by Kelly Pickerill

I had a great time chatting with Elise Blackwell when she came to Lemuria last night to sign copies of her new book, An Unfinished Score.

I haven’t read the novel yet but I know something of the story, so I was curious to know whether or not she was as immersed in the world of music as her characters are.  I found out that she played the viola in middle school, but, she says, she was a smidge atonal, and gave up playing after two years.  I love music, but I will readily admit to my own lack of any sort of talent; I played in middle school as well — the trumpet, that brash and sometimes inelegant instrument, qualities which my playing made even more apparent.  But to be a writer (and even a reader) is to be given permission to dive into a world that may otherwise be foreign to you. The prose of An Unfinished Score dips and soars like a well-crafted composition, accompanying the character’s struggles with a distinct cadence.  Knowing little about musical performance, and even less about composition, while reading the novel one can feel as though they are a part of the world of music.

I have a friend who is getting her masters in the cello; though I don’t know anything about music, hearing her practice the incomprehensible scores she’s challenged to learn is to be given a gift.  The same can be said of a good book, one that takes you out of your own, familiar world for a while and lets you run around in one that’s “novel.”

Up in Wyoming, there are still snow drifts, not pollen drifts. Brad Watson teaches creative writing at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and was here just last week reading from his new collection of short stories, Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives.

Brad has been to Lemuria numerous times before, but this was my first time to meet him. Out of the readings so far this year, Brad and Amy Greene have to be some of the best readers. It did not matter if you had a short attention span, I don’t think anybody had trouble listening to Brad read from the title novella.

“Aliens” is about a highschool-age couple who finds out they’re going to have a baby. Worried and scared, they leave their homes to set up their own place. While the young girl is asleep, the young man is visited by a couple who claim to be aliens. They share beers and talk . . . This is as far as Brad would read and this also happened to be the one story I have not read in the collection so far. I am thinking that perhaps these aliens put it all in perspective for this young couple?

After talking with Brad, I think Wyoming must be an extraordinarily thoughtful place to live, but I think Mississippi needs to think again about letting Brad spend all of his time there. The winters are long, a southerner needs the warmth of the South–in all its forms, and most of all, Brad Watson is just too talented of a writer to let go.

Check out Brad’s website:

Brad Watson’s stories worm their way through you. Watson’s talent is singular, truly awesome; he reminds me of Raymond Carver, Flannery O’Connor, Chris Offutt in his bravery, his unflinching willingness to look at what might set others running. And yet these are not exactly dark stories – that is part of their magic, they are infused with an uncanny beauty in which, even at the most god-awful moments, something is salvaged.”

Have you ever witnessed actions of random people in your life, and wondered, “What planet are they from?” Have you seriously considered someone’s actions so bizarre and alien to you that they might indeed be an alien? 

I just finished reading Brad Watson’s new collection of short stories entitled Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives. I had never read Brad Watson but knew that he was from Meridian, Mississippi, and that his only novel, The Heaven of Mercury, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2002. Fortunate for those in the First Edition Club, Mercury was the selection for August of 2002, and from what I hear, the  novel was a wonderful read.

With all of this information logged away in my brain, I was not disappointed with the short stories in Aliens.

Most of the stories are set in contemporary times with families dealing with problems we are all too familiar with–a couple who cannot seem to quit arguing; a divorced and distanced father who must spend his visitation time with his son in a hotel instead of a home; in an effort to escape the memories of his ex-wife, a newly divorced man leaves their home to find an apartment of his own.

I must warn you that the first story is different from the rest. In my opinion, this story was disturbing, a little shocking even. It is, however, a story that I want to talk about with someone else who has read it. It raises many issues, but the most interesting to me is the character development of children.

While these stories are dark, I did not find them depressing. Brad Watson’s talent lies in his ability to portray a humanity that might seem alien to us with astonishing sensitivity.

Brad will be at Lemuria Friday, April 2nd at 5:00 p.m.

Watch out for the Jacksonians interviewed at Lemuria via Skype!

Our Hero Capt’n Max got in his airship and left.

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With characters dancing in the fullness of life.

With music flowing from sentences.

With cleverness of shock and awe.

With flypaper humor that stuck memorably,

always creating joyful grins and belly laughs.

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Barry’s words of wisdom bombed our minds

and touched our souls.

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His writing woke us up to this wild crazy life around us.

We thank Barry for the smiles and words he left us.

His great gifts.

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Bon Voyage, Dear One, We will miss you.

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Lemuria.

Lemuria recently hosted events for Amy Greene and Elizabeth Kostova.

