Siri Hustvedt’s work occupies a unique niche in the literary landscape. Her first novel, The Blindfold (1992) chronicles the unusual exploits of Iris Vegan, a young graduate student in New York City. The fractured narrative episodes are clearly representative of Iris’s identity issues. Siri’s second novel, The Enchantment of Lily Dahl (1996), is set in Hustvedt’s home state of Minnesota and traverses the physical and emotional territory unique to the almost-but-not quite adult heroine as well as exploring the mysteries that permeate the small town of Webster. While these two novels are accomplished in their own right, What I Loved (2003) is a powerful and complex saga that charts the quarter of a century relationship between two families inexorably intertwined by the binary fates of love and loss. She has also published two books of essays, Yonder (1998) and A Plea for Eros (2006); as well as a collection of poetry, Reading to You (1983) and a book about painting, The Mysteries of the Rectangle (2005).
The Sorrows of an American, published by Henry Holt, opens with a mysterious letter found by Inga and Erik Davidsen amongst their late father’s papers. This message is the beginning of “the year of secrets” which unfolds to reveal myriad mysteries that threaten to capsize the lives and subsume the identities of Erik, Inga and their loved ones. Hustvedt builds on the themes of her earlier work while crafting a unique story that gives equal weight to the living and the voices of the dead that echo and define them.
This interview was conducted via e-mail in the middle of April.
The Sorrows of an American is a very moving novel of loss, both personal and universal in scope. How do you adequately convey the complexity of this theme without it overwhelming the carefully constructed narrative arc?

bookslut.com

Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest installment of the hit GTA video game franchise, racked up first-week sales of more than half a billion dollars, after selling over 6 million units globally.
Take-Two Interactive, the game’s publisher, on Wednesday announced that sales of its eagerly-awaited video game GTA IV, which is available for two consoles, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3, reached more than $500 million in its first week of availability, exceeding the sales expectations of analysts who were estimating that some five million consumers would purchase the game in the first two weeks.
The New York-based company said it has sold more than 6 million copies of the graphically violent game globally since the game was released April 29. About 3.6 million units were sold on its opening day alone, worth a retail value of $310 million for combined sales of the standard $60 game and a $90 collector’s edition, the company said.
The sales figure of GTA IV that features improved graphics, new features and new gameplay, is an all-time record for any video game, movie or album, surpassing $300 million in global first-week sales last year for Microsoft’s “Halo 3″ game, and worldwide first-week movie box office totals of more than $400 million each last year for Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and Sony’s “Spider-Man 3.”
“Grand Theft Auto IV’s first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date,” Take-Two’s chairman Strauss Zelnick was quoted by Associated Press as saying.
“We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player’s experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well,” Zelnick continued. “We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level.”

themoneytimes.com

WALES have devised a secret plan to warm up for their two-match battle with rugby kings South Africa by beating a star-studded World XV at the Millennium Stadium a week on Saturday… keep the ball away from Shane Williams!
The tongue-in-cheek tactics have been revealed by his Grand Slam captain and pal Ryan Jones ahead of sizzling Shane’s testimonial match.
“He can get lost if he thinks we are going to pass to him all the time,” laughed No 8 Jones.
“We have spent all the season trying to get the ball off him with Wales and the Ospreys so we aren’t going to give it to him on May 17!”
Wales will take on a World XV team assembled by Shane’s Ospreys colleague and New Zealand great Justin Marshall, and coached by former Welsh boss Mike Ruddock in a fascinating head-to-head.
Six Nations talisman Jones, who is firm favourite to skipper the British Lions in South Africa next year, urged rugby fans to descend on Cardiff to watch Shane’s big show.
He promised fireworks, emphasising the pressure would be off Wales and coach Warren Gatland would give the Six Nations kings a licence to thrill against some of the best players in the world.
“I hope there’s a bumper crowd for an action-packed day of rugby because Shane has been a great servant of the game, not just in Wales but around the world,” explained Jones.
“When you look back over his rugby career, you realise he has been a credit to rugby, putting smiles on the faces of the fans and backsides on seats.
“So it’s going to be fitting if people come out in great numbers to pay tribute to him in a game where the players will be able to have a good bit of fun.
“We don’t get the chance very often to play purely for enjoyment value so the boys are planning to have a good time at the Millennium Stadium.

icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

T he history of Mother’s Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honour Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother’s festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honour Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on, a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. In 1872, Julia Ward Howe organised a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother’s Day.
In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother’s Day in honour of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honour mothers. The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honouring Anna’s mother. Anna handed out her mother’s favourite flowers, the white incarnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna’s hard work finally paid off in the year 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honour of mothers.
Slowly and gradually Mother’s Day became very popular and gift-giving activity increased. All this commercialisation of the Mother’s Day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day’s sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. Regardless of Jarvis’s worries, Mother’s Day has flourished in the United States and other countries. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us, Mother’s Day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother’s Day at various times during the year, but some such as Jamaica, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

jamaica-gleaner.com

As Sade once sang, “It’s never as good as the first time.” She sang this on her second record. I still think her first one was probably her best.
But that’s no surprise: Debuts are usually the best albums of a performer’s career. Subsequent albums may be more acclaimed, more sophisticated, or better sellers. But for most listeners, an artist’s first musical statement is usually the one that cuts the deepest, lasts the longest and means the most.
I thought of this recently while listening to an iPod playlist featuring new tracks from two different bands. Some of the songs were from veteran rock band R.E.M.’s new CD “Accelerate,” which has received critical raves in many quarters for being a return to rock ‘n’ roll form. The mix also featured songs from Vampire Weekend, a worldbeat-infused group of Ivy League rockers that recently released its debut, self-titled album.
R.E.M.’s first album, “Murmur,” remains my favorite of their releases. The first time I heard it, shortly after it came out in 1983, I had no idea what the members of the band looked like. Their faces weren’t on the cover of the album. I had never seen any advertising pushing the band, or any videos. (I had heard their 1982 EP “Chronic Town.”) So I pretty much came to the music with an open mind and open ears. The band’s sound — haunting melodies, jangling guitars, and Michael Stipe’s cryptic lyrics — quickly won me over. (Listen to a clip of “Talk About the Passion” here.)
I’ve certainly admired a number of R.E.M. albums since then — and I like the band’s current single, the rocking “Supernatural Superserious” (listen to it here) — but nothing they’ve done has hit me as hard as their debut. When something completely unexpected proves to be immensely satisfying, that’s hard to top.

online.wsj.com

T.L.L. Temple Memorial Library News
Mother’s Day in the United States is a holiday that celebrates motherhood in general and mother’s contributions to society. This holiday celebrated the second Sunday each May, is the result of a campaign by Anna Marie Jarvis. After the death of her mother on May 9, 1905, Mrs. Jarvis devoted her life to establishing Mother’s Day as a national and international holiday. Jarvis’s mother, named Ann Jarvis, had been active in Mother’s Day campaigns for peace, worker’s safety and health since the end of the American Civil War. As the custom of Mother’s Day spread, the emphasis shifted from the pacifism and reform movements to a general appreciation of mothers. This year Mother’s Day is on May 11th. (www.wikipedia.og) Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers.
The school year is coming to a close and summer vacation will be here soon. While parents are out looking for something fun and meaningful for your kids to do this summer, don’t forget your local library. Our library offers the Texas Summer Reading Club for kids’ ages 3- 11 and Texas Teens Read for teen’s ages 12-18. These programs encourage kids and teens to read throughout the summer through incentives and rewarding activities. Participation in these programs is absolutely free to the public. Registration will begin on May 19, 2008 here at the library. For more information contact us at 936-829- 5497.
If you haven’t seen the old library building in a while, you would be surprised. Everyday it is growing and changing by leaps and bounds. There are a lot more walls up since it was mentioned in last week’s column. Rooms and offices are starting to take shape on the inside of the structure as well. This past week saw the removal of the sidewalk and covering on the south end of the building. What a glorious sight! We can’t wait for the finished product so we can move back home.

dibollfreepress.com

Mount Pleasant senior survives the elements in long jump.
By MATT LEVINS
DES MOINES — Mwale Kapande stood in the walkway behind the east stands Friday night at Drake Stadium, shivering from head to toe.
With the temperature in the low 40s and a 25-miles-per-hour wind from the north dropping wind chills to near 30 degrees, Kapande had plenty of reason to be cold.
They just don’t have weather quite this cold back in Zambia, her native land.
Then again, they don’t have track meets quite like the Drake Relays there, either.
But that was just fine for Kapande, the senior from Mount Pleasant High School. She braved the elements long enough to pick up a fourth-place finish in the long jump and an eighth-place finish in the 100-meter dash.
“Sixty degrees is a cold day in Zambia,” Kapande said with a laugh. “This is really hard for me. I don’t do good in cold weather and everybody knows that. Last year we ran when it was snowing at Iowa City West. It was so cold I couldn’t even move.”
Kapande finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 8 inches. Her jump of 17-0 3/4 inches on her second attempt in the preliminaries qualified her for the finals with the fourth-best jump.
Jennifer Jorgensen, a senior from Southeast Webster-Grand, had a winning jump of 18-3 1/2. It was the third consecutive year Jorgensen won the event. Last year, she edged Kapande on her final jump in the finals. The previous year, she edged Burlington’s Tiffany Hendricks on her final jump in the finals.
“I wasn’t really happy with that. I was hoping to get second and get in the high 18s, but I didn’t get it,” Kapande said. I got my steps right at the end. The wind changed and it messed up my steps.”

