by Sandy | Dec 13, 2007 | Blogroll, Books, Writers
“Writing was … the most extraordinary way of thinking and feeling. It became the one thing I was doing that I had absolutely no intention of living without.” Toni Morrison
Decided to clean, clear, coordinate, control my bookcase contents. Found some great stuff that I had forgotten. I discovered that I own a lot of Toni Morrison books – “The Bluest Eye”, “Sula”, “Love”, “Paradise”, “Songs of Solomon” and of course the Pulitzer prize winner “Beloved”. Ms. Morrison has such a way with words. She can set a tone, paint a picture, capture identifiable feeling/emotion and describe events so clearly and with such poetry that it makes you laugh or, it makes you cry. There are some passages in “Beloved” that are so painful that your throat clutches and closes. The book must be set down until you can breathe again.“Beloved” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and Ms Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.
Toni Morrison is another writer doing what she has to do and as a result, has created a significant and unique body of work about the African-American experience (actually the “American” experience) – such a legacy!
Novels
• The Bluest Eye (1970)
• Sula (1973)
• Song of Solomon (1977 )
• Tar Baby (1981)
• Beloved (1987)
• Jazz (1992)
• Paradise (1999)
• Love (2003)
by Sandy | Nov 24, 2007 | Blogroll, Books, Writers
Blonde Faith, is the final book of the popular series, written by Walter Mosley.
We were introduced to Easy Rawlins in Devil in a Blue Dress, 1990. (This was also made into a great 1995 movie with Denzel as “Easy” and Don Cheadle as his explosively, lethal buddy “Mouse”.)
“Easy” becomes a reluctant private investigator in 50’s L.A. and the 10 books span a 20 year journey. What makes the perspective so interesting and different is that in addition to solving “who dunnit” (or, who didn’t) we get a chance to follow the black detective as he maneuvers gingerly thru life making a living, forming relationships, etc. in an often hostile environment. Very entertaining!
Easy Rawlins mysteries
by Sandy | Aug 25, 2007 | Blogroll, Writers
Suzan-Lori Parks is an author, award winning playwright and screenwriter. I was going to categorize her as an “over achiever”. But, that’s probably a disservice – she is just doing what she has to do. Doing what matters to her – with excellence.
She won her 2002 Pultitzer Prize for the play “Topdog/Underdog”. I saw this in San Francisco a few years ago and enjoyed this clever, funny and explosive story about 2 brothers – “Lincoln” and “Booth”. You might imagine how it ends, but, it will still shock you.
Like in the Akira Kurosawa’s film “Rashomon” , where the same scenario is told from different points of view, this play illustrates how 2 boys in the same family can remember differently and be affected differently by the same traumatic event. Their perceptions colored their actions and attributed to the way they chose to lead their lives.
(The NYC Public Theater production had Jeffrey Wright and Don Cheadle as the siblings – you can just imagine the power of that duo.)
Ms Parks had an idea to write a play for every day of the year, the result is “365 Days/365 Plays” which she wrote between 2002 – 2003. Starting in 2006, they were presented at theaters, coffee houses and auditoriums across the country. Some venues could do a few of the plays, some as short as one page , and other locations could only stage 1. However, all will be seen before the end of 2007 just as she envisioned.
Some of her work below:
by Bob Martin | May 26, 2007 | Art, Artist, Culture, Poem
Constant rush of noise, images and smells. Where do I start, where do I end. Fear is the realization of dependence. If I reach out to touch there would be more to comprehend. Where do I start, where will it end.
bmartin/07
by Sandy | Apr 16, 2007 | Books, Writers
“Precious Ramotswe ” is Botswana’s only female private investigator – the main character of the “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith. I noticed a few years back that Ms Ramotswe and the authors name were listed week after week on the SF & Bay area California paper back bestseller list. “Precious” just sort of kept catching my eye and I got curious. I discovered that the Botswana detective has a worldwide cult following.
The author was born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, practiced law in Scotland and when McCall returned to Zimbabwe, he began to write about a red bush tea drinking female private eye – “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency“. In this, and the books that followed in the series, our lady sleuth tracks down wayward husbands, missing children and solves village mysteries all the while keeping to the traditions of her culture and maintaining the standards of both Queen Elizabeth and Nelson Mandela (she admires both).
Books in the series:
* 1998 The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
* 2000 Tears Of The Giraffe
* 2001 Morality for Beautiful Girls
* 2002 The Kalahari Typing School for Men
* 2004 The Full Cupboard of Life
* 2004 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
* 2006 Blue Shoes and Happiness
* 2007 The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
by Bob Martin | Apr 7, 2007 | Art, Artist, Writers
I usually stay away from themes, the stories in my paintings are not consistent from one painting to another, except that I normally say I am complete with a painting once I recognize the people who are in the painting.
I don’t really know them, but they look to me like people who I would know.
It’s the faces that inspire me. I imagine the conversation that they are about to have, what concerns them and have they figured out the answer yet.
I’ve often heard writers talk about the dreams they have for the characters they’ve created for their novels.
“Writing was … the most extraordinary way of thinking and feeling. It became the one thing I was doing that I had absolutely no intention of living without.” Toni Morrison
