Lemuria Bookstore Blog

back in december of 2007 i read an awesome little book of short stories titled st. lucy’s home for girls raised by wolves.

about a week ago when our random house reps were here for a sales call they met with all of us lemurians to share their big upcoming titles.  one that i had my eye on was karen russell’s new novel, swamplandia!

i started reading swamplandia! a few days ago and am quite impressed.  the story is based around a alligator wrestling family with its own island park in florida.  the main character, ava is the youngest of three children.  when the main attraction of the park, ava’s alligator wrestling mother, dies suddenly the park takes a turn for the worse.  with no tourists to keep the park open the father takes long trips to the main land, the older sister becomes a spiritist and starts communicating with ghosts and the brother runs away to try to make money to keep the park out of debt.

and that’s all i’m going to tell you.  you’re going to have to wait until february (when the book comes out) to find out what happens.

On April 12, 1973, at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, (my first jazz fest), I heard and saw 300 pounds of heavenly joy. Howlin’ Wolf, though ailing, worked his magic which still lives for me 37 years later. His gripping voice, primal and nasty, rocked my house. Wolf’s passion transferred his presence into my world and still moves me today.

His mystery still lives for me when I hear such greats as “Back Door Man,” “Evil,” “Smoke Stack Lighting” and the relentless “Red Rooster.”

Remembering April 12th, 1973, I’m surrounded by how important of an evening this was for me. I can say it was truly life-changing. Wolf’s stage presence was accentuated by other performances, my first  for Como Drum and Fife Corp, The Mardi Gras Indians, Taj Mahal and Albert King, another immortal. It was a night of a lifetime.

The 15th Annual Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival starts this Friday, Sept. 3rd. Click here for more details.

Moanin’ at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin’ Wolf

by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman

Pantheon (2004)

Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett)–all six feet three inches and 300 pounds of him–is a god of the blues. Moanin’ is the first full length biography capturing this giant of American music.

From a hard childhood around West Point, Mississippi, Wolf emerged to become immortal, even expressing desire to play the blues on the moon. This landmark biography captures the times and influences upon this icon. In the 30s, as a young man he was playing next to Sonny Boy II, from whom he learned to play the harp and Robert Johnson.

In the early 50s Wolf hit Chicago, recording for Chess, and the world opened up. Working with Willie Dixon, and backed by Hubert Sumlin, Wolf developed a style of overwhelming intensity. His presence was created with a feral state of antics, crawling around on all fours, howling out masculinity. Women found him irresistible. It was music that would pitch a wang dang doodle and tear the house down.

Moanin’ at Midnight captures it all, helping us to understand how Wolf, Muddy, Sonny Boy, Little Water and a parade of others–led by Willie Dixon– defined electric blues for the world.

Howlin’ Wolf’s final performance was in Chicago with B. B. King in November of 1975. This larger than life giant passed away in January of 1976.

West Point, Mississippi now honors the Wolf this time of year with the “Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival.”

How do you make a fabulous book on Mississippi blues? Get the well-known Mississippian photographer Ken Murphy to join forces with blues aficionado Scott Barretta.

You may know the work of Ken Murphy through his previous books, My South Coast Home and Mississippi. You may not know that it was sort of an accident that he became a photographer. An injury to his right index finger in a war game operation in Germany led to a reassignment with a hobby shop at a U.S. military base which led to his interest in photography. In 1986 Ken received a BFA degree in Narrative, Documentary and Editorial Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. To our good fortune, he landed back in Mississippi to capture the beauty and curiosity of our state.

Scott Barretta finds his professional home at University of Mississippi, but his love of the blues has taken him cross-country and over the ocean. Studying sociology and editing the oldest continuous blues publication–which happens to be in Sweden–gave Scott a sweeping view of the blues tradition and its fans. Though his work has taken him to various and sundry places, Scott is pleased to reside in the heart of the blues while researching and writing under The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, the Mississippi Arts Commission, Mississippi Blues Commission and other organizations at the center of blues study and support. You can also listen to him on Highway 61 Radio.

While these two were doing great work on their own, John Evans somehow managed to get  them together: “Ken’s photos flip-sided by Scott’s commentary, two creators coming together on the shape of Mississippi blues today” (“Forward” Mississippi: State of Blues).

