Missouri Books

Epiphanies come hard. In Ruth Hamel's new book of 14 short stories, the reader meets a gaggle of neurotic thirty-and-forty-somethings who live in tight little mental cages, yet who are all yearning to break free. Few, however, are willing to give up the security of not knowing. In other words, they are ordinary people.
In the hands of a concept sculptor like Hamel, the stories engender pleasure through pain. "Kinded," for example, features two fortyish brothers who despise each other, competing even about their mutual inadequacies, negative memories, and social incompetencies. They reach an impasse on kvetching ghrough a stranger's act of kindess which results in the possibility, the mere possibility, of hope for a better future.
The narrator in the book's title story tells lies, ostensibly to soothe the hurts truth would bring. She is a furnitue refinisher who uses creative destruction to improve damaged goods. But her congenital "tact" is only a way of avoiding pain and, in the end, seems self-delusional. "Seems" is the operative verb for this author's work. Ambiguity is all.
Her stories are set in faceless high-rises, bedraggled factory towns, mildewed basements. They are filled with loathsome lovers, ex-drum majorettes, cast-off wives, nerds and George Costanzas. Hamel's world may even contain the sad truth, as one of the characters says, that life is content to let us pass unnoticed.
The epiphanies may be ambiguous. The pleasure of "My Favorite Lies" is not.

Sy Barasch

Ann Beattie, watch out: you've got some serious competition. With razor-sharp wit and not a word wasted, Ruth Hamel deftly captures the quirks of ordinary people and in so doing makes them extraordinary--and fascinating. The prose in "My Favorite Lies" is so deliciously, audaciously precise that it makes you want to shout, leap up, and find someone to read these stories to. A friend who admires Hamel's talent as much as I do said that after reading "My Favorite Lies," he found himself viewing the world through her lens. Succeeding in getting us to see in a new and different way: isn't that the definition of art? I'm eagerly awaiting more from this seriously gifted writer, and am shocked that a major publishing house hasn't yet grabbed her. Maybe they have by now--I hope so.

This book is a long read but I found it fascinating. It is pretty much the entire history of all horse breeds from prehistoric mans' relationship with horses to the present day, with an emphasis on the eventual development of the Foxtrotter breed.The author's research and knowledge of this subject are really impressive. In addition to the exhaustive historical information there is detailed information of personality, traits, and life history of all the founding horses of the Foxtrotter breed. If you are lucky enough to own a Foxtrotter you can not only find out who your horse is related to multiple generations back, but discover if they have inherited any of the traits of their forefathers, where their ancestors originated, who raised them, etc. I found out my ancient relatives in Scotland raised the ancestors of my horse! This book is expensive for a paperback, but if it is a subject dear to your heart it is worth every penny.

Wonderful book. Very little has been written about the MFT, so was excited to purchase a copy. Glad I did. Author has really researched and studied this breed of horse. I have not located another book quite as detailed or one that offers such good information regarding a fairly new breed. Well worth purchasing. It was amazing to see the history of all equines covered with such detail. Enjoyed seeing equines depicted in ancient artwork. A must for anyone who loves horses. By no means am I a history fan, and at times found the detailed work a little confusing, but enjoyed the depth of passion and conviction the author has in explaining the present breed.

A delightful collection of short stories in letter form; an anthology that makes sense, not an anthology that recycles old material. Gail Goodwin's letter story is particularly good.

This book is wonderful fun. The stories use the letter form in as astonishing variety of ways. Usually I read anthologies by dipping into them from time to time, but this one I read straight through for the incremental pleasure of discovering yet another ingenious manipulation of the form. Pool's brief introductory notes to each story are perfect, giving just enough to whet the appetite without giving anything away. A GREAT Christmas gift for any reader.

This is a great guide book for Arkansas and S. Missouri rivers. If you need information about a river in AR./Mo. then this is the book to start your research.

The venerable "blue book" of Ozark whitewater streams and paddling is as good a read as ever, and the information is still some of the best you'll find anywhere on the topic. This is *the* book that I always have in my shuttle vehicle. I have a nearly unrecognizable copy that has gone on a few too many adventures, and I bought a new second edition copy a while back and am in the process of wearing it out too. With the number of new paddlers in the area growing in leaps and bounds, this text provides an essential starting point for those wanting to explore the exciting whitewater of Arkansas and Missouri. Highly recommended!

