Texas Pages

My copy-editing cohorts Tatia and Laura and I had a discussion tonight about whether Prince Caspian is, as Nancy Churnin writes in her review of the film adaptation, actually the second book in C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. Some research revealed the answer: It is and it isn't.

The Chronicles were first published in this order:
1) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 2) Prince Caspian, 3) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 4) The Silver Chair, 5) The Horse and His Boy, 6) The Magician's Nephew and 7) The Last Battle.

But if you go to the bookstore or Amazon and buy a boxed set, you'll find they've been rearranged, and are now published in chronological order according to the timeline set forth in the books. That order is:
1) The Magician's Nephew, 2) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 3) The Horse and His Boy, 4) Prince Caspian, 5) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 6) The Silver Chair and 7) The Last Battle.

So which is right? Purists insist on published order -- that if you read The Magician's Nephew first, you'll find out all sorts of things you're just not supposed to know yet. Others say that if you're looking for the biblical themes and allusions in the books, those become much clearer in a chronological reading. Lewis himself, in a letter published in 1957, said either one was fine with him, although he expresssed just a smidgen of a preference for published order.

What do you think? Discuss.

Joe Nick Patoski will be signing Willie Nelson: An Epic Life 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 20 at Borders, Preston Road at Royal Lane. He'll also appear 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 at Borders, 4601 West Freeway in Fort Worth.

(You can still read our review and an excerpt from the book.)

I wrote Joe Nick and asked him how the book is doing. Here's some of what he had to say:

Sure, it's just a big promotion. But it's nice to see a legendary children's book character get a place of honor at a $1,000-a-night hotel. (For that price, I assume they throw in a set of books. And read them to you before the staff tucks you in and says night-night.)

Joy Tipping spoke with Brock Clarke ahead of his appearance with "Late Nights at the Dallas Museum of Art" tomorrow. We'll have that story in tomorrow's GuideLive.

For those of you planning ahead, here's the review of The Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England.

And here's a complete list of the evening's activities, provided by our friends at The Dallas Museum of Art:

This just in .... Thomas Friedman will be speaking to the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth Sept. 12 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. His book Hot, Flat and Crowded, will be released in August.

Why am I telling you this now? Because tickets go on sale today.

Local writer Jenny Block is planning a release party for "Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage" 7 p.m. May 29 at Buli Cafe, 3908 Cedar Springs.

Not surprisingly, given the topic, she has been generating some national attention, from the likes of the respected Bookslut blog and even Library Journal.

She discusses the book in this YouTube video. (The video itself is tame, but the related videos on that link are of a hide-the-kids variety.)