Small Press Book Review / Feb. 2003
HenryBerry
FEBRUARY 2003
CURRENT INTEREST
SKIN - SURFACE, SUBSTANCE + DESIGN by Ellen Lupton. Princeton Architectural
Press, New York, NY; www.papress.com; kath...@papress.org. 2002. 239 pp.
$35.00 hardcover, 7" x 9". color photographs, appendix/glossary.
(modern design; postmodern aesthetics)
This book innovative in both design and content is a "compendium of
products, furniture, fashion, architecture, and media" focusing on their
surfaces, or "skin." What one finds pictured in glossy color photos, described,
and occasionally cursorily analyzed are clothing, advertising, chairs, fashion
accessories, tables, vases, decorative objects, art objects, etc., as examples
of the postmodern idea of skin as the prime factor of the superficial, visual,
tactile, protean culture. "Skin" emphasizes this dominant idea informatively
and entertainingly. Three essays provide insightful and educating entries into
this notion of "skin." The title of Lupton's essay is "Skin: New Design
Organics." Introductory essays by to other women are "Artificial Skin: Ingrown
and Outsourced" and "Digital Skins: The Architecture of Surface." Altogether
this fascinating work is a singular, well-conceived tour in postmodern culture
and particular dimensions of it such as design and the public sphere. One's
appreciation of the elusive nature of today's culture is enhanced, while one
also gains a sense of the nature of the developing cultural moment.
SEARCHING FOR A DEMON - THE MEDIA CONSTRUCTION OF THE MILITIA MOVEMENT by
Steven M. Chermak. Northeastern U. Press, Boston, MA; www.nupress.neu.edu.
2002. 272+xii pp. $50.00 hardcover. $20.00 trade paper. illustrations, tables,
notes, bibliography, index.
(media studies; U. S. militia movement; social critique)
Chermak uses the media's focus--and in some way, discovery--on the militia
movement following Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the Federal building in
Oklahoma City to examine the larger issue of how other marginal groups and
individuals are treated in the media and from this, come to be seen by general
society. An associate professor of criminal justice at Indiana U., Chermak's
examination partly concerns how such marginal, and poorly understood, groups
and individuals are stigmatized by the media. He not only analyzes news
coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, but he quantifies it in several tables.
Chermak's study and deductions about the media and its central role in the
"construction of social problems" hold true even in the later terrorist event
of September 11; which he mentions in the Preface. This supports the value of
Chermak's book as a relevant, reliable work for understanding the workings and
effects of the media in contemporary society.
ART
A HISTORY OF THE FRENCH NEW WAVE CINEMA by Richard Neupert. U. of Wisconsin
Press, Madison, WI; www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/. 2002. 342+xxix pp. $55.00
hardcover. $24.95 trade paper. photos, notes, bibliography, index.
(film studies; modern film; European film)
Professor of film studies at the U. of Georgia and author of previous
books on film, Neupert locates the grounds of French New Wave Cinema in
cultural and technical changes in post-WWII Europe. Among the changes were
advanced cameras and sound recorders. Widespread changes in French culture and
outlook as France tried to recover from its defeat and collaboration with the
Germans in WWII and reassert and to some degree redefine its national identity
and place were the social and historical forces making for the new cinema.
After discussing the general background of the New Wave Cinema, Neupert then
turns to the major directors representing it--Claude Chabrol, Truffaut, Godard,
Roger Vadim, and Eric Rohmer, among others. In summarizing, analyzing, and
assessing movies by these directors, the author cites what unites them as New
Wave directors and also the different facets of this influential film movement
exemplified by each.
BIOGRAPHY
FRANK PARKER - CHAMPION IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF TENNIS by Cynthia Beardsley.
Havilah Press, Chicago, IL. 2002. 105+xi pp. 8-1/2" x 9". green-toned photos,
appendices, index.
(tennis; sports biography; sports history)
From 1933 to 1949, Frank Parker was rated in the top ten tennis players
in the U. S., a consecutive number of years unrivaled until Jimmy Connors
topped it with 18 years in 1988. For two of these years--1944 and 1945--Parker
was ranked number one; and for most of the rest, he was number two or three.
Yet not much is known about Parker who played in the era before sports
celebrity created by the media and before the sport of tennis had become
popularized. The author Beardsley got to know and admire Parker from taking
tennis lessons from him. Her remembrance of Parker follows his career, traces
his influence, and notes the attention he did receive, from politicians and
world figures for example. With its many green-tinted period photographs of
Parker at all stages of his career and with notable persons such as President
Kennedy, Beardsley's book is not only a unique portrait of Parker, but also a
collector's item.
ISABEL ALLENDE - LIFE AND SPIRIT by Celia Correas Zapata, translated from the
Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. Arte Publico Press, U. of Houston, Houston,
TX. 2002. 204+xxi pp. $26.95 hardcover. chronology.
(collected interviews; literary biography; Hispanic literature)
The 23 interviews are titled thematicly (e. g., Humor, A Chosen Destiny,
Writing for the World) or after one of Isabel Allende's works. But the content
of each interview can range over a wide variety of subjects--from the famous
Chilean author's childhood, marriages of hers, women writers, social
conventions, to the sources and techniques of particular books. Overall, the
interviews impart a unique picture of this world-famous author, her writing,
and major works of hers. Zapata, who did the interviews in Spanish, is a
professor of Latin American Literature at San Jose State U. of CA. and editor
of other books on Latin American literature.
THE LAST ROMANTIC - A POET AMONG PUBLISHERS, The Oral Autobiography of John
Hall Wheelock edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli with Judith S. Baughman, Foreword
by George Garrett. U. of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC. 2002. 266+xxiv pp.
$39.96. photographs, illustrations, bibliography, notes, index.
(American poetry; publishing studies)
Wheelock is best known as a late Victorian-early modern poet. But he was
also an influential editor at Scribner's during the years it was publishing the
work of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe, and other major American writers.
Wheelock lived from 1886 to 1978. The interviews were conducted with Wheelock
at Columbia University's Oral History Research Office in 1967. They offer
astute portraits of many noted authors--e. g., Marianne Moore, Edward Arlington
Robinson, besides the ones mentioned above--general views of the course of the
literary scene over Wheelock's long life, and an inside view of the fields of
writing and publishing. One of the appendixes is letters between Wheelock and
Thomas Wolfe. A rich and singular view of the world of American literature.
CHILDREN'S
PROJECTION ART FOR KIDS - MURALS & PAINTING PROJECTS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES by
Linda Buckingham. Hartley & Marks, Point Roberts, WA; 800-277-5887;
ata...@hartleyandmarks.com. 2002. 128 pp. $14.95 trade paper. color
illustrations, diagrams.
(crafts; activities; ages 8 and up)
"Projection art is a technique that allows you to turn almost any printed
image into a painting of any size. It requires no special skill other than the
ability to trace." Buckingham clearly outlines the steps for "projecting"
images onto walls, artwork, and other surfaces. Buckingham's steps are
simplified even further by accompanying illustrations. Following her guidance,
children--or their teachers or parents--can learn how to decorate classroom or
bedroom walls, hallways, etc. with projections of animals, musical instruments
or sports equipment, sports stars, pop musicians, or any other image.
THE BIRD OF IMAGINING - DRAWINGS BY CHILDREN FROM NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
by Richard Lewis. Touchstone Center Publications, New York NY;
www.touchstonecenter.net; emcrawford@earthlinknet. 2001. pages unnumbered (est.
45 pp.) $16.00, trade paper, 9" x 7". color illustrations.
(children's drawings; children's poems; ages 6-12)
Short passages from Richard Lewis's poem titled "The Bird of Imagining"
are interspersed with drawings by New York City school children inspired by the
poem. The birds drawn by the amateur artists ages seven to eleven have the
crudeness and sincerity of folk or prehistoric art. Some writings from the
children are also included--e. g., "The shadow of the bird/of imagination is
heavier/ than a thought."--by an eleven-year-old named Joelle. The book
presents an idea for classroom activity; and it is of interest to elementary
and middle school libraries.
ETHNIC/MULTICULTURAL
THE DIRT IS RED HERE - ART AND POETRY FROM NATIVE CALIFORNIA edited by Margaret
Dubin. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA; www.heydaybooks.com. 2002. 82+xiv pp. $16.95
trade paper, 8" x 9-1/2". color photographs, color illustrations.
