From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V2 #204 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 Thursday, October 23 2003 Volume 02 : Number 204 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 21:12:53 -0600 From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: RE: [AML] Papa Married a Mormon - Review > FWIW, BYU will be producing a new stage adaptation of this fine novel. > The show will be directed by Rodger Sorenson, who also did the=20 > adapting. It will open some time in late May or early June; I can get=20 > the exact dates, if anyone's interested. >=20 > Eric Samuelsen How new is it? I remember him doing a stage adaption of that book at Ricks College back in 95 or 96. If it's the same one (or just a revised version), it's at least seven years old. - --ivan wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:15:10 -0600 From: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com Subject: [none] [216.86.141.161]) by remail.tns.net (8.12.8p1/9.4.4) with ESMTP id h9KNIOYb086462 for ; Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:18:26 - -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from jeff.needle@general.com) Message-Id: <6.0.0.22.0.20031020160525.0291fb00@mail.general.com> X-Sender: jeff.needle@mail.general.com (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.0.0.22 Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:09:15 -0700 To: Aml-List From: Jeff Needle Subject: [AML] Responses to Book Reviews Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Milter: Spamilter Sender: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: aml-list [MOD: This gives an exchange Jeff Needle had with someone who apparently read his review of _My Body Fell Off_. I think it's appropriate to include here because we've talked some about how reviewers do and should review literature, and the effects of those reviews. Rather than simply trashing the person who wrote to Jeff, I'd suggest that we use this as an opportunity to talk a little bit about the broader questions of why different people have different responses to books, and what the responsibilities are (or aren't) of the reviewer to take into account those different responses in writing a review. --Jonathan Langford] Well, having received permission from the writer to forward this, I thought you'd all enjoy a little comic relief, and see the kind of private mail reviewers get. First, the original e-mail: > >what's your deal? it sounds like you really don't like this book. (My > >Body Fell Off.) well, ive read two different versions of this book > >(there is a main LDS version that first came out and a second, > >non-religious mentioning version), and both have had totally opposite > >affects on me then they obviously had on you. the main thing that > >bugged me is that you said that the book is glorifying death. that is > >not what it is doing at all! that passage that you were pointing out > >was bart just basically noticing that death isnt as scary, or > >horrible as we sometimes make it out to be. the reason being, death > >is just part of the plan. we, here on earth, always seem to think of > >death as this horrible thing and we dread it so that it can ruin our > >lives... but death is just part of the cycle and that passage is just > >pointing out that it really isnt that big of deal... you talked about > >teen suicides? do you honestly think, that some teen who reads this > >book will go out and kill himself because some kids got in a car > >accident, they all get sent to the hospital, and the one with major > >injuries is morned for and thought about constently until the end of > >the book??? I don't think so. if anything, it will reduce the amounts > >because they will realize that if they kill themselves, they will be > >missed terribly. yes, he did continue with the 2nd and 3rd books, > >and they, also, are magnificent. he plans to have about 6 in the > >series. it seems to me that you are obviously too shallow to > >understand what bj rowley is trying to get across to the youth in his > >books. so, in my opinion, you should either study up on whatever it > >is that you need to to understand, or lay off. it is an excellent > >book series, and he is an excellent author. lay off. Next, my response: >Let's say a few things: >1. My job as a reviewer is to say as accurately as possible what my >feelings are about a book. They represent MY views, not yours. I >stick by my comments -- I didn't like the book. 2. If you read things >differently, that's fine. Join AML list and post your comments there. >This is where the reviews are archived. Put your views into the public >arena, as I do, and defend the book. This is what the marketplace of >ideas is all about. 3. As a reviewer, I will definitely NOT "lay off" >anyone. When a person writes a book and puts that book into print, he >or she must be open to the comments of critics. In the main, when I'm >critical, authors consider the criticism and try to make the next book >better. 