HOLLER NOTES

FIVE PLAYS AT HART STUDIO IN WAYNESVILLE

2012-01-19T12:43:00.009-05:00

Kind Hearts, the HART theater in Waynesville is doing five of my monologues, the majority of which have never been done. (There is probably a good reason for that!) At any rate, Tom Dewees, the director all all five plays (he also stars in "Coy") has told me that the plays are running on the designated dates in January and February. You will also note that they misspelled my name, as usual. I intend to go and may even
attempt to defend the plays in a dialogue with the audience at the end of the show. Please read the information below.
Gary

"Land's End and Beyond"
“Jesse Racer,” “Coy,” “Philoctetes,” “Jimmy Du,” “Signs and Wonders”
January 27, 28, 29 at 7:30. Sunday Matinee: 3:00.
By Gary Cardin
Directed by Tom Dewees
With John Winfield, Jack Ross, James Bradley, Holly Ann Harmon Jeremy Bridges and Tom Dewees
This is an evening that will feature five short plays by local playwright Gary Cardin. Cardin is best known for his play “Nance Dude,” which we presented a few season back and he is a chronicler of stories with a local spin and resonance. This will be a very special event which will connect you even more to the WNC mountains. Gary lives in Jackson County and is well known as one of the regions finest writers.
Adults $10, Students $6
(Hold Over Dates: February 3, 4, 5)s For additional information, call Tom Dewees:734-5169.

THE LIARS BENCH ON "LIVING IN THE CAROLINAS"

2012-01-12T17:01:00.004-05:00

KIND HEARTS, PLUS NOTE THAT THE LIARS BENCH WILL BE ON CARL WHITE'S "LIVING IN THE CAROLINAS" ON JANUARY 15TH AT 2 P. M. THE SHOW WILL BE BROADCAST ON CHANNEL 40. THIS IS ACTUALLY A SHOW WE DID LAST OCTOBER AND WAS ENTITLED "BOOGERS, HAINTS AND BELLED BUZZARDS." PLEASE COME AND ENJOY!

RICKMAN'S STORE, DECEMBER 9TH, 2011

2011-12-15T13:38:00.011-05:00

WELL, KIND HEARTS, IT WAS WINDY AND COLD ON THE NIGHT THAT THE LIARS BENCH PERFORMED AT RICKMAN'S STORE, BUT THE ATMOSPHERE INSIDE THE STORE WARM AND LACED WITH LAUGHTER AND MUSIC. ERIC YOUNG, THE TALL FELLOW WITH THE MANDOLIN BROUGHT TWO MUSICIANS WITH HIM AND PERFORMED DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE SHOW BECAUSE HE AND HIS FELLOW MUSICIANS HAD ANOTHER "GIG" IN CASHIEERS VALLEY. IN ADDITION TO PERFORMING HIS OWN WORK, WILLIAM RITTER JOINED ERIC IN SOME FIRST CLASS RENDITIONS. DAVE WALDROP PERFOMED ONE OF HIS "MUSICAL POEMS" ABOUT THE LOSS OF CHESTNUT TREES IN THE APPALACHIANS AND LLOYD ARNEACH, THE CHEROKEE STORYTELLER, DELIVERED A SERIES OF APPROPRIATE LEGENDS FROM CHEROKEE FOLKLORE. I TOLD A GRIM LITTLE STORY ABOUT THE NIGHT THAT MY FIRST WIFE TRIED TO KILL ME. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN. PLEASE NOTE THE SETTING. RICKMAN'S STORE, WHICH IS A LIVING REPLICA OF A TURN OF THE CENTURY GROCERY STORE, IS STOCKED WITH VINTAGE PRODUCE. IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO THIS PLACE, PLEASE CHECK IT OUT. THANKS TO THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, THIS STORE HAS ACQUIRED A KIND OF "LIVING MUSEUM" STATUS THAT ALSO FUNCTIONS AS A CENTER FOR THE COMMUNITY'S PERFORMING ARTS.

LIARS BENCH TO APPEAR AT RICKMAN'S STORE ON DECEMBER 9TH AT 6:00.

2011-12-03T09:11:00.011-05:00

KIND HEARTS, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE CANCELLED OUR MONTHLY PROGRAM FOR DECEMBER, WE WILL BE APPEARING AT RICKMAN'S STORE ON DECEMBER 9TH AT 6:00. PLEASE COME. LLOYD ARNEACH, THE CHEROKEE STORYTELLER, WILL BE THERE AS WELL AS SOME REMARKABLE MUSICAL TALENT, INCLUDING WILLIAM RITTER AND ERIC YOUNG. I'LL BE ON HAND TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY DISASTROUS FIRST MARRIAGE AND DAVE WALDROP WILL RELATE THE DANGERS OF KUDZU. WILLIAM MAY DO "WILD HOG IN THE WOODS" AND ERIC INTENDS TO PLAY HIS MANDOLIN. A REMARKABLE YOUNG WOMAN IS COMING WITH A FIDDLE. YOU BETTER COME! FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: carlsonelena@yahoo. com

THE LIARS BENCH, NOVEMBER 17TH..GUEST: BOB PLOTT

2011-11-21T12:53:00.011-05:00

In addition to hearing some marvelous stories from Bob Plott, the audience was treated to an eye witness love affair as Nannie, the Plott Hound initiated an affair of the heart with Liars Bench moscot, Bodine. At first Nannie nibbled Bodine's toe, then fondled his nose and then explored his fuzzy rump. At that point, Nannie's owner broke up the budding romance.
Liars Bench regular, Paul Agrussi did a thundering version of "Old Slue Foot," followed by Gary Carden's tale of Honest Jone, the rogue bear that became a celebrity in Haywood and Jackson back in the 1940's. William Ritter did a hair-raising rendition of "The Wild Boar," and Barbara Duncan gave her own version of the same song which included audience participation. In the absence of Lloyd Arneach, the Cherokee storyteller, Gary Carden related two Cherokee legends: "The 8th Clan" and "Gall Place." All in all, it was a marvelous night that concluded with Paul's version of "I Ain't Gonna Be Treated This A-way."

"NANCE DUDE" COMING TO RICKMAN'S STORE, NOVEMBER 4TH AT 6:00

2011-10-27T11:22:00.015-04:00

In case you don't know, the story of Nancy Curlee, the Haywood County grandmother who was imprisoned a century ago for sealing her granddaughter up in a cave on Utah mountain in Haywood County,this dark bit of history is a popular Appalachian tale. Based on a true event, the play/monologue allows Nance to speak for herself. "I'm going to tell it, now," she says. "I'm going to tell you what really happened."

For the past decade this story has been consistently popular with audiences in western North Carolina. Based on a book by Maurice Stanley, extensive research into actual events and personal accounts (I saw her as a child walking the roads near Wilmot with a load of kindling on her back), this dramatization has been performed hundreds of times in libraries and community theaters in this region. The actress, Elizabeth Westall has gained a following from devoted fans. In recent years, she has repeatedly said, "This is my final performance as Nance Dude." Each time, we have been able to lure her out again, but this performance could well be the last one.

SPONSORED BY CHEROKEE RUBY MINE AND FRIENDS OF RICKMAN'S STORE
TICKETS: $15.00
TELEPHONE: 828-369-5595

BOOGERS, HAINTS AND BELLED BUZZARDS AT THE LIARS BENCH

2011-10-22T15:57:00.029-04:00

Well, folks, the last Liars Bench came as a surprise to all of the performers, including me. I only learned shortly before the show that the live TV show, "Living in the Carolinas" was going to film the entire program. So it was, that Carl White, the program's MC, showed up with a host of photographers, sound engineers and make-up technicians. Carl some of us in make-up, talked to us about commercial breaks and proceeded to host a fantastic show. We had a packed audience and even after carrying in extra chairs and seating some folks on the floor, we ended up turning away more than 50 folks. This event has prompted a discussion about the future: do we need a larger performance area?
I will keep you posted on that issue.

Since we are in the midst of that strange time called winter solstice and Halloween is fast approaching, the entire show had a nice eerie flavor. I talked a bit about the belled buzzard that once flew through the coves of western North Carolina announcing the coming of death. I have always been fascinated by this bird since he used to scare folks up in Madison County and later showed up in Arkansas and Georgia. Barbara Duncan provided her own spooky tale with the rendition of "The Unquiet Grave." One of the show's most valued performers, Paul Iarussi delivered some vintage claw-hammer guitar and the Cherokee storyteller, Lloyd Arneach not only made us all a little uneasy with his tale about the "Raven Mockers" who hid in the rafters of house where people were seriously ill and waited for their chance to steal the victim's "vitality."
Later in the night, Lloyd talked about Spearfinger, the Cherokee witch who had a forefinger that was a sharp knife......she stole children's livers in the fall of the year when the days were short and the nights were long.

As the picture on the right indicates, this audience was one of the best ever!
Yes, that is Santa Claus on the front row.

In addition to telling the audience a terrifying story about my first marriage and the dangerous results of marrying women from Bryson City, I took the opportunity to point out celebrities (and a few felons) who were in this audience.
On the right is Carl White, the MC for the show, "Living in the Carolinas" and he is explaining some of the finer points of producing a television show to me.

This is Lloyd Arneach in the midst of his spooky tale about the "Raven Mockers" which are the equivalent of vampires in Cherokee mythology.

Paul Iarussi is giving a rousing version of an old traditional song.

This is a newcomer to the Liars Bench, Liz Nance, who hails from Bryson City. In addition to being a musician and vocalist, Liz writes her own songs. She will definitely be back.

THE LAST RAINDROP WALTZ

2011-10-15T11:37:00.009-04:00

Well, folks, last night (October 14), I attended what is probably the last performance of "The Raindrop Waltz." This little autobiographical play has been around for about 20 years, and after over 200 + performances, it needs to be retired. What is especially interesting about this production is that it has been "toured" by the Burnsville Little Theater and has been performed in Burnsville (several times), Sylva, Tryon, Flat Rock (Blue Ridge Community College) Andrews and now Franklin. In many ways, it is a strange little play that is composed of a series of stories that I tell. I just linked about eight of them together and they form the story of my father's murder and the death of my grandmother.

It is not a dark and brooding play .... quite the contrary. It is filled with humorous insights into the lives of my grandparents and some relatives. I think I am content to put it on the shelf. It has been strange places, including California (Pewter Plough),Jacksonville, Florida (Atlantic Experimental Theater), Atlanta, Georgia (The Art Station), Western Carolina University (Niggli Theater) and Asheville (ACT). In addition to that, it has been done throughout WNC in libraries and community theaters. Both the play and I have been fortunate. In many productions, I have gone on the stage after a performance and fielded questions about the play and "the truth" of some of the events depicted in it. Audiences have always seemed to be genuinely interested in the music, the tragedy and the culture depicted in the play.

I would appreciate a response to this post since my blog has come to represent my "social life."
About the only people I have conversations with are here on hollernotes.

WHERE DID THE JACK TALES ORIGINATE?

2011-10-14T15:25:00.008-04:00

Well, Kind Hearts, I just did a program at the new Jackson County Library and my topic was the origin of Appalachian Jack Tales. I had a ball and the audience was remarkable....they were attentive, responsive and inquisitive. I need to have more programs like this.

There are countless Jack Tales, but last night I concentrated on a bit of information about Richard Chase, the man that snatched the old tales from oblivion and my favoriteJack Tale which is based on an ancient tale called "Godfather Death" and renamed "Soldier Jack, the Man Who Caught Death in a Sack." I especially enjoy comparing the attitude toward death in the two stories.

A CONVERSATION WITH GARY CARDEN AT CITY LIGHTS CAFE

2011-10-08T14:36:00.013-04:00

KIND HEARTS, PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE A PROGRAM AT THE CITY LIGHTS CAFE ON OCTOBER 19TH. IT IS CALLED "A CONVERSATION WITH GARY CARDEN," AND I AM HOPING THAT A BUNCH OF MY FRIENDS SHOW UP AND DO EXACTLY THAT ...ASK ME QUESTIONS FOR AN HOUR OR SO. NO ADMISSION, ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE A DONATION JAR THAT WILL BE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED. OF COURSE, I WILL PROBABLY TELL STORIES BUT I HAVE FOUND IN THE PAST THAT THE PROGRAM IS MORE FUN IF IT GROWS OUT OF A CONVERSATION WITH THE AUDIENCE. SO, COME AND ASK ME SOMETHING!

NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE PROGRAM AT THE CITY LIGHTS CAFE, I HAVE A PROGRAM AT THE NEW JACKSON COUNTY LIBRARY ON OCTOBER 11TH IN THE COMMUNITY ROOM. 7:00. THIS PROGRAM IS ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF JACK TALES WHICH IS SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS. SINCE I HAVE BEEN A STORYTELLER , I HAVE NATURALLY COME IN CONTACT WITH JACK TALES. ESSENTIALLY, THESE ARE OLD STORIES BROUGHT HERE BY THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS FROM IRELAND, ENGLAND, GERMANY AND FRANCE. RICHARD CHASE COLLECTED MANY OF THEM IN THE LAST CENTURY AND HE ONCE OBSERVED THAT IF YOU SCRATCHED A JACK TALE, YOU WOULD FIND ANOTHER TALE BENEATH THE SURFACE. IT MIGHT BE A GRIMM FAIRY TALE, SHAKESPEARE, THE DECAMERON OR AN ANCIENT COLLECTION OF TALES CALLED THE MABINOGIAN. I INTEND TO TALK ABOUT THAT AND GIVE SOME EXAMPLES. PLEASE COME!

As it turns out, my play, "The Raindrop Waltz" is being performed at the Unitarian Church in Franklin,
N. C. on October 14th at 6:00. This performance is by the Burnsville Little Theater, a group that has performed the play about eight times now. They have been touring it in this region and it has been done in Andrews, Hendersonville, Sylva, Tryon, Flatrock and Burnsville. This production has Elzabeth Westall as Agnes and Milton Higgins as Jody Lee.....the best cast ever for this play.

2011-10-07T22:26:00.015-04:00

2011-10-04T09:06:00.002-04:00

Witches on the Road Tonight by Sheri Holman
New York: Atlantic Monthly Press - 2011
$24.00 - 263 pages

She slips out of her skin from time to time,
leaving it hanging on a peg in her bedroom
while she disappears through the keyhole.
page 21.

When I was a teenager, I became addicted to a late-night horror movie host named Bestoink Dooley. Based in Atlanta, Bistoink came on at midnight, and I can still see his stark-white face and his silly grin, complete with bloody fangs as he crawled out of his coffin and lurched toward the camera. Interspersed between adds for used car lots and factory-rebate furniture, Bistoink and his assistant, a Vampirella clone, sang, delivered bad puns about graves and ghouls, and hosted a black-and-white horror film - things like “The Mummy’s Curse” and “Cat People.” I was addicted to Bestoink Dooley, and I have no sensible explanation for my steadfast loyalty. Eventually, I learned that there was someone like Bistoink on every major television station in American during the 1950’s and 1970’s. Many of them had clubs, membership cards and autographed photos.

One of the major characters in Witches on the Road Tonight is Eddie Alley, better known as Captain Casket. At one time, Captain Casket had hosted a popular midnight show, complete with a theme-song that bore more than a passing resemblance to Disney’s Mouseketeers:

Who’s the digger of the grave
For you, and you and me?
C-A-P
T-A-N
C-A-S-K-T

It is all innocuous fun, of course, but Captain Casket’s show has been cancelled and now, his alter-ego, Eddie Alley has decided to chuck it all. He has swallowed a mega-dose of sleeping pills, and as he lies in his old prop coffin in his New York apartment, he muses on his life, his loves, his tragic mistakes and Wallis, his famous daughter, who is the celebrity anchor of a major TV news channel. The mistake he doesn’t want to remember is the boy named Jasper. As Eddie dozes, remembering his life in fits and starts, Witches on the Road Tonight occasionally becomes reminiscent of another great pop horror classic, The Late, Great Creature by Brock Brower.

Eddie’s origins are fascinating. Born in a remote cove in the Blue Ridge mountains, Eddie’s mother, Cora Alley, has a reputation as a witch. The local folks tell stories of the men who visited Cora and were never seen again. Eddie tells us that the stories are true and that he has watched his mother through a keyhole in her bedroom door and has seen her strip off her skin, hang it on a peg and fly away through an open window.

A turning point in young Eddie’s life came during WW II when he is struck by the car of two WPA workers, Tucker and Sonia Hayes, who are working on an illustrated book on Appalachia. Eventually, Tucker reveals that he is a frustrated, alcoholic playwright, and Sonia a gifted photographer, is not really Tucker’s wife, but she is pregnant with his child. In an attempt to entertain the injured Eddie, Tucker shows him a film: a thirteen-minute silent version of “Dracula” on a hand-operated projector.

Witches on the Road Tonight is an intricately woven tale with frequent twists that lead the characters in unexpected revelations. Eddie’s chance encounter with Tucker Hayes (and “Dracula”) will provide the prime motivation for Eddie Alley’s decision to find his way to New York where he will find work at a television station where he graduates from a “gofer” to Captain Casket. (Of course, his marriage to the daughter of the station owner help, a bit.)

But what about Cora Alley, who appears to be a gaunt, malnourished mountain woman one day and a vigorous and robust siren the next? Does she truly “ride men” over and through the foggy mountain coves at night? Does she really have a curious rapport with a mountain panther that does her bidding? What happened to Tucker Hayes? Are his bones scattered through the mountain undergrowth, or does he reside in the strange cabin on the crest of a distant (an unapproachable) peak?

Of course, this is not the story of a single witch but three witches: Cora, Eddie and Wallis. The dark powers that Sheri Holman finds in a mountain cove where a woman supports herself by searching for the elusive herb, ginseng also abide in the DNA of the whimsical, bisexual Captain Casket and his frustrated and guilt-ridden daughter who also finds night-time solace with one-night stands.

However, there remains another character: his name is Jasper and he is a homeless waif that shows up at the television station where Captain Casket’s show originates. Remembering his own childhood, Eddie gives Jasper the role of his assistant on his show. Essentially, he rationalizes his action by casting himself as a “father figure” for Jasper. To make matters worse, Wallis is drawn to the troubled young man. Thus begins a conflict that will eventually bring tragic consequences.

At one point in Witches on the Road Tonight, the successful, middle-aged Eddie returns home to his mother’s abandoned dwelling. Eddie has a momentary wish to return and stay, and with the assistance of Jasper and Wallis, he sets about making his mother’s rustic shack a possible home. It doesn’t work, of course. For this witch-boy, there is no going home again.

In addition to producing a compelling tale that blends the supernatural with the unacknowledged darkness in the human heart, Sheri Holman’s novel is packed with tantalizing bits of information about witchcraft, herbs and Appalachian superstitions. I was pleased to learn that a poison oak rash can be avoided by scrubbing your body with jewel weed. (I live in the heart of Appalachia, but I missed that one.) There is also considerable information on the history of ginseng, that marvelous plant that allegedly makes “old guys dangerous again.”

As for the fate of Tucker Hayes, Holman gives you multiple choices, but I think the panther (painter) got him, even though he tried to evade it with the same tactics that Granny Pop used in Cattaloochee. Granny Pop took off her clothes and threw them behind her. Eventually, she ran out of clothes, and so did Tucker.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-09-25T14:50:00.004-04:00

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
New York: Faber and Faber, Inc.
$16.00 (paperback) 661 pages

There is another world, but it is in this one.
- Paul Elaurd

Kind Hearts, this is an astonishing book. Frankly, I never would have read this one, if I had not blundered on a comment by Donna Tartt (my pick for our greatest living Southern writer). Recently, when a book store owner in Greenwood, Mississippi asked her if she had a favorite book, Donna immediately announced that Skippy Dies was definitely the “book of the year.” That is good enough for me. I immediately launched an internet search and scored a used paperback copy. I advise you to do the same.

The setting of Skippy Dies is Seabrook College, the home of some four hundred male students (average age is 14) in Dublin, Ireland. Operated by the Catholic church, the college exudes tradition and moral rectitude - the kind of atmosphere that is highly valued by upwardly mobile, middle-class parents who are eager to pass on the irksome job of raising sons to a Seabrook’s motley crew of teachers who run the gamut from merely incompetent to disturbingly neurotic. It is probably evasive to say that the students are just average fourteen-year- olds, so to be more specific, they are: lonely, horny, angry, devious, naive and confused. Often, they can embody contradictory emotions ... such as fragile egos and a surprising penchant for cruelty and violence.

Author, Paul Murray gets his novel off to a provocative start by killing his protagonist, Skippy (Danny Juster) on the first page. Skippy expires while his room-mate, Ruprucht Van Doren is gorging himself on doughnuts (Ruprucht holds the record for the greatest number of doughnuts consumed at a single sitting). The two boys are in the college hangout, Ed’s Doughnut Shop, where a large number of students watch Skippy twitch and convulse as he struggles to write a farewell message to his girlfriend, Lori. (He is using a puddle of syrup on the floor and slowly writes “Tell Lori.....” and then dies). The rest of this hefty novel consists of a 600-page flashback that relates how poor Skippy came to be lying on the floor surrounded by soggy doughnuts and blobs of blueberry syrup.

Seabrook College easily qualifies as a microcosm of the world. The student body is racially diverse, consisting of significant numbers of Afro-Americans, Irish, Japanese, Italian, French and Chinese students who share a common dilemma. They are all homesick. In addition, they have all brought their problems and talents to Seabrook. Skippy swims, but is asthmatic; Ruprucht is the school genius who holds court in his own computer lab in the basement. Although many excel at rugby or music, the bond that binds them is not scholastic. For most of them, it is the shameful knowledge that they have been abandoned at Seabrook like unclaimed luggage. Their parents have paid the excessive tuition in the belief that if their sons are safe and well-fed, the parents can get on with their social life and their careers without feeling guilty about the fact that they rarely visit the school and are often reluctant to have their sons home for the holidays.

Drugs are everywhere, thanks to a steady supply provided by two students, Carl and Barrie (who are locals who do not live in the college dorms), the majority of the students are under the influence of either diet pills, pot, Ritalin or ecstasy, and yes, due to the existence of an all-girl school nearby (Saint Bridget’s), there are opportunities for chaperoned dances. (One of the most bizarre and comical episodes in this novel occurs at the Halloween Dance where a combination of rap music, drugs, a power failure and a lack of supervision....where are the chaperones?... produces a kind of masquerade/pubescent orgy).

