“My mommy,” the patient answers groggily.  She is in a hypnotic trance, induced with the help of the psychiatrist.

“Yes.”

“My mommy said I was bad, and…my lips were too big…she slapped me…with her knuckles…she said don’t tell Daddy.  She said to keep my mouth shut.”

“Mommy isn’t going to ever hurt you again,” the psychiatrist answers.  “Do you want to know something, Sweety?  I’m stronger than mother.”‘

These are the opening lines of Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan a book about the three (or nineteen) women behind one of the most famous multiple personality cases in history.

Meet Shirley A Mason from Dodge Center, Minnesota: artist from a young age, only child in a devout Seventh-Day Adventist family with a nervous, controlling mother.  This is the young woman who would later claim to have sixteen different personalities while in the care of the famous Dr. Connie Wilbur.

Sybil Exposed takes you through Shirley’s life, Dr. Wilbur’s psychiatric practices and the writing career of Flora Schreiber, author of Sybil.  The book tells the story of how these three women meet and end up in business together to create the cultural phenomenon of Sybil.

You the reader get to decide if Shirley really did indeed suffer from multiple personalities or if these women were only out to get their own.

I’ve read a couple of books about Gacy before but this one definitely stands in a class all its own.  As a matter of fact, this is by far the best written and most entertaining true crime book I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a lot of them).  What makes this book stand out is that unlike most serial killer/true crime books this one isn’t written by a journalist, psychologist, family member of the accused or the accused himself.  Defending a Monster was written by Sam Amirante, the lawyer whose task it was to defend Gacy against the state of Illinois in what would become one of the most notorious trials of all time.  I’d never thought about it before but who better to relay such a story than the defendant’s lawyer?  Genius.

“‘Sam, could you do me a favor?’

A telephone call, seven short words, a simple-enough request.  That’s how it all began.

I knew the guy on the other end of the line.  Everyone on the Northwest Side did.  He was a political wannabe, one of those guys that was always around, talking about all the big shots he knew, hoping that the importance of others would rub off on him, a nice-enough guy – maybe a little pushy, a bit of a blowhard, telling tall tales, but still, a nice-enough guy.”

With this book you get a whole different type of story than with most like it.  It’s not all just dates and facts and confessions.  This is conversations, letters and notes that an accused serial killer would only share with his lawyer.  The insight and observations are incredible.

“‘This boy,’ he said, gently tapping the picture with his fingertip, ‘This boy is dead.  He’s dead.  This isn’t the boy from the drugstore…but this boy is dead.  He is in a river.’

Time switched to slow motion.  I looked at Stevens and then back at the pathetic, broken lump of a man in front of me.  I guess I had some suspicions; if I was honest, they were there, nagging questions put there by Sullivan and other, the mayor.  They were all so sure.  But until that moment, I wanted to believe my client.  I wanted him to tell me that he had driven Rob to the Greyhound station or that Rob was staying with Rossi or Cram and that Gacy had given him a job and that Rob wanted to leave home.  Something.  Something else.

The gravity of his statement was beginning to register.  I looked at Stevens again, puzzled, then back at Gacy.  I was shaking my head.  Something wasn’t right.  ‘What the fuck are you talking about, John?  That is Robby Piest, the Piest kid, the kid from the drugstore, the kid that everyone has been looking for.  That’s him.’

Gacy looked at me.  His sagging, dead, watery eyes pierced me.

‘So…many,’ he softly murmured, barely a whisper.”

This book isn’t for just anyone out there but if you are indeed a fan of the true crime genre I promise you’ll not be sorry you picked up this book.

* Doors will open at 5:30 at Hal & Mal’s (where the entire event will take place).

* The one night only art show hosted by Fischer Galleries reception will start at 5:30.

*Bloodbird goes on stage at 6:00 to accompany the art show.

* SPACEWOLF starts their set on the patio at 7:00.

* Chuck Palahniuk will be on stage at 8:00. His schtick will include a reading of an original story, interactive games with the audience and question answering.

* The New Orleans Bingo! Show will be immediately following Chuck on the main stage at 9:30.

***Please remember that Chuck Palahniuk will not be signing books at the event (so please don’t bring books from home to get signed…it will not happen). This is not a ticketed event. Admission is free. This event is 21 and up!

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It’s time to start showing your Chuck Palahniuk love with our custom event t-shirts.  You have a choice between a red shirt with metallic silver ink and a light gray shirt with red ink.  The design on the shirts was done by Justin Schultz at The Flying Chair.  If you have no idea what this shirt is for then you need to get to catching up.

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Palahniuk uses shock and awe to make social commentary in his writing.  He tries to broaden what is culturally acceptable through exaggeration and abnormality.  By writing about situations or issues that make the general population uncomfortable or uneasy he makes those situations/issues more accessible and not quite so mysterious.