Este libro, basado en un hecho real ocurrido en la localidad de San Fernando, cerca de Buenos Aires, en la década del '60, nos lleva a pensar en la forma en que la literatura a veces recrea la vida, la enriquece, y a veces hace que agradezcamos a ella cierta forma de humilde felicidad. Esta historia verídica, luego filmada en una película bajo el mismo nombre, nos lleva a una Argentina que era rica, poderosa, y hasta influyente, cuando la inteligencia estaba en el Di Tella, y Nacha Guevara, Guido Di Tella y otros personajes de entonces, sobrepasaban -o conectaban bastante- con la inteligencia europea. Un libro para leer.

This passionate thriller combines the criminal events that took place in Buenos Aires in the '60 after the robbery of a bank, and the love story of two of the gangsters, the Nene and the Gaucho, who run away from the police until they are trapped in Montevideo and caught by the police. This is a vivid retelling of the police story - accurately supported by reports and news of the time - and an intense, deep, and emotional love story that will overwhelm the reader. Too much emotion, too much passion... I think it is worth reading a book like this.

I have the distinct impression that there are large and powerful forces in the United States who most definitely want to forget about, not know about, and or leave undocumented important cultural movements like the Black Artists Group documented in Benjamin Looker's book. If you watch the series on jazz that Ken Burnes did for PBS in the '90s, for example, you will be informed absolutely nothing, zero, zilch, about the extremely talented, re-structuralist (to use a term of Anthony Braxton's) musical artists (and forget about the poets, playwrights, dancers and visual artists)in this book.
In other words, ACCORDING TO MAINSTREAM USA MEDIA, THE PEOPLE IN THIS BOOK DO NOT EXIST AND NEVER EXISTED.
The extremely fertile cultural movement exemplified by BAG, which was inspired by the great creative music organization founded by Muhal Richard Abrams in the early 60's called the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, phenomenon of this type is IGNORED to an extent that is really CRIMINAL. And I am told by people involved in this music scene (which still exists and thrives despite the neglect) that PBS will fund, produce and/or broadcast a series on the AACM, BAG and other collectives like it probably around the same time that HELL FREEZES OVER. I have seen Laurence Welk reruns on PBS, and Ken Burnes pathetically mediocre jazz series. But the AACM and BAG.... oh, well, never mind.
If you have any interest in quality art that speaks to the human condition and creativity, music that can make you really think and feel, I strongly recommend that you buy this book. Please.
This is the book I was thinking about writing myself, but never even came close to getting around to doing it. My life is just to loony and disorganized I guess. Benjamin Looker actually makes extensive use of an interview I did with on the the BAG founding members, Floyd LeFlore, (who I have played many concerts with and who happens to be one of the best friends I ever had). Floyd and I actually perform 2 of his poems with music on an album of mine, Consonants and Dissonants (Vid Recordings) by David Parker. (It's not listed in the books discography because technically the album isn't LED by a BAG member.) You can find the CD if you search Cadence Magazine's website, as well as someday on my website if I ever get the Vid Recordings website back on line (what I wrote earlier about being hopelessly disorganized).
It occurs to me that Laclede Town, which is written about fairly extensively in Benjamin Lookers book, should be documented a lot more in books. It is a neighborhood, brimming with an idealistic vibe, that sprang up in st. Louis in the 60s, that no longer exists. yet another historic reality that the powers that be doesn't want you to know about. I lived there for maybe 5 or 6 years old, our house just a stone's throw
away from LaClede Town's Circle Coffee Shop and Bookstore, (although I had no interest whatsoever at the time in the music that Oliver Lake and Floyd LeFlore were playing there). I remember attending Berea Presbyterian Church. Actually I remember very little, other than a general, and to me very very important highly idealistic and loving vibe that I think the USA needs a lot more of. (I actually heard Oliver Lake say the same thing, more or less.) I hope someone writes a book about Laclede Town.
Is there anyone out there reading this who grew up and or remembers Laclede Town. You are more than welcome to write me (ranpar2000@yahoo.com). I would like to hear your memories.
Dominic Schaeffer (his family, in fact, is an interesting story) has a little article about Laclede Town on the internet, http://www.thecommonspace.org/2003/10/communities.php . Dominic endorses this book as well.
Oliver Lake, by the way, endorses this book on his website.

