Mississippi Books

Ms. Pfister did a fabulous job of interviewing the female surviviors of Mississippi Gulf Coast's Hurricane Katrina and portraying the realities of that life-changing event. Ms. Golding spotlighted their struggles and triumphs in heart-rending photographs; she very aptly expressed in pictures these women's experiences which could not be expressed in words.

There are so many books out there on Katrina...this one grabbed my attention because it focuses on two groups often overlooked: women and areas of the Gulf Coast other than New Orleans. I had it on my Amazon wish list for months and I'm so glad I finally bought it. Beautiful black and white photography and touching stories from survivors. Wonderful effort to both archive memories and keep them alive.

This book is filled with raw emotions. This group of southern women show their strenth and courage as they tell us their first hand stories and experiences of living through Hurricane Katrina. As they tell in their stories, their nightmare didn't end when the storm passed - the story still continues to this day. The only difference is the emotions and attitudes sometimes change and the focus changes some. It is good to hear about all the different experiences and emotions - it helps to get a truer sense of things. I recommend this book. These women really are "Steel Magnolias" (if I could borrow that term.)

In this day of memoir overkill, this book stands out as exceptional in the genre because of its brutal honesty and fabulous photos. Author Blue interrogates (no other word) her mother about the reasons she stayed in an abusive marriage until the father (not the mother) decided enough was enough. The answers aren't obvious, but they are there--in the culture of the 40s and 50s, pre-feminism. I am sure there were many such dysfunctional families at that time, but who knew? Dirty laundry was not aired in public, let alone written about (that is, until Mommie Dearest smacked us in the face; maybe that book was more than merely sensational, after all). This book is painfully honest. The photos (most taken by the father, some by the author) give truth to the tale. Her whole life, the mother could barely manage a smile. One can only hope she is happy at last. (I found book because of the fabulous "links" and reader reviews on Amazon. I know now I will never run out of "good books", as I used to fear when roaming the isles of my local, small bookstore. Amazon is the greatest!)

Living On a Dream will keep you turning the pages with a wince and a certain hunger. Author Patt Blue's account--tragic, comic, searingly true-- is told through her own and her mother's words (from interviews). The book asks subliminally, why do women stay with men who are pathologically controlling? Finding the answer is akin to exploratory surgery. Blue is skilled with the literary scalpel. Her mother wears high heels and eye-shadow to greet her husband when he comes home each night from sales calls or sex calls.She wears heels to dance and sing while mopping the floor. She lives on a dream, losing hope long enough to divorce the man and remarry him three times. This life is an extreme case, yet it is not unfamiliar. The reader sees things amplified that she had perhaps not examined before. Read this book! Then be glad author Patt Blue got through her own childhood with the ability to seek health as she apparently has.

Patt Blue's book about her parents stands apart from the many memoirs I have read in the past seven years of memoir overkill. The appeal was in the way she allowed her parents to speak for themselves, adding her voice as counterpoint. (The father speaks through his photographs) The mother's voice is plainspoken. Blue's voice is reflective. Together, with a powerful story of submission and dominance (the parents married each other three times and divorced three times), the author has woven a personal story that reads like a novel. It was a page turner for me. As a woman not in the same dour position as Louise, Blue's mother, I was fascinated with her struggle to survive as the wife of a man who questioned her every move and kept her penniless while he played around as a Don Juan. Some of the bizarre scenes are as hilarious as they are depraved. Her daughter takes what she has learned from her mother's sad life and runs with every bit of positive energy she can carry. I was inspired by her will to overcome the heavy odds weighing against her. This book is her success.

This book is a must have if you're unfamiliar with the Louisiana area. The book allowed us to better plan our trip and make the most of our time to get in all the site we read about.

We used several guidebooks to plan a long weekend in southern Louisiana in connection with a family wedding in Lafayette. This was one of the most useful of the books.

The author gives a short 1 or 2-page pithy description of each excursion along with good directions.

Slightly more useful (to us) as a guidebook was Cajun Country Guide by Macon Fry and Julie Posner. I say this because that book also covers lodging (we were traveling overnight).

Two final notes: Neither guidebook covers the city of New Orleans itself; and every guidebook we read had the wrong area codes for many telephone numbers (Louisiana has 2 brand-new area codes -- 225 and 337)

I was able to use the information to customize an entire 1 week vacation for my family. If you like "out of the way" places and "different" things to see and do, this is the book for you. There should be a book like this for each major city in the United States.

