Texas Pages

Vaccuum repair stores and sellers of tomatoe's: beware.

Armed with Wite-Out and markers, two men are crossing America to correct its typos, the Boston Globe reports.

"We're not going after people in a self-righteous manner, like fashion police. Or trying to make them look stupid," says Jeff Deck. "Instead, we're addressing specific errors like confusing 'its' for 'it's' or 'you're" for 'your.' Finding and correcting these, even every once in a while, is incredibly satisfying."

Dallas writer James Donovan's "A Terrible Glory" is being called one of the best books written on the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (It's reviewed today in GuideLive.)

Earlier this month, Mr. Donovan responded to a series of questions via e-mail. Here's what he had to say:

Staff Illustration by TROY OXFORD

It's not too late to make a reservation for the Books & Music in the Garden event to be sponsored by TCU Press Sunday, April 6, from 2-4 p.m. The garden? It belongs to Katie Sherrod and Gayland Pool and was included in the 2006 Nature Conservancy Tour. Find it at 1870 Ederville Road South in Fort Worth. The books & music? Steven Fromholz will headline and sing a few songs; supplementary music will be provided by sisters Shauna and Savannah Griffith on harp and violin. Books? Jon McConal's new A Walk Across Texas, Eats: A Folk History of Texas Foods represented by co-author Joyce Roach, Fort Worth's Legendary Landmarks by Carol Roark, Grace & Gumption, the stories of Fort Worth women told by several women, many of whom will be present, and of course Mr. Fromholz's new book, Steven Fromholz: New and Selected Poems 07. Wander in the garden, greet old friends and meet new, sip some wine or lemonade, and nibble on delicacies. To make reservations, go to www.prs.tcu.edu and click on the link to the event or call 817.257.7822.
Weather forecast for that day is 78 and partially cloudy--a perfect garden day!

On the Over the Top blog, staff writer Michael Granberry, on assignment to explore the blockbuster King Tut exhibit that's headed to Dallas, has some observations on reading habits in London.

(By happenstance, I just came across regular books page contributor John Freeman's own recent blog post that also discusses his experiences reading in London (and elsewhere). )

Dallas Children's Theater is preparing a stage version of The Giver, Lois Lowry's Newberry-winning work.

Nancy Churnin, with some help from students in the DCT, spoke with the author.

"If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs."

That's according to The Bookseller magazine, which just announced its Diagram prize, as reported by The Associated Press.

"Big Boom's" work defeated "I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen" and the third-place finisher, "Cheese Problems Solved."

Other contenders were "How to Write a How to Write Book," "Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues" and "People who Mattered in Southend and Beyond: From King Canute to Dr Feelgood."

Past winners include the memorable "Weeds in a Changing World" (1999), "The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories" (2003); "Bombproof Your Horse" (2004); and "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification" (2006).

Bloomberg News delves into some of the history of the prize, noting the inaugural award in 1978 went to ``Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.''

Here's what's coming Sunday in GuideLive:

"A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West," by James Donovan. The Dallas agent is getting plenty of attention for his work -- and we'll have an exclusive online interview with him as well.

"The Blue Star," by Tony Earley. The author returns to the setting he mined for "Jim the Boy."

"Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East," by Robin Wright. The Washington Post correspondent takes a careful look at change in the region.

"The Book of Dahlia,' by Elisa Albert. Fiction that finds humor in the face of death.

Plus ... Si Dunn's Texas and Southwest Roundup.

Those crazy college kids. Just when I think we can universally agree that the sky is falling and book culture is doomed, along comes a Daily Texan column that pooh-poohs the rush to digital reading:

"There's a certain magical aura that surrounds the book, even if that 10-pound American literature compilation is not your best friend right now. Having a book with real paper and ink between your fingers, and knowing that long ago someone wrote the words that you can physically touch creates a connection to the past. "

Writer Amanda Patterson, described as a "French senior," also celebrates some of Austin's favorite bookstores.

And you thought all they did in college these days was steal mp3s.

(Spotted on Shelf Awareness.)

Anthony Douglas is scheduled to read from his poems and the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Barnes and Noble, 1620 S.University Dr., Fort Worth.

OK, I know that most of you probably have not kept up with the Sweet Valley High series, very popular in the 1980s if you were a pre-high school girl. (I swear, I know that only because I was a clerk who sold them, not because I read them.)

But here's an observation from Entertainment Weekly that says something less-than-sweet about our culture:

"When the first Sweet Valley High book was published in 1983, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, identical twin heroines ... were described as blonde, beautiful, and a "perfect size 6." ... Random House is reissuing 12 books from the original series with a few small editorial tweaks, one of which involves the slightly awkward issue of the Wakefield waistline. The twins' 'perfect size 6' has been reduced to a 'perfect size 4.' "

EW points to a Gawker link where Random House actually boasts about this in a press release.

I'm thinking, maybe I should have my daughters look into Nancy Drew instead. Or turn on the Wii.

(Thanks, Holly Warren, for the spot.)

For people who spend so much time reading, book critics sometimes seem to run out of words in a hurry. And then they fall back on cliches.

Not that you would ever find any in The Dallas Morning News, of course. (Editor tugs at collar, looks down and to the side, chuckles nervously.)

But over at The New York Times, where they apparently run a book review now and then, they are discussing words that should be banned from book reviews. See what they suggest, then come on back and add your own suggestions here. I am sure they will be lyrical and poignant, if not quotidian.

(Props to GalleyCat for the spot.)

In lieu of actual literary news this morning, here is some fake news, possibly worth a snicker:

Novelists Strike Fails To Affect Nation Whatsoever

From a youth title that just crossed the books editor's desk:

"Have you ever seen a face hidden in the bark of a tree and known that the man trapped inside wanted to hurt you?"

