Almanac: Poems / Austin Smith - Book Review

As we all know, the best of poetry transcends the immediate to become universal in its scope, not only of its imagery, but also of its essential poetic spirit. Such universality can be found in Austin Smith’s debut collection of poems, entitled Almanac: Poems (Princeton University Press; ISBN-13: 978-0-691-15919-5). Though grounded in the earthy, rugged landscape of the rural Midwest, in keeping with the poetic instincts of his own father, Smith reaches out to the communal human spirit that has so much to do with the mutual sharing of experiences that are united across both time and space.

Smith’s narrative poetry has a power and a cogency that not only leads the reader along the path of everyday life on a northwestern Illinois dairy farm, but which also empowers, while, at times, fringing on the nostalgic. The poignancy of personal revelation and recall shared with others comes across strongly, for instance, in “The Key in the Stone”, with Grandma Mary “staring out the window with such immense / longing at the snow falling into the lake”.

The virility of the farming landscape can be seen in such poems as “The Silo,” with the immediacy of childhood fears and traumas centering on “a great hook” from which slaughtered game was hung. The ghastliness, and yet, obversely, the sanctity, of it all is rivetingly conveyed in the final lines of the poem: “I found tracks / where deer had stepped gingerly / around this blighted ring like children / who knew not to walk on graves.” That Smith’s background was not pure farm boy is evocatively conveyed through his comparison of the ritualistic hanging of the lifeless and despoiled carcass to Mark Antony’s hoisting aloft of the “blood-stained wax effigy” of the once mighty Caesar “so the crowd could see / his twenty-three wounds and believe him / dead”.

Smith’s close familiarity with the everyday tragedies of our human existence is recorded in diction that is readily accessible to the average reader, but which has a depth that is capable of resounding through the hearts and souls of his audience, facilitating their response, even if they come from an essentially non-poetic background. When river waters flood through people’s homes, leaving devastation in their wake, he personifies such an elemental force, piling images of this intrusive behemoth one upon the other, so that one comes to feel that one’s own self is ravaged by the irresistible power and momentum of the catastrophe: “that it had thumbed through the diaries of their daughters, / that it had drunk all the liquor and replaced it with sand, / that it had put on the women’s clothes like a cross-dresser”.

For any reader who is sensitive to the nuances of the changing rural landscape, Smith’s Almanac: Poems should not only help you relive half-buried memories, but also help to rouse you to greater awareness of your present surroundings. Smith’s work is well worth investing in, so do consider acquiring yourself a copy—he is clearly a modern-day poet who deserves your attention. 

Making Your Wisdom Come Alive: A Guide to the Source of Your Wisdom and Joy / Michael Gluckman - Book Review

Making Your Wisdom Come Alive: A Guide to the Source of Your Wisdom and Joy (Light Up Your Life; ISBN: 978-1-4507-2240-7) is divided into two sections. The first, which deals with self-discovery, mainly consists of a series of questions and answers, relating to where you can find happiness (the answer, unsurprisingly, is “inside”), how you can turn suffering into freedom, exploring your own self-nature, and how to recognize and question assumptions. In the second section of the work, Gluckman, with the aid of quotes from a range of sages who lived at different times in different places and cultures, shows how wisdom is reasonable and experiential. In order to encourage the reader to meditate, Gluckman suggests that we read just a little of this section each day, and attempt to come to an understanding of the true significance of the words for our lives. In this way, we should come to grow in our awareness of our own being and happiness.

 

Starting with an introduction to the Buddhist Masters, who specialize in telling stories, Gluckman proposes that we begin our meditation with self-discovery and not with self-purification. In this respect, he covers the Sutra of Hui Neng; Bankei, The Unborn, which deals with the life and teachings of Zen Master Bankei; the Shurangama Sutra; the Sutra of Flawless Purity; the Zen teachings of Huang Po; and an excerpt from Milarepa, The Song of a Yogi’s Joy. In order that we might approach our essence more closely, Gluckman then takes us through excerpts from the following Hindu masters: Shankara; Nisargadatta Maharaj; Kabir; and Anandamayi Ma. Before exploring aspects of Sufi wisdom, Gluckman provides some quotes from Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu. He then rounds off this section with excerpts from the Christian masters, for which he provides a few guidelines on how to unravel their meaning. Gluckman ends his work with supportive words of inspiration that serve to reinforce the message that he has conveyed throughout the book.

