SirReadaLot.org
We Review the Best of the Latest Books
ISSN 1934-6557
November 2005, Issue #79
Guide to This Issue
Contents: Digital Photography,
Women in the
Arts & Photography
Understanding Digital Photography: Creative Techniques for Getting Pictures by Bryan Peterson (Amphoto Books)
Whether readers are intimidated by their digital cameras or simply want to improve the quality of their pictures, Understanding Digital Photography has the information they need. The latest from noted photographer and instructor Bryan Peterson, this book demystifies digital technology. A variety of subjects and lighting conditions are presented, including landscapes, portraits, sunsets, nighttime scenes, and even close-ups.
Using his signature bad image/good image pairings of real-life examples, Peterson, best-selling author of Learning to See Creatively and Understanding Exposure, takes readers through the techniques need to succeed with digital photography in every popular genre: nature, people, sports, interiors, travel, low-light conditions, travel, weather, commercial portraits, macro, and wildlife – even how to use creative tricks such as reflections. As a bonus, Peterson explains, in straightforward text, the techniques of Photoshop as well as the basics of publishing, printing, and archiving and storing for personal or professional use. The book provides plentiful examples showing how to get it right in camera so that when readers finally show up at the doorstep of Photoshop, they are ready to take the images to the next level. Peterson says, “Remember, digital ‘film’ is free.”
Full of great examples for beginners and serious photographers,
Understanding Digital Photography makes it easy to create great
digital pictures. Whatever readers’ particular interests, Peterson
can help them achieve successful images with their digital cameras.
Arts & Photography / Politics
Changing the Face of Power: Women in the
They are
Changing the Face of Power documents all fourteen women in their
day-to-day work as senators. Melina Mara's candid images show the
senators attending hearings, meeting the press, greeting their
constituents, consulting with staff, legislating behind the scenes,
and sharing private moments with colleagues and family. Mara, staff
photographer at the Washington Post, tells how she followed the
senators and went for the candid, revealing moments. In these
photographs she captures the demanding, 24/7 nature of the job and
shows that the female senators more than hold their own among their
male colleagues.
Accompanying the photos are commentaries by journalist Cokie
Roberts, introductions by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Kay
Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and interviews between veteran White House
correspondent Helen Thomas and all of the senators. These pieces
address women's achievements in attaining political power and
describe the burdens and rewards of the office. The senators
describe their motivations for being in the Senate, the challenges
they've faced, the way they balance work and family, and the
prospects for a woman winning the presidency in the coming years.
As Congress has become a more representative institution, the women who have been path breakers in the Senate deserve this photographic tribute. This pioneering work of photojournalism succeeds in showing us candid images of women in the halls of power. Changing the Face of Power is at once headline news and a potent documentary record of a turning point in American and women's history.
Arts & Photography / Sociology / Political Science
Art and the State: The Visual Arts in Comparative Perspective by Victoria D. Alexander & Marilyn Rueschemeyer (St. Antony’s Series: Palgrave MacMillan)
Two experts in the social study of the arts look at the impact of
the nation-state – its actions, policies and traditions – on art
institutions and artists. Focusing on the visual arts,
Art and the State examines cultural policy in the
Art and the State demonstrates that the art-state integration is
highly complex. The state has a degree of control, never absent and
never absolute, over artists; artists in authoritarian societies
carve out spaces of freedom, while artists in free-market countries
submit to constraints imposed by the state, and by the marketplace.
But the discussion goes far beyond the issues of autonomy and
freedom. Other topics include the development of audiences, arts
controversies, the privatization of arts institutions, and the
public role of art and artists.
The authors, Victoria Alexander, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at
the
From the extensive literature on the sociology of art, and from their own research, they knew that art is not just about artists and artworks. Artists create art within a social context – within an ‘art world’ or ‘artistic field’ – that is situated in the wider society. A host of factors from the art world and the society affect the production of art.
The state is an important actor (or more accurately, a collection of actors) in the social world, and actions of the state are profoundly important for art worlds, artists, and artworks. The state influences the production, distribution, and reception of art, and it can shape the life chances of individual artists. A state may support artists directly through salary, fellowships, or grants. It may purchase artworks. It may fund art museums and galleries, either directly through line-item or project grants or indirectly through tax incentives. It may repress artists or censor artworks that criticize it. Or it may do none of these things. Its legal climate, favorable or unfavorable to free market ideology, to private property, and to intellectual property rights, will affect the distribution strategies of artists. Its ability to maintain civic order influences artistic subject matter, as well as the ability of artists to work safely in their studios. Its educational policy affects not only the training, and employment, of those interested in becoming artists or those identified with particular visual talents, but also the reception of artworks by the general public who are educated in the state's system.
Alexander and Rueschemeyer believe that the state and its effects have been understudied in relationship to other aspects of the art world. Comparative studies of the topic have been especially rare. Just as the complexities of ‘art and the state’ within a given setting are often overlooked, so too are the similarities across countries with very different governmental structures. In ‘free’ countries, as in authoritarian ones, state control of art and artists is an issue. In the west, public art, the public place of art, and even the kind of art supported by public funds can be (and has been) subject to controversy that escalates into ‘culture wars’ which, in turn, can lead to cultural policy that, in many respects, shades into censorship.
In discussing these ideas, Alexander and Rueschemeyer found that their ongoing research addressed the subject of art and the state in complementary ways. They hoped, therefore, that they were in an excellent position to contribute to the literature on art and the state, in a truly comparative way.
In 1996, Alexander moved to
Meanwhile, Rueschemeyer's own work had been moving in directions
which explored similar themes. She spent several sabbaticals abroad
where, among other interests, she explored the social situation of
artists, the reception of their work by different audiences, and how
their creative lives are affected by state policy. She had
co-authored a book on Soviet émigré artists and she continued this
line of research as additional possibilities for work arose in the
They decided that it would be best to collaborate on the Introduction and the Conclusion to bring out the themes and ideas highlighted by the case studies. The Introduction (Chapter 1) discusses the general topic of cultural policy with respect to the visual arts. In this chapter, they point out the various dimensions along which cultural policy may be measured. A comparative perspective clarifies a number of issues, a key one being the degree of state control of artists and institutions involved in cultural policy. A set of textured, comparative studies shows that issues of artistic freedom and state – or market – constraint are complex and do not fall along a simple continuum from free market states with a high degree of artistic freedom to autocratic states with a high degree of censorship and control.
The Conclusion (Chapter 7) draws out the lessons learned from a comparative reading of their five projects. This chapter, the most explicitly comparative in Art and the State, brings to fruition the initial discussion they had at that ASA meeting. Though Alexander's work focused initially on art institutions, especially museums, and Rueschemeyer's on artists and their associations, they found that their interests encompassed all of these aspects of the art world. Indeed, it is difficult to study arts institutions without considering artists, and vice versa. They found that their differing research methods (Alexander drawing on documentary analysis and Rueschemeyer on interviews with artists, gallery owners and managers, and policy makers) and writing styles have proved to be useful levers with which to lift additional insights from the data. In writing Art and the State, their aims were to examine the texture and complexity within the art-state relationship in individual countries and, through their collaborative chapters, to present their ideas on art and the state and to integrate their insights from the case studies.
In the case studies Alexander and Rueschemeyer examine these issues comparatively, for it is only by comparing different political-cultural systems that one can study such large-scale subjects. By looking at a variety of political systems they can draw out the implications of contrasting relations between the political order and the world of the visual arts, ranging from different patterns of funding through contrasting social environments in which artists work to the varying character and responses of audiences for art. These comparisons will show that the state has an important impact on what happens in the art world.
In the case studies, which are an integral part of Chapters 2
through 6, they examine different contexts of government involvement
in the visual arts. Chapter 2 examines the
These three chapters of parallel case analyses are followed by
two that trace transitions from one political system to another.
Chapter 5 examines the art world of communist
These contrasting political contexts represent a range of
government support from meager to munificent. They also represent
differences along many other dimensions such as in audience
development and issues of control and censorship. For example, the
United States, never generous with funding, has become stingier in
recent years in response to arts controversies over federal funding
of ‘obscene’ art, while the United Kingdom has also reined in
cultural spending, at least on the visual arts.
Art and the State is a wonderful book…. I especially like the
way in which the authors take a nuanced approach to consider the
vexed relationship of the arts and the state. They are right on
target when pointing to the subtle control effects that exist in
non-totalitarian as well as in extremely authoritarian states. Their
comparative perspective is a most valuable addition to an
under-studied field. – Vera Zolberg, Professor of Sociology, New
Timely, informative, and well-structured, this book provides a
much needed comparison of the relationship between the state and the
visual arts in the
Art and the State examines the impact of states and their
policies on visual art, contrasting developments in the
The five empirical chapters are interesting in themselves, the Introduction and Conclusion demonstrating not only the coherence and unity of the ideas behind Art and the State, but also the comparative perspective they present enriches each individual case.
Autobiography / Special Needs
No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life by Kyle Maynard (Regnery Publishing, Inc.)
"It's not what I can do, it's what I will do. – Kyle Maynard
Born without arms or legs below his elbows and knees, Kyle Maynard excels as a champion athlete, inspirational speaker, college student and male model. No Excuses demonstrates how a positive attitude gives someone we might see as disadvantaged the advantage over life. Maynard was born in 1986 with a rare disorder called congenital amputation. He has no forearms, shortened legs, and stands only four feet tall. Yet Maynard has learned to live a full and active life. Besides dealing with everyday challenges, he is an excellent student, has impeccable handwriting, and can type fifty words a minute.
In this autobiography, Maynard tells his story of personal
determination, a devoted family, and a strong religious faith that
has landed him appearances on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,
Good Morning
A competitor to the core, Maynard was determined to succeed as an
athlete. Through hard work, the support of his family, and a coach
who designed new wrestling moves like the ‘jawbreaker’ and ‘buzz
saw,’ Maynard became one of the top high school wrestlers in the
state of
When I interviewed Kyle Maynard, he touched the hearts of more viewers than perhaps any other interview I've done. No Excuses is the book that Kyle Maynard fans, like me, have been waiting for. And let me tell you, it's terrific. – Larry King, Host, CNN's Larry King Live
Kyle Maynard's inspirational story is about succeeding against odds that most of us can't imagine. How does Kyle do it? His title says it all: `No Excuses.' That's a habit we could all adopt from this great book, written by a highly successful young man. – Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness
We often measure the heart of a champion by his success. I believe a true champion is measured by how he overcomes adversity. Kyle Maynard embodies the true champion spirit and motivates me to be a better athlete and a better person. – Randy Couture, Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight champion
A gripping tale of athleticism and competition, and a moving, inspiring story of one man's indomitable spirit. I couldn't put it down! – Liz Vaccariello, executive editor, Fitness magazine
No Excuses is a book about a courageous young man who faced the seemingly impossible challenge to live a normal life – and won a phenomenal victory.
This inspirational book about the perseverance of the human spirit cannot fail to inspire readers.
Biographies & Memoirs / Entertainers
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love, and Faith of an American Legend – the Authorized Biography [UNABRIDGED] (7 Audio Cassettes or Audio CD: running time 7 hours) by Steve Turner, with a foreword by Kris Kristofferson, narrated by Rex Linn (Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc.)
The Master of Life’s been good to me. He has given me strength to
face past illnesses, and victory in the face of defeat….Let the
music play. – Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash was a poor sharecropper’s son from
Born to a devout Christian mother and a father prone to dark,
destructive moods, Cash grew up in poverty and knew hardships. But
his mother helped him nurture his music as well as his faith in God.
The Man Called Cash chronicles his career, his love for June
Carter Cash, his struggles, and his triumphs. Different from other
books written about him, this one, written by Steve Turner, the
author of biographies of Jack Kerouac, Marvin Gaye and Van Morrison,
brings Cash's faith into the foreground and tells the story of a man
redeemed, without sugar-coating.
Cash’s rise to stardom skyrocketed in the 1950s. Drug addictions,
fits of rage, and shattered relationships marked his performances as
a country singer. With his craggy voice and simple, direct style,
Cash mesmerized young and the old alike.
While The Man Called Cash chronicles the details of the musician’s life – including his brushes with the law – Turner turns his pen toward Cash’s deep faith as well as his humble, unpretentious love for his family and his wife, June Carter Cash. The audiobook is read by Rex Linn, an actor currently starring in CSI: Miami.
… Musical biographer Turner (Conversations with Clapton, etc.)
leans heavily on interviews with Cash fans such as Larry Gatlin and
Kris Kristofferson (who pens the foreword) and on quotations from
songs Cash wrote, sang or both. The result is an affecting mosaic of
oral history, poetry and memoir – concerning Cash himself, but also
the era in which his music took root and thrived. … – Publishers
Weekly
Turner has . . . put Cash’s soul on paper. Read this book if you
care anything at all about American popular music. –
Bookreporter.com
Turner is refreshingly reluctant to sensationalize . . . evenhanded
and honest. Turner’s life of the artist pays due honor to Cash. –
Reuters
In The Man Called Cash, Turner explores the legacy left by the man in black with unflinchingly honesty. This biography reveals Cash anew, taking a candid look at the depth of the man. Cash’s authenticity and unassuming persona are what Turner clearly captures. Whether readers are among the millions of Johnny Cash fans, fellow believers, or pop culture aficionados, The Man Called Cash will inspire them with its story of faith, hope, and redemption.
Business & Investing / Consumerism
Latino Boom!: Everything You Need to Know to Grow Your Business
in the
It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling Pampers, blue jeans, cars, or credit cards, the Hispanic community is a market you must include in your business plans. – Chiqui Cartagena
The median household income of a Hispanic family is already $4,000 higher than that of an African American family; the disposable income of the Hispanic population is expected to top $1 trillion by 2010; and the average Hispanic citizen is ten years younger than the general market. The business opportunities are endless, but only if readers know whom to hire, what to sell, and where to target.
Chiqui Cartagena, Managing Director of Multicultural
Communications at Meredith Integrated Marketing, an expert on the
Hispanic market, has written a fact-packed guide that will help
readers trying to understand the largest demographic group in
- The best ways to approach the three different Latino groups (Isolated, Acculturated, and Assimilated).
- The reasons why ‘other’ Hispanics (those who aren’t Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) have become an increasingly important sub group.
- The increasing influence of consumer-savvy Hispanic teenagers, who play an important role in urban trendsetting.
- Why Latino consumer behavior makes for a different market than that of the general market or other minority markets.
- Why companies can succeed wildly or fail miserably in trying to reach this market.
- The key differences among
A must read for those looking to seriously understand the
dynamics of the
A book that every marketer in the
Any company will benefit from the authoritative advice in Latino Boom!. This easy-to-use guide is indispensable for any business person trying to appeal to this crucial market. As Chiqui Cartagena says, “You can spend $20,000 on a consultant, or you can buy this book.”
Business & Investing / Entertainment / Youth Culture
Make It Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation Guide to Success by Kevin
Liles, with Samantha Marshall (Atria Books)
is both an American success story and a guidebook for the road to
having both a career and a life one loves.
Kevin Liles rose from intern to president of Def Jam records in only nine years. Today, at age 37, he is Executive Vice President of multi-billion dollar industry giant Warner Music Group and has helped discover and direct the talents of Jay-Z, Ludacris, Ashanti, DMX, Ja Rule, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Method Man, Redman, and more. Liles meteoric climb from an urban street kid with hip hop aspirations to one of the most successful and influential executives in the record business is far more than a modern-day Cinderella story. It is a tribute to Liles's incredible work ethic and his insistence on doing things his way – the Hip Hop way.
"Every real success story in Hip Hop comes down to the same thing: someone who finds the will, focus and drive to achieve," Liles writes in Make It Happen. “It doesn't matter if you are male or female. It doesn't matter what race or religion you are. It doesn't even matter what hustle you choose.” “What does matter,” Liles says, “is that you fight against the odds to realize a dream and be the best that you can be. You don't take ‘no’ for an answer or abide the negativity of people. You empower yourself and make it happen.”
Make It Happen, written with New York Business senior staff reporter Samantha Marshall, presents Liles's Ten Rules of business success, which range from "Find Your Will" and "Make a Plan" to "Don't Let the Cash Rule" and "Mix it Up." As he outlines his philosophy, Liles recounts how he has put it to work, chronicling his journey to the top – from being a young black man in West Baltimore with a better chance of getting shot or jailed than getting a respectable job, to early promise as a rapper and hit songwriter at 15 (Liles wrote the Milli Vanilli hit, "Girl You Know It's True"), to his transition to the business side of the industry and his remarkable ascendancy. Along the way, he shares the stories and thoughts of others – executives, artists, mentors and friends – who have also made it despite the odds.
