December, 2003
Use the up arrow Subject List Academic
Books from Women's Presses Self-Published
Books Humanity Books, Imprint of
Prometheus Minnesota Historical
Society Press Note: Many
titles have more than one subject classification. However, in the interest
of space, only the primary subject category for each title is listed here.
Additional subject areas can be found in the detailed description of the
individual titles. African-American
Aging Anthropology Arts: Art, Photography Biography Death, Dying
Disability Ecology & Environment
Education Essays Essays of Resistance Family Relations
Feminist Theory Fiction Fiction: Lesbian Fiction: Short Stories Gay/Lesbian Studies Gender Studies Gender/Law Issues
Health & Medicine History International International: Africa International: Asia International: Caribbean International: Middle
East International: Russia
& Slavic International: Western
Europe Jewish Women Language / Linguistics Latinas Law Lesbian Studies Literary Criticism Literature Music Native-American Periodicals Philosophy Poetry Politics Psychology
Race Theory Reference/Directories
Regional: Midwest Regional: South Reproductive Rights
Science/Technology Sexuality Social Sciences Spirituality/Religion Sports & Outdoors War/Peace/Anti-Militarism Women's Studies Writing
to return here.
Zenprint
Age
Ain't Nothing but a Number Carleen Brice, editor
Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Activism
Joyce A. Hanson
A Song of Faith and Hope Frankie Muse Freeman
and with Candace O"Connor
Summer Snow Trudier Harris
Widows and Divorcees in
Later Life Carol L. Jenkins, editor
As
Eve Said to the Serpent Rebecca Solnit
Elizabeth I Compiled and edited by Georgianna
Ziegler
Focus on Living Photographs and Interviews
by Roslyn Banish
From Flitch to Ash Diane Derrick
Kara Walker Ian Berry, Darby English, Vivian
Patterson, and Mark Reinhardt, editors
Never Late for Heaven Sheryl Conkelton and
Barbara earl Thomas
Women and War Jenny Matthews [photographer]
Arts: Film, Video
Points of Resistance Lauren Rabinovitz
Straight Wheeler Winston Dixon
Asian American
"A Half Caste" and Other Writings
Linda Trinh Moser, editor and Elizabeth Rooney
Autobiography/Memoir
All in a Day's Work
Ida M. Tarbell
Gods of Noonday Elaine Neil Orr
The Language of Blood Jane Jeong Trenka
Songs of Life and Grace Linda Scott DeRosier
Alice Hamilton Barbara Sicherman
Elizabeth Murray Patricia Cleary
Ellen Glasgow Susan Goodman
Flannery O'connor Sarah Gordon
The Lonely Hunter Virginia Spencer Carr
Nietzsches Sister and the Will to Power Carol
Diethe
Precious Fire Karen Garner
The Selected Letters of Dolly Payne Madison David
B. Mattern and Holly C. Shulman, editors
Two Sisters for Social Justice Lela B. Costin
Virginia Woolf's Women Canessa Curtis
The World of Hannah Heaton Barbara E. Lacey,
editor
Culture/Cultural Studies
Becoming Cleopatra
FrancescaT. Royster
Jane Austen and Co. Suzanne R. Pucci and James
Thompson, editors
Excerpts from a Family Medical Dictionary Rebecca
Brown
Long Time, No See Beth
Finke
Drama
Five Comedies George
Sand, Translated by E.H. & A.M. Blackmore and Francine GiguËre
Women in Turmoil Robert A. Schanke, editor
Living on Wilderness Time
Melissa Walker
The Return of the Mexican Gray Wolf Bobbie
Holaday
Feminist Economics Today
Marianne A. Ferber and Julie a. Nelson, editors
Between Femininities Marnina Gonick
Gender and the Modern Research University Patricia
MazÛn
Girls" Voices Leora Cruddas and Lynda Haddock
Girls" Voices Leora Cruddas and Lynda Haddock
In Praise of Our Teachers Gloria Wade Gayles,
editor
Personal and Political Miriam E. David
Practice Makes Practice Deborah P. Britzman
Reconsidering Feminist Research in Educational Leadership
Michelle D. Young and Linda Sklar, editors
Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities
Debbie Epstein, Sarah O"Flynn and David Telford
The Teacher"s Body Diane P. Freedman and Martha
Stoddard holmes, editors
Thoughts from a Queen-Sized Bed
Mimi Schwartz
The Companion Species Manifesto Donna
Haraway
Should We Worry about Family Change? Jane
Lewis
Fractured Feminisms Laura
Gray-Rosendale and Gil Harootunian, editors
Key Concepts in Feminist Theory and Research
Christina Hughes
Reading Across Borders Shari Stone-Mediatore
Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women's Equality
Joanne E. Passet
The Crux Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Introduction
by Dana Seitler
Ninochka Svetlana Boym
West of the Jordan Laila Halaby
Where No Gods Came Sheila O"Connor
Ginger's Fire Maureen
Brady
Past Perfect Judith P. Stelboum
American Indian Stories
Zitkala-Sa and Introduction by Susan Rose Dominguez
American Wives Beth Helms
Broken Lives and Other Stories Anthonia C.
Kalu
Cities in the Sea Maura Stanton
A Private State charlotte Bacon
All
the Rage Suzanna Danuta Walters
Gay Rights and American Law Daniel R. Pinello
Gay Seattle Gary Atkins
Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution Evan
Gerstmann
Troubling Education Kevin Kumashiro
When the Drama Club Is Not Enough Jeff Perrotti
and Kim Westheimer
Gender and Politeness Sara Mills
Gender Differences at Puberty Chirs Heyward,
editor
Naked Barbies, Warrior Joes & Other Forms of
Visible Gender Jeannie Banks Thomas
Seeing Nature through Gender Virginia J. Scharff,
editor
Am I a Woman Cynthia Eller
Silent Invaders Miriam Jacobs and Barbara
Dinham, editors
The Complete Writings of an Italian Heretic Translated
and edited by Holt N. Parker
Looking Good Margaret A. Lowe
Manly Meals and Mom's Home Cooking Jessamyn
Neuhaus
On the Farm Front Stephanie A. Carpenter
Prostitution, Race & Politics Philippa Levine
The Rise of the New Woman Jean v. Matthews
Women at the Hague Jane Addams, Emily G. Balch,
and Alice Hamilton and with Introduction by Mary Jo Deegan
Women at the Hague Jane Addams, Emily G. Balch,
and Alice Hamilton and with Introduction by Harriet Hyman Alonso
Women, Work and Representation Lynn M. Alexander
On the Outside Looking In(dian)
Phillipa Kafka
Macadam Dreams GisËle
Pineau and translated by C. Dickson
International: Latin & Central America
Sin Puertas Visibles Jen
Hofer, editor
The Bathhouse Farnoosh
Moshiri
The Idea of Women in Fundamentalist Islam Lamia
Rustum Shehadeh
Our Sister's Promised Land Ayala Emmett
Wedding Song Farideh Goldin
Women and Gender in early Jewish and Palestinian
Nations Sheila H. Katz
Contemporary Spanish Women's Narrative
and the Publishing Industry Christine Henseler
Chicana Feminisms Gabriela
F. Arredondo, AÌda Hurtado, Norma Klahn, Olga N·jera-RamÌrez and Patricia
Zavella, editors
A Poet's Truth Bruce Allen Dick
Translated Woman Ruth Behar
His hands, His Tools, His Sex, His
Dress Catherine Reid and Holly K. Iglesias,
editors
"That Furious Lesbian" Robert A. Schanke
Weeding at Dawn Hawk Madrone
Accursed Politics Renee
Winegarten
Africanism and Authenticity in African-American
Women"s Novels Amy K. Levin
Black, White, and in Color Hortense J. Spillers
Cather Studies, Volume 5 edited by Susan J.
