LitChick

Forget Harry, we're wild about Jane ... Austen, that is

2007-08-01T17:10:00.000-05:00

Everywhere I turn these days, there are stories about Jane Austen. Feeding the frenzy are two major movies about the Brit Chick - who, when you think about it, has been pop, pop, popular for at least a decade now. On Friday, "Becoming Jane" opens with the charming Anne Hathaway playing Jane in a story about an "untold" romance. On Sept. 21, the "Jane Austen Book Club" opens. It's based on Karen Joy Fowler's best seller - what would Hollywood do without books!? - and follows the book club members' love lives, which could be right out of an Austen book.

Our newsroom librarian, Sally Besten, left a story from the Lousiville Courier Journal in my mail box about a chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America forming there - it would be the state's first - and it made me wonder whether there are some Austen powers here. I did spot a chapter in Dayton and another in Lakewood on the society's web site but was looking for something closer - it doesn't have to be an official group.

So, it you're meeting regularly to talk Jane, please post a comment about your group or e-mail me. Depending on how many people I hear from, this could turn into a nice story for the paper ...

Busken Bakery: from billboards to book

2007-07-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

You know those witty Busken Bakery billboards seen around town for the past decade? The ones with simple wording accompanied by a single image such as “Hey, sweet cakes” with a cupcake and “Mardi responsibly” with a Mardi Gras King Cake? Well, they’re being compiled for the first time in “Have a Crumby Book: A Collection of Wit and Whimsy from Cincinnati’s Favorite Bakery” by Enquirer reporter John Eckberg. That's a mock-up of the cover above.

It’s scheduled for release Nov. 1 by Cincinnati publisher Clerisy Press – the folks who brought us the bestselling “Crosley” last fall. The book will feature the same crisp look and shape as the billboards – and will include the best boards, “half-baked” versions and out-takes showing the campaigns from concept to completion. The Creative Department, the sassy Over-the-Rhine ad agency behind the campaign, is designing the book.

Exhibits at UC, Main Library and Taft spotlight books

2007-07-30T11:36:00.000-05:00

There are three small exhibits around town now that are perfect for book lovers:

Librarians in the Stacks at the University of Cincinnati’s Langsam Library features books about librarians that portray them in every light imaginable, from heroes to villains. It was curated by librarian Christen McClanahan. It’s on the fourth and fifth floors of the library, which is on the main campus in Clifton and will be up through Aug. 31.

Artful book binding is celebrated in The Book of Origins: A Survey of Fine Binding at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Main Library. The touring exhibit features the work of 10 Americans and is in the atrium. It continues through Aug. 15 and Gabrielle Fox, local bookbinder extraordinaire, will give a demo of hand binding techniques 2 p.m. Sunday in the Reading Garden Lounge.

Around Town at the Taft Museum of Art showcases 19th century books about Cincinnati that might have provided inspiration for marble sculptor Hiram Powers, whose work is on exhibit at the museum through Aug. 12. The books, which will be on display through Aug. 19, are drawn from the Taft and private collections. Included is the rare 50th wedding anniversary album of Nicholas and Susan Longworth. He was one of Powers’ most important patrons and once owned the home that houses the Taft.

Farewell next Friday

2007-07-27T13:02:00.000-05:00

The Lit Chick blog will disappear next Friday. Traffic is slow on the blog and I'm going to redirect my energies to book news in the Enquirer, where you will find my book notes column every Tuesday, in addition to regular stories, interviews and other book news. Of course, these also will posted on our web site, so you will still find me online. The focus will remain on local professional authors, that is, authors from Cincinnati and who live here now and are professionally published - as well as on books from professional publishers about the area and authors on tour who are stopping here.

One more Harry moment & another chance to weigh in

2007-07-26T13:29:00.000-05:00

USA Today has a wonderful interview with J.K. Rowling in today's paper that is a must read.

Also, I put a "no spoilers" request on the "U review post" asking for reader reviews/comments on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and want to thank all of you for being so careful. However, now that it's been almost a week, feel free to weigh in with all your thoughts on the book here now by posting a comment. And slow readers: beware the spoilers you might find ...

