Last night, the Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2011 Edgar Allan Poe Awards in New York City. And the best fact crime award went to… Scoreboard Baby: A Story of College Football, Crimeand Complicity by Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry. Rob Taylor was there to accept the award on behalf of the University of Nebraska Press and the authors. Check out the press release here for the other winners. Congrats guys! Continue reading An Edgar Award
A few quick mentions for some exciting UNP news: Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit by Neil deMause and Joanna Cagan was mentioned in the Washington Post by Norman Chad. Chad said “It’s a pretty good read, and I guarantee you it will save the city money,” in his article titled Los Angeles: the latest stop in the ‘No More Stadiums’ tour. To read the full article, click here. Paul VanDevelder’s book, Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America’s Road to Empire Through Indian Territory (Yale University Press) won a 2011 … Continue reading Thursday news
Roberta Ulrich, author of American Indian Nations from Termination to Restoration 1953-2006, wrote the following guest blog about a recent proposal to abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs. For more information, visit the book's page on the Universityof Nebraska Press website. More than most issues, Indian policy seems subject to those twin adages: "Those who cannot remember the pastare condemned to repeat it" and "The more things change the morethey stay the same." The occasion for this observation is the recent proposal by Senator Rand Paul to abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs.That would, in effect, put an end to … Continue reading Ulrich speaks out
Read the first chapter, "Five", from Pitching in the Promised Land: A Story of the First and Only Season in the Israel Baseball League by Aaron Pribble:
"“Have you ever had a bar mitzvah?” Babies cried in line behind me, adding undue stress to an already tense situation.
“A bar mitzvah? Um . . . no. Yes. No, not really.” It was a strange question to be asked in the security line, especially from a young, heavily accented ticket lady.
“Well, which is it? Yes or no?” Both answers were correct in truth, depending on one’s perspective, but that was not the sort of answer for which I surmised she was looking.
Continue reading “Off the Shelf: Pitching in the Promised Land by Aaron Pribble”
On April 30, poets Paul Martone and Erin Hoover are going to feature a discussion if Taste of Cherry by Kara Candito on their podcast venture, Late Night Library. The discussion will go live at 4:00 pm. Click here for complete information about Late Night Library. Earlier this month, the New York Journal of Books posted an article written by reviewer Debra Leigh Scott about the independent small press community. Scott wrote this piece after attending The Associated Writing Program Conference in Washington, D.C. The article was written based on herexperience there and conversations with independent presses like the University … Continue reading Friday round up
Goodbye Wifes and Daughters by Susan Kushner Resnick uncovers the story behind the losses behind the tragic 1943 story of how almost 80 men descended into the Smith coal mine in Bearcreek, Montana and only three came out alive. Lisa Bonos of the Washington Post said,“Resnick does an admirable job of breathing life into the story of a smalltown’s demise and its questioning of whether the disaster could have been avoided.” On April 18, Resnick was a guest on Write The Book and interviewed by Shelagh Shapiro. The interview aired in Burlington,VT on WOMM-LP 105.9 FM. Click here to listen … Continue reading Resnick on the radio
Earlier this month, the Museum of the City of New York hosted a program on Casey Stengel, the famous outfielderand manager, called “Casey Stengel's Baseball, The Greatest Character of the Game.” More than 100 people gathered at the museum to hear Steve Steinberg, coauthor of 1921:The Yankees, the Giants, and the Battle for Baseball Supremacy in New York and a panel of people giving their insights to Stengel’s life. For those of you who are diehard baseball history fans, Steve Steinberg took detailed notes. Following is a rundownof the panel discussion that night, complete with many nuggets of baseball trivia. … Continue reading Steve Steinberg writes-
Hey you baseball fans, games have just gotten under way and what better way to start off a new season of America’s favorite pastime with discovering a little history about the sport. Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball by Larry Baldassaro chronicles how Italian Americans helped shape baseball as we all know it today. Baldassaro discussed his book recently on Milwaukee Public Radio. Click here to take a listen. And earlier this month, the Omaha World-Herald ran a roundup of 10 books with themes related to Nebraska or the Midwest. Two University Nebraska Press books, Nebraska Moments by Donald R. … Continue reading Some spring reads
Read the beginning of the Prologue from Between Light and Shadow: A Guatemalan Girl's Journey through Adoption by Jacob Wheeler:
"This is a story about the journey of a girl to the United States from the desperate, poor streets of her home village in Guatemala. It’s about the birth mother who gave her up for adoption because she was pressured and promised money by the lawyers who make Guatemalan adoption so lucrative and so controversial. It is a story about one American family and its journey through international adoption: the guilt, the joy, the premonitions, and the conflicts that unfolded when the characters traveled to Central America and wealth met poverty head-on. It’s also a story about a very poor nation divided by race and class and a bloody history that continues today—and how its people deal with the humiliating perception that the world wants Guatemala more for its children than anything else it has to offer.
Continue reading “Off the Shelf: Between Light and Shadow by Jacob Wheeler”
Read the beginning of Beneath Blossom Rain: Discovering Bhutan on the Toughest Trek in the World by Kevin Grange:
"Stepping up to the first pass of the snowman trek in the Land of the Thunder Dragon, my heart pounding, I removed each arm from my shoulder straps, set my backpack down, and stood tall to have a look around. The pass was totally socked in, but with short fitful bursts, the highest mountain range on earth slowly revealed itself. A vast expanse of snowy peaks, rocky spires, and immense glaciers flashed through brief openings in the dark clouds.
Continue reading “Off the Shelf: Beneath Blossom Rain by Kevin Grange”
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