Category Archives: Literature

Ben Piazza’s THE EXACT AND VERY STRANGE TRUTH

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Seventy-nine years ago today, actor and author Ben Piazza was born in Little Rock.  This is a good opportunity to discuss his 1964 novel The Exact and Very Strange Truth.  Published in 1964, it is a fictional memoir of a young man growing up in Little Rock during the 1940s.

Readers of the book will see references to once-familiar names of stores along Main Street and other Little Rock landmarks of the time.  Though the book is a work of fiction, Piazza based many of the young hero’s sites on his own.  Sadly many of the buildings which play important roles in the novel are no longer extant including the hero’s rock house on 14th Street, Centennial Elementary, Immanuel Baptist Church on Bishop Street, and the family’s shoe repair store at 8th and Main Street .  Little Rock Central High School (then Little Rock High School) is one of the few structures mentioned in the book which is still standing.

Following the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, publishers were looking for the next novel of fictional memoirs set in the American South.  Piazza finished the novel in early 1963 and it was published the next year.  It was met with nice reviews and was later published in paperback.  He dedicated the novel to his good friend Edward Albee; at the time the novel was released he was starring on Broadway in Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Though it was Piazza’s only novel, he did later write the plays The Sunday Agreement and Lime Green/Khaki Blue.

The Central Arkansas Library System has a copy of The Exact and Very Strange Truth available for checking out.  Copies are also usually available on eBay and other web-based purchase sites.

Tales from the South explores Family Tensions

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We all have families of some shape, form or fashion — which means we all probably have experienced family tension.  Tomorrow night (7/24) at Tales from the South, the program is “Family Tensions” featuring Randi Romo, George Smith, and J.B. Hogan.  Music is by Mark Curry and blues guitarist Mark Simpson

Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

The program takes place at Starving Artist Café.  Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $5, not including dinner.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show

Tales from the South airs on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.

Harry Potter Party

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Muggles are invited to a Harry Potter Party at the Central Arkansas Library System today.

The party takes place at 10:30 am and at 6:30pm at the main campus of the library.  It is being held in conjunction with the Harry Potter’s World exhibit.

Partygoers can be sorted into Hogwarts houses, earn house points, watch a game of Quidditch, make wands play trivi games, play wizard’s chess and cast spells.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Main Library is hosting Harry Potter’s World, a traveling exhibit using materials from the National Library of Medicine, at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street, through August 11.

The potions, plants, and animals in Harry’s world were inspired by Renaissance traditions. Information discovered through alchemy, astrology, natural philosophy, and medicine formed the basis of the development and current practice of Western science. The exhibit will also examine the links between historical and fictional characters in the Harry Potter series.

The Main Library has planned programs, movie showings, and activities for readers of all ages in addition to the exhibit, and Harry Potter literature will be displayed at each branch. For additional online activities, resources for educators, and more information about the exhibition, visit the National Library of Medicine’s website.

Bookends Café, the library’s literary café in the Cox Creative Center, 120 River Market Avenue, will offer special Harry Potter items while the exhibit is at the library, including Quidditch Player’s Pie, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Smoothie, Butterscotch “Butterbeer” Latte, and Cauldren Cakes.

Tales from the South Tonight!

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This week’s program is “Black, Brown, and White” featuring Tyler Thompson, Leslie Epps, and Jennifer Miller.  Music is by The Salty Dogs and blues guitarist Mark Simpson

Tales From the South” is a radio show created and produced by Paula Martin Morell, who is also the show’s host. The show is taped live on Tuesday. The night is a cross between a house concert and a reading/show, with incredible food and great company. Tickets must be purchased before the show, as shows are usually standing-room only.

“Tales from the South” is a showcase of writers reading their own true stories. While the show itself is unrehearsed, the literary memoirs have been worked on for weeks leading up to the readings. Stories range from funny to touching, from everyday occurrences to life-altering tragedies.

The program takes place at Starving Artist Café.  Dinner is served from 5pm to 6:30pm, the show starts at 7pm.  Admission is $5, not including dinner.

You MUST purchase your ticket before the show

Tales from the South airs on KUAR Public Radio on Thursdays at 7pm.