Moving past Rowling to another best seller: Kim Edwards

2007-07-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

Like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, Kim Edward's novel "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" is one of those books that doesn't seem to budge from the best sellers lists. Well, that is, since its release in May 2006 in paperback, which catapulted it and the lousiville author into the limelight as book club after book club latched onto it and word of mouth spread.

It's been on the New York Times paperback fiction list for 55 weeks and will be at No. 3 this coming Sunday - it's 56th week.

Meanwhile, Edwards' publisher, Penguin, has re-released an earlier book of short stories by her. "The Secrets of a Fire King" was published a decade ago but she has added three new stories for this edition. It was released in May and the stories cover much the same ground as "Memory": family ties, secrets, the consequences of secrets, love and all the baggage it comes with.

I interviewed Edwards a few months ago before she spoke at NKU. At the time, she said she was in the midst of writing a new novel. You can find out more about that, "Fire King" and "Memory" when she appears at a book signing 7 p.m. Monday at Books & Co's Beavercreek store.

Footnote: By the way, if you haven't been to either of the Books & Co. stores in Dayton, they are worth a trip. Until a year or two ago, B&C was an independent. Now it's owned by Books-A-Million but it still retains its independent air and charm. Beyond that, it has a long track record of booking A-list authors and a rep for well-organized signings.

Harry, Harry, Harry: another record breaker

2007-07-23T12:55:00.000-05:00

A snap I shot Friday night of some of the 3,500 people who crowded Jo-Beth for the release of HP7. Books & Co. had 4,000 people at its Beavercreek store and 2,500 at its Kettering one for its release parties. Cincinnati Public Library counted a little more than 500 at its official party at its Madeira branch and the Campbell County Library had 400 at its Newport branch for its first ever release party.

Publishers Weekly is reporting today that record-breaking numbers keep coming in for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Scholastic said Sunday that the book, which had a first printing of 12 million copies, sold a record-breaking 8.3 million copies in the U.S. in its first 24 hours. Random House claims "Deathly" to be the fastest-selling audio in history with weekend sales estimated at 225,000 copies, a 40% jump over the two-day start for "Half-Blood Prince." At Borders, the book broke a record for the chain, selling 1.2 million copies worldwide, “the highest single-day sales of any title ever in Borders history,” it said. Barnes & Noble sold 1.8 million copies over the weekend and an additional 213,000 copies of other books in the series and Potter products. Amazon presold 2.2 million copies and shipped 1.3 million copies in the U.S. for Saturday delivery.

Post your review as a comment on my previous post - below - but please avoid substantial spoilers at this point since people are still slogging through the 759-page book. I'll be adding my comments to that post sometime - I did finish reading it early Sunday morning. And I shot photos at the wild scene at Jo-Beth - if they turn out to be in focus, I'll post those, too at some point ... already added one above and one of the shrouded sealed boxes to the previous post.

U review: offer up your thoughts about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

2007-07-20T11:20:00.000-05:00

After midnight there will be millions of sleep-deprived, red-eyed readers who have stayed up all night to polish off “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the final novel in J.K. Rowling’s coming-of-age saga of the talented and troubled young wizard who has spent his life battling the evil wizard who killed his parents.

If you’ll be among them, I'd love to know what you think. Did the series end the way you had hoped? Are you disappointed? Sad? Thrilled? How does this book rate compared to the rest? E-mail your comments to me or post a comment here. Please be sure to include your name, age and neighborhood/town - even if you post anonymously - because we're going to reverse publish a selection of comments in Tuesday's Life section.

New York Times gets Potter early and publishes its review

2007-07-19T09:47:00.000-05:00

So, I ask myself "Why couldn't I be one of those people who saunters into a bookstore only to find "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" on sale two or three days early or why didn't I order it from deepdiscount.com and have it arrive yesterday?" But nooooooo.

Well, apparently someone at the N.Y. Times walked into a store in New York City yesterday - right in Scholastic's own backyard - and bought a copy. Times' book critic Michiko Kakutani speed read it and the Times published its review today. It gives away some major plot turns but does not reveal who dies.

So, click on the link above and read it if you must but be forewarned that you might learn things you wish you hadn't. I will tell you this, she says that it ends "not with modern, "Soprano"-esque equivication, but with but with good old-fashioned closure: a big-screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates."

