Chuck Palahniuk’s skill of observation seems to be the root of his creativity. His experiences spark his imagination through his writing. Are his novels really fiction? Yes, but let’s think about what might be happening here. Could this cutting-edge fiction have something to say about our daily lives in Jackson, Mississippi?

On the surface, we are affected by the oddity or perhaps insanity of his character and plots. He pulls the reader into an array  of bizarre situations–for me at least. As Jung might say, Chuck’s images present archetypes we can use to examine our own subconscious life. He digs into myths, fables and images we all have in common.

In reading Chuck, I feel we are reading something bigger than appears on the surface. Is reading Chuck like putting on training wheels to understand our lives better? Is he perhaps trying to wake us up, or open our eyes wider, as we shape our future?

Right: Chuck Palahniuk has been involved with The Cacophony Society, “a randomly gathered network of individuals united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society through subversion, pranks, art, fringe explorations and meaningless madness.” Or not so meaningless?

Often in real life, we may be confronted by issues we don’t understand and perhaps fear. (I’m not sure Chuck has any fears left.) The fast world we live in may restrict our inner selves from addressing serious issues thoroughly, and we may just give up, not understanding what’s going on and move on down the road to our next situation or connection.

I believe Chuck is consciously directing his skill of observation and metaphorical expertise of writing, in attempting to cause us to free up ourselves, to free up the reader from his/her own limited ego. He wants us to expand into our wholeness. He wants us to dig into who we already are, into the depths of ourselves.

Left: Stranger Than Fiction, a collection of true stories, a showcase for Chuck’s keen sense of observation.

We Jacksonians (and Mississippians) come up with many reasons to live our lives as is, not consciously trying to activate our creativity. We can deny the possibility of successfully creating change and blame it on something or someone else. We can choose to complain about everything or everybody. Through pretensions are we keeping ourselves down? How authentic are we living our lives to create “our” sense of place, for ourselves and our community? We can stop living so much as a reaction to circumstances and start activating the force of control and awareness of what could be? Can we?

Special events in the life can go by too fast and our memories can be too short to have solid effects of change. However, I believe that if we shed our fears and pool our creative efforts, we can help create our vision of Jackson. We sold our first book on October 20, 1975. What are the possibilities in 2011?

Celebrate Chuck October 20, 2011.

JX///RX

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Lemuria is two times lucky: one to have Chuck Palahniuk and two to have The New Orleans Bingo! Show make their Jackson debut at Hal & Mals on Thursday, October 20th.

With many of the band members being Chuck Palahniuk fans, they were eager to send a shout out before the event. Here’s what The New Orleans Bingo! Show has to say:

We at The New Orleans Bingo! Show cannot be more excited about performing at Chuck Palahniuk’s Damned Book Night in Jackson, MS.  As purveyors of oddities in our own right, we’re honored to be included alongside Mr. Palahniuk for a night of  transgressive revelry.

Mr. Michael “Bones” Miller

Several members of the group are big fans of Chuck.  For literary insight into what we like best about his work we go to our resident bookworm and bass player for The New Orleans Bingo! Show, Mr. Michael “Bones” Miller:

“The idea of personal and subjective realities are supremely crafted into lived-in and fleshed out experiences.  Palahniuk’s major strength is his ability to tap into a character’s id, memory, wishes or fantasy and fully develop each scenario.  For each person, those inner thoughts and musings are true, colorful realities… and in Palahniuk’s work, we get to play around inside the minds of those who do not self-censor.”

We’re equally as excited to bring our performance to Jackson for the first time.  It floors us that in our 7 years of existence that we haven’t paid a visit to the City of Soul.  We believe the show is a perfect fit, as we’re estimating that Chuck’s fans that are attending have a certain taste for irreverence and the unconventional.  We’re also hoping that Jackson will be a continued destination for Bingo!.  I mean heck, you’re only 3 hours away!

Check out official website for The New Orleans Bingo! Show here.

Chuck will begin his reading at about 8:00 with The New Orleans Bingo! Show to follow. Click here for more details about Chuck Palahniuk’s Damned Book Night.

