COLUMN: Library offering new music titles

Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times, by Dr. Ralph Stanley with Eddie Dean, narrated by Ed Sala (16 CDs, 18.75 hours):

A giant of American music opens the book on his professional and personal journeys, paying tribute to the vanishing Appalachian culture that gave him his voice. He was there at the beginning of bluegrass. Yet his music, forged in the remote hills and hollows of Southwest Virginia, has even deeper roots. In Man of Constant Sorrow, Dr. Ralph Stanley gives a surprisingly candid look back on his long and incredible career as the patriarch of old-time mountain music.
Marked by Ralph’s banjo picking, his brother Carter’s guitar playing, and their haunting and distinctive harmonies, the Stanley Brothers began their career in 1946 and blessed the world of bluegrass with hundreds of classic songs. Carter died in 1966 after years of alcohol abuse, but Ralph carried on and is still at the top of his game, playing to audiences across the country today at age eighty-one, and happy to see a jubilant revival of a sound he helped create. Stanley's work was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death." Rarely giving interviews, he now gives fans the book they have been waiting for.

Call it What You Want, by Keith Le Morris, performed by various narrators, (7 CDs, 8.25 hours):

Morris is assistant professor of creative writing at Clemson University and has created a stunning collection of stories.  Through these compassionate stories, the flaws and strengths of young men are explored with remarkable clarity. For all their flaws -- as husbands, as fathers, as friends -- the characters are portrayed with depth and tenderness. Morris' writing has been compared to that of Denis Johnson, Richard Ford, and Richard Russo. 

He balances realism with the surreal, humor with sadness, and explores all the hidden places in between.

Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, edited by Harriet Elinor Smith:

After dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his "Final (and right) Plan" for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion--to "talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment"--meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be "dead, and unaware, and indifferent," and that he was therefore free to speak his "whole frank mind."

The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain's works, UC Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain's authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave as he intended.

Southern Plate: Classic comfort food that makes everyone feel like Family, by Christy Jordan:

Christy Jordan likes to feed people. She comes from a long line of Southern cooks who taught her home cooking is best, life is good, and there is always something to be grateful for. She created Southern Plate so that she could share the recipes and stories that have been passed down through her family for more than nine generations.

You won't find fancy food or new-fangled recipes in this cookbook--just easy, no-fuss Southern favorites such as Chicken and Dumplings, Homemade Banana Pudding, Aunt Looney's Macaroni Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Daddy's Rise-and-Shine Biscuits.

Revival:  the Struggle for survival inside the Obama White House, by Richard Wolffe:

Revival is a road map to understanding the dynamics, characters, and disputes that shape the Obama White House. It reveals for the first time the fault lines at the heart of the West Wing between two groups competing for control of the president's agenda. On one side are the Revivalists, who want to return to the high-minded spirit of the presidential campaign. On the other side are the Survivalists, who believe that government demands a low-minded set of compromises and combat.
At the center of this compelling story is a man who remains opaque to supporters, staff, and critics alike.

It is a must-read volume, full of exclusive insights into the untold and unfinished story of a new force in world politics.

As Always, Julia:  the Letters of Julia Child & Avis DeVoto (Food, Friendship, and the Making of a Masterpiece), edited by Joan Reardon:

With her outsize personality, Julia Child is known around the world by her first name alone. But despite that familiarity, how much do we "really "know of the inner Julia? The more than 200 letters exchanged between Julia and Avis DeVoto, her friend and unofficial literary agent memorably introduced in the hit movie "Julie & Julia," reveal Julia's deepest thoughts and feelings.

This fascinating correspondence chronicles the blossoming of a unique and lifelong friendship between the two women and the turbulent process of Julia's creation of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one of the most influential cookbooks ever written. Frank, bawdy, funny, exuberant, and occasionally agonized, these letters show us the Julia who was a new bride in Paris.  Then, we see her become more worldly and adventuresome as she accompanies her diplomat husband on his postings to Nice, Germany, and Norway.

With commentary by the noted food historian Joan Reardon, these surprising letters show America on the verge of political, social, and gastronomic transformation.