Most of the faculty and administration at Seabrook are asleep at the wheel. The Acting Principal, Greg Costigan (known as the Automator to the students) is a pompous, arrogant windbag who is totally inept and spends most of his time writing florid speeches about the school’s traditions and terrorizing the demoralized faculty. Father Green, the French teacher, is an ancient pedophile (the students call him Pere Vert) works diligently with the Dublin poor ... possibly as pertinence for a shameful past in Africa. The history teacher is known as Howard, the Coward (due to a mysterious incident when he was a Seabrook student himself) struggles to deal with his own infidelity and his determination to be a competent teacher. Father Slattery, the English teacher, is slowly losing his struggle with age and memory and teaches a few of Robert Frost’s poems over and over. Tom Roche has been crippled by an accident (the same accident that made poor Howard ... the Coward!) and nurses a secret that is destroying him. In summary, these tortured, comical, tragic and sometimes gifted educators are trapped within the confines of Seabrook in much the same manner as their students. Some of them yearn to escape but lack the courage to leave.

Skippy Dies manages to run the gamut from comical farce to a kind of dark medication on anguish of being young and alone. Skippy Dies is by turns comical, ribald and heartbreaking). Some of the most hilarious passages involve the students’ obsession with sex ....like Dennis who things that Frost’s poem, “The Road not Taken” is about anal sex.) As each tragi-comic episode unfolds, poor inept Skippy dreams that his parents (who never visit) will take him home. He views the world around him with anxiety and searches for a safe haven . When he blunders into a relationship with the jaded and self-centered Lori from Saint Bridgets, he quickly becomes a pawn manipulated by a shallow and morally corrupt girl. Stalked by Carl (Lori’s true love), haunted by vague memories of sexual abuse, .terrified by Father Green, badgered by his swimming coach and his father who urges him to “be all he can be” in an impending swimming meet, poor Skippy desperately searches for an escape....which are provided by the pills under his pillow.

For a while, it appears that fat Ruprucht, Skippy’s room-mate, has the answer to all of the dreams and hopes of his fellow students. In his basement lab Ruprucht works tirelessly, constructing marvelous machines that will provide an access to “other dimensions” (Ruprucht’s research has lead him to believe that there are eleven). Under the hopeful eyes of his fellow students, this pudgy wizard promises them paradise in another dimension. As the experiments become more bizarre, finally requiring that Rupert relocate their “experiment” to the laundry room of Saint Bridgets, the students’ faith in Ruprucht begins to falter. Is he a fraud? If so, what will they do? If he is rejected, what will become of Ruprucht?

It is easy to see why Donna Tartt loves Skippy Dies since her own novel, The Secret Society, concerns a private school and the anguished lives of its students. Both novels demonstrate a heartfelt insight into the anguish of being young.

L. A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-09-09T20:41:00.010-04:00

L. A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker
New York: Dutton
$25.95 - 371 pages

If you are one of those readers who has a grudging respect for outlaws, and if you find yourself sometimes fantasizing about putting on a mask, stealing a fast car - say, a Corvette 706 with 505 horses under the hood - and roaring through the night into some abandoned warehouse where a scummy bunch of crooks are dividing up their spoils (stolen diamonds, drug deal profits, etc.); if you dream of firing a couple of warning shots from your trusty pistol, scooping up all of that money/contraband and then speeding away into the night ... Well, dear readers, T. Jefferson Parker’s L. A. Outlaws is the book for you!

This fast-paced crime fiction opus is designed to give the reader a delicious, forbidden thrill as we speed through the dark underbelly of Los Angeles with Allison Murietta, the sensual, dangerous great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter of the legendary outlaw, Joaquin Murietta. Joaquin was hunted down, murdered and beheaded in 1853 and his head was once exhibited floating in a jar of alcohol in California sideshows. However,his descendant, Allison Murietta has become something of a celebrity. She robs KFCs, Starbucks, Taco Bells, Burger Kings, Radio Shack, Payless Shoes and Dennys - chains that Allison calls “poverty boxes” because they exploit their employees (Allison has worked in those places). She always leaves a business card, “You have been robbed by Allison Murietta, Have a Good Day!” before she strides through the exit,brandishing her derringer, Canonita (a kind of small, modified shotgun that has no accuracy after ten feet). Invariably, Allison gives the money to charities. (Well, most of it!)

Now, for a bit of unadorned fact. Alllison Murietta is actually a 32-year-old prize-winning schoolteacher named Suzanne Jones. Although she has a lifestyle that is totally out of sync with a teacher’s salary, she manages to maintain her wild adventure (she is a gifted car thief), while living with her husband (her third) and three sons on a large California ranch. She readily admits that she is unstable, shockingly carnal and has a tenuous grasp of reality. In effect, she seems to know that her criminal career is probably going to end with her in a shootout and dying on the floor of a Dennys. In the meanwhile, she expects to enjoy the best - wine, sex, expensive clothes, cars and thrills. She often observes that she is never more alive than when she is waving Canonita in the faces of terrified employes and awe-struck customers. Eventually, her audience starts clapping and the security camera film in the robbed stores starts to show up on TV. Allison loves the camera and often poses with the manager of the store she has just robbed.

However, what really makes L. A. Outlaws purr and shimmy like a stock car at the Indianapolis 500, is T. Jefferson Parker’s talent for developing tension and character. Especially noteworthy are two remarkable men, a cop and a killer. Both are destined to affect the destiny of Allison Murietta. Lupercio Maygar, a bandy-legged, little Salvadorian assassin will make your skin crawl. Born in the slums of El Salvador, Lupercio survived by learning to be “unremarkable.” After he finds both his brother and his father in the pile of dead bodies that are dumped each night in a landfill, Maygar migrated to L. A. where he quickly became involved in the vicious drug wars - an assassin for hire. His weapon of choice is a machete (which, like Alllison’s derringer, has been “reconditioned” to house a shotgun in the handle. Even after murdering twelve gang members, Maygar is never arrested due to the fact that there are no witnesses to his crimes.

At the other end of the spectrum is Charlie Hood, a patrolman who is troubled by his dreams of a slaughter that he witnessed in Iraq. Now that he is back in L. A., he is struggling to create a purpose for living and since he finds himself surrounded by corrupt law officials and burgeoning violence, he is beginning to lose faith in what he is doing ... until the night that he stops a speeding Corvette and meets Suzanne Jones who gives new meaning to the term, “flirt.” The next day, he learns that bloody massacre has occurred in an automobile repair shop near the place where he stopped Suzanne.

The reason that Suzanne is “out and about” that night is that her “other self,” Allison Murietta has picked up on a rumor of a big diamond heist - the spoils of which are about to change hands in an auto repair shop. Not content with the modest sums that she gets in the chain stores and fast-food joints, Allison dreams of making the big steal - a half million or so in uncut diamonds. However, when she arrives at the auto shop, prepared to fire a warning shot into the air, demand the stolen goods and speed away, she gets a shock: the shop contains ten heavily armed (but dead) men .... a shootout and no survivors. When she finds the diamond in a back pack, she thinks her dream has come true. When she hears footsteps, she hides and watches a small man with a machete move silently through the building and vanish. The diamonds will buy her the comfort and security that she needs to spend the rest of her life ... nurturing her three sons and pursuing sensual pleasures. When the midget with the machete is gone, she stashes the diamonds in her Corvette and speeds away - only to meet Patrolman Charlie Hood a few miles down the road.

Events have been exciting up until now, but it is time for the terror and tension to begin.The reader eventually learns that the local crime lord has dispatched Lupercio Magar to pick up a shipment of stolen diamonds from a jewelry store owner. Magar arrives to find the same bloody massacre. Someone has been there before him and they left with the diamonds. Lupercio gets in his cherished 1973 Lincoln and begins cruising the surrounding roads where he eventually finds ...one highway patrolman, a feisty woman and a Corvette. Of course, he drives on, but Suzanne and Lupercio have seen each other now.

Eventually, Lupercio figures it out. Allison Murietta/Suzanne Jones has the diamonds, but worse than that, she saw him when he passed silently through the murder scene. No one has seen Lupercio and his machete and lived. This woman must die. For those of you have seen Javier Bardem as the relentless murderer in “No Country for Old Men,” be assured that there is something that is as inexorable in the tiny killer, Lupercio Magar.

Aside from the teeth-gritting tension in L.A. Outlaws, this novel is also filled with a lot of hot breath and passion. Yes, Charlie Hood and Suzanne Jones can’t keep their hands off each other. Of course, Charlie suspects Suzanne’s “real identity,” but each time he decides to do something about it, he finds himself keeping another rendezvous. Suzanne/Allison is paranoid and feels that Charlie is about to betray her. All of this guilt and paranoia seems to merely add more zest to the sex.

T. Jefferson Parker is good. For readers who love crime/suspense novels, they don’t get any better than L. A. Outlaws. Mind you, now, this is not great literature - this is fun.

Flashback by Dan Simmons - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-09-09T20:27:00.003-04:00

Flashback by Dan Simmons
New York: Little, Brown and Company
$27.99 - 553 pages 2011

Well, Kind Hearts, I am a major Dan Simmons fan, but I had some reservations about signing on for this multi-layered, post-apocalyptic novel about life in the USA following The Day It All Hit the Fan. To tell you the truth, reading Flashback has been a hard jog down a rocky road. Simmons has never been a sunshine and roses author as those of you who read (and loved) The Terror and Drood well know. However, this time out, the author’s grim and daunting worldview plumbs deeply into the lower depths of human nature.

A devastating Islamic nuclear attack has reduced America’s major cities to radioactive rubble, and a brutal invasion quickly divides most of the Midwest and the western coast into isolated fiefdoms controlled by Muslims and Japanese warlords; Texas becomes an independent country with its own flag, militia and constitution; Mexico decides to “reclaim” all of the land that had been taken from them and begins an aggressive invasion of New Mexico and the adjoining states. Surviving Midwestern Jews are herded into a sprawling camp known as “Six Flags Over the Jews” (on the site of an old theme park) and a terrifying jihad destroys Israel and six million inhabitants. American military forces are retrained by Japan as mercenaries and sent to fight in a protracted war in China.

All of these radical changes are merely some twenty years in the future. However, even the most surreal conditions described by Simmons are the projected outcome of conditions that have their roots in 20011. In case you are wondering, the economy does not recover and Medicare bottoms out. Simmons’ characters deliver harangues about how the world’s greatest superpower was brought down by a combination of governmental incompetence and public apathy. Right-wing radio programs are filled with hysterical rants; drug-crazed teenagers vandalize and rob and America’sresources are being harvested by foreign powers. We have gone to hell. In fact, the Southeastern U. S. doesn’t even exist anymore - it is never mentioned in Flashback! (Perhaps it is a barbaric land filled with degenerate hillbillies.)

Up to this point, I have neglected to mention the significance of the title. Flashback is the name of drug to which 80% of the population is addicted. Although the drug is illegal, it is both cheap and available. In fact, there is evidence that suggests that major world powers will see to it that nothing interferes with the distribution of a drug that keeps the major part of America’s population dozing in thousands of flashback caves where they relive the past. Under the influence of flashback an addict can vividly experience the birth of a child that is long dead, honeymoons, athletic accomplishments and memorable/triumphant events - any action in which the addict felt vividly alive. Under the influence of flashback, death can be defeated ... for an hour or two.

The protagonist of Flashback is Nick Bottoms, an ex-cop living in an abandoned shopping mall in Denver. Nick, who occasionally encounters people who comment on the connection between his name and Nicolas Bottom, the weaver (and ass) in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” - this Nick has lost it all: Dara, his beautiful wife who died in a freakish car accident; Val, a son that he has abandoned (the embittered Val lives with his grandfather); a promising career as a detective ... and, yes, his self-respect. Now, he spends every available moment under flashback with Dara and his ten-year-old son.

Now, over five years later, Nick’s flashback sessions are rudely interrupted by Hiroshi Nakamura, a billionaire warlord who wants Nick to investigate the murder of his son, Keigo. Put under continual surveillance by an astonishing array of advanced gadgetry and Hiroshi’s security officer, Hideki Sato (who resembles Odd Job in the James Bond movie), Nick reluctantly agrees, hoping to finance a lifetime supply of flashback. Despite the fact that Keigo’s murder has been investigated repeatedly, Nick agrees to retrace his steps and re-examine the original witnesses - especially those who were attending Keigo’s opulent party on the night of his murder.

At the time of his death, Keigo was completing a documentary film on the use of flashback in America. Nick Bottoms begins to run into rumors of another drug more powerful than flashback that would enable users to manipulate and enhance the past. In addition, when Nick uses flashback to attend the Keigo’s party, he discovers an indistinct figure standing in the background of Keigo’s film ... a figure that he believes is his wife Dara. Why is she there? Nick’s determination to find the answer to this riddle provides the motivation that he needs to solve Keigo’s murder and return to a meaningful life.

However, in the process, Nick Bottom will descend into some of the most nightmarish landscapes ever described in speculative fiction. For example, Coors Field in Denver has become an open-air prison camp which houses the most dangerous criminals in America. Visiting the prison is especially risky for law enforcement personnel like Nick, but since one of his key witnesses is Delroy N. Brown (the “N” standing for the forbidden racial term that has been restored to conversation in Nick’s world and used by everyone) is in the Coors Field prison, Nick goes, clad in Kevlar-plus armor and an armed guard, plus a licensed sniper who does surveillance with a state-of-the-arts rifle ready to shoot any attacker. Simmons is at his best in suspenseful passages such as this one. There are other nerve-wrecking passages, including an assassination attempt at the Disney Center for the Arts ... the luckless, 16-year-old Val joins the flash gang that plans this ill-conceived venture and is the sole survivor. Along the way there is a trip to the Denver Landfill Number 9, the place where thousands of nameless dead are dumped each week.

Much of Flashback consists of following two journeys: (1) Nick’s search for answers to Keigo’s murder and his wife’s mysterious connection with this crime and (2) Val’s attempts to be reunited with his father (and perhaps kill him). In time, these two treks will converge and three generations (Leonard, the grandfather, Nick, the father and Val, the son) will join forces to face the “final conflict.” There are some surprises here and some of them may strain the reader’s “willing suspension of disbelief.”

Amid all of this darkness and subterfuge, there are patches of brilliant narrative. There are also an excess of deadly details about the power of automobile engines, the magnification strength of sniper scopes, and the marked improvements of military weapons (speed, destructive power, weight, etc.) All of this is verification of Simmons’ awesome research. Finally, I was pleased to learn that Nick Bottoms comments on the solving of the Jon Benet Ramsey murder in Bolder, Colorado (1996). Although Simmons does not reveal the identity of the killer, I was gratified to know that this crime will finally be solved.

Miracle Boy and Other Stories by Pinckney Benedict - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-09-09T20:12:00.004-04:00

Miracle Boy and Other Stories by Pinckney Benedict
Winston-Salem: Press 53
$19.95 - 244 pages

The angel of the Lord appeared in all of his blazing glory, and he says to the farmer ... “Whatever you ask me, I’ll give that to you, and whatever I give you, I will give twice that to your neighbor.” So the farmer thinks and thinks, and then he says to the Angel of the Lord, “All right, then, Angel, do this for me. Put out one of my eyes.”
“Pony Car,” p. 45-6.

Back in 1987, a young West Virginia writer,Pinckney Benedict, published a highly lauded collection of short stories entitled Town Smokes. In some instances, the critical response was a bit excessive. Benedict was hailed as a “new voice in Southern literature” who was destined to produce astonishing works. Joyce Carol Oates reviewed the collection for the New York Times and announced that the author had “exceptional gifts and promise.”. A few years later, Pinckney produced a second collection, The Wrecking Yard which was also well received. However, the author’s first novel,The Dogs of God (1995) got mixed reviews with some critics expressed concern about Benedict’s penchant for surreal (and sometimes nightmarish) atmosphere. Then came a troublesome silence. Except for an occasional short story or a critical essay in a few prestigious magazines, the man who had once called the “new voice of the South” seems to have vanished down the hallowed halls of academia. (He is now a full professor of English in Southern Ohio University.) During this time, Pinckney’s wife, Laura received considerable praise for her novels (Isabella Moon, Calling Mr. Lonelyhearts,and her Surreal South series. What happened to Pinckney? What happened to the man who wrote such short story masterpieces as “The Sutton Pie Safe” and “Pit” which are still anthologized in college textbooks?

Now, almost twenty years after The Dogs of God, comes Miracle Boy and Other Stories. Benedict has returned to the short story format of his early works, and this masterful collection demonstrates that the author still has “exceptional gifts and promise.” However, there is a vital difference. Whereas Pinckney’s early works could be characterized as “gothic” tales
which pulsed with dark humor and were comparable to the best of Flannery O’Conner and Truman Capote, there is a disturbing shift in Miracle Boy and Other Stories. Although Benedict’s characters still reside in the remote coves and abandoned farms of the Blue Ridge mountains, many of them have severed any ties that they once had with “the real world.”

There is a great deal of pain in these stories. Many of Pinckney’s protagonists occupy their own personal circle of hell ... frequently, a place filled with demons (real and imaginary) in which the natural laws of the universe are suspended. Animals speak, the dead return and ancient gods move through the mountains of West Virginia.

The maimed child in the title story has lost his feet to his father’s cane-cutting machine, but a team of surgeons have reattached them. Now his playmates torment him daily, demanding “to see the stitches.” The narrator of “Buck Eyes,” relates a gruesome story about a family from Ohio that had died in a wreck many years ago, but their corpses...still sitting in the rusting hulk of their car,were not found until recently when campers discovered them in a remote cove. Now, the owner of the local junkyard charges admission and kids peer into car’s dark interior seeing (or imagining they see) the grisly passengers. In “The Butcher’s Cock” an unstable young man named Ivanhoe yearns to “become” a victorious fighting cock named Kelso Yellow-Leg and goes on a kind of mystical quest to accomplish his dream.

Many of the characters in Miracle Boy and Other Stories have undergone psychological and/or physical torments that renders reality untenable; consequently they create an alternative world. In “Joe Messenger is Dreaming,” the speaker creates a world in which he can
perform heroic feats (a fall from 100,000 feet before he opens his parachute and the ability to move at will through time). As the narrator of “Pony Car” tells marvelous stories about his Uncle Rawdy and his talking crow named Slow Joe Crow, the reader begins to realize that everyone in the story is dead (possibly including the narrator) - victims of a terrifying wreck resulting from a race between Uncle Rawdy’s 70 Dodge Challenger and a train.

“Mudmen” and “The Beginning of Sorrow” appear to be parodies of famous literary works. “Mudmen” bears a distinct resemblance to the old Jewish legend of the Golem, a creature of mud that is sent into the world to avenge injustice. However, Benedict’s mud man has a wasp nest for a heart and is motivated to destroy “vermin” - an order that is placed in his mouth by his creator. Both the mudmen and Hark, the dog in “The Beginning of Sorrow,” envy their creators and devise plans to take their place; Athelstan, the narrator of “The Angel Trumpet” is the sole survivor of an accident (methane poisoning) that killed his entire family. Athelstan, who is guilt-ridden by his survival, ponders the fact that he has always been treated with a kind of diffident respect by the family. He decides that he has survived so that he can memorialize his family by painting a gigantic mural on the walls of the manure pit (the place where his father and three brothers died). Athelstan’s inspiration comes from the ancient Lascaux Cave Paintings and the narrator intends to create his painting while in a state of ecstasy induced by chewing the seed of the Trumpet Flower (Jimsen weed).

Arguably, the two most remarkable short stories in this collection are “The World, the Flesh and the Devil” and “Pig Helmet and the Wall of Life.” The former, which deals with a downed aviator’s frantic attempts to evade a pack of feral dogs as he runs through the ruins of an abandoned leper colony acquires a frantic pace ... especially when the action is described through the eyes of the leader of the dog pack. “Pig Helmet and the Wall of Life” probably deserves to be read so that the reader can resolve the meaning of the title. Suffice it to say that Pig Helmet wears a helmet made from a wild boar. In addition, he is a veteran mercenary and contractor who has returned from Iraq to find work with law enforcement. Then, A bail-jumper threw acid in Pig Hemet’s face, thereby adding another visual shock to his appearance. Despite the bizarre subject, this story is deeply moving ... especially in the concluding scenes at the local carnival where motorcycle-riding preachers racing around “The Wall of Life.”

It has been some fifteen years since we have had a major work from Pinckney Benedict. During that interval, his world view seems to have changed considerably. Where he was once whimsical and ironic, he is now surreal and dark.There is also considerable evidence of “magical realism” (a blending of the fantastic and the commonplace) in much of the narrative. I suspect that many will find some of the stories in this latest work to be offensive. Admittedly, this reviewer decided not to comment on several entries because they dealt with topics (the massacre of animals, for example) that are too painful to read about or discuss - at least for me. Despite these painful (and graphic) details, however, Pinckney Benedict remains a masterful writer. Anyone who doubts that should read “The World, the Flesh and the Devil.”

2011-09-09T19:37:00.003-04:00

The Triggerman’s Dance by T. Jefferson Parker
New York: Hyperion Press
$17.95 - 540 pages

The fierce Santa Ana winds that blow through southern California are as much a recurring character in The Triggerman’s Dance as any of the troubled (and often doomed) people who scheme, deceive and betray each other in this tension-ridden novel. Frequently, just as the action reaches a suspenseful moment, just as T. Jefferson Parker’s protagonist finds himself
facing threat, revelation or a bit of steamy romance ... the wind enters like some kind of whimsical deity that enjoys disrupting outdoor banquets, destroying expensive hairdos and playing havoc with everybody’s studied poise. Capable of speeds ranging for 60 to 100 miles an hour, a Santa Ana can knock down golfers, hunting parties and picnickers and send them racing for cover. Their frequent and abrupt arrival in The Triggerman’s Dance seems to be a way of reminding everyone that nothing is important ... least of all, the schemes of the arrogant, wealthy and powerful men who attempt to control the lives of others.

Just a short time ago, John Menden thought he was on the brink of having it all: He wrote a popular column in a small newspaper (The Anza Valley News), lived in a remote section of Orange County where he fished and hunted with his three adorable dogs; cooks; drinks too much - and plans to marry a girl named Rebecca (who just happens to be engaged to somebody else). Then, on a rainy afternoon, Rebecca is gunned down ... shot twice as she crosses a parking lot to her car. Who did it, and more importantly, why? When Menden quits his job and spend much of the following six month in a deep, alcoholic depression, he decides that there is only one possible answer. Rebecca’s death was a mistake. The real target was Susan Baum, an aging, eccentric journalist who has a knack for offending the wrong people...people like Vann Holt, one of Orange County’s arch conservatives who practices his own form of brutal racism while running a right-wing security empire that has bases in foreign countries.

However, one of the unique merits of The Triggerman’s Dance is the fact that Vann Holt is a fascinating and provocative character. Parker is not content to paint Holt as a black-hearted, arrogant, egotist. Holt is likable! The reader learns that almost a decade ago, Holt walked away from a distinguished career with the FBI, abandoned his religion and devoted himself to building an impressive empire complete with his own military force. Secure in a fortress-like retreat in the mountains above Cosa Mesa, Holt wages his own personal war on Chinese and Mexican drug lords and career criminals - His soldiers, called Holt Men, perform a slick and highly effective version of vigilante justice. It is the tragedy that made Holt into a kind of avenging angel that gives this novel its greatest appeal.

