11 April

Book Review: “Shotgun Lovesongs” by Nickolas Butler

by Jon Katz
"Shotgun Lovesongs"
“Shotgun Lovesongs”

This review is written in conjunction with Battenkill Books, my local bookstore, if you choose to purchase the book, please consider buying it from Battenkill or from your local independent bookstore, thanks.

“Shotgun Lovesongs,” a novel by Nickolas Butler is one of the most bally-hooed indie books of the Spring, and I am happy to say it more than lives up to the hype and expectations. This quite wonderful and touching first novel of small town life and community – something I live every day of my life – centers on the lives and friendship of four men, all of whom grew up together in the small Wisconsin town of Little Wing.

In a sense, they span the social and economic gambit. One never left, still working his family farm. One trades commodities in Chicago, one took to the rodeo circuit, one hit it big as a rock start. Beth, a fifth character is a beautiful, grounded and loving women who is connected in different ways to each of these men.

All four are brought together for a wedding and the book explores the bonds, stresses, pain and love in their friendships. This is a terrific book, one of the best novels I’ve read in a while and it will reach deeply into the hearts of people who come from small towns or live there still. It is a book about community, about lives entwined by circumstance and geography. Like many other small and rural towns, Little Wing has been left behind by the economists and bureaucrats and politicians in Washington. America has forgotten its small towns, taken the jobs away and left them to struggle and fend for themselves.

They are generally considered inefficient and insignificant in the new global economy, lives are a struggle, it means something to be a neighbor, it means something to be a friend.

This question of friendship and what it means is gracefully but powerfully explored in “Shotgun Lovesongs,” we get a rich and honest portrait of small town life, it is a very heartfelt story of young and caring men driven to understand their lives and come to terms with the meaning both of friendship and community. In the age of the depressing and self-referential Brooklyn novel, this writing right comes from the heartland and is appropriately full of heart. It is also very real. Life goes on in the heartland, you just never see or hear about it on the news, unless there is a tornado or murder.

I dearly love my small town community, I feel more connected to it everyday. We have to get to know one another, we have no choice, and we have to figure things out, even when there are problems. We see one another all of the time, we know everybody’s business, a blessing and a curse.  And we need one another in the most profound and literal ways.

In this story, one man stays on his family, the other returns from Chicago to try to save the small town’s decaying old mill, the rock star always comes back to rest and ground himself, and the rodeo rider struggles to regain his place in the world after getting hurt. Their paths cross back and forth, they each take terms narrating this most American and rich of stories.

Like so many current novels, this story could have ended a click sooner, there is just one twist or two too many, but that is a nit. I highly recommend this brilliant and penetrating piece of work, it will grab the heart and soul of anyone who cherishes the values and connections of the small town American community.

You can purchase this book by ordering it on the Battenkill Books website or by calling the store at 518 677-2515. They ship anywhere and take Paypal.

11 April

Come And Meet Those Dancing Feet

by Jon Katz
Come And Meet Those Dancing Feet
Come And Meet Those Dancing Feet

George Forss’s famous interpretation of Times Square – I love the “come and meet those dancing feet” sign – was among the double and triple exposures for which he became famous. Before digital photography, the masters had to know light, shadow, readings and exposures and then use complex darkroom and printing techniques to get the depth and clarity that has never really been duplicated. The great photographers like George were scientists and technicians in a way, as well as artists.

They had to master so many different things. My camera does many of those things for me.

George’s multiple exposures were the envy of photographers all over the world, they offered a new way of interpreting famous and popular and iconic places, like Times Square. You can see George’s writings and photographs on his blog, where many are offered for sale inexpensively. This photo is part of “The Way We Were” project, soon to be a book of pre-9/11 photographs.

You can also read his latest philosophical essay, “Mere Observations About Two Gods.”

11 April

Parable: George’s World. Love And Friendship.

by Jon Katz
George's World
George’s World

George and I are great and close friends, we are more alike than I realized or than I might have imagined. We are both surrounded by clutter, we are both obsessed with creativity, it is a faith for us, we both draw chaos like sugar draws flies. A touching thing this week, I went off to Cincinnati hurriedly, I didn’t get to talk to George for two days.

Last night, Donna Wynbrandt, George’s partner and lover called and left a message on my answering machine, she said George was worried about me, he hadn’t heard from me in a couple of days and he wondered if I was all right. He would never bother me by calling himself, she said, but she wondered if I could just let him know I was okay.

The call touched me, and I realized the depth of our friendship. George and I talk at least once a day, sometimes only briefly but it is as important to me, as it is to him. I called George first thing in the morning, he was already in his darkroom, I could tell he was relieved to hear from me, he said he was worried that he was a bother sometimes, he was not sure. He was grateful for the call, he said, he never wanted to be a bother but he was concerned about not hearing from me.  I told George our friendship was the greatest of gifts to me, it was never a bother to talk to him or hear from him, I missed him also, it was his way of telling me that he loves me, and my way of telling him that I love him in return.

