Book Reviews
Despite the store's limited success with author
events and book signings The Book Loft's calendar is becoming quite
crowded. Nationally prominent
authors rarely schedule stops in such small spots as Solvang, but sometimes they
are able to pay us a visit.
Holly George-Warren,
author of Public Cowboy No. 1: “The
Life and Times of Gene Autry,” (Oxford University Press $28), will be
featured at an upcoming gala at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, part of the
2007 Gene Autry centennial celebrations. Afterwards she'll take a few days off
to visit her friend Petrine Mitchum
who lives in Santa Ynez. (Trine, wrote about horses in the movies in her book “Hollywood Hoofbeats;
Trails Blazed Across the Silver Screen,” had her own moment in the
Autry Museum spotlight a couple of years ago when her book was launched there.)
Energetic authors with new books to promote can't totally relax. Therefore, we
are delighted to host a book signing for Holly George-Warren Saturday, June 30,
tentatively set for 4 p.m. When Trine phoned to see if such an event would be
feasible, we were mainly familiar with Holly as the author of a charming
children's book published last fall, “Honky
Tonk Heroes & Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers of
Country and Western Music.”
However a check of the shelves did reveal a copy of her newly published
Gene Autry biography.
Holly George-Warren
who is a prolific writer on the music scene, has contributed to more than 40
books on popular music, writes for publications such as the Rolling Stone magazine,
New York Times and the Village Voice. She is a journalism professor at State
University of New York-New Palz and lives in the
Catskill Mountains with her son and musician husband. Public Cowboy No. 1
explores the world of Gene Autry beginning with his family's nineteenth-century
roots until the end of his reign as an entertainer. Autry, who died in October,
1998, had a whole second life, not covered in this book, as a businessman and
sports team owner. Public Cowboy No 1 is also a portrait of a man who had his
darker sides, but whose legacy, as Johnny Cash remembered it, "made the
world look better."
Ms. George-Warren
took her title from one of Gene Autry's movies, also the title of a "Big
Little Book," has inexpensive adventure stories that was very popular in
the 30s and 40s, particularly with boys. Ed Gregory's used books, upstairs in
The Book Loft boasts a colorful display of vintage, now very collectible, Big
Little Books. Along with Tom Mix,
Flash Gordon, Kit Carson and many others, it includes one Autry book,
Strawberry Roan.
We welcome two new
and much needed books focusing on the Central Coast wine-growing region. One we
knew about and had been anticipating for nearly two years. The other, “California Wine Country: South
Central Coast”($12.95),
part of the Quick Access guidebook series. It is filled with William G. Hartshorn's bright photographs accompanied by lots of
valuable information despite a few glitches in the text.
Acclaimed wine
country photographer Kirk Irwin, who for a number of years has showcased our
area with his gorgeous Santa Ynez Valley calendars, told us in 2005 that he was
working with Chronicle Books on a local wine book.
It has just come
out.
Although it is in a
soft cover, California's Central Coast: “The
Ultimate Winery Guide from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles” ($22.95)
deserves "coffee table" status as well as a long life as a visitor's
guide. It is beautifully laid out,
has a French fold cover, Kirk's lovely photographs and text by Mira Advani Honeycut a Los
Angeles-based expert on food, wine, travel and the arts. Pioneer local vintner Jim Clendenen has written the forward.
Mira Avani will visit the Valley next month. She and Kirk Irwin will be at The Book
Loft on Saturday afternoon, 4 to 6 p.m., July 7, for a visit and book signing
along with some wine sipping.