"Walks to the Paradise Garden is the last unpublished manuscript of the late American poet, photographer, publisher and bon viveur Jonathan Williams (1929-2008). This book chronicles Williams' road trips across the Southern United States with photographers Guy Mendes and Roger Manley in search of the most authentic and outlandish artists the South had to offer. Williams describes the project thus: 'The people and places in Walks to the Paradise Garden exist along the blue highways of America.... We have traveled many thousands of miles, together and separately, to document what tickled us, what moved us, and what (sometimes) appalled us.' The majority of these road trips took place in the 1980s, a pivotal decade in the development of Southern 'yard shows' and many of the artists are now featured in major institutions. This book, however, chronicles them at the outset of their careers and provides essential context for their inclusion in the art historical canon"--Back cover.

Manuscript published by Hutchinson : London, 1960.

Russell, only son of Jacob and Beryl becomes painfully aware as he grows from childhood to adolescence of his mother's intellectual failings and his father's need to control everyone around him. He makes his escape into a relationship with a beautiful young English girl. They are all set for wedded bliss but Jacob suffers a stroke and is confined to a wheelchair. This is not the life he wants and he begs Russell to help him end it. His son is torn but refuses and Jacob tries to kill himself by a series of increasingly bizarre and desperate methods. Russell is forced to consider a move that might land him in prison.This gripping novel deals with the ramifications of euthanasia and how it impacts on a family nomatter what choices they make. Its theme is topical and though suffused throughout with comedy it is both disturbing and uplifting.

A truly remarkable pictorial homage to Howard Finster's spiritual and artistic "garden" outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Finster has been busy for the last 25 years creating a kind of mystical Disney World populated by "found" sculpture, paintings, and writings. It would be easy to dismiss Finster as a "kook," but the contributing photographers ably capture for posterity the man's work with a loving detail that conveys the powerful urgency of his art. The color photographs are accompanied by Finster's own descriptions of how he created the garden, and commentary by fans such as David Byrne. Lacks an index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR