From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #176 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Monday, October 23 2000 Volume 01 : Number 176 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 17:59:29 -0600 From: David Hansen Subject: [AML] Institutional Art As I am so close to the institutional church's music and art, I am a little sensitive to comments made that we should "take our culture back." If the institutional church does not set the culture, then what is the culture? If you seperate the culture from the church you have nothing IMO. So, I guess the thought that somehow the church and the church arts/ culture ought to be separated is wrong. Perhaps this runs into the didactic thread, but I can't help but feel that all art communicates. IMO, and as had been said already, all art teaches in the sense that any other communication teaches. You can't stop the communication of art, and therefore can't stop it from being didactic regardless of whether its sponsored by any particular organization. (If you don't like the institution's culture, that's a separate issue. IMO, I truly believe that the church wants to support the best artists out there.) You can certainly make artistic communication more subtle by using symbols (the ordinances of the church are a perfect example of this BTW) or ironies, but the art still communicates. Therefore, the question always is "what is being communicated?" So, I guess I'm in the camp that says that all art is didactic to some degree, its just the form of the art that people do or don't like. (Perhaps some on the list would like church music better if the music was less overt or more subtle? (Nah.:)) I do want to make the point that painting, and music communicate without words, and that this is still communication. Regardless of what the hymn words say, the music says something as well. This is why some music is so dangerous, and other music so powerfully good. There's no question that all church art needs to improve greatly. Finally I feel like there are enough good artists in the church to accomplish it, and I believe that in the next few years you will see an explosion of excellent church art, music, drama and literature which will bring our culture to a much higher level. (OK enough of the soapbox. See what happens when you get a lawyer started!) Dave Hansen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 08:01:12 -0200 From: "renatorigo" Subject: [AML] Steve Covey Here in Brazil, the best seller Mormon books are the books of Steve Covey, The Book of Mormon, and other scriptures...in this order. In his books he introduces Mormon doctrine about family, work, health, money, hapiness without saying this is Mormon doctrine....I really loved his books.. What=B4s the opinion of american critics about Covey=B4s books? Renato Rigo renatorigo@ig.com.br __________________________________________________________________________ Todo brasileiro tem direito a um e-mail gr=E1tis http://www.bol.com.br - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 01:00:48 JST From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] TAYLOR, _The Dinner Club_ (Review) Title: The Dinner Club Author: Curtis Taylor Publisher: Foreword Press, Camino, Ca. Publication date: 2000 368 pages. So far this has been an excellent year for Mormon novels. Margaret=20 Young/Darius Gray, Benson, Eric Sam., Hughes and Card (as usual), and novels= =20 I haven't read yet by John Bennion and Linda Adams. Well, add to the list= =20 _The Dinner Club_. While this is only Taylor's second novel (outside co-writing a juvenile=20 action series), he has been a presence in LDS literature for the entire=20 decade. The Invisible Saint (1990), was his first novel, a very funny=20 self-published fantasy/fable, including the only satire of the LDS=20 publishing market I have ever seen. (See Jeff Needle's review of the book= =20 in the archives). Around that same time Taylor and his friend Stan Zenk=20 became editors and part-owners of Aspen Books, where Taylor ghostwrote Betty= =20 Eadie's "Embraced By the Light", which became a national best-seller. In=20 1996 they bought the entire company, but then sold it soon thereafter. =20 While they were there in the early and mid-90s, Aspen put out some wonderful= =20 Mormon literature, including Margaret Young's Salvador, and books by Doug=20 Thayer, Donlu Thayer, Samuel Taylor, Marilyn Brown, Davis Bitton, Daniel=20 Peterson, Lowell Bennion, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Emma Lou Thayne, Maureen= =20 Beecher, Carol Lynn Pearson, Bill Hartley, Robert F. Smith, Robert Kirby,=20 and Benson Parkinson, and the "Christmas for the World" short story=20 collection. Aspen seemed like it was going to be one of our great=20 hopes—publishing quality, adventurous, but basically faithful fiction.= =20 Unfortunately, Aspen has done very little since Taylor and Zenk sold it,= =20 just publishing Benson's sequel, as far as I know. Taylor is also the=20 creator, writer, and voice for the nationally syndicated radio show "This=20 American Minute". (Thanks to aml postings by Stan Zenk and Morgan Adair for= =20 this information). So anyway, back to the book. To start out with, Taylor is a very funny=20 writer, and anyone glancing over the back cover of The Dinner Club might=20 come away with the mistaken impression that this is comic novel in the mold= =20 of The Invisible Saint. Well, there are funny moments, especially at the=20 beginning. But the book's core is a series of very unfunny tragedies which= =20 befall the central character, and the way he rallies his family together,=20 increases his faith, and is blessed with strength and unexpected blessings= =20 from the Lord. Early on the big-rig trucker-protagonist, Chris Young, is hit by a wave of= =20 unexplained nausea after stops to help the