Illinois Books

Giannone notes a "uniformity of attitude" among critics and suggests that their focus on seeking "the source of sin" in O'Connor's characters "cramps debate." Suggests that critics should, instead, focus on how her sinners "atone" for their sins.

Examines the empowering and "joyous aspects of O'Connor's fiction" and contends that it illustrates how her writings may be viewed as a "work of intimacy and ennobled humanity." Offers careful and detailed explications of virtually all of O'Connor's fiction as reflecting her own overlooked "great tenderness of spirit" and "controlled abandonment to love."

Reader's who find this work useful will want to track-down Giannone's, Flannery O'Connor: Hermit Novelist. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois Press, 2000 which focuses on O'Connor's themes of the desert life, ascetic spirituality and self-denial. Frequently cited, he has also written more than a dozen other essays and articles on O'Connor in a variety of other citical anthologies and journals, including: The Flannery O'Connor Bulletin, Studies in Short Fiction, Thought, Religion & Literature, Christianity and Literature, and Literature and Belief.

R. Neil Scott / Middle Tennessee State University

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This text is the result of the author's exhaustive inter-disciplinary research seeking to identify the origins of the three "fleurs de lis", as armorial emblems of the kings of France. The search probes the Dark Ages and beyond, encountering references to the legends of Troy, the Holy Trinity, Saint-Denis and more, all reflected in the royal lily banner.

William M. Hinkle is professor emeritus of art history, at Columbia University, who tells the complex tale of how the "fleur de lis" evolved into royal French emblem, and a sign of God's favor.

Hinkle, provides 56 plates to illustrate the text, plus detailed appendixes that explain the finer points of the origin of "fleurs de lis".

The bibliography provides a wealth of resources and offers materials divided into disciplines, thus: 1- Heraldry, Sigillography and Numismatics; 2- History; 3- Literature; 4- Art.

In the arcane, almost mystical processes at work in the evolution of the symbolic/heraldic representation of French kings, this book is vaguely reminiscent of James Frazer's "The Golden Bough", as it touches on the mystique of kings and the mythology of kingship.

A delight to the eye, this book is handsomely presented in startling French blue with gold lettering, all wrapped in a similarly colored parchment-like dust jacket. It is very well done.

Hinkle's work should be in the library of every serious Europhile and anyone else who has an interest in the art, mythology, heraldry, religion, literature, etc., which underlie the development of Western Civilization: the premier cultural achievement of mankind ---- don't leave your castle without it!

An excellent book about the history and hauntings of the historic Avon Theatre located in Decatur, Illinois! This theater was brought back to life by one of the authors, Skip Huston. If you haven't yet been to the Avon, read the book and then go for a visit. You'll find yourself looking over your shoulder and wondering what visitors you can't see...or maybe you will!!

I just saw the full page ad in the New York Times Book Review on the California Book Awards,which noted that "Flights in the Heavenlies" by Ernest Finney received a Silver Medal for fiction. I was really happy to see that this book has won this recognition, because I enjoyed Finney's delicious collection of stories enormously. The characters in "Talus," the final story, are still hovering around in my imagination.

Flower Gardening In The Hot Midwest: USDA Zone 5 and Lower Zone 4 is the ideal manual for beginning and intermediate Midwest-based flower gardeners. Linda Hillegass draws upon her more than twenty years of Midwest flower gardening experience to write a practical, encouraging, "user friendly" guide covering all the basics for flower gardening in the difficult climate of the American Midwest. This is a region that extends from South Dakota and Nebraska east to Indiana and is hallmarked by searing winds, intense sun, unrelenting summer heat, as well as bitter cold in the winter and sudden shifts in temperature. Flower Gardening In The Hot Midwest offers the aspiring flower gardener effective strategies for choosing plans, preparing the soil, watering, pruning, and combating pests. There is also a gardener's chronology of how long and how frequently specific plants can be expected to bloom. Flower Gardening In The Hot Midwest is an essential reference for all gardeners and horticulturalists seeking to raise flowers in this difficult agricultural zone.

This book is a brilliant burst of poetic prose, with some sentences having such remarkable images that I had to copy them down to keep for life. It retells the period from 1969-1971 in Kate Millett's life, when she was roughly treated as the cover subject of Time on Aug. 31, 1970. It details the early feminist movement and its opposition by the reactionary male right.
It also speaks graphically of her sexual encounters with both men and women, but always poetically and tastefully. I think it's one of the best books of the last half of the twentieth century. I would recommend it to anyone, but I'll never lend out my copy: That stays in my house forever for frequent future reference.

Various Artists -- Folksongs Of Illinois #1 and #2 (Illinois Humanities Council): This ambitious project, spearheaded by folk singer Bucky Halker, attempts to compile the rich musical history of Illinois, which, thanks to its blend of agriculture and the commerce of Chicago, mixed the tradition of the large variety of ethnic groups that settled in the state. Mixing vintage recordings with contemporary performers, you get everything from pure folk to blues to polka to western swing and a whole lot more. On Volume 1, Halker finds a lot of great story songs, many of which are specifically about the Land of Lincoln, such as Henry Spaulding's "Cairo Blues". Halker himself does a nice rendition of "The Dying Miner", while Jon Langford and Kelly Hogan duet on "Mississippi Flood" and I'm particularly fond of Janet (Freakwater, Eleventh Dream Day) Bean's sober reading of "The Hanging of Charlie Birger". But you also get to hear vintage tracks like "Jay Gould's Daughter" by Carl Sandburg (!) and "Lonely Cowgirl" by The Girls of the Golden West, not to mention a fervid version of "I'm Coming Home" by The Staple Singers. The second volume is devoted to fiddlers, and Halker and co-producer Paul Harris run the gamut of fiddle music -- there are tracks from Sones De Mexico Ensemble, Pat Roche's Harp & Shamrock Band, and Nordic Cowboys, rubbing elbows with renowned jazz violinist Johnny Frigo and bluegrass-country star (and Illinois native) Alison Krauss & Union Station. There are good old fashioned hoedowns (like "Sail Away Ladies" by Artie P. Crowder & The Tennessee Railsplitters) and bluesy ditties (check out "Without a Dime" by "Banjo" Ikey Robinson). This is academic but alive rather than bloodless and, for my money, a more interesting history lesson than anything Sufjan Stevens has conjured up. Mike Bennett, Capsule Reviews: August, 2007

Finally: the first authoritative history of the Wabash Railroad Company: a saga of politics, engineering miracles, business history, and more. Wabash emerged from many small firms and developed a system which would serve as the midwest's gateway system to major cities from Chicago to St. Louis, expanding to New York in the 1890s. A lively survey covers the Wabash company's innovations, evolution and achievements, with vintage black and white photos throughout.

A very rivetting and hard-hitting collection of essays! A must read for anyone interested in social issues and the African American experience in America.

Mama I went in the library looking for your step it down, however, you stirred me in a different direction. I enjoyed this book so much, I felt you with each turning page. I love your legacy and you, Thank you!