Louisiana Books

In recent years, writers like Michael Zuckert have propounded a solution to the republican/liberalism debate by suggesting that liberalism is the core political philosophy to which the civic republican political science was adapted.
Lutz' magnificent and pithy volume (about 170 pages of text)suggests that Zuckert and others may have it all wrong. That it was in fact the American colonial experience that generated a core political theory to which was adapted Lockean political philosophy, the common law tradition and Whig political science.
In Lutz' telling, the American constitutional tradition started with the charters and convenants that founded the earliest American colonies. Lutz carefullly delineates between a compact, a convenant and a constitution. Both compacts and convenants were agreements "creating something that we would today recognize as a community" (p.17). The difference between the two was that the convenant was witnessed by the highest authority; either secular (King) or religious (God). The original colonial charters granted the colonists the right to institute governments to govern themselves both politically and religiously.
One of the ironies of Lutz' story is that the first step from a convenant toward a founding compact (one that was witnessed by neither King nor God) came in a community (Providence, RI) "so religious that taking oaths was regarded as tantamount to taking God's name in vain"(p.28). The implication of this was that the Providence Agreement was based on the authority of the signers themselves. Thus, Lutz argues that on August 20, 1637 (decades before any of Locke's works)the American tradition of popular sovereignity started. Lutz examines many of the subsequent founding documents, e.g., Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the Massachusetts Body of Liberties to see how the fundamental tenets and assumptions of what he has called American theory of popular control developed (this theory is summarized on pp 94-95). Along the way, Lutz makes his argument that it was this developing body of American theory and experience that determined which aspect of various European intellectual or legal traditions were adapted by the colonists.
From that point, Lutz then examines how that tradition evolved in the first state constitutions, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and then the Constitution.
His examination of these documents is full of insights. He feels that the dual citizenship formalized in the Constitution was implied in parts of the Declaration ("the thirteen united States of America" "it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands")(p.116)
Another lesson was to take the judiciary away from the control of the legislature as it was in the early state constitutions. The U.S. constitution created the judiciary as a seperate branch for the first time, an innovation that later state constitutions followed(p.109).
This independence of the judiciary is one of the ways that the U.S. Constitution weakens the legislature which was an important development in American political theory.
But this is one of the few instance where the U.S. Constitution displays a negative reaction to those early state constitutions. In fact, the original impetus for Lutz to work on this project was the realization that the U.S. Constitution could not be understood in isolation from those state documents. "Referred to directly or by implication more than fifty times in forty-two sections of the U.S. Constitution, these state constitutions had to be read in order to understand what the document said" (p.2)
Overall, I would have to say that this book of Lutz' (especially in conjunction with his collection of the colonial documents published by the Liberty Fund) is essential for anything approaching an accurate understanding of our constitutional theory. Lutz has written an enduring work.

This volume is put together the way a good biography should be. While the analysis is not profound, the reader gets a good idea of how Underwood attained the positions he did. While it is a little startling that as late as 1907 he would still call for the repeal of the 15th Amendment, contemporary Southern politicians were taking even more extreme anti-Negro positions; e.g., James K. Vardaman, in Mississippi, was crusading for no money for schools for Negroes, and Pitchfork Ben Tillman was condoning lynching! The account of the early days that Underwood was in Congress is a bit dry, detailing as it does legislative events of little significance today. The account of the 1912 Baltimore Democratic Convention, where Underwood was a candidate for President, is full of interest. This is also true of the account of his bid for President in 1924, when he became a household name because of the 103 ballots taken at the 1924 Democratic Convention in New York which started with the booming cry: "Alabama casts 24 votes for Oscar W. Underwood." Underwood is almost unique (only Henry Clay's career is comparable) in American history in that he attained a leadership position in the United States House of Representatives (in which he served for almost 20 years) and then was elected to the Senate where he again became Democratic leader, albeit his two-term Senate career was not as successful as his House career. The account of his two campaigns for the Senate, in 1914 and in 1920, are full of interest. Anyone interested in the political history of the first quarter of the 20th century in the United States will find reading of this book of value. I know I found it easy to read and consistently attention-holding. The research is carefully done and the footnotes are appropriately detailed. The bibliography is adequate. It is always good to see a biographer who has used the Congressional Record in the way that it should be in order to relate a congressional career. This is a good book, and throws light on a fascinating period of American political history.

For the O'Connor scholar, Humphries devotes two chapters for discussion of O'Connor's affinities and possible indebtedness to Marcel Proust (Chapter 6, "Proust, Flannery O'Connor and the Aesthetic of Violence" and Chapter 7, "Art, Delusion, Disease and Reality: The Apotheosis of Asbury Fox in 'The Enduring Chill'").

