Winston Groom
What: The novelist and historian, author of 'Forest Gump,' 'Conversations With the Enemy' and, most recently, 'Vicksburg, 1863,' appears with artist William Dunlap and Ogden Museum of Art director J. Richard Gruber as part of the Southern Storytellers series.
When: Sunday, 2 p.m.
Where: Ogden Museum of Art. For information and to reserve a spot, contact Stephanie Spicer, 504.539.9618.
Jeff L. Rosenheim, curator of photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, presents a lecture, 'In the Spirit: The Achievement and Legacy of Michael P. Smith,' today, 6:30 p.m., the Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal St. Free, but seating is limited. Call 504.523.4662 for reservations.
Martha Hall Foose signs 'Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales From a Southern Cook,' Thursday, 6-8 p.m., during Ogden After Hours, featuring Larry Sieberth & Friends, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Book-signing is free; concert is free to museum members, $10 general admission.
Bill Dixon signs 'Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856, Louisiana's First Great Storm,' Friday, 6 p.m., Octavia Books, and again Saturday, 11 a.m., Barnes & Noble/Metairie.
Sherry Lee Alexander interviews Travis Bradberry, author of 'Emotional Intelligence 2.0,' Saturday, 8:30 a.m., on Writers' Forum, WRBH-FM radio. Program repeats Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Douglas Brinkley signs 'The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America,' Saturday, 1-3 p.m., at Garden District Book shop.
Poets Chris Champagne, Danny Kerwick, Martha McFerren and Laura Mattingly present a reading, Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m., Latter Library.
Poets Julie Kane ('Jazz Funeral') and Robin Kemp ('This Pagan Heaven') read from and sign their books, Sunday, 3 p.m., Maple Leaf Bar.
Robin Kemp reads from and signs 'This Pagan Heaven,' Monday, 6 p.m., Octavia Books.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Former Tulane University Historian Douglas Brinkley takes a long, fond look at Theodore Roosevelt
From The Times-Picayune
by Susan Larson
Historian Douglas Brinkley finally has a moment.
Just in from breakfast with C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, he stops for an interview with his former hometown's newspaper the day before he makes an appearance with Diane Rehm on NPR. Earlier this month he wrote a cover story for Vanity Fair, a postcard from a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean with actor Johnny Depp. Last month there was dinner with President Barack Obama and fellow presidential historians Michael Beschloss, H.W. Brands, Robert Caro, Robert Dallek, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Kennedy, Kenneth Mack and Garry Wills.
What: Historian Douglas Brinkley signs "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America" (Harper, $34.99)
When: 1-3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania
For more, click here.
by Susan Larson
Historian Douglas Brinkley finally has a moment.
Just in from breakfast with C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, he stops for an interview with his former hometown's newspaper the day before he makes an appearance with Diane Rehm on NPR. Earlier this month he wrote a cover story for Vanity Fair, a postcard from a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean with actor Johnny Depp. Last month there was dinner with President Barack Obama and fellow presidential historians Michael Beschloss, H.W. Brands, Robert Caro, Robert Dallek, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Kennedy, Kenneth Mack and Garry Wills.
What: Historian Douglas Brinkley signs "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America" (Harper, $34.99)
When: 1-3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania
For more, click here.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Book Review: MARK OF THE DEMON
From The Baton Rouge Advocate
MARK OF THE DEMON
By Diana Rowland
Bantam, $23 paperback
At first this book seems to have an identity problem: it reads like a romance, but there is some fantasy stuff with demons but then it’s a crime thriller with a cop chasing a serial killer. Somehow Rowland manages to tie it all together, but the knots are not all neat.
The cop, Kara Gillian, works for the “Beaulac Police Department” in a small city near New Orleans in “St. Long Parish.”
“A small, quiet parish with the city of Beaulac as its hub, it boasted only a few murders a year and not much other crime except for the usual mix of drug abuse and burglaries.” That quiet is shattered by a serial murderer called the Symbol Man. He is called that because he carves arcane symbols into the flesh of his victims. Gillian recognizes the nature of the symbol because she herself is a “summoner” who calls up demons in her spare time. The Symbol Man had been active years before, then went quiet only to start up again just after Gillian is promoted to detective.
