October 17: Canada's "Independent's Day"

The Canadian Booksellers' Associations campaign, "Independents Matter," promotes Independent's Day this Sunday, October 17, to celebrate the role independent bookstores play in their communities and the lives of residents of those communities.

More than five hundred independent bookstores all over Canada will be hosting events at their stores including appearances by local authors, readings and sales and other events as part of the national celebration.

To find a participating bookstore in your city or area, see the CBA campaign page here.

Congratulate the Devil, Howell Davies, (2008) Parthian Library of Wales

This Howell Davies science fiction novel was originally published in 1939 and has been re-published in paperback by Parthian Books under their Library of Wales imprint.

Congratulate the Devil is a revelation: engaging, unique, relevant and vibrant, seventy years after its initial publication. The narrative is subtle, darkly humorous and cheerfully bitter. Davies solidly built his characters: mannerism by action by reaction, as protagonist James Starling evolves steadily and subtly, from useless playboy to doomed and unwilling witness to tragedy and, ultimately, himself its victim. Starling visits a friend from his school days, Roper, to find that Roper, now a chemist, has made the startling discovery of a new drug which gives its user omniscient control over the actions and attitudes of others. Use of the drug also alters its user and provides Davies his platform to discuss which has greater effect and so is more destructive: malignant lust or good intention?

This new edition includes a marvelous, sparkling foreward by Howell Davies' grandson, Adrian Dannatt. Rather than another writer's hopefully very interesting impressions of the book, the author and the author's style or ability, Dannatt shares with us memories of his grandfather, intimate snapshots of Howell Davies as an individual that no acquaintence or contemporary could provide.

Congratulate the Devil is a classic, "Golden Age", sci-fi masterpiece of the 1930s, easily on par with any other work of its time and which never received the recognition it deserved. Unlike its American counterparts of the Joseph Campbell era, Davies novel is not pulp, it's a novel. There aren't any spaceships, aliens or gadgets and the science in the story is not the focus, its details and particulars are barely described. Fictional science is the catalyst that directs all the characters' narrative thereafter but the characters, their interaction, their fates and how they and the world around them are effected by a product of science, are the story.

Davies' prose is soft, quiet and still evidences that sort of wry, tragically amused fatalism sometimes evident in Anglo-Welsh literature, 'yes, disaster is inevitable, have cake while you can,' in even this last line:

"Nothing remains for me now but to congratulate the Devil on all his works." Howell Davies (1939)

Parthian's Library of Wales series features works of Anglo-Welsh literature (works by Welsh authors in English) and their catalog can be found here.

Oh Dad! A Search For Robert Mitchum, by Lloyd Robson

Reprinted from AmeriCymru, with permission, © 2009 Ceri Shaw, all rights reserved except where otherwise noted.

Lloyd Robson is a writer and broadcaster from Cardiff. As a poet he has performed and been published on five continents."Oh Dad! A Search For Robert Mitchum" ( reviewed below ) was first published by Parthian Books in 2008.

I don't normally read biographies because they always end the same way. But Lloyd Robson has solved this problem. His "biography" of Mitchum is as much about the author as it is about its subject. Fortunately for the reader both are fascinating characters.

For the hardcore Mitchum fan there is a wealth of biographical information. For instance we are told that at the time of his marriage ( aged 16 ) to Dorothy Spence:- " Mitchum was already a drinker - since he was eight - and Mary-Jane smoker; had already hobo'ed up and down the eastern seaboard; had already served time in jail. She was a good girl and younger. He was sixteen, she was fourteen - the age when according to Mitchum, 'A girl falls for derelicts'."

The book is peppered throughout with amusing and revealing quotes. Here is Mitchum discussing his 'range':- " I have two acting styles: with and without a horse." We are also told that:- "Famously when asked if he followed the Stanislavski method he replied, 'I follow the Smirnoff method'."

The plot of every movie, both major and minor, that Mitchum appeared in is referenced at some point in the narrative, usually in the context of some random encounter on the author's travels through the thirteen states that he visited in order to research this book. And what a strange and wonderful book it is. It works on so many levels. It is a meticulously researched account of the life, times and career of one of Hollywood's greatest actors but it is also a travelogue written from a perspective which should prove particularly interesting to members and readers of this site.

