From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #908 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 Wednesday, November 27 2002 Volume 01 : Number 908 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 00:16:21 -0700 From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] New DB Policy D. Michael Martindale wrote: > Where's the arrogance? Unfortunately, there's plenty of it to go around. We tend not to notice arrogance when we support the outcomes it fosters, but that doesn't change the fact that the literarily liberal are no less guilty of it than the literarily conservative. Which is the part of this whole situation that distresses me the most--that we have lept to our villainizing rhetoric and blanket denunciations of whole groups of people in the name of our own visions of right and righteousness. A tactic that seems unlikely to generate useful solutions to a set of real and important issues. There's plenty of arrogance to go around on this one. On both sides. We shouldn't lose sight of that, in my opinion. Scott Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 00:06:49 -0700 From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Adultery and Consequences Tracie Laulusa wrote: > It is one thing I have observed in Mormon culture, and while it may > also be in other Christian cultures, I haven't observed it there > because I'm not there. Somehow we think we can control every little > thing that goes on in our minds. I have found from personal > experience, and talked to enough people to know I'm not alone in that > experience, to know that you can not totally control thought and > feelings. Thoughts pop into our minds, and feelings sometimes have > minds of their own. > > Entertaining those thoughts and feelings is another thing. Most of us > have the ability to choose what we do with those thoughts and feelings > once they are there. However, even then sometimes getting rid of > them, or channeling them to another path can be a very long process. > More than humming a hymn in your mind for a few moments. It may be > humming a hymn every time the thought or feeling comes around for the > next three years--or praying about it, seeking heavenly guidance, > instead of gratifying your own desires. There's a long and interesting discussion to be had on this topic, but I'm not sure how well it fits within AML-List guidelines. Still, I'll try to slip a few thoughts in and hope Our Esteemed Moderator will indulge me a bit. Where does an impulse come from--such as an impulse to ogle, lust, overeat, flip someone off, smile, hug, or weep? Certainly some impulses are social or cultural, some are physical or biochemical, and others are a combination of the two. What is the nature of the impulse to mistrust strangers, and is it only a learned response or is there a biological component? What about physical attraction? Does the fact that we have an impulse toward a sinful act mean that we're evil? You distinguish between having an impulse and entertaining that impulse, apparently accepting the idea that some impulses are not the result of conscious choice--but that our response to the impulse is a matter of choice. And yet people throughout history have not made that distinction (mortification of the flesh, anyone?), and many Mormons currently don't distinguish between an unplanned impulse and a chosen consideration resulting from the impulse. Perhaps we believe that if we are righteous enough we won't have such impulses, that the Holy Ghost will protect us from even the appearance of them. Yet even Christ was tempted by Satan, and even Christ would like to have shrunk from the bitter cup. And had he responded to those impulses he could have failed in his mission as redeemer. But he didn't fail, even though he faced both the impulses to do so. I think this idea is one that's worth discussing in fiction, but it's difficult to do it well. There are many ways that people respond to impulses, some of them good and some not. What is the relationship between physical impulse and free will? If a body is part of being like God, does he also feel physical impulses that are not entirely under his conscious control? If so, is learning to both recognize and respond to biochemical impulse a specific and intended part of our mission in this life? I know that my own body is especially good at manufacturing the chemicals of both aggression and despair. I literally feel a jolt just prior to the release of the chemicals that push me toward rage--a lucky thing for me, because I've learned to pay attention to the physical urges my body feels and to intentionally redirect and control them. As a teenager I wasn't nearly as good at that and had a tendency to react with both physical and emotional violence. I think we sometimes get hung up on the idea of "as a man thinketh, so is he" to mean that if we even consider an idea that we are somehow fallen and evil and unclean. We come to fear the very real fact of physical or chemical impulse. Sometimes our imperfect brains fire off a random synapse and all kinds of odd ideas pop into our heads--sometimes even grotesque or sinful ones. (I've told the story before of the time it occurred to me to wonder what it