We cannot wait to meet you New Orleans Bingo! Show!

Love,

Lemuria & Friends

JX///RX

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Justin Schultz is The Flying Chair, a freelance artist living in Jackson, MS. We enlisted Justin’s talents to help promote our Chuck Palahniuk event. He is also responsible for all of the artwork on our blog: The Devil (also used for Chuck Palahniuk), Larry the Lemur, the First Editions Club Bookmark and the Lemuria Mermaid.

guts… “Guts” was the first thing I read by Chuck Palahniuk. I was fresh out of college, and had just started working as a production artist at an advertising agency in Jackson. A talented copywriter named Jeff Pedigo had been nice(?) enough to recommend I read the short story “Guts” on one of Chuck’s fan-sites. He did warn me: “this guy makes people faint and/or vomit when he reads this in public.” Even with a mind-blowing warning like that, I was still unprepared for what I was about to read. To be honest, I’m not sure if I should really go into the details of the story (now published in the book – Haunted) but by the time Jeff walked back around to my cube, I must’ve lacked most of my color, except for maybe a faint green tinge. A sly grin rolled across Jeff’s face.

I was somewhat torn. I’ve never been a fan of excessive gore, or even relatively violent themes, but don’t get me wrong, this absolutely was NOT that… but it was… to put it lightly… disturbing. But it definitely wasn’t some sort of cheap “shock value” bullshit either. It was moving. In a good way. In a bad way. In some other way that my brain can’t even understand. I won’t pretend that I read constantly, but I felt like I had gotten enough in, to know that what I had just taken in was something special.

I won’t go much into Palahniuk’s style because I pretty much agree with how the previous Lemuria bloggers described his work (here, here, here and here) but I definitely can dig on his love for the fraying psyche… the slightly (or unmercilessly) damaged minds of people of all backgrounds… and how we have no idea what really goes on in others’ noggins… scary! strange! beautiful! and maybe will make you think about how you treat others.

Because if you treat others poorly, you may end up in hell. Which is the location where his newest book, Damned, takes place. When Zita notified me that Chuck Palahniuk… THE Chuck Palahniuk… was coming to Jackson, I pretty much *explicative a brick. Shortly followed by my begging to puhhh-leeeeease be able to do the event poster (i’m so self-centered)! Once I was given the go-ahead and started Zita’s advanced reader copy of Damned (the benefits of dating a bookstore employee!) – I became immersed in Palahniuk’s perspective of hell.

I was excited to be able to do a poster that was probably going to be much more adult-themed/darker than my typical work (If you’ve ever seen my stuff, I pretty much draw like a seventh-grade girl [I’m a 29-year-old male.]) Upon completion of the book – which by the way, was amazing, hilarious, scary, and makes you think about things you probably don’t want to think about (classic Palahniuk) but end up being all the better person for acknowledging those elements of life/humanity/existence – I struggled with what image(s) I was going to use for the poster. Palahniuk’s characters (and creatures), landscapes and objects/accessories were all described so well – what to use?!!?! dang!

I finally ended up going for the semi-obvious choice of Maddy (the main character, a 13-year-old girl) in a hero-shot during a more action-packed part of the book.

She is donning items like Vlad the Impaler’s jeweled dagger, Hitler’s mustache, the handkerchief of Thug Behram, Caligula’s Testicles and Catherine de Medici’s coronet of pearls… all items that Maddy acquires while attempting to overthrow hell.

I’m a big fan of juxtaposing a slightly darker (sometimes sad) image with a somewhat-classic American (slightly Japanese) cartooning/illustration style. The Damned image/theme went along pretty naturally with that idea (which I felt was pretty neat that it worked out that way.) Anyway, I’m pretty happy with the final product and can’t wait to see Zita’s screen-printed posters! (on big, 18 x 24 red paper!)

