Rhythm and Books

Turnrow 20, Summer '13: Our Best Yet?

This summer there's no excuse for not reading. We've found so many books to admire that we had a hard time keeping it to just 20. We hope you find this to be the most diverse -- possibly even THE BEST -- list of Turnrow 20 recommendations that we've ever compiled. Among the crop of recent releases, here are the most epic, entertaining, shocking and insightful books we've been reading:

All That Is by James Salter

This elegantly crafted novel follows a man from his youth in the Navy during World War II through a career in New York publishing, a string of romances, exquisite travels, setbacks and rallies, all of it etched with curious diversions and casual brilliance by a first-rate novelist. A modern masterpiece on par with Hemingway.

 

Cooked by Michael Pollan

Few writers so skillfully meld history, how-to, storytelling and philosophy. Pollan, still our go-to guy when it comes to food writing, explores the four classical elements used in cooking -- fire, water, air and earth -– and how doing for ourselves can enrich our lives. We took to the kitchen with renewed enthusiasm after reading this. Signed copies available.

Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada 

Ever in search of a great lost classic, we investigated the recent and celebrated reissuing of this sprawling novel set in 1940s Berlin and found it completely enthralling. Unique among Nazi-era literature, it describes how average German citizens resisted and surrendered to the surreal pressures of life under oppression. As compulsively readable and transporting as any fiction you're likely to encounter this year.

Flora by Gail Godwin 

From the wisdom and remorse of old age, a writer recalls herself as a precocious ten-year-old, recently bereft of her mother and grandmother, and the summer she spends with her older cousin from Alabama. The character dynamics and lush writing are irresistible, and we felt that great joy of reading significant literature while enjoying it like a guilty pleasure. Signed copies available.

 

Here is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History by Andrew Carroll

For anyone who enjoys exploring the forgotten crevices of U.S. history, this travelogue through our nation's patchwork past is riveting. Preservationist Andrew Carroll finds dozens of unmarked sites of historical significance, which have been forgotten or unmemorialized, and relates their stories, many deserving of their own books.

If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead

It seems like a simple story of a boy who wants to see a whale, but really it's about learning to see the impossible. You'll need patience, imagination and a sharp eye. We're inspired to think this new children's picture book will one day be a classic. Copies signed by the author and illustrator.

Junius and Albert's Adventures in the Confederacy by Peter Carlson

Two Yankee reporters are captured by the Confederates at Vicksburg, sent to a Virginia prison, engage in fruitless attempts to be extradited before a treacherous escape through the mountains. This lively historic account, so filled with humor and colorful characters and off-kilter asides, could be a Coen Brothers film. Any Southern history buff willing to take a share of good-natured Rebel potshots will find an entertaining account of how the two sides interacted during the Civil War.

The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace

 Wallace (Big Fish) once again revives folkloric storytelling with his charming new novel about two sisters –- one blind and beautiful, the other ugly and deceitful –- and their lives in a remote forest village raised by silk weavers. The blind sister runs away from home, only to find the world not at all as it was described to her. Readers will be similarly enchanted by the rich history and legacies Wallace has imagined. Signed copies available.

 

Long Division by Kiese Laymon

A fourteen-year-old city kid causes a disturbance at a national grammar contest and is sent to live with his grandmother in the Mississippi countryside, where even more trouble awaits. This searing satire from a Mississippi native introduces a considerable new voice -- a hilarious cross between a modern-day Huckleberry Finn and Native Son.

Minotaur by Benjamin Tammuz

Relaunched this summer for Europa's World Noir series, this little-known gem is like no other spy novel you're ever read. Readers who pick it up for its cover will be rewarded by a sensuous, braided story told from four perspectives, each one adding new information to the story of an Israeli secret agent and his clandestine pursuit to win the affections of a beautiful young Englishwoman.

Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell

Master craftsman Morrell borrows from history to weave a fascinating whodunnit involving writer Thomas De Quincey and true murders from early 1800s London. This novel imagines a copycat crime some 40 years later in which the famous "opium-eater" is implicated, and an enterprising detective uses the elderly writer's counsel to clear his name and catch the true killer whose elaborate and heinous crimes have gaslit London in fear. A masterful blend of historical fact and murder mystery with a modern pace.

 

The Panopticon by Jennie Fagan

This surprising Scottish black comedy opens with our young heroine headed toward a home for wayward girls. She has put a local cop in the hospital and her clothes are covered in blood, but she has no memory of committing a crime. A terrifying story, laced with the humor of a girl trying to find her way when everything seems to be against her. Coming in July.

