Enthusiasts study way Faulkner regarded objects

Enthusiasts study wayFaulkner regarded objects
OXFORD, Miss. -- Hundreds of William Faulkner enthusiasts are in Oxford this week studying how the Nobel laureate gave significance to everyday objects in his complex novels and short stories.
"Faulkner was a shrewd observer of the meaning of things, an anthropologist of sorts," lecturer T.J. Jackson Lears, a Rutgers University history professor, said during Sunday's opening session of the 31st Faulkner & amp; Yoknapatawpha Conference.
Lears said Faulkner dissected "status in stuff," noting the profound social gulf between people who put things on a pedestal and people who had few possessions.
Clothing, to Faulkner, embodied social standing. With a change of outfits, country people could imagine and temporarily escape from their social station.
Claude Pruitt, a graduate student in humanities at the University of Texas-Dallas, was among the more than 100 participants in the workshop.
"You don't study American literature without going through Faulkner," said Pruitt, who's visiting Mississippi for the first time. "I'm already finding it informative."
The conference is not a new experience for many of the 15 members of an elder hostel group.
"We have people from all over the country -- Texas, Iowa, even one Mississippian -- who are very interested in Faulkner and very knowledgeable," said Barbara Stephens of Norfolk, Va.
Conference participants will have a picnic on the grounds of Faulkner's home, Rowan Oak. They'll also take guided tours of northeast Mississippi.
Ten presenters are leading workshops through Thursday.
Adult roles difficultfor virginal Dunst
Kirsten Dunst struggled to play sexually active women in "Crazy/Beautiful" and "The Virgin Suicides" -- because she was still a virgin herself, reports The Irish Examiner.
The 22-year-old actress was thrust into adult roles before she'd had the chance to experience adult emotions, and she admits to finding the parts difficult as a result.
Dunst, who recently split with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, says: "The trouble was, I really was a virgin. I have had to act emotions I haven't felt or experienced."
Cattrall will debuton London stage
Former "Sex and the City" star Kim Cattrall will make her London stage debut next year in "Whose Life Is It Anyway?," reports The Associated Press.
Peter Hall will direct Cattrall in an updated version of Brian Clark's 1978 drama about a sculptor paralyzed in a road accident who seeks the right to die.
Mary Tyler Moore won a Tony Award in 1980 for playing the role on Broadway. The play was filmed the next year with Richard Dreyfuss in the lead.
Born in Liverpool and raised in Canada, Cattrall played Samantha on the HBO sitcom, which ended a six-season run earlier this year.
Fox and Eads returnto work on 'CSI'
After a misunderstanding, the lovely Jorja Fox has returned to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," even though she and co-star George Eads had been fired by CBS. More good news: Eads also has cleared up his little mix-up with CBS suits and has suited up his hunky derriere to return to work.
Both are back on their old salary of $100,000 an episode and, according to TVGuide Online, have agreed not to ask for more until their contracts run out in '07. That means CBS not only won the salary dispute that started the fracas, it has managed to publicly spank both actors.
Today's birthdays
Movie director Andrew V. McLaglen is 84. Actor Darryl Hickman is 73. The former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, is 66. Former Senator Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) is 61. "Garfield" creator Jim Davis is 59. Rock musician Rick Wright (Pink Floyd) is 59. Actress Sally Struthers is 56. Rock musician Steve Morse (Deep Purple) is 50. Actress Elizabeth Berkley is 32. Singer Afroman is 30. Actor Jonathan Osser is 15.