Footnote: Rowling has responded to today's publication of the Times review and another by the Baltimore Sun with this statement: "I am staggered that American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry’s final destination by themselves, in their own time. I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry’s last adventure for fans."

Windsor McCay's Little Nemo & the revival of classic comics

2007-07-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of "Windsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. 1" (Checker Book Publishing Group, $49.95) and it finally turned up on my desk this week - close on the heels of a cover story in Publishers Weekly about the revival of "Golden Age" newspaper comic strips via anthologies.

The ongoing project by Fantagraphics to republish all of Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" strips and the popularity of mammoth "complete" collections such as "Calvin and Hobbes" and "The Far Side" have helped push publishers toward bringing back even older strips. The boom in graphic novels hasn't hurt, either. One publisher creating such anthologies is Checker, which is based in West Carrolton, Ohio and turned to the archives of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library for help on this book.

I was introduced to McCay's work decades ago when working at a film library and saw his classic 1914 animated film "Gertie the Dinosaur." It was love at first sight. When I moved to Cincinnati, I eventually discovered that McCay got his start in newspapers, right here at The Enquirer. As I always say: "All roads lead to Cincinnati." But where he really found fame was in New York City at the New York Herald (a paper that my great grandfather would later work for as its Paris editor).

This was back in the early 20th century when a comic strip could occupy an entire page - yes, a whole page for one comic strip - and McCay's "Little Nemo" was one of those strips. It debuted in 1905 and continued through 1913. He stopped drawing it when his editor insisted he turn his attention to editorial cartooning. He tried reviving it in the 1920s but that was short-lived. This volume contains the strips from 1905-1909.

Looking at Nemo, I see a similarity to Maurice Sendak's delightful illustrations. There is a sense of wonder and the fantastic that echoes early animated cartoons. McCay's work is far more complex and crowded than Sendak's but both have a cinematic feel in their use of varying views and perspective. There's an amazing sequence - above - in which the legs on Nemo's bed grow and the next thing you know, the bed is walking outside, through city streets and across rooftops on spindly legs with sinuous art nouveau curves.

I have to wonder though, whether Nemo will be as controversial as "Tintin in the Congo." That 1931 comic was just republished and the Borders chain moved it to the adult section of its stores here and in the U.K. and Australia, because of complaints about its exaggerated depiction of Africans. It's the second volume in a series of 23 that follows the adventures of Tintin, a reporter.

The McCay book includes "Tales of the Jungle Imps," which appeared in 1903 and introduced some of the characters that would appear later in "Nemo." As in the Tintin comic book, McCay's Africans are drawn in a monkey-like vein. I couldn't help but wince. Some people want it "banned" but I see such images as important in understanding the state of race relations today tough I concede that you might need an adult perspective to put them in context.

The second volume of "Nemo" will be published later this summer and will include strips from 1910-1913, as well as the previously uncollected 1924-1926 run with most in full color.

Serious summer reading for the college set

2007-07-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

Don't be surprised to see college-bound freshmen doing some required reading this summer. An increasing number of schools are sending students to the stacks, then following up with book discussions and author appearances after school starts. Colleges have learned that collective reading can be a bonding experience that helps students connect with one another. It's also a relatively painless way to address social and world issues. This year's books are serious, although that's not always the case.

Miami University has been at it for three decades and this summer selected "What Is the What" (McSweeney's, $26), Dave Eggers' fictionalized memoir of a refugee from the Sudanese civil war. He'll be on campus Aug. 17 to address the University Convocation. Ohio State University also picked Eggers' book, but the school is so big that it frequently selects a few titles, which are read by students in different schools within the university.

OSU's second choice is "Life on the Color Line" (Plume, $15) by Gregory Howard Williams. It recounts the author's experience growing up in the 1950s in Virginia believing that he was white, only to discover that his dark-skinned father was half-black not Italian as he had been told. Both authors will visit the campus in the fall; Eggers Oct. 17-18 and Williams Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 with details to be announced.

I had the oddest experience at OSU last week when I was in the audience

for a welcoming speech by the vice president for "First Year Experience" during the two-day orientation for honors students. She was discussing the book club and said that they didn't realize that Miami was reading Eggers til they saw it in my print column. Well, that certainly impressed my soon-to-be-OSU-freshman.