The more I hear about this event, the more I can’t wait to go! It is going to be unlike anything most of us have ever experienced… join us!

love,

justin

the-flying-chair.com

JX///RX

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Today Borders is closing its doors one last time in Flowood. We view the closing of Borders as an opportunity to gain new customers and welcome old ones back. The closing of Borders refuels our ongoing initiative to provide the best service to our existing customers.

We know that Lemuria is still not the only place to buy your books. We could say “shop local” to keep your tax dollars and jobs close. These things are no doubt important, but we believe that there are more reasons than that to shop at Lemuria:

We read books. We love to talk about what we read and hear about what our customers are reading.

We take this knowledge and get the best books in our store for our wide range of customers. We analyze our inventory every day–from buying to receiving to shelving. Our entire knowledgeable staff is involved in this process.

We stock a variety of books–from the paperback to the hardback to the signed hardback to the collectible editions.

If we don’t have it, we’ll try everything we know to get you the book you need–in print and out of print.

We get behind a book and its author. We love to “work on” books with the knowledge that we are bringing it to Mississippi. We have signing & reading events and broaden your reading experience. Your book increases in value, literally and figuratively.

We bring the books and/or the author to your school, your local library, or other event location. Lemuria has wheels.

We like to think that Lemuria is a wonderful place to spend your time. At any time of the day, you may find Lemuria full of curious people. People we see every day, people who are passing through on a long road trip from Boston to New Orleans, people who are serious book collectors, people who are looking for a book for someone special, or people who are looking for that book that fits their particular mood or required task.

All of these people have three things in common: they are here with a purpose or destination in mind, they are here looking for content and interaction that is meaningful to them. Reading adds a rich dimension to their lives. That’s why Lemuria is here and everything we do at Lemuria is with this goal in mind. We nurture our community through human relationships that revolve around an understanding of the importance of reading.

A Big Thank You to all of the local organizations, schools, churches, and libraries we have worked with over the past 36 years.

Let’s keep it growing and going!

If we made an error by leaving your group off the list, please feel free to add it to our comments section.

Schools

Jackson Public Schools, Hinds Community College, St. Joseph’s Catholic School, Madison County Public Schools, St. Anthony’s Catholic School, Jackson Academy, Jackson Prep, St. Richard’s Catholic School, First Presbyterian Day School, Mississippi College Law School, Belhaven University, Millsaps College, East Flora Elementary, First Presbyterian Day School, Madison Avenue Elementary, Madison Ridgeland Academy, Madison Station Elementary, Mannsdale Elementary, Pelahatchie Elementary, Power APAC, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Lower School, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Upper School, St. Anthony Catholic School, Jackson Prepatory School, Ridgeland High School

Special Events

Crossroads Film Festival, Freedom Riders 50th Anniversary, Mississippi Social Workers Convention, Jackson Free Press Chick Ball, VIP Grand Events, Mississippi Art Week-Hinds Community College, Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series

Organizations

Mississippi Hearts Against Aids, Jackson Friends of the Animal Shelter, Clinton Junior Civic League, Mary Church Terrell Literary Club, The Elsinore Garden Club, Downtown Rotary Club, French Society, Party Like a Professional, Jackson’s Green Ladies, Southern Farm Bureau Book Club, Madison Bar Association, Raise Your Pints, ACTE Mississippi, Junior League of Jackson, Operation Shoestring, Salvation Army, Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association, Candlelighters of Mississippi, Craftsmen Guild of Mississippi, Bookfriends of the University Press of Mississippi, Wisdom Academy, United Way of the Capital Area, The Gray Center, Fondren Theatre Workshop

Businesses

Julep Restaurant, Cathead Vodka, Broadstreet Bakery, Fischer Galleries, Hal & Mal’s, Parlor Market

Libraries

Pearl Library-Brown Bag Series, Mississippi Library Commission, Flowood Library, Eudora Welty Library & Applause Series, Jackson Friends of the Library, Jackson/Hinds Library System

Churches

St. James Episcopal Church, St. Andrews Cathedral, Daughters of the King-Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church

Mississippi Arts & Sciences

Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Mississippi Archives & History, Mississippi Children’s Museum, Mississippi Museum of Art, Mississippi Natural Science Museum, University Press of Mississippi, Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters

As a children’s book buyer, I see all kinds of illustrators and all kinds of mediums: Pen and ink, digital, oil painting, paper cutting, water colors, colored pencils, and even crayons. With each illustrator comes a unique style that often becomes instantly recognizable.