Submitted by the author on behalf of a reader. "...The reason for my e-mail is to express my gratitude to you for your writings in your newest publication: Newton Ave. I have laughed and cried, remembered things I thought I had forgotten and, in general, marveled at how you so adeptly hit the nail on the head...so to speak...in your descriptions of this marvelous little town and its wonderful people. I'm not quite finished with these emotionally deep and simultaneously uplifting articles, but I wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed your work in case I get back to Clinton and am too busy to remember. See, your venture has already made a change in my life..." --N.A. from Clinton, MS

I absolutely loved this book. It's a must read for anyone from the 60's/70's as Rusty takes us on a trip down memory lane with references to great music and cutlure. It's also a journey into the pain of his life, as he celebrates it, at the same time.

I am amazed how relate-able these stories/essays are; no matter where you're from, growing up in this simple, yet magical time. The author weaves many wonderful yarns of memories and feelings brought together with poignant messages of reflective enlightenment and hope. I have read Rusty's other novels which are also captivating, but this is a more personal account that's truthfully uplifting! A well-recommended read indeed!

Requires a black man from England to slip behind the curtain and report on the quondam parlous State of african americans... He did it. You should read it. Who ever you may be.

Truly a good read on many levels-- as a travelogue, as a history review of a critical time in US emancipation.. It's all good.
And well crafted too; beautifully polished phrases encapsulate moments and people. Really, it's all good.

Gary Younge is a young British journalist of Bermudan descent, who decides to take a trip through the American South in search of some of the symbols of black culture he most identified with in his youth. Along the way Younge interviews a variety of activists, civil rights figures, and every day people, and comments on the landscape around him.

As an American living in Britain, this book was fascinating to me. Younge goes on a classic "fish out of water" tour of the US, but the racial twist makes the book all the more interesting. The book is at turns sad, thought-provoking, and even at times laugh out loud funny. (Check out the letter he finds left in a motel room drawer.) Younge is surprisingly fair in his interpretation of the culture he meets, giving credit where it is due, and genuinely seeming to see both sides of the story. This is surprising because the author freely admits to his Marxist youth: he (still) refuses to stand for the Union Jack, though he proudly rises for the playing of the Internationale. Given that background, I expected a much more harsh view of the US, but Younge manages to surprise me.

The book is a quick read, and I wish Younge had lingered in a couple of places a bit more: his passages on Savannah and New Orleans are unfortunately short. The book ends up more as a sociological/political book than a travel book, but Mr. Younge has all the makings of a great travel writer, with a keen ear for interestinc characters and dialogue, and an ability to evoke the essence of a place. Nevertheless, I can still strongly recommend this book to anyone: five stars.

Gary Younge is a black Englishman who decides to travel through the US South by bus, following the path of the 1961 Freedom Riders, who did such things as having their black participants use white-only restrooms in an effort to spur civil rights reforms. The Freedom Riders were key players in the US civil rights movement, and some of them were beaten or even murdered. Younge wanted to retrace their steps in 1997 to see if there was anything that would resonate with him as a British black man.

The book is successful on several levels: As a travelogue, as a history of the civil rights movement, and as an introduction to the South for the non-US reader. (A blunt hint from Younge to non-US readers: Avoid long-distance bus trips.)

To my surprise, Younge was generally positive about the US, despite some instances when he's exposed to modern racism, such as being turned away from an empty motel. Although racism lingers, Younge seems impressed that the US has dealt with its sordid past of racial oppression in a more constructive manner than Britain has. He marvels that US blacks can salute the flag and be patriotic without feeling hypocritical, whereas he, as a British black, finds it impossible to salute the Union Jack or to feel patriotism as a Brit. All in all, it's a fascinating treatment of the American South and its complicated history of race relations.

Spain fascinates me for some of the same reasons that intrigued Richard Wright when he wrote this book a few years before his untimely death. Wright ascertains that Spain is a contradiction,a holy nation that does ungodly acts, a superpower from the past trying to find its way in the modern world. Wright's main issue is exploring religion, namely Roman Catholism but along the way divulges his insights into a society plagued by it's past and present which at the time(1954)was still under Franco's influence. One of the more interesting aspects of this book is his discovery of a little book all young women must read and memorize. It turns out to be a sort of indoctrination to being "Spanish." Take an excerpt from Chapter 1, "Spain is a historical unit with a specific role to play in the world." This role is tied to religion and the conversion of all, by any means neccessary as exemplified with the conquest of the Americas; the gold and riches were just a by product of the divine nature of the conquest, a sort of earthly reward. Further on in the book destiny is defined as "all men in a common movement for salvation." In essence the belief is that Spain although no longer a superpower will be fundamental in the salvation of the world.Wright reads chapters of the book throughout his travels and shares them with the reader. Some of the Falangist concepts about Imperial Spain and how it pertains to the current state of affairs is amazing in it's ethnocentrism. The ideas from the Falangist book are worth reading this book for alone. Along his travels Wright sees the contradictions everywhere, racism, sexism and exploitation of women is rampant but sex sells, for it's price. So much for the high morality. One section is entitled " Sex , Flamenco and Prostitutuion" in which he explores this part of Spain that goes against the teachings of the church. Wright tries to live the life as regular people do and see it through their eyes. He buys a poor family a ticket to the bullfights and learns more lessons and observations on Spanish life. I found this book hard to put down and read it over a few brief settings while listening to Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" as interpreted by Miles Davis on "Sketches of Spain". The material is fascinating and makes you think about many things especially if you happen to have Spanish heritage in your veins somewhere. Highly insightful and worth reading for the perspective of an outsider. Recommended reading from high school to adult although it might offend some Catholics.