Gillian knows a lot about demons, but she is still a novice summoner, and when she tries to call up a particular demon, something goes badly wrong. The being who comes into her basement (Rowland explains the rarity of basements in Louisiana) is not the creature she called. He’s a demon lord, and he is very powerful and very angry. Yet he calms down when he sees Gillian, and she reacts by having a steamy sexual encounter with him. Gillian is always complaining about how plain she looks and how she never gets any action. The demon is definitely action. Then there is the FBI agent with the pretty eyes who comes to help find the serial killer.
The best of the plot lines is the serial killer chase. Yet it is dependent on the arcane complications. The demon sex and romantic interests are just extras.
Somehow it all seems to work and provides a compelling story line by the time you get toward the end of the book. The local color is pretty good and pretty accurate (basement aside), as you would expect from Rowland since she is from south Louisiana. Her characters are strong, Gillian the most complex and nuanced, but her bad guys are deliciously bad and her demons, if unbelievable, are plenty scary.
MARK OF THE DEMON
By Diana Rowland
Bantam, $23 paperback
At first this book seems to have an identity problem: it reads like a romance, but there is some fantasy stuff with demons but then it’s a crime thriller with a cop chasing a serial killer. Somehow Rowland manages to tie it all together, but the knots are not all neat.
The cop, Kara Gillian, works for the “Beaulac Police Department” in a small city near New Orleans in “St. Long Parish.”
“A small, quiet parish with the city of Beaulac as its hub, it boasted only a few murders a year and not much other crime except for the usual mix of drug abuse and burglaries.” That quiet is shattered by a serial murderer called the Symbol Man. He is called that because he carves arcane symbols into the flesh of his victims. Gillian recognizes the nature of the symbol because she herself is a “summoner” who calls up demons in her spare time. The Symbol Man had been active years before, then went quiet only to start up again just after Gillian is promoted to detective.
Gillian knows a lot about demons, but she is still a novice summoner, and when she tries to call up a particular demon, something goes badly wrong. The being who comes into her basement (Rowland explains the rarity of basements in Louisiana) is not the creature she called. He’s a demon lord, and he is very powerful and very angry. Yet he calms down when he sees Gillian, and she reacts by having a steamy sexual encounter with him. Gillian is always complaining about how plain she looks and how she never gets any action. The demon is definitely action. Then there is the FBI agent with the pretty eyes who comes to help find the serial killer.
The best of the plot lines is the serial killer chase. Yet it is dependent on the arcane complications. The demon sex and romantic interests are just extras.
Somehow it all seems to work and provides a compelling story line by the time you get toward the end of the book. The local color is pretty good and pretty accurate (basement aside), as you would expect from Rowland since she is from south Louisiana. Her characters are strong, Gillian the most complex and nuanced, but her bad guys are deliciously bad and her demons, if unbelievable, are plenty scary.
Former Tulane University historian Douglas Brinkley does book on Walter Cronkite
From The Times-Picayune
by Susan Larson
Former Tulane University and University of New Orleans historian Douglas Brinkley is working on a biography of Walter Cronkite, to be published in May. "His papers are at the University of Texas, just a few miles from my house," said Brinkley, who now lives in Austin. "The last time I saw him was a dinner in December in his apartment, and I came away feeling after that that would be the last time I saw him."
by Susan Larson
Former Tulane University and University of New Orleans historian Douglas Brinkley is working on a biography of Walter Cronkite, to be published in May. "His papers are at the University of Texas, just a few miles from my house," said Brinkley, who now lives in Austin. "The last time I saw him was a dinner in December in his apartment, and I came away feeling after that that would be the last time I saw him."
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Library to host discussion of 'American Experience: New Orleans'
From The Baton Rouge Advocate.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Library and Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) are hosting an open discussion about New Orleans.
The event will be at the Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Blvd., at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, and will coincide with the re-airing of American Experience: New Orleans at 5 p.m. today, July 26, on LPB.
The public is invited to watch the special and then attend the program at the library. Mark L. Thompson will lead a discussion on the program which will include viewer evaluations of how well the televised program presented New Orleans past and present.
For more information, call (225) 231-3745.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Library and Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) are hosting an open discussion about New Orleans.
The event will be at the Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Blvd., at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, and will coincide with the re-airing of American Experience: New Orleans at 5 p.m. today, July 26, on LPB.
The public is invited to watch the special and then attend the program at the library. Mark L. Thompson will lead a discussion on the program which will include viewer evaluations of how well the televised program presented New Orleans past and present.
For more information, call (225) 231-3745.
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