tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41465967007696923292024-03-12T22:31:37.127-07:00RodDavisWriter.comRodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-52569209647381629792019-06-20T08:03:00.003-07:002019-06-20T08:03:49.951-07:00This is notice that the Lonely City Book Club ©, herein copyright, will be appearing soon in this space and on others.<br />
<br />
Thank you. More information to come!<br />
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<br />
Rod DavisRodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-40423834553759504172019-05-26T07:50:00.002-07:002019-05-26T07:50:36.837-07:00Test only.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-82215378563016501022015-03-14T04:27:00.002-07:002015-03-14T04:27:26.008-07:00Postcard from Taylor Branch from Selma 2015Thank you so much Taylor Branch
for your <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rod.davis.texas/posts/10206023838976647">postcard and note </a>from Selma 2015. <a href="http://taylorbranch.com/king-era-trilogy/">The King Era trilogy </a>ought to
be required reading. It motivated me to work for the Southern Poverty
Law Center and still informs me. Hopefully my own books reflect a
constant awareness of race and justice. <br />
Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-35331248794953276552015-03-11T19:15:00.003-07:002015-03-11T19:15:28.498-07:00"South, America" at West Feliciana Parish LibraryI love visiting some of the South's smaller libraries--e.g. the <a href="http://wfplibrary.org/">West Feliciana Parish Library</a> , an incubator of creativity and passion for reading. So happy to be going there on March 24 to discuss <a class="profileLink" data-gt="{"entity_id":"686770338062090","entity_path":"\/profile_book.php"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=686770338062090" href="http://www.amazon.com/South-America-Rod-Davis/dp/1603063153">South, America</a>.<br />
<br />
Especially when Olivia Pass, one of the librarians, has this to say:
"JUST, I mean, JUST, finished 'South, America.' What a wonderful
novel! It's clean, meaning no superficial stuff; literate; meaningful;
and humorous. OMG! I loved it! Am looking forward to meeting this
man who wrote it."<br /><br />
What more can you ask?Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-32844528979096252992015-03-07T06:15:00.001-08:002015-03-07T06:16:36.098-08:00Taylor Branch's King trilogy puts President Obama at Selma in historical perspectiveReally stunning that President Obama is at Selma today. Fifty years ago
he would have been beaten. For me, the best account of that entire era
is Taylor Branch's <a href="http://taylorbranch.com/king-era-trilogy/">King trilogy</a>. Can't recommend it enough.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-47404289350980889942015-02-27T04:33:00.004-08:002015-02-27T04:33:34.527-08:00San Antonio boxer Oscar Diaz passesVery sad news of the death from previous injuries of the <a href="http://Sad news about Oscar Diaz. And great story and insights in his honor by my pal Gregg Barrios.">San Antonio boxer Oscar Diaz</a>. Covered very well by Gregg Barrios.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-5240747892240569792015-02-26T03:55:00.004-08:002015-02-26T03:55:23.635-08:00A Book Club for Ex-offenders is a great model for any communityThis Washington <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-a-book-club-brought-inmates-together-even-on-the-outside/2015/02/25/0468c8ca-a277-11e4-903f-9f2faf7cd9fe_story.html?hpid=z5">book club</a> is the kind of outreach that can make a tremendous difference in a community. And it costs almost nothing to be supported or hosted by a city, county, university or community college. Also a great model for reaching out to veterans.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-41036364402897995052015-02-22T06:19:00.003-08:002015-02-22T06:19:48.120-08:00Mardi Gras in AcadianaNice piece and great photos on the <a href="http://projects.aljazeera.com/2015/02/cajun-mardi-gras/">rural Cajun version of Mardi Gr</a>as. Too bad he leaves Africa out of his
references to the origins (okra!) of gumbo. But that's another story.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-50308378429740267332015-02-17T16:55:00.000-08:002015-02-17T16:57:08.841-08:00Is Mardi Gras another Halloween to the religious right?Apparently Mardi Gras is now getting the same damnation shade eye from
the Religious Right as does Halloween. When a stranger observed me today
wearing beads and smiled that I had "the Mardi Gras spirit," a woman
nearby corrected him to say it was Shrove Tuesday. When I jokingly asked
what that was, she stiffened up to say it was the name of the day for