Difficult for two strange men like us to communicate about that and in that way, but we did it. I often underestimate the power of love, it is one of the most precious things in the world. Men rarely speak of their love and concern for one another, I am grateful George reminded me just how much we love and care for one another.

George is like a brother to me, I am grateful for every minute of our wonderful friendship and i am reminded to make that as clear to him as it is to me.

11 April

Rebirth To My Life. Taking The Plunge. Born Again. And Again.

by Jon Katz
Giving Birth To Life
Giving Birth To Life

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is my favorite writer, my inspiration. He once wrote that we are not only born once, when our mothers give birth to us, but that life requires us to give birth and rebirth to ourselves, again and again. That is so  true in my life, as in so many others. To awaken to life is to invite and accept change and new experience, to take the great risk and reward of the creative life. It is never a straight or simple line, it is marked by ups and downs, twists and turns, birth and rebirth.

My life has changed beyond my imagination since the time I first moved to the country nearly two decades ago.

This week, it is time to change again, to give rebirth to my writing life again.

I have decided to say goodbye to my longtime publisher, Random House, a difficult and emotional decision. Random House is the only publisher I have had for almost every one of my 26 books. This week, my agent and I decided to take my next book project “Talking To Animals,” to a different publisher, I will go to New York shortly to meet with editors who are interested in talking to me about it.

It was a very mutual and respectful decision. Random House made an offer on the book – my next book, about Simon, is the last book on my contract –  but I think they knew, and I knew we would not accept it, it was simply time for a change. I believe they thought so too. Random House is a good place, a great place, it is not the place for me now.

This is both sorrowful and exhilarating for me; I am so grateful to Random House for making it possible for me to be a writer my entire adult life, that is a wonderful gift and a precious thing. They have edited my books well and published them beautifully. My editors have all been amazing, skilled and dedicated, they have taught me so much and endured so much from me, supported me for a very long time. It is a rare thing for a writer to have such a good and long relationship with a publisher, I am so appreciative of that.

Still, it is time to go, some marriages can last too long, and publishing has changed so much in the past few years I barely recognize it. My world has vanished; my world is being reborn. The blog is the centerpiece of my creative work; it is, in many ways, my work, but I have always been a book writer, and I hope I will die a book writer. I embrace new technology, and it is a fundamental part of my writing, but it can also be stifling and dehumanizing – I need an editor who wants to talk to me as much as I want to talk to him or her. That is how great and successful books are made, in my mind.

I want to be careful to make sure that writing for me is joyous and that I have the freedom to write what I wish, and that I feel good about myself as a writer. I need something different; I can feel it in my bones.  So I’ve taken the big plunge, given birth to my creative self once more. Taking a plunge like this is always uncertain, especially for an older writer working in a fluid environment. It is also essential to a creative life, which is full of risk and rebirth if it is to remain vital. My blog, my photography, my move upstate have all proven to creatively powerful and successful experiences. Rebirth has always worked out for me, I will hold my breath and hope it goes well again. Early indications are very good. I feel more vital and creative than ever, I feel my work has really just begun.

My niche as a writer about animals and rural life is a bit specialized. As many of you know, I want to write thoughtfully and intelligently about our lives with animals. I love the animals I live with but I also seek to find and capture some perspective, I want to challenge myself and others to think about their relationships with animals and understand them. I believe there are many people who need this and want it, even when they disagree.

“Talking To Animals” is, I think, the culmination of my two decades of life and research and  experience of real life with real animals and also of photography, I hope to follow Henry Beston’s call and help my readers find a wiser and more mystical understanding of animals. I have seen and learned so much that I want to share, and I’m eager to tell it in story form, each chapter a different story of my life with animals – Orson, Rose, Elvis, Pearl, Clementine,  Winston the rooster, the goats, the barn cats Mother, Flo and Minnie, Izzy, Lenore, Orson, Red, Frieda,  the donkeys Simon, Lulu and Fanny and the carriage horses of New York as well. Each one has taught me something different about communicating and understanding, about the miracle of listening and observing.

Each animal will be a chapter; each one has taught me something about talking to animals and listening to them, I am excited to share this.

So thank you, Random House, and thank you, good readers.

I wanted to especially thank those of you reading this who have been along on this ride for some time, been a witness to my births and rebirths, have stuck with me and supported my work and encouraged me through the many ups and downs of being born again, and again. I thank  you, I hope you will come along for the next chapter, I think it will be a hummer. I have a lot of good noise to make in the world, I am honored to share it with you.

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