Anyone who has emigrated to these shores from the other side of the Atlantic will recall the many minor 'culture shocks' which they experienced when first they arrived and the many ways in which things seemed 'oddly familiar'. There are many instances of this in the book and it works well as a travelogue. Scattered throughout its 500 pages there are occasional reflections on Wales' image in modern America and on notions of 'Welshness' . At one point Robson reflects on an article in a Bridgeport newspaper about a visit by David Lloyd George which describes him as 'a little Welshman':- " Still at least it proves the American press knew he was not English, and therefore they recognized there was a difference between being Welsh or English. So what's happened since to America's awareness of Wales? It struggles within the swamp of more assertive cultures."

Later in the book he encounters a Southerner who informs him that the "real" South is confined to Georgia and the Carolina's and that other parts of the former Confederacy have changed beyond all recognition. This leads to the following rather interesting reflection ( with apologies for the length of the quote ):- "So many Welsh people consider the major urban spread of Cardiff as not 'really' Welsh, nor the lowlands of Gwent, nor border towns like Chepstow and Monmouth, nor the north-east corner which comes under the influence of Merseyside. So what does this leave us with? Shrinkage. Geographically, culturally and emotionally. A different type of Wales - just as with a different type of the South - is viewed as a change too far. It's like saying, 'There is only one Wales, only one South - and you're not it, whatever you believe yourself to be.' And so we get smaller and weaker. It reeks of the modern age being judged as robbing now-urban areas of their rightful heritage. Well, change happens - we either accept and develop or get very, very lonely in an ever-reducing club, sat all on our lonesome in our chilly tai bach. And that's where we'll stay for as long as the question remains: are you as Welsh, are you as Southern as I am?"

The book is liberally spiced with accounts of bar room encounters and sexual adventures along the way. Indeed at times it is more autobiography than biography. This is not surprising since the author's main concern is to examine the notion of masculinity in the modern age. If Robert Mitchum is the paradigm ( and certainly Robson's father seems to have thought so ), how does he measure up? Together with the standard accounts of boozing, womanizing and fist-fights, there is a determined effort to track down Mitchum's sensitive side. He wrote and self-published his own poetry as a child. What we are left with is an engrossing account of an intellectual and emotional quest which reveals a great deal about both the author and his subject.

All in all this is a first rate read. I'd give it six stars if I could but unfortunately our graphics department was out tonight and she didn't have time to make me a six star jpeg.

Review by Ceri Shaw Email

Dr Suess is 105!

Monday is the 105th Anniversary of the birth of Theodor Seuss Geisel, Dr. Suess, born 2 March 1905 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Besides being the most-read American children's author, Dr. Suess was an advertising illustrator; author of magazine articles and essays; television, stage and film writer; and political cartoonist.

Monday is a great day to be an elementary school teacher or a parent as there are lots of fun things to do with kids (or anybody!) to celebrate:

• Monday marks the beginning of National Read Across America Week, sponsored by the NEA;

• Make a Cat In The Hat hat

• Try some Thing One and Thing Two Relay Races

• Make a story sack;

• Serve green eggs and ham for breakfast

And, of course, enjoy lots of Suess.

Valentines Review: "Kelly+VIctor," Niall Griffiths

This is the best doomed love story ever. This is a story of two very fragile people, nice people you'd like to see "win" and go on to a happy ending but you quickly realize that's just not possible for these people.

Very shortly after New Year's 1999, we meet Victor, a perfectly nice young guy with the expected millenial binge-over, reduced employment prospects, lots of friends and no one to share his life with. Victor meets Kelly, a perfectly nice young lady with the expected millenial binge over, a crappy job and no one to share her life with and an instant, passionate inferno ignites. The narrative is in two parts: Victor's, then Kelly's, and we get to see the same events from two viewpoints, and how similar they are.

Kelly+Victor is a story of that genuine and invaluable love we all hope for and hope will heal us. It's also the story of that couple who can only destroy each other: here not because they bring out the worst in each other but because they bring out everything in each other.

Character is one of the many ways Niall Griffiths shines. Victor and Kelly and the people around them are real people, whole people and nothing two-dimesional about them. They have good, they have bad, they have bad breath and doubts and petty grumbles. He never tells you who his people are, he builds them for you in the story. The story is the characters and the characters are the story and you come to know them through what they do and what others do around them and through their very distinct voices. Griffiths' narration is rich and poetic, his descriptions of events and surroundings passionate and full.

This isn't a comfortable love story, it isn't Barbara Cartland, but it is very beautiful and powerful and a joy to read.

