Five Night Stand: A Life Lived With Passon

84-year-old jazz pianist Oliver Pleasant is performing for his last five night stand before retirement. His career started at age 14 in 1935 when he lived in Winona, Mississippi. His career took him to Memphis and riverboats, to Harlem, to New Orleans, to France.  Music was a harsh mistress, demanding awful sacrifices. His wife Francesca and their children lived without his presence. Now his wife is gone and his daughter won't see him. Nostalgia and regret, loneliness and loss, fatigue and pain are left behind when he plays. He is twenty-five again as he calls out tunes by Monk, Basie, King Oliver.

Agnes learned to love jazz sitting side-by-side with her father at the piano. She is twenty-two but is losing control of her hand, is in constant pain, and knows her days are limited. She has come from Winona to NYC hoping a doctor can solve the mystery of her body. Bridges daily tempt her to make her own solution. She has come to the club to see Oliver play his last five night stand.

Also drawn to the club is Frank, who at forty-four is an out of work Memphis journalist writing a free lance story on Oliver's last five night stand. Frank is floundering, uncertain of his career, his wife seeming more distant the harder they try to get pregnant. Will he lose everything?

Oliver "tinkers" on the keys. In an almost organic growth the notes turn into a melody. His hands fly across the keys, stunning even the band into awe. The audience realize they are witnessing something beyond their ken.

On the stairs of Oliver's apartment waits a ten year old boy. He has listened to Oliver's music through the floor boards. He wants to learn to play. He wants music to save him.

The power of music permeates Five Night Stand by Richard J. Alley as it does his character's lives.

Oliver is a wonderful character, imperfect and driven. I enjoyed this book, the characters, and especially the love of music that permeates the pages. The writing near the end gets a little obvious, the authorial voice a little preachy. By then I was too invested in the characters to mind too much.

Oliver tells Pablo to find whatever makes you whole. For Oliver it was his music.

I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

NOTE: Today, May 12, you can purchase this book on Kindle for $3.99 on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Five-Night-Stand-Richard-Alley-ebook/dp/B00NUD0O00/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1431431806&sr=1-1&keywords=five+night+stand

Five Night Stand
by Richard J. Alley
Lake Union Publishing
Publication date May 12, 2015
$14.95 paper back
ISBN: 9781477827741

Michigan 101: Spring Flora and Fauna

I wanted to share some lovely photos taken by my brother Tom and my friend Jan. First up are photos Tom took this past week on his walks around Michigan.

A few weeks ago we had a mackerel sky.

Jan Major is a friend from many years--and moves--ago. She took these great photos at rearing ponds where my family used to go walking. Just beautiful!

For past posts with Michigan nature photos see:
Michigan Lakes and Rivers here
Michigan Spring flowers here
Michigan Winter Wonderland here
Michigan Old Barns and Autumn here
Michigan Water Wonderland here
Michigan Critters here

Shakespeare Obsession: The Millionaire and the Bard by Andrea Mays

It was 11:00 pm and I was sitting up in bed reading, unable to put the book down, biting my fingernails in anxiety.

I was not reading a thriller. No character was in a life or death situation.

I had to laugh at myself. I was reading to see if Henry Folger's quest to purchase a rare Shakespeare First Folio was successful.

The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio by Andrea Mays was an informative and interesting read. Mays "tells the miraculous and romantic story of the making of the First Folio, and of the American industrialist whose thrilling pursuit of the book became a lifelong obsession."

In Shakespeare's day plays were not published. The theater was about as well respected as network television is today. Paper was expensive and publishing was a long process. Plays were not 'set in stone' but adapted and altered and improved constantly. Without legal protection of intellectual rights a theater troupe's repertoire was jealously protected. Actors were given their lines, but no complete script circulated.

Shakespeare wrote plays for twenty years then returned to Stratford where he died in 1616. It was seven years after his death that his business partners in the theater, John Hemings and Henry Condell, gathered all of his work to publish thirty six plays--the First Folio. The book took years to print, one page at a time, 750 copies, and took nine years to sell out.

With each new publication of the Folios changes were made. Plays were added that were not by the Bard. Older folios were discarded, replaced by the new. The books ended up in personal libraries across Britain, often forgotten or unidentified.

