In
Light
and Variable,
the reader is invited to join celebrated Oklahoma essayist and
commentator Connie Cronley on a delightful romp through the calendar
year. Honest, unpretentious, and laced with self-deprecating humor, the
essays in this book revolve around special holidays or events, some of
which you may never have heard of — Festival of Sleep Day,
National Failures Day, and Blame Someone Else Day.
Against a backdrop of celebrations and seasons, Cronley marvels at
subjects close to her heart: siblings from outer space, small towns,
champion whopper-telling ex-husbands, rascally cats, rescued dogs,
deviled eggs, know-it-all hair dressers, church squabbles, books and
authors, gardening efforts run aground, flocks of starlings,
women’s history, cowgirls, and her own Cherokee heritage.
Woven
throughout are fragments of Emily Dickinson’s poetry; a few
essays about food (not surprising from a former restaurant critic),
including a history of celery in North America; a salute to rhubarb;
and recipes from Frank Sinatra and Oprah Winfrey.
Who knew that Oklahoma was such a magical place? Cronley introduces us
to Oklahoma celebrities: movie stars Jennifer Jones and Tony Randall,
glamorous café society singer Lee Wiley, champion poker
player
Bobby Baldwin, and one of the state’s legendary American
Indian
ballerinas (and the author’s personal friend) Moscelyne
Larkin.
Grab
your hat and step into Connie Cronley’s special world, where
the mood, like Oklahoma weather, is always light and variable.
|
Light and Variable
A Year of Celebrations,
Holidays, Recipes, And
Emily Dickinson
by Connie Cronley
University
of Oklahoma Press,
2006
Order
a copy.
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