Rhythm and Books

Two Future Delta Classics

We returned to the hills this weekend, to Lafayette County, for the wedding of friends and fellow booksellers Cody Morrison and Katie Snodgrass of Square Books in Oxford.   You know they're good book people by all the writers who attended. 

It was great to catch up with old friends, and then we found ourselves the next day with good Delta folks in Taylor, Mississippi, at the home of Jane Rule Burdine.   Jane Rule is one of our favorite people, and certainly one of the best photographers at work today.   If you're not familiar with her work, it's because she's so shy and modest.  Rarely does she show her work in public, but she'll often show to glad souls who pay her a visit.  It takes but a moment to become mesmerized by her work.   Her view of the Delta's landscape, architecture and people capture the unique spirit of the place — the contradictions, the strange beauty, and the overwhelming sense of history that hovers just below the surface of everything.

Lucky for us all, curator Wendy McDaris has helped Jane Rule put together a stunning collection from her 30-year career, which the University Press of Mississippi will publish this fall.  Jane Rule and Wendy showed us proofs of the book, Delta Deep Down, and we're convinced this is THE art book to have this year. The collection is brilliantly arranged and prefaced with an excellent and insightful introduction by Delta native Steve Yarbrough.   But it's the power of Jane Rule's photos that will make this book, like its subject, a timeless work, captivating the imagination of all who peek inside.

Fortuitously, we were joined at Jane Rule's by our friend Martha Foose, who lives here in Greenwood and also on a catfish farm just above Yazoo City.  Martha is Delta deep down herself, and happened to have the finished copy of her new cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, which comes out at the end of April.  If you've been to the Viking Cooking School, you may have had the pleasure of serving under Martha's tutelage.  Her gifts as a chef and a storyteller culminate in this wonderful book, which raises Delta cuisine to a high art.  Strange, funny, beautiful and delicious, this is THE book on Delta food.

We love these ladies and their creativity so much we'll be pulling out the stops for their book release parties.  Martha will be here May 1 to sign, and Jane Rule will be here September 11.  Mark your calendars, steam your party duds, and order up.

Jack ... Not a Dull Boy

Guess who showed up to speak at the Last Tuesday of the Month Book Club this week?  Of course, it was Jack Pendarvis, the author of March's featured book, Your Body is Changing.  (The author is photographed here by renowned Delta photographer Langdon Clay.)  The LTMBC reads a different contemporary Southern author each month, and we enjoy helping them lure the author in to speak to the group when possible.

Jack expressed slight apprehension in speaking to the group after we told him how the club took issue with some of the Southern themes in Dennis McFarland's provocative Letter From Point Clear.  The group met with McFarland the day after their meeting and showed him great respect and kindness with their criticisms.  While polite, this is a group of seasoned readers who are forthright with their literary opinions, and Jack was right to be nervous.

Luckily the club members enjoyed Your Body is Changing, and they especially loved Jack, who regaled them with tales of the writer's life, living, as he does and has been mentioned here, right across the street from William Faulkner's place in Oxford.  After some prompting from the group, Jack revealed some of the inspirations for his stories, among them Woody Allen, Conan O'Brien, and "The Gilmore Girls."  When asked to read a section from the title novella, Jack demurred, hesitant to utter profanity in mixed company, but he was assured by the club that they could not be offended, that they had, in fact, heard it all, though one member confessed to being at first put-off by the book's ribaldry, but once inoculated, could enjoy it guilt-free.  (Later, this member told us that reading Jack's book, while different from the books she normally enjoys, was refreshing because it made her feel like she was in high school again.)  So modest was Jack that he advised the group against reading his forthcoming  novel, Awesome, the unlikely story of a sexy, cool giant for whom nothing goes wrong.  On this matter only, we must strongly disagree.

Rep Me a New One, pt. 1

People often ask us, when considering the volume of books in the store, "How do you know which books to buy?"  Good question.  There are thousands upon thousands of new books published every year, and the best way for a store like Turnrow to wade through the glut of new titles is with a little help from our publisher reps.  Most of them will shoot you straight, dissuading you from buying the junk (unless it's junk you need) and serving as a liason between our store and the publisher.  It's easy for a small independent store to get lost among the hubbub of the big chains, which makes it crucial to have a voice on the inside.  A lot of the success we've achieved luring authors to the Delta is due to the reps.

