From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #53 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Tuesday, May 30 2000 Volume 01 : Number 053 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 23:36:45 -0600 From: "Jerry Enos" Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Writing Master's Programs Right on, Jason. One of the best classes I ever took in college was one taught by a published author on writing. For a whole semester I had to consintrate on my writing for my homework. If I had the money and the time I'd to it again. Konnie Enos - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 02:38:44 -0400 From: Shawn Ambrose Subject: FW: [AML] Where's our LDS Amy Tan? Sarah Smith wrote: Perhaps LDS fiction will take over the next literary storm. Not if Satan can help it! He doesn't want us to get popular unless we adhere to his standards-anti Mormon, anti-Christ, anti-morality, anti-frugality, avaricious, licentious, dirty... Don't expect an "Amy Tan of Mormonism" unless you plan to fight it out tooth and nail with our common enemy! Melinda L. Ambrose - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 00:54:31 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Editing Ethics Todd Robert Petersen wrote: > In many cases making editorial suggestions is like trying to > comment on someone's kissing. Writers get embarrassed when someone points > out that they've been sloppy or careless or less than diligent. > But some > writers have blind spots that they fight to keep. Some people simply don't > know what is needed and react poorly to suggestions. This prompts some (but > not all) editors to just make the necessary changes on the sly. Who wants > the fight when the deadline is hanging over your head. After coming down on editors, perhaps it's now time to come down on authors. All of my criticism of editors changing authors' writings were based on the assumption that the author is a professional. If that assumption is _not_ true, as with the examples you gave, that's another thing entirely. The author has as much responsibility to be professional and reasonable as the editor, and if he won't be, then I wouldn't criticize an editor who makes end runs around such a person to get his job done. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 01:03:00 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Sexuality in LDS Lit Darlene Young wrote: > Also, I am interested in > examples of sex acts described within LDS literature > and whether you felt they were integral to the stories > they were part of or whether they were non-essential > (or, on the other hand, whether embellishment would > have improved the piece). Anyone? Is there any LDS literature with sex acts described? Even Peterson's _Backslider_, for all its graphic handling of language, violence, and heretical doctrinal notions, was amazingly coy with the sex scenes. There was sex in the story, but you better not blink or you'll miss it. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 01:50:32 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Writing Master's Programs Jason Steed wrote: > Flannery O'Connor (who held a MFA in > creative writing from U of Iowa) said all you need is a childhood and you > have plenty of writing material, suggesting that one's education has little > to do with what one might write about. Isn't that what I was saying? > You place WAY too much emphasis on the idea that one writes only about what > one 'knows.' Saul Bellow has a degree in anthropology, but he doesn't write > about primitive peoples (and he teaches in English departments, by the > way--oh, and won a Nobel prize...). William Carlos Williams was a doctor, > but he didn't write his poetry about medically related topics; nor did > Wallace Stevens write poetry about insurance, though he was an insurance > salesman. And last time I checked, none of T.S. Eliot's poetry had anything > to do with banking. Too much emphasis on writing what one knows? Hmm, interesting concept. What did these people who didn't happen to write about their careers write about? Something they knew nothing about? I'm reacting to Darvell's statement that he is specifically doing this to further his writing career. If I have a bone to pick, it's the pervasive notion that the only valid way to educate oneself is through colleges and universities. > Again, this comes off as an irrational polemic against English professors. > Do you have any idea what kind of writing community exists out there in the > academic world? Strong, perhaps. Imperfect generalization, no doubt. Irrational. I don't think so. I think I do have some idea about the kind of writing community that exists out there. Mentioning the cream of the crop does not refute what the rest of the pile is like. Will the great writers of academia that you mentioned be teaching any of Darvell's classes? > (Remember, professors in academia have to > 'publish or perish'--if they're teaching in a writing program, chances are > they've published at least a book or two, if not much more than that-- Is what they're