Minnesota Books

With virtual reality (VR) -- or at least the promise of it -- fast becoming a fixture in the public imagination, books like this are vitally important in shaping how we think about, make use of, and create future technologies of representation. Drawing from a remarkable breadth of cultural, technical, and philosophical thought, Ken Hillis's Digital Sensations remains direct and accessible as it deftly weaves together theory, insight, and imagination to understand VR as a technology with specific cultural and historical origins (origins that go farther back than computers, TV, even the telephone and telegraph). Hillis makes a passionate, convincing case that these roots influence the way VR is currently used (in everything from military simulations to avant-garde art installations) and, perhaps more important, how it is publicly perceived: as a utopian, anything-is-possible means of escaping our bodies and the materiality of our lives to achieve a kind of electronic nirvana. Recognizing this as a commercial and ideological vision, Digital Sensations positions itself in one sense as an antidote to that hype, calling our attention both to the far-fetched claims of VR visionaries and to the ethical implications of a technology that depends for its effects on a cunning substitution of illusion for place. Yet the book is not a bringdown; if anything, Hillis helps us think rigorously about the implications and potential of VR, counterbalancing the simplistic, domesticated perspective that characterizes VR simply as a new form of mindless entertainment, virtual singles bar, or faster way of commuting to the electronic office. In chapters on contemporary theory as well as histories of optics and vision, Hillis scrutinizes each component of VR (space, place, body, identity, embodiment, language, and metaphor) calling for a careful consideration of what the desire for a "leap into cyberspace" might mean politically for those who go -- and those who are left behind.

William McKenzie is a former Northern Pacific Railway employee who has created this delightful narrative of the NP's dining car history, complete with numerous priceless photographs of gorgeous dining cars created by the Pullman Company and furnished with the finest of mahogany, crystal, Irish linens, etc. This is not a dry recitation of historical facts; the author has a gift for story-telling. A wonderful bonus to this historical jewel is a list of 150 NP recipes personally tested and modified for the reader by the author's wife. There is also a modest list of drinks and cocktails which the author assures the reader "Have not been tested"! This book will appeal to far more than the typical railfan; all those who enjoy good writing, especially of historical Americana, will find this a delightful discovery.

Travelers on the Northern Pacific Railway got much more than a ticket to travel when they chose to ride: they often received gourmet dining in the dining car, as William A. McKenzie illustrates in his Dining Car to the Pacific: The "Famously Good" Food of the Northern Pacific Railway. The Northern's service was widely regarded as the best in the industry - and source materials from railroad records of the 1860s blends with memoirs of meals to recreate the experience - complete with over 150 recipes used on the line, many developed for or by Northern Pacific. McKenzie's nearly thirty years as a PR manager and corporate historian for the railroad lends expertise to his review and organization of the company's archival records for this lovely survey, while his wife Violet tested and modified the dishes for use at home.

Gives a good review on the beginning of EOD and the setbacks of this profession

Reading "Down & Out" was like looking through a window onto a fascinating world I never even knew existed. I especially enjoyed how much the book focuses on people who inhabited Skid Row--how they lived, slept, ate, worked--and the culture that grew up around them just decades ago. The author has a knack for putting you there, with sounds and smells and great details, and the tone is friendly and smart, and not at all dry or scholarly. The photos are great, too. I keep this book out on my coffeetable, though sometimes visitors to my home get so engrossed in the book and I have to take it away from them.

This would be a good read for anybody who likes really interesting, hidden slices of history, but it's a must for anybody who lives in the Twin Cities area--especially downtown. It gives you a whole new perspective. You'll never walk around down there and see the streets the same again.

Reading this delightful book made me feel like I was right on the farm with this delightful family. Jessica Callens has a way of writing her stories and making you feel that she is talking directly to you!

I really enjoyed this book. Being a resident of the Twin Cities for virtually my entire life (over 40 years) I could relate to most of the places mentioned in the book. The book itself is actually a fine collection of stories from people that actually lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul from the late 1800's thru the mid 1900's. These stories are interspersed with comments and background from the author/editor, who does a marvelous job of tying them all together. More than just a dry, factual history of the area, it brings alive what daily life was like for residents back then, and how it changed over the decades with the introduction of the car, movies, and even bathtubs. From the heydays of the 1890's to the Urban Renewal days of the 1950's, it made me aware of how much we've lost from those days, how far we've come over the years, and the wrong turns and detours we've made along the way.