A career guide book for a new generation, infused with the street smarts and fresh pulse of hip hop itself, Make It Happen embodies Liles's manifesto: "The only ghetto that can hold you down is the ghetto of the mind."
For young people who might be coming from backgrounds where the corporate boardroom is alien territory or for savvy executives who are looking to excel beyond their career goals, Liles tells them how to build personal and business relationships that will last forever. But he cautions readers that they can't take everyone with them, and they need to edit negative influences out of their lives.
Liles' advice is built on his own personal journey, and he shares
what he has learned from mentors such as Lyor Cohen, Chairman and
CEO of US Recorded Music at Warner Music Group, and Bob Johnson,
founder and CEO of Black Entertainment Television, the largest
black-owned and operated media empire in the world. But he also
highlights the achievements of many of the young people who have
risen up the ranks under his guidance. He addresses the sensitive
issue of the conservative media's relentless campaign against Hip
Hop, defending the art form and its positive impact on
Kevin is the face of the struggle. With his street-savvy advice,
his knowledge of the youth culture of today and his drive, Kevin
shows that
Make It Happen is truly what it says – the hip-hop generation's
guide to success. Kevin overcame the trials and tribulations of
growing up in
and partner in every sense of the word. – Russell Simmons, founder
of Def Jam Records
Although
Make It Happen was written for the hip-hop generation, the book
is relevant for anybody who wants to succeed in business and life.
Kevin's journey is a true human-interest story that is
inspirational, touching and powerful. His insights are pertinent
whether you are a young person starting your own business or a
seasoned professional. – Gayle King, 0, The Oprah Magazine
As an African-American business leader, a man like Kevin represents to me everything that is right in the African American entrepreneurship – visionary, hard working, entrepreneurial and smart . . . and I encourage everyone to read his book and follow his advice. – Bob Johnson, founder, Black Entertainment Television
Kevin has done so much for the Baltimore community and is one who
understands his roots, where he came from and is someone to be
listened to for so many reasons. I highly recommend
Make It Happen to anyone in this country who is pursuing
excellence and deeper meaning in any area of their lives. – Mayor
Martin O'Malley, city of
Liles "balances the entrepreneurial spirit of Def Jam's hip-hop
roots with the sound, old fashioned business sense needed to turn
this mercurial industry into a world-renowned entertainment empire,"
writes
Having crafted a management style out of the very roots of Hip Hop, Liles shares the wealth of his knowledge with those who want to emulate his spectacular success. Filled with invaluable, street-savvy advice from the hip hop music industry's young Turk, Make It Happen is the consummate career guide for a new generation – Liles speaks directly to young people hungry for success, providing advice that stresses determination, hard work, and being true to one’s dream.
Business & Investing / Psychology & Counseling
The Business and Practice of Coaching: Finding Your Niche, Making Money, and Attracting Ideal Clients by Lynn Grodzki & Wendy Allen (W.W. Norton and Co.) focuses on basic business principles and strategies.
Building a thriving coaching business is a challenge. An estimated 30,000 coaches have entered the coaching profession during the past five years. Unfortunately, the majority report they are unable to earn a living wage from their coaching services. Competition is high, and the knowledge of how to succeed is often lacking. To survive today, coaches must match their enthusiasm with strong, business and marketing expertise.
Lynn Grodzki and Wendy Allen are veteran business coaches who understand how to strategically approach the business and the practice of coaching as well as how to mentor new coaches entering the profession. The Business and Practice of Coaching is the first text to combine a coaching approach (step-by step exercises, direct suggestions, insider's tips, and motivational plans) with solid business information and ideas. Grodzki, a psychotherapist and certified coach in private practice, and Allen, a psychologist and business coach, demonstrate how to customize a business plan that can spell the difference between accomplishment and collapse. The book shows readers how to
- Build a coaching business that has relevance to the larger community around it, and be aligned with the new realities of the coaching profession.
- Refine their coaching skill set to incorporate the five coaching competencies that signal to the public that they are masterful coaches.
- Define their innate coaching specialty and target a profitable niche market.
- Implement the eight best marketing strategies to attract coaching clients.
- Set and raise their fees the right way, develop multiple streams of coaching income, and build a six-figure business that they can own and sell.
- Institute risk management policies.
This book offers nothing less than a radical rethinking of the
essentials of building a coaching practice. A must read for all
coaches, master and novice alike – Richard J. Leider, author of The
Power of Purpose
The Business and Practice of Coaching provides practical guidelines that help coaches create a successful practice and a successful business. – Marshall Goldsmith, co-editor or author of 19 books
Timely and acutely needed,
The Business and Practice of Coaching is a voice of realism for
the coaching profession. This is a must-read for any coach who is
serious about a successful and sustainable coaching business. Most
importantly, readers will experience what it is like to be coached
by the authors who provide a perfect balance of ‘hard truths’ and
‘how-to’ strategies. I benefited from at least one gem in every
chapter. – Lynne Hornyak, Ph.D., PCC, LMH Services, Coaching and
Consulting,
Grodzki and Allen help coaches succeed by showing them how to develop an entrepreneurial mind-set. Covering all of the territory, The Business and Practice of Coaching offers a wealth of information and accessible expert guidance. Readers will discover how to take advantage of current trends within the quickly changing coaching profession so that the business they build today will be viable tomorrow.
Business & Investing / Personal Finance
Millionaire Republican: Why Rich Republicans Get Rich – and How
You Can Too! by Wayne Allyn Root (Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Penguin)
...Root outlines the Republican principles that can help even some educable Democrats achieve their dreams of wealth. – Michael Medved
Author Wayne Allyn Root is a self-made millionaire, TV celebrity,
Root relates why those that vote and think like liberal Democrats are condemned to poverty, mediocrity, and dependence on others (government, unions, landlords, bosses, Democratic politicians) for the rest of their lives. In contrast, Millionaire Republican reveals the Republican success strategies, and teaches us perhaps the biggest secret of all: The real key to becoming a Millionaire Republican is to do exactly the opposite of what the masses do.
Root reveals to readers that they should:
- Live, work, and invest only in specific low-tax, Republican red states.
- Base their lives on three Republican Rules: ownership, risk, and salesmanship.
- Invest in foreign real estate – but only in specific tax havens.
- When it comes to their primary residence, think big, think Red, and sell often. (By following Root's advice, readers can own their own home free in a red state.)
- Cultivate ‘The Joy of Failure’ and ‘The Ego Rules’ to become a leader in the business world.
- Learn how to legally keep more of their own money, because when it comes to wealth, it's not what they make, it's what they keep.
- Own and control their children's future through homeschooling.
According to Root, becoming a millionaire takes action, hard work, focus, creativity, drive, and a constant willingness to risk failure. It is not for the faint of heart.
If you want to become one of those ‘Rich Republicans’ that liberals seem to hate so much, you'll need to read only one book. . . Millionaire Republican is your book! Read it, study it, live it! – Christopher Ruddy, CEO & Publisher, NewsMax.com
As a NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl MVP, I think I understand how to win championships. With his new book Millionaire Republican, author Wayne Allyn Root coaches his readers to victory in the game that matters – achieving high levels of ownership, wealth and financial freedom. – Randy White, NFL Hall of Fame member
Wayne Allyn Root changes lives with his
Millionaire Republican philosophy. Back in 1990 when I met
I'm a member of the ‘Big Three’...I'm a Democrat, an attorney and a Californian. And yet I still love the message of Millionaire Republican! Because when it comes to the topic of wealth – there are universal truths. Wayne Allyn Root has captured them all! – Lee Sacks, Esq.
Millionaire Republican is an updated version of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich combined with "Republican Eye for the Poor-Thinking Democrat Guy (or Gal)!" Root brings his makeover message of prosperity to ALL Americans – middle class and poor – especially, he says, the poor – with a sense of humor and common sense from his own life; he relates how he used his chutzpah and drive to become a self-made millionaire CEO. According to him, if only Democrats would stop complaining and put all that extra time to good use – they would no longer have anything to complain about.
By far the most galling part of the book was when Root blamed the
poor people of
Children’s / Ages 6-10 / Religion & Spirituality / Christianity
Holy Bible – The Beginner's Bible: New International Reader’s Version illustrated by Kelly Pulley (Zonderkidz)
In Holy Bible – The Beginner's Bible the complete, easy-to-read New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) children's translation is combined with the bestselling The Beginner's Bible characters. The New International Reader's Version uses words and phrases written at a third-grade reading level for kids 6-10 years of age. Twenty full-color tip-ins of The Beginner's Bible artwork make this a good choice as a Bible for instilling faith in young hearts. The book also includes an NIrV dictionary, an illustrated article on ‘Life in New Testament Times,’ the ‘ABCs of Salvation’ and a simple plan for helping children read the Bible.
The Holy Bible – The Beginner's Bible provides a vehicle to capture children’s imaginations with lively pictures and easy-to-read words. The book provides accuracy together with the appeal of 20 full-color pages of the Beginner's s Bible art – in the style of the popular, updated Bible storybook whose colorful illustrations and simple stories have made it a favorite with children and parents everywhere. The book provides parents with a way to encourage their child's love for God's word to grow with this colorful, complete Bible, perfect for beginning readers.
Children’s / Ages 10 and up
Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem about
Ed Young, a prolific creator of children's books, has created a stunning tour de force: Beyond the Great Mountains.
It tells the story of the middle empire, the story of the
seasons, of the crops and of nature. The unique format (the book
opens vertically with tiered pages) and gorgeous paper-collage
illustrations, highlighted with Chinese characters, combine to
convey the many facets of
Young was born in
Beyond the Great Mountains on the last page includes a selection of the ancient Chinese characters shown earlier in the book (circa 500 BC) and the corresponding modern Chinese characters. Young shares his fascination with poetry and with the hidden wisdom of symbols. He connects the Chinese characters to their component parts (the symbol for wine is made up of the symbols for vessel, fermented rice and ladle; the symbol for jade is made up of heaven, earth, principle and stone) as well as their conceptual meanings. The sparse words remind one of haiku. He asks readers to look at the ancient Chinese characters & compare them to the modern symbols and to use them as a vehicle to be open.
This beautiful book would make a wonderful gift for a creative,
artistic child, an adult immigrant friend who misses his home
country of
Young describes in measured detail a beautiful and mystical land and serves as a tribute to the country he clearly loves.
Children’s / Grades K-3
Voting in Elections by Terri DeGezelle, Shirley Tabata Ponomareff (First Facts Series: Capstone Press)
Voting in elections gives citizens a voice in government. Written at the second grade level, Voting in Elections enables readers to learn about ballots, how votes are counted, and how one vote can make a difference in any election. For example, in Voting History the book says: “Years ago many US citizens were not allowed to vote. Only white men who owned land could vote. Some people believed this was not fair. For years, other people worked hard to win voting rights. In 1870, African American men won the right to vote. In 1920, all women won voting rights.”
Topics include: The Right to Vote, People Elect Leaders, Voting History, Who Can Votes, Informed Voters, Where Citizens Vote, How Citizens Vote, and Counting the Votes. The book also contains amazing but true facts, a glossary, where readers can read more, internet sites and an index.
As an activity to understand elections, Voting in Elections suggests that readers conduct their own election to elect a Leader of the Day and outlines how to do it.
The book is part of the First Facts Series in which young readers
learn about government in the
Children’s / Fantasy
Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers written & illustrated by Lee Edward Födi (Brown Books)
Födi has created a unique world...appeal[s] to a variety of readers who like fantasy, adventure, or a strong story. – Deborah Mervold, CM Magazine
With the recent mania over the latest Harry Potter book, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ready to hit movie theatres, children's thirst for magical adventure and dangerous spells is unquenchable. What better way for them to spend their free moments this autumn than to curl up with a book of fantastic enchantment?
So what appears as if by magic? – Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers, written and illustrated by Lee Edward Födi, who has been illustrating stories about magic, monsters and meddlesome animals as long as he can remember.
For over a thousand years, the Box of Whispers has guarded the
most precious treasure in the
Födi invites readers to come join Kendra Kandlestar as she learns fine lessons about loyalty, friendship, prejudice, and the power of facing your fears.
Once I started reading Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers, I couldn't put it down! The pictures are amazing. – Dona, age 10
This book is special, because it has unusual things like the
Riddle Door and the
I love the variation of mythical and magical creatures. It's funny and full of surprises every step of the way, just like Artemis Fowl but better. – James, age 10
I love magic, so I loved Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers. It had lots of excitement and action! – Joyce, age 9
A combination of fairytale, folklore and fantasy, and written with a whimsical sense of humor and flare, Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers is peppered with all the right ingredients to please young readers.
Cooking, Food & Wine
New Vegetarian: Bold and Beautiful Recipes for Every Occasion by Celia Brooks Brown, with photography by Philip Webb (Ryland, Peters & Small)
Welcome to the new era of vegetarian cooking and eating – food for a dynamic life through a healthy diet – and food for the sheer enjoyment of it. Vegetarian cooking today includes food modeled on ancient world cuisines, as well as fusing the myriad of modern ingredients available today.
Every day, more people are deciding to eat less meat or are giving it up altogether. Cooking vegetarian can require a little more creativity than cooking with meat, but that doesn't mean it has to be complicated. New Vegetarian aims to inspire both the seasoned and the novice cook.
Written by Celia Brooks Brown, teacher-chef at Books for Cooks in
Notting Hill,
Recipes include Thai-glazed Vegetable Skewers, Piedmontese Peppers, Chestnut, Spinach and Mushroom Phyllo Torte, Parmesan Pattie, Mushroom and Onion Marmalade Tartlets, and White Chocolate Mousse Torte. New Vegetarian includes step-by-step instructions and preparation methods. The book also includes health notes, the basics, the vegetarian panty and kitchen equipment.
New Vegetarian suggests readers be brave and adventurous, but bear in mind that some immortally classic combinations, like pesto for example, are not necessarily improved by substituting, say, lemongrass and Roquefort for basil and Parmesan. The individual’s cooking style is based on who they are, and what they like to eat. Within the boundaries of tradition and sound judgment, there is room for individual expression.
Vegetarians and meat eaters alike will love the delicious recipes
in
New Vegetarian. – Top Santé
New Vegetarian is a gem: a collection of over 70 exciting, but
practical, new recipes are featured that take even the experienced
cook into new territory. – BBC Good Food
From quick weekday lunches, snacks, and suppers to sophisticated dinner parties, readers will find a feast of delicious vegetarian recipes for every occasion in New Vegetarian. The photography by Philip Webb is truly lovely, a song to food.
Cooking, Food & Wine
Williams Sonoma Rome by Williams-Sonoma (Williams-Sonoma Series: Oxmoor House)
Romans take pride in their city and their cuisine. In every corner of the capital, historic open-air markets herald the seasons with vivid displays of perfectly trimmed artichokes, plump fava bean; juicy tomatoes, bundles of wild greens, or piles of glossy brown chestnuts, all arranged for the discriminating eye. Specialty shops brim with the bounty of the surrounding countryside from fresh sheep's milk ricotta and cold-pressed olive oil to wonderful wines and cured salumi.
Trends may come and go, but the strongest influence on Roman
cooking is still its rich tradition. Hearty pastas accented with
tomato, pizzas with a crispy-thin crust, and artichokes braised to
perfection are all hallmarks of the Roman table.
Eating well has always been one of the great pleasures of Roman life. Williams Sonoma Rome is a lavishly photographed testimony to the flavors of the grand city. An in-depth introduction reveals the rich rhythms of daily living, starting with the morning's caffé e cornetto at the corner bar, continuing with a trip through the lively open-air markets, and perhaps culminating in the evening meal's leisurely parade of courses from antipasto to dolce. Inspired by both well-loved traditional dishes and the new ‘cucina creativa’ of some of Rome's most acclaimed chefs, the more than 45 recipes in this volume demonstrate the simple eloquence of contemporary Roman cuisine, including classic pastas such as Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe and Spaghetti alla Carbonara, lusty main courses like Saltimbocca alla Romana, and seasonal vegetable side dishes.