Rosowski
Explorations in Contemporary Feminist Literature
Mary Pernal
From Girl to Woman Christy Rishoi
Gertrude Stein Ulla E. Dydo and with William
Rice
How to Live / What to Do Adalaide Morris
Literature after Feminism Rota Felski
Middlebrow moderns Lisa Botshon and Meredith
Goldsmith, editors
Personal Property Margit Stange
Rita Dove"s Cosmopolitanism Malin Pereira
Settler Feminism and Race Making in Canada Jennifer
Henderson
Toni Morrison Lucille P. Fultz
Vernon Lee Christa Zorn
Women in the Discourse of Early Modern Spain
Joan F. Cammarata
Women & Laughter in Medieval Comic Literature
Lisa Perfetti
Women Writers and National Identity Stephanie
Bird
Women"s Utopias of the Eighteenth Century Alessa
Johns
Beautiful Angiola Collected
by Laura Gonzenbach and Translated by Jack Zipes
The Grand Permission Patricia Dienstfrey and
Brenda Hillman, editors
House of Day, House of Night Olga Tokarczuk
and Translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
The Land of Journey"s Ending Mary Austen, Introduction
by Melody Graulich and Illustrations by John Edwin Jackson
A Lost Lady Willa Cather, Historical Essay
by Susan J. Rosowski with Kari Ronning and Textual Editing by Charles
W. Mignon and Frederick M. Link
My ¡ntonia Willa Cather, Charles Mignon with
Kari Ronning [editor] and Historical Essay by James Woodress
Reclaiming Klytemnestra Kathleen L. Komar
The Story of Sapho Madeleine de ScudÈry and
Edited and translated by Karen Newman
Empress Marie Therese and Music at
the Viennese Court, 1792-1807 John A. Rice
Music and Gender Tullia Magrini, editor
Open the Door William R. Bauer
Blood and Voice Maureen
Trudelle Schwarz
The Dirt She Ate Minnie
Bruce Pratt
Eyeshot Heather McHugh
Mercy Mercy Me Elana Georgiou
Mixed Plate Faye Kicknosway
Open Slowly Kate Light
Ostinato Vamps Wanda Coleman
Red Earth Alice Corbin
Rhythm & Booze Julie Kane
The Shadow's Horse Diane Glancy
Singing the Bones Together Angela Shannon
Song of Thieves Shara McCallum
Sor Juana's Love Poems Sor Juana Inez de la
cruz, Translated by Joan Larkin and Jaime Manrique
Speak to Me Words Dean Rader and Janice Gould,
editors
Ideas for action Cynthia
Kaufman
Pregnancy/Birth
Cesarean Section Michele
Moore and Caroline de Costa
The Complete Guide to Mental Health
for Women Lauren Slater, Ed.D., Jessica
Henderson Daniel, Ph.D. and Amy Elizabeth Banks, M.D., editors
Social Aggression among Girls Marion K. Underwood
I Have Been Waiting Jennifer
S. Simpson
Kali Guide Stelli
Munis
The Confederate Belle
Giselle Roberts
Dixie's Daughters Karen L. Cox
Monuments to the Lost Cause Cynthia Mills
and Pamela H. Simpson, editors
The Male Pill Nelly
Oudshoorn
Unlocking the Clubhouse
Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher
Language and Sexuality
Deborah Cameron and Don Kulick
Warrior Lovers Catherine Salmon and Donald
Symons
Book Clubs Elizabeth
Long
Transexualism Collette Chiland and Philip
Slotkin [translator]
Breathing Space Heidi B. Neumark
From Deborah to Esther Lillian R. Klein
In Justice Ann-Cathrin Jarl
Poor Banished Children of Eve Gale A. Yee
Reconciling Catholicism and Feminism? Sally Barr Ebest and Ron Ebest, editors
The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog Patricia Monaghan
Religion in French Feminist Thought Morny Joy, Kathleen O"Grady and Judith L. Poxon, editors
Women in Ochre Robes Meena Khandelwal
Women in the Yoruba Religious Sphere Oyeronke Olajubu
Built to Win Leslie
Haywood and Shari L. Dworkin
Theater
Breaking the Bounds Dimple
Godiwala
Violence and Abuse
What's Mother got to Do with It?
Julia Krane
"Am I That Name?"
Denise Riley
Gendered States Ann Porter
Hit Mary E. Walker, M.D.
Women and the Bullring Muriel Feiner
Gut Feelings
Merrill Joan Gerber
|
**** -
suited for general audience and/or intro courses |
Academic Books from Women's Presses
Miscellaneous Self-Published Books
Zenprint
Zenprint, Inc., 345 Forest
Avenue, #202, Palo Alto, CA 94301 | Telephone: 650.326.5588 | Email: info@zenprint.net
| http://www.kaliguide.com/
Kali Guide:
A Directory of Resources for Women - First edition, Stelli Munis,
Zenprint, $29.95 pb, 0-9714085-0-5, 2003.
This directory covers products and services in such categories as creativity,
culture, health and healing, sexuality, spirituality, life work and leisure.
however, more than simply a listing of places to go or organizations to contact,
this volume is full of the visions of several women for whom spiritual growth
and connectedness to health issues are real. The book is full of reviews, artwork,
recommendations, articles and reflections by healers and cultural workers. As
with all directories in print, some of the resources are inaccurate (I noticed
listings for at least 2 feminist publications now out of business) and some
listings largely incomplete (like the listing of feminist bookstores) but overall
this is a useful guide for those seeking various connections to spirit, work,
and women's cultural power. (****) Reference/Directories; Spirituality/Religion;
Womenís Studies ** Recommended
Univ. of Alabama Press
Blood
and Voice: Navajo Women Ceremonial Practices, Maureen Trudelle Schwarz,
Univ of Arizona Press, $24.95 pb, 0-8165-2301-0, or $50.00 cl, 0-8165-2300-2,
2003.
Through interviews with practitioners and apprentices, this study explores women's
roles as singers in Navajo ceremonies, a position more commonly thought to be
the role of men. Women's roles as menstruates and reproducers of life do come
under consideration in these practices as well. This work calls into question
the sexual divisions of labor, self-image, menstrual taboo, gender stereotypes
and the tension between tradition and change. (***) Native American; Anthropology;
Gender Studies
A Poet's
Truth: Conversations with Latino / Latina Poets, Bruce Allen Dick,
Univ of Arizona Press, $17.95 pb, 0-8165-2276-0, or $40.00 cl, 0-8165-2275-8,
2003.
Conversations in this volume of 15 interviews include these women: Sandra Maria
Esteves, Demetria MartÌnez, Pat Mora, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Aleida RodrÌguez,
and Carolina Hospital. (****) Latinas; Poetry
The Return
of the Mexican Gray Wolf: Back to the Blue, Bobbie Holaday, Univ
of Arizona Press, $18.95 pb, 0-8165-2296-0, or $45.00 cl, 0-8165-2295-2, 2003.
Woman, wolf, wilderness...This firsthand account by Bobbie Holaday provides
an important look into the saving of an endangered species. Holaday reintroduced
wolves - nearly extinct - back into the Southwest in spite of controversy and
struggle with ranchers and politicians. This memoir includes heartbreaking tragedy
along with triumph. This account will be useful not only to those who enjoy
reading about nature, but also for those looking for alternative ways to discuss
environmental politics, political organizing, memoir, regional history. (****)
Ecology & Environment; Autobiography/Memoir
The Shadow's
Horse, Diane Glancy, Univ of Arizona Press, $15.95 pb, 0-8165-2328-2,
2003.
Jacket copy...The Shadow's Horse is a new collection of poems in which
Glancy walks the margin between her white and Indian heritage. In poems that
conjure the persistence of fallen leaves or juxtapose images of Christ and the
stockyards, she powerfully evokes place and spirit to address with intelligence
and beauty issues of family, work, and faith. (****) Poetry; Native American
** Recommended
Speak
to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry, Dean Rader
and Janice Gould, editors, Univ of Arizona Press, $24.95 pb, 0-8165-2349-5,
or $50.00 cl, 0-8165-2348-7, 2003.
Several of the essays in this volume specifically address Native American women's
writing, and discuss in detail the work of important women poets. (****) Poetry;
Native American also of interest
From Deborah
to Esther: Sexual Politics in the Hebrew Bible, Lillian R. Klein,
Augsburg Fortress Press , $15.00 pb, 0-8006-3592-2, 2003.
Through the narrative stories of Hannah, Achsah, Esther, Deborah, Delilah, Jael,
Michal and Bathsheba, Klein explores male power and male fear in the Hebrew
Bible. These women function in contrast to their male counterparts and are exemplary
figures. (****) Spirituality/Religion
In Justice:
Women and Global Economics, Ann-Cathrin Jarl, Augsburg Fortress Press
, $17.00 pb, 0-8006-3568-X, 2003.
This primer on global economics and feminist economics includes discussion of
feminist Christian social ethics as well. (****) Spirituality/Religion; Economics;
Womenís Studies
Poor
Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible, Gale A.
Yee, Augsburg Fortress Press , $24.00 pb, 0-8006-3457-8, 2003.
Yee investigates the history the traditional symbolization of woman as evil,
including Eve in Genesis, Gomer in Hosea, Oholah and Oholibah in Ezekiel, and
the "strange woman" of Proverbs. Employing a materialist literary criticism,
ideological criticism, and the social sciences, she investigates how this negative
imagery crops up in a variety of forms. (***) Spirituality/Religion; Womenís
Studies
Age Ain't
Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife, Carleen Brice, editor,
Beacon Press, $14.00 pb, 0-8070-2823-1, 2003.
This first anthology of its kind includes 43 writings from such notable authors
as Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Jewelle Gomez, April Sinclair, Gloria Naylor, J.
