This is an open forum for alumni authors and other Davidson College authors to post their own notes about recent publications. Please use the reply feature to post your comments, alerts, links, and news, and to comment on others’ work. Thanks!
Davidson College – Bookclub
Davidson College Bookclub Blog
As a kind of Davidson alumnus (had I stuck around beyond the middle of my sophomore year), I would’ve actually graduated with the Class of ’73. But the Blue Ridge Parkway beckoned, I owned a Triumph Bonneville 650 cc motorcycle with straight pipes (no muffler), Davidson was not yet co-ed, the women at Queens College turned my stomach with their shenanigans, and both my testosterone and Wanderlust were in high gear. What can I say? And besides, that metallic portrait of Woodrow Wilson glared down at me every time I crossed the campus to pick up my mail. “Only one year here” it said in so many words. And… “So what’s keepin’ ya?” it seemed to echo in my restless mind over and over again.
The truth is, “Trompe-l’oeil” has absolutely nothing to do with Davidson, NC, or with Davidson College — except for the increasing disenchantment I felt as a Pre-med major and the increasing interest I took in literature as a result of a Middle English course I took my freshman year. It starts on the Columbia campus, in NYC, but only for the length of a paragraph or two. (Columbia is where I ended up completing my B.A. after a year biking around the U. S. followed by a 6-month stint at Baptist Hospital, in Nashville, TN, to FINALLY decide whether I wanted to pursue medicine. I didn’t.) Followed by a decade in Europe during which I studied language and literature in: (French-speaking) Switzerland; Vienna, Austria; Perugia, Italy; Berlin, Germany; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Madrid, Spain.
I returned to NYC and Columbia as a Philosophy major/Russian minor, picked up my B. A. and Swedish as an additional language.
I mention all of this only because “Trompe-l’oeil” has dialogue in ten languages — something a tad foreign, perhaps, to the local Davidson, NC community. It also has a LOT of sex — something entirely absent in my day from the Davidson campus. Maybe I’m just now making up for it with this book.
If you’re at all interested in reading a blurb or a couple of reviews, you can find them here: . I’d be VERY flattered to have a review or two from a Davidson student.
Mind you…no fresh(wo)men. NC-18. This is not a book for the uninitiated.
Thanks!
Russell
RRBrklyn(at)aol.com
Other books listed here:
At Amazon-Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OEKBIE
At Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50952
My author’s blogsite: : http://louisewise.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-makes-middle-aged-woman-give-up.html
For those who’ve done their required reading of the literary classics, and are looking for something entertaining, I’ve gotten favorable reviews on a novel I wrote a few years back, titled “The Course,” recently published as an ebook at Amazon for Kindle. Here’s the skinny.
Nine complete strangers, airline passengers on their way to St Maarten, are intentionally stranded on a small Caribbean island for reasons they can’t comprehend. Within minutes, they’re thrown into a diabolical test of survival.
Challenged by computer riddles, nearly drowned, threatened by poisonous snakes and elaborately set up physical challenges. They’re herded like rats in a strange maze, directed by an invisible hand under the merciless tropical sun. It seems like a bizarre game — until the first fatality . . .
But who’s behind it, and why them?
Their only hope of survival — to work with each other, to try to survive long enough to discover the answers.
Here’s the link; reviews invited!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Course-ebook/dp/B003QHZ0OA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1303142308&sr=1-1
[posted by admin]
I am the father of a Davidson freshman, Ella Strauss, and I have a book coming out this week (April 26), “Daddy’s Little Goalie,” a funny/sentimental memoir about being the dad of girl jocks — not Venus and Serena Williams, but Every Dad and Every Girl, if you know what I mean. While it doesn’t have a Davidson theme per se, since Ella ended up there, it may show her progress toward that goal.
In any case, here is the Amazon website: http://www.amazon.com/Daddys-Little-Goalie-Father-Daughters/dp/1449402348
I will be in North Carolina on my book tour in the first week of June. Thursday June 9, at 7 p.m., I will be at Park Road Books in Charlotte. On June 7 at 7 p.m., I will be at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill and on Wednesday June 8 at 7 p.m., I will be at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. Hope you can make one.