This volume brings la dolce vita home to readers’ kitchens. A
cookbook that showcases the cuisine and food artisans one of the
world's most beautiful cities,
Williams Sonoma Rome is required reading for anyone with a
passion for
The Williams-Sonoma Series presents authentic recipes celebrating
the foods of the world with general editor, Chuck Williams, general
editor of the Williams-Sonoma Series, has helped to revolutionize
cooking in
Entertainment / Biographies & Memoirs
700 Sundays by Billy Crystal (Warner Books)
In December 2004, the most successful non-musical Broadway play
of all time opened on
Billy Crystal was fifteen when his father, Jack, died of a heart attack. A dedicated family man, Jack Crystal worked two jobs most of his adult life and could spare only Sundays to spend with his wife and three sons. That's 700 Sundays total, by Billy's count.
In his memoir
… There's the story of
This autobiographical journey is sure to elicit tears and laughter from readers – 700 Sundays captures the elusive nature of family as seen through the eyes of a comic genius. 700 Sundays is not the story of Billy Crystal's great career; it is a tribute to a family and the people who helped make him a man; it celebrates the memories, the love, and all the other wonderful gifts parents can give a child.
Entertainment / Television
Blood Relations:
The television series Buffy and Angel revolve around radical
conceptions of family. Indeed, their coherence depends on the
establishment of nontraditional families that admit vampires,
demons, witches, werewolves, and other bizarre characters without
censuring them for their peculiarities.
Blood Relations argues that what makes these characters enduring
and engaging is their critical family connections – for their most
involved struggles occur not in the graveyard, but around the dinner
table, just as the most challenging adversarial forces that they
must face are not demons or vampires but the stuff of everyday life.
Jes Battis, doctoral student in the Department of English at
Through eight chapters addressing various family-related aspects within both shows, Blood Relations plots the trajectory of this unstable notion of family, even as it is transformed, remediated, and rendered unrecognizable from a ‘family values’ perspective by the unique and supernatural relationships that proliferate in Buffy and Angel.
The book concludes by saying, “Both Buffy and Angel present us with radical new models of family, just as they exhort us to appreciate and respect our own extended families – even when we don’t want to, and even when the Scoobies seem infinitely better. For as most fans of Buffy know, who you watch the show with is as important as the show itself…. Buffy and Angel are shows about family, and should be watched with family – whichever family you choose, and whichever family chooses you.” According to Blood Relations these are new constellations of belonging, beyond the scope of family studies. Here is new view to ‘maintain the family’ – family values of the most extreme sort.
Health, Mind & Body / Psychology & Counseling
Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection by Malcolm Noell Mcleod (Basic Health)
An investigator waits an entire lifetime for results such as
these. – Jonathan R.T. Davidson, Professor of Psychiatry,
A new, safe, natural treatment with no side effects for atypical depression has been discovered by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Malcolm McLeod. As many as one-half of depressed people – an estimated 30 million in the United States alone suffer from atypical depression; a type of chronic depression with symptoms that include carbohydrate cravings and/or weight gain, lethargy, sleepiness, and sensitivity to rejection. This type of depression begins early in life and can last a lifetime unless treated. Until now, there has been no effective treatment for atypical depression that is free of unwanted side effects.
In Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection, McLeod describes how he serendipitously discovered that chromium, a trace mineral deficient in the diets of most Americans, was more effective and faster acting in some patients than even the strongest antidepressant drugs. Although he was initially skeptical, McLeod was unable to dismiss the effects he observed in his patients who took chromium. He began to piece together hundreds of clues from insights he gained during therapy sessions; then he conducted an in-depth study of medical and scientific literature. Over time, he deduced a scientific and medical explanation for chromium's powerful, therapeutic effects.
McLeod, clinical professor of psychiatry at the
Over the past ten years, McLeod tested his theory and treatment by conducting single-blind and double-blind studies with patients who were desperate for help and wished to participate in trials. He used placebos, combined chromium with prescription medications, tried chromium alone, and tested different amounts of chromium and a variety of chromium products. His dedication to the scientific method of exploration led him to recruit independent medical researchers who conducted studies that support many of his original findings. Peer-reviewed psychiatric journals, including Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, and Biological Psychiatry, have published Dr. McLeod's ‘stunning’ discovery. In the last several years, the medical and scientific worlds have begun to accept McLeod's pioneering findings.
In Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection, in addition to explaining why and how chromium works, McLeod details a five-step program that can help overcome depression and improve overall well-being. He also helps patients self-identify the troubling symptoms which can best be relieved by chromium picolinate supplementation.
One of the most important books in my life. A lifelong sufferer
from depression, I followed all of Dr. McLeod's suggestions and am,
for perhaps the first time in my life, feeling entirely normal. –
Elizabeth Lyon, author, editor, and national speaker
Insightful detective work! – James O. McNamara, M.D., Chair of the
Department of Neurobiology,
A dedicated and gifted psychiatrist, whose observations have
begun to shed light on an important new approach to depression. –
Robert N. Golden, M.D., Chair of the Department of Psychiatry,
Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection is a pioneering work with revolutionary implications; it outlines the step-by-step story of a discovery has the potential to help millions of depressed people. In this fascinating and eye-opening book, McLeod weaves together his many years of work with his patients and his scientific explorations into a riveting story of his discovery of this new treatment for depression.
Health, Mind & Body / History
A Natural History of Human Emotions by Stuart Walton (Grove Press)
Why does a tribal member in
Using Charles Darwin's survey of emotions as a starting point, Stuart Walton's A Natural History of Human Emotions examines the history of each of our core emotions – he takes Darwin’s basic six and adds four more – fear, anger, disgust, sadness, jealousy, contempt, shame, embarrassment, surprise and happiness – and how these emotions have influenced both cultural and social history. We learn that primitive fear served as the engine of religious belief, while a desire for happiness led to humankind's first musings on achieving a perfect Utopia.
Challenging the notion that human emotion has remained constant, Walton, cultural historian, journalist, and a distinguished writer on food and drink, explains why in the last two hundred and fifty years, society has changed its unwritten rules for what can be expressed in public and in private. Our private lives have benefited from greater emotional honesty, while some emotions, such as anger, now seem to dominate public discourse.
I love [Walton's] work for his deftness in combining high culture
with demotic allusions. Michael Douglas, The Simpsons, and Dolly
Parton jostle Schopenhauer, Sophocles, and Adorno in his pages. –
The Times (
Boldly independent. Walton is a writer, which is more than can be
said of most authors. – The Independent
Walton is particularly, and convincingly, engrossing, an elegant
and forceful stylist. – The Guardian
…An impressive wealth of scholarship helps readers define each
emotion and understand how humans experience – and provoke – it. … A
study that will repeatedly spark shocks of self-recognition. – Bryce
Christensen, Booklist
Like An Intimate History of Humanity or Near a Thousand Tables, A Natural History of Human Emotions is a provocative examination of human feelings and a fascinating take on how emotions have shaped our past.
Health, Mind & Body / Religion & Spirituality / Christianity
The Christian's Guide to Natural Products & Remedies: 1100
Herbs, Vitamins, Supplements and More! by John Claude
Krusz, Alan
Everyone is using natural products today. Herbs and supplements are a huge business. Americans will spend over fifteen billion dollars on herbs and other supplements this year and there are more than eight hundred dietary supplement companies.
Who does not know someone using ginkgo biloba, Saint-John's-wort, ginseng, garlic, echinacea, saw palmetto, kava, grape seed extract, cranberry juice, valerian, evening primrose oil, bilberry, milk thistle, or other herbs?
Everyone uses some natural product every day, in one fashion or another. In addition, one-third of all Americans now use herbs on a more serious, routine, directed basis. Herbs and supplements are indeed big business. Yet even with the myriad of books, magazines, and Internet articles available on the subject, there seems to be a dearth of simple-to-read, easy-to-learn information. The authors report that their clients often mention ‘wonder’ herbs and other supplements they have heard about – for anxiety, athletic enhancement, bipolar disorder, cognitive enhancement, the common cold, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart disease, high blood pressure, hepatitis, insomnia, headaches, obesity, obsessive-compulsive disorder, osteoarthritis, and PMS. But what are they not told?
Who would take a prescription drug without knowing some potential dangers and risks of side effects? We anticipate the benefits of potential medications but also want to be cognizant of possible dangers. Why should natural products deserve less scrutiny? Any substance taken into the body to produce a biological response is a drug, regardless of what one calls it or whether one needs a prescription to obtain it.
The Christian's Guide to Natural Products & Remedies is intended to simplify the facts and provide help for those wishing to reap the most benefits from herb supplements – but it gives both sides of the story. The purpose of this book is to examine what is known, what is not known, the benefits, and the dangers of natural products. It offers at least one salient benefit and usually one danger for a thousand different supplemental products. The book was written by Frank B. Minirth, doctor, author, diplomate of both the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Forensic Medicine, and president of the Minirth Clinic in Richardson, Texas; John Claude Krusz, medical doctor and board-certified neurologist; Alan Hopewell, psychologist; and Virginia Neal, psychopharmacologist.
The information in The Christian's Guide to Natural Products & Remedies is provided in a Q&A format: a question on the left side of the page with the answer on the right. Specific chapters are allotted to herbs (chaps. 14-16), vitamins (chap. 17), minerals (chap. 18), supplements (chap. 13), hormones (chap. 20), common foods (chap. 11), spices (chap. 12), amino acids (chap. 19), beverages (chap. 10), enzymes and antioxidants (chap. 20). Those who want a quick reference on a specific natural product will like chapter 22, which alphabetically lists more than a thousand natural products – readers can use this chapter as a dictionary to look up any herb or natural product about which they have a question. Chapter 9 contains information on natural products and specific diseases in alphabetical order for easy reference. Chapter 23 contains clinical questions for medical professionals. Chapter 25 deals with those products mentioned in the Bible. Chapter 8 presents the pearls, chapter 21 the dangers, and chapter 1 the most popular herbs. The references are extensive as are the appendices.
Above and beyond the detailed, practical medical information provided in this book, The Christian's Guide to Natural Products & Remedies is the first thorough Christian treatment of the use of natural products, offering a biblical apologetic. The book also offers the integrity of Minirth and collective wisdom of his associates for a thorough, Bible-informed approach to mind and body health.
Health, Mind & Body / Self-help / Relationships
Dating After 50: Negotiating the Minefields of Midlife Romance by Sharon Romm (Thorndike Press Large Print Senior Lifestyles Series: Thorndike Press)
Dating After 50: Negotiating the Minefields of Mid-Life Romance by Sharon Romm (Best Half of Life Series: Quill Driver Books)
Looking for Love? Companionship?
Dating seems scary, especially to readers who haven't dated in a long time, but it can be manageable and even fun. Author Sharon Romm, recommends thinking of it as similar to a job search – seekers should look for a good fit between their interests and requirements and the needs of their potential companion.
In Dating After 50 Romm, nationally-known therapist, shows readers:
- The quickest, safest and most efficient way to find people worth dating.
- How to arrange and survive the first meeting.
- The pleasures and problems of sex.
- How to set limits.
- Breaking up with style.
- Knowing when to call for help and where to find it.
In Dating After 50 readers get help negotiating the early months of their relationship. They find out what's reasonable to tolerate. The book includes advice on managing second families, jealousy, former spouses, rejection, money, benefits, retirement and a host of other issues common to later-life relationships.
Dating After 50 is especially for readers who: Have a history of unsuccessful dating and worry that time is running out; are recovering from the loss of a long-term relationship and want to find a new partner; equate getting older with being less desirable and wonder if they are still attractive; enjoy sex and want to continue to enjoy it after 50; worry that because of their age they will have to settle for a relationship with someone who is not physically attractive to them; are concerned that as their age increases, so does their options for meeting potential mates; and/or want to help a lonely friend or relative find love.
Romm, former editor of Medical Heritage and a widely published author, believes in her topic and audience and it shows. She says, “Being over 50 means you are starting the best part of life, and with the right advice, everyone can find love and satisfaction.” You go girl!
Health, Mind & Body / Women’s Health
Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, 4th Edition by Susan M. Love, with Karen Lindsey, illustrated by Marcia Williams (DaCapo Lifelong)
Recent research is rapidly changing the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of breast cancer.
From America's most trusted authority in women's health comes the 4th edition of a landmark book – Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book – a map of both where we are and where we are heading in the study of the breast and its diseases, offering a view of the new research and developments that are turning breast cancer into a potentially preventable disease.
Throughout, Dr. Susan Love, Clinical Professor of Surgery at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, together with Karen Lindsey, coauthor of all editions of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, emphasizes the need to change the way people think about breast cancer. According to them we must question the concept of early detection and one size fits all therapy, and focus on revolutionary new approaches that stop people from ever getting cancer in the first place. To that end, this fourth edition offers important information on:
- MRI and ultrasound tests – how well they work in comparison with mammograms.
- New surgical and non-surgical (medication and lifestyle) measures that reduce the risk of getting breast cancer.
- An intraductal approach to finding the earliest precancerous changes when they can be destroyed, thus preventing breast cancer from occurring in the first place
- New data on tests that can indicate those breast cancer patients who need chemotherapy and those who may receive no benefit from it at all.
- New and exciting data on the use of Herceptin, the first targeted therapy, in addition to chemotherapy.
- New (and more effective) hormonal approaches to premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer.
- New methods to treat tumors locally and freeze fibro adenomas.
- More localized (a.k.a. partial) radiation and highly targeted therapies.
- Metastatic disease – new therapies and new survival curves.
- New data on lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) which will change the way it's viewed and treated.
- How survivors may be able to stave off recurrence through diet and exercise.
- New information on long-term, post-treatment side effects and how to manage them.
- New approaches to fertility that help protect a survivor's ability to get pregnant.
After a breast-cancer diagnosis, most women call a specialist.
Then, to understand it all, they consult
Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book... authoritative, understandable,
reassuring. –
One of the most complete and trustworthy books ever published on
breast care. – Newsday
Like a good teacher, Dr. Love is able to impart the vast knowledge
that she has in the language of her audience...Dr. Love gets the
facts across...in a reassuring and compassionate manner. – Journal
of the American Medical Association
Information-packed...a must-have for many women. –
The best book on breasts, and the one really indispensable book for
women dealing with breast cancer, this one gets our golden globes
award.… – The WomanSource Catalog & Review
Now in a completely updated new edition, Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, is the most trusted, most authoritative guide to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Just as women afflicted with or worried about breast cancer have turned to the earlier editions of Love's guide for the soundest, most supportive advice, once again they will find all the help they need in this new edition. Love presents copious medical information in a simple, welcoming style, and plentiful illustrations make the information even clearer. From guidance on screening techniques and benign disease to comprehensive and heartening advice on living with breast cancer, Love's book will be a priceless help to recovery on every level, medical, practical, and psychological.
History /
Feminism, Nation and Myth: La Malinche edited by Rolando Romero & Amanda Nolacea Harris (Arte Público Press)
Feminism, Nation and Myth explores the scholarship of La
Malinche, the indigenous woman who is said to have led Cortés and
his troops to the Aztec city of
Contributors include such noteworthy scholars as Alfred Arteaga, Antonia I. Castaneda, Debra A. Castillo, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Deena J. Gonzalez, Maria Herrera Sobek, Guisela Latorre, Luis Leal, Sandra Messinger Cypess, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Amanda Nolacea Harris, Rolando J. Romero, Tere Romo and filmmaker Dan Banda. The academic essays themselves are complemented by the creative work of Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Jose Emilio Pacheco, both of whom evoke the figure of La Malinche in their work. The volume includes the following essays:
- La Malinche and Post-Movement Feminism
- Post Scriptum and Self-Critique
- Malinchista, A Myth Revised
- Malinche Triangulated, Historically Speaking
- ‘Mother’ Malinche and Allegories of Gender, Ethnicity and
National Identity in
- Foundational Motherhood: Malinche/Guadalupe in Contemporary Mexican and Chicana/Chicano Culture
- Malinche's Revenge
- Aesthetics of Sex and Race
- Coagulated Words: Gaspar de Alba's Malinche
- Malinche, Calafia y Toypurina: Of Myths, Monsters and Embodied History
- Agustín Victor Casasola's Soldaderas:
Malinchismo and the Chicana/o Artist
- In Search of la Malinche: Pictorial Representations of a Mytho-Historical Figure
- The Malinche-Llorona Dichotomy: The Evolution of a Myth
- La Malinche as Metaphor
- Malinche Makeover: One Gay Latino's Perspective
- Living in Tongues
The examination of the figure of La Malinche forces us to address sexism and racism simultaneously thus making us look beyond denouncing the dominant culture and to see how we have constructed ourselves. – Amanda Nolacea Harris
La Malinche is a kind of monster, a whorish traitoress, betrayer of the Aztecs – she sleeps with the enemy – and she is us. Feminism, Nation and Myth explores these ideas and what they mean in the Mexican oral tradition and about colonial patterns.