Christians. To which I replied, "So is Mardi Gras" and walked off. I
encountered a lot of this kind of You're-Going-to-Hell-and-I'm-Not
attitude when writing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/American-Voudou-Journey-Hidden-World/dp/1574410814">American Voudou</a>,
which deals with violently repressive white "Christian"
religious/racial intolerance to African theology. I don't think it's an accident that the main city that celebrates Mardi Gras in the U.S. is majority black. Today I got a twinge
of that same feeling. The more things change.....Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-14404535634359558322015-01-23T13:56:00.001-08:002015-01-23T13:56:40.731-08:00South, America: "reminiscent of the the late and great Larry Brown"Getting kind words from another writer is one of those things that keeps you typing. Thanks, prize-winning Georgia author <a href="http://teddunagan.com/">Ted Dunagan</a>, and for the 5 stars to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/South-America-Rod-Davis/dp/1603063153"><i>South, America </i></a> on Amazon.<br /><br />
"Rod Davis, in his latest work (<i>South, America</i>), artfully strings words
together slightly reminiscent of the late and great Larry Brown. Set in
the Heart of Dixie--the Mississippi Delta, Alabama and Louisiana, with a
beginning and an ending in the Big Easy, exposes his readers to hate,
love, drugs, murder, mafia and mayhem while he skillfully brings the
novel to a haunting conclusion with a possible hint of the resurrection
of the beautiful memory he has been abandoned to. Wow!"Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-88511565911698457772015-01-22T05:02:00.003-08:002015-01-22T05:02:42.419-08:00Matt Taibbi is the one too dumb to criticize re "American Sniper"Matt Taibbi is the one almost too dumb to criticize with this <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/american-sniper-is-almost-too-dumb-to-criticize-20150121">nonsense conflation</a> in "Rolling Stone" of his superficial policy quips and the real-life issues and
tragedies that servicemembers face in doing the dirty business of war.
In part for sh@itheels like Taibbi and Michael Moore pimping their own
rides.<br />
<br />
We're down to .5 percent of Americans now actually serving in the
military. The logical meaning of that number is hard to overstate.
Taibbi is a case study in getting it wrong. Chris Kyle never said he was
a hero. But he did what he was trained to do and he died trying to help
another damaged veteran. Good enough measure of a man for me.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-78599057208601003622015-01-13T17:23:00.002-08:002015-01-13T17:23:51.835-08:00Paying Attention with Jim HarrisonIn his Zen poetry collection "After Ikkyu," Jim Harrison says:<br /> "I
was writing a poem about paying attention and microwaved a hot dog so
hot it burned a beet-red hole in the roof of my mouth."<br />
As for myself, I
was trimming my goatee this morning to show how together I was and I
forgot to put the length-guard over the blades and mowed down a swath of
whiskers so wide I had to shave the whole thing off.<br />
Back to the sitting mat.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-104160957314412412014-12-20T04:44:00.001-08:002014-12-20T05:16:27.004-08:00A meditation on not being too clever on the Interwebs<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
I
had to LOL at this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/science/a-meditation-on-the-art-of-not-trying.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-middle-span-region&region=c-column-middle-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-middle-span-region&_r=0">NYT piece</a>, "A Meditation on the Art of Not Trying," because it gives me an excuse to explain my email
handle "wu-nien" to those who have wondered for decades--and a
cautionary tale about being too clever. "Wu-nien" is D.T. Suzuki's
translation of the Buddhist concept of "no thought," and the Zen idea of
"no thought, no mind," which is that this article discusses. Since my
domain was the old "mindspring" (now "earthlink"), I thought a "no-thought" paired with a "mindspring" handle was incredibly clever for a Zen dude.<br />
<br />
Turns out NO ONE ever gets it, and there is quibbling about the
translation, but I've had the address so long it is hard to change. And
thus one more web-naming fail (never go for subtle) and one more thing
from the internet you never really needed to know. But this article is
still very nice.</div>
Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-26642463153005577282014-07-13T12:38:00.000-07:002014-07-13T12:38:19.957-07:00"South, America" reviewed in San Antonio Express-News-- "gritty volume of Southern noir"<i>South, America</i> gets <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/arts-culture/books/article/Davis-second-novel-a-gritty-slice-of-Southern-5612902.php">another fine review </a>in the San Antonio Express-News:<br />
<br />
“...suspense and drama in this gritty volume of Southern noir….The backdrop of pre-Katrina New Orleans is perfect for this novel. Davis paints it in tones that show an abiding admiration for the place and its people, and a respect for its enigmatic beauty.” — Yvette Benavides, San Antonio Express-NewsRodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-29523373137190172432014-07-06T08:54:00.000-07:002014-07-06T08:54:01.550-07:00"South, America" reviewed in The Austin Chronicle--"New Orleans noir steeps the reader in Southern atmosphere, history, and violence"Need some good summer reading? The Austin Chronicle's Mike King recommends <i>South, America</i> in its July Fourth <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2014-07-04/july-is-crime-month-south-america/">"Lone Star (In)Justice" </a>listing of top crime fiction:<br />
<br />
"Rod Davis' new thriller is labeled 'A Jack Prine Novel,' and introduces its world-weary hero, savvy and muscular enough to carry on his back what promises to be an engaging Southern noir series… Like the coy comma in the book's title that redetermines its meaning, the novel proceeds by indirection and sly tangent, through sudden explosions of violence into meditations on Southern history and its persistent burdens on the present.” <br />
<br />
Order easily via my <a href="http://roddavisauthor.com/">author webpage</a>. Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-81916542091024327452014-06-22T14:25:00.001-07:002014-06-22T14:25:31.566-07:00"South, America" review in Montgomery Advertiser--"a fine Southern crime novel" "...evokes the uniquely beautiful but sometimes deadly topographies of New Orleans, the Delta and the Deep South." -- The Montgomery Advertiser<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/life/2014/06/14/south-america-fine-southern-crime-noir-novel/10528009/">Wonderful review</a> from the Montgomery Advertiser. Truly an honor to be recognized by one of the South's leading dailies.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-847542564374583002014-06-22T14:20:00.001-07:002014-06-22T14:20:03.110-07:00"South, America" review from "Alabama's oldest weekly newspaper"<br />
"I can’t wait for his next book! I hope this is the first in a whole succession of Jack Prine adventures!"--the Moulton Advertiser<br />
<br />
Love <a href="http://www.moultonadvertiser.com/opinion/columnists/columnist_one/article_7b0dc93c-f712-11e3-b5bb-001a4bcf887a.html">this review</a> from "Alabama's oldest weekly newspaper," the Moulton Advertiser. It's really nice to get a connection from the heart of the place I write about. And, yes, she's right, that's how we give directions in the South! <br />
<br />
<br />Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-38728104595454710282014-06-08T08:39:00.002-07:002014-06-08T08:39:45.932-07:00Review of "South, America" in Dallas Morning News--"a good page turner"Thanks to The Dallas Morning News for this <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/books/20140607-thriller-review-south-america-by-rod-davis.ece">enthusiastic review</a> of South, America... "Throw in some voodoo, the mob, race relations in the pre-Katrina
South (the book is set in 2000), as well as some classic and modern art,
and you have a recipe for a good page-turner....Davis sets a lively pace."Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-78612989263580551892014-06-05T14:52:00.000-07:002014-06-05T14:52:03.843-07:00Stop demonizing Sgt. Bergdahl now!Goodonya <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/opinion/demonizing-sergeant-bergdahl.html?ref=opinion">NYT</a>. Of all the shameful and hateful bilge that has come out of
certain elements in Congress because Obama is president, this demonizing
of a rescued soldier (and his family) without a shred of proof has got
to be the worst. Damn it, America doesn't roll this way! Or didn't use
to.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-76705241940560240672014-05-05T16:39:00.002-07:002014-05-05T16:39:13.922-07:00Review of "South, America": It's "Gritty Southern noir" "Gritty Southern noir." That's what Dallas critic Si Dunn says about South, America in his <a href="http://sagecreek.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/south-america-action-mystery-and-gritty-southern-noir-bookreview/">new review</a> on his blog "Books, Books and More (New) Books." Works great for me. You can find more at my author page, <a href="http://roddavis.author.com/">roddavis.author.com</a><br />
