans Songe (Without Illusion). The story twists down to a satisfying conclusion, leaving the reader searching for more books by Patricia Maxwell. It took me many years to discover that she also publishes under the name Jennifer Blake. Which left me with a whole new list of books to read. Excellent read, I would recommend it to any one who enjoys romance spun around mystery!

In Brother to Dragons, Robert Penn Warren, former poet laureate and twice winner of the Pulitzer, combined the historical elements of the New Madrid earthquake and the murder of a slave by two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews with his love of poetry. This book has various "voices" relating the brutal events in verse, but history is only a vehicle for exploring the nature of evil and Jefferson's dream of the perfectability of mankind.

This is a marvelous rather experimental volume; it is both novel, play, and poem. It is grim; it is disturbing; it is absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend this work.

The four Pierson sons, intelligent, and well-educated for their time, originally opposed secession but served their country whole-heartedly in all theaters when the War came.
The letters of three sons are contained here, preserving valuable insights not only of battles and camp life but also frank opinions of the behavior of high officers and politicians. The tenacity of the Piersons, through sickness and wounds and hunger, in a War they didn't welcome, is fine testimony to the courage and patriotism of the Condederate soldier.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting with Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

A vivid,entertaining and detailed account of the every day life and death of a Civil War Regiment. This book will be "The Bible" for re-enactors in the coming years. I was able to learn a thing or two even though I have been self fed Civil War books for the past few decades! A first rate research and reporting job, well written and having the feel of a conversation with a veteran from the conflict. The book focuses on the 154th New York Infantry. A unit that was engaged in many of the wars legendary battles. I knew the south went shoeless at times, but never knew many a yankee boy also left blood stained foot prints in the snow due to a lack of shoes. Members of the 154th will tell you these things and more: The boredom, the fear of coming battle, the sorrow of death in camp and on the battlefield, the forced marches they made and maybe only having one hard-tack cracker to eat at the end of it, and so on. If you love social history of men at arms, or Civil War action, get this book for your library.

In this splendid and groundbreaking history of colonial New Orleans, Shannon Dawdy demonstrates her powers as research and raconteur and captivates the reader with her talent for spinning out the human stories that made New Orleans in its infancy the place of infamy, chicanery, and romance that has so firmly lodged it in the minds of Americans and others. It is a wonderful read and one that makes me, a historical archaeologist like Dawdy though not, I fear, one of her caliber, stew in impatient anticipation of her forthcoming works on the archaeology of our beloved Crescent City.