Small Press Bk Rev-Winter '00-Pt. 1
HenryBerry
Winter 2000 - Part 1
Current Interest
Critical Anthropology Now - Unexpected Contexts, Shifting Constituencies,
Changing Agendas edited by George E. Marcus. SAR Press, PO Box 2188, Santa Fe,
NM 87504; 888-390-6070. 1999. 448 pp. $24.95 trade paper (0-933452-51-9).
bibliography.
(collected articles; cultural studies)
The "cultural anthropology" could also be called "cultural studies," a
relatively recent, postmodern field. Ten academics from leading U.S.
universities contribute essays on family values, the media, David Koresh and
the Branch Davidians, institutions, cyberspace, international relations, and
other subjects of contemporary interest. This will be a different sort of
anthropology for many readers, who associate this field with aboriginal groups
and primitive ways of life. Only one author deals with the question of
anthropology in a world where there are no unknown aboriginal groups and even
primitive ways of life include trappings of modern life such as electricity and
manufactured clothing. But label the essays as you wish--they are perceptive
with respect to the eclectic subjects they deal with, and stimulating
concerning the nature of modern life.
Ready to Serve, Ready to Save - Strategies of Real-Life Search and Rescue
Missions by Susan Bulanda. Doral Publishing, 8560 SW Salish Ln. - Suite 200,
Wilsonville, OR 97070-9612; 800-633-5385; dora...@easystreet.com. 1999. 237
pp. $21.95 trade paper (0-944875-63-7). b+w photographs; appendix;
bibliography; glossary.
(true-life stories; adventure; rescue)
Another subtitle is Strategies of Real-Life Search and Rescue Missions.
Including material on the work of rescuers at the Oklahoma City Bombing and the
bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa, the author lays out the challenges
facing the rescuers and describes the work they did in varied cases of natural
disasters, missing persons, injured hikers and mountain climbers, and the like.
The material of the chapters includes Mission Type, The Victim, Points Last
Seen, Terrain Features, Search Personnel and Equipment, and Search Strategy,
followed by remarks of a leading participant as to the results of the mission
and lessons learned. Though meant mainly as a handbook for leaders and
participants in rescue efforts, Bulando's book would be appreciated by many
general readers for its interesting accounts of the organization, methods, and
true-life activities of these dramatic and sometimes daring episodes. As the
author of an earlier book titled The Training of the Search and Rescue Dog,
Bulando discusses the role of search-and-rescue dogs in most of the missions
she recounts.
Lockdown America - Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis by Christian
Parenti. Verso, 180 Varick St., New York, NY 10014-4606. 1999. 303 pp. $25.00
hardcover (1-85984-718-8). notes; index.
(social critique; criminal justice system)
"The argument in the following pages is this: Beginning in the late sixties
U.S. capitalism hit a dual social and economic crisis, and it was in response
to this crisis that the criminal justice buildup of today began."--from
Parenti's Preface.The civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and
the various minority and political activist and radical groups of the era led
to local and national law-enforcement practices which became routine and
refined during the Nixon and Reagan years. With the booming entrepreneurial
economy during the Reagan Administration, the police practices became linked to
dominant commercial activities and interests; which in turn led to the
criminalization of relatively economically unimportant segments of the
population, and a growing prison population (with a shrinking percentage of
criminals who have committed violent acts), and aggressive enforcement of
quality-of-life crimes, with related rationales, political dialogue, and
public-relations' spins to justify the unprecedented police powers and
expansion of the prison system. With statistics, social critique, analysis, and
illustrative examples from the media, Parenti explores this late 20th-century
phenomenon in American democracy. Though he focuses on explaining how and why
the current conditions have come about, Parenti adds ways to remedy the
excessive, quasi-militaristic law-enforcement practices while striving for
their professed aims of social betterment. Parenti's articles have appeared in
The Nation and the Christian Science Monitor; he teaches at the New College of
California in San Francisco.
The Garden Is Open written and illustrated by Pamela Pease. Paintbox Press, 208
Glandon Dr., Chapel Hill, NC 27514; PAIN...@AOL.COM. 1999. 24 pp. $24.00
hardcover (0-9669433-0-9). color illustrations; pop-ups.
(gift book; gardening)
A gift book with "special effects"to be enjoyed by readers of all ages. There's
a gazebo-like building that pops up at one two-page spread. Elsewhere a "Garden
Blueprint" folds out and a "Seed Catalog" can be thumbed through. The
illustrations of flowers, garden scenes, and individuals on cover and every
page are bright in pastel-like colors. Pease's background in textile and
apparel design is evident in the patterns and colors of the illustrations. The
inspiration for the book was the garden tended by the author and her sister for
more than 50 years. A special book for anyone who likes gardens. Young readers
especially will enjoy its colors, special effects, and pictures of persons
doing different activities in and around the garden. Adults will enjoy how
Pease's book captures the fullness and memories of a garden.