Nothing can replace holding the book in your hands, but we’re going to be giving you a preview of this gorgeous book. The unexpected treat at the end is a list of blues festivals, clubs that regularly feature blues, and a list of museums and resources devoted to the blues.

So be on the lookout over the coming weeks. We’ll be posting our thoughts on State of Blues on our blog. Got your own Mississippi blues memory about one of Ken’s photos? Share it with us in the comments section. Howlin’ Wolf is gonna start us off tomorrow!

The book will go on sale in mid-October. Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta will be at Lemuria Wednesday, November 3rd for a Signing at Sunset with live music at the DotCom building. If that’s too early for you, there’s more live music and fun at Jackson’s Underground 119 starting at 8 o’clock. (Click here for directions.)

In 1986 Ken received a BFA degree in Narrative, Documentary and
Editorial Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in
In 1986 Ken received a BFA degree in Narrative, Documentary and
Editorial Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in
Rochester, New York.
Rochester, New York.

I’m going to take a break from normal blogging today to tell you about a couple of new things about LemuriaBooks.com.

Our website has been around for a long time and for years we have been featuring our events and signed first editions. And for a long time we’ve had a shopping cart on our website. This summer we’ve updated our cart so that you can now start an account on our website. We’ve always offered house accounts in the store, but now you can register all of your information (charge and shipping) on the website, create a password, and from that time on you can speed through every transaction on our website. And if you forget your password? Just shoot us an email or give us a call and we’ll get you a new password. (and of course you can still call the store or email us an order) If you’d like to go ahead and register please click here.

We’ve also worked up a mobile version of our website so that when you’re on your smart phone at home you can go to Lemuriabooks.com and the website will be automatically formatted for your phone.

An ultimate compliment for Lemuria was to be Eudora Welty’s hometown bookstore. Her graceful light shone on us as she shared her heart. Through her goodness and belief in our work, she gave herself in our support. Eudora’s sharing of her love for books made Lemuria better. Her wisdom guided our evolution, enabling us to be the bookstore we are today. Our Queen of Literature in Mississippi.

Click here for more information on Neil White’s Mississippians.

Something I love about reading new books is how they remind you of old books. I went through a serious Tom Clancy addiction when I was in junior high school, and I had forgotten how much I’d enjoyed those novels, especially the earlier ones where the scope was slightly more limited and every nation wasn’t perpetually perched on the brink of World War III. Some of the material is dated, but the writing still stands up as great military thrillers.

I was pleased to be reminded of those books by Thomas W. Young’s first novel, The Mullah’s Storm. Young was a military aviator and it’s easy to see how his experiences informed his writing. All the cool military equipment is there, and in spades, but what stands out more is the depiction of the soldiers (and the protagonist in particular) — the military mindset, the fear of combat and capture, and the loyalty to fellow soldiers. The soldiers are real people — not blond-haired, blue-eyed American demigods endowed with superhuman strength or skill — and not villainous bullies. They are caught between the demands of duty and the circumstances that surround them.

If you remember enjoying the early Clancy novels…The Hunt for Red October, or Patriot Games…I highly recommend checking out Thomas W. Young.

The King of the Blues

The Father of Country Music

The King of Rock & Roll

The Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment

The Most Beloved Actor of our Time

The Founder of MTV

The Greatest Novelist of the 20th Century

All from Mississippi? The state with the lowest income in the country? The state that is the butt of many jokes across the Northern states? A hot spot in the struggle for civil rights? Struggles produce fighters, soulful individuals.

For the past couple of weeks Lemuria booksellers have been passing around a new book about notable Mississippians. Edited by Neil White, this collection of Mississippi profiles ranges from individuals on stage and behind the scenes, longtime iconic figures of Mississippi like William Faulkner and Richard Wright, little-known Mississippians and colorful characters as well as people we should keep our eyes on in the coming years.

This is the kind of book you pass around and everybody has their own reaction or recalls a special memory. And there always seems to be the surprise of finding that person you never knew was from Mississippi.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing our reactions. Share your thoughts with us by clicking the Comment button on any of our blog posts devoted to Mississippians.

