Jun

29

Gitmo Poetry.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 29, 2007 | 1 Comment

When I first heard about a collection of poems written by prisoners and former prisoners of Guantanamo Bay, it was described to me as “the poetry of al Qaeda”, by someone who was afraid the poems would be used to pass messages through a terrorist network. I don’t claim to be an expert on politics […]

Jun

27

Palaeolithic Genius.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 27, 2007 | 1 Comment

The elders would test him
beyond doubt & blood. Mica
lit the false skies where
stalactite dripped perfection
into granite. He fingered
icons sunlight & anatase
never touched.
–Yusef Komunyakaa, “Memory Cave”
Scientists at the University of Tubingen are excited about the recent discovery of a tiny (less than two inches) mammoth figurine found in Southwestern Germany. After 35,000 years […]

Jun

25

Book ‘Em: Isn’t It Romantic?

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 25, 2007 | 4 Comments

I don’t read romance novels, but when an issue of Romance Sells, which says, “Published Quarterly for Booksellers and Librarians” on its front cover, came across my desk, I couldn’t help taking a few minutes to check it out. At a time when most other print genres seem to be either stagnating or dying, the […]

Jun

22

Go Go Goths.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment

In high school I hung around with a group I now recognize as goths, although they never called themselves that. They were just kids who dressed all in black, some wore the classic white makeup and heavy black eyeliner, and they were mostly focused on art classes. I hung around with them, but never became […]

Jun

20

Out, But Not About.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Independent publications across the country are having a hard enough time as it is, but in Nashville one, called Out & About, is having distribution difficulties of its own. After setting up a distribution deal to have the free newspaper made available in local Kroger and Harris Teeter stores, the publisher was told that Kroger […]

Jun

18

Book ‘Em: The Circus Comes To Town.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love (Knopf, 1989), may be one of the best books about the circus ever written. Clearly taking some inspiration from Tod Browning’s 1932 film Freaks, Dunn’s novel makes a family of circus freaks the sympathetic characters while it’s the “normal” people who seem weird. The story follows a family of circus […]

Jun

15

Who Reads This?

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 15, 2007 | 5 Comments

I work in a library. Lately I’ve been processing a lot of gifts, donations to the library which is interesting because there’s even more variety than usual. These books aren’t new; they’re almost all old. Some are very old, and they cover everything from a collection of panoramic photos to the Kennedy assassination to a […]

Jun

13

Sexy Librarians.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I have a confession to make: I once had an overdue book. I know you’re shocked to hear this, but it’s true. I was in third grade and had checked out The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater from my school library and, not only did I keep the book so long I had to […]

Jun

11

Book ‘Em: Don’t Know Much About Art…

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Scandals, vandals, and Da Vincis : a gallery of remarkable art tales
By Harvey Rachlin
(Penguin Books, 2007)
Sometimes as you’re walking through a museum you probably often think, “What makes this picture interesting or special? What’s the story behind it?” Harvey […]

Jun

8

We Are The Martians.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 8, 2007 | 1 Comment

He was, in Roman mythology, the bringer of war. Known as Ares to the ancient Greeks, Mars gave us the name of the month March, when wars were often started or renewed in ancient times.

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