Hush! A Demon Sleeps Beside Me: A True Story of Violent Secrets, Betrayal and
Courage by Richard E. Goetzke and Ted Schwarz. New Horizon Press, PO Box 669,
Far Hills, NJ 07931. 2000. 310 pp. $25.95 hardcover (0-88282-190-3).
(true-life suspense)
Goetzke's story of his life with his wife Lauren who was psychotic, suffering
from multiple personality disorder; all of the personalities were devious, some
murderous. Goetzke's strong love for Lauren kept him from accepting the truth
of her affliction at first, and then from acting decisively and effectively,
both for his own safety and his wife's well-being, once he could no longer
escape the truth. Lauren had been abused as a child and as a wife in her
previous marriage. With Schwarz, the author of about one hundred popular books.
Goetzke tells a harrowing, gripping tale that in going to Lauren's psychosis
and the intricacies of the Goetzke's coming to realize the difficult truth
about his beloved wife, goes a good degree beyond the familiar tales of the
harms brought by the abuse to abused individuals and others with relationships
with them.
Vernacular Voices - The Rhetoric of Publics and Public Spheres by Gerard A.
Hauser. U. of South Carolina Press, 937 Assembly St., Carolina Plaza - 8th
floor, Columbia, SC 29208. 1999. 350 pp. $45.00 hardcover (1-57003-310-2).
tables; appendices; notes; bibliography; index.
(social critique)
In today's hyperactive multimedia society, the public opinion that is supposed
to form and guide a democratic society is difficult to apprehend; and
accordingly, its effects are difficult to identify or understand. Hansen tries
to make sense of the multitude of voices and sources--from polls, the Internet,
TV interviews, roundtables of political commentators like the program The
McLaughlin Group, ethnic newspapers etc.--which might collectively be said to
express public opinion. And he goes beyond surveying this bewildering,
confusing, mercurial multitude to proffering a theory of what comprises public
opinion, its source and mechanics (or procedures), and its effects, as mutated
as these may be in relation to the intentions bound in the public dialogue of
particular groups. Hansen's theory applies to public opinion the the past as
well as the present. In aiming to provide a theory to make sense of the
apparent cacophony of the current multimedia era, the author analyzes in
considerable depth four particular social, historical situations or episodes of
fairly recent history, including letters received by Franklin Roosevelt urging
him to run for a third term and the transition in Poland from Communism to
democracy. In keeping with the author's position as a professor of
communications at the U.of Colorado-Boulder, the writing style and treatment of
subjects is academic.
Masters of Jazz Guitar - The Story of the Players and their Music by Charles
Alexander. Miller Freeman Books, 600 Harrison St., San Francisco, CA 94107;
mfb...@mfi.com. 1999.192 pp. $39.95 hardcover; 10" x 12-3/4" (0-87930-592-4).
color/b+w photographs; illustrations.
(modern music; jazz)
Another offering going with the current resurgence of an interest in jazz, this
work concentrates on the role of the jazz guitar mostly through a look at the
styles and influences of the leading guitarists since 1900. Twenty-five essays
by writers for jazz magazines and book authors follow the place of the jazz
guitar by charting the careers and analyzing the music of Charlie Byrd, Les
Paul, Larry Coryell, Emily Remler, and other legendary and notable jazz
guitarists. Amplified and acoustical guitar and certain non-jazz guitarists
such as Jimi Hendrix are also considered for their effects on jazz guitar. With
the book partly an illustrated history, all of the essays entail photographs of
respective guitarists, related jazz musicians and other entertainers, and
covers of jazz albums. With its specific topic and informed and appreciative
essays, this work is for readers with a relatively developed understanding of
jazz.
The Irish in North America - A Regional Bibliography by Seamus Metress and
Donna Hardy-Johnston. P. D. Meany, Publishers, 825 E. Roosevelt Rd. - Unit 447,
Lombard, IL 60148. 1999. 235 pp. $26.95 hardcover (0-88835-009-0).
(reference; Irish studies)
An excellent reference to pursue the topical interest of Irish studies.