Mississippians complements photos with written profiles for over 300 individuals and will be available in October. Click here or call 601.366.7619 to reserve a signed copy. Or join us on Thursday, October 28th for a signing with Neil White.

When I was a student at the University of Southern Mississippi, I was lucky enough to have Angela Ball as one of my academic advisers.  During my years there, I went to several of her poetry readings.  And I should tell you now that I’m not really a big poetry fan, but Angela’s poems are lovely.  So you can imagine that I was pleasantly surprised to find her poetry here at Lemuria.

One of my favorites is her poem “The Dress with Books on It Is Too Small” from the collection Night Clerk at the Hotel of Both Worlds. I thought I’d share it with you right here. So here goes.

The Dress with Books on It Is Too Small

In a local salvage outlet, a meta-store avid

For disaster, there’s a dress with books on it:

Printed shelves of “classics.”

Perfect for the girl with boundaries

For her dates: “Get your hand away

From The Mill on the Floss,” she could say, or

“Ethan Frome is off-limits.”

Buy it, why don’t you, and take it folded

To the library, to be the slim librarian’s plumage

As she haunts the stacks. Or convert it

To a tablecloth, so that you may eat risotto

Off Great Expectations and rest your wineglass

On Moby Dick.

Imagine the textile mill: Clack,

Darcy asks Elizabeth for her hand, Whirr,

Anna Karenina throws herself beneath a train.

Frenetic weavings of stories, till they’re whole cloth.

Soon, a reporter will write MIRACLE

FABRIC TAKES SURFACES TO NEW DEPTHS,

SAVES LITERATURE.

All I can say is wow.

I have been noticing this book for several weeks but I felt it too intimidating to actually read. Then my dear friend and bookstore colleague, Pat, told me she was reading it and not wanting to be outdone, I decided that I would as well! The book is: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I was somewhat familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I knew he was a Christian pastor and important theologian who somehow died in a concentration camp in Germany during WWII.

I’m only five chapters in but I am completely hooked. There is so much more to this man than I could have ever imagined. Right now, I am immersed in his childhood and enjoying the stories of the Bonhoeffer home life which was in every sense idyllic. Dietrich’s parents were both extremely bright and well connected. On the maternal line, there had been influential artists, musicians, professors and members of the German royal court. On the paternal line, there were lawyers, doctors, professors and pastors. Dietrich’s father was a very prominent and well respected psychiatrist and his mother was also extremely bright and talented. The parents seemed to be in close agreement as to the raising of their children but it was Paula, who would teach them in the early years of their educations. She was very religious and felt it vital that her children be well schooled in all aspects of the Bible. The elder Bonhoeffer was not religious, thinking himself too intellectual but wanting his children to exhibit the morals and values that he felt could be learned from religion. Their life was filled with great love and respect for each other. Dietrich was one of eight children; all of whom showed intellectual prowess and varying degrees of artistic and musical talents. The love and wonder of these early years show no fore-shadowing of all the heartache that is to come.

I have long been interested in WWII and have thought for hours of how in the world did all that happen? How did Hitler gain such immense and pervasive control over an entire country? How did a few brainwash millions? How could seemingly ordinary people be convinced to carry out and condone atrocities which are unspeakable?

So far in my reading, I have learned a lot. I am piecing together a picture of pre-war Germany and of the German people that is putting better perspective on my questions. I am struck by the Germany which WAS and was later LOST. Before Hitler, before Germany declared war against Russia in 1914, Germany was a land of cultured and brilliant people; the country of Martin Luther; a religious and ordered place where music, opera and civility abounded and always was steeped in a strong sense of nationalism for their beloved country. But how does this Germany become that Germany?

I know that one day Dietrich Bonhoeffer will proclaim that he “believed it the plain duty of the Christian—and the privilege and honor—to suffer with those who suffered.” He will preach that ‘not to act’ is in fact ‘to act’ and that it is a Christian’s duty to make a stand for what he believes. I know that Bonhoeffer will make staggering choices that will cost him his life. All the cataclysmic pieces which need to fall are falling into place as I read page after page.

I’m going to blog about this book in installments. It’s too good and too important to tackle as a whole.

To be continued…