Paperboy by Vince Vawter

Set in 1959 Memphis, this is the story of an 11-year-old boy who takes his friend's paper route for the summer. What should be an easy job turns complicated when a run-in with a local junk man leaves the "Little Man" and everyone in his family in harm's way. A fantastic adventure story for all readers, especially mature middle graders.

The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn

In this clever debut by a Mississippi novelist we're given two compelling storylines: the first, wrapped in Grisham-style procedural intrigue, concerns a Southern med school resident assigned to head off a potential scandal involving the discovery of a slave boneyard on school grounds, and the second a Civil War-era narrative about the school's founder and his slave, an instructor and procurer of cadavers for anatomy training. Intriguing parallels and century-old mysteries unite these narratives for a fast-moving, entertaining debut.

Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee

When this book arrived, the staff spent an hour oohing and aahing over the recipes with such poetic names as "Lime Beef Salad" and "Collards and Kimchi." Lee, a Korean-Kentuckian, has created a fusion of world flavors and Southern classics that has every intrepid cook we know adopting this cookbook as their summer kitchen project.
 

Some Kinds of Love by Steve Yates

In a season of great works by Mississippians comes a collection of stories by a prized Jackson writer. This diverse sampling, set in various locales and times, are similar in their clever humor and lively prose. Author signing June 8, reserve your signed copy.

The Son by Philipp Meyer

This is a rousing epic of the Big West, featuring five generations of a Texas oil family. It's tempting to compare this to Cormac McCarthy for its violence and searing prose, but this is vastly different, unique yet familiar, and wholly unforgettable. It's rare these days to be so thoroughly entertained and swept away for a mere thirty bucks. Author is coming soon, so reserved your signed first edition.

 

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

Love it or hate it, but this jaw-dropper is the book everyone will be talking about this summer. Nutting pulls an astounding reversal of Lolita, getting inside the sadistic head of her lascivious female junior high teacher. Be warned, you'll either throw it across the room or read it in a single sitting. Coming in July.

The Unwinding by George Packer

 Essential reading for anyone curious to know how America found itself in a perfect storm of economic, social and political crisis. By bundling this enormously complex story in a series of small, brilliantly executed biographies of both ordinary people (working-class single mom, fledgling politician) and modern-day icons (Oprah Winfrey, Newt Gingrich), New Yorker writer Packer illuminates the sources of our undoing while offering a riveting depiction of a nation composed of individuals with plenty of fight and ingenuity still left. Signed copies available.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

A sassy young girl in 1963 Mississippi runs away from her grandmother's home, bound for Nashville to find her mother, a famous singer. She accumulates unlikely companions along the way and finds enough shades of menace to keep readers turning the pages. The whole story is kept aloft on the lively, hopeful voice of the nine-year-old protagonist. Coming in July, author signs 7/9.

Perfectly Percy

Thanks to Paul Schmid, a great children's book author and illustrator from Washington state, who graciously agreed to sign copies of his latest book, Perfectly Percy, for our Child's First Book Club. We've admired Paul's books (Oliver and His Alligator, A Pet for Petunia) over the years, graced with illustrations which are spare and childlike and yet convey plenty of emotion in each gesture and expression.

You just want to snatch up Percy the porcupine and hug him, right? Of course, that would be a mistake, and it's also the reason Percy has a problem keeping the playthings he loves most — balloons.

Like his illustrations, Paul's story of Percy trying to resolve this uniquely porcupine dilemma is perfectly simple while offering humor and encouraging thoughtfulness. It fits squarely within our book club criteria for books with distinct artwork and meaningful stories which bear up to repeated readings, as we've read to a number of children ourselves and know what parents and kids enjoy in a good picture book.

So consider joining our children's signed book club today and we'll send Perfectly Percy out straightaway. Each month we'll bill and mail a new signed illustrated book, whether for local kids or gifts for far-off grandchildren, nieces, nephews and godchildren who love to read. Visit the website to learn more.

And while you're at it, visit Paul Schmid's blog to learn more about his books and art.

 

Twenty More for 2013

We spent the fall and winter reading reading reading ... all to bring you, at long last, the Winter/Spring Turnrow 20. Here are twenty titles we heartily recommend — some new, some a few months old, some decades old. There are expected favorites along with a few surprises. Some fiction, some non; historical and current. Set at home or far away and often both.

These books have one thing in common — an intense readibility and a quality of being conversation-worthy. These are the books we've read and discussed and can't help but entice you to read.

We'll expound on these titles soon, but for now, with links to our website for further description and/or purchase, is our Turnrow 20:

Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
High-climbing adventure meets romance in this fictionalized portrayal of Everest climber George Mallory and the beloved wife he left at home while pursuing his other great passion.

Benediction by Kent Haruf
The best-selling author of Plainsong returns to his Colorado community and delivers another quiet, moving portrait of small-town life that fans of Marilynne Robinson and John Williams' Stoner will appreciate. Signed copies coming soon.

