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Mississippi Books and WritersOctober 1997Note: Prices listed below reflect the publisher's suggested list price. They are subject to change without notice.
By Charles Marsh Princeton University Press (Hardcover; $24.95; ISBN: 0691021341) Publication date: October 1997 Description: In the summer of 1964, the turmoil of the civil
rights movement reached its peak in Mississippi, with activists across the
political spectrum claiming that God was on their side in the struggle over
racial justice. This book focuses on the events and religious convictions
that led each person in the political upheaval of 1964 to believe as he or
she did. 24 illustrations. By Gianni Versace, Edited by Barry Hannah Abbeville Press (Reprint Edition, Hardcover; $11.95; ISBN: 0789203820) Publication date: October 1997 Description: Sensuous, stylish, decadent, Gianni Versaces kaleidoscopic vision of male beauty and men's fashion is available for the first time in this miniature editiona burst of color, clothing, and artful design. Featuring contributions by Richard Martin, Barry Hannah, and others, Men Without Ties also includes 686 full-color photographs by Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, and Bruce Weber. A Novel by Thomas Harris Bantam Doubleday Dell (Reprint Edition, Paperback; $11.95; ISBN: 0385319673) Publication date: October 1997 Description: From the bestselling author of Silence of the Lambs comes this reissue of a gripping thriller combining mystery, horror and suspense. A gruesome tale unfolds when a brilliant detective takes on the most terrifying case of his careera psychopathic murderer who takes pleasure in killing happy families. Reissue. Houghton Mifflin (Hardcover; $23.00; ISBN: 0395809770) Publication date: October 1997 Description from Kirkus Reviews (1 September 1997): Barthelmes latest exercise in existential pulse-taking focuses on the democratic vice of gambling, though it's less a study in addiction than a celebration of risk-taking and downward mobility. Raymond Kaiser, his wife Jewel, and her daughter from a previous marriage, RV, all quietly enjoy life in Biloxi, Miss., a “simple, easy, cheap” town on the Gulf Coast. With work as an architect drying up, Ray finds himself increasingly interested in the glitzy world of offshore gambling, especially at the Paradise, where Jewel wins over $1,000 on their first trip. In their daily life, “everythings dull,” so its no wonder that Jewel and Ray enjoy the visceral excitement of gambling. They soon graduate from slots to the blackjack table, and slowly find themselves down by over $4,000. Meanwhile, back home, RV seems headed into a downward spiral of teen rebellionboy trouble, substance experimenting, and body piercings. It doesnt help that her parents are largely absent, spending their nights at Paradise. When Rays father dies, it sends him further into a midlife crisis. He comes to see himself no longer as “an ordinary guy,” but as a full-time gambler. The problem ishes not very good at it. Spending 18 hours at a time in the casino does nothing but increase his debts. Maxing out a handful of credit cards, he finds himself over $35,000 in the hole, but still juiced by “the losses, the excitement, the hopes, the desperation, the high.” Quitting architecture altogether, Ray and Jewel decide to downsize, selling their belongings and moving in with Rays mother. In their new simplicity, this besieged family finally finds that happiness is not in middle-class stability, nor in the quick fix of gambling's artificial Paradise, but in their everyday Edenic lives. Barthelme strains for topical texturescool repartee is interrupted only by channel surfing. But the real payoff is straight-up and timeless: a novel of surprising heart and soul. — Copyright © Kirkus Associates, LP. Humor by David Davis, Illustrated by James Rice Pelican (Hardcover; $14.95; ISBN: 1565542932) Publication date: October 1997 Description: Redneck mania is sweeping the country and the best gift for rednecks and redneck-wannabes this Christmas is the hilarious A Redneck Night Before Christmas. In this delightful tale, the “Christmas Redneck” travels to the trailer park in his beat-up pickup with eight hound dogs to deliver his presents! Color illustrations. Nonfiction by Noel Polk University Press of Mississippi (Paperback: $17.00, ISBN: 0878059806) Publication date: October 1997 Stories by Jere Hoar University Press of Mississippi (Hardcover, $26.00, ISBN: 1578060192; Paperback ISBN: 1578060192) Publication date: October 1997 Description from Kirkus Reviews (1 September 1997): Eleven very Southern short stories in a first collection from a veteran of the small-press scene. Many of Hoar's tales are set in the same region of Mississippi that Faulkner wrote aboutbut his closest literary ancestor is really Erskine Caldwell. Thats especially true in “The Snopes Who Saved Huckaby,” featuring a plot that bears some resemblance to Sanctuary and even a character supposedly related to Faulkner. The language, humor, and characterizations, however, are more reminiscent of Caldwells Journeyman. As in that novel, an itinerant preacher is irresistible to women, and his conquests get him into trouble. He takes refuge in a girls finishing school, resolving to leave women alone, but he cant, and the Lord strikes him with lightning, beginning a great storm that saves the town of Huckaby from drought. Its a delightful story, funny as Caldwell, but gentler, with a hilarious sequel, “How Wevel Went.” By contrast, “Tell Me It Hasnt Come to This” is mindful more of Flannery OConnor: A lonely widow waves to passersby until, finally, one knocks at her door. Hes a newly released prisoner who has come to God, though menace seems to lurk beneath his friendliness. The widow nervously spurns him, only to realize when hes gone that the man was sincerely offering just what she neededfriendshipand that shes more alone now than ever. “The Incredible Little Louisiana Chicken Killer”concerns a sort of dybbuk that attacks a farm couples chickenhouse; they make the mistake of taking it into their house, with unpleasant results. Finally, Hoar offers several growing-up stories set in the time of WW II. The title piece and “A Brave Damn-Near Perfect Thing,” for instance, are both meandering reminiscences of puppy love and small town life in the 1940s, and rather wistful. A winner. —Copyright © 1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Nonfiction by Stephen E. Ambrose University Press of Mississippi (Hardcover, $28.00, ISBN: 1578060265) Publication date: October 1997 Description: Collected here for the first time are 15 essays that span over 100 years of American historyand the remarkable 30-year career of Americas foremost historian. From Grants stunning Fourth of July victory at Vicksburg to Nixons surprise Christmas bombing of Hanoi, Ambrose takes readers into the trenches of the homefront, ground zero of the Atomic Bomb, and into the arsenals of the 21st century. Ambroses theme, the American way of war, is significant, for war indeed has delineated each era in Americas turbulent history and has focused the nations democratic perspective. Throughout, these essays encompass two large subjects. First, Ambrose is drawn to the experiences of those who have gone to war, both the leaders and the led. Second, he is intrigued by men who make big decisionsor fail to make them. He concludes that generals alone dont win wars. Infantrymen, he believes, as well as the generals and the intelligence officers, were responsible for the Allied victory in World War II. And although the stalwart common soldier is credited with winning Americas wars, Ambrose also gives fair and empathetic examination to soldiers who break under strain.
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