Tennessee Books

Cassandra, in classical lore, is the prophetess who is thought a madwoman. Likewise, Cassandra McDaniel, the frail young teen-age invalid of Cassandra Singing, has to live on her inner visions of the possibilities of life. Her longing and imagination, captured in David Madden's ear-perfect dialogue, extend dangerously to the world outside the small bedroom she shares with her tortured older brother Lone. Though this is Lone's story of courting danger-of fall and recovery-it is Cassie's journey too, one that brings their nearly incestuous brother-sister obsession to a dramatic resolution that hints at new life. In Cassie's own words: "This mornin', I think I got as close as I ever did to what must be God ... comin' back to life is like risin' up to touch God, who put it in you" (p. 196). Set in the 1950s in the God-haunted hollows of East Tennessee, Cassandra Singing opens a window on a world of shocking poverty and human waste, but also uncovers a rich and redemptive human drama in unlikely hearts. For greatest enjoyment of the poetry of the language, the flow of the story, read it in as close to a sitting as possible!

Although this book was printed in 1961, it is still considered the "Bible" of Tennessee cave exploration. Approximately 700 different caves are located and described. Maps and photographs accompany many of these cave descriptions.

Special sections at the beginning of this book give information on the origin and development of caves, cave speleothems, and the variety of animal life found in caves.

This book is a wonderful source of information for both begining cavers and experienced cavers. Every serious Tennessee caver has a copy of this book in his/her library.

This book is the ultimate and only guide to the adoption laws of Tennessee. I refer to it all the time.

This book is a great compilation of chancery court records covering the years 1830-1866. I liked the way that the authors included a summary of the vital records abstracted from the court records. I would have liked for it to have contained a full name index as the surnames I'm researching are fairly common surnames. I do feel though, that this should be a minimal concern because this book contains a vast amount of insite into the lives of those who lived in Bedford Co. TN during that time. This book should be in the personal library of those who are researching lines in the Bedford Co. TN area between the years 1830-1866.

As richly textured as the rest of Nelson's work, this book brings the Honest Women series to a satisfying conclusion. Nelson writes with grace and a sympathetic eye for human frailties. Never one for clear-cut conflicts and easy solutions, Nelson portrays life at its most convoluted and, sometimes, frustrating.

Who'da thought that anyone would research and write about the history of linoleum? Or that an enjoyable book would emerge? The topic is actually the whole range of decorative materials that began to be used around the turn of the century to let middle-class people's homes look upper-crust (i.e., as if they could afford marble floors and ornately decorated plaster ceilings).

No ... wait. It's really about the triumph of middle-class values ... and one of the earliest advertising campaigns (aimed at convincing Mrs. American Housewife that she simply had to rush right out and buy this stuff, 60 years before Ring Around the Collar but the same strategy).

It's a seriously researched academic book, but the good news is that it's cleverly written, jargon-free and doesn't take itself too seriously.

Chickasaw the Scout is a relative of my wife and the story is family legend. It describes in detail how a Southerner is conflicted about the WBTS and how important preservation of the Union was to Levi Naron. Chickasaw was Chief of Union Scouts (spies) for the Southern Campaign and served Sherman, Grant, and others in the TN, MS, AL, GA theaters of operation. Needless to say, he could not return to Chickasaw County, Mississippi after the war because of retaliation from his neighbors so he relocated to Kansas on government land grants where his family still resides.

Upfront, I shall state that this is NOT a book for the casual reader, who just wants to learn a little bit about the Civil War. This is for the reader who wants to learn a lot about a little known topic.

Those who think of Civil War medicine at all think of biting the bullet, of high mortality rates, and of disease killing far more than wounds. The truth is that surgical anesthesia was readily available, the 11% death rate at Chimborazo is right in line with major hospitals on both sides, and the 2:1 disease to wound death rate [on both sides] is the LOWEST of any 19th. century war.

Chimborazo, named for a volcano in Ecuador, was the Confederacy's largest hospital, providing care for about 70,000 patients during our Civil War. Located on East Broad Street, it was part of a group of three major, and around fifty lesser, facilities that cared for the vast tide of sick and wounded pouring into Richmond. The Confederacy, of course, was a whole country invented de novo, and its medical establishment was no different. Actually, this is one area where the South had advantages...under the strong hand of Surgeon General Samuel Moore, the South enjoyed much greater administrative stability than the North. Further, the hospitals in Richmond established ties with The Medical College of Virginia, and had the equivalent of a modern journal club. Far from being primitive witch doctors, the Confederacy's Medical Officers were engaged in constant research and training, doing everything possible to provide state of the art care. That their "art" wasn't our "art", is, naturally, not their fault. Mrs. Green makes the point that the Civil War occured at the end of one medical age, just prior to the start of another.