The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov
An improbable epic about a real-life Mississippian, the son of slaves who left his family's Delta cotton patch to travel the world and ended up a millioniar nightclub mogul in Moscow during the Russian Revolution. A fascinating biography colored with rich details from the late 1800s to 1920s. Author signs here March 21.

The Book of Job by Harold S. Kushner
The author of Why Bad Things Happen to Good People presents a compelling and persuasive conversation about one of the most difficult books of the Bible. This is an amazing read for serious scholars of the Bible or for the casual reader looking for more insight into this provocative scripture.

Chanel Bonfire by Wendy Lawless
We couldn't turn away from this compelling memoir about a heinously selfish mother raising two daughters while flitting from man to man, town to town, country to country, all the while spending lots of money and drinking herself into oblivion. If it sounds too painful, then this is where Lawless succeeds, giving us not a "poor me" portrait of family dysfunction but an inspiring tale of two sisters' grit and resilience in the face of colorful neglect.

The Dinner by Herman Koch
This best-selling Dutch novel is a real conversation starter. Two couples meet for dinner. It starts off harmless and pleasant, but there is a sinister undertone that grows with each course. Soon the diners' shared history is revealed, and as the circumstances of their meeting become apparent, we're already trapped at the table and bracing ourselves for the next course.

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman
Two female journalists — the famous Nellie Bly and Mississippi girl Elisabeth Bisland — defy the mores of the time and race around the world in competing attempts to beat Jules Vernes' eighty days. At once a fast-paced adventure and an historical account of the beginnings of a new global age, engagingly written and loaded with interesting details.

The Expendable Man by Dorothy Hughes
From our beloved New York Review of Books comes another great rediscovery, a suspenseful 1963 novel about a man who becomes the suspect in the death of a hitch-hiking teenaged runaway after he innocently gives her a ride in the desert Southwest. Hughes performs a masterful turn by engaging readers even as she implicates them in the crime.

From Midnight to Guntown by John Hailman
Mississippi federal prosecutor and author (Thomas Jefferson on Wine) shares a career's worth of great stories that provide an irresisitible overview of colorful crime in the Magnolia State. This will appeal to fans of The Fall of the House of Zeus and provide plenty of statewide conversation. Author signs here May 1.

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
An impressive and compulsively readable thriller about a mysterious fixer who sweeps in to clean up a botched casino robbery. Fans of Lee Child will flip over this midnight read, marking the start of a promising career. Signed first editions.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
No one writes science like Mary Roach. Here she lends her twisted sense of humor and brazen reporting to an exploration of all the ways we receive (and expel) food and nourishment. You'll laugh and learn and think about these things incessantly as you're contending with your next meal.

The House Girl by Tara Conklin
An aspiring attorney in modern-day New York investigates claims that iconic paintings by a 19th century American artist may have actually been created by her house slave. The action switches back and forth from 2004 to 1850s Virginia with a satisfying story that constantly ventures into compelling new territory.

Jerusalem by Guy Delisle
A graphic art travelogue that depicts the artist's stint in Jerusalem, where is wife is stationed on a Doctors Without Borders assignment. Delisle maintains his sense of humor as he explores his temporary home as a house dad, gradually earning an understanding of the complex histories, rivalries, customs and dangers of life in a land at constant odds.

New & Selected Poems 1962-2012 by Charles Simic
A singular voice in American poetry, Simic's work reflects a host of beautiful contradictions — darkness and humor, surrealism and familiarity, simplicity and depth. Serious readers with even a passing fancy for poetry should make this collection, a fitting retrospective, part of their library.

Searching for Zion by Emily Raboteau
Subverting expectations at every turn, Raboteau's entertaining and highly impressive debut charts her quest for identity and faith as a biracial woman in a world of rigid categorization. She seeks outsiders and cross-pollinated cultures from Israel to Jamaica to Ethiopia and the American South. Her writing is fresh and funny, her reportage urgent and daring. Her insights into race and religion and self-realization are poignant and surprising. A book for fans of Dave Eggers, who said, "I doubt there will be a more important work of nonfiction this year." Signed first editions available.

Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl
Though best known for his children's literature, Roald Dahl had a naughty side he showed to his adult readers. In this recently reissued collection of four stories, we meet Uncle Oswald, a recurring character with imaginative tastes for all things carnal. We also spy on neighbors who learn a difficult lesson about the Tenth Commandment and another woman struggling to find a special kind of companionship. These naughty stories possess a class and wit not often found in tales of eros.

