Georgia Books

The autobiographical thoughts (Zagajewski himself does not like describing this volume as "memoirs") collected in "Another Beauty" are truly delightful. I am not sure if they can make a reader who never experienced life in the Communist system understand it (hardly anything could...), but at least they make a valuable source and can explain a lot of its mechanisms and difficulties of people living in Poland then. Probably this was not the main purpose of this tome (which appeared in Poland at the end of the 1990s) anyway...

The memories of the author's student life in Krakow (which seems similar to the Krakow I know, although I was always there only as a tourist and much later) are mixed with thoughts on music, poetry, people and life, and with short images of the surrounding world, all written in a subtle yet sharp manner, which reminds the reader that Zagajewski is a poet. His metaphors and vision of the world are fresh and original. While reading, I was tempted to write down many sentences as they are universal and wise.

Adam Zagajewski is one of the most important contemporary Polish poets, and although he is erudite, being a philosopher, a writer and a man of great personal culture (a representative of Polish intelligentsia, a class, which hopefully is not extinct yet), he is also very modest and critical towards himself. His prose is full of subtle irony and humor.

"Another Beauty" is a pleasure to read, and, although I have read the original, I am sure that Claire Cavanagh's translation (she is also a translator of many of Zagajewski's poems) does it justice.

Another great tale from this descriptive story teller. If you've read the first one, this one is a MUST READ! If you didn't read the first one, then you've missed one HECK of a great book. I can't wait for the third one!

What an enlightening perspective on the magnificent joys of trekking in the north woods of the great state of Georgia. I read it nightly to cleanse my soul in preparation for a pleasant night's sleep. My family and I exalt the book and its detailed maps adorn our living room walls. Our most heartfelt appreciation to the man who composed this mighty work.

This was my first by archaeology report. I hope you like it.

This is a book not just for Atlanta residents, present or past, but also for anyone interested in history, or in remembering a simpler time. From the small-town roots described here, Atlanta has grown into a major metropolitan city. Learn the origins of the top-secret Coca-Cola recipe. Go behind the scenes at the premiere of the classic Gone With the Wind movie in Margaret Mitchell's hometown. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Art and Enterprise: American Decorative Art 1825-1917: The Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta is a catalogue of the collection as of the date of publication. Catalogues of exhibits and collection have always been a wonderful source of knowledge and this one is superior even in this elite category. The collection's goal has been to represent the period from 1825-1917 in American Decorative Art with masterpieces whose superior quality is matched by their historical significance. This goal is key to this book as a major focus in not just the object but the history of the manufacture or of those involved in the object. With a total of 227 objects arranged chronologically by style, this book is a wonderful reference for this period.

No one can cover the one great writer of the modern world, James Joyce, like Professor Roy K. Gottfried can. Hats off to you, Mr. Gottfried! This book is a treasure, a must-have for any Joyce enthusiast!!

Rebecca Solnit's Savage Dreams is one of my favorite books, and this compilation of essays covers some of the same territory. She writes insightfully about the visual arts, the environment, and feminism in a way that causes us to look at the world differently. Her passion for the desert and its fragile ecosystems is especially evocative. I particularly liked her essays on dirt and Carlsbad Caverns.

Unlike a lot of criticism, her writing isn't overly difficult to read, and she infuses much of it with humor. She covered some artists whose work I love and introduced me to new ones. While reading this book, I have found myself thinking about language and space in new ways. The writer also asks us to question our relationship to the world in a powerful way.

A sad undercurrent meanders throughout Ed Allen's collection of short stories, "Ate It Anyway." The Flannery O'Connor award-winning volume for short fiction focuses on middle-class America and its failed quest for a meaningful and lasting happiness. The characters usually speak about their inner lives in a confessional-style prose. Often the protagonist will reminisce about a past that seemed so much better than it truly was.

The opening short story, "River of Toys," encloses a revealing thought, "A neighborhood is whatever anyone wants to remember about it." What makes the characters poignant is their self-knowledge of drowning in the mire of an average life they abhor. The notion is most striking in "Burt Osborne Rules the World." The short story's title soon becomes apparently oxymoronic as the character of the title's name laments, "I could have done a better job of being Burt Osborne." He peaks during sixth grade, the height of his unique individuality, and then dives headlong into mediocrity.

In short, Allen covers the terrain of an unfulfilled life like a consummate foreign correspondent. Memory turns out to be an ever-increasing bubble that holds characters within its isolated limited world of the past while pushing out the possibilities of living in the present and having any hope of a joyous future.

Bohdan Kot

ATHENS, GEORGIA: CELEBRATING 200 YEARS AT THE MILLENNIUM is an elegant look at an elegant city. Athens is, as Conoly Hester writes, the town that education built. Home of the oldest state-chartered university in the nation, Athens honors the ideals of the Greek heritage echoed in the name it chose for itself. With sumptuous photographs by Terry Allen, this book brings to life a community rooted in the Old South but striving always,with great self-assurance, to reach for ideas that will generate the future. Through thoughtful sketches of the enterprises of Athens, Al Hester shows what continuity and creativity cam mean to civic life. Just as important have been the arts and athletics, and Conoly Hester weaves them into the lore of the town. Perhaps it is the anchoring presense of the University of Georgia that has given Athens the confidence to build from its past on the wrong side of the Civil War an enlightened city that incorporates into its psyche all the complexity, anguish and joy of 200 profoundly useful years. The Hesters have done so well by Athens that every city in America will want them to write its profile too.