One of the first illustrators I first became familiar with in Oz was Loren Long. His acrylic illustrations have graced the books of Angelia Johnson, Watty Piper, Madonna, and President Barack Obama.

In his first series, Loren has created the character Otis, a small red tractor with a big heart. In his first adventure, titled simply Otis, Otis makes friend with a orphaned calf, is replaced by a bigger tractor, and ends up saving the day with his compassion.

Otis lives in the mid-west, so it only makes sense that a tornado would show up in an Otis book as it does in Otis’ newest adventure, Otis and the Tornado.

As Otis and his farm friends enjoy a lively round their favorite game, follow-the-leader, everyone on the farm gets involved–that is, everyone except the bull. The bull has no interest in playing and stays in his pen, and when the other animals get close to his pen, he purposely intimidates the other animals.

Suddenly the nice day turns cloudy scary, something we all know about here in Mississippi: the birds stop chirping, the wind picks up, and the sky turns dark and stormy. It’s a tornado!

Otis uses the follow-the-leader game to get all of the farm animals safe and sound in the dried-up riverbanks of Mud Creek. But Otis hears a cry in the distance – it’s the bull, still locked in his pen! Quick as his tires will take him, Otis putt puff puttedy chuffs back to the farm to save the day. This new story from Loren Long feels classic already and is one I am already enjoying sharing with kids and parents.

Loren Long is such an accomplished author that just a new book from him is worth celebration. In the follow excerpt from Loren’s biography on his website, we see how accomplished he is:

“Two-time Golden Kite award winner and New York Times #1 bestselling illustrator Loren Long is an artist straight from the heart of America. Born in Joplin, Missouri, and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, Long is a storyteller in pictures who draws on his roots to depict a soulful American landscape peopled with imaginative characters who take on mythic, even heroic, dimensions.”

However, a visit from him is worth jumping for joy. Loren Long will be here to read and sign his books on Wednesday, September 7th at 4:00! He will read and speak at 4:00, with a signing to follow.

Because of Loren’s amazing illustrations, Otis and the Tornado will be our Oz First Edition Club pick for September. We also have first editions of President Barack Obama’s book Of Thee I Sing, which Loren illustrated, which we will be offering as well at list price!

You don’t want to miss this, so come on out on Wednesday at 4:00!

Drop by the store if you would like one of the these posters to hang up.

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For full disclosure, when this blog posts I will be in Dauphin Island, Alabama and will have been since Wednesday.  I am just positive on Tuesday as I write this that I will have a wonderful time and will not want to come home.  I have been packing my book bag for weeks and I am positive that it weighs more than my suitcase!  I thought that I had finally finished but I kept getting tweets from Farin Schlussel, a marketing intern at Dutton Books, going on and on about this great new book.  I knew the book was in my bag so I just decided to go on and read it. I will most likely finish it in the car tomorrow and I am totally not disappointed that I unpacked it!

Just for fun let’s take a count on how many Scandinavian Authors everyone has read in the past few years?  I need more than one hand for this game!  Guess what?   I’m about to introduce you to another one…meet Jussi Adler-Olsen.  He is from Denmark, has won the Glass Key Award (along with Mankell, Larsson and Hoeg), has been at the top of the bestseller lists in Denmark, Germany, and Austria.  The Keeper of Lost Causes is his American debut.

Carl was one of the best homicide detectives in Copenhagen until he was shot while on a case.  He survived but his partners were not so lucky.  One was killed and the other is paralyzed and still in the hospital and Carl blames himself for what has happened.  Of course, he has some marital problems though still married his wife moved out and has a few boyfriends while her son lives with Carl.  He has gone back to work and no one wants to work with him and the chief of detectives has come up with a plan.  Carl is going to be ‘promoted’ to run Department Q, a new division that has been organized to work on cold cases.  He will be the only one in the department except for his new assistant, Assad.  Carl and Assad continuously bicker back and forth and it really is the comedy relief through out the book because the first case that they begin to work on is a wild one.

