Pithy stories

We have a new book that we have catalogued into the mystery genre, but it would really appeal to anyone who loves short stories or witty writing. The Vicious Circle: mystery and crime stories by members of the Algonquin Round Table features short stories and plays by such famous writers as Dorothy Parker, Edna Ferber, Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman. The authors of the stories in this book have won Tonys, Oscars, and Pulitzer Prizes for their work, and they were a creative force to be reckoned with back in their heyday. Most of the stories here could be considered crime or mystery writing only in the loosest sense, and some of them have nothing whatsoever to do with crime. But they are funny, entertaining, clever, perceptive and depressingly true. Dorothy Parker's story of an aging, blowzy mistress confronting her empty life is very sad, while S.J. Perelman's parody of detective fiction is hilarious.

"Then I holed up in a phone booth and dialled a clerk I knew called Little Farvel, in a delicatessen store on Amsterdam Avenue. It took a while to get the dope I wanted because the connection was bad and Little Farvel had been dead two years, but we Noonans don't let go easily. "

You don't have to be a fan of mystery novels to love this book, you just have to be a fan of great writing. (As a side note, the little biographies of each writer that editor Otto Penzler includes are an interesting read just in themselves, as is his introduction to the book. And I don't ordinarily read introductions).

Soundtracks

I'm usually not a big fan of soundtracks, since they often seem to be lacking something without the movie playing along with them, but we have a couple of new CDs that just might be the exception. Part of the reason for this is that their movies are actually about the music and songs, rather than the soundtrack just being a pretty little thing in the background.

I'm Not There is a 2-disc set that features covers of 34 Bob Dylan songs. Artists include Los Lobos, Eddie Vedder, Richie Havens, Yo La Tengo and the folksy duet of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (winners of the 2008 Academy Award for best song - see my blog of January 24). In case you haven't guessed, I'm Not There is the recent biopic of Bob Dylan for which actress Cate Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Regardless of whether or not you liked the film, if you're a fan of Dylan's music you will be intrigued by these interpretations of his work.

Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox story takes a poke at all the music biopics that seem so popular lately, and the tried-and-true formulas some of them seem to follow: struggling musician from nowhere gets a big break, is catapulted to stardom, descends into a frenzy of sex, drugs and alcohol, fails to accommodate changing musical tastes, gives up the booze and pills, returns to their musical roots and finds redemption on the pop charts (as well as a second wave of fans). The songs on this album track the evolution of musical styles from Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash to Ziggy Stardust and disco. John C. Reilly is always likable, and he does a creditable job with the songs on this album. For fans of A Mighty Wind and This is Spinal Tap.

A Cosy Little Read

One of the lovely things about books is that they're so comfortable to curl up in a chair with (as opposed to a Kindle, for instance). This cannot be said of our newest art book - 30,000 Years of Art: the story of human creativity across time and space. Produced by the slick arts publisher Phaidon, this baby clocks in at about 25 pounds. But since it truly does attempt to cover all of human artistic expression, you can understand why it's a bit hefty. Taking a chronological approach (instead of using geographical or cultural delineations), this book begins with "Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel" from 28,000 B.C. and ends with a piece currently under construction: "Roden Crater" by James Turrell. Along the way, readers can explore the whole spectrum of art and expression from across the globe. Each page features a large color photo of the piece, its time and place of creation, the artist (most of the pieces were created by unknown artists), the medium and the current location. Considering some of the recent news stories about repatriation of artistic and cultural treasures, it's very interesting to see how many of these global pieces are in museums and galleries of Europe and North America. There is also a short descriptive analysis of each piece. The most fascinating thing about this book is that it allows you to look at artistic styles across cultures. For example, you can see pieces produced in 1350 from Japan, Tibet, Nepal, New Zealand, Turkey, Zimbabwe, China and Thailand. The appendices contain a cultural/political timeline, and an artistic timeline that places each piece in the book in context with each other and major global events (wars, plagues, inventions, etc.). This is a wonderful book not just for students of art, history or culture, but also for anyone interested in the way humans communicate their deepest feelings and desires visually. Just don't try to read it in bed.