Focusing on the Irish in North America, the authors categorize over 2500
entries by region--New England, Far West, Ontario, Newfoundland, etc. Irish
biographies and Fenianism and Orangeism reflected in Irish communities and
individuals in North America are covered in additional categories. The many
hundreds of entries, not annotated, include books, periodicals, and unpublished
writings such as doctoral theses. Metress is a Professor of Anthropology at the
U. of Toledo in Canada teaching courses in Irish Studies; while Hardy-Johnson
is a part-time instructor at the University.
Art
Painting with O'Keeffe by John D. Poling; Foreword by Christopher Merrill.
Texas Tech University Press, Box 41037, Lubbock, TX 79410; 800-832-4042. 1999.
175 pp. $24.95 hardcover (0-89672-381-X). b+w photographs; notes; appendices;
bibliography; index.
(Georgia O'Keeffe; modern American art; memoir)
Taking time off from college in the mid 1970s, the author spent two years with
the famous artist late in her life when she was losing her eyesight. Taken on
as a handyman at O'Keeffe's home called Abiquin in New Mexico, Poling came to
be more like a companion for the elderly artist. Today, Poling teaches
aesthetics, philosophy, and theology at St. Olaf's College. Poling's position,
as well as O'Keeffe's trust in him and dependence on him, allowed him a
privileged view into her creative processes and inter-relationship with the art
of painting. Poling relates his two years with O'Keeffe as a memoir of
vignettes of his experiences with her--e. g., driving through the northern New
Mexico terrain, discussing O'Keeffe's sense of color with her fading
eyesight--and thoughts of his illuminating her art and her artistic
personality.
Anna Klumpke - A Turn-of-the Century Painter and Her World by Britta C. Dwyer.
Northeastern U. Press, 360 Huntington Ave. - 416CP, Boston, MA 02115. 245 pp.
$35.00 hardcover (1-55553-386-8). color reproductions; notes; bibliography;
index.
(biography; modern art; U. S. woman painter)
Dwyer presents Klumpke's life in the context of general feminist and social
circumstances of late 19th century-early 20th century (i. e., fin-de-siecle)
U.S. and Parisian societies. Klumpke was a portrait painter who also did
original paintings featuring everyday persons in the same style as her
portraits. Gaining some renown from her artistic work in Boston and exhibitions
in Parisian salons, in 1898 Klumpke was invited to paint a portrait of the
French artist Rosa Bonheur; with whom Klumpke formed a romantic relationship
lasting only one year because of the sudden death of Bonheur. Though not a
historically or stylistically important painter, Klumpke was noted in her age;
and her life and work shed light on the impediments facing women artists in her
time, and also the progress made by her and others despite these. Dwyer is an
art historian teaching at the U. of Pittsburgh.
The Music of Angels- A Listener's Guide to Sacred Music from Chant to Christian
Rock by Patrick Kavanaugh. Loyola Press, 3441 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL
60657. 1999. 350 pp. $16.95 trade paper (0-8294-1019-8). b+w photographs;
bibliography; index.
(church music)
Executive Director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, composer
and conductor, and author of four previous books on religious music, Kavanaugh
starts off by tracing how Hebrew Psalms led to Christian music of the Middle
Ages. This period of development is followed by the Baroque, the emergence of
Christian hymnology in the 19th century, and 20th-century Christian music,
ending with country, folk, and jazz from the 1950s to the present. With each
era, in sidebars with pictures or in the text, Kavanaugh gives a profile of the
major composers or performers. An informative popular survey of Christian music
from its beginnings; with a 25-page bibliography for readers wishing to further
explore particular figures, eras, or types of music.
Ornette Coleman - His Life and Music by Peter Niklas Wilson; Foreword by Pat
Metheny; Berkeley Hills Books, PO Box 9877, Berkeley,CA 94709; 1999; 254 pp.
$15.95 trade paper (1-893163-04-); b+w photographs, discography, chronology;
bibliography, index.
(jazz; jazz musician; biography)
The first biography in 10 years on the jazz musician--saxophone player--who
influenced the direction of jazz with the release of his album Free Jazz in the
1960s. In the 70s, Coleman formed a group named Prime Time to carry his
orchestral ideal of sound into the era of electronic music. Coleman also
composed symphonies and chamber music. His ideal of music which he tried to
express and perfect in the course of his career from the 50s to the 90s is
connoted by the concept "harmolodics"--"Harmolodics allows a person to use a
multiplicity of elements to express more than one direction at a time," as
Coleman is quoted. Wilson relates a biography of Coleman focusing on his
musical talent, interests, and career; and the author follows how Coleman tried
to apply harmolodics in the different stages of his career. Most of the book,
however--about 60%--is short essays on Coleman's many record releases either as
the featured musician or a performer with a group. The shortness of the essays
and the considerable number of the releases inevitably give a fragmented
picture. Nonetheless, the essays are informative and revealing for the comments
of Coleman on the music of the albums, bits of biographical material, and the
author's knowledgeable commentary on the music and relation of it to other
styles and developments in the field of music.