Holt’s son and wife were shot down by a deranged drug addict. Patrick, the son died and Caroline, Holt’s wife suffered severe brain damage that left her a brain-damaged invalid. In the midst of Holt’s grief, he learns that Susan Baum had been using her popular column to infer that Patrick was a rapist who preyed on Mexican girls while he pretended to be a kind of social worker for the Church of Latter Day Saints. Taking his daughter, Valerie, the only surviving member of his family, Holt retreats to a mountainous section called Top of the World, and begins to plot his revenge. In addition to purging the world of drug addicts (especially Mexican and Chinese), he wants to kill a woman he has never met ... the woman who destroyed his son’s good name and made his wife a deranged invalid.

However, our cast of characters is not complete without Joshua Weinstein, FBI agent, who, like Vann Holt, is obsessed with vengeance. Joshua was engaged to Rebecca, and had learned one day prior to her death that she was in love with another man. With his fellow-agent (and sometime lover) Sharon Dumars, he begins a dogged surveillance of John Mendon. The despondent lover drinks and broods, apparently indifferent to the fact that he is being stalked by Rebecca’s ex-fiance. At times, Weinstein seems motivated by bitterness and jealousy since he knows that his ex-fiance left a letter breaking the engagement and acknowledging her love for Mendon. But, no, Weinstein wants revenge for Rebecca’s death, and has developed a complex plan that requires the cooperation of Mendon. He gets it.

The heart of The Triggerman’s Dance is Weinstein’s scheme to bring down Vann Holt and destroy the complex network of security and surveillance operations that he has created. When he finally approaches Mendon, he learns that the boozing journalist shares his obsession. Together, they will track down and destroy the man who killed Rebecca - Vann Holt. The plan is to find a way for Mendon to infiltrate Van Holt’s fortress and find proof of Holt’s guilt. To accomplish that end, Weinstein and Mendon devise a daring plan in which Mendon “rescues” Holt’s daughter, Valerie from a near-rape at a local tavern by a vicious motorcycle gang. If this novel has a weak link, it is this dramatic rescue in which the gang (all FBI agents) creates havoc by brutalizing Mendon, killing one of his dogs and burning his trailer. When the smoke clears, Valerie has been “rescued” and the gang of lawless crackheads has vanished down the highway, Mendon is left to deal with the gratitude of a thankful father who invites the hero home.

It is not all smooth sailing. Vann Holt is paranoid by nature and he has surrounded himself with a devoted staff who are immediately suspicious of Mendon. In fact, several of Vann Holt’s “inner circle” tell Mendon that they know he is a fraud, but they can’t prove it ... yet. To complicate matters further, Mendon falls in love with Valerie and begins to ponder the fact that his mission is to destroy her father. Since Mendon is subjected to constant surveillance, much of his time is spent developing schemes for passing messages to Weinstein or attempting to allay Vann’s suspicions by actually participating in some of his vigilante raids. When Mendon begins to receive mysterious emails on his computer that imply that there is considerable discontent (possibly a rebellion) in the Top of the World compound, he urges Weinstein to notify the FBI that Mendon has found tangible proof of Vann’s guilt. At this crucial point, the FBI wavers and talks of abandoning the plan to raid the compound.

Anyone who is a fan of F. Jefferson Parker will readily acknowledge that this author’s greatest gift is an uncanny talent for developing tension and suspense. The Triggerman’s Dance qualifies as a classic example of Parker’s craft. However, there is more going on here than action that makes the reader hold his breath.The author’s narrative often transcends a typical murder mystery formula. Certainly, the skillful details that defines Vann Holt’s personality, often comes near to making him a sympathetic character. Certainly, there is more to this tortured and complex man than can be summed up by dismissing him as an arrogant bigot.

If you are unfamiliar with F. Jefferson Parker and appreciate quality crime fiction, you might check out any of a dozen novels that are readily available.

THE LIARS BENCH LOGO

2011-08-22T18:26:00.003-04:00

Kind Hearts, this is the Liars Bench logo. We are still bickering about the design, but in the near future, we hope to have this image....or a variation of it... on caps and Tee-shirts. We hope to be able to use it on posters and flyers that advertise Liars Bench programs. Please comment.

"Waking" by Ron Rash - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-08-21T15:35:00.011-04:00

Waking by Ron Rash
Spartanburg: Hub City Press
$21.95 - 76 pages

When I was nine years old, I once caught a 12-inch brown trout near my grandfather's house where two small streams, Cope Creek and Scotts Creek, converge. I ran all the way home with the fish in a large, leaky can and dumped it in the waist-high concrete trough on our back porch - a trough which my grandfather had built. It was fed by a spring a quarter of a mile away. Our milk and butter sat in jars and crocks in this cold, rushing water, and for a while, my trout lived there, lurking behind jars of buttermilk and cream. When I would plunge my hand into that cold water and touch the back of “my fish,” it would surge and race back and forth in the trough, stirring up the sediment on the bottom. I fed it cornbread and night crawlers and it grew a bit. Ah, but my fish died one night when it attempted to catch a firefly. I found it the next morning, stiff as a cold pork chop with the firefly still glimmering in its mouth.There may be a moral there, somewhere.

When I opened Ron Rash’s Waking, I was glad to find my trout suddenly restored to me:

Caught by my uncle
in the Watauga River,
brought back in a bucket
because some believed
its gills were like filters
that pureness poured into
springhouse’s trough pool,
and soon it was thriving
on sweet corn and biscuits,
guarding that spring-gush,
brushing my fingers
as I swirled the water
up in my palm cup
tasted its quickness
swimming inside me.

No doubt, untold numbers of mountain boys brought a trout home alive, and when they read this poem, I think that something in their hearts will hum like a resonating chord on a guitar.

To me, this resonance is the essence of Ron Rash’s art: the ability to create an image so vivid, it unleashes the sleeping memories in the readers’ heart. For example, Nolan White the Watauga clock-maker, who showed Rash how he “set each gear in place” and when the clock begins to run, the poet hears “that one pulse among many" like the beating of a heart. However,some of the images are riveting and painful to contemplate: the “cold, beckoning eyes” in the face of a drowned girl trapped beneath a ledge in a river’s surging waters (like the girl in Saints by the River); the grave of thirteen-year-old David Shelton (who may be found in Rash’s novel, The World Made Straight) who asked his executioners “a single mercy - to not be shot like his father, in the face.” An especially memorable one is the luckless drunk, Charlie Starnes whose alcohol-soaked clothing caught fire and suddenly, poor Charlie “wore a suit/ of flames” as he raced “through barb wire into/ a cornfield where they found him/ face down like a felled scarecrow.”

There are poems about pocket knives, an old woman’s treasured mirror, a pair of glasses removed from a grandmother’s dead face; an ancient shade tree, junk cars - family quilts, car tags on a barn wall, raspberries - all familiar details in the lives of the people whose descendants live in places called Dismal, Blowing Rock, Boone, Shelton Laurel, Spillcorn Cove and Goshen Creek. When defined by Rash, these objects come to resemble the unearthed shards or fragments of a vanquished culture. Wrapped in the language of a true poet, such “fragments” acquire a numinous or sacred quality.

There is also a marvelous cast of memorable characters. I especially liked the old veterinarian who specializes in womb-locked calves. He remembers a cold, winter night somewhere in Madison County “back in the 50’s,” when he confronted a panther “yellow eyes as bright as truck beams/black-tipped tail swishing before/ leaping away through the trees/ back into extinction.” Then, there is a marvelous monologue by an alcoholic “felled angel” who now sells serpents to snake-handling churches, noting that his “God now a bottle of Jack Daniels.” However, the most poignant poem in this collection may be “Woman Among Lightning: Catawba County Fair, 1962.” This poem captures the anguish of a poor mountain woman who has fled a life “that leaks away like blood on land that is always wanting more.” She has come down to the fair grounds to ride the ferris wheel which “dredges buckets of darkness out of sky.” While lightning flashes around her, she hangs suspended for a moment “above field and fence,” as far as “a fistful of hard-earned quarters can take her” from the bleakness of her life.

Finally, there is a recurring theme in Waking that may have special significance to readers who look for a progression of ideas in Rash’s work. This collection is rooted in Rash’s growing interest in “racial memory” - or to be more specific, the Celtic tradition. Some of the poems in this collection stress Rash’s growing awareness of the bed-rock of Appalachian culture. Instead of turning to classical Greek or English mythologies, Rash has a preference for an ancient tradition that reflects his own experience - the ancient Celtic work, The Mabinogion. I believe that it is here, amid tales of magic and witchery - a world filled with the merging of incompatible things, where the dead return (“The Crossing”) and Time sometimes stand still, that Rash feels “at home.”

In the poem, “Resonance,” Rash describes “a trout alive in a burning tree,” an image that readily suggest the world of The Mabinogion, which, like Rash’s own work, teems with water in all of its aspects (floods, baptism, drowned towns, rebirth, etc.), fish, prophecies and dreams. It may be especially noteworthy that the poem, “Rhiannon” describes the plight of a character in The Mabinogion, who is falsely accused of murdering and consuming her own child. (Her child has been stolen while Rhiannon sleeps and her enemies smear the sleeping woman’s face and hands with blood). In time, her child is returned to her and he becomes a famous Welsh hero, Peryderi.

If I have read this aspect of Waking correctly, I am delighted and frankly, I can’t wait to see what the world of The Mabinogion - a world filled with alternate universes, curses, a host of mythical beings, including the grandfather of Merlin, the magician in Arthurian legend - just how will these mythic tales with their touch of the fey and strange affect Rash’s future work? I also feel that Rash’s use of the word, “palimpsest,” which describes ancient manuscripts ... in which the original message has been erased, but can still be discerned... is significant. A new message can be written on such a document, but the original text - like the faded traces of a milk trail through a pasture, remain. What is that dim message? Is it “a name carried far” from Wales to Shenandoah - a link to Appalachia’s “racial memory”?

CASEY AND THE FURIES

2011-08-16T15:56:00.005-04:00

One night last week, when I was watching what must have been the 500th recounting of the Casey Anthony trial, I suddenly recalled my favorite subject to teach in college -Greek mythology. At first, I wasn’t certain about the connection, but as I listened to Nancy Grace and her tribunal of experts rage and whine while images of luckless little Caylee and her foolish mother flowed across the screen, I suddenly remembered the Furies.

If I remember my Edith Hamilton’s Mythology correctly, the Furies were a host of invisible tormentors that the gods sent to torment mortals who had committed unforgivable crimes ... patricide or infanticide, for example. The immortal Furies pursued their victims for the remainder of their mortal lives lashing them with whips and relentlessly whispering their sins in their ears. The marks of the whip caused the victim to age rapidly, and, they were troubled by sleepless nights. Of course, this “divine punishment” was an imaginative way of describing the torments of a guilty conscious.

Now, as I watch Casey Anthony flee the Orange County courthouse (again), amid shouts of “Baby Killer” and “Justice for Caylee,” I am struck by similarities to the ancient Furies. Is it possible that our modern equivalent of the Furies resides in those angry citizens who are waving placards in Orlando and Jacksonville? Does a Fury reside in Nancy Grace?As Casey, runs towards a car that will spirit her away to safety - does she hear the shouts? Does she flinch as though struck by an invisible whip?

I’m getting carried away here but I can’t help it. I love good theater, even when it is dispensed by. CNN instead of Netflex. Besides, I am suddenly reminded of O.J., who like one of those doomed Greek heroes, was first blessed and then cursed by the gods. When I see him now, overweight, getting a bit flabby, with that sheepish grin (like the cat that ate the canary), I get the distinct feeling that O. J. didn’t get away with anything. He will live out the remainder of his life with his crime branded on his forehead.

I liked my theory about the Furies so much, I told a friend of mine about it. He didn’t agree. He said that O. J. and Casey lacked nobility. In effect, he said that their lives were too petty and trivial. Certainly, they didn’t deserve a punishment as awe-inspiring as the wrath of the gods. In other words, only arrogant kings or immoral queens deserved to be tormented by the Furies. Only the chosen have the depth of soul to be guilty of hubris.

Well, I thought about that and I don’t agree. I remember what that grand old expert on living and dead religions, Joseph Campbell said about those mythical heroes and heroines. He recalled having seen Oedipus boarding a New York subway, Helen of Troy shopping on 5th Avenue, or perhaps Odysseus getting out of a taxi on Broadway. He said that all of the great stories are a kind of template that is destined to be repeated for all eternity. Today, the great tales are not the sole property of royalty, but belong to all of us. Tristram may be a dishwasher in a Greek restaurant where Isult is a waitress. Achilles may be a pro-Nazi skinhead in London and Orpheus may be in Nashville where he just released his first cd.

Campbell felt that the petty, mean-spirited, cruel - as well as the gentle, faithful and compassionate - might reenact a story that has been told and then forgotten numerous times. None of them are noble but they might acquire something akin to nobility by suffering. In other words, selfish, dissembling Casey Anthony may be granted forgiveness at some point in the future. In the tragic story of Oedipus, the old, blind kind is only forgiven when he is dying. Then the Furies become his comforters and grant him peace.

So, I am wondering about those who escape earthly justice, evade prison and rush off to complete book/film script deals and become some kind of shady celebrity who is occasionally exhibited like an exotic reptile on TV talk shows ... is that “success in show business” possibly deceptive? What is it like spending the rest of your life knowing what people think when they see you? Does O. J. feel that he really got away with something? Is he not painfully aware that there are places where he can never go again? As for Casey, what is your freedom worth if you must hide?

There is a marvelous way to end this ordeal, both for Casey and O. J. They need to confess. Neither can be arrested or imprisoned again. What if Casey Anthony confessed to David Letterman, sitting right there on the guest couch between say .... maybe Madonna and Elton John? What if O. J. confessed to Oprah? What if those confessions were rerun for a solid month like a mobius strip? How would you feel about these two sinners? Would you forgive them? Would the Furies disappear?

Cherokee in a Changing World

2011-08-08T21:03:00.003-04:00

Well, Kind Hearts, it was a fantastic show. On August 4th, the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium was SRO and our Cherokee show got off with Garfield Long singing "Amazing Grace" in Cherokee. Lloyd Arneach and I told the story of the Nunnihi and talked about the "old Cherokee" of the '50's which had a carnival atmosphere. This was back when Fess Parker came to town with a Disney film crew for "Davy Crockett" and a lot of Cherokees go bit parts in the movie. Dr. Eastman from the Cherokee Studies Department at WCU did a powerpoint presentation on the excavation of an ancient village beneath the WCU campus (1950's) and Paul Igrussi
provided some distraction by delivering a series of claw hammer renditions, like "Down in the Willow Garden." Davy Arch, a noted Cherokee carver and storyteller, discussed the role of masks in Cherokee tradition and displayed a remarkable collection. He also discussed the significance of The Booger Dance. Barbara McRae, the editor of the Franklin Press, talked about her research on the Nikwasi Mound in Macon County. Barbara Duncan from the Museum of the Cherokee Indians played three Cherokee-related songs (including "Junaluska") and
Robert Conley read his hilarious "Plastic Indian" story that brought the house down. The show ended with Garfield Long singing another Cherokee hymn.

I am pleased to note that this show was filmed by the University. Our next show is on September 1 and the Liars Bench will also be doing a show on Mountain Heritage Day.

THE STORYTELLER by Mario Vargas Llosa...Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-07-26T08:13:00.004-04:00

The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa
New York: Penguin Books
$12.58 (paperback) - 246 pages

This remarkable book has two protagonists. One is a learned, sophisticated (and somewhat jaded) scholar who has decided to spend the summer in Florence, Italy “reading Dante and Machiavelli and looking at Renaissance paintings.” However, his plans go awry when he discovers a collection of photographs in a small shop. The subject is an Amazon Forest tribe, the Machiguengas whose colorful, tragic history has always fascinated him. Indeed, our scholar knows a great deal about the Machiguengas, including their customs and religious beliefs. As he pores over the photographs, he is drawn to an indistinct figure in one picture ... a vague image of a man seated among the tribal members, gesturing and talking in a manner that suggests that he is speaking to an attentive audience - a storyteller. However, what is most disconcerting to the scholar is the fact that he knows there there is no such thing as a traditional storyteller among these Amazonian tribes .....and he has the distinct feeling that he recognizes the face of the speaker - an old college friend named Saul Zuratas, who is the second (and most significant) protagonist of this novel.

As the scholar reflects on his numerous conversations with Saul in college cafes and seminars, he recalls his friend’s somewhat bizarre physical appearance: Jewish features with a wild shock of red hair and a strawberry birthmark that covered half of his face. Although timid and self-effacing, Saul Zuratas was given to proclaiming a passionate concern for Peru’s Amazonian tribes and their endangered cultures. Zuratas spoke bitterly about the forces that were destroying the Machiguengas - christian missionaries, colonialism and labor exploitation camps that had either eradicated tribes or reduced them to slum encampments filled with zombie-like inhabitants who had become totally dependent on the white invaders.

The combination of his physical appearance and his angry diatribes against missionaries who promoted a kind of “progress” that destroyed the Machiguengas frequently made Saul an object of ridicule at the college where he was nicknamed “Masquerita.” Upon graduation, he announced that he was abandoning both the Amazon and a prestigious fellowship in a research project that would have sent him to Paris to study. Instead, he tells his friends that he has decided to accompany his father to Israel.

As our scholar/narrator studies the photographs, he realizes that “Masquerita” must have developed a secret plan to join the Machiguengas in their migrations into the remote Amazon wilderness. Known as “the people who walk,” the Machiguengas never establish a permanent village since they believe such action either angers the gods or disturbs the fragile balance between man, plants and animals. This tradition of wandering aimlessly and trusting to luck for food and substance carries them deeper into the most remote regions of the Amazon where fantasy and reality often merge.

At this point, The Storyteller undergoes a radical change in narrative. Abruptly, we are reading an astonishing compilation of of stories, fables, myths and legends - all tightly woven together in a kind of stream-of-consciousness pastiche that blends ancient “creation myths” with “trickster stories” of Native Americans, the Old Testament and the classic works of Kafka, Shakespeare and Greek tragedies. It is the voice of Saul Zuratas reciting creation myths, the origin of the universe and tales of death and redemption - all woven into a dark, flowing tapestry.

Many of the tales contain universal themes: The consequence of offending the natural world by violating taboos (the terrible fate of the hunter who killed the sacred deer) and the significance of rituals, talismans and dreams. Tales of unwitting victims who are cursed afflictions merge with a story of a man who became a cockroach; animals sacrifice themselves to assure mankind’s survival.

The author of The Storyteller, Mario Vargas Llosa, has been an outspoken critic of the unrelenting exploitation of the Amazon rain forests. This novel proves to be an ideal vehicle for exploring his major thesis. Ironically, some of the most destructive forces in the Peruvian region are widely considered beneficial. These include christian missionaries who translate the Bible into native languages and anthropologists who strive to replace tribal customs with modern technology. For Llosa, these loudly extolled “humanitarian efforts” are actually eradicating tribal traditions just as effectively as the mining and timber camps.

However, the most compelling message in The Storyteller concerns the significance of the oral tradition, and Man’s compulsion to tell enigmatic fables... frequently as he sits with his family before a fire and surrounded by darkness. Llosa restores this ancient tradition to its rightful place in the very heart of mankind’s origins.. Beyond the whimsical tales of talking animals and the moralistic platitude that teach lessons in virtue and courage, there is a darker narrative that defines the world as tribes like the Machiquengas experience it. Often, these stories deal with terror, unspeakable suffering and despair, but there is also redemption and renewal. Such stories are compelling and comforting because they describe the world that the listeners recognize.

The Storyteller alternates between the scholar’s cynical response to the misguided efforts of missionaries and anthropologists and Saul Zuratas’mystical tales for the “tribe who walks.” Who is most effective, then? Llosa obviously feels that in the modern world where change and progress are inevitable, the Machiquengas should be left alone with only their fragmented customs and traditions for comfort.

Since it was written over twenty-five years ago, The Storyteller has become a classic and is required reading for most anthropology students in the universities of the United States and South America. Filled with provocative ideas and opinions, it remains a popular (and controversial)chronicle of the continuing devastations in the Amazonian rain-forests.

LIARS BENCH OPENS AT MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CENTER

2011-07-09T18:34:00.024-04:00

Well, Kind Hearts, the first performance of the Liars Bench at the Mountain Heritage Center at WCU was an unqualified success. We had a packed house, an enthusiastic audience and a remarkably diverse group of performers. As these photographs illustrate, the talent was varied.
The centerpiece of the show, the Passmore family, performed "mountain top bluegrass" with an emphasis on mountain gospel. In addition to Tony, James, Angelia and Justin the group included Wymer Bryson and R. J. Spelman. The final selection of the evening from the Passmores was a rousing version of "The Orange Blossom Special." Also on hand was Paul Arussi, a Liars Bench favorite, who did "I'll Fly Away." William Ritter, accompanied by Bodine, the Liars Bench mascot, did two numbers, including "The Wild Hog." Dr. Peebles from the university did a shape-note singing class with audience participation that concluded with a hearty version of "Oh, Come, Angel Band," and Mary Fowler, a popular vocalist from the Liberty Church sang "The Goodness of Jesus." Gary Carden and Steve Brady did James Weldon Johnson's
"Go Down Death" and Lloyd Arneach, the Cherokee storyteller told the story of "How the Turtle's Shell Was Cracked." Dave Waldrop provided one of his songs rendered without musical accompaniment.

We are already making some elaborate plans for the August show which will have the theme, "Cherokee in a Changing World." Possible presentations include music, storytelling and discussion with such topics as the Nikwasi Mound, the meaning of "The Booger Dance" and the Legend of the Nunnihi. We are hoping to lure some Cherokee notables including Robert Conley, former Chief Robert Youngdeer and author Barbara McRae who wrote a definitive pamphlet on the Nikwasi Mound. If time permits and folks are forthcoming, we may include a discussion of Margaret Siler's book about the Cherokees who once lived in Macon County....and we are hoping to have a Cherokee quartet. Don't miss this one!

A WILD SURGE OF GUILTY PASSION by Ron Hansen - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-07-03T21:28:00.013-04:00

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hansen
New York: Scribner
$25.00 - 256 pages

Well, kind hearts, as they used to say back in the Jazz Age, this one is “the bee’s knees.” Set in the roaring 20’s, Ron Hansen’s new novel is based on the sensational 1927 murder trial and execution of Ruth Snyder and her weak-kneed accomplice, Judd Gray. Viewed from the jaded present age where we have become accustomed to media coverage of serial killers, bizarre mutilations and the over-hyped details of the Casey Anthony murder trial (which is still dominating the news), the details of this crime by two inept, foolish lovers seems sordid ... but unremarkable. Yet, there is something here that caught the morbid attention of America in what became known as “The Trial of the Century.” What was it?