driver of another car. He goes= =20 into a bushy ravine on the side of the road to empty his stomach, where he= =20 discovers a car that had driven off the road the day before, with a woman=20 inside close to death. He calls the paramedics who are already on the scene= =20 helping the man in the first accident, and the woman is saved. His friends= =20 later tease him, saying usually the Lord sends us good feelings, not nausea,= =20 when He sends a message. This story sets the tone for the entire=20 book—the Lord using unpleasant circumstances to draw his children to= =20 places they need to be. The central tragedy is that Chris's wife, without much explanation, skips=20 town with one of their friends, abandoning the family. Taylor describes the= =20 devastation this act creates in vivid and heartbreaking detail. At the same= =20 time, his trucking business begins to fall apart. Fortunately, Chris is=20 blessed with a supportive ward and parents-in-law, and he develops a=20 relationship with his Heavenly Father which goes far beyond what he had=20 before. Taylor does a great job in creating an engrossing plot and=20 characters I care about; I was pulled into their world. The voice of the novel might not appeal to some. It is written in=20 first-person, with Chris telling the story. The narration reminds me of a= =20 Holden Caulfield-kind of style that I often see in juvenile novels, a smart= =20 (but put-upon) young person commenting wryly on themselves and the people=20 around them. It is the same kind of flip style that helped to make The=20 Invisible Saint funny, and keeps the mood from getting too dark in The=20 Dinner Club. I didn't mind it, but some, especially those with more=20 literary tastes, might be put off. Another thing that might annoy some, especially someone who has gone through= =20 these kind of tragedies, is how well (and how quickly!) things get resolved= =20 in the end. The speedy reconciliation of Chris with his estranged parents= =20 is a good case in point. I found it hard to begrudge the poor guy, after=20 all he went through in the first three-quarters of the book, but it did seem= =20 a bit forced. Still, the scenes of reconciliation and forgiveness are=20 beautifully done, and I'm glad they are in there. I wouldn't doubt that the publisher, Foreword Press, is simply Taylor's=20 self-publication, as he did with The Invisible Saint. Good for him for=20 getting his work on the market. It does result in a few typos a bigger=20 publisher would have caught, but nothing major. It isn=81ft something that= =20 Signature would publish, and there is probably too much, "questionable=20 material" (a good High Priest threatening his daughter with a starting=20 pistol, acceptance of a grandmother living in sin, talk of how righteous=20 parents can scare a daughter out of the Church, etc.) for Deseret Books to= =20 publish. It is the kind of thing that Aspen would publish if they were=20 still actively publishing. Most of all, I think the book does a great job at showing us a=20 disintegrating marriage. My brother went through a similar experience,=20 which probably why the novel resonated so well with me. Another powerful=20 voice has been added to the small chorus of good LDS writers, hooray. Andrew Hall Pittsburgh, PA _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at=20 http://profiles.msn.com. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 08:54:49 -0600 From: "Morgan Adair" Subject: Re: [AML] Signaturi >>> daryoung@yahoo.com 10/19/00 03:06PM >>> > >I had thought of Signature as just like any other >publisher (except those which are obviously >Church-oriented such as Deseret Book and Covenant):=20 >simply an independent press, one that may publish >things of which I do not approve or even which I think >are critical of my beliefs, but also which publishes >things that support my beliefs. =20 Your understanding is correct. The term "Signaturi" was=20 coined by William Hamblin of FARMS in the context of a=20 debate over Book of Mormon historicity. Signature was=20 unfairly demonized because it published one book that=20 figured prominently in the debate. The term probably would=20 have faded from currency, if not for a divisive and oft-cited=20 essay by John Redelfs, available at=20 http://home.att.net/~jredelfs/signatur.html MBA - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 09:19:35 -0600 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Signaturi - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darlene Young" To: Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2000 3:06 PM Subject: [AML] Signaturi (was: Alliances) > Rex Goode says, "But Thom, wouldn't that make me one > of the Signaturi? :)" And many others make similar > hints occasionally. > > Forgive my ignorance. I am new (newer than I thought, > I'm discovering) to the Mormon literature community. > But I have a question about something that everyone > else seems to already understand but never states out > loud: what does "being published by Signature" mean? In certain circles, Signature books are viewed as anti-Mormon. > one that may publish > things of which I do not approve or even which I think > are critical of my beliefs, but also which publishes > things that support my beliefs. This is a more correct definition of what Signature actually is. > I am sensing, however, that there more to Signature's > reputation than just being independent. There seems > to be a label that is applied when a person publishes > with Signature. Is such a choice symbolic of a > person's "throwing in" with some sort of a political > camp or admitting to considering him- or herself on > the "outside" of Mormon culture? In my view, the "bad rap" of Signature is entirely due to anti-Intellectual forces in the Church who confuse heterodoxy with heresy. > As someone who