September 22, 2010

James Fleming takes the page 99 test and is featured in the American Scholar

James Fleming author of Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate, explains what page 99 of his book does and does not reveal about his work: Page 99 of Fixing the Sky tells two stories of rain...

September 21, 2010

"Fried chicken and French fries to snack. Soccer after school. Hip hop music. Nike threads. Family obligations. Difference has rarely been so strikingly familiar"

Justin Gest begins his book Apart: Alienated and Engaged Muslims in the West with a description of the young man portrayed on the cover of the book (see above). Zak lives on London’s East End in an unfinished project. Like...

September 20, 2010

Jonathan Soffer on the Legacy of Ed Koch

Sam Roberts begins his New York Times review of Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City by citing a decade-old survey of scholars, which ranked Koch as the 15th worst mayor in American history. Not too good. But...

September 16, 2010

Bloggers from around the World Review Pomodoro!

The Crispy Cook organized other bloggers from around the world to review David Gentilcore’s book Pomodoro!: A History of the Tomato in Italy. Bloggers from Athens, Crete, England, Canada, Hawaii, and upstate New York not only weighed in on the...

September 15, 2010

Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City

Benjamin Schwarz’s “Editor’s Choice” in The Atlantic includes a discussion of Jonathan Soffer’s Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City. (The article unexpectedly begins with the “sequel” to The Preppy Handbook and ends with Soffer’s book. Schwarz praises...

September 14, 2010

The Changing Face of the Taliban

In a recent issue of the London Review of Books , Jonathan Steele examines the current situation in Afghanistan and reviews two recent CUP books, My Life with the Taliban, the autobiography of former Taliban leader Abdul Salam Zaeef, and...

September 13, 2010

Andy Smith on Breakfast Cereal

On Friday, Andy Smith, author of Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine, was on The Leonard Lopate Show to discuss the history of breakfast cereal. Joined by none other than Edwin Chavey (aka Mr. Breakfast),...

September 10, 2010

Jonathan Soffer at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Jonathan Soffer, author of the forthcoming Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City will be on what promises to be an excellent panel at this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday, September 12. Soffer’s panel, “Change Gonna Come:...

September 9, 2010

Counter-Archive and Photos from the Albert Kahn Collection

In Counter-Archive: Film, the Everyday, and Albert Kahn’s Archives de la Planète Paula Amad examines one of the most extraordinary collections of film and photography. Tucked away in a garden on the edge of Paris is a multimedia archive like...

September 8, 2010

The Number One Cause of College Happiness — David Leibow

On his blog The College Shrink, David Leibow, author of What to Do When College Is Not the Best Time of Your Life, uncovers the reason why college students are so unhappy. How unhappy are they? According to a 2009...

September 7, 2010

Bruce Hoffman and Faisal Devji and Their New Venues

For those seeking smart, original commentary or commentary events and the “war on terrorism,” Bruce Hoffman and Faisal Devji, two prominent Columbia University Press authors recently started new writing ventures that should be of great interest. Earlier this summer, Bruce...

September 3, 2010

Rashid Khalidi and Menachem Klein on the Middle East Peace Process

“Moreover, as an Israeli I do not see my government building public trust in the peace talks or in the Palestinian partner, nor expressing serious desire to achieve peace and building public enthusiasm for it.”—Menachem Klein Room for Debate, an...