I had quite a stack of books to read, but I picked up C and an hour and a half later, I was engaged, finally making myself put it down shortly before midnight. I picked it up again this morning, and I hardly ever give myself permission to read during the day! This should say a lot about how I am loving the weird and unusual and captivating C.

Now, how lucky am I to open the Internet while ago only to learn that C has been shortlisted for England’s prestigious 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction? In fact, it is favored 2 to 1 to win! WOW! So, it won’t be long until I finish this one! By the way, the Englishman McCarthy is already popular for his first novel Remainder, which I’m now sure I will also read. He also wrote Tintin and the Secret of Literature.

In a nutshell, and I am only halfway through C, keep in mind, the novel revolves around a very dysfunctional early 1900s English family, in which the parents pretty much let the young daughter and younger brother choose their activities without any supervision. The father teaches deaf children at their estate by instructing them how to recite classical literature, particularly the tales of Persephone and other gods and goddesses of the classical Greek underworld. In fact, once annually, he stages a Greek pageant in which the pupils, who are fully costumed by the deaf mother of the family, slowly and painstakingly recite their assigned lines. All the parents of the students attend, being oh-so-proud of the progress their precious, previously non-speaking children are making. One more thing about the very strange mother, she is also highly involved in the cultivation of silk worms, who feast on the mulberry trees on the English estate, and she even chooses native berries to dye the silk all sorts of vibrant colors, and she likes poppies the best!  So, the preteen daughter and younger brother have free reign, so to speak, their parents being highly involved in their own interests, both being non-traditional parents. The housekeeper is the one who seems to watch over the children at all, this being very sporadic, at best.

As the years pass, the reader watches the highly intelligent young girl, now a mature teenager, develop an extreme and detrimental interest in bizarre science experiments and in the natural science field in general, including beetles and all kinds of botanical growth, while the brother “Serge” becomes equally enamored of the telegraph and the use of the Morse code, so much so that he communicates with the entire world! Tragedy strikes, which I will not let out of the bag, and Serge is sent to recuperate at a European bath which is run by a mad doctor.

This is how far I have reached! Stay tuned for the final blog on this remarkable and provocative novel whose vocabulary, setting, plot, and character development serve to make me realize  the merit of its nomination for the Man Booker! How glad am I that C jumped out of the stack at me last night!

Click here to read Part 2 of Nan’s blog

-Nan

Mississippi, the State of the Blues, giving birth to this truly American art form.

Baptizing of a music all its own to spread to the world.

Mississippi, the State of the Blues today, Scott with words, Ken with eyes, picture our blues in the present.

Young and old musicians are alive and well, performing and sharing their gifts. Opportunities to play music in traditional clubs and many festivals provide steady contact with Blues fans.

Local blues enthusiasts are abundant, joined with supporters from world wide visiting our state to experience these good times.

Culturally living within this art form–“the blues experience”–we the fans get to have a good ole party and throw down.

Click here to see all of our blogs on Mississippi State of Blues.

Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, November 11th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

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The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie (Crown, October 19, 2010)

“When Hood refused to drop his investigation, Scruggs grew apoplectic. In a move later characterized by his friends as an ‘afternoon decision’ driven by a large dose of his painkilling medication, Scruggs offered to pay $500,000 to Steve Patterson and Tim Balducci to get the attorney general on board . . . Sure enough, Patterson and Balducci were able to arrange one inconsequential dinner, which Hood grudgingly agreed to attend . . . They got nowhere with him.” (page 168)

“In January of 2007, Patterson warned Cupit that Scruggs was prepared to deliver an ultimatum to the attorney general. Unless Hood agreed to assure State Farm that there would be no indictments, Scruggs would fall back on a plan conceived by his public relations team. There would be a press conference, attended by several high-ranking public officials–including Senator Lott, who had sued State Farm himself–to endorse a settlement benefiting hundreds of Gulf Coast residents. The group would announce that only Hood stood in the way. The publicity could kill Hood’s reelection chances.” (page 170)

“The scenario was the subject of a heated discussion in a private room at the Jackson airport in January 2007, involving Hood, Scruggs, Patterson, and Joey Langston.” (page 170)

“Two days later . . . Hood drove to Memphis . . . to meet with high officials of State Farm . . . During his Memphis talks, Hood first reached a settlement with State Farm on the state’s civil case. The company agreed to pay $5 million to the attorney general’s office as reimbursement for its expenses in the investigation and to set up an apparatus to deal with the unresolved claims that could cost the company as much as $400 million.” (page 170)

“Before he left the Tennessee city, Hood also informed State Farm that he would discontinue the criminal case. This cleared the way for the final settlement of the 640 cases represented by the Scruggs Katrina Group . . . ” (page 170)

Reserve a signed copy online or call the store at 800/601.366.7619.

Curtis Wilkie will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, Oct. 21^st.

Click here to see other excerpts from The Fall of the House of Zeus.

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After a series of extensive interviews in their homes, Curtis Wilkie met with Dickie Scruggs in the Lafayette County jail in Oxford before he appeared before the grand jury in 2009. Scruggs asked Wilkie, “‘When all this is over, are you going to be able to tell me how I got mixed up with these guys?'” (4)

The Fall of the House of Zeus provides an intense education on Mississippi politics over the past twenty-five years and the power of greed to take over one’s life. While pulling from numerous sources, Curtis Wilkie was also able to interview Dickie and Zach Scruggs. Although Dickie Scruggs initially declined to interview because he did not “‘feel right about the appearance of exploiting it,'” he eventually opened up to Curtis Wilkie with the desire to share his side of the story (3).

If you have been following the Scruggs story from the beginning, you need to read The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie. If you have not been following the Scruggs story from the beginning, you need to read The Fall of the House of Zeus. It’s a must-read for any inquiring citizen.

Zeus does not come out until October 19th. In the meantime, Lemuria will be giving you exclusive peeks. Stay posted . . .

Reserve a signed copy online or call the store at 800/601.366.7619.

The Fall of the House of Zeus will be the October selection for the First Editions Club. Curtis Wilkie will be signing on Thursday, Oct. 21^st.

Click here to see other excerpts from The Fall of the House of Zeus.

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On January 22, 1989 I learned one of those important “how to be a grown-up” lessons. It was the night of Super Bowl XXIII and I was 13-years-old. I had picked the Bengals because, as a thirteen-year-old, I thought the red tiger uniforms were cool. They also had a quarterback named Boomer and another guy named Ickey.

I didn’t grow up in Mississippi and didn’t know about “world” or “The Satellite Express” or that Jerry Rice had managed to be a Heisman trophy candidate coming out of little Mississippi Valley State.

Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee I didn’t even know who Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were before that night, but after a two touchdown fourth quarter and an MVP trophy for Jerry Rice I was a fan. In fact . . . I think that was the night I became a football fan. And (ask my wife) I really, really like football.

Click here to see all of “Lemuria Reads Mississippians.”

Editor Neil White will be signing at Lemuria on  Thursday, October 28th.

Reserve your copy online or call the bookstore 601/800.366.7619.

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