 

Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs of the sages and their works, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive should be a worthwhile investment for anyone who is interested in exploring their full potential as a loving and caring creature of God, no matter who he or she is conceived to be. Ultimately, the true answer lies in self, to which one can only have access if one is prepared to put a great deal of effort into the exercise. As a starting point for those who are interested in exploring their innermost being, the work is an ideal launch pad to growing self-awareness.

How Dare You Say How Dare Me! / Pat Cooper; as told to Rich Herschlag and Steve Garrin

Pat Cooper’s sensitivity and insightfulness shine out from behind his ostensibly brash and offensive style in this memoir of six decades and more in show business. As he says, “When I’m standing in front of a microphone, I may seem angry, but I’m not in a hate mode. I’m angry because of the sadness. There’s so much of it, and most of it is what we do to each other. When I’m ranting and raving up there, I’m releasing sadness. I’m saying that if we talk about it—or yell about it—maybe we can turn that sadness into laughter.”

 

Just as with the great Lenny Bruce, Pat Cooper’s presentation may initially strike one as acerbic and overly in your face, but Cooper has strength and vision that go far beyond his rapid-fire answers and his smart aleck “Don’t try to put me down, ’cos I’ll put you down first.” His snappy rejoinders are legendary, and, yes, he doesn’t hide the uglier side of show business. But he’s no whiner, and fights back to his last monosyllable. Guts? Cooper has plenty of them, and they sometimes do spill. But he’s also a survivor, and I admire him greatly.

 

In How Dare You Say How Dare Me! (Square One Publishers; ISBN: 978-0-7570-0363-9), Cooper shares both the ups and downs of being an Italian comedian in a profession in which he was often thought to be Jewish. Having to mask his identity with a name change from Pasquale Caputo was one of the least of his problems. Surviving life surrounded by the Mafiosi seems sometimes to have been a greater challenge, not that many such were not close to him—the family connections come with the territory! His memoir reads a bit like a Who’s Who of Show Business since the mid-20th century: Tony Martin, George Burns, Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, Anthony Quinn and Robert De Niro being but some of those with whom he worked.

 

The great Jerry Lewis, in his brief foreword to this raconteur’s dream of an autobiography, sums up Cooper’s talent in the following words: “he has this fantastic capacity to challenge the art form [of comedy], and has done so with an exquisite approach to the human condition.” What makes this memoir stand out, though, is its raw honesty. Cooper never minces his words and sure ain’t no patsy, although, on occasion, his kindness and generosity have been taken advantage of. For those who aren’t shy of reading a gut-wrenching biography that pulls none of its punches, try How Dare You Say How Dare Me! Believe me, you won’t be sorry.   

Christian Encounters: Winston Churchill / John Perry - Book Review

Based largely on Winston Churchill’s own writings, Christian Perspectives: Winston Churchill (Thomas Nelson; 

ISBN: 978-1-59555-306-5) describes Churchill’s life and times from a Christian perspective. Ranging from what appeared, to all intents and purposes, to have been his premature birth, though many doubts have been raised in that regard, to the posthumous summation of her father’s outlook on life by Churchill’s younger daughter, Mary, Lady Soames, the biography relates the most significant moments of his political career, as well as of his home life and religious convictions (despite his overt lack thereof). 

Though born into an aristocratic setting, emotionally Churchill was neglected by his parents as a child. Asserting himself against such odds, he came to lead Britain through the most devastating onslaught that that nation has had to experience in modern times. Overcoming a speech impediment and a scholastically faltering career, his oratory was responsible for buoying the spirit of a people who refused to give in, even when all the odds seemed to be against them. Although Churchill often insisted that he did not believe in God, he often called upon Him in times of crisis. His persistence and moral rectitude, even when at odds with his own people, the British nation, won him widely given respect. Churchill’s devotion to his nation even limited the time that he spent on publicly grieving the death of his own daughter, Marigold. Despite being ill towards the latter end of his life, he persisted in his role as prime minister until he was voted out of office at the end of the Second World War.

