Today, Monday 10 June 2013, Kent Wascom will be here at Lemuria to sign and read from his debut novel Blood of Heaven.

The title of this book tells of what you should expect. There is equal parts blood and heaven both in this book – and plenty to spare. I was talking with a fellow coworker the other day (Adie Smith) and she said something to the effect: Mix in a bunch of old religion/religious rites/customs into a good story and I’m sold. I’ve thought about that, and I find I’m the same way. When you bring those, in the case of Wascoms book, old Christian ways into a story that is both unrelenting in its violence, wildness of character, and a truly compelling story, it somehow begins to touch on the real in a way that without those religious elements it could not. Kent with his first novel reminds me of the kind of story you find in Barry Hannah. He doesn’t much write like Hannah but his spirit is found in this novel. Kent’s writing can be a bit difficult at times, though I believe most of it is due to the period, preLouisianapurchase/civilwar, and a little bit to do with the archaic quality he tries to cultivate to assemble a biblical language face, which I believe he does quite spectacularly.

The narrative follows an Angel Woolsack and is set primarily in New Orleans/West Florida. There are plenty of preachers, politicians, whores, slaves, and grotesqueries that keep the heart of this book pumping and in like the reader’s heart as well. Frankly it’s an exciting read and I’m sold on it. It’s the best book I’ve read this year.

I would say that by reading the first paragraph of Blood of Heaven you will know if you’re going to love or hate this book:

 Tonight I went from my wife’s bed to the open window and pissed down blood on Royal Street. She shrieked for me to stop and use the pot, but below I swear the secession revelers, packed to the streetcorners, were giving up their voices, cheering me on. They’re still out there, flying high on nationhood. Suddenly gifted with a new country, they are like children at Christmas. I saw their numbers swelling all the way to Canal, and in this corner of the crammed streets the celebrants were caught and couldn’t escape my red blessing. A herd of broadcloth boys passed under my stream while a whore howled as I further wilted the flowers in her hair and drove her customers off; and yawping stevedores, too drunk to mind, were themselves bloodied even as they tried to shove others in. And if I could I would’ve written out a blessing on all their faces, anointed them with the red, red water from my Holy Sprinkler, and had them pray with me.

If that didn’t convince you, come out tonight @5 for 1dollar beers and a free author reading, can’t beat that.

(by Meg Boyles)

Over the past year, I’ve had an obsession with Rumi, the thirteenth-century Persian poet. I’ve watched countless documentaries on him, read all of his poetry (thanks to my handy-dandy The Essential Rumi), and even wrote my college essay on him. His simple yet profound words left me inspired and at peace. Lately, however, without any new Rumi material to pour over, I’ve needed something new to dedicate my energy to.
As I read Kahlil Gibran’s first poem in The Prophet, I felt the same spark immediately ignite. Gibran’s narrator, Almustafa dispenses ageless wisdom in prose poetry on love, marriage, work, sorrow, death, prayer, etc. What struck me most was the power each word held. On love, Gibran writes:

“But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.”

On freedom, Gibran writes:

“You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights with a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise about them naked and unbound.”

Gibran describes all beings as interconnected, and life as achingly ephemeral. Reading this book has proved to be a kind of meditation and inspiration for thousands, including The Beatles, Indira Gandhi, and John F. Kennedy. As a whole, Gibran’s poetry is beautiful and heartfelt and very, very important. There is a certain kind of music that plays when the truth is written. When you read The Prophet, you’ll hear its tune loud and clear.

Spark is a collection of essays about how real life and creativity collide, revealed through many conversations on Studio 360, the fastest growing show in Public Radio International’s history. Artists, filmmakers, architects, sound engineers, writers and musicians share their experiences of creating solutions out of adversity, incorporating family and home life into their work, growing in creative partnerships, and how they get to work, start again and understand when a creative effort is actually finished.

One of the writers featured in Spark is one with whom Mississippians are familiar: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford. The foundation for Ford’s creativity began in childhood out of adversity. As a child, Ford never dreamed of becoming a novelist; he rarely even read as he struggled with dyslexia. Reading out loud turned out to be faster than reading silently and as a result he became acutely aware of the sounds and rhythms of language as he lingered over sentences and eventually began to write his own stories. When he was writing The Lay of the Land, Ford and his wife, Kristina, took turns reading passages aloud to each other, discussing melody and meaning of the lines. Ford says: “I feel like if I don’t read things aloud, I don’t really fully authorize them. I have to hear everything, hear what every sentence sounds like. I write so somebody will read what I write.”