(Native American art; regional art)
Art work and poems exemplify the works of about 30 contemporary Native
Americans from California. Many of these artists are from little-known local
tribes such as Nomtipom and Atsugewi. Some of the artists have gained a name
for themselves; others are largely unknown, yet exceptionally talented. The art
works of paintings, sculptures, baskets, etc., represent traditional subjects
and feelings while at the same time evidence modernistic techniques and
perspectives. Aspects of nature and ancient rituals and reverences are
presented in the poems along with varied sides of modern-day Native American
life. In general, the book is an introduction to this talented and engaging
regional art with wider appeal.
HISTORY
GHOSTS OF THE ETO - AMERICAN TACTICAL DECEPTION UNITS IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER
1944-1945 by Jonathan Gawne. Casemate Publishers, Havertown, PA. 2002;
case...@casematepublishing.com. 342+x pp. $34.95 hardcover, 7" x 10". maps,
illustrations, glossary, notes, index.
(World War II; military history)
The WWII U. S. Army unit known as the 23rd Special Troops was so secret
that its activities were not fully known until recently, several decades after
the War has ended. Gawne has put together this work on this super-secret unit
and its operations from materials lately declassified and interviews with
surviving members. The 23rd Special Troops was active in Europe as the Allied
forces drove toward Germany after D-Day in June 1944. They set up replicas of
actual Army units using inflatable pieces of artillery, vehicles, and other
equipment, and also inflatable soldiers supplemented by a few real soldiers.
The ruse was furthered by the use of insignias and other markings of the real
Army units, which were actually moving into position or taking part in
operations elsewhere. By going into many of the deceptive operations used in
the final phases of the European Theater of WWII, Gawne describes the devices
and tactics used to varying degrees of effectiveness in misleading the Germans.
Needless to say, this is a unique work about World War II and more broadly the
field of the role and use of deceptiveness in warfare.
THE BOOK OF ABIGAIL AND JOHN - SELECTED LETTERS OF THE ADAMS FAMILY 1762-1784,
edited and with an Introduction by L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, and
Mary-Jo Kline, with a New Foreword by David McCullough. Northeastern U. Press,
Boston, MA 02115; www.nupress.neu.edu. 2002, new edition. 411+xiii pp. $47.50
hardcover. $18.95 trade paper. illustrations; index.
(American history; eighteenth-century America; collected letters)
Originally published by Harvard in 1975, this new edition coincides with
the renewed interest in the relationship between Abigail and John Adams
generated by the recent popular biography by David McCullough, who provides a
Foreword to it. The 207 letters--from a total of 1200 surviving written by the
two--are divided simply into periods of time averaging two years. The many
letters comment on events and individuals of the time, reveal hopes and
concerns, express affections, and occasionally bear of decisions and work in
John Adams' various official positions, including President.
LITERATURE
EN OTRA VOZ - ANTOLOGIA DE LA LITERATURA HISPANA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS edited
by Nicolas Kanellos. Arte Publico Press, U. of Houston, Houston, TX. 2002.
547+lix pp. $27.95 trade paper.
(anthology; Hispanic literature)
Essays, novel excerpts, poems, biographical pieces, and types of other
writings are collected from political activists, formally educated and street
poets, working people, women writers, academics, and diverse other
Hispanics--making the hundreds of pages the outstanding anthology of Hispanic
writings in the U. S. for its diversity of both writings and authors. Another
significant factor in making this the outstanding anthology it is is the editor
Nicolas Kanellos. Kanellos has long been the publisher of Arte Publico Press,
the leading publisher of Hispanic-American writing. Kanellos probably knows
more about Hispanic-American writing than any other individual. Some of the
authors originally published by Arte Publico have gone on to become noted, and
successful, writers published by major U. S. and international publishers.
Kanellos contributes a 40-page survey of Hispanic-American literature which
enhances understanding and appreciation of the numerous anthologized works.
HORROR - A BIOGRAPHY by E. Michael Jones. Spence Publishing, Dallas, TX. 2002.
298+xii pp. $17.95 trade paper. notes, index.
