Author Archives: maedez

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About maedez

Writer, biographer, poet. History nerd, silent movie maven. Punk rocker, amateur baker, bookworm. Cricket fan, Scotch drinker, craft beer snob.

A Reading List a Mile Long: Daedalus Books Midsummer 2012 Edition, Part I

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After re-arranging my studio, and putting the overflow stock neatly on shelves, I discovered that I have room for about 15 more books. Does this mean that I will stop buying them? Not a chance. They will probably be stacked waist-high on the floor within a year, but I promise to attempt restraint. (If it wasn’t for the library and generous family and friends, it would be much worse.) Thankfully, I receive a few book catalogs a month. I enjoy fantasy shopping in them, much as I did with toy flyers when I was a child. If something looks really compelling, I pull out my trusty reading journal and jot down the title and author on my “To Read” list. New books are added quicker than I can cross off old ones, but that is part of the joy of keeping such a record.

The Daedalus Books New Arrivals Midsummer 2012 catalog has so many interesting offerings that I have decided to split my greedy, greedy pickings in two. Here’s Part 1. Enjoy!

 

  • The Great Life Photographers by The Editors of Life (photography)
  • Hemingway Cutthroat by Michael Atkinson (mystery)
  • Schools of Tomorrow by John & Evelyn Dewey (education/society)
  • How to Mellify a Corpse: And Other Human Stories of Ancient Science and Superstition by Vicki Leon (history)
  • Selected Letters of Martha Gellhorn by Martha Gellhorn (history)
  • Kafka’s Soup: A Complete History of World Literature in 14 Recipes by Mark Crick (literature)
  • A Blue Hand: The Beats in India by Deborah Baker (literature)
  • Rules of Civility: A Novel by Amor Towles (fiction)
  • A World Without Bees by Allison Benjamin & Brian McCallum (nature/science)
  • She Always Knew How Mae West, A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler (performing arts/biography)
  • The Art of Small Things by John Mack (visual arts)

 

A Year in Books/Day 187: Grammatically Correct

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  • Title: Grammatically Correct The WRITER’S ESSENTIAL GUIDE to punctuation, spelling, style, usage and grammar
  • Author: Anne Stilman
  • Year Published: 1997 (Writer’s Digest Books)
  • Year Purchased: 2002/2003
  • Source: Writer’s Digest Book Club
  • About: This volume is essential. It’s like taking a refresher course in grammar without having to socialize with anyone. I enjoy that. I’m guilty of knowingly flouting some of the rules in the book but at least I am aware of my transgressions. You should be, too.
  • Motivation: A writer needs reference books. Many, many reference books.
  • Times Read: Cover-to-cover: a few/As reference tool: countless
  • Random Excerpt/Page vi: “For one thing, I’ve sought to liven up what can be a somewhat dusty subject by excerpting passages from very quotable literary works, both classic and modern. Academic explanations of how to use a certain punctuation mark or stylistic technique are all very well, but a “real-life” illustration can be a lot more convincing-and entertaining. My thanks here to all those authors whose work I have cited.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

A Year in Books/Day 186: Votes for Women

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  • Title: Votes for Women The Struggle for Suffrage Revisited
  • Editor: Jean H. Baker
  • Year Published: 2002 (Oxford University Press, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: 2003/2004
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: Twelve of the fourteen contributors are professors, so this book has a decidedly academic quality. If that’s not your usual cup of tea, don’t be scared: the voices, although straightforward, are distinct and the chapters highly readable. Continue reading →

Daily Diversion #31: This is the easy time…*

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Holed up in a beam of sunshine. Earl Grey on the side, steam lifting from its dark surface. A fugitive book that’s been on my to-read list for 9 years.

Wintering by Kate Moses

Wintering by Kate Moses

Captured from Daedalus for $2.98.Turned in to a reason to get up early, when the sun dazzles without heat. Doing its part to wake me. Efficient. Now I can read.

The perfect combination, rendered wistful. Out of reach.

The perfect combination, rendered wistful. Out of reach.

