Profile of Eddie Chuculate

Black Sparrow author Eddie Chuculate was recently profiled in High Country News, a Colorado-based magazine that focuses on the culture and environmental issues of the Western United States. In the profile, Chuculate, author of Cheyenne Madonna, describes his writing style and how, despite his Oklahoma roots, the West is in his blood.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"Dear Shorty" describes a young Creek/Cherokee man who wanders across the Southwest, in and out of trouble with alcohol and the law, all while writing letters to his dad. It's from Chuculate's first book, Cheyenne Madonna, a tale of Oklahoma grit and Native wanderlust. Creek poet Joy Harjo praised it, noting how the author "investigates the broken-heart nation of Indian men. The epicenter of action is the tenuous meeting place between boyhood and manhood, between fierce need and desire."

Chuculate, who is Creek Indian and Cherokee, first learned how to spin a tale at the family dinner table. "There were only three channels on TV. We'd spend the evenings acting out what happened that day, or we'd mimic how someone walked or talked." After high school, Chuculate worked as a local sportswriter for a few years, but eventually decided he would "die if I had to cover one more Little League tournament or trout-fishing competition."

And so, in 1994, after a friend told him about the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, he hopped a Greyhound to the heart of the Southwest. His love affair with the West began on that journey. "In the morning, the sun came up behind the Sandias -- that was the first time I saw mountains." At the Native contemporary arts school, Chuculate thought he'd be a museum studies major until he took a fiction class and discovered an outlet for his natural inclination for story. "Our first assignment was to write a story about a memorable character in our family," he says. "So I started writing 'A Famous Indian Artist' based on my uncle. Then I started writing about my dad, my grandma and grandpa. Their characters are all over (Cheyenne Madonna)."

You can read the rest of the article here. Pick up your copy of Cheyenne Madonna today!

Picture Book Heaven

We adore picture books here at David R. Godine, Publisher, and were recently inspired by the Picture Book Museum Library in Iwaki City in Fukushima, Japan.

 From The Interiorist blog via Ken Lee 2010

Image by Ken Lee 2010

Mr. Ray, a Kindergarten principal, dreamed of creating a special space for children to enjoy books and expand their imaginations. He pleaded with renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando to design a privately-owned library that would mainly serve three local preschools. Ando agreed and was given only one piece of instruction from Mr. Ray. Ando was required to construct a library that would allow the book covers to be displayed outward for the children to see. The Picture Book Library was inspired by Maurice Sendak’s book Outside Over There. Ando produced the building using only three materials: reinforced concrete, glass, and wood. He integrated the exterior with the interior spaces to give the appearance of reading outdoors.

The main reading room houses books with the covers facing outward in book cubbies. Stairways weave throughout the room, allowing children to explore the tall wooden walls filled with books and to sit to read a book they have chosen. Ando did not use color in his design, but rather allowed the bright illustrations of the books themselves to bring to life the building. There are approximately 10,000 international picture books in the collection, with 1,500 books on display at any given time.

After the project was completed, Ando stated, “I am sure there is no sign, don’t laugh, anywhere. An atmosphere of playfulness, not awe or indoctrination, is the hallmark of this new paradigm of educational facility…It will help [kids] dream.” For more information, visit A Library Architecture Resource.




In the spirit of being inspired by Japanese art, learn about the Japanese master illustrator and printmaker, Hokusai, in our beautifully illustrated children’s book, Old Man Mad About Drawing by Francois Place.

You can purchase our latest picture book, Just Perfect, written and illustrated by Jane Marinsky, from the Godine website. 

Superior Person's Wednesday!

We might have missed Tuesday, but seeing as it is a 4-day work week, we're hoping you'll cut us some slack. At any rate, here is your Superior Person's word of the week!

Acorporal a. Without a body. In response to a remark by Samuel Rogers that in moments of extreme danger it was very desirable to have presence of mind, the Reverend Sydney Smith replied that he would rather have absence of body. This was said on the very same night that Smith, dining at Rogers’ home, was asked for his opinion on a new lighting system installed by Rogers in the dining room, in such a way that the light was directed at the ceiling, leaving the table below in subdued lighting. Smith replied that he did not like the new system at all, “for all is light above, and all below is darkness and gnashing of teeth.”

