Dance is a subject on many people’s minds these days, with television series such as Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and America’s Best Dance Crew becoming fixtures on network and cable channels. Now there’s also Breaking Pointe, Bunheads, and All the Right Moves, the latter two premiering soon.

But while music has Beethoven and theater has Shakespeare, how many people know much about the history of dance and the makers of dance? Or where or how to look to learn about these subjects?

One good place to start is with the International Encyclopedia of Dance, which is available online at any of the Library’s research libraries. Using the Encyclopedia will allow you to look up specific people, dance styles, historical periods, topics, or even dance names (such as the Nutcracker) and get a short description, as well as recommendations for other resources to consult. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance provides even more concise descriptions. You may also want to check out other general dance research materials, which are compiled on our Bibliocommons list, Dance Beginning Research Resources. These resources include stories of the great ballets, ballet and modern dance vocabularies, and even histories of tap and social dance.

If you already know some names or terms you would like to search for, you should start with the Library’s online Classic Catalog, through which you can find everything in the Dance Division. In fact, many articles from dance magazines and even chapters in books were indexed in the catalog, up until 2004. Go ahead and do a simple keyword, author, title, or subject search, or use the Advanced Search function on the left hand side of the screen to search simultaneously by title, author, subject, and more.

Using Advanced Search, you can also limit the results to show just moving image (film and video) and audio materials by holding down the "Ctl" key (COMMAND on Mac) and under “Material Type” selecting DVD, Film/Slides/More, VHS, and/or Spoken Word. To look for photos and other graphic materials, limit the results to the Material Type “Picture.” And to limit your search to items in the Library for the Performing Arts, choose “Performing Arts Library” in the Advanced Search dropdown box for “Collection.”

In the case of manuscript collections – the papers of individual artists or the records of dance companies – the Archival Materials search page allows you to do keyword searches within the Library's digitized finding aids. All of the Dance Division’s finding aids are available online through this tool, and they provide detailed information on the subject of individual collections, the types of materials in the collections, and a list of what’s in which box and folder. The Archival Materials search will also link to the catalog record, which you will need in order to find out whether a box is stored on site or offsite. There may be a couple of clicks involved to get to both the finding aid and the catalog record, but you need them both, so persevere!

A few of things to note about our catalog records:

• Circulating vs. Research Materials. All call numbers in the Dance Division research collection start with the *MGxxx. Items with call numbers B [Name] or 793.xx are circulating materials, available on the first and second floors of the Library for the Performing Arts.
• Call Numbers. The Dance Division’s call numbers are format-based, so that Dance clippings, for example, all start with the call number *MGZR ([title of work, name of artist/company]). Simiarly, Dance photographs all start with the call number *MGZE ([title of work, name of artist/company]).
• Tracing Back Subjects and Other Terms. All the subjects, titles, and names in our catalog records are "traced," which means you can click on links to see like items. For example, a search for films of Swan Lake brings up Maria Tallchief coaching excerpts from Apollo and Swan Lake, which has an “added title” of “Swan lake (Choreographic work : Balanchine after Ivanov)”. Clicking on the "added title" brings you to a list of similar choreographic works, and clicking again on the added title in that list will show you 27 films and videos of the work which you can view. Clicking on the "subject" “Swan lake (Choreographic work : Balanchine after Ivanov)” yields even more materials which are about, and not just of, the work. You can use these and other subject headings to explore dance topics, and not just names of people, dances, and companies.
• Indexed Magazine Articles, Book Chapters, and Individual Documents. Should you see the notation "In" in a catalog record, this indicates that the record is for an article in a magazine, a chapter in a book, or an individual document in a larger manuscript collection. The title supplied after “In” is the actual title of the work you would request. See for example this record, which you would request with the call number, *MGZA, and information about the containing work: "Dance Magazine. New York. July, 1983."
• Indexed Loose Photographs. You may notice titles with numbers on catalog records, such as this one. These are for single loose photographs in a larger photograph file, and if you want to see them you should ask for the entire file: “*MGZE (Swan Lake),” or even more specifically, “*MGZE (Swan lake (Choreographic work : Balanchine after Ivanov)).”

For magazine articles published after 2004, search various databases available through the Library’s website. Some of the more useful databases for dance research are:

• International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance with Full Text – available only on site at a NYPL Research Library
• International Index for the Performing Arts Full Text (IIPA) – available only on site at a NYPL Research Library
• JSTOR – available on site at any NYPL branch
• Academic One File – available from home with a NYPL library card and PIN
• Academic Search Premier – available from home with a NYPL library card and PIN
• Biography in Context – available from home with a NYPL library card and PIN
• Oxford Reference Online – Performing Arts – available from home with a NYPL library card and PIN

As you search through the online catalog, note that certain items must be requested in advance, as they are stored off-site. This will be noted in the catalog record, under "Location" where it will say "OFFSITE – Request in advance for use at Performing Arts" or "OFFSITE Rose – Request in advance for use at Performing Arts." Please see our web page for information on requesting these materials.

An appointment is not required to view or listen to most dance items, including video and audio. Note, however, that if the catalog record says "Permission Required" or "Permit Needed," that indicates that you will need to get prior permission in order to view the material. The Reference Librarian at the 2nd Floor Theatre/Dance reference desk at the Library for the Performing Arts can give you contact information related to the specific restricted title. Even better, if you find something which is Permission Required/Permit Needed before you visit the Library, email the Dance Division at dance@nypl.org and we will provide the contact information for you to request (and hopefully receive) permission to view it before you get here.

We suggest that everyone visiting the Library begin on the 2nd Floor, where you will find a Reference Librarian who can help you fill out the forms you will need to request Dance Division materials. You’ll then be directed to the 3rd floor, where you can turn in your requests and view the materials.

We hope to see you soon, and to open up the world of Dance for you!

The school year is coming to an end and the temperatures are rising! You could spend your summer at the beach to show off that new swim suit you searched for all winter... or you could spend some time at your local library! We've got plenty of things for you to do while your on summer vacation! You could join in on the Summer Reading fun at summerreading.org! Escape the hot weather inside our air conditioned buildings and read a great book or attend a program! Things will be getting wild this month when the zoo visits with some awesome animals! Summer Reading kick off parties will be a blast! You could even catch a movie in the library!

So don't be a June bug this summer and hide under a rock... Come in to New Dorp Library and have some fun!

Wild at the Library!?!
June 5th at 3 p.m. Are you interested in animals? How often do you go to the zoo? Have you ever had the zoo brought to you? Well prepare for wild @ the Library! Live animals presented and explained.

Math / Reading Tutoring
Now we have more FREE tutoring! Wednesday tutoring is at 4:30 p.m. On Saturdays there are 2 sessions one at 11 a.m. and one at 2 p.m.! Pre registration is required on the day of each tutoring program. June 2, 6, 9, 13,16, 20, 23, 27, 30 Please call the New Dorp Branch for any other details or questions.

Read Aloud in the Library!
Meet on our famous story steps with your favorite librarians for some great stories and a coloring sheet! June 6, 13, 20, 27 at 4 p.m.

Crafts!
June 28th 4 - 5pm Come and have fun making a cool craft! Pre-registration is required and starts May 10th.

Big Jeff Music
June 7th at 3 p.m.
A Summer Reading Kick-off Celebration.
Dance and sing along to children's entertainer "Big Jeff" DeSmedt. For children of all ages.

Teen Cafe
Teen Cafe is the place to be! Come hang out with your friends and your favorite librarians, play some PS3 or Wii, eat some snacks, or do some homework. You can even play Magic, Yu-gi-oh, or regular cards. The Teen Café has it all. When you get out of school and your looking to unwind, head on over to New Dorp Library — we've got you covered! June 4, 11, 18 at 2:30 p.m.

Teen Club
Our two favorite teen programs have merged together: Anime Club and Teen Art Club! Join us and play a game, do some homework, meet new friends, create your own artwork, or discuss and watch anime! There's a little something for everyone! June 13 at 2:30 p.m. This Teen Club will also be our Summer Reading Kickoff.

Teen Tech Time
This is a great opportunity for teens to work on Library laptops without waiting or using up their one appointment per day. Use this time to work on a project or just surf the web. June 6 at 2:30 p.m.

Stay Well Exercise is held on June 5, 12, 19, 26 at 1 p.m. The Stay Well exercise program is geared for all seniors, ranging from the fit to those with disabilities. The curriculum includes aerobic exercises, as well as routines designed to enhance balance, build muscle strength, and aid in the performance of the tasks associated with daily living. Classes end with stress reduction exercises. Classes normally run 40 to 50 minutes and are held once a week.

Zumba meets twice a month on June 14, 28 at 12:30 p.m. Work out and learn some new moves!

Friday Afternoon Social
June 15th at 2:30 pm
Come with your friends and enjoy listening to oldies music, playing board games and meeting new friends. For ages 40+.

Movies at the library!
June 2, 16, 30 1-3 p.m.
Come watch this film noir on our big screen. Enjoy Free Popcorn.

To pre-register for any program, please call (718) 351-2977.

These are just a few of the many programs New Dorp Library offers — look at the online calendar for more programs! Bookmark this blog post and the online calendar, or print it out and share it with a friend!

With the upcoming NYPL exhibit Lunch Hour NYC on the horizon, we can look forward to an in-depth look at the world of cafeterias, Automats, workers' lunches, lunch at home (including tenements), school and charity lunches, and power lunches too. Kids will get a glimpse of lunch in all its myriad forms, and we've whipped together a booklist of lunch-related titles they'll really enjoy. Today, let's examine one of those books for kids on the younger end of the scale. Have a toddler or preschooler who won't touch their food? Introduce them to this omnivorous rodent with tummy filling on his mind in Denise Fleming's magnificent (and strikingly beautiful) Lunch.

A small mouse sniffs curiously out of his hole. His little arms reach yearningly off to the side. Oh boy is he hungry. Quick as a wink he climbs up the nearest black and white checked tablecloth and proceeds to eat every beautifully colored fruit and vegetable he sees beginning with a purple turnip, moving onto an orange carrot, yellow corn, etc. As the little mouse eats (and his aplomb and enthusiasm are highly addictive) he covers himself more and more with particles of the foods devoured. By the end of the story the author includes a picture of the now completely multi-colored mouse with helpful notations as to what each item on his person is. Reading the artist's statement, I didn't realize right off the bat that just as the mousey's food items change color, so too does the background of each and every scene. Additionally, the tablecloth itself is a calming black and white, ably setting off the mouse and his gluttonous rampage.

