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BOOKSHELF

The Last Expedition: Stanley’s Mad Journey through the Congo by Daniel Liebowitz M.D. ’43 and Charles Pearson

The Last Expedition: Stanley’s Mad Journey through the Congo by Daniel Liebowitz M.D. ’43 and Charles Pearson. This chronicle follows the well-intentioned but ill-fated rescue mission led by Henry Morton Stanley to save a lieutenant held in Sudan in 1887 and the survivors’ return home to controversy (W.W. Norton & Co., $25.95).

The Making of an Ink-Stained Wretch: Half a Century of Pounding the Political Beat by Jules Witcover ’49. The author recalls his 56-year career in journalism, including his tenure in the Washington, D.C., press corps and firsthand experiences with every presidential campaign from Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush and John Kerry (Johns Hopkins Press, $30).

Elegy for an Age: The Presence of the Past in Victorian Literature by John D. Rosenberg ’50, William Peterfield Trent Professor of English. During a time of major transformation, Victorian writers sought to connect the past to a new future, leading elegies to become the link allowing people to share their past experiences and thoughts of a changing age (Anthem Press, $25).

Selected: Poems and Prose Poems by Kirby Congdon ’50. In his avant-garde style, the poet captures all the elements of everyday life and expresses them with metaphysical and moral perspectives (Presa Press, $10).

Emma Lazarus: Selected Poems edited by John Hollander ’50. This collection of poetry from the short career of America’s first great Jewish poet, best known for “The New Colossus” engraved on the tablets of the Statue of Liberty, ranges from her imaginative landscape poetry to her passions for Jewish culture (The Library of America, $20).

Mission Italy: On the Front Lines of the Cold War by Richard N. Gardner ’52. This Law School professor’s memoirs detail his term as ambassador to Italy from 1977–81, giving insider perspective to the Carter administration’s foreign policy and how it defeated the spread of communism (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, $29.95).

Gallagher House by Robert Emmet Long ’56. During WWII, in an Irish-American town in upstate New York, a young boy becomes obsessed with the hotel in which he lives, leading the reader through the hotel’s captivating and haunting past (Xlibris, $22).

More Loose Shoes and Smelly Socks by Raymond Federman ’57. A funny, meditative collection of the author’s writings that spotlight his thoughts and experiences on youth, the Holocaust, marriage, growing old and daily life (Six Gallery Press, $15.99).

How To Be an Even Greater Husband by Tobias Jungreis ’57. The author of (My Wife Told Me) Make This World a Better Place for Our Grandchildren gives men a detailed guide to creating a successful marriage, showing that when a husband gives his wife the love and support she desires, he will be returned the love in a greater proportion (Authorhouse, $11.95).

Inside the Hornet’s Nest: An Anthology of Jewish American Writing edited by Jerome Charyn ’59. This anthology of renowned Jewish-American writers demonstrates how the authors’ work constructed a new literary style and collective conscience in the 20th century; includes selections from Allen Ginsberg ’48’s Kaddish (Thunder’s Mouth Press, $17.95).

Savage Shorthand: The Life and Death of Isaac Babel by Jerome Charyn ’59. Considered by many to be the first great Soviet writer, Babel was interesting, passionate and mysterious; this book traces his rise to fame during the Russian revolution and his mysterious death and its cover-up during Stalin’s reign (Random House, $24.95).

Byron, Sully, and the Power of Portraiture by John Clubbe ’59. The author offers a visual interpretation of Thomas Sully’s long-lost portrait of Lord Byron and describes its significance in the context of British and American portraiture of the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Ashgate Publishing, $89.95).

Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction by Eric Foner ’63, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History

Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction by Eric Foner ’63, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History. The critical years of the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction are reevaluated from the perspective of newly emancipated black Americans, showing their roles in ending the war and shaping Reconstruction and how freed slaves built community networks and struggled for racial justice (Knopf, $27.50).

Toxic Diversity: Race, Gender, and Law Talk in America by Dan Subotnik ’63. The author offers an alternative view of discrimination theory today, arguing that certain events and data purposely have been misinterpreted, creating a society that is too politically correct (New York University Press, $45).

