The Night of the Comet

From Lancaster, PA

From Lancaster Online (an Edition of Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era/Sunday News)

Bookends
Sept. 22, 2013

Focus on Fiction at E-town

New Orleans novelist George Bishop will talk about strategies for creating and nurturing fiction writing Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 4 p.m. and read from his new novel at 8 p.m. at Bowers Writers House, Elizabethtown College.

“The Night of the Comet” is a coming-of-age story set in Louisiana in 1973. Alan receives a telescope from his science teacher/father so they can witness the approach of Comet Kohoutek. But the 14-year-old is more interested in studying the “heavenly body” of his neighbor and classmate.

The book earned praise from reviewers from Publishers Weekly to People magazine, which said it “does a heavenly job telescoping the heady promise of youth tinged with the sorrow of lost dreams.”

For more information, contact Jesse Waters at writershouse@etown.edu or 689-3945.

Comet at SIBA

Look at the snazzy new flyer my publicist made for the Southern Independent Booksellers Association conference, going on this weekend at the New Orleans Sheraton.

I’ll be signing books this afternoon from 2:00-3:00, and then speaking on a panel with the indefatigable Susan Larson from 3:00-4:00.

flyer1

flyer2

Songs with Astronomical Themes No. 10: “Harvest Moon”

Today in honor of the harvest moon, No. 10 in our Songs with Astronomical Themes series is, of course, “Harvest Moon.”

220px-Shine-On-Harvest-Moon-1908

What’s a harvest moon, you ask?

A harvest moon is a full moon occurring closest to the autumnal equinox, when night and day are equal length, usually in late September. Because it rises soon after sunset, the moon gives farmers extra light for harvesting.

This first song is a rendition of “Shine On, Harvest Moon” (1908), recorded by Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies in 1935:

And here’s one you might be more familiar with, Neil Young’s terrific “Harvest Moon,” from 1992. In fact, you should probably skip that first one and just listen to this:

Comet is Bestseller in Mississippi!

“The Night of the Comet” is No. 8 on the bestseller list in Mississippi, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Thanks again to all the wonderful independent bookstores I’ve visited there.

Clarion-Ledger

Top Mississippi Reads
Sep. 14, 2013 |
clarionledger.com

1. “The Education of a Lifetime,” Robert Khayat, Nautilus, $24.95

2. “Mr. Tiger Goes Wild,” Peter Brown, Little Brown, $18

3. “Are You Ready?” Charlotte Oakley, ed. Univ of Mississippi, $35

4. “Smoke and Pickles,” Edward Lee, Artisan, $29.95

5. “The Storied South,” William Ferris, University of North Carolina Press, $35

6. “The Resurrectionist,” Matthew Guinn, W.W. Norton, $25.95

7. “Fancy Nancy,” Jane O’Connor, HarperCollins, $17.99

8. “The Night of the Comet,”George Bishop, Ballantine, $25

9. “The Delta: Landscapes, Legends and Legacies of Mississippi’s Most Storied Region,” Melissa

Townsend, editor,

Coopwood Publishing, $45

10. “The Illustrated Man,” Ray Bradbury, Simon &Schuster, $7.99

Compiled by University Press of Mississippi. Reported by Bay Books (Bay St. Louis); Lemuria Books (Jackson); Square Books (Oxford); Turnrow Book Co. (Greenwood).

Favorite Astronomy Poems No. 1: “Halley’s Comet,” by Stanley Kunitz

A view of Halley’s Comet from the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, California, June 6, 1910

I kept this poem taped to the wall above my desk while I was writing “The Night of the Comet.”

HALLEY’S COMET
by Stanley Kunitz
(1905-2006)

Miss Murphy in first grade

wrote its name in chalk

across the board and told us

it was roaring down the stormtracks

of the Milky Way at frightful speed

and if it wandered off its course

and smashed into the earth

there’d be no school tomorrow.

A red-bearded preacher from the hills

with a wild look in his eyes

stood in the public square

at the playground’s edge

proclaiming he was sent by God

to save every one of us,

even the little children.

“Repent, ye sinners!” he shouted,

waving his hand-lettered sign.

At supper I felt sad to think

that it was probably

the last meal I’d share

with my mother and my sisters;

but I felt excited too

and scarcely touched my plate.

So mother scolded me

and sent me early to my room.

The whole family’s asleep

except for me. They never heard me steal

into the stairwell hall and climb

the ladder to the fresh night air.

Look for me, Father, on the roof

of the red brick building

at the foot of Green Street–
that’s where we live, you know, on the top floor.

I’m the boy in the white flannel gown

sprawled on this coarse gravel bed

searching the starry sky,

waiting for the world to end.