(literary criticism; horror tales)
Jones critiques the genre of horror stories and fiction within a broad
context. "Horror, to state the matter succinctly, is the Counter-Enlightenment,
a negative reaction to the Enlightenment. But it is invariably a more or less
unconscious reaction...The creator of the fictions of horror is simply someone
who takes the premises of the Enlightenment to their logical conclusions."
Jones articulates what inheres in horror stories and what is symbolized in
them, what the horror itself "shrouds...from conscious explication." Michaels
goes beyond critiquing horror as simply a literary genre to disclose how it
also reflects a psychological and social reaction to the Enlightenment,
particularly the excessive reliance on reason. Jones describes the effects of
reason carried to extremes in individuals and society. He focuses mostly on
horror literature and its effects in England, France, and Germany, but rounds
out his informative study with the embrace of horror by Hollywood and the
modern-day, continuing, popularity of the genre.
KING ARTHUR AND THE GODDESS OF THE LAND - THE DIVINE FEMININE IN THE
MABINOGION, by Caitlin Matthews. Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT; 800-246-8648;
www.InnerTraditions.com. 2002. 360+xxii pp. $16.95 trade paper. charts,
bibliography, index.
(Celtic mythology; women's studies)
The group of ancient Celtic literature collectively known as the
Mabinogion is of interest because it contains the seeds of the later Arthurian
legends of the British Isles. Matthews denotes her approach to her extensive
examination of the different parts of this literature: "It has been my endeavor
to let the stories speak for themselves wherever possible...My task has been to
reveal the hidden layers beneath each of these medieval stories and to
juxtapose parallel texts from the proto-Celtic periods that have served as
sources for each." That said, as cited in the title, Matthews nonetheless
places emphasis on the feminine elements and implications of the ancient Celtic
tales and myths. This slant deals with their treatment of the earth goddess and
also, at a more rational level, women such as Morgan and Guinevere prefigured
in the Mabinogion who, inter-related with King Arthur of the Arthurian legends,
can be seen as sources and representatives of the late culture and nation of
England. Matthews has written numerous books on Celtic studies and feminine
mythology. This work is a broad study of the ancient Celtic and British
literature with a somewhat feminist coloring. It's a revised edition of the
book "Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain" published in 1989.
THE MEANING OF HELEN - IN SEARCH OF AN ANCIENT ICON by Robert Emmet Meagher.
Bolchazy-Carduzzi Publishers, Wauconda, IL; www.bolchazy.com;
ord...@bolchazy.com. 2002 this edition. 191+viii pp. $24.95 trade paper.
appendix, notes.
(Greek culture; ancient culture; women's studies)
Meagher shows how the ambivalent--semi-literary, semi-historical--figure
of Helen of Troy is the source for different feminine figures or qualities in
different times and different cultures throughout history. In some cases, this
has been conscious; in others, unconscious. Eve and the Virgin Mary are among
the important women figures Meagher sees prefigured in Helen of Troy. Meagher
is a Professor of Humanities at Hampshire College. His work, first published by
Continuum Publishing in 1995, involves feminine studies, literary critique, and
historiography.
PHILOSOPHY
A SINGULAR MODERNITY - ESSAY ON THE ONTOLOGY OF THE PRESENT by Frederic
Jameson. Verso, New York, NY; vers...@aol.com. 2002. 250 pp. $23.00 trade
paper. notes, index.
(modernism; postmodernism; philosophy)
Jameson is the author of the seminal philosophical work "Postmodernism,
or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism." He is often described as a "leading
Marxist critic." In "A Singular Modernity," Jameson turns his exceptional
intellectual powers to an analysis of the contemporary time when, as many
social critics and philosophers have discerned, broad changes are taking place
in American and Western culture as well as globally. While these changes are
not yet materialized or even much manifest, they all in their own ways involve
a change in postmodernism--the focus of Jameson's interest in this penetrating
and inclusive work. Regarding its inclusiveness, as the noted author Terry
Eagleton remarks, Jameson's work moves easily and informatively from "Sophocles
to science fiction." Whether the changes mark a waning of postmoderism or a
change within it cannot be answered with certainty. "A Singular Modernity"
mostly concerns the reassessment of "modernity" which is taking place among
thinkers and is reflected in the culture. As in his previous works, in this
Jameson gives the reader a deep insight into modern and contemporary culture.