Tenth of December by George Saunders
Nobody skewers the modern age better than Saunders, and he does it while keeping several other balls in the air, including a stellar comedic voice, an eye for the absurd and heart-breaking, and a sense for formal experiments that don't bog down the story. He achieves it all with the balance of a true master. Signed copies available.

A True History of the Captivation, Transportation to Strange Lands & Deliverance of Hannah Guttentag by Josh Russell
An overlooked novel from last fall, this is the story of a young graduate student, her affair with a fellow student, her travels and unexpected lessons. Russell puts a fresh face on the campus novel. This is a fast read that will keep your heart pumping. Custumers are already raving that once you start this book, you cannot put it down.

Wash by Margaret Wrinkle
A tremendous debut novel about a slave owner in 1820s Tennessee and the man he hires out to breed. There is unexpected beauty and grace woven throughout the difficult subject matter, and Wrinkle's great strength is her ability to enter the heads of these characters and see the world in relatable terms. An artful achievement for fans of Faulkner and filmmaker Terrence Malick. Signed first editions.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Set among the upwardly mobile in Seattle, this novel focuses on a family of over-achievers bound for Antarctica ... until mom Bernadette goes missing. Told in a melange of emails and narration by their genius daughter Bee, this quirky comedy caught us by surprise. It's a hilarious adventure for anyone who feels lost in the rat race.

Here it is ... the Fall 2012 Turnrow 20

After a long summer season with our best-selling Turnrow 20 yet — the number-one seller, in case you're interested, was National Book Award nominee Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk — it's time for a new list of recommended reading for the fall/holiday season. There are so many great regional titles on the way — titles you won't find just anywhere, by the way — that we could almost compile a second list later.

But for now, here are the books we've read over the last few months that made a lasting impression on us....

 

And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman
A tense, smart drama about a suburban madam by a popular crime fiction writer. The novel depicts her entry into this curious line of work alongside her attempts, several years later as a single mother, to untangle herself from its clutches.

Arcadia by Lauren Groff
A wise and beautifully written novel that moves through the years, from idyllic youth to early love and into the future as a family reconciles their life in a utopian commune.

The Black Count by Tom Reiss
An unexpectedly thrilling, swashbuckling biography about the father of writer Alexandre Dumas. The elder Dumas, the model for the Count of Monte Cristo, rose from life on a slave plantation in Haiti to distinguished service as Napoleon's top general during the French Revolution.

Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie
A collection of greatest hits and new stories from one of our favorite American fiction writers, who depicts the modern Native American lifestyle with humor and darkness.

Brave Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby
Our favorite cute small rabbit must find his friend Twitch Squirrel, discovering, in turn, what it means to be brave. A perfect picture books for little kids and grown-up kids. Signed bookplates coming soon.

Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid
The daring cook will love attempting these exotic, flavorful dishes. A lovely travelogue as well as indispensable guide to a delicious cuisine. Read about our Burma potluck here. Signed copies available.

A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty by Carolyn J. Brown
In just 100 pages, Brown gives us a complete portrait of Welty the writer as well as her literature and her Mississippi home. A wonderful biography for curious lovers of Mississippi literature that's equally accessible for young adult readers.

Fourmile by Watt Key
A hitchhiking soldier back from Iraq comes upon a farm near the Gulf Coast and serves as hero to a 12-year-old who fears his mother's shady new boyfriend. Key (Alabama Moon) doesn't shy away from trouble, striking the right chord so that readers young and old will enjoy this tense, gripping, coming-of-age tale.

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
Lehane departs from the detective novel for this thrilling story of mobsters during the 1920s, a great sprawling tale that takes the reader from Jazz Age Boston to the Cuban-inflected neighborhoods of Tampa and Havana. Signed copies available.

Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis
One of the great modern wordsmiths unleashes an anarchistic novel about a mild-mannered young man who must keep his perverse, checkered past secret from a volatile, lotto-winning and possibily psychotic uncle. A real attention-getter for fans of colorful writing and off-color humor. Signed copies available.

The Prophet by Michael Koryta
Fans of Greg Iles and John Hart should get to know the books of Michael Koryta, a strong writer whose suspense novels are smart and engaging. This novel, one of his finest, involves a murder that brings together two estranged brothers haunted by their past, one a high school football coach and the other a bail bondsman. Signed copies available.

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison
An inspiring novel about an underddog who manages to crawl out from under the tragedy of his life and find work as private nurse to a 19-year-old with muscular dystrophy. A series of events finds these two on a road-trip as each gathers the missing pieces of their lives from unlikely allies along the way. A potent mix of humor, tragedy and inspiration. Signed copies available.

Ride a Cockhorse by Raymond Kennedy
What a surprise to find this riotously funny, recently reissued novel from the 1990s. A New England "cougar" lets go of her inhibitions and plots to take over the small-town bank where she works. Fans of A Confederacy of Dunces would do well to light the fuse on this one.