California Cooper, among others as they ruminate in poetry, essay, and fiction
on the many aspects of aging. These pieces cover such topics as family, friendship,
love, sex, beauty, spirituality, work, health and other related topics. (****)
African-American; Aging ** Recommended
Am I
a Woman: A Skeptic's Guide to Gender, Cynthia Eller, Beacon Press,
$24.00 cl, 0-8070-7508-6, 2003.
From the publisher... "Cynthia Eller asks what it is that really makes
a woman a woman. Is a woman defined by her anatomy? Does she perceive the world
differently from men? Is it her behavior that somehow marks her as inescapably
female? Or is it a matter of how others evaluate her? Eller's answers demonstrate
that the whole business of deciding who is a woman and who is notóand whyóis
far more complicated than it at first appears." (****) Gender/Law Issues
The Bathhouse,
Farnoosh Moshiri, Beacon Press, $13.00 pb, 0-8070-8357-7, 2003.
First published in 2001. (****) International: Middle East; Fiction Now in
paperback
Breathing
Space: A Spiritual Journey in South Bronx, Heidi B. Neumark, Beacon
Press, $26.00 cl, 0-8070-7256-7, 2003.
Since 1984, the author has ministered in the South Bronx to a Hispanic and African
American congregation coping with poverty provoked by issues of violence, addition,
abuse, HIV/AIDS, epidemic health issues, substandard housing and other related
issues. This is the memoir of her spiritual journey of activism and faith in
this community. "The creation of breathing space is an act of conspiracy. I
have come to see 'conspire' as a word with profound spiritual resonance. Like
most people, I associated the word with its political meaning: to conspire in
the sense of formulating secret strategies to overthrow some public power, person
or nation. But the word 'conspiracy' is rooted in deeper soil. It means, literally,
conspiritus, to breath together" (p. 106). (****) Spirituality/Religion;
Autobiography/Memoir
The Complete
Guide to Mental Health for Women, Lauren Slater, Ed.D., Jessica Henderson
Daniel, Ph.D. and Amy Elizabeth Banks, M.D., editors, Beacon Press, $24.95
pb, 0-8070-2925-4, 2003.
Unlike many self help or psychology books that seem to want to disconnect mind
from body, this useful book offers a way to be proactive and informed about
mental health concerns by relating them to general health issues. In this way,
disorders such as depression can be related to adjusting to major changes in
ones life. The book first cover life cycle, then mental disorders followed by
a section on "getting Help." Though a significant portion of the 3rd section
covers medication, the final section of the book also acknowledges the ways
in which play, spirituality, and exercise can also benefit ones mental health.
(****) Psychology; Health & Medicine ** Recommended
In Praise
of Our Teachers: A Multicultural Tribute to Those Who Inspired Us, Gloria
Wade Gayles, editor, Beacon Press, $17.50 cl, 0-8070-3148-8, 2003.
For those needing inspiration, or those wanting to provide inspiration, or for
those looking for an anthology of multicultural writings focused on a particular
topic, this anthology offer 32 selections from a variety of people -- known
and unknown -- offering praise and thanks for the teachers who impacted their
lives. (****) Education; Literature
Summer
Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the South, Trudier Harris,
Beacon Press, $24.00 cl, 0-8070-7254-0, 2003.
This witty and frank memoir shows the pride and acceptance of Trudier Harris
who explores her blackness and southerness and the way these important realities
shaped her life as a writer and intellectual. (****) African-American; Autobiography/Memoir
** Recommended
Translated
Woman: Crossing the Border with Esperanza's Story, Ruth Behar, Beacon
Press, $20.00 pb, 0-8070-4647-7, 2003.
Tenth Anniversary Edition with a New Preface (****) Latinas; Biography Reissue
now available
West
of the Jordan, Laila Halaby, Beacon Press, $13.00 pb, 0-8070-8359-3,
2003.
From the publisher... "This is a brilliant and revelatory first novel
by a woman who is both an Arab and an American, who speaks with both voices
and understands both worlds. Through the narratives of four cousins at the brink
of maturity, Laila Halaby immerses her readers in the lives, friendships, and
loves of girls struggling with national, ethnic, and sexual identities. Mawal
is the stable one, living steeped in the security of Palestinian traditions
in the West Bank. Hala is torn between two worlds-in love in Jordan, drawn back
to the world she has come to love in Arizona. Khadija is terrified by the sexual
freedom of her American friends, but scarred, both literally and figuratively,
by her father's abusive behavior. Soraya is lost in trying to forge an acceptable
life in a foreign yet familiar land, in love with her own uncle, and unable
to navigate the fast culture of California youth. Interweaving their stories,
allowing us to see each cousin from multiple points of view, Halaby creates
a compelling and entirely original story, a window into the rich and complicated
Arab world." (****) Fiction; Arab American ** Recommended
When
the Drama Club Is Not Enough: Lessons from Safe Schools Program for Gay and
Lesbian Students, Jeff Perrotti and Kim Westheimer, Beacon Press,
$17.00 pb, 0-8070-3131-3, 2002.
(****) Gay/Lesbian/Queer Studies; Education ** Recommended
Bucknell University Press - (Distributed by Associated University Presses)
University of California Press
Gay Rights
and American Law, Daniel R. Pinello, Cambridge Univ. Press, $23.00
pb, 0-521-01214-7, or $70.00 cl, 0-521-81274-7, 2003.
This study analyzes how federal and state appellate courts treated the civil
rights claims of lesbians and gay men between 1981 and 2000. It reveals how
legal variables, judges' personal attributes, environmental factors (juridical
ideology, consensual sodomy statutes, and gay civil rights laws), institutional
determinants (judicial selection method and term length), and time and interest
group participation were significant forces in judicial policymaking. This volume
is best suited for lawyers, politicians, and other activists seeking for samples
of case law in relation to gay rights or those who have a good understanding
of legal terminology. (**) Gay/Lesbian/Queer Studies; Law
Gender
and Politeness, Sara Mills, Cambridge Univ. Press, $24.00 pb, 0-521-00919-7,
or $65.00 cl, 0-521-81084-1, 2003.
Are women necessarily more polite than men? Not according to this study. Politeness,
like all gender relationships, is far more complex than merely a description
of speech and language. Politeness and impoliteness contain judgment's about
the ways in which people apply interventions and interactions in cultural context
made difficult by perceived gender stereotypes. (***) Gender Studies
Gender
Differences at Puberty, Chris Heyward, editor, Cambridge Univ. Press,
$27.00 pb, 0-521-00165-X, or $78.00 cl, 0-521-80704-2, 2003.
Jacket copy... "This book focuses on the emergence of gender difference
and provides an up to date summary of interdisciplinary research in the area
with contributions from an international team of leading experts in the field.
Topics covered include biological aspects of puberty, body image, aggression,
sexual abuse, opposite-sex relationships and the psychopathology of puberty."
(**) Gender Studies
Language
and Sexuality, Deborah Cameron and Don Kulick, Cambridge Univ. Press,
$21.00 pb, 0-521-00969-3, or $58.00 cl, 0-521-80433-7, 2003.
This textbook looks at how we talk about sex and why we talk about it the way
we do. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from personal ads to phone sex,
from sado-masochistic scenes to sexual assault trials, the book introduces the
relationship between language and sexuality. Using a broad definition of 'sexuality',
the book encompasses not only issues surrounding sexual orientation and identity
but also questions about the discursive construction of sexuality and the verbal
expression of erotic desire. (***) Sexuality; Language / Linguistics TEXTBOOK
Same-Sex
Marriage and the Constitution, Evan Gerstmann, Cambridge Univ. Press,
$22.00 pb, 0-521-00952-7, or $60.00 cl, 0-521-81100-7, 2003.
From the introduction... "This book argues that we must leave behind
the debate over "gay rights" and move on to far more productive and illuminating
question of what legal rights all people in America share and what the contours
of those rights might be. In truth, there is no such thing as gay rights. There
are only legal and constitutional rights that must be applied and protected
equally for all people." (pp. 3-4) (****) Gay/Lesbian/Queer Studies; Law
Women
Writers and National Identity: Bachmann, Duden, ÷zdamar, Stephanie Bird,
Cambridge Univ. Press, $65.00 cl, 0-521-82406-0, 2003.
This book explores the dual themes of female identity and national identity
in the works of 3 major 20th-century German language writers. (**) Literary
Criticism
Also of interest
Empress Marie Therese and Music at the Viennese
Court, 1792-1807, John A. Rice, Cambridge Univ. Press, $75.00 cl,
0-521-82512-1, 2003.
This is the first study of the musical achievement of Empress Marie Therese,
an important patron in Vienna during the time of Haydn and Beethoven. (**) Music
All the
Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America, Suzanna Danuta Walters,
Univ. of Chicago Press, $19.00 pb, 0-226-87232-7, 2003.