The College of Mount St. Joseph picked "A Long Way Gone" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $22). It's Ishmael Beah's gripping and critically acclaimed memoir about his recruitment at age 12 to fight in the Sierra Leone civil war. Beah will speak at the college 7 p.m. Oct. 30 in a program open to the public.

At Northern Kentucky University, students are being asked to read

"Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing Wilderness" (Riverhead, $14) by Erik Reece. The exposé of the coal industry is subtitled "Radical Strip Mining and the Devastation of Appalachia." Publishers Weekly's review called it a "searing indictment of how a country's energy lust is ravaging the hills and hollows." Reece will meet with students Oct. 17-18 and will give a public lecture 7 p.m. Oct. 17.

Payne-ful end to Cincinnati artist's Reader's Digest covers

2007-07-17T16:31:00.000-05:00

I have an item posted on my Visual Arts blog that has cross-blog appeal: it's about the end of Cincinnati artist C.F. Payne's back cover illustrations for Reader's Digest magazine. It also mentions covers by him that you will be seeing on a trio of James Howe titles that are being reissued next month by Simon & Schuster in trade paperback editions. And he's hinting that he might have some other big news soon ... more as it happens ...

Looking for recommendations for online book clubs

2007-07-17T12:27:00.000-05:00

While on vacation, I received the following e-mail from a reader, Julie Hust: "I belong to a book club but it has stalled. Do you know of any on-line clubs that are actually active? I love nothing better than to read a good book except to discuss that book!"

To be honest, online book clubs are not my thing. I sent her kind of a lame reply about the clubs that Barnes & Noble hosts online and that old standby: Oprah's Book Club. I felt kind of bad about not being of much help, so I asked her if I could post her query, because I'm sure that someone out there must be more clued in to virtual book clubs than I am.

So, if you know of some good ones, please post a comment ... with the club's web address, of course.

It's finally happened, I'm gripped by Potter mania

2007-07-16T16:39:00.000-05:00

It's official, I now have Harry Potter fever. After reading the six books and those two little offshoots, writing what seems like a zillion HP stories and speed reading the past three books to write almost-instant reviews I thought I was immune. But yesterday, I was sitting on the front porch reading the Sunday New York Times when I opened the Book Review and what should unfold in it's center but a ginormous full-color poster of the front cover of "Deathy Hallows" inviting readers to "celebrate with the world."

I jumped up, ran inside, took everything off the front of the fridge and put up the poster - eliciting a shriek from my daughter, well known among friends and family for her disdain of all things Harry. Also putting me in the mood was re-reading book six and participating in a panel discussion about Harry for WCET Connect.

No, I don't have an advance copy. They stopped sending them after Book 3. I do have proof copies of those first three under lock and key - signed by illustrator Mary GrandPre and awaiting Ms. Rowling's sig. Hah! My trip request to London was rejected but I have hopes for her fall American tour. Meanwhile, like all of you I have no clue how it will end, who will die, etc.

But I've jumped ahead - past this release and am thinking prequel. I know Rowling has said that this is the last HP book but what about his parents, Lily and James? I want to know their story. And what about Dumbledore's past? And how did Lord Voldemort become the Darth Vader of wizards? What turned him to the Dark Side? You can see where I'm headed here ... a Star Wars style series that turns back the clock. Rowling appears too emotionally attached to this story to let it go ... yet.

Tuesday postscript: Want to have Harry read to you? Well, Joseph-Beth is doing a marathon reading of all the books. They started a few days ago and are now on "Goblet of Fire." Staffers are taking turns reading during store hours, with someone new stepping in every hour on the hour. It's over by the fireplace. They expect to end sometime Friday, at which point everyone will be scurrying around to set up for the massive release party that night.

