New This Week
January 18, 2010
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Column: At the Library for Jan 18/10
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
Historical fiction master Edward Rutherfurd’s latest book is NEW YORK; a hefty tour of 350 years of the city’s history, from 1664 all the way to 9/11. Twelve generations seek out the American dream in this colorful and entertaining tale about the Big Apple.
Teen readers should enjoy Katherine Patterson’s THE DAY OF THE PENGUIN. As the war in Bosnia rages on, a young girl and her family find themselves homeless. Although they make it to the United States, they are not as welcome as they thought would be.
Preschool Story Time this Wednesday at 11:00 am, 1:15 pm, & 6:30 pm, and Toddler Story this Friday at 10:30 am will be all about Canada Inviting the World!
The Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library Travelogue series will be presenting HIGH ARCTIC : LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN on Monday, January 25 at 7 PM in Room 250 Lecture Theatre at the College of the Rockies. In August of 2009, Allister and Denise Pedersen spent 12 days aboard the “Clipper Adventurer” a small (118 passenger) ice-strengthened expedition ship so-named because there were one or two daily expeditions in 10-passenger Zodiac boats. Allister had 2 primary objectives for the trip; icebergs and polar bears. They probably saw 1,500 icebergs on the trip and 2 polar bears one of whom put on a great show.
Any and all kids ages 9 to 11 (grades 4 to 7) are invited to attend BOOK BITES, a new book club meeting every third Thursday from September to May, beginning at 4 pm. Come out and talk about books, do fun activities, and enjoy some snacks.
And any and all teens are invited to CHATTERZ, their own book club which meets every second Thursday from September to May, beginning at 4 pm. For more information on either of these book clubs, please contact Deanne at 426-4063.
Come and see the fantastic folk art display of Yoki Prints, courtesy of Jurgen Flemming.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
Introduction to Contracts " Bruce MacDougall (346.71)
Mental Disorder and the Law " Hy Bloom (345.71)
Incontinent on the Continent "Jane Christmas (914.50493)
Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul " Deepak Chopra (158.1)
Women, Work, & the Art of Savoir Faire " Mireille Guiliano (650.1082)
The Hidden Life of Deer " Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (599.65)
New York " Edward Rutherfurd (fic)
The Book of Tomorrow " Cecelia Ahern (fic)
Sizzle " Julie Garwood (fic)
House of Reckoning " John Saul (fic)
An Unexpected Love " Tracie Peterson (fic)
A Surrendered Heart " Tracie Peterson (fic)
The Witch Doctor’s Wife " Tamar Myers (fic)
Pilgrims " Garrison Keiller (fic)
In Big Trouble " Laura Lippman (mys)
Hypothermia " Arnaldur Indridason (mys)
I, Sniper " Stephen Hunter (mys)
Moonlight Warrior " Janet Chapman (pb)
At Last Love Comes " Mary Balogh (pb)
When the Devil Dances " John Ringo (pb)
Eggs Benedict Arnold " Laura Childs (pb)
The Best of Bonanza : Complete Series DVD
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency : Complete Season DVD
Mayo Clinic Irritable Bowel Syndrome DVD
Mayo Clinic Menopause DVD
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
The Day of the Pelican " Katherine Paterson (ya fic)
Fire " Kristin Cashore (ya fic)
Finn the Half-Great " Theo Caldwell (ya fic)
Dragon’s Breath " E. D. Baker (ya fic)
Fat Cat " Robin Brande (ya fic)
Dragonkeeper Chronicles books 1 to 5 " Donita K. Paul (ya fic)
Tales of the Frog Princess books 1 to 4 " E.D. Baker (ya fic)
Privilege " Kate Brian (ya fic)
Devious : An It Girl Novel " Cecily Von Ziegesar (ya fic)
The Bermuda Triangle " Gail B. Stewart (j 001.94)
I Can’t Sit Still : Living with ADHD " Pam Pollack (j 618.92)
The Nice Mice in the Rice " Brian P. Cleary (j 428.13)
How Coyote Stole the Summer " Stephen Krensky (j 398.2)
The Story of Canadians in the Olympic Winter Games : books 1 to 9 (j 796.9)
The Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt " Megan McDonald (j fic)
Septimus Heap : Syren " Angie Sage (j fic)
Clifford the Champion " Norman Bridwell (j pic)
Epossumondas Plays Possum " Coleen Salley (j pic)
Chasing Degas " Eva Montanari (j pic)
The Big Storm " Nancy Tafuri (j pic)
Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah’s Umbrella j DVD
Transformers Villians : The Ultimate Doom j DVD
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
Christie’s Auction House in New York set a record last month. TAMERLANE AND OTHER POEMS"a small 40 page pamphlet by Edgar Allan Poe"sold for $662,500, the largest sum ever paid for a piece of American Literature. The work is as odd as the author himself. TAMERLANE is Poe’s first work, and written when he was only 17. It appears he agreed to pay the printing costs himself, only to back out of the deal later, causing the printer to dispose of the work. Yet 12 copies have somehow survived, making it one of the most sought after rare books in history. In 1925, the Saturday Evening Post published an article about book collecting titled ‘Have you a Tamerlane in your attic?” Although the title was in jest, a retired widow living in Massachusetts went and checked her attic, and actually found one!
Poe’s name appears nowhere on the book. The title page states Tamerlane was written “By a Bostonian.” The fact that Poe was not a Bostonian is just another one of the bizarre aspects of his short life.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 to gypsy actors, who soon abandon him. He was then adopted by the Allan family, and educated in England. He returned to the states to attend the University of Virginia, but dropped out after one semester. It was here he began to write for and edit various magazines. His work stood out for its incredibly dark tone, with frightfully realistic depictions of supernatural and psychological terror. Yet it was his poem, THE RAVEN, which brought him international fame. A magisterial work of originality, Poe only earned $9 from it. This lack of income, combined with massive gambling debts and the early death of his wife contributed to Poe’s mental instability and tragic circumstances.
Completely wrecking himself in alcoholism and self-pity, Poe died penniless at age 40 (a cruel irony considering Christie’s auction). He unexplainably left his literary estate to a Rufus Griswold, his worst enemy. Griswold then embarked on a campaign of character assignation, starting with Poe’s obituary. Stranger still was the behaviour of William Gill, an early Poe admirer. In 1875, Gill dug up the bones of Poe’s wife from the Fordham cemetery, and stored them under his bed for the next 30 years.
Despite the continuous weirdness, Poe’s writing was extremely admired by Dickens, Browning, Tennyson, Yeats, Oscar Wilde, and even Freud. He remains one of the one of the most beloved writers of the strange.