According to Walters, gay people are know seen, but unknown - visible but denied
full citizenship. (***) Gay/Lesbian/Queer Studies
Black,
White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture, Hortense
J. Spillers, Univ. of Chicago Press, $27.50 pb, 0-226-76980-1, 2003.
The focus of this collection of essays by Spillers is the reading of African
American literature from slavery to the black intellectual in contemporary life.
However, with several chapters on women writers and her feminist thought, this
volume is worth considering for feminist/women's studies literature courses.
(**) Literary Criticism
Book
Clubs: Women and the Uses of Reading in Everyday Life, Elizabeth Long,
Univ. of Chicago Press, $19.00 cl, 0-226-49262-1, 2003.
Many women cherish the books clubs they belong too. It seems to make sense --
reading, conversing, and exploring one's emotional terrain through an intellectual
activity in a social circle. This book takes a closer look at why this phenomenon
seems so compelling to women how book clubs " make a difference in our lives."
Long explores who are the women in book groups, and why they find them to be
spaces for inspiration and reimagination for themselves and collectively. (See
also, Literature after Feminism. (****) Social Sciences; Womenís Studies
The Companion
Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness, Donna Haraway,
Prickly Paradigm Press (Distributed by Univ. of Chicago Press), $10.00 pb, 0-9717575-8-5,
2003.
Haraway views this manifesto as a personal document in which she explores two
questions: what can be learned from taking dog-human relationships seriously
and how might dog-human worlds convince us that history matters in nature cultures.
Prickly Paradigm Press, LLC is devoted to giving serious authors free reign
to say what's right and what's wrong about their disciplines and about the world,
including what's never been said before. The result is intellectuals unbound,
writing unconstrained and creative texts about meaningful matter. (***) Essays
of Resistance
Feminist
Economics Today: Beyond Economic Man, Marianne A. Ferber and Julie a.
Nelson, editors, Univ. of Chicago Press, $16.00 pb, 0-226-24207-2, 2003.
Building on the 1993 publication of "Beyond Economic Man," this volume looks
back at the progress of feminist economics and forward to its future, offering
a thorough summary of feminist economic thought followed by original essays
from the field's leading scholars--including Rebecca Blank, Nancy Folbre, and
Myra Strober--reassessing the achievements and goals of the field. (***) Economics;
Feminist Theory ** Recommended
Literature
after Feminism, Rota Felski, Univ. of Chicago Press, $18.00 pb, 0-226-24115-7,
2003.
From the publisher... "Rita Felski explains how feminism has changed
the ways people read and think about literature. She organizes her book around
four key questions: Do women and men read differently? How have feminist critics
imagined the female author? What does plot have to do with gender? And what
do feminists have to say about the relationship between literary and political
value?" On a personal note, I often find books focused on literary criticism
too dry for the casual reader. However, this book is both readable and interesting.
I find it interesting that it arrives in the same season as Book Clubs.
Reading these two together might make for an interesting class -- or book club
activity. (****) Literary Criticism ** Recommended
Music
and Gender: Perspectives from the Mediterranean, Tullia Magrini, editor,
Univ. of Chicago Press, $24.00 pb, 0-226-50166-3 , or $60.00 cl, 0-226-50165-5
, 2003.
Jacket copy... "From Spanish flamenco to Algerian raÔ, Greek rebetika
to Turkish pop music, Sephardi and Berber songs to Egyptian belly dancers, the
contributors cover an exceedingly wide range of geographic and musical territories.
Individual essays examine musical behavior as representation, assertion, and
sometimes transgression of gender identities; compare men's and women's roles
in specific musical practices and their historical evolution; and explore how
music and gender relate to such issues as ethnicity, nationality, and religion."
(***) Music; International: Middle East; Anthropology
The Story
of Sapho, Madeleine de ScudÈry and Edited and translated by Karen Newman,
Univ. of Chicago Press, $18.00 pb, 0-226-14399-6, 2003.
The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe Series: Ridiculed for her Saturday salon,
her long romance novels, and her protofeminist ideas, Madeleine de ScudÈry's
(1607-1701) novels were popular bestsellers in her time, translated almost immediately
into English, German, Italian, Spanish, and even Arabic. The Story tells of
Sapho, a woman writer modeled on the Greek Sappho, who deems marriage slavery.
Interspersed in the love story of Sapho and Phaon are a series of conversations
like those that took place in ScudÈry's own salon in which Sapho and her circle
discuss the nature of love, the education of women, writing, and right conduct.
(****) Literature
Also of interest
The Complete Writings of an Italian Heretic: Olympia
Morata, Translated and edited by Holt N. Parker, Univ. of Chicago
Press, $22.50 pb, 0-226-53669-6, 2003.
Series Title: The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe. Olympia Morata (1526-1555)was
a scholar in her day and sometimes considered a "Calvinist Amazon." (***) History
Univ. of Delaware Press - (Distributed by Associated University Presses)
Chicana
Feminisms: A Critical Reader, Gabriela F. Arredondo, AÌda Hurtado, Norma
Klahn, Olga N·jera-RamÌrez and Patricia Zavella, editors, Duke Univ. Press,
$23.95 pb, 0-8223-3141-1, 2003.
The contributions in the collections presents new essays from emerging scholars
and combine scholarly analysis with personal observation, interviews, letter,
visual art and poetry. Topics and themes include tensions of history, culture,
sexual orientation, language and region. (****) Latinas; Womenís Studies **
Recommended
The Crux,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Introduction by Dana Seitler, Duke Univ.
Press, $16.95 pb, 0-8223-3167-5, 2003.
This is the second reprint of this Gilman novel -- different press, different
editor, different binding. (see The Crux, Charlotte Perkins Gilmore and
edited with an introduction by Jennifer S. Tuttle, Univ. of Delaware Press (Distributed
by Associated University Presses), $42.50 cl, 0-87413-771-3, 2002. (Reviewed
here, May, 2003). Those interested in Gilman's may want to explore both. (****)
Fiction
The Male
Pill: A Biography of a Technology in the Making, Nelly Oudshoorn,
Duke Univ. Press, $21.95 pb, 0-8223-3195-0, 2003.
This is a study of hormonal contraceptives for men. (**) Reproductive Rights/Technology
Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy
and the Preservation of Confederate Culture, Karen L. Cox, Univ.
Press of Florida, $55.00 cl, 0-8130-2625-3, 2003. The Idea of Women in Fundamentalist Islam, Lamia
Rustum Shehadeh, Univ. Press of Florida, $55.00 cl, 0-8130-2606-7, 2003. Women and the Bullring, Muriel Feiner,
Univ. Press of Florida, $34.95 cl, 0-8130-2629-6, 2003.
Series: New Perspectives on the History of the South From the publisher...
"This remarkable history of the organization [United daughters of the Confederacy]
presents a portrait of two generations of southern women whose efforts helped
shape the social and political culture of the New South. It also offers a new
historical perspective on the subject of Confederate memory and the role southern
women played in its development." (**) Regional: South; History
From the publisher... "Shehadeh's study, the only work that compiles
and critiques the gender theory of the major Islamic fundamentalist ideologues,
offers a unifying theory elucidating their stand on women's role in society
and the centrality of women in their politically ideal Muslim society. This
book provides new perspectives and insights into the 20th-century concept of
political Islam." (**) International: Middle East; Spirituality/Religion
The story of Women and the Bullring is one of daring and determined women who
overcome countless obstacles and sexist barriers to realize a unique dream--that
of becoming a ""matadora de toros."" (****) Womenís Studies; Sports/Outdoors
Also of interest
Africanism and Authenticity in African-American Women's
Novels, Amy K. Levin, Univ. Press of Florida, $55.00 cl, 0-8130-2631.8,
2003.
(**) Literary Criticism; African-American
Women and Gender in
early Jewish and Palestinian Nations, Sheila H. Katz, Univ. Press
of Florida, $55.00 cl, 0-8130-2618-0, 2003.
(**) International: Middle East; History; Gender Studies
Women in the Discourse
of Early Modern Spain, Joan F. Cammarata, Univ. Press of Florida,
$59.95 cl, 0-8130-2578-8, 2003.
(**) Literary Criticism; History
As Eve Said to the Serpent: On Landscape, Gender,
and Art, Rebecca Solnit, Univ. of Georgia Pr. Press, $19.95 pb, 0-8203-2493-0,
2003.
Reviewed October, 2001 (****) Arts: Art, Photography; Literature Now in paperback
Flannery
O'connor: The Obedient Imagination, Sarah Gordon, Univ. of Georgia
Pr. Press, $19.95 pb, 0-8203-2520-1, 2003.
From the publisher... "The Obedient Imagination shows us a writer whose
world was steeped in male presumption regarding women and creativity. The book
is filled with fresh perspectives on OíConnorís Catholicism; her upbringing
as a dutiful, upper-class southern daughter; her readings of Thurber, Poe, Eliot,
and other arguably misogynistic authors; and her schooling in the New Criticism.