Six Months in 1945 by Michael Dobbs
An historian with a knack for story and character follows the meetings, negotiations and strategies of Allied world leaders in the pivotal months when World War II evolves into the Cold War. A solid history that stands out for its vivid, personal depictions of Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and Truman, among many other supporting characters.

Thrall by Natasha Trethewey
Another brilliant collection of poetry, this one a meditation on the Mississippi poet's mixed-race heritage. There is beautiful, unforgettable images etched throughout this verse, composed by the state and national poet laureate.

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
No surprise that Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Meacham paints a riveting, nuanced picture of Thomas Jefferson in the role of President, adept as both a philosopher and a politician. A brilliant and highly readable assessment that resonates deeply in this political season.

Trials of the Earth by Mary Hamilton
One of the Delta's most beloved book is back in print! Celebrating 20 years since its first publication, these are the unbelievable true memoirs of Mary Hamilton, one of the first women to enter the Delta territory during its settling in the late 1800s-early 1900s. The story of her family's hardship sticks with readers to the point of obsession. 

We End in Joy by Angela Fordice
This memoir by the daughter of former Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice was an unexpected treat. Not an apology or defense of her father, this is instead a funny, warm and wise story about not only living in the spotlight as Mississippi's first family, but also about the joy, pain and wonder of the average family's life. Signed copies available.

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
A truly wonderful and memorable novel that falls in and out print. We were thrilled to see it's to be republished this fall. While alone in the woods on vacation, a woman finds herself unable to escape her mountain refuge after a catastrophe wipes out humanity.

You & Me by Padett Powell
A grandiose and episodic call-and-response novel featuring two nameless characters, sitting on a porch "somewhere between Jacksonville, Florida, and Bakersfield, California," engaged in conversation that ranges from the crude and ridiculous to the perverse and philosophical. Powell forges moments of both high and low-brow comedy into a truly entertaining and uncommon satire. Watch a clip from his reading at Turnrow. Signed copies available.

Padgett Powell, Him & Us

For those who missed our Evening with Padgett Powell this past Wednesday ... well, we warned you about doing that. We found Mr. Powell's reading to be one of the best we've ever hosted and have received a general and approving consensus to add fuel to that claim. Powell, whom we annointed (by fire) "the New Godfather of Southern Letters," did not disappoint, first with a reading from his previous novel, The Interrogative Mood, accompanied by Dan Walters on keys, during which the audience was asked to contemplate, "... in sexual intercourse, (do) you prefer a thrashing style like the flight of a bat or a subtle style like a worm eating its way through dirt?"

He followed up with selections from his new novel, You & Me, accompanied again by Mr. Walters, this time on bass. The novel is a sort of grandiose and episodic call-and-response exercise that features two nameless characters, sitting on a porch "somewhere between Jacksonville, Florida, and Bakersfield, California," engaged in conversation that ranges from the crude and ridiculous to the perverse and philosophical. If his work sounds to you like a cute ploy, obnoxious experiment or simple bad idea, you underestimate the power of Powell's voice. He has the rare ability to write experimental fiction that does not stink of smarty pants. He forges moments of academic brilliance and low-brow comedy into a truly entertaining and uncommon satire. If William Faulkner had been born a generation later and was writing for the modern age, this is what it would it look like.

We were lucky that Mr. Powell was traveling with a band, led by Mississippi native Beth McKee. Her bluesy, piano-driven songs were a wonderful surprise and added a welcome dimension to this precious evening.

So if you missed it, or if you'd just like to experience it again, take a look at this clip to hear the author read and get a fix on his dry cadence. If you'd like to get closer to the author still, order a signed first edition of You & Me from our website.

 

Cooking Burma in Mississippi

It was a daunting assignment, this invitation from Artisan, one of our favorite cookbook publishers. They asked us to sample recipes from their upcoming cookbook Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid. We were familiar with Ms. Duguid's previous books (Mangoes & Curry Leaves, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, among others), always beautifully photographed and specific to the rarer corners of culinary Asia. But Burma? Our scant knowledge of the place — the stricken Myanmar of so many depressing news reports —  evoked a dangerous land filled with guerrillas, juntas, despotic regimes, and cold meals in desperate conditions.

Of course, one pass through this beautifully photographed book corrects those pedestrian misconceptions. The photos are alive — mostly shot by Duguid herself — all colorful food, majestic scenery and cheerful faces.

But would we be able gather the necessary ingredients in our own humble, isolated Mississippi town, a place of similar mystery and murky repute? This is a town — and more specifically, a grocery market — where we would, while purchasing some of the chief ingredients (i.e. shallots, ginger, cilantro), be asked by the register attendant, "Now what is this?"