Chuck Palahniuk is the author of 12 novels and two collections of short stories.  He is best known for his 1996 novel, Fight Club, which was made into a movie staring Brad Pitt in 1999.  Palahniuk is more than just an author; he is what I refer to as a “rock star author.”  This is partly because he’s had two of his books made into movies and also partly due to the spectacle he creates at his readings.  According to Palahniuk’s Wikipedia page, his public readings of the story “Guts” (which is a chapter in his novel Haunted) caused a grand total of 73 people to faint.  Chuck Palahniuk commented in a interview with Downtown Express:

“At a reading a few weeks ago, we had thirteen people faint,” he says. “It was glorious.”

Fainting should be the least of your worries for the night we have planned.  Our event, Chuck Palahniuk’s Damned Book Night, will be taking place at Hal & Mal’s on Thursday October 20th 2011 and will get started at 5:30.

Here’s what you can expect:

* One night only art show hosted by Fischer Galleries featuring several local artists who created pieces specifically for this event starting at 5:30

* Musical performances by: Bloodbird (starting at 6:00 accompanying the art show), SPACEWOLF (starting at 7:00 on the patio) and The New Orleans Bingo! Show (starting at 9:30 on the main stage).

* Chuck Palahniuk will be on stage at 8:00. His schtick will include a reading of an original story, interactive games with the audience and question answering.

* Pre-signed copies of Chuck Palahniuk’s newest book Damned will be available for purchase. A limited number of back list titles will be available at the event.

* Musical performances by SPACEWOLF, Bloodbird and The New Orleans Bingo! Show.

* One night only art show hosted by Fischer Galleries featuring several local artists who created pieces specifically for this event.

* Hell themed specialty drinks provided by Cathead Vodka.

* Hell themed culinary delights will be provided by Parlor Market.

*** Please note that Chuck Palahniuk will not be signing books at the event (so please don’t bring books from home to get signed…it will not happen).  This is not a ticketed event.  Admission is free. This event is 21 and up!

Expect the unexpected and be warned, the popcorn balls on the floors and ceilings are not edible.

*     *     *

Get directions to Hal & Mal’s

Order your event t-shirt (your choice of gray or red)

Check out our Facebook event page.

Follow us on Twitter: @lemuriabooks And we’ll also be posting updates and all things Palahniuk under this hashtag: #palahniukatlemuria

If you are not attending the event, pre-order your signed copy of Damned here or call the bookstore at 800/601.366.7619.

The Official Chuck Palahniuk Website

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On the back cover of The Night Circus was a blurb by Katherine Dunn who wrote one of my all time favorite books, Geek Love.  Geek Love is a tale “of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out-with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes-to breed their own exhibit of human oddities.  There’s Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniacal ambition worthy of Genghis Khan…Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins…albino hunchback Oly…and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious-and dangerous-asset.” -from the back cover of Geek Love.  I’ve only re-read a handful of books in my time and most of them were on accident but Geek Love is one that re-read on purpose and will probably read again sometime.

To add to this circus theme, Kaycie showed me this amazing coffee table book the other day that blew my damn mind.  Take a look:

I want to live inside this book.  I suppose there are worse things than having circuses on the brain.

* Erin Morgenstern will be at Lemuria signing and reading from The Night Circus on Monday October 3rd at 5:00.

Have you ever thought about how you would go about actually making Willy Wonka’s lickable wallpaper?  I have…quite often.  Meet Heston Blumenthal and his very fantastical cookbook with which you can learn how to make lickable wallpaper, an edible graveyard and all sorts of other crazy edible delights.

“I wanted to create feasts that captured the spirit of their times.  They had to be theatrical and fantastical, stimulating all the senses and conjuring up for my guests all sorts of memories and allusions and associations, as though I had waved a magic wand.  To that end, I explored some strange places and some even stranger ideas.  I ate boar’s eyes, Play-Doh and a lot of Spam.  I went to the walled city in Fes to get tips on cooking camel meat and to snowy Transylvania to find out about a legendary recipe for leeches fed of goose blood.  I tried to make edible bones, lickable wallpaper, floating food, superstringy cheese, a savory Zoom lolly and fake Champagne using a SodaStream.  It was a mad, invigorating, informative, frustrating, funny, shocking and surprising journey-and it’s all here in the pages of this book.”

Within the cookbook you are given six different Feasts; A  Fairy Take Feast, A Gothic Horror Feast, A Titanic Feast, A Chocolate Factory Feast, A Seventies Feast and An Eighties Feast to create and told exactly how to go about doing so.