Software Update

It's been two weeks since we fired up our new software system, and I thought I would give everyone a little update on how things are going. We've had lots of public comment about the new catalog, both positive and negative, and I want to let you know that we do keep track of issues as they pop up. There are still things that need to be tweaked with the system, and we are tackling them in order of operational priority (library triage!).
I would imagine everyone reading this has learned to use new software at some point in their lives (the pre-Windows XP days), and you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. Operating the new system is pretty easy (click here, type this here, etc.). The part that we have been working away at is the database end. Our old UNIX system did not translate very smoothly into this new Unicorn product, and we're still trying to get our new database to recognize and work with all the old data. Think of it as trying to open all your old Windows files on an Apple computer. Ouch!
And to make things doubly difficult, we are actually talking about two sets of data: all the information about the items in the library collection (bibliographic data), and all the information about our library users (patron data). For example, patrons who had lost books during the last few years (and paid for them!) will find that those books have magically re-appeared on their account, and the new system is charging them overdue fines. Obviously, this issue is on the top of our triage list and will be corrected.
The take-home message here is that we are still flogging the new system into shape and you may encounter some oddities. Please feel free to mention to us if you think there is something unusual, as it may be an issue we don't already have on our list. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for being so gentle with us these last two weeks. By 2010, everything will be running smoothly, I promise!

Achievement

March is National Women's History Month, and February was African-American History Month, so I thought I would point out a couple of video series that we have on the shelf. Both series are multi-volume sets that look at hundreds of years of cultural contributions, political involvement, and the struggle against discrimination. The first set is Black History, and it is composed of short films and documentaries that were produced during the last 80 years. Some very memorable moments and personalities are included in these snippets. The other set is A History of Women's Achievement. Since each set is filled with information you may not have known, or may not have thought about, it would be very entertaining and informative to watch these two series. If you've got schoolkids at home, you should definitely watch these with them. It might spark some interesting discussions.

By the way, Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. We have a 4-volume video series that relates the struggles of American Hispanics. A History of Hispanic Achievement in America covers the 500-year story of Hispanics in North America, their cultural contributions, political highpoints and lowpoints, and the obstacles they have had to face. Definitely a series to keep in mind this fall.

Timely documentaries

Considering some of the recent events in the news, I would like to draw your attention to a few of the documentary films we have on our shelves.
Ralph Nader has entered the presidential race (again). An Unreasonable Man is a 2-hour biography of Nader, covering his early work as a consumer advocate and ending up with his news making 2004 campaign.
Recent primary elections have highlighted the issue of voting technology and technical difficulties. Hacking Democracy is an HBO documentary that looks at electronic voting, how votes are counted, and security holes in America's growing electronic voting systems.
China has recently clamped down on protesters in Tibet, once again isolating the region from the rest of the world. The History Channel looks at the isolated people of Tibet in a film titled Tibet's Lost Paradise: Shangri-La.
Globalization has become a very hot issue. Where is the World Going, Mr. Stiglitz? is a 5-part series looking at how the new world economy is affecting the environment, terrorism, developing nations and immigration. Joseph Stiglitz is a Nobel-winning economist with some very interesting views.

Magazines for the summer

Summer is coming and we will soon be crawling, bleary-eyed, out of our homes into the sunshine and outdoors. When that happens, keep a few of the new library magazines in mind for some summer reading and entertainment.
Camping Life is chock full of articles about all the new gear and hotspots that campers love. Recipes, camping tips, wildlife, and trail signs are regular features, and the current issue has details on over 1,000 campgrounds around North America (including state, city, county and privately-owned sites).
Fish Alaska covers the best in Alaskan fishing from all over the state. The February issue features an article about Ketchikan's Beacon Hill Lodge. Other articles focus on safety, travel, fly fishing, recipes, tackle and salmon. If you've already thumbed through all our great fishing manuals, you should try this magazine out.
Organic Gardening is full of advice on how to boost your soil, protect your plants from pests and diseases, grow bigger and better flowers, fruits and vegetables, and do it all as safely and naturally as possible. The current issue has an article on tomatoes for every climate. (We grew a lovely crop of cherry tomatoes in our little plastic greenhouse. It is possible in Ketchikan!)
Trailer Life is all about RVs: purchasing, maintaining, outfitting and enjoying. There are lots of travel ideas, reader tips, and advice for getting the most out of your recreational vehicle. If you're thinking of purchasing an RV, this is a fabulous resource for getting ideas and warnings.
All of our back issues check out for 3 weeks, so you can fill up your arms and bring them all home to read at your leisure. We also have a photocopier, if you would like to copy articles from the most current issue.