In addition to turning the courtroom trial into a media circus that dominated newspaper headlines for six months, New York’s Queens County drew an audience of thousands that packed the courtroom, the halls and the surrounding grounds and streets. Celebrities managed to acquire seating up close to the action. New York Governor, Al Smith; the Reverend Billy Sunday; evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson; historian, Will Durant, comedian Jimmy Durante; director, D. W. Griffith; song-writer, Irving Berlin; columnist Fannie Hurst and playwright, Damon Runyon came each day - all eager to share their opinions and moral judgments in paid interviews with the media. Aimee preached a stirring sermon about "sex love" and "red-hot cuties."Noted playwright, Willard Mack noted that as theater, the trial lacked direction, "the plot was weak and most of the participants were stupid." However, each performance was standing room only.

And share them, they did. Each day, for the duration of this amazing trial,writers, gossip columnists, early advocates of Freudian psychology and even politicians, and comedians made daily comments about how the Ruth Snyder affair was a lurid fable about the dangers of the New York life style. As the testimony shifted from prosecution to defense, Ruth and Judd found themselves described first as tragic victims of a doomed passion and then as coarse and shallow alcoholics who were motivated totally by greed (Ruth had secretly taken out a $95,000 insurance on her husband, Albert’s life.) When the sordid details of their “love nest” were revealed - a lavish room at the Waldorf-Astoria where this carnally imaginative couple conducted a year-long tryst - the moral pundits of New York were finally shocked. Drunken orgies complete with bootleg whiskey and room-service banquets... and all of it recorded in Ruth’s diary, a document so lewd and explicit with sexual details that the court finally ruled against allowing it to be read in court.

After Ruth Synder turned against Judd Gray, testifying that she had been a reluctant participant in Albert’s death (bludgeoned to death in his bed with a window sash), the media coverage gradually became vicious. Judd was no longer described as “a debonair, educated distributor of women’s lingerie” but as “a weazened little corset salesman.” Ruth was no longer extolled as a “wowser” with “China-blue eyes crackling sparks,” but as a “blond fiend, a vampire” and a “spider woman” who had revealed herself to be “a shallow-brained pleasure seeker who is accustomed to unlimited self-indulgence.” Finally, when Ruth’s diary revealed that she had attempted to murder her husband a half-dozen times before she finally solicited Judd’s reluctant assistance, the last vestiges of sympathy vanished. The jury was out less than ninety minutes.

Reduced to its basics, the Ruth Snyder/Judd Gray murder trial has a tawdry simplicity. There are now heroes or heroines in this triangle. Ruth, unhappily married to a moderately successful magazine editor, suffered from neglect and physical abuse. Treated with public contempt by her husband, she attempted to fill in the vacuums in her life with a frenzied self-indulgent life style. Broadway shows, beach parties, shopping binges with her nine-year-old daughter ... and flirting with every “beach sheik” in sight. Judd Gray’s life seems a duplicate of Ruth’s. Unhappily married but a devout parent to his indifferent daughter, Gray is reputed to be a successful salesman with a genuine love of music and the arts. Unfortunately, he is a seasoned alcoholic, who, according to his own admission, never falls asleep at night, but “passes out.” In the morning, he does not wake up, but merely “regains consciousness” to continue to drinking.

From their first encounter, this “jazz couple” seem to be hopelessly drawn to each other; their wild roller coaster affair is an exhilarating rush to destruction. Yet, they are a product of their time. Ruth quips like May West, an actress she admires: “Better to be looked over than overlooked,” she says when sees admiring males looking he over. She sings Irving Berlin songs, peroxides her hair a vivid blonde and knows all the current dances. She is, after all, “a real jazz baby.” Judd quotes the classics, attends the theater, affectionately refers to Ruth as "Momsie," and ponders the moral issues explicit in D. W. Griffith’s movie, “An American Tragedy” (which concerns a murder that has some remarkable parallels to poor Albert Snyder’s demise).

As for Albert Snyder, it would be difficult to find a less sympathetic victim. Arrogant, self-indulgent and given to episodes of surliness and bad temper, he had few friends. Although an enthusiastic party-goer, he frequently insulted his peers and had a reputation for picking fights. Ironically, the autopsy performed on Albert revealed that he was suffering from alcoholic poisoning and if Ruth and Judd had not succeeded in beating his brains out with a window sash, he may have died that night from the effects of bootleg whiskey.

In reviewing the case, many legal pundits conclude that this was “a murder by clowns,” carried out by an almost child-like ineptitude. Certainly, the trial was badly handled by the defense. Given he fact that there was a plentiful supply of black-hearted villains and gory Capone-era slaughters, the public’s passionate demand for the death of these two poor sinners seems excessive. Why? Hundreds of worse killers have walked away, or ended up with a life sentence. Why execute Ruth and Judd?

Perhaps their mistake was candor. Ruth’s diary treated both the murder and the erotic details of their love affair with a kind of joyful zest and abandon. Certainly, the secret pleasures they enjoyed were not unknown in New York’s decade of decadence, but perhaps what was unforgivable was to record everything with such enthusiasm and frankness. Ruth seemed to glory in carnal details; poor Judd was devastated by guilt, which meant that he enjoyed the experience even more.

Ruth and Judd did not die well. A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion concludes with a harrowing account of the executions. Ruth approached the electric chair with fear and trembling, and had to be forced to sit. A few moments later Judd Gray managed to walk under his own power and take his place. Both suffered embarrassment regarding their coarse prison garments and the tonsure-shaved circles on their heads. Following their execution, the burned and blistered bodies of the two lovers were placed on storage shelves awaiting burial ... their nerveless hands, scant inches from each other.

I FINALLY GET TO MEET NINA SIMONE

2011-05-31T19:02:00.008-04:00

Last week, I visited Tryon for a production of "The Raindrop Waltz," my autobiographical play. I knew, of course, that Nina Simone was born in Tryon and the town has belatedly honored her with this remarkable statue. I talked my friends into driving over to "Nina Simone Plaza" and taking my picture with my favorite singer/musician. Nina's life was filled with tragedy. (See my review of her biography o this blog, Princess Noire.) However, the fact that she was born in Tryon proved to be a considerable advantage. Recognized as something of a child prodigy, Nina was playing the piano at six and was eventually given "classical training" by a retired professional musician. Residents of Tryon paid for the lessons. However, in later years, when Nina suffered several mental breakdowns, she often made statements about "racism in her childhood" that had no basis in fact. Nina was extremely active during the desegregation era and often walked with Martin Luther King. Her explosive temperament in conjunction with her problems with the IRS finally forced her to move to Europe. Despite the fact that her stage performances were often marred by her rants to the audience and her late arrivals, she continued to get standing ovations....even from angry audiences. If you don't know this woman and her music, go treat yourself to something like "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," or "I'm Gonna Put a Spell on You." White you are at it, listen to "Long Black Freighter" and "Little Girl Blue."

SNOWMAN by Jo Nesbo Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-05-27T10:54:00.005-04:00

Snowman by Joe Nesbo
New York: Alfred A. Knopf
$25.95 - 384 pages

Soon the first snow will come. And then he will appear again. The snowman. And when the snow has gone, he will have taken someone else. What you should ask yourself is this: “Who made the snowman? Who makes snowmen? Who gave birth to the Murri?” For the snowman doesn’t know.
Snowman, p. 60-61

Jo Nesbo’s protagonist, Inspector Harry Hole, is a daunting piece of work. A chain-smoking manic depressive and an alcoholic, Harry’s job security is tenuous. In fact, several administrators, are eager to fire the hulking, short-tempered Hole. Refusing to observe office hours and openly displaying contempt for his “superiors,” Harry’s presence rankles everyone, including most of the women in his life. The only factor in his favor is the fact that he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is the department’s most efficient employee. Time and time again, he identifies and pursues murderers like some mythical fury, following culprits into other countries (Australia, South America, etc.). As a result, Harry Hole has become something of a legend (and a pariah) in the Oslo police department.

This time out, Harry is matching wits with a serial killer who marks murder sites with a snowman. His victims - usually women, but with one notable exception - are dispatched in a Grand Guignol style that litters the landscape with body parts that are sometimes “rearranged” and/or reconstructed (in a manner similar to the victims of serial killers on the American TV show, “Dexter”.) Inspector Hole suspects that there is a common theme that ties all of the murders together. When he begins to delve into the private lives of the victims, he discovers a disturbing common feature: Infidelity. In addition, DNA testing reveals that all had given birth to children who had been “fathered” by someone other than the victim’s husband. Repeatedly, the Snowman sends a message to each proposed victim: “You are going to die because you are a whore.”

Eventually, Harry discovers that the murder victims have been marked by something much more serious than mere infidelity. Since statistical data indicates that 20% of Norway’s children owe their existence to men other than those identified as their “legal fathers,” Hole searches for, and finds a more disturbing factor. In spite of numerous false leads, he finally learns of a mysterious medical center called the Marienlyst Clinic where patients are treated for an obscure hereditary disease called Fahr’s Syndrome. Infected genes, passed form a “carrier male” are dormant for a time, but eventually, they spread through their hapless victims, destroying their motor skills by a kind of calcification that renders the bones and facial features misshapen and grotesque.

Suddenly, Harry is faced with a disquieting possibility. Is it possible that the Snowman is a victim of Fahr’s Syndrome? Is he systematically eliminating all of the women who have become unwitting carriers of the disease? When DNA proves that all of the infected victims were fathered by the same (unknown) male, Harry begins to speculate. Does this “carrier” heedlessly pass the infection on to numerous unsuspecting victims or does he know what he is doing?

Snowman is populated by the usual inept, foolish and arrogant members of the Oslo Police Department; however, Harry is destined to encounter an impressive number of “unusual” characters ranging from the vain and egotistical to the obsessed, psychotic and paranoid. Among the most interesting are: Arve Stop, the editor of a controversial magazine appropriately called “Liberal.” Arve is also a popular talk show guest and celebrity who, according to rumors, has a compulsion to seduce every attractive woman that crosses his path (sometimes several in a single day). Stop often selects his “overnight guests” from studio audiences and parties. Then, there is Idar Vetlesen, a gifted plastic surgeon who has “redesigned” the features of some of Norway’s most famous citizens. In addition to his profitable surgery, Idar frequents a local hotel that is a hang-out for prostitutes and sexually abused children. (Adar also claims to be an authority on Fahr’s Syndrome). Another provocative member of the medical profession is Mathis Lund-Helgesen. As a child, he was called “Mathis No Nips” due to the fact that he was born without nipples. As luck would have it, Mathis intends to marry Rakel Fauke, Harry’s old flame. (Yes, Rakel has finally had enough of Harry’s drinking and brooding.) Finally, there is Katrine Bratt, recently of the Bergen Crime Squad who has been reassigned to Harry Hole’s department. Harry soon discovers that Katrine is both capable and unstable. There is something dark and sinister in her past and Harry suspects that Katrine has “her own agenda.”

At some point in Snowman, each of these four characters (Stop, Vetiesen, Mathis and Kathrine) are suspects (Yes, one of them is the Snowman). Part of the mystery surrounding the serial killer’s identity involves the disappearance of a corrupt, disgraced Bergen policeman, Gert “Iron” Rafto. In fact, Rafto’s reputation for brutality had made him a suspect in the Snowman murders - a solution that was abandoned when Rafto disappeared and the murders continued. When Rafto’s body is finally discovered (the only male Snowman victim) Harry blundered on a disquieting theory. If Harry is Oslo’s most capable policeman ... and if Rafto was Burgen’s most efficient investigator .... could this mean that the Snowman knows that he will never be caught if he can simply eliminate investigators who have the reputation of being “the best”?

Snowman contains the usual Jo Nesbo signatures: tension and horror wrapped in a marvelous collection of arcane facts. For example, Harry ponders the fact that the female Berhaus seal will not mate with the same male twice - a dilemma that prompts the male to kill her rather than give her up. The reader also learns that Harry is a devoted follower of American culture and often delivers passionate diatribes on American politics (he is critical of the Bush administration), pop music (Harry collects Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley (and Bruce Springsteen) and American film (Harry things that “Starship Troopers” is a satirical attack on American culture.

However, despite the fact that Snowman is one of Nesbo’s best “thrillers,” a kind of anxiety dominates the action. Although Harry Hole remains a dark paranoid anti-hero, he seems to be suffering from an number of ailments. Everyone comments on his “loss of weight,” and Harry now has the added inconvenience of having his apartment contaminated with mold. In spite of his insomnia, Harry soldiers on, armed only with a carton of cigarettes and a stock of Jim Beam. Certainly, by the time he emerges from the riveting conclusion of Snowman, he is battered and exhausted. Hopefully, it will take more than a mold infection and the loss of a finger or two to send him out to pasture.

NEMESIS by Jo Nesbo - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-05-05T18:40:00.004-04:00

Nemesis by Jo Nesbo
New York: HarperColllins, Publishers
$25.99 - 474 pages

“Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen...
The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.”
Nemesis, p. 161

Kind hearts, allow me to introduce Police Detective, Harry Hole. Let me warn you in advance, he is an alcoholic who manages to keep his job in the House of Pain (Oslo’s Robbery Division) by cunning and a talent for catching elusive criminals - a fact that pleases his superiors and angers many of his career-minded peers. Harry prefers to work alone and has a reputation for using “unorthodox methods.” Although his friends frequently describe him as “tall, sullen, blond ... and ugly,” he maintains relationships with women that tend to be perverse, passionate and downright disturbing.

At the present time, the Norwegian author, Jo Nesbo, has completed a half-dozen thrillers that feature Harry Hole. As a result, Nesbo has become the most popular detective fiction writer in Europe. Due to the complexities of publishing (and translating) Norwegian fiction into English, Harry Hole’s following in America has been delayed. The first novels, The Redbreast, The Devil’s Star, The Leopard, The Redeemer and Nemesis have become astonishingly popular throughout Europe and although they are now available on Amazon, some titles are still difficult to acquire. The advance sales demand for Nesbo’s last two books, Snowman and Phantom, has already made them best sellers, even though they will not be released in America until May (Snowman) and June (Phantom).

Amid a lot of promotional hysteria that calls Nesbo “the new Steig Larsson”
(in this reviewer’s opinion, he is much better than that) and critical essays about the “Norwegian Invasion of crime literature,” it is clear that the Harry Hole novels herald an innovative and appealing development in crime literature. But how are these novels different? Is it Harry’s unique character or Nesbo’s gift for descriptive details?

This review focuses on Nemesis simply because this is the only Harry Hole mystery that this crime fiction fan could find . (The others are on back-order.) Nemesis is second or third in the Harry Hole series and as a result, a new reader may feel like he has entered in the middle of a movie. There are references to events that occurred several years ago, including the unsolved murder of Harry’s lover, Ellen Gjelten - a tragedy that is partially responsible for Harry’s dark moods and alcoholism. There are also a number of reoccurring regular characters: Inspector Tom Waaler, a sinister police officer who has created a kind of vigilante squad of maverick cops, and who hates/fears Harry. (Tom may be involved in Ellen’s death) and Rune Avarsson, an envious administrator who bitterly resents Harry’s success in solving crimes. However, Nemesis easily stands alone since Jo Nesbo possesses a remarkable talent for sustaining suspense while developing an intricate plot filled with obscure facts about forensic medicine, astronomy, psychology, current “pop” music and cooking.

In Nemesis, Harry Hole must solve two murders: the first involves the shooting of a female bank employee, Stine Grette, during a robbery. Harry is perplexed by the fact that the murder appears unnecessary since the surveillance cameras in the bank revealed that the masked robber had acquired the money...yet he shoots the bank employee anyway. The second murder is a bit more personal. A former girlfriend of Harry’s, Anna Bethsen, (an unstable, failed artist), invites him to dinner. During the meal, he is drugged and dumped outside Anna’s apartment. When he regains consciousness, Harry has no memory of his dinner with Anna. When he returns to Anna’s (locked) apartment, he finds her dead in what appears to be a suicide. Notifying the police with an anonymous call, Harry silently watches as an inept investigation closes, finding the cause of death to be suicide. Although Harry suspects that Anna was murdered, he also realizes if the case is reopened, he will the prime suspect.

Adding to the intricate threads of the plot, Harry finds that the burglary division has recently employed Beate Lonn, the daughter of a murdered policeman who possesses a rare talent called “fusiform gyrus” which means that she can recognize and recall the details of every human face she has ever seen. Beate is assigned to work with Harry. (Yes, she may have seen Tom Waaler someplace he should not have been.) In addition, Beate has a condition called “Setesdal's Twitch,” which I will refrain from defining since it would definitely “spoil” the conclusion of Nemesis. (I hope that made you curious!)

Gradually, Harry begins to suspect that the two murders are connected. As he delves into the history of bank robbing in Oslo, he discovers that the most successful robberies have been carried out by gypsies! In fact, the leader of Oslo’s most efficient bank robbing team, a man called Roskol, continues to plan and execute robberies from prison where he sits each day playing chess. To complicate matters further, Harry learns that Roskol allowed himself to be convicted for a crime that he did not commit because he is doing “penance.” At this point, Harry begins to ponder the close association between vengeance and love, especially in his own life.

There are far too many tension-ridden episodes in Nemesis to discuss in this review. However, among the most riveting are Harry’s “unofficial” trip to an unpleasant little town in Brazil to find a mysterious gypsy who may (or may not) be Roskol’s brother. Also, shortly after Anna’s death, Harry begins receiving taunting emails from someone who knows all about his dinner with Anna as well as a disconcerting amount of personal information about Harry. A further complication develops when Harry’s arch enemy, Tom Waaler develops an interest in Beate and decides to seduce her (while “Purple Rain” plays in the background). At the same time, Waaler devises a “foolproof” plot to destroy Harry. The plot becomes boxes within boxes within boxes.

Perhaps what is most interesting about Nemesis, is Nebo’s ability to capture the lives and personalities of his characters through dialogue that blends discussions about suicide (Albert Camus), American movies (“The Shining”, “BayWatch” (David Hasslehoff) the Horse-head Nebula and Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.” In fact, the discussions of music, abnormal psychology and a wealth of tantalizing knowledge definitely serve to make this Harry Hole thriller “a thinking man’s (or woman’s) murder mystery.” ... I guess I’m hooked.

TALES FROM A FREE-RANGE CHILDHOOD by Donald Davis Review by Gary Carden

2011-05-05T16:18:00.005-04:00

Tales from a Free-Range Childhood by Donald Davis
Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, Publisher
$19.95 (hardback) -242 pages

Storytellers draw inspiration from sources as varied as Shakespeare, the Brothers Grimm and the Bible; however the tales that immediately produce a resonating chord in most hearts are the ones that are drawn from a storyteller’s own life. If the “teller’s life” is blessed with a colorful assortment of relatives, a collection of childhood memories and a penchant for self-effacement, he/she possesses a winning combination. Donald Davis, like the bard of Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor, has that enviable gift. Not only can he recreate vivid images from his childhood (his favorite teachers, Valentine’s Day in the 4th grade, the first TV in the Davis home, etc.), he can prompt his listeners/readers to “recall” their own version of the same event.

As the title suggests, Tales from a Free-range Childhood, represents the first in a series of autobiographical tales dealing with Donald Davis’ early years in Haywood County. As Davis, one of this country’s most noted storytellers recalls his misadventures in kindergarden, his visits to his grandparents (who still had kerosene lamps) and his trips with his parents to church and local businesses, Davis conjures up a marvelous world filled with nostalgic landmarks: Charlie’s Drive-in, The Parkway Barbershop, Summerow’s Cash Grocery in Hazelwood, the bookmobile (a green panel truck) from the Haywood County Library, Massie’s Furniture, Whitman’s Bakery, etc.) Davis is blessed with total recall, even noting the difference between the taste of paste and glue in his class-constructed Valentine mail box. (Donald prefers the paste.)

The real magic in Tales from a Free-Range Childhood comes from Davis’ ability to construct a world of “eclectic nostalgia.” The author carefully selects vivid images that convey a sense of love, comfort, safety and stability. Davis and his little brother, Joe, grow up surrounded by doting relatives, delightful playmates, a few eccenric aunts and warm and caring teachers. If there were incidents of violence, child abuse or neglect in Haywood County during the first decade of the author’s life, he carefully erased them from this chronicle of a joyful, “adventurous” childhood.
What is left then? Essentially, it is Davis’ knack for finding a kind of drama (or moral precept) in the commonplace. For example, when five-year-old Donald is told to “watch the baby” (his two-year-old brother). Donald and another playmate create a game called “Make the Baby Cry,” which involved denying the baby (Joe) cookies and toys, attaching a suction-cup clown to Joe’s forehead and then covering Joe with Calamine lotion. When the mother returns and discovers Joe, she sort of “loses it.” It is a kind of “hissy-fit,” I guess. (Don has a talent for provoking this response from his mother.) She proclaims that “never will you be allowed to watch the baby again.” Exactly what Don wanted!

So begins an impressive catalog of “adventures” that go awry. There is an ill-advised haircut for baby Joe followed by an incident that makes Donald an unintentional shop-lifter at The Toggery (a woman’s clothing shop) in downtown Waynesville. Then, there is a delightful recounting of the educational debate, “to paddle or not to paddle” with a guest appearance by “Major Bowles,” one of Haywood County’s most beloved educators. Next, there is a trip to Grandma’s house complete with a night-time visit from the imaginary “ critters” that crawl up the wall and through bedroom window. This tale concludes with a familiar refrain: Don devises a prank to frighten his little brother who wets the bed; Don ends up sleeping in the bed.

Before a readers are half-way through this book, they are likely to conclude that the young Donald Davis was the type of kid that was constantly inventing adventures that had disastrous results... like the sled ride down a snow-covered slope into a tree. (Don had convinced the kids on the sled that if the were going fast enough, they would go right through the tree. “See the tracks in snow where I did it earlier? Here they are going into the tree and here they are on the other side of the tree!”)

There are stories about “cow pies” (Donald convinces Joe to jump in the middle of every cow pie the pasture); a trip to a carnival and a ride on “The Octopus” with memorable results, and a nostalgic tale about Donald’s first-grade teacher, Mrs. Ledbetter, and a Valentine Day project that was repeated in the following years. In the beginning, the students sent each other valentines and young Donald is intent in getting the largest number of anyone in his class. However, by the 4th grade, as Donald becomes increasingly aware of the little girl in the back of the room who rarely receives a valentine; eventually, he realizes there is a deeper meaning in exchanging valentines.

Donald Davis has published a great number of books about storytelling, including books on the history and techniques involved. Most of his admirers in this region are fully aware that Davis began as a minister. That fact has a great deal to do with the structure of a Don Davis story. Like a minister delivering a Sunday morning parable, he perceives his gentle and humorous tales as a means of illustrating life’s greatest gifts and joys: families that are bound together by affection, stability and mutual respect.