Geoff Williams: Loveland author braving HP7 blitzto talk about legendary sports promoter C.C. Pyle

2007-07-16T15:59:00.000-05:00

C.C. Pyle in an image from N.Y. World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper Photo Collection, Library of Congress

Endurance. That’s what Loveland author Geoff Williams’ new book is about. “C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race” (Rodale, $25.95) is set in 1928 and tells the story of a grueling coast-to-coast foot race cooked up by Pyle, a colorful promoter who was to sports what P.T. Barnum was to the circus. Pyle offered a $25,000 prize to the winner of a 3,423-mile foot race from Los Angeles to New York. Today’s reality TV contestants have it easy when compared to this lot, who had none of the benefits of advances in medicine, sports nutrition and footwear. Williams will discuss the book at a signing 2-4 p.m. July 21 at Lebanon's Cooperfields Coffee Café and Bookstore,* 3 S. Broadway (513-933-0392).

The race was open only to men and drew quite a cast of characters from Brother John, a zealot whose race attire was a sack cloth to Andy Payne, a Native American who hoped the jackpot would pay off the family farm, to Paul Simpson, a college student who had already survived being hit by a car.

All told, 199 runners paid the $125 entry fee. In the end, 55 of them crossed the finish line at Madison Square Garden in what turned out to be an 84-day rce in which the average daily run was 40.7 miles. Williams had exclusive access to previously unpublished material and also interviewed descendants of some of the main characters.

“It’s an amazing story that somehow became forgotten,” says Williams, 37. Although he has no interest in running – “I have trouble running to catch a bus,” he says – he’s been itching to write this book for years. The story, which Publishers Weekly calls “a breezy, entertaining read,” has all the makings of a terrific movie. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear any minute that it’s been optioned. It could get a boost after Pyle pops up as a main supporting character in George Clooney’s “Leatherheads,” which Clooney directed, co-wrote and co-stars in. It’s about the beginnings of pro football and hits screens in December. The superb British actor Jonathan Pryce will play Pyle.

* Footnote: This will be the last signing at the shop, which owner Victoria Tappy is closing at the end of the month.

Out of the office

2007-07-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

Just a head's up that I'm out of the office. I'll be back July 16 in plenty of time for all the Harry hoopla.

Lebanon illustrator Jared Lee's Black Lagoon series is at 11 million copies and still growing

2007-07-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

School might be out for summer but it’s never out for the riotous Black Lagoon series that preys on children’s classroom fears. The newest title is “The Computer Teacher from the Black Lagoon” (Scholastic, $3.50) by Lebanon illustrator Jared Lee and co-conspirator, Oregon writer Mike Thaler. It's the 30th book in the children’s series, which includes picture books, chapter books and four specialty titles.

The premise of each is basically the same: a bewildered grade school student imagining what a teacher, other school staffer, event or classmate might be like, trying to sort myth from reality, and conjuring up nightmare scenarios. Of course, his or her worst fears are completely unfounded and the ending is always happy. Despite the formula, getting there is always delicious fun and just a bit hair-raising. I never tire of these books and, trust me, I thought I would.

They've tackled everything from school trips and talent shows to bullies and librarians since the first title, “The Teacher from the Black Lagoon” was released in 1989. An astonishing 11 million copies have been sold, none of the titles has ever gone out of print and some are available in languages other than English, such as Spanish and Korean. They’ve expanded into the licensing of Black Lagoon videos, hand puppets, bobble heads, school posters and other products and are looking at even more, Lee says.

He’s working on illustrations now for four more titles slated for release within the next year and says Scholastic is negotiating to get the books in print in China. Move over J.K. Rowling. Unlike Harry Potter, Lee says, no end is in sight for Lagoon.

A sweet homecoming for Westsider Mary Beth Ellis

2007-07-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

Twenty-one years ago, Mary Beth Ellis entered and won a Father’s Day essay contest sponsored by her neighborhood Waldenbooks store. This weekend, she returns to the same store to talk about and sign Drink to the Lasses (Cold Tree Press, $10.95). It’s a frank memoir about her years as a student in the 1990s at Saint Mary’s College of Notre Dame, the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Ellis left town for a while but now is back, and writing full time. She's at work on another book. Oh, about that prize, it was $25. 11 a.m.-noon, 6139 Glenway Ave., Westwood. 513-662-5837.

Footnote: Cold Tree Press is another one of the new generation of publishers that's basically a vanity press. It's had a few titles picked up by major publishers, which still doesn't happen often despite the self-publishing boom. Most authors who contact me about self-published books are just so thrilled to see their work in print that it doesn't matter to them who published it.

