Last year when I read Ron Rash’s new book Serena, I was pulled in from the very start! I had heard him read from A World Made Straight a few years ago and had recognized then what a talented, captivating writer he is.  Serena, in paperback, has just been released, and our book club will be discussing it on Thursday, November 5 at 5:15.

Set in Depression Year 1929, the main characters, Serena and George, are two people who are charismatic, cunning, charming, beautiful, and intelligent. (One might compare them with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie by today’s standards.) They slowly and carefully create a logging empire in the Appalachian Mountains. All is well until Serena becomes a little distracted and obsessed with her new husband’s illegitimate son, and that is putting it mildly! What happens from the middle part of the novel  until the end of the novel grabs the reader and won’t let him or her put the book down! A literary mystery unfolds with fast paced speed!

Read the book Serena and come join us in what will surely be a lively and provocative discussion two weeks from today!

-Nan

Walter Inglis Anderson is not only a Mississippi treasure but a national treasure, as well. Quite misunderstood—he was a genius who lived his life as he saw and felt it. He would row out to Horn Island and spend hours—-days—–lost in a world of nature, of wonder. His art included a wide range of media, woodcuts, sculptures, ceramics, book illustrations, paintings, and murals.
For holiday giving —I have done this so often for my family away from Mississippi—-some suggestions:

The Horn Island Logs of Walter Inglis Anderson
This marvelous book not only has drawings and paintings from his time on Horn Island, but also includes incredible logs where he speaks of nature, changing ecology and weaves all of this into his personal thoughts.
“The sun came out for a little while. I saw few birds until Marsh Point…………
Then home and Ocean Springs.
Man must possess the extremes within himself—the means too, but certainly the extremes, which form his limits.”

Illustrations of Epic and Voyage
Walter Anderson read Don Quixote, The Iliad, Paradise Lost and other classics and as he read them over and over again he became so engaged that he created thousands of line drawings of the characters on typing paper—over 2,000 of Don Quixote alone! Thankfully, his wife, Agnes, collected them at the end of the day and saved them. This volume has a wonderful collection of these drawings and even some lovely poetry written by Anderson himself.

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass
And now a marvelous children’s book which introduces young people to the world of Walter Anderson. Paintings are by award-winning artist, illustrator E. B. Lewis. The expository text at the end of the book gives young readers a wonderful overview of his life. Hester Bass will be at Lemuria to sign her book on Sunday, November 15th at 1:00p.m.

Dr. Nancy Verhoek-Miller, director of curriculum and instruction at MSU and editor of the Mississippi Reading Journal, sent me a copy of the most recent volume of this publication. In it was an article written by John Anderson, Walter Anderson’s youngest child. He wrote after going with his father to Horn Island:
“Meeting my father and learning that he was not a lonely hermit or a lunatic had changed me. Looking through his eyes had opened me up to the beauty and drama of living. It had filled my mind with new thoughts and my heart with love.”

So, come by Lemuria soon and browse our collection of Walter Anderson books—and discover his genius, once again.

-Yvonne

Please join the Jackson Friends of the Library for a reception and the dedication of the Ellen Douglas Room featuring the unveiling of her portrait by Baxter Knowlton and comments by Professor Peggy Prenshaw.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

4-6 p.m. at the Eudora Welty Library

This month the National Geographic came out with a new collection of great photographs from around the world!  Image Collection reveals images taken from space, under water, and the seven continents as well as a diverse subject matter.  Landscapes, seascapes, animal life and people of varying cultures are pictured.   Action shots of fighting lions in Africa contrast with serene shots of pepper valleys in Peru and chemistry labs giving everyone something to enjoy.  One of my favorite photographs included is a black-and-white of a figure painting class at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1936, and depicts the students as well as their half finished canvases.  The more recent digital photographs show bright colors such as the ones in the 2008 photograph of Stonehenge by Ken Geiger.

“These superb selections, many never before published, represent the very finest of more than 11 million images focused on four major themes of perennial interest to our readers: ‘Exploration,’ ‘Wildlife,’ ‘People and Culture,’ and ‘Science and Climate Change.’  Authoritative text assesses the collection fro a variety of perspectives–historic, artistic, technical, and journalistic alike–but in truth the hundreds of unforgettable images speak fro themselves, and the result is both a colorful cross-section of the world’s many wonders and concise visual history of photography itself, from early, cumbersome black-and-white cameras to the latest in digital equipment” (from the jacket).

-Sarah Clinton

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation

by Mitch Horowitz

Bantam (2009)

Thirty-four years ago I opened Lemuria to offer books for sale that were at the time not offered in my community. I felt the need to reflect the life-style of the counter-culture movement through my inventory with a lot of emphasis on New Age therapeutic spirituality and occult (hidden or obscured) texts. I named the bookstore Lemuria. I figured “Lemuria” was a label to inform my desired readers that books of alternative knowledge and hidden wisdom would be included as part of my inventory.

Horowitz’s book is a readable reflection of the physic highway from our nation’s Free Masonic roots to the birth of the New Age era. Occult America fits this jigsaw puzzle of Ouija boards, Astrology, clairvoyant religious teachers, women’s rights, symbology, numerology, etc. into a well-organized historical presentation. Occult America is well written and interesting without academic-like pitfalls.

Enjoyable sections on Manly P. Hall and Edgar Cayce were well done. My favorite essay was “Go Tell Pharaoh: The Rise of Magic in Afro-America” focusing on Voodoo and Hoodoo and Frederick Douglass’ story of his John the Conqueror root. However, I did feel that the last section, “Aquarius Rising,” to be rushed with not enough information concerning the state of counter-culture thinking today.

Over the years Lemuria has expanded its inventory, keeping at its roots the need for alternative thinking and ideas.