Thoreau would be so proud… If you’ve ever been to Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Smoky Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, Joshua Tree, or the Grand Canyon, you know just how beautiful and awe-inspiring our national parks are and how lucky we are to have them within our borders. Wouldn’t it be a marvelous experience to travel across the country on a car-camping trip through our national parks? Well, that’s just what the women in Joanne Wilke’s new memoir/family history, Eight Women, Two Model Ts, and the American West did. Not only that, they did it back in 1924, “without a man or … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: December 20, 2007

Apollo Moon Missions: The Unsung Heroes by Billy Watkins “Billy Watkins’s book is celebration of the devotion of those who worked on the Apollo program. It is a welcome reminder of a single-minded devotion to duty. Our thanks are due to all those who took America to the Moon. This book helps to spotlight some of their stories.”—Roger D. Launius, former NASA Chief Historian Continue reading Praise for Apollo Moon Missions

Between Panic and Desire by Dinty W. Moore “[A] quirky, entertaining joyride.”—Publishers Weekly “The writing is frequently very funny; insightful, too, especially Moore’s belief that humans are generally delusional when it comes to their expectations vs. what is realistically possible. . . . The narrative has its poignant moments, particularly in Moore’s recollections of his father. And despite his fractured take on the world, his message is essentially hopeful. Moore, it seems, is moving on.”—Robert Kelly, Library Journal “In intertwined, wildly inventive essays . . . Moore conjures up his, and our, past from a grab-bag of elements. . . … Continue reading Praise for Between Panic and Desire

Jackalope Dreams by Mary Clearman Blew “In Blew’s commendable fiction debut. . . . [the author’s] distinctive narrative voice and knack for description keep the story on track."—Publishers Weekly “Mary Clearman Blew’s stunning first novel gives us an example—if any is required—of why fiction is still necessary and what it uniquely offers. It’s an understated achievement that recalls the early works of Larry McMurtry, along with the tough, febrile voice of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders and the emotional intelligence of William Maxwell. Willa Cather’s work also comes to mind. . . . Sentences seethe with urgent, unhurried energy, and the … Continue reading Praise for Jackalope Dreams

The Living by Pascale Kramer “Pascale Kramer’s riveting page-turner, The Living (translated by Tamsin Black) reveals the ways that lives can change in a matter of seconds.”—Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly “Swiss author Pascale Kramer’s novel The Living, the first of her seven novels to be translated into English, is a page-turner from beginning to end. Riveting and meticulous, The Living (translated by Tamsin Black) is the compressed tale of a family struck by tragedy told in prose as austere, precise and unrelenting as a fine Swiss watch.”—Penny Allen, The Oregonian To read earlier praise for The Living, please visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/10/praise-for-the-.html. Continue reading More Praise for The Living

Happy Tuesday, readers! We have a treat for all of you art lovers out there in this installment of "Tuesday Trivia." As a nod to Norman Geske’s Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock, 1847-1919, new this month from the University of Nebraska Press, today’s buffet of brain teasers challenges you to match the famous American paintings listed below with the artists who created them. Fancy yourself an American art aficionado? Well, "Hopper" to it! Get it? Hopper. As in Edward Hopper. Oh, forget it! On to the trivia… 1. "The Bath" (1891)2. "Nighthawks" (1942)3. "The Rocky Mountains (1863)4. "Flags … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia

Check out this podcast interview with David Starkey, editor of Living Blue in the Red States from The Marketplace of Ideas radio show out of Santa Barbara, California: http://www.colinmarshallradio.com/marketplace Happy listening! Continue reading Podcast Interview with David Starkey