I admire their enthusiasm and optimism as they face the daunting task of trying to sell a book/get attention for it in light of the hundreds of thousands published each year. Right now, there are close to 1,000 books published every day in this country. On top of that, there are hundreds of professional authors in the area being published by major houses.

But writers - whether pro or amateur - are nothing if not persistent. And every time a self-published book such as Eragon breaks through, it fuels the dreams of the self-published that someday the same thing could happen to them.

Sandra Dutton offers etiquette advice for childrenwith a sly sense of humor

2007-07-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

One of the sweetest, but neither cloying nor preachy, etiquette books for children is the recently published "Dear Miss Perfect: A Beast’s Guide to Proper Behavior" (Houghton Mifflin, $16), written and illustrated by former Cincinnatian Sandra Dutton, who looks pretty proper in the photo above.

It stars Miss Perfect, the pitch-perfect etiquette columnist for the “Beastly Gazette.” Kind of a Miss Manners for the animal set. She answers reader’s questions with droll advice such as this Golden Rule: “Be yourself! But never bite another unless you would like to be bitten.” Dutton’s deft pen, ink and watercolor illustrations are a delectable complement to the text.

Dutton graduated from Norwood High in 1962 and was the school's '61 Homecoming Queen, as well as head majorette. Experiences that, no doubt, helped her hone her diplomatic skills. She's now a Ph.D., recently taught creative writing at the University of Maine, had a musical produced as an Equity Showcase at the Sage Theatre and has a few other children's books under her hat. Gee. I suddenly feel so unaccomplished.

Although she lives in Maine, she has family here in, of all places, Maineville. So, she heads back frequently to see them. On a recent visit, she dropped by the Blue Manatee, Blue Marble and Jo-Beth to sign copies of the book, so you might luck into an autographed one.

Illustration for the chapter "A Word from Miss Perfect on Family."

'Disaster' signings and, yes, another Arcadia title

2007-07-03T09:51:00.001-05:00

The week before last, I mentioned a trio of new local history titles from Arcadia. One was Betty Ann Smiddy's Cincinnati's Great Disasters. I wanted to circle back to it because she's now lining up signings. The first one is 1-2 p.m. July 14 at the Kenwood Barnes & Noble on Montgomery Road and the other is 1-4 p.m. July 21 at Carteaux & Leslie, a lovely little shop downtown at 921 Vine St. Now that Smiddy has this book launched, she's working on a revised edition of "A Little Piece of Paradise ... College Hill," which she wrote in 1999 for the College Hill Historical Society but was so popular that it sold out and is no longer in print.

Meanwhile, Arcadia's Black America Series will soon include the title Cincinnati ($19.99) by Gina Ruffin Moore, a Cincinnati freelance writer who now works for the city but whose past jobs include being a producer/reporter for a number of area radio stations and work on the public relations staffs of Cincinnati Public Schools, the University of Cincinnati and former Cincinnati city manager John Shirey. So, she knows a lot of people, which helps when gathering images for the picture-laden Arcadia books. Look for it July 30. I'll let you know about signings as soon as I hear about them.

The cult-like Updike in Cincinnati

2007-07-02T10:39:00.000-05:00

"Updike in Cincinnati" (Ohio University Press, $21.95) has to be one of the most oddly appealing and cult-like books about author John Updike ever published. It’s edited by James Schiff, an associate professor of English at the University of Cincinnati and illustrated with photographs - including the one above - by Jon Hughes, who’s also on the faculty at U.C. and directs its journalism program.

It’s an obsessive account of Updike’s whirlwind two-day visit to Cincinnati in April 2001 for the Cincinnati Short Story Festival, which also included appearances by Lorrie Moore and ZZ Packer. Schiff was deeply involved in organizing the fest and bugged by the lack of coverage by the media. He yearns for the days - nicely covered in "Brilliance and Balderdash" Dale Brown's new book about the Mercantile Library's first 100 years of lectures - when newspapers hung on authors' every word.

He couldn’t let go of the idea that Updike’s visit needed to be chronicled and decided to gather everything – and I do mean everything – between the covers of a book. There are full transcripts from readings, panels and other appearances that were crammed into the visit and Schiff’s introduction offers details down to what Updike was carrying when he picked him up at the airport. "He had not checked any luggage" he notes in a parenthetical statement.