publishing being read? Is it _relevant_ literature? Relevant meaning being read by and influencing a sizeable audience that extends beyond their colleagues. > Go back and check the past 10 winners of Pulitzer prizes, > National Book Awards, etc., and you'll find a surprising number of the > authors either hold a degree in English or writing, or teach/have taught in > English/writing departments. Watch out, or you'll get me started on what I think of awards and prizes as a barometer for good writing. > One more example: Toni Morrison, our most > recent American Nobel laureate, occasionally teaches writing workshops, and > has a BA in English.) So does Orson Scott Card (well, his BA is in theater, but that's close). Yet he's the one who got me started on this attitude. > Do you want to > say that business professors know nothing about business because there are > plenty of successful businesspersons out there without business degrees? Actually, that comes pretty close to what I want to say. Rodney Dangerfield's character in the movie _Back to School_ was a great comic example of this. After having it out in class with his economics professor over theory vs. practice, and the professor then asks where the class should build their fictitious company's factory, Dangerfield responds, "How about fantasy land?" > But one of the greatest benefits a writing degree > has to offer is _time_. Taking two years or so to concentrate on a writing > degree is the perfect excuse to devote two years or so to _writing_. So instead of Darvell being a parent, breadwinner, and writer, he should be a parent, breadwinner, writer, _and student_, and that will give him more time to write? The only perfect excuse he needs to devote two years to writing is he wants to be a writer. My attitude does not stem from any personal experience I've had with literary academia. The extent of my experience with them is English 101. (Well, their TA, anyway. Never saw a professor.) It stems entirely from hearing other _professional_ writers express that opinion, and believing them from my own experience with the educational system. Apparently they all have a bone to pick? - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 07:14:44 -0700 From: Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Writing Master's Programs Jason Steed wrote: > I agree, one learns most about writing by simply writing--and academic > hoops are a pain in the rear. But one of the greatest benefits a writing > degree has to offer is _time_. Taking two years or so to concentrate on a > writing degree is the perfect excuse to devote two years or so to > _writing_. That's hard to do when you're busy reading anthropology or > physics textbooks, or working 40 hours/week at something _other_ than > writing... I agree with this and most of the rest of Jason's very long response to Michael's comments on the effectiveness of writing programs. I'm a graduate of a writing program, and while I have yet to prove myself as a successful writer, I can tell you that I learned a great deal about writing from my writing prof (who was not an English Lit professor, by the way, but a wonderful writer in his own right), and from the comments about my writing given me by my classmates. It would be helpful to you to go to the school where you anticipate enrolling and sit in on the writing workshop. See what kind of help the students are getting and decide for yourself if such a program would be helpful to you. You will find it enlightening. Dorothy _________ Dorothy W. Peterson LDS-Index.org http://www.lds-index.org mailto:dorothy@lds-index.org Read WINDOWS, Dorothy's Novel http://www.lds-index.org/windows/windows.htm - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 07:14:44 -0700 From: Subject: Re: [AML] Re: Where's our LDS Amy Tan? D.M.Martindale wrote: > The problem is, the biggest market for LDS art is Utah. So the artist's > audience is mostly Utah culture Mormons. This is not true, actually. There are more Mormons in California than in Utah. I don't know how the other states stack up, but California Mormons are very different from Utah Mormons and ought to represent an interesting and stimulating market. Unfortunately Deseret Book is virtually the only source for buying Mormon art in California and their range of material is limited by Utah Mormon Culture. I don't know how that can be fixed, but it ought to be fixed. Dorothy _________ Dorothy W. Peterson LDS-Index.org http://www.lds-index.org mailto:dorothy@lds-index.org Read WINDOWS, Dorothy's Novel http://www.lds-index.org/windows/windows.htm [MOD: The relative population of Mormons in California vs. Utah is a persistent rumor which, the last time I checked, was not true. According to the Church Almanac of several years ago, there were about twice as many Church members in Utah as in California. Does anyone have a current copy (within the last couple of years) they could check? While you're at it, it might be worthwhile--if it's not too much bother--to list relative sizes of LDS populations in the major states/countries. Since we're talking about the audience for Mormon literature, it seems to make sense to know just what kinds of numbers we're dealing with in different areas.] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 12:43:24 EDT From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN Sex Book For LDS Couples Becomes Best Seller: KSL-TV5 Salt Lake City From: Kent Larsen To: Mormon News Subject: MN Sex Book For LDS Couples Becomes Best Seller: KSL-TV5 Salt Lake City UT 18May00 A4 Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 22:20:00 -0400 [From Mormon-News] Sex Book For LDS Couples Becomes Best Seller KSL-TV5 Salt Lake City UT 18May00 A4 http://www.ksl.com/dump/news/cc/sexbook.htm SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- A new book on sexuality for LDS couples is selling almost as well as President Hinckley's "Standing for Something," according to some Utah retailers. "Between Husband and Wife: Gospel Perspectives on Marital Intimacy" has nearly sold through its first printing of 7,000 copies in about a month, according to book publisher Covenant Communications, the publisher. And the authors attribute its success to the fact that it covers a subject that has been considered somewhat taboo among LDS Church members. The book was written by BYU professor Douglas E. Brinley and Salt Lake Gynecologist Stephen E. Lamb and covers physical intimacy in a frank, upfront way. The book contains no pictures, but does clear-up issues of sex by confronting sexual intimacy act for act. Both authors have written on the topic before, Brinley, who is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU, has recorded talk tapes on the subject, including "after the Honeymoon ... and Forever" and "Marital Relationships Seminar." Lamb has authored a book on sexual purity and is a popular speaker on the subject. Lamb says that the book serves an important need among LDS couples. "Because there is a lack of information about intimacy within an LDS marriage," says Lamb, "many couples turn to secular sources to seek out answers. Church members have questions about intimacy, and they should be answered appropriately, not as the world would answer, but as the Lord would answer." The book addresses the myth sometimes expressed among Church members that sexual intimacy is only for procreation. The introduction quotes the LDS Church's Church Handbook of Instructions as saying that sexual intimacy is also a "means of expressing love and strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife." See also: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1577346092/mormonnews More about "Between Husband and Wife: Gospel Perspectives on Marital Intimacy" at Amazon.com >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 10:21:20 -0700 (MST) From: aml@xmission.com Subject: [AML] Julie JENSEN Deseret News, Sunday, May 28, 2000, 12:00 AM MDT 2 plays by Julie Jensen attract attention on East, West coasts Two plays by native Utah playwright Julie Jensen, both of which were premiered by Salt Lake Acting Company, have received attention on both coasts. Jensen's "Two-Headed," which focuses on two women's friendship enduring four decades following the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is closing today after a monthlong run at the Women's Project Theatre in New York City. A review by David DeWitt in The New York Times (May 19) said, "Ms. Jensen's two heads make an elegant and meaningful whole." Michael Sommers, writing in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, noted, "Perhaps Jensen has woven too many crucial exchanges into this terse and troubling drama's span, but she writes with an unassuming naturalness that makes the action always believable." Meanwhile, another Jensen drama, "Last Lists of My Mad Mother," has been extended through June 25 at the Hudson Theatre Guild in Hollywood. According to David Mong, publicist for SLAC, the production was scheduled to close earlier this month (it has been replaced on weeknights by a comedy called "Suburban Hotel"). But Mong said the cast involved with "Last Lists" enjoyed the experience of being in Jensen's play so much they decided to continue presenting it for Sunday matinees through June 25. "Two-Headed" played Feb. 2-March 12 at SLAC. "Last Lists" played in the fall of 1998 and was later filmed for PBS by KUED. Ivan M. Lincoln Copyright 2000, Deseret News Publishing Corp. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 15:17:51 -0600 From: "Jim and Laurel Brady" Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Writing Master's Programs I think this post hits directly on the head why I would like to get an advanced degree. My undergraduate degree had very little to do with English or creativity, and in reality has not exactly opened doors for me career-wise. Right now, supporting a family is not a great concern, but with 8 kids, it's always in the back of my mind it would be awfully hard to do that with my present credentials. With a master's degree, if I were suddenly to find myself the sole breadwinner for this tribe, I would have a lot more, and better, opportunities available to choose from than I do now. But there's more to it than just career considerations. I'm not sure a master's degree would make me a better writer, but it would add some depth to my knowledge and understanding. I have hardly any experience with the classics or the masters of this craft. I need, not only a better grounding in literature itself, but also more experience with analysis and research. Working with an excellent editor has opened my eyes to the fact natural talent is only the beginning. Laurel S. Brady - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 13:54:13 -0600 From: "mcnandon" Subject: RE: [AML] Sexuality in LDS Lit When *writing* the consequences of divorce, you may want to entertain these considerations: A non-member friend once confided that although her marriage had reached the point that if a divorce did not occur, one of them would have killed the other; she still would not have divorced, because of the devastating effect it had upon her children. As to my personal experience: My current marriage is as perfect as is possible in this life, but I would forsake my happiness to have protected my children from the never ending pain of divorce. Nan McCulloch - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 14:45:15 -0600 From: "Annette Lyon" Subject: Re: [AML] Where's our LDS Amy Tan? Todd Robert Peterson wrote: "There are more members now outside the States than inside, but our literature does not reflect that. It should. What about the Mormons in Compton? in Bangladesh? Saudi Arabia?" It seems to me that LDS publishers shy away from any literature set in a "strange" place. As a general rule, most of what we see on the shelves is set in the Wasatch Front. On the rare cases that something "foreign" gets published, the setting is "romantic" or "exotic" (France, India, and Wales come to mind as recent examples.) Two of my books have Finland as a setting: one entirely, the other for the last six chapters. They've both won awards, and every publisher I've approached with them has praised the writing--then they have each apologized about not being able to market such a book because the setting is too far removed from most Mormons. I doubt I'm alone in this. Do you think it's because the LDS reading audience (who, granted, is concentrated in Utah) really doesn't want to read about something outside of themselves, or that the publishers assume they don't (or don't want to take the risk that they won't)? Either way, it seems odd to me. As Todd Robert Peterson pointed out, there are more members outside the US than in. This is a world-wide church for crying out loud. I get tired of reading (and writing, for that matter) about Utah Valley or BYU in LDS literature. There's a lot more to us as a people than "Utah Mormons." Even so, I know that if I venture into writing another book located elsewhere, it may not have a prayer to see the light of day in this market. Annette Lyon - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 20:05:15 -0600 From: deborah weagel Subject: Re: [AML] Sexual Structure in Art - --On Fri, May 26, 2000 10:38 AM -0700 Rob Pannoni = wrote: > Whether "poly-orgastic" literature or music will have as much artistic > power as traditional forms that work toward a single climax, I have no > idea. I suppose, being a man, I'm ill-equipped to either create or > enjoy such a structure, at least at the primal biological level. But it > seems to me if art is rooted in sexual biology, then women's creation of > poly-orgastic art would be spontaneous and natural. You would see > differences in pattern in the works of men and women. Can you give > examples of popular music or literature that you believe has this > structure? I have been thinking about these ideas for several years now. What intrigues me as a Mormon female creator of art, is that I discovered by reading Susan McClary's book, Feminine Endings, that I was patterning the climax in my work after masculine models. That was all I knew. That was the way I thought it was to be done. That was what I was taught to do. It wasn't until I read her book that I realized there were other possibilities. Some of the possibilities include feminine sexual expression, which can include polyorgastic climaxes. I have experimented with such climaxes in my own work. I have also found them in other works, not necessarily the works of women. This leads me to conclude that men or women can create monoorgastic or polyorgastic climaxes. I would define a monoorgastic climax as one that builds up to a peak, and then dies down. = A polyorgastic climax builds up to a peak, and within that peak experiences several orgastic moments, and then dies down. In music and literature, I look for climaxes that build up to a peak, and repeat once or several = times whatever is happening at the moment. In music, it could be a very high note, or a chord, that repeats. In literature, it could be a word, a motif, or some kind of specific experience. I am always interested to add to my list, but some examples include the following: 1) "Sweet Sorrow," from Joshua Redman's CD, MoodSwing. When the climax peaks, the high-reaching, penetrating notes repeat two additional times. 