4. Criticism is intended to be remedial. If the author >disagrees with me, which they do ALL the time, they simply stay the >course and ignore me. That's fine. Sometimes, as happened just a few >weeks ago, the publisher will write me a private note, thanking me for >the review, and suggesting why they think I was wrong. Not one has >made such an ill-advised comment as "lay off." >If you have a problem with reviews, then just stop reading them. >Now, if you choose not to join AML (I don't know if you're already a >member), I would like to post your comments to the list and get some >reflections from them. I'll omit your name. I need your permission to do >that. > Finally, his response: >two words: >you're stupid He e-mailed me today, with permission to re-post the discussion, called me a jerk, and signed off. I love my job. And, on a day when we all learned of the tragic death of our friend Marc Schindler, I needed something of a giggle. I'm not being smug. I always want an opportunity to defend my views, and I'm willing to change when it is shown that I'm wrong, but this guy was just mad. Pax. - ---------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com jeffneedle@tns.net - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:20:33 -0600 From: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com Subject: [none] [216.86.141.161]) by remail.tns.net (8.12.8p1/9.4.4) with ESMTP id h9KNIOYb086462 for ; Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:18:26 - -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from jeff.needle@general.com) Message-Id: <6.0.0.22.0.20031020160525.0291fb00@mail.general.com> X-Sender: jeff.needle@mail.general.com (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.0.0.22 Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:09:15 -0700 To: Aml-List From: Jeff Needle Subject: [AML] Responses to Book Reviews Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Milter: Spamilter Sender: owner-aml-list@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: aml-list [MOD: This gives an exchange Jeff Needle had with someone who apparently read his review of _My Body Fell Off_. I think it's appropriate to include here because we've talked some about how reviewers do and should review literature, and the effects of those reviews. Rather than simply trashing the person who wrote to Jeff, I'd suggest that we use this as an opportunity to talk a little bit about the broader questions of why different people have different responses to books, and what the responsibilities are (or aren't) of the reviewer to take into account those different responses in writing a review. --Jonathan Langford] Well, having received permission from the writer to forward this, I thought you'd all enjoy a little comic relief, and see the kind of private mail reviewers get. First, the original e-mail: > >what's your deal? it sounds like you really don't like this book. (My > >Body Fell Off.) well, ive read two different versions of this book > >(there is a main LDS version that first came out and a second, > >non-religious mentioning version), and both have had totally opposite > >affects on me then they obviously had on you. the main thing that > >bugged me is that you said that the book is glorifying death. that is > >not what it is doing at all! that passage that you were pointing out > >was bart just basically noticing that death isnt as scary, or > >horrible as we sometimes make it out to be. the reason being, death > >is just part of the plan. we, here on earth, always seem to think of > >death as this horrible thing and we dread it so that it can ruin our > >lives... but death is just part of the cycle and that passage is just > >pointing out that it really isnt that big of deal... you talked about > >teen suicides? do you honestly think, that some teen who reads this > >book will go out and kill himself because some kids got in a car > >accident, they all get sent to the hospital, and the one with major > >injuries is morned for and thought about constently until the end of > >the book??? I don't think so. if anything, it will reduce the amounts > >because they will realize that if they kill themselves, they will be > >missed terribly. yes, he did continue with the 2nd and 3rd books, > >and they, also, are magnificent. he plans to have about 6 in the > >series. it seems to me that you are obviously too shallow to > >understand what bj rowley is trying to get across to the youth in his > >books. so, in my opinion, you should either study up on whatever it > >is that you need to to understand, or lay off. it is an excellent > >book series, and he is an excellent author. lay off. Next, my response: >Let's say a few things: >1. My job as a reviewer is to say as accurately as possible what my >feelings are about a book. They represent MY views, not yours. I >stick by my comments -- I didn't like the book. 2. If you read things >differently, that's fine. Join AML list and post your comments there. >This is where the reviews are archived. Put your views into the public >arena, as I do, and defend the book. This is what the marketplace of >ideas is all about. 