Interactive Interview with Rhys Henry Hughes

Prolific, absurdist author Rhys Henry Hughes is doing a three-part interview with AmeriCymru. The first two parts of the interview are ordinary question and answer, the third and final installment is questions by Hughes to the readers of the interview. To participate, go here and post your question as a comment and Hughes will respond.

Rhys Hughes is an incredibly prolific short story writer who plans to write exactly 1000 works in his lifetime and has, so far, completed 468. Hughes has written science fiction, fantasy, absurdism and in the style of OuLiPo. His stories are playful, intricate, challenging, outrageous, sometimes difficult to accept, never boring. In addition to an amazing bibliography of short stories, including many published in Postscripts, he is the author of two novels, The Percolated Stars (2003) and Engelbrecht Again! (Dead Letter Press; October 2008).

Rhys Hughes can be found at his blog, rhysaurus. His latest collection "The PostModern Mariner" can be found here together with a sample story "Castor on Troubled Waters" which can be read in full online.

From Part I of this interview, on AmeriCymru:

1.You write like you're having a fantastically fun time, are you?

Usually, yes, it's fun. That's one of the best reasons for doing anything. Writing for me is many things. It's an urge, almost a compulsion, but it's also a pleasure. That doesn't mean it's fun all the time. No fun is always pleasurable, strange as that sounds! There's always some anxiety in the background as well, a little tension, the worry that the work I'm doing won't be the best it can be, that it won't express clearly whatever I'm trying to say, that it won't be enthralling for the reader. It's fun but it's also hard work!

But fun is definitely the guiding principle of everything I do. I don't want writing to be a chore. If it becomes a chore I'll stop doing it. I hope this sense of fun conveys itself strongly to the reader. Having said that, the fact that something has been created in a spirit of fun doesn't necessarily mean it's not completely serious, profound or poignant. It may sound a bit cheesy, but great fun creates great responsibility...

2. Who did you like to read when you were a child? What did you like in their stories, what made the biggest impression?

I had a somewhat unusual childhood when it came to bedtime reading. I was given adult encyclopedias and history books to help send me to sleep, but in fact I ended up reading most of them several times. I also enjoyed reading about explorers. Marco Polo is still one of my biggest heroes. Until the age of seven or thereabouts I wanted to be an explorer myself. Then I was told there were no new places on Earth left to discover and I remember feeling an acute disappointment! Since then, of course, I've discovered that this isn't entirely true...

Another early disappointment was the realisation that not everything that appears in print is always correct! I was very gullible in my youth and believed everything I read. I also believed everything I heard, so I was easy prey for shaggy dog stories. I was told various incredible lies by plausible adults and accepted them all as facts. They told me the Eiffel Tower was an obstacle that horses jump over in races; that the town I grew up in was Australian, not Welsh, but that this was a secret; that Mount Everest was in Scotland; that rhinoceroses lived in coal mines; that dinosaurs were extinct everywhere except in France; that a mouth ulcer can be used as hard currency in shops.

I sometimes still find myself wondering why all those things aren't true...

Part I continued
Part II
and Part III

Love, With Books

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
Vroman's Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, 626-449-5320, will host a Valentine crafts project. From their site:

"Valentine's Day Craft Class, Saturday, February 7, 1-3pm, $29.95 per student (plus tax)
We will make some fun, hands-on Valentine crafts. These cute crafts can be given to friends, co-workers, family, or loved ones. All supplies needed for this class are included.
Instructor: Lisa Mason"

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
The City Lights Bookstore hosts "St. Valentine's Day Noir" at The Ha Ra Club, 875 Geary St., S. F., Saturday, February 14, 2009, 8:00 p.m. to celebrate the release of San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics, published by Akashic Books. From the site:

"Some like to spend this romantic holiday amidst candles and soft music. Not us. We'll be spending it in a dark, lusty, and dangerous place. Join us for an evening of unbridled transgression as Peter Maravelis, the editor of San Francisco Noir, hosts a release party for a second volume of hardboiled fiction celebrating the seedy underbelly of our city-by-the-bay. Authors from San Francisco Noir, Volumes One and Two read selections from their works and the works of noir masters of the past. "

RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT
Books on The Common, 109 Danbury Road (Rt. 35), 203-431-9100, is hosting "Kids Love Authors Day," Saturday, February 14, 10:00 AM - noon.

