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BOOKSHELF
The Amendment That Refused to Die: A History of the Fourteenth Amendment, updated edition, by Howard N. Meyer '34. The second revision of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated study that argues that the Civil War was a necessary corrective to the "tyranny" of states permitted under the original American constitution (Madison Books, $17.95 paper). In and Out of the University and Adversity by Edward Le Comte '39. The autobiography of a SUNY-Albany English professor, including wry remembrances of his time as a student, graduate student and young instructor at Columbia (Writers Club Press, $18.95 paper). Learning Disabilities and Psychic Conflict: A Psychoanalytic Casebook by Arden Aibel Rothstein and Jules Glenn '42. This volume uses theoretical and clinical analysis as well as nine case studies to sensitize psychoanalysts to the presence of learning disabilities in cases where such disabilities seem unlikely or are not readily apparent (International Universities Press, $78). The Splendid Feast of Reason by S. Jonathan Singer '43. At the core of this "celebration of rationality and rationalists" is an account of the knowledge that modern science provides, notably a humanistic summary of recent achievements in the study of biology (University of California Press, $24.95). Ending the Bronze Age by Stephen Edward Seadler '46. A short digest of the author's Principia Ideologica, which outlined remedies for the "savageries inherent in contemporary civilizations" and suggested "new defenses of peace" (ID Center, $9 paper). Citizen Sarris, American Film Critic, edited by Emanuel Levy, foreword by Martin Scorsese. The 38 essays in this volume pay tribute to Professor of Film Andrew Sarris '51, who made his home both in popular journalism (as film critic for The Village Voice) and in academia — and who has been described as the most influential American critic in film history (Scarecrow Press, $45). Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe: Toward the Revival of Higher Education by Jeffrey Peter Hart '52. This guide to major Western literary works emphasizes the productive tension in the West between the classical and biblical strains, which the Dartmouth professor emeritus argues are at the root of our culture and help explain its achievements (Yale University Press, $26.95). Toward a Sustainable Whaling Regime, edited by Robert L. Friedheim '55. A collection of essays that takes a critical look at the background, effectiveness, ethics and future of the International Whaling Commission's 15-year-old ban on whaling (University of Washington Press, $35). Prevention and Treatment of Some Common Eye Conditions by E. Michael Geiger '58. This pamphlet by the past president of the Queens County Optometric Society emphasizes nutritional treatment, rather than common medical remedies, for common eye maladies (Exxel, $5 paper).
Anarchy! An Anthology of Emma Goldman's Mother Earth, edited and with commentary by Peter Glassgold '60. The first anthology from the famed anarchist's "monthly magazine devoted to social science and literature," which was a major medium for anarchist and left-leaning American writers from 1906 until the government shut it down in 1917 (Counterpoint Press, $25 paper). Scientific Controversies: Philosophical and Historical Perspectives, edited by Peter Machamer '64, Marcello Pera and Aristides Baltas. In addition to Machamer, a professor of history and the philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh, Columbia contributors to this volume on scientific explanations include Professor of Philosophy Philip Kitcher (Oxford University Press, $45). Better Environmental
Policy Studies: How to Design and Conduct More Effective
Analyses by Lawrence E. Susskind '68, Ravi K. Jain and
Andrew O. Martyniuk. Five environmental cases not only lay
bare the shortfalls in contemporary policy but also lead to more
effective methods for making decisions and resolving disputes about
the environment (Island Press, $50 cloth, The Perfect Murder: A Study in Detection by David Lehman '70. A paperback reissue of the 1989 study, which explores the essential elements of the American and British whodunit as well as readers' continuing fascination with the mystery genre (University of Michigan Press, $18.95 paper). Edward Maret: A Novel of the Future by Robert I. Katz '74. In this debut novel, a jealous cousin disrupts the marriage of the eponymous patrician, who disappears only to return in the form of a cyborg with an attitude (Willowgate Press, $12.95 paper).
Feeding the Fire: Poems by Jeffrey Harrison '80. The third collection of poems, including several hearkening back to undergraduate days, from the former Guggenheim Fellow and Roger Murray Writer-in-Residence at Phillips Academy (Sarabande Books, $12.95 paper).
