Adie is from Las Cruces, New Mexico, and moved to Jackson in 2006 to attend Belhaven University. She’s a poet and sculptor working on her MFA in poetry through Seattle Pacific University (she takes classes online for part of the semester). Find her behind the P.F. Chang’s bar when she should be sleeping. Besides being a bookseller, she takes care of the poetry section, works with Zita on the First Editions Club, and orchestrates the blog.
How long have you worked here?
Five months. But it was weird because when I first started working here, I was still managing at P.F. Chang’s so I would open Lemuria and be here 8-4 and I would drive to P.F. Chang’s and work until midnight…every day. For a month and a half.
What are you reading right now?
I am halfway through Cloud Atlas [by David Mitchell] – it’s so good! I’m trying to beat myself to when I end up watching the movie. [Grabs bag.] So I’m reading Cloud Atlas and also this. [Mayakovsky’s Revolver by Matthew Dickman.] And I’m reading all of Shakespeare’s Love Sonnets for graduate school and Charles Simic’s Sixty Poems. I think that’s all I’m reading.
For the people out there who are simply puzzled by the idea of reading poetry (like Matthew Dickman and Charles Simic), do you have any guidance?
Forget everything your high school teacher taught you about poetry. There is no secret meaning… don’t try to figure it out. Just let yourself be sucked away.
Name three poets whose work anyone could enjoy?
1. Philip Levine. He writes about growing up in blue collar Detroit. His poems are very narrative and really easy to read, but you get a lot out of them I think.
2. Charles Simic. It’s like reading a dream.
3. Tony Crunk. He’s from Alabama, and his poems are just beautiful.
How do you choose what to read next or the order you read books in?
How long I’ve procrastinated in reading for grad school is directly related to what I’m reading next. I try to read different [kinds of] books after each other. Not by genre: more by how the book is written. So I’ll read something that’s really imaginative or experimental and then I’ll read something more traditional.
If you could choose to read anything with no outside pressure from school, work, or other people in general…?
I would probably catch up on a lot more books I’ve missed. I wish I had read more mid-century authors. I would like to read everything one author wrote, like Cormac McCarthy — I want to read everything he’s written.
When do you read?
Usually at night before I go to bed. On my days off, I read in the afternoon. I usually try to make elaborate plans to read somewhere really cool.
Do you forever associate the places you read them with the books you read?
Sometimes, yeah. I read Under Wildwood [by Colin Meloy]during my lunch break at McAlister’s, so now McAlister’s always makes me think of Under Wildwood – which I think is an upgrade in association for McAlister’s.
Which book do you wish you’d bought?
I asked everyone that question [in previous interviews] and didn’t realize how hard it was until I tried to answer it. I think that question is much more, ‘I wish I’d known which authors were cool before everyone else knew they were cool’ – like Jeffrey Eugenides.
Which books do you write margins of a lot or reread?
Everything I’m reading for school poetry-wise, I’ll write in the margins of. If it’s a really bad book I’ll be sarcastic in the margins until I stop reading it. There are three books I re-read on a regular basis. And it’s not necessarily because they’re exceptional–it’s more because I read them at just the perfect time to have read them and I just want to re-experience the books and the time in my life when I read them. My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok; and I’ve actually – this is not one of those three – I’ve started re-reading his Davita’s Harp, too. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare.
Out of your collection, what is a personal classic?
I have a signed To Kill A Mockingbird.
Do you read in it?
No. I have a cheap paperback version that I read.
An indulgence?
Probably any of my Harry Potters’.
Best design, or most beautiful book?
I have a collection of Margaret Atwood poetry and it has a slipcase with illustrations. (Thanks Choctaw Books.)
Favorite nonfiction that you own?
I have a book about Eva Hesse. She’s my favorite visual artist; she’s a sculptor. There’s another book called New Art City about the abstract expressionist movement in New York. It’s a good one.
Are we going to have to get all these books in the store so people can buy them?
Yeah, I think we have all of them except the Eva Hesse book – It’s out of print.
by Whitney
“. . . Tony graciously invited me to come to St. Louis, watch a game, hang out with the team, and have a late dinner. I collected my dad, Big John, and away we went. It was a memorable visit, the highlight being Big John and Stan the Man sitting together for two hours watching the Cardinals and reminiscing. Leaving St. Louis the following day, my dad informed me that he had now reached the pinnacle, his life was complete, and he was ready for the hereafter. Thankfully, he’s still around and doesn’t need a Cardinal game on television.”
“In late spring of 2011, I called Tony and told him I finally had an idea for a baseball novel. The central plot involved a beanball and baseball’s unwritten code for dealing with it. Talk about a hot-button topic. Nothing torments Tony like a hit batter. Was it intentional? Do we retaliate? If so, when? And who do we hit? In his dugout, he makes the call, and by doing so takes the pressure of his players. Other managers refuse to touch the issue, instead allowing their players to handle things. More than once I’ve heard Tony describe how a perfectly civilized baseball game can change in an instant by a fastball up and in . . .”