hopes to be working within the LDS > publishing community at some point in my life, I need > to be aware of any connotations that come with a > certain name. Please, someone, be brave and state it > straight out. I catch the hints but I'd like to hear > it straight. Signaure has published books that seem to call into question certain long-held beliefs of the Church. For instance, _New Approaches to the Book of Mormon_ is a collection of essays that posit the idea that the BofM is entirely a nineteenth century concoction of Joseph Smith. They go toe-to-toe with the venerable Hugh Nibley on some of his essays. Another controversial book they published was by B.H. Roberts, a collection of never-before published essays that ask serious questions about the origin of the Book of Mormon. Signature's _Perculiar People_ is a collection of essays and case histories of LDS gay men and women, some of whom make choices with their life that are not approved by current Church teachings. That should be enough examples to show the controversial nature of some of Signature's publications. Thom - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 10:30:13 -0600 From: Eileen Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Music > Christ did not listen to the music we do. The people he knew might not have > liked our music at all, because it would have been very foreign to them. > The music at Christ's time would have been highly rhythmic, perhaps even Indeed and what did He listen to prior to his mortal ministry and what does He listen to now? How does He judge music, what are His tastes, does He judge it from His time on earth or does He take the whole spectrum of premortal, mortal and postmortal existence. Would He be considered the perfect judge of music, literature and art? What does He read, what theatre does He enjoy most or approve? Where does He fit in with this argument at all, does He have a role in our artist creations, decisions, ruminations, rumblings, stumblings and masterpieces? Does He speak through only great art or literature or can he speak through a seemingly insipid song or the different rhythm of Ghana. Can we see Him in Picasso's art or my nephew's scribble wishing me a Happy Birthday? Where does Christ exist in all of this? Is that a good question to ask ourselves or am I really off base her and looking at the outfield instead of to home. Eileen Stringer eileens99@bigplanet.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 10:33:18 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Music >But in nothing do we show our imperial stripe more clearly than in our >music. I agree with the tenor of this post. The reality of it struck me forcibly when I was working at the MTC editing culture and grammar texts. One writer had spent several paragraphs explaining that we should not inflict our culture on other peoples along with the gospel--then proceeded to state that these Polynesian people needed to learn how to hold a "proper" sacrament meeting without the types of music they wanted to use. Apparently a "proper" sacrament meeting involves only lugubrious hymns accompanied by an organ, and never music in praise of God that involves some sort of drum in the background and people standing and swaying with the music. One bit of culture shock I experienced when I joined the LDS church was the lack of the more, um, spritely kinds of hymns I'd grown up with as a Baptist. It looks as though the Mormons adopted the dour Methodist hymns, but scorned what I learned to call "gospel music." I still miss "Bringing in the Sheaves" and "I Was Sinking Deep in Sin" and "Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus Our Blessed Redeemer." The last time I visited my mom's Baptist church, they sang a hymn about Jesus that made me sob with emotion. I still think that feeling deep emotion about the Savior is good, not bad. To be fair, we sang a hymn last Sunday to close sacrament meeting that also made me cry. But I really have no interest in hymns about the mountains of Utah. barbara hume - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 12:54:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Ed Snow Subject: [AML] Re: Signaturi? First, Dave Hansen, to your question, I'm still a practicing lawyer, but refer to myself often as a "repentant" (as if it were a sin), or "recovering" (as if it were a disease). So, So I'm still in the fraternity, I just can't figure out anything better to do. I'm trying to write a legal thriller spoof, something like _Good and Valuable Consideration_, or _Death and Taxes_, maybe about an anti-Grisham hero, a tax attorney who stumbles onto a murder plot. Second, Darlene Young wrote: <> My book _Of Curious Workmanship: Musings on Things Mormon_ was published by Signature Books. I don't view myself as any special kind of Mormon, inside or outside, unless you put me into the category of "Weird Mormon," but that'd be redundant. Signature appeared to me at the time to be the only viable publisher of humorous essays originally published on AML-List. I have appreciated their assistance. I will say, however, that the Signature "reputation" has kept my book out of your average Mormon bookstore. I can't even get the local Atlanta Mormon bookstore to carry it! I think my book is harmless. There's no agenda. Other publications by Signature are equally as harmless. Take, for instance, Ann Edwards Cannon's _What's a Mother to Do?