We ♥ Virginia Massey-Burzio!

In honor of the retirement of Virginia Massey-Burzio, Head of Research Services and Collections and undisputed Queen of the Suggestion Board, we present the following quotes:

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss…. The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word—excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
Pearl S. Buck, 1964

To love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun?
Katharine Graham, 1974

People are not the best because they work hard. They work hard because they are the best.
Bette Midler, 1980

Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark.
Germaine Greer, 1991 

If you think education is expensive—try ignorance.
Derek Bok, 1979

We’ll miss you!

Food Writing

I have a nasty little secret that I seldom admit in public. I read cookbooks.

When I say, “I read cookbooks,” I don’t mean I thumb through the pages while I’m waiting for a sauce to come to a simmer or for dough to rise (I’m a good cook but merely an enthusiastic baker with less than stellar results). I actually read them like as I would a novel or a biography.

And it’s not just cookbooks. I adore the fact that food writing and food TV have exploded in popularity over the past ten years. Blogs like Chocolate and Zucchini have revitalized young Americans’ interest in French cuisine; shows like chef Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” have been a commercial success.

In my humble opinion, the best thing about this food fever is that my favorite mid-century food writer M. F. K. Fisher is being actively reprinted and read. If you haven’t read anything by her, check out “How to Cook a Wolf” in The Art of Eating. Published in the early years of World War II, Fisher offers her readers comforting advice on how to make do during lean times. In the 1940s, men and women elevated rationing to an art form. Fisher’s book is more than a how-to guide, offering advice to those weary women trying to make each potato, each grain of flax, each slice of bacon count; it’s a defiant treatise on the importance of aesthetics, even during times of war. Bon appetit and happy reading!

Library Opens at Noon on Friday, June 15

Due to a water main break at University Parkway and 39th, the library was without water this morning. Water is being restored to the building and the library will open at noon.

Looking for Something Good to Read?

Check out the winner and finalists from the world’s biggest literary prize.

Norwegian author Per Petterson won the world’s richest literary prize (the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award) for a single work of fiction in English on Thursday (June 14) for the novel “Out Stealing Horses.” Petterson won 100,000 euros ($133,000) which he shares with his translator, Anne Born, for his novel about a solitary 67-year-old Norwegian widower whose chance encounter with a character from his youth triggers painful memories. (This book is On Order for the library. Petterson’s first book, “In the wake,” is already in our collection).

Here’s a review of the book from The New York Times.

Seven other books were on the short list of winners (check the library’s rich fiction collections for them), including:

“Slow Man” by South African Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee
“Shalimar the Clown” from Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie
“A Long Long Way” by Ireland’s Sebastian Barry
“Arthur and George” by British writer Julian Barnes
“The Short Day Dying” from Peter Hobbs (Great Britain)
“No Country For Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy (American)
“Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer (American)

Any one of these books will make great summer reading! Check out the IMAC Web site for previous winners and finalists, and more great books to read.

Film Friday

There’s a class of comedy currently popular that I can’t particularly stomach. It’s the uncomfortable, anxiety inducing shtick of comedians like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2788-2791) and Sacha Baron Cohen in Da Ali G Show (DVD 2785).

I’ve tried to like them. I have, believe me. One by one, friends have plopped me down on their couches and forced me to sit through multiple showings. Now, let me say, I do believe David and Baron Cohen are masterful comedians. They’re amazing, and their brand of comic social commentary is biting, sharp, observant. But it all too easily slips into cruelty and bitterness.

Despite not being a fan, these DVDs, along with Chappelle’s Show (DVD 2786-2787) which also came in last month, are great additions to the collection. Happy viewing!

Continue reading Film Friday…