Blanche DuBois

"Take Blanche her name is poetic: Blanche DuBois, "white of the woods," a heroine who stands for grace refinement, the lost plantation Belle Reve. She's also a liar, a semi-drunk, a hypocrite and a nymphomaniac and that's why she's so vivid - a butterfly and a tarantula at once."
 

~~Dichotomy from A Distant Country called youth - an adaptation of Tennessee Williams early letters which has been performed across the U.S. He also is known to have described Blanche as the funniest character he ever wrote.

Blanche DuBois is a character from Tennessee William's play "A Streetcar named Desire". She has been described as one of Drama's most memorable characters.

My husband and I watched the 1951 b&w movie adaptation starring Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh on a steamy August evening a couple of years ago. The hot, humid weather only enhanced the enjoyment of this sultry classic movie.

If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it.

Walk the Line

It’s been months since I watched a DVD at home. Last night's viewing of “Walk the Line”, the Johnny Cash story, was a welcome change of pace. I grew up listening to Johnny’s music (my mother was a big fan). The movie which documented his life from a young boy through his marriage to June Carter Cash held a few surprises. I had known virtually nothing of his early years, his marriage to Vivien or how he got his start in the music business. I certainly had no idea that he had pined for June Carter since he was a young man; they had toured together while both married to others early in his career. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon certainly do Johnny and June’s music justice.

I highly recommend this movie even if you are not a Johnny Cash fan.

Hershey by Michael D' Antonio

I had decided that in keeping up with my blog's cultural theme, my next book would be Nabokov's Lolita. As I walked around the library carrying the 400+ paged book I began dreading the task ahead. I kept remembering the summer I had spent reading Anna Karenina. I had begun reading it in June and didn’t finish until September, not my idea of summer reading. As I made my way to the circulation desk, I spotted D'Antonio's book on a book display. I quickly abandoned Lolita and snatched up Hershey. What can I say; I have a weakness for business history.

After completing the book in a mere two weeks, I can't help but wonder, "Where was this book when I was in business school?" What an informative read. It chronicles the life and legacy of Milton S. Hershey. He brought affordable milk chocolate to America. This task did not come easy. He started his career as a printer (which he hated) before becoming a worker at a candy store. He then had several failed business attempts and was the owner of a caramel factory before inventing his special milk chocolate recipe. The story follows his career as he develops massive factories, a sugar plantation and the perfect utopian town he built for his employees to live in also called Hershey. In the end he bequeathed his entire empire to the Hershey Industrial School, a school he had founded for orphan boys. M.S. Hershey was a true entrepreneur and a man of mystery that overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the most ambitious men of his generation. This amazing book is a lesson in business and history.

If you enjoy business history I highly recommend this book.