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Offramp

by Jayne Armstrong (Artist, designer and writer-at-large)

HotToTrot

off the shelves...and which look intriguing enough to warrant a quick mention.

A Widow for One Year, by John Irving. This is perhaps the only living author whose books I will buy without having to read a syllable on the dust jacket.

Aphrodite, by Isabel Allende. Food AND love. Need I say more? This sumptuous book is overflowing with art, recipes and reminiscences. (Another booklover I got chatting with while looking at this one bought it on the spot! She also strongly recommended Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels.) Delicious!

The Magic Circle, by Katherine Neville. This author (who has been a VP of the Bank of America, commercial photographer, model AND painter), brings us what appears to be another compelling read. Her previous novel, The Eight, would make a terrific film, if they don't try to fit it into a paltry two hours...

Portrait of Dr. Gachet - The Story of a Van Gogh Masterpiece, by art historian Cynthia Saltzman. Deserves a closer look, which I will give it, ASAP.

Wormholes - Essays and Occasional Writings by John Fowles. So many books, so little time...

Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy - How Music Captures Our Imagination, by Robert Jourdain. Stay tuned for more. Sufficeth it to say, I'm RIVETED.

The ties that bind...

Recently read and remarkable.

NORMAN: Did you ever hear of physical attraction? Pure, unadulterated physical attraction?
ANDY: I have.
NORMAN: What is it?
ANDY: It's when one hippopotamus likes another hippopotamus with no questions asked.

Neil Simon, The Star-Spangled Girl (1968)

The Alchemy of Love and Lust

Discovering Our Sex Hormones and How They Determine Who We Love, When We Love, and How Often We Love

Theresa L. Crenshaw, M.D. (Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1996).

If you think you're in charge of your love life, you're wrong! Testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, PEA, DHEA, LHRH, oxytocin, vasopressin... everything you always wanted to know about hormones but were afraid to ask. And here it is. A fascinating and highly informative book, which I wish had come out in 19eighty6. Better late than never. There's a lot between these covers. (Just got a rave about this one today from a friend who borrowed it yesterday, and galloped through two-thirds of it at one sitting.)

"It's unsettling to think that molecules can manipulate our minds, and even our mates. But it's also liberating. These molecular agents can operate with abandon only to the extent they are not understood. Dr. Crenshaw provides us with the strategic information to identify their effects and gives us specific practical suggestions on how to modulate them."

Related works:

Intimacy and Solitude - Balancing Closeness and Independence by Stephanie Dowrick

Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr

Anatomy of Love - The Mysteries of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray by Helen Fisher, Ph.D. (Appears to be out of print, but have seen remaindered. A very intriguing book; anthropologically-oriented.)

Love and Will, the classic work by Rollo May, Ph.D.

cobWebs

Dust these off and enjoy...again? A few recommendations for lazy summer afternoons (by a lake if you're lucky).

Three Men in a Boat or Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome

Anything by P.G Wodehouse (Especially with Jeeves and Wooster)

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

The Lymond Chronicle (In six volumes, and brilliant) by Dorothy Dunnett

Chiaroscuro

Painting, n. The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary (Originally published in 1911)

The Dada Painters and Poets by the American painter Robert Motherwell. A now-classic overview of an intriguing, but often misunderstood genre.

Peregrinations by Robert Enright. The associate editor of the Canadian arts publication 'Border Crossings' has compiled a collection of his well-crafted interviews with major contemporary artists (in various disciplines) which is a delight to read. Erudite and informative. (May have limited availability, perhaps only in Canada? If so, definitely deserves wider distribution.)

Modern Art and the Object - A Century of Changing Attitudes by Ellen H. Johnson. A revised and enlarged re-issue of a collection of sensitive and open-minded essays by the late teacher, critic, and editor of 'American Artists on Art' from 1940 to 1980.
"[S]he achieves...the true function of the modern critic: to be the intellectual collaborator of the artist."

Significant Others - Creativity and Intimate Parnership edited by Whitney Chadwick & Isabelle de Courtivron.
"[A] revealing series of essays that focus on artist and writer couples who have shared both sexual and artistic bonds, combining biography with evaluation of each partner's role in the context of their relationship."

OOPS!

Out Of Print Stuff well worth keeping an eye out for in used-book shops.

Staying Sane in the Arts; Eric Maisel, PH.D. Should reside on the bookshelf of every creative or performing artist. Lives up to the title, and highly recommended. Very surprised to see this one no longer in print.

Reading Jazz (Edited by David Meltzer, published by Mercury House, San Francisco, 1993) A diverse anthology of writings on jazz, including such notables as Dave Brubeck, Jean Cocteau, Simone de Beauvoir, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Philip Larkin, Art Pepper, Igor Stravinsky, William Carlos Williams...full of gems. And if you want the all-time definitive version of what constitutes 'cool', it's here!

David Smith on David Smith - Sculpture and Writings, edited by Cleve Gray. A classic work on, and by, possibly the most brilliant American sculptor to date, who was often a contradiction in terms. As his close friend Robert Motherwell observed after Smith's untimely death in 1965; "Oh David, you are as delicate as Vivaldi, and as strong as a Mack truck." Rewarding.

Bedtime Stories

Just for fun, I polled a cross-section of my cronies to discover just WHAT they kept by the bed to peruse prior to their journey off to Nod. Here are a few of their current choices:

WRITER: Lorien Lost - A Novel of Artistic Obsession, Michael King; Practical Intuition, Laura Day; and Story, Robert McKee.

GLASS SCULPTOR: The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell; Barney's Version, Mordecai Richler; and a book on Netscape HTML.

BOOK DEALER: A very old paperback (1967), called Two-Minute Mysteries (suits anyone with a very short period of pre-pillow consciousness); a book on database design; and The Scold's Bridle by Minette Walters.

SILVERSMITH (couple): Hardcover, by Wayne Warga (apparently "a stinker" but sleep-inducing); Fire Under the Sea, by Joseph Cone (volcanoes and oceanography); and Sunset Limited, by James Lee Burke (this got raves).

Written on the wind...

Overheard but not overlooked:

Paul Desmond (Jazz musician):
On contact lenses; "Not for me. If I want to tune everybody out, I just take off my glasses and enjoy the haze."
(From an interview with pianist Marian McPartland, Sept. 15th, 1960.)

CARVED IN STONE

The final frame.

I CANNOT BE GRASPED IN THE HERE AND NOW
FOR I LIVE JUST AS WELL WITH THE DEAD
AS WITH THE UNBORN
SOMEWHAT CLOSER TO THE HEART
OF CREATION THAN USUAL
BUT FAR FROM CLOSE ENOUGH
Epitaph of the painter Paul Klee (1879-1940)
(Schosshalden, Switzerland)

Enjoy the journey!

Last update: July 11, 1998

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Holly's Romance Column

Recommended Books

Frank X. Barron, Alfonso Montuori, Anthea Barron (Editors). Creators on Creating : Awakening and Cultivating the Imaginative Mind (New Consciousness Reader)

Vicky Phillips, Cindy Yager. Writer's Guide to Internet Resources