November 29, 2010

The Novelist's Lexicon Inspires Other Authors

Taking their cue from The Novelist’s Lexicon: Writers on the Words That Define Their Work, The National Post asked Yann Martel and a cross-section of Canadian writers to choose a word that “opens a door to their work.” Words selected...

November 29, 2010

Caryl Rivers, Rosalind Chait Barnett: Single-Sex Ed Based on Baloney Science

In a recent op-ed Caryl Rivers and Rosalind Chait Barnett, authors of the forthcoming The Truth About Girls and Boys: Challenging Toxic Stereotypes About Our Children, applaud the recent decision by Boston school superintendent Carol Johnson to back away from...

November 24, 2010

Andrew Smith Exposes the Truth About Thanksgiving

In the chapter “Giving Thanks” from his book Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine, Andrew Smith reveals that “the whole idea that the Pilgrims were the first to celebrate Thanksgiving in America was, in fact...

November 23, 2010

New Book Tuesday: David Foster Wallace and More

The following books are now available: Fate, Time, and Language: An Essay on Free Will David Foster Wallace Perversion for Profit: The Politics of Pornography and the Rise of the New Right Whitney Strub The Demon at Agi Bridge and...

November 22, 2010

Qian Zhongshu — The Best Chinese Writer You’ve Never Heard of

In an essay for The China Beat, Christopher Rea, assistant professor of modern Chinese literature at the University of British Columbia, calls Qian Zhongshu, “the best Chinese writers you’ve never heard of.” So who was Qian? Qian is perhaps best...

November 19, 2010

The Novelist's Lexicon: "fascinating and strangely disciplined"

The Los Angeles Times book blog Jacket Copy called The Novelist’s Lexicon: Writers on the Words That Define Their Work “a fascinating and strangely disciplined set of responses” to the question posed to writers to find one word that creates...

November 19, 2010

University Press Blog Roundup

To showcase the richness of university press publishing, every so often we like to highlight interesting and provocative items from other university press blogs. Apologies for those we did not include in this installment (see the blog roll for other...

November 18, 2010

A Brilliant Rivalry: Victor Cha and David Kang

Amid the sometimes competitive world of academia and the frequently divisive world of contemporary politics, it would be unlikely to find a collaborative relationship among two people from different sides of the political spectrum. However, the influential scholars David Kang...

November 17, 2010

Gary Francione on the Abolitionist Approach

On his blog Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach, Gary Francione, most recently the author of The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation, writes a series of commentaries/podcasts. In the most recent installment, “The Animal Rights Debate,” the Abolitionist Approach Discussion...

November 16, 2010

Jonathan Soffer interviewed about Ed Koch by the New York Press

In a just-published interview with the New York Press, Jonathan Soffer, author of Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City, weighs in on a variety of Koch-related topics, ranging from his distinctive and often abrasive personality and his...

November 12, 2010

The Green Life recommends Whaling in Japan: Power, Politics, and Diplomacy

Recently the Sierra Club’s blog, The Green Life, ran a round-up of new recommended books on environmental governance. Jun Morikawa’s excellent new study of the politics of Japan’s whaling industry, Whaling in Japan: Power, Politics, and Diplomacy was listed and...

November 11, 2010

Siddharth Kara Wins the Frederick Douglass Book Prize

We were very excited to learn that Siddharth Kara won the Frederick Douglass Book Prize for his book Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. The prize goes to the best book written in English on slavery or abolition....