Despite a lack of high-end food resources, Greenwood is a place that appreciates fine and unique food. We regularly run into some of the country's top chefs who come to conduct business and trade homage with local kitchen corporation Viking Range. Since moving here six years ago, one of our favorite pasttimes has become exploring exotic world cuisines. We've attempted Indian and various forms of Asian fare, so why not Burma? We decided to host a dinner party at the bookstore with some of our fellow adventurous home cooks, everyone taking a shot at one or more of the book's recipes, and see what this obscure and troubled land had to teach us.

When the cookbook arrived, we were interested by how thoroughly Duguid has delved not only into the food of Burma but also its wider culture, history and people. Burmese cuisine falls, as does the country geographically, between India and Thailand. A mountainous, isolated country, the flavors are distinct and redolent of the country's various regions. Duguid's emphasis seems to be on home cooking, so the recipes have a simple basis — shallots and peanut oil (one of the great revelations from this book is a combination of the two, shallot oil, which can be stored and used as a versatile kitchen staple), turmeric, lime, ginger, dried and fresh chiles. Slightly more exotic are your fish sauce, shrimp powder, lemongrass and chickpea flour.

Sorting out the recipes, we knew we were hopeless to find sorrel leaves, galangal, chickpea flour, even fresh lemongrass and not the tube of paste. We were not averse to traveling to the nearest Asian market, nearly two hours north to Memphis or south to Jackson, but how could we sell this book to local home cook if we couldn't first throw it together from local sources?

While it required a bit of foraging, we found most everything we needed without a long drive or online ordering. The adventurous cook will adapt, and this cookbook makes several useful suggestions and leaves room for experimentation. One thing we wouldn't be able to skimp on, however, was shallots, the most prevalent ingredient in these recipes. A good three pounds worth — nearly the entire local grocer's supply — went into our Burmese feast. Somewhere between garlic and onion, with a milder flavor, the shallots gave these dishes a distinct and unifying flavor.

We gathered at the bookstore on a lazy Sunday, laid out the spread and poured drinks and swapped stories. Everyone was pleased with the book's casual style and the food's vivid and subtle twists of flavor.

 

Everyone agreed it was difficult narrowing down their cooking selections. So many of the starters and sides sounded amazing and easy to prepare. We selected several that presented a unique turn on local staples. Late-season okra was plentiful at our local farmer's market, so we made Okra-Shallot Stir-Fry, surprisingly subtle and tender fried in ginger, chiles, shallots and fish sauce.

Local grower Hal Fiore supplied us with Asian eggplants for the Egglplant Delight, a fried puree of grilled eggplant, egg, shallot and cilantro. New Potatoes with Spiced Shallot Oil was a great way to throw some zing into red potatoes. This flavorful dish utilizes the aforementioned shallot oil, infused with just the right amount of heat from a dried chile, a layered fusion that coats the potatoes. The recipe calls for tangy sorrel leaves, which were nowhere to be found around here, but allows for a tart substitution of green tomatoes or tomatilloes, which worked just fine. These dishes were roundly celebrated, but the most popular was surely the Mandalay Carrot Salad, which combined the wonderfully complementary flavors of carrots, lime, peanuts, with a savory essence (umami) from shrimp powder (ground-up dried shrimp from the Cajun section at the grocery store) and fish sauce.

Among the main dishes was a flavorful skewer of Easy Grilled Chicken, marinated in fish sauce, chili powder, garlic, ginger and turmeric. The recipe was attempted for its alleged ease, which it was, though there are a number of mouth-watering chicken recipes in the book. For a quick grill, though, it will be hard to beat this tasty bird, a real treat with grilled nan flatbread.

One friend agree to make the Lemongrass-Ginger Sliders with ground pork but found that he'd waited too late to get fresh-baked rolls from our excellent local Mockingbird Bakery. He adapted the recipe as a meatball dish, which went well with a yogurt dipping sauce. Another cook signed up to make the Shrimp Curry. There's a real character at the local farmer's market who makes weekly trips south for Gulf shrimp, but he was missing that week, and it's a lost cause to look for U.S. shrimp at the grocery store. (It is increasingly rare, we've found, to acquire this far inland a nice fish that has not been flown in from some China farm. Are our rivers, streams and ponds so polluted, or is there no enterprising hand with the rod and net, that there isn't a viable homegrown fish market?) A quick substitute for chicken worked just fine with this nice soup and rice dish laden with tomatoes and spritzed up with cayenne and lime.

