Books of interest for all discerning readers -- Fall 07

Art Spiegelman: Conversations
Edited by Joseph Witek – September 07 – 6 x 9, 17 illustrations, paperback, 320 pages $20, ISBN 978-1-934110-12-6 Comic Studies/Biography UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI
“Comics have a pipeline to something very basic about the way people think.” Spiegelman, bestselling author of Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, is the most famous alternative cartoonist in America. With his wife, Francoise Mouley, he found the journal RAW, a showcase for avant-garde and comics in America. This collection of interviews and profiles goes from 1976-2006.

Barak Obama: This Improbable Quest
By John K Wilson – October 07 – 6 x 9, 12 photos, cloth, 192 pages, $22.95, ISBN 978-1-59451-476-0 Politics/ Biography PARADIGM PUBLISHERS
This is an in-depth profile of the Senator from Illinois and current Presidential candidate, and it outlines what has shaped Obama’s political views. Wilson studied Law with Obama at University of Chicago and has watched his career from the Illinois State Senate to the US Senate to his existing Presidential campaign.

Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford
By David Hume Kennerly – Introduction by Tom Brokaw – October 07 – 10 ½ x 13 1/2, cloth, 125 tritone photos, 224 pages, $49.95, ISBN 978-1-4243-3656-2 Photography/History UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS
This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary record of Gerald Ford’s presidency by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly.

Sedaris
By Kevin Kopelson – September 07 – 5 x 8, paperback, 224 pages, $17.95, ISBN 978-0-8166-5085-9 Biography/Literature UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS
This is an engaging and essential introduction to the work of America’s premier satirist, David Sedaris, by an English professor from University of Iowa.

Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President
By Edward Steers, Jr. – October 07 – 6 x 9, cloth, 288 pages, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-8131-2466-7 History UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
The folklore surrounding a towering figure in history often overshadows actual scholarship. Here noted historian and Lincoln expert Steers carefully scrutinizes some of the most notorious tall tales and distorted ideas about America’s iconic 16th president.

Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior
By Wayne Lynch – November 07 – 9 x 11, cloth, 200 color photos, 272 pages, $39.95 ISBN 978-0-8018-8687-4 Nature JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS
There is no group of birds more fascinating and mysterious than owls. The loudmouths of the raptor world, they peep, trill, toot, bark, growl, shriek, whistle, chuckle, whoop, boom and buzz. They rarely ever actually “hoot.” This is a gorgeous book that is chock full of information about these amazing birds of prey.


Surviving Iraq: Soldiers’ Stories
By Elise Forbes Tripp – October 07 – 6 x 9, paperback, 288 pages, $18.00 ISBN 978-1-56656-693-3 Current Affairs/Politics/Oral History INTERLINK PUBLISHING GROUP
“This fascinating collection of testimonies underscores the universality of all war” – Ken Burns, filmmaker. The Iraq War is being fought by an all-volunteer army mostly from working-class America, and these men and women are the stars of Tripp’s powerfully moving book. This is the result of a close collaboration between Tripp and 30 veterans who tell their stories of the invasion, occupation and ongoing quagmire in Iraq.

A Very Private Enterprise
By Elizabeth Ironside – October 07 – 5 ½ x 7 ½ - paperback, 200 pages, $14.95 978-1-933397-94-8 Mystery FELONY & MAYHEM
A few years ago Ironside’s Death in the Garden took the mystery-reading world by storm. It was reviewed everywhere, won many awards and citations, and was a top-selling book in many bookstores across the country. This is the first US edition of Ironside’s debut book, set in India and the wilds of Tibet, and it is rich in elegant prose and exquisitely etched characters that Ironside’s readers have come to expect.

Bad Karma: Confessions of a Reckless Traveler in Southeast Asia
By Tamara Sheward – October 07 – 5 x 8 – paperback, 316 pages, $17.95, 978-0-89733-565-2 Travel ACADEMY CHICAGO PUBLISHERS
This hilarious travelogue comes to us from Down-Under, where it was first published, and is probably unlike any travel account you have ever read. Sheward hits the road with her twenty-something chum, Elisa, as they head for Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia with nary a plan. “Sheward’s writing is fast and furious. A roller coaster off the rails, with beers”- Adventure Travel Magazine

Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe
By Tom Batiuk – October 07 – 10 x 7 ½ - 252 pages, paperback, $18.95, ISBN 978-0-87338-952-5 Comics/Literature/Medicine KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
This is a story from Batiuk’s widely syndicated and popular comic strip Funky Winkerbean that will make you laugh and make you cry. Lisa Moore is a main character who discovered she had breast cancer. After treatment and recovery and continuing on with her life, the cancer then returns to her. This is an ongoing story in the comic strips today, and it also includes valuable resource information on breast cancer, including early detection, support systems and health care.

Water Tanks of Chicago: A Vanishing Urban Legacy
By Larry W Green – Foreword by Tony Jones - October 07 – 5 ½ x 8 ½ - 50 pages, 37 illustrations, paperback, $19.95 ISBN 978-0-9789676-0-4 Photography/Art/Chicago Architecture WICKER PARK PRESS
Green is a Chicago artist who has been photographing and sketching water-tanks in Chicago for the past twenty years. The book contains arresting black-and-white digital photographs with captions, and a section with paintings in the back. Jones, President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, says “Chicago crumbling water-tanks take on a new significance in Larry Green’s paintings.”