If storytellers develop “signatures,” and recognizable themes, One of Don
Davis’ recognizable components is self-effacement. His best stories involve the lovable trouble-maker who gets his comeuppance. Like the tricksters, Coyote, Brer Rabbit and Jack, he frequently devises a clever trap and then inadvertently falls into it himself. It is a type of humor that Appalachian storytellers learn to use as a shield - something between them and the world ... a world that cannot censor them since they have already confessed their flaws.

Tales from a Free-Range Childhood is a charming book, but, frankly I had much rather hear Don Davis tell a story than read it. Don’s greatest gifts are absent in this book: his facial expressions, his body language and,most of all, his marvelous sense of timing. Like many Davis fans, I have copies of “Barking at a Fox-Fur Coat,” and “the Crack of Dawn.” Thanks to the marvels of the internet, I often listen to Don on televised shows that originate from Orem, Utah and Ocracoke. If you prefer your storytellers “live,” be advised. Don Davis will be storyteller in residence at a number of locations in this area this summer, including “The Swag” near Maggie Valley.

ORACLE OF THE AGES reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-04-14T00:02:00.014-04:00

Oracle of the Ages by Dot Moore
Montgomery: NewSouth Books
$23.95 - 159 pages

Occasionally, books are published in the U. S. that can best be described as "oddities" which acquire a kind of cult following. Their popularity has little to do with literary merit, even though they frequently have much to say about social and cultural matters. Essentially, they appeal to our fascination with the bizarre,morbid and extraordinary. Some notable examples are:In Advance of the Landing by Douglas Curran (extraordinary photographs and interviews with people who believe that an alien invasion is imminent); and Michael Lesy’s Wisconsin Death Trip (a bizarre photographic journey which depicts the impact of the Depression on Wisconsin’s rural farm life). Oracle of the Ages is a biography of Georgia “witch and fortune-teller,” Mayhayley Lancaster, who died in 1955.

According to the author, Dot Moore, there are a significant (though dwindling) number of people who not only remember Mayhayley, but are willing to talk about the tall, thin woman with one eye who lived in a Heard County shack with her sister and “told fortunes” on weekends. In fact, the visitors who came requesting a personal audience in the 1940’s and early 50’s often stood in lines that stretched away into the woods. Neighbors noted that Atlanta and out-of-state license plates were common.

Those who witnessed Mayhayley’s “performances” invariably commented on her physical appearance: slender, homely, dressed in an old army coat with epaulet's and a military cap. She also customarily kept a marble in her empty eye socket and would sometimes remove it, polish it on her sleeve and pop it back into place. She also kept a menagerie of cats and dogs that slept on the porch (The dogs went to church with her.)

Essentially, Mayhayley claimed to be able to find lost items: wedding rings, jewelry, money, lost cattle and missing people. Although there were occasional “misreadings,” the majority of the old woman’s prophetic statements were uncannily correct and specific. For example she instructed one visitor who had lost a valuable ring to go home “walk to the end of the porch on the right side and look down.”; she often described the physical characteristics of a thief (frequently a relative or former employee) and on several occasions, she located stolen cattle that had been sold in another state.

Mayhayley’s closest associates also revealed that fortune-telling was not the oracle’s only source of income. She “played the numbers” and made an impressive sum by selling lottery numbers that “had a high probability of being winners.” At one time, Mayhayley taught school. At another time in, she came into the possession of a set of law books, and after a period of study, began to operate as a lawyer. She also ran repeatedly for political offices, including the Georgia Senate.

Although Mayhayley continued to live in her shack for most of her life, she acquired a considerable amount of land and money. Due to her distrust of banks, she concealed her money in random places, including hen’s nests,and jars buried in the garden or the surrounding woods.. After being robbed repeatedly, her relatives and the local law officers forced Mayhayley to retrieve the money and put it in the local bank. Author Moore gives a marvelous account of how the money was collected (along with a generous amount of chicken manure and dirt), counted ($30,000) and deposited in the local bank. Most of her neighbors continued to believe that she had considerable wealth that was never found.

The incident that brought Mayhayley national prominence concerned a murder trial at which the Heard County Oracle was called as a witness. Indeed, Mayhayley’s testimony contributed to the conviction and execution of John Wallace, a prominent Georgia farmer (who was also a former customer of Mayhayley’s. (Wallace often sought her advice regarding missing livestock.) In time, the murder trial served as the basis for a book, >Murder in Coweta County (1976) by Margaret Ann Barnes. The book, in turn, inspired a made-for-television movie (1980) starring Johnny Cash, June Carter (who played Mayhayley Lancaster) and Andy Griffin.

A number of noted figures found their way to Mayhayley’s porch, including Tallulah Bankhead, Ferroll Sams and Celestine Sibley. Eventually, Celestine became an ardent fan and did a series of articles on Mayhayley for the Atlanta Constitution. Many years later, Sibley stated, “She was a fortune teller, an astute business-woman and the closest thing to a genuine old fashioned witch that I ever saw.” In addition to collecting an impressive assortment of defenders, Mayhayley frequently volunteered information about the location of missing persons, including victims of drownings. During the notorious Mary Fagan Murder Trial in Atlanta (1913), she offered her services as “an attorney and oracle.”

When Maylayhey died in 1955, she left a number of unresolved legal issues which spawned a contested will and considerable bitterness among her relatives. Her estate was valued at $200,000, the majority of which she left to her sister, Sallie and there was considerable talk about the Oracle’s sly comments about “deposits in other banks under fictitious names.”

Death did not silence the rumors that continued to circulate about the Oracle. One notes that her head was removed prior to burial and sold for an excessive
sum (one million dollars) to a medical research center that hoped to discover the source of Mayhayley’s powers. In addition, the grave has been vandalized a number of times by people seeking souvenirs or talismans of the old woman’s prophetic talents.

One of the best anecdotes in Oracle of the Ages is told by the author who recounts a day when her father came on Mayhayley trudging along on a road near her home and offered her a ride in his car. The old woman accepted and on arriving in her front yard, turned to look at the children in the back seat. “These two boys will grow up to be lawyers,” she said(they did). Then, pulling the little girl (Dot Moore) into her lap, she laughed and said, “And this one will grow up to write something about me.”

CHAUTAUQUA! LIARS BENCH GOES TO THE AVE FESTIVAL, APRIL 1ST.

2011-04-03T11:47:00.011-04:00

Well, Kind Hearts, the Liars Bench is touring! Several weeks ago, Elizabeth Hay asked for a Liars Bench show for the opening of Andrews annual AVE Festival. As a result, Dave Waldrop, Steve Brady, Barbara Duncan and I loaded up our bench and Bodine, our mascot and drove to the Valleytown Cultural Arts Center on Friday, April 1st. We had a fantastic audience and even got a standing ovation.

Steve Brady not only played 1940's favorites but doubled as a storyteller and did a repeat of comic piece, "Carmen" (based on the opera). Dave Waldrop did his "Smoky Mountain Home" and launched a bit of audience participation with a piece that required a half-dozen members of the audience to become turkey buzzards. I did a history of the Liars Bench (both the traditional one and our own version), informed the audience about how Bodine, our mascot came to be a part of the show, told a few "tall tales" and told an old story about an infamous preacher in Cashiers Valley. Barbara Duncan delivered a haunting version of "Pretty Polly" as well as a rendition of her new song, "Junaluska. Before the night was over, the performers entered into a dialogue with the audience that dealt with topics as diverse as the meaning of "Tradition," the old mountain phrase, "a sense of place," oral history and leaving and returning to the mountains. We ended up with a rousing rendition of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" lead by Barbara with the chorus repeated by the audience. We should be so lucky at any future touring program!

Photos by Carl Iobst.

A SUMMER EVENING IN WEBSTER WITH PROFESSOR ROBERT LEE MADISON

2011-03-25T13:15:00.006-04:00

Well, Kind Hearts, here are a few photos from a truly memorable event. Recently, I was asked to write a short monologue based on the life of Robert Lee Madison, the founder of Western Carolina University. Since I have heard stories about Professor Madison all of my life, I certainly didn't lack material. I manged to produce a twenty-five minute monologue that sketched Madison's remarkable career and it was produced on March 10th. Frankly, I think it went much better than any of us expected. I have been asked to repeat the performance on April 15th at the Mountain Heritage Center Auditorium, and all of you are invited.

MOONSHINE TO QUINCH THE DEVIL'S THIRST

2011-03-18T09:14:00.016-04:00

Well, folks , an exotic aroma floated through the book stacks at the City Lights Bookstore this past Saturday when the theme, "Moonshine," not only produced a few local citizens who had more than a passing knowledge of how that celestial juice was brewed. Between testimonials, the Sweet Potato duo held forth and Steve Brady gave a presentation of the connection between NASCAR and moonshine. Lloyd Arneach was there, too, to add a Native American touch to the proceedings. There was even a few reverent references to "Thunder Road" and the nostalgic past when mountain boys could still supplement their income by driving a car to Atlanta and leaving it in the Grady Memorial Hospital parking lot. Although there were a few veiled references to the possibility of a "raid," that never happened...although the local law enforcement did drive slowly by several times and peep through the windows.

FULL DARK, NO STARS by Stephen King - reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-03-11T15:33:00.005-05:00

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
New York: Scribners
$27.99 - 368 pages

“I have no quarrel with literary fiction which usually concerns itself with
extraordinary people in ordinary situations, but as a reader and a writer,
I’m much more interested in ordinary people in extraordinary situations.”

- Stephen King

At the conclusion of this collection of four novellas: Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King adds an “Afterword.” In acknowledging that his quartet of stories is “a bit harsh,” King goes on to make some provocative observations on both the reasons for his success as a writer and his beliefs about the significance and /or purpose of fiction. Essentially, King feels that writing is the act of taking meaningless and/or random events and arranging them in a pattern that gives the lives of his characters the appearance of an order and meaning. The implication is that this “appearance of logical order” is artifice, or fabrication.

What is especially interesting about King’s comments is the fact that he acknowledges a debt to the American writer Frank Norris. Anyone who is familiar with Norris will immediately recall McTeague, the author’s “naturalistic novel” that recounts a grim tale about a man who is a hapless pawn to forces beyond his control. The popular literary term that describes McTeague’s dilemma is “determinism,” and embodies factors such as heredity, environment ... and chance. With this in mind, King’s four tales acquire an additional “noir” quality.

“1922” grew out of King’s fascination with Michael Lesy’s Wisconsin Death Trip (which is well worth the trouble of tracking it down if you are not familiar with it). A bizarre collection of photographs and news articles, Lesy’s book presents a disturbing “vision” of the harsh life of farm families in the Midwest during the depression. King chooses to depict such a family and gives a vivid account of the forces that move them. Wilfred James, the protagonist of “1922,” confesses the details of his wife’s death (a gruesome murder that was never discovered) and its consequences.The fact that Wilfred’s teenage son, Henry, becomes an unwilling accomplice to the crime complicates matters considerably. In fact, poor Henry’s guilt provides the corroding poison that blights the lives of a dozen innocent people. The crime is motivated by land (Wilfred’s wife wants to sell it and move to the city and Henry is determined to keep it). When King adds a few mitigating circumstances, such as a mortgage, a ruthless banker, Henry’s pregnant girlfriend, and Wilfred’s phobia about rats, “1922” acquires sufficient deterministic forces to assure a tragic denouement. In addition, the plot includes a colorful “Bonnie and Clyde” couple (Henry and his pregnant girlfriend) who are also created (and destroyed) by forces beyond their control.

In “Big Driver,” King presents one of his most appealing characters: Tess, a gentle soul who has managed to find her niche in the literary world by developing a series of mysteries, each of which features a witty collection of ladies who solve murders while they knit (“The Willow Grove Knitting Society.”) Tess is blessed by a modest “cult following” and when she isn’t busy working on her next mystery, she augments her income (and savings) with speaking engagements. Her cozy and quiet life style contains only two companions: Fritzy, her cat and Tom-Tom, her GPS (the latest in satellite navigation systems that enables Tess to find her way to her speaking engagements).

When Tess takes an ill-advised short-cut home from a speaking engagement, she ends up in a cleverly-devised trap on a remote road where she is raped, brutally violated and left for dead ... stuffed in a drainage pipe with several corpses. Unwilling to report the crime (she knows what happens to rape victims in the media) and mindful of the fact that her rapist will continue to maim and murder, Tess is plagued with guilt and anger. So begins a fascinating study of an ordinary (moral and law-abiding) woman who is forced by circumstances to become an agent for justice and, yes...revenge. Utilizing her skills as a researcher, she not only succeeds in identifying her rapist, but discovers a surprising link between her last speaking engagement where her “helpful employer” gave her the information about the ill-advised shortcut home. The tension builds when Tess loads her .38, feeds Fritzy, programs her GPS and drives away into the dark...

“Fair Extension” is King’s darkly humorous version of the old Faustian bargain with the Devil. Dave Streeter, a nice fellow who has terminal cancer, finds pudgy Mr. Elvid sitting under a yellow umbrella on a side street near the airport. Mr. Elvid seems to be a street vender and has a sign on his table that says “Fair Price.” However, he has no visible wares to sell. When Dave realizes who the vender is and makes a cautious inquiry, Elvid assures him that instead of his soul (souls no longer have any value), Mr. Elvid wants 15% of his annual income. Streeter agrees and is told that if all of Dave’s misfortunes are removed, he must “pass them on” to someone else. Dave selects his best friend, Tom Goodhugh. Dave goes home to find that not only is his cancer is in remission, his life is blessed with prosperity. During the next fifteen years, Dave’s fortunes thrive while Tom Goodhugh and all the members of his family ... once wealthy and powerful, descends into poverty, bad health. Does Dave Streeter suffer from guilt? Absolutely not. Instead, he dutifully forwards 15% of his annual income to Mr. Elvid’s account and basks in his good fortune....which continues unabated.

“A Good Marriage” owes its origin to King’s research into Dennis Rader, the infamous BTK serial killer. In his “Afterword,” King notes that Rader’s wife of 34 years never had the slightest suspicion of her husband’s “secret life.” However, following Rader’s confession, she endured considerable distress due to comments by neighbors and the media. In essence, these comments suggested that Rader’s wife “must have known something.” This response prompted King to write a story about a wife who inadvertently discovers that her husband has murdered at least eleven people during their 27-year-marriage. What would she do? In “A Good Marriage,” Darcy
Anderson has a strong sense of justice, but there are “extenuating circumstances.” If she calls the police, her life and the lives of her children will be wrecked. There must be a way to bring the monster down. There is.
This tale also has a satisfying conclusion that features Darcy’s meeting with a character that may remind some readers of Peter Falk’s popular character, Detective Columbo. Their dialogue is a masterpiece of evasion and implied meaning.

This is an excellent collection. King displays masterful control of his four dramas - all of which feature ordinary characters driven to extraordinary actions by circumstance. Frank Norris would be pleased.

FEBURARY LIARS BENCH THE BEST ONE EVER!

2011-02-22T15:55:00.012-05:00

Well, Kind Hearts, please accept my heartfelt apologies for being so late in getting Carl's photographs up for the last Liars Bench. I've been holed up with the door locked trying to write...something that becomes harder to day each day. But I am taking a well-earned break so here are the photos that give tangible evidence that the February program was the best one ever. The old regulars were on hand, including Dave Waldrop as Master of Ceremonies. We had two remarkable poets ... Kay Byer, the former poet laureate of North Carolina and Brent Martin who is spokesman for the Tennessee Convervacy. Barbara Duncan,who is normally found at the Museum of the Cherokees gave a rendition of her song, "Junaluska," that none of us we forget; Steve Brady did a comic monologue, which he insists "came from Chekov;" Paul Iagrrusi played a bunch of traditional ballads (please note that my blog system printed his photo twice, but that is okay) Lloyd Arneach was one hand with his inspirational Cherokee myths and Bonide, the show's mascot witnessed it all. The amazing thing is, the Liars Bench subsists on donations. That's right, we pass the hat and get enough to keep the performers coming back. Of course, the real reason that they keep coming back is because they love what they are doing.

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN STORYTELLERS Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-02-19T15:06:00.003-05:00

Southern Appalachian Storytellers: Interviews with Sixteen Keepers of the Oral Tradition edited by Saundra Gerrell Kelley
Jefferson: McFarland and Company
$35.00 (paperback) - 215 pages

“The old order changeth, yielding place to the new...”

In view of the fact that Southern Appalachia is acknowledged to be a massive reservoir of traditional storytelling, Saundra Kelley’s objective is a daunting one: to identify, interview and publish sixteen of the region’s most
gifted and proficient “keepers of the oral tradition.” Kelley’s basis for selection appears to be diversity, reputation and experience, and the selected storytellers range from Cherokee tribal elders and Scot-Irish traditionalists to educators/teachers and artists who combine storytelling with poetry and drama.

The three Cherokees in this anthology, Lloyd Arneach, Jerry Wolfe and Marilou Awiakta draw inspiration from their traditional folklore and mythology. In addition, all three perceive their roles to be keepers “of the flame.” In essence, the identity of the Cherokees (“who we are”) depends on the preservation of their stories. Both Arneach and Wolfe are prominent as storytellers throughout the Southeast and are often called upon to perform at schools, universities and tribal celebrations. Wolfe is noted for his traditional animal stories and Arneach has acquired a reputation for finding universal themes in Cherokee mythology. Awiakta, who grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has gained considerable respect as a poet, author (Selu: Seeking the Corn Mother’s Wisdom) and storyteller. All three of these Native Americans stress the importance of retaining their authentic “voices” which are inherent in their folklore.

Storytellers such as Elizabeth Ellis, Rosa Hicks (wife of renowned storyteller, Ray Hicks), Ted Hicks (Ray and Rosa’s son) and Linda Goss have strong ties to traditional Appalachian storytelling (Jack tales and old stories passed down from Scot-Irish, German and French settlers). Both Ellis and Goss have direct ties to the Ray Hicks (Beech Mountain) folktale tradition, especially their treatment of the famous tales collected by Richard Chase (Jack Tales and The Grandfather Tales).

Ellis is one of Appalachia’s most versatile storytellers. With strong ties with the “Texas tradition,” (which shows considerable evidence of being Appalachian in origin), she shows a preference for legends that focus on women, especially the harsh life they experience in Appalachia. She appears in national and international festivals and has won numerous awards for her contributions to the preservation of folklore. She coined the phrase “telling the sacred story” which (to Ellis) is any story that “create a world with words.” She is especially noted for her rendition of folk tales: for example “Like Meat Loves Salt” which can be traced to Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” (see Chase’s Grandfather Tales.) Ellis’ book, Inviting the Wolfe In (published by Orchard Press) delves into the meaning behind fairy tales and has become a favorite with teachers.

Goss, who is from Alcoa, Tennessee combines music (especially bells) and poetry with her performances has expanded her repertory to include the Grimm tales and Uncle Remus. Goss is noted for her ability to blend African and European fairytales which she underscores with musical accompaniment. She is much sought after by schools, Afro- American storytelling events and universities in east Tennessee and the surrounding area.

A significant number of the storytellers interviewed in this anthology are noted for the fact that they use storytelling as a springboard into other creative ventures. Sheila Kay Adams, a well-known folksinger from Madison County, N. C. has parlayed her “personal folklore” into a successful novel (My Old True Love ) and a short story collection (Come Go Home With Me). In addition, Sheila is a popular performer at folk festivals throughout the Southeast and appears annually the Piddling Pike Storytelling Festival and the Jonesborough Storytelling Festival. During the past decade she has won a significant following among in the elder-hostel programs in WNC. Adams has a large CD collection of folk songs and are
among the most sought-after in the United States.

Betty Smith from Black Mountain, N. C. is an author, singer, playwright and storyteller. She has spent 35 years in the classrooms, concert halls and festivals of the Southeast and has received extensive recognition for collecting, singing and storytelling. Betty’s play, “A Mountain Riddle,” has been produced by Southern Appalachian Theater (SART) and she has been instrumental in nurturing several major folk festivals (Atlanta and Chattanooga). Smith’s greatest contribution to folklore and storytelling is linked to the ballad tradition and she excels as a collector, singer, and interpreter - especially those with tragic themes (murder, suicide, revenge, doomed lovers, etc.)

Angie DeBord, who is steeped in the history and folklore of her native Swain County, North Carolina is an actress (Roadside Theater) and playwright and draws heavily on her family tradition for all of her creative endeavors. Debord received a Rockafeller Humanities Fellowship in 2003, an award that she used to pursue her interest in “storytelling as theater.” Her works have been performed on PBS, the Spoleto Festival and at the Kennedy Center. Like other storytellers from this region, DeBord attributes much of her inspiration to her grandmother who lives on in Angie’s stories.

Jo Carson (Johnson City, Tennessee), possibly this anthology’s most prolific artist, excels as a storyteller, a playwright (“Daytrips”) and is recognized as the driving force in launching a series of community oral history projects. Probably the most successful is “Swamp Gravy, an oral history project that became an annual presentation in the town of Colquitt, Georgia. This play has restored the town’s economy and has been running for two decades. Carson is the recipient of the Kesselring Award for Best American Play. Jo has also proved to be a major force in the development of the organization, Alternate ROOTS, which is based in Atlanta. (According to the Alternate ROOTS newsletter, Jo is suffering from colon cancer and has exhausted her medical insurance. The newsletter is soliciting donations to assist Jo.)

Charlotte Ross, in addition to being a noted storyteller and playwright (“My Grandmother’s Grandmother Unto Me”) teaches storytelling and folklore at Appalachian State University in Boone, N. C. Tracing her roots to north Georgia, Ross claims to have collected 3,000 stories from Appalachia and has spent a lifetime crafting them into stories freighted with the region’s heritage and culture. Ross perceives her primary purpose to be: to reflect the region’s culture with integrity and authenticity.

Gary Carden, from Jackson County, North Carolina, has used his “personal mythology” and heritage as a basis for both his stories, his books (Mason Jars in the Flood) and his plays (“The Raindrop Waltz”.) The author of eight plays, all of which are based on stories that he has been telling for
thirty years, Carden’s “The Prince of Dark Corners” has been widely produced (both on PBS and in regional theaters). “Nance Dude,” based on a tale that blends history and folklore, is concerns a famous murder in Haywood County and its consequences. “Birdell,” which is based on the forced removal of the residents of Hazel Creek by theTVA in the 40’s, has been produced over 300 times in the libraries, theaters and schools of WNC. Carden is the recepient of both an honorary doctorate from Western Carolina College and the Brown-Hudson Award from the North Carolina Folklore Society.

Dot Jackson lives in Six Mile, South Carolina. In addition to being a gifted storyteller and journalist, Dot has produced numerous short stories and a remarkable novel, Refuge. Thirty years in the writing, Jackson’s novel contains the same colorful eloquence that characterizes Dot’s speech. She has also proved to be a driving force behind regional organizations that are devoted to the preservation of endangered cultures (The Birchwood Center in Sunset, South Carolina and the East Tennessee State-sponsored publication, Now and Then.

