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Kansas Notable Book Review – Charlatan

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock.

Reviewed by Terri Summey, 2009 Kansas Notable Books Committee

charlatansmall

The saying that “truth is stranger than fiction” definitely applies to this entertaining and fascinating work by Pope Brock, noted author of Indiana Gothic and numerous other publications.

In Charlatan, Brock presents a biographical sketch of John R. Brinkley, the “Kansas Goat Gland Doctor” who was almost elected Governor of the State of Kansas. The work begins with Brinkley’s early days and illustrates how he came from humble beginnings to become one of the most famous and richest surgeons in the United States. Brock discusses Brinkley’s run for Governor in the 1930s employing campaign techniques that have become commonplace in our modern society. After losing his campaign for Governor and then his medical license, Brinkley expanded his business, moving his medical advice and remedies to the radio airwaves. He moved to Texas and built the largest radio tower across the border in Mexico.

In between medical shows, Brinkley introduced the American populace to country music and the blues that he used to fill his time slots. The work also describes the life and career of Morris Fishbein, who vowed to put Brinkley out of business and bring the charlatan to justice for murdering and maiming individuals. The work ends climactically with a courtroom showdown between Brinkley and Fishbein. This well-researched book documents an era in American and Kansas history and is fun to read. Many senior citizens will remember Brinkley and his radio station that featured such acts as the Carter Family.

A bibliography of sources and an index is included in the book. It is highly recommended for academic and public library collections.

If you would like to order this book, please consider ordering from one of the Kansas Center for the Book Affiliates: Book Kansas!, Claflin Books, Town Crier, Watermark Books.

Posted in Book reviews, KCFB, Notable Books, Sept. 09, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

Kansas Notable Book Review – Pizza Hut Story

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

The Pizza Hut Story by Robert Spector, foreword by Dan Carney

Reviewed by Sarah Bagby, 2009 Kansas Notable Books Committee

From its original location at Bluff and Kellogg through its rise as the World’s Largest Pizza Chain, Pizza Hut isn’t just a home-town story—it’s a neighborhood story that began right here in the College Hill area. Dan and Frank Carney, with a little help from their fraternity brothers, opened their first Pizza Hut restaurant in May 1958. Now, 50 years later, Robert Spector has written The Pizza Hut Story, which describes how a local hangout survived rapid growth, adapted to changing customer and owner demands, and grew to dominate the global marketplace.

pizzahutstorysmall

In the early days, Pizza Hut employees were motivated by brotherhood, beer and a small hourly wage. Franchise agreements were made with a handshake; regions defined and distributed over beers; borders redrawn with just a phone call. The Carneys and their pals succeeded almost in spite of themselves. When the growing pains began and they needed money, the Carneys took back control of underperforming stores and regions, packaged themselves for Wall Street and began a new era Pizza Hut.

In January 1969, the Carneys offered more than 400,000 shares of Pizza Hut stock to the public, and there were suddenly a lot of millionaires in town—at least on paper. The business’s “new owners” brought $5 million in capital and a demand for financial accountability. National marketing and strategic planning required that franchisees and owners loosen their grip on their businesses—a major change in culture and approach. Now national marketing plans would prove to be both a point of contention and also the glue that held the company together.

In November 1977, Pizza Hut, Inc. became part of PepsiCo, Inc. Frank Carney, acting as CEO of Pizza Hut, provided continuity for the company but this new role also presented challenges for the fiercely independent Carney. Cultural clashes and leadership initiatives challenged the identity of the hometown culture of Pizza Hut.

In June 1980, Frank Carney resigned, bringing the Carney era to an end. Franchisees were skeptical about their corporate “partners,” but more competition, more need for delivery, and new markets demanded a “bigger than hometown” approach to their business.

The Pizza Hut Story is a must for anyone interested in business, anyone who has worked at Pizza Hut, or anyone who has lived in Wichita over the last 50 years. Robert Spector tells of the highs and lows, near misses and home runs that made this familiar company such a success. Illustrated with photos of the players, the facilities and the product and marketing plan, The Pizza Hut Story is an extra-large supreme, served up in a box ready to deliver.

If you would like to order this book, please consider ordering from one of the Kansas Center for the Book affiliates: Book Kansas!, Claflin Books, Town Crier, Watermark Books.