Ahead of the Curve: A Commonsense Guide to Forecasting Business and Market Cycles by Joseph H. Ellis ’64. Interest rates, GDP, consumer confidence and other economic indicators often are confusing and conflicting, but the author reveals economic trends and provides a clear framework for understanding the market (Harvard Business School Press, $29.95).

Biological Physics of the Developing Embryo by Gabor Forgacs and Stuart Newman ’65. This medical textbook explains the physics and biology of the cell as the basic unit of the developmental system, cell stages and processes, fertilization and embryo growth (Cambridge University Press, $80).

Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples by Dan Hofstadter ’66. This love story of a young American man and an Italian woman not only documents their relationship but also portrays the unique beauty and splendor found in everyday life in Naples (Knopf, $24).

Choice Institutions edited by Ira Katznelson ’66, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History and Barry R. Weingast. The editors compile various scholarly writings to unite the two academic camps explaining rational choice by emphasizing the effect of institutions on people’s preferences in particular circumstances (Russell Sage Foundation, $45).

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert translated by Paul Auster ’69. Joubert wrote letters in his notebooks every day for more than 40 years without publishing a book, but in this translation of some of his notebooks, Auster gives Joubert his due as a modern writer of French issues of the late 1700s (New York Review of Books, $14.95).

Jim and Dave Defeat the Masked Man by James Cummins and David Lehman ’70, illustrated by Archie Rand. In this book of sestinas that blurs the lines of identity, the reader wonders who the masked man is, if the man in the sestina is the superhero or another identity and from which author these puzzles stem (Soft Skull Press, $13.95).

The Oxford Book of American Poetry chosen and edited by David Lehman ’70

The Oxford Book of American Poetry chosen and edited by David Lehman ’70. This anthology’s poetry represents American history and culture dating from the 17th century to the present, including well-known and not-so-well-known writers, biographical notes for each entry and an introductory essay describing the difficult process of selecting certain poems (Oxford University Press, $35).

Power and the Idealists: or, the Passion of Joschka Fischer and Its Aftermath by Paul Berman ’71. The author analyzes the European controversy known as “The Trial of the Generation of 1968” and examines the political influence that radical left idealists had on political evolution and how they spurred a new liberal attitude (Soft Skull Press, $23.95).

The Best American Magazine Writing 2005 introduction by Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Journalism School, with selection by Jed Perl ’72. Each year, the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Journalism School select the most original, dynamic and influential magazine articles of the year; this volume of 17 award-winning pieces contains Perl’s “Modern Immaturity” (Columbia University Press, $16.95).

Self-Employed Workers Organize: Law, Policy, and Unions by Cynthia J. Cranford, Judy Fudge, Eric Tucker ’72 and Leah F. Vosko. The authors investigate the poor benefits of, and impediments to, self-employed workers in Canada and examines how political and economic factors have influenced workers’ conditions (McGill-Queen’s University Press, $29.95).

The Rise of American Democracy by Sean Wilentz ’72. The author tracks American political system changes from the beginning of the American Revolution to the Civil War and examines influences on the nature of democracy from leading American figures, including Alexander Hamilton (Class of 1778) and John Jay (Class of 1764) (W.W. Norton & Co., $35).

Conduct Under Fire: Four American Doctors and Their Fight for Life as Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941–1945 by John A. Glusman ’78. Of all the tales of WWII, the stories of POWs may be the least heard, but this account chronicles the struggles of the author’s father (’55 P&S and a Columbia professor) and three other Navy doctors who were captured on Corregidor (Viking, $29.95).

John of Salisbury by Cary J. Nederman ’78

John of Salisbury by Cary J. Nederman ’78. In this biography, the author documents the life of and includes several works by Salisbury, one of the original philosophers and commentators on intellectual and cultural changes of 12th century Europe (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, $15).

Daughters of the Alphabet by Robert Richman ’79. This poetry collection offers a rich display of emotion and intelligence, with a focus on revealing the beauty of words and ideas in every line (Copper Beech Press, $14).

Lhasa: Streets With Memories by Robert Barnett ’80. A lecturer in modern Tibetan studies, the author offers firsthand experiences of the battle for Tibetan independence, the effect of outside intervention and the pressure on those debating the sovereignty of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital full of ancient culture and a modern Chinese provincial capital (Columbia University Press, $24.50).