Therefore we wanted to recognize our book reps and share their insight with you in a new series, Rep Me a New One.  Our first contributor is Jeff Cope (pictured at left in our nature section) of Macmillan (Picador, Bloomsbury, FSG, Henry Holt, St. Martin's and many more), who recently came to sell us his summer list.  We asked him to point out a few of his favorite books coming out from Macmillan this summer, and here's what he wrote.... 

I love coming to Mississippi. It’s one my favorite places in my territory.  The people, the land, the food and its history all fascinate me, and especially the birth place of the blues. I have been bragging to my sales manager Ken Holland what a great store Turnrow is. He finally picked the locks to the chains binding him to his New York City desk and came to see for himself. He was not disappointed. I wanted Ken to leave Mississippi not impressed but wanting to come back, and I think I achieved that. 

We made two other pilgrimages besides Turnrow. The first was to Rowan Oak in Oxford.  Ken is also a writer, so we could not pass up a chance to see the home of one of America's greatest writers. It was a beautiful day to explore the grounds with blue skies and a temp near 70. We had a good conversation with the curator, and we both learned something we thought we should have learned while studying Faulkner: he added the "u" to his name for publishing purposes. The second destination was Robert Johnson’s grave site. More chamber-of-commerce weather greeted us. The air was crisp, cool, with the only sound the wind in the trees and a few birds. The quietness of the moment was moving, as were the tributes left on the headstone from other “pilgrims.” We were the only people there and it felt like we were the only ones around for miles. We got this strange feeling of being alone but not quite alone. It was almost a mystical moment. The only thing missing was a little mist in the air and fog hugging the ground. It’s a trip I’ll make again.

From there it was on to Greenwood, Turnrow Books and the continuing culinary adventure I was also taking Ken on. If he left Mississippi hungry, it was his own fault. We had a lovely dinner with Jamie and Kelly at Giardina’s and lunch the next day at Hoover's for some home cooking. He was in heaven. To say he loved Turnrow, and all of the things Jamie and Kelly are doing is understatement. I can safely say that this is a trip he’ll want to make again.

I’m also here to talk about some summer books! So let's talk about the trip Tony Horwitz made and wrote about in his new tome, A Voyage Long and Strange, due this May from Henry Holt. In this adventure, Tony (Blue Latitudes and Confederates in the Attic) follows the explorers that came before the Mayflower. From the Vikings to Columbus to Cortez and other explorers, Horwitz tries to retrace their foot steps, especially across the southeast U.S., and along the way not only entertains but educates us about the early exploration of this continent that is all too often glossed over, if taught at all, in today’s history classes. I think it’s his best yet. (Thanks to Jeff & Ken, Tony is signing and reading at a special author luncheon at Turnrow on May 21. Reserve your lunch and book here. -ed.)

Time for a confession. My reading tastes run more to literary fiction and lots of history and biographies, but when my friend Emily Giffin asked me to read her new book, Love the One You’re With (due this May from St. Martin’s), I made the exception. Yeah, I read some chick lit. I started it one Saturday evening and as the hour got later, I kept telling myself “one more chapter and I’m going to bed,” then it was “just one more chapter” until the last chapter somewhere around 1 a.m. Once again Emily has touched on a subject that many people can relate to and will strike a chord with many readers. Reading groups that choose this book will have lots to discuss.

Remember Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso (FSG, due in May). Books by and about survivors of life threatening illness are everywhere. As a survivor (fighter) I think this one stands above the crowd.

Look for these books at Turnrow in May. Hopefully on my next trip through Mississippi, they'll let me contribute some more.