History / Encyclopedias / Reference
Encyclopedia Idiotica: History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them by Nicholas Weir (Barron’s)
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. – George Santayana
The 64 A.D. burning of Rome during the reign of Nero . . . Winston Churchill's ill-conceived and disastrous World War I plan to invade Turkey at Gallipoli . . . the Maginot Line, built in France in 1929-34 in a foolhardy effort to prevent the feared German invasion . . . the 1950s thalidomide pharmaceutical disaster that resulted in at least 20,000 babies born with deformities . . . the 1989-91 misappropriation of company funds by publishing executive Robert Maxwell, and the collapse of his financial empire . . . the Enron scandal of 2000 that brought down a yet larger business empire.
Mankind’s past is strewn with mistakes, colossal blunders driven
by virtue as often as by vice. We alternately despise and empathize
with the ill-fated figures and organizations while their cautionary
tales compel us to reflect on our own choices for better or for
worse.
Stephen Weir, book publisher and author, former director of
Northwestern University Press, presents in
Encyclopedia Idiotica a selection of approximately 50 disastrous
decisions, each account summarized in a report of roughly a
half-dozen pages and enhanced with sidebars and thumbnail-sized,
cartoon-style illustrations. Each account opens with its cast of
characters, then sets the story's background before reporting the
grim details and concluding with the unhappy moral.
Encyclopedia Idiotica is a historian’s look at stories of
corporate chicanery, poor military decisions, engineering disasters,
diplomatic blunders, and other appalling, large-scale mistakes that
resulted in ruin and misery for countless innocent bystanders. Here
are baleful tales motivated by false hope, anger, greed, pride,
lust, and many other instances of erratic human behavior. The book
includes examples of the ‘seven deadly sins’ as well as the
‘cardinal virtues’ impelling people to folly. From Adam and Eve
deciding to go for the apple, through those Asian governments who
decided that tsunamis just weren’t worth the extra expense of early
warning sensors, to Gerald Ratner who destroyed his own company in
ten seconds, the book introduces readers to history’s famous and
more obscure idiots.
Weir’s chronicle introduces readers to the people and the
motivations behind the most detrimental of dreadful decisions. Here
is a page-turner of a book that recounts some of history's most
dramatic – but also catastrophic – moments.
Encyclopedia Idiotica, eccentric and insightful, is an
engrossing and enlightening collection, lest we forget.
History /
The Heimat Abroad: The Boundaries of Germanness edited by Krista
O'Donnell, Renate Bridenthal & Nancy Reagin
(Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in
Germans have been one of the most mobile and dispersed populations on earth.
Communities of German speakers, scattered around the globe, have
long believed that they could recreate their Heimat (homeland)
wherever they moved and that their enclaves could remain truly
German. Indeed, the roots of German language and culture developed
over a wide sweep of Central and
The history of
If the Heimat preserved Germanness through symbols of domesticity, institutional frameworks linking overseas Germans to the metropole were equally important. The success of the German emigrants, in turn, became a justification for further expansion, even if at times unwittingly so on the part of overseas Germans
The chapters in The Heimat Abroad document the dispersal and settlement of ethnic Germans across cultures that span the globe. The editors of this volume are Krista O'Donnell, Associate Professor of History, William Paterson University; Renate Bridenthal, Emerita Professor of History, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York; and Nancy Reagin, Professor of History, Pace University. According to O’Donnell, Bridenthal and Reagin, Elliot Barkin’s six-stage model of assimilation discusses phases of contact, acculturation, adaptation, accommodation, integration, and finally full assimilation into a majority or host culture, and the nuanced transformations allowed by this analysis well suit the population discussed The Heimat Abroad.
Before 1871, late by other nations' standards, there was no central German nation of which to speak. Over the past several centuries, ethnic identity rather than citizenship preeminently defined who was German. This accounts in part for the peculiarity of the German diaspora. The shifting German nation-states confronted a complex web of diverse claimants to German ethnicity outside their borders rather than a coherent imagined national community of Germans. Although Brubaker typifies this historical evolution of Germanness, perhaps too simplistically and teleologically, as "an organic cultural, linguistic, or racial community as an irreducibly particular Volksgemeinschaft," his work has merit in recognizing the singularities in the evolution of German citizenship defined through genealogical descent and the broader ethnocultural basis of Germanness. Editors O’Donnell, Bridenthal and Reagin ascribe to a model of German identity that traces the competing racial and cultural criteria delimiting ‘Germanness’ within a web of many strains of nationalism in German history. They argue that successive German states have pursued citizenship and ethnic policies in response to their concerns at the time and, excepting the Hitler dictatorship, generally have been susceptible to the pressures of domestic and international lobbies.
Myriad recent historical writings have demonstrated the complex, dynamic, and ever-changing tenor of German national identity: the ongoing significance of gender, locality, particular interest groups, successive German nation-states, and social classes in enshrining and preserving the competing and overlapping versions of German identity. However, these writings on German nationalism, especially where they privilege local or regional powers and affiliations (Heimat), overlook to a great extent how even local identities extended over the globe and existed within the context of the diaspora, as Lekan's chapter in The Heimat Abroad on the Eifel region's homeland societies elaborates. German speakers within and outside strict political borders often identified themselves and were recognized as Germans and emigre populations contributed centrally to the formation of German national identity.
Thus,
The Heimat Abroad challenges the nation-state as the basis of
German nationalism. Overall, the history of
Part 1 of
The Heimat Abroad – The Legal and Ideological Context of
Diasporic Nationalism – takes up the vexed question of claimants to
German citizenship and state policies toward diasporic communities.
Each chapter in turn traces how the existence of the diaspora
disrupted debates over citizenship law and established the legal
context for constant exchange, due to the still extant legal right
of return for extraterritorial Germans. Howard Sargent reviews
German citizenship law td1914, highlighting the disputed 1913
revision to Imperial citizenship policies and evaluating the impact
of recent revisions in German naturalization policies in light of
this history. O'Donnell then carries the debate forward by
considering the tangled claims to German citizenship presented by
miscegenation in the overseas colonies before 1914. Norbert Gotz
continues the discussion of German citizenship policies through the
Part 2 – Bonds of Trade and Culture – offers four case studies of
diasporic ties between
These chapters detail the complex local accounts of overseas Germans' articulations of ethnic identity through their evolving ideologies and lived experiences. Each author amplifies now various diasporic communities confronted the politics and demands of their host countries and suggests how and why diasporic networks proved advantageous both economically and culturally in some contexts but not in others.
Part 3 of
The Heimat Abroad – Islands of Germanness – turns to the special
circumstances of German settlements in Central and
The enduring cultural tropes that form the basis for German
ethnic and national identity make the history of the German diaspora
influential within the current German debate over immigration. In
the past,
Historian Klaus Bade has noted the difficulty with which
inclusiveness of American society as a model for integration. As
Sargent's chapter indicates, sweeping changes in German citizenship
and naturalization laws, although limited in scope, nonetheless are
resulting in new claimants to citizenship, whose presence
undoubtedly will transform German national identity. Since 1990
German investment in Eastern European states and their imminent
admission to the European Union have brought about porous boundaries
with the former Eastern bloc. Because of these developments,
A major contribution to the buoyant research on diasporas around
the world, this volume by a team of internationally known historians
excels by its impressive scope, sharp thematic focus, and genuinely
comparative approach. Given their tumultuous history, many Germans
abroad have had a peculiar relationship with their Heimat. This
unique book, covering the full spectrum of groups and attitudes in
different parts of the globe, is highly recommended to historians,
legal scholars, and social scientists interested in citizenship,
migration, and acculturation. – V. R. Berghahn,
Beyond defining who is German and what makes them so, The Heimat Abroad thoroughly and uniquely reexamines German identity and history in global terms and challenges the nation-state and its borders as the sole basis of German nationalism.
History /
Children of the Doomed Voyage by Janet Menzies (John Wiley and Sons)
I’m here because of what Bobby did for me. Bobby gave a great
gift to me and I shall forever be grateful … He gave me his
lifejacket and he has given me sixty-five years of life which he
didn’t have. – John Baker, child survivor, of his brother Bobby
There was nothing for us to do except hang on to this rope. So we
were facing each other on the side of the lifeboat with this rope
between us. And we never let go of that rope in all the time that
followed – which turned out to be nineteen hours in all … we knew if
we did let go, that would be the end of us. The waves were terrible.
We were being thrown one way and then dragged back again. Then there
would be a huge wave coming right over us. You couldn’t see and you
would be coughing and spluttering … next thing you were up in the
air and back again … We were just two schoolgirls fighting the north
Atlantic … There is nothing more lonely than being in mid-Atlantic
on a boat upside down … Nothing alive except us three. – Beth and
Bess, child survivors
It was terrible, you had to fight every minute. My hands were
being cut in shreds with these horrible rusty tin canisters. But I
was holding on, even though I was only eleven and quite slight, I
kept fighting, every minute of fifteen hours in that awful sea – and
I know that’s why I’m alive today. – Sonia Bechs, child survivor
He kept diving again and again and bringing back children. And
then he dived and we didn’t see him again. – Colin Ryder Richardson,
child survivor, of Laszlo Raskai, Hungarian journalist, passenger on
the
Written by Janet Menzies, freelance journalist, award winning
writer and former woman’s editor of the Daily Express, for the first
time in narrative,
Children of the Doomed Voyage is the true story of the World War
II tragedy of the SS City of Benares. This torpedoing remains to
this day the worst ever sea disaster involving British children.
More than half of all those on board this ship full of evacuees were
lost after the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in September
1940. Of ninety very young ‘seavacuee’ children escaping the bombing
in
Those who survived tell stories of towering seas and
near-miraculous escapes clinging to rafts and wreckage for nineteen
hours before rescue. One group of children managed to keep going for
eight days drifting in an open boat in the north
Children of the Doomed Voyage is a moving narrative in which the child survivors tell their story for the first time directly in their own words.
History / Politics
Deliver the Vote: A History of Election Fraud, an American
Political Tradition-1742-2004 by Tracy Campbell
(Carroll & Graf)
If elections are the lifeblood of our democracy, then the
Combining social and political history
Deliver the Vote reveals how fraud has been a persistent
presence in American history that has not been confined to one
party, a single location, or a specific time period. Through primary
sources, Campbell, Associate Professor of History and Co-Director of
the
Our elections are held up as the model for the world's budding
democracies, such as the
Deliver the Vote reveals
- How election fraud played a role in the coming of the Civil War.
- That reform efforts, such as the secret ballot and voting machines, have only changed the way the dirty game is played.
- How an election in one American city –
- How a stolen bond issue election in
- How anger at the 2000
- That contested presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 are not the anomalies they appear.
- How persistent fraud has contributed to low turnouts.
In a vivid & provocative narrative,
Deliver the Vote highlights the imperfect aspects of American
elections. This comprehensive history of election fraud in
History / Holidays
American Christmases: Firsthand Accounts of Holiday Happenings from Early Days to Modern Times compiled by Joanne Martell (John F. Blair Publisher)
From Captain John Smith's description of his visit to a native
village in 1608 to Major Carrie Acree's letter from Iraq in 2004,
American Christmases offers firsthand impressions of the
Christmas season as told in letters, journals, memoirs, newspaper
articles, poems, songs, and advertisements.
Passages from well-known people include Daniel Boone describing
his Christmas as an Indian captive in 1769; George Washington
begging for congressional assistance for his starving Continental
Army troops at Christmas in 1777; F. W. Woolworth conveying how he
guessed wrong about the popularity of German Christmas tree
ornaments; Helen Keller experiencing her first Christmas with
teacher Anne Sullivan in 1887; Edith Wharton writing about a 1905
Christmas party at George Vanderbilt's North Carolina estate; and
Secret Service agent Edmund Starling telling about President Woodrow
Wilson's secret Christmas honeymoon.
However, many of the most moving entries come from ordinary
people. Kate Cumming of
Though the festivities and traditions surrounding Christmas have changed, the emotions evoked by the holiday have usually been tied to home and family. These memories, along with the comings and goings of Christmas customs, are collected in American Christmases. "Beautiful things are written at Christmas," says Joanne Martell, who compiled the collection. "People are so open to memories, and thinking about people who aren’t there.”
Martel got the idea for
American Christmases when she participated in a Christmas
program near her home in Southern Pines,
The moving messages in American Christmases speak to us of times past, evoking the emotions related to home and hearth, family and friends, right in time to get readers in the mood for Christmas.
Home & Garden / Animals & Pets / Death & Grief
Rainbows and Bridges: An Animal Companion Memorial Kit by Allen
Anderson & Linda Anderson (
The loss of a pet companion can be devastating.
Rainbows and Bridges offers an array of ways to deal with that loss. Featuring inspirational ideas, exercises, and quotations, this kit includes a detailed guidebook to work through the sorrow and grief attendant on this event; a journal/scrapbook to celebrate the pet’s life; and cards to facilitate religious, secular, or nature-based memorial rituals and healing. A built-in frame allows the front cover of the box to be customized with a photo.
Authors Allen and Linda Anderson use these components to address the spectrum of feelings that can arise – despair, loneliness, anger, alienation, disappointment, and self-doubt. The Andersons, founders of the Angel Animals Network, inspirational speakers and clergy members, recount their own experiences with pet loss and present the experiences of others who have struggled and recovered.
As a veterinary medical correspondent and lifetime pet lover, I
believe in both the power of pets and the power of stories to heal.
This kit is an amazing toolbox of resources that offers a wide range
of healing activities, wise information, compassionate reflection,
and practical help for honoring and memorializing the life of your
pet. – Marty Becker, resident veterinarian on ABC's Good Morning
America and author of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Let me say this about
Rainbows and Bridges: I love it. I treasure it. The
Heartwarming and unique, Rainbows and Bridges is a comprehensive and compassionate kit offering ideas, exercises, and inspirational quotations for those healing from the loss of a beloved animal companion. Rainbows and Bridges guides the bereaved through the process of recalling the past, grieving in the present, and finding hope in the future.
Literature & Fiction / World Literature
The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis
Borges, translated by Andrew Hurley, illustrated by Peter Sis
(Viking)
We do not know what the dragon means, just as we do not know the meaning of the universe, but there is something in the image of the dragon that is congenial to man's imagination. . . . It is, one might say, a necessary monster.
The Book of Imaginary Beings is a new translation of Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) classic bestiary, illustrated by Caldecott Honor-winning artist Peter Sis. This whimsical compilation of ‘the strange creatures conceived through time and space by the human imagination’ is a unique combination of text and illustration, suitable for both longtime fans of Borges, one of the most widely acclaimed writers of the twentieth century, and those newly discovering imaginary beings.
For The Book of Imaginary Beings Borges drew from a wide range of sources, from the religious and philosophical – Kabbalah and the I Ching – to the literary and playful – The Odyssey, Lewis Carroll's writings, H.G. Well's The Time Machine. Other sources include Homer, Confucius, Shakespeare, and Kafka, among others. Here readers will find the familiar and expected dragons, centaurs, and unicorns, as well as the less familiar and altogether unexpected Animals That Live in the Mirror, The Elephant That Prefigured the Birth of Buddha, the Simurgh, and other undeniably curious beasts. Some beasts found in The Book of Imaginary Beings:
- The Norns – These Norse deities are generally assumed to represent the fates. Their names are Past, Present, and Future, and their hands weave our fate.
- Humbaba – Originally found in the epic poem Gilgamesh, this serpent-headed monster was given the talons of a vulture and the claws of a lion.
- The Hairy Beast of La Ferte-Bernard – This beast, originally cited in a French city on the Huisne, was the size of a bull, covered in shaggy green hair, and preferred to feast on innocent maidens and children.
- The Chimaera – First mentioned in Homer's Iliad, this is a creature of divine descent with three heads – a lion, snake, and she-goat – and a nasty disposition.