3. As a reviewer, I will definitely NOT "lay off" >anyone. When a person writes a book and puts that book into print, he >or she must be open to the comments of critics. In the main, when I'm >critical, authors consider the criticism and try to make the next book >better. 4. Criticism is intended to be remedial. If the author >disagrees with me, which they do ALL the time, they simply stay the >course and ignore me. That's fine. Sometimes, as happened just a few >weeks ago, the publisher will write me a private note, thanking me for >the review, and suggesting why they think I was wrong. Not one has >made such an ill-advised comment as "lay off." >If you have a problem with reviews, then just stop reading them. >Now, if you choose not to join AML (I don't know if you're already a >member), I would like to post your comments to the list and get some >reflections from them. I'll omit your name. I need your permission to do >that. > Finally, his response: >two words: >you're stupid He e-mailed me today, with permission to re-post the discussion, called me a jerk, and signed off. I love my job. And, on a day when we all learned of the tragic death of our friend Marc Schindler, I needed something of a giggle. I'm not being smug. I always want an opportunity to defend my views, and I'm willing to change when it is shown that I'm wrong, but this guy was just mad. Pax. - ---------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com jeffneedle@tns.net - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:09:15 -0700 From: Jeff Needle Subject: [AML] Responses to Book Reviews [MOD: This gives an exchange Jeff Needle had with someone who apparently read his review of _My Body Fell Off_. I think it's appropriate to include=20 here because we've talked some about how reviewers do and should review=20 literature, and the effects of those reviews.=20 Rather than simply trashing the person who wrote to Jeff, I'd suggest that=20 we use this as an opportunity to talk a little bit about the broader=20 questions of why different people have different responses to books, and what the responsibilities are (or aren't) of the reviewer to take into=20 account those different responses in writing a review. --Jonathan Langford] Well, having received permission from the writer to forward this, I thought=20 you'd all enjoy a little comic relief, and see the kind of private mail=20 reviewers get. First, the original e-mail: > >what's your deal? it sounds like you really don't like this book. (My > >Body Fell Off.) well, ive read two different versions of this book > >(there is a main LDS version that first came out and a second,=20 > >non-religious mentioning version), and both have had totally opposite > >affects on me then they obviously had on you. the main thing that > >bugged me is that you said that the book is glorifying death. that is > >not what it is doing at all! that passage that you were pointing out > >was bart just basically noticing that death isnt as scary, or > >horrible as we sometimes make it out to be. the reason being, death=20 > >is just part of the plan. we, here on earth, always seem to think of > >death as this horrible thing and we dread it so that it can ruin our > >lives... but death is just part of the cycle and that passage is just > >pointing out that it really isnt that big of deal... you talked about > >teen suicides? do you honestly think, that some teen who reads this > >book will go out and kill himself because some kids got in a car=20 > >accident, they all get sent to the hospital, and the one with major=20 > >injuries is morned for and thought about constently until the end of=20 > >the book??? I don't think so. if anything, it will reduce the amounts > >because they will realize that if they kill themselves, they will be > >missed terribly. yes, he did continue with the 2nd and 3rd books,=20 > >and they, also, are magnificent. he plans to have about 6 in the=20 > >series. it seems to me that you are obviously too shallow to=20 > >understand what bj rowley is trying to get across to the youth in his > >books. so, in my opinion, you should either study up on whatever it > >is that you need to to understand, or lay off. it is an excellent=20 > >book series, and he is an excellent author. lay off. Next, my response: >Let's say a few things: >1. My job as a reviewer is to say as accurately as possible what my=20 >feelings are about a book. They represent MY views, not yours. I=20 >stick by my comments -- I didn't like the book. 2. If you read things=20 >differently, that's fine. Join AML list and post your comments there. >This is where the reviews are archived. Put your views into the public >arena, as I do, and defend the book. This is what the marketplace of=20 >ideas is all about. 