would look like to see someone shot in the chest--as I stood on stage during the performance of a play while holding a prop gun, which I promptly pointed at the lighting technician. I had no desire to kill him, but the mental impulse occurred and I acted out knowing that action to be harmless. Later the mere fact of the impulse led to some lengthy introspection.) It's hard to consider these issues without looking like we're excusing bad behavior. It would take a skilled storyteller to explore the interaction of body and mind and spirit. Because our theology is one of the few to include a specifically corporeal god, it seems that we have a unique insight (or at least a unique set of conceptual solutions) on those questions. Can we explore the nature of impulse without necessarily excusing it? Can we do it with style? Are we willing to try? > >From what you said of this particular book it doesn't sound like she > deliberately made a decision to seek out Michael or to cultivate her > feelings for him. They were just there. Maybe there was more to that > interlude than you had time to state in your post. Does she want to > commit adultery or does she want to be happy? Naturally, if she is in > a rotten relationship, something that offers an alternative looks > really good. But she struggles with her feelings, sublimates them to > what she feels is right, and tries to make a go of her marriage. > Seems like a pretty moral and upright scenario. I can't speak to Evans' storyline, but I do have a generic problem with the "love conquers all" idea that's often expressed as "love justifies all sins." This last idea is what I think some readers have responded to in Evans' book--not that she faces the impulse to seek happiness (a godly impulse, IMO) or even that she feels the impulse to adultery, but that she believes adultery to be a sin and yet justifies her extended entertainment of that sin in the name of love. Some would argue that's a slippery slope to justification of any impulse, good or otherwise. But what is love? Is it a mystical thing that takes control of the soul and won't allow any rebuke? Is it an intellectual construct? Is it biochemical response fired off by a complex combination of visual, olfactory, experiential, and physical factors, the subconscious mind's attempt to encourage behaviors in the machine of the body that will lead to well being or an escape from pain or injury? A mix of the above? Is love really something that cannot be denied? Is love a choice, or is it something that happens to you? Is love necessary to a successful relationship? Is it necessary to exhaltation--at least the romantic form of it? I don't think it's as easy as we often try to make it. And I'm pretty sure it's not as easy as Evans tried to make it, though I don't know because I haven't read his book. I guess I have to now. Evans should send DB a huge thank-you card for making his book a must-read this holiday season. Scott Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 02:32:17 -0500 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: [AML] Snide Remarks on DB Controversy My "Snide Remarks" column in this Sunday's Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) is as follows. I thought it would be of interest to the list. "An Embarrassment of Richard's" By Eric D. Snider The Daily Herald http://www.harktheherald.com When you think of stores that sell pornography, probably the first name that springs to mind is Deseret Book. But those purveyors of smut are finally cleaning up their act, starting with a refusal to sell Mormon author Richard Paul Evans' trashy new novel, "LaVonda Does LaVerkin." No, I am kidding about the title. It is called "The Last Promise." It is about an American woman living in Italy with her Italian husband, and this Italian husband is emotionally abusive, and later physically abusive, too. So the woman develops a friendship with another man, and they share some hugs and kisses (but no sex), and she realizes she should dump her worthless spouse for this other guy if she ever wants to be happy. I read this book very quickly, the way you would wolf down an intestine sandwich if you were compelled to eat one. I can say that it (the book, not the sandwich) is better than Evans' "The Christmas Box," though that is not much of a compliment, since the Hanta virus is also better than "The Christmas Box." But my point is, "The Last Promise" is a fairly good book, as far as romance novels go. Deseret Book hasn't pulled it from its shelves due to a lack of quality. If quality were part of the criteria, they wouldn't persist in selling things like "The Book of Mormon Sleuth." (Actual description from the back cover of this teen novel: "Whether it's how to solve everyday problems, escape from the clutches of a demented thief, or solve the mystery of Aunt Ella's cellar, Brandon's scriptures never fail him.") The decision on "The Last Promise" stemmed from the content of the book: Though there is no sex, the woman in the story does have an emotionally intimate relationship with a man who is not her husband. This can be viewed as a form of adultery, which is a no-no among most of your major religions. One of those religions