A Meditation of Fire - The Art of James C. Watkins. Texas Tech U. Press, Box
41037, Lubbock, TX 79410; 800-832-4042. 142 pp. $40.00 hardcover; 9" x 12"
(0-89672-419-0). color photographs, bibliography, index.
(sculpture; modern American art; black artist)
The southwest artist James Watkins has gained notice for his sculptures of
cauldrons and cauldron-like objects made from natural materials in the region.
He also makes jars, bowls, and plate-like objects. His art objects retain the
earth-tones of the material from which they are made; and they have the
intensity of the fire where they originated. Birds, snakes, and contours of the
region's terrain are found in many of Watkins' art works. Over 50 pages of
color photographs showcase the' sculptures. The first part of the book relates
biographical material, including the artist's childhood in rural Alabama in the
1960s and the influence of his African-American heritage. Watkins' techniques,
including use of a wood-burning kiln, are also described in this part. Besides
pursuing his art work, Watkins is a professor at the Texas Tech University
College of Architecture.
Children's
Obo - written and illustrated by Bob Anderson. Hampton Roads, 134 Burgess Lane,
Charlottesville, VA 22902; hr...@hrpub.com. 1999. 48 pp. $16.00 hardcover
(1-57174-123-2). color illustrations.
(story; animal story; ages 6-10)
The story of a small African monkey, Obo, searching for answers to his
questions about paradise is complemented with large detailed illustrations
filled with animals and vegetation which convey the density of the African
jungle. Though using a full range of color, Anderson's illustrations are not
excessively, exuberantly, colorful--as are most jungles in children's books. It
is by their relative restraint that Anderson's illustrations call attention to
the myriad details of the jungle making for its lushness--foliage, vines, tree
trunks, plants and grasses, fur, hides, feathers. Searching for his answer, Obo
encounters all kinds of jungle animals in different settings.
The Gift by Gabriela Keselman; illustrated by Pep Montserrat. Kane/Miller Book
Publishers, PO Box 310529, Brooklyn, NY 11231-0529. 1999. 32 pp. $15.95
hardcover (0-916291-91-X). color illustrations.
(picture book; story; ages 4-6)
Mikia's parents can't imagine what special gift he is looking for from them--he
has told them it has to be big, strong, soft, sweet, and warm; and it has to
make him fly and also laugh, and last a long time. As Mikia acts out these
different characteristics, his parents try to guess the special gift he wants.
A teddy bear? A helicopter? Finally, almost out of desperation, Mikia's parents
give him a hug--the gift he was looking for all along. Fold-out pages enhance
this simple, fetching story, as well as add to the appreciation of Montserrat's
bold, shiny, almost metallic, illustrations.
Rolling Along with Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Cindy Meyers; illustrated
by Carol Morgan. Woodbine House, 6510 Bells Mill Rd., Bethesda, MD 20817;
800-843-7323. 1999. 32 pp. $14.95 hardcover (1-890627-12-7). color
illustrations.
(handicapped children; story; ages 3-7)
Meyers uses the familiar folktale to convey to young children what it's like to
be in a wheelchair--and more broadly, to be physically disabled in any way; and
also to offer support to disabled youngsters by helping others to understand
their situation. Meyers's rendition mostly follows the traditional tale except
that Baby Bear is in a wheelchair. Baby Bear's physical therapy session before
the Three Bears return home and Baby Bear's and Goldilocks' friendship at the
end of the tale where Goldilocks uses his wheelchair for a minute are added
touches are in keeping with the book's aim. .Meyers is a physical therapy
assistant (PTA) living in New Jersey.
The Peregrine Falcon - Endangered No More by Mac Priebe. Mindful Publishing,
177 West Norwalk Rd., Norwalk, CT 06850; 800-507-BOOK; mindf...@home.com.
1999. $15.95 trade paper (0-9669551-9-6). color photographs; illustrations.
(environmentalism; ages 7-11)
The story of how the peregrine falcon was brought back from the brink of
extinction in North America in 1970 until it was recently removed from the list
of endangered species. Priebe, an animal behavior neurobiologist, relates the
efforts of scientists, environmentalists, and the U.S. and Canadian governments
to save the peregrine. Photographs on nearly every page capture these efforts,
as well as the falcon living in the wild, which includes some urban
environments where it has come to be found in its comeback from near
extinction.