Uh, no.

Sorry fans. You can't major in Muggle Studies. Yet.

But you can find the world's most favoritest boy wizard popping up in college classrooms and textbooks, says CNN. Says the report:

Philip Nel, author of "J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide" and professor of children's literature at Kansas State University, started teaching the books in 2002.

"Harry Potter is unfairly maligned simply because of the audience for which it is intended. Children's literature is literature, and if people don't agree with that definition, it's sort of hard to have a conversation with them," Nel said. "They see things that ... are easily accessible as therefore not serious and therefore not worthy of serious inquiry."

Patricia MacLachlan, Newberry-winning author of "Sarah, Plain and Tall," tells Nancy Churnin of the moment that inspires her newest work, "Edward's Eyes." It's about a boy whose parents donate his corneas after his death.

Writes Nancy:

She got the idea for the book when her older son, John, a photographer, returned home from Africa where he had been working for primatologist Jane Goodall. That's when she noticed he had indicated on his driver's license that he was an organ donor.

And then, he said the words that inspired her novel.

"The Mistress's Daughter" comes out in paperback today.

Here's a look back at the interview she did before her Dallas appearance last year.

And here was my own take on her appearance.

Looking back a year later, my personal experiences as an adoptee made it hard to look be objective about the book. I enthusiastically applaud her for giving voice to the experience. I also disagreed with the way she handled some things.

If you read this one -- what was your take?

Some of this week's literary goodies:
* Compulsion, by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine Books, $27). The 22nd mystery starring retired child psychologist Alex Delaware.
* Blue-Eyed Devil, by Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin's, $21.95). Romance about the daughter of a rich Texan businessman.
* Buckingham Palace Gardens, by Anne Perry (Ballantine, $26). The 25th Thomas Pitt mystery, in which a murdered prostitute is found in a cupboard at Buckingham Palace.
* Hollywood Crows, by Joseph Wambaugh (Little, Brown, $26.99). Examines corruption in the LAPD through a new member of the Community Relations Office.
* In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures, by Helen Mirren (Atria, $35). Illustrated memoir of the film and TV star.
* Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective, by Al Santasiere and Mark Vancil (Pocket, $50). Recalls the stadium's 85-year history, just before its last season.
* Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope, by Don and Susie Van Ryn, Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak (Howard Books, $21.99). Explores the incident in which a girl was buried under the name of another girl who was in a coma.

This has been out in cyberspace for a week, but it's a good cap to our previous discussion about "Love and Consequences:" It's the New York Times public editor's response on how they missed the signs of a fraud.

Most notably for readers of this blog:

Some bloggers have suggested that because the editor of "Love and Consequences," Sarah McGrath, is the daughter of Charles McGrath, a Times writer-at-large who used to edit the Book Review, he must have played a part in getting the coverage.

He did not. He and Kakutani said they barely know each other and have never talked about what books to review. She works from home, seldom goes to the office and writes for the daily paper, not the section he edited. Kakutani said she did not even know McGrath had a daughter. McGrath said that because he is on the Times staff and sometimes writes about books, he and his daughter do not talk about her work and she had not told him the Jones memoir was hers.

Here are the authors scheduled for KERA-FM's call-in show, "Think."

Robert Caserio, author of "The Novel in England 1900-1950: History and Theory " and "Plot, Story and the Novel: From Dickens and Poe to the Modern Period" will be spearking at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library.

It's part of the Gilbert Lecture Series.

Recently, Richardson High graduate Anne Rice, who just published "Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,'" told Edward Nawotka that if she wrote another vampire book, it would be under special circumstances.

``I may yet revisit Lestat,'' she said. ``But if I do write another book about him it will be a Christian book. Lestat will consecrate his life to the Lord.''

That comment makes more sense to me today as she discusses her own faith in-depth in this column.

She writes:

"A long life of historical study and biblical research led me to my belief, and when faith returned to me, the return was total. It transformed my existence completely; it changed the direction of the journey I was traveling through the world. Within a few years of my return to Christ, I dedicated my work to Him, vowing to write for Him and Him alone."

Here is an excerpt from "Tarnished Beauty," reviewed today in GuideLive. The excerpt is Copyright © 2008 by Cecilia Samartin and provided courtesy of Atria/Simon and Schuster.

Last year, I was proud to discover that the whitebread Denver suburb I grew up in had once been the actual home of none other than Jack Kerouac.

It seems others in the area are proud of him as well -- proud enough to slap his name on a loft development. Here's a sample from the description:

The exterior of the building is designed to echo the industrial character of the area, providing a unique home for the adventurous in spirit. The Jack Kerouac Lofts will convey the impression of an industrial building adapted for human habitation, set in a conveniently located and rapidly evolving new neighborhood.

In real-estate speak, I think that means that the neighborhood might still be dangerous enough that Jack would feel at home there.

(Thanks to Michael Hamtil for the tip.)

Here's what's in store for you on Sunday in the pages of GuideLive:

If you like your Texas history full of bullets and blood, you'll be interested in "The Texas Rangers: Wearing the Cinco Peso 1821-1900," by Mike Cox.

On the other extreme, there is lyrical beauty in the novel "Tarnished Beauty," by
Cecilia Samartin. (See for yourself when we post an excerpt.)

"High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed," by Michael Kodas, talks about surprising challenges at the top of the world.

"The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of Reconstruction," by Charles Lane, looks back at an ugly moment in American history.

And "Fanon," by John Edgar Wideman, offers rewards for readers who are up to its challenges.

See you Sunday.

Author Sebastian Horsley was turned away at the Newark airport for the sin of "moral turpitude."

He should have tried flying into New York. They might have elected him governor.

Story below. But check out galleycat's personal take.