Christian Encounters: Winston Churchill reveals the emotions and thoughts of one of the greatest heroes of all time. Perry’s biography is informative and accessible, providing much food for thought. His text contains many quotations and excerpts from writings both on, and by, Winston Churchill. Perry’s insight into Churchill’s approach to Christianity is striking, ranging from his perception that his reading and analyzing the works of such great historians as Edward Gibbon, Thomas Macaulay, Blaise Pascal and Charles Darwin must have prompted him to ask himself probing questions about religion, to Perry’s consideration of the assertion made by Winston’s younger daughter that he considered himself to be a Christian.

In addition to extensive notes on all the chapters, the biography ends in a two-page bibliography, including references to the works of many other of Churchill’s biographers, including Martin Gilbert and John Lukacs. A Reading Group Guide to Christian Encounters: Winston Churchill is also available at http://www.thomasnelson.com/rgg.

John Perry has also published biographies of Charles Colson, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and Sgt. York.

Don’t Change the Channel: Make the World a Better Place / Jenn Snyder & Betsy Thorpe - Book Review

This ennobling text was written, according to its author, Jenn Snyder, “to help inspire people to seize moments in their lives to help others. In one moment, you can change someone’s life forever. In one moment, you can change the world.” Don’t Change the Channel : Make the World a Better Place (Foot Soldier Publishing; ISBN: 978-0-9830782-03-3) tells of how Snyder had an epiphany watching CNN coverage of how a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, Blake, was found by his grandmother alone in his house after the disappearance of his pregnant mother. When the news conference revealed that his mother’s body had been found, and that her boyfriend, Blake’s father, was being charged with double murder, she felt compelled to spring into action. As she describes it, Snyder “heard the call, felt the conviction and that there was no turning away. There was no going back to my busy life without making an attempt to alleviate some of this family’s suffering.”

 

Based on such an outpouring of empathy rose Snyder’s commitment to the cause of Don’t Change the Channel, which is a movement for promoting awareness of the importance of engaging in community-enhancing projects for every age, from pre-school through retirement. Snyder has clearly felt the call not only to become involved in social upliftment projects on a personal level, but also to help inspire others to respond to needs that are so evident in our society today. Part of her response has involved the writing of this book. Don’t Change the Channel is a clarion call to those of us who have, up until now, felt the occasional twinge of conscience that we are not doing enough for our communities, but who, until now, have put off such feelings by telling ourselves that we are just far too busy to do anything more.

 

Most of us really have to be honest with ourselves and admit that if we sacrificed some of the time that we spend watching TV or participating in some other form of leisure activity could be spent on helping others, which does, after all, ultimately help us as well. The reduced levels of anxiety and the boosted sense of self-esteem that almost inevitably result  from showing that we care for people other than our nearest and dearest, which also makes our own lives much more meaningful, are rewards in themselves. One of the most inspiring aspects of this work is that Snyder points out, most cogently, that you are never either too old nor too young to impact positively on those around you.

 

Don’t Change the Channel is clearly written and powerfully presented, illustrated with real-life anecdotes and black-and-white photos of people’s involvement in a range of programs and activities. The chapters are carefully signposted throughout with helpful headings and short excerpts from the text given in bold. Snyder ends the work with a list of online resources for each of the chapters concerned. This work is ideal as a starting-point for those of us who feel that we really could do more, if only we knew how.  You could make a start by reading her pointers on “5 things you can do today” that she includes with each chapter. Come on, now, you really have no more excuses…   