College-level students of social and health issues will find DRUNK THE NIGHT BEFORE: AN ANATOMY OF INTOXICATION provides a strong cultural history of convivial drinking before the idea of drink as an addiction overcame alcohol's reputation as a creative and even a spiritual force. DRUNK THE NIGHT BEFORE focuses on the overall human history of drink from ancient times to the 20th century, following its treatment in the arts, religion, and through society. Alcohol holds a mixed history, being viewed as both miracle potion and as a poison: DRUNK THE NIGHT BEFORE reveals both aspects of alcohol's history.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Early Candlelight was written over a hundred years ago and is a wonderful story about Fort Snelling in St Paul Minnesota, around the time when people were still settling there. It is about a girl whose family lives outside the fort. It tells about numerous happenings, with the soldiers and their wives, the indians, and even the traders in the area. Eventually leading to a romance at the end. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

This relatively short, but meaty, academic work is an illuminating and invaluable study of Jewish power, as practiced in the context of the European Dark Ages. The author's purpose in writing this book was to demolish the official, politically-motivated interpretation of Jewish history which presents Jews as Europe's eternal, blameless victims (and thus deserving of present-day benefits and deference). Professor Bachrach succeeds in his intention and accomplishes something great: true history, unclouded by political correctness, ethnic revisionism and collective wisdom. This is a revolutionary work of scholarship, because the truths it reveals contradict everything that 20th century propaganda has made us think we know about Jewish history. The Dark Ages in Europe was almost a golden age for Jewry, and of the few attempts made to thwart Jewish interests, every last one was defeated.

Prof. Bachrach purposely set out to challenge what he called the "lachrymose conception" of Jewish historiography whose unvarying theme is two millenia of suffering and persecution. As Mr. Bachrach well knew, this traditional tale of woe was not the whole story, especially for his period of specialty in early medieval Europe. For the purposes of this book, Prof. Bachrach takes as his area of study the several Germanic kingdoms established in the ruins of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, from the late 400s to the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire in the late 800s. His findings are shocking.

Like most people I think, my knowledge of the period in question was comprised only of the deeds of certain great monarchs and the various wars and Völkerwanderung of the barbarian peoples, with a touch of Hollywood history thrown in for good measure. In my misconception, the early medieval period was a time of chaos, degradation and endless warfare, when barbarians in chain mail drank mead from the skulls of their enemies and Jews were hunted down for sport. Prof. Bachrach paints an entirely different picture. The Europe we see in this book is one of sophisticated legal systems, advanced economies with international reach, urbane monarchs, intellectual prelates, and a multicultural tolerance that rivaled any modern day Western city. It is that advantaged position of the Jews that most shocks the uninformed reader.

Although this book deals with several kingdoms over the course of a few hundred years, one overwhelming theme emerges from this study: the Jewish community enjoyed a tolerated, protected, and even privileged position in early medieval western Europe. Across the centuries and nations in question we see Jews holding some of the highest offices in the state and in the army, where they exercised power over Christians. They had complete religious freedom as well as their own legal system where Jewish criminals would be judged by Jewish judges. They had enough confidence in their position to denounce Christianity in the streets and wage a very successful campaign of proselytization. They published and circulated the filthiest defamations of Jesus Christ, without any fear of retribution. They owned Christian slaves, converted them to Judaism, engaged in the slave trade, even going so far as to kidnap Christians, castrate them and sell them to the Moslems. The common market day in one place couldn't be held on Saturday, out of consideration for the Jews, but it was held on Sunday. They carried weapons, and didn't hesitate to use their armed might in pursuit of their aims and in support of their protectors. Jewish loyalty was never a reliable commodity though, as they surrendered several Spanish cities to the invading Moors and gave up Frankish cities to the Vikings, because those actions were beneficial to the Jewish community. One convert to Judaism who worked for the Moslems forced occupied Spanish Christians to convert to Judaism or Islam, or be killed. The Jewish community's wealth, industry and international relationships endeared them to the monarchs, who were as deferential and submissive to them as any American politician, and what their tax contributions couldn't accomplish, their bribery could. The Jewish community enjoyed a plethora of legal and tax exemptions that made them the legal equal, if not the superior, of any man in Europe. Although certain bishops tried to curb Jewish power over Christians, specifically in the matter of the slave trade, they were invariably defeated by the monarchs. That is the salient and startling point of this book: of the very few monarchs who tried to institute or enforce anti-Jewish laws or even minor prohibitions on Jewish behavior, not one of them succeeded.

My very few questions and quibbles are so minor as not to deserve mention here. This is a must-have work of history and a true classic that finally provides some context to the story of anti-Semitism and shows us that anti-Jewish feelings do not arise unprovoked out of thin air, jealousy or racism. It finally takes Jews down from the idolatrous pedestal and brings them down to earth with the rest of us.