is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns Deseret Book and whose members make up, I don't know, about 100 percent of Deseret Book's clientele. Now, I could go down to Deseret Book and make a list of other books they sell that have content far more objectionable than what's in "The Last Promise." That seems like something I would do, and it would get me out of the office for a few hours, because I would probably go to the movies, too. But Deseret Book has beaten me to it. They have announced that they are systematically going through all the titles they sell and removing the ones that don't match their customers' "core values," as Deseret Book president Sheri Dew put it. You are already thinking that the Bible contains some very graphic sex and violence, yet Deseret Book has no problem selling it. That is another matter, though: The Bible, while depicting sinfulness, also generally depicts the woeful effects of sinning. "The Last Promise" shows no long-term ill effects of the woman's relationship; in fact, it's not even portrayed as sinful. I think the woman probably makes some mistakes along the way, but I also think she ultimately does what's best for her. Why stay in a loveless relationship? Because you need help with the rent money? There are a lot of gray areas in life, and this book explores one of them. In the world of Deseret Book, however, there is no gray, only black and white (mostly white). DB apparently doesn't want to burden its customers by making them think about the gray areas, the parts where divorce is sometimes the best option and where a close friendship is more valuable than a dead marriage. There is a stifling air of perfectionism in the magical world of Deseret Book. Things are very cut-and-dried in the books they sell there. If you say your prayers, read your scriptures and go to church, life will be fantastic. Sure, there will be bumps along the way. But they will be temporary, and easily overcome by praying, reading and going. If you find yourself stuck in a life that is somehow more difficult than that, then it is surely because you have failed to repent of some sin along the way -- it is your fault, in other words. I hope Deseret Book is wrong about what its customers want to see. I hope people can read a story about someone who makes a difficult decision and, whether they agree with the decision or not, find some good in the story. I hope people can see that some situations are multi-faceted, with no clear-cut right answer. But mostly, I hope Brandon can solve the mystery of Aunt Ella's cellar. Because seriously, what's DOWN there? - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 13:21:52 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon (and Other) Culture Richard Johnson wrote: > > my conclusion about Deseret Book is, "So What". Wal Mart, not > only has the right, but it has the ongoing policy of ceasing to carry > merchandise that fails to meet certain criteria. It also, as a matter of > policy moves the merchandise around to different areas of the store or > department in order to force the customer to examine new groups of > merchandise while looking for the old familiar stuff. I have cursed those > policies many times, but I seem to still go to Wal Mart. No one forces me > to go into a store that irritates me, but I find that the advantages > frequently trump the disadvantages. Wal-Mart is not owned by the church, and no church members assumes that Wal-Mart policy defines moral principles as taught by the President of the Church or Jesus Christ. > Deseret Book, as a company, has, as far as I'm concerned the absolute > right to sell, or not to sell anything that is legal. Of course it has that right. That's why I'm not marching in with the sheriff and demanding the reinstatement of Evans' book. > They may establish > policy ,and I, as a customer have the right to weigh the disadvantages and > advantages of patronizing their store(s) or not. Yes, and I also have the right to vocally declare my opinions of their policy. But you won't find me reacting like any good card-carrying liberal would when something happens they don't like: I won't be suing Deseret Book in court for first amendment rights violation. I won't because they _do_ have the legal right to make the choice they made. And I have the right to call their decision morally bankrupt. > What I am getting at, is that it is not a particularly Mormon > characteristic to close ranks against what is perceived as the "other" nor > is it a particularly Mormon characteristic to open arms and embrace the > "other" . These are both human characteristics that exist in almost all > societies, religions, etc. The "everyone else does it" argument does not sway me. Sure, plenty of other religions have the same close-minded reactions to things they perceive as "clashing with their values" that Mormons do. But if we are the true disciples of Christ that we claim to be, we should strive to do better than everybody else. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 01:14:19 -0700 From: Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Need Info on Child Abuse Recovery Mary Aagard wrote: > I'm doing research on child sexual abuse recovery literature >targeted to Mormons or even Christians. I know that Cheiko Okazaki >has a talk on tape about this, but I'm having a hard time finding >any books, etc. written by a Mormon, for a Mormon about dealing with >sexual abuse. If anyone has any ideas, etc, please let me know. >Thank you. BYU Studies just published a book titled _Eternal Values and Personal Growth_ that deals with this and other problems while trying to improve psychological health. The introduction states, "This book is addressed to the normal cross-section of Latter-day Saint young adults, single or married, including those who suffer from the common distresses and obstacles in becoming mature in their ability to grow and cope. It is also useful to younger and older persons. It is not addressed to those with clinically diagnosable mental disorders, but suggestions are made about how such individuals can find professional assistance and integrate it, if they wish, with the self-help outlined in this book." The author, Allen E. Bergin, was a professor of psychology at BYU, and this book is being used in a course at BYU called "Psychology and LDS Perspectives." The book is available from the BYU Studies web site at http://byustudies.byu.edu/ I hope this helps. At the very least it has a good list of references in the bibliography that may point to what you're looking for. Marny Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 01:04:04 -0700 From: "Nan McCulloch" Subject: [AML] re: New DB Policy You can buy the new Richard Paul Evans book at Costco for $13.00. Why = would you want to buy it for full price at DB? They have the worst = prices in town. =20 Nan McCulloch - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 15:34:43 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] New DB Policy "Eric R. Samuelsen" wrote: > C) For a Church that's obsessed with public relations, we sure suck at it. Among all the insightful comments you've made, Eric, over your career on AML-List, this is probably one of the most insightful of all. And perhaps points out the most destructive consequence of the Deseret Book fiasco. Mormons now look even more stupid than ever. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 17:43:42 -0800 From: Jeffrey Needle Subject: [AML] L.H. KIMBALL, _The Marketing of Sister B_ (Review) Review ====== Title: The Marketing of Sister B Author: Linda Hoffman Kimball Publisher: Signature Books Year Published: 2002 Number of Pages: 145 Binding: Paperback ISBN: 1-56085-163-5 Price: $14.95 Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle Few of my friends would describe me as a macho kind of guy. I don't own a cowboy hat; I don't drive a pick-up truck; I don't smoke cigars (or anything else, for that matter). Further, I have a habit, when my snail-mail volume is high, of grabbing it all and taking it out to a place where I can eat a meal and read/discard as much of the mail as possible before bringing the rest home. So when the package from Signature Books arrived the other day, along with about 25 other pieces of mail, I trundled off to dinner with my stack of correspondence and junk mail. I had been invited to a restaurant to eat with the manager and a few of the fellows who slice beef and mop floors. The manager is LDS. I dumped my mail on the table, and was asked, "What's in the big envelope?" "A book for review!" "Ooh, open it now, don't wait until you get home." And obeying their wishes, I dumped the book onto the table. Silence. Out came a pink book! A PINK BOOK!!! Any little bit of macho I'd ever had was now forever gone. And it is indeed the cover, and the cover art, that strikes you first thing when you grab a copy of this book. And if you're lucky enough to get a review copy from the publisher, it will include a little slip of paper with all the book information listed. Oh, it's a pink slip of paper. So, who is Sister B? Donna Brooks, wife of Hank, mother to several children, busy Mormon housewife, resident of Rottingham, MA. Sister Brooks leads a full life, caring for her family and heavily involved in church functions. So far so good. And then one day Sister B receives a phone call asking for help with an upcoming women's function. She needs to come up with some idea that she can transform into little keepsakes for the women who attend the activity. She decides to concoct a cinnamon-based perfume/potion that can be packaged in little bottles and left at each place setting. A simple idea. But one of the attendees brings a guest, a women who works for a marketing firm in New York. She falls in love with the potion, and sets the stage for the national marketing of Sister B's concoction. Traveling to New York, Sister B signs a contract without reading it, and only then learns that her product is to be called "Sinnamon." Yes, as in "sin." It would be advertised as an erotic potion that will drive your man wild. Infuriated, Sister B manages to re-direct the effort, and it takes a more wholesome direction. But the name stays. "The Marketing of Sister B" is a hilarious look at the effect of fame on a sister of the Restoration, and its residual effects on her family, her friends and her church. Being catapulted from relative obscurity to national prominence can