One of the Gilded Age's nouveau riche industrialists was William Clay Folger, who worked with Standard Oil. He didn't make unlimited money like his employer John D. Rockerfeller. Folger and his wife Emily agreed in their early marriage to live frugally, keep their lives private, and to spend all their money on Henry's dream of building a world-class collection of Shakespeareana. Mays chronicles Folger's life long quest for all things Shakespeare with particular consideration on his First Folio acquisitions. He ended up with a third of the surviving, known First Folios. Folger was lambasted by the Brits for taking their native son's legacy out of country.

The Folgers put their collection away in warehouses across New York City, unseen for years, until in 1932 the Folger Shakespeare Library was built in Washington, D.C.

Mays points out that Folger is an example of hoarding 'done right'. The Folgers' ashes reside in the library along with their collection.

I enjoyed reading about Shakespeare's career, how books were published, the early collecting by Folger, and the building of the library. Because he bought so many First Folios it would get tedious reading about each sale, but the lesser important Folios are quickly noted. I also found interesting the viewpoint on the Standard Oil antitrust act and Ida Tarbell's journalistic attacks--a far cry from how things were perceived in The Bully Pulpit by Goodwin from the perspective of Teddy Roosevelt and the McClure's magazine staff.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Millionaire and the Bard
by Andrea Mays
Simon & Schuster
Publication May 12, 2015
ISBN: 9781439118238
$27.99 hard cover

Vintage Rose for Mothers Day and a Memory Quilt for Mom

I am just finishing up a quilt I called Vintage Rose. It incorporates a vintage embroidered doily (which was a giveaway from my weekly quilters group; read about it here) appliquéd on a vintage linen napkin, vintage cutter quilt rose blocks bought on eBay, a vintage glove, and vintage tatting, buttons, and other linens.

 Worn rose-shaped buttons frame "Rose" in her heart-shaped doily.

The rose appliqués were in bad shape. I covered them with sheer tulle, machine sewed it along the appliqué, then trimmed it. The tatted roses are trimmed from doilies I bought a while back.

A few months ago when I bought out a dealers linen stash there were a dozen gloves included (read about it here). This one is satin with a pretty crystal button.

On my bed I put the second quilt I ever made, made in 1991. I used Mom's painting shirts, all red plaids. I found the block pattern in a magazine, just the block, no instructions. I pretty much made up my own instructions. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. In the middle of appliquéing the hearts I met Holly Perry who taught me the appliqué and quilt stitches. We joined the quilt group at the church, which is still going on 24 years later with many of the same ladies.

Mom was an oil painter. She took her first classes in adult education back when I was a tyke. Later in life she took private lessons.

One of Mom's paintings

Mom died of cancer in 1990. She was 57 years old.

Mom about 38 years old at the time of my graduation from high school

Mom in 'the project' in her Jitterbug Queen days

Read About Songs My Mother Sang Me found at
http://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2014/04/songs-my-mother-sang-me-1940s-novelty.html

At the Library: Feedsacks, Quilts and of course, Books

The Clawson library has a changing display case and this month it features feedsacks.

 Quilts made by the Clawson quilters group are displayed throughout the library.

 Two preprinted panel quilts by Shirley K. whose French Beaded Flowers were on display last month.

There is a nice children's area which include these puppets.

 And of course lots of books!

I picked up books from their perpetual book sale: Flora by Gail Goodwin and a biography of Isak Dinson by Judith Thurman. Just a few weeks ago at their big book sale I brought home Selected Stories of Alice Munro and Tracy Kidder's Strength in What Remains. And at a huge local book sale at the beginning of the month charity I found Marilynne Robinson's Home, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and What is the What by Dave Eggers. As if I don't have enough NetGalley e-books to read!

May Brings Smiles and Sunshine

May has me smiling. The snow is over. Sunshine has returned.

Last Saturday I took an all day painting class. Everyone in the class was far more advanced and were quite adept. Teacher had to finally give me a little one-on-one to catch up.

 I received my first real--not ebook--for review! Thanks Schiffer!

Our apple trees have loads of buds after a good pruning.

We will be signing the contract for the kitchen remodel soon. We are going with the natural cherry cabinets, the Betty laminate from Wilson Art, and a lighter cork floor.

Our new tree is blooming. (We planted it in September:

 http://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-new-tree-comes-to-yard.html)

 And we have had daffodils and now tulips in bloom.

Our doggies have had needed dental care and teeth removed and they are eating with relish again.

Suki

Kamikaze

I also started writing again...something creative and not related to quilts or books I have read. We were at the Detroit Symphony concert last Thursday and during Schumann's Spring Symphony I was given an opening line and a character. I hope this time I finish what I have started!

Life is good!