3. As a reviewer, I will definitely NOT "lay off"=20 >anyone. When a person writes a book and puts that book into print, he=20 >or she must be open to the comments of critics. In the main, when I'm=20 >critical, authors consider the criticism and try to make the next book=20 >better. 4. Criticism is intended to be remedial. If the author=20 >disagrees with me, which they do ALL the time, they simply stay the=20 >course and ignore me. That's fine. Sometimes, as happened just a few=20 >weeks ago, the publisher will write me a private note, thanking me for=20 >the review, and suggesting why they think I was wrong. Not one has=20 >made such an ill-advised comment as "lay off." >If you have a problem with reviews, then just stop reading them. >Now, if you choose not to join AML (I don't know if you're already a >member), I would like to post your comments to the list and get some >reflections from them. I'll omit your name. I need your permission to do >that. > Finally, his response: >two words: >you're stupid He e-mailed me today, with permission to re-post the discussion, called me=20 a jerk, and signed off. I love my job. And, on a day when we all learned of the tragic death of our friend Marc Schindler, I needed something of a giggle. I'm not being smug. I always want an opportunity to defend my views, and I'm willing to change when it is shown that I'm wrong, but this guy was just mad. Pax. - ---------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com jeffneedle@tns.net - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 14:32:27 -0400 From: "C.S. Bezas" Subject: [AML] Now here's a great story line Why don't we see more LDS fiction along these lines? From the November 2003 issue of Scientific American magazine: THE ASTEROID TUGBOAT by Russell L. Schweickart, Edward T. Lu, Piet Hut And Clark R. Chapman Building and testing a spacecraft that could push an asteroid into a new orbit may be the best way to save Earth from catastrophic impacts. C.S. Bezas Board of Editors, Advisory Chair LatterDayAuthors.com http://www.latterdayauthors.com Help! I'm Parenting an Adolescent! http://www.bellaonline.com/site/adolescence A Christian Lifestyle http://www.bellaonline.com/site/lds - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:36:23 -0500 (CDT) From: Rich Hammett Subject: Re: [AML] Pictures in homes On Wed, 22 Oct 2003, Alan Rex Mitchell sed: > Try www.artrenewal.org > The above link will suggest that most modern art since > about 1910 is worse than trite. Lets blame it on the--oh, > I don't know--the movies? > ;) Alan Mitchell I kept your smiley...now, please tell me that that website is the art world's equivalent of Landover Baptist. "More central control over art! By Church People!" Why didn't anybody think of this before? We'd better get rid of that Evil Modernist Beethoven, who completely changed at least a thousand years of thought about harmony, and who considered formal structure something to be broken more often than not. And, of course, Mahler would be the Devil Himself to those people. "If you're not gonna paint it right, you shouldn't paint it at all!" (And I don't even LIKE the Impressionists!) rich - -- Rich Hammett http://home.hiwaay.net/~rhammett - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:44:01 -0600 From: "Nan P. McCulloch" Subject: Re: [AML] Papa Married a Mormon - Review Please let us know the dates for this play. =20 Nan McCulloch - ----- Original Message -----=20 From: "Eric Samuelsen" To: Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 9:34 AM Subject: RE: [AML] Papa Married a Mormon - Review > FWIW, BYU will be producing a new stage adaptation of this fine novel. > The show will be directed by Rodger Sorenson, who also did the=20 > adapting. It will open some time in late May or early June; I can get=20 > the exact dates, if anyone's interested. >=20 > Eric Samuelsen >=20 >=20 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 05:48:59 -0700 From: "Price Family" Subject: [AML] LDS Art Speaking of trite art. David A. Christensen mentioned [at Know Your Religion] a picture he owns of a realistic-looking Christ with bloodshot eyes and less-than-perfect hair. He said the painter was "Rumki". I have searched and can't find it with that spelling. Does anyone know that one? Thanks, Joseph Price - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:07:13 EDT From: JanaRiess@aol.com Subject: [AML] Papa married a Mormon In a message dated 10/22/03 10:50:59 PM, owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com writes: > "Papa Married a Mormon" > By John D. Fitzgerald > 298 pages - Hardback > Thanks for the review of PAPA MARRIED A MORMON. This is one of my husband's favorite stories, so last Christmas I gave him the third and final book in the series (The Fitzgeralds' Curse?), which is very hard to find. I haven't read the books yet myself, though he has urged me to. Interesting how much he loves these tales, and how much they mirror his own experiences, being an active Methodist married to a Latter-day Saint. . . . Jana Riess - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 06:55:01 -0600 From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: Re: [AML] Pictures in homes On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 21:13:32 -0600 Marvin Payne writes: > No compromise at all, but... Brian Kershisnik. I am saving a wall above my desk for a Kershisnik ... when I can afford it. Might be awhile. scott - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:02:41 -0600 From: Steve Perry Subject: [AML] DYER, George - LDS Tenor Thursday, October 23, 2003 Hi Listers, You can hear George Dyer--nationally acclaimed LDS tenor--talking and singing at: http://www.meridianmagazine.com/radio He gives me the chills singing many of the favorite traditional hymns in exciting and atmospheric new arrangements from Kurt Bestor, Lex de Azevedo, and others. Have fun! Steve Perry - -- skperry@mac.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:19:53 -0600 From: "Clark Goble" Subject: RE: [AML] Pictures in homes ___ Alan ___ | Try www.artrenewal.org |=20 | >Why oh why iis our LDS art so...trite? |=20 | The above link will suggest that most modern art since | about 1910 is worse than trite. Lets blame it on the--oh, | I don't know--the movies? | ;) Alan Mitchell ___ That site doesn't work on Macs, unfortunately. (Don't know why) Problem is that I *love* abstract art and a lot of modern art. That site seems to be a kind of appeal for a neo-realism movement. The aspects of Renaissance art I like the best actually aren't the realist aspects but the more symbolic, metaphoric and other aspects. One of my favorite artists is Pollack, for instance. Not that I expect there to be highly abstract LDS art. (Almost a contradiction in terms I suppose) But thank you very much for the link. My ink jet printer will be quite busy now... I do love Van Gogh though as well as many of the impressionists and so forth. As I said I tried to get my wife to go with some Minerva Teichert prints. But that was a no-go. But I admit that my problem with most LDS art is in terms of technique more than anything else. It often appears like the style either lacks soul (IMO) or else arises more for the kind of technical art employed in the advertising industry. Am I alone in this? =20 You tying this to film is industry, even if I recognize it as a joke. I suspect those who haven't been exposed to a lot of art, expect art to behave like a photo or a movie. They *want* that kind of photo-realism. The emotion comes about not via technique or style but by stock symbols. (aka our sentimental triggers that get discussed here so often) ___ Cathy ___ | James Christensen. How she object to someone that worked=20 | on the Nauvoo Temple murals. ___ Actually while I may be alone in Utah valley in this, I'm not a fan of Christensen. =20 ___ Nan ___ | Have you noticed the art of Walter Rane. ___ I *really* like his art. That probably will be the compromise. Thank you so much to all who suggested him. (Several mentioned him) I admit that I like his drawings best. Very interesting. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:29:59 -0600 From: "Eric Samuelsen" Subject: RE: [AML] Papa Married a Mormon - Review Well, the '95 stage version Rodger did provided the basis for this newest adaptation, but he's revised it extensively, and will continue to do so under the aegis of WDA. Eric Samuelsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:38:32 -0700 From: Harlow S Clark Subject: Re: [AML] Pictures in homes On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 21:13:32 -0600 Marvin Payne writes: > No compromise at all, but... Brian Kershisnik. > Marvin Payne I went to interview Paris Anderson one day, and he has not simply a Brian Kershisnik painting on his wall, but a Brian Kershisnik of Paris Anderson. Which fact I mentioned in the interview, which the paper didn't publish (easy to tell why, the last time I read it, but also easy to revise and polish). I think I'll work it into a review of some of Paris's books. Harlow Clark - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:24:00 -0700 From: Harlow S Clark Subject: [AML] Recent Good Movies & Books (4 brief reviews) On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 Eric Samuelsen wrote:=20 > So, anyone read any good books lately? I did happen to read 4 interesting novels over the summer. I mentioned them last month, in the _Irreantum_ Issue on Romance thread: >>>>> Over the summer I read four LDS