While essential questions may not be finally answered, understanding is
strengthened.
POETRY
BARCELONA DIARY by Roger Aplon, translated by Victor Batalle, bilingual
edition. Barracuda Press, San Diego, CA. 2002. 377 pp. $26.95 trade paper,
5-1/2" x 11". index.
(poetry; bilingual English/Spanish)
The history, sensuality, cosmopolitanism, daily life, impressions, and
effects of the Spanish city of Barcelona are captured in Alpon's cycle of 178
poems. Since 1998, after a time as an editor of the review journal "Choice" and
work on two books, Aplon moved to the area near Barcelona. Batalle, who has
done the translations of the numerous poems into Spanish, has worked for the
BBC and previously done translations of plays of Samuel Beckett and Harold
Pinter. The poems are numbered in sequence (and also given titles) and dates of
some indicate they are arranged chronologically. But they are most enjoyed by
dipping into randomly to discover both Aplon's sharp and imaginative turns of
language and scenes and qualities of the colorful city of Barcelona.
THE SEARCH ENGINE by Kathleen Ossip. American Poetry Review, Philadelphia, PA;
www.aprweb.org. 2002. 80+xv pp.$23.00 hardcover. $14.00 trade paper.
(collected poems)
This volume of collected poems was awarded the Fifth Annual (2002)
American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize, this year selected by Derek
Walcott, who also provides an introduction. Ossip's short poem "Pixie" begins,
"Your osmosed piquancy is its own reward. Walking sine wave, your selfhoods
pointy. Clatter to the left of you...." One sees in this the excess of language
regularly employed by this poet. Her poems move from instances of poise to in
the next instant orgies of surfeit. The poems do not move to conclusions or
even denouements, but rather shift between enriched appearances and the
riotousness of fertility.
FAUNAL by Peter Reading. Bloodaxe Books, England; dist. in U. S. by Dufour
Editions, Chester Springs, PA. 2002. 80 pp. $16.95 trade paper.
(collected poems)
"Faunal," the title, of course refers to wildlife. Reading writes starkly
about the rawness, and at times the repulsiveness or violence, of the world of
nature. This echoes in the world of humankind. Occasionally, Reading leaves the
device of metaphor to write directly about politics or related circumstances.
"Laertidean" closes with, "Milosovic rose enraged,/raved and
deracinated."--bringing to mind the heartless, predatory violence of the
Balkans. Reading's poems generally, however, are not polemics against war and
other destruction, but rather clear-eyed images of the harsh aspects of
existence.
RELIGION
INSIDE THE MIND OF GOD - IMAGES AND WORDS OF INNER SPACE edited by Michael
Reagan, Introduction by Sharon Begley. Templeton Foundation Press, Radnor, PA;
800-561-3367; www.templetonpress.org; sb...@templetonpress.org. 2002. 160 pp.
$24.95 hardcover, 8-1/2" x 8". color photographs.
(religion and science; photography)
Microscopic photographs of types of metal, cancer and virus cells, parts
of human embryos, nerve cells, DNA, and other aspects of the diverse, yet
inter-related natural world are juxtaposed with quotes from renowned spiritual
leaders, thinkers, and authors and from spiritual texts from major world
religions. The purpose is not only to demonstrate with the beautiful,
multi-colored and multiform, microscopic pictures of diverse matter the
inter-relationship of all living and natural things, but also to evidence how
advances in science, including microscopic photography, is revealing the order
and plan of a supreme supernatural being. After seeing the many
brightly-colored, often somewhat psychedelic, photos, one will not look at or
think about the natural world the same again. The point about the
inter-connectivity of all things and revelation through science of the secrets
and design of the natural world is convincingly made. Begley is the science
editor of the Wall Street Journal. At one time Reagan was head of Turner
Publishing where he was responsible for some of this publisher's best-selling
innovative illustrated books.
The Small Press Book Review is posted ten times a year on the newsgroup
alt.books.reviews. Books for general readers in all categories from small
presses, independent publishers, and university presses are reviewed. Review
copies can be sent to P. O. Box 176, Southport, CT 06490. Henry Berry is the
Review's editor/publisher; henry...@aol.com.