I am quite aware of how ephemeral literary assessments may prove, but in Borges's case I do not consider it rash to acclaim him as the most important thing to happen to imaginative writing in the Spanish language in modern times. – Mario Vargas Llosa
He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus
opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish American
novelists. – J. M. Coetzee, The
Though so different in style, two writers have offered us an image for the next millennium: Joyce and Borges. The first designed with words what the second designed with ideas: the original, the one and only World Wide Web. The Real Thing. The rest will remain simply virtual. – Umberto Eco
.... If you read Borges frequently and closely, you become something of a Borgesian, because to read him is to activate an awareness of literature in which he has gone further than anyone else. – Harold Bloom
He has lifted fiction away from the flat earth where most of our novels and short stories still take place. – John Updike
Imbued with Borges's characteristic wit and erudition, this unique contribution to fantasy literature ranges widely across the world's mythologies and literatures to bring together in one delightful encyclopedia of fantastical inventions. With the original forwards to the 1957 and 1967 editions, The Book of Imaginary Beings few readers will want, or be able, to resist this modern bestiary. Andrew Hurley’s brilliant new translation is perfectly paired with original drawings from award-winning illustrator Sís. The result is a wonderful gift book – an Alice Through the Looking Glass menagerie, which should appeal not only to Borges aficionados but also to fantasy fans of all stripes and ages.
Literature & Fiction
Under Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway,
edited by Robert E. Fleming & Robert W. Lewis (The Kent State
University Press)
The sun was not up but that was because of the flank of the
mountain it had to rise over and the light was gray but good and
Ngui and I were walking through the grass that was wet from the dew.
He walked ahead because he knew where the bait had been hung and I
watched the trees and his back and the trail his black legs made
through the wetness of the grass. We walked silently and the cold
wet of the new knee-high grass against my legs was cold and
pleasant. Ngui carried the old
Accompanied by his fourth wife, Mary, famed American novelist
Ernest Hemingway spent several months in late 1953 and early 1954 on
his final safari in
Completed in 1956, the book was part hand-written and part typed, with many of the pages heavily edited in Hemingway's hand. He then left this manuscript, along with those for A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, and The Garden of Eden, in a safe-deposit box in Cuba, often referring to them as his ‘life insurance’ for his heirs.
Under Kilimanjaro is the last of Hemingway's manuscripts to be published in its entirety. The book also contains a glossary of Swahili terms, a list of characters and notes on the editing of the text.
Excerpt from the Introduction:
From late October 1954 to the spring of 1956, Hemingway worked
hard on a book that was distinctly different from anything he had
written before. As he had done with the narrative of his earlier
safari, he embroidered some events imaginatively, but the manuscript
of
Under Kilimanjaro differed radically from Green Hills of Africa
in the voice of the narrator and the nature of his persona as well
as in his attitudes toward Africans, big-game hunting, and many
other topics. Green Hills of Africa was written when Hemingway was
still relatively young (in his mid-thirties) and still fighting to
keep the literary reputation he had won during the previous decade.
Under Kilimanjaro, however, was written by a master who had just
experienced two major triumphs, the overwhelmingly positive
reception of The Old Man and the Sea (1952) and the award of the
Nobel Prize for Literature (1954). The result is a lively,
good-humored book in which the author Hemingway completely
comfortable depicting his persona with self-deprecating humor. In
place of the always-supportive Poor Old Mama, the Green Hills of
Africa character based on Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway Ernest's second
wife,
Under Kilimanjaro features Mary Welsh Hemingway, his fourth
wife, who feels no hesitation in puncturing the ego of her husband.
Hemingway always complained that he was not given sufficient credit
for his humorous writing. In this remarkable book, he shows his
talent as a humorist in this most lighthearted yet unconventionally
serious book. As had been said about another Nobel Prize winner,
George Bernard Shaw, Hemingway fused ‘high seriousness with comedy.’
Anticipating the tensions of racism, feminism, and the Cold War,
Hemingway here neither explains nor argues. He narrates, showing
rather than telling, and in so doing once more demonstrates the
superiority of narrative to exposition. Hemingway's progress on the
book was rapid and steady. Working at his usual disciplined pace of
two pages per day, on
The first of two sources of tension that cast a shadow over the
pastoral narrative is the danger posed by the Mau Mau uprisings that
troubled
A second source of tension emerges toward the end of the
manuscript as the danger from the Mau Mau diminishes. As her
Christmas gift, Mary proposes a flight to the
Although in the thirties Hemingway had befriended one member of the African safari crew, M'Cola, he singled out another member, whom he calls Garrick because of his theatrical manner, for sometimes bitter criticism, and he largely ignored the individuality of most of his white hunter's staff. In contrast, in Under Kilimanjaro, while again having one special ‘brother,’ Ngui, and only half-jokingly falling in love with Debba, his African ‘fiancée,’ Hemingway also makes the reader constantly aware of the individuality of most of the staff members: Keiti, the elderly major-domo of the camp and a wise adviser to Hemingway; Charo, Mary's gun bearer and special hunting mentor; Arap Meina, a former member of the King's African Rifles who serves as an askari during these troubled times; and even Nguili, a mess attendant who aspires to become a full-fledged hunting guide. Of his relationship to Ngui, his spiritual brother, Hemingway says that he envies his black skin and his African roots and that he thinks of himself as an adoptive Kamba. Even an equivalent of Garrick, the Informer, a renegade Masai warrior turned police informer, is treated with a gentle humor that acknowledges his humanity. On this trip Hemingway makes an effort to learn not only Swahili but also some Masai and, most notably, Kamba as a way of better understanding black Africans..…
Readers of Under Kilimanjaro will encounter a Hemingway they have seldom experienced in previously published works. The author's sense of humor, which is not widely appreciated, comes into play, particularly joke-making at his own expense. For instance, discussing Winston Churchill's 1953 Nobel Prize, Hemingway suggests that since Churchill is known to be a heavy drinker, perhaps stepping up his own consumption of alcohol would finally result in his winning the prize. Or he could, one of his English companions suggests, win it for his bragging, since Churchill won at least partly for his oratory. Hemingway allows Mary the last word when she suggests that if he wrote something occasionally, he might actually win the prize for his writing.
Readers of this remarkable work will experience the mingled pleasure of revisiting the familiar and discovering the new. They will find links to Hemingway's other works, from the raucous humor of The Torrents of Spring and the sardonic comedy of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to the philosophic calm of The Old Man and the Sea. But this work does not merely look backward. Like all of Hemingway's posthumous books – from A Moveable Feast to Islands in the Stream (1970) and The Garden of Eden (1986) – Under Kilimanjaro shows Hemingway experimenting formally and stylistically. The flexible, humorous voice Hemingway finds in this late work is simply too full of intrinsic merit to be confined to a small audience of scholars with access to the manuscript. And although the book ends as it began, in medias res, omitting the anticlimax of the two nearly fatal airplane crashes, its major conflicts are resolved, its themes fully explored. In that sense it is not incomplete or flawed. It is perhaps the last gift left to us by a literary master. – Robert W. Lewis & Robert E. Fleming, editors of the volume
… That's what it felt like, too – like I was out there on the
plains of
The book purports to be fiction, but it is every inch a memoir. Papa
and Mary are, after all, the main characters. There are several
levels to enjoy – the pure literary quality, the exciting adventure,
the enjoyable travelogue, the often humorous commentary. And it's a
love story, but not what you'd expect; it's a tribute to his beloved
‘Papa’ colors real people and events with his lively imagination as he demonstrates his inimitable style, his deft wit, and his intelligent curiosity in this autobiographical novel about the land and people he came to love. Under Kilimanjaro shows a mature, tender, happy, and reflective Hemingway. The book offers a compelling, deliberately paced, subtle story of a place and time as only Ernest Hemingway could write it.
Literature & Fiction / Latin American / Philosophy
The Self of the City: Macedonio Fernández, the Argentine
Avant-garde, and Modernity in
Macedonio Fernandez (1874–1952) is widely regarded as a key figure in Argentine letters – mentor to Jorge Luis Borges, precursor of the avant-garde, and father of the Martinfierrista generation. Yet critics have persisted in viewing Fernández's writing as asystematic, irreducible beyond its characteristic paradoxes, and unrelated to the social, political, and poetic context of modernity. Much of Fernández's mythic reputation rests on a legend that privileges his brilliant conversation and iconoclastic lifestyle over his writing.
The Self of the City shows Fernández's work to be a highly
systematic effort to ‘save the city’ from the ills of modernity.
Responding directly to the context of early twentieth-century
Garth dismantles the myth of Fernández, exposing the role of the Martinfierristas and Borges in fashioning an image of Fernández contradictory to his intentions. His supposed deprecation of his own writing and his detachment from contemporary aesthetic, political, and philosophical movements are reconsidered in light of the evidence from his own writings. In contrast, The Self of the City examines concrete ways that Fernandez attempts to undo specific discourses of modernity, realizing his radical vision without imposing an authorial self on an objectified public.
Making use of Fernández's published prose, as well as some rare,
unpublished documents and extensive primary and secondary historical
sources, Garth, Associate Professor of Spanish at the U.S. Naval
Academy in
Examining the complex political context of the time, including
the important anarchist movement, Garth considers Fernández's
response to his political environment, a response championing the
individual over institutions, and sympathizing with the methods of
Hipolito Yrigoyen's Radical party while attacking Radicalism's
exploitation of the belief in self. Reviewing the evidence of the
culture of hygienicism and eugenics in early twentieth-century
As the first book-length study in English of Macedonio Fernández
(1874–1952) in over twenty years, Todd Garth's
The Self of the City offers a new, more incisive understanding
of this controversial and key figure in modern Latin American
literature. Although prevailing critical wisdom showcases the
paradoxical and unsystematic elements in Fernández's writing and
often characterizes him as disengaged from the Argentina of his
time, Garth demonstrates the integrated quality of Fernández's
critical, philosophical, and literary thought and his work's engaged
interaction with specific, early twentieth-century Argentine
contexts. Drawing on a rich variety of archival primary sources and
of secondary historical, sociological, and cultural material, Garth
argues that Fernández challenged the Western concept of self with
his own singular notion of the sentient individual. At once
sophisticated in conceptualization and refreshingly reader friendly,
this book manifests Garth's superior talents as a close reader, and
his erudition in both Western philosophical thought and contemporary
theoretical developments. – Vicky Unruh,
The Self of the City is a readable, insightful study providing the first deep understanding of Fernández’s work available in English.
Mysteries & Thrillers
Cinnamon Kiss: A Novel by Walter Mosley (Easy Rawlins Mysteries Series: Little, Brown and Company)
Cinnamon Kiss, the tenth book in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins
series, contains all the intrigue and suspense of the other books in
the series, while being the first to introduce Easy to the
counterculture movement in
It is the Summer of Love as Cinnamon Kiss opens, and Easy Rawlins is deep in a conversation with his lifelong friend Mouse about robbing an armored car. “It's a cinch,” Mouse says. This would be further outside the law than Easy has ever traveled – but his daughter Feather urgently needs a medical treatment that costs far more than Easy can earn or borrow in time.
Then white friend and PI Sam Lynx offers a job that just might
solve Easy's problem without the risk of jail time. He has to travel
to
“Walter Mosley has quietly become one of
As shown in the superb tenth entry in Mosley's Easy Rawlins
series, Easy's progress is never smooth and his achievements always
fragile.... As ever, Mosley is able to capture the era – hippies,
This latest entry in Mosley's Easy Rawlins series offers much of what can be found in the earlier novels – hard-boiled detective plot; Rawlins's black existentialism; an array of strange, exotic characters (namely, femmes fatales all pining for Rawlins); detailed locales in South Central L.A.; equally detailed descriptions of food; and occasional commentary on the state of race relations in America. Yet because it is set in 1966, this work offers a bit more. Rawlins must now deal with evolving and more ambiguous racial attitudes.…[Mosley is] a good writer of detective fiction, and his recurring characters continue to have appeal. Recommended for all public libraries. – Roger A. Berge, Library Journal
As rich and tightly wound as you'd expect from Mosley. – Kirkus
Reviews
In Mosley’s justly celebrated series... the human drama is more
highly charged than ever.... The melancholic, inward-turning Easy
who emerges here offers his own multidimensional rewards. Like the
best crime series, the Rawlins novels continue to evolve in
surprising ways. – Bill Ott, Booklist
Walter Mosley's thrillers should be the literary equivalent of Milk
Duds, but there's something surprisingly nutritious about them.
…Despite his enormous popularity with white readers – the previous
Easy Rawlins novel, Little Scarlet, was a national bestseller –
Mosley hasn't crossed over in a way that renders race irrelevant.
All the latent humiliations of racism are still here: the clammy
atmosphere of suspicion, an economy that won't give blacks enough
traction to get ahead. But Mosley conveys this like a long-suffering
ambassador to the
Cinnamon Kiss delivers a hard-boiled detective story with
vibrant, memorable characters, and a sense of time and place that
couldn't be more vivid. As the New York Times said, “Nobody, but
nobody, writes this stuff like Mosley.”
Cinnamon Kiss is further proof that Mosley is the master of
crime fiction; it sizzles with the intensity of Mosley's life
experience growing up in
Mysteries & Thrillers
St. Albans Fire by Archer Mayor (Joe Gunther Mysteries Series: Mysterious Press)
In a mystery series that has spanned over 16 books,
Winter is on the wane in northwestern
Called to the scene to investigate, Gunther instantly recognizes
arson, but by whom? And for what possible reason? There is little
insurance, the family is loving and tightly knit, and there are few
neighborhood animosities. Gunther quickly discovers that someone is
wreaking havoc across the bucolic farmlands surrounding the town of
Mayor's long-running Joe Gunther series continues to display this
multitalented author's ability to construct compelling plots and
build full-bodied characters... Best of all is Gunther himself; a
kind and sensitive cop whose intelligence and integrity make an
irresistible combination. – Booklist
The most understated cop in crime fiction racks up a satisfying
16th in a series that marches confidently to its own unhurried beat.
– Kirkus Reviews
… Mayor delves deeper than ever before into his characters'
psychology, especially the women: tough Newark cop Lil Farber; Peggy
DeAngelis, the arsonist's naïve girlfriend; and two dispirited farm
wives, beautiful Linda Cutts and her vicious mother, Marie. He also
subtly portrays the shifting relationship between Gunther and his
lover, Gail Zigman. … Mayor serves up another highly satisfying
mystery. – Publishers Weekly
A sizzling mystery that once again unearths the dark underbelly
of a seemingly serene
Outdoors & Nature / Environment / Nature & Ecology
Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature
Connection by Stephen R. Kellert (
Buildings are buildings and nature is nature, and ne'er the twain shall meet.
Except that they sometimes do, argues Stephen R. Kellert in Building for Life. All around us are examples of buildings and spaces, ancient and modern, that reconnect people to their natural surroundings. These structures restore our souls as well as our communities, and we should look to them for the future of architecture.
As children, Kellert explains, we grow up with an innate sense of wonder for nature. Increasingly, however, young people are unable to experience the natural world directly: through a walk in nearby woods, for example. By the time we reach adulthood, we are convinced that buildings are meant to be a bulwark against nature, a protection from the environment and other individuals.
Building for Life shows that it is possible to reverse this
trend. In the book, award-winning author Kellert examines the
fundamental interconnectedness of people and nature, and how the
loss of this connection results in a diminished quality of life. The
solution is architecture that not only minimizes environmental
impact, but also actively promotes a sense of harmony between people
and nature. Sustainable design has made great strides in recent
years; unfortunately, it still falls short of fully integrating
nature into our built environment. Through a new paradigm of
‘restorative environmental design,’ Kellert, Tweedy Ordway Professor
of Social Ecology at the Yale University School of Forestry and
Environmental Studies, proposes a new architectural model of
sustainability.
Building for Life illustrates how architects and designers can
use simple methods to address our innate needs for contact with
nature. Through the use of natural lighting, ventilation, and
materials, as well as more unexpected methodologies – the use of
metaphor, perspective, enticement, and symbol – architects can
greatly enhance our daily lives. These design techniques foster
intellectual development, relaxation, and physical and emotional
well-being. Elevated greenways inside Paris, the Sydney Opera House,
the neo-Gothic style of traditional college campuses, the Chrysler
Tower – these are but a few of many ways in which buildings and
spaces can evoke nature, play, movement, and the longing every
person has to reconnect. In the works of architects like Frank Lloyd
Wright, Eero Saarinen, Cesar Pelli, Norman Foster, and Michael
Hopkins, Kellert sees the success of these strategies and presents
models for moving forward.
In a time of unprecedented disconnection between the young and the natural world, Stephen Kellert offers us a design for hope. This brilliant work proves that nature isn't the problem; it's the solution. – Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Kellert shows how to ignite a love of the wild in architecture.