Both John Thomas Fowler (Spartanburg, S. C.) and James “Sparky” Rucker (born in Knoxville, Tennessee) identify themselves as a “storytelling musician.” Much of Fowler’s material comes from his travels as a folk music researcher/ consultant for the South Carolina Humanities Council. His ability to combine folk music and storytelling has made him a familiar and popular performer at concerts and festivals. Rucker, who often tells stories in tandem with his wife, Rhonda, feels that his religious roots (Church of God) have led him to a career of collecting folk music, touring with folk singers and participating in events as varied as the Civil Rights Movement and Black Storytelling Festivals. Both Sparky and Rhonda have been “tellers in residence at Jonesborough and are especially noted for their CD, “Done Told the Truth. Goodbye!”

Kelley’s interviews with these sixteen “keepers of the oral tradition” reveal a number of common themes. All of these storytellers identify their early inspiration as their grandparents. In fact, the majority attribute their love of the oral tradition - not to instruction or research - but to the influence of family and the common or “natural language” of Appalachia.

Although the majority of Kelley’s yarn spinners are active participants in “the Jonesborough experience” and they readily acknowledge their appreciation of the opportunity to meet and study the techniques of their peers, there is a strong element of individuality in many of them. Although they speak with considerable reverence about their respect for the honored practitioners of storytelling, there is considerable evidence of “maverick performers” - individuals who “go their own way.” Certainly, it appears that the most imaginative and gifted are not content to spend their lives in stasis, parroting traditional material (Jack tales, fairy tales, mythology, etc.) but prefer to: (a) either treat the old tales as templates that serve as a basis for a imaginative variations; or (b) create their own, original folklore ... or perhaps even design a new way to tell a story.

2011-02-02T14:51:00.001-05:00

THE RHODES COVE GRINCH

2011-01-30T13:03:00.005-05:00

Being a diabetic with hearing problems (especially in crowds), I have days when I probably shouldn’t be “out and about.” A few months ago, when I was attempting to read the menu in a local restaurant without my glasses , I noticed that the decibel level resembled Walmart on Christmas Eve. The lights were too bright, the TVs (several of them) were proclaiming world disasters and a child was screaming in the next booth. I guess I ended up staring about in confusion. Then, the waitress smiled and said, “And what does Mr. Grumpy want this morning.”

Mr. Grumpy? Was she talking to me? Then, I caught my reflection in a mirror above the counter and saw that I looked a bit like the old Irish actor, Barry Fitzgerald - a crusty old geezer who always looked like he was sucking a lemon as he threatened folks with his walking stick and said things like “Ahh, you dirty git.”

Now, here is the thing. I wasn’t feeling especially contentious. In fact, this was one of my better days. The problem was, my facial expression was at odds with my disposition. When I told a friend about the comment by the waitress, his response surprised me. He said that I had a reputation as being a bit ... crusty.

“Crusty?”
“Yeah, you know, a bit of a curmudgeon.”
“Really? Well, thank you for brightening my day.”
“There now, see what I mean?”

Okay, so I am a bit testy. Aside from the fact that I think a lot of this has to do with ill-fitting dentures. Anyway, I’m not sure that I am ready to let my acquaintances provide me with a “label.” I mean, isn’t that a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy? Since I have become aware that I am “Mr. Grumpy,” I feel a kind of obligation to act like the person I am perceived to be. Now, when people don’t agree with my taste in literature, movies and politics, I realize that I have an opportunity to be downright abusive without actually offending anyone. They merely look at each other and smile because they have “pulled my chain,” and I have lapsed into my role as a contentious old geezer. The Rhodes Cove Grinch.

So, the fact that I usually have a frustrated expression on my face ... well, this facade does not honestly reflect my inner self - my complacent, gentle soul. Now, it is true that I am occasionally disgruntled by some computer problems ... (AOL is a blundering, incompetent and arrogant entity, and I have told them so frequently), and come to think of it, I had a number of unkind things to say about the IRS when they mistakenly attached my social security check. Then, too, I was a bit outspoken when Duke Power doubled my electrical bill. Well, come to think of it, all this rancor developed about the same time that the company contracted to pave the street in front of my house cut down over 20 trees on my property without consulting me and I began proclaiming my discontent to the neighborhood. But, usually, such events are just minor blemishes on my otherwise sunny disposition. Really.

Recently, I have been eating lunch in the Jackson County Senior Citizen Center and I think I may have stumbled into a brotherhood there. Yesterday, an old coot sat his tray down at my table and stared at me.
“Aren’t you the jolly soul,” he said.
“There are plenty of empty tables in here. Why don’t you move?”
“Well, to tell you the truth,” he said, “I feel it is my civic duty to run you out of here so the rest of us can eat without looking at your face.”
“Lots of luck,” I said. “Who the hell are you anyway?”
“Don’t recognize me, huh? I’m one of your old neighbors from Rhodes Cove. If I remember correctly, you shot me with your Daisy air rifle once.”
“Good for me,” I said.
After more of this camaraderie, I finish my lunch and got up to leave.
“See you tomorrow, he said.
“Not likely,” I said. “You dirty git.”

Frankly, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s lunch. Chicken and dumpling with a kindred soul.

The PASSAGE by Justin Cronin - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-01-22T17:49:00.012-05:00

The Passage by Justin Cronin
New York: Random House
$27.00 - 766 pages

For quite some time now, the literary genre known as “science fiction/horror” has been undergoing radical changes. The “creatures of the night,” be they zombies, vampires or werewolves, have been transformed into either (a) terrifying creations (“Dracula 2000” and its clones) or (b) pouting Vanity Fair teenagers on steroids (“Twilight”). Bela Lugosi’s bats and cloaks are laughably out of fashion while today’s menacing creatures, endowed with astonishing powers, are running amok. Many critics of modern horror literature feel that the real, innate terrors of our modern science and technology require a more appropriate folklore - one that combines science and myth. For example, science fiction/horror classics like I Am Legend.

Frankly, this horror fan is feeling some nostalgia pangs. I am too old to be frightened (or aroused) by the cast of the “Twilight Series,” which in my opinion may inadvertently succeed in adding yet another baneful ingredient to the vampire legend: in addition to garlic, mirrors, sunlight and crosses, I suspect that vampires can also be destroyed by saccharine. I yearn for the return of the nightmarish world of Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu.”

Which brings me to the epic (766 pages) vampire saga, The Passage. (Let me immediately note that Ridley Scott (director of Blade Runner, Alien and Gladiator) has already announced that he has begun filming this novel, and in a recent interview, Justin Cronin stated that The Passage is merely the first in a planned trilogy. Rest assured, the promotion for both Ridley’s spectacle and the anticipated sequels of this novel will be ... awesome.)

If there is an appropriate comparison for The Passage, it must be Stephen King’s The Stand (1978, revised in 1990 with a total of 1,153 pages) and Robert McCammon’s Swan Song (the 1987 winner of the Bram Stoker Award). All of these novels involve an epic trek (with mystical and apocalyptic motifs) to save the world.

Like a number of other vampire epics, The Passage opens with a covert project, originally designed to improve mankind, which goes awry. The original mission of Project Noah is to defeat disease and vastly increase intelligence, life expectancy and physical strength by stimulating the thymus gland (which becomes dormant or inactive in most human beings after adolescence). According to the theory expounded by the medical technicians in The Passage, the thymus - when injected with a virus (extracted from rabid bats!) will create astonishing improvements in humankind. In order to demonstrate the project’s benefits, Noah needs “guinea pigs” who are willing to be injected with a virus which will either kill them outright or convert them into a “new species.” The twelve selected participants are gleaned from a disturbing collection of murderers/sociopaths who are awaiting execution in maximum security prisons (mostly in Texas). Having given their compliance, the prisoners vanish into “The Chalet” which houses subterranean facilities, and which are staffed by a sinister mix of medics, military personnel, disconcertingly ruthless CIA agents and security guards.

In addition to the selected murderers, there is another participant: a six-year-old girl named Amy who is kidnapped, sedated and subjected to the same injections. Allegedly, the reason for Amy’s presence is to determine the effects of the serum on a pubescent subject. The result is the creation of a seemingly ageless child endowed with the power to "save the world."

Eventually, the bizarre and inexplicable behavior of the patients prompts the establishment of some rigorous security measures - especially after the patients begin to hang from the ceiling of their cells and whisper telepathic messages that suggest that they can function as a single unit - like bees in a hive. The inevitable disaster occurs. The patients overrun the Chalet, kill the entire staff and escape. In a period of thirty-two minutes, the world undergoes an apocalyptic revolution and author Cronin assures us that "life as we know it no longer exists."

At this point, The Passage abruptly moves forward almost a century, (With 500 pages of dense narrative ahead) into an embattled world filled with the relics of an earlier time: abandoned cities and interstates, rusting vehicles and millions of desiccated bodies (which the survivors refer to as “slims”). settlements of human beings still exist, but their numbers are few. Living in bunkers,they have adjusted to a daunting routine of constant vigilance.Their days are devoted to foraging and reinforcing their boundaries while their nights are spent patrolling the ramparts of their crude fortresses. High intensity lights burn all night.(Lights that are beginning to fail.) Their enemies are “the virals” who, in traditional vampire fashion, shun sunlight and bright lights, living mostly in dense forests and abandoned buildings. Like the inhabitants of a feudal city, the mortal survivors must defend themselves with swords and crossbows (although they occasionally discover caches of military weapons left over from “The Time Before.") Methods of communications, although forbidden, are being slowly rediscovered and individuals with a knack for repairing engines and electronic equipment are highly valued. The most protected area of the compound is "The Sanctuary" where the children are kept until they are adults.

The characters who live in this feudal compound are fascinating. Over the last century, their language and their customs reflect the rigors, anxieties and terrors of their existence. For example, there are numerous names for the virals, including “smokes” (their ability to appear and vanish suddenly) and “jumps” (referring to their astonishing speed when they attack). Watchers are constantly warned “You only get one shot” and they are trained to aim for “the sweet spot” which is the space immediately beneath the breastbone (the location of the thymus). Due to their stressful existence, all are haunted by nightmares (generated by the virals). The rigorous rules concerning the individual’s responsibility to the community often results in excessive feelings of guilt - a condition that results in frequent suicides.

The carnage in The Passage is excessive. To a certain extent the magnitude of violence in conjunction with the rapid passage of time seems to render character development irrelevant. No sooner do characters become interesting or endearing than they are vanquished like pieces removed in a chess game. This seems to be Cronin’s objective since his novel stresses preordained events. Individual lives are irrelevant and only exist (briefly) to move the action toward a predestined end. Whatever that end might be, it is never made evident in this novel.

The only abiding presence in The Passage is Amy. Time and again, when the characters are forced to abandon a refuge and venture into a bleak world fraught with danger, only Amy knows which direction they should go. Ageless (she seems frozen at 13 or 14), she is frequently (and infuriatingly) mute. When she finally speaks it is in order to provide information that is either vague or trivial. To tell you the truth, I didn’t like her much despite the fact that she is described as “the boat” on mankind’s journey to a safe haven.

Ah, but there fascinating episodes: a marvelous nightclub scene in Las Vegas with thousands of “slims” frozen around a roulette table; a terrifying train ride through viral country; an army base where movie night in the soldiers’ canteen is “Dracula,” and the fiery extermination of an underground viral bunker. Ridley Scott is going to stun us with special effects!

There is no question that The Passage is an entertaining journey with lots of “jumps” and “smokes.” Frankly I found that the “mystical themes”became a bit pretentious, silly and extremely vague, especially during the final chapters. Also the number of superhuman feats and miraculous escapes acquired a comic book quality that made the willing suspension of disbelief difficult to maintain. In addition, this novel is too long by about 300 pages. However, I’m looking forward to the movie.

CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER by Tom Franklin - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2011-01-07T08:11:00.009-05:00

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
New York: HarperCollins, Publishers
$24.99 - 274 pages

“MI crooked letter, crooked letter I, crooked letter, crooked letter I, humpback, humpback, I”

(how southern children are taught to spell Mississippi.)

How many times have you heard the lament, “They don’t write southern novels the way they used to”? This statement is usually followed by a catalog of classics like To Kill a Mockingbird along with a few reverent references to Truman Capote, Carson McCullers, Willa Cather and Flannery O’Conner. “No one writes like that anymore,” they say.

Yes, they do. Kind hearts, let me say (if you don’t already know) that something splendid has returned to southern literature. Before you are twenty pages into Tom Franklin’s new novel, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, you will find yourself smiling, perhaps, saying “Yes, yes. That is it! Here are the smells and sounds of a southern morning, bird songs, dusty roads, and the splender of a midnight sky untainted by the glare of a city."

Chabot is one of those small southern towns that has been bypassed by the interstate. Most of the stores are closed and the only business that passes for a nightspot is the Chabot Bus - literally, a former bus that is now a tavern. Then there is the Hub Cafe, noted for its unaltered menu of cheeseburgers and oyster po”boys. The last thirty years have brought changes: there are a goodly number of Mexican residents now and both Voncille the town dispatcher, and Sheriff French’s deputy, Silas Jones are black. The mayor, affectionately called “Mayor Mo” is part-time real estate agent and spends most of his time "out of the office."

If Chabot sounds like a variation of Sheriff Andy’s Mayberry, be assured that the similarity is deceptive. Over twenty years ago, a young girl named Cindy Walker disappeared and now another girl has gone missing, and M&M, a local pot dealer has been burned to death in his car. However, everyone, including Sheriff French is confident that they know the killer’s identity. It has got to be “Crazy Larry” Ott, the 42-year-old weirdo who lives in his parent’s old home near Chabot and operates his father’s old garage.

Everyone in town has a “Crazy Larry story.” On the night that Cindy Walker disappeared, she had a date with Larry Ott. In high school, Larry was an outcast, treated with contempt by his classmates. There was the Halloween party where Larry wore a zombie mask. And then there was his obsession with Stephen King books and magazines like “Creepy” and “Eerie.” It was also well known that Larry’s father was bitterly ashamed of his inept son (“No mechanical aptitude at all”). The community leaders were confident that eventually, the truth would surface and Larry would get his just deserts.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter chronicles Larry Ott’s story, gradually revealing the painful details of his childhood and his desperate yearning for his father’s approval. Shunned by his playmates, Ott is a solitary figure who prowls the woods near his home creating fantasy adventures until he meets Silas Jones. Although their friendship is brief and awkward, Larry never forgets it. When Silas leaves Chabot and becomes a successful ballplayer, Larry follows his career. When “32 Jones” returns (32 was the number on his baseball shirt), Ott attempts unsuccessfully to renew their friendship.

Larry Ott’s lonely life appears to be a pertinence that he pays for crimes that he never committed. Eventually, he accepts the town’s rejection, although he sometimes utters a prayer: that God will someday send him “a friend.” In the meantime, he putters with his chickens which he has named after “First Ladies,” and when he visits his mother in the nursing home he tells her that Barbara Bush is “a good layer,” but Rosalynn Carter hasn’t laid in two weeks. Then, suddenly, the miraculous happens - the long-awaited friend appears. His name is Wallace Stringfellow, and the reader is not likely to forget him.

There is a pronounced “literary echo” in Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Larry Ott, ostracized and condemned by the community, bears a definite resemblance to Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. However, there is a significant difference. Whereas Boo hides from his tormentors, Larry Ott stands in the doorway of his garage each day, staring hopefully at the passing traffic. Perhaps today, he will find a customer and a friend.

This modest synopsis of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter stops short of revealing a great deal. Suffice it to say that there are layers of skillfully designed details that have not been explored. Eventually, the reader will learn what happened on that fateful night that Larry Ott had his first (and only) date. There are also revelations about Silas Jones and the reasons for his rejection of Larry’s timid offers of friendship. Finally, there is Wallace Stringfellow, a character who resembles one of William Gay’s “perverse demons.” All of these revelations deserve to be discovered by the reader.

However, the greatest pleasure in reading Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter resides in savoring the masterful writing. Franklin captures the sights and sounds of the rural South with skill. When Larry Ott sits in the darkness nursing a cup of coffee on his front porch, the air is thick with the smell of goldenrod and honeysuckle. In the heat of the day, Larry smells the cut grass (he has a push mower), watches the dragonfly “snake feeders flit through his garden,” and listens to the raucous cry of blue jays. The writing is filled with images from a vanishing South, Coke machines (like the big red one in Larry’s garage, screen doors, grease pits, chicken tractors and mangled mail boxes (some with a resident rattlesnake).

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter successfully links the old South with the new and perhaps the time has come to move on. Reluctantly, Larry will have to update his garage, stow his wrenches and ratchets, and get some computerized equipment. It is time to dismantle his obsolete TV antenna and get a satellite dish. Hopefully, he may show up at Chabot Bus and someone will finally offer to buy him a beer. (Silas?) He may even find another Stephen King fan - someone he can invite home to watch “The Shining” on HBO. It would seem that Chabot owes him that much.

MATTERHORN by Karl Marlantes - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2010-12-31T14:22:00.012-05:00

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
New York: Atlantic Monthly Press
$24.95 - 600 pages

“It took Karl Marlantes 30 years to write his thunderous, brutally granular account of scorched-earth combat in Vietnam. Matterhorn was originally published by a tiny press in California before a prominent New York editor caught up to it, and now this 600-page beast of a novel is loose in the wider world, taut as a trip wire and reeking of gunpowder. It tells the story of a green second lieutenant named Mellas and his education in terror and suffering over the course of a few deadly weeks as he and his companions take, abandon and then try to retake a sheer mountain deep in the jungle. “
- Time magazine, December 20, 2010

In many ways, this is one of the most terrifying novels that I have ever read. This is largely due to the fact that Marlantes drops the reader onto a kind of treadmill that moves him (and Bravo Company) unrelentingly through a green hell of rain and fog towards oblivion/death.There is no turning around, and although you (the reader) may object to being forced at gun point down a one-way path, it is pointless to resist. No one is listening. As the sound of exploding mortars increase, you find yourself experiencing a flood of unpleasant tactile sensations - jungle rot that covers the skin with puss-filled sores, leeches that drop from the trees down your shirt and immediately become bloated from sucking your blood; infected feet, physical exhaustion and chills produced by hunger and dehydration. The soldiers around you begin to shout sensing that an unavoidable confrontation is at hand ... and you have a loaded M-16.

In the final analysis, the “you are there” aspect of Matterhorn constitutes one of the reasons (and there are many!) why this is a great novel. Certainly, there have been a good number of respectable, well-researched novels (Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, James Webb’s Fields of Fire, for example) on the Vietnam conflict, but Karl Marlantes’ 600 page opus (edited down from 1,600 pages) is destined to be what the New York Times calls “the final exorcism for one of the most painful passages in American history.” In addition to the compelling writing, Matterhorn has a panoramic, Wagnerian vastness that encompasses everything from “war room” strategy meetings of the commanding officers to the racial conflicts that frequently threaten to destroy Bravo Company from within.

However, Mariantes’ greatest gift is his talent for creating a large cast of characters who emerge like images in a photographer’s darkroom - images that begin as vague shapes that gradually acquire features and personality: the charismatic Jawhawk’s red mustache, Vancouver, the Canadian machine gunner, who carried a Japanese ceremonial sword; Corporal Jancowitz, who has fallen in love with a bar girl in Bangkok and re-enlisted to be near her; China, the Black Panther advocate; the timid Jacobs, who stutters, the small, ineffectual “Shortround” Pollini and a marvelous dog named Pat - doomed to be killed when he has served his purpose in Vietnam. Over one hundred vivid characters, each unique ...but all flawed by humanity. There seems to be a terrible injustice in the fact that just as the reader begin to care about them, laughing at their quips and condemning their failings, they are suddenly gone, reduced to rotten, inert bundles wrapped in green shrouds and awaiting shipment home.

Much of Matterhorn’s three-week journey through sustained madness and horror is seen through the eyes of Second Lieutenant Waino Mallas, an ambitious Princeton graduate who initially perceives his Vietnam tour as a politically desirable experience in his anticipated career as a lawyer. At first, Mallas is viewed with suspicion and contempt by many of the members of Bravo company because of his ivy-league background. In addition, he quickly gains a reputation for being short-tempered and contentious. However, in a matter of days, as he is subjected to starvation, inadequate supplies, bureaucratic stupidity and bloodshed, he begins to suspect that there is something profoundly wrong with this war. The conflict involves “people who didn’t know each other” but were destined “ to kill each other over a hill that none of them cared about.”

That hill, Matterhorn, is a bleak mountain in South Vietnam between Laos and the DMZ,which owes its name to the American command’s penchant for naming Vietnamese elevations after mountains in Switzerland. During the three weeks encompassed by this novel, Matterhorn is invaded by Bravo company, fortified, abandoned, occupied by the North Vietnamese and then retaken (at a tremendous cost) by Bravo. Shrouded in a thick fog that renders air support ineffectual, the members of Mallas’ company spend much of their time staring at the impenetrable fog, straining to hear the sound of an approaching heliocopter “like members of a cargo cult.” Unable to transport their dead and wounded, or to acquire food, water and ammunition, Bravo company spends much of its time in a kind of frozen limbo.

As Bravo company waits for food, water or the next attack, they attempt to communicate with each other. These intervals of exchange - whimsically “playing the dozens,” disputes over musical taste, debates on the nature of Good and Evil (“Are we murderers or patriots?”) and the current status of the Black Panther movement in the states - constitute the heart of Matterhorn. Ironically, these dialogues fall into two categories: those that analyze racism, God and “the human condition” with remarkable clarity, and those that spark confrontations that push Bravo company’s smoldering racism close to open rebellion.

This dichotomy suggests that war, despite its inhumanity, provides an insight into human nature that is not normally apparent. Sources as diverse as Hemingway and Joseph Campbell have noted that humanity often “transcends” its inherent flaws when it is confronted with death. Second Lieutenant Mallas not only witnesses acts of heroism but is astonished to find himself participating in them. These are acts that attest to the bond of brotherhood that seems to surface on the battlefield. This “bond,” for lack of a better term is love, a profound caring that is evident when Mallas watches officers send enlisted men into battle “the way a mother prepares her children before they leave for school.” However, once the danger is past, Bravo company reverts to a burgeoning frustration and rage that often fosters a desire to turn on the inept, career-motivated officers who send them on missions in which they die without purpose or meaning.

Matterhorn’s extensive use of jargon, military slang and technical terms would render much of the action and dialogue meaningless if the author had not provided an extensive “Glossary.” It is here that you learn that COORS, means “Killed in action,” FRAGGING is an attempt to kill a fellow officer with a grenade; KIT CARSONS are North Vietnamese deserters who work as “scouts” for the American forces; and a MYSTERY TOUR is a prolonged drunken party. The reader will also learn that most of the “grunts” carry packages of Wylers lemon, grape Koolade, Choo-Choo Cherry and Tabasco sauce to enrich the taste of K-rations and chemically-tainted water. Also, most of Bravo’s officers carry elaborately-carved walking sticks as a means of calculating how many days, weeks or months remain in their tour of duty.