thehawkeye.com

Hey, Dave: If you google “Obama,” “plan,” and “change,” you get about 1.6 million hits. If you google “Rod Thorn,” “plan,” and “change,” you get about 10. No, I’m just kidding - about 500. Maybe those words aren’t in his vocabulary, you say? Not so, take a look at his words from the WVa’s commencement a few years ago - they’ll floor ya.
DZ: You are referring specifically to this address to the graduates of ‘02, and thanks for forwarding it: “You gotta have a plan . . . clear goals. And don’t be afraid to fail or to try new things.” (Pause here to let the irony sink in.) I have no doubt the boss has a plan, and that he’s still a month or two from fleshing it out. I just don’t think the status quo is a viable option, which is what he tried to sell with a straight face - just to have some available cover if he can’t find any trading partners. No, I didn’t expect him to announce “We’re 34-48, so we’re rebuilding,” and get on with the job. And let me also clear up something here: I’m not theorically opposed to bringing RJ and VC back again as the primary scoring tandem. I just don’t think the patchwork method is realistic anymore - they’ve tried it for three years, and aside from Mikki’s contribution, it hasn’t worked: They’ve gone from 49 to 41 to 34 victories. Sure, if you can turn Richard, draft picks and spare parts into Elton Brand and Mike Miller - or Kirilenko/Nocioni, or Haslem/Raja, or whatever - that would be swell. But Rod used up his quota of miracles back in the summer of ‘01 and the winter of ‘04. He’s going to have to do something bold. And by now, he probably knows that they cannot move up unless they acquire a stud.

blog.nj.com

When Sharon Munro started as a junior secretary at Arnold & Porter 31 years ago, every lawyer had his own legal secretary. Now she works for four; some administrative assistants assist six lawyers.
Bigger changes at the law firm involve attire and technology. Suits are rare — except for lawyers visiting clients. “I haven’t worn a pair of heels to work in ages — thank you, God,” she said.
Munro no longer takes dictation, transcribes tapes or types out handwritten briefs or memos. “We can’t wow our attorneys anymore with our typing skills,” she said. “I need to wow them in . . . some understated way. I like to read their minds, anticipate their needs.”
Decades of experience — and years of reading e-mails copied to her — make this easier.
The firm, despite quadrupling over the decades to 415 lawyers in Washington, still treats everyone as an individual, Munro said.
And today, on what used to be called Secretary’s Day and is now known as Administrative Professionals Day, she and her colleagues will each receive breakfast served by the partners, a gift card and perhaps gifts from individual lawyers.
“They make us feel really good,” Munro said.

washingtonpost.com

girls onlyCrete Public Library’s Children Department host Girls Night Out for girls in first grade and older at 7 p.m. Monday at the library, 1177 Main St. Registration: (708) 672-8017.
knitting 102 Knitting 102 meets at 7 p.m. Monday at the Crete Public Library, 1177 Main St. Information: (708) 672-8017.
reservationsReservations are due Monday for the two programs “Accumulating Wealth is Simple” scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday and “Making Money Last in Retirement and Beyond” scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday at the Chicago Heights Free Public Library, 25 W. 15th Street, Chicago Heights. Programs are sponsored by Savant Investment Advisors: Reservations: (708) 799-7477.
WritersSouth Suburban Writers will meet at 7 p.m. Mondays at the Park Forest Public Library, 400 Lakewood Blvd. Participants will share their writing and give feedback. Admission is free of charge. Information: (708) 748-3731.
Computers South Suburban Computer Club meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays in the auditorium of Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. Information: (708) 895-5420 or www.ccs.org.
fishingAs part of is week long Earth Day activities, the Forest Preserve District of Will County is sponsoring “Fishing for Trash” from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, April 27, at Monee Reservoir, Ridgeland Ave., Monee. Participation is free and open to all ages. Information: (708) 534-8499.
guy thingCrete Public Library’s Children Department offers It’s a Guy Thing from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the library, 1177 Main St. “Patch” from the Time Soldiers Series by Robert Gould will be discussed. Registration: (708) 672-8017.
Line dancingSteger Community Center, 3501 Hopkins, offers line dancing classes from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays. Cost is $3 per class. Information: (708) 709-0299.
naruto nights Steger-South Chicago Heights Public Library District, 54 E. 31st St., Steger, hosts Naruto Nights for young adults from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Registration: (708) 755-5040.

southtownstar.com