2) Benjamin Britten's opera, Peter Grimes. The name, "Peter Grimes, or Grimes," repeats several times in the main climax of the opera. 3) Chopin's Prelude, Op. 28, No. 20. This short piece is 13 measures = long. The first four measures are played loudly, the next four measures are played softly, the next four measures are played very softly, and the concluding chord is soft. One interpretation I have is that the whole piece is a polyorgastic = climax, that decreases in intensity with each orgastic moment. This decrease in intensity can be characteristic of a polyorgastic climax. 4) The famous passage in Proust's Swann's Way where the narrator eats the madeleine with a cup of tea, and is flooded with memories and wonderful sensations. Here there is also a decrease in intensity with various orgastic moments. (New York: Vintage, 1956, p. 34) 5) The passage in Albert Camus' The Stranger, when the main character, Meursault, murders the Arab on the beach. He fires not once, but four = more times. (New York: Vintage, 1988, p. 59) 6) The passage in Anne H=E9bert's Kamouraska, when Elisabeth Tassy's lover kills her husband. He fires two shots and strikes the victim with repeated blows. (Markham, ON: PaperJacks, 1973, p. 230) I read all three literary texts in the original French, by the way. Thanks for your response. I will look into Camille Paglia's book _Sexual Personae_. Deborah Fillerup Weagel - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 11:52:43 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Re: Where's our LDS Amy Tan? Dorothy W. Peterson: > Unfortunately > Deseret Book is virtually the only source for buying Mormon art in > California and their range of material is limited by Utah Mormon > Culture. I don't know how that can be fixed, but it ought to be > fixed. I know. Another bookstore. Another bookstore chain would be even better. Sorry that my easily-stated solution is not easily implemented. But surely there must be some entrepeneurial soul out there who smells an opportunity in this. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 13:8:40 -0600 From: "Darvell" Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Writing Master's Programs D. Michael Martindale (dmichael@wwno.com) wrote: >It stems entirely from hearing other _professional_ >writers express that opinion, and believing them from my >own experience with the educational system. Apparently >they all have a bone to pick? >D. Michael Martindale >dmichael@wwno.com Some people are born writers and don't need outside help. Naturally, as we would expect, these are some of the best writers. Some of the rest of us would be happy to get any help that we can get. Darvell Darvell Hunt, Las Vegas, NV _____________________________________________ Free email with personality! Over 200 domains! http://www.MyOwnEmail.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:08:53 EDT From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] _Galaxy Quest_ (was: Time and God) Shawn Ambrose: Did any of you see the movie "Galaxy Quest"? I don't recommend it, particularly, but the premise fascinates me. Larry Jackson: I darn near died laughing during the movie. My wife could hardly contain herself, as well. It is, by and large, a Star Trek spoof, but leaves no stone unturned. Shawn: It's about a group of science fiction actors on the convention/ ribbon-cutting circuit for a show that ended 18 years before the movie takes place. At a convention they are approached by a group of aliens in human form who ask for their help. ... The aliens have built a ship and all the furnishings and technology to match the show, thinking it is historically accurate. Larry: Ah, yes! The "Historical Documents." I wonder what those in the future will think about the "historical documents" we are leaving behind. Will they believe them? Will they try to emulate what we have done? Will they wonder if we were absolutely out of our minds when we wrote them? Or will we feel like the heroine, after passing with our hero through a ridiculously dangerous, death defying, and improbable sequence of metal smashers, "Whoever wrote that episode should be shot!" And could it have been that there were conflicts between the writers and the editors that led to the rallying theme cry, appropriate for all who write, "Never give up! Never surrender!" Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 11:20:16 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: Re: FW: [AML] Where's our LDS Amy Tan? Shawn Ambrose wrote: > > Sarah Smith wrote: > > Perhaps LDS fiction will take over the next literary storm. > > Not if Satan can help it! He doesn't want us to get popular unless we > adhere to his standards-anti Mormon, anti-Christ, anti-morality, > anti-frugality, avaricious, licentious, dirty... > > Don't expect an "Amy Tan of Mormonism" unless you plan to fight it out > tooth and nail with our common enemy! This assessment seems overly negative, and doesn't reflect the facts as I see them. First of all, written literature is not the only area in which LDS authors can hope to make an impact. Can we not consider Star Wars as a latter-day morality play (I exclude Episode One in that analysis)? There are other wonderful films that are not anti-morality etc. Literature is not the cess-pool of evil you seem to claim it is. Maybe if LDS fiction hasn't yet become the next literary storm, it's because of another, more prosaic reason -- maybe it's just not good enough to raise interest yet. Satan could very well be the reason LDS fiction hasn't taken off in the outside world. It could also be that most of our literature just isn't good enough. Thom - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:08:53 EDT From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] MN Terry Tempest Williams' Leap Gets Strong Reviews:Time From: Kent Larsen To: Mormon News Subject: MN Terry Tempest Williams' Leap Gets Strong Reviews:Time 22May00 A2 Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:30:00 -0400 [From Mormon-News] Terry Tempest Williams' Leap Gets Strong Reviews (Leap) Time 22May00 A2 By Steve Henry Madoff and A 15th Century Triptych Inspires A Meditation On Contemporary Life, Nature and Spirituality Chicago Tribune 14May00 A4 http://chicagotribune.com/leisure/books/article/0,2669,SAV-0005140376,FF.html By Donna Seaman. LEAP By Terry Tempest Williams Pantheon, 338 pages, $25 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- Mormon naturalist Terry Tempest Williams' latest book is getting strong reviews in major newspapers and magazines like the Chicago Tribune and Time. Williams' book, Leap, looks at Mormonism more than her previous books, "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place" and "Desert Quartet: An Erotic Landscape." In Leap, Williams uses a trio of paintings by 15th Century Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden of Delights" as a jumping-off point for her examination of both On the surface, Williams' book is a description of Bosch's trio of paintings in which she examines every detail that Bosch painted. Williams goes much farther than most that visit an art museum, examining the paintings with "the purposeful attentiveness of a wildlife biologist in the field," according to the Tribune, which notes that she surprised other museum visitors by bringing binoculars, as a way of identifying the birds that Bosch painted. "Were Hieronymus Bosch's acute skills as a naturalist appreciated?" she wonders. But the book goes deeper, beyond just an analysis of Bosch through a naturalist's eye. Each of the details in Bosch's paintings leads Williams to memories that involve her family, her marriage, and her Mormon upbringing. In one of the paintings, Bosch depicts the creation of Eve in Paradise, and his inclusion of a grove of trees in the painting leads Williams to reflect on the First Vision, in which God was revealed to the young boy Joseph Smith. She credits Mormonism with its reliance on personal revelation and notes that it is a religion whose "sacred texts were housed and hidden in the earth." Donna Seaman, writing in the Chicago Tribune says, "The recognition of the significance of personal revelations, and of the sanctity of the earth, resonate profoundly for Williams, and become key themes in her bold and fluent interpretation of Bosch, which, in turn, inspires candid, often provocative musings on the difference between religion and spirituality, and fresh insights into our complicated and crucial relationship with nature." Seaman says that Williams' exploration allows her to "bridge the divide between the teachings of Mormonism and the gospel of nature, and to articulate a 'living faith' based on 'the healing grace of wildness.'" Seaman goes on to call the book a "dynamic, shape-shifting and lyrically interrogative meditation," and she credits the book with covering "matters of life and death." In the end, according to Seaman, Williams "tells us that we must restore our sense of wonder, and recognize that we live in paradise, a garden of earthly delights that deserves our reverence and our love." In a much shorter review in Time magazine, Steve Henry Madoff says that Williams' description of Bosch may be more than a match for Bosch's 'wild' painting. "Strange and endlessly fascinating, her reflections on Bosch's images of Heaven, Hell and Earth take on the burning urgency of a dream, says Madoff. "'Can a painting be a prayer?' she asks. Her answer is yes, prayer. Incantation and benediction too." See also: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679432922/mormonnews More about "Leap: A Traveler in the Garden of Delights" at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679740244/mormonnews More about "Refuge : An Unnatural History of Family and Place" at Amazon.com >From Mormon-News: Mormon News and Events Forwarding is permitted as long as this footer is included Mormon News items may not be posted to the World Wide Web sites without permission. Please link to our pages instead. For more information see