Desperate to become immortal, the acorporal Lord Voldemort is forced to use Professor Quirrell’s body while stealing the sorcerer’s stone in J. K. Rowling’s first novel.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Acorporal appears in the Third.

Brooklyn Book Festival Recap

Photo from 52 Projects

A few weeks ago, David R. Godine, Publisher, attended the Brooklyn Book Festival and had a great time. We arrived early with a car full of books, posters, tablecloths, and a few boxes of raisins for David. It was cold and blustery as we hunted for our booth, which we eventually found tucked behind the Festival stage. After unpacking and stacking piles of irresistible Godine books, we took the chance to explore the festival grounds before the festival started. Everyone was scrambling to finish setting up as the booths came to life with books of all shapes, sizes, and genres.

Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in New York City and throughout the day thousands of book lovers flocked to the festival to mingle with publishers and authors and browse through piles of books looking to discover the next great read. Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Brooklyn Novels by Daniel Fuchs was a big hit.

Thank you to all of those that stopped by our booth to explore our Godine books with us! We had a wonderful time with old friends and new.

We hope to see more of you at the Boston Book Festival on Saturday, October 27, 2012!

Nan Parson Rossiter Book Signings!

If you live in the Connecticut area and are a fan of beautiful picture books, you're in luck. Nan Parson Rossiter, author of The Fo’c’sle: Henry Beston’s “Outermost House” and Sugar on Snow, has not one, but two book signings coming up this weekend!

On Friday, October 5, at 6:30 pm, she will be at the Merwinsville Hotel Restoration Fine Arts & Crafts Show in Gaylordsville, CT.     

Busy Friday? No problem - you can also catch her on Sunday, October 7, at 2 pm at the Bank Street Book Nook in New Milford, CT.

We hope to see you at one (or both) of these events!

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Kinetosis n. A fancy name for travel sickness.

Even the mention of the song “Wheels on the Bus” causes Jimmy to have kinetosis.

 

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Kinetosis appears in the First.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Hebdomadal a. Weekly. (The Hebdomadal Council of Oxford University is a representative board that meets weekly). Surprise the next office management group meeting by suggesting that it is not really necessary for the group to meet hebdomadally.

It is hard to keep up with the reading for our hebdomadal book club meetings.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Hebdomadal appears in the Second.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Neoterism n. That which is new, and especially the invention of new words, or a particular newly coined word (the latter being also known as a neologism). For example, when Sir Thomas Urquhart published his translation of Rabelais, he enriched the text by expanding a list of nine animal sounds to seventy-one, including the curking of quails, the nuzzling of camels, the smuttering of monkeys, the charming of beagles, the drintling of turkeys, the boing of buffaloes, the coniating of storks, the gueriating of apes, the crouting of cormonants.

The Oxford English Dictionary attributes over 500 neoterisms to William Shakespeare.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Neoterism appears in the Third.

Calling All New Hampshire Writers

This Friday and Saturday, September 14-15, the New Hampshire Writer's Project is hosting the Monadnock Region Literary Festival. Our own Ernest Hebert, author of Never Back Down, will be leading a fiction writing workshop Saturday from 3 to 5 pm.

From the NHWP's website:

Novelists often get tripped up when devising a plot. Another pitfall is finding a voice. Then there's point of view. Ernest Hebert says forget about plot, story, voice, and point of view. Start with character and everything else will fall into place. Hebert will show you how, including an exercise that will help you find enough characters to last through a long career. Open to all. REGISTER NOW.

 This is a great opportunity to learn from a wonderful author and writing instructor - don't miss out!

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Boondoggle v. or n. To carry out valueless or extremely trivial work in order to convey the impression that one is busy. Work so carried out. A necessary technique for military circles, where the classic form is the day-long carrying around of a rubbish bin while the remainder of your platoon are out on maneuvers. On being questioned by an officer, a smart “Rubbish detail, sir!” satisfies the inquirer.

The office was full of boondoggling that day.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Boondoggle appears in the First.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Whangdoodle n. A mythical bird that grieves continuously. As far as the lexicographer can tell from the limited source material available to him, this bears no relation to the somewhat mystifying title of the classic Howlin’ Wolf number “Wang-dang-doodle,” with its haunting refrain “We’re gonna pitch wang-dang-doodle all night long.”