I'm a fan of Wright's but had not heard of this book. It's one of those you start reading and it just fascinates you so you can't put it down. Part travelogue, part social critique, this work of Wright's is refreshing because we see it through the eyes of someone who hasn't be educated or socialized out of believing what he sees. I've always felt that in some places Catholicism is practed in a cult-like way. Wright shows how much power the Church had and what the results were.

This book had, says the introduction, been out of print for many years before being briefly republished several years ago. If anyone is able to purchase or obtain this work, they will find it an insightful view into a Spain still largely unknown by and officially protected from America and much of Europe. It was written in the mid-fifties after Wright had taken three journeys to that country. His argument is that Spain is still pagan: a primitive land untouched by the outside world for better or worse. On one hand, the Spanish practice an almost superstitious, certainly paternalist Catholicism which straightjackets women and suspects the few Spaniards daring to practice Protestantism. More positively, Wright finds, Spaniards have no race consciousness derived from outside sources. Wright notes that though obviously of African background, he was not discriminated against in terms of accomodation, dining, or socializing. He talks with a variety of Spaniards. Many question the Franco regime; are anticlerical and sceptical of Spanish values and history. Wright's descriptions of the often intimidating landscape, of bullfights and the celebration of Holy Week in Seville, are excellent. He maintains a basic criticism of the domination of the Church throughout.This brought adverse reaction when the work originally appeared, during an ultra-conservative era when religion was considered a bastion against communism. Wright 's sympathies for Spanish women, be they housewives, prospective brides or prostitutes, is farseeing. He understands the stereotypes women are subject to, especially in such a traditional society.Wright, an ex-communist, still had nostalgic feelings for the fledgling Spanish Republic. The Civil War is a subject only mentioned in confidence to him, so then recent was that struggle. For anyone wishing a broad-minded, well-written portrayal of a country that has fascinated many writers, "Pagan Spain" would be very worthwhile.

As a close friend of the author's grandson, I have become familiar with the town of Natchez and have a new respect and connection with my history as a Southerner. An incredible book to say the least. Pilgrimage is among one of my favorite books, and I must say that my grade at school has been caught up in the "splendor of the Old South in Natchez as a result of reading it! I believe all ages should read this extraordinary book as it stimulates the imagination of the reader.

I loved this book about the old south and the before- and -after of the civil war. Louise Collier's personal family saga captured me and transported me back to fragrant gardens, dusty roads, magnificent mansions and a family I fell in love with. Add this to a tour of the historical homes of Natchez for a wonderful treat.

As a frequent vsitor to Natchez I am well aware of its grandeur and mysterious intrigue. As the sister of Charleston, Memphis, and New Orleans, Natchez has become the symbol of steadfast glory in the Old South. Mrs. Collier has captured the story of the Walworth's in extensive detail. Based on the events which actually did occur in Natchez from the early 1830's to the 1920's. Thius fabulous novel expresses trully the joy, beauty, great tragedy, and majesty of the Walworths in the little rivertown of Natchez.

This is a wonderful book. Schwalbe has a clear voice that exposes the full humanity of these men, Reet and Shine, without romanticizing them. It is a powerful look at the socio-historic context of race, class, and gender in the South as experienced by two individuals. This book is strongly recommended.

Sociology professor Michael Schwalbe presents Remembering Reet And Shine: Two Black Men, One Struggle, a double biography of two black men who coped with the societal racism of early twentieth-century America and the pressures of their own families in dramatically different ways, yet both of whom saw their defenses crumble as the became older. Matthew Mason adopted the persona of Dr. Reet, a witty entertainer; while Anthony Atwater became Shine, a street-smart stud and a capital player at both love and violence. Both men would turn to drink to ease their problems, and nearly destroy themselves before finding peace for themselves in old age. A straightforward account that does not herald either man as heroic, but simply offers their profile in an attempt to understand their need to reconcile the demands of being a man with the limitations imposed by social forces.