Guide to France for History Travellers / Bob Fowke - Book Review

Wish to obtain insight into the history of France sans the tedium of wading through the copious minutiae of detailed tomes that provide you with way too many dates, let alone barely pronounceable names of people and places? Bob Fowke, in his latest ebook in the series Guides for History Travellers, may just fulfil your desire. Guide to France for History Travellers (YouCaxton Publications; ASIN: B008657Y64) provides a painless introduction to the history of this grand and imposing country in just 141 pages. With a style that disguises erudition with a lively and raconteurish approach, he supplies the reader with an overview of the illustrious nation’s history that has its first traces back in 90,000BC, up until the time of its latest bling-bling Nicholas Sarkozy (bringing the scandalous overconsumption of the French court, which is notorious for the overindulgence practised by such royals as the Sun King and Louis XVI, right up to date).

Fowke’s lighthearted approach to centuries of history enables him to convey a great deal of information without leaving his audience feeling drained of any wish to hear more. In fact, he whets the appetite, so that one tends to yearn for added details. The author has been criticised for not citing his sources, but he clearly did not wish to weigh down the smooth flow of his text with unnecessary allusions that might merely have served to alienate some of his audience. Fowke has journalistic-type banter down to a fine art, as befits a columnist for the Guardian Online. His clear intention of writing with the tourist in mind is borne across by the subtitle to this book: “The perfect travel guide and rough history for tourists who like their guides and histories short and entertaining, with travel tips on places of interest.”

In addition to the narrative text, Fowke includes guide tips for the different regions of France that are of particular relevance to the tale that he tells. He includes not only numerous amusing line drawings, but also outline maps of the areas concerned. For each section of the text, Fowke provides travel guide timelines for the period covered. Appended are a list of the rulers of France, divided up into their respective dynasties (Merovingians, Carolingians, etc.), and a list of important dates, stretching from prehistoric times up to 2002, when the Euro replaced the franc.

Bob Fowke, renowned author and illustrator, is surprisingly modest and unassuming, considering his prolific output of over sixty largely science and history books, the majority of which have been published by leading British publishers. He is also amazingly versatile, as, in addition to the previously mentioned accomplishments, he is also an entrepreneur with a keen interest in the cause of those who wish to become self-published, having started up the YouCaxton venture a year ago in order to assist fellow writers with preparing their books for self-publication.  

The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre / Jack Zipes - Book Review

In Kenn Bannerman’s interview with Professor Jack Zipes, a professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota and the author, translator and editor of dozens of studies and collections of folk and fairy tales, the latter shared his attitude towards fairy tales, stating that “I think I am very knowledgeable about fairy tales. I think I have a deep interest in fairy tales and I may even be obsessed by them. I feel driven to uncover tales that few people know and to share this knowledge and pleasure with other readers.”

In his latest book, The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre (Princeton University Press; ISBN-13: 978-0-691-15338-4), Zipes asserts the oral origins of fairy tales, and, drawing from the fields of, among others, cognitive science, evolutionary theory, anthropology, psychology and literary theory, he sets about expanding on his own approach to the genre, as well as exploring new research by such renowned scholars as Michael Tomasello, Michael Trout and Kate Distin. How and why tales were told and came to form the basis of culture is explained in terms of his own understanding of the evolution of the genre. After exploring the French school of fairy tale writing that emerged in the late 17th century, Zipes focuses on Catherine Breillat’s reinterpretation of Perrault’s Bluebeard, followed by a discussion of tales about witches such as Baba Yaga. The focus on the female is continued in an unveiling of 19th century folk and fairy tales told, collected, and written by women, which leads into a discussion of the role played by great collectors of folk tales in the 19th century. Zipes then rounds out his latest research into the genre of fairy tales by showing how such tales have now crossed over into other forms of artwork, including drawings, paintings, sculptures and photographs.

In showing how and why fairy tales have become a core part of our central being, Zipes reveals his extensive scholarship in the field, as well as his skill in expounding profoundly about his key interests and concerns relating to the fairy tale genre. This scholarly masterpiece, which has emerged from decades of thought on the subject, deserves a place in all literary collections, as well as consideration by all those concerned with this particular genre.