It wasn’t the language that impressed me as the most foreign thing about Paris, though knowing a bit of French from school helped with that; for many Americans it is the architecture, its decadence and age. A few years ago, my dad took me and my sisters to Paris. We were there only a few days, but that was enough time for Paris to enchant us. Standing in front of Notre Dame Cathedral I experienced an awe no building in the U.S. could ever hope to inspire.

In David McCullough’s new book, The Greater Journey, he writes about Americans who spent time in Paris from the 1830s to 1900. The tale he weaves is yes, about their experiences in Paris, about what they gained there and were inspired by, and the differences they returned to America to make.

Charles Sumner was inspired by his time at the Sorbonne, studying side by side with blacks, to be a major voice for the abolition of slavery.

Emma Willis, a schoolmistress, was so impressed with the freedom of the young ladies who studied painting at the Louvre, that she went back to revolutionize higher education for women in the States.

William and Henry James came to Paris as young boys, and it shaped their sense of “foreignness” early on, which would figure greatly in Henry’s novels. These stories and many more McCullough weaves together to present a grand history of Paris during the nineteenth century that is from a very different perspective — one that is distinctly American.

As I read, I couldn’t help but keep referring to maps of Paris, reminding myself of the experiences I had shared with my dad as Americans in Paris. Some of the places McCullough evokes, like the Palais des Tuileries, no longer exist, destroyed by fire in 1871.

When we walked down the Champs-Élysées to the Tuileries Garden, the open Louvre courtyard, with the imposing glass pyramid at its center, was our view. Some, though, like the Pont des Arts, the first metal bridge in Paris, constructed by Napoleon I in 1802 solely for pedestrians, still stands, though it was reconstructed in 1981. My dad and I walked that bridge from the Louvre to the left bank, gazing at the Île de la Cité and Notre Dame which was just visible upstream.

It is these experiences of Paris, brought to life through the eyes of the American characters McCullough highlights using their letters and journals, that work his magic for him, bringing Paris to life so vividly. This is Paris before it was a moveable feast, and it will appeal to the history lover / traveler (armchair or otherwise) dad in your life. For as Oliver Wendell Holmes was fond of saying, “Good Americans, when they die, go to Paris.”

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.

It’s May and lots of us are graduating!  A book we always sell around this time of year is This Is Water, by David Foster Wallace.  It’s actually a printed speech he gave in 2005 – a commencement address for the graduating class of Kenyon College.  It was, as the book points out, the only such address he ever made; he died in 2008.  Here’s an excerpt from that speech; if you want to read the whole thing, click here.  I’ve only copied and pasted the first three paragraphs:

Does anybody recognize the room in this picture?  I hope not, because if it’s recognizable then it means it still looks messy.  I was recently given the task of cleaning it up – a task that involved no small amount of dust, sweat, tears, etc, and so for that reason if not any others, I want to give it some attention here.

So anyway, it’s the First Editions room!  For anyone who doesn’t know what/where that is, it’s the room on your right when you walk through Lemuria’s main entrance.  It also functions as the semi-office of Joe and John and so for that reason I think lots of people think they can’t browse around in there, which is completely not true.  It’s part of the store just like any other section.  If you can put up with a bit of clutter, a liberal approach to the alphabet, and of course the company of Joe and John, then I encourage you to pay a visit to the FE room.

Before I worked with books in any capacity, I don’t think I completely understood the allure of first editions.  I still don’t have that many, but one of my favorites is Music of the Swamp, by Lewis Nordan.  It was a gift from a friend, and after it was given to me, something clicked.  I don’t know.  These books are just really, really special, with the added bonus of having fantastic covers (see Sharpshooter Blues up there? !!).  I suppose what I’m trying to say is I don’t think you have to be a huge book-collecting enthusiast with lots of money to drop to appreciate FEs.  If nothing else, they’re fun to look at.

Also fun to look at, and also in the FE room, are Advanced Reader Copies – it’s hard to miss this ARC of Libra:

I took loads of pictures and I could put them all up right now, but I’ll take it easy.  I suppose I just wanted everybody to know that yes! the First Editions room is open for browsing and is hopefully more accessible than it was a month or so ago.  Lemuria is full of first editions – many of them signed, it’s worth noting – so come and have a look!

Susie

A customer came in today looking for a copy of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I had used this in a writing class years ago and adored this book in all my tender vulnerability of 19 years. Julia’s book is so full of heart and she reminds you that your thoughts are important, whatever creative work you are doing–it does matter.

Once John explained to me how he used the journals, I began to think I might like to give them a try. Since the pages are wrapped in the leather, you can also collect images, tickets, maps, whatever is meaningful to you . . . and then also write about it. The journal pictured here is dedicated to travels to various jazz and blues festivals and concerts.

With all of the e-mails we send, text messages, digital photos and so on, a tangible journal becomes even more special. Duke Ellington is quoted as saying: I merely took the energy to pout and wrote some blues. This reminds me that it doesn’t take much effort to write when you consider the treasure you create.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle  by David Wroblewski

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

City of Refuge by Tom Piazza

The Little Book by Selden Edwards

December by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

The Master of the Delta by Thomas Cook

You are Where You Eat by Elsa Hahne

Blue Dixie by Bob Moser

Serena by Ron Rash

Goodnight Bush by Erich Origen and Gan Golan

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

Vintage Ole Miss Calendar

Mom Agenda