The book has a hero and a heroine in the persons of Dr. James Brown McCaw, and Mrs. Phoebe Yates Levy Pember. For Mrs. Pember, see my review of "A Southern Woman's Story". Dr. McCaw was in the middle of a long line of Military Medical Officers, and had the tough job of commanding Chimborazo; he made it work, right to the end, though at times military regulations did get stretched. [Hawkeye represents a very real type...been there, done that] The patients ate, stayed clean and got the best care possible.

Mrs. Green has divided her book into sections, each giving a different aspect of the story. Chimborazo was, to a large extent, a self contained city; it had its own laundry, kitchens, jail, factories, even a farm that sold butter and eggs, and a bakery that sold bread. The hospital kept running to the end, and beyond. [the Yankees were said to be quite afraid of Mrs. Pember] The supply lockers, and the financial account, remained in good shape. In fact, President Davis stated that the Medical Department was the only part of the country not to become demoralized.

Today, no original building of Chimborazo remains. The land contains the Confederate Medical Museum, housed in an old National Weather Services building. The Hospital, and Confederate, flags still fly. Dr. McCaw is the namesake of the Library at MCV [along with Captain Sally Tompkins-see "Richmond's Wartime Hospitals"], and has a memorial plaque at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Mrs. Pember wrote her story in a wonderful book that's still in print.

This review is kind of personal for me; my great grandfather, Dr. Alexander Smith Hufford, was a Confederate Medical Officer, and I have spent over 30 years in Military Medicine. I live in a suburb of Richmond, walk where they walked, and kneel at the Altar where Dr. McCaw knelt. Mrs. Green has written an absolutely wonderful book. Read it to be inspired, and impressed.

Introduction for Tennessee Reed's appearance
at the WordTemple Poetry Series
Santa Rosa, California
February 9, 2007

When asked, I've told people that I began writing poetry as a young girl; that I would sew my poems into small books with colored yarn and then stash them under my bed. When I left home as an adult at age 17, I threw the poems away. So right away, I'm jealous of Tennessee Reed. She kept her poems.

Tennessee Reed has written five books of poetry since she first began writing at five-years old including Circus in the Sky, written when she was 11-years old, Electric Chocolate, written between the ages of 11 and 13, Airborne, written from ages 13 to 19, and two books that are combined in the book she has here tonight, City Beautiful and Animals & Others. These poems were written from her junior year in college into 2006.

Composers Meredith Monk and Carman Moore set Tennessee Reed's poetry to music for "Face the Music," a live performance work by The Children's Troupe of Roberts + Blank that premiered in Oakland's East Bay Dance Festival. Ms. Reed has given poetry readings from the Netherlands to Japan, from Germany to Hawaii, and throughout the United States. She is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Mills College.

Tennessee Reed's poems often appear to be just straight-out narrative reporting. This is what I saw. This is what I heard. But when you put those experiences together, a new unsaid experience is created; this is where the magic happens. The gold leafed dome of a city hall + homeless human beings equals what? Two news anchors dubbed "Barbie" and "Ken" give warnings about "American black bears." On the surface, it all seems innocent enough. But read the quote by the park ranger and you'll know this poem has a lot more to say than something about hungry, delinquent bears in Yosemite and, indeed, about the media machine itself.

By the time you finish reading City Beautiful, you come away feeling close, somehow, to Tennessee Reed, she has shared so much about herself and how she sees, hears and investigates this world. There is no hesitation. The opening poem of City Beautiful, "Choosing Sides," lets us in immediately, and there we stay.

Please welcome Tennessee Reed.
-- Katherine Hastings

I purchased this book before moving to Nashville and it was a tremendous help. The City Smart series breaks down a town into sections or even communities and then tells the reader what is available in that immediate area in a number of categories: entertainment, food, lodging, tourist attractions and more. All the places with in the book have been rated according to the author's personal criteria but when she said Brown's Diner has the best burger in Nashville, she wasn't kidding. Her rating scale is fair and very accurate. Easy to read maps are included in each section, with a larger one at the back which makes learning and navigating a new town a cinch! I found this book to be an invaluable resource for my relocation to Nashville. I tend to have lots of friends and family visit and it's been a fabulous tool for that. I've purchased other books in the City Smart series as well and was quite pleased with them, also. Even though I lived in Kansas City for 30 years, I found things in the City Smart Kansas City book I was completely unaware of. I am certain the City Smart Nashville book has increased my pleasure of living in Nashville. If you are visiting Nashville, looking into one of Nashville's fine colleges or moving here, you NEED this book!