Amy Greene mesmerized us last week when she read from her first book, Bloodroot, set in Appalachia.  I was almost finished with her novel when she came; hearing her read a part I had read just a few days before brought the characters to life.  It’s really a treat to hear an author read her own work, especially one with so much promise.

We had a blast with Elizabeth Kostova this week in the dot.com building.  She recently followed the sensation of her first novel, The Historian, with The Swan Thieves, another thrilling tale, this time about a psychiatrist who becomes obsessed with discovering the motive behind a patient’s attempt to slash a painting at the National Gallery.

Don’t miss either of these wonderful reads, and if you missed the events, you should come to the next one!

Steve Yarbrough, a Mississippi native, already has a following; now after the recent publication of Safe from the Neighbors, he will have a larger one! I read this new novel, set in the Mississippi Delta, as most of his novels are, over the weekend, and even when I did not have it in my hand, I was thinking about it and could not wait to pick it up again.

Yes, it is readable! Yes, the characters are true Delta figures of the 1960s! Yes, the tumultuous Civil Rights time rises to the surface, but in a meaningful way! During the other time period, a present day protagonist, a history teacher at a local high school, whose wife teaches writing at Delta State, spends half of his time reflecting on his poverty stricken childhood and his uneducated, farmer father, while at the same time trying unsuccessfully to keep his slowly dissolving marriage intact. The unexpected entry of a  previous childhood friend as a newly hired teacher at the high school, who has now grown up to be a tempting  seductress, throws a spark into the picture; in addition, the lives of their parents intertwined closely.

Having just read Richard Russo ‘s new novel That Old Cape Magic, I became strangely aware of the very similar writing styles. In fact, if I had closed my eyes, not having read either one, it would have been hard to differentiate. So, if  you like Russo’s writing, you’ll like Yarbrough’s. But, that is where the similarity ends. I did like That Old Cape Magic, BUT I liked Yarbrough’s Safe from the Neighbors MORE!  Why????? Because I like a novel to give me some profound insights about either life, people, or events. Yarbrough’s last chapter did that for me! I am richer for having read Safe from the Neighbors. Those of us who grew up in the confusing and upsetting ’60s in Mississippi will forever be looking for new ways to interpret and understand our complex experiences. Yes, I had many questions then as I still do now. I will always have questions and also few answers. Kathryn Stockett’s smash hit The Help posed the same questions for me. Yarbrough’s new novel answered some of those questions for me in its last chapter, and that is what sets it above some others for me.

I look forward to Steve Yarbrough’s reading next Thursday, February 11, at 5 p.m. at Lemuria’s dotcom building. If you have never heard Yarbrough read, then for sure come. I remember with satisfaction the excellent reading of his last novel The End of California in the summer of 2006.

-Nan

Kathryn Stockett’s first novel, “The Help,” finally hits No.1 on the hardcover fiction list, after 41 weeks of trying!

Copyright Jennifer Schuessler, NYT Book Review, Jan. 24, 2010

The Story Behind the Pick: Bloodroot by Amy Greene

One of the store’s favorite people, Valerie, who is an alum employee of Lemuria and now our Random House rep was the first to bring this book to our attention.  Valerie wrote a letter about Bloodroot which was included with the advanced readers copies sent out to bookstores all over the great land.  When Valerie was in Jackson around Christmas time helping out at the store, she was quite adamant about us Lemurians getting on board with this book.

Norma was the first of us to pick up Bloodroot and give it a go. When she finished it she was pumped about it which got the ball rolling on our decision to choose it for First Editions Club.

“I think Amy Greene is going to be somebody special.  She writes beautifully, but perhaps even more important than that, she takes her time.  Her words conjure not just images but feelings.  The setting of Bloodroot is the Appalachian mountains which is a perfect background for Greene.  Her words roll on nice and leisurely just like the scenery and her understanding and respect for these mountain people is very much in evidence.  I think it’s exciting to read a young author that you know will be back again and again.” -Norma

This is a debut novel by Amy Greene.  She told us while signing her books that her next novel has already been turned into her editor.

Seeing as Bloodroot was already in its second printing before publication, it very well could become a collectors item.

You can see a video of Amy Greene’s book tour of the south which includes a bit of Lemuria on her website.

Amy Greene was here for a signing and reading on February 10 2010. Bloodroot had an initial print run of 50,000 copies.  It was published by Alfred A Knopf.

First Editions Club: February 2010

First Editions Club: March 2010

First Editions Club: April 2010

by Zita