As Gordon leads us through a world premised on expectations at odds with OíConnorís
strong and original imagination, she ranges across all of OíConnorís fiction
and many of her letters and essays." (***) Biography; Womenís Studies
The Lonely
Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers, Virginia Spencer Carr, Univ.
of Georgia Pr. Press, $29.95 pb, 0-8203-2522-8, 2003.
This definitive biography of Carson McCullers is now back in print. (****) Biography
Reissue now available
Social Aggression among Girls, Marion K. Underwood, Guilford Publications,
$24.00 pb, 1-57230-865-6, or $44.00 cl, 1-57230-866-4, 2003.
From the publisher... "While several recent popular books address the
topic of girls' "meanness" to one another, this volume offers the first balanced,
scholarly analysis of scientific knowledge in this area. Integrating current research
on emotion regulation, gender, and peer relations, the book examines how girls
are socialized to experience and express anger and aggression from infancy through
adolescence. Considered are the developmental functions of such behaviors as gossip,
friendship manipulation, and social exclusion; consequences for both victims and
perpetrators; and approaches to intervention and prevention. Presenting innovative
research models and methods, this is an accessible and much-needed synthesis for
researchers, professionals, and students." (****) Psychology
Hampton Press, Inc.
Harrington Park Press / Haworth Press
From Flitch
to Ash: A Musing on Trees and Carving, Diane Derrick, Harrington
Park Press / An Imprint of Haworth Press, $14.95 pb, 1-56023-217-X, or $29.95
cl, 1-56023-216-1, 2003.
Alice Street editions. Celebrated woodcarver Diane Derrick reflects on her work
and her medium. She muses on the elemental force and mystical nature of wood
while exploring the profound loss of her entire body of work in a tragic fire.
She transforms herself as an artist and her sparse prose reveals both tenderness
and depth. The book also includes 16 color plates of her carvings. (****) Arts:
Art, Photography; Lesbian Studies; Autobiography/Memoir ** Recommended
Ginger's
Fire, Maureen Brady, Harrington Park Press / An Imprint of Haworth
Press, $14.95 pb, 1-56023-444-X, or $39.95 cl, 1-56023-443-1, 2003.
Alice Street Editions From the publisher... "In quiet, understated prose,
Ginger's Fire tells the story of one woman's painful but very necessary rebirth
and awakening. Ginger and Nellie have finally realized their dream: after years
of hard work, they have completely restored a beautiful old farmhouse in the
Catskill Mountains. But as the house has come together, their relationship has
been silently slipping away. When, after all their labors, their beloved home
is destroyed in a catastrophic fire, Ginger and Nellie begin to move apart,
and Ginger must begin an arduous journey to discover her own long-absent passion
and inner fire. As Ginger delves into her past, discovering the river of alcoholism
and dependency that runs through her life, she learns to value her own strength
once more." (****) Fiction: Lesbian ** Recommended
His
hands, His Tools, His Sex, His Dress: Lesbian Writers on Their Fathers,
Catherine Reid and Holly K. Iglesias, editors, Harrington Park Press
/ An Imprint of Haworth Press, $19.95 pb, 1-56023-211-0, or $44.95 cl, 1-56023-210-2,
2003.
There are many books for women to reviews and contemplate their relationships
with their mothers. This is not so much true about fathers - and even more removed
for lesbians coming to terms with relationship to their fathers. At first, I
did not want to approach this book, my own father-daughter relationship being
one of stormy and difficult times. But these poems, stories, essays, memoirs
compelled me to keep reading, in some cases similar to the ways a car wreck
fascinates one. This powerful book anthologizes the writings of 22 critically
acclaimed lesbian writers including Jewelle Gomez, Janice Gould, Minnie Bruce
Pratt and others. (****) Lesbian Studies; Family Relations; Autobiography/Memoir
** Recommended
Weeding
at Dawn: A Lesbian Country life, Hawk Madrone, Harrington Park Press
/ An Imprint of Haworth Press, $14.95 pb, 1-56023-207-2, or $39.95 cl, 1-56023-206-4,
2003.
It can sometimes be easy to romanticize or admire those women, many lesbians,
who made their way from cities to rural "back to the land" or communal living.
This is the journey of Hawk Madrone who has lived in the hills of Oregon for
25 years. This beautifully told collection of poems, essays and creative nonfiction
offer an aging and weathered view of youthful enthusiasm, philosophical and
reflective rumination on struggle, labor, intimacy, vision, and lesbian-history-in
the-making, and ultimately the peaceful contentment of living close to nature.
The photo essay in the center offers another breathtaking view of what can be
seen when we allow ourselves to be present. (****) Lesbian Studies; Autobiography/Memoir
** Recommended
Also of interest
Past Perfect,
Judith P. Stelboum, Harrington Park Press / An Imprint of Haworth Press,
$19.95 pb, 1-56023-201-3, or $49.95 cl, 1-56023-200-5, 2003.
(****) Fiction: Lesbian
Widows
and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again, Carol L. Jenkins, editor,
Haworth Press, $24.95 pb, 0-7890-2192-7, or $39.95 cl, 0-7890-2191.9, 2003.
This monograph is published simultaneously as journal of Women & aging, Vol.
15, Nos. 2/3. (****) Aging; Womenís Studies
Humanity Books, Imprint of Prometheus
Hit:
Essays on Women's Rights, Mary E. Walker, M.D., Humanity Books, Imprint
of Prometheus, $18.00 pb, 1-59102-098-0, 2003.
Classics in Women's Studies Series Mary Walker (1832-1919) received a Congressional
Medal of Honor for her service during the Civil War , one of the first women
in the country to receive a medical degree, and a strong feminist supporting
women's independence. (****) Womenís Studies
Women
at the Hague, Jane Addams, Emily G. Balch, and Alice Hamilton and with
Introduction by Mary Jo Deegan, Humanity Books, Imprint of Prometheus, $17.00
pb, 1-59102-059-X, 2003.
This title adds to Humanity's books series, Classics in Women's Studies. In
this volume, three eminent feminist peace activists in the early 20th century,
discuss their experiences and views of The International Peace Congress of 1915.
It includes an impassioned statement from Jane Addams on the needlessness of
war. (****) History; Womenís Studies ** Recommended
Alice
Hamilton: A Life in Letters, Barbara Sicherman, Univ. of Illinois
Press, $24.95 pb, 0-252-07152-2, 2003.
This biography integrates the letters of Alice Hamilton to more fully document
Hamilton's life as a pioneer in the stud of diseases in the workplace, founder
of industrial toxicology in the U.S., and Harvard's first woman professor. (****)
Biography; Health & Medicine
All in
a Day's Work: An Autobiography, Ida M. Tarbell, Univ. of Illinois
Press, $21.95 pb, 0-252-07136-0, 2003.
Ida M. Tarbell (1857-1944) looks at her fifty-year career as an investigative
journalist. (****) Autobiography/Memoir
"A Half
Caste" and Other Writings: Onoto Watanna, Linda Trinh Moser, editor and
Elizabeth Rooney, Univ. of Illinois Press, $16.95 pb, 0-252-07094-1, or
$34.95 cl, 0-252-02782-5, 2003.
From the publisher... "Onoto Watanna (1875-1954) was born Winnifred
Eaton, the daughter of a British father and a Chinese mother. The first novelist
of Chinese descent to be published in the United States, she "became" Japanese
to escape Americans' scorn of the Chinese and to capitalize on their fascination
with things Japanese....Of Watanna's numerous shorter works, this volume includes
nineteen--thirteen stories and six essays--intended to show the scope and versatility
of her writing." (****) Asian American
How to
Live / What to Do: H.D.'s Cultural Poetics, Adalaide Morris, Univ.
of Illinois Press, $34.95 cl, 0-252-02796-5, 2003.
From the publisher... Adalaide Morris removes the work of H.D. from
compartments into which it has historically been placed, as she examines the
"ongoingness" of H.D.'s writing. She shows H.D. to be a playful linguistic innovator,
a woman whose writings bear on debates in science, technology, and cinema as
well as on poetry. Foremost, however, H.D. was a profound reshaper of the boundaries
and possibilities of poetry, a generative form that, as this book shows, can
indeed serve the cultural work of survival and resistance against the violence
of modern culture. (*) Literary Criticism
The Land
of Journey's Ending, Mary Austen, Introduction by Melody Graulich and
Illustrations by John Edwin Jackson, Univ. of Illinois Press, $24.95 pb,
0-252-07162-X, 2003.
(****) Literature Reissue now available
Long
Time, No See, Beth Finke, Univ. of Illinois Press, $24.95 cl, 0-252-02827-9,
2003.