Never Quit,
JC

Speaking of John Grisham

In the wake of our blog launch here at Turnrow Book Co., we must give credit to one of our favorite writers, Jack Pendarvis, who unwittingly inspired us to enter the blogosphere.  An ardent champion of our bookselling efforts (and our custom bookmarks), Jack is also a hilarious writer and master of his own blog, which we visit frequently.  We offer signed first editions of both of his fine books (The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure and Your Body is Changing, both published by MacAdam/Cage, with a third due this summer).  Also, we are anxiously awaiting his upcoming visit and talk with a local bookclub whose members read contemporary Southern authors and are often discouraged that they don't make 'em like William Faulkner or Walker Percy any more.  If you'd like a quick sample, dabble into Jack's short pieces from The Believer, or take the leap and order both books from us.  Speaking of William Faulkner, Jack lives a stone's throw from the old Faulkner place in Oxford, Mississippi, where he currently serves as the John and Renee Grisham Visiting Southern Writer-in-Residence. 

And speaking of John Grisham, he paid us a visit recently.  Always generous and a friend to Mississippi's independent bookstores, John gave several precious hours of his time to sign all of our copies of his new novel, The Appeal, which is not only his return to legal thrillers but possibly one of the best reviewed books of his career.  Just because you can buy his books at nearly every fly-swarming grocery store or congested mega-mart in the country (but not signed, like you can at Turnrow, for only $27.95) doesn't mean he's not writing important literature.  No less than the Boston Globe called The Appeal "a novel that could become its own era-defining classic," while the Los Angeles Times said, "no other writer of his popularity is quite so keen-eyed or as fierce a social critic," declaring Grisham a literary heir to Upton Sinclair.

Of course, not everyone is comfortable with Grisham's outspokenness.  One customer came in the other day and informed us that she wouldn't be buying The Appeal, citing a boycott in protest of the new religion he was starting with Jimmy Carter.  Perplexed, we immediately went to the internet, scouring search engines for proof of this rise of a new modern-day L. Ron Hubbard, and found this account of Grisham's address at a convention for Baptists.  It's doubtful that much rancor will accompany his remarks, which called for more diversity and acceptance in the church, but it's interesting to note the swift evolution of his comments.

Grisham is pictured above in our slightly-less-disheveled-than-normal stock room with Turnrow's own Page Whites, who earned her birth name by "paging" every copy of The Appeal to the precise page where the author signs, a time-saving measure in the flurry of limbs, ink and paper that constitutes a marathon backroom stock signing.  Did we mention we had signed copies of The Appeal?

A Rare Occurrence

Imagine our surprise here on the eve of spring break in the Delta to be caught in the path of a winter storm.  Snowfall is rare here, but last night's inch or two made for some momentary excitement.  The area's spring-primed children, many experiencing their first snowfall, stumbled out at daybreak to make dwarf snowmen and mud angels before the mid-morning sun reclaimed their winter folly.  Here's a look across the Yazoo River at downtown Greenwood before the melt.

Blog's Debut

Welcome to the new Rhythm and Books blog from Turnrow Book Co.  We're an independent bookstore in the Mississippi Delta, which is one of the most unique and storied parts of the country.  Most know the Delta as the birthplace of the blues, but there is a common misconception that this delta is at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Instead its farther north, a crescent-shaped area between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Ages of flood waters and isolation have steeped the Delta in fertile soil as well as mystery, lore and eccentricity.  If you haven't been to this region of America, you have to see it to believe it.  Plan a trip and make sure to include Greenwood, where our store is located, right downtown where the historical city center is enjoying a vibrant revitalization. 

Folks are always interested in what's happening in the Delta, and while we'll relay news of the most interesting and unusual happenings, this blog will focus largely on books and music.  Our store features all manner of books, but we have a special emphasis in Southern writers and cookbooks, due in large part to the local presence of Viking Range. (They're the primo cooking appliance manufacturer based here in Greenwood.  Before coming this way, look into a cooking class or a stay at the beautiful Alluvian Hotel next door to us.)  We're also building a nice collection of signed books. We encourage you to start your own signed book library if you haven't already, and we'll gladly send you any of ours that pique your interest.

We hope you'll enjoy our reports from the Mississippi Delta and points beyond, and we encourage you to comment and send in your own reports and recommendations.