false 42 168 104 true 5687033 read 7 true 2635974 currently-reading 57 true 2635973 to-read 17 false 2721548 history 15 false 2770517 biography 11 false 2686778 poetry 10 false 2686812 short-stories 9 false 2743191 literary-criticism 8 false 2686802 essays 8 false 2816764 novels 5 false 2811128 memoir 5 false 3277399 forever-reading-as-the-mood-strikes 4 false 5403465 spirituality 4 false 2721487 travelogue 3 false 2723448 natural-history 3 false 3145517 abandoned 2 false 5041218 not-worth-the-hype 2 false 3263669 children-s-literature 1 false 5178425 nonfiction-education 1 false 7818917 art 1 false 2933518 put-aside-temporarily http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75867949 S.'s review of Moth Moon
by Matt Jasper

Hmm, so I wasn't so far off, after all. Bishop's poem would seem to qualify as surreal (she said she got idea for it from a misprint in newspaper: "mammoth" came out as "man-moth"). Jasper's book sounds interesting, but my limited knowledge of Surrealists is based mostly on Giacommetti's association with them in 20s. When he got tired of their aesthetic rigidity and tried to move on, they dunned him a good bit. They seemed as narrow-minded and ideological as political radicals of the period. Hence, my skepticism of art based on any "ism." It strikes me as a contradiction in terms. But to his credit, Jasper seems to acknowledge the limiting nature of such critical terms.
But as I sense you read far more poetry than, I, S., I'll defer to your judgment in this case. thanks for the link! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76533932 Caravaggio: A Passionate Life (Hardcover) by Desmond Seward
bookshelves: art, biography, to-read
I'm drawn to seemingly contradictory figures like Caravaggio -- intensely spiritual in his art and alarmingly profrane and violent in his daily life. Actually, with Caravaggio it's hard to separate the transcendant from the profane. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that he makes the profane transcendant.

Side note: In his PBS series, The Power of Art, Simon Schama does a wonderful job of presenting this paradoxical nature of Caravaggio. (and the cinematography is superb at capturing the rich color and detail of C's work) ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76533213 Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition (Hardcover) by Jaroslav Pelikan
bookshelves: spirituality, to-read
Heard a fascinating interview with Pelikan about this book on Speaking of Faith. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58578361 to: The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Worker (Paperback) by Mike Rose
bookshelves: nonfiction-education
As an education scholar who as a kid from a blue collar family was tracked into remedial-vocational classes (see his excellent Lives on the Boundary), Rose is the perfect person to examine the literacies involved in skills never examined in traditional school settings. A good blend of narrative and scholarly explanation pitched to a general reader. So far this book reminds me of my experience working in a paper mill during summers and semester breaks from college and feeling worthless when a paper-making machine broke down (which tended to happen often in the ancient mill)and watching these old guys on the crew calmly fix things with an economy of graceful motion, accomplished under the pressure of wet paper spitting out at several feet per second.

Just finished teaching this in my developmental writing course. The students, who typically have a weak background in education, really enjoyed reading about other forms of literacy that require just as much, if not more, cognitive processing as traditional school work. Rose is an elegant, even impassioned writer, but never wallows in romanticized portraits of working class folks. He praises them for their often overlooked abilities. If at times, he sounds a bit defensive or over-eager to prove his point, keep in mind that's he's working against a long history of insidious stereotypes of blue collar workers as little more than dull brutes relying mostly on brawn instead of brains. He moves back and forth between personal narrative and historical and sociological analysis with ease. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76530252 Fools Crow (Contemporary American Fiction) by James Welch
bookshelves: currently-reading
Been meaning to read some Welch for a long time. His "Indian Lawyer" has been collecting dust on my shelf for ages.
A member of our book club selected this one. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1245181-tom Tom made a comment on Tom McGohey's profile:

Anybody know what happened to Meg Sefton?? I know a while back she was having trouble with unwanted attention from someone through goodreads, and changed her screen identity for a period. But she informed me and other friends backchannel of that change. Eventually, she resumed her old "identity" online. I never pressed her on the details, but assumed the problem had been resolved. Now I see that she seems to have disappeared (from goodreads) completely without having left any word, which doesn't seem like her. Anyone else hear from her? I'm hoping she's ok. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76295955 Tom's review of Autumnal Tints
by Henry David Thoreau

Hi Barbara, AT is generally included in most collections of T's essays. I first came across it in Library of America edition, but I'm sure you can find it in pb collections. This one is the only stand-alone edition I know of. Enjoy; it is a real treat, especially when read loud. When contemplating T. the naturalist, it's easy to overlook what a lyrical writer he is. (ironically, though, I find his poetry pretty bad!) ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76295955 to: Autumnal Tints (Paperback) by Henry David Thoreau
bookshelves: essays, natural-history
Every fall, my partner and I pick a crisp sunny day to sit in her back yard, a pair of golden maple trees rising above us, the Blue Ridge Mountains visible on the horizon, and read aloud to each to each other from Thoreau's marvelous essay, "Autumnal Tints." I especially like the section "Fallen Leaves": "How many flutterings before they rest quietly in their graves!They that soared so loftily, how contentedly they return to the dust again, and are laid low, resigned to lie and decay at the foot of the tree, and afford nourishment to new generations of their kind, as well as to flutter on high! They teach us how to die. One wonders if the time will ever come when men, with their boasted faith in immortality, will lie down as gracefully and as ripe, -- with such an Indian-summer serenity will shed their bodies, as they do their hair and nails." ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/233368-thoreau-s-autumnal-tints Tom made a comment in the 19th Century Literature group:

Every fall, my partner and I pick a crisp sunny day to sit in her back yard, a pair of golden maple trees rising above us, the Blue Ridge Mountains visible on the horizon, and read aloud to each to each other from Thoreau's marvelous essay, "Autumnal Tints." I especially like the section "Fallen Leaves": "How many flutterings before they rest quietly in their graves!They that soared so loftily, how contentedly they return to the dust again, and are laid low, resigned to lie and decay at the foot of the tree, and afford nourishment to new generations of their kind, as well as to flutter on high! They teach us how to die. One wonders if the time will ever come when men, with their boasted faith in immortality, will lie down as gracefully and as ripe, -- with such an Indian-summer serenity will shed their bodies, as they do their hair and nails." ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74871649 to: For My Father Falling Asleep at St. Mary's Hospital: Poems (Paperback) by Dennis Sampson
bookshelves: poetry
I read this moving account of a dying father while on a long flight to California. The last line made me want to stand up and shout at the other passengers to remove the earpieces for the insipid in-flight movie and listen to their mortality whistling past at 30,000 feet. ]]>