novels. One contains a haunting grisly scene of executing a child deserter from an army of children, one contains an extended reflection on torturing and castrating a young teen, one contains a brief section about what it's like to occupy the cell next door to the execution chamber and on Thursday mornings hear the screams and pleading of the condemned, and guillotine blade striking home. The fourth was a romance, I suppose, but the ending has more to do with Jesus' admonition about leaving home and loved ones for the Word's sake than with the romantic couple uniting. =20 All were written for children (or young adults). =20 Including the one where the circle of children undo their trousers and pee on a man who's just been kicked to the ground (author is a kiddielitprof at BYZ). =20 I don't know how they're doing in the LDS market, partly because I don't know how to define the LDS market. Three have explicitly LDS characters. So is anyone who buys them part of the LDS market, or just the people who buy them in Utah and other Zion Curtain places? =20 They were all published by national publishers--even the conversion story, so maybe the LDS market is bigger than we thought. Or should I invert that. Maybe the market for LDS writing is bigger than we thought. <<<<< and signed it:=20 H. Soderborg Clark (semi-lurker, who was going to send this off and wait to give the names of the four novels until someone asked for them, but figured some future literary scholar might not be smart enough to look in future posts (assuming the semi-lurker ever got around to putting them in a future post) . . . Oh wait, now that this note exists pointing some future scholar to future posts there's no need to name the four novels yet.) So here are four interesting novels:=20 Dean Hughes, Soldier Boys,=20 New York, Atheneum, 2001, 162 pages,=20 $16 This novel reminds us that much as we hear of children soldiers in Africa children in war is nothing new, including the Hitler Youth. But there were children in the American army as well. That fact resonates for me. About a year ago I woke up one morning to see flashing lights outside my bedroom window, and thought, "Ernest." My neighbor 2 houses up who would bring the snow blower around the neighborhood. I learned at his funeral that Ernest's mother died when he was a child and his stepfather died when he was 16 or 17. He didn't have anywhere to go, so the navy recruiter petitioned the judge for permission to enlist him. He and Connie were married 56(?) years and still in their 70s as opposed to my parents, 61 years and in mid to late 80s. =20 Michael O. Tunnel, Brothers in Valor New York: Holiday House, 2001 260 pages large type $16.95 Marvelously compact fictionalized story of Helmuth Huebener and friends who wrote and distributed anti-Nazi flyers in Hamburg. Memorable scenes sketched in brevity. The appendix is utterly chilling. =20 Chris Crowe, Mississippi Trial, 1955. New York: Phyllis Fogelman Books, 2002 231 pages $17.99 A man moves his family to Arizona after the War to get them away from the racism in Mississippi. His son goes back for a visit 10 years later and meets Emmett Till, who is brutally murdered and tortured.=20 I'd love to see a companion piece about racism in Arizona. Crowe has moved the family there at the right time for a celebrated case where a brutal white police officer was killed when he illegally followed some Indians onto the reservation to harrass and arrest them. Widely used incident. I think N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain retells it. Paula Gunn Allen includes another story based on the incident in The Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature 1974-1994. =20 Kimberly Heuston, The Shakeress Asheville, NC: Front Street, 2002 207 pages $16.95 Wonderful scene about how someone gets revelation, something about imaging God as a person and studying the problem out then asking the person you're imaging about the conclusion you've drawn. Shows great affection for the Shakers, though it also shows how difficult the Shaker life can be to someone who wants to form a family and why someone might leave the Shaker community for a family life. Harlow S. Clark (semi-lurker) - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 16:20:10 -0500 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: RE: [AML] Papa Married a Mormon - Review Charles Whitman did a version of the book, iirc, back in the day (70's). I think his version may have been a musical. Thom [Duncan] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 14:39:07 -0700 From: "BJ Rowley" Subject: [AML] Re: Jeff's review & comic relief ... This gives an exchange Jeff Needle had with someone who apparently > read his review of _My Body Fell Off_. I think it's appropriate to=20 > include > here because we've talked some about how reviewers do and should review=20 > literature, and the effects of those reviews.