Robertson Davies on the Little Red Hen

Have you ever met the Little Red Hen? Hers was the first story in the Ontario Primer, and it was printed not in the Latin alphabet, but in the debased calligraphy which was taught to children at that time, ruining their handwriting forever. Why it was thought that children could read this script more easily than print, I do not know. In the pictures illustrating the story, the Little Red Hen was larger than the cat, the dog, and the pig with whom she shared the farmyard. Much later in life, when I became interested in the ikons of the Orthodox church, I discovered the reasoning behind this apparent absurdity; the Little Red Hen was morally bigger than the cat, the dog, and the pig, so she was drawn larger, just as saints in ikons are drawn larger than pagans or people of mere ordinary virtue.

The rest is really worth reading. Follow the link.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeeal5f/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/LittleRedHen.pdf

Like The Swamp Fox or You'd Think We Might Have Learned Something from Vietnam

Here's an article from Alternet by Gary Brecher whose new book, The War Nerd is due out June 1st

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/81147/?page=entire

The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz

I spent a couple of wonderful days reading "The Crime Writer" by Gregg Hurwitz. I became forlorn when I was done. This is a helluva story written in the first person. Hero wakes up in hospital told he has had a begnin brain tumor removed and that he's under arrest for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. He is eventually convicted and then aquitted because of the tumor.

What I loved most about this book was how lost I got in the story. For example, the hero is a detective novelist. His fictional protaganist, Derek Chainer is mentioned several time. I found myself thinking periodically that I should get those books. And then realizing that there are no Derek Chainer books. Hola! This book is beautifully written. Gritty, noir, but very human. Kind of, but not exactly, like a white guy's Walter Mosley.

Good Review below.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bookopinion.com/files/2007/07/crime-writer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://bookopinion.com/blog/2007/07/23/the-crime-writer-by-gregg-hurwitz-hits-bookstores/&h=240&w=240&sz=15&hl=en&start=21&sig2=wTShKSF-LXunEFgJynPZuQ&tbnid=a9Vn-ewCkrBznM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=110&ei=6CfjR9uPKZaigAKCnunMCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bcrime%2Bwriter%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Jeremy Scahill on Obama's plans for Iraq

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/28/jeremy_scahill_despite_anti_war

Jeremy Scahill,who recently won the George Polk award for his book, Blackwater: The rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army, talks on a Democracy Now podcast about Obama's position on using Blackwater and other mercenary troops and about his plans for increasing the U.S. Military budget and the addition of 90,000 troops.

or you can read his main points in the article from The Nation

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/28/7341/

Fearless Jones

Walter Mosley


"Hampton had a sharp laugh, like the chatter of a dozen angry wrens." ---Walter Mosley writing in Fear Itself.


I find myself compelled to re-read all of Walter Mosley's books. It's that time of year when a gal wants nothing new but the old favorites. There's a new Fearless Jones novel out--Fear of the Dark. Paris Minton is back, of course and has somehow gotten himself involved in another big mess. This one, like the others, starts with a knock on the door to his used bookshop. Paris makes the mistake of answering the door, and there stands Fearless Jones. Paris and Fearless are the perfect counterbalances to each other. Paris is an intellectual, timid and forever attempting to be logical. Often his intellectual skills are crucial to figuring out the twists and turns in the endless and horrifiy adventures that take him and Fearless into the disturbing and violent places of L.A. in the fifties. Fearless is, well, fearless. He intuits people and exerts his homegrown moral system in situations that seem to defy order and integrity. But if you make a wrong move, he'll beat you to a pulp in a hearbeat. Fearless and Paris take care of one another and once in a while they both take care of other people who wander in and out of the bizarre and shady situations that build in complexity throughout the series. Paris and Fearless are two Black men in L.A. in the fifties and this determines to some degree who they are, and to a larger degree the framework within which they have to work things out. The first in the series is Fearless Jones, followed by Fear Itself, and the latest --Fear of the Dark.

Federal Street Books Art Show

Tom Swetland invites anyone who can make it to Greenfield, MA to an art show at his bookstore. on October 12th, 7-9pm. Email me at suckerbeagle@gmail.com if you are interested in going. If you can drive I have a car.


At left a sample of art called "Spaceman". Below a link to Toms great website with more pictures.
http://www.federalstreetbooks.com/

Best Book Cover Ever

Here it is. I made a poster out of it and hung it in my kitchen.