He even dares to suggest that architectural ornament, conspicuously
absent in schools of architecture and the bland walls of modern
buildings, ought to be reconsidered as a festive and seamless
articulation of natural cycles and flourishing geometries. Artists
and architects take note! – Kent Bloomer, professor at the Yale
School of Architecture, author of The Nature of Ornament
Written with grace and passion, and copiously illustrated with photographs of structures around the world, Building for Life crystallizes the mistakes of architects who focus on cost-efficiency or on sustainability, without recognizing the values of the people who will inhabit those buildings. Kellert offers simple yet creative solutions that bring green architecture to a personal level. This clarion call for designers, planners, architects, and environmentalists shows that we can reconnect, when we are not only building for ourselves, but also Building for Life.
Politics / Philosophy / History
A History of Political Thought: 1789 to the Present by Bruce Haddock (Polity Press)
Bruce Haddock's textbook combines historical and theoretical analysis, setting political thought in the context of the emerging institutional, cultural and economic framework of the modern world.
From the colossal impact of the French and American revolutions,
through reaction and constitutional consolidation,
A History of Political Thought traces the contrasting criteria
invoked to justify particular forms of political order from 1789 to
the present day. Haddock, Professor of Modern European Social and
Political Thought at
A History of Political Thought also confronts challenging questions about the status of moral and political principles.
Modern states have been shaped by conflicting, and often strictly incompatible, demands. The initial opposition of revolutionary and reactionary movements and arguments in 1789 has been followed by efforts at political accommodation. The modern constitutional state has sought to establish terms of reference that most, if not all, citizens can regard as acceptable in the pursuit of their multifarious interests. It has in fact proved to be extraordinarily resilient, despite crises provoked by war and economic collapse that have tempted political elites and citizens to adopt more direct means of public management and control. What we see in times of crisis is very much argument about terms of reference. Not everyone will profit from any political scheme. In difficult and dangerous times, discussion has often focused on the very real costs to political losers. The tiniest practical detail – what a child may be allowed to wear in a classroom – can become an occasion for heated political debate. Haddock says that we need to ask ourselves why this should be so; and, indeed, why public stances should be so pervasive in our lives.
According to Haddock, political thought invites us to see ourselves in relation to a public realm that is contested and controversial. Even our focus on the state as the embodiment of public life and responsibility has been challenged in recent decades, as political elites struggle to manage (especially economic) affairs against a backdrop of financial and technological interdependence. The thought that as citizens we share a responsibility for our affairs looks precarious in relation to the dominance of private capital in international markets. In the circumstances we may be forced to revise our conceptions of a public domain. What remains, though, is the need to sustain social cooperation among strangers in unimaginably diverse situations.
Political thought over the last 200 years has had to respond to unprecedented situations, often with deeply disturbing results. Stress on what is 'modern' about political thought since 1789, however, should not blind us to fundamental features of political thought in any organized society. Political thinking has a public dimension, no matter how a public domain may be specifically characterized. Arguments about social cooperation have necessarily to be projected onto whoever might be expected to engage in or be subject to a given set of arrangements. It does not follow that everybody in a community would be entitled to the same sort of consideration. Consensual persuasion may be reserved for a select few, while a majority may be coerced or manipulated. The point remains that the effective exercise of political power presupposes minimally shared objectives and values among relevant groups.
Haddock says in A History of Political Thought that managing social cooperation in contingent circumstances has always been a basic feature of political thought and action. What has changed in the last 200 years is that the theoretical response to contingency has become central to the way we see ourselves. That theoretical staple of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century political thought, 'human nature', is no longer much in evidence in modern political thought. The term carries the suggestion that human beings are everywhere and always so fundamentally alike that the fortuitous circumstances in which they live can have only a superficial effect on their essential natures. The fact that human life is conducted in time and depends upon received understandings that are passed on to future generations is then accorded only secondary significance. Yet a succession of texts has defended the view that the human world as a whole is a historical product. Even knowledge itself is portrayed as historically relative, reflecting the particular circumstances in which communities have found themselves. From this point of view, judgments of value, which were once confidently cast in a universal form, should be seen more properly as expressions of the preferences of particular cultures and communities.
What needs to be noticed about the emergence of historical consciousness in modern times, is that all modes of thought that had presupposed universal standards are rendered problematic. It can no longer be assumed that we mean what we say when we ask ourselves how human beings might ideally live together in communities. Precisely how political theorists over the last 200 years have sought to respond to this dilemma is a central concern of A History of Political Thought. The view of ourselves as culturally and historically embedded in specific ways of life now colors all our experience. But at the same time, we are impelled to respond to dilemmas and atrocities that invite universal forms of description and judgment. Political thought since 1789 has oscillated uncomfortably between these positions, with little prospect that either perspective can be permanently set aside. This poses acute problems for us as we reflect on our ordinary experience of making judgments and adopting moral and political stances.
A History of Political Thought takes seriously the contention that normative arguments are problematic. It also accepts that they are unavoidable. The rich literature of the last thirty years on the social construction of identities should serve as a warning to moderate our normative ambitions. A History of Political Thought deals with political theorizing addressed to a variety of audiences, pitched at different levels of generality, responding (more or less) self-consciously to changing political conditions. Political theories are all concerned with persuasion, though not necessarily with overt mobilization. All make claims to our attention as formal responses to problems of cooperation, coordination and control in circumstances where we have limited knowledge and resources at our disposal. We might thus expect them to be tentative and conditional, despite the confident mood in which they may be couched.
A History of Political Thought also takes seriously the existential predicament of agents making choices in complex social situations. We know that we cannot flourish alone, and that we depend upon the cooperation of distant strangers whom we cannot hope to control. In an important sense, these are limiting conditions for citizens and political leaders. Political philosophy is a response to this dilemma, even when it purports to go beyond these terms of reference. At the very least, we have to picture agents making judgments which may be general in scope. Judgments may begin as rationalizations of interest, but they will become broader in range as the complexity of interdependence is recognized to be a factor in our flourishing. Values will clash, priorities may differ, yet we still have to maintain schemes of coordination and control. The use of force has always been a possible option for the rich and powerful in these situations. Even the most powerful, however, depend upon the cooperation of strangers. And no one can ensure that their power and resources will be sustained permanently.
According to Haddock, we interpret our political world in terms of received understandings. In order to think effectively ourselves, we have to see political theorizing in relation to the press of circumstances. It is hedged around by limitations, both conceptual and cultural. Hard thinking of this kind requires immersion in contexts, and at the same time awareness of continuing efforts to grasp transient situations. Our thinking, in this sense, is never over.
So A History of Political Thought deals with the vexing question: how the universal and particular dimensions of political theory should be understood. Our thinking is torn in different directions. History of political thought can equip us to address some of these difficulties, without furnishing definitive solutions. We have to do the best we can for ourselves as thinkers, in the light of the most cogent and arresting treatments of recurring issues that have come down to us. It is a challenging and frustrating exercise; but we disregard it at our peril.
Bruce Haddock offers us an original and wonderfully insightful
history of political thought since 1789. It is at once stimulating
and enlightening, the fruit of profound reflection upon the nature
of politics in the modern age. It will be read with benefit by
students and academics alike. – Jeremy Jennings,
Modestly titled, but far from modest in its ambition and
achievement, Bruce Haddock's elegant and informed account of Western
political thought since the French Revolution is a vindication of
the indispensability of normative political theory. Written in an
accessible and engaging style, and wearing its learning lightly,
A History of Political Thought traces the emergence and
development of the principal tensions and perplexities that beset
modern political thought, and explains why it is so difficult to
resolve them. The book will be instructive and stimulating for
students of modern political thought, but also an enjoyable and
thought-provoking read for scholars. – John Horton,
In recent decades the foundations of political and ethical theory have been widely questioned. In A History of Political Thought Haddock highlights the emergence of a dilemma that faces all citizens: how we make judgments of value from embedded positions in social and cultural communities. Lucid and original, the text will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, history and philosophy.
Professional & Technical / Medicine
Skeletal Muscle: Form and Function, 2nd Edition by Brian R. Macintosh, Phillip F. Gardiner & Alan J. McComas (Human Kinetics)
Skeletal Muscle, 2nd Edition, provides readers with a detailed understanding of the different facets of muscle physiology. This text examines motoneuron and muscle structure and function.
A unique feature of
Skeletal Muscle is that it combines basic sciences (anatomy,
physiology, biophysics, and chemistry) with clinical applications
(detection of disease and genetic mutations and training and
rehabilitation). Each chapter ends with a section on clinical and
other applied aspects of the information presented in that chapter,
showing, for example, how specific defects of muscle or nerve cells
can result in certain clinical disorders. The result is a thorough
understanding of skeletal muscle structure and physiology.
Written by Brian R. MacIntosh, associate dean of the graduate program and professor for the faculty of kinesiology at the University of Calgary in Alberta; Phillip Gardiner, Director of the Health, Leisure & Human Performance Research Institute at the University of Manitoba and adjunct professor of physiology; and Alan J. McComas, emeritus professor of medicine at McMaster University; this 2nd edition of Skeletal Muscle includes:
- The latest research in all areas of muscle physiology.
- Major revisions of chapters covering muscle contraction, muscle metabolism, and fatigue.
- More than 200 drawings (many of them original) and 30 photos (mostly micrographs), all of which clarify and augment the text.
- Pedagogical aids to facilitate comprehension, including key
points in the margins, special interest points, an index, and a
greatly expanded glossary .
Skeletal Muscle, 2nd Edition, is divided into three parts. Part I presents the structures of the neuromuscular system: muscle, motoneurons, and neuromuscular junctions and sensory receptors as well as the development of these structures. Part II examines muscle function, including neuromuscular transmission, muscle contraction, motor units, and muscle metabolism. Part III focuses on the adaptability of the neuromuscular system. Among the issues it explores are fatigue, loss and recovery of muscle innervation, trophism, muscle training, and injury and repair.
The depth and breadth of the contents, combined with the practical applications, make Skeletal Muscle the leading authority on the structure, electrophysiology, and adaptability of human skeletal muscle. Meticulously researched and updated, Skeletal Muscle is intended for those who need to know about skeletal muscle – from undergraduate and graduate students gaining advanced knowledge in kinesiology to physiotherapists, physiatrists, and other professionals whose work demands understanding of muscle form and function.
Professional & Technical / Medicine / Test Preparation & Review
Guyton and Hall Physiology Review edited by John E. Hall (Saunders Elsevier)
Self-assessment is an important component of effective learning, especially when studying a subject as complex as medical physiology. Guyton and Hall Physiology Review is designed to assist medical students in learning physiology by providing a comprehensive review of the subject through multiple-choice questions and explanations of the answers.
Following the same chapter organization as Guyton & Hall’s Textbook of Medical Physiology, 11th Edition, Guyton and Hall Physiology Review, by John Hall, Guyton Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, provides a comprehensive review for the United States Medical Licensure Examinations (USMLE) Step 1 exam with an emphasis on system interaction, homeostasis, and pathophysiology. Features of the book include:
- Over 1,000 Board-style questions, in USMLE format, with answers and detailed rationales, cover the most essential, need-to-know concepts in physiology.
- Includes thorough reviews of all major body systems, with emphasis on system interaction, homeostasis, and pathophysiology.
- Offers a comprehensive practice exam of over 1,000 questions in USMLE format.
- Includes answers and explanations for every question, as well as page references to the Guyton & Hall’s Textbook of Medical Physiology.
- Follows a parallel chapter organization to Textbook of Medical Physiology.
- Provides all of the essential information needed to prepare for the physiology portion of the USMLE Step 1.
- Dedicates a brief section to helpful hints on preparing for the USMLE exam.
Illustrations are used to reinforce basic concepts. Some of the questions incorporate information from multiple chapters in the Textbook of Medical Physiology to permit assessment of readers’ ability to apply and integrate the principles necessary for the mastery of medical physiology.
According to Hall, an effective way to use the review is to allow about one minute for each question in a given unit, approximating the time limit for a question in the USMLE examination. As readers proceed, Hall recommends that they indicate their answers next to each question. Guyton and Hall Physiology Review cannot serve as a substitute for the Textbook of Medical Physiology – it is intended mainly for students as a means of assessing their knowledge of physiology and of strengthening their ability to apply and integrate this knowledge.
Hall's Guyton and Hall Physiology Review is a welcome addition to the Guyton & Hall family – the most effective way for medical students to prepare for exams or strengthen their knowledge of the field – it is particularly useful since the test questions have been constructed according to the USMLE format.
Religion & Spirituality
The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World, 4th
Edition by Theodore M. Ludwig (Pearson Prentice
Hall) combines study of the dynamic historical development of each
religious tradition with a comparative thematic structure.
The Sacred Paths by Theodore Ludwig,
With such readers in mind, the basic approach in
The Sacred Paths is focused on the goal of understanding –
understanding begins with a sense of what a particular religion
means for the people who practice it and live by it. It is important
to realize that each religious tradition is a living and growing
organism stretched out over time, and thus we pay attention to
historical and cultural developments. But we also attempt to go
beyond historical information and let readers find themselves in the
place of the people who live by each religion – viewing the world
through their sacred stories, their worldview, their rituals, and
their notion of the good life.
The procedure used in
The Sacred Paths combines the necessary discussion of historical
matters with a thematic approach based on general issues that arise
out of human experience – questions about personal identity, human
existence and wholeness, and the right way to live. Since readers
can identify with such issues from personal experience, windows are
opened toward an understanding of the meaning and guidance people
find in their particular religious traditions. Further, this
combination of historical and thematic approaches facilitates
comparison among the religious traditions, highlighting the main
motifs and concerns of that general dimension of human life we call
religious experience.
The Sacred Paths has been revised throughout to bring material
up to date and to provide readers with greater clarity in the
discussions of complex historical and theoretical materials. The
general structure of the book focuses on major groupings or families
of religions. But the structure follows a geographical taxonomy,
with the major sections devoted to religions arising in
It is particularly important that readers have some encounter with the sacred texts and scriptures of each particular religious tradition – yet the comprehension and appreciation of such sacred texts is notoriously difficult for an outsider. The Sacred Paths incorporates extensive quotations from the sacred texts of each tradition, providing interpretation so the reader can see the significance of these texts and comprehend what they mean for people of that religious tradition.
The inclusion of material on artistic expression in the different
religious traditions helps readers see that each religion or culture
has its own unique aesthetic sense. Thus it is important, for
understanding each tradition, to pay attention to the special
artistic expressions growing out of that religious experience. Also,
The Sacred Paths gives particular attention to the role of women
in each tradition. Greater awareness of women's experiences and
leadership roles has made possible many new understandings and
insights in all the religious traditions. Further, an important
development in the modern western world is the rise of new religious
movements, and a special chapter is devoted to understanding some of
these alternative movements.
Study features include the discussion questions; these questions are designed to promote review of the material as well as further reflection on the character of each religious tradition. Other study features include maps, timelines, and a glossary of key terms. The suggestions for further reading for each religious tradition have incorporated many important books that have been published in the last few years.
The Sacred Paths has been revised throughout this Fourth Edition to bring the material up to date for all of the religious traditions, particularly in light of recent world events that affect people of all religions. The updates for the Fourth Edition include:
- A new section on healing and medicine for each religious tradition
- A glossary of relevant terms and definitions in each chapter
- Discussion questions for each chapter that have been revised.
With this volume, Prentice Hall makes available to all readers
the new Research Update! This includes the CD-ROM, The Sacred World:
Encounters with the World’s Religions, which contains new multimedia
explorations of the religions: and a multimedia icon throughout this
text, which refers students to relevant video clips on the CD.
Further, bundled with each text is TIME Special Edition: World
Religions, with numerous current articles on a variety of religious
topics. Also, with this text, readers are given the opportunity to
access Research Navigator, the research tool.
As the work of a single scholar – much of it based on original research – The Sacred Paths offers a consistency and depth missing in many of the texts in this field. Unique in approach, Ludwig's tour de force combines a historical-descriptive presentation of individual religions with a comparative-thematic approach. The book is for anyone interested in exploring the origins and development of the diverse religions of the world.
Religion & Spirituality / Christianity
Jesus and His Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and
Atonement Theory by Scot McKnight (
Recent scholarship on the historical Jesus has rightly focused upon how Jesus understood his own mission. But no scholarly effort to understand the mission of Jesus can rest content without exploring the historical possibility that Jesus envisioned his own death. In Jesus and His Death, Scot McKnight contends that Jesus did in fact anticipate his own death. McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University, and author or editor of twelve books, including The Historical Jesus, Turning to Jesus, and Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, says that Jesus understood his death as an atoning sacrifice, and that his death as an atoning sacrifice stood at the heart of his mission to protect his followers from the judgment of God.
