Comments for Dust on the Bookshelf

Comment on the 18 by Jean

Jean — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:26:59 +0000

Nicely done.

Comment on does Frank Norris speak of cities? by » Do Re Mi, a house in california Dust on the Bookshelf

» Do Re Mi, a house in california Dust on the Bookshelf — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:53:58 +0000

[...] border. Did Guthrie’s song ring true in your ears? Is it still a relevant warning? Reading The Octopus by Norris and Oil! by Sinclair have primed me to think of this state in terms of the modern epic. [...]

Comment on reread remix by Jean Nash Johnson

Jean Nash Johnson — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 05:51:59 +0000

Wow, weird. I was thinking recently that I wanted to reread Middlesex because I’m still haunted by Cal’s parenting. I need to take a less judgmental look at the situation. I know, I know, I do obsess about such things. (By the way, do you have MY copy?)
Also would like to read Memories of a Non-Jewish Childhood by Robert Byrne, a book I read several times in late high school and college in the early ’70s. A simple storyline about an adolescent boy (loosely the author, as I recall) at war against the nuns and everybody else at his Catholic school in Dubuque, Iowa. A quick laugh-out-loud read, it was my great escape in between the heavy-lifting books I read. (Did I ever tell you about this book?) It’s of course out of print. Occasionally I will check Amazon for rare paperbacks, hoping to find an affordable copy. So far, the price for nostalgia has been too high.

Comment on reread remix by Sarah J.

Sarah J. — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:25:49 +0000

What a compliment Lexie! Thomasina indeed. And yes I have been wanting to check out those two plays of his as well.

Comment on reread remix by Lexie

Lexie — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:37:19 +0000

I LOVE Arcadia! Tom Stoppard told me once when I was about 7 that I reminded him of Thomasina – my finest hour Have you read Indian Ink? I’ve never read it but I saw it years ago and really liked it… And Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is funny and a quick read…
bisous!

Comment on distracted by the move by Joel Cohen

Joel Cohen — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:14:48 +0000

I want to read more of it, Sarah!

Comment on distracted by the move by Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:53:08 +0000

Awesome…can I be first in line at the book signing?

Comment on [New] American Girl in New Orleans by J. Nobie

J. Nobie — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:47:34 +0000

Interesting post. Somehow I had never given the American Girl product near enough credit for what seems to be culture with some weight. Had no girls, so I really had not investigated this set of stories.

Comment on [New] American Girl in New Orleans by Jean Nash Johnson

Jean Nash Johnson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:15:40 +0000

Whoa! I remember when we read the Addy series together when you were a kindergartner and how sad you were to read about the cruelty of slavery. I wasn’t prepared to have such a difficult conversation with you at 6.
Remember that horrific scene in the tobacco field where the cruel overseer punished the slave that wouldn’t give details about Addy’s runaway brother’s escape? (He made the slave eat the worms on the plants as the worker de-wormed the crop.)
I was so sad that I had not read ahead, and I was unprepared and touched by your reaction. You hugged me tighter than you ever had and asked, “Why were people so mean” in those days? I don’t remember specifics of what I said as I feebly tried to make you feel better, but you somehow were soothed.
Your 6-year-old self was such an early student of history, by third grade you had read the complete series of seven young heroines, 40 or so chapter books in all. I suppose the AG exposure gets a little credit for your open thinking on culture and differences.
It sure gets my vote of gratitude for helping me through a difficult teachable moment.
(Still wish the scene in the Addy book had come with a parental warning/disclaimer. Would have liked to have been better prepared.)

Comment on [New] American Girl in New Orleans by Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:37:43 +0000

Interesting observations. It was actually surprising to me to learn that American Girl dolls did produce as many dolls/girls of color as it does – not to suggest that there’s some kind of socially progressive diversity quota corporations should shoot for. I had thought of American Girl as a fairly conservative and normative brand, based on what little I know about it.
Although I was not surprised to read that their representation of people of color is restricted to the distantly historical. (Forgive me, Sarah, for calling the 19th Century “distant.”) It reminded me of a dynamic I hear often in “sanitized” conversations about race in America, particularly conversations involving white people, people who don’t want to risk offending, or institutions, like corporations, who see it in their interests to be as a-political as possible. Framing race as historical is a sort of rhetorical sleight of hand, and I hear it in conversations about race all the time. It allows us to ignore the present injustices perpetrated along racial lines and instead focus on the most egregious sins of our collective past in a way that renders everyone blameless and suddenly in agreement. Slavery – bad. Friendship – good. American Girl dolls of color from the last 30 years may be “too close” to our present cultural fault lines, especially if the shtick is to have these dolls represent or at least interact with some of the most salient social threads running through our history.
It speaks to a bigger concern I have about how we as Americans talk about some of the not-so-appetizing realities of our society, race included. To talk frankly about modern day discrimination (along the lines of race, class, gender, and/or sexuality) is to risk being branded a “radical.” It’s not polite, and so it goes unaddressed.
I’ve gotten myself FAR from your American Girl dolls. They are just dolls after all. But your post struck a chord with me today for whatever reason. Thanks for your thoughts, Sarah!