When you first hear how artist Denise Fleming went about creating the pictures for this book your initial reaction is something along the lines of, "Whaaaa?". Check out a hardcover copy of this book you will see that the book flap goes into incredible detail describing Fleming's asrtistic process. Suffice to say, no paint or brushes created so much as a page of art in this book. Instead, each image is a meticulously hand-crafted process called "pulp painting" that results in handmade paper art. You can learn more about her process here.

As Publishers Weekly said, of the book, "Fleming's pulp painting technique drenches each page with vibrant hues." Kirkus agreed saying, "With large areas of brilliant, subtly modulated color and handsome compositions incorporating boldface type, a beautifully crafted book that's sure to delight young audiences." It's big. It's beautiful. It's gorgeous. It's for kids anwhere between the ages of 1-5. Go on and check it out today.

Be sure to check out the author's website for a list of different activites you can do in conjunction with the book.

The New York Public Library is pleased to announce the awarding of Short-Term Fellowships to support the following scholars from outside New York who will research the Library's archival and special collections between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013.

Dorot Jewish Division and Slavic, Baltic, and Eastern European Collections

• David Brenner, University of Houston
  "The Film Schindler's List vis-a-vis the Earliest Significant Collection of Holocaust Survivor Testimonies"
• Gary Guadagnolo, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  "Creating a Tatar Capital: National, Cultural, and Linguistic Space in Kazan, 1920-1940"

Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle

• Gary Dyer, Cleveland State University
  "Lord Byron on Trial."

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

• Hassan Melehy, Univerisity of North Carolina Chapel Hill
  "Jack Kerouac, Quebec in New England, and the Poetics of Exile"

Library for Performing Arts

• Adam Roberts, independent scholar
  "Keeping Score: A Handbook of Musical Insights for Musical Theatre Artists"
• Chris Goertzen, University of Southern Mississippi
  "George P. Knauff's 'Virginia Reels' and the History of American Fiddle Repertoires and Styles"

Manuscripts and Archives Division

• Joshua Britton, Lehigh University
  "Building Brooklyn: Elites, Space and City-Building in the Nineteenth Century"
• Andrew Falk, Christopher Newport University
  "Shadow Diplomats: Constructing a Humanitarian Network during the Refugee Crisis of the 1930s and 1940s"
• Holger Hoock, University of Pittsburg,
  "Scars of Independence: Practices and Representations of Violence in the American Revolutionary War"
• Jessica Linker, University of Connecticut
  "'It is my wish to behold Ladies among my hearers': Early American Women and Scientific Practice, 1720-1860"
• William Slauter, University of Paris 8
  "Who Owns the News? Journalism and Intellectual Property in Historical Perspective"

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs

• Susan Harlan, Wake Forest University
  "Objects of War: Militarism, Memory, and the Making of the Early Modern English Subject"
• Monica Huerta, University of California Berkeley
  "The Evidence of Things Unseen: Law, Photography, and Subjectivity in Nineteenth Century America"

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

• Tanya Camela Logan, University of Michigan
  "Sartorial Second Skins: Black Men, Masculinity, and Agency in Dress"
• Nicholas Mitchell, University of California Berkeley
  "Disciplinary Matters: Black Studies, Women's Studies and the Neoliberal University"
• William Piper, College of William and Mary
  "Pictures at Work: African American Studio Photographers and the Business of Everyday Life, 1900-1968"
• Erin Zavitz, University of Florida
  "Revolutionary Memories: Commemorating and Celebrating the Haitian Revolution, 1804-2004"

A Guest Blog By Project Co-Director, Professor William Everett

In 1910 impresario Oscar Hammerstein sold his interests in his Manhattan Opera Company to his chief rival, the Metropolitan Opera, and agreed not to produce any opera in New York City for a decade. Instead, he turned his attention toward the related genre of operetta and commissioned the noted composer-conductor Victor Herbert to write a new work that would feature two of his Manhattan Opera Company stars, Emma Trentini and Orville Harrold. Hammerstein wanted a highly operatic operetta, and Herbert more than accommodated his producer's wishes.

Since Herbert was writing for opera singers, he produced a truly ambitious score filled with virtuoso solo passages, expansive ensemble and choral numbers, and a general sense of élan and finesse. Herbert, by this time, was an established figure on Broadway. Among his earlier successes was Babes in Toyland (1903), a previous Musical of the Month.

Rida Johnson Young was the show's librettist and lyricist. One of a handful of women creating Broadway shows at the time, Young, whose early career had been as an actress, collaborated with several leading composers of the day, including Jerome Kern (The Red Petticoat, 1912), Sigmund Romberg (Her Soldier Boy, 1916; Maytime, 1917) and Rudolf Friml (Sometime, 1918).

Naughty Marietta opened at the New York Theater on November 7, 1910. The venue, which Hammerstein had built years earlier as the Olympia, did not generate fond memories for the producer. This was the house that had indeed bankrupted him and from which he had to be forcibly evicted. For Naughty Marietta, he rented the renamed theater from Klaw & Erlanger (producers of The Pink Lady, a previous Musical of the Month) and was justifiably nervous when he reentered the house forNaughty Marietta, though it turned out to be a triumphal return. The comic opera, as it was called, played 136 performances before beginning its tour, the normal practice for musicals at the time.

Hammerstein heard Emma Trentini sing in a Milan cabaret and brought her to New York in 1906 to sing with his Manhattan Opera Company. The diminutive soprano (she was less than five feet tall) with a fiery temperament triumphed as Musetta in La boheme, Michaela in Carmen, and Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman. The producer also discovered lyric tenor Orville Harrold when he heard him sing in an amateur production in Indiana. Harrold's "day job" was as a hearse driver. Hammerstein brought Harrold to New York, ensured he received formal training, and cast him in roles such as the Duke in Rigoletto and Rodolfo in La boheme. Harrold received audience and critical accolades for his performances and later joined the company at the Met.

Part of the orchestra, the chorus, and some singers also came from the defunct Manhattan Opera Company, as did the conductor, Gaetano Merola. The Naples born and trained conductor led the premieres of not only Naughty Marietta but also Rudolf Friml's The Firefly (1912) and Sigmund Romberg's Maytime (1917). He eventually went to San Francisco, where he founded the San Francisco Opera in 1923 and was its general director through 1953. William Axt succeeded Merola on the podium ofNaughty Marietta. Like his predecessor, Axt ultimately ended up in California, not to lead opera in San Francisco but rather to create nearly 200 film scores in Hollywood, including Ben-Hur (1925), Grand Hotel (1933), and The Thin Man (1934).

Set in the late eighteenth century, Neapolitan Countess Marietta d'Altena (Trentini) escapes an unwanted marriage by going to New Orleans on a bride ship. (The brides-to-be are referred to as casquette girls, named after the small trunks they carried with them to hold their few belongings.) Travelling in cognito, Marietta comes under the protection of Captain Dick Warrington (Harrold), a frontiersman who is pursuing the pirate Bras Piqué (Edward Martindel), identifiable by a tattoo on his arm as his name implies (bras piqué = pricked arm [literally] or tattooed arm). Captain Dick and the lieutenant governor's son, Étiene, become rivals for Marietta's affections, but Marietta only wants to be with the man who can complete her "Dream Melody" (a.k.a. "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"). The Governor's son turns out to be Bras Piqué and Captain Dick, as expected, completes Marietta's dream melody.

Naughty Marietta opens with an extraordinary sequence, one that establishes the general largesse that dominates the work. A church bell strikes five and the watchman announces that "all's well." Beggars, the Sacristan, and flower girls all begin to prepare for the day. The flower girls offer an effervescent ode to the morning before various vendors' street cries fill the aural space and the number concludes with general revelry. The quiet scene that morphs into a celebration prefigures the famous beginning of Bernstein's On the Town (1944) and the lively market setting anticipates that of Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady (1956).

Captain Dick and his followers, the ubiquitous male chorus, enter to "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!," a classic operetta march in which the chorus extols its rugged masculine virtues through lyrics that today would be considered largely politically incorrect. Such marches—sung by a male chorus and generally extolling themes of justice—would become a mainstay of American operetta in classics such as "The Mounties" from Rudolf Friml and Otto Harbach's Rose Marie (1924), "Song of the Vagabonds" from Friml and Brian Hooker's The Vagabond King (1925), and "Stouthearted Men" from Sigmund Romberg, Harbach, and Oscar Hammerstein 2nd's The New Moon (1928).

Marietta has two character-defining songs in Naughty Marietta. In the first, a cavatina of sorts, she describes the two sides of her personality, one proper and one horrid. The lightly scored accompaniment for "Naughty Marietta" allows the character-defining lyrics to be easily understood. With Italian-born Trentini singing in a heavily accented English, this was an extremely important consideration. In the famous "Italian Street Song," with its difficult coloratura obligato passages and sustained high Cs, Marietta lets everyone know, through her music, that she is indeed of noble birth. Her sophisticated virtuosic music demands a singer who is operatically trained and this attribute sets her apart from her female compatriots.

Similarly, Marietta and Captain Dick share two duets, "It Never, Never, Can Be Love" and "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life." In the first, they declare that their relationship will only be platonic, implying that no romance will ever develop between them. The skipping dotted rhythms and light-hearted style place the song in the realm of musical comedy and keep the plot from becoming too serious and melodramatic. While in some ways it anticipates the almost love songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, in which characters sing something along the lines of "I love you, but…" (for example, "People Will Say We're in Love" from Oklahoma! [1943]), the overall spirit of the music and lyrics conveys a spirit of innocence. By contrast, "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" is a soaring duet. It too has dotted rhythms, linking it to the earlier duet, but this time, they cascade downwards after dramatically held high notes. The idea of a specific piece of music being integral to the plot, as it is here, is not unique to Naughty Marietta. In Romberg and Frederick Arnold Krummer's The Magic Melody (1919), a mother and son who have been separated for years recognize each other through knowing the same melody. Most famously, in Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart's Lady in the Dark (1941), Liza Elliot's "My Ship" is the tune for which the protagonist is looking for a duet partner.

The score is filled with other delights. Among these is Adah's languid ballad "'Neath the Southern Moon." Adah, one of Etienne's former lovers, is a mezzo, making her vocal sound distinctive from that of Marietta in terms of range and timbre. These vocal differences accentuate the characters' differences in terms of personality and ethnic background, for Adah is described as a "quadroon," a historical term for a person of mixed race with three-quarters African ancestry. We must remember that Marietta is of noble Italian heritage. The gently oscillating thirds at the beginning of the refrain draw attention to the references to breezes in the lyrics and accentuate the timeless quality of the song. By contrast, "Live for Today" is a glorious concerted waltz for Marietta, Adah, Captain Dick, and Etienne in which they celebrate youth and the immediacy of love. Captain Dick's effusive "I'm Falling in Love with Someone" is also a waltz. Through subtle musical hints, such as slithering chromatic melodies and the famous leap of a ninth (an octave plus one note) in the refrain on the words "one girl," Herbert lets his audience know that this singing lawman has the musical fortitude necessary to complete Marietta's "Dream Melody."

Low comedy comes in the characters of Simon O'Hara, Captain Dick's servant (Harry Cooper) and Lizette, a casquette girl (Kate Elinore). These two reflect some of the ethnic stereotyping that, while troublesome today, was common in the era and which contemporary audiences would have found entertaining.

Naughty Marietta has an impressive legacy on stage and screen. Romberg and Hammerstein's The New Moon shares a similar setting—eighteenth-century New Orleans, complete with pirates and Frenchmen, though the city was in reality under Spanish rule when both shows take place. Much later, Mel Brooks included "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" to climatic effect in the film Young Frankenstein (1974) and subsequent Broadway musical (2007). In 1983, Naughty Marietta appeared in an episode of the star-studded television series Fantasy Island. In the "Naughty Marietta" storyline, a pushy mother (Jayne Meadows) wants her daughter (Dorothy Hamill) to become an actress. On the island, they encounter Richard Warrington (Lorenzo Lamas) and Governor Gaspar d'Annard (James Doohan).

We were lucky enough to have a game show and discussions with teen authors about dystopias and apocalypses and whether or not we would have the strength to survive them. The event was held at the Margaret Berger Forum in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library. It was hosted by Chris Shoemaker, Young Adult Programming Specialist for NYPL. Refreshments were served afterwards, and teens signed up to participate in the games ahead of time. Music entertained the audience prior to the event. Many people showed up to try their luck at a game show and hear from the teen authors.

Could you survive a Young Adult Dystopia? was the theme of the event.

Shoemaker mentioned that the event was about what it means to be a teen in New York City. He said that is where teens want to be, the Library wants to be there with them. He mentioned that dark themes would be explored during the event. He asked what makes destroying the world so much fun.

To start off a game show, he asked his assistant to call the first victims. Two teens were randomly chosen as contestants.

The first game was Wheel of Misfortune.

1. The clue in the first phrase was "same name." He asked the contestants to choose a letter. They chose E. There were two Es, which were revealed on the projected screen to the contestants and the audience. It was a four-word puzzle. Shoemaker asked for contestant and audience guesses. Eventually, someone guessed the answer: "Katniss and Primrose Everdeen." (characters in The Hunger Games)

2. The clue in the second phrase was "food & drink." It was a six-word puzzle. Contestants chose letters, and contestants and audience members guessed. Eventually, someone guessed the answer: "fresh bread from the Mellark Bakery." (The Hunger Games)

Authors Anna Carey and Jon Skovron: Two authors were invited to join Shoemaker on the stage to read from their work and answer questions. Anna Carey, author of the Eve Trilogy and Jon Skovron, author of Misfit joined him.

Anna Carey's books

Jon Skovron's books

Carey read a passage about an all girls school. She stated that to go beyond the wall at the school is to die. However, when the girl went beyond the wall, her life took on new meaning.

Skovron read from Misfit. He stated that the world is slowly slipping into entropy.

Shoemaker asked the authors what is the hardest part about creating a plausible apocalypse.

Carey stated that she writes from her own fears. The most fun was exploring her own fears. It is fun for the reader to be scared, and he or she is not putting the book down.

Skovron said that oftentimes when someone is in a worst case scenario, it is an opportunity for him or her to shine. He mentioned that dystopia is cool when you can see the possibility of redemption. He states that when an apocalyptic situation is seen through a dramatic novel in a global way, it is gratifying and satisfying. When apocalyptic situations are seen on the micro scale in everyday situations, it can be depressing.

Shoemaker asked the authors where they draw the line about how they are going to end the world.

Carey stated that she is imagining a world where people are gone, but the world is not bleak. There would be life after people.

Skovron stated that it is not so much the destruction that is the focus, but what happens after. He mentioned that the world is evicting humanity for being lousy tenants.

Authors Sarah Beth Durst and Lissa Price: Shoemaker called the next two authors to the stage, Sarah Beth Durst, author of Drink, Slay, Love and Lissa Price, author of Starters.

Sarah Beth Durst's books

Price read from Starters without an introduction.

Durst wrote Drink, Slay, Love about a 16-year-old vampire named Pearl, who saw a sparkling unicorn in a parking lot, whose hoof beats resembled ringing bells.

Shoemaker asked the authors which comes first in their stories, the characters or the world.

Price stated that the character is written into the context of the world. For example, she wrote a story in which only the very young and the very old survive due to a type of illness.

Durst stated that she created the world first, and then she started thinking about unicorns randomly on a Saturday afternoon. She likes to build worlds and think about which person would suffer most in that world, and place that character there.

Shoemaker asked the authors if when they start with one world, if they move on to other worlds.

Price said that movie people were asking her if she could go beyond two books. They wanted three to five movies. Her answer was that she was going to have to find a way to move into other worlds, even though it would be challenging for her.

Durst said that she set novels in places that she loves, and that she destroys them with love. She thinks that the characters would be irrevocably changed if they were plucked into another world. When creating new worlds, she feels the need to create new characters to fit into those worlds.

Shoemaker stated, "Once a dystopian survivor, always a dystopian survivor."

Shoemaker asked his assistant to call the next two teen contestants to the stage, who would have the honor of playing a different game show: Jeopardy.

A. The category for the first query was "Nature's Most Destructive Events." The contestants and audience members guessed answers. Eventually, they came up with the following three most popular answers.

1. Tornado

2. A sibling's temper tantrum

3. Tidal wave

B. The category for the second query was "How to Avoid a Zombie Bite." The contestants and audience members guessed answers, until the most popular three answers were revealed.

1. Wearing a torn cocktail dress — it works for Milla Jovovich.

2. Staying away from your significant other (who may have been bitten).

3. Staying on the rooftop.

Two more contestants were called. The category for this query was "You've fallen into quicksand! Remember how to survive?"

1. Don't kick.

2. Try to lie down.

3. Don't worry (you will die of dehydration).

Authors Anne Heltzel and Lauren McLaughlin: Two more authors were called: Anne Heltzel, author of Circle Nine and Lauren McLaughlin, author of Scored.

Anne Heltzel's books

Lauren McLaughlin's books

McLaughlin spoke about characters in her book being identified by their gait. They could be walking and not thinking, and they are giving the computer the data it needed.

Shoemaker asked the authors how hard it is to build relationships when building a dystopian world.

McLaughlin stated that Scored was based on friends. When a friend's score is dropping, it becomes a dilemma to decide whether to keep that person as a friend. Relationships are central to the story.

Heltzel wrote a story in which two characters were isolated together in a cave. They are afraid of the outside world. They are at odds with each other, but they are not in competition with each other.

Shoemaker asked if it is easier to have characters connect in a large or small world.

McLaughlin stated that a futuristic global dystopia gives the characters the opportunity to stand up and try to change the rules. It is very interesting for her to create a personal dystopia.

Heltzel mentioned that it is difficult to maintain a small space and make it interesting for 200 plus pages. You have to have an intense psychological focus when you are constantly in contact with only two characters confined in a small space.

Authors Jeff Hirsch and Andy Marino: Shoemaker called Jeff Hirsch, author of The Eleventh Plague and Andy Marino, author of Unison Spark to the stage.

Jeff Hirsch's books

Andy Marino's books

The Eleventh Plague was set about 25 years after an apocalyptic war, where the human population was reduced to one-third of what it was before. It is the story of a 15-year-old boy and his father trying to survive. Unison Spark was a expose of a manipulative social network of the future and the two kids who are fighting it.

Shoemaker asked them when they are creating worlds, are they drawing from their childhoods, especially when they are focusing on rebels.

Marino stated that in cases of timeless rebellion, yes. Hirsch said that he can't help but draw on what he and his friends were like as teens.

Shoemaker asked if it is a teen's impulse to be drawn to dystopian worlds.

Hirsch stated that teens tend to be drawn to darkness since adolescence is such a passionate and intense time of life.

Shoemaker asked the authors if the power went out and the war became apocalyptic, would they have survived.

Marino stated that he would indeed still be here with his flannels. Hirsch said that no, he would be gone.

Shoemaker asked his assistant to call two victims for the final tribute of the evening.

The final tribute was Wheel of Misfortune.

1. The clue for the first word was "landmark." The contestants and the audience members guessed and eventually the answer was revealed: "cornucopia."

2. The clue for the second phrase was "clue." The contestants and audience members came up with the answer: "The Youngest Tribute."

Shoemaker opened the floor to audience questions.

Becoming an Author: One teen asked Carey what was her career path to become an author because the teen was interested in pursuing that career.

Carey stated that she first worked as an associate editor, and that she always knew that she wanted to be a writer. She saw how other people pursued authorship and learned from them. She eventually entered grad school and quit her job to begin the more satisfying task of working on her own books. Carey stressed that she needed to see how authorship was done before she felt comfortable embarking upon the job herself. That was a good way to learn the trade.

Are Villains Fun?: Another audience member asked who the authors most enjoy writing about: villains or protagonists.

