Fiction_L Archives Exuberant Life on the Fringe Dates: 4/13/02,7:36 PM  through  4/23/02,6:10 PM  (6 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2008-current     2006-2007     1996-2005    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to April 2002 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Georgine Olson" <georgine.olson@fnsb.lib.ak.us>
REC'D: 4/13/02, 7:36 PM

I've been reading Susan Orlean's ORCHID THIEF for a book discussion group
and am enthralled by her portrayal of the personality of John Laroche - his
passionate immersion in his areas of interest, areas that are so far from
the day-to-day living of most of us.

An annotated bibliography of absorbing reads about people like Laroche (and
the worlds they inhabit) might be a wonderful thing to have on hand when
next winter's doldrums strike. (look at that, we're just coming out of one
winter - and I'm planning for the next!)

Anyhow, I thought that THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN and MIDNIGHT IN THE
GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL might work - 'tho I'd rather have as few dead bodies
involved as possible.

Have you suggestions (and even quick and dirty annotations) of titles that
will work here?

I'll be glad to compile and post - before winter returns!

Georgine Olson

Outreach Services Manager
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library & Regional Center
1215 Cowles Street
Fairbanks AK 99701

ph: 907-459-1020
fax: 907-459-1024

FROM: Katherine Johnson <kjohnson@epexchange.epnet.com>
REC'D: 4/15/02, 9:02 AM

"An annotated bibliography of absorbing reads about people like Laroche
(and the worlds they inhabit) might be a wonderful thing to have on hand
when next winter's doldrums strike."

I was fascinated by Nina Rattner Gelbart's _The King's Midwife: A
History and Mystery of Madame du Coudray_. Despite the word "mystery"
in the title, it's not a murder mystery. It's about the woman who
brought great advances in obstetrical practices to 18th-Century France,
despite opposition from the (male) medical profession. It's very long,
but completely riveting.

--
Katherine Bradley Johnson
NoveList Database Specialist
NoveList/EBSCO
kjohnson@epnet.com
2634 Chapel Hill Blvd., Ste. 208
Durham, NC 27707-2830 USA
(919) 489-9412 x206 (voice)
(919) 489-7263 (fax)

Die Welt des Märchens ist die, der Welt der Wahrheit
durchaus entgegengesetzte und eben darum ihr so
durchaus ähnlich, wie das Chaos der vollendeten
Schöpfung ähnlich ist." -- NOVALIS.

FROM: "Margaret Mallett" <MMallett@itpld.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 4/15/02, 10:46 AM

"Into Thin Air" , the story about the 1996 disastrous Mt. Everest
expedition presented a group of people with a shared obsession.

Margaret Mallett, Reference Librarian
IndianTrails Public Library
355 So. Schoenbeck Road
Wheeling IL 60090
mmallett@itpld.lib.il.us

FROM: Celeste Choate <Celeste@cmpl.org>
REC'D: 4/15/02, 11:50 AM

I don't know if it could be considered "exuberant", but the life described
in Patrick Suskind's "Perfume" certainly fits "his
passionate immersion in his areas of interest, areas that are so far from
the day-to-day living of most of us."

Celeste Choate
Clinton-Macomb Public Library
Clinton Township, MI

FROM: Sandy Westbrook <sandyw@crlc.org>
REC'D: 4/16/02, 9:12 AM

Hi Georgine,
Here's a few to consider:
Another book by Simon Winchester - "The Map That Changed the World:
William Smith & the Birth of Modern Geology". It's about a british man who
mapped the geological strata in Britain. It's more interesting than the
title and my description sound.
Lucy Irvine wrote at least two books about her far from normal life.
The one I'm familiar with is "Castaway" where she and her "husband" live
for a year on a deserted island. Very different folk.
The one I'm reading now is "Tales of a Female Nomad" by Rita Gelman.
I'm in the middle of it, now. Rita left her life of upper class America
and now spends her time visiting other cultures. But, not as a tourist. She
finds people to take her in and she lives in the culture(usually third
world)for months or years. It's really very interesting.