Robert Strauss
In the vein of life inspiring art even (especially?) during hard times, my book Soul of a People: The WPA Writers’ Project Uncovers Depression America (Wiley) weaves the stories of a handful of unlikely characters, from hobos, dropouts and avant-garde composers to nurses and schoolteachers, who caught the stories of America during the 1930s, for travel guides. Some went on to later fame (Zora Neale Hurston, Kenneth Rexroth, Ralph Ellison, John Cheever, Meridel Le Sueur) and infamy (Jim Thompson) while others didn’t. Drama! Humor! Life!
The DVD of the accompanying Smithsonian documentary, also titled Soul of a People, recently came out and was reviewed by Library Journal (http://bit.ly/itZeU7), which called it a “touching, straightforward, and well-paced look” at a slice of American history and “a welcome addition to literature and history collections.”
Amazon: http://amzn.to/pRn8qY
Independent bookstores (Indiebound): http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780470403808
David Taylor, Class of ’83
Title of book: “Man’s Chief End” by George Edwards
Publisher: The Chapel Hill Press, 1829 East Franklin St. Suite 300-A, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Year published: 2009, 371 pages
Reviewed by Assad Meymandi, MD, PhD, DLFAPA, in “The Wake County Physician”, January 2011.
Some of Dr. Meymandi’s review: “Man’s Chief End is not a textbook of Raleigh history, it is not an attempt in theology, it is not an anthology of success of private enterprise, personal responsibility, accountability and hard work, it is not a series of sermons to promote professional ethics and love, and it is not an autobiogaphy; yet it is all those. A delicious compendium that is a page turner. Edwards’ book is focused on promoting the purpose of life with a Socratic twist which appears in the first page of the book: ‘Question: What is the chief end of man? Answer: To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’
“The book is embellished by the artistry of the Right Reverend Robert W. Estill, the retired 9th Episcopal Bishop of NC Diocese. There are altogether 40 illustrations and cartoons in addition to the one on the cover.
“Here is the taste of the history of NC, the etymology of some of the NC places….book is full of educational and informational gems….’ Concord was so named for the peace and concord between the Scottish and German settlers across a creek from each other in this small Piedmont North Carolina village twenty miles north of Charlotte.’
“We highly recommend this readable book. Every NC family library ought to have one.”
The book is available at Amazon, Quail Ridge Books and Music (Raleigh) and Kindle (Amazon) and Nook (Barnes and Noble)
My book, A Truce between Scientists and Religionists, is now available by calling 1-800-788-7654 to place an order for a hard copy($21) or an Ecopy($16). I hope you order one, and if you enjoy it, forward this to friends who might also enjoy reading it. In a few weeks it will be available from the secure website dorrancebookstore@dorrance.com , Amazon and typical other web sources.
Why did I write the book? Partly inspiration from Will and Ariel Durant, the outstanding historians. After writing the 10 volume, 9,050 page The Story of Civilization, the Durants wrote a 102 page distillation of their work, The Lessons of History, for those without the time and/or inclination to read the entire series. I love the book and have read it many times.
After retiring in 2000, I read the 10 volumes of the Durants and over 600 books, as well as hundreds of periodicals. The books were diverse, many complex subjects and fiction. It occurred to me that my descendants and others might enjoy a book distilling that reading and my experience to create an explanation of human nature.
Doing this well required explanations of the universe, human brains, intelligence, instincts, history, science, religion, and evolution, expressed in easy to understand English. I used the controversy between scientists and religionists to show many aspects of human nature which affect our current culture.
If you have have the time and inclination, read some of the book’s references, which contain 25,000 pages of detail supporting much of the description of human nature in A Truce between Scientists and Religionists.
Chandley was in the class of ’52
Dear fellow Davidsonians,
I’m posting notice of a freebie (promotional) offer of a
Thanksgiving-themed short story I wrote several years ago, and which was
subsequently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
It’s now up as a freebie through Thursday (Thanksgiving Day, 2012). You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Kingdom-Stories-Minor-ebook/dp/B0067MDPNO/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1321458377&sr=1-3. The title is “In the Animal Kingdom.”
Thanks!
Russell