Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - A book of secret sorrows, desires

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Published by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY

Thursday, November 1, 2001
A book of secret sorrows, desires

By Dan Parker
Caller-Times

Miller

Best-selling author Sue Miller said the essence of a literary reading boils down to the joy experienced by a child being read a story.
   "It's a very primitive pleasure," said Miller, whose most recent book is "The World Below." "Most of us were read to as children. There's something quite lovely about letting yourself sink into this other person's voice and being taken into another world."
   Miller will do a reading Saturday at the Art Museum of South Texas as part of the Corpus Christi Literary Reading Series, a program that has brought many big names in literature to South Texas.
   Founded 14 years ago, the series has lured writers including Larry McMurtry, author of "Lonesome Dove;" George Plimpton, author of "Paper Lion;" and John Updike, who wrote "Rabbit, Run."
   Susan Hutchinson, chair of the Corpus Christi Literary Reading Series, said she's not sure what to expect from Miller's reading. She's never sure what to expect from any author's reading.

The World Below, By Sue Miller
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, $25, 275 pages

   "Some, I've learned life lessons from," Hutchinson said. "Some, I've learned more about literature and that process. Some, I've learned more about filmmaking, because they've been involved in that. So, I never know what I'm going to come away with. But I've yet to come away without something."
   Diary of discovery
   "The World Below" is a best-selling fictional work about a San Francisco woman who gains a deeper understanding of her family history after discovering her late grandmother's diary.
   Like other books by Miller, this one examines the underbelly of marriage and family, and exposes women's secret desires and sorrows.
   Part of the spark for writing "The World Below" came when Miller read her great-great- grandmother's diary. Entry after entry, the journal routinely reported the weather and the woman's mundane chores in 1869 and 1870.
   Shocking entry
   But then there was this entry:
   "I am a person destined to be disappointed in everything I take pride in. I wish I were under the cold sod, sleeping the sleep that knows no waking." The diary elaborated no more.

Author reading

What: Reading by author Sue Miller for Corpus Christi Literary Reading Series
Where: Art Museum of South Texas auditorium
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $5
Information: 883-1908

   "It's just shocking," Miller said. "And it's very moving, especially because you can't know anything about its causes or its roots. And that she did so clearly push it underneath and go on - there's something very moving about that."
   Other books by Miller include "The Good Mother," "Family Pictures," and "While I Was Gone."



Contact Dan Parker at 886-3753 or parkerd@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND