\u201cIt always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story,\u201d asserts English author Jerome K. Jerome in the introduction to his 1891 collection \u201cTold After Supper.\u201d This may seem an odd quote to start a book column in the heat of July, but bear with me, because I offer a corollary statement \u2013 It always is the Middle Ages, in a fantasy story.<\/p>\n
Fantasy novels tend towards the medieval. They echo the technology, art and politics of western Europe somewhere between the 5th and 15th centuries. This is a time of kingdoms, migrating people, fallen and rising empires, wars and exploration. A time of Gothic architecture and mystery plays. Of plagues and heresies and schisms. This is a time of swords.<\/p>\n
And the pen.<\/p>\n
While J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s massive \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d and Robert E. Howard\u2019s mighty tales of Conan are set in distant and otherworldly pasts, Middle Earth and the hyborian age alike utilize the language of medieval technology \u2013 swords, axes and armor \u2013 to weave their magic tapestries of words.<\/p>\n
Medieval literature encompasses missals and treatises, hagiographies and poetry. There are accounts of pilgrimages and plantings. There are troubadours\u2019 tales of courtly love. And there are stories of mortals confronting gods and monsters, and taking up swords against men, beasts, demons and dragons.<\/p>\n
These days, fantasies are escapist. A way of getting away from the mundanities of modern life for something a little more epic. Something heroic.<\/p>\n
We all dream of being dragonslayers.<\/p>\n
But there really aren\u2019t a lot of literal dragons around anymore. There would seem to be a shortage of greedy lizards hoarding wealth, destroying lives and burning the countryside. On second thought, that behavior does sound kind of familiar. Maybe dragons do still exist? Perhaps it\u2019s best to keep a sharpened sword at hand, just in case.<\/p>\n
Do you value Petaluma bookstores?<\/p>\n
The owners of Copperfield\u2019s Books have recently announced their intention to close Petaluma\u2019s used store and reduce the size of the new store by more than half at the end of September. According to a press release from the Copperfield\u2019s Books Union, \u201cThe announcement came via an attorney letter addressed to union steward Robert Glover of the Copperfield\u2019s Books Petaluma Union, representing the 18 employees of Industrial Workers of the World I.U. 660.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you would like to weigh in on this matter, I recommend calling the Copperfield\u2019s main office at (707) 823-8991 and leaving a message for Paul Jaffe and R.M. Horrell.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s protect our local bookstores!<\/p>\n
This news comes right after the publication of a CNN article calling Petaluma one of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Best Towns to Visit 2025,\u201d and says, \u201cThe two floors of Copperfield\u2019s Books are a joy to wander and chat up the friendly staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upcoming Literary Events<\/p>\n
Events coming to Copperfield\u2019s Petaluma (while it lasts) include Kevin Fagan, author of \u201cThe Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family and Second Chances\u201d on Friday, July 11 at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, July 12 at 1 p.m., Copperfield\u2019s Petaluma will host Billi Watland, author of \u201cFriendly Yards & Landscapes: Embracing Nature\u2019s Winged Wonders: A Celebration of Bees, Butterflies, and Hummingbird.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the traditional search for Waldo continues downtown throughout July. Ask at Copperfield\u2019s for your Waldo Spotter\u2019s card.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, July 5 from 1-3 p.m., the Word Horde Emporium will be hosting a meet-and-greet with author Matt Maxwell (\u201cThe Queen of No Tomorrows\u201d) in support of his latest collection of weird horror\/noir stories \u201cFake Believe: Stories from Hazeland.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sunday, July 27 from 1-3 p.m., the Word Horde Emporium will host Arlo Z. Graves, author of fantasy novel \u201cThe Ice Moves for No One\u201d and weird Western \u201cBlack Rose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, here\u2019s what folks in Petaluma are reading this week.<\/p>\n
Copperfield\u2019s Fiction and Non-Fiction<\/p>\n
1. \u2018Emperor of Gladness<\/strong>\u2019 by Ocean Vuong \u2013 A poetic heart-breaker of a novel from the author of \u201cOn Earth We\u2019re Briefly Gorgeous.\u201d Chosen family, intergenerational connections, immigrant communities, love and loss. An Oprah\u2019s Book Club pick.<\/p>\n 2. \u2018Feeding Ghosts<\/strong>\u2019 by Tessa Hulls \u2013 In this graphic memoir, Hulls traces Chinese history through three generations of women in her family, beginning with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a journalist fleeing the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Themes of love, grief, mental illness and generational trauma abound.<\/p>\n 3. \u2018Abundance<\/strong>\u2019 by Derek Thompson & Ezra Klein \u2013 From New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and The Atlantic staff writer Derek Thompson comes this volume examining the political, cultural and economic barriers that trap Americans in a cycle of scarcity, consequence and regulations, and prevent forward progress, while offering a paradigm-shifting path forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt always is Christmas Eve, in a ghost story,\u201d asserts English author Jerome K. Jerome in the introduction…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,171,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-44799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114809435096528408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}