Spark is a delightful book to pack in your bag as you travel this summer. From Richard Ford to Roseanne Cash to Kevin Bacon to the collaboration of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Spark illuminates the creative life and inspires. You will also learn the story of how Studio 360 became such a successful show despite some of its key players having no radio experience. I’ll leave you with the wisdom of Zen master Shunryu Suzuki, a great inspiration for Studio 360 host Kurt Anderson: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”

Spark: How Creativity Works by Julie Burstein, foreword by Kurt Anderson, $14.99

Junie B. Jones and her shenanigans are coming our way! Three years ago, Junie B. showed up on our doorstep and of course, we invited all our friends to meet her. On Monday, June 17th at 2:00, Junie B. is back! Our favorite precocious kid is out on the Stupid Smelly Bus Tour to bring Park’s lovable character to fans across the country, all of whom love to meet their favorite book character in person.

So what exactly happens on a Stupid Smelly Bus Tour? The fun begins when the doors of Duling Hall open at 1:30 with fun activities, and the main show begins at 2:00 and features live performances by two actors playing Junie B. Jones and Mr. Woo. Junie B. and her teacher travel from city to city in a bright pink “Stupid Smelly” school bus adorned with colorful graphics, including the series’ signature checkerboard and the faces of Junie B.’s friends in the windows.

At each event, Junie B. will open her Big Pink Trunk of Junk and perform a Show and Tell, sharing instantly recognizable items from the series such as her stuffed elephant, “Philip Johnny Bob,” and the floaty ball from the toilet tank, Junie B.’s favorite plumbing supply.

Tickets for this event are $10 and can be purchased at Lemuria Books. The ticket provides admittance to the event for one child and parent, as well as one paperback Junie B. Jones book. A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to promote the arts in Fondren. And after the event, Junie B. and Mr. Woo will stick around for an official book stamping and to hand out free Junie B. souvenirs for all kids in attendance. For more information about the Junie B. Jones book series, visit the series website at JunieBJones.com. We hope to see you at Duling Hall!

A few posts back I wrote about L’incident D’antioche, a title by Columbia University Press (CUP) under their series INSURECTIONS: CRITICAL STUDIES IN RELIGION, POLITICS, AND CULTURE. Last month they added another to that great list: Philosophical Temperaments by Peter Sloterdijk.

Philosophical Temperaments is at first glance yet another history of thinkers, as the subtitle suggests – From Plato to Foucault – but it is not really that at all. I would like to refer to them as abstracts. Abstract in the normal sense, as in a summary of contents, etc. and then abstract as in the context of art. The former is self-explanatory; Sloterdijk gives a brief introduction to the given thinkers idea/s and impact, and so on (the longest one is Plato’s 13 page, most come in around 3 pages). The later form of abstract is where he makes this book interesting. These little vignettes read more like sketches drawn out or even better – an abstract painting. These are very colorful exacting prefaces to the thinker and abstract in that he paints their idea/s critically and purposefully through his own lens, and so this book ends up being more of an examination of Sloterdijk’s thinking than those he writes about. And by the way, if you don’t know of Peter Sloterdijk, he’s not boring.

The underlying current of thought in this ~100p volume is that Sloterdijk believes the current generations are in an “advancing technological remaking of all concepts” and he seems to be giving us here a users manual to guide us to the right (or rightly wrong) thinkers and ideas that can map us through this rift safely.

“There are many indications that the current generations will pass through a rupture in the shape of the world which – in profundity and momentousness – is at least as important as the one that gave rise to classical philosophy twenty-five hundred years ago. A study of that ancient rupture could therefore inspire an understanding of the present one.”

To think that we are going through such a shift is a bit frightening but I think it is self-evident that we are in such a shift. Technology has and will make sure of that. Technology does not grow in a linear way, nor does it take steps up a ladder. When a discovery is made, it makes leaps not only in the field it was found in, but in a sleuth of others as well. Technology grows exponentially and so the more we understand, the faster we are going to understand more. We are in a universe that is full of the unknown and undiscovered; this unknown expanse and the technological understanding we are gaining combine and act like combustion. We do need a user guide to help navigate this accelerating social landscape. Perhaps Sloterdijk can point us to part of it.