This is the most engrossing nonfiction I've read in years....Schwalbe writes elegantly, subtly, incisively and heartbreakingly. You won't forget his account of the final years of two old black men...The only thing this book lacks is somebody famous "discovering" it.....Whatever happened to Oprah?

This book is a great buy for anyone interested in Ridley Scott or in filmmaking in general. His interviews if looked at closely reveal mountains of filmmaking knowledge as it goes through most of his major motion pictures in a series of varying inteviews dating from around 70's to when the book was published. True film buffs might get a good bit of pleasure out of this text as well.

I've been a fan of Ridley Scott's films since I first began to study film as an art form and not just as something to do on a weekend. Your eyes are never bored, he constantly produces great images to take in and transport you to new worlds. The level of immersion he allows an audience to indulge in is amazing, there are not too many other filmmakers who are able to do this.

This interview book starts at his early beginnings at art school and his long and lucrative foray into the commercial world and proceeds chronologically through Matchstick Men. There is some mention of Kingdom of Heaven, but no heavy material, as this book was published around the same time this movie came out.

Although a couple of the articles were somewhat familiar to me, most were first time reads for me, and so the book was very fresh and informative. Some of his lesser known or less popular films like White Squall and 1492:Conquest of Paradise have some very good making-of articles and were the most surprising. Much is discussed about Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise, which is a given, but this doesn't diminish their interest.

What unfolds is a well drawn picture of a man who didn't start making features until he was nearly 40, whose film career has had its ups and downs over the last nearly three decades, yet who has not tired of making pictures that stretch over vast and small spaces and will hopefully continue to innovate and challenge audiences for years to come. I highly recommend this book for his fans, and for those who have taken even passing interest in his films.

I usually own all the movies directed by my favorite directors. Even their lesser achievements often prove to say a lot about them. And you usually get to understand the man (if not know them) through their filmography.
I must admit that I never thought of Ridley Scott as one of my favorite directors until I read this book. I never actually realized that I actually own all his movies! and the reason for that is because I was not always connecting the themes and constants all along his career. If you take Alien and Thelma&Louise, one could wonder what is the link between the 2 films. I am not saying that we should always try to connect every filmmaker's movie to his previous ones but after reading Ridley's interviews, I really started understanding the man's endeavour. All through the interviews, spreading from 1975 to 2000, he actually never discusses politics or mystical matters. He is a filmmaker with a pragmatic approach to his art. Coming with an art director background, he likes to build his movies. At some point, it is said he likes to create universe. And this is the connection between all of his movies: the sets speak for Ridley. He seems to take acting very seriously as well so he is not just painting on the surface; content does matter equally as the surface but Ridley works in subtle touches. He obviously demonstrates through the years that he leaves nothing to chance.
Highly recommanded.

This is a well written account of someone who was on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. As Dr. Sellers recounts his life as a "black militant", he gives us first hand insight of not only his, but "others" involvement in this historical movement. His details caputured my soul and touch my heart. Not only did I have the opportunity to read the autobioraphy of Dr. Cleveland Seller, he was also my long time advisor and professor at The University of South Carolina. This book is as well written as his first hand accounts.

I know Cleve Sellers quite well, he's currently a history professor at the University of South Carolina and his students are fortunate to get firsthand accounts of the Civil Rights movement from a lesser-known, but NOT a lesser player in these events. Readers of his book are forutante too, for here you have verfiable firsthand accounts from a man who lived through this stuff and paid heavily for it. In about 40 years, the generation who lived through the Civil Rights movement will no longer be with us, and it is good that documents of this kind will be around to let future generations know what it was REALLY like.

However, it's worthy to note that his closing chapter, on the chaotic state of Black leadership after the Civil Rights movement, is still dead-on traget although it was written in 1973.

This is a reprint of a well-written personal account by a SNCC member and Howard University student. I am glad to see this book back in print. It will give an insight to the young and not so young who, because of the media's almost exclusive focus on Dr. King, have been lead to believe that the only important aspect of the civil rights movement was the "I Have a Dream" speech. Cleve Sellers gives us an up close and personal report on some of the key leaders of SNCC, especially the late Stokely Carmichael (known later as Kwame Ture), who later became, for a short time, the Prime Minister of the Black Panther Party and for many years the primary organizer of the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party.

Sellers shares many of the behind the scenes relationships between SNCC and other organizations and details the tactical and ideological differences which engaged the energies of the SNCC membership.