A Marriage Made in History

Wed, 05/24/2006 - 8:48pm by Eartoground

Modern marriage may seem to be in flux, but most of what we see today has been seen before, according to Stephanie Coontz whose book Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage is featured this week in five-minute e-mail chunks at DearReader.com. The book came out in hardback a year ago and in paperback in February. Coontz also wrote the popular 1992 book The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap.

Jane Kenyon- 1947-1995

Tue, 05/23/2006 - 6:25pm by Maxine

Today, May 23, is the birthday of Jane Kenyon. She was born in Ann Arbor in 1947 and attended the University of Michigan. Her first book, Let Evening Come was published in 1990. Kenyon's poetry is known for its quiet yet profound reflections and in her years with her husband, Donald Hall, on her life with him at their farmhouse in Wilmot, New Hampshire.

Her final poems describe her struggle with depression and the leukemia which finally took her life in 1995. Shortly before her death, she and Hall were interviewed by Bill Moyers for a television documentary, A Life Together. Following is a poem that pays tribute to her dog, Biscuit:

Biscuit
The dog has cleaned his bowl
and his reward is a biscuit,
which I put in his mouth
like a priest offering the host.

I can't bear that trusting face!
He asks for bread, expects
bread, and I in my power
might have given him a stone.

Peter Viereck, Pulitzer Prize poet, has died

Tue, 05/23/2006 - 6:10pm by sernabad

It's been a hard for month for poets. Last week, America lost two noted Pulitzer Prize winners -- Stanley Kunitz died at age 100 on May 14, 2006, and now Peter Viereck has passed away at 89.

Viereck was as passionate about his idea of conservatism as he was about poetry. He won the 1949 Pulitzer for his very first collection of poetry, Terror and Decorum.

As we are seeing by today's headlines, Professor Viereck's strong beliefs that "...conservative is not to be satanic..." could be part of the national dialog.

Professor Viereck died May 20, 2006.

Deconstructing the 'Mommy Myth'

Mon, 05/22/2006 - 2:49pm by ulrich

If you are interested in feminism, motherhood and the ways that the popular media are portraying and shaping the image of mothers be sure to watch Susan J. Douglas speak on her book The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined Women on Ann Arbor's Community Television Cable Channel 17. Douglas, Professor of Communications at the University of Michigan, examines how the mass media have promoted a conception of motherhood which result in unrealistic demands on women. Based on extensive scholarly research, the book is an accessible (and occasionally humorous) look at popular magazines, radio and television and their portrayals of the 'ideal' mother. The program, part of the Library's Sunday Edition author lecture series can be viewed on Tuesday, May 23 at 3:30 p.m.; Thursday, May 25 at 1:30 p.m.; and Friday, May 26 at 5:00 p.m. Video recordings of the program are also available to be borrowed from the library in both VHS and DVD format.

Anniversary of a famous crime

Mon, 05/22/2006 - 1:53pm by Maxine

On May 23, 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, bank robbers accused of twelve murders, were gunned down by a law enforcement posse in Gibsland, LA.. Romanticized by the film, Bonnie and Clyde with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, the real life criminals grew up in poverty striken families in rural Texas. When the Depression came, they hit the road, devoted to each other and knowing their ultimate demise was death. Cult heroes like Robin Hood or Jesse James, they embodied a fantasy of freedom for the downtrodden.

For another great gangster film, try The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid in which Jesse James and Cole Younger join forces to pull off one of the most daring bank robberies in the Old West.

Leonard Cohen--I'm Your Man

Sun, 05/21/2006 - 5:17pm by Rich

This summer, movie audiences can look forward to major Hollywood films such as Miami Vice, directed by Michael Mann, Superman Returns, directed by Bryan Singer, and Lady in the Water, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

For those looking for an alternative to the summer blockbusters, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man might be just right. Long-time fans of singer and writer Leonard Cohen will especially enjoy seeing Cohen himself reflect on his life's work.

For those new to Cohen, the library has many of Cohen's albums and writings, including
The Essential Leonard Cohen, Cohen Live, The Best of, and I'm Your Man.

Ten New Songs, released after Cohen spent several years in seclusion as a Buddhist monk, is also available in the library's collection.

Cool Mystery Series for the Grade School Set

Sat, 05/20/2006 - 9:43am by Edith Wharton

You may know all about Encyclopedia Brown, and the Hardy Boys, but have you ever heard of The Stink Files? Here is a list of some great mystery books for grade school readers.

For the kids who like Magic Tree House:
Cam Jansen Mysteries: Cam Jansen is a 10 year old girl with a photographic memory.
A to Z Mysteries: Help Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose solve crimes and misdemeanors.
Jigsaw Jones Mystery: Jigsaws puzzles are like mysteries: you've got to look at all the peices to solve the case!
Third-Grade Detectives: The Third Grade Detectives solve strange school mysteries!

For the more sophisticated reader:
Horace Splattly: The Cupcaked Crusader: Horace Splattley is a fourth grade super-hero!
The Stink Files: James Edward Bristlefur, British secret agent and international cat of mystery.
Chet Gecko Mysteries: Bruce Hale's hilarious animal noir stories are not to be missed.
Sammy Keyes Mysteries: Sammy Keyes is a feisty and fearless sleuth who gets in lots of trouble.

So Funny it Hurts

Fri, 05/19/2006 - 5:53pm by Brad B.

When coming under a vicious, stinging fairy attack Clemency remembers her Peter Pan and firmly, quickly, and repeatedly asserts her disbelief in fairies... but her aim is a little off. Now she has to go on a quest to save all the fairies she killed.

Read Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer, by J.T. Petty. So funny...so,so funny...tears...down the face...side-hurts-must-top-funny...

*This has become a recent favorite of mine so I had to mention it. Just curious though if anyone has listened to the audio version. I'm wondering if the clever wordplay translates well into the audio realm.

Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate in 2000, dies

Fri, 05/19/2006 - 3:52pm by sernabad

Stanley Kunitz, the United States Poet Laureate in 2000, died in his home in Manhattan on May 14, 2006.

Mr. Kunitz, who graduated from Harvard in 1926 with a BA and in 1927 with an MA, enjoyed a prolific career that spanned more than eight decades. His brilliance was recognized with one prestigious award after another. He won a Guggenheim in 1945-46; the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1959 for Selected Poems, 1928-1958; the National Book Award in 1995 for Passing Through: The Later Poems, New and Selected; the National Medal of the Arts at age 88 in 1993; and the highly coveted Bollingen Prize in poetry in 1987.

Mr. Kunitz attributed his longevity to his love of gardening, writing, and oh, yes, the occasional martini.

Mr. Kunitz would have been 101 on July 29th of this year.

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #22

Fri, 05/19/2006 - 1:47pm by muffy

I frankly cannot remember the last time a debut thriller generated such buzz. Library Journal, Booklist, as well as Publishers Weekly all gave John Hart’s The King of Lies starred reviews.

Critics are calling it ”stunning…, an exceptionally deep and complex mystery thriller”; “The writing is beautiful and the story is gripping, but it is the character study… that puts this debut novel on the must-read list.”

At the center of the mystery is Work(man) Pickens, a struggling North Carolina attorney with some serious baggage – one of them is being accused of his father’s murder. You won’t want to miss this one.