Posted in Aug09, Book reviews, KCFB, Notable Books, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

Kansas Notable Book Review – The Kitchen Sink

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

The Kitchen Sink: New and Selected Poems
by Albert Goldbarth

Reviewed by the Kansas Notable Books Committee

This book exhibits the dazzling range of Albert Goldbarth’s genius. The Powell’s Books website describes the collection as “sassy, bold, brilliant, funny, goofy, tender, lyrical, and crafty.” As a description of any other living poet, that series might seem little more than sales hype, but such is the amalgam of wit, knowledge, skepticism, and humanity in these poems that the praise feels judicious.

The extravagant metaphorical mechanisms of Goldbarth’s work might seem merely reckless if they didn’t deliver such cogent insights into the complexities and incongruities of our time, and often of all times. But under the intelligence of his verbal high wire acts there is always the humming tension of our plight. As the persona puts it in “Deer,”

“Despite all of my poetry hokey-pokey-and-parsley,
the life/ of the body – the cellular fundament, the clock – goes on/
until its final electrolytic tick of time.”

Goldbarth can embrace the collective detritus of our past while dancing over these pages with unorthodox and eclectic grace. One of his titles suggests both what the reader is in for in The Kitchen Sink and what the maker can joke about in his own strategies as poet:

A wooden eye.
An 1884 silver dollar.
A homemade explosive.
A set of false teeth.
And a 14-karat gold ashtray.

The question is, “What’s their common denominator?” In the answer are both the random chance of existence and the mind’s compulsion and capacity for order.

Goldbarth’s poems echo again and again our human predicament; an existence studded with mysteries and wonders for all our studied guessing at its core. To confront this reality requires the tentative equilibrium of wit and the stamina of a dogged, even grotesque, desire. As Goldbarth puts it in “While Everyone Else Went Starward,”

. . . . If it’s dire, this abandonment . . .
let’s not forget the half-rhyme,
“dear.” Perhaps to really understand what’s dear requires
absences and loss. Down here, a remnant beauty flourishes.
The ones who come to Stonehenge with their flowers and candles,
centuries after its makers’ disappearance.
That woman in Sydney, Australia, who had her husband’s
ashes sewn into her breast implants.

A coercive voice with guerrilla tendencies, yoking incongruous yet compelling details – that’s a hallmark of this extraordinary American poet.

Posted in Book reviews, Jul09, KCFB, Notable Books, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

2009 Kansas Notable Books List Announced

Monday, June 1st, 2009

On May 28, State Librarian Christie Brandau and Roy Bird, Director of the Kansas Center for the Book (KCFB) at the State Library of Kansas, unveiled the 2009 Kansas Notable Books List. This fourth annual roll of honor includes fiction, nonfiction, adult and children’s books, each of which was published during 2008 and identified as outstanding for different reasons.

A committee of the KCFB identified the titles and submitted them to State Librarian Christie Brandau for the final decision. The 2009 Kansas Notable Book advisory committee included representatives from academic, public and school libraries, authors, booksellers, publishers, and the media. Press releases were sent out across the state to daily and weekly newspapers on May 28. The authors of the 15 Kansas Notable Books will be honored at a reception hosted by the State Library of Kansas later this summer.

Begun in 2005, with the first titles announced in 2006, the Kansas Notable Books List has quickly become a highly respected honor among the state’s writers. The project was singled out along with others in the citation for the Kansas Center’s 2008 Boorstin Center for the Book Award, the highest accolade a state center for the book can receive. Authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians have featured Notable Books in presentations, displays, and literary events around the state. Authors have appeared at many venues in the state as well. The summer 2009 issue of Kansas! magazine listed Kansas Notable Books as number 12 in their list of “13 Reasons We Love Kansas.”

The 2009 Notable Books List continues to raise awareness of writing by Kansans and about Kansas.

More about the Notable Books project can be viewed at http://www.kcfb.info.

Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka, illustrated by David Craig

Richly illustrated with family photos, this children’s book is an amazing look at Amelia Earhart’s life.

Artfully Done Across Generations: An Art Cookbook by Friends of the Wichita Art Museum

This over-sized book includes time-tested recipes along with informative sidebars and sumptuous artwork from the museum’s collection.