http://www.MormonsToday.com/ Send join and remove commands to: majordomo@MormonsToday.com Put appropriate commands in body of the message: To join: subscribe mormon-news To leave: unsubscribe mormon-news To join digest: subscribe mormon-news-digest - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 19:44:00 EDT From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] Utah Taking Its Story, Scenery to the IMAX (Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Taking Its Story, Scenery to the IMAX Thursday, May 25, 2000 By Lori Buttars The Salt Lake Tribune Forget Tom Cruise, who dangles from a ledge at Moab's Dead Horse Point in the opening scenes of the new film "Mission Impossible 2." Utah has enough attractions to star in its own movie on an even bigger screen. That's the idea behind a new IMAX film about the Beehive State, which is to begin production later this year under the auspices of the Utah Travel Council. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kieth Merrill, a former Utahn who has made such films as "The Great American Cowboy," "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and "Legacy," will produce and direct the $6 million project. The Utah Travel Council has signed on as "first investor," putting up $200,000 toward the film. Dean Reeder, executive director of the Utah State Division of Tourism Development, said a large-format film has been under consideration for several years. "It's been a question of whether there is enough subject matter about Utah to cover an entire film," Reeder said. "And we think we do [have enough], if it's told a certain way and has a depth of character." The state will have no creative control over the film or its story, which Merrill will write. Rather than falling into a documentary or dramatic format, Reeder said the plot will be "in a category all its own." "What we have asked for is that there be a sense of some interesting characters that exist in the state of Utah and some of those might find their way into the script outline," he said. "That gives us a potential for a broader audience." Reeder said he had seen "Testament," Merrill's latest character-driven film for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The movie has been playing to packed houses at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City. "That's a privately funded film, but the character development and the way he's gone about it suggested that we found the right guy," Reeder said. No names are being circulated to star in the Utah film, although Reeder said he envisions a name actor appearing. "But it won't turn into a cult of personality type of thing where it focuses on just one character." Organizers hope to have the project completed to be shown in Utah during the 2002 Winter Games, although it is not an Olympic-sanctioned project. The focus of IMAX films, which is a brand name of a 70-millimeter camera used in filmmaking and the screens they are shown on, is usually on spectacular scenery. Utah has no official IMAX screens, but there will be four large-scale screens in the Salt Lake Valley, similar to the Super Screen at the Jordan Commons in Sandy, capable of screening IMAX films. In recent years, IMAX films have moved toward incorporating a narrative, said Leigh Vonderesch of the Utah State Film Commission. "It will be interesting to see what tack they take. No matter what, in the IMAX format it is sure to be stunning," Vonderesch said. "John Ford put Utah scenery as the backdrop for his dramatic films and the legacy has lasted us for 50 or 60 years." (c) Copyright 2000, The Salt Lake Tribune - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 01:37:32 EDT From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] Where's our LDS Amy Tan? Dorothy : There are more Mormons in California than in Utah. ... California Mormons are very different from Utah Mormons and ought to represent an interesting and stimulating market. [MOD: The relative population of Mormons in California vs. Utah is a persistent rumor which, the last time I checked, was not true. According to the Church Almanac of several years ago, there were about twice as many Church members in Utah as in California.] _______________ I agree with Dorothy that California Mormons are very different from Utah Mormons and ought to represent an interesting and stimulating market. Write on! I don't know which one our fearless moderator looked in, but these statistics are from the 1995-96 Church Almanac. Total Church membership was 8,689,000 at the time, so factor the numbers up a notch or two. Membership: Utah 1,425,000 California 719,000 Idaho 316,000 Arizona 256,000 Washington 203,000 Texas 170,000 Oregon 121,000 Nevada 117,000 United States 4,520,000 Canada 138,000 South America 1,692,000 Mexico 688,000 Asia 540,000 Philippines 314,000 Central America 303,000 South Pacific 300,000 Europe 167,000 United Kingdom 161,000 Japan 103,000 Africa 79,000 Larry Jackson [MOD: Thanks to Larry for looking up the numbers.] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #53 *****************************