Street

Simon McBurney's London theater company produced this play in the 1990s with material from Bruno Schulz' novel of the same name, for which the Polish Jewish writer was best known. That brilliant 1990s staging, easily one of the 20th century's most remarkable, taught perhaps tens of thousands something about this otherwise obscure artist and author, whose life the Nazis prematurely snuffed out.

Schulz' 1934 novel included several of his masterful drawings and etchings, some of which also appear in other books. He painted in words and pictures.

One vision of meals at his family's home obviously influenced McBurney's script, which includes a wonderful scene at a Schulz dinner featuring the family's many colorful relations and friends. The play reflects Schulz' surreal brilliance, through amazing antics--chairs hanging from a wall, tablecloths floating in air and an uncle walking on the ceiling.

The play opens with a remarkable scene: The disconnected hands and feet of many Holocaust victims wave helplessly through a trap door while Schulz feeds books into a pot-bellied stove, downstage right. This evokes the era's wholesale terror, its destruction of untold millions of Jewish civilians--and its fierce war on ideas. Indeed, during the Nazi occupation of Poland, Schulz was forced to sort and burn those titles they had banned.

Schulz was born on July 12, 1892, the third and youngest child of a Polish merchant in Drohobycz, where he lived a life tragically abbreviated by the Holocaust. He reflected this town (and his close connections to family) in all his written and artistic works. When the Soviets occupied eastern Poland (and Drohobycz) in 1939, Schulz avoided the deportation suffered by hundreds of thousands of other Jewish Poles, although the USSR prohibited him from working.

But Polish Jews experienced far worse hardships with the June 1941 Nazi occupation of eastern Poland. Schulz was then enslaved for a year by Felix Landau, the infamous Viennese Nazi and Jew murderer. He survived on one daily bowl of soup and slice of bread.

Gestapo officer Karl Guenther shot Schulz in the head on Black Thursday, Nov. 19, 1942. A devoted friend buried him at night in a Jewish cemetery, which has since disappeared, along with Schulz' grave.

Most of his artistic and written work also disappeared into the Holocaust's maw.

But thanks to McBurney's extraordinary play, part of Schulz' incalculable brilliance was vividly revived.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978) starts by telling us of her childhood in pre-revolution Russia, in turn of the century St. Petersburg. Her father was also a dancer, Platon Karsavin, and the account of her childhood gives us a rare insight in middle class life of that epoch. There is a detailed description of life in the boarding school and the Imperial ballet. She writes with great tenderness about life at school and about one of the teachers, Christian Petrovich Johansson. In those days he was already in his nineties, a Swede who had turned grumpier with the years, but was one of the greatest teachers in the history of the school. It is with great pride and joy I read that she attributed so much to my compatriot! During the revolution and its aftermath, Karsavina remained in Russia till the bitter end. Then, she too, with her English-born husband and small son, decided to leave. The family escaped through the North of Russia on an English vessel - the famous ballerina and her husband on the crew list as stewardess and purser respectively. Safety was at last in sight in England where they made their home. The last sentence of her account is beautiful: "That night we arrived in Middlesbrough - The Maryinski and Theatre Street left behind for ever, these were the footlights of a new world". Anyone who has ever been to grimy Middlesbrough can only compare with the glitter of old St. Petersburg. The book was originally published in 1930; in the revised edition of 1981 there is an added chapter on Diaghilev which Karsavina wrote in 1947. This beautiful volume with its evocative illustra- tions would really merit 10 stars, but as five is the highest accolade, I have to limit myself. Maybe the finest dance biography written this century.

Thieves on Wall Street by Gunther Karger is a must read book by anyone already in the market or a person th inking to start investing. It clearly tells how brokers, CEO's, TV commentators and analysts manipulate stocks, how you can detect this and most importantly, how you can avoid losing money because of these schemes. It is a teachibng and reference book and has many humourous comemnts and examples illustrating how the briker schemes are done.

