Mississippi Books

The collaborative effort of Gordon A. Cotton and Jeff T. Giambrone and extensively illustrated with black-and-white photographs and vintage artworks, Vicksburg And The War tells the Civil War era story of the "most Southern of cities" -- Vicksburg, Mississippi. This was a state which voted against secession from the Union, but became Confederate and contributed both resources and manpower to the Southern side when the Union's army came to bear upon the Confederacy. A wealth of anecdotes and a close study of the battles of 1861 and 1862 (as well as the devastating effects of the Union's occupation after Vicksburg's surrender), Vicksburg And The War is a powerful glimpse into history that emphasizes the lasting Southern spirit and a much appreciated contribution to the growing library of Civil War Studies.

Of interest not only to Civil War buffs but to all who follow our country's history, "Vicksburg and the War" offers an in depth look at much that has been overlooked. Generously illustrated this slim volume focuses on the people of Vicksburg, their hopes and the dreaded time of occupation.

As votes indicated the people of Vicksburg were not in favor of secession or the Civil War. However, when the Union army was at their doorstep and they were left with no alternative Vicksburg joined forces with the Confederacy.

Well over 2,500 men trooped off to battle. Many never returned. Along with other Southerners citizens of Vicksburg believed the war would end in a matter of days but the months wore on. For 47 days the city was under siege and then occupied by the enemy for a matter of years.

"Vicksburg and the War" traces military actions in that area as well as military occupation of one of the most "Southern of cities." Perhaps most poignant is the author's documentation of the feelings of Vicksburg's people.

- Gail Cooke

Walls of Light are the murals which cover 3,000 square feet of cinder-block walls in the Ocean Springs, MS Community Center. Walter Anderson saw the walls as a way that he could contribute to society and so he offered to create a mural for the fee of $1. The city provided oil paint and Anderson used it directly on the stucco surface of the block walls.
If you haven't visited Ocean Springs, you should. It's wonderful and the murals, as well as the town, will capitvate you.

Walter Inglis Anderson was that rarest of humans, a true visionary, so much so that the word "vision" weakly captures the fiery luminescence of his drawings, watercolors, and paintings. The works photographed and discussed in this book are perfect examples. Largely unheralded in his lifetime and for many years after his death in 1965, Anderson's work deserves more caring and careful studies like this. Co-published by the University Press of Mississippi and the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, this book presents astounding photographs as well as insightful commentary on the murals Anderson painted on rolls and sheets of paper as well as on the walls of the Ocean Springs Community Center and his cottage near Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs. This book is a must for all lovers of the ineffable, mystical qualities of seeing.

Waterwalk by Steven Faulkner is the story of a man's desire to connect with his 16-year-old son. Faulkner decided in 1996 to retrace the steps of Marquette and Joliet, the first white men to see the Mississippi River by traveling from St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, down to Green Bay, across Wisconsin on the Fox River to the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi and then down to St. Louis Missouri. It's a trip of over 1000 miles, and the two men made it in a canoe they named Natty Bumpo. I was intrigued by the book because Faulkner actually stopped and visited not only Green Bay, but Oconto, which is only 20 miles away from my home. Faulkner writes with an amazingly lyrical voice quoting poetry and philosophy about a wide range of subjects, but always weaving it gently into the narrative. Faulkner and his son Justin faced a series of adventures, and the friendliness that they encountered in Northeastern Wisconsin makes me proud to be a resident. The story would tend to lag in places, but the book begins with a major car accident, and a few details are carefully portioned out throughout the remainder of the book creating a sense of urgency and fear for the future. The book is beautifully written and was a joy to read.

The main setting for Waterwalk is a nine-week canoe trip taken by the author with his 16-year-old son, Justin, from St. Ignace, Michigan to St. Louis, Missouri, following the path of Marquette and other French explorers. This is no ordinary voyage or "travelogue."