Like all war novels, Matterhorn will be compared to its predecessors. Admittedly, I thought of Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead when I encountered graphic descriptions of death and decay. I also found a bit of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 in many episodes when Mallas, like Yosarrian, encounters nightmarish events that contain a dark and grisly humor (such as a “death by Tiger” episode). However, such comparisons are superficial at best. Finally, the novel, Matterhorn, like the bleak and enigmatic mountain it represents, stands alone.

In a recent email, this reviewer received a poem written by Edward Micus a Vietnam vet who sums up his experience with chilling honesty:

"We liked to shoot things. We shot birds and parrots and gulls
and things we didn't know the names for. We shot monkeys and gibbons
and deer and pigs and turtles. We shot flying things and crawling
things and swimming and walking things. We shot oxen and water buffalo
in the open paddies and bet how many M-16 rounds it would take to buckle
one to its knees because it was big and stupid. We shot tigers and
elephants. We rarely shot the enemy. We shot Montagnards. We shot
Vietnamese women and children and a goodly number of old men. And if any
of that were not enough, we shot each other. Then we went home and shot
ourselves."

All of this happened over 40 years ago, and many of Matterhorn’s reviewers are quick to note that our modern troops are far removed from most of the horrors chronicled by Marlantes. Soldiers in Iran or Afghanistan are better equipped and fed, they say, and that a modern grunt’s life cannot be manipulated by career-minded officers.I am a bit skeptical about that. Most readers are fully aware that extending from the walls of Troy to Agincourt, Gettysburg and Dunkirk there are cemeteries and battlefield sites that bear mute witness to the fact that soldiers have been dying for a long time - often, in the judgment of history ... without purpose or meaning.

THE RIDERS by Tim Winston - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2010-12-28T14:28:00.009-05:00

The Riders by Tim Winton
New York: Scribner
$14.00 (paperback) - 374 pages

The great kite of the crucified Christ loomed and caused the crowd to vibrate. Like a pyre before him, the bank of burning candles waited.The hot pure smell of burning. A woman’s fan of blonde hair in front of him scented like roses as he walked, Billy beside him, her face glowing with hurt and understanding. He lit a candle and held it up before him. God, how his head soared and pitched, how rod-like his blood went into his veins. A candle for the birth of Christ, for the squirming of Job in his own shit, for Jonah, running like a mad bastard from the monster he knew he was.
- The Riders, p. 317

This cunningly crafted novel is likely to pose a unique problem for many reviewers. Winston’s complex and vivid narrative, replete with stunning imagery and pulsing color often distracts to the point that the reader is likely to forget what The Riders is about. In effect, almost every sentence in this novel has the cadence and beauty of poetry.Time and time again, this reviewer found himself reading paragraphs over and over for the pleasure of gliding through Winton’s complex sentences (which often resemble finely crafted necklaces composed of a network of images.

The paragraph which introduces this review is an example of hundreds of paragraphs that have the same amazing lyricism. Essentially, it is a description of the drunken Scully, the novel’s protagonist entering a Catholic church on Christmas Eve with his six-year-old daughter, Billy who has become his caretaker. Even though Billy’s face has been mangled by a crazed dog, she is desperately trying to ignore the pain in order to lead her helpless father through the back streets of Paris. Scully is searching for his wife who has abandoned him and his daughter. As his search becomes increasingly desperate, he begins to identify with Old Testament figures (Job and Jonah) and literary figures like the lurching one-eyed, hunchback, Quasimodo - a figure that his daughter feels her father resembles.

In many ways the plot of The Riders is as complex as the languages that defines it. Scully, a shy and inept Australian laborer, has had the good fortune (or misfortune) to marry the beautiful Jennifer who has “artistic aspirations” and spends much of her time in training to become a painter. Surrounding herself with a cultured (and parasitic) covey of itinerant artists, Jennifer’s obsession drives her through all of the major cities of Europe where studies under other painters. Scully supports his wife and child by earning a living as a carpenter or laborer on fishing boats. Despite the fact that he is treated with contempt by Jennifer and her friends, Scully readily accepts his role, content to be married to Jennifer.

With his wife’s tacit approval, Scully buys an abandoned farm in a remote section of Ireland and renovates it, believing that Jennifer (who is living with her artistic friends) will join him after the work is completed. On the appointed day, Scully arrives at the airport to find Billy, his six-year-old daughter - but no Jennifer. Billy is strangely mute and refuses to discuss her mother’s absence.Thus begins a heartbreaking odyssey. Convinced that his wife has been kidnapped or has undergone a traumatic experience that has made it impossible for her to keep the appointed date in Ireland, Scully decides to return all of the places where they have lived during the past six years: a Greek fishing village, an artist’s colony in Paris and a houseboat port in Amsterdam, etc.

It is a bitter and disillusioning journey. When Scully contacts Jennifer’s former friends, he not only discovers that none of them know where his wife is, but that they generally felt that she was both untalented and unfaithful. As Scully exhausts his savings, he reluctantly begins to consider the possibility that Jeniffer has abandoned him and Billy.

One of the most disturbing passages in The Riders deals with Scully’s encounter with Irma, a woman who befriends the father and child. However, after an attempt to seduce Scully fails, Irma becomes a kind of stalker, pursuing Scully from city to city and taunting him with the hint that she knows where Jennifer is. Although she initially appears to be a benevolent fellow traveler, Irma becomes increasingly destructive with each encounter. After she succeeds in stealing Scully’s “identity” and cancels his credit card, the bewildered father has nothing left ... but an ingenious daughter.

The Riders is a love story that records the death of innocence. Scully’s childlike devotion to Jennifer is gradually corrupted, undermined by the painful revelations of his journey. Perhaps, at the end of story when he returns to his renovated farm, he is “sadder but wiser.”

In addition to the story of Scully’s painful journey, The Riders contains a kind of fable which appears to have no relevance to the novel’s action - yet it may be a metaphor for Scully’s dilemma. Near the abandoned farm in Ireland, Scully finds the ruins of an ancient castle and witnesses a strange nocturnal ceremony. Hundreds of riders appear below the castle and wait, mutely staring up at the castle. There is no revelation. No one appears on the ancient parapets and so the mute riders vanish. They will return as they have done for countless nights. Although Scully witnesses the riders’ ceremony twice (once before his vain search for Jeniffer and once after he abandons the search), he decides not to participate in the future. Perhaps he has learned a painful lesson about the futility of waiting for a return that will never occur.

What does it mean? Why is the fable of the riders a part of Scully’s story? Possibly, the connection is that both Scully’s story and the ceremony before the ancient castle have to do with “unquestioning devotion.” Both the riders and Scully have wasted their lives waiting for something that will never come.

Certainly, The Riders is a unique novel. Winton blends poetic description, Irish ballads, an odyssey through the back streets of Europe and a mysterious fable that reads like a variation of “Waiting for Godot.” Filled with dazzling passages of lyric narrative, The Riders easily demonstrates why Tim Winton is considered one of Australia’s greatest novelists.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen - Reviewed by Gary Carden

2010-12-21T09:51:00.003-05:00

One Second After by William R. Forstchen
New York: A Tom Doherty Associates Book
$24.95 - 349 pages

“It is not a matter of “if,” it is a matter of “when.”
- General Eugene Habier USAF (RET.)
Former Commander in Chief
U.S. Strategic Command (May 2002)

Let me begin this review by confessing that I never heard of E.M.P. (Electromagnetic Pulse) and I was distressed to learn that its destructive potential has been readily acknowledged by both the Pentagon and the White House (Newt Gingrich wrote the forward for this novel). According to the author, the public’s ignorance of the threat posed by this silent enemy is largely due to the fact that the first information about the destructive potential of E.M. P. was released on the same day that the final report on the 9/11 catastrophe appeared in the media. In short, the horrors attending the fall of the Twin Towers so totally dominated the news (as well as the imagination of the American public) that readers paid scant attention to a new “theoretical danger.”

Briefly defined, E.M.P. represents a nuclear weapons strategy which would render an entire country helpless by simply destroying that country’s computer technology. In theory, a nuclear missile designed to detonate some twenty miles above the surface of the designated country (in this fictional enactment, it is over Kansas) would simply “erase” all computer-dependent technology. Within one second of the explosion, a shock wave would short-circuit every electrical device that it touched. In-flight planes would crash, all motorized vehicles would stop, and all communications (TV, radio, telephones) would cease. The country’s inhabitants would be unaware of what had happened until they encountered the consequences (stalled cars, dead phones and the silence attending the loss of mass communications).

In order to graphically demonstrate the devastation of such an attack,author Forstchen has created a novel in which the inhabitants of a small town (Black Mountain, N. C.) fight for survival in the aftermath of an E.M.P. attack. The first evidence that something is amiss is the stalled traffic on I-40. As the town ceases to function, the first causalities occur in hospitals where patients are on life support. Early fatalities include individuals with pacemakers and individuals dependent on dialysis. Diabetics and cancer patients are immediately “at risk.” Schools and nursing homes, now without air conditioning, electricity or refrigeration quickly become unsanitary and unsafe. As concerns about food and drinking water increase, looting and theft become commonplace. Within three days, the local stores have been raided and the desperate civic officials have implemented martial law. Money becomes worthless and Black Mountain gradually reverts to a barter system in which bullets, cigarettes and canned goods become mediums of exchange. (Ten .22 bullets for a rabbit, two bullets for a cigarette, etc.)

John Matherson, the protagonist of One Second After, (like author Forstchen) has military experience and teaches at Montreat-Anderson College. Matherson had given up a promising military career when he decided to bring his ailing wife home to Black Mountain. Following the death of his wife, this history instructor and veteran of Desert Storm had become one of the most popular citizens of the small town. When disaster strikes the town calls on him to assist in developing a survival strategy. In a matter of days, he and a few civic leaders are rationing food and water, patrolling the Interstate, collecting fire arms and mobilizing vehicles that function without computer technology (pre-1970’s). One of the town’s most valuable vehicles is a Ford Edsel!

The greatest threat to the town’s inhabitants proves to be the ignorance produced by the information vacuum. Although it is evident that the United States has been attacked, no one knows the identity of the enemy - Iran? North Korea? China? Unanswered questions include: Is the war over? Who won? What is going on in the rest of the world?

In conjunction with the unknown fate of America, Black Mountain and other small towns in the region find themselves coping with great numbers of people arriving from Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Atlanta. Within a matter of weeks, Old Fort, Marion, Morganton and Asheville are reduced to embattled fiefdoms that strive with little success to maintain cooperative relationships with other towns while attempting to deflect migrating hordes and protect their supplies, such as food and water and medication.

A sustained level of tension and suspense in One Second After is produced by Forstchen’s stark portrayal of the town’s speedy descent into brutal savagery. As John Matheson and the civic leaders of Black Mountain struggle to maintain the basic principles that created this country, they are repeatedly forced to acknowledge that civilization’s fragile veneer is being stripped away. Reports begin to arrive concerning murderous armies composed of thousands of armed and desperate individuals that are moving steadily toward western North Carolina. The largest group, called the Posse, are “practicing cannibals” and have left a terrifying wake of rape, murder and ruin behind them. According to rumor, a similar group (a self-styled cult) is approaching from Tennessee.

Before One Second After has run its course, John Matherson finds all of his most cherished principles challenged. Certainly, he had not foreseen the painful decisions he would face as the town’s military advisor. Not only does he condone the killing of “invaders;” he serves as executioner. In time he even assists in converting his beloved college into a military base where his former students serve as the last barrier between the Posse and his town. He watches loved ones die of starvation and implements policies that result in the willful withholding of food and medication for individuals who are fated to die anyway (triage).

There is a daunting message in this novel. One Second After is a cautionary tale. The worst horrors depicted here (and there are many) are simply projections based on countless studies of what could happen to the United States should it suddenly lose all of its complex technical advances in one blinding flash. We are a pampered country, says William R. Forstchen coddled by a great web of technical marvels. Take them away and we are heartbreakingly vulnerable - so vulnerable that 80% of us would perish before we could adapt to a world without technology.

 

THE LIARS BENCH HOSTS BOOKSIGNING FOR STORYTELLER, SAUNDRA KELLEY - NOVEMBER 20, AT CITY LIGHTS

2010-11-22T17:27:00.013-05:00

Author and storyteller, Saundra Kelley conducted a book signing for her new book, Sixteen Appalachian Storytellers In addition to signing the book, Saundra discussed the interviews that she conducted that involved contacting the storytellers that she considered the "masters of the oral tradition." Three of the sixteen are from our area (Sylva and Cherokee) and representatives came from Cherokee to represent Lloyd Arnearch and Jerry Wolfe. Gary Carden was present since he is one of the selected storytellers. In addition, Paul Agrussi was on hand to play some old classics, including "Bully of the Town." Gary Carden discussed his play, "Prince of Dark Corners" and Steve Brady (who portrays Lewis Redmond) did the last scene from the play. Saundra also told a story that came from Florida folklore and Dave Waldrop served as MC and kept things moving at a brisk pace.

WINTER'S BONE (THE MOVIE)

2010-11-06T10:57:00.005-04:00

“I’m a Dolly, bred and buttered. That’s how I know that my Dad is dead.”
- Ree Dolly

After spending 35 years teaching elderhostels in western North Carolina and north Georgia, I have to agree with those scholars who conclude that Appalachia is the most misunderstood region in the United States. The average elderhostel usually contains participants from America’s major cities. In addition to being over 65, the average class will contain people who are intelligent and well-read (with the majority possessing college degrees). In general, they are a delight to teach, for unlike the average high school class, they are eager to learn and discuss. There is just one persistent problem: the majority of my elderhostel students arrive at an Appalachian-based elderhostel with an astonishing number of misconceptions about the region and its people.

Over the years I became weary of encountering the same fictions about my culture. With a total lack of malice, people from New York, Miami and San Francisco will ask: “What is being done to eradicate incest and inbreeding?” or “Will we get to visit a moonshine still?” Sweet-faced grandmothers would ask if anyone in my family had ever been snake-bit in church. “Are those feuds still going on?” It took me several years to realize that these pre-conceived ideas came from several centuries of misinformation culminating in Snuffy Smith, Li’l Abner, “HeeHaw,” and “The Beverly Hillbillies,” All this in conjunction with stereotypes and distortions fostered by movies, yellow journalism and sensationalized fiction.

It is a rare thing to encounter a Hollywood movie, a novel or a drama that depicts Appalachian culture with anything resembling authenticity or integrity. Even the best intentioned visions are tainted with inaccurate details or mawkish sentiment (the Pulitzer-winning drama, “Kentucky Cycle," that is a beautifully written fraud). Many of the films are written by people who haven’t even been here (“Next of Kin”). I guess that is why I get a bit irrational when I finally encounter a film with integrity, such as “Winter’s Bone.”

Both the novel by Daniel Woodrell and the film (released this month and already scheduled for television) resonate with a kind of cultural purity that brings tears to my eyes. It is not a pretty story. In fact, the critics (Rotten Tomatoes.com) are tagging it (accurately) as “noir” and “a bleak thriller.” However, it is also being called “a fable of redemption and hope.” Many critics feel it will receive a number of Academy Award nominations. (It recently received the Grand Jury Award at Sundance.) Here is a brief synopsis of the movie:

Ree Dolly, a seventeen-year-old girl living in a remote Ozark cove with a younger brother and sister has reason to be concerned about her family’s survival. Her mother is mentally unstable and her father, who “cooks crack” for a living has vanished. Ree supplements the dwindling groceries by hunting squirrels. She is finally forced to give her father’s horse away and she spends a lot of time chopping firewood for the stove. When the local sheriff comes by to inform her that before her father vanished, (he had put up the deed for his house and land as collateral to “make his bail.”) Consequently, he had been released with the understanding that he would return for trial. If he fails to do so, the court will evict the Dollys and take the land. Ree’s father does not appear and the family is given a week to move out.

The heart of “Winter’s Bone” is the search for a missing father. It is a search that echoes another film, “True Grit”, (1969) in which a 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) enlists the aid of “Rooster Cogburn” (John Wayne) in her search for justice. Both films feature spunky, young girls, who, when faced with near hopeless circumstance that leave them crushed and bloody, simply get up and go on. Instead of John Wayne, Ree has an uncle named “Teardrop” (John Hawkes who portrayed Sol Star in “Deadwood.”) Teardrop seems a dubious defender ... at first.

Although Ree has a “best friend,” April (Sheryl Lee) and the cautious sympathy of a few relatives, all support vanishes like a spring snow when her search takes her into conflicts with the insular culture of her community.When her search takes her into the isolated coves where her father’s, relatives live, the atmosphere of “Winter’s Bone” becomes progressively threatening. Even the last resort (Ree’s favorite fantasy) of joining the army and using her pay to save her family vanishes when she fails to meet the age requirements. Eventually, her dogged persistence pays off. There is a memorable night-time scene in which Ree Dolly floats into a dark and icy lake with two grim-faced mountain women and a chainsaw ...

“Winter’s Bone” depicts the dark underbelly of mountain culture: rusty trailers, clotheslines, fields of corroded, cannibalized vehicles, barking dogs, and a soundtrack filled with gunfire and chair-saws. Yet, it is authentic. My own neighborhood is similar to Ree Dolly’s, right down to the dog lots and chicken coops. (We have a paved road, but the nights are still punctuated with gunfire.) Unlike many previous films, Ree’s neighbors are not depicted as one-dimensional, dim-witted and violent. Behind the mute and watchful faces are humane beings who, in the final analysis, have a kind of stoic nobility. I kept thinking of my grandfather’s own summary of the state of things in Rhodes Cove: “Things have been bad but they are probably going to get worse.”

Even so, I find it distressing to read reviews of “Winter’s Bone” that are filled with the same inaccurate descriptive phrases - such as “dim-witted hillbillies, bestial mountain yokels, trailer trash, etc.” Even when the movies treat our culture with respect, we still have metropolitan critics with opinions that have been shaped by stereotypes and preconceived ideas. I am distressed that these shameful descriptive phrases are delivered by writers who have no doubts that their statements are apt and true. I keep fantasizing about visiting a few cosmopolitan critics with Ree’s uncle, Teardrop, who has a unique ability to change people’s minds.

My Grandfather and Jesse James

2010-11-06T10:41:00.005-04:00

Back in the ’40’s when popular movies used to return each year, my grandparents waited each summer for their favorites. “How Green Is My Valley,” and “Sergeant York” was my grandmother’s choice, and she was also addicted to “Trail of the Lonesome PIne” (the color version with Fred MacMurray, Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda). However, the big family favorite was Tyrone Power’s “Jesse James.”

I remember we dressed like we were going to church and walked from Rhodes Cove to the Ritz Theater. By the time I was twelve, I knew most of the lines and all of the characters in this lurid saga, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment. (I usually had my cap pistol concealed in my Sunday school coat ... just in case.) Due to the popularity of “Jesse James,” there were several sequels, including “The Return of Frank James” with Henry Fonda. However, although my grandfather admired the vengeful brother, his heart belonged to Jesse.

My grandfather was an excitable man and would sometimes talk back to the characters on the screen. He hated Bob Ford, the man who killed Jesse and often yelled insults at him. In the famous scene in which Jesse
climbs onto a chair in order to straighten a picture on the wall, thereby giving Bob Ford the opportunity to shoots him in the back, my grandfather would jump to his feet and say, “Look out, Jesse! Look out!” I wonder now if he hoped to save Jesse ...hoped that Jesse would turn and see that “dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard,” and blow him to Kingdom Come.
(“Mr. Howard” was the name that Jesse was living under at the time of his death.)

On the way home my grandfather would expound on the significance of Jesse’s tragedy, invariably noting that he was the victim of the callous and
immoral “sonsabitches that run this country.” He would caution me to be on the lookout since he warned, “Sooner or later, you are going to meet them.” He was talking about the government which worked in cahoots with the major industries in this country such as the railroads, TVA and the folks that “run our people out of the Smokies.” Later, in the darkness of our front porch as we sat listening to the night sounds in Rhodes Cove, he would continue and usually end up singing a few verses from a ballad about Pretty Boy Floyd:

Now as through this world I ramble
I see lots of funny men
Some will rob you with a Six gun
And some with a fountain pen.
But as through your life you travel
As through your life you roam
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
- Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd

But my grandfather’s empathy with outlaws and his grievances with the government (and our legal system) went much deeper than movies and ballads. He had lost a son, a gifted musician (my father), to a drunk with a rusty pistol who entered the little gas station called “Happy’s Place” and shot Happy Carden. Although brought to trial and sentenced, the drunkard’s family launched a vigorous campaign to get a pardon. My grandfather countered with a campaign to keep him in prison. In the end364, my grandfather lost, even though he had sold most of his land to pay the lawyers.

When I was eight years old, I remember an afternoon when the local sheriff came to tell my grandfather that the convicted killer had been released from a prison in Raleigh that morning. “Don’t do nothing foolish, Arthur,” he said. “Let it go.” Then, he added, “He won’t be living in this county anyway.” As we watched Sheriff Middleton walk back down the trail, my grandfather wept. After a while, he straightened in his chair, and said,

“Well, what do we have here? What kind of justice is this?” Pointing at me, he said, “What I see is an orphan young’en, two poverty-stricken farmers (meaning himself and the family of the killer) and two rich lawyers.” Then, he gave a bitter laugh and said, “I guess the only justice that we get in this life is what we get for ourselves.”

So it was that in time, my grandfather came to admire outlaws. I think that he saw them as his advocates - courageous individuals who refused to suffer passively; men who attempted to rectify the wrongs suffered by the poor and defenseless. My grandfather spent the majority of his life in hard manual labor, weeding, hoeing, milking, chopping. These were chores that continued after darkness had fallen and began each morning before daylight. However, sitting in the dark of the Ritz Theater, I saw him transformed as he experienced the thrill of robbing the Glendale train.

Eventually, I discovered that my grandfather was not alone. While working in Haywood, Swain and Macon counties, I had frequent opportunities to hear others speak bitterly of injustices: the destruction of Hazel Creek by Ritter Lumber Company; the building of Fontana Dam and the eviction of mountain families that lived there - a governmentally-sanctioned eviction that would also occur in Cataloochee, as well as the coves and valleys of what would become known as The Great Smoky Mountain Park.

I know that these people also shared my grandfather’s admiration for outlaws, and Hollywood knew it too, for young criminals seemed to be everywhere. If not Jesse, Pretty Boy Floyd and Billy, the Kid, then Henry Fonda in “Trail of the Lonesome Pine” and finally Robert Mitchum in “Thunder Road” - a film that played to packed houses for two decades.

Now, sixty years later, I remember my grandfather’s warning about the powerful, greedy entities: “Sooner or later, you are going to meet them.”
I have, but instead of Pinkertons, railroads and robber barons, I have encountered Duke Energy, IRS and VISA and I feel as powerless as my grandfather did. I am also hoping that there is someone out there who will be my advocate; someone who can strike fear into the heart of the arrogant and powerful. Are you out there, Jesse?