When a Twitter account is deactivated, the Twitter bird becomes a whangdoodle.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Whangdoodle appears in the Second.

One Times Square: High Brow and Brilliant

It's no secret that we here at Godine think One Times Square, written and illustrated by Joe McKendry, is pretty awesome. In recent weeks, it has become clear that the rest of the publishing world is in agreement. In addition to spectacular reviews from The New York Times and the Regional Plan Association, the book was also selected by jury to be a part of the Society of Illustrators' show "The Original Art 2012."

This week finds One Times Square sitting pretty once again: in New York Magazine's Approval Matrix. We've always thought One Times Square was both high brow and brilliant, but now it's official.

Click to enlarge

What Kind of Reader Are You?

Image from article. Flickr/Simon Cocks

There are many different types of readers out there, but thanks to The Atlantic Wire's "What Kind of Book Reader Are You? A Diagnostics Guide," you can now pinpoint exactly which category you fall under. 

From the article:

The New Yorker's Page-Turner blog includes a book-reader coinage that got us thinking about our own reading styles. There, Mark O'Connell confesses his dirty little reading secret: He doesn't finish books; he's a "promiscuous reader," a book abandoner. He writes, "I’ll start a book, get about halfway through it, and then, even if I’m enjoying it, put it down in favor of something else." But it's not the books, it's him. "I like reading too much. I can’t say no," he writes. "I’ll be reading a novel and thoroughly enjoying it. Then I’ll be in a bookshop and I’ll see something I’ve been anticipating, and I’ll buy it. I’ll start reading the new book on the bus home that evening, and that will be the end of the original affair. I’m certainly invested in the relationship with the book that I’m currently reading, but I can’t help myself from pursuing whatever new interest happens to turn my head. Perhaps that’s just a tortuous way of admitting to being a pathetic serial book-adulterer who’ll chase after anything in a dust jacket." He justifies his behavior in the end, as you'd expect of a "book cheater," by saying that maybe occasionally this is a good thing. When he finally meets the book whose fickleness meets his own, well, perhaps he's met his match. 

We understand. We, too, have occasionally set one good book down and picked up another, and forgotten the first nearly entirely, even though we'd been quite smitten with it before. Sometimes we engage in threeways, fourways, or even orgies of reading, in which there are so many books involved, well, we might not even be keeping track. It's horrible, isn't it? But, for as many books as exist, there are also any number of different reading types a book lover (or even a book hater) might demonstrate. What kind are you?

So, friends, where do you fall? I'm a Chronological Reader, with a little bit of Delayed Onset Reader #1 thrown in, myself.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Formicate v. To swarm like ants. "Principal, I thought you ought to know - the Seventh Grade is formicating all over the quadrangle."

Children always formicate around the ice cream truck.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Formicate appears in the First.

Godine's End-of-Summer Sale Continues!

Looking for a good book to read? We've always got you covered, but now is an especially great time to browse our website, thanks to our end-of-summer sale. Most markdowns are 50% or more, and some discounts are even deeper! They won't last long, so act fast.

Monday Blues?

Monday got you down? We have just the video to put a smile on your face. If only everyone were as friendly as this little girl at the Copley Place Mall.

Bye!

Superior Person's...Wednesday! (Oops)

We may be a day late (please forgive us!), but never fear - here is your Superior Person's word of the week!

Ozostomia n. Evil-smelling breath. Or so my source defines it. Not bad, you will note, not sour; but evil. How does breath smell evil? Is this the origin of the famous royal motto “Evil be to him who evil stinks”? Or have I got that wrong?

The Tasmanian Devil’s ozostomia is worse than his bite.

 

Each Tuesday (or the occasional Wednesday), we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Ozostomia appears in the Second.

Fauna and Family

We are pleased to re-announce Gerald Durrell’s Fauna and Family, the final installment in his beloved Corfu trilogy. Set on a Greek isle between the world wars, this autobiography concludes the wacky and often hilarious adventures of the Durrell family. Durrell, now a world-class naturalist, here recounts the origins of his passion for wildlife. Young Gerry’s wide-eyed enthusiasm for fauna of all types – snakes, lizards, birds, fish, and everything in between – sets the tone for a charming tale populated by a colorful and eclectic cast of characters, both human and animal.

