Jas Faulkner by Jas Faulkner “How long ago was Bush president? No need to answer. It’s a rhetorical question. Take a look at this.” Sam, who was on book sorting detail, bent down out of frame of her webcam and straightened back up. In each hand she was holding a trade paperback. In her left was Molly … Read more
by Jas Faulkner Lorraine* starts our interview by laying down a few ground rules. The first is that I am not allowed to describe her appearance or any other descriptors regarding her age, location, or level of ability. That last one might be a bit tricky, anyway. When I arrived almost an hour early at … Read more
by Jas Faulkner The girls are besieged by Hanff manques… “Helene Hanff is dead, isn’t she?” Tab, one half of the ownership of Circle in the Square Books glanced toward someone just out of range of the cam on her laptop and then stared back at me. “I will pay you any amount of money … Read more
by Jas Faulkner You could call this article “The Hanff Effect: Part One”. This story actually has two beginnings. The most recent is my friends’ experience with a reading group that had just finished Helene Hanff’s books and how they took them to heart. You’ll hear more about that later this month. What came up … Read more
by Jas Faulkner The last meeting of the Central Avenue Readers Group did not happen in the usual place. There was no collection of chairs gathered from throughout the store and placed in a circle near the big front window of Central Avenue Books. There was no dimming of the lights throughout the stacks, a … Read more
by Jas Faulkner Reverend Billy and his partner, Savitri, are no strangers to being approached by police officers and security personnel. They have seen many a purposeful walk to their particular brand of disturbance with a message. Some of these approaching men and women wear blank game faces with the intent to intimidate while others … Read more
by Jas Faulkner I joined my first book club in the mid-eighties. We were a loosely organized group of a dozen or so students from three different colleges in Memphis. We met at each other’s apartments and dorm rooms twice a month to discuss the book we’d chosen, what else we were reading and what … Read more
by Jas Faulkner If you’re reading this not long after it was written (October 31st, 2013) you have probably seen the many reports about an anonymous woman in North Dakota who declared that she was indeed passing out candy, but not to children she deemed “moderately obese”. They would get letters addressed to their parents … Read more
