Jim Lewis Reads At THe Troy Library This Thursday

Jim is reading Thursday, August 15 at 6:30 at the Shorts Out Loud program at the Troy Public Library

This year he is going to the short story source, and reading Edgar Allen Poe, “The Facts In The Case of M. Valdemar.”

“Dark?” says Jim.  “Yes, a little.  But look at the hand of the Master!  First, Poe invented the short story.  Second, he was serialized in newspapers, which means he had the common touch, and painted in strong, broad strokes.  Yet he is not without subtlety, and very gripping.”

“My last reason,” he continued, “Well,  it’s personal.  Poe wrote in the first half of the 19th Century.  This story was published in 1845, three years after Troy became a city and took its present name.  It’s what I love about Troy, too—  its bones are firmly in the Federal period.  Learning was exalted, intellectual curiosity was appreciated, it was the beginning of modern science.  Amos Eaton had just retired from RPI, having revolutionized higher education with his Laboratory Method.  And here is a story that hits the high note of most good sci fi or fantasy:  Take normal reality and throw it one curve ball, then watch all your assumptions shatter.  Poe captures the spirit of the times.  I remember marveling at the premise of this story when I first read it as a 13 year old, caught up in the idea of it.”

Join Jim at 6:30 on Thursday, August 15, at the Troy Public Library, 100 Second Street, for his reading of The Facts In The Case of M. Valdemar.  Refreshments will be provided by Hannaford of Lansingburgh.  Andy Rutherford, master baroque luthier, will be playing his incredibly beautiful hand built lutes.  Fair warning, prepare to be transported to another era!

Truly, an event not to be missed.