The past and the future are strong centerpieces for two October events, but in each event the theme deals with two entirely different sets of people and circumstances.
Barry is, of course, searching for the American Dream, searching for “Lake Success.”
“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” — Rudyard Kipling
This past August, Allison McElroy, a professor of art at Jacksonville State University, spent 10 days in another world: the Amazon rainforest.
Are you ready to see the Sugarplum Fairy again this holiday season? She’ll be coming to town, just like Santa Claus, but earlier than Dec. 25 so that she can guide Marie and the Prince in “The Nutcracker” through the Land of Sweets to usher in the holidays.
There’s an intense, austere moment at the end of Elliot Ackerman’s “Dark at the Crossing,” a finalist for last year’s National Book Award. It occurs as two people journey to their “crossing” in the Middle East. We experience it through the eyes of someone peering through a seam in the tarpau…
From haunted houses to festivals to costume contests for kids, grownups and dogs!
The literary prototype for this important and moving novel from Canadian author Esi Edugyan — her most recent work is “Half-Blood Blues” — is very much the picaresque: A naive youth wanders the world, observing its errant idiosyncrasies while coming of age. Think Candide. Think Huckleberry Finn.
“It’s music to my ears,” you might say while listening to an especially good concert. But your ears probably haven’t heard some of the waltzes and other stately dances performed next weekend by a piano-violin duo at First United Methodist Church in Anniston. The Foothills Piano Festival gues…
“We’re trying to give something back to the community,” said CAST president Howard Johnson.
Charlie Daniels is not really a great fiddle player — his words, not mine.
“Cherry” is a remarkable and fierce coming-of-age novel.
“Build it and they will come.”
Truth and understanding are at the heart of every moment of this devastating and disturbing novel.
The story of Oxford Performing Arts Center and how the venue has met its goals is an inspiring one. Since its start in 1981 it has become a major performance center in our community. A new chapter is being written now as technicians complete the theater’s renovation.
See the guy in the photo up there, the one with a beard but without a hat, sitting in the back of the truck behind the more well-known members of Old Crow Medicine Show?
The language of art speaks in several tongues and in several flavors this fall. The Tailwaggers Gala on Saturday night featured ballroom dancing exhibitions that represented several countries. … With her drawing on the cover of the new Knox Concert Series program, Susan S. Roberts is giving …
When it was first published back in 1939, “The Big Sleep” was instrumental in developing the tropes for a different type of crime novel. In fact, Raymond Chandler’s name often appeared alongside Dashiell Hammett’s (“The Maltese Falcon”), for both writers rejected the civilized “drawing room …
Re-live happy moments at the beach without feeling the heat. Feel the chill of a winter’s day without a coat. Discover that heavy rain seems lighter when you’re under the umbrella on a date. These encounters with Mother Nature can be seen in the comfort of a gallery at Thai One On restaurant…
There are two genres working simultaneously in “Safe Houses,” a new novel from Dan Fesperman. One is an edge-of-your-seat spy thriller. The other is a baffling murder mystery.
“Life is one grand, sweet song. So let the music begin!” — Ronald Reagan
You’re going to really hate yourself for liking this book as much as you do.
The 20th annual Sidewalk Film Festival begins tonight. The event brings thousands of cinephiles to Birmingham’s theater district to watch hundreds of independent films. For a complete schedule and ticket info, visit sidewalkfest.com.
Although Shane Ogle has loved movies since he was a kid, he didn’t come to fully appreciate independent films until he was in high school. “I loved going to the video store and picking out something unusual,” he said. “Something I had never heard of before.”
Alabama’s story of rising to a territory and then statehood is well worth studying. Many inhabitants achieved and struggled on its land to shape it as we know it today. There were victories, hardships, conflicts and — most important — perseverance before Alabama achieved its identity.