One author said that villains are much more fun. The author of Drink, Slay, Love stated that the main character in her book is evil. She thought about things that you would never get to do in real life, and then she makes the characters do those things. Jeff stated that villains are the hardest characters to create and write about since it is not advisable to make the characters too villainous. The author of Starters stated that it is interesting to reach into the dark side of humanity and that books would be boring without villains.

Social Commentary?: One teen stated that traditional dystopia includes social commentary. She asked if the authors think about that when writing their novels.

The author of Drink, Slay, Love stated that she tried hard not to think about it. Instead, when contemplating the course of events for her novels, she asks herself, "What is the most awesome thing that could happen?" and includes those events. One of the authors stated that it is not good to be moralistic when writing novels. The author of Scored stated that she attempts to seduce people into another point of view with her writing. She emphasized that she always wants to implicate the reader in the moral universe that she is creating.

This TeenLIVE at the NYPL was a spectacularly fun and unique events. The game show questions, complete with contestants, was totally terrific. Shoemaker asked thought-provoking questions like usual, and the authors had interesting replies that enabled audience members to glimpse into their inner worlds and motivations that they drew on to create the worlds that became their books. Please join us at the next TeenLIVE event to give us your thoughts and input.

Thanks to Chris Shoemaker for coordinating and moderating this awesome TeenLIVE event!

Future TeenLIVE Event

TeenLIVE Presents Young Dancemakers Company
Saturday, July 28, 2012 ( 2 p.m.- 4 p.m.)
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Teens take to the stage and perform their own original choreography in this exciting performance at the Library for the Performing Arts. Watch the moves and see the steps before you have a chance to ask questions. After the performance, a lucky few teens will have the opportunity to create their own dance and perform it onstage with the dance experts.

All KidsLIVE and TeenLIVE programs are sponsored by the Katerina and Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences.

Description provided by Young Adult Services

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Von Steuben has been a figure of pop Revolutionary War mythology for too long. This excellent 2008 bio places him firmly within the context of the 1700s. With family connections close to the Hohenzollern Monarchy, Steuben should have been placed to rise pretty high in the Prussian officer hierarchy. He saw active service in the beginning of the Seven Years War and witnessed the bloodshed of the first heavy battles of the war at Prague in 1756. He saw further service commanding Free Batalion Mayer, a unique command that subsequently suited his future employment very well in America.

There has been some question about Steuben's baronial title. The book shows that he came from a minor Prussian Junker family, of the kind that primarily served in the army. Did this make him a real baron? Well, Steuben liked to think so! His titles were somewhat exaggerated by Franklin in Paris in order to make him sound more important. Steuben was aware of this and tried several times to reveal his more humble origins. Since by this time he was drilling Washy's army and improving its ability to deploy on the battlefield few could have cared about his background. Steuben's abilities were apparent whether he had noble rank or not. To the army he was simply known as the Baron. This remains so today.

After sustaining a minor wound at Prague Steuben was chosen for staff duties with Prince Henry, the able brother of Frederick The Great; and should have gone far in this capacity. Sometime after the end of the war he was chosen for additional staff training as a promising future general officer of Infantry. Somehow it all went afoul with a clashing personality of high princely rank who berated Steuben out of the program. He was subsequently dismissed from the service as part of post war reductions. This was to be a recurring problem with Steuben's career. Great promise, but always an impediment that would block him. Was it his somewhat brusque manner that got in the way? The author hints at this and a number of other personality flaws for halting his career at certain key moments.

Footloose in Europe in a post war environment Steuben struggled to use his numerous connections to find some gainful military employment. None had anything to offer him. At wits end he finally travels to Paris to be interviewed by Benjamin Franklin for possible service in an obscure war with an unknown army. The rest they say is history. Steuben arrives just in time to whip the ragtag American army into shape at Valley Forge. Appalled by what he sees, Steuben nevertheless gains the confidence of His Excellency, George Washington who knows little how to train troops in European warfare. He devises a special, shortened drill sequence based on the Prussian manual that becomes the army's famed Blue Book. Up until this time the Rebel army was virtually ignorant on how to maneuver on the battlefield. Even at Princeton, Washy's notable victory right after Trenton, Rebel units deployed single file Indian fashion, a time consuming process which could have cost them the battle had the British been less outnumbered. Although any competent officer of European background could have created such a manual for the Rebel army, Steuben does it with aplomb and even brilliance. He combines the antics of a comedian and martinet quickly gaining the confidence of the raw American troops. Now his previous service in the Seven Years War commanding Free Batalion Mayer comes in handy. These were ragtag Prussian skirmishers quickly thrown together to oppose the very active Austrian Croats & Pandors who came from the border regions of the Empire and were expert at Petite-Guerre. Having fought the ill regular Turks for many generations in such fashion. Steuben's exposure to this mode of fighting was uniquely suited to the American army which was also unconventional. In this way he could combine formal European drill with skirmish and Light Infantry tactics. Exactly what was needed at Valley Forge.

The book shows well the frustrations and difficult circumstances Steuben always had to labor under. He often had to deal with rival egos who did not like his foreign manner. Steuben could also be high handed and abrupt in his way. He made enemies easily, but Washy's support never truly wavered.

The book concludes with an interesting account of The Baron's campaign in Virginia in 1780-81. Little studied in all its details. Here Steuben had to deal with a very difficult situation. British encroachment was not adequately met with the resources on hand. Steuben had to work with Thomas Jefferson who was governor, but true to his form could never deliver on the promises he made for supplies and men. His Southern manner baffled the Baron. Meanwhile the British had a free hand pillaging and raiding much of the colony. Even the infamous Benedict Arnold appeared on the scene commanding a small, mobile force of British troops. For a time Arnold caused much damage to Richmond and other locales. It was all too much for Jefferson's retiring manner and Steuben seemed helpless to do anything about the situation.

One bright moment for the Baron saw him fight a creditable action with Militia against General Philips at Blanford just outside Petersburg. This action, little known today, illustrates that Steuben could command troops well, and American ones no less. But his commission as a staff officer within the Continental army never allowed him the opportunity to exercise these abilities. Rival American and European officers were intent on preventing this as well. Lafayette and others often bad-mouthed him behind his back. The French Marquis came across as a much more likeable personality. Still, he never could have accomplished what Steuben did administrative-wise, and his command abilities were limited at best. Cornwallis nearly destroyed Le Marquis' small command at Greensprings fought right before Yorktown. Another little known incident of the campaign. Popularity won out over ability, something common to American outlook even then. Continued difficulties with Jefferson and other officials in Virginia damaged the Barons reputation somewhat. But Washington's support never wavered. In the end the Baron was able to assume nominal command of a Division of American troops at Yorktown. This was a personal satisfaction for him to show the French alliance what he had been able to accomplish drill-wise with the American army.

At the end of the Rev War Steuben was hopeful of getting employment with the French army, but this like so many of his plans did not work out. He was not keen to stay in America as he knew it wouldn't be a restful retirement. Coming on in years now the Baron was still owed money by a reluctant and cash-starved Congress. He had to fight for every dime. In the end he would die in relative obscurity in upstate New York. His legend lives on and he has come to represent the special German-American experience in this nation. He was larger than life, controversial, but probably the right man at the right time for what was needed. This new bio, one of the few ever written about his life provides a lively and informative account. At last we can separate the man from the myth when we celebrate him on Steuben Day Parade in New York City.

Prohibition. Politics. Corruption. Alcohol was not illegal to drink. It was just illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport. Various organized criminal enterprises saw fit to illegally manufacture, sell, and transport alcohol to those who wanted it. 1920. Money. Politics. Corruption. This is Boardwalk Empire.

Like other period television shows, Boardwalk Empire has threads of historical fact running through its core. Steve Buscemi's character "Nucky" Thompson is based on Enoch "Nucky" Johnson. There's Al Capone and Warren G. Harding. There's Arnold Rothstein and the Black Sox scandal. There's the Women's Suffrage Movement. The writers have a wealth of historical material to work with. Prohibition and the early 1920s offer countless events and a host of characters, both upstanding and questionable, stretching along the east coast from Atlantic City to New York City and west to Chicago. The story opportunities are endless.

Boardwalk Empire makes it easy to lose yourself in the roaring twenties. All of that wonderful music, the set design, the costumes, the dialogue. But it's more than the apparent and obvious details such as these. Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference, something minimal and seemingly insignificant that adds volumes to a show's authenticity. Something like a book.

The writers of Boardwalk Empire certainly have a lot of classic literature to work with to add layers to a character's personality. Whether it's for character development or to help set the mood for a specific scene, whether it's a title that appears in multiple episodes or it's only a brief reference to a poem or genre, you can always count on a good book.

Below is a list of books that have appeared in Boardwalk Empire. What other books do you imagine Nucky reading? How about Margaret Schroeder? Jimmy Darmody? Agent Nelson Van Alden? Al Capone? At the bottom is a list of various other books that were published in the five years leading up to prohibition. Most all of the books listed below are available for free as eBooks via Google Books and Project Gutenberg so if you can't find the titles at your local library try searching online. All of these and more would have very likely been on the bookshelves of Boardwalk Empire.

Episode 12 - "A Return to Normalcy"

The Holy Bible

The Holy Bible

Episode 11 - "Paris Green"

"Halloween" / Robert Burns

The Holy Bible

Episode 10 - "The Emerald City"

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz / L. Frank Baum

(click here and here for more images from this scene)

Episode 9 - "Belle Femme"

The Road to Oz / L. Frank Baum

(click here for another image from this scene)

Episode 7 - "Home"

The Tin Solider / Temple Baily

Tom Swift and His Undersea Search / Victor Appleton

Episode 6 - "Family Limitation"

Free Air / Sinclair Lewis

(click here for another image from this scene)

Episode 5 - "Nights in Ballygran"

Public Speaking and Influencing Men in Business / Dale Carnegie

Episode 4 - "Anastasia"

Free Air / Sinclair Lewis

Episode 3 - "Broadway Limited"

Free Air / Sinclair Lewis

Episode 2 - "The Ivory Tower"

The Ivory Tower / Henry James

What else would be on the bookshelves of Boardwalk Empire? 