Burn by Kathleen Johnson

Kansas poet Kathleen Johnson’s collection ranges from life on the frontier to memories at her parent’s home to tornadoes.

Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

Brock’s colorful account of the infamous 1930s goat-gland doctor John Brinkley matches his out-sized subject.

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

A spellbinding fairy tale spun with mystery and a shot of romance, this first novel by a Lenexa, Kansas writer is an innovative interpretation of Rumpelstiltskin. (Young adult)

The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots by Bob Gress and Pete Janzen

Occasional day-trippers or back yard observers will be able to identify and learn about birds that regularly occur in Kansas, with stunning photos and tips on where to search.

Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate by Kelly Alexander and Cynthia Harris

Syndicated food columnist, New York Herald Tribune writer, and Kansan, Clementine Paddleford’s papers at KSU are the basis for this book about the first celebrity food writer who defined America’s cuisine.

Kansas Opera Houses: Actors and Community Events 1855-1925 by Jane Glotfelty Rhoads

From the communities, to the buildings, to the performers, this book highlights historic opera houses with fine writing and organizational reference material.

Making History: Quilts & Fabric From 1890-1970 by Barbara Brackman

Noted quilting authority Brackman has packed her book with historic photos, stories, and insights into the role of fabrics in everyday life.

Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations From One Decade As A Postmodern Travel Writer by Rolf Potts

Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far reaches of five continents, but his chapter on Minneapolis, Kansas shows that surprises can be found in the most unlikely places.

The Nature of Kansas Lands by Beverley Worster (ed.)

A visually stimulating masterpiece designed to encourage Kansas residents to look beyond their back yards and fences.

A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir by Donald Worster

An extensive and well researched biography on the great conservationist uses his personal correspondence and journals to place him in the political context of his times.

The Pizza Hut Story by Robert Spector

On the eve of its golden anniversary, this book looks at Pizza Hut and how the Wichita founders turned “pizza” into a household word.

Seeding Civil War: Kansas in the National News, 1854-1858 by Craig Miner

A study of how 1850s newspapers played a critical role in turning Bleeding Kansas into an out of control inferno.

Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvests by Richard E. Wood

Wood takes a close look at what has happened in several Kansas farming towns and shows that there is much more depth and diversity to rural life than meets the eye.

Posted in Announcements, Jun09, KCFB, Notable Books, SLK Newsletter | 1 Comment »

Notable Book Review – Can I Keep My Jersey?

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11Teams, 5 Countries and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond
By Paul Shirley

Shirley, who grew up on a farm near Meriden, had a standout basketball career at Iowa State but was not drafted by the NBA. Told frankly by his agent that “life as a white professional basketball player would be a constant struggle,” Shirley decided to struggle.

For four years he bounced around the world, playing in low-rent minor leagues in the U.S. as well as Spain, Greece and a part of Russia where Stalin used to send the condemned. All the while, Shirley dreamed of getting that fabled NBA contract — and he wrote down his cynical, self-deprecating and often hilarious observations in a journal, sharing entries with friends and family. Ultimately, he would sign a one-season deal with the Phoenix Suns and go public, writing about life as a bench warmer for a blog on NBA.com.

Can I Keep My Jersey? is more than a brilliant travelogue of travel nightmares and cultural observations seen through the eyes of a mercenary hoopster. As Chuck Klosterman, who wrote the foreword notes, stated, “this is a unique report from an ‘embed’ placed deep inside the ranks of professional athletes.” Shirley is one of them and yet, not one of them, and without fear or favor, he tells us what he sees. His impressions recorded during brief stints with NBA clubs are especially valuable, as they show a universe of overpaid stars completely out of touch with reality. Also compelling are the gut-checks Shirley routinely performs on himself, as he struggles to make sense of a surreal world of pro ball that both attracts and repulses him.

The result is a memoir that The Kansas City Star called “one of the most important insider books about pro sports” ever written. The Onion said it belonged on the shelf of sports classics alongside Ball Four.

Posted in Book reviews, Jun09, KCFB, Notable Books, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

Speed Dating with Kansas Authors — a Big Hit!

Friday, May 1st, 2009

The Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas tried something new on Wednesday, April 1, during the KLA/MPLA Joint Conference in Wichita — Speed Dating with Kansas authors!

