In Praise of Flattery by Willis Goth Regier “A lively, charming, and wonderfully well-read guide to the art and appreciation of ‘truth well dressed,’ Regier’s little book is the kind you will want to carry around and delve into, not to mention try out on people you love, envy, and detest.”—Bloomsbury Review Read additional praise for In Praise of Flattery at http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/11/praise-for-in-p.html. Continue reading Flattery Will Get You Everywhere: More Praise for In Praise of Flattery

It’s the end of the first full week of February and here in Nebraska we’re fully entrenched in icy, wet, snowbound winter weather. Perhaps in tribute to the end of the work week, the sun has decided to nudge its head through the clouds, brightening things up here a bit this morning. It’s almost enough to make me forget the snow and cold. Almost. Well, when you’re less than thrilled with the present, it’s always fun to take a look back at… This Week in History February 3, 1959: Famed musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" died … Continue reading This Week in History: February 3-8, 2008

“Linking by the Sea” "The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides."—Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea New from the University of Nebraska Press, Women and Children First: Nineteenth-Century Sea Narratives and American Identity by Robin Miskolcze makes the case that, at a crucial time in American history, narratives of women in command or imperiled at sea contributed to the construction of a national rhetoric. Carefully examining images of women at … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: February 7, 2008

Or maybe that should be, "where’s Ted’s Valentines book?" or "Desperately Seeking Valentines". The popularity of Ted Kooser’s collection of Valentine poems has depleted our own warehouse stock, so I decided to trek around Lincoln to see where you could still get copies.

Continue reading “Where’s Ted?”

*** STARRED REVIEW *** Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star by Tom Swift “Signal thanks to journalist Swift for this authoritative biography of Charles Albert Bender . . . . Swift sets aside the myths about this most famous American Indian player while vividly describing him in the context of the famed Carlisle Indian School, baseball’s Golden Age, Connie Mack and his Athletics, and the effects of gambling and alcoholism on sports.”—Library Journal, Starred Review “Will be a delightful read for A’s fans of the great pitcher who was a huge part of the first two … Continue reading Praise for Chief Bender’s Burden

The General and the Jaguar: Pershing’s Hunt for Pancho Villa by Eileen Welsome “A narrative that reads as much like a novel as a historical account. . . . [A] fantastically detailed book.”—Liz Napieralski, Santa Fean Continue reading Praise for The General and the Jaguar

"Road Test" New from the University of Nebraska Press, Bicycling beyond the Divide: Two Journeys into the West by Daryl Farmer takes readers on two rollicking and occasionally rocky cross-country bike rides—one performed by the author twenty years ago as a college dropout and the other, a retracing of the original ride attempted by the older and wiser (and slightly stouter) Farmer. In today’s “Tuesday Trivia,” we test your knowledge of bike terminology. Do you know a fork from a frame? A hybrid from a hardtail? Here’s your chance to find out… Match each bike term to its definition: 1. … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: February 5, 2008

Before I commence lauding Ted Kooser’s collection of poetry, Valentines, out this month from UNP, let me begin by confessing that my credentials for reviewing poetry are suspect. My education in poetry is as haphazard as the patchwork anthology I have on my bookshelf—a few full collections here and there, plus a notebook of Xeroxed and hand-copied poems given to me from friends of their favorite selections from Lisel Mueller or Vladimir Mayakovsky, James Wright or Billy Collins. It’s a big mixed-tape kind of compilation that I can pull out whenever I’m in need of some poetic therapy. Here’s what … Continue reading “A Few Words of Love for Ted Kooser’s Valentines” by Kate Flaherty

"Tune in to Ted" Can’t get enough of Ted Kooser and his newest poetry collection, Valentines? Check out this link to a recent radio interview with the former U.S. poet laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry on South Dakota Public Radio’s "Food for Thought." http://www.sdpb.org/archives/ProgramDetail.asp?ProgID=6880 Happy listening! Continue reading Kooser Radio