In Waterwalk, Steven Faulkner skillfully enlists sun, moon, wind, water, sand and fire in bringing the reader alongside him, with his son, on their nine-week voyage. You are there. Through his eye for detail and his bracing poetic imagination, Faulkner renders a quintessentially American landscape into not only a mirror of its historical movement from rugged wilderness to industrialized heartland, but also into an arena for the manly exertions of a father seeking only to connect with his son.

Waterwalk is in turns humorous, haunting, exhilarating, even devastating, much as the courses of our lives unpredictably flow through both hardship and delight. There are encounters with "ghosts" here to be savored long afterwards. It's a lyrical odyssey I did not want to end. It reminds us of things we've lost as a society, but may yet recover, if we try. It's the best book I've yet read this year and I highly recommend it!

The information complied by Captain Way is invaluable to anyone interested in the towing industry of the " Western Rivers".
This book not contains names of vessels, but photographs and tid-bits of first hand knowledge.
This book has already become a prized addition to my collection.

This is by far one of the best if not the best research tool for looking up the towboats during the steam era. It list the boats what type, type of hull, who built it and where, and a complete history of the boat from begining to its end. With the Way's Packet boat Directory you have a total history of steam river transportation. Totally unsurmountable in knowledge for your research or just curiousity of the history of steam travel.It includes wonderful black and white photos that enable you to feel like you are ready to board and take a trip into time.

I agree with the previous review: Faulkner is an acquired taste. However, if you like his work and want to own some of his greatest novels without breaking the bank, this book fills the bill. It's a high-quality book. It's bound well, the paper stock is not flimsy and it holds up to reading after reading. I received mine as a graduation gift in 1997. Since then it's been read by me, some friends, family members and coworkers and it shows little wear.

These are some of Faulkner's greatest works. To own them under one cover for this price? You won't find a better deal.

You probably either love Faulkner's work or you hate it. If you hate it I won't argue with you. There are good reasons why you might not like his work (talk about acquired tastes). If you love him then you can't really find a much better deal than this book. "Absalom, Absalom," "If I Forget Thee Oh Jerusalem," and "The Hamlet" are some of his best work and you can get this book, which is a nice little volume in about every way, for about 2/3 of what you'd pay to get them seperately as paperbacks. I'm not overly impressed by what I've read of "The Unvanquished," and scholars seem to share my opinion, but with works as good as the other three I think a little filler is okay.

The Library of America (LOA) has done a wonderful job of publishing all of Faulkner's novels in five compact, uniform editions. Besides being handsome, beautifully typeset volumes, they contain the texts of one America's most brilliant authors in versions that are as authoritative as can reasonably be expected. All five volumes were edited by two of the foremost Faulkner scholars--Noel Polk and Joseph Blotner; and each volume contains their notes on the text and a detailed chronology of Faulkner's life (In case you ever find yourself wondering when Faulkner entered first grade, the year was 1905; he enjoyed drawing and painting.) The scholarship and care that went into the preparation of the LOA Faulkner is impeccable.

Within the LOA series, the novels are arranged chronologically (though the volumes were not released in sequence). Consequently, the present volume contains the last two novels (The Town and The Mansion) in Faulkner's great trilogy, The Snopes. To get the first (and critically proabably the best) novel in the trilogy, The ;Hamlet, you'll have to purchase William Faulkner: Novels 1936-1940 (ISBN 0-940450-55-0). Since that volume also includes Faulkner's masterpiece Absalom! Absalom!, it is worth the purchase price. In my opinion, it is impossible to overpraise The Snopes trilogy, and it is difficult to summarize its themes. Suffice it to say, the trilogy encompasses many genres (myth, folklore, legend, realism, epic) while provideing an insightful and scathing commentary on the American dream, society, and the tension between traditional values and modernity. (Faulkner's insights make Theodore Dreiser look like an entertainment Tonight! reporter.) Although The Town has been called a "weak plank between two substantial boulders," I have to confess a fondness for its depiction of the goofy and sexually naive town lawyer, Gavin Stevens (also the hero of Faulkner's Knight's Gambit short stories). I would also venture to say that readers' uncomfortability with The Town may also be a reflection of the fact that this part of the trilogy represents the "real world of the present"--not our mythic past which we nostalgically recast to flatter our self-image (The Hamlet), nor an expression of our "wildest dreams," what we expect our life to be like "when our ship comes in" (The Mansion). Most of life, in other words, is taken up not with valiant struggles and bold accomplishments, but with the pettiness of domestic life and trying to get along with others. The Town (published in 1957), therefore, can be seen as the flip side of Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and all the other 1950s family sitcoms. Taken in that vein, I think it's a good satire and a delectable opera bouffe between two grand operas.