=20 I guess I should chime in here, being the responsible party for said book. I remember WELL this review by Jeff Needle. I also remember well being a little offended (okay, I admit, upset!) when I first read it. But I=20 think that's normal. He was slapping around my baby ... my firstborn,=20 after all. How DARE he call my kid ugly! :) But, knowing what I do about critics and reviewers -- and also knowing=20 Jeff to be a very accomplished, experienced, and fair reviewer -- I=20 calmed down (after a few days) and went back and re-read the passage in=20 question ... and realized how I could have, and should have, written it=20 differently. I've had a couple of other people make similar comments about that same=20 scene since then. While I certainly wasn't trying to minimize death in=20 any way, I realize now that some people will read it and interpret it=20 differently than what I intended. Hindsight is 20/20 vision. Too late=20 now. It's in print for the world to see. Anyway ... I'm certainly glad that this private person enjoyed my books. I'm also glad Jeff reviewed it and voiced his opinions honestly to this=20 group. I hope my later books are more to his liking, and I'll try to do=20 better in the future. That's what reviewers do best -- point out our flaws in an open and=20 honest manner, and hopefully give us a chance, and inspire us, to=20 improve. I'm all for improving! So relax and enjoy your moment of comic relief, Jeff. *I* certainly=20 don't think you're stupid. Far from it. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. - -BJ Rowley - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 22:28:20 -0700 From: "LauraMaery (Gold) Post" Subject: Re: [AML] Recent Good Movies & Books Annette L wrote: >I hated the movie [Bridges], especially more so because I like >Merryl Streep, and it ticked me off that she would play such a character. Perhaps you meant "play such a character again"?=20 Or were you fortunate enough to miss the despicable "Falling in Love," in which she portrays a snarky faithless woman married to a very nice man, and in which she wastes two insufferable hours playing footsie with the married character portrayed by Robert DiNiro. Boo-hiss. I watched this turkey as a hostage on a trans-Pacific flight in the mid-80s. I wanted to dig my eyes out with a spoon. To anyone who believes there's never been a Hollywood movie glamorizing adultry, pick up a copy of this wretched piece of dreck and watch it tonight with your dearly beloved.=20 Then prepare to spend the night alone on the couch. I commend to you the following review:=20 - -- lauramaery gold - -------- A message from LauraMaery (Gold) Post Visit our library at: E-mail reply: - --------- . - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 11:35:33 -0700 From: Harlow S Clark Subject: Re: [AML] Recent Good Movies & Books On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 Eric Samuelsen wrote:=20 > So, anyone read any good books lately? =20 I've been editing my father's cousin Joel Boyce's memoir of life in a conscientious objector camp in WWII.=20 It begins: >>>>> "We are sending him off to a concentration camp," the psychiatrist said to my wife. She was standing near the door holding our baby Martha. I could read his scrawl on the paper in front of him: "This man is a political objector."=20 Signed, A. Herkowitz.=20 <<<<< But Joel's objections were religious. He notes that "Someone named Herkowitz had little patience with a man who would not be willing to fight against Hitler. He seemed to enjoy the irony and the power of using the words 'concentration camp,'" and says, "In a society assailed by the passions of war, I was prepared for abuse, for harsh treatment, for prison, even for execution," though his treatment in the camp turned out to be "relatively benign." He mentions e.e. cummings' poem about Olaf, which sent me back to that poem. I have many times thought of the first line, "I sing of Olaf glad and big," but hadn't absorbed the poem, XXX in _W (ViVa)_ I sing of Olaf glad and big whose warmest heart recoiled at war: a conscientious object-or the last part of stanza 4 is horrible: and egged the firstclassprivates on=20 his rectum wickedly to tease by means of skillfully applied bayonets roasted hot with heat-- Olaf (upon what were once knees) does almost ceaselessly repeat "there is some s. I will not eat" And then, bless Dover Thrift Editions, I noticed last trip thru BYU Bookstore they have a $3 edition of cummings' novel about being a WWI POW, The Enormous Room. I have periodically wanted to read that for about 30 years. I have also read two fairly interesting books recently. Shortly before my father died I was in his office one night and picked up John Ciardi's translation of Dante's Inferno. I am now at the base of Mount Purgatory, but the introduction says it's hard to fully appreciate the climb without having read La Vita Nuova so you have some sense of who Beatrice is, so I've been reading the other Dante's translation of it in The Viking Portable Dante. The style is very different from the blunt spoken vulgar language of the Inferno. I don't know how much of that is stylistic difference between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ciardi and how much difference between the thoughts of the lovesick Alighieri youth and the middle-aged man in exile because of the Pope's calumny. La Vita Nuova is quite fascinating. Unlike England in 1290 or so, Italy didn't have a centuries old tradition of poetry in the vulgar tongue, so this is not only a collection of sonnets--a new form at the time--but a work of lit crit on how to read poetry. It's not easy to read, though, I'm only 50/70 through and I've been reading since August. Dante chose a Shaxbeardian diction that takes some work to get through. The Viking Portable Dante includes Laurence Binyon's terza rima translation of the Commedia, and last time I was in BYU Bookstore saw a book on the remainder table which I hope is still there, $6.99, _The Poet's Dante_, which has an appreciation of that translation, which (I found out reading a page or two) il migliore fabro, E. Lb., took as much of an interest in as he did in "The Wasteland." So I suppose I'll have to read Binyon as well as Ciardi. And then I ought to read The Aeneid and the Metamorphoses, and while I'm reading epics, Michael Collings' The Nephiad, and R. Paul Cracroft's A Certain Testiomny: A Mormon Epic. Also Peter Sorensen has a wisdom rendering of Moroni from his epic The Mormoniad upcoming in Eerie Aunt Hums. And I also hope soon to have the Eerie Aunt hum Bela Petsco's very nice poem "Listening to Dead People Sing." Speaking of dead people, I've listened to Patsy Cline and Welcome to Brigham. Time to go to bed. Harlow S. Clark (semi-lurker with 300 unread posts in his in-box and maybe that many unfinished replies in his drafts folder)=20 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 20:18:14 -0600 From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: Re: [AML] Pictures in homes For some reason I feel picked on. I'm not advocating central control of art. I'm not saying don't watch movies--I do all the time, at least 1 a month. I'm not saying don't read comic books--I watch movies at least once a month. What I mean is that if you want good (Mormon) art that tells a story then there are several places on the net to find it. I think we as Mormons should claim all good, so why limit our home on the wall art to *gospel* themes? Isn't every piece of human experience a gospel theme? I think so. The art renewal website is wonderful for art that tells a story and is very well done. Of course I don't relate to all the art, but Bougereau, Leighton, Waterhouse, Alma-Tadema are very good. Don't take my word for it--visit the Andrew Lloyd Webber private collection and see what he has been investing in for 30 years. My tie in to Mormon Literature is that this art has greatly influenced my second novel (now in revision). My second tie is that what Frank Ross is doing with this website is calling attention to the great 19th century art that has been discounted during the last century. We could make comparison with the restoration of the gospel after centuries of groping in the dark. By the way, is anyone familiar with the art of Kamile Correy--a Utah artist that has gone from the UofU to Florence? Alan [Rex Mitchell] P.S. my friend calsl me unitarian/universal in my taste in visual art, so if you want to pick a fight then try Jeff Needle--he's the one with the ca-ho-nes. ARM. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rich Hammett" To: Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 10:36 PM Subject: Re: [AML] Pictures in homes > On Wed, 22 Oct 2003, Alan Rex Mitchell sed: > > > Try www.artrenewal.org > > > The above link will suggest that most modern art since > > about 1910 is worse than trite. Lets blame it on the--oh, > > I don't know--the movies? > > > ;) Alan Mitchell > > I kept your smiley...now, please tell me that that website > is the art world's equivalent of Landover Baptist. > > "More central control over art! By Church People!" Why > didn't anybody think of this before? > > We'd better get rid of that Evil Modernist Beethoven, who > completely changed at least a thousand years of thought > about harmony, and who considered formal structure something > to be broken more often than not. > > And, of course, Mahler would be the Devil Himself to those > people. > > "If you're not gonna paint it right, you shouldn't paint it > at all!" > > (And I don't even LIKE the Impressionists!) > > rich > -- > Rich Hammett http://home.hiwaay.net/~rhammett > > > -- > AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V2 #204 ******************************