The first case that Carl picks for Department Q to work on is a missing persons case.  Five years earlier an up and coming politician disappeared without a trace.  She was last seen on a ferry going on holiday so the ‘world’ assumes that she fell into the water and drowned but her body was never found.  After reading the file Carl’s interest is piqued as well as Assad’s who cannot wait to do some police work.  As he back tracks on the clues left in the file he begins to realize that some things were left out or just not followed up on and in his gut he feels that Merete Lynggaard is waiting somewhere for him to find.  What he is not sure of is if he will find her dead or alive.

The evening of August 4, 2011 at Lemuria’s events building was like no other evening. The evening was devoted to Ed Grissom, a lifelong customer of Lemuria with a lifelong passion for Ernest Hemingway. Lemuria owner John Evans recalls the events that led to meeting Ed 33 years ago:

J. C. Simmons & John Evans

About three years after I opened and moved Lemuria to Highland Village, a large strange man came to check out my collection of books for sale.

My memory tells me he wore a navy blue suit, he walked around a bit, scoped the layout of my store, and then parked his assertive self in front of the Nobel Prize winners bookcase.

He looked at the desk where Tom, Val and myself were learning the book business and blared out to all ears: “I guess you guys like Hemingway.” We said, “Yeah!” and from there my enduring friendship with J.C. Simmons grew. Soon his buddy, another Papa crony, showed up to check out the joint, and that was when I met Ed.

Besides the evening being a reunion of sorts for many old time customers of Lemuria, we marveled at Ed’s accomplishment in the most descriptive and complete Hemingway bibliography. John reflects:

Over my lifetime of bookselling, I’ve had the good fortune to meet many wonderful bibliophiles but none have embarked on a journey like my ole pal Ed Grissom. After a lifetime of learning all about Ernest Hemingway, Ed launched into the ultimate “Papa” project of which this extraordinary book is the result.

Ed brought some of his Hemingway editions that he has been collecting for 50 years. Starting the collection with a purchase of a friend’s personal collection, Ed gradually began to expand the collection on his own.

As he researched Hemingway and his books, he found inaccuracies in the most up to date bibliography at the time. Soon he began to inquire about writing a new bibliography. Book dealers were inquisitive about Ed’s questions; Academia dismissed him, thinking that the current bibliography was flawless.

Determined, Ed eventually made contact with the highly respected Fitzgerald scholar, Matthew Bruccoli. He was tough but gave his stamp of approval on the project. And finally on August 4th Ed could proudly stand with his bibliography in hand, having made it through many obstacles for which his life as a medical doctor could not have prepared him. John described his accomplishment well:

Remarkably, Ed’s passion came to fruition. It’s not everyday that in pursuit of your wildest dreams that there actually awaits that cup of gold. And for Ed his cup is filled with the publication of this ambitious project. I praise my pal for never giving up on his passion.

Dean Faulkner Wells passed away yesterday at the age of 75  after suffering a collapsed lung. Dean Faulkner Wells was the niece of William Faulkner and he became her legal guardian shortly before she was born when her father died in a plane crash.

It was just this past spring when Dean Faulkner Wells released Every Day in the Sun, a memoir of the Faulkner family and her life with William Faulkner, her “Pappy.” Lemuria enjoyed a signing and a visit with her in March. Jerry Mitchell talked with writer Hunter Cole about Dean and the Wells family and shared this quote in The Clarion Ledger:

Author Hunter Cole, who knew the Wellses for 40 years, also was saddened by the news.

He said the book enables “all who knew and loved her to be forever connected with her voice and her presence. We’re blessed she wrote it.”

She is the last of that generation that knew Faulkner, he said. “When Willie Morris went, I thought the world would end, and now Dean is gone.”

Read the rest of Mitchell’s story here.