A PDF flier can be downloaded on this page, which describes the event:

"Shower your valentines with literary love! Meet these wonderfilly talented authors and illustrators: Nora Baskin, Sari Bodi, Lauren, Greg & Jackie Logsted, Marc Tyler Nobleman, Susanna Reich, Linda Gramatky Smith, and Allia Zobel. "

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby Street, New York, 212-334-3324, presents the "Valentine’s Day Personal Media Mixer and Confessional Culture Variety Show" on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 8:00 PM. From their site:

"Screw roses and candlelight. Nothing says intimacy like sharing secrets, mixtapes, love letters, life stories, your old diary, and a couple of PBRs with total strangers. Join us for the
Valentine’s Day Personal Media Mixer and Confessional Culture Variety Show featuring performances and activities by PostSecret, Found Magazine, Mortified, Six-Word Memoirs, Cassette from my ex, and music by Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero. Tickets are $15 include a copy of Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak or a Mortified, FOUND or PostSecret book, while supplies last."

MANCHESTER,VERMONT
Northshire Bookstore, 4869 Main Street Manchester Center, 802-362-2200,800-437-3700, will host "Kids' Valentine's Day Party!" Saturday, February 14th at 2:00 PM. This event is described on their website:

"It’s our Valentine to our youngest customers! Dress up the little ones in Valentine colors and bring them to Northshire Bookstore for a special children’s Valentine’s Day Party. The event is suitable for kids ages three to eight. Join the Children’s Department staff for a very Valentine storytime, a Valentine-themed craft activity, and some oh-so-sweet refreshments. Wear your heart on your sleeve and bring the whole family for this delightful event!"

Used Treasure

100 Creepy Little Creature Stories, compiled by Robert Weinberg and Martin Greenburg (1994), purchased over the summer from Powell's, City of Books, on West Burnside Street in Portland, Oregon at $9.99 and Everyday Things in American Life 1776-1876, by William Chauncy Langdon (1941), from a Goodwill "as-is" store at .50 per pound last week.

Creepy Little Creature Stories is a fantastic find, 100 short and short-short horror stories by writers Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, Manly Wade Wellman and approximately ninety-seven more, spanning the Victorian era to the present. Here are modern and sordid tales of exaggerated gore and coy stories of another age whose then-horrific images are barely worth a fondly condescending snort today. Many of these stories are unintentionally funny but none boring, some wonderful. Arthur Conan Doyle's tale of Arizona was hysterical, nowhere near as good as Franz Kafka's Amerika but if you've read that, you'll recognize the author's similar, knowledgeable experience of his subject here. Donald A. Wollheim's "Mimic" is here, the inspiration for the movie of the same name, very creepy - although not as gory. The price of the book is a great bargain to find H. P. Lovecraft's marvelous "The Unnameable," which may have been either semi-autobiographical or the author's argument with his own critics, working out his own statement on his stories.

Everyday Things in American Life, by William Chauncy Langdon, is an encyclopedia of the mundane things of life in the United States between 1776 and 1876 and uses photographs, diagrams and explanatory text to tell us how people commuted, received their news, grew their food, clothed themselves, celebrated and fitted out their homes. Exactly how did you cut down a 100-foot tree in Maine in 1776 and then get it down the river to be sold and where did it go? Discover how large blocks of ice were harvested in lakes in the northern states, how they were stored and how they were sold and transported to other parts of the country, and even overseas, to be used to store food in the eras before electric refrigeration; the life of the wagon drivers on the "national road" through Maryland to New Orleans; purchasing goods from a traveling trader, a department store on wheels. Reading this book gives a detailed picture of what life would have been like beyond anything a movie or the television can present.

Reading is the thing

"People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."

Logan Pearsall Smith, (1865 - 1946), "Myself", Afterthoughts (1931)

A Little Independent News

Glenn Goldman, Owner of LA's Book Soup, Passes

The owner of a Los Angeles Sunset Boulevard independent, Book Soup, Glenn Goldman, passed away in January of this year, aged 58, reported by the LA Times.

Glenn Goldman knew his clients and his store and personally chose many of the 60,000+ titles Book Soup sold. He left no plan for the future of the store in the event of his death and employees and Goldman's partner are undecided about the store's future. The Times reported that purchase by some of the stores employees is one possibility.

This same story reports that Book Soup and at least one other LA independent, Skylight Books, had a good year for sales in 2008, in contrast to losses reported by the large chains.

