Hey readers, Thanksgiving is officially a week and a day away- hopefully your holiday plans are coming along! This week we have a plethora of topics, including communism, Mark Twain, and Vietnam… think we’re covered? Then go ahead and join me reader!

November 17, 1865: The U. S. Screen Actors Guild implements an anticommunist loyalty oath.

In Radio’s Revolution: Don Hollenbeck's CBS Views the Press edited by Loren Ghiglione, we see how much of this period was devoted to anti-communist agenda, and how even the media was not exempt from the frenzy.

November 18, 1865: Mark Twain publishes his story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” in The New York Saturday Press.

Is there anyone more classic, more American than Mark Twain? You can find out for yourself by taking a look at Tales of Wonder, by this revered author.

November 19, 1998: Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of the Artist without Beard sells for 71.5 Million at an auction.

Ralph Blakelock was brilliant, institutionalized, and self taught. He was exactly the kind of artist Van Gogh could appreciate. You can find out more about him in Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock  1847-1919 by Norman A. Geske.

November 20, 1969: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit pictures of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Photography has always been a powerful medium. Whether it be Vietnamese photographs or pictures of the open prairie, as in The Wide Open: Prose, Poetry, and Photographs of the Prairie, edited by Annick Smith and Susan O’Connor.

November 21, 1976: Daniel Whiston, British Ice skater is born today.

Nothing is better than ice skating. Ok, well plenty of people think everything is better than ice skating, but I just love it. In fact, I am kind of a big fan of winter in general. If you like the cold, I mean the really, really cold, then check out The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica by Leslie Carol Roberts.

Ok readers, I hope we kept you entertained today. Be sure to check out all these titles, and more, at the University of Nebraska Press website. You can also join us next Tuesday for a little trivia. Have a great weekend!