An excerpt from Fauna and Family:

The Bootle Bumtrinket, being Leslie’s first effort in boat building, was almost circular and flat-bottomed, so that, with her attractive color scheme of orange and white stripes, she looked not unlike an ornate celluloid duck. She was friendly, stalwart craft, but owing to her shape and her lack of keel she became very flustered in anything like a heavy sea and would threaten to turn upside down and proceed that way. Owing to her shape, she could not wear a tall mast without turning over and so her pocket-handkerchief-sized sail could only garner and harvest the tiniest cupfuls of wind; thus, for the most part, she was propelled from point to point with oars, and when we had a full crew on board – three dogs, an owl, and sometimes a pigeon – and were carrying a full cargo – some two dozen containers full of seawater and specimens – she was a back-aching load to push through the water.

One Times Square in The New York Times!

Our new title One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World, written and illustrated by Joe McKendry, has been garnering some well-deserved buzz in the book world recently. According to the Regional Plan Association, "McKendry's book elegantly fuses watercolors and words to tell the story of one of America's most iconic addresses." Another review for One Times Square was featured in a small newspaper you may have heard of - The New York Times!

Review:

Several miles down the grid lies another of Manhattan’s towering majesties, the chaos known as Times Square, the subject of Joe McKendry’s exquisite illustrated history, “One Times Square.” McKendry, who described a similar slice of urban architecture in “Beneath the Streets of Boston: Building America’s First Subway,” traces the famed intersection’s roots back to early 1800s farmland, where a former brewer named Medcef Eden owned 70 acres that included a dirt path known as Bloomingdale Road, now Broadway. 

As the grid moved northward up the island, McKendry tells us, the intersection between Broadway and Seventh Avenue became known as Long Acre Square, commonly referred to as “the Thieves’ Lair.” (Some things don’t change.) Of course, its new name, which came along with the city’s first subway line, the completion of the Astor Hotel and – ahem – the new headquarters for The New York Times, was a lot more enduring. “Covering the event in its own pages, The Times crowed, ‘It is a name … not likely to be forgotten in this community.’ ”

McKendry’s meticulous attention to detail in his illustrations and text enriches both without weighing down the book in the slightest. Who knew the history behind the Motograph News Bulletin, or “Zipper,” installed in 1928 and a marvel of its time, even if it ultimately led to those annoying tickers on cable news television?  One of the Zipper’s operators, McKendry tells us, spent 33 years assembling the bulletins. Readers also learn just how an ambitious billboard designer made a Camel billboard that blew “smoke” rings across the square for a quarter of a century.

The book doesn’t skip over the less than jolly aspects of Times Square. McKendry dutifully describes the area’s descent into an alternately condemned and celebrated state of seediness and disrepair. A full page shows the Times Tower’s transformation from its Florentine campanile glory into the gray humdrum of the Allied Chemical Company headquarters. “By the mid-1970s,” McKendry writes, “Times Square had a well-earned reputation as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in New York City.”

As an artist, McKendry is as versatile as Times Square itself, rendering sepia-toned watercolors just as adeptly as black-and-white line drawings, clarifying diagrams, streetscapes and full-spectrum painting. Much of the artwork feels deeply nostalgic, entirely appropriate to the subject matter – like leafing through an old issue of The Saturday Evening Post, with none of the pages falling out. Yet the layout, varied and lively but still with plenty of white space, feels entirely modern. This is both a handsome and highly readable book, one that will be pored over cover to cover by young New Yorkers, real and aspiring.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Vulpicide n. The killing of a fox other than by hunting with hounds; or one who does that. The italics are mine. A puzzling one indeed. This is the meaning of the term as given by both Webster and Oxford. Yet why should hunting with hounds be excluded from the definition? The implication would seem to be that there is a moral bonus, so to speak, in hunting with hounds; that this is an ethical way to despatch the wily Reynard, and that other methods are unethical. Yet what other methods are there? In what circumstances could the word vulpicide actually be used? "I say, old chap - passed a fox on the way across the meadow this morning - got him on the head with a four iron!" "You absolute rotter! You could have got out a few hounds and had them tear his throat out; but oh no, you just had to commit vulpicide!"

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Vulpicide appears in the Third.