Dean of readers

   Nashville Mayor Karl Dean was the speaker at the first “Let’s Talk Books” event, held last Tuesday at Parnassus Books in Green Hills. The city’s First Reader chose nine books to talk about to the bookish crowd of 60 or so.

   The Tuesday afternoon, series, hosted by former Nashville Public Library Director Donna Nicely, will feature prominent Nashvillians going on about books. Future speakers will include First Amendment Center founder John Seigenthaler, author and songwriter Alice Randall, and former Governor Phil Bredesen.

   So what’s the Mayor reading? A little of everything. The first book on his syllabus was Nation Maker: Sir John A. McDonald, His Life, Our Times (Vol.2 1867-91), by Richard Gwyn, a bio of the first prime minister of Canada. Volume 2 (Dean said he hasn’t read Vol. 1) covers the ground from the creation of the federation to McDonald’s death. Dean called McDonald a “modern-day Bill Clinton,” for his charisma and his ability to build relationships.

   Dean enthusiastically dove into his next book, Triumph of the City, by Edward Glaesar. Glaesar, a professor at Harvard, argues that cities, far from being outmoded, will actually become more necessary than ever, as places for creative people to live together and inspire one another. Cities, including ours, must strive to offer affordable housing, Dean said, echoing Glaesar, in order to attract artists and entrepreneurs.

   The Spies of Warsaw, a mystery-thriller set in Eastern Europe in the early years of World War II, is one of a series of novels by Alan Furst, all having elaborate plots but nonetheless “feeling real,” Dean said.

   1948: Harry Truman’s Impossible Victory, by David Pietrusza, is as much about the man Truman defeated, Thomas E. Dewey, as it is about Truman. Mayor Dean was fascinated enough to purchase a biography of Dewey, which he’s just begun.

   Dean next talked about Great Expectations, and not just as a nod to the Dickens fever going around on this bicentennial year of his birth. 19^th-century British novels are his preferred species of literature, Dean said, and Dickens and Anthony Trollope, whose Barchester Towers was also on his list, are two of his favorites. Dean said he hasn’t read Great Expectations recently, but he recapped the story expertly, even though he gave away a major secret of the plot.    

   Jack Maggs, by Peter Carey, tells the Dickens tale from the point of view of the escaped convict. The Eyre Affair, his next choice, is an allusive novel as well, which Dean described as a surreal fantasy apropos to the current occasion, as its characters live in a realm called Bookworld. “It’s very funny,” he said.

   But not as funny as P. G. Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters, the final book to make the grades for Dean’s List. The mayor called it the funniest book he’s ever read and, by way of dispelling the notion that it may be out of date, he noted that his teenage daughter liked it. “And she never listens to me about books,” he said.

   Unlike the rapt audience at Parnassus, most of whom were already planning to attend the next “Let’s Talk Books.”

John Seigenthaler will be the featured speaker at the next event, on Tuesday, May 1 at 1:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books, 3900 Hillsboro Pike.       

Spiritual reading

   I came upon JERRY at Centennial Park, in the shadow of the Parthenon, the replica of that ancient temple of learning, and an appropriate symbol to invoke in kicking off a new blog about books and those that read them.

   Jerry was just on Chapter Two of Spiritual Divorce (2002), by Debbie Ford, a book he’d recently picked up at a used bookstore. He’d highlighted a number of passages already, including some dealing with the “law of acceptance,” which he summarized as having to do with our maddening inability to accept facts instead of fiction.

   “The book caught my eye because in my former occupation I dealt with people struggling with family situations,” Jerry told me. He described himself as an avid and constant reader with a wide range of interests. Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is the best book he’s ever read, he said, and he loves the novels of Robert Ludlum.    

   His current occupation is aspiring songwriter. He developed his way with words as a motivational speaker for 23 years (“I wrote more speeches than I care to remember,” he said) in Los Angeles and Arizona.  He wasn’t up on any soapbox in the park, just sitting quietly at a picnic table and taking in the beautiful day.

   Whether or not he gets published, Jerry’s already left a legacy—he’s passed his love of reading on to his kids.

   “My 14-year-old daughter reads a ton,” he said. “My 18-year-old son—I worried about him for a while. I bought him the Hardy Boys and all the stuff I’d read as a kid.” (The Hardy Boys? Uh, Jerry…)

   “But then I realized he was reading a lot online. He reads about agriculture—he wants to be a landscaper. It bothered me that he wasn’t reading tangible things, but I’m OK with it now.”