Paula Vauss
was born Kali Jai to a mother who reveled in Indian storytelling, revolving
boyfriends and a transient lifestyle. When young Paula balks at her conditions
and inadvertently gets her mother in trouble, it’s the beginning of a tragic
path for both of them in “The Opposite of Everything” by Joshilyn Jackson. The book
opens with Paula working as a divorce attorney, the perfect job for a woman not
capable of commitment and still reeling from abandonment issues. When she
receives a mystic message from her mother, her faux stability begins to
crumble. The plot thickens when a young man arrives at her doorstep, who looks
acutely like Paula’s mother. Suddenly, the guilt of her youthful mistake
ratches up several notches for she realizes her actions years before have
impacted more than just she and her mother. Like
previous Jackson books, the first-person narrative is quirky and humorous but
with an underlying layer that reaches into your heart. It’s an enjoyable novel
that keep you entertained throughout.
New releases
This
Tuesday, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press will release “Revitalizing
Cities: The HRI Vision,” which tells the story of HRI Properties of New
Orleans. Emerging during the 1980s, HRI Properties revitalized historic
neighborhoods left abandoned and vacant. The book, written by by Pres Kabacoff,
Edward Boettner, and Tom Leonhard with James P. Farwell, tells the story of the
company’s pioneers, Kabacoff and Boettner. HRI has taken its philosophy of
revitalization to other states as well, from Texas to Nebraska, North Carolina
to Mississippi. UL-Lafayette
Press has also released two short story collections — “Duck Thief and Other
Stories” by David Langlinais of Abbeville and “Dead Dog Lying and Other
Stories” by Norman German of Lake Charles, a professor at Southeastern.
Dr. Brice C. Jones, a biblical
scholar at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, has discovered and translated
numerous ancient texts, some of which have generated national media attention. He
has published his findings in “New Testament Texts on Greek Amulets from Late
Antiquity,” which analyzes 24 papyri of Egyptian origin written in ancient
Greek and contain a citation of the New Testament. These range in date from the
third to seventh centuries AD. Jones provides the Greek text of each
manuscript, a colored image of the artifact itself and an analysis of the text
and the artifact, the first book published devoted to analyzing the
text-critical value of citations of scripture on ancient Christian
amulets. Jones is an ancient historian
specializing in papyrology and early Christianity.
LSU-Shreveport
history department chair Gary D. Joiner and journalist John Andrew Prime have
authored a look at Shreveport’s hometown heroes, leaders and a few infamous
residents in “Legendary Locals of Shreveport.” There’s the famous residents
such as Terry Bradshaw, Hank Williams and George Carlin, to name a few; the
movers and shakers; authors, artists and musicians; lawbreakers and sinners;
and a few unusual names you may be surprised to see, folks like John Thomas
Scopes of the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Tennessee.
Along that same line — well, the
sinners part — is “Legendary Louisiana Outlaws: The Villains and Heroes of Folk
Justice” by Keagan LeJeune, published by LSU Press. The book examines infamous
figures such as pirate Jean Lafitte, train-robber Eugene Bunch, bootlegging
Dunn brothers of Vinton, suspected murderer Leather Britches Smith and Bonnie
and Clyde, who met their death in a shoot-out in northern Louisiana. There’s
also the famed Louisiana’s Neutral Strip at the border with Texas, where gangs
roamed and pillaged. LeJeune is professor of English at
McNeese, past president of the Louisiana Folklore Society and editor of its
journal, “Louisiana Folklore Miscellany.” He has collected stories about
outlaws and Louisiana folklore for more than 15 years.
LSU Press has also published “Hispanic
and Latino New Orleans: Immigration and Identity since the Eighteenth Century”
by Andrew
Sluyter, Case Watkins,
James P.
Chaney and Annie M.
Gibson. Often overlooked in historical studies of New Orleans, the
city’s Hispanic and Latino populations have contributed significantly to its
development. The book explores their evolving role in shaping the city’s
unique cultural identity but also reveals how their history informs the ongoing
national debate about immigration.
Michael Murphy returns to his “Dat” New Orleans book series (“Fear Dat” and “Eat Dat”) with “Hear Dat New Orleans: A Guide to the Rich Musical Heritage & Lively Current Scene,” this time taking on New Orleans music, just in time for Jazz Fest. Murphy guides readers to the best in New Orleans music with an introductory Q&A by the late great Allen Toussaint.
Michael Murphy returns to his “Dat” New Orleans book series (“Fear Dat” and “Eat Dat”) with “Hear Dat New Orleans: A Guide to the Rich Musical Heritage & Lively Current Scene,” this time taking on New Orleans music, just in time for Jazz Fest. Murphy guides readers to the best in New Orleans music with an introductory Q&A by the late great Allen Toussaint.
Book news
“Witness to Change: From Jim Crow
to Political Empowerment” by Sybil Haydel Morial is a finalist for the INDIEFAB
Books of the Year Award, the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award and the IPPY Book
Award. The author and her book have been spotlighted in Essence magazine and on
NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
Morial will discuss “The Black
Experience in New Orleans” with autors James B. Borders IV and Brenda Marie
Osbey from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the Faulkner House, 624 Pirate’s
Alley in New Orleans. Borders is the author of “Marking Time, Making Place: An
Essential Chronology of Blacks in New Orleans since 1718” and Osbey the author
of the collection of poetry “All Souls: Essential Poems.” RSVPs to faulkhouse@aol.com are required.
M.O. Walsh’s New York Times
bestseller, “My Sunshine Away,” set in Baton Rouge, is now in paperback.
Book events
Associate Dean of the LSU College
of Art and Design will speak with author Genevieve Munson Trimble at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday
at Hill Memorial Library on the LSU campus. Trimble is the author of “Afton
Villa: The Birth and Rebirth of a Nineteenth-Century Louisiana Garden.”
The Nancy Drew Convention will be Wednesday
through Sunday in New Orleans.
Cheré Dastugue Coen is
the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie
Claire. She is also the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to
Acadiana” and
co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris
Bags and Sachets.” Write
her at cherecoen@gmail.com.
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