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Ship of Fools
“I hold any writer sufficiently justified who is himself in love with his theme.” Henry James Closely related, you can’t hope to please anyone but yourself. Why I feel good right now: because my current thing, all silver miners and ball gowns, fascinates me. Someday maybe you’ll come on board my shining ship.
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Salvation One Swallow at a Time
Doing some research on the foodways of 1875, I found that in 1876, the women of the First Congregational Church in Marysville, Ohio, published a cookbook to raise money to build a parsonage. They called it the Centennial Buckeye Cookbook. It turned out to be one of America’s most popular cookbooks. I like the dedication…
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I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Amazon’s Vine program pairs up veteran reader/reviewers with new books to post opinions that will help other people make choices in what to read. Hot off the presses, here is what some of the Vine reviewers have to say about Love, Fiercely: “An engaging book that is beautifully written. Get it!” Book Addict (Midwest) “What…
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EarlyWords
I had a great time getting interviewed by Nora Rawlinson, co-founder of EarlyWords, a web program for librarians that helps them dig out from under the avalanche of books they get each season and figure out what to recommend to their patrons. Nora asked some questions that went to the core of The Orphanmaster, and…
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The Sweetest Berries
I didn’t know they made them anymore, these candies my daughter gave me, saying she didn’t want them, they were too real. I’ve been trying, failing to put together in my mind how I know them, why I have such an acute sense memory of this particular candy madeleine… red raspberries, black blackberries, chewy and…
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Old New Amsterdam
I heard the windmills creak in lower Manhattan yesterday. I walked the streets between Pearl and Broadway, the ones that bear the same names they did when the Dutch settled New Amsterdam. They appear completely different, of course, but their contours are the same. Stone Street, so designated because it was the first thoroughfare paved…
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Fetch the Pickles
The last Downton of the season. Thinking of the mini scandale over anachronistic expressions on the show. “Step on it,” etc., etc. But sometimes a hit of modernity is just what’s required when you’re inventing history. Though dozens of words in The Orphanmaster were put through the etymology wringer to see if they fit an…
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Feelin’ Spry
I collect two kinds of cookbooks: pamphlet recipe books of the ’30s-’70s, and community cookbooks of various vintages. They speak to me. For example, I have a tiny fold-out sheet from Drake’s Bakeries, vintage 1940s, bearing the title “Snappy Desserts with Drakes Handy Layers – Always Fresh,” with the picture of a goose (is the…
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Upcoming Podcast
I’m psyched. The Orphanmaster will be featured in an upcoming podcast for a librarians’ website called earlyword.com. It’s to help librarians get the word out about forthcoming books, as I understand it. I will be interviewed by Nora Rawlinson, the cofounder of EarlyWord, and I’ll get to introduce Blandine and Drummond, Kitane and Martyn and…
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A Neo Con Brio
Amazing Love’s Crush and Otello Bruto were in excellent form today. These Neapolitan Mastiffs were so calm, so regal, so imposing, that it is easy to believe this dog was bred as a staunch guard of the family and property. The breed is fearless and independent but very rarely barks, and it has a beautiful…
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Utter Cupidity
Jumping the gun on Valentine’s Day — which I am celebrating by going to the Westminster Dog Show with Gil. Did you know that bridegrooms were served three courses of asparagus at their prenuptial dinner in nineteenth century France? Earlier, English herbalist Nicholas Culpepper opined that asparagus “stirs up lust in man and woman.” Alexandre…