: Jim Reed visiting a group

If you’ve never tried speed dating, the popular social people-meeting event, this was your chance. Over 46 people took part and got a chance to visit with a dozen authors in one place. The event began at 4:30 p.m. and went through 6:30 p.m. Participants were seated in twelve groups, and each author rotated to visit each group. A slide show in one part of the room projected photos of the authors and covers of their most recent books, while a web-based timer counted down the minutes each author could have with a group in another part of the room. Rhonda Machlan of the State Library of Kansas rang her old-fashioned school bell when it was time to change.

Attendees got to get acquainted in a few minutes with authors such as special conference guest Kathy Patrick, creator of the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs; Suzanne Arruda; J.B. Cheaney; Matthew Eck; Mike Everhart; John Hall; Max McCoy; David A. Nichols; Rolf Potts; Tim Raglin; Jim Reed; and Brad Sneed. Watermark Books and Book Kansas! were on hand to sell copies of the authors’ books for signing, and soft drinks and bottled water were served.

: Matthew Eck and listeners

Attendees were enthralled with this new venue for Kansas authors. The change in format allowed librarians to meet all the authors present, and the authors came to them instead of them having to seek out the ones they wanted to see. The authors enjoyed the event, too. Only Suzanne Arruda had done this as an author before — and no one else in the room had ever done any sort of speed dating! But several of the authors said that this was an exhausting, but rewarding, format and agreed that they would gladly do it again. Other than minor things such as a room too small, background noise, starting late and a conference time that conflicted with other activities, Speed Dating went extraordinarily well. Not only did the librarians have a chance to meet authors, the authors had opportunities to meet other authors. Comments from attendees indicated that most enjoyed this new experience. One librarian said that she wanted to go home and try it at her home library. Another observed that it was her first time but she hoped it would not be her last — at least with authors! And a third threatened us — he said if we did not do this again next year, he would be very mad at us!

So watch to see what the Kansas Center for the Book comes up with next!

Authors at Speed Dating signing table

Posted in Library Programs, May09, Notable Books | No Comments »

Children’s Authors Present at Special Luncheon

Friday, March 27th, 2009

By Beverley Buller, Kansas Notable Book Author

The Kansas Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators had a special lunch with five Kansas Children’s Authors. The event was for teachers, librarians, writers, and those who share an interest In Children’s Literature. It was on Saturday, February 28, 2009, 11:00 to 1:30 at the Watermark Books & Café in Wichita.

Authors present were:

Debra Seely, award-winning author of Grasslands and Last of the Round-Up Boys. www.debraseely.com

Christie Breault, teacher and author of Logan West, Printer’s Devil. www.christiebreault.com

Clare Vanderpool, author of work-in-progress, Divining No Man’s Land and My Grandmother is a Spy.

Dian Curtis Regan, author of Princess Nevermore, Monster of the Month Club, The World According to Kaley, and many more books for young readers. www.diancurtisregan.com

Beverley Buller, librarian, and author of From Emporia, the Story of William Allen White, a 2008 Kansas Notable Book. www.newton.k12.ks.us/sch/ch/From%20Emporia.htm

The authors shared their journeys to becoming authors of children’s books during the special “Lunch with Kansas Children’s Book Authors.”

Clare shared exciting news that she’s gotten a literary agent and now has a contract with Random House to publish her first novel.

Christie is at work on revisions for her second book about the mysterious Roanoke settlement.

Beverley will soon begin research for a companion book to her 2008 Kansas Notable Book about William Allen White, featuring his daughter Mary.

Debra is writing a cowboy book with a unique setting—Hawaii.

Dian has three coming out in 2009! Two picture books, Monster Baby (Clarion) and Barnyard Slam (Holiday House), and a Putnam anthology called This Family is Driving Me Crazy, with nine other authors, including Walter Dean Myers and Gordon Korman.

Debra Seely, Clare Vanderpool, Beverley Buller, Christie Breault

With a chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Ilustrators, the Kansas Center for the Book, Kansas Notable Books, the William Allen White awards program and others, Kansas is a state that really appreciates its authors.

Those who have a special interest in this field might want to check the membership information on the website at http://www.scbwi.org.

Posted in Apr09, Children's services, KCFB, Library Programs, Notable Books, SLK Newsletter | No Comments »

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