Contents include:
Part One: The Debate
The Historical Jesus, the Death of Jesus, Historiography, and Theology; Jesus' Death in Scholarship; Re-enter Jesus' Death
Part Two: The Reality of a Premature Death
The Leading Foot in the Dance of Atonement; A Temporary Presence
in God's
Part Three: A Ransom for Many
The Authenticity of the Ransom Saying; [Excursus: The Son of man]; Jesus and the Scripture Prophets; The Script for Jesus; Jesus and the Servant; The Passion Predictions
Part Four: Jesus and the Last Supper
Pesah in Jewish History; Pesah and the Last Supper; This Bread and This Cup; Jesus and the Covenant; "Poured Out" and Eschatology; Conclusions; [Excursus: Chasing Down Paul's Theological Ship]
In Jesus and His Death McKnight finds that Jesus believed the kingdom was yet in the future and that his own death was what would guarantee participation for his followers.
Scot McKnight is fully aware that making claims about the historical Jesus is like entering a minefield. But he combines wide-ranging knowledge of and a willingness to interact with the extensive literature to build a careful, brick-by-brick argument. The sheer breadth of issues covered separates this work from what might otherwise have been its competitors. In ways reminiscent of Stephen Neill, McKnight also has written a book that is never dry or dull. – Joel B. Green, Dean and Professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary
This is a brave book. With due awareness of the historical traps
and with a mastery of the recent relevant literature, McKnight here
asks the crucial question, how did Jesus interpret his own death?
His answer, which hearkens back to Albert Schweitzer, does full
justice to Jesus' eschatological outlook and makes good sense within
a first-century Jewish context. Even those who see things
differently – I do not – will enjoy how the detailed and rigorous
argument develops and will find themselves learning a great deal. –
Dale C. Allison, Jr.,
…[Scot McKnight] moves back and forth with careful transitions
between contemporary hermeneutics and the ancient texts. As he does
so, he also provides a rich and often entertaining account of the
secondary literature. The volume can be read both as an address of
its central questions and as a well-informed introduction to New
Testament theology. – Bruce Chilton,
Jesus and His Death is a far-reaching study; in it McKnight outlines a carefully reasoned and compelling argument that Jesus believed his death would not destroy the imminent arrival of the kingdom and that, when it arrived, he would once again be in fellowship with his followers. The book will appeal to both scholars and general readers interested in Jesus’ death.
Religion & Spirituality / Christianity / Women’s Studies
Women in the Church, 2nd Edition: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger & Thomas R. Schreiner (Baker Academic)
Ten years after the publication of the first edition of Women in the Church, the debate over women's roles in the church is as fierce as it has ever been. Not that significant new biblical information has come to light. No major new data have been discovered that have a bearing on the interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 – but the larger culture continues to press on the church to recognize women as men's equals without any distinctions in function or role.
For this reason Women in the Church has been revised and updated as an antidote to political correctness, and its largely egalitarian worldview. To enhance the work's usefulness, material judged to be less central to the overall argument of the book has been omitted, while a new chapter on application has been added. All essays have been updated in light of recent developments in scholarship pertaining to the interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9-15.
The book is edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger, professor of New Testament and Greek and director of Ph.D./Th.M. studies and Thomas R. Schreiner, professor of New Testament interpretation and associate dean for Scripture and interpretation, both at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The essays have been contributed by academic scholars, all with Ph.D.s.: Henry Scott Baldwin, associate professor of New Testament literature and language at Tyndale Theological Seminary, Amsterdam; Steven M. Baugh, professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary California, Escondido, California; Dorothy Kelley Patterson, professor of theology in women's studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth; and Robert W. Yarbrough, associate professor of New Testament and department chair at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, as well as the editors.
In the new streamlined format of the argument of
Women in the Church, Steven Baugh continues to maintain that
first-century
The second half of
Women in the Church is devoted to a verse-by-verse commentary on
1 Timothy 2:9–15; principles teachings by Dorothy Patterson. As a
woman who has been involved in significant ministry for several
decades, Patterson, the only female contributor to the book,
comments on the passage's implications for women's roles in the
church, arguing that women ought to exercise their God-given
spiritual gifts within biblical parameters in obedience to God.
According to the book, all the various elements affecting the
interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 combine to suggest that it is not
God's will for women to teach or have authority over men in the
church, so that the offices of pastor-teacher as well as elder ought
to be reserved for men. The Preface says, “As you read
Women in the Church, may God the Holy Spirit guide you to have
not only a mind to understand but also the will to obey the teaching
of the present passage, and may you find that personal fulfillment
comes, not from rebelling against God's will, but from obeying it.
In an age when assertions abound concerning the meaning of this
text, the contributors have not only presented the most
thoroughgoing and decisive case for the traditional view of 1
Timothy 2:9-15 now available, but have also provided a handbook of
solid interpretive methodology. Whether or not one agrees with their
conclusions, the reader will find the issues clarified, the evidence
evaluated, and the text carefully analyzed and applied. I heartily
recommend this book to all who are willing to confront and be
confronted by the biblical text once again. – Scott Hafemann,
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
A fine collection of integrated essays addressing one of the most
important issues regarding the ministry of women in the Christian
church. This series of grammatical, linguistic, exegetical,
hermeneutical, and theological essays is one of the most
comprehensive treatments to date on the subject. … Fresh research
and careful analysis have been based on the wide range of
extrabiblical Greek texts that are now available, along with
high-speed computer searches that can be conducted. – Peter T.
O‘Brien,
A pivotal text behind a major problem deserves a major book. The
pivotal text is 1 Timothy 2:9-15. The major problem is how men and
women relate to each other in teaching and leading the Christian
church. And the major book is
Women in the Church. There is none more thorough or careful or
balanced or biblical. – John Piper,
Women in the Church provides a biblical defense of the traditional complementarian position – recommended reading for those on both sides of the aisle. Each chapter has been revised to make the book's substantive arguments more accessible.
Religion & Spirituality / Environment & Nature
The Spirit of Trees: Science, Symbiosis and Inspiration by Fred Hageneder (Continuum)
Fred Hageneder’s passion for trees started in his teens – he describes in the book a time when he was annoyed and depressed and a birch lifted his spirits.
The Spirit of Trees combines science, art and inspiration. Set
on coated stock, it contains hundreds of illustrations including
fifty-five in full color. Part 2 treats twenty-four of the most
prevalent trees in the Northern Hemisphere individually, from Ash
and
Hageneder, harpist, graphic designer and artist, in 1983
discovered Robert Graves' The White Goddess and his Celtic Tree
Calendar. He wanted to bring the idea of living with trees through
the year to more people, and the result were two Celtic Tree
Calendars published in
Many years and trees passed by, the tree calendar question
remaining unanswered and almost forgotten, although queries from
people wanting a new calendar never really stopped. While on retreat
in
The present work began as an introduction to the [full-color]
paintings [of trees in the book], but Hageneder's passion for his
subject and the wealth of scientific fact, historical information,
and traditional lore he gathered in the process have resulted in a
virtual arboretum of 24 of the most common, best-loved trees of
Europe and North America presented with stunningly beautiful
paintings, drawings, and photographs." – NAPRA ReView
Delightfully informative and thoughtfully inspiring...beautifully
illustrated, well printed and fluently written... accompanied by
beautiful photographs, drawings and paintings, many by the author
himself...This is a book that has been sorely needed.... General
readers and specialists alike will find much within its pages for
stimulation, reflection and refreshment." – Plant Growth Regulation
The Spirit of Trees combines science and popular tree lore with notes on the healing properties of individual species of tree, based on Hageneder’s own metaphysical experiences with trees and art, a unique melding.
Science / Biology / Anthropology
The Myth of the Jewish Race: A Biologist's Point of View by
Alain F. Corcos (
More than sixty years after the death of Hitler, the defeat of Nazism, and the horrors of the Holocaust, the concept of a Jewish race is still alive and well.
The Myth of the Jewish Race is an attempt to destroy such a
concept from both a biological and historical point of view. Alain
F. Corsos, an immigrant from
As a trained geneticist, Corcos, professor emeritus in botany at
In addition to an introduction, a conclusion, a bibliography and an index, the book has three parts:
- The History of the Concept of the Jewish Race
- Why Jews Are Not a Race: Thoughts of a Biologist
- Why Jews Are Not a Race: A Short History of the Jews
Corcos in The Myth of the Jewish Race says that “A friend asked me why I wanted to write a book on the biological myth of the Jewish race when I had just written one on the myth of human races. ‘If there are no human races,’ he said, ‘obviously there is no Jewish race." This is perfectly true, but there is a very important reason. More than fifty years after the death of Hitler, the defeat of Nazism, and the horrors of the Holocaust, the concept of a Jewish race is still alive and well in the minds of too many Jews and non-Jews. There is also a personal reason. I felt this was the only way for me to deal with the persecution that affected my childhood and which I could not forget.”
In The Myth of the Jewish Race, Corcos does his best as a biologist to destroy the false biological premises that undergird the myth of the Jewish race. For many of us it was not necessary, but for him and many others, it was.
Science / Biology / Politics / Health Policy
The Quest for Human Longevity: Science, Business, and Public Policy by Lewis D. Solomon (Transaction)
Many scientists today are working to retard the aging process in humans so as to increase both life expectancy and the quality of life. Over the past decade impressive results have been achieved in targeting the mechanisms and pathways of aging.
In The Quest for Human Longevity, Lewis D. Solomon considers these scientific studies by exploring the principal biomedical anti-aging techniques. The book considers cutting edge research on mental enhancements and assesses the scientific doubts of skeptics.
The Quest for Human Longevity is also about business. Solomon,
prolific author, Theodore Rinehart Professor of Business Law at
Academic scientists form the link between research and commerce. Solomon notes that the involvement of university scientists and researchers follows one of two models. The first is a traditional model in which scientists leave academia to work for a corporation or remain in academia and obtain business support for their research. The second is a modern model in which scientists use their intellectual property as a catalyst for acquiring equity interests in the firms they organize. Critics have pointed to the dangers of commercialized science, but Solomon's analysis, on balance, finds that the benefits outweigh the costs and that problems of secrecy and conflicts of interest can be addressed.
According to Solomon, the process of aging was not thought to be amenable to intervention until recently. An intense, methodical quest is now under way to turn off aging and extend life using proven science. A hunt is underway to discover the repair mechanisms that work so well during youth. If we understand these natural repair systems, we should be able to reset them or use them to repair the body as it advances in years. According to Bruce N. Ames, a noted scientist whose work is discussed in chapter 3, "Once scientists understand the mechanism [of aging], there are hundreds of ways to intervene."
Over the past decade, respected scientists achieved impressive results in their laboratories – these legitimate researchers at top-flight academic institutions see aging as subject to slowing. Some even see the possibility of reversing any age-related decline that has already occurred and restoring vitality and function, thereby combating the aging process "to achieve a perpetually youthful physiological state."' In their search, these pro-longevity scientists start with aging, targeting the mechanisms and pathways of aging, not any specific disease itself.
Scientific discoveries in the 1990s helped legitimize the field of aging genetics. By turning on or off certain genes, for example, researchers achieved success in doubling and tripling the lives of simple organisms, including yeast, fruit flies, and worms, and even more complex ones, such as mice. They even achieved an astounding six-fold increase for worms. These organisms not only put off death but also the hobbling conditions of old age. With these scientific results, one could hypothesize that human beings could live to 150 or 160 years (or even longer). Research may enable humans to slow down aging, increase the maximum lifespan, and enable people to remain vigorous longer, with a less decrepit and burdensome old age.
The Quest for Human Longevity examines four anti-aging techniques being developed by a number of businesses:
- Lengthening telomeres and/or actuating telomerase, to extend or stabilize the strips of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes – Geron Corp. – Chapter 2
- Natural or synthetic anti-oxidants to neutralize free radicals – Juvenon, Inc. and Eukarion, Inc. – Chapter 3
- Caloric restriction to duplicate the benefits of trimming food intake – BioMarker Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Chapter 4
- Genetic manipulation to rearrange or alter genes to promote age-retarding genes – Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Chapter 5
Living longer is less desirable if mental agility continues to deteriorate. It may be possible that at 150, humans could have the physical and mental agility of a seventy-five-year old, and not spend the extra seventy-five years babbling in a nursing home.
Chapter 6 covers the search for memory-enhancing drugs by Helicon Therapeutics, Inc., Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., and Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
If scientists succeed in unlocking the secrets of aging and developing drugs or therapies that will allow us to live decades longer, the consequences for society will include profound social, political, economic, and ethical questions. Solomon deals with the public policy aspects of significant life extension in the seventh and final chapter, and he looks at the conflict between those who advocate the acceptance of mortality and the partisans of life. The Quest for Human Longevity will be of interest to policymakers, sociologists, scientists, and students of business, as well as general readers interested in these compelling issues.
Social Sciences / Religion & Spirituality
The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in
It seems that the same war breaks out every December. Some angry group sues to have a nativity scene and menorah taken down from city hall, while another angry group agitates to have them put up. And it's not just holiday displays that cause this conflict – from public school curricula to zoning permits, no area of civil government seems safe from the ongoing struggle between those who say only the true faith belongs in public and those who say that no faiths do.
Who are the people behind this running battle? As Kevin Seamus Hasson explains in The Right to Be Wrong, he thinks of them as the ‘Pilgrims’ and the ‘Park Rangers.’ Pilgrims believe that their truths require them to restrict other people’s religious freedom. Park Rangers believe that their freedoms require them to make sure others' religious truths remain private. Together, these groups are responsible for the impasse over the role of religion in our public life.
The Right to Be Wrong explains why the Pilgrims and Park Rangers are both mistaken, and it offers a solution that avoids both pitfalls. The book draws its lessons from a series of stories – some old, others recent, some funny, others not. They tell of heroes and scoundrels, of riots, rabbis and reverends, founders and flakes, from the colonial period to the present. The book concludes that freedom for all of us is guaranteed by the truth about each of us: our common humanity entitles us to freedom – within broad limits – to follow what we believe to be true as our consciences say we must, even if our consciences are mistaken.
A partisan both of religious expression and personal freedom, Hasson, founder and chairman of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, takes readers on a tour of the American tradition in pointing the way toward a pluralism that grounds religious freedom for all in the truth about each of us.
… Hasson brings to life the people, politics and events that have
led us to a seeming impasse over the role of religion in our
pluralistic society. His own proposal for ending the religious
culture war is so reasonable that one closes the book believing that
the day may be dawning when all of us can enjoy ‘the right to be
wrong.’ – Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law,
In a manner that is informed, fresh, and marvelously accessible, Mr. Hasson guides the reader on a great adventure – out of the dark woods of judicial incoherence into the bright valley of freedom secured by truth, which is, please God, the American future. – The Reverend Richard John Neuhaus, Editor-in-Chief, First Things
In this wise and lively book, Seamus Hasson gives us an essential guide for how to retire our divisive bickering over religion in public life. He returns us to first principles in a clear, witty and remarkably persuasive way. – Rabbi Alan Mittleman, Professor of Philosophy, Jewish Theological Seminary
Readers will never look at the culture wars quite the same way after reading The Right to Be Wrong, a witty and surprisingly original book.
Social Sciences / Sociology
Mass Media, an Aging Population and the Baby Boomers by Michael
L. Hilt & Jeremy H. Lipschultz (LEA's
Communication Series:
The baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, is heading toward their retirement years. Uses of mass media, as well as the images portrayed, are already being influenced by the demographic shift. For example, when Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan warned in 2004 that, in about a decade, Social Security and Medicare funding shortfalls would be driven by baby boomer retirements, the story was extensively reported in the press. Mass media coverage of aging issues is expected to expand, and scholars from a variety of fields have become interested.
Mass Media, an Aging Population and the Baby Boomers a
comprehensive examination of the relationship between media and
aging issues, addressing mass media theory and practice as it
relates to older Americans. Reviewing current research on
communication and gerontology, authors Michael Hilt and Jeremy
Lipschultz focus on aging baby boomers and their experiences with
television, radio, print media, entertainment, advertising and
public relations, along with the Internet and new media. They draw
from studies about health and sexuality to understand views of
aging, and present a view of older people as important players in
the political process.