Gary Carden
236 Cherry Street
Sylva, N. C. 28779
Telephone (cell): 399-9653
GCarden498@aol.com

HANDLING THE DEAD BY JOHN AJVIDE DLINDQVIST - REVIEWED BY GARY CARDEN

2010-11-06T10:25:00.006-04:00

Handling the Dead by John Ajvide Lindqvist
London: Quercus Publishing
$16.49 - 364 pages

“Death makes strangers of us all.”

Dear readers, if you decide to purchase this amazing novel, please consider the following advice: Forget George Romero and the multitudes of lurching zombies that have become common fare in both films and novels. Purge your mind of ravenous, decaying flesh-eaters who crawl and stagger through cemeteries, suburban housing projects and shopping malls. John Ajvide Lindqvist has re-invented the concept of the undead (just as he re-invented the traditional image of the vampire in Let the Right One In). His “undead” are more docile, but frightening nevertheless.

Lindqvist’s tale begins with a breakdown in utilities service in Stockholm. During a heatwave, electrical appliances begin to malfunction. Televisions, vacuum cleaners and electric stoves can’t be shut off. In addition, the entire populace seems to be suffering from migraines and tempers are short. Then, the inconceivable happens: all of the dead in the local morgue get up and walk.Those that manage to escape before the police arrive (trailing sheets and revealing their autopsy stitches), begin a slow trek through the city, and many are giving a piteous cry: “Home! Home!”

David Zetterburg, a popular local comedian finds his life turning into nightmare when his beautiful and gifted wife is killed in an automobile accident. Called to the hospital to identify Eva, he arrives in time to witness his wife’s “reanimation.” Despite extensive, fatal injuries to her face and body, Eva’s corpse stirs, sits up and looks at her husband. ... Elvy Lundberg had dutifully tended her husband, Tore, in his final illness. After his death, she tries to put her life together again and find peace with her granddaughter with whom she shares a kind of telepathy and “second sight.” Then, Tore, who has been dead for over a month, comes home. Then, there is Gustav Mahler (He takes a lot of kidding about that name). He is an overweight journalist with a pacemaker and his life evolves around his new grandson, Elias. When the child is killed (he falls from the window of his parent’s apartment) Mahler is devastated. However, Gustav hears that the dead are awakening all over Stockholm, and he wonders about his grandson’s lonely grave. Although Elias has been buried for two months, Gustav unearths the coffin with his bare hands and brings Elias home ... if, indeed, the creature in the coffin is Elias.

Eventually, Stockholm’s hospital personnel, in conjunction with the police and the military, round up the dead who have now been christened the “reliving.” Totally at a loss as to what to do, the authorities confine the dead in the local hospital. The military dispatches special forces who are instructed to disinter all of the dead who have died recently (those who have died more than four months ago do not “awaken”) and a governmental announcement instructs the public to turn in their deceased relatives who return home.

Handling the Dead is not a horror novel in any traditional sense. Instead,
Lindqvist uses the folklore of the undead to develop a disturbing meditation on the nature of death, love and loss. Moving back and forth among his major characters, the author tells a dark, suspenseful story. David wishes to bring his “reliving” wife home, but her behavior becomes increasingly strange. Elvy sees a vision and is convinced that the world is on the brink of Apocalypse. Eventually, she begins to preach to her neighbors, citing the biblical passage about the dead rising from their graves. Flora, Elvy’s granddaughter takes up residence in a half-completed housing complex called Heath which is also inhabited by a large group of young dissidents. Gustav flees with his daughter and Elias to a remote cabin where he plans to rehabilitate his grandson.

Study of the newly-awakened dead by medical and psychological specialists reveals bizarre facts. When large groups of living people visit or attempt to converse with the “reliving,” they discover that they (the visitors) can read each other’s minds. The experience proves to be disorienting since they are hearing hundreds of voices and can no longer recognize their own thoughts. In addition, the awakened dead are incapable of individual thought and only mimic the wishes (spoken and unspoken) of those around them. Much of the time they appear docile; however they become angry or frustrated if these emotions are exhibited by those around them. The only objects that interest are wind-up toys.

Eventually, all of the awakened dead are transported to the Heath, with plans to develop it into a rehabilitation center. This move and the subsequent visits by relatives and the public proves to be disastrous. Belatedly, all of the relatives of the “reliving” realize that the beings that have returned bear no resemblance to their loved ones. David’s wife, Eva, once a gifted writer of children’s books, does not know her husband or her child. Although she can speak (which is rare among the “reliving”), she merely repeats variations of statements others make to her. When Gustav attempts to rehabilitate his grandson, Elias becomes violent and attacks him - a response that is prompted by the anger and frustration that Gustav is experiencing because his rehabilitative therapy is failing.

As all attempts by the authorities fail, the “reliving” are abandoned. Helpless and without defenses, they are attacked and killed by bands of marauding citizens who find them participating in a solemn dance outside the Heath. When Handling the Dead draws to an end, the fate of the “reliving” is uncertain. Perhaps, lie the disenfranchised aliens in “District 9,” they will end up living on government subsidies. Another possibility is Elvy, who comes to believe that she had misinterpreted her vision. Instead of saving the living, Elvy believes that she was meant to save the awakened dead. Now she wants to help them return home. Apparently, “home” is a second death).

Excluding the violence at the end of this novel (a bonfire of the “reliving” who all die a second time and a “zombie from the sea that acts like the undead in a Romero flick), Handling the Dead has no scenes of mass carnage. Instead, Lindqvist depicts a psychological horror which arises from the realization that nothing is beyond the grave except silence. In essence, that is the message that reawakened dead deliver. Although the novel ends with a reaffirming symbol - a white caterpillar that becomes a butterfly - it does little to erase Lindqyist’s images of what lies beyond the grave: a devastating silence.

THE DEVIL AMONGST THE LAWYERS BY SHARYN MCCRUMB...REVIEWED BY GARY CARDEN

2010-11-03T09:54:00.005-04:00

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers by Sharyn McCrumb
New York: St Martin’s Press
$24.99 - 320 pages

Several months ago, I reviewed a marvelous non-fiction work by Sharon Hatfield entitled: Never Seen the Moon: The Trials of Edith Maxwell. Hatfield’s book is a comprehensive account of a 1935 West Virginia murder which became a “cause celebre” that drew the attention of the national media, the Women’s Rights Movement and Eleanor Roosevelt. In truth, the murder was a rather prosaic event: an attractive young school teacher living near Wise, WV had a violent argument with her father because he objected to her late return home from a night out with her friends. The father ended up dying on the floor from a head wound and Edith Maxwell was arrested and charged with murder. The trials dragged on for years and Edith Maxwell was not released from prison until 1941.

Now comes Sharyn McCrumb’s novel, based on the Edith Maxwell case, and it quickly becomes evident that McCrumb has an axe to grind. Specifically, The Devil Amongst the Lawyers addresses the devious role of journalism in any and all cases that occur in Appalachia. Although the primary focus is on the Edith Maxwell case, McCrumb takes the opportunity to catalogue other instances where journalists not only distorted the events
in order to sell their stories to major newspapers, but actually influenced verdicts and damaged innocent people. Examples include the notorious “elephant hanging” near Irwin, Tennessee (1916); the famed Scopes “monkey trial” in Dayton, Tennessee (1925) and the tragic Floyd Collins incident in Kentucky (1926).

McCrumb, who is an accomplished author of Appalachian novels that frequently blend folklore and history with a tantalizing dash of the supernatural (one of her recurring characters is gifted with “second sight”) has no trouble at all in transposing the entire cast of the Edith Maxwell case into a “fictional” personages. Edith Maxwell becomes Erma Morton and Edith’s clever, self-promoting brother, Earl, is reincarnated as Harley Morton who takes charge of his sister’s defense and immediately signs a contract with the Hearst papers, giving them sole rights to her story. As a consequence, all of the other journalists, including emissaries from a variety of “women’s rights” organizations are only given limited access to Erma Morton.

However, the major emphasis is not on the accused. Erma remains a remote and mysterious character until the culminating pages of The Devil Among the Lawyers when she finally reveals a vague version of “what really happened.” Instead, McCrumb turns her attention to journalists - a collection of a half-dozen news hounds who run the gamut from inept but well-meaning (Carl Jennings) to purple-prosed sob-sisters (Rose Hanelon) and jaded yellow journalists (Luster Swan). This motley crew arrive in Wise, Virginia with motives that are as diverse as their characters.

Carl Jennings is fresh out of college and painfully aware of his lack of experience. Lacking the expense accounts (and the cynicism) of his worldly cohorts, he trusts his empathy for Emma Morton, believing that they share a common background. In addition, he feels he has “an ace up his sleeve” since he has a relative - Nora, a cousin is a young girl who shares the Bonesteel gift of “second sight.” He has managed to bring her to Wise to work in the kitchen of the boarding house where he stays. Is it possible that Nora will perceive the truth about Emma?

Like the majority of out-of-state journalists, Rose Hanelon arrives in Wise with preconceived ideas about the region. However, despite her cynical
evaluation of the local populace (“ignorant and backward hillbillies”), Rose has become adept at writing stories about tragic young women who are victimized by brutish males. With the assistance of the photographer, Shade Baker, she sometimes creates fake photographs of impoverished mountain children to add pathos to her reports. Yet, despite her unethical approach to the Emma Morton trial, Rose emerges as a lonely, foolish woman who is hopelessly caught up in a doomed romance with a young, daredevil pilot.

Henry Jernigan emerges as the most memorable of McCrumb’s journalists. In addition to being to being a kind of effete snob who struggles to hold himself apart from his callous and vulgar companions, Henry resembles the noted journalist, Lafcadio Hearn who renounced his American citizenship and devoted his life to pursuing Japanese art and culture ... However, Henry Jernigan’s newly discovered paradise only lasts until a tragic event (a devastating earthquake/fire and the death of his dearest friend), forced him to leave Japan. Although he ekes out a livelihood by writing sophisticated articles filled with classical allusions and flowery bombast, he seems a lost and tortured soul. Certainly, he seems out of his element in Wise, West Virginia. One of the most moving passages in The Devil Amongst the Lawyers describes Henry’s discovery that he “is not alone.” He is constantly accompanied by the spirit of a young Japanese woman who died many years ago in Japan ... a spirit that he cannot see. However, his ghostly companion is seen by others: those who have “second sight,” including Carl Jennings’ cousin, Nora.

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers, like Sharon Hatfield’s Never Seen the Moon, provides extensive evidence that journalists who were sent to cover sensational events in Appalachia in the ’30’s and ’40’s tended to rely heavily on a singular literary work: The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by John Fox, Jr. Published in 1908, this popular novel/play/film/outdoor drama was filled with graphic descriptions of violent, ignorant men and helpless victimized women. Despite the fact that Appalachian culture and its people had changed radically in the intervening years, unethical journalists continued to use the same stereotypes. As one critic commented on the newspaper articles about Edith Maxwell’s murder trial, many of of the reports were written by men who never left the hotel in Wise. They simply defined the people with “a jar of moonshine in one hand and a copy of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine in the other.”

As a result McCrumb’s emphasis on the role of unethical journalism in the Maxwell case, the final outcome of the novel seems anticlimactic - perhaps even irrelevant. In essence, author McCrumb cracks the whip and her characters dance in accordance to her wishes. Unlike the vivid characters in many of her novels, the cast of The Devil Amongst the Lawyers appear stylized and one-dimensional. Perhaps that is the price for writing a novel that is more an ethical preachment than a tense murder mystery.

THE LIARS BENCH DOES A HALOWEEN SHOW AT THE COUNTY LIBRARY ON OCTOBER 28TH

2010-11-01T08:43:00.013-04:00

Fantastic show! We had a packed house at the Haywood Public Library last Friday. We also had a remarkably varied and very responsive audience. Dave even managed some audience participation with his turkey buzzard routine, Barbara and Paul sang ballads of doomed lovers, Steve Brady conjured up an image of a white owl and a hanged woman at High Hampton. I told the audience about Bodine, my stuffed dog (who was present), gave a brief history of the liar's bench in Appalachian tradition and recalled an old Irish story about poor Stinky OShanashy, Haiche, the blind storyteller who met a demon one night in a little village in Japan and Spearfinger, the Cherokee witch who lived on Whiteside Mountain (and ate little children's livers). Kathy Olson was present with refreshments and provided the Liars Bench with a perfect setting for a Halloween show. I don't see how it could get any better. Thank you, Kathy and Carl who took all of these pictures.

TALES OF THE STRANGE AND EERIE, TOLD AND SUNG AT THE LIARS BENCH, CITY LIGHTS. OCTOBER 23RD

2010-10-27T16:55:00.010-04:00

This was a fantastic show and we are going to repeat it in Waynesville at the Haywood County Library on October 29th at 6:00. Paul sung "Wreck and Ramblin' Boy" and Lloyd frightened everyone a little with the story of Spearfinger, the shape-changing witch who lived on Whiteside Mountain and visited Cherokee villages in the fall (during chestnut-roasting season),
Barbara sung to eerie, tragic songs of doomed lovers, Steve recounted the tale of the white owl of High Hampton and I told two tales: "Stinky OShannocy" and "Haiche, the blind storyteller." We had some special guests and the new online newspaper, TuckReader.com filmed us, so we are on both TuckReader and YouTube. Things look promising for the future. In November, will will have all of your favorite people back, plus a special guest, Saundra Kelley, who is the author of a new book on Appalachian Storytellers. Stay tuned.

PRINCE OF DARK CORNERS AT THE SIDNEY LANIER LIBRARY, OCTOBER 24TH

2010-10-26T13:59:00.009-04:00

Kind Hearts, this production of "Prince of Dark Corners" was probably the last for me and it was unique since it was performed in the Sidney Lanier Library in Tryon .... next door to the original "Dark Corners" which was situated outside of Tryone near the South Carolina line. Margaret Morley described it in her writings while she was living in Tryon. Since we choose not to make any photos of Milton Higgins' performance in order to not distract from the play, there are no action shots. Suffice it to say that Milton Higgins did an excellent job (he hadn't performed the part in a year) and garnered a standing ovation.
We had a question and answer session after the play that was wonderful. This was an excellent audience! Milton is doing the part again next week in Seneca (two performances), November 5-6.

SO COLD THE RIVERBY MICHAEL KORYTA - REVIEWED BY GARY CARDEN

2010-10-23T13:08:00.006-04:00

So Cold the River by Michael Koryta
New York: Little, Brown and Company
$24.99 -503 pages 2010

“Michael Koryta’s West Baden Springs Hotel has joined Stephen King’s Overlook Hotel in the listing of five-star places to stay in Frommer’s, Fodor’s , and the Lonely Planet’s Guidebook to Hell. But if you stay there, please don’t drink the water!”
-Dan Simmons

Reading So Cold the River, may give many readers a weird sense of deja vu - a feeling that they have been here before. When the protagonist, Eric Shaw, travels to a remote part of southern Indiana to film a documentary about ... not one, but two spectacular hotels that are being restored to their legendary grandeur ... the name of another legendary hotel may come to mind: the Overlook in Stephen King’s The Shining.

For a time, the resemblance continues. Eric, like Jack Torrance in King’s spooky opus, is an aspiring writer (plus he is an unemployed filmmaker) and failed husband. Although Claire Shaw does not accompany her husband to the twin towns of French Lick and West Baden Springs, she is a tangible presence since Eric sees his film project as a way to salvage his marriage. Meanwhile, he talks/argues with her daily as he wanders through the spectacular hotel that once played host to millionaires, movie stars, mobsters and world travelers. He listens to stories of intrigue and mystery - especially those regarding the product that created this resort and all of this fabulous wealth: mineral springs and a patented medicine of dubious merit called Pluto Water.

Eric has been “commissioned” to make a film about the history of West Baden Springs by a wealthy woman named Alyssa Bradford who claims to be married to one of the descendants of the man who founded Baden Springs, the notorious Campbell Bradford. However, Eric soon discovers that nothing is what it seems. Suddenly, his employer (who had given him a bottle of the original Pluto Water) cannot be reached. Eric becomes increasingly frustrated, smashes his expensive camera and inexplicably opens his ancient bottle of Pluto Water and takes a healthy swig. At this point, Koryta’s novel veers off the track into a nightmare country that no longer holds a shred of resemblance to The Shining - unless you agree that both authors frequently present events that can best be defined as “inexplicable.”

Shaw begins to have hallucinations and/or visions.To complicate matters further, Shaw is blessed or cursed with a kind of “second sight” that enables him to perceive both past and future disasters. In addition, the water in the old bottle brings Eric face to face with Campbell Bradford who turns out to be “evil incarnate.” Since a local plant is still producing Pluto Water (now considered to be a mild purgative), Shaw soon discovers that the “boiled and purified” version allows him to observe past occurrences without participating in them. Confused? Yeah, me, too.

Koryta certainly believes in giving the reader a generous supply of terrifying images, sinister characters and undeveloped themes. Mysterious trains come chugging out of the night loaded with boxcars awash in Pluto Water; an embittered descendant of Campbell Bradford, named Josiah Bradford, becomes a hapless slave to the “spirit” of his fore-bearer and devises a scheme to destroy the Baden Springs Hotel (apparently Campbell resents the fact that he has been forgotten.) A nice, elderly lady named Anne McKinney who has a hobby involving tornado watches becomes a stalwart friend to Eric. She also collects old bottles of Pluto Water. Kellen Cage, an Afro-American history major is doing research on West Baden Springs and becomes Eric’s friend. He also provides an excessive amount of historic background regarding an old feud that developed between Campbell Bradford and his Afro-American counterpart, a man named Shadrack. Somebody killed Shadrack, but no one knows who did it. In fact, someone killed Campbell Bradford. Naturally, it looks like Eric will have to solve all of these mysteries by using a combination of “second sight” and Pluto Water. Oh, and I forgot. A private investigator from Chicago shows up only to be murdered by Josiah Bradford.

Eventually, it becomes apparent that Eric Shaw is addicted to Pluto Water. If he doesn’t get his daily dosage, he is plagued with headaches, dizziness and nausea.The most potent powers reside in the old bottle that Alyssa Bradford gave him - the one that has a red tint. In time, Eric belatedly discovers that the “red tint” is the blood of Campbell Bradford. By drinking the water, Eric has unwittingly provided Campbell with a means of returning to West Baden to wreck his revenge. In Eric’s first “vision” of Campbell Bradford, the ghostly specter tips his black bowler and thanks Eric for “bringing him home.” As So Cold the River progresses, Campbell becomes stronger and more tangible.

Koryta piles visions and images on top of each other until So Cold the River threatens to split at the seams. As this novel approaches its thunderous, bell-ringing and explosive climax, the story becomes increasingly unwieldily. Suffice it to say that the conclusion involves a truck load of dynamite, the arrival of four tornados that descend on West Baden and a frenzied search for the original Pluto Water spring that had been used by a local moonshiner in producing a legendary whiskey. In conjunction with all of these events, Shaw’s wife, Claire comes to West Baden to bring her husband home. Before that can happen, she is kidnapped, thrown from a speeding vehicle and run over (or was she?)

Inexplicably (there is that word again!), she escapes with a broken arm and collarbone to be reunited with Eric who has just been dragged from the Pluto spring and delivered to the West Badin hospital with no discernible heartbeat. Nothing to worry about though; Eric is a hearty lad.

As this reviewer drew near the conclusion of So Cold the River, I kept thinking about the final movement of Tchaykovsky’s 1812 Overture - the one that ends with a thunderous crescendo of bells ringing, drums, French horns and whistles. Tchaykosky’s conclusion sounds like a jubilant celebration. Koryta’s final “movement” sounds like a train wreck in a tornado. However, as bad as this novel is, it was a lot of fun to read.

THIS WEEK AT CITY LIGHTS, THE LIARS BENCH AND HALLOWEEN....OCT. 23RD

2010-10-18T09:25:00.003-04:00

Folks, it is time to hunker down and listen to a few weird songs and tales. Lloyd Arneach intends to make you walk a little faster through the dark woods after you have heard about Spearfinger, the ancient witch that used to live on Whiteside Mountain; Steve knows all about the White Owl of High Hampton Inn and Paul and Barbara are going to sing about doomed lovers and hanged men. I will tell you about the Irish lad who wandered into "the other world" on All Hallows Eve, and if time allows, maybe I will tell you about Houchi, the blind storyteller who met a demon one night ...... Dave will provide some comic relief. Please come. Spring Street is closed so you will have to bring your coffee from Hoopers, Signature or the Coffee Shop. City Lights will provide something to nibble on, I'm sure.

SIGNS AND WONDERS AND THE BRIGHT FOREVER: OPENING NIGHT.

2010-10-11T21:06:00.011-04:00

Kind Hearts, all of these photos were made by Carl Iobst during the three performances of my two plays (dramatic monologues) at the Martin Lipscomb Performing Arts Center in Highlands. My play, "Signs and Wonders," concerts tragicomic events in the life of Shelby Jean, a rural Georgia girl who has a fateful encounter with Darcy Montgomery, a Bob Jones minister.
"The Bright Forever" is the life of Fanny Crosby, a blind woman who allegedly wrote over 8,000 hymns and spent the latter part of her life preaching to "her boys" from the stage of a mission hall in the New York Bowery. I guess the two plays are a sort of "salt and pepper" set since both deal with religion.

DRESS REHEARSAL FOR "SIGNS AND WONDERS" AND "THE BRIGHT FOREVER" AT THE MARTIN LIPSCOMB PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

2010-09-30T08:38:00.007-04:00

Kind Hearts, here are two remarkable actresses. That is Carla Gates in the church choir robe and Shirley Williams in the somber clothes and dark glasses. The play opens October 1 at 7:30, repeats on October 2 and closes on Sunday with a 2:30 matinee. Please check the details on the article below for ticket sales and telephone numbers. I am deeply gratified for these two actresses, a director like Ronnie Spilton and a place like the Martin Lipscomb Performing Arts Center. The photos are by Carl Iobst.

"SIGNS AND WONDERS" and "THE BRIGHT FOREVER" OPEN IN HIGHLANDS ON OCTOBER 1,2,3.

2010-09-22T11:21:00.009-04:00

Kind Hearts, please click on the poster and he photo of the people who are doing my play. The lady on the left is Carla Gates and she is doing the role of Shelby Jean, a somewhat lusty Georgia girl who becomes involved with a young minister during a revival. The lady standing in the photo is Robbie Spilton, the director. The lady on the right is Shirley Williams who has the role of Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer in "The Bright Forever." The chubby old guy isn't in either of the plays but he insisted on having his picture taken. According to local sources in Sylva, he is a harmless eccentric who spends a lot of time on his front porch shaking his fist at the workers who are paving the road in front of his house. Please call 838-526-9047. The Highlands Performing Arts Center also has a website.