Latino/a Rights and Justice in the United States: Perspectives and Approaches by José Luis Morín ’80. The author explores past and present discriminations against the United States’ largest minority group, arguing that the solution to these inequalities lies not only in working with Latino families but also in expanding legal concepts of rights and justice (Carolina Academic Press, $33).

Digital Phoenix: Why the Information Economy Collapsed and How It Will Rise Again by Bruce Abramson ’83. The story of the information age is filled with drama over Microsoft’s dominance, open-source projects and peer-to-peer file sharing; the author analyzes the technological, legal and economic aspects of the information age to find what went wrong and what lies ahead (MIT Press, $34.95).

Action in Perception by Alva Noë ’86. The author describes perception not merely as having sensations but as having sensations that we understand, giving our perceptual experience more meaning and content (MIT Press, $38).

The Last Miles by J.D. Scrimgeour ’86. In this debut collection of poetry, the author presents the ordinary man in a wide range of characters, from Salem to Greece, young to old, and across a period of 100 years (Fine Tooth Press, $12.99).

Debating Globalization by David Held ’87, et al. Building on arguments from his book Global Covenant, the author envisions a new international political agenda that is founded more on social demographic and political values; he includes writings by other leading figures in this area, focusing on current problems and proposing solutions (Polity Press, $19.95).

Playbill: Broadway Yearbook, June 1, 2004–May 31, 2005 edited by Robert Viagas, assistant editor Amy Asch ’89. Serving as an annual yearbook for Broadway productions, this anthology contains photographs of casts and stage staff, highlighting opening nights and behind-the-scenes information (Playbill Books, $29.95).

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss ’91. Once thought to be luck-of-the-draw, the art of picking up women has been turned into a sophisticated science by underground societies of men, revealed by the author after he spent two years in the communities and became a master of “the game” (ReganBooks, $29.95).

Foreigh Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel Dewoskin ’94

Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel Dewoskin ’94. The author recounts her travel and experiences in Beijing, where she was cast in the Chinese equivalent of Sex and the City and explored changes in Chinese culture and its relationship with the West (W.W. Norton & Co., $24.95).

Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty ’95. In this third installment of the life of Jessica, she leaves her small New Jersey town to attend Columbia, battles for acceptance in her workplace at a snobby, high-class magazine and searches for love in all the wrong places (Crown Publishers, $21).

Looking into the Abyss: Essays on Scenography by Arnold Aronson, professor of theater and associate dean at School of the Arts. The author explores several theories of set design and the work of specific designers in this analysis of how visual stage effects influence an audience’s understanding of the performance (University of Michigan Press, $24.95).

Two Men and Music: Nationalism in the Making of an Indian Classical Tradition by Janaki Bakhle, assistant professor of history. Using classical music as a case study, the author offers a provocative account of how the emergence of an “Indian” cultural tradition reflected exclusionary colonial practices (Oxford University Press, $19.95).

Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman, Gouverneur Morris Professor of History Emeritus. This biography of Mormonism’s founder begins with his controversial search for a new religion, leading to publication of the Book of Mormon, the creation of the new religion, its spread despite repression and Smith’s assassination (Knopf, $35).

Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430– 1950 by Mark Mazower, professor of history. The Greek city of Salonica was the peaceful home to Egyptians, Ukrainians, Turks, Spaniards, Sufis, priests and rabbis; this tolerant empire thrived for five centuries until the force of modern nationalism tore it apart (Knopf, $35).

Trust and Rule by Charles Tilly, Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Science. As suspicion, fear and paranoia toward rulers were common among networks of trust such as religious sects, families and trade groups, these groups used various strategies to evade or compromise with political regimes (Cambridge University Press, $19.99).

Agents of Bioterrorism: Path­o­gens and Their Weaponization by Geoffrey Zubay, Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, et al. Covering a multitude of pathogens, the author offers a clear and thorough analysis of the increasing fear of and threats posed by bioterrorist actions since 9-11, how to prepare for them and how to respond to an attack (Columbia University Press, $50).

Laura Butchy ’04 Arts,
Carmen Jo Ponce ’08

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