Sandy Westbrook
Adult Services Librarian
South Windsor Public Library
1550 Sullivan Avenue
South Windsor, Ct 06074
Ph 860-644-1541
Fax 860-644-7645
sandyw@crlc.org

At 04:27 PM 4/13/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>I've been reading Susan Orlean's ORCHID THIEF for a book discussion group
>and am enthralled by her portrayal of the personality of John Laroche - his
>passionate immersion in his areas of interest, areas that are so far from
>the day-to-day living of most of us.
>
>An annotated bibliography of absorbing reads about people like Laroche (and
>the worlds they inhabit) might be a wonderful thing to have on hand when
>next winter's doldrums strike. (look at that, we're just coming out of one
>winter - and I'm planning for the next!)
>
>Anyhow, I thought that THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN and MIDNIGHT IN THE
>GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL might work - 'tho I'd rather have as few dead bodies
>involved as possible.
>
>Have you suggestions (and even quick and dirty annotations) of titles that
>will work here?
>
>I'll be glad to compile and post - before winter returns!
>
>Georgine Olson
>
>Outreach Services Manager
>Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library & Regional Center
>1215 Cowles Street
>Fairbanks AK 99701
>
>ph: 907-459-1020
>fax: 907-459-1024
>
>
>
>......................................................................
>Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
>Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>

FROM: "Karen McGrath" <karenmh@lori.state.ri.us>
REC'D: 4/23/02, 6:10 PM

I've just returned from vacation & am getting caught up on email. In
quickly skimming the Fiction_L posts I didn't see many replies to this
query.

One of my favorite books last year was MAUVE: HOW ONE MAN INVENTED A COLOR
THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Simon Garfield. Kirkus called it "Mauve-lous."
Here's what Amazon has to say:

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
In 1856, while trying to synthesize artificial quinine, 18-year-old
chemistry student William Perkin instead produced a murky residue. Fifty
years later, he described the event: he "was about to throw a certain
residue away when I thought it might be interesting. The solution of it
resulted in a strangely beautiful color." Perkin had stumbled across the
world's first aniline dye, a color that became known as mauve.

"So what?" you might say. "A teenager invented a new color." As Simon
Garfield admirably points out in Mauve, the color really did change the
world. Before Perkin's discovery all the dyes and paints were colored by
roots, leaves, insects, or, in the case of purple, mollusks. As a result,
colors were inconsistent and unpredictably strong, often fading or washing
out. Perkin found a dye that would always produce a uniform shade--and he
pointed the way to other synthetic colors, thus revolutionizing the world of
both dyemaking and fashion. Mauve became all the rage. Queen Victoria wore
it to her daughter's wedding in 1858, and the highly influential Empress
Eugénie decided the color matched her eyes. Soon, the streets of London
erupted in what one wag called the "mauve measles."

Mauve had a much wider impact as well. By finding a commercial use for his
discovery--much to the dismay of his teacher, the great August Hofmann, who
believed there needed to be a separation between "pure" and "applied"
science--Perkin inspired others to follow in his footsteps: "Ten years after
Perkin's discovery of mauve, organic chemistry was perceived as being
exciting, profitable, and of great practical use." The influx of bright
young men all hoping to earn their fortunes through industrial applications
of chemistry later brought significant advances in the fields of medicine,
perfume, photography, and even explosives. Through it all, Garfield tells
his story in clever, witty prose, turning this odd little tale into a very
entertaining read. --Sunny Delaney


Karen McGrath
Cranston Public Library
(an English major/dancer/musician, not a scientist!, who also loved THE
PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN)

> Subject: Exuberant Life on the Fringe
> From: "Georgine Olson" <georgine.olson@fnsb.lib.ak.us>
> Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 16:27:40 -0800
>
> I've been reading Susan Orlean's ORCHID THIEF for a book discussion group
> and am enthralled by her portrayal of the personality of John Laroche -
his
> passionate immersion in his areas of interest, areas that are so far from
> the day-to-day living of most of us.
>
> An annotated bibliography of absorbing reads about people like Laroche
(and
> the worlds they inhabit) might be a wonderful thing to have on hand when
> next winter's doldrums strike. (look at that, we're just coming out of one
> winter - and I'm planning for the next!)
>
> Anyhow, I thought that THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN and MIDNIGHT IN THE
> GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL might work - 'tho I'd rather have as few dead
bodies
> involved as possible.
>
> Have you suggestions (and even quick and dirty annotations) of titles that
> will work here?
>
> I'll be glad to compile and post - before winter returns!
>
> Georgine Olson

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