By Alan Lightman
From the acclaimed writer of the foreign top vendor Einstein’s goals, here is a gorgeous, lyrical memoir of Memphis from the Nineteen Thirties throughout the Sixties that incorporates the early days of the films and a strong grandfather whose ghost continues to be an ever-present strength within the lives of his descendants.
Alan Lightman’s grandfather M.A. Lightman used to be the family’s undisputed patriarch: it used to be his movie show empire that catapulted the Lightmans to prominence within the South, his fearless good fortune that either galvanized and paralyzed his childrens and grandchildren. during this relocating, impressionistic memoir, the writer chronicles his go back to Memphis in an try and comprehend the origins he so eagerly left at the back of 40 years prior. As getting older uncles and aunts start telling relations tales, Lightman rediscovers his southern roots and slowly acknowledges the blunders in his perceptions of either his grandfather and his father, who was once himself overwhelmed by way of M.A. the result's an unforgettable kinfolk saga that extends from 1880 to the current, set opposed to a throbbing century of Memphis—the rhythm and blues, the fish fry and pecan pie, the segregated society—and together with own encounters with Elvis, Martin Luther King Jr., and E. H. “Boss” Crump. on the center of all of it is a family members haunted by means of the reminiscence of its domineering patriarch and the author’s fight to appreciate his conflicted loyalties.
(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)
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Additional info for Screening room : family pictures
Sample text
A. was in town for a bridge tournament. Father and son registered a flicker of surprise, quickly disguised. The unwritten code between gentlemen was that they kept quiet about each other’s romantic misbehaviors, even when the injured party was the mother of one of them. A. rose from the table. College wrestling champion moviestar good looks admiral-without-the-stripes business tycoon. All of it conveyed without words. Dad introduced his colleagues to his father. ’s date remaining appropriately discreet.
Politely declines. All he needs is $1,500, he says. He is certain that he will be able to pay back the money within two years, with interest. , strong and eager and leaning forward in his chair. I’m sorry, says Jacob. I am not a charity. We have our own expenses, says Jacob’s wife. A. He is standing now, enormous. He fills up the room. He and his uncle exchange unpleasant remarks. You shouldn’t have come, says Jacob, fear in his voice. A. takes the train back to Nashville. Two days later, Uncle Jacob is killed by a trolley car while crossing the street.
A. who imagined and built the business on which four generations lived. At age forty-three, he swam across the Mississippi. For a number of years, he was president of the Motion Picture Theater Owners of America. He was founder and president of the Variety Club in Memphis. He was president of the Jewish Welfare Fund. He was president of the Memphis Little Theater and loved to act in plays himself. He was a bridge player of extraordinary cunning and skill. A. Lightman ranked among the top bridge players in the world.