1916

• Windy McPherson's Son / Sherwood Anderson
• Rinkitink in Oz / L. Frank Baum
• Mountain Interval / Robert Frost
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man / James Joyce
• You Know Me Al / Ring Lardner
  

1917

• A Princess of Mars / Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Shadow-Line / Joseph Conrad
• His Last Bow / Arthur Conan Doyle
• Summer / Edith Wharton
• Piccadilly Jim / P. G. Wodehouse
• The Wild Swans at Coole, Other Verses and a Play in Verse / W. B. Yeats

1918

• My Ántonia / Willa Cather
• The Magnificent Ambersons / Booth Tarkington
• The Return of the Soldier / Rebecca West
• The Marne / Edith Wharton

1919

• Winesburg, Ohio / Sherwood Anderson
• The Magic of Oz / L. Frank Baum
• Jungle Tales of Tarzan / Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Demian / Hermann Hesse
• The Moon and Sixpence / W. Somerset Maugham
• Night and Day / Virginia Woolf

1920

• The Mysterious Affair at Styles / Agatha Christie
• This Side Of Paradise / F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Women in Love / D. H. Lawrence
• Main Street / Sinclair Lewis
• The Story of Doctor Dolittle / Hugh Lofting
• The Age of Innocence / Edith Wharton

During the 36 years that sisters Frances and Terry Ziccardi have been visiting Kingsbridge Library in the Bronx, they have checked out more than 5,000 items.



Welcome to the June 2012 edition of the Reader's Den! The title for this month is Stephen King's 11/22/63, part of Mystery Summer. If you were expecting The Sixes by Kate White, please see my earlier post and check out her new book So Pretty It Hurts.

Originally, I had planned to showcase a "beach read" for the June Reader's Den, which, at 849 pages (in my edition), 11/22/63 decidedly is not. King originally tried to publish this novel in 1973, but decided it was too soon. After some retooling, he decided to release it in 2012, slightly before the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.

I am by no means an expert on all things Stephen King and I have certainly not read every theory surrounding the Kennedy assassination. I wanted to cover this novel in the Reader's Den because it seemed to be a bit of a departure from most of his books. That is, I can imagine that the conversation with his editor about this novel must have been similar to when he decided to publish The Gunslinger, the first of his Dark Tower series, which must have sounded equally improbable. I imagine something along the lines of, "oh, of course we'll publish it, but, really, a time-travel book?" So, this was a somewhat unlikely pick for me and, I feel, thematically unlikely for an author that most people see as a master of the horror genre.

The other similarities to the Dark Tower series are the carefully wrought characters and vivid alternate realities, especially with the town of Derry and the "Card Man."

In the book trailer, he describes writing about time travel as something that, "better writers than I will ever be have fallen afoul of." As a result, I felt that he used a light hand when describing the logistics and mostly used it as a story device.

As this Washington Post article notes, King is not attempting to "provide an alternative history of what America would have been like had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated in Dallas," but, at least on some level, is attempting to harken back to a time when American life was simpler. There's also a love story woven into the narrative thread between Jack and the school librarian. I was struck by the sweetness in this novel, which the Washington Post article author felt was also present in his previous novels, Duma Key and Lisey's Story.

In this New York Times interview, Errol Morris has an enlightening Q & A with Stephen King in which they discuss King's research on the Kennedy assassination and what he believes really happened.

When you think of the word, "psychedelic," what first comes to mind? Depending on your age and experience, you might think of the term coined by psychiatrist Humphry Osmond to describe "mind-manifesting" reactions from a class of psychotropic drugs. You might also think of the term to describe the graphic design and art created out of the post-drug 1960s and early 1970s. One might associate it with visuals aimed to alter perception, such as kaleidoscopes, lava lamps, neon colors, strobes, and possibly a Pink Floyd laser light show.

Timothy Leary was a key figure in the development of psychedelic performances and his papers contain material documenting this interesting time in history.

In my last post regarding the Castalia Foundation, I described Gurdjieff-influenced attempts to help "awaken consciousness" without the aid of drugs. Leary and Ralph Metzner went on to take these exercises on tour as the "Psychedelic Sessions." Described in their 1965-1966 program, they reiterate their purpose and previous study of psychedelics for "designing language systems for receiving and communicating non-symbolic levels of energy and techniques for programming psychedelic sessions... experimentation with these sacred biochemicals has been restricted by federal law to mental hospitals. The Castalia group has adapted to this government repression (not unfamiliar in the history of visionary research) by working out non drug methods of producing the 'going-out-of-your-mind' phenomenon."

Three types of methods are outlined for altering consciousness:

1. Eastern Psychedelic Methods, including meditation and yoga

2. Western Psychedelic methods, including gestalt therapy and Gurdjieff techniques

3. Psychedelic Art Techniques, including multi-media combinations of light, sound, tapes, films, and stroboscope.

The last method reflects the Castalia Foundation's collaboration with artists, such as the multi-media art collective, USCO (The Company of US) to reproduce the LSD experience. "Psychedelic Explorations," was performed in New York City at the New Theatre, 154 E. 54th Street in 19 July 1965 and featured artists Jackie Cassen, Don Snyder and Richard Aldcroft. These multi-media artists complimented the Foundation's approach to providing an "audio-olfactory-visual alteration of consciousness (AOVAC)." The advertisement to the right is another example of material found in the Timothy Leary papers documenting these LSD inspired presentations.

While filing a letter into the International Federation for Internal Freedom (predecessor to Castalia Foundation) correspondence files, I happened to come across a letter from Gerd Stern, multimedia artist and a founding member of USCO, requesting information regarding Leary's organization prior to their collaboration on Psychedelic Explorations. Stern, a poet living in Sausalito, California at this time, expresses his interest in the "bare physical energy represented by language--the word in the air..." and to organize, "a group to investigate this area."

Stern goes on to collaborate with the Castalia Foundation a couple years later. He describes the experience working with Leary in his oral history, conducted by and accessible from the Regional Oral History Office in the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

By 1966, questions into the legal status of LSD and other mind-altering drugs threatened and influenced the work of the Castalia Foundation. In an attempt to secure legal rights for the use and distribution of psychotropic drugs, Leary established the League for Spiritual Discovery (LSD). This "church" would serve as the legitimate, religious use of drugs, modeled after historical peyote use by the Native American Church.

The League's performances were dubbed "ceremonies," borrowing from various religious traditions and directed by Leary, Jackie Cassen, Rudi Stern, and Ralph Metzner. The "Psychedelic Religious Celebrations" were performed in New York City at the Village Theater, 105 Second Avenue. Officially, the service included a sermon/lecture by Leary to guide participants through different levels of consciousness, with each voyage "a celebration of one of the great religious dramas of mankind: Catholic, Buddhist, Judaic, Hindu, Tao, et al."

The following flyers advertise additional L.S.D. Ceremonies. Contributors included long-term friend Allen Ginsberg, and Rosemary Woodruff. Timothy Leary and Rosemary Woodruff married 12 December 1967.

If you think of poems as flowers, then the Aguilar Poetry Fest was an exercise in charming cross-pollination. Sharing was the thing. Students were seated in groups of about 6, where they read their chosen poems to each other and then intermixed with other tables to multiply the fun. Poets included Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, Maya Angelou, Naomi Shihab Nye, Shel Silverstein, Douglas Florian (on Silverstein’s wavelength), Billy Collins, some haiku poets, and a smattering of others. 

Students and tutors clearly enjoyed their double role of takers and givers — listening carefully to a wide variety of poems, commenting on them, and reading their own out loud. For students, the experience of reading the same poem to group after group built confidence and made for an experience that was public but still somewhat intimate.

The value of this poetry celebration started weeks before the actual event. Staff displayed a tableful of poems (xeroxed sheets and books) which were chosen for a range of reading skills and themes — and also for visual appeal, which is important for newcomers to poetry. Tutors began by scheduling class time around the poetry display table; with their help, students discussed poets and themes, chose a poem or two, and then prepared for their public reading.

Preparation involved delving into a poem's meaning, writing it out by hand, and learning to read it fluently and with expression. By the end of this process, students genuinely felt that a chosen poem was "theirs."

The Poetry Fest is just one more way Aguilar students are building their reading skills, but more importantly, their enjoyment of reading!

Not that there is not enough already going on in your busy summer life...

But Wednesday, June 6th at 7:00p.m. in the Trustees Room of Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (476 Fifth Ave) you are joining Linda Hirshman and Eric Marcus as they discuss Linda's new book Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution and the remarkable history of the LGBT civil rights movement.

Quite a bit has happened since Stonewall (one of the biggest symbols/starting points of the gay-rights movement): decriminalization of homosexuality, its removal from the list of psychiatric disorders, not to mention the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, some states officially recognizing same-sex marriages, President Obama "coming out" with his stance on same-sex marriage... It might have taken a few decades. It may not be where we would like things to be. But look how far we have come...

So, Linda (a lawyer and political pundit, as well as a writer/columnist) and Eric (a published author, who currently serves on the national board of the American Board for Suicide Prevention, and a former segment producer for CBS Morning News) will look at this struggle as the third great modern social-justice movement (along with the civil and woman's rights movements) based on the many published and archival materials and in-depth interviews. They will look at the current state of affairs, and how they have shaped the America of today for all its citizens.

June 6, 7:00 p.m.
The Trustees Room
476 Fifth Ave

Please help PROTECT YOUR BRANCH nypl.org/speakout
It takes just seconds to sign a letter urging elected officials to reverse the harshest cut to The New York Public Library in its history. 

For the week of June 3, 2012 we have hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, and children's picture books.

If you have an iPhone, iPad or Android phone, there is a free app! Use it with your library card/username and pin.

Click on any of the titles below and place a hold to request the item. Remember to update your contact information (phone number or e-mail address), so you are notified when the book arrives for you at your local library. Don't have a library card yet? It's simple! Find out how to get one. Titles are available in regular print, large print, audio, and in electronic format — for FREE!