Daniel J. Singal in William Faulkner: The Making of a Modernist (1997; Univeristy of North Carolina Press) pinpoints November 1940 as the date when Faulkner's genius and talent began to irreversibly fade. While on a camping trip Faulkner, always a heavy drinker and surely already an alcoholic for many years, suffered brain damage when he passed out while drinking. If this is true, that means all three novels collected in Novels 1957-1962 were written during the Nobel laureate's waning years. Concerning the many passages of brilliant writing in The Mansion, Singal notes that many of these had been previously published as short stories and only reworked to become part of the novel. It is hard to imagine how The Mansion could have been better (though I'm sure there is no shortage of Faulkner scholars willing to suggest some scenarios). As far as The Reivers goes, I have long recommended this novel to friends who want to read something by Faulkner but are intimidated by the structural challenges of The Sound and the Fury or Absalom! Absalom! The Reivers is a nostalgic look at the early days of Jefferson (the key town in Faulkner's invented Yoknapatawpha County) told mostly through the eyes of a young boy. The story is linear and easy to follow, and the humor is some of Faulkner's funniest and most heart-warming. If this is Faulkner at his most diminished, most American novelists writing today should be so diminished!

So buy both Novels 1936-1940 and Novels 1957-1962 and treat yourself to The Snopes trilogy. Then, after you've finished it, rent "The Long Hot Summer" and see what a mangle Hollywood made of Faulkner's richly imagined world.

It is too bad that the first novel "The Hamlet" is not included (it appears in an earlier volume of this excellent series of The Library Of America) with "The Town" and "The Mansion" in this wonderful tale of growth and maturity of the outcast Snopes clan to a Snopes family of civic prominence. The three novels need to be read in their order to feel the strength of uneducated and poor individuals struggling for opportunities to better themselves, successfully, to claim the privileges of wealth that only the aristocracy of landowners enjoy. This is the new Yoknapatawpha County of automobiles and areoplanes. The old wilderness of the bear hunters was long ago paved over for speed. "The Reivers" is a long hearty laugh at innocence in a whore house. Told from a boy's viewpoint, the action is very adult and funny as adults pursue their urges for sex and gambling. The horse race is a fine piece of sustained Faulkner writing. Buy this book. It is a keeper.

Richard Clokey has turned out a well deserved and most admirable biography of early nineteenth century entrepreneur William Ashley. Those readers well versed in the fur trade era are no doubt familiar with the name Ashley. What many may not be aware of is his life before and after these adventurous years in the mountains. Clokey does delve into these fur trade years of the 1820's extremely well, giving Ashley credit for initiating the annual rendezvous by bringing the goods and commodities to the mountains in exchange for the furs; paving the way for the future Overland and Oregon Trails; exploring the Green River, etc., but he also brings to light the pre and post years of this time period. Before the fur trade years, Ashley was involved in lead mining, gunpowder production, land speculation, was the leader a voluntary ranger militia to thwart Indian hostilities and had a failed attempt at running for Missouri Governor. Many of these endeavors had their ups and downs and would discourage most people from pursuing any further attempts at business. The fur trade years went quite well, Ashley sold the business but remained the agent, banker and financier for the company to market the furs. Later he went full throttle into Missouri politics, being elected for three terms into the House of Representatives. Although a controversial figure while a politician (since he claimed himself an independent Jacksonian), he nevertheless had a complete career in this profession. An insightful book about a special pioneer of the early 1800's.