 

The undisputed champ, though, of this Burma feast was the Coconut Sauce Noodles. It is, as Duguid tells us, the common Burmese favorite among foreigners. We made a lovely, fragrant broth from chicken, gingers and shallots. That combines with a paste made from chickpea flour, which was nowhere to be found in Greenwood. (The proprietor of the new Whole Foods Store in Greenwood advised us to grind up dried chickpeas, and recommended in a pinch spelt flour, which worked just fine.) Chicken is stir-fried with shallots, turmeric and garlic in peanut oil, then combined with the thickened broth and coconut milk. Simmered for ten minutes or so, it is ladled over egg noodles, which we were lucky to buy fresh at the farmer's market from local chef Martha Foose. The soup was topped with fried shallots, chili powder, lime wedges and fish balls, made from a King Mackerel caught a few weeks back in the Gulf of Mexico by one of our party. All cooks agreed that this would become a comfort food staple in their world cuisine repertoire. If you make nothing else in Burma — which will be difficult to restrain yourself — this recipe makes it worth the purchase.

 

We even brought in some hot dogs in case the kids weren't willing to sample this uncommon fare. They were more interested in having their faces painted with traditional Burmese flair, as administered by our South African friend Yolande, who served as face painter and photographer at this memorable meal.

It was quite a spread, though we barely scratched the service of the promising food in this cookbook. Even if we made a safe entry point into this mysterious cuisine, everyone present who cooked or simply dined enjoyed their meal. Now, emboldened and eager, we could easily host two or three more feasts using different recipes. We're already on the look-out for ingredients to make Easy Coriander-Tomato Omelet, Golden Egg Curry, Lima Beans with Galangal, Herbed Catfish Laap, Village Boys' Chicken ("the kind of dish that village boys who have stolen a neighbor's chicken would cook up for themselves"), Aromatic Chicken from the Shan Hills, Deep-Fried Street-Stall Chicken and the indispensable Curried Chicken Livers, not to mention a host of dips, chutneys, sweets and rice and noodle dishes that have our advanced copy looking like a turmeric-stained, dog-eared wreck of passed-down family recipes. We didn't even prepare the national dish, mohinga, a noodle and fish soup concoction represented in its various regional incarnations.

Preparing this meal reminded us why it's advantageous to cook outside of one's own culture and comfort zone. It expands cooking confidence and ability by introducing new tricks and ingredients into the home cook's arsenal. So we heartily encourage adventurous cook to purchase a copy of Burma here when the book is released in late September. You may surprise yourself. And don't forget, cooking exotic is so much more rewarding if attempted with friends.

The Perils of Summer Reading

At left is a photo from Turnrow's best-seller shelf, updated every other week or so. We like to proclaim our list of bestsellers is "Not Like the Rest," although looking from left to right, in order of top-selling, that claim doesn't hold this week.

Until you get to #5, Adam Levin's The Instructions. It's not your typical bestseller. First, it's as big as all three Fifty Shades books put together, though the page count hasn't deterred many from buying it. Also, it's about a Jewish grade school student who thinks he's the Messiah. Not a hot topic in the Deep South. In addition the book has already been out for a year in paperback and hasn't enjoyed the benefit of a book club, class reading, sexed-up hype machine, or an author event ... though the author has expressed his interest in coming to Mississippi.

So how do we account for The Instructions' popularity in Greenwood, Mississippi? Grassroots reader enthusiasm. A good story, however large, however strange, need only be told well and fall on willing ears to find a home. The book might never have made its way into our modest burg had not one of our booksellers been trying to make a point while on a recent vacation. Ben describes his experience herein:

"There was once a time when a book was dangerous because of the words found beneath the covers. Recently, I found the physical book is also very dangerous. I recently had to travel and decided to silently protest e-readers. I searched my bookshelf for the perfect book which would say, 'This is a book!  Look at it! A real Book! Deal with it!' I chose The Instructions by Adam Levin. It's a massive tome, even in paperback, weighing in around 1100 pages and four inches thick. This was the book that would make e-readers seem inferior. Suck it Amazon! For the next four days, The Instructions would become a constant source of controversy. 

"I arrived at the first security check point at 5:30 a.m., ready to protest. I was immediately held and all of my belongings were searched because Homeland Security found the book I was trying take on the plane to be, 'unusually large.' They even had a dog. Once on the plane, people kept staring at me as I read. It felt good to make them uncomfortable as they tapped away on their toys. The one thing I forgot in all of my protest preparation is that I would actually have to read this giant book. Lucky for me, it was one of the most entertaining books I have read in a long time.  