Hardcover Fiction

1. Stolen Prey, by John Sandford   
2. 11th Hour, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
3. Deadlocked, by Charlaine Harris
4. The Columbus Affair, by Steve Berry
5. Calico Joe, by John Grisham

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. The Amateur, by Edward Klein   
2. The Passage of Power, by Robert A. Caro   
3. The Art of Intelligence, by Henry A. Crumpton
   
4. My Cross to Bear, by Gregg Allman with Alan Light
5. Most Talkative, by Andy Cohen

Children's Picture Books

1. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, by Eric Litwin. Illustrated by James Dean   
2. The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?, by Mo Willems
3. Dinosaur Pet, lyrics by Marc Sedaka. Illustrated by Tim Bowers
4. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld
5. Bumble-Ardy, by Maurice Sendak
    

For more information on this week's best sellers, visit the New York Times website and check out the full list. There is also a special section for Best Sellers in the Library's catalog, BiblioCommons.

Anya moved from Russia to America years ago, but even though she lost weight and lost her accent, she still has a lot of trouble making friends.  And then one day she has an accident that changes her life.  That’s the day she meets the ghost of a girl named Emily.

After Anya falls down a well, she finds a human skeleton and then moments later she sees Emily’s ghost hovering over that skeleton.  Keep in mind — that’s three traumatic incidents in a row!  So is it any wonder that Anya freaks out and starts screaming? But little by little, as Anya and Emily start talking to each other, Anya starts to calm down.  She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to learn that there are both pros and cons to being friends with a ghost. 

First I’ll give you a hint about the pros: imagine what it would be like to have a friend who’s invisible! 

Now I’ll give you a hint about the cons: imagine what it would be like if your new invisible friend was hiding the truth about how and why she died!

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol is a graphic novel about life, death, friendship, betrayal, and everything in between.

Be sure to visit summerreading.org to sign up for the summer reading club where you can keep track of the books you read during the summer, review the stuff you’re reading, create lists, earn badges, and design your own avatar!  Check out the teen summer reading list for even more book recommendations that will make you laugh, make you think, and keep you on the edge of your seat.

This list is a monthly compilation of my own personal favorite patron requests for music. I hope you will check out some of the great music that Library users have suggested we acquire!

Provided are some great preview tracks for each. Just click on the titles to be taken to the catalog.

Best of Hooker N' Heat by John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat

It might not be common knowledge, maybe because the blues ain't supposed to spring forth from a nerdy white guy from the suburbs of Boston who wore thick glasses, read books on ecology, and had the voice of a shy little school girl, but Alan Wilson of Canned Heat may have been the greatest blues harmonica player to ever live.  The often hard to follow John Lee Hooker (due to his common disregard for known song structures) agreed, saying after the sessions, "you must have been listening to my records your whole life." Wilson penned the Canned Heat classic, "On the Road Again", which was considered by many to be the theme song, of sorts, to Woodstock. From the tambura drone to the undeniably legit blues roots, it seemed to encompass many of the musical influences of hippy culture.  Now connoisseurs may note that it was not Wilson who played harmonica on this song at Woodstock, but Canned Heat's other founder, Bob Hite. That was merely to free up Wilson to sing and play guitar, a necessity of live performance, but on the studio version it's all Wilson! Both Hite and Wilson play duelling harmonicas on these sessions with the great John Lee Hooker, but Wilson pretty much takes the lead. From impressive overblowing techniques, to actually modifying reeds here and there, he got notes out of that harmonica other people just couldn't get. He's just freaking all over it! Unfortunately, Wilson died soon after these recordings. They were the last he ever made. There is such a great chemistry between "Hooker N Heat;" made more interesting by the different ways they came to the blues. Among other between-take comments on the recording, Hooker can be heard saying "I dig this kid's harmonica playin'...I don't know how you follow me but he do...you see, I can't lose you!" (PREVIEW)

Tago Mago (40th Anniversary ed.) by Can

Can are among the founders of what would become known as Krautrock, which would add, among other things, a considerable amount of psychedelic improvisation to the rock and rollers' bag of tricks. Can seemed to bring in all kinds of influences, just start playing and see where the groove took them. Sometimes it's almost straight ahead psych rock, more often even more experimental, but always letting things develop organically out of the collective noise. An alien race visiting earth could fully understand the entire psychedelic movement by listening to this 2-CD reissue. The 40th Anniversary edition, which has been tastefully remastered, includes a bonus disc of live performances not to be missed, including a 29-minute live version of "Spoon"! (PREVIEW)

Guitars from Agadez by Group Inerane

 I love this term "ethnomusicology". It sounds so academic and smart and stuff...way too many syllables not to sound just a little pretentious, no? But don't let that scare you because when it's done right it's a beautiful thing, and folks over at Sublime Frequencies are showing us what it's all about. This is ethnomusicology at it's finest, most practical form: scouring the deep recesses of world for music both old and new that would not have made to "the west" were it not for some good old-fashioned exploring.

They've given us so much music nobody else could, or would, unearthing field recordings, old cassette tapes, and archived radio shows from past decades, to bring us some of the most original and unique, cross-cultural hybrids the world has ever seen: Princess Nicotine, Shadow Music of Thailand, and Harmika Yab-Yum: Folk Sounds from Nepal, just to name a few of my personal favorites. If you've never heard of the Tuareg Guitar Revolution (or, actually, even if you have), do yourself a favor and pick this one up. (PREVIEW)

Ssss by VCMG

Anyone remember Depeche Mode? Well here they are! Yes, at least two of them: Vince Clarke and Martin Gore of the original DM lineup collaborated on this album. And this here is beat-oriented, minimal techno done up proper. It's a voyage through the Kuiper Belt on a spaceship made of synths. I'm very certain with regards to what they are trying to do this album is as close to perfect as you can get, in this dimension anyway. (PREVIEW)

H-P1 by White Hills

OK, I don't know where you people find this stuff, but thanks to whoever just burned my eardrums up with this request! Can would be proud, and so would Hawkwind, Neu!, Helios Creed, and probably their moms. I doubt these guys would mind if I said their sound is reminiscent of that whole Krautrock scene, because there is no doubt this band adds a considerable amount of their own awesomeness to the mix. I quite literally cannot stop listening to this one song. No I mean, I don't know what to do! My ears are in control of my body. You've got to help me! I will not rest until I see these guys live. (PREVIEW)

Sitar Concerto Mangal Dhwani by Hasu Patel

Hasu Patel's solo sitar album, Gayaki Sitar, is so incredibly good that I'm saving it for its own "Great Albums You May Have Missed" post. This Sitar Concerto is equally impressive, though in a somewhat different way. It is Ms. Patel's own composition, and to hear those western instruments fit so seemlessly into very non-western structures, scales, and intonations is quite possibly the most interesting thing I've ever heard orchestral instruments do. Unfortunately I have no Preview track for this one, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

The Wanting by Glenn Jones

I probably make way too many comparisons when trying to describe music, but if you like John Fahey I'm sure you'll appreciate Glenn Jones. Solo guitar on the steel-string played to make you feel like your on the back porch and the days work is done. Also like Fahey, his playing abilities also make one wonder if he ever does anything else besides play guitar. (PREVIEW)

Rhythm-al-ism by dj Quick

Back in 1991, DJ Quick scored himself a record deal by releasing mixtapes of himself rapping over sampled beats. His first outing was Quick is the Name, a strong album well-represented by the title track. Rhythm-al-ism came 7 years later, after years of experience of production in the studio, and it shows! It hits with that same retro-freshness that Dr. Dre's The Chronic, and Snoop's Doggystyle had in the early '90s. Quick carries on that same dedication to revitalizing the grooves of Marvin Gaye, Parliament, Roger and Zapp... all that old-school funk stuff loaded into his drum machine and reworked into new contexts. If you appreciated Zapp's use of the talk box (no that isn't a vocoder!) on smash hits like "More Bounce to the Ounce". Then check this track out! (PREVIEW)

Cyrk by Cate Le Bon

Is this what "outsider" music is? Because Cate Le Bon seems to be doing her own thing, without apology and without pretense. I hear elements here from all kinds of influences, from garage rock to Calliope music; and somehow, so liltingly '60s throughout. An album so diverse in fact that this blogger refuses to supply just one preview. So here then:

(PREVIEW 1)
(PREVIEW 2)

Drama, comedy, dance, music and romance! I found them all on 42nd Street and you can too!

If you love Broadway musicals old and new, along with drama, romance and some comedic repertoire, then the Great White Way is where you know you can enjoy a day or night out in New York City. It may become an adventure navigating and obtaining those coveted Broadway tickets. There are many websites that offer discount codes, but there are other ways to see a show at a reasonable price.

Broadway has implemented what is called Rush (General or Student), Lottery and Standing Room Only (SRO) policies. These tickets are limited to those that are willing to rise early and head to the Box Office of a particular show. Each show has a policy of availability for such offers; therefore, it is best to review the official Broadway show's webpage.

• General Rush tickets are open to the public and are subject to availability.
• Student Rush tickets are available to students and so you must show a valid id from school.
• Lottery is a drawing. You usually must present oneself at the theatre two hours before the show and enter. Drawings may be announced a half hour later or an hour before the show. One must present valid id and cash only.
• Standing Room Only patrons must stand in numbered spaces that are the width of a regular seat. They are usually located at the back of the orchestra. These are generally available when a show is sold out.

All the above are only available the day of the show and purchases are typically cash-only.

See policies related to current shows at BroadwayWorld.com, BroadwaySpotted, and Playbill (Broadway and Off Broadway.)

If you cannot obtain tickets through Rush or Lottery, New York City has TKTS Discounted Booths which sells Broadway tickets up to 50 percent off.

If you do not like to stand on line and would like to purchase tickets to Broadway shows, there are other options such as free membership or websites that offer Broadway discount codes. Here are few:

TheaterMania.com - register for free and receive emails regarding new and upcoming Broadway shows with discount codes. TheaterMania also has a Gold membership with an annual fee.

Playbill.com - registration is free in order to receive discount codes for Broadway shows.

Theatre Development Fund (TDF) is responsible for TKTS Discounted Booth which has a low-fee membership for qualifying theatre enthusiasts. Members may purchase tickets online at a very low price. Some shows offer tickets the day of or days in advance. This is worth joining if one meets eligibility requirements.