Songs with Astronomical Themes No. 9: Stardust, by Hoagy Carmichael

It’s been called one of the greatest songs ever written: No. 9 in our Songs with Astronomical Themes series, “Stardust,” by Hoagy Carmichael.

stardust

The song, written by Carmichael in 1927 with lyrics added a couple of years later by Mitchell Parish, is one of the most-recorded pop numbers in history, covered by a who’s who of bands and singers: Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Django Reinhardt, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Connick Jr., Barry Manilow, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart . . .

Here’s Nat King Cole’s version, originally recorded in 1956:

The structure and melody are unusually complex for a pop standard; the tune wanders all over the place, with the phrasing alternating between slow and fast. Carmichael says the inspiration for the song came to him one night on the grounds of his alma mater, Indiana University in Bloomington; he dashed off to find a piano and jot down the tune, and thus was born “Stardust.” If you go to IU today, you can see a plaque commemorating the very spot where Carmichael is said to have dreamed up the tune.

Carmichael, by the way, also wrote the tune to “Heart and Soul,” that annoying little ditty that’s often played as a duet by kids sitting at a piano. This one:

Songs with Astronomical Themes No. 8: “Sail to the Moon,” by Radiohead

No. 8 in our Songs with Astronomical Themes: Radiohead’s lovely “Sail to the Moon,” from their 2003 album “Hail to the Thief.”

Gustave Doré - A Voyage to the Moon from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, 1868

(Illustration by Gustave Dore, “A Voyage to the Moon,” for, I think, Theophile Gautier’s French edition of “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” 1868).

Wiki tells me that “Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky)” was written by Thom Yorke of Radiohead for his infant son, Noah. The title of the album, “Hail to the Thief,” refers to the 2000 US election stolen by President (cough) George W. Bush.

Here it is, though not with any kind of official video:

Comet ISON Update

David Eicher, editor of Astronomy magazine, gives this clear-eyed update on Comet ISON, the latest “Comet of the Century.”

His prognosis: It’s still too early to tell exactly how spectacular Comet ISON will be, but rest assured that it’ll be bright, a “naked-eye comet from mid-November through year’s end.”

Here’s a nice view of Comet ISON from the Hubble telescope, April 10, 2013:

Comet Ison from Hubble, 4:10:13

Comet Review in The Free Lance-Star

Thanks to Andi Russell of The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) for a glowing review of The Night of the Comet.

I’m honestly impressed when a reviewer can so neatly sum up a book and say “This is what it’s about,” as Russell does here. I know myself from trying to write book descriptions–of my own books, even!–how difficult this can be.

The Free Lance-Star

Sept. 1, 2013

Dad’s Head is in the Stars
BY ANDI RUSSELL/THE FREE LANCE–STAR

AUTHOR George Bishop paints an intimate portrait of an unraveling family as Comet Kohoutek comes crashing through their lives in his second novel, “The Night of the Comet.”

This nostalgic and heart-achingly relatable tale is told from the perspective of a high school freshman growing up in southern Louisiana in 1973.

Fourteen-year-old Alan Broussard Jr., or “Junior,” is experiencing his first serious crush. But just as he begins to navigate the mysteries of the heart, he starts to glean from his parents that love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Junior and the rest of his family’s conflicting feelings of hope and disappointment are prevalent through much of the story.

Junior’s dad, Alan Sr., is a high school science teacher whose fascination with what scientists are calling “the comet of the century” embarrasses Junior and his older sister, Megan. As Kohoutek gets closer, though, anticipation starts to build throughout the small town. Alan becomes a local celebrity of sorts, and the comet demands more and more of his time.

During the evenings, Junior looks out of his new telescope (a birthday gift from his dad) across the canal and into the home of his crush, Gabriella, and her high-society family. The new neighbors have also caught the attention of Junior’s mother, Lydia, an already-restless housewife who has always dreamed of a glamorous life.

Bishop’s lovely prose will likely bring readers to empathize with each member of the Broussard family. They will feel Junior’s confusion, Megan’s impatience, Lydia’s unhappiness and Alan’s isolation.

Part coming-of-age story, part family saga, “The Night of the Comet” is sweet and sad, heartbreaking and uplifting. It also provides a wealth of information on astronomy and the stars. The night sky looms in the background, like another character in the story.

Occasional and avid stargazers alike should relish Bishop’s take on the coming of Comet Kohoutek and how it affected one small town.

The release of the novel is timely, as many astronomy enthusiasts are currently tracking sun-approaching Comet ISON, which some reporters have already dubbed “the comet of the century.”

The scientific community appears to believe it is too soon to tell whether ISON will dazzle or be a dud. After reading this book, I know I will be paying close attention.

Andi Russell is a designer with The Free Lance–Star.
THE NIGHT OF THE COMET
By George Bishop
(Ballantine Books, $25, 316 pp.)