A recent translation of Herta Müller's Hunger Strike has been reviewed in the New York Times. See it here. Müller is the 2009 Nobel Prize in Laureate and also the author Nadirs (University of Nebraska Press, 1999), which is a collection of largely autobiographical stories based on her childhood in the Romanian countryside. Continue reading Müller in NYT
Banzai Babe Ruth is the story of baseball all-stars staying for a month in Japan, playing 18 games, spawning professional baseball, and spreading goodwill. Robert Whiting said in the Wall StreetJournal that Banzai Babe Ruth by Robert K. Fitts “deserves a spot in any baseball (or Japan) lover’s library.” On Shelf-Awareness, Fitts is hailed as “…excellent at capturing occasional bouts of dissension among the American players, describing the respectable quality of play by their Japanese opponents, and especially at capturing the ominous atmosphere that surrounded the tour. Fans will love the stats and player photos, too!” Continue reading Banzai Babe Ruth rave reviews
Happy Opening Day to baseball fans all across the country! According to Shelf Awareness, UNP is doing its part by having more than 118 baseball titles in print. And David Davis of the New York Times said, “the pulse of baseball beats strongly in the heart of Cornhusker Nation.” Davis interviewed interim editor-in-chief, Rob Taylor, about how the press started to publish so many baseball books. Read the full article here. And Dorothy Seymour Mills reviewed Conspiracy of Silence by Chris Lamb for the New York Journal of Books as “…overwhelming evidence of the effectiveness of the black press in … Continue reading Baseball season is here
In the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Birch Coulie by John Christgau was reviewed by Curt Brown. Brown said, “Christgau's book is essential reading on the 150th anniversary of the largely forgotten, under-taught war that he describes as ‘a brutal collision of two worlds and cultures.’” Brown also compared Christgau to one of the characters in the book, Boyd, by explaining that both are not “…overly sympathetic to either side, parlaying rich details and complex historical characters to capture a vibrant snapshot of Minnesota history.” Read the full review here. The Brave Ski Mom reviewed In Search of Powder by Jeremy Evans … Continue reading Reviews and giveaway
Earlier this week, Mountains of Light was given a rave review by Blog Critics. In the book, author R. Mark Liebenow takes a journey deep into the heart of Yosemite National Park, introducing us to its grand and subtle marvels—and to the observations, reflections, and insights its scenery evokes. Blog Critics said, “I repeat, Mountains of Light is a stunning book. I keep wanting to call it a ‘future’ classic. It deserves to stand with the great books of the iconic authors of this genre—Muir, Aldo Leopold, Sig Olson, Terry and Renny Russell. This is a book that cries out … Continue reading Mountains of praise
A interview with Twelfth and Race author Eric Goodman posted on Cincinnati.com yesterday, and the setting of the book likely will sound familiar to most Cincinnatians. Goodman takes familiar “events that form the backdrop for the interracial love story at the heart of it – riots that erupt after the police shooting of a young African-American man in April 2001– and many of the names of people and places” to explore the complicated emotions about racism. Lauren Bishop of Cincinnati.com spoke with Goodman about the novel's setting, which is a fictional city with elements of both Cincinnati and Kansas City called … Continue reading Cincinnati roots
This Sunday at the 84th Academy Awards, Omaha’s very own Alexander Payne is nominated for Best Picture, Directing and Writing (adapted screenplay) for his movie, The Descendents. On a local level, Payne is the narrator of a video about the new book Drawn to Fashion by Mary Mitchell. The video is showing at the Durham Museum in Omaha in conjunction with an exhibit of Mitchell's fashion illustrations. And earlier this week, UNP author Matthew Gavin Frank was interviewed via email by John Warner from Inside Higher Ed about his new book Pot Farm. Warner called Pot Farm a ”…simultaneously beautiful, … Continue reading Friday round up
Today in the Omaha World-Herald, two new UNP books were reviewed. Bound to Have Blood: Frontier Newspapers and the Plains Indian Wars by Hugh J. Reilly, and Eyewitness at Wounded Knee by Richard E. Jensen, R. Eli Paul and John E. Carter were called two historical studies that “…do an outstanding job of deepening the knowledge of Plains history.” Bound to Have Blood takes readers back to the late nineteenth century to show how newspaper reporting influenced attitudes about the conflict between the United States and Native Americans. Eyewitness at Wounded Knee brings together and assesses for the first time … Continue reading Great Plains in spotlight
On the blog, Pages of Julia's, “book beginning Fridays” the first pages of books are shared and discussed. Today, Julia called River in Ruin by Ray A. March a “great beginning" and praised March for bringing an important environmental issue to light. The full review is to come. In Necessary Fiction, reviewer Ashley Cowger said Greg Hrbek’s short story collection, Destroy All Monsters is “definitely worth the read.” Cowger also said, “Hrbek’s writing is crisp and often lyrical, and these stories complement each other nicely." Read the full review here. And Driving with Dvorak: Essays on Memory and Identity by Fleda … Continue reading Friday roundup
Inside In the United States of Africa (2009), French-speaking African writer Abdourahman A. Waberi turns the fortunes of the world upside down. On this reimagined globe a stream of sorry humanity flows from the West, from the slums of America and the squalor of Europe, to escape poverty and desperation in the prosperous United States of Africa. It is in this world that an African doctor on a humanitarian mission to France adopts a child. And this story is as deadly serious as it is wickedly satiric. Thanks to the translators, David and Nicole Ball, this tale was made available … Continue reading A new year’s resolution of reading
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