_, also published by Signature Books. She's not some kind of an underground operative trying to undermine the LDS faith either. Yet (I assume) because she's known in SLC through her Deseret News column, the "Signature Stimga" doesn't seem to attach to her book in local bookstores. Ed Snow ===== Among best sellers, Barnes & Noble ranks _Of Curious Workmanship: Musings on Things Mormon_ in its top 100 (thousand, that is). Available now at 10% off http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=5SLFMY1TYD&mscssid=HJW5QQU1SUS12HE1001PQJ9XJ7F17G3C&srefer=&isbn=1560851368 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 15:12:48 -0500 From: Jonathan Langford Subject: [AML] Re: Proverb Query (Compilation) The familiar proverb (Beware of Greeks bearing gifts) probably evolved from Virgil's warning in the _Aeneid_: Equo ne credite, Teucri. Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis. (Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.) Sharlee Glenn glennsj@inet-1.com - --------------------------------------------------------------- >From Chantaclair@chantaclair.com Thu Oct 19 11:25:11 2000 Fear the Greeks bearing gifts. 19 century proverb. Virgil - equo ne credite, Teucri, Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferente. Do not trust the hourse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear teh greeks even when they brig gifts. Aeneid bk 2 Marsha - -------------------------------------------------------------- > Here in Brazil we use to say when we receive a gift we don=B4t like: This is the gift of a Greek... Example: Your daughter is going to complete 3 years old and your cousin gives her a little dog ( a poodle, for example)...and you discover that you=B4ll have to spend about U$50 a month to take care of the dog... :-))) Renato Rigo renatorigo@ig.com.br Brazil - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 11:05:43 -0600 From: "Cathy Wilson" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Music What a delightful post from Todd Robert Peterson. Two things I particularly liked: he acknowledged the (should be screamingly obvious but always-ignored) truth that other traditions have incredible musical traditions that we Mormons don't experience. I know the standard Church argument is that we don't want to call attention to ourselves by brilliant performance in our services but that has always fallen short for me. If we really ARE a world church (duh, are we?), then other musical traditions are part of our circle, no? The other is the reality that Christ came through a VERY different culture. I always say that most Mormons, as westernly enculturated as we are, would be stunned, shocked, overwhelmed and maybe a little displeased if we understood how totally Jewish Jesus was (I say displeased because many of the cultural practices are so very different--things we might look down on). Of course as a middle-eastern dancer who responds with deep soul to Gabriel's "Passion Sources" I was particularly pleased that Peterson mentioned that recording. Cathy (Gileadi) Wilson Editing Etc. 15 East 600 North Price UT 84501 - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: (No, or invalid, date.) From: "Marilyn & William Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Music Lovely "smidgeon of anger" letter, Todd. Having played music from the mid= dle east and Japan seven years of my life (flute) I can tell you what kin= d of music Jesus listened to, and that the "Ravi Shankar" types etc. are = absolutely fabulous. But I don't begrudge my fellow Mormons their "middle= classdom." (Which I just call Middle American culture--middle of the cou= ntry, middle of the stream, middle of life--the happy family cult) Lloyd = Miller teaches all of those cultural musics at U of U and anyone who want= s to enjoy them may have access. By the way, Todd, your stories are outstanding. They really get to me. = Enough that I have to shake them off! (Yes, I'm afraid I am effected--and= sometimes depressed) Which means you are SOME writer! You remind me of = Gabriel Garcia Marquez--(though it ain't feeling really "Mormon.") This = may be good. (I've wanted to write in the spiritual realism genre myself,= and have now found someone who is an expert at your age!) Powerful! I = still need time to digest! But let the LIST know we have one amazing writ= er in our midst! Marilyn Brown - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: (No, or invalid, date.) From: "Marilyn & William Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Signaturi Signature Books is a very classy, astute publishing company. But every = publishing company has a personality. One company likes different kinds = of books than another. One thing about Signature is that they are VERY = CAREFUL with what they print, and they have authors cut and trim, sometim= es in half, and they do beautiful books--with fine paper. And they are = willing to be "controversial." Yes, they are high class--probably our mos= t high class publisher in this area. (Perhaps except for Peregrine Smith = in Layton, which is now totally gift books, and national). But they would= not do a "Mormonish" book like Des. Book publishes, or a racy western = novel, like Cedar Fort. Or romance like Covenant, or perhaps a Sci Fi lik= e Cornerstone, etc. The publishing spectrum is as varied as the color of peoples' skin, and = with different tastes. I love it that way. I "celebrate the differences."= But it would be easy for any of us to talk about being published by Sign= ature as "signaturi" as though there is some "higher" class there. It all= depends on what you are and how willing you are to be yourself without = "climbing" the "publishing ladder." There are those of us content to lie = low around on the ground and look crystalized, like Salt Press. With aplomb! Marilyn Brown (And thanks to Darlene for FABULOUS notes for = the AML!) - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: (No, or invalid, date.) From: "Marilyn & William Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Steve Covey Covey has spirit! He's amazing! Although I'm sorry, I find it difficult = to read the style a bit! Marilyn Brown - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #176 ******************************