Between the Lines
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Published: November 29, 2009
Dan Brown 101
The blurring of fact and fiction is one of the hallmarks of Dan Brown's mega-best-seller books, and now Middlebury College professor Thomas R. Beyer Jr. promises to clear things up a bit with his own new release, "33 Keys to Unlocking The Lost Symbol: A Reader's Companion to the Dan Brown Novel."
Beyer has already led freshmen in studying Brown's books for their insights into researching and evaluating information.
He notes that Brown spent years researching "The Lost Symbol" and wove into it an extraordinary amount of information. The companion guide provides background on Brown's characters and their names; the layout and buildings of Washington, D.C., where the novel is set; the artworks that play a part; cryptology; Freemasonry and much more. Beyer also lists 133 Web site links for further exploration.
Beyer says he began his research four years ago, then bought a copy of Brown's book the day it came out and read and analyzed it several times.
He and his students are said to be working on a Wiki devoted to Brown's "Angels and Demons." Sounds like some serious extra credit.
Gift wrapped
The gift buyer in Castleton writer Tom Smith's "The Christmas Shopper" is hardly the frenzied bargain-hunter of Black Friday. Instead, he descends on New York's Plaza hotel from upstate to spend a few days doing last-minute shopping for his wife and family. He will buy cashmere at Bergdorf's, jewelry on Madison Avenue, a dollhouse at FAO Schwartz – all the while haunted by thoughts of the men he has loved and the self he has hidden.
The tale is the latest winner of the Long Story Contest, International, for original works that fall between the parameters of a short story and a short novel.
Smith taught at Castleton State College from 1964 to 1995 and has published a novel and nine volumes of poems. "The Christmas Shopper" has been released as a limited edition chapbook; for ordering information, see whiteeaglecoffeestorepress.com.
Smith also will be reading from and signing copies of his book at Book King in Rutland on Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. and at Castleton Free Library on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. He'll also have books for sale at Briggs Carriage Bookstore in Brandon on Dec. 17 during its "Moonlight Madness" event, when the store is open until 9 p.m.
Purely New England
Many Vermonters will mark Christmas by attending services in a classic white church. A recent book from photographer Steve Rosenthal documents these special New England places revered for their physical beauty, simplicity and elegance and for their role in the early history of this country.
"White on White: Churches of Rural New England" includes the finest examples from the 18th and early 19th centuries and traces the evolution of church styles from the early, dramatically simple meetinghouse form through the changing patterns of Greek and Gothic revivals.
Matched up
Public radio listeners may have heard part-time Vermonter Gregory Maguire read his updated version of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" last December. Now there's an illustrated gift book version.
In "Matchless: A Christmas Story," Maguire adds a different dimension to the story, intertwining the match girl's tale with that of a young boy, Frederik, whose own yearnings are the catalyst for a better future for himself and his family.
Maguire was asked by National Public Radio to write an original story with a Christmas theme, and he chose to re-imagine a fairy tale, as he has done with his best-selling "Mirror, Mirror" (Snow White), "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" (Cinderella) and "Wicked" (the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz").
The Reading Light: Spotlight on events
Tal Birdsey will talk about the making of a school and the making of a book about the making … well, the point is he'll be at the Briggs Carriage Bookstore in Brandon on Thursday at 7 p.m. Birdsey is the author of the recent memoir "A Room for Learning: The Making of a School in Vermont," about his work as head teacher at Ripton's North Branch School.
Compiled by Ruth Hare. Do you have a tip for Between the Lines? Send it to ruth.hare@timesargus.com.
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