"She did what she had to do." These are the words Beth Finke's mother would
use to describe her daughter's travel through the everyday. This is Finke's
memoir of her struggles with juvenile diabetes, blindness and a host of other
hardships including a disabled son. Finke appreciates her mother's words rather
than the label of courageous! (****) Disability; Autobiography/Memoir
Points
of Resistance: Women, Power & Politics in the New York Avant-garde Cinema, 1943-71
2nd edition, Lauren Rabinovitz, Univ. of Illinois Press, $16.95 pb,
0-252-07124-7, 2003.
(**) Arts: Film, Video; Womenís Studies Reissue now available
Reclaiming
Klytemnestra: Revenge or Reconciliation?, Kathleen L. Komar, Univ.
of Illinois Press, $34.95 cl, 0-252-02811-2, 2003.
Komar reflects on the ways in which mother and matricide have been reflected
in contemporary literature, especially in the 1980s, through the character of
Klytemnestra. She looks at the works of Dacia Maraini, Christa Wolf and Marie
Cardinal, among others. (*) Literature; Literary Criticism
Rhythm
& Booze: Poems, Julie Kane, Univ. of Illinois Press, $14.95 pb, 0-252-07140-9,
or $29.95 cl, 0-252-02865-1, 2003.
Selected by Maxine Kumin as one of five volumes published in 2003 in the National
Poetry Series. Each section of this volume is set in a different Louisiana city
and captures the raucous struggles and life hardships as understood through
music, party & drink. (****) Poetry ** Recommended
Rita
Dove's Cosmopolitanism, Malin Pereira, Univ. of Illinois Press, $29.95
cl, 0-252-02837-6, 2003.
This is a critical study of Rita Dove's complete body of work -- poetry, fiction,
drama and literary criticism. (**) Literary Criticism
Sex Radicals
and the Quest for Women's Equality, Joanne E. Passet, Univ. of Illinois
Press, $39.95 cl, 0-252-02804-X, 2003.
From the publisher... "In charting the growth of the sex radical movement,
Joanne E. Passet draws on a host of documents from the period--letters, periodicals,
lectures, and pamphlets--to establish a strong link between the rise of print
culture and the freedom of citizens, especially women, to build geographically
dispersed communities of ideas. She also advances models of sexuality that challenge
the restrictive mores of society at large and shows that the majority of correspondents
who participated in the sex radical movement resided in the Midwest and the
Great Plains states, where ideas of individual freedom and sovereignty resonated
particularly strongly." (***) Feminist Theory; History
Toni
Morrison: Playing with Difference, Lucille P. Fultz, Univ. of Illinois
Press, $34.95 cl, 0-252-02823-6, 2003.
From the publisher... "Lucille P. Fultz explores Toni Morrison's rich
body of work, uncovering the interplay between differences--love and hate, masculinity
and femininity, black and white, past and present, wealth and poverty--that
lie at the heart of these vibrant and complex narratives." (**) Literary Criticism;
African-American
Two Sisters
for Social Justice: A Biography of Grace and Edith Abbott, Lela B. Costin,
Univ. of Illinois Press, $17.95 pb, 0-252-07155-7, 2003.
From the Progressive Era through the New Deal and contemporaries of Jane Addamm,
Grace Abbott (1878-1939) and her sister Edith (1876-1957) were an integral part
of the debate that raged around the issues of suffrage, workers' rights, child
labor laws, juvenile delinquency, prostitution, the "immigrant problem," tenement
housing, social security, emergency relief programs, and the peace movement.
(****) Biography; Womenís Studies ** Recommended
Women
at the Hague: The International Congress of Women and Its Results, Jane
Addams, Emily G. Balch, and Alice Hamilton and with Introduction by Harriet
Hyman Alonso, Univ. of Illinois Press, $12.95 pb, 0-252-07156-5, or $24.95
cl, 0-252-02888-0, 2003.
This title continues UIP's reissues of the works of Jane Addams. In all the
years of doing this column this is the first time I've seen the same title issued
by 2 publishers in the same season! Compare: Women at the Hague, Jane
Addams, Emily G. Balch, and Alice Hamilton and with Introduction by Mary Jo
Deegan, Humanity Books, Imprint of Prometheus, $17.00 pb, 1-59102-059-X, 2003.
(****) History; Womenís Studies
Women's
Utopias of the Eighteenth Century, Alessa Johns, Univ. of Illinois
Press, $34.95 cl, 0-252-02841-4, 2003.
Revolution or utopia? Absolutist models or emerging and reimagining possibilities?
These are some of the conceptions discussed as Johns explores the reform-oriented
visions of utopia put forth in the works of Mary Astell, Sarah Fielding, Mary
Hamilton, Sarah Scott and other writers from Britain and continental Europe
in the eighteenth century. (**) Literary Criticism; Literature
Also of interest
Contemporary Spanish Women's Narrative and the
Publishing Industry, Christine Henseler, Univ. of Illinois Press,
$29.95 cl, 0-252-02831-7, 2003.
(***) International: Western Europe; Literature
Naked
Barbies, Warrior Joes & Other Forms of Visible Gender, Jeannie Banks
Thomas, Univ. of Illinois Press, $21.95 pb, 0-252-07135-2, or $39.95 cl,
0-252-02854-6, 2003.
(***) Gender Studies; Culture/Cultural Studies
Nietzsches
Sister and the Will to Power: A Biography of Elisabeth F–rster-Nietzsche,
Carol Diethe, Univ. of Illinois Press, $34.95 cl, 0-252-02826-0, 2003.
(****) Biography
Accursed
Politics: Some French Women Writers and Political Life, 1715-1850, Renee
Winegarten, Ivan R Dee, $27.50 cl, 1-56663-499-7, 2003.
Renee Winegarten probes the intriguingly subtle equivocations revealed by six
highly gifted and fascinating French women writers who were deeply involved
in the political life of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These writers
include Germaine de StaÎl and George Sand among others. (**) Literary Criticism
The
Rise of the New Woman: The Women's Movement in America, 1875-1930, Jean
v. Matthews, Ivan R Dee, $24.95 cl, 1-56663-500-4, 2003.
Following on her history of the womenís movement in America that took the story
to 1876 (Women's Struggle for Equality, 1990), Jean Matthewsís new book chronicles
the movement through 1930, recounting the changing fortunes and transformations
of the organized suffrage movement. (****) History; Womenís Studies **
Recommended
American
Wives, Beth Helms, Univ. of Iowa Press, $15.95 pb, 0-87745-868-5,
2003.
Winner of the 2003 Iowa Short Fiction Award; These are stories about
wives -- military wife, wealthy widow, devoted mother, lifetime companion --
and their hopes, disappointments, failures, resignations, desires and joys.
(****) Fiction: Short Stories
Johns Hopkins University Press
Cesarean Section: Understanding and Celebrating Your
Baby's Health, Michele Moore and Caroline de Costa, Johns Hopkins
Univ. Press, $14.95 pb, 0-8018-7337-1, or $49.95 cl, 0-8018-7336-3, 2003.
From the publisher... In Cesarean Section: Understanding and Celebrating
Your Baby's Birth, Drs. Michele Moore and Caroline de Costa emphasize the joy
of delivering a healthy baby, however that is best achieved. They explain why
Cesarean births are sometimes preferable to vaginal delivery for both mother
and baby, and they help women understand the issues behind the decision to perform
the procedure. They also discuss the latest findings on postpartum depression
and planning for future births, including the possibility of vaginal birth after
a Cesarean section. (****) Pregnancy/Birth; Health & Medicine
Ellen Glasgow: A Biography, Susan Goodman,
Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, $19.95 pb, 0-8018-7314-2, 2003.
First published in 1998 (****) Biography Now in paperback
Manly Meals and Mom's Home Cooking: Cookbooks and
Gender in Modern America, Jessamyn Neuhaus, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press,
$42.95 cl, 0-8018-7125-5, 2003.
This history of cookbooks in the U.S. since colonial times adds a new dimension
to understanding women's relationship to food and food preparation, gender roles
in the family, gender and cooking, changing attitudes about food and food preparation
and the continuous desire for "mom's home cooking." (***) History; Gender Studies;
Culture/Cultural Studies
Personal Property: Wives, White Slaves, and the
market in Women, Margit Stange, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, $17.95
pb, 0-8018-7254-5, 2003.
First published in 1998. (***) Literary Criticism Now in paperbackAlso
of interest
Looking Good: College Women and Body image, 1875-1930,
Margaret A. Lowe, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, $40.00 cl, 0-8018-7290-X,
2003.
(**) History; Gender Studies
Seeing Nature through
Gender, Virginia J. Scharff, editor, Univ. Press of Kansas, $17.95
pb, 0-7006-1285-8, or $45.00 cl, 0-7006-1284-X, 2003.
Seeing Nature through Gender here reintroduces gender as a meaningful category
of analysis for environmental history, showing how womenís actions, desires,
and choices have shaped the world and seeing men as gendered actors as well.
Contributors include: Peter Boag, Annie Gilbert Coleman, Giovanna Di Chiro,
Amy Green, Maril Hazlett, Katherine Jensen, Catherine Kleiner, Nancy Langston,
Paige Raibmon, Douglas Sackman, Virginia Scharff, Bryant Simon, and Mark Tebeau.
(**) Gender Studies; Education; History
Songs
of Life and Grace, Linda Scott DeRosier, Univ. Press of Kentucky,
$26.00 cl, 0-8131-2276-7, 2003.
DeRosier explores her Appalachian family roots and ties. (****) Autobiography/Memoir
Explorations in Contemporary Feminist Literature: The Battle against Oppression
for Writers of Color, Lesbian and Transgender Communities, Mary Pernal,
Peter Lang Publishing, $29.95 pb, 0-8204-5662-4, 2003.
Series: Eruptions: New Thinking Across the Disciplines: Vol. 15 -- Erica
McWilliam, General Editor. Jacket copy... [This book] "bridges issues
of oppression across diverse communities within the contemporary feminist movement.
Fictional writings by authors such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Rose Tremain,
and others are addressed in regard to their content of social messages. The
major focus of this book is the need for personal-redefinition by members of
marginalized communities seeking a ground of self-determination and respect,
as expressed by various authors. The connections between authors' perspectives
are raised and a critical gaze is directed at the claim that personal choice
equates with freedom." (***) Literary Criticism
On the Outside Looking In(dian): Indian women Writers at Home and Abroad,
Phillipa Kafka, Peter Lang Publishing, $29.95 pb, 0-8204-5812-0, 2003.
Jacket copy... "On the Outside Looking In(dian) analyzes works over
the past century translated into or written in English by feminist Indian women
writers such as Krupabai Satthianadhan, Rokeya Sakhewat Hossein, Maitreyi Devi,
Kamala Das, Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, and others. These writers condemn
patriarchal customs and laws for depriving Indian womenóof all castes and classes,
as well as women of other culturesóof their basic human rights by sanctioning
child marriage, sati, purdah, and the wearing of the burqa, while prohibiting
widow remarriage, the expression of sexuality, and the pursuit of an education
to promote self-sufficiency, and equal economic, political, and social status
with men." (***) International: Asia; Literary Criticism
Also of
interest
Breaking the Bounds: British Feminist Dramatists Writing
in the Mainstream since c. 1980, Dimple Godiwala, Peter Lang Publishing,
$61.95 cl, 0-8204-6135-0, 2003.
(**) Theater; Literary Criticism
Elizabeth Murray:
a Woman's Pursuit of Independence in Eighteenth-Century America, Patricia
Cleary, Univ of Massachusetts Press, $19.95 pb, 1-55849-396-4, 2003. Focus on Living: Portraits of Americans with HIV
and AIDS, Photographs and Interviews by Roslyn Banish, Univ of Massachusetts
Press, $24.95 pb, 1-55849-395-6, or $50.00 cl, 1-55849-394-8, 2003. Precious Fire: Maud Russell and the Chinese Revolution,
Karen Garner, Univ of Massachusetts Press, $39.95 cl, 1-55849-404-9,
2003. A Private State: Stories, charlotte Bacon,
Univ of Massachusetts Press, $17.95 pb, 1-55849-397-2, or $24.95 cl, 1-55849-114-7,
2003.
First published in 2000. (**) Biography; History Now in paperback
This is an incredible book of photos and first-person narratives of only a few
of the thousands of people in the US who live with HIV and AIDS. These are stories
of people of all ages, races, income, sexuality who struggle with their health
-- some more successfully than others -- and each filled with determination,
grief, hope anger, pride and strength. Some of the stories are quite simple,
others more complex...but all touching and inspiring. (****) Arts: Art, Photography;
Autobiography/Memoir; Health & Medicine ** Recommended
Jacket copy... "When Maud Russell (1893ñ1989) first sailed for China
in 1917, she traveled as one of a number of "foreign secretaries" dispatched
by the YWCA to do "Woman's Work for Woman." A product of the Progressive Era,
she sought to bring the benefits of Christianity and Western civilization to
a new generation of Chinese women struggling to find their own path to modernity
in the wake of the 1911Republican Revolution. Instead, over the next twenty-six
years, Russell was herself transformed -- from Christian liberal reformer to
committed Marxist revolutionary." (****) Biography
First published in 1997. (****) Fiction: Short Stories Now in paperback
Cities
in the Sea, Maura Stanton, Univ. of Michigan Press, $24.00 cl, 0-472-11364-X,
2003.
Winner of the First Annual Michigan Literary Prize in the category for short
stories. I only had opportunity to read the first story but I was so strongly
drawn in that I can't wait to read all of them. Carried away by the tornado
described in that first story, I was transported to one of those (un)real places
where good stories can take us and cause us to find a way back on our own.
From the publisher... "These stories, set in the Midwest and the Southwest,
in Florida and in Europe, blur the boundaries between fairy tale and veritÈ.
A range of characters - from a businessman to a pianist, from a county coroner
to a hardware store clerk, from a Greek immigrant to a Danish artist - come
to discover that the past is a ruined kingdom, lost forever, but still a place
to visit in wish, dream, and memory." (****) Fiction: Short Stories **
Recommended
Open
the Door: The Life and Music of Betty Carter, William R. Bauer, Univ.
of Michigan Press, $18.95 pb, 0-472-06791-5, or $29.95 cl, 0-472-09791-1, 2003.
Much more than a biography, this book written by Bauer who worked with Carter
for 17 years, provides not only life context of Barter as a post bop and jazz
singer. It includes insight into how she actually sang and includes samples
of her music. (****) Music; African-American
Our Sister's
Promised Land: Women, Politics, and Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence, Ayala
Emmett, Univ. of Michigan Press, $22.95 pb, 0-472-08930-7, or $40.00 cl,
0-472-10733-X, 2003.
Using in-depth interviews, supplemented with scholarship document, popular literature
and media information, Emmett looks critically at the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts
through women's peace activism. She describes the successes and failures of
Israeli and Palestinian women working for peace throughout the 1990s. Her work
provides insight for understanding the on-going conflicts in the Middle East
as well as the role of contemporary peace movement activism -- especially through
the involvement of women. In doing so, she also offers commentary on the role
of the US in this conflict. (****) International: Middle East; War/Peace/Anti-Militarism
Women
and War, Jenny Matthews [photographer], Univ. of Michigan Press,
$29.95 pb, 0-472-08964-1, 2003.
This is a disturbing and startling collection of photographs. They portray a
range of experiences of women from many different countries that continuously
face war. The photographs not only display the horror, fear, resignation and
despair associated with violence but also show women who attempt to celebrate,
maintain joy and create some semblance of coping and planning of more "normal"
activities (e.g., putting on make-up or having a wedding). The publisher has
indicated that the International Center of Photography in Manhattan will likely
host an exhibit of these photos in 2004. (****) Arts: Art, Photography; War/Peace/Anti-Militarism
** Recommended
Also of interest
Where No Gods Came, Sheila O'Connor, Univ. of Michigan Press,
$24.00 cl, 0-472-11365-X, 2003.
Winner of the First Annual Michigan Literary Prize in the category of fiction.
(****) Fiction
Women
& Laughter in Medieval Comic Literature, Lisa Perfetti, Univ. of
Michigan Press, $57.50 cl, 0-472-11321-6, 2003.
This book explores a wide range of literary representation of women's laughter
in the thirteenth through the sixteenth century. (*) Literary Criticism; History
Also of interest
Minnesota Historical Society / Borealis Books
The Language
of Blood: A Memoir, Jane Jeong Trenka, Borealis Books - Trade Imprint
of Minnesota Historical Society Press, $23.95 cl, 0-87351-466-1, 2003.
As a Korean adoptee into a white Minnesotan family, Jane Jeong Trenka did not
question her identity until repeated encounters with a stalker raised years
o repressed questions. This memoir is a coming of age story as well as an exploration
into her quest for understanding family, connections by blood and coming to
terms with multicultural realities. (****) Autobiography/Memoir; Asian American
"Am I
That Name?": Feminism and the Category of Women in History, Denise Riley,
Univ. of Minnesota Press, $15.95 pb, 0-8166-4269-9, 2003.
Writing about changes in the notion of womanhood, Denise Riley examines, in
the manner of Foucault, shifting historical constructions of the category of
"women" in relation to other categories central to concepts of personhood: the
soul, the mind, the body, nature, the social. (**) Womenís Studies; History
Built
to Win: The Female Athlete as Cultural Icon, Leslie Haywood and Shari
L. Dworkin, Univ. of Minnesota Press, $19.95 pb, 0-8166-2624-9, 2003.
In this engaging book, filled with pictures of ads and athletes, the complexities
of women in the culture of sport and women in sport as affecting culture are
explored. (****) Sports/Outdoors; Womenís Studies ** Recommended
The Confederate Belle, Giselle Roberts, Univ. of Missouri Press,
$32.50 cl, 0-8262-1464-9, 2003.