be overwhelming. It causes the actor to see life from a new perspective, and forces that actor to re- evaluate one's priorities. Happily, Sister B has plenty of outside conscience-buckets, from a rabid Sr. Monson from the Public Affairs Department of the Church to a vixen named Gloria who will stop at nothing to sell product. Does Sister B have the internal resources necessary to withstand both extremes, to find her way through this sudden fame, this cataclysmic change in her life? Sr. Monson and Gloria are typical of the characters in this book. Those that figure prominently (with the notable exception of Sister B) are clearly characatures, line- drawings of certain classes of people who will likely not behave individually as these do, but who are amusingly portrayed as a collective image. And there is a sense in which Sister B stands, as it were, in the middle of a whirling eddy, not knowing which way to turn. In fact, the story line is not believable. But neither is it intended to be. It is so grossly over-exaggerated, so over the top in its storyline, so simplistic in its telling, and, after all that, a wonderful read. As soon as I figured out that I needed to suspend any judgment as to the believability of the plot and many of the characters, I settled back, had a good laugh, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Kimball does hit on a few serious themes, but is careful to couch them in humor and pathos. In fact, the whole book poses the question, is fame all that great? Should a church be seeking out famous people? Should ordinary people aspire to be famous, and should they accept the fame if it should come their way, as it did for Sr. B? Kimball is unrelenting in her critique of society's worship of fame and money. And she shows how fame and money can be incompatible with a simple presentation of the gospel. Kimball saves her hardest moments for a gripping scene that takes place in the ladies room in Sister B's ward house. Sitting inside a cubicle, she's really hiding from her adoring fans, the constant requests for autographs, the congratulatory hugs. The sisters who enter the restroom are talking among themselves, and it ain't pretty. They're angry, resentful, spiteful, jealous of Sister B's success. The stark contrast between their public face, and that which they put on when they think Sister B isn't listening, exposes a level of hypocrisy and hurt that brings us back to the real world. Now, what does this book lack? 1) No sex. 2) No murders or other violence. 3) No swear words. 4) No questioning of LDS doctrine. 5) No criticism of the leadership. So, I ask, why didn't Deseret Book publish this book? Did Kimball submit it to them? Did they turn it down? This is such an unlikely title to come from the press of Signature Books. In fact, inasmuch as an employee of Deseret Book reads these reviews, I will urge her to get her bosses to read this book and figure out that it is safe to sell, even under the new rubrics. Pink cover and all. I liked "The Marketing of Sister B." Kimball writes simply, keeps the action moving, her prose is very spare and her dialogue easy to follow. She tells an over-the-top story, using over-the-top characters, primarily to entertain, but we must not miss the serious undertones of the dangers of fame and the pain of hypocrisy. This is a good book. You'll enjoy it. - ------------------ Jeffrey Needle jeff.needle@general.com or jeffneedle@tns.net - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 15:55:04 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Kieth Merrill on BOM Movies Christopher Bigelow wrote: >=20 > Kieth Merrill has a very interesting article on the two new Book of Mor= mon > movies at Meridian: >=20 > http://www.ldsmag.com/arts/021122movie.html >From the header to the article: - ----- Meridian=92s film editor, Kieth Merrill, is a sort of father figure to th= e rising generation of LDS filmmakers. At Meridian, we get hundreds of letters from the hopeful asking Kieth for everything from his help breaking into film to his opinion on the latest offering in the world of "Mormon Cinema." People look to him not only because of his long list of successful films, his many awards--including an Oscar--or his filmmaking gems, _Legacy_ and _Testaments_, but because his savvy and insights have been honed in a few trips around the filmmaking block. - ----- I almost consider this an insult. Kieth Merrill a father figure among LDS filmmakers? I suppose, perhaps, to some. It would never have occurred to me to think of him as a father figure for LDS film. Not even with an Oscar. And certainly not for the alleged gems of _Legacy_ and _Testaments_. A father figure is someone who stretches horizons, takes risks, gives birth to a new phenomenon. What has Kieth Merrill done that is bold and horizon-expanding? He can't even decide whether appropriateness or artistic quality is more important to LDS film. When it comes to insistence on quality in LDS cinema, he giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other. Any budding LDS filmmaker who sees Kieth Merrill as a father figure is likely to turn into a menace to the fledgling LDS film industry. I have an alternate candidate to present as