AudienceRewards.com - free and allows you to earn bonus points towards free Broadway tickets.

Broadwaybox.com - offers free discount codes for Broadway shows and other events in various cities.

Livingsocial.com - sometimes has discount offers to Broadway shows but you need to register for free.

NYPL has a vast collection of Broadway materials in the Music Division, Theatre Division and in the Theater on Tape and Film Archive all located in the Library for the Performing Arts. The NYPL catalog contains titles of and about Broadway Theater.

Here are a few:

• Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater by Larry Stempel
• Broadway Theatres: History & Architecture by William Morrison 
• Caffe Cino: The Birthplace of Off-off-Broadway by Wendell C. Stone 
• Mr. Broadway: The Inside Story of the Shuberts, the Shows, and the Stars by Gerald Schoenfeld

Browse Broadway marquees in the Digital Gallery.

Browse the Billy Rose Theatre Division images in the Digital Gallery.

Do you have any tips for getting tickets you're willing to share? Let us know in the comments.

I think I know why Joel Grey's 1975 star vehicle Goodtime Charley flopped, but I'm less clear about The Grand Tour. The story is powerful and charming. The star performance, was by all accounts one of the most special anyone had ever seen. And Herman's score is terrific — maybe not fully up to his standard of Hello, Dolly, Mame and Mack and Mabel (ok, that one was also a flop, but emphatically not because the score wasn't great) — but it's certainly as good as the score of his next show, La Cage Aux Folles, which was a huge hit.

The source material was a play called Jacobowsky and the Colonel, adapted by prolific playwright and screenwriter S. N. Behrman from an original, quasi autobiographical play by Czech writer Franz Werfel. Like the main character in the play, Werfel was a prominent Jewish intellectual who was chased all over Europe by the Nazis before successfully escaping to America.

The story focused on two characters S.L. Jacobowsky, a Polish Jew who's been one step ahead of the Nazis until landing in Paris; and Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky, a slightly anti-Semitic Polish nobleman and patriot who has been entrusted with papers he must get to England to help the allies.

Jacobowsky has managed to snag one of the last cars in Paris, but he can't drive and the Colonel can drive, but can't find a vehicle. Despite the Colonel's reluctance to travel with Jacobowsky, the two unlikely companions team up for a cross-country escape, but the Colonel refuses to leave France without stopping to pick up his fiancée, a Frenchwoman named Marianne.

Jacobowsky, the Colonel, his manservant and Marianne set off and the Colonel's initial dislike for Jacobowsky is strengthened by his perception of a growing intimacy between him and Marianne. They do have a connection, but it's entirely a friendship — on her part. Jacobowsky falls a little in love with Marianne, but she makes it clear that it's the Colonel she loves. Through the course of the play, with duels, escapes and deceptions, these two entirely dissimilar men get over their differences and come to come to respect each other.

Behrman's 1944 play, helmed by the great director Elia Kazan with Oscar Karlweis as Jacobowsky and Louis Calhern as the Colonel had a successful Broadway run of 417 performances. It was adapted into a 1958 film, Me and the Colonel, with Danny Kaye as Jacobowsky and Curt Jurgens as the Colonel. Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble's book for The Grand Tour followed the play very closely.

Hit-master Jerry Herman provided a very tuneful score. The principal ballad, "Marianne" — sung by the Colonel in Act I and reprised by Jacobowsky in Act II — is one of Herman's most painfully gorgeous melodies. The show's anthem, sung by Grey, "I'll Be Here Tomorrow" has the same power and applicability as Herman's more famous a "I Am What I Am." It easily could have been adopted as an anthem for the survival of the Jewish people, just as "I Am What I Am" (from La Cage Aux Folles) has become an anthem for homosexuals in their coming out process. Grey had another showcase for his talents with "Mrs. S. L. Jacobowsky," a simultaneously charming, funny and unexpectedly moving character song, in which he dreams of the joys of being married to Marriane, despite their religious differencs: "I'll go to mass and I'll respect her wishes/And she'll start using separate dishes." Marianne herself has a soaring establishing song, "I Belong Here."

The three songs which develop the relationship between Jacobowsky and the Colonel, "For Poland," "More and More/Less and Less" and "You I Like" are all excellent. The first act finale, the big "numbo," (a pre-requisite for any Jerry Herman musical whether warranted or not) "One Extraordinary Thing" was the one big musical moment Herman phoned in. I think the score is terrific, and I wish I could tell you to go get the cast album and check it out, but it's out of print! Still, the CD is available used if you're willing to pay a little more.

Grey's performance was universally praised by critics and by many friends and fans who wrote to him about its sensitivity and humanity. Rounding out the central triangle were two other Broadway favorites: the appropriately gruff and booming Ron Holgate as the Colonel, and the beautifully clear-voiced and compelling Florence Lacey as Marianne.

This show didn't really have anything wrong with it! Good book, good score, good cast… all I can imagine is that it was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Producing musicals was becoming more expensive, so it was harder to turn a profit.

Crime in in the city — and in midtown particularly — was increasing and many people stopped going to the theatre all together. Of the 18 musicals that opened in the 1978-1979 season, only 3 hit 500 performances, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, They're Playing Our Song and Sweeney Todd.

Perhaps The Grand Tour's traditional musical theatre score and life-affirming story seemed old-fashioned. In later years Herman said in interviews that he thought The Grand Tour had actually suffered from Grey's strong performance, because it turned Jacobowsky into the star part and The Colonel a supporting one, a change from Berman's play, in which the roles had been equal.

Jason Graae and James Barbour were excellent in the Musicals in Mufti production in 2009. Maybe we'll see a full-scale revival one of these days, but in the meantime you can try to track down the cast album and learn more about the show from the Joel Grey Papers at the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library.

For a while now, it's been a pretty sure thing: U.S. Federal Government Documents are posted online, for anyone with Internet access to find. Or at least to look for - you can give the U.S. Government Printing Office (which we'll be calling the GPO) website a try. But if you might be researching older documents, you still may have to pay a visit to a U.S. Federal Government Depository Library like SIBL. And to help readers prepare for such a visit, this post will offer information about traditional resources we recommend to search for Government Documents in our library.

Some ground rules: The call numbers for any books listed below may point to some of our open-shelf items. You'll recognize them by the *R and Library of Congress format. Other titles may need to be requested at our Access Services desk. When in doubt, check with one of our Reference Librarians for help.

The rest of this post will list key examples of four kinds of resources: Texts about accessing and using Government documents; Guides to select publications; Directories of Government Offices and Departments; and, Catalogs or Indexes of older (read: historical) U.S. Federal Government publications. If you need to know more, please pay us a visit at SIBL or contact our AskNYPL service.

• Sears, J.L. & Moody, M.K. Using Government Information Sources (subject approach) - *R Z 1223 .Z7. S4 (request this at our Reference Desk)
• Morehead, J. Introduction to United States Government Information Sources (sometimes verbose, but good for background information) - *R Z 1223 .M674 (request this at our Reference Desk)

• Andriot, J.L. Guide to U.S. Government Publications (listing in Superintendent of Documents order, indexed by agency and title; useful also for tracing agencies’ histories) - *R Z 1223.Z7 A574 (request this at our Reference Desk)
• List of Classes of U.S. Government Publications Available for Selection by Depository Libraries - *R Z 123.A7L57 (request this at our Reference Desk)
• Guide to Popular U.S. Government Publications (subject and title indexes) - JBE 12-404 (request from our Access Services Desk)
  

• United States Government Manual - *R JK 421.A3 (request the latest edition of this at our Reference Desk) [Also online at the GPO website.]
• Official Congressional Directory - *R JK 1011.C6
• Congressional Yellow Book - *R JK 1083.B55
• Federal Yellow Book - *R JK 6 .F45
• Congressional Directory on GPO Access

• Poore Descriptive Catalogue...1774-1881 - *R Z 1223.U56 (Catalog title: A descriptive catalogue of the government publications of the United States, September 5, 1774-March 4, 1881) [Some online versions of this title may also be available.]
• Ames Comprehensive Index...1881-1893 - *R Z 1223.U58 (Catalog title: Comprehensive index to the publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893) [Also available from the Hathi Trust as well as some other online locations.]
• Checklist of U.S. Public Documents 1789-1909 - *R Z 1223.A113 [Some online versions of this title may also be available.]

And, the principal resource for twentieth century government documents: Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications:

• Printed version: 1893/95- *R Z 1223.U58M [Some online versions of this title may also be available.]
• Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog (1895-1899) - *R Z 1223.A1.K36
• Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog (1900-1971) - *R Z 1223.A1.K36
• Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents (1789-1976) - *R Z 1223.Z7
• Internet (WWW): 1994-... http://catalog.gpo.gov/F

Floriant et Florete, a thirteenth-century Arthurian romance, is preserved in a single manuscript that has been held, since 1941, in the Archives and Manuscripts Division of the New York Public Library. Although neglected by scholars and unknown to common readers, its text is not only interesting as an entry in the annals of Arthurian history, it is also fascinating as a work of literary pastiche.

A "pastiche" is a feat that resembles plagiarism in its execution: the writer stitches together various themes and episodes and even repeats passages verbatim from pre-existing texts, in order to create a composite work whose aesthetic rests on the writer and audience's prior knowledge of an earlier tradition. The pastiche differs from plagiarism in that it does not intend to deceive the reader into thinking it an original work; on the contrary, the successful pastiche evokes its antecedents for the purposes of parody or satire, which depend on the audience's awareness of the pastiche's derivative nature.

I have been lucky enough to work directly with the manuscript of Floriant this spring as a research intern in the Manuscripts and Division, and I believe that the text and the manuscript should hold a strong interest for medieval and Arthurian scholars and enthusiasts. As a pastiche, Floriant casts a new light on the practices of rewriting and re-interpretation among the other medieval Arthurian romances of its time. But before delving into those intricacies, I will summarize a) the medieval French Arthurian legend as it relates to Floriant, b) the plot of Floriant itself, c) certain scholarly hypotheses regarding Floriant's historical context, and d) Floriant's relationship to the other romances that constitute its source material.