Take a look at the Fairy Tale Feast.  It includes Cinderella’s Pumpkin (Pumpkin Puree, Langoustine Tail and Osetra Caviar Sprinkled with Golden Fairy Dust), The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg (Chicken Testicle Jelly Beans, White Bean Veloute, Peashoot Beanstalk, Golden Egg and Shredded Goose Leg), Snow White’s Heart & The Wicked Queen’s Apple (Deep-fried Boar’s Ears, Braised Cheek and Tongue, Snout Sausage, Gribiche and Radish Eye Apples with Boar’s Heart Parfait) and Hansel & Gretel’s Edible House (Shortbread Roof Tiles, Marshmallow Bricks, Sugar Stained-glass Windows, Aerated Chocolate Door, Green Moss, Welcome Mat).

I suggest you pick up a copy of Heston’s Fantastical Feasts and get to cookin’.  Enjoy.

On this day Hedgie met up with his best pals Ghostie and Onionhead in the forest of Milkland and they happened upon the mermaid Cora and her pet Ned the Narwhal (now how these two could exist so carefree outside of water I don’t know, perhaps that is another story for another time). They were both pleased to make the acquaintance of Hedgie, Ghostie, and Onionhead. Naturally they all became fast friends and explored the forest together until dusk.

Then they had to part ways, and Cora explained that she “lives in a tiny white house, in a place where the forest meets the sea,” and they all really must come to tea sometime soon. Plans were made, and Hedgie and his friends walked home.

“What an adventure, to meet new friends, and a land-dwelling mermaid and narwhal at that!” said Hedgie to his mom Rose that evening. (Just as a side note, in case you were wondering, Rose has her own bakery, but she had taken this particular day off to forage the flea markets for wind-up toys to surprise Hedgie). “That sounds delightful, darling,” said Rose, handing out freshly iced cupcakes to Hedgie and Onionhead because in Milkland children are allowed sweets before bedtime.

Soon after the sugary treat, Rose tucked Hedgie into bed. And he slept while mermaids and narwhals danced through his dreams.

And they all lived happily ever after, of course.

***Some details and all dolls from the imagination of Emily Winfield Martin and her book The Black Apple’s Paper Doll Primer.  Story from the minds of Kaycie Hall and Zita White.  Scenes conglomerated by Zita White.

Check out Kaycie and Zita’s last story starring The Black Apple’s Paper Doll Primer.

First up is The Gentleman’s Bedside Companion.

In this book you will find a vast variety of tid bits.  Here are a few of my favorite chapters: Human Anatomy for the Practical Man, The Weirdness of Earthquakes, Ball Lightning, The Story of Heroin, Famous Car Crash Victims, To Cuff or Not to Cuff, How to Iron a Shirt, Best Ever Book Titles and How to Slaughter and Bleed a Pig.

In the section on Old-Fashioned Activities you are given some history to the Ship in the Bottle which has always fascinated me.

A little slice of miscellany is never a bad idea in my opinion.

Secondly we have Farts: A Spotter’s Guide

Yes, I’m serious.  I gave this to my Step-Dad and he absolutely loves it.  In this book you learn about and can listen to the 10 types of farts. 

10 types of farts?  Who knew?  Here they are:

The Seismic Blast, The Silent but Deadly, Blowing Smoke, The One That Got Away, The Flight of the Buttock Bess, The Poof, In Between States, The Sleeping Dog, The Long Good-Bye and The Aftershock.

For the Dad who passes and gas and can laugh about it.

Next up is The Little Book of Beards…and a Couple of Mustaches!

Each beard in this book is accompanied by a bit of information about the style, what it says about those who wear it, how to grow that particular style and who of note is know for donning the beard.

Also, underneath each beard is a grooming, growing and grating rating so you’ll know how much trouble the new style of beard you’ve wanting to try out will be.  We don’t want you to get in over your head.

My favorite style in this book is the Octopus, “As worn by the weird, the wonderful, and the really f***ing hairy.”

The Octopus is “Elaborate and complex, the Octopus is the ultimate experiment in beard landscaping (or “pogonotopiary” if you want to be fancy).  You probably need to get our more, though.”  You’ll notice that it’s got a grooming, growing and grating rate of 5 (the max).  This beard is “Also worn by…Die-hard, competitive beardies, and mad scientists from The Future.”

This is an essential for all those Dads out there who love their whiskers.

Lastly we have My Tattooed Dad.

“Life is very exciting when Dad comes home.  He fries up chicken samosas for dinner, makes jokes and fools around, and carries his sleepy son off to bed.  He also tells wonderful stories that seem to almost spring from the fantastical tattoos all over his body.  Even his letters tell amazing tales, such as how he saved the boy’s life twice – once when he was stolen from his baby basket by a wild dog and once when he flew out the car window!

But as the boy’s mother says, his dad has ants in his pants, which means he’s often not around.  Still, life rolls along with one tale after another, in good times and bad.  This extraordinary dad’s gift is the world of the imagination, which is always with his son, even when he is not.”

This book is just amazing.

All Dads should be read to every once in a while.

Hope this helps…at least a little.