Diaries, letters and memoirs are explored to uncover the Civil wartime experiences
of young women (ladies) in Mississippi and Louisiana. Their experiences are
specifically understood within the framework of coning-in-age through "bellehood."
(****) Regional: South; Biography
Mary
McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Activism, Joyce A. Hanson, Univ.
of Missouri Press, $32.50 cl, 0-8262-1451-7, 2003.
This biography of Mary McLeod Bethune sets her life and work in the context
of shifting political realities between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It demonstrates Bethune's use of two differing political strategies -- non-confrontational
and confrontational. (****) African-American; Biography; History **
Recommended
A Song
of Faith and Hope: The Life of Frankie Muse Freeman, Frankie Muse Freeman
and with Candace O'Connor, Missouri Historical Society Press (Distributed
by Univ. of Missouri Press), $29.95 cl, 1-883982-41-3, 2003.
This memoir tells the story of Frankie Muse Freeman the first woman appointed
to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She was a civil rights attorney and
advocate for fair housing. (****) African-American; Biography
Kara Walker: Narratives
of a Negress, Ian Berry, Darby English, Vivian Patterson, and Mark Reinhardt,
editors, MIT Press, $45.00 cl, 0-262-02540-X, 2003. Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing,
Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher, MIT Press, $12.95 pb, 0-262-63269-1,
or $24.95 cl, 0-262-13398-9, 2003.
This book accompanies an exhibition organized by the Tang Teaching Museum and
Art Gallery at Skidmore College and the Williams College Museum of Art. It features
a collection of Kara Walker's (b.1969) black paper cutout silhouettes that confront
stereotypes, sex, violence, and power relationships through Civil War-era parodies
and narratives. (****) Arts: Art, Photography; African-American **
Recommended
Reviewed May, 2002. (***) Science/Technology; Womenís Studies Now in paperback
Red Earth: Poems of
New Mexico, Alice Corbin, Museum of New Mexico Press, $16.95 cl,
0-89013-450-2, 2003.
This beautiful book celebrates Corbin's thriving year's in New Mexico where
she had gone for health reasons. First published in 1920, this edition is graced
with some of the finest art and photography from Santa Fe's Museum of Fine arts
collection -- adding another layer of connection between life and art. The poems,
radical for their time, include cultural infusions of Hispanic ballad, Indian
song, folk tradition and a diversity of form and style. (****) Poetry; Arts:
Art, Photography ** Recommended
American
Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sa and Introduction by Susan Rose Dominguez,
Univ. of Nebraska Press, $12.95 pb, 0-8032-9917-6, 2003.
This is a reissue of the stories of one of the Sioux nations most significant
writers and activists, Zitkala-Sa. (****) Fiction: Short Stories; Native American
Cather
Studies, Volume 5: Willa Cather's Ecological Imagination, edited by Susan
J. Rosowski, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $35.00 pb, 0-8032-6435-6, 2003.
Journal: The wide-ranging essays collected in this volume of Cather Studies
examine Willa Catherís unique artistic relationship to the environment. Under
the theoretical rubric of ecocriticism, these essays focus on Catherís close
observations of the natural world and how the environment proves, for most of
these contributors, to be more than simply a setting for her characters. While
it is certain that Catherís novels and short stories are deeply grounded in
place, literary critics are only now considering how place functions within
her narratives and addressing environmental issues through her writing . (***)
Literary Criticism; Ecology & Environment
A Lost
Lady: Scholarly Edition, Willa Cather, Historical Essay by Susan J. Rosowski
with Kari Ronning and Textual Editing by Charles W. Mignon and Frederick M.
Link, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $18.95 pb, 0-8032-6430-5, 2003.
Cloth edition published 1997. (****) Literature Now in paperback
Macadam
Dreams, GisËle Pineau and translated by C. Dickson, Univ. of Nebraska
Press, $20.00 pb, 0-8032-8773-9, or $50.00 cl, 0-8032-3730-8, 2003.
GisËle Pineau is an important author in the Creole movement of Francophone literature.
In this novel, she uses two cataclysms (a cyclone of 1928 and Hurricane Hugo)
on the island of Guadeloupe as experienced by the main character, Eliette, to
portray the violence and poverty endured by women in this island nation. (****)
International: Caribbean; Fiction
My ¡ntonia:
Scholarly edition, Willa Cather, Charles Mignon with Kari Ronning [editor]
and Historical Essay by James Woodress, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $20.00
pb, 0-8032-6433-X, 2003.
Cloth Edition published in 1994. (****) Literature Now in paperback
Open
Slowly, Kate Light, Zoo Press (Distributed by the Univ. of Nebraska
Press), $14.95 pb, 1-932023-04-6, 2003.
From the publisher... "In her second book, Open Slowly, Kate Light carries
on her standard of wise, witty poems on living, loving and making sense of the
two. Light, a classically trained violinist, brings an understanding of rhythm
and lyricism to her work that allows each poem to be formal yet accessible.
Her pragmatic themes - relationships, love, attractions and the bodies that
contain them - do open slowly..." (****) Poetry
Thoughts
from a Queen-Sized Bed, Mimi Schwartz, Univ. of Nebraska Press, $14.95
pb, 0-8032-9299-6, 2003.
Told in three segments -- Midnight to 5a.m., Morning Legacies, Life After Breakfast
-- these essays chronicle 40 years of marriage, feminism, love, faithfulness
and companionship. The essays are wise without being sentimental and represent
a range of characters from quirky to complex. (****) Essays
Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman, Farideh Goldin, Brandeis Univ. Press / Univ. Press of New England, $24.95 cl, 1-58465-344-2, 2003.
Farideh Goldin was born in 1953 in Shiraz, the oldest Jewish community in the Muslim world. This is a mother-daughter relationship explored in a community confronting western influences and a rising revolution. (****) International: Middle East; Autobiography/Memoir
The Red-Haired
Girl from the Bog: The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit, Patricia
Monaghan, New World Library, $22.95 cl, 1-57731-190-6, 2003.
Patricia Monaghan has long been one of the leading scholars studying Celtic
history and mythology. This new book explores the paces in Ireland of goddesses,
landscapes and rich mythology through her own travels as an Irish-American searching
for her roots through spiritual pilgrimage. In doing so, she explores important
aspects of these myths and goddesses as they are embodied n women's lives through
the contradictions of love and hate. mother and seductress, harmony and struggle.
(****) Spirituality/Religion; International: Western Europe **
Recommended
New
York University Press (NYU)
University of North Carolina Press
On the
Farm Front: The Women's Land Army in World War II, Stephanie A. Carpenter,
Northern Illinois Univ. Press, $40.00 cl, 0-87580314-8, 2003.
Like Rose the Riveter and women's support of industrial work during W.W.II,
many women also continued the necessary work on farms in agricultural communities.
This history looks at the work of women in agriculture, canneries and dairies
during wartime. (***) History
The World
of Hannah Heaton: The Diary of an Eighteenth-Century New England Farm Woman,
Barbara E. Lacey, editor, Northern Illinois Univ. Press, $48.00 cl, 0-87580-312-1,
2003.
This diary offers a rare and important view into one woman's experiences during
the settling of the United States. It also recounts her spiritual journey and
the ways in which her pieties and beliefs separate her from her family and community.
(****) Biography; Regional: New England
Middlebrow
moderns: Popular American Women Writers of the 1920s, Lisa Botshon and
Meredith Goldsmith, editors, Northeastern Univ. Press, $22.50 pb, 1-55553-556-9,
or $50.00 cl, 1-55553-557-7, 2003.
"Middlebrow" was a derogatory term used by the literary elite to scorn authors
of popular fiction -- that ironically won awards, became bestsellers and were
adapted for Hollywood films. This book looks at a diverse group of women writers
previously unexplored who worked in a broad range of media, magazines, literature,
radio, film, essay, and so on. The authors include Winnifred Easton, Jessie
Redmond Fauset, Edna Ferber, Dorothy Canfield Fisher and others. (**) Literary
Criticism; Womenís Studies; Womenís Studies
Gertrude
Stein: The Language That Rises, 1923-1934, Ulla E. Dydo and with William
Rice, Northwestern Univ. Press, $49.95 cl, 0-8101-1919-6, 2003.
This is a book that any aspiring expert or casual fan of the literature of Gertrude
Stein will want to own. In detail, Dydo, the editor of A Stein Reader,
illuminates Stein's work through the investigation of Stein's notebooks, manuscripts
and letters. In this way, Stein's work is further illuminated through the context
of her daily life and work. (**) Literary Criticism