Oh to hell with it, let's just forget the past and become a bunch of mindless zombies repeating what they tell us on TV. Thinking creatively just takes too much effort.

David Parker

The Civil Rights Movement (and urban crisis) inspired African American artists to explore political and cultural issues through various experimental media including theater, visual arts, dance, poetry and jazz. As artists created collectives in major urban centers like Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and New York, this "Black Arts Movement" (BAM) flourished from the mid-1960's through the 1970's.

St. Louis was home to one such collective, the Black Artists' Group (BAG) from 1968 to 1972. BAG was not the best-known BAM collective, nor the longest lived. But a close examination of its intensely productive life is instructive as it uncovers the impact of racial dynamics, debates over civil rights, black nationalism, and the role of the arts in political and cultural struggles found any time social concern meets artistic innovation.

As the author states, "Although the critics' gaze has focused mostly on the coasts, a richer, more complex, and more problematic vision of the Black Arts Movement emerges when regional cooperatives such as BAG are brought back into the light." Consequently, the book is more than simply a role call of famous innovative artists nurtured by BAG (Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, and Emilio Cruz, to name but a few) as the author explores issues of controversy such as the recruitment of funding from white liberal sources...crucial to both BAG's founding and ultimately, its dissolution. But dissolution was simply another beginning as members moved on to play dominant roles in other spaces, both in the US and abroad.

The book is thoroughly researched and documented; the author conducted over 50 interviews with BAG artists and others, transcripts of which now reside at the Missouri Historical Society (when permitted by the interviewee.) I appreciated Looker's clear and concise style - his prose flows naturally and is a joy to read. I would have liked more images of visual arts, but this is a minor criticism and perhaps not even a fair one, since I've no idea of what's available. Additional resources include a discography of recordings led by BAG performers, 1970-73.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in the Black Arts Movement.

This is a most accurate account of daily living in a small Iowa town. The subtlety of the author's descriptions can only be fully appreciated by one who has grown up in that environment. Bauer makes no apologies for the foibles of the townspeople, but neither does he seem to satirize them. His insight into the people of Prairie City adds a natural warmth without lathering up with any undue sentimentality.

I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in small towns in the Midwest - and what makes them tick.

Enjoyed his slice-of-life descriptions of people he spent time with. At first I was puzzle at the choices of characters, all men (incuding his father)and mainly those who did manual labor. Where was the rest of the town? Then I realized that he examining the people that he (and me) had least understood growing up.

A bouquet of roses from the garden given as a gift sets off tragic events. It is a time when family, values and ethics were strong and rigid. This mid 1800s historical fact novel is a love story in samll town in Missouri. The author has done her research when she stayed true to the customs, mannerisms, speech, dress and lifestyle of the times.

"Pride of Missouri"is a book inspired not by fiction but historical events which did have bearing on development of the Owens family in Missouri. It is worthy and interesting reading especially to those who love the mid-west and greatly appreciate living in a part of this great nation where the values which founded America still have strong emphasis and influence.

I really loved this book. It's not just "short stories" but a carefully crafted work that interweaves the lives of the characters throughout. At the end, another complete story has revealed itself. A very cleaver and difficult thing to accomplish. What I really liked is that the stories didn't get showy and exaggerated. It left me feeling like these were real people that had interesting lives that were worth hearing about. Van Winckel's other books are a treat as well.

This collection of short stories, connected by common threads of gypsys, quakes and troubled lives, was one of the most enjoyable books I've read yet. I practically read it cover to cover in a single sitting, it is that enthralling. If I have a complaint, it would be that it ended too soon, before I was ready to put it down. I recommend this book to everyone.

for those nay sayers, here is yet another text that reveals how "color lines" still exist, and more than likely always wil. read and follow his footsteps for those who are not african american and want to see it again, hear it again, and feel it again...racism and discrimination against africans and african americans here in the U.S. in 2001.

If you need to know.. this will let you.. if you need to read about it ... this will tell you.. pick it up read it and pass it on.