onsider the orchids of the fields. They neither weave nor
sew. Nor do I suspect they sit in the field wondering if the next flower over
is prettier. But humans do.

Yes, I know in the Bible it is lilies, but in Scott
Westerfeld’s book, Uglies, it is
orchids, beautiful and once rare, white orchids that have been genetically
modified to become hardy that take over and crowd out other plants, leaching
the soil and finally leaving the earth barren. This is just a symbol, but it is
a powerful one.

Continue reading “Uglies by Scott Westerfeld”

by Joshua Beran onsidering all that happens to the lead character, there is very little "action" in Elsie’s Business. In place of action, Washburn gives us relationships, internal dialogue, andatmosphere.  Though the book streches over several years, most of it is set in the ruthless South Dakota winter.  Prairie winters are deadly, unchanging, andunwelcoming.  Long winters can close minds, leaving those that live through them locked up with the same people they have always known.  There is stasis; nothing moves, nobody moves.  Even the dead stay above ground, waiting for the land to thaw.  The book can also be seen … Continue reading Exploring Ambiguity in Elsie’s Business

Save 25% on your University of Nebraska Press book order until the end of the year! During the checkout process, enter the following discount code after your credit card information: XDEC6 This offer is good on all regularly priced books purchased through our Web site.* Discount expires December 31, 2006. Browse our featured gift books here *excludes books published by the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements Continue reading Save On UNP Web Orders During the Holiday Season

fter a rant on reading books, I’m now going to discuss a
movie. Oh well. I’ll get to more books next week because I recently got my
hands on the old Vincent Price classic The
House on Haunted Hill. When something is considered a classic it is usually
for one of a couple of reasons. It did it first. Pamela may not be the best novel out there, but where it stands in
history looms so large, it is worth the read. It did it, not only first, but
best. Frankenstein. No one ever did
that as well as she did. Or it took the ideas others had and did it best. This
is where The House on Haunted Hill
stands.

It is not the first story or movie about a bunch of people
trapped in a supposedly haunted mansion with someone who may be psycho. But it
is one of the best.

Continue reading “House on Haunted Hill”

George Armstrong Custer, American Civil War general and of Little Bighorn fame, was born on this date in 1839. Touched by Fire: The Life, Death, and Mythic Afterlife of George Armstrong CusterBy Louise BarnettWith a new preface by the author “There is much unusual and useful information about life on the plains, Indian warfare, the danger and fear of captivity by Indians, and especially, the relationship between Custer and his wife.”—New York Times Book Review Feathering Custer By W. S. Penn2002 Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Writer of the Year “Feathering Custer points to the need for critical … Continue reading General Custer’s Birthday

n the world of literature, fantasy, science fiction, and horror do not rate. Those of us in sf tend to bemoan this fact. Why are we not taken seriously? Why does the establishment not give us our due? Here’s a strange thought. Maybe, in a lot of cases, we deserve it.

Of the three speculative fiction types, science fiction certainly has the most possibility for respect. Soft sociological sf is generally seen as "serious". Fantasy and horror are more difficult, though not impossible. There is the increasingly "serious" magical realism group. And Joyce Carol Oates seems to enjoy her associations with horror, providing an introduction to an H.P. Lovecraft anthology and certainly never seeming to mind being included in the horror category sometimes, as Margaret Atwood does so idiotically with sf. So it is possible to be taken seriously, however, on the whole, if you mention any of the speculative genres to the average person (not the 5% of us who are regular readers) they will assume it is not art. Not Literature. Not worthy. Because in a lot of cases they are right.

Continue reading “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”

Today is the birthday of Oglala Sioux military leader Crazy Horse (12/4/1849 – 9/5/1877), of  Little Bighorn fame. Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas (Second Edition) By Mari Sandoz With an introduction by Vine Deloria Jr. "Sandoz displayed an exquisite sensitivity to the spiritual and cultural impact of landscape and topography, and intensely conveyed the emotional, psychological, and religious universe of the Plains Indians. . . . That sensitivity makes this, the most accomplished biography of Crazy Horse and one of the best and most moving books ever written about the American West, a strange, often unsettling work."—Benjamin … Continue reading Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux

Nocturnal America by John Keeble “Nocturnal America, winner of the 2006 Prairie Schooner Prize for fiction, is a supremely satisfying set of nine loosely connected stories that interweave raw emotion, spiritual searching and violence. . . . For the most part, the men and women of Nocturnal America are as real as your next-door neighbor, struggling with matters of body and spirit against an Eastern Washington backdrop of stark lines, sweeping curves and treeless horizons. Keeble illuminates his characters with uncommon clarity, showing the care of an author who’s spent 30 years perfecting his form.”— Mary Ann Gwinn, Seattle Times … Continue reading More Praise for Nocturnal America

here are places in this country that go unnoticed. I grew up in one of them—eastern Washington. John Keeble has lived in eastern Washington for thirty years and has written movingly about the people there and the unremitting landscape, most recently in Nocturnal America, winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction and just released from University of Nebraska Press. Even when the stories (which are loosely linked across time and place) venture into Saskatchewan or onto a giant oil freighter headed north toward Valdez, the settings whistle the same tune. What is it about these places that won’t … Continue reading Reading Nocturnal America