Tom P's Fiddle: A Review

"Dusk deepened to raspberry darkness on the Texas landscape as Tom P headed west from his sister's homestead...."

-from Tom P's Fiddle, by Sherri Knight

Tom P’s Fiddle, Texas native Sherri Knight’s first book, is a narrative non-fiction primarily about the events surrounding the Varnell/Land murder trial of the late 1800s. More than that, though, Knight effortlessly pulls readers into a world of determined ladies and gentlemen rogues, honorable standoffs and hidden ambushes, wide open ranges and claustrophobic prison cells, and shows us that, while laws and landscapes might change, people and their tendancies stay the same.

Knight’s writing style is punchy and well-paced from the first sentence all the way to the work’s haunting final page. Within the first paragraph she not only sets the scene but manages to immediately convey to the reader the scope of time and depth Tom P’s troubles encompass with the following: “A drooping mustache neatly outlined his mouth, hiding the slight downward turn that appeared when he was contemplative, the residue of the hard years he had spent in prison.” While his prison time won’t come until several chapters later (much of the book is told as a reflection on times prior to the story‘s exposition), she effectively introduces her protagonist and his situation without a strenuous ploughing through dreary mounds of character study.

The story unfolds with a plot based on the numerous newspaper articles, court documents, and other extensive sources related to the incident. These are blended by Knight’s skill as a storyteller into an interesting account that is never pendantic, that--to this cowgirl--instead reads like one is hearing the morning news swapped over coffee at the local feed store. At no time in the telling does her respect for the facts appear compromised by this approach; readers and researchers alike will appreciate this book.

The portrayal of Tom P is one which might at first be difficult to readers familiar with the story to embrace. A lady’s man wanted for murder and on the run--that is the verdict placed on Knight’s main character by common view, and not without reason. Although Knight is faithful to the historical facts, her sympathies toward Tom P readily come through. This initially may make for a more cynical read by some, but as the story develops those readers may be surprised to find their condemnation of Tom P tempered--not by Knight’s presentation, but by the facts therin.

Ultimately, the Varnell/Land tragedy is just that for all concerned parties, and Knight’s book fully brings that home. The tone is never maudlin, though, and instead fully pays homage to the spirit of the day. It lopes through the early life of a young Texas man, sips Arbuckle’s coffee at a timeless kitchen table, and gallops through arrests, jailbreaks, gunfights, and reckonings, all to the sound of a skillfully played fiddle. At times, toe-tapping, plaintive at others, Knight’s composition is always on-key and highly worthy of a listen.

-S. J. Cannady

(This book will be available for purchase April 5, 2008. Stop by the Literary Lion to reserve your copy now.)

NaNoo, NaNoo!

Wow! What a busy month we've had here at the Lion. If anyone is wondering why I have giant blue circles under my puffy eyes...No; I didn't walk into the door again, thank you--I've just been running on an average of 2 hours of sleep per night for the last few weeks. Here are a few photos from last week's shennanigans at the bookshop.

I'll update this post with further pics as they are sent to me, but for now, enjoy:

We had some great discussions about the recent UFO sightings. Good company, good conversation, great chips and hot sauce (Thank you, Santa Fe County Taco Company!).

We are still accepting first-hand accounts of mysterious local phenoma for our Erath county section of the Lone Star Library; whether it happened last night or 50 years ago, please add your experience to the archives.

Author Forrest Jackson visited our bookstore. We still have for sale here a couple signed copies of his books, Cosmic Suicide: The Tragedy and Transcendence of Heaven's Gate, and Three Myths of Gods, Devils and Beasts. Thank you, Forrest!

This fellow was delighted because he was able to find copies of Where the Red Fern Grows and Lysistrata for under a dollar each here at the Lion. I believe his exact response to the find was, "oOOOOOOoooo!"

An alien culture pow-wow, here:

And, last but not least, my very favorite prop, ever, for inciting spontaneous recitations of Hamlet:

That's all, folks! Keep the photos coming!

Coming Soon...Photos from the Lion

Greetings, Gentle Readers!

So much wonderful Lion news to share, so little time. I will try to get pictures from last week up on the blog here tonight, so hang onto your tinfoil hats!

-S.

100 Years of Stephenville Sightings

Explore the History of Stephenville's Sightings

Have you seen something that defies explanation, or are you just curious about others' accounts? Skeptics and believers alike, come be a part of history in the making as we discuss the beginnings of UFO sightings in Erath County--some dating back over 100 years! Additionally, we will be archiving your eye-witness accounts in our county history section at the Lone Star Library Texana Collection of the Literary Lion.

*display of Mysterious Phenomena Timeline for Erath County
*Special Guest Forrest Jackson, co-author of books on a variety of mysterious phenomena
*Whether you saw it yesterday or 50 years ago, log your story for future generations in our Erath County history section.

Thursday, Jan 24th, 7pm
The Literary Lion at 160 E. Washington in Stephenville
This event is free and refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP at either 968-6611 or via a blog comment. Thank you.

They're Heee-ere Part 2

Yet another "Lion in News Unrelated to Bookselling" spot, this one from the Dallas Morning News video blog:

http://neighborsgo.com/video/521

The picture hanging on the wall behind me in the blurb is original artwork done by the superlative folks at Ethan Allen Studios. More about them, later.

Chess

Since impromptu chess games are common at the Lion, I thought this article might interest some of you:

Chess Master Bobby Fischer Dies

Like him or hate him, he did know a thing or two about the game.

They're Hee-eere!

Okay. The Lion appeared in the news again...this time in articles that take the cake for "Most Unrelated to Bookselling."

UFO Sightings in Stephenville, Texas, Keep the City and Nation Abuzz San Angelo LIVE! - San Angelo,TX,USAAt the Literary Lion, an antiquarian bookstore in this small city 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, patrons are scouring sci-fi titles more and clamoring ...

and another:

Someone Saw Something (from the neighborsgo blog of the Dallas News)

So yeah...we're having a little something here next Thursday. More tomorrow on the details, but suffice it to say, it'll be absolutely Phenomenal.... :)

The Lion Joins the Dark Side

I can't believe I'm writing these words: The Literary Lion, antiquarian bookstore, has a Myspace. I'm sorry. I held out as long as I could, but patrons were gathering with pitchforks and torches. So:

www.myspace.com/317586869

If any of you out there know how I can get this blog to feed to the site, I would be eternally grateful for the how-to.

The bright side is that I should actually have a decent calendar up and running on it in addition to these sporadic blog posts on events at the shop.