As I said, obsessive. But also utterly engrossing due, in large part, to Updike’s wit, charm and intelligence. The man can answer even the most potentially embarassing question with grace and humor. It's the next best thing to having been a fly on the wall.

Weekend road trippers: Great Smokies

2007-06-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

Tim Hollis’ The Land of the Smokies: Great Mountain Memories (University Press of Mississippi, $55 hardcover / $25 paperback) could not be better timed given summer vacations and family road trips. The heavily-illustrated book is beyond nostalgic with its vintage graphics and Hollis’ preference for old-fashioned destinations such as Ruby Falls - one of my favorite spots from back in the days when I was an editor at the late Nashville Banner - and even more offbeat spots. What family trip would be complete without stopping at someplace truly cheesy? A few rounds of miniature golf, anyone?

Hollis – whose previous books include Dixie Before Disney and Florida’s Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast – will talk about his favorite stops during a discussion/signing 1 p.m. Saturday at Jo-Beth.

Cincinnati author makes Oprah appearance today

2007-06-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

The theme of today's The Oprah Winfrey Show is child slavery and as part of the show, Madeira author/teacher Jean-Robert Cadet will talk about being a child slave in Haiti. That experience was the topic of his 1998 autobiography Restavec: From Haitian Slave to Middle-Class American (University of Texas Press, $15.95) and a subsequent documentary. He also created a foundation to bring attention to, and address, the problem. Cadet has made plenty of local appearances over the years and we have profiled him in the paper a number of times but I doubt that any of that will have as much of an impact on the sale of "Restavec" as today's appearance with the woman who can launch a million books. I will be watching the best seller lists closely. The show airs at 4 p.m. today on WCPO, Channel 9.

Will Allison hits critical high note with debut novelabout a child abandoned

2007-06-26T14:07:00.000-05:00

Former Cincinnatian Will Allison is getting the kind of publicity for, What You Have Left (Free Press, $23) that most authors only dream about. A mention in Entertainment Weekly’s Summer 100 issue and an “A-” review from the magazine. Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. Selection as a Barnes & Noble “Discover” and Borders “Original Voices” title. A great review in O: The Oprah Magazine. On top of that, it’s his debut.

It’s a very Southern story in style about a daughter’s abandonment by her father when she was five, following the death of her mother. Wylie Greer deposits Holly with his father-in-law, promising to return but never does. Fast forward 30 years to their reunion and tentative steps toward each other and you have the basic plot but a lot of stuff has gone down during the intervening decades. Critics are hailing it as a deeply felt and beautifully written psychological drama that is cleverly told through various characters and a narrative style that shifts.

Allison moved here in 1995 after getting an M.A. and an M.F.A. from Ohio State University to work as managing and then executive editor of Story, the legendary literary magazine that was founded in the early 1930s but ceased publishing in 1967. The magazine was revived by Richard and Lois Rosenthal in 1989 under the auspices of F&W Publications, which the Rosenthals owned at the time. The quarterly had a brilliant but short-lived second life that included being a five-time finalist and two-time winner of the National Magazine Award for fiction. It folded after the Winter 2000 issue, when F&W was sold.

Allison will talk about his book – and maybe even Story – at a signing 7 p.m. Thursday at Jo-Beth.

The Jewish refugees who were shunned, then forgotten

2007-06-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

Scott Miller is headed to town to discuss his 2006 book "Refuge Denied: The St. Louis Passengers and the Holocaust" (University of Wisconsin Press, $21.95), which he co-wrote with Sarah A. Ogilvie. Miller and Ogilvie, both of whom are researchers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, became curious about the fate of the 937 Jews who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 aboard the MS St. Louis - pictured above in a postcard from the museum's archives - only to be turned away by Cuba and the United States. They eventually found refuge back in Europe.

The episode has been widely reported but no one followed up on what happened to the passengers until this book, which took them 10 years of detective work. They logged thousands of miles, delved into archives around the world, gave lectures and developed an exhibition that includes a virtual version on the Holocaust museum web site.

Miller will talk about what they discovered 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Harriet Tubman Theater at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, downtown. The event is free.