Polishing Southern TarnishWell, I declare. Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays must have my double-first-name aunts on speed dial for their second offering...
The Mirror WithinRecently, I saw a marquee at a local retail establishment that read: <i>If you want to correct your child's behavior, correct her example—you.</i>
Reza Aslan on IslamReza Aslan, the internationally acclaimed author of "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam" (Random House, 2005, $25.95), will speak in Jackson on Wednesday, Feb. 22, as part of the Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series. A …
Vivian M. KellyVivian M. Kelly, 42, always knew she wanted to write. A favorite school teacher in Edwards encouraged her to never give up on her dreams, advice she took to heart. "When Love Ain't Enough" (GNE Books, $16.95), the first of …
[Geek] Don't Ask "Y": A Vision Of The Unmanned WorldI have to profess an undying affection for "what if" stories—what if the British had won the Revolutionary War, what if Napoleon had not lost at Waterloo—and the comic book genre is full of these stories. What if Spider-Man had …
[Geek] Comic Crisis!Comic fans are used to company-wide crossovers interrupting the usual plotlines in favor of an ill-contrived tie-in. The main characters take a break from the action of the special event to check their answering-machine messages, or the big battle is …
[Comics] Because Nobody Else Will"Desolation Jones" is the newest series coming from the mind of critically acclaimed writer Warren Ellis and former "Promethea" artist J.H. Williams (who co-created "Desolation Jones" with Ellis).
[Halloween] Cool Costumes and General StupidityFor adults like me, Oct. 31 is a great day. And, no, it's not because my youngest son will turn 26 that day and thankfully be too old for the draft Dubya assures us will not ever happen. (Talk about …
White NoiseFrom the four pages of acknowledgements to chapters like "Why I'm a Virgin" and "Who Will Stand Up for Old People," Ben Ferguson's first book "It's My America Too" (William Morrow, 2004, $23.95) seems more concerned with impressing those aforementioned …
Our Three WritersOn the Web site for the Millsaps Arts & Lecture Series, about its Sept. 30 offering of Southern writers, there's the question: "How much better does it get than this?" You get the rare chance, beginning at 7:30 p.m. that …
Sweet Home Paradox"Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race, and New Beginnings in a New South." You can tell by the title of this book what it's going to be about, right? Not exactly. What we have in Mark Kemp's new book …
[Rev] Burning CarBy the time you read this, you will have missed Burning Man. You will have missed the blistering heat and dust on the playa, an ancient lake bed where revelers camp in the Black Rock Desert in northwest Nevada. You …
Signifying PlentyI admit that I haven't finished reading every essay in Ellen Douglas' amazing new book. I simply can't bear for it to end. I read a couple of lines, then close my eyes to let them fully sink in. It …
The Altar of FootballAcross the country, college football fans just got started planning their lives around their team's schedule. New York Times reporter Warren St. John, born in Birmingham in 1970 into a University of Alabama football-fan-family, shows in his new book, "Rammer …
[Rev] Rogues of the Driving WorldDo you have any idea what it involves to be the maid of honor at a wedding? Me neither, but I'm going to be one in my sister's wedding in a few weeks, so I hustled down to the public …