Culture and Politics in the Great Depression by Alan Brinkley, Allan Nevins Professor of History. In the 20th Charles Edmondson Historical Lectures, delivered at Baylor University in March 1998, the history department chair discusses four interpretations of the American dream — persistence, empathy, rebellion and community — during the Great Depression (Markham Press Fund, $5.95 paper). Metamorphosis and Identity by Caroline Walker Bynum, University Professor. In this new collection of essays, Columbia's celebrated medievalist (see "A Southern Medievalist" story) examines tales of werewolves, vampires, monsters and other late medieval wonders to understand the late 12th century fascination with change and its implications for medieval conceptions of personal identity (Zone Books, $28).
Memoirs by Lorenzo Da Ponte, edited by Arthur Livingston, translated by Elisabeth Abbott. The memoirs of an early 19th-century professor of Italian language and literature at Columbia, who is usually remembered for being Mozart's librettist (New York Review Books, $14.95 paper). The Madonna of the Future: Essays in a Pluralistic Art World by Arthur C. Danto, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy Emeritus. A hefty compilation of Danto's art columns from The Nation, which balance examinations of individual artists with more general discussions of art's historical and cultural environment (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $35 cloth; University of California Press, $18.95 paper). Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America by David L. Eng, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature. A new interpretation of Asian-American masculinity uses psychoanalytic theory, cultural production and historical events to explore the role of sexuality in racial formation and the place of race in sexual identity (Duke University Press, $54.95 cloth, $18.95 paper). The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection Robert E. Harrist, Jr., Jane and Leo Swergold Professor of Chinese Art History, and Wen C. Fong. This lavishly illustrated exhibition catalogue, with essays by Chinese and American scholars, offers new perspectives on calligraphy and contains never-before-published Chinese masterpieces (The Art Museum, Princeton University, $75 cloth, $45 paper). Making Agreements in Medieval Catalonia: Power, Order, and the Written Word, 1000-1200 by Adam J. Kosto, Assistant Professor of History. The evolving role of medieval written agreements (conventientiae) reveals not only the fluidity of feudal society in medieval Spain but also its underlying stability (Cambridge University Press, $64.95). Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, expanded edition, by Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A.F. Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies. A richly illustrated guide to the religious significance, iconography and aesthetics of Tibetan sacred art from the ninth to 12th century (Abradale Books, $34.98). Event Cities 2 by Bernard Tschumi, Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. In this sequel to an acclaimed 1994 study, the noted architect addresses the issue of cities and his most recent architectural projects, including the expansion of New York's Museum of Modern Art and the design and construction of Alfred Lerner Hall on the Columbia campus (MIT Press, $35 paper).
Art and Architecture in
Italy: 1600-1750, fourth edition, by Rudolf Wittkower.
Professor of Art History and Archaeology Joseph Connors was one of
three scholars who contributed to this updated version of the famed
Columbia art historian's now classic survey of Italian Baroque
visual and building arts (Yale University Press, $150 cloth,
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Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State by
David Rosand '59, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History.
An exploration of the imagery — paintings, sculpture and
architecture — that Venice used for centuries to present
itself as the Most Serene Republic, independent and free of
internal strife (University of North Carolina Press,
$39.95).
Safe at Home: The True and Inspiring Story of Chicago's
Field of Dreams by Bob Muzikowski '79 with Gregg
Lewis. The true-life story of Muzikowski's journey from a
blue-collar New Jersey childhood to his current role as director of
four inner-city Chicago Little Leagues, which were the inspiration
for the 2001 Keanu Reeves movie Hardball (Zondervan,
$16.99).
Too Beautiful for Words by Monique W. Morris
'94. In this debut novel, written by a senior research
associate at the National Council on Crime and Deliquency, the
desperate conditions in the American ghetto form the backdrop for a
young man's tortuous relationship with his mother, a prostitute,
and his father, her pimp (Amistad Press, $24).
Windward Heights by Maryse Condé,
Professor of French. A highly praised, lushly written re-imagining
of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights as a tale of obsessive
love on the island of Guadeloupe
American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern
Ghetto by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, Assistant Professor
of Sociology. Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes provides the setting
for the first comprehensive portrait of daily life in post-World
War II public housing in America (Harvard University Press,
$29.95).