"The Instructions is the story of four days in the life of Gurion Maccabee, a ten-year-old genius/trouble maker, who has been relegated to an in-school suspension known as the Cage after trying to start a revolution, during which he proclaimed himself a messiah. Separated from his followers, he begins to write a manifesto called 'The Instructions,' which once disseminated to his followers will allow his revolution to begin anew. This book is a cross between David Foster Wallace and Philip Roth and even more hilarious. Sure, the book is gigantic, but the story and voice of this novel will have you turning pages faster than most books you'll read this summer. It took me two relatively short flights to finish this book. But back to the protest…

"Traveling home, I was once again detained by Homeland Security when I had trouble answering an officer who asked me what these 'Instructions' were for. I stammered a reply, and then she wanded me and let me pass. On the plane ride home, a flight attendant made a spectacle of my 'nerdy' reading habits and said that she could never read a book this large. It felt like the entire plane was staring at me. I loved it. I noticed a woman two rows up from me reading a paperback copy of Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. She nodded and I thought for a moment I might take this protest to a new level. I could be a messiah just like Gurion. A redeemer of books, but ... you know, Homeland Security and all..."

The Instructions has since been enjoyed by other staff members and is one of the best-selling titles on this summer's Turnrow 20 list. There's still time to claim your copy and make it a summer reading project. Be brave and carry it on the plane. Heave it proud.

Andrew Henry's Meadow (Turnrow 20)

Coming on strong last weekend was our only children's Turnrow 20 title for the summer, Andrew Henry's Meadow by the late Doris Burn. The chief bookman here made an executive call when he added this title to the list. He'd read the book when he was a kid, lost it, and for years couldn't remember the title. Lo and behold, he found a used copy not long ago and was taken back to childhood. He shared it with his own children, who expressed a similar enthusiasm, and then just a few months ago was ecstatic to learn that Penguin Books was republishing it this summer.

After reading Andrew Henry's Meadow, we understand why this book resonated over the years. It touches on key interests of childhood and presents a cleverly told, imaginative story without a lot of fuss and with wonderful, simple black-and-white illustrations (see below).

Andrew is a child inventor in the hamlet of Stubbsville. He's an odd bird in a conventional family. His father, mother, brothers and sisters don't often appreciate his whimsical creations, which take up too much room in their home, so Andrew lights out for a distant meadow where he constructs his own house to suit his needs. 

Soon a host of the town's other outcast children wander into the meadow and employ Andrew to build their own houses, each structure befitting the child's character and hobbies. Soon a village has sprung up, and the town of Stubbsville realizes all of its precocious children are gone. The inevitable jubilant reunion teaches the townsfolk to embrace their more creative, unconventional elements. 

Kids have an innate fascination for tree houses, forts, hideouts and bunkers, so they will love Andrew's meadow dwellings, as will adults, who may recall their own penchant for hiding out. To see the world convincingly through a child's eyes is a great achievement in children's literature, and Ms. Burn, who based the character of Andrew Henry on her son Mark, has done a remarkable job of it. 

We're overjoyed to see this back in print and implore you to pick up your copy here, whether for your own kids or as a friend or relative's birthday gift ... or if you just want to feel like a kid again.

The Age of Miracles (Turnrow 20)

Shoppers were all over the Turnrow 20 this weekend. The best seller of the bunch was Karen Thompson Walker's debut novel, The Age of Miracles, which rode into bookstores last week on a wave of reader enthusiasm and buzz for the author's enormous advance. Gossip aside, we found Walker's debut ideal summer reading, a cross between the popular genres of apocalpytic fiction and coming-of-age drama, a novel brilliantly balanced in reality and speculation. 

On a day like any other, 11-year-old Julia finds that the world has been drastically altered. The Earth's rotation has slowed. Scientists don't know why, only that further complications will arise. As the days grow longer, time loses all meaning. The media erupts in nonstop coverage, governments break down in an awkward slow grind, and the world explodes into frenzy. 

But even the end of the world becomes old news as the small events of daily life begin to eclipse the slow-motion, large-scale disaster. Julia, working her way through middle school, continues to cope with the complicated relationships around her, and it's these conflicts, rather than the mysteries of the planet's demise, that begin to drive the book. As the characters take new stock of their lives, however uncertain, the novel becomes a very thoughtful and captivating story about how people continue in the face of adversity.

This is not the impenetrable doomsday dark of McCarthy's The Road, but more like a poetic, sun-going-down darkness that readers of Jonathan Safran Foer, Aimee Bender and Karen Russell will enjoy. Even young fans of The Hunger Games will find in The Age of Miracles a quieter but no less tense story of a world turned upside down.

Ford v. Colbert

If you didn't catch Richard Ford here at Turnrow Books a couple of weeks ago when he spoke about his excellent new novel Canada (signed copies here), watch him hold his own with wily Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night's show. Ford always supplies brilliant answers on matters of writing and literature, even when the question is absurd and zeaously antagonist. He uses just the right amount of the Ford bite to give it right back to Colbert. Enjoy....

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