Just took my first look at The Thomas Guide / Orange County and it is GREAT. Contained in the easy to use, spiral bound book is a wealth of information for the traveler as well as the relocating employee. Detail and color jump out at you in this ideal sized book. 5 star for sure!

it has an index with nearly every street! Even those hard-to-find Caminitos and Calles. Why, it's almost as wonderful to read as it is to live in San Diego County. You're sure to get the full experience in every colorful page of this indispensible guide to the varied topography of San Diego! Forget about the 2001 edition, for life is so very altered in 2002. More streets, more addresses, more map!

for traveling in the beautiful central coast of california, this is the map book for you. the central coast has several cities that have their own history, charm and beauty. coming from los angeles or from the bay area, you need this guide to help you find your way. there is so much to see, you want to spend your time exploring, not being lost!

As a long term resident of Los Angeles, I can testify that the Thomas Brothers Guide is the essential source for finding one's way in the L.A. megapolis. A comprehensive index lists street addresses, beaches & harbors, cemetaries, chambers of commerce, city halls, colleges, golf courses, hospitals, hotels, libraries, park & ride locations, parks, points of interest (including museums), shopping centers, theaters and transportation hubs -and gives a page and grid letter/number to help you find that location, street, or landmark you are looking for.
Whenever going to an unfamiliar address, I figure out how to get there first with the Thomas Guide (which I keep in my car). I always recommend to new residents in the city that they purchase a guide to help them find their way - because L.A. County is BIG ! Thomas Brothers Maps are also out on cd-rom. See www.thomasmap.com for more of their maps.
If used in conjunction with Mapquest.com to get directions, you will surely find your way in L.A.
~ Mark

Raymond Paul, as far as I know, wrote three books. I have read two: The Tragedy at Tiverton and The Thomas Street Horror. Both are based on true crimes which took place in New York in the early/mid 19th century and both, unfortunately, are out of print though you should be able to find them in most libraries.

I recently reread The Thomas Street Horror because I had finally finished a book about the crime that this novel was based on: The Murder of Helen Jewett by Patricia Cohen. Helen Jewett (AKA Dorcas Doyen and many other pseudonyms) was a young popular prostitute working in New York City. Early on the morning of April 10, 1836 she was discovered murdered in her smouldering bed. Suspicion fell on one of her clients, a young clerk, who was eventually tried for the murder. Cohen's book deals not just with the crime and trial but also the attitudes toward prostitution, tabloid journalism (the murder became a nationwide sensation) and the criminal justice system. While the book is very interesting, it is also hard going at times because the author would pause the narrative to delve into the fine points of various aspects of life during the period-- for instance I learned a lot more about the state of Maine than I would normally be interested in. I actually put it down for several months before I finished it.

The Thomas Street Horror is a much livelier, if fictionalized, account of the murder. The veiwpoint character is a young reporter who has just arrived in New York City in November 1835 with a letter of introduction to the proprieter of the journal, the Sun, Benjamin Day. New York journalism at the time was not concerned as much with reporting the news as garnering readers by any method available including elaborate hoaxes and pandering to mob mentality. And the competition between the papers becomes red hot, as they choose up sides as to whether or not Helen Jewett was a wronged woman driven into her way of life or a degraded harpy who preyed on her young clients and was the young clerk accused of her murder guilty or not? David Cordor (the journalist) is caught up in the center of events, both reporting on and participating in what was happening. The fictional investigation into the events surrounding the murder is lead by Lon Quincannon, Paul's Irish attorney-detective who first made his appearance in The Tragedy at Tiverton. Quincannon finds himself not just defending his client against the state, whose minions have no qualms about manufacturing evidence to support their case, but also against public opinion.

If you enjoy 19th century mayhem then I would definitely urge you to try this book.

Belinda Manley tells her story and shares her life in the high-demand Bruderhof sect, a must-read for anyone considering life in a communal settlement. Belinda is a brilliant lady, full of life and spirit. Her life didn't stop when she left the Bruderhof (Arnoldleut Hutterians). Indeed, it seems the next chapter of her life was and is the best of all. The Bruderhof/Arnoldleut story is a complex one. Although the Bruderhofers are good at getting out their "side" of the story, defectors like Belinda Manley should be heard/read. They have something to say that is of value. What is the truth? I don't know, but I do know Truth will win out. I suspect we haven't yet heard the whole story by any means! The Belinda Manley story is worthwhile reading.

The Wall Street Journal recommended this book in the late 1980's. I was an economist and bought the book and was extremely happy with Hunts easy to follow guide in tracking economic cycles and which types of investments to use in each portion of the cycle. He relates which economic indicators to use and where to find them, althought they can now be found on web. Great book.