Without a doubt, William H. Ashley occupies a major position of importance regarding the development of the West. As the creator of the rendezvous system for resupplying his trappers beyond the Rockies, Ashley deserves a seat of high honor at the historical table. But he was also a tireless advocate for the creation of a mounted military force on the Plains and an important Jacksonian congressman in Washington. Richard Clokey, with style and thorough research, presents an admirable account of Ashley's life and exploits.

William Ashley was born in Virginia and came to Missouri after the Louisiana Purchase. He worked in the mines around Ste. Genevieve and later fought in the War of 1812, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the state militia after the war. (He was referred to as General Ashley for the rest of his life.) Along with Andrew Henry he managed the first expedition up the Missouri River for fur-gathering purposes in 1822, reaching the Yellowstone where they built a fort. The next year they were attacked by the Arikaras on the Missouri, and Ashley sent trapping parties on foot across the Plains to the mountains. The idea that trappers would form small detachments to work the beaver streams, thus increasing mobility and lessening the prospects of encountering hostile Indians, was the brainchild of Ashley's at this time.

In the winter of 1824, Ashley took a packtrain from St. Louis to Green River, venturing down that perilous waterway (thus becoming the first white man on record to do so), before returning to Henry's Fork on the Green where he agreed to meet the rest of his men (July 1, 1825) - the first official rendezvous in the mountains. The next year he did it all over again, attending the rendezvous in Cache Valley. There he sold his fur business to Jedediah Smith & company, and returned to St. Louis, a wealthy man. Politics became his chief concern after that, failing to win the governorship but serving three terms in Congress in Washington. He died in 1838 in St. Louis and was buried near Boonville, MO, on a high bluff overlooking the river. A large monument marks the spot.

Clokey's book is comprehensive and focuses heavily on Ashley's business dealings and political career. My favorite chapters are the ones where Ashley went to the mountains in 1825-26. The hardships the men encountered and the daring they employed (especially in going down the Green) are amazing to read about and imagine. The book is the definitive account of Ashley's life and a wonderful book to read. Old West history aficionados will find this book a must-read title.

Written in the bricks is more that just a beautiful coffee-table book. The stories contained in the accompanying text really highlight the uniqueness of Mississippi and its people. Rather than simply describing the photographs, the text invites the reader to see beyond the walls to the people who inspired the architecture and worked on the buildings. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the deep south, its architecture, and its heritage. I cannot recommend this book more highly.

The author and photographer have done a great job of making Mississippi's history come alive. The text tells a story rather than just repeating what is written in history books, and the photographs show both the beauty and sometimes starkness of the historical sites. A good choice for history buffs and for anyone who enjoys architectural history.

Younker did a wonderful job with this book. It's so interesting reading it, and knowing that I am a part of that family. (My husband is Jon Putman, son of Richard Putman, Bellevue. I think it's a good and interesting read for anyone whether interested in commercial fishing or not.

A native of Bellevue Iowa I realized how great this book was at captivating the real truth about what commercial fishing is about. I think this is a great book for anyone who is wanting to know more about the lives of people who Commercial fish. It isn't just a hobby, It affects the whole family. The book doesn't just talk about commercial fishing though. There is something in this book for everyone wanting to know more about growing up in a small town in Iowa. It talks about the commercial fishermans family and how they grew up. I recommend this book to anyone interested in small towns and fishing. I give this book Five stars!

Despite the title, Brodsky's work does take us back, back to the feel and joy of a youth spent in the North Woods and the places where youth ought to be spent. Great reading for those who just want to revel in the beauty of words descibing beautiful ideas.

This book is critical to any Nebagamon lover's library, alongside such works as Willy Stern's "There's an Old Southern Saying" and Brad Herzog's "States of Mind."

Great book, great memories, especially for anyone who's ever spent a summer in the North Woods. If the words "Sawbill," "Muggs Lorber" or "Upper Diamond" mean something to you, you'll find yourself reading these poems again and again.