Tundra Discoveries by Ginger Wadsworth; illustrated by John Carrozza.
Charlesbridge Publishing, 85 Main St., Watertown, MA 02472. 1999. 32 pp. $6.95
trade paper (0-88106-876-4). color illustrations.
(Arctic life; ages 3-8)
A young reader's guide to the habitat and animal life of the Arctic. Questions
are asked and then answered with illustrations and text--e. g., Can you spot an
arctic fox stashing some extra food under a rock to save for winter?; What are
the two arctic ground squirrels doing in their burrows? Information such as
weather and seasonal changes, variety of animals and their activities, and and
different arctic scenes in the illustrations give a young reader a
comprehensive picture of the Arctic region.
The Official M&M's Book of the Millennium by Larry Dane Brimmer; illustrated by
Karen E. Pellaton. Charlesbridge Publishing, 85 Main St., Watertown, MA 02472.
1999. 32 pp. $15.00 hardcover (0-88106-071-2). $6.95 trade paper
(0-88106-072-0). color illustrations; resources.
(millennium; product tie-in; ages 3-8)
Colorful M&M's ask pertinent questions about the concept of the millennium and
related questions about how Humankind has thought about and recorded time over
the eons, and then guide the reader through the answers. Despite its obvious
commercial tie-in and the comical antics of the M&M's, the book contains much
interesting fact and lore about the millennium and time for young readers. The
Official M&M's Book is a good introduction for this age group that should have
a use beyond the present attention to the millennium year 2000.
Dancing with Daddy by Willy Welch; illustrated by Liza Woodruff. Charlesbridge
Publishing, 85 Main St., Watertown, MA 02472. 1999. 32 pp., $15.95 hardcover
(1-58089-020-2). color illustrations.
(picture book; story book; ages 4-6)
Hearing a song on the radio one Saturday night, a young girl asks her father to
dance with her. The two dance across the kitchen and out the door, out into a
field of cows, which, inspired by the young girl and her father, start dancing
with one another. The daughter and father continue on dancing over a bridge and
into a nearby woods, prompting the fish, deer, butterflies, and other animals
they encounter to start dancing. By dancing together, the daughter and father
express as well as strengthen their relationship. And in general the story
demonstrates the enlivening and infectious potency of dance. Walsh is a
musician who performs for children and adults. Woodruff is a graduate of the
Art Institute of Boston.
My Brother Needs An Operation by Anna Marie Jaworski; illustrated by Linda
Ball. Baby Hearts Press, 6618 Sunrise Dr., Panama City Beach, FL 32407;
888-222-4649; BabyH...@aol.com. 1999. 64 pp. $20.00 hardcover
(0-9652508-2-2). color illustrations.
(picture book; story; ages 3-6)
At the end of each scene is a question the one reading the story can ask young
children to help them understand what is entailed in a younger brother or
sister going to the hospital to have an operation and understand the effects
this is having on them. The story is built around Joey's younger brother Alex
having to go to the hospital to have an operation. Not only is Joey's feelings
and thoughts examined, but the effects on the mother and father and the family
as a whole are portrayed. A few pages at the end of the book contain forms
where a young person can record her feelings and thoughts and puzzles and games
(e. g., amaze) to occupy her time while her brother or sister is away in the
hospital.
Wolf Songs by Faye Raya-Norman; illustrations by Richard Ziehler-Martin.
Portunus Publishing Co., 316 Mid Valley Center - Number 270, Carmel, CA 93923;
888-450-5021. 1999. 32 pp. $15.95 hardcover (1-886440-04-2). color
illustrations.
(story; picture book; ages 3-6)
As Matthew's mother is saying goodnight to him, she tells him that the sound of
wolves howling in the distance is "nature's lullaby." When she leaves, this
sparks Matthew in a half-awake sleep to imagine a silver-gray wolf appearing
beside his bed. Together they go out into the forest, where they take an
enchanted journey crossing sparkling streams and fog-shrouded mountains to the
pack of howling wolves, the choir of singing wolves. Ziehler-Martin's colorful,
mystical illustrations enhance the author's tale.
The Small Press Book Review is posted quarterly on the Internet newsgroup
alt.books.reviews. SPBR reviews noteworthy books in all fields from small
presses and independent publishers, including university presses. Inquiries and
review copies can be sent to Henry Berry, PO Box 176, Southport, CT 06490;
203-332-7629 phone/fax; email: henry...@aol.com.