New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is Radio’s Revolution: Don Hollenbeck’s CBS Views the Press by Loren Ghiglione. In U.S. Journalism history, one radio show stands above the rest in terms of historical significance. The one time pet project of Edward R. Murrow, CBS Views the Press was the go to resource for topics ranging from racism to McCarthyism, and dared to do more than just be subject of newspaper criticism. For once a radio program stepped up and did some criticizing of its own, and among other things, it the won a Peabody award.  This week … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: November 6, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is Sketches from the Ranch: A Montana Memoir by Dan Aadland. In 1892 a spot of land was picked out by Magnus Jensen. Years later, his granddaughter Emily would live there with her husband Dan, and he would approach this Montana ranch much like Thoreau would Walden Pond. In this book, Aadland takes a single year from his life and uses clear and crisp prose to illuminate the harsh but striking reality of life in the West. This week Tuesday Trivia is going to shed a little bit more (albeit slightly … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: November 4, 2008

Read from the first story, "Taking a Stitch in a Dead Man’s Arm", of Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories by Katherine Vaz:

I changed the bandage over my father’s knee in the final month of his life. His wound was violet, and blood pulsed through. I never looked away from it. I swallowed my vomit when it struck the back of my clenched teeth; I was ready to swallow my insides as often as necessary—it was important to gaze at his flesh exactly as it was because I would not have it with me for much longer. I wanted to learn matter-of-factness about being this close to someone. The yellow fluid on the gauze around the bloodstains, the cortisone spray that would have made Papa scream if he’d had the strength: my stain, my shock, and my scream.

A brain lesion gave him double vision. Everything wore a register of itself, a crown of haze. It amused him to watch people walking around with the ghosts of themselves stuck to their skins. Papa’s knee had ripped open when he fell off a ladder while trying to repair a broken window sash. Frantic to protect us, to seal every entry, he had crawled from his sickbed while my mother was at work at the Sunshine Biscuit factory and I was at school. A killer who called himself the Zodiac was roaming the Bay Area. He was sending letters with obscene ciphers to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Continue reading “Off the Shelf: Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories by Katherine Vaz”

Well readers, this is a big week. It’s HALLOWEEN!  Now, I know I’m over the age of twelve and therefore have little excuse to celebrate the holiday outside of wearing a “sexy” kitten, angel, devil etc costume, but this year I’m feeling nostalgic for my youth. I want to go trick or treating, gorge on candy corn, and dr ess up like a good ole fashion ghost.  Don’t worry, there's a good chance I won't end up on your doorstep. Anyway, lets go ahead and discuss what we have going on this week. Paris, Space, and Vietnam…Oh My! October 27, … Continue reading This Week in History: October 27-31, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is Loren Eiseley: Commentary, Biography, and Remembrance, edited by Hilda Raz. This highly respected anthropologist, writer, poet, and ecologist was born in Lincoln, NE in 1907. This book is a collection of essays, and remembrances of his work from his peers. This week Tuesday Trivia will put together a short quiz and test you on your Loren Eiseley knowledge. For all you Lincolnites out there, you had better get a hundred percent! 1.    Loren Eiseley was born when?  (Starting with an easy one)2.    Loren Corey Eiseley was a respected  … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: October 28, 2008

Read from the title story of The Man with the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories by Miles J. Breuer, edited and with an introduction by Michael R. Page:

A man in a gray hat stood halfway down the corridor, smoking a cigar and apparently interested in my knocking and waiting. I rapped again on the door of Number 216 and waited some more, but all remained silent. Finally my observer approached me.

"I don’t believe it will do any good," he said. "I’ve just been trying it. I would like to talk to someone who is connected with Anstruther. Are you?"

"Only this." I handed him a letter out of my pocket without comment, as one is apt to do with a thing that has caused one no little wonderment:

"Dear Doctor": it said succinctly. "I have been under the care of Dr. Faubourg who has recently died. I would like to have you take charge of me on a contract basis, and keep me well, instead of waiting till I get sick. I can pay you enough to make you independent, but in return for that, you will have to accept an astonishing revelation concerning me, and keep it to yourself. If this seems acceptable to you, call on me at 9 o’clock, Wednesday evening. Josiah Anstruther, Room 216, Cornhusker Hotel."

Continue reading “Off the Shelf: The Man with the Strange Head and Other Early Science Fiction Stories by Miles J. Breuer”

Well readers, it’s been a cold week. It’s been raining a lot, and it seems like we’re finally hitting that lovely October weather. All I know is I want to curl up on a comfortable couch next to a big window with a good book, and a pumpkin latte. Well, maybe tonight. For now I’m going to go ahead and fill you in on new titles in Jewish Studies, Catholicism, Women's rights and a little war as well. October 20, 1740: The war of succession begins when Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria.     World History of Warfare by … Continue reading This Week in History: October 20-24, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is Three Finger: The Mordecai Brown Story by Cindy Thompson and Scott Brown. Three Finger, a name referencing a childhood injury, possessed of one of the “most devastating” curve balls some batters ever faced. In this book Brown tells his story for the first time. He talks about the coal mines where he was from, playing semi-pro ball,  moving to the majors, and finally dealing with threats from the mafia. His story is so much more than just the tale of a guy with three fingers. Yet despite this, Linking in … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: October 23, 2008