The contributors include David Corbin, Professor of Health
Education and Courtesy Professor of Gerontology at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha; John Dillon, Professor of Journalism and Mass
Communications at Murray State University in Kentucky; Hugh Reilly,
Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Nebraska
at Omaha; and James Thorson, Jacob Isaacson Distinguished Professor
and Chair, Department of Gerontology at University of Nebraska at
Omaha. Authors Hilt, Professor and Graduate Chair and Lipschultz,
Reilly Professor and Director of the
Traditionally, mass media and the elderly has been an important area of study because older people have been portrayed via negative stereotypical images. Despite criticism, these portrayals persist. Mass media have tended to focus on youth culture and younger demographic age groups. These images help sell products and programming. In advertising, for example, sex is used to sell products. This represents a natural bias against the elderly. Even marketing in the area of prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction has shifted away from older people and toward baby boomers and younger people. Although age has always been an important variable in media use and health communication studies, there has been limited focus on the older age segment.
Mass Media, an Aging Population and the Baby Boomers examines the linkage between media and aging issues. Interpersonal communication has been the focus of previous research; however, the purpose in this book is to comprehensively address mass media theory and practice as it relates to older people. Aging baby boomers are an interesting group because of their lifelong experiences with mass media, including television. They were born at the dawn of the television age. Additionally, they have come to embrace the Internet in large numbers. Beyond this, the older World Wide Web users have, in some cases, enthusiastically adopted the Internet as a source of information and a means to maintain interpersonal communication with family, friends, and interest groups.
The introductory chapter in Mass Media, an Aging Population and the Baby Boomers explains why aging baby boomers are an important area of mass media study. Chapter 2 reviews theory and research on communication and gerontology. Media images of older people may construct social realities for the public and have effects on individuals. Over long periods of time, stereotypical images may cultivate negative representations of aging. At the same time, the elderly sometimes suffer from disengagement because of declining health. Chapter 3 examines television as one replacement for interpersonal interaction. This chapter reviews the relation between broadcast news and the elderly. Chapter 4 focuses on print media. Older readers remain the most important audience for print media. However, poor eyesight among older people is one reason why they may forsake reading. Chapter 5 turns to the topic of entertainment. Because older people generally have more available free time, they use media for entertainment. Baby boomers are a distinct cultural group, which emphasizes leisure time. Media usage competes with other entertainment activities. In chapter 6, the impact of aging on advertising and public relations is explored. Products and ideas targeted at older people, particularly baby boomers, are marketed with specialized campaigns that emphasize entertainment and leisure. Chapter 7 extends baby boomer media use to the Internet and new media. Older adults' use of the Internet reflects their interest in news, information, hobbies, and family. Chapter 8 draws from the studies about health and sexuality to understand views of aging. A positive view of aging may be related to life span. In chapter 9, older people are viewed as important players in the political process because of the size of the demographic group. Chapter 10 addresses trends and predictions related to baby boomers and mass media.
…Much of the text deals with such controversial questions as how
different are the baby boomers from the older (World War II
generation) and the younger (‘silent generation’) cohorts? Will the
baby boomers make a qualitative difference to our aging population
or will they simply continue the trends of the last several
generations? What are the positive aspects and opportunities of the
baby boomers as well as their problems as they age?
This is a quite up-to-date book that provides the latest
information on such things as television shows and their treatment
of older persons, psychographics of various cohorts, research on
uses of the Internet by older persons, and political issues related
to aging.…In summary, this is a well-written book that will be
useful to many different kinds of people – and especially to baby
boomers, the face of future aging. – Erdman B. Palmore, PhD, from
the Foreword
Providing a timely and insightful examination of the linkage between mass media and aging issues, Mass Media, an Aging Population and the Baby Boomers will prove a valuable resource for scholars and students in media and gerontology. It is intended for use in courses addressing such topics as mass communication and society, media and aging, media and public opinion, sociology, and social gerontology. This book may be used in undergraduate and graduate courses in communication, gerontology, sociology, and political science.
Social Sciences / Sociology
Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals by Robert M. Sapolsky (Scribner)
Who could resist one of the most brilliant scientists of our time spilling the dirt on everything we've never thought to ask about?
When it comes to the big stuff: sex, revenge, family, love and
death, are we uniquely human or just ‘aping’ our primate relatives?
How much is in our genes, and why is the question of nature versus
nurture quickly becoming irrelevant?
Monkeyluv, the new collection of essays by Robert Sapolsky,
Among the essays in Monkeyluv are surprising revelations that challenge what we thought we knew about the workings of the world. In the title essay, Monkeyluv, Sapolsky challenges the idea that nice guys (or nice baboons) finish last and shows why wooing the woman while the macho-types fight it out is a successful evolutionary strategy.
The first section, Genes and Who We Are, addresses the physiology
of genes, featuring a dissertation on The 50 Most Beautiful People
in the World and tackling the vital question: How did they wind up
on the list? Another essay explains the invisible genetic warfare
that takes place between men and women as they conceive a baby and
that continues as the fetus develops. As Sapolsky, biology and
neurology at Stanford University and the recipient of a MacArthur
Foundation genius grant, says, "Warning: this essay does not make
pleasant wedding-night reading."
The second section, Our Bodies and Who We Are, focuses on our physical natures and dwells on such diverse topics as why dreams are in fact dreamlike, why we are sexually attracted to one another, and why Alzheimer's disease tends to be a postmenopausal phenomenon. As Sapolsky writes, "Sometimes, all you need to do is think a thought and you change the functioning of virtually every cell in your body."
In The Pleasure (and Pain) of ‘Maybe’ Sapolsky gives us a
front-row seat to unrequited baboon love in a troop he had been
studying for twenty-five years: "Jonathan had taken one look at
Rebecca and developed a god-awful male baboon crush... she'd sit
down to rest in the shade...and there'd be Jonathan, trying to groom
her, and getting the cold fur-covered shoulder." While it’s funny
enough – and a little painful too – to think of lovelorn Jonathan
chasing after Rebecca, Sapolsky relates this to larger patterns in
our own behavior. How does the anticipation of possibly winning the
lottery give us pleasure even when we're holding a losing ticket?
What is it about ‘Maybe’ that gives us thrills?
In the third section, Society and Who We Are, Sapolsky takes his interdisciplinary curiosity out into the wilds of civilization and poses such interesting questions as: When and why do our preferences in food become fixed? Why do desert cultures tend to be monotheistic and sexually repressed, whereas rainforest cultures tend to be sexually relaxed and polytheistic? Why do different cultures think differently about dead bodies? "We are shaped by the sort of society in which we live," Sapolsky tells us, "and we would not be the same person if we had grown up elsewhere."
There are many things one might expect to find within the covers of a collection of essays by a Stanford professor of biology and neurology: a rich understanding of the complexities of human and animal life; a sensitivity to the relationship between our biological nature and our environmental context; a humility in the face of still-to-be-understood facets of the human condition. All these are in Sapolsky's new collection, along with something one might not expect: wry, witty prose that reads like the unexpected love child of a merger between Popular Science and GQ, written by an author who could be as much at home holding court at the local pub as he is in a university lab. …Each essay brings its own unexpected delight, brief enough that you can dip a toe in, yet insightful enough to encourage you to pursue the topic further (and Sapolsky helpfully appends to each essay a list of suggested further readings). – Publishers Weekly, starred review
The human animal in all its fascinating quirks of nature is
showcased in this thoughtful and entertaining essay collection from
Social Sciences / True Crime
American Street Gangs by Tim Delaney (Pearson Prentice Hall)
Gangs have become such a major phenomenon that their existence
has become institutionalized – that is, they are now a permanent
fixture of American society and students as well as many members of
the general population have an increasing desire to know about
street gangs. But the study of street gangs presents many obstacles,
beginning with the fact that there is no agreed-upon definition of
what a street gang is. Street gangs, as we know them today, have
existed since the early 1800s, beginning with the Forty Thieves in
American Street Gangs, written by Tim Delay, assistant professor
of sociology at the State University of New York at
The primary goals of American Street Gangs are to provide a clear and comprehensive review of critical issues related to gang life; examine and assess the major theories and socioeconomic reasons why gangs exist; provide a description of all types of gangs, including small, regional, and super-sized (nations); analyze law enforcement techniques to combat the growing problem of gangs and diversion efforts to keep youths out of the gang; reveal private information about gangs in an attempt to better understand gangs; and increase readers’ general knowledge of gangs, especially the socio-psychological aspects of individual and group behavior. Chapters include:
- What is a Gang?
- A History of Gangs
- Theoretical Explanations of Gangs
- Socioeconomic Explanations of Gangs
- Gang Structure and Process
- Street Gangs: Local, Regional, and Super-Sized
- Female Gangs and Gang Members
- Criminal Activities of Street Gangs
- Gang Prevention, Suppression and Treatment
- Implications for the Future
… There are very few meaningful textbooks on gangs.
American Street Gangs is breaking new ground. There is no other
book that I know of that provides such a comprehensive exposition of
gang dynamics and activities. – Professor John Anderson,
This is probably the most complete and up-to-date material I have
seen compiled on the subject of gangs....The information presented
is accurate. – Professor Jonathan E. Cella,
In my opinion, the approach taken by the author is excellent. It
will allow me to use just this text, rather than the normal three
texts and supplementary articles I presently use. There are many
texts that cover the issue of gangs, but for me, this text combines
the best of each of the better books and summarizes the important
issues that need to be covered in the study of gangs. The most
important section in this text is the extensive coverage of the
history of gangs. – Professor Morris Jenkins,
American Street Gangs offers a fresh and wide-ranging review of critical issues related to gang life, and it will help readers understand the complex world of street gangs. The book is intended primarily for the use of those in law enforcement and criminal justice careers as well as the sociology field.
Sports
If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? :
The Eagles have yet to play a game in the 2005 season and they're already off to a potentially ominous start. According to If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer?, Terrell Owens, the team's flamboyant wide receiver, was recently suspended from training camp, outrageously compared his trials to those on Jesus Christ on national television, and, upon his return to the team, refused to talk to quarterback Donovan McNabb. Is it any wonder then that even the most steadfast of Eagles fans are, once again, preparing for the worst?
The last time a
Last season, 2004, the beleaguered Eagles finally had a shot, and
the city sat poised, at long last, on the verge of sporting
salvation. During the team's remarkable 2004 playoff run, Longman,
the bestselling author of Among the Heroes and The Girls of Summer,
followed a group of Eagle fanatics in the hope of better
understanding the unique blend of anticipation and fear that takes
over the city each football season. After superstar wide receiver
Owens injured his ankle, the fans reacted with a peculiar blend of
hope and dread, but stuck by the team. And when Owens returned for
the Super Bowl, the city sat poised, at long last, on the verge of
sporting salvation.
In the tradition of Fever Pitch and Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer,
and peppered with riotous anecdotes about the superfans, grandstand
brawlers and football lunatics who make Philadelphia one of the most
entertaining places in America to watch a game,
If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? is the
day-by-day account of the operatic passion of Eagle fans, as it
threatens to spin out of control in the dizzying buildup to the
team's first appearance in the Super Bowl since 1981. From the
city's annual Wing Bowl, a near-mythological gastronomic fete in
which contestants attempt to devour their weight in chicken wings,
to oversize and outlandish Eagle lawn decorations, to
hygiene-defying contests for playoff tickets, Eagle enthusiasm is
raised to a bizarre new level. Even
Jere Longman has bushwhacked his way past the beer cans and
barbecue into the predator-filled jungle of the Linc and brought
back a story to delight sports fans of all stripes. His account of
the Eagles' playoff run and Super Bowl bid is a richly reported and
very funny tale of a city transfixed by football and winning, even
as the latter remains ever so slightly out of reach. Fast and well
aimed, Longman's writing hits you between the eyes like a snowball
thrown by a heckling fan. – Warren St. John, author of Hammer Jammer
Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania
Packing the wallop of a soggy cheese steak to the back of the
head,
If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? captures
the anger and joy and desperation of the
More than a catalog of local fans' excesses and idiosyncrasies,
If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? is a
meditation on the powerful nature of sports and how it can affect an
entire city's perception of itself. Philadelphians struggle with a
reputation as a second-rate city, and Longman, a longtime resident
of
Sports
The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball by John Taylor (Random House) highlights a time when the life of an NBA player was difficult at best and gives an accurate look at two of the greatest the league has ever had – Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.
In the mid-1950s, the NBA was a mere barnstorming circuit, with
outposts in such cities as
In The Rivalry, award-winning journalist John Taylor projects the stories of Russell, Chamberlain, and other stars from the NBA’s golden age onto a backdrop of racial tensions and cultural change.
It’s hard to imagine two characters better suited to leading
roles in the NBA saga: Chamberlain was cast as the athletically
gifted yet mercurial titan, while Russell played the role of the
stalwart centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty.
Filled with dramatic conflicts and some of the great moments in
sports history, and building to a thrilling climax – the 1969 final
series, the last showdown between Russell and Chamberlain –
The Rivalry has at its core a philosophical question: Can
determination and a team ethos, embodied by the ultimate team
player, Bill Russell, trump sheer talent, embodied by Wilt
Chamberlain?
This is a very entertaining and informative book about the men who changed the game. – Phil Jackson
Taut, well-crafted account of the fierce decade-long rivalry and odd friendship between two (literal) giants of basketball ... a book full of fine moments. Elegant, even Plimptonesque at points – top-notch sports history. – Kirkus (starred review)
…serious work of sports history, this volume compares favorably with the best works of John Feinstein and David Halberstam on sports. – Booklist (starred review)
More than an epic sports narrative,
Independent Travellers New Zealand: The Budget Travel Guide, 2004 edition by Christopher Rice & Melanie Rice (Independent Travellers Series: Thomas Cook Publishing)
Though only a little larger than
According to Melanie and Chris Rice, authors of this and many
other travel guides, in
Independent Travellers New Zealand, most tourists associate
Being an island country,
Independent Travellers New Zealand, 2004 edition is a favorite
with both regular and first-time backpackers wanting to tour
The book is part of the Independent Travellers Series – with these guides readers can pick and click their way to flight deals and travel passes; they can check out exchange rates, and choose their accommodations before they go. Independent Travellers Guides include features on cities, towns, national parks and scenic areas; practical information on cars to rent, air travel and public transportation; journey plans with route maps, distances and travel timings; budget guides, where to eat, and what to see and do; plus color photographs and town and area maps.
Independent Travellers New Zealand combines expert advice with
details of 33 different routes, cities and areas, each in its own
self-contained chapter. The book reflects the astonishing variety of
scenery to be encountered in
As well as giving clear driving instructions and public transport details, each route chapter suggests touring bases and describes the most important attractions in detail. The remaining chapters feature cities or attractions considered worthy of a longer stay. Each has detailed information on how to get there, getting around by local transport and how to make best use of time. All chapters offer suggestions for budget-friendly accommodation and places to eat as well as how to find local entertainment highlights.
Most chapters are accompanied by a map, showing the route or city
or area, and the stops en route are described in the text. Each also
has a route description and a summary of ways to get there in the
form of a table showing bus and train schedules and a list of
driving and public transport approaches. Throughout
Independent Travellers New Zealand readers will see notes and
tips in the margins. These provide added information and suggest
places to stop en route. There are also day-trips from the main
destination and details of boat trips, walking tours and other
activities.
Clearly set out and with a mass of practical information and tips
to make the most of your money and time. – The Lady (
Independent Travellers New Zealand cuts through the mountains of surplus information available to travelers and present only the most relevant, useful and interesting facts, tips and advice.
Women’s Studies / Social Sciences
The U.S. Women's Movement in Global Perspective edited by Lee Ann Banaszak (People, Passions, and Power Series: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.)
From the grassroots to the global, the significance of the U.S.
women's movement in the international arena cannot be denied. At the
same time, the way in which international feminism has developed –
in
Author Lee Ann Banaszak, associate professor of political science
and women's studies at The Pennsylvania State University, describes
how the students in her women and politics class “are always
fascinated with the topic of the women's movement in the
Because of the way she has had to cobble together readings from
various sources for her classes, Banaszak found herself motivated to
pull together
The U.S. Women's Movement in Global Perspective in order to
unite the discussions on women's movements in the
The book represents a balance between works on the women's
movement in the
The U.S. Women's Movement in Global Perspective is an ambitious
volume bringing together original essays on the
A comparative perspective and a common theme – feminism in social movement action – unite these voices in a way that will excite students and inspire further research.
Guide to This Issue
Contents: Digital Photography,
Women in the