In the company of words, time is pliable. Plastic. Continue reading →

A Year in Books/Day 185: The Mistinguett Legend

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  • Title: The Mistinguett Legend
  • Author: David Bret
  • Year Published: 1990 (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: My mother
  • About: Mistinguett was a widely, and wildly, famous French chanteuse. I’m not sure how well her appeal translates from French to American culture, but she was a first-class oddity. Continue reading →

Shopping for the Bookworm: Patti Smith Edition

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I love Patti Smith. My fingers are itching to get carried away in rhapsodies about her, but my head insists that I maintain restraint. At least for today. The need for a long essay has been forcing its way into my brain, so you’ll likely see something on here soon. Until then, enjoy these Patti-themed goods from Etsy!

Nautical poster print with Patti Smith quote by Grainyman

Nautical poster print with Patti Smith quote by Grainyman. $34.90

The combination of image and quote is just plain lovely.

Patti Smith Easter on vinyl by Drop The Needle

Patti Smith Group  Easter on vinyl from Drop The Needle. $20.00

A classic on vinyl.

Patti Smith key chain by Ultravioletglam Designs

Patti Smith key chain by Ultravioletglam Designs. $10.00

This is probably my favourite photo of Patti Smith. A key chain equals portable inspiration.

Patti Smith pocket planner, 2012-2013 by Rock 'n Roll Rebellion

Patti Smith pocket planner, 2012-2013 by Rock ‘n Roll Rebellion. $7.95

A practical application using a wonderful image from a 1978 cover of Rolling Stone.

I know it’s a close-up of the key chain image, but I love the impact of the heart surrounding the expression on her face.

BONUS #1:

It is well-known how close Patti was to Robert Mapplethorpe, so I had to include a piece in honor of him. This is a vintage ad.

BONUS #2:

Arthur Rimbaud stencil print by Chiaroscuro

Arthur Rimbaud stencil print by Chiaroscuro. $12.00

Arthur Rimbaud has been a deep influence on Patti’s life and work. The delicacy of this stencil is present in all Chiaroscuro‘s art.

The Dead Writers Round-Up: 1st-3rd August

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  • Herman Melville was born on 8/1/1819. “A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.”
  • James Baldwin was born on 8/2/1924. “Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.”
  • Wallace Stevens died on 8/2/1955. “As life grows more terrible, its literature grows more terrible.”
  • Donald Ogden Stewart died on 8/2/1980. Stewart was a playwright-turned-screenwriter. He won an Academy Award for his adaptation of Philip Barry’s play, The Philadelphia Story.
  • William S. Burroughs died on 8/2/1997. “Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.”
  • Ernie Pyle was born on 8/3/1900. “War makes strange giant creatures out of us little routine men who inhabit the earth.”
  • Joseph Conrad died on 8/3/1924. “An artist is a man of action, whether he creates a personality, invents an expedient, or finds the issue of a complicated situation.”
  • Colette died on 8/3/1954. “A happy childhood is poor preparation for human contacts.”
  • Flannery O’Connor died on 8/3/1964. “I am not afraid that the book will be controversial, I am afraid it will not be controversial.”

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[All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain.]

 

A Year in Books/Day 184: QB VII (or, A Book in My Collection I Do Not Like)

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  • Title: QB VII
  • Author: Leon Uris
  • Year Published: 1970 (Doubleday & Company, Inc.)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: Book Harbor, Westerville, Ohio
  • About: QB VII is proof that I do not love (or even like) everything in my collection. There are a few odd volumes I’ve kept on after discovering I really do not like their contents. This is one of those rarities. I don’t object to the flashbacks, legal proceedings or courtroom setting; if I did, I never would have selected this for my initiation into the writings of Leon Uris. That bitch known as hindsight thinks I should probably have started with Exodus or Topaz, but it is far too late now. Continue reading →

[News] Gore Vidal is Dead

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“Many writers who choose to be active in the world lose not virtue but time, and that stillness without which literature cannot be made.”-Gore Vidal (1925-2012)

 
One day, I hope that the deaths of famous authors is considered new worthy in this country. Oh, who am I kidding? Suri Cruise visiting Disney World is, and will remain, way more important. Carry on.

Daily Diversion #30: My Immobile Friend

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Doughboy

Doughboy

Our neighborhood doughboy has been in residence,  across the street from our flat, since 1920. My husband and I salute him on our evening walks. In 2010, we posed for engagement photos standing on his base. He moves me to recite the poetry of his contemporaries, allies and enemies alike. He’s a wonderful audience of one. I haven’t been so smitten with a statue since Montreal, circa 2004. That’s another story, and one you shan’t be told.