Never before in Arkansas have we seen so much published about our state. For years I tried to collect every book about Arkansas or authored by residents of the state, but now that is practically impossible because so much is published these days. Part of this is due to the many self-publishing opportunities on the internet, but the creation of the University of Arkansas Press in 1980 and Butler Books at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in 2000 have resulted in a steady stream of books about the state and its people. Those shopping for Arkansas-related books for the holidays have a huge selection, though I'm able to discuss only a few.
The Education of Ernie Dumas
If you have baby boomers on your holiday list, you will not go wrong by giving Ernie Dumas' new autobiography, The Education of Ernie Dumas: Chronicles of the Arkansas Political Mind (Butler Books, $24.95). No newsman in Arkansas has covered the state like Ernie Dumas during his long career at the Arkansas Gazette. Part Walter Cronkite and part Studs Terkel, the genial Dumas began reporting on Arkansas politics during a time when the state was charting a new course in the aftermath of World War II. He still writes for the Arkansas Times.
Dumas' book is rich in details, made possible in part by his wide circle of contacts and sources. Here's a scene which played out during the trial of Gov. Orval Faubus' director of Tucker Prison Farm, Jim Bruton, for torture and generally violating the rights of inmates. "In the privacy of Judge J. Smith Henley's chambers, where the infamous Tucker telephone rested as an exhibit, Bruton's attorney Reggie Eilbott of Pine Bluff, argued to the judge that the old telephone magneto, which was hooked up to the prisoner's genitals and cranked, was actually relatively harmless. It wouldn't hurt a flea, he said. [Prosecutor Bobby] Fussell admitted he couldn't be sure about the pain it inflicted and suggested they hook it up to Eilbott and test it. Eilbott reluctantly agreed, When Fussell cranked the old phone vigorously, the attorney bellowed and admitted that it might in fact hurt a flea. Judge Henley waived Bruton's prison sentence, because he said Bruton would be certain to be killed in prison."
Adding to the appeal of The Education of Ernie Dumas are the dozens of cartoons and caricatures by the late George Fisher used to illustrate it.
Hipbillies
One of the most interesting books published in 2019 is Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks by Jared M. Phillips (UA Press, $20.96, paper bound). Phillips, whose Ph.D. is in the history of American diplomacy, has produced a fascinating look at how the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s played out in Northwest Arkansas. Phillips views the movement as part of a deep revolution which occurred in America: "...an effort by a select group of the counterculture to remake America in its image, but not through street protests and violence."
Much of the appeal of Hipbillies is its spirited narrative, its forthright proclamations in defense of the back-to-the-landers. "This was not a group of burned out druggies seeking a place to lounge about in the sun and recover from the street battles of previous years," Phillips wrote. "Rather, going back to the land was an intentional act by a group disillusioned with the methods, not the vision, of revolution."
The "hipbillies" continue to have an impact on northwestern Arkansas since these settlers "found the wherewithal to root themselves deep in the hills and build the world they envisioned." I highly recommend this book.
The Guestroom Novelist
Fans of the late novelist Donald Harington will celebrate the publication of The Guestroom Novelist: A Donald Harington Miscellany (UA Press, $22.46, hard bound), edited by Brian Walter. While the volume contains essays, articles and numerous reviews, the heart of the work is the previously unpublished interviews conducted by, among others, Linda Hughes, Larry Vonalt and the editor, Brian Walter. Harington is painfully candid in these interviews, especially when he writes about his battle with alcohol.
Harington's interviews are full of tidbits which help explain his fiction. For example: "Just as Ekaterina was based upon the idea of Lolita and followed the book, more or less, and Cockroaches of Stay More was based upon Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, perhaps even more so, Architecture [of the Arkansas Ozarks] was inspired by One Hundred Years of Solitude [by Gabriel Garcia Marquez]."
The Literature of the Ozarks
Donald Harington's work is also found in a new anthology of regional literature by Phillip D. Howerton of Missouri State University in West Plains, The Literature of the Ozarks (UA Press, $22.46, paper bound). A broad expanse of Ozarks writers (including several Missourians) are featured, ranging from the well-known antebellum poet Albert Pike to modern poet and translator Miller Williams. The mostly forgotten are also included -- writers such as John Rollins Ridge, a Cherokee Indian who's Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, published in 1854, is considered the first novel by an American Indian.
Arkansas, A Concise History
Every Arkansas family should have a general history of the state, a volume which can be read at leisure or, perhaps, used to settle an argument with one's spouse. Arkansas, A Concise History (UA Press, $18.71 paper bound) is just that kind of book. Written by Jeannie M. Whayne, Thomas A. DeBlack, George Sabo III and Morris S. Arnold, this volume covers a lot of territory in only 434 pages.
The books I have mentioned today are merely a sampling of what is available. While bookstores are scarce these days, most museums, arts centers and historical parks have gift shops which offer books as well as many other Arkansas-made items suitable for holiday giving.
NAN Profiles on 12/08/2019