The Arthurian legends constitute a vast body of literary and artistic work, including (to name a few of the most well-known pieces) the collection of Welsh tales called the Mabinogion (c. 1350), Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, completed in 1138), Sir Thomas Malory's prose narrative Le Morte d'Arthur (printed in 1485), Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poetical cycle The Idylls of the King (completed in 1885) and T. H. White's novel The Once and Future King (published in 1958).

Floriant et Florete is part of the second literary generation of Arthurian romances written in Old French. The word "romance" refers not to love but to a prose or poetical narrative written in a "Romance language," or one of the many languages descended from Latin. The Arthurian legends first entered the romance genre during the final third of the twelfth century, when a poet calling himself "Chrétien de Troyes" composed the narratives of Erec et Enide, Cligés, Le Chevalier de la Charette (or Lancelot), Le Chevalier au Lion (or Yvain), and Le Conte du Graal (or Perceval). In the thirteenth century, as Chrétien's works became more and more widely read, they spawned numerous imitators and adaptors, including the anonymous writer of Floriant et Florete.

In the romance tradition, King Arthur rules over a powerful kingdom and a luxurious court, but he himself is a weak, ineffectual ruler whose mistakes must be rectified by his knights and whose wife, Queen Guinevere, is in love with the knight Sir Lancelot. (Note: This spinelessness is a far cry from the nineteenth- and twentieth-century versions of Arthur as a figure of strength whose kingdom is a utopian civilization.) Eventually, Arthur is mortally wounded in a battle against his illegitimate son, Mordred, but he does not die; rather, he is spirited away to a magical island or castle so that his wound may be healed. Legend has it that Arthur will one day return to his kingdom in its hour of need.

For the following plot summary, I have relied on the information given in the edition of Floriant et Florete edited by Annie Combes and Richard Trachsler (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2003). Combes and Trachsler's edition, the first to bring Floriant et Florete to a modern audience, is composed in French and lacks an English translation.

The romance tells the tale of Floriant, the son of the King of Sicily, who has been dispossessed of his inheritance by his father's disloyal seneschal, or household steward. Abducted as a newborn by Morgan Le Fay, Floriant is raised in the secret castle of Mongibel until he is fifteen years old, when he departs on an enchanted ship to go on various adventures. Eventually he reaches King Arthur's court in Britain, where he learns his own name and the name of his father. Having discovered his true identity, Floriant departs for Sicily with King Arthur's armada in order to avenge his father's death and deliver his mother from the siege that has been raised against her by the treacherous seneschal.

The seneschal, aided by the Emperor of Constantinople, launches an attack on King Arthur's fleet. During the combat, Floriant meets Florette, the Emperor's daughter, with whom he falls in love. After a second battle, this time at Palerma, Floriant and Florette arrange to meet secretly at night in a bower, but a dwarf surprises them and alerts the Emperor. The lovers flee to King Arthur's camp. After a third battle, in which Floriant's enemies suffer heavy losses, the Emperor offers to negotiate a peace with Floriant and Arthur. At the negotiation, Floriant publicly denounces the seneschal's treason and challenges him to a judiciary duel. Floriant, of course, defeats the seneschal, who confesses his guilt and is subsequently drawn and quartered.

Floriant marries Florette and is crowned King of Sicily. After three years of happiness, Floriant overhears a noblewoman accuse him of being a recreant knight, and he decides to prove his valiance once again. He and Florette depart Sicily under the names of the Fair Savage and Pleasant of the Isle, and after several adventures, they reach King Arthur's court, where they reveal their true identities. Messengers arrive at Arthur's court to announce the death of the Emperor and to declare Floriant as his heir. Floriant and Florette depart for Constantinople, where Floriant is crowned as the new Emperor. They return to Sicily after three years.

Ten years after their return, Floriant, while out hunting, pursues a blindingly white deer to the summit of a mountain and into a castle, where he finds Morgan le Fay. She tells him that his life was almost over, but he will stay alive as long as he remains with her at Mongibel; King Arthur will join them later when he receives a mortal wound. Morgan sends three fairies to fetch Florette, who is quickly brought to Mongibel. After that, no one ever hears tell of Floriant and Florette again.

According to Combes and Trachsler, textual and intertextual evidence strongly suggests that Floriant was composed after 1268 at the earliest, possibly in Italy or in Sicily itself. With its portrayal of a united Sicily, Floriant may well have been written in the 1280's, as propaganda on behalf of the Frankish Angevin kings. Floriant and Florete may have been written as an attempt to imagine a more pro-Angevin situation, although the solution it provides — that of a Sicilian prince who, rescued and protected by a fairy queen, becomes the Emperor of Constantinople — would have been as impracticable as it was alluring.

An alternative hypothesis, that Floriant constitutes a lament for the passing of Norman rule in Sicily, is proposed by Sara Sturm-Maddox in her article "Arthurian Evasions: The End(s) of Fiction in Floriant et Florete," found in the anthology Por le soie amisté: Essays in Honor of Norris J. Lacy, eds. Keith Busby and Catherine M. Jones (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi, 2000), 475-489.

According to Sturm-Maddox, the Normans dreamt of Mediterranean domination. The romance fulfills this aspiration by including King Arthur (whose legend, though British in origin, was often "re-rooted" to legitimize Norman rule) as a significant ally for the Sicilian prince Floriant, whose marriage to the Byzantine princess Florette unites the Mediterranean under Sicilian — or is it Norman? — domination.

By 1268, when Sicily had passed from Norman to Hohenstaufen to Angevin rule, the Norman dreams of empire would have taken on a nostalgic, tragic cast. It is notable that the end of Floriant et Florete contradicts the usual prophecy of Arthur's triumphant "second coming" to Britain in her hour of need: Arthur, like Floriant, will stay alive only as long as he remains in the castle of Mongibel. By foreclosing the possibility of Arthur and Floriant's return, the romance may be refusing to make the usual Arthurian promise of a glorious future. If this be the case, then the romance is not offering the Angevins a vision of future conquest, but rather mourning the golden age of the Norman past.

The information regarding the intertext of Floriant et Florete is drawn from Annie Combes and Richard Trachsler's introduction, as well as from Keith Busby's article "The Intertextual Context of Floriant et Florete," contained in French Forum 20.3 (Sept. 1995), 261-277. The quotations from Perceval and from Floriant et Florete are translated from selections in the appendix to Busby's article. "Intertextuality" refers to the relationships among different texts, while the "intertext" of a given work refers to the bodies of literature to which that work relates.

The writer of Floriant et Florete responded to, rewrote, and often simply recopied the works of Arthurian literature that had come before. He was familiar with all five of Chrétien's works, and it is probable that he had a copy of at least one of them at hand while he was writing.

Floriant's prologue, like the prologue of Chrétien's Erec and Enide, begins by quoting a proverb and then "glosses," or elaborates, upon it. The Mediterranean setting of Floriant seems to have been borrowed from Cliges, whose hero, like Floriant, ascends to the throne as the Emperor of Constantinople, or else taken from the early thirteenth-century romance Guillaume de Palerne, in which a young prince of Apulia is rescued from his father's enemies and raised in ignorance of his lineage until he grows to chivalric greatness, defeats his family's foes, marries the Emperor's daughter, and ascends to his father's throne. The story of Floriant's abduction and subsequent upbringing by Morgan le Fay may also be lifted from an early thirteenth-century romance called the Prose Lancelot, in which the title character is spirited away by Viviane, also known as the Lady of the Lake, and raised as her own son until he too sets out to discover his true identity and ascend to greatness. Finally, the episode in which Floriant is accused of being a recreant knight is lifted from Erec and Enide, in which Erec overhears his wife, Enide, lamenting that she has ruined his honor and knighthood by keeping him by her side rather than encouraging him to perform knightly deeds of prowess. Like Erec, Floriant brings his wife on a quest in order to re-establish his reputation, although Floriant and Florette do not suffer Erec and Enide's emotional anguish over the issue.

In addition to adapting episodes and motifs from previously-written romances, the writer of Floriant et Florete frequently copied entire passages verbatim into his own text, including dozens of quotations from Chrétien's Perceval. Where Perceval reads,

It was on a Pentecost that the Queen was sitting next to King Arthur at the head of the table, and there were counts and kings enough, and Kay came into the hall, unarmored and holding a wooden staff, and he said: "My lord, if it please you, it's time for you to eat." "Kay," replied the King, "leave me in peace; for by the eyes in my head, I will never eat at such a great feast, at which I'm holding court in state, until some novelty come to my court. (2785-88; 2793-95; 2820-26)

Floriant reads,

My lords, it was on a Pentecost that the Queen was sitting next to King Arthur at the high table. There were many dukes, counts, and kings; and Kay came before the King, a wooden staff in his hand. "My lord," he said, "now listen to me: your feast is ready, and you can eat now." "Kay," replied the King, "leave me in peace, for by God, I won't eat until I hear some news of novelty or adventure, whether it be good or bad." (1537-50)

These translations from the Old French appear in the appendix to Keith Busby's article.Floriant contains many other copied passages, only slightly changed (if at all) from their source. One or two such lines might have been a coincidence, but the vast number of line-for-line correspondences between Floriant and Perceval indicate that the writer of the latter text was deliberately embroidering his romance with stolen finery. Although such borrowing was not unusual during the Middle Ages (during the fourteenth century, Chaucer himself would incorporate portions of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy into his verse romance Troilus and Criseyde), what is uncommon is the scale on which it was performed by the writer of Floriant, whose text contains not one original episode — a feat that must have been difficult to accomplish.

To be continued...

In my next blog post, I will discuss Floriant's significance as a literary pastiche and as a work of adaptation or translation.

Busby, Keith. "The Intertextual Context of Floriant et Florete." French Forum 20.3 (Sept. 1995) 261-277.

Combes, Annie and Richard Trachsler, eds. Floriant et Florete. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2003.

Raffaespo. "Palazzo Realie di Napoli - Carlo I d'Angiò." Wikipedia Commons. Web. May 31, 2003.

Sturm-Maddox, Sara. "Arthurian Evasions: The End(s) of Fiction in Floriant et Florete." eds. Keith Busby and Catherine M. Jones. Por le soie amisté: Essays in Honor of Norris J. Lacy. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi, 2000. 475-489.