the appropriate father figure. (Everyone else tries to dictate what's appropriate for LDS members everywhere--why can't I?) He has broken new ground, expanded new horizons, and single-handedly given birth to the recent LDS cinematic phenomenon. Kieth Merrill would be a footnote in the history of LDS artists without the influence of the true father figure in LDS cinema, because there would be no LDS cinema for Kieth Merrill to keep writing articles about in Meridian Magazine. I leave it as an exercise for the class to determine who this candidate is. - --=20 D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 09:55:22 -0700 (MST) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] The Avenging Angel > Did someone say he was anti-Mormon? Did I miss that? Doh! I'd have > spoken up for him if I had noticed. I enjoyed Avenging Angel a lot. It > wasn't a "great" movie by any means, but it was entertaining, pretty > accurate to the period (no glaring errors or license taken), and Brigham > Young was COOL. In all, it was a so-so story interestingly told. I > didn't think it was anti at ALL. And it was both informed and unbiased. > > Jacob Proffitt I said when I first saw it (on my mission) I was sure it was written by an anti - - although I gave a caveat that the reason was beacause several investigators found it to be too big of a stumbling block and stopped investigating - so my view may have been different if i had seen it just as a movie. Except for one thing that it did which was not balanced or based in reliable historical research. Having read a lot about the "Danites" - I've discovered that the men who killed apostate mormons on Brigham Young's behest were largely an invention of the eastern press (yes, there were some danites in the Kirtland era, but that's a different story). To write a tale where the main character is one who kills people for Brigham Young is to buy into fabrications and rumors. And I'm hard pressed to see how that is fair and unbiased. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 09:42:04 -0700 From: katie@aros.net Subject: Re: [AML] Adultery and Consequences Tracie Laulusa said: > >From what you said of this particular book it doesn't sound like she > deliberately made a decision to seek out Michael or to cultivate her > feelings for him. They were just there. Maybe there was more to that > interlude than you had time to state in your post. Does she want to > commit adultery or does she want to be happy? Naturally, if she is in > a rotten relationship, something that offers an alternative looks > really good. But she struggles with her feelings, sublimates them to > what she feels is right, and tries to make a go of her marriage. > Seems like a pretty moral and upright scenario. Yes. Given the situation, it's about as moral as you can get. And she really does try to forget about Michael and work on her marriage to Ryan. Even after Ryan's death, she doesn't pine away for Michael. She's too busy trying to handle everything, and she really does miss Ryan. Besides, she also thinks that Michael's married (one of those classic misunderstandings thrown in to increase suspense). > That Stansfield maybe copped out with the > marry-Michael-and-live-happily-ever-after ending is another > consideration. But this is, after all, LDS romance. Yes. And when all's said and done, especially throughout the other two books, Michael is recognized as Emily's true love, and Ryan is remembered mostly as a scumbucket. There's a lot that I like and enjoy about these books, but underneath it all is a subtle message that bothers me: If your marriage isn't happy, just wait, and God will send you your Michael. Then you'll live happily ever after. Obviously there's good reason for any LDS author to have a heroine have already been married, particularly to a scumbucket. Since married women constitute the majority of the readers of this genre, they can best sympathize with the heroine if she's been married, if she's a little older, experienced, and has some kids. And a romance storyline works best if the heroine isn't madly in love with a wonderful husband. Thus he has to be abusive. We see an awful lot of LDS novels that begin with the heroine married to an abusive husband. Not that such marriages don't exist, but getting out of them is not nearly so easy as waiting for Michael to come rescue you. - --Katie Parker - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 02:36:30 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] EVANS, _The Last Promise_ (SL Tribune) Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, November 24, 2002 Evans' Frothy 'Last Promise' Has Details, But Lacks Depth BY LAURA DEMANSKI THE BALTIMORE SUN The Last Promise By Richard Paul Evans; Dutton; $22.95 The Last Promise bills itself as a romance from the heart and for the ages. Preaching an easy gospel of true love as destiny, it quickly reveals itself to be a romance from and for the recycling bin. Richard Paul Evans made his name with the story-length Christmas Box in 1995 and has published a rapid-fire six novels since. He has sold 11 million books worldwide. Can a few million devoted readers be wrong? Apparently, they can be hoodwinked by Evans's quasi-spiritual