<br />Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-71792953396661167872014-04-20T05:38:00.002-07:002014-04-20T05:38:56.240-07:00Styron on writing, from The Paris Review<br />
I've always been interested in what writers say about writing. This <a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5114/the-art-of-fiction-no-5-william-styron">classic with with Styron</a> is one of the best--from the dismissal of "teaching" creative writing, to the ambiguous issue of a "Southern" perspective, to just getting it done. It's worth a few minutes to read even now.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-81900509741943286222014-04-16T04:55:00.001-07:002014-04-16T04:55:02.575-07:00Outrageous slander of vets by NYTThe NYT has crossed far over the line with this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/opinion/veterans-and-white-supremacy.html?hp&rref=opinion">op-ed slandering veterans</a>, especially Vietnam Era, because a few of them may have links to right-wing groups. Not only this the very promise utterly specious in its methodology, it adds yet another burden and stigma to the MILLIONS of veterans who served their country and especially those who were wounded or died doing so. I am sure the veterans communities of America will rise up in the same kind of anger I feel towards this outrageous bullshit and condemn the New York Times as it so rightly deserves.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-66131835559347272622014-04-14T14:57:00.002-07:002014-04-14T15:00:37.124-07:00Living and learning in Baton Rouge, 1968<div class="userContentWrapper aboveUnitContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
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<span class="userContent"></span><br />
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<span class="userContent">I
received a nice invitation today to be a guest speaker at the Louisiana
Book Festival next Nov. 1 in Baton Rouge to discuss my new novel
<a href="http://www.newsouthbooks.com/bkpgs/detailtitle.php?isbn_solid=1603063153">"South, America."</a> Thinking of going back to the city where I went to
grad school at LSU (government) <span class="text_exposed_show">reminded
me of "The Chord of G," a <a href="http://roddavisauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Southern-magazine-Chord-of.pdf">personal essay</a> I wrote for the late, great Southern Magazine
back in '89.</span></span></div>
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<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_534c58485262d2c59598340">
<span class="text_exposed_show"> I had almost forgotten what life was like for me back in
'68, sharing a house with a Vietnam vet and learning something important
from my neighbors. You can also see "The Chord of G" and other pieces, on my author webpage, <a href="http://roddavisauthor.com/">RodDavis Author.com </a> </span></div>
</span></div>
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Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-74997294206869925762014-04-13T10:58:00.001-07:002014-04-13T10:58:22.443-07:00A preacher with more than two suits"Any preacher with more than two suits is living a lie."--Gaye Adegbalola nails it. Heed, Sunday TV pulpits. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stKVrAVcOQ4">Watch, listen.</a> This is the way I heard it in the small churches of Georgia and Texas growing up.Rodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06074424353974960854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4146596700769692329.post-7439670674435707542014-04-12T08:49:00.001-07:002014-04-12T08:49:27.171-07:00Praise for "South, America"<span class="userContent"><b>From NewSouth Books:</b> Award-winning author <a href="http://roddavisauthor.com/">Rod Davis's new novel</a> "South, America," is Southern noir at its best. Just
published by NewSouth Books, "South, America" is being compared to the
works of James M. Cain and Mickey Spillane. The myst<span class="text_exposed_show">ery is set in pre-Katrina New Orleans.<br /> <br />
<i>Southern Literary Review</i> calls "South, America" "masterful." Tony
Dunbar, author of the Tubby Dubonnet series, says, "It's a riveting
read."<br /> <br /> Rod Davis has won numerous book awards including the
PEN/Southwest fiction award in 2005 for "Corina's Way," also published
by NewSouth Books.<br /> <br /> "South, America" is available from NewSouth Books in paperback and ebook: </span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://www.newsouthbooks.com/south-america" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.newsouthbooks.com/south-america</a>. </span></span><br />
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