My Shenandoah, 1966


Book Description

My Shenandoah, 1966 was originally planned to merely record an objective local history, but its enthusiastic fans will assure you the book developed well beyond that into a highly readable, engrossing work for everyone. Its ample supply of endearing personal anecdotes and historical peculiarities make this local history quite an entertaining read. The book also makes the jump from mere local appeal by embracing the universal nostalgia of the era we know as The Sixties. The original motive of providing a thorough demography of the Coal Region town of Shenandoah, fifty years before its Sesquicentennial, is achieved. However, the books scope is much more universal. It is an accurate picture of a small town America in that Golden Age of our nations history; it takes all its readers back on a nostalgic tour of that extraordinary decade known as the Sixties. The first person narrative has two authors in one. Youll see the Sixties through the innocent eyes of the 9 year old who lived them. Gain his impressions of his education, his views on the towns diversity and its prejudices. Thrill in the childish enjoyment of life in small town America of this generation. But, realize that child has grown into a 59 year old historian. Explore with him the town and countys national prominence and historical figures. Look back at the Corner Stores, the Penny Candy, the Supermarkets, the Cars, the Drinking, and the Holidays. Philosophize with him over the changing times. Look back at a firsthand account of Americas most memorable decade and more.







Kite-Flying and Other Irrational Acts


Book Description

Interviews with: Doris Betts Fred Chappell Shelby Foote Jesse Hill Ford George Garrett Larry L. King Marion Montgomery Willie Morris Guy Owen Walker Percy Reynolds Price James Whitehead What does it mean to be a Southern writer in the 1970s? What is the nature of today’s South and what prospects does it offer a writer? These twelve interviews with writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction elicit some thoughtful and revealing answers. Because the interviews were taped, there is a spontaneity that brings forth the personality of each writer and provides a text that is interesting and entertaining as well as instructive. In the first interview with Shelby Foote to appear since the early 1950s, the Mississippi novelist discusses his fiction and extensive writing on Civil War history. A thoughtful conversation with Walker Percy ranges over his three novels and reveals their philosophical roots. Marion Montgomery speaks perceptively about his fiction and poetry as ceremonial efforts “to reconcile the private act with the public act.” A two-part interview with Reynolds Price suggests the nature of one novelist’s mind as he chronicles a world beneath the one other people perceive, “that world which seems to impinge upon, to color, to shape, the daily world we inhabit.” Willie Morris tells about growing up in Mississippi, about going home to Yazoo, and about the effect of New York on his Southernness, while Larry L. King speaks of race relations, literature, and Texas and talks frankly about how he and Morris came to resign from Harper’s. The short story is Doris Betts’ forte, and she comments significantly on the form which allows her to “speak briefly on long subjects.” The business of writing is as irrational as kite-flying, observes George Garrett in a candid discussion of the publishing world, his own ups and downs as a writer, and his latest novel, The Death of the Fox. Jesse Hill Ford, talking about his fiction and his writing career, speaks up proudly for the South: “Nest to a bulldozer blade a magnolia is probably the hardest damned thing in the world.” Both the mountain country of North Carolina and the fantastic landscapes of his imagination have influenced Fred Chappell, who remarks on the grotesque in his novels and poetry. Guy Owen tells about his interacting roles as fiction writer, poet, editor, and teacher; his compelling interest in the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina; and his experience with Hollywood. Poetry, the novel, football, and a passion for teaching are the subjects of a provocative and free-wheeling conversation with James Whitehead. “Have you ever stopped to think that for the first time there have been no rational rewards for writing in the way that there were in the past. . . Nowadays, it’s about as rational as saying, ‘What do you do for a living?’ ‘Well, I’m a kite-flyer.’ I mean there’s not a great demand for kite-flyers around. There may be a few who draw a little money. Therefore, today, writing appeals to a different mentality. A Shakespeare today might be doing something else that’s more rational. Now the other thing is that because this is true, fundamentally writing doesn’t matter in the world of commerce. It has a certain kind of—I wouldn’t say purity, but freedom that is never had.”—George Garrett




Wendell Berry


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Goldmine Record Album Price Guide


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Just like you, Goldmine is passionate about vinyl. It rocks our world. So trust us when we say that the Goldmine Record Album Price Guide is a vinyl collector's best friend. Inside these pages you'll find the latest pricing and identification information for rock, pop, alternative, jazz and country albums valued at $10 or more. And that's just for starters. Goldmine Record Album Price Guide features: • Updated prices for more than 100,000 American vinyl LPs released since 1948. • A detailed explanation of the Goldmine Grading Guide, the industry standard. • Tips to help you accurately grade and value your records--including promo pressings. • An easy-to-use, well-organized format. Whether you're new to the scene or a veteran collector, Goldmine Record Album Price Guide is here to help!







The Illustrated Guide to Film Directors


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To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.







A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, 1930-1980


Book Description

Robert B. Ray examines the ideology of the most enduringly popular cinema in the world--the Hollywood movie. Aided by 364 frame enlargements, he describes the development of that historically overdetermined form, giving close readings of five typical instances: Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Godfather, and Taxi Driver. Like the heroes of these movies, American filmmaking has avoided commitment, in both plot and technique. Instead of choosing left or right, avant-garde or tradition, American cinema tries to have it both ways. Although Hollywood's commercial success has led the world audience to equate the American cinema with film itself, Hollywood filmmaking is a particular strategy designed to respond to specific historical situations. As an art restricted in theoretical scope but rich in individual variations, the American cinema poses the most interesting question of popular culture: Do dissident forms have any chance of remaining free of a mass medium seeking to co-opt them?







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