cant. Missing the craft and depth of serious novels as well as the robust fun of honest trash, Evans' sanitized romances are inoffensive and nonnutritious -- the pale, squishy Wonder Bread of popular fiction. It doesn't take a critic or connoisseur to object to the shoddy writing and all-around poor imaginative effort in The Last Promise. The book doesn't pretend to be high literature, and it need not be measured against that standard to be found wanting. Evans presents himself in the framing prologue as a simple storyteller. Unfortunately for his audience, there's a lot more telling than story here. The shred of a plot centers on Eliana, a gorgeous and talented painter from Utah living outside Florence, Italy, with her chauvinistic Italian husband and their asthmatic young son. Enter the gorgeous and talented Ross, on the run from some shadowy past, to ply his art expertise as a guide at the Uffizi Gallery. Destiny dictates that their paths cross; never did two gorgeous and talented people fall in love so soporiferously. Evans misguidedly thinks the way to bring a scene or a character to life is to specify its every minute, superficial particular. He never saw a detail he didn't like, especially details redolent of the good life. Why settle for a colander when he can equip Eliana's kitchen with a "stainless steel colander"? Why any old beam or pots when a few keystrokes can afford him the more impressive "oiled wood beam above a shelf of copper pots"? And so on. Is it fiction or is it a Williams-Sonoma catalog? All the pretty details massed in such a fetishistic manner on Evans' pages cover poorly for an embarrassing lack of story and substance. Evans' laziness about putting together a decent plot shows most glaringly late in the book, when Ross' dark secret comes to light. It might have been picked out of a hat, so little does this revelation have to do with anything. The prose, too, suffers from lack of trying as much as lack of talent, serving up howlers like this: "As he began to drift off, there came from the open window a new sound. He wondered what animal could make such a noise. A wild boar, perhaps. Or was it a bird? He couldn't quite place it. It almost sounded like a woman crying." Bland writing, tired plots and hackneyed sentiment are ever hazards for book buyers guided by best-seller lists. What tips this book over from benign mediocrity into something more culpable is the lack of effort by an author who has grown rich off his readers. For all its going on about true love, destiny and heaven on Earth, The Last Promise is stone soup for the soul. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2002 15:42:21 -0800 From: "BJ Rowley" Subject: [AML] Mormon Cinema and Profits This article about Mormon Cinema appeared on CNN.com over the weekend, and was highlighted on the CNN Headline News ticker board. http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/24/sproject.ca02.mormon.ap/index.html - -BJ Rowley - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 02:44:11 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] Utah Theater Openings (Deseret News) Deseret News Sunday, November 24, 2002 By Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret News theater editor JOYFUL NOISE, Utah playwright Tim Slover's drama about troubled genius George Frederick Handel and the circumstances surrounding his writing of "Messiah," is being staged Nov. 28- Jan. 4 by the Nauvoo Theatrical Society in the Center Street Theater, 50 W. Center, Orem. Director Chris Clark's cast includes Heywood Bagley as Handel, Mary Atkin as Kitty Clive, Haley Smith as Mrs. Cibber, Robert Johannsen as Bishop Edgerton, Celeste Barrand as Mrs. Pendarves, Thom Duncan as King George II, Joel Wallin as John Smith and Spencer Greene as Charles Jennens. Megan Worthen and Becky Wallin are the angel chorus. Performances will be Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $9 for senior citizens and $8 for students. For reservations, call 801-225-3800. JOSEPH AND MARY: A LOVE STORY, written by the late Ralph Rodgers, with music by K. Newell Dayley, John Morgan and Shaun Wright, is playing Nov. 30-Dec. 21, in the Bountiful Performing Arts Center. Addie Holman, who performed in the original production's chorus (graduating to the role of Mary three years later), is directing. Holman's cast includes Phil Edmunds (alternating with Mike Bennett) as Heli, Mary's father. Edmunds played the same role in all three of the show's productions from 1994-96. Other players are Chad Coleman and Devin Walker, alternating as Joseph; Hannah Gibson and Ayrial Wright, sharing the role of Mary, and Shaun Wright and Melody Milne as Hannah, Mary's mother. Holman said "Joseph and Mary" is "a play with music," but not a musical. There are three songs in the first act and four in the second. Holman is adding two new songs - with permission of Rodgers' widow, Joan - by Shaun Wright. Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for senior citizens, students and children. For reservations, call 294-7469. Performances will be nightly, Mondays-Saturdays, at 7:30 p.m., except for Dec. 17 and 18. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #908 ******************************