Provides a close reading of O'Connor's "The Enduring Chill," with numerous references to a variety of her other stories and two novels. Finds her use of physical violence helpful in casting "shadows" in such a manner that they positively articulate the "negative space" that Proust explored.

Suggests that O'Connor's "The Enduring Chill" did not reach its final form until after she had read Proust. Contends that the story can be read as "a parodic retelling of the 'happy' tale which many readers seem determined to read in Proust's work -- that is, Marcel Proust's discovery of art as an vocation and his transmogrification as artiste -- whether or not [O'Connor] had Proust consciously in mind."

R. Neil Scott / Middle Tennessee State University

If you want to get to the scholarly bones of the origins of the civil war and move beyond the simplistic moral debates, this is the book for you. Simply a top rate book by one of America's top rate scholars. Read only if you are serious about understanding the historical roots of the war.

(NOTE: THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN COMPLETELY IN FRENCH) In the nineteenth century, there were blacks who had gained independence before and after the Civil War. Because of their French heritage, many blacks were allowed to remain free (although certain bitter laws governed their conduct in rather inscrutable ways). Free Creoles of Color were those who stood out against the crowd and fought for equality among their race. They were Martin Luther King before he took his first breath. They were Rosa Parks before she imagined freedom. These men and women paved the way for the Civil Rights movement, yet they are seldom (if ever) recognized.

A collection of beautiful (and surprisingly racy) texts from nineteenth century Louisiana, Paroles d'honneur shines. It is just a handful of short stories written by black Creoles, those who were (in those times) truly disadvantaged and who could scarcely find a way to publish their work. Most did so in subversive fashions, and these works are a token to the effort they put in to make their message heard.

Even today, their cry of racial equality stands out, especially in these stories. If you buy one work that summarizes Creole, African American, or Civil Rights movement prose, this should be it.

Passage through Gehenna is, by turns, a slowly, gently unfolding love story with an inevitable tragic ending and an allegory of the battle between good and evil. As in his other works, Madison Jones wrestles earnestly with a Christian conception of good and evil and with the consequences of temptation, which play out against the backdrop of a small Southern town. With its restrained lyricism, the book is simultaneously lovely and terrible. Each time I read it, I feel the same sense of shame, the lump in my throat, the hopeless wish that things will end differently for Hannah and Jud. This is a masterpiece.

So long since I've wept out loud--beautiful gifts, these. Gibbons Ruark reminds us every instant of what we miss, of how powerfully love revives, rescues the perishing. Passing Through Customs arrives in the knick of time. Such love, I thank the giver for his reach, for "the worn thumb" of these pages. Find this book; it will change your life.

The Pelican Guide to Plantation Homes of Louisiana

Useful book with good information. It is what it says.

I discovered this book in the library at least 10 years ago and have reread it several times. Each Cajun family and the unique environment they live in is described in such rich and exact detail that I feel as though I'm right there beside them. The author does an equally good job in explaining how erosion is threatening their way of life and the health of this valuable and irreplaceable ecosystem. Out of concern for these people and the bayou, I've tried, unsuccessfully so far, to find a follow up to this book. It's a great read - personal but written with respect to the Cajuns and the bayou.

The best performance poet ever. Bob Holman, way back when, told Michael Vecchio East of Eden is the best he heard of poetry and music bands, and they have still not been topped. Hedwig Gorski said in a video interview that decades of sharing a bed with her composer husband, D'Jalma Garnier, helped them to be so in sync with each other in the difficult task of performing spoken vocals and specially composed music for the poems. Band members used to play games with the poet by speeding up or improvising in parts to see if she had "big ears." Adds to the fun. Most if not all of the recordings on this CD are Live done on radio broadcasts. Sometimes I think the voice intonation will go off the deep end. I read a review where they called her voice on "There's Always Something That Can Make You Happy" eerie. Well, okay, that's one way to describe it, I guess. It gets close, but never does off. Very exciting. The musicians save it, usually Garnier on guitar, or Gorski pulls out of a potential spoken vocal tailspin. Hedwig Gorski and East of Eden started it all and set the standard. Allen Ginsberg recorded alot with musicians, but he read poems written for print publication, so not performance poetry by definition. John Giorno wrote for oral performance, but his rant-like delivery was sans music. The Beats did elevate their readings to performance, but always wrote poems for the print page. Ann Waldman wrote list poems akin to chanting and delivered them with performance skills, but still wrote for printing in books. Hedwig Gorski wrote only for audio recordings and made up the term "performance poetry" to label what she did so that people would understand her shows would not be merely poetry readings. Poetry readings are an entirely different animal. Of course, radio DJs picked up on it worldwide, especially on spoken word shows. Gorski's non-singing with East of Eden was more alternative than the contemporary alternative music recorded. You will not be disappointed if you want to hear something new that is still new and unique, more than anything out there. Not slickly produced, just Live and Great! They are the best.