I ARTS Tuesday, December 5, 1989 The Michigan Daily Page 8 Writer Brown buil BY CAROLYN PAJOR W HAT would you say if your mother was the author of three novels, two books of poetry, and a book of short stories? Writer Rosellen Brown says her daughter and University student, Elana, will shrug off the question with a pithy, "Big deal, she's my mother." "Big" is an apt description of Rosellen Brown's work - she doesn't limit herself in subject matter or style of prose. Her novels range from Civil Wars, a story of ex-civil rights work- ers in Mississippi to Tender Mercies (not the movie), a story of a husband who accidently runs over his wife in a motorboat, rendering her a quadraplegic. It tells of the guilt and bitterness that follow as they try to restitch their lives. Of her diverse subject matter, she says, "As a writer, you can live all these different lives with- out committing yourself to them. You just in- habit their bodies, it's like being an actor." Her long poem, "Cora Fry," tells of a woman in a small town who wants to get away to see the rest of the world. Brown says she enjoys writing about "where the political world meets the do- mestic world. Most of my books have some sort of history." It is evident, though, that history is not the only bridge between her writing. In a review of Civil Wars, critic Linda Simon says, "Rosellen "Abeautifuland most mazing book" iMRCIUEBR' : te n ' :IL IWARS I Ii Brown is a sensitive and often masterful writer. She can portray a character by the inflection of a s bridges phrase or the description of a hand, a foot, the pressure of a light touch." Sensitive indeed, as a writer must be in order to write believably from the inside of the head of a quadraplegic woman. The paralyzed wife, Laura, talks of her useless body in Tender Mercies: I feel the flesh, it is smeared and heavy like a double coat of paint... You want to know why they didn't cut the killed part off, I know you do. Leave just my head, which works?... I'd like you to visit my head, I'd keep my can- celled body out of sight. Next time you come I'll have it closed in a box, all right? With a padlock under my chin like a silver~ bow. Brown records Laura's feelings in shattering detail and says she accomplished this by "concentrating and deeply focusing my thoughts. Writing is almost like meditation: you get so far from your life you can enter others' lives." In Tender Mercies, Laura tells someone that her whole body feels as a person's arm feels when it falls asleep. By making comparisons this way, Brown says she tried to "build a bridge to readers who wouldn't understand." And from her poetry to fiction and the distinctive worlds she inhabits within, Rosellen Brown is successful. ROSELLEN BROWN will be reading at Rack- ham Amphitheatre today at 4 p.m. 4 Where there's a Will, there's some Bushmen Never having been stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues, Alabama pop rockers Will and the Bushmen bring the blend of R & B, R & R, and soul on their eponymous album (SBK Records)to the stage of the Blind Pig tonight. Doors open at 9.30 p.m. Tickets are $4 at the door. ii al .1 Like a caffeine-propelled Rolling Stone BY ANNETTE PETR USSO R OLLING Stone: The Pho- tographs, the book, documents the "best" pictures of the most popular artists of the time as they appeared in Rolling Stone since its inception in 1967. The current promotional tour of college campuses in heart- warming conjunction with Maxwell House coffee displays these near-fa- mous pics as art in a "gallery" in the Pendleton Room of the Union. Con- sisting mainly of photographs of rock stars, this retrospective reflects the personalities and changing atti- tudes of both photographers and their subjects. The earliest pictures, from the late '60s and early '70s and in black- and-white, have an air of spontane- ity. The close-up of Tiny Tim's archetypal heavy metal pose with his ukelele, complemented by a six-pic- ture montage of his spontaneous mugging for the camera, make him unpompous and funny. The 1969 photo of Bob Dylan actually smiling in public captures a rare moment in music history. The Janis Joplin nude, posed in a most poignant fash- ion, reflects her tendency to brashly display everything about herself for the world to see. The overwhelming majority of pictures come from the '80s, but the few from the '70s are more interest- ingly photographed. Annie Lei- bovitz, whose photographs are by far the most amusing and best looking, often captured this era in pairs. The odd couple of her 1973 picture, Sal- vador Dali and Alice Cooper, looks posed but the very pairing maintains a sense of humor. The Glimmer Twins (Keith and Mick), before they got old, posed as self-mocking rock stars, barechested and cool. The most amusing photo of the whole exhibit, by Mary Ellen Mark, depicts Marlon Brando circa 1976 in Little House on David Bowie, Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Eddie Murphy model as 'we are cool and we know it.,' the Prairie garb, standing in a wheat field with a gun pointed at YOU. In comparison, the majority of photographs from the '80s seem posed, similar to advertisements, and self-righteous to boot. The only star who doesn't seem to take himself se- riously is Brian Wilson, who poses as Mr. Universe on a piano. David Bowie, Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Eddie Murphy model as "we are cool and we know it." The glossiness may reflect the commercialization of '80s society but becomes repetitive because each photo doesn't seem to reflect the star's self, only the slick public self that makes him or her seem like ev- ery other star. Bruce Springsteen's reflective pose and John Huston's closed eyes seem a more real version of their public image but can hardly make up for the stupid stud imagery of Timothy West's "portrait" of Jon Bon Jovi with a white stallion. Matthew Rolston's blue-tinted black-and-white photos of Terence Trent D'Arby, George Michael, and Bono look like ads for jeans, but these stars have a public arrogant at- titude to match this kind of preten- tious photography. The fact that Rolling Stone has made this exhibit primarily a product promotion (and further for a product that has nothing to do with rock 'n' roll) parallels the brazen commercial- ization of the pictures from the 1980s. Hiding behind free mugs and coffee, this show contains worth- while modern cultural history but has forgotten the spirit of rock's low-budget anti-establishment roots. ROLLING STONE: THE PHO- TOGRAPHS is on display in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union today and tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. jTHEESPOTLIGHT The informative and fun if some- times standard documentary Comic Book Confidential is playing this week at the Ann Arbor 1 & 2. The film is a nice introduction to the world of comic books, especially the underground artists of the last 2Q years or so. There's a lot of neat stuff for old fans, too, like story- teller Harvey Pekar growlingly nar- rating the tale of a jazz junkie and super-8 footage of R. Crumb and his San Francisco buddies. Call the the- ater at 761-9700 for times. Nom.' C BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP The Boston Consulting Group offers a unique developmental opportunity for a select group of outstanding college graduates. 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