The Milwaukee WI Journal-Sentinel reported that local independent small chain Schwartz Bookshops were closing but at least two of their stores will pass to soon-to-be-former Schwartz store managers, Daniel Goldin and Lanora Hurley. Mr. Goldin and Ms. Hurley will continue to run those stores independently and will work together to help each other and to continue the same traditions to be found at Schwartz stores, including events and author readings.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that that city's independent bookstores are thriving.

The article quotes Hut Landon, the executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, "Nationally, independent bookstores sell about 10 percent of the new books in a market. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is 55 percent."

Anyone looking for a fantastically idyllic, semi-retirement opportunity, coastsider.com reports that Moon News Bookstore in Half Moon Bay, California is for sale. The article quotes an email from the store with their for sale ad: "Moon News Bookstore, Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA, where it’s sunny with plenty of fog for a happy reader’s tan. Well-loved, highly regarded, 12-year-old, independent bookstore fully loaded: friendly, lively, readerly staff; wonderful atmosphere; exceptional magazine and newspaper selection; literary bent; author events; book groups; open mic nights; local artwork displayed and sold; musical events; well-established staff picks section; website; email list and newsletters. Original asking price now reduced and taking best offer—includes inventory, fixtures, computer network. All inquiries please call 650-228-8286 or e-mail moonnewsca@aol.com"

Short Story and Poetry Contests

AmeriCymru.ning.com, a Welsh heritage social network, is hosting an online "eisteddfod," a Welsh performing arts festival and talent competition, which have been held in Wales, and apparently around the world, since the 1100's. As part of their online eisteddfod, they are hosting Short Story and Poetry competitions.


Poetry Competition

This contest offers a $100.00 prize but, after looking at it, the real prize is that one of the judges is Peter Thabit Jones. The rules and submission guidelines are given in full on that page, here is an excerpt:

"You may submit your entry in either Welsh or English. The two language categories will be judged separately and there will be a prize for each. Accompanying graphics are not permitted. There is a US100 dollars (approximately 50GBP ) prize for the winners in both categories. The final submission date is July 31st 2009 and the winners will be announced at the Eisteddfod ( August 2009 ). The judges have yet to be selected and a further announcement will be made soon. The judges decisions will, of course, be final. The winners will also be entitled to free admission to some Eisteddfod events. Runners-up prizes will be announced later.

"All poetic styles and conventions are welcome ( limericks, however, will not be considered for a prize ) There is no upper or lower word limit. Entries need not reference Wales in any way , shape or form. You may submit up to three entries and work which has appeared elsewhere is acceptable provided you have not surrendered your copyright."


Short Story Competition

Rules for submission for the short story competition are given on this page and the prize for this category is also $100.00USD. One of the judges for this competition is Lloyd Jones, whose short story collection, My First Coloring Book, was reviewed earlier on this blog.

More from that page:

"The short story competition which starts today is basically a "write in response " exercise. Below you will see a series of photographs. Most of these shots were taken in Wales but they are not particularly iconic and your response need not make reference to Wales in any way, shape or form. You may submit your entry in either Welsh or English. The two language categories will be judged separately and there will be a prize for each. Basically you will need to write a short story between 1000 and 3000 words in length on any ONE of these photographs and submit it in accordance with the rules for site members or non-site members outlined below. Accompanying graphics are not permitted. There is a US100 dollars (approximately 50GBP ) prize for the winners in both categories. The final submission date is July 31st 2009 and the winners will be announced at the Eisteddfod ( August 2009 )."

Jennifer Government, Max Barry

In the world of Max Barry's Jennifer Government: no one has their own surname anymore, just the name of the company you work for; the world is carved into corporate markets and nothing, not even human life, is important as sales. Sounds grim but it's gratifyingly sharp and funny.

Lowly Hack Nike can't believe his luck when company execs John Nike and John Nike offer him a chance to move up out of merchandising into the the rarified strata of marketing. Unfortunately, the new position requires him to shoot teenagers who try to buy the product.

Jennifer Government is funny, very funny, and sarcastic as hell. Not surprising given its setting and subject matter, but it's really a story, not the lecture on consumerism it sounds like, and it's told well, cleanly and clearly. It assumes the reader already knows these things are bad, then it runs on to the things we're really there for: character and plot. Barry does a good job of not telling us who the characters are and he shows us through action that moves along at a good clip. Jennifer Government is surprisingly light and pleasant for a book about a future devoured nearly whole by capitalism, and very enjoyable to read.

For a weekend of the complete rejection of crass consumerism, enjoy this with Frederick Pohl and CM Cornbluth's masterful classic, "The Space Merchants."