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Blog tour kicks off University Press Week

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Next week, the Association of American University Presses will celebrate University Press Week from Nov. 11-17. This week started back in the summer of 1978 when President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a University Press Week “in recognition of the impact, both here and abroad, of American university presses on culture and scholarship.” In the spirit of collaboration that pervades the university press community, Indiana University Press and 24 other presses will come together for a blog tour during University Press Week. This tour will highlight the value of university presses and the contributions they make to scholarship and our society. Bloggers … Continue reading Blog tour kicks off University Press Week

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Election Day!

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Political focus, political books. After you vote today, soak up some political knowledge: California Women and Politics edited by Robert W. Cherny, Mary Ann Irwin, and Ann Marie Wilson In 1911 as progressivism moved toward its zenith, the state of California granted women the right to vote. However, women’s political involvement in California’s public life did not begin with suffrage, nor did it end there. This edited volume explores the role women played in California politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In Thought and Action by Gerald W. Haslam with Janice E. Haslam This biography of S. I. Hayakawa, a prominent … Continue reading Election Day!

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From the desk of Jason C. Anthony

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AnthonyJason C. Anthony is the author of Hoosh: Roast Penguin, Scurvy Day, and Other Stories of Antarctic Cuisine, which is now available.

Writing
Hoosh, my first book, was a new way
to articulate my affection for Antarctica, an otherworldly place I called home
for several years. Like so many travelers to the polar regions, I found that the
experience of that strange, vast icescape, under an often ethereal light and marked
by traces of an astonishing history, changed me forever. Between 1994 and 2004,
I returned and returned to Antarctica to enjoy the hell out of a job that took
me by plane to the South Pole, across McMurdo Sound in an icebreaker, or into
small tent camps at –35°F in the middle of the polar ice cap. I’ve written
about Antarctica for years, publishing nearly two dozen essays and articles
about the place (many available to read at Albedo Images). 

Writing
Hoosh has been a real joy because it
allowed me to step away from my usual descriptions of landscape and experience
and instead focus on the history of Antarctic exploration and settlement. More
specifically, it allowed me to have some fun exploring the idea of food as a
window onto Antarctic history and culture. Writing about Antarctic cuisine is an
ideal way to measure the tenous relationship Antarcticans have had with their
lifeless home over the last century. It provided great opportunities to sketch many
of the great characters in Antarctic history – the well-known expedition
leaders, their little-known cooks, and other expedition members – and to
highlight the various writers – known and unknown, historical and contemporary
– who have told such great stories about dining at the bottom of the Earth.

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Bookish Links and Delightful Miscellany

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Happy Friday, everyone!  One Book One Lincoln Let's start close to home, shall we? One Book One Lincoln is wrapping up but there are still a few upcoming events. In case you've forgotten, this year's pick was Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. In addition to being the One Book One Lincoln choice, it came highly recommended to me by Cinnamon from A Novel Idea. After all that I knew I had to read it and now I recommend it to you. Goodreads Choice Awards Go vote for something fun. It's time again for NaNoWriMo That's "National Novel Writing Month." … Continue reading Bookish Links and Delightful Miscellany

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Krissed Off: Spot the dissertation

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Can you guess which of the following award-winning, widely reviewed books from the past couple of years originated as a dissertation? Bethany Moreton, To Serve God and Wal-Mart Pekka Hamalainen, Comanche Empire Brian DeLay, War of a Thousand Deserts Aaron Sachs, The Humboldt Current Danielle McGuire, At the Dark End of the Street Sarah Igo, The Averaged American It’s a trick question; they all did. First books – often dissertations revised with the help of editors and peer reviewers – are among the most important scholarship published by university presses. The best revised dissertations are field-defining buzz books that generate … Continue reading Krissed Off: Spot the dissertation

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Forum on biodiversity of Nebraska with Paul Johnsgard

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Tonight Paul Johnsgard and Mary Bomberger Brown will present a forum on the biodiversity of Nebraska at 6 alled "The Biodiversity of Nebraska within the Great Plains," at Hardin Hall on East Campus. Click here for more information from UNL. Paul Johnsgard has published many books with the University of Nebraska Press including Sandhill and Whooping Cranes: Ancient Voices over America’s Wetlands. Johnsgard has spent nearly a half century observing cranes, from a yearly foray to Nebraska’s Platte River valley to see the spring migration, to pilgrimages to the birds’ wintering grounds in Arizona and nesting territory in Alaska. In … Continue reading Forum on biodiversity of Nebraska with Paul Johnsgard

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A Literary Halloween

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AbeBooks.com posted a terrific feature called “Literary Halloween Costumes.” This smart (and helpful) list of suggestions got us thinking… What UNP books could inspire the same clever costumes? Maybe these titles will spark some ideas: Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials by Brian A. Pavlac  The Coming of the Fairies by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introduction by John M. Lynch       Playing Catch-Up by A. B. Guthrie Jr. Continue reading A Literary Halloween

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Review roundup: ForeWord focus

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Postscripts: Retrospections on Time and Place by Robert Root “Through his essays in Postscripts, Root compels the reader to share his sense of humility in the face of an ‘enduring and unchangeable natural order.’”  –Karunesh Tuli, ForeWord Reviews       A Mind Like This by Susan Blackwell Ramsey “A Mind Like This covers so much ground with such unbridled enthusiasm at the joy of language and the mysteries of mind that only poetry can attempt to illuminate that, fifty-four poems later, the reader will be on the lookout for Ramsey’s next book, and possibly scouring literary magazines for a more immediate … Continue reading Review roundup: ForeWord focus

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Darryl Henley’s story

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Hailing from suburban Los Angeles, raised by supportive parents, and educated at a boys-only parochial school, Darryl Henley had it all. He earned a history degree from UCLA, became a first-team All American for the Bruins in 1988, and was a rising star as the starting cornerback for the LA Rams in the early nineties. How Henley, in the space of three short years, went from golden NFL role model to federal inmate is one of the most bizarre stories in the annals of sport-stars-turned-criminal. Intercepted by Michael McKnight is the story of Darryl Henley’s tragic and rapid downfall from … Continue reading Darryl Henley’s story

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The Director Dish: From the playbook to print

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The Nebraska-Northwestern game on
Saturday was a thriller. Except for the Huskers themselves, I don’t think
anyone cared more about a Nebraska win than I. After all, I spent nearly ten
years at Northwestern University Press and last year, hosted three of my former
colleagues at Memorial Stadium, only to see the Wildcats beat us. This year, I
opted to stay home rather than fly to Evanston for the game. I was certain we’d
beat them—but boy was my resolve tested! Alas, the team came through for me.

Those of you who know our Press
know we publish a wide range of sports history, from golf to running to
hiking to professional and collegiate sports such as baseball, basketball, and
football. In fact, we are becoming so well known for our sports books that we
received a surprise visit from Orlando Magic senior VP Pat Williams yesterday.
He was in town for a speech but wanted to stop by and meet the folks at UNP
because he loves our books. We loved meeting him. Thanks, Pat!

Sadly, though, it doesn’t take
someone who follows college or pro sports to know the troubles that have beset
individuals and teams in a culture singularly dedicated to winning. In a book
we published in 2010, Scoreboard, Baby,
Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry go behind the scenes of the University of
Washington’s 2000 football season to uncover a tale of corruption, complicity,
and crime. Buzz Bissinger said it was “the most harrowing book I have ever read
about college sports.” Of course, there are even more harrowing tales about
college football these days—we read about them in the paper every day, it
seems. But college football doesn’t have a monopoly on these tales.

Continue reading “The Director Dish: From the playbook to print”