Author Author at Pyramid

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Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing host two different author events today.

From 1:30pm to 3:30pm, Pyramid’s Arkansas Author Connection will feature Nancy Robinson Lott and Regina L. Norwood, the authors of Josephine: Celebrating the Life and Legacy.  The biography focuses on Josephine Irvin Harris Pankey, an educated African-American woman who came to Arkansas in the late 1800s to establish schools for children of former slaves.  A portion of the proceeds from book sales will go toward the completion of the Josephine Pankey Education Center at 13700 Cantrell Road

From 2pm to 4pm, Pyramid will host award winning author Evelyn Palfrey.  The 2012 Romance Slam Jam Emma Awards Author of the Year, she returns to Little Rock for another in the series of events Pyramid is hosting to celebrate its 24th anniversary.  Palfrey is the author of several books including The Price of Passion, Going Home, Three Perfect Men, Everything in Its Place and Dangerous Dilemmas.

Pyramid, founded in 1988 by Garbo Hearne, is located at 1001 Wright Avenue, Suite C.

Harry Potter’s World at CALS

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harry potter's world

Readers of all ages have been fascinated with Harry Potter’s education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since J.K. Rowling’s first novel was released in 1997. The Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Main Library will host Harry Potter’s World, a traveling exhibit using materials from the National Library of Medicine, at the Main Library, 100 Rock Street through August 11.

The potions, plants, and animals in Harry’s world were inspired by Renaissance traditions. Information discovered through alchemy, astrology, natural philosophy, and medicine formed the basis of the development and current practice of Western science. The exhibit will also examine the links between historical and fictional characters in the Harry Potter series.

The Main Library has planned programs, movie showings, and activities for readers of all ages in addition to the exhibit, and Harry Potter literature will be displayed at each branch. For additional online activities, resources for educators, and more information about the exhibition, visit the National Library of Medicine’s website.

Bookends Café, the library’s literary café in the Cox Creative Center, 120 River Market Avenue, will offer special Harry Potter items while the exhibit is at the library, including Quidditch Player’s Pie, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Smoothie, Butterscotch “Butterbeer” Latte, and Cauldren Cakes.

Several special events have been planned in conjunction.  Below is a list of some of them.

  • Thursday, July 12, 10:30 a.m.: Little Rock Zoo “Animals of Harry Potter”
  • Monday, July 16, 2:00 p.m.: Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (PG)
  • Thursday, July 19, 10:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.: Harry Potter Party
  • Saturday, July 21, 10:30 a.m.: Little Rock Zoo “Animals of Harry Potter”

Harry Potter’s World is presented by the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, and is curated by Elizabeth J. Bland.

Legacies and Lunch tomorrow (7/11)

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The Butler Center’s monthly Legacies and Lunch program (normally the first Wednesday of the month) is the second Wednesday this month.  The July program features Ruth Hawkins discussing her latest book, Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow: The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Marriage.

The program will take place at 12 noon on Wednesday, July 11 in the Darragh Center on the main campus of the Central Arkansas Library System.

It was the glittering intellectual world of 1920s Paris expatriates in which Pauline Pfeiffer, a writer for Vogue, met Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley among a circle of friends that included Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, and Dorothy Parker. Pauline grew close to Hadley but eventually forged a stronger bond with Hemingway himself; with her stylish looks and dedication to Hemingway’s writing, Pauline became the source of “unbelievable happiness” for Hemingway and, by 1927, his second wife.

Pauline was her husband’s best editor and critic, and her wealthy family provided moral and financial support, including the conversion of an old barn to a dedicated writing studio at the family home in Piggott, Arkansas. The marriage lasted thirteen years, some of Hemingway’s most productive, and the couple had two children. But the “unbelievable happiness” met with “final sorrow,” as Hemingway wrote, and Pauline would be the second of Hemingway’s four wives.

Hawkins’ book was published in June by the University of Arkansas Press.   She has been an administrator at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro for more than 30 years and established its Arkansas Heritage Sites program, which includes the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott. She has been recognized at the state, regional and national level for her work in historic preservation and heritage tourism.