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BOOKSHELF

[Editor’s note: In the January CCT, Rabbi Jack H. Bloom ‘54's name was misspelled in the summary of his book, The Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar: By the Power Vested in Me. CCT regrets the error.]

Two Yellow Crosses: A Medieval Love Story

by Joseph P. Peters ’41. A young widow and a recanted heretic, who bears two crosses on his outer clothes as a mark of sin, fall hopelessly in love and must overcome their difficulties (Xlibris, $20.99).

The Night Billy Was Born and Other Love Stories

by Joseph Cowley ’44. This collection of short stories explores the dynamics of love at all ages, from the passionate romance of two teenagers, to an extramarital affair, to the loneliness of an old woman who grieves over the death of her son (iUniverse, $14.95 paper).

Why Survive: Being Old in America

by Robert N. Butler M.D. ’49. With 10 percent of the American population more than 65 years of age, this reissue of the 1976 Pulitzer Prize winner questions society’s ability to provide a “decent existence” for the elderly, addressing such concerns as housing, health care and employment. (Johns Hopkins University Press, $8.45 paper).

The Prophets: Who They Were, What They Were by Norman Podhoretz

The Prophets: Who They Were, What They Are

by Norman Podhoretz ’50. A three-pronged examination of the Old Testament explains the historical significance of the Near Eastern empires surrounding biblical Israel, gives literary criticism of the poetic language in the text and identifies a timeless moral philosophy of the prophets that admonishes the “all-consuming worship of self” (Simon & Schuster Inc., $30).

Potassett: The Mystery of Blood Creek by Charles Young

Potassett: The Mystery of Blood Creek

by Charles Young ’50. Rudi, a Columbia-bound high school student and son of a Pequot tribe member, witnesses the death of his father and seeks to solve the mystery of Blood Creek. Drawing on local lore and historical research, this book also explores the heritage of the Native Americans who have inhabited Connecticut Valley for more than 12,000 years (Xlibris, $21.99).

The Hidden Campaign: FDR’s Health and the 1944 Election

by Hugh E. Evans M.D. ’54. Stating that the “voting public had a right to know that one candidate in the presidential election of 1944 was mortally ill with no realistic expectation of surviving a fourth four-year term,” this inquiry of FDR’s health going into his last term examines the roles of media and politics in shielding the public from critical knowledge (M.E. Sharpe, $29.95).

Warrior Angel by Robert Lipsyte

Warrior Angel

by Robert Lipsyte ’57. This young adult novel about a half-white, half-Moscandaga Indian heavyweight champion in decline who finds help from an unlikely source is the concluding story in the acclaimed series by the award-winning sports writer for The New York Times (HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99).

Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume III: The Formation of the Historical World in the Human Sciences

edited by Rudolf A. Makkreel ’60 and Frithjof Rodi. This compilation of the works of the German philosopher and historian of culture includes Dilthey’s formulation of the Critique of Historical Reason, his reconceived views of Hegel and a summary of his work on hermeneutics (Princeton University Press, $55).

Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent

by George Sorin ’62. This biography of the public thinker gives a comprehensive account of his political activism and ideological struggles in the course of his life, from advocacy of social reform and secular Jewishness to his break with Marxist sectarianism (New York University Press, $32.95).

Frederick L. Hoffman

edited by F.J. Sypher ’63. In an endeavor to preserve the remarkable life story of Frederick L. Hoffman, this memoir recalls his struggles as an immigrant, his prolific writing career and his contributions to public health, which include identifying the dangers of asbestos and the cancer potentiality of smoking (Xlibris, $34.99 paper).

A Short History of the Movies, Eighth Edition

by Gerald Mast and Bruce F. Kawin ’67. The most recent edition of this film compendium discusses the impact of digital cinema — from the impact of the Internet, desktop editing and the surge in DVDs — and features revisions of entries on international films, previously unmentioned filmmakers and expanded analyses of important films (Pearson Education, $69).

Jacobins and Utopians: The Political Theory of Fundamental Moral Reform

by George Klosko ’72. In discussing ideal societies, this book argues that fundamental moral reform is essentially a question of political power and that education is the key to enforcing changes in human nature (University of Notre Dame Press, $35 cloth, $17 paper).

Reading the Renaissance: Ideas and Idioms From Shakespeare to Milton

edited by Marc Berley ’85. Focusing on Renaissance authors from Shakespeare and Donne to Johnson and Milton, prominent scholars argue that readers can be best understood by examining their ideas, idioms and intentions and assert that the author, not the critic, is supreme (Duquesne University Press, $60).

The Guide To Picking Up Girls by Gabe Fischbarg

The Guide to Picking Up Girls

by Gabe Fischbarg ’87. A guide for men that helps them to overcome their fear of rejection and presents scenarios and courses of action to approach the girl and obtain the elusive phone number (A Plume Book, $12).

In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863

by Leslie M. Harris ’88. In 1991, a startling discovery of a “Negro Burial Ground” in lower Manhattan uncovered the remains of as many as 20,000 African-Americans. In light of the discovery, this book reshapes the historical role of African-Americans in the establishment of New York City (University of Chicago Press, $42.50).

Loss

edited by David L. Eng ’90 and David Kazanjian. Can loss be something other than a purely negative quality? This collection of essays embraces the idea that losses in the 20th century have inspired creativity and political action in spite of the tragedy of human deaths (University of California Press, $24.95).

Moments With a Master: Meetings With Dada J.P. Vaswani

by Sandhya S. Nankani ’96. Amid personal difficulties, a freelance writer from the United States travels to India, where her interviews with renowned spiritual teacher Dada J.P. Vaswani develop into an enlightening experience that helps her to confront her struggles (Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., $12.95).

At the End of Words: A Daughter’s Memoir

by Miriam Stone ’03. In this touching tribute, the author writes about the experience of her mother’s battle with cancer and a new understanding of poetry that transpired from her mother’s death (Candlewick Press, $14).

The Eye of the Lynx by David Freedberg

The Eye of the Lynx: Galileo, His Friends, and the Beginnings of Modern Natural History

by David Freedberg, professor of art history and archaeology. This study of the little-known Academy of Linceans (Lynx-eyed), a 17th-century Italian scientific organization, explores the unprecedented methods of visual representation of natural objects produced by its members in an attempt to develop their own classification system (University of Chicago Press, $50).

Quantitative Seismology, 2nd Edition

by Keiiti Aki and Paul G. Richards, Mellon Professor of Natural Sciences. This updated version of the authoritative text on theoretical seismology features “exquisite” texts and monographs as well as a clear description of fundamental seismic wave propagation (University Science Books, $76.50).

P.K.

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