Friends

"If a fight breaks out and you're the cause of it

In some redneck bar where you've been talkin' s*^t

I would not forsake you later in that parking lot
'Cause that's the kind of friend that you've got"

-Johnny Hickman

Here are some great books about friendship:

Patchett, Ann. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2004.

Ann Pratchett (author of Bel Canto) writes about her difficult relationship with Lucy Grealy (author of Autobiography of a Face).

McMillan, Terry. Waiting to Exhale. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking, 1992.

This wonderful chick lit novel is much better than the movie.

Paterson, Katherine, and Donna Diamond. Bridge to Terabithia. New York: Crowell, 1977.
Be prepared to cry. The first time I read this book I was riding the subway and I felt like such an idiot sobbing in public.

Tyler, Anne. Digging to America: A Novel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

Two families meet each other at the airport as they await the arrival of their adopted daughters. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, and Ladder of Years.

ps. Here are a few great books about friendship that I've already blogged about in the past:

Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel. New York: Morrow, 1989.

Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. The Little Prince. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1965.



Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Modern library, 1937.


Maupin, Armistead. Further Tales of the City. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.

Hornby, Nick. About a Boy. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998.

pps. Friends debuted on Johnny Hickman's solo album, Palmhenge. Click here for a preview.

Hickman, Johnny. Palmhenge. [Redlands, CA]: Campstove Records, 2005.

David Lowery and Patterson Hood perform a duet of the song on the latest Cracker album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey. Have you bought your copy yet?

Cracker (Musical group), David Lowery, Johhny Hickman, Frank Funaro, and Sal Maida. Sunrise In The Land of Milk & Honey. Santa Monica, CA: 429 Records, 2009.

Have a great weekend!

Your friend,
Rebecca

Show me how this thing works

In honor of the second song off the new Cracker album, here are some really good owner's manuals and how-to books.

This is how I learned to be cheerful:

Peale, Norman Vincent. The Power of Positive Thinking ; The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking. New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 2003.

This is where I picked up my mad flirting skills:

Westerman, Marty. How to Flirt: A Practical Guide. Los Angeles: Price Stern Sloan, 1992.

This is is how Uncle Donald learned to play the harmonica:

Gindick, Jon. The Natural Blues and Country Western Harmonica. San Diego: Cross Harp Press, 1986.

And speaking of harmonicas . . .


Not only can my (recently adopted) big brother Johnny Hickman play a mean harmonica, but he's also an excellent writer. Check out his monthly column in Scene Magazine.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Love,

Rock 'til you drop

Here are just a few of my favorite guitar players:

Hickman/LeRoy Songbook

My very favorite Myspace site is the Hickman/LeRoy Songbook. Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman have been making music together since they were little kids. You know Johnny from the band, Cracker, and Chris from Death of Me.

The Songbook features new and old songs by the duo. I think it is really interesting to see how a song becomes a song--how a song can take on a life of its own and continue to grow and change.







The Songbook is truly an interactive site. Fans' reviews, artwork, and video picks are showcased every week. For instance, I write a book review for the Songbook called The Book I Read. The title is a reference to one of my favorite Talking Heads songs:





And speaking of the Talking Heads . . .

Here's a story about the day I met Chris Frantz.

St. Cajetan

Saint Cajetan, Patron Saint of Job Seekers

I'm a huge Cracker fan, and I can't believe that I forgot to mention St. Cajetan in yesterday's post. Check out this live performance of one of my favorite songs.


My adopted big brother Johnny is such a guitar god.

St. Cajetan Church, Denver

Books Dads Read

In honor of Father's Day, I asked some of my favorite dads to tell me about their favorite books. Here's what the guys had to say:

I like all of John Steinbeck—Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Cannery Row, The Long Valley, etc. I like all of Tony Hillerman’s books, too.
–My father, Erik


Childhood favorites: Old Yeller by Fred Gipson, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
-My father-in-law, Bill


Among my favorites are A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy, Chronicles Volume One by Bob Dylan (possibly the most entertaining non-fiction book I have ever read), Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore (hysterical AND deeply moving), Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash, Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut and finally Forrest Gump by Winston Groom (so much better than the quite good film-far more packed into the novel). My dad introduced me to Forrest Gump. He also loved "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn (who I once met) and just about anything by David Halberstam.
–My brother-in-law, John


Anything by John Steinbeck.
-Uncle Donald


Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, and The Holy Bible.
My grandfather, Willy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The saddest, darkest father son story I’ve ever encountered. It is also soul shakingly beautiful. Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck are lifelong, read many times, favorites. Also Bluebeard, A Man with No Country, and Welcome to The Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.
-Musician, Johnny Hickman


My father's favorite books: Don Quixote (Cervantes) Inferno (Dante) and Death of A Salesman (Miller). He had a sad but driven life. Me (as dad)... Fathers and Sons (Ivan Turgenev), a story of the nobel nihilist, Bazarov who influenced my thinking for the first half of my life, and... The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) and My Life and Hard Times (James Thurber), our greatest and most serious American humorists who help me steer the ship today!
-Chris LeRoy, Musician

Johnny Hickman

A lot of people ask if I am related to Johnny Hickman. I'm not, but I think he would make a really cool big brother.