Postscripts
By Clay Smith, Fri., Sept. 17, 1999
Banned in Boerne
It must have taken some creative noodling on the part of the Boerne school district to decide to ban David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars. But Boerne superintendent John Kelly has his reasons; he recently enumerated for PW Daily the objectionable elements of the popular and critically lauded book: "On one page there were 17 obscenities. On another, there was a descriptive account of a sexual encounter. On another, there was a wartime setting where the organ of a corpse of a dead boy was mutilated." The timing on this is too weird. September 25-October 1 is Banned Books Week 1999. Texas can be proud -- the Lindale school district recently banned To Kill a Mockingbird from its advanced English reading list because the book "conflicted with the values of the community," blah, blah, blah.
Lists, lists, it's all about lists. During Banned Books Week, you'll be able to find a list of banned books at many bookstores. But there's a new list in some stores, the Book Sense 76 list, "a monthly selection of 76 new and backlist titles recommended by independents to showcase a diverse selection of quality fiction, nonfiction, and children's titles," according to Bookselling This Week, a publication of the American Booksellers Association. Basically, what that means is that independent bookstores as one entity are creating their own bestsellers list in opposition to The New York Times list, which they feel is too heavily influenced by chain bookstore sales. The Book Sense 76 list is part of a new branding campaign offered by the ABA to member stores to help bolster a store's recognition with the public as an independent bookstore. One of the Book Sense 76 titles has already entered The New York Times bestseller list, and it has independent bookstores jumping for joy. Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History will debut at #10 September 19 and tells the story of "the deadliest hurricane in history," the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed as many as 10,000 people. (Can anyone say The Perfect Storm, Part 2? Booksellers can!) The author, Erik Larson, will be at the Texas Book Festival, November 6-7.
Violet Crown Awards
The finalists of the 1999 Violet Crown Awards have been announced. They are: in the fiction category, Jim Magnuson (Windfall), Sarah Nawrocki (Camping With Strangers: And Other Stories), and Janice Woods Windle (Hill Country). In nonfiction, finalists are Suzy Spencer (Wasted), Elva Treviño Hart (Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child), and Walter Meyer (Tomorrow Will Be Better: Surviving Nazi Germany). Finalists for the poetry and prose category are Bobby Byrd (The Price of Doing Business in Mexico), Richard Cole (Success Stories), and Tom Pilkington (State of Mind: Texas Literature and Culture). The finalists and three winners will be recognized at a reception at Barnes & Noble Westlake on Saturday, September 25, 6:30pm.
Language Lessons
Memoir writers have to tell their own story while making it clear why other people should take an interest. The most engaging memoirs are expansive, inviting reads. Language Lessons: For When Your Mom Dies, by Mary Clare Griffin, takes another approach: It is very specific, a primer of sorts for anyone who must endure a family member suffering through disease. Griffin will be at BookWoman on Tuesday, September 21, 7pm, to discuss and sign her book.
