Michigan Books

"The Madwoman in the Academy" is right up there with "The Illusion of Inclusion" and "Lifting a Ton of Feathers" -- a must-make-the-time-to-read core text for academic women and those who work with us and/or live with us. It is both heart-breaking and heroic in its depiction from inside the Tower of the diverse and hardworking women whose lives are riddled with contradictions and whose careers are still evaluated on a male-as-norm model. As co-editor Deborah Schnitzer notes, "the movement up the ladder is not easily reconciled with the critique of the ladder itself." Let flowers fall upon the heads of these 43 women who prove many things, including that she who laughs, lasts.

As a fan of all humorous fiction and humorous fantasy in particular I just had to give this book a try.
I am glad I did! Without any spoilers or giving away too many of the funny bits I have to say that the characters are wonderful, believable (for a fantasy story anyway...) and well written.
The humor doesnt get in the way of the story as it can in some attempts at this genre and you will find yourself smiling, laughing and nodding all the way through. (Dont ask about the ducks...)
This book is aimed at younger readers (teens) but anyone will enjoy it. I can't wait for a sequel so I can visit this world again.

Do yourself a favor and check this one out!

-John

First in a series of three, this unique cookbook is a collector's item in the making. It's filled with the favorite tailgate recipes of famous University of Michigan Players and coaches. Adding spice to the collection is a heaping helping of U of M trivia, and profiles of the people who helped make this renowned university a football powerhouse.

"The Making of Michigan celebrates the historic role of Michigan's pioneers with a sampling of original documents in which participants and observers tell their own stories."

Chapter Headings
- The Physical Setting
- The Great Migration
- Creating an Educational System
- Reform and the Political Process

Some of the highlights include de Tocqueville's "A Fortnight in the Wilderness," Martineau's "The Delights of Mackinac," John Pitizel's "Life in the Copper Country," A.D.P. Van Buren's "A Wolverine Schoolmaster," the Convention of Colored Citizens' 1843 "Simple Justice," and Bingham's "The Reform Agenda."

Most curious: "Complete the Asylum" by the Trustees of the Michigan Asylyum for the Insane, 1860.

This little Jewel of a book is one of the few published so far (2000) on the Tokyo International Forum. It is a simple read from a Vinoly Lecture and punctuated with some fascinating black and white "project" photos (I especially like the shots of the GIANT structural model). The fact that this project cost in excess of $1.65 Billion and is probably the most technically breathtaking work of Architecture in the modern era is clear. What is not so clear is why more has not been written on Rafael's "underdog" competition entry. I have an extensive collection of Architectural books but this very inexpensive book is one of my very favorites.

Written by an Assistant Professor of Communication at Indiana University, Bloomington, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment is a scholarly, intense, and philosophical analysis of Malcom X's oratory. Scrutinizing both the speeches that Malcolm X made while as a minister for the Nation of Islam and those made after he left the Nation, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment especially focuses upon the strategies of interpretation and judgment that Malcom X fostered in his audiences. Recontextualizing the radical judgment found in Malcolm X's rhetoric according to three disparate theoretical approaches, Malcolm X: Inventing Radical Judgment strives to reveal a better understanding of one man's speechmaking power that was so great its iconoclasm transcends the limits of individual contemporary definitions.

Huxley surely was the best evolution defender of his time, even superior to Darwin and Wallace at this feat. This book is a classic to man's evolution literature and should be read by anyone interested in the early foundations of evolution. This were the kind of lectures and essays that destroy competing arguments from other theories. Something that strikes me is how updated this still is (well considering the time that has passed), and how strong are Huxley's arguments and so well founded. Huxley uses various techniques to make his point, he uses a lot of the new branch of science "comparative anatomy", and does so like an expert. Simply a delightful reading, a time travel to the origins of the evolution theory.

Eccoing Friedrich List and many others of the American system of political economy pursuasion, Carey delivers a wolley of attacks on the inconsistencies and utter lack of method of Ricardo, Adam smith and many others. Carey goes methodically through the development of society and the citizens to establish radically different conclusions on how society must be managed than does said Ricardo and his ilk. Mankind are not to be slaves to a small elite of oligarchs, nobles or whatever, man is to be free to prosper as a whole and explore the universe as god had intended us to do. The fight that can be read between the lines of this book is as relevant today as when it was written. America that before so proudly had resisted the british, has now sheepishly succombed to that very system and this book among many others could be the wake-up call urgently needed. The liberal system has brought us the current financial crisis and will ad wars on top of that. Carey and his collaborators knew that even then.
Additional reading should also include: Lyndon H. LaRouche jr. "So, you wish to learn all about economics", Friedrich List "The American system of political economy" and E. Peshine Smiths "A Manual of political economy."
-Now go bury Liberalism!

Mr. Ayoob has just done readers in the U.S. a great service by writing this book. This book is essential reading for policy makers, students and anyone who really wants to understand what's going on in the Islamic world.

The main problem with many books from the West on Islam and "Islamism" (political Islam) is that they are written from a Western perspective, and so they have inherent biases within them. This is of course a big part of the misunderstandings we have with this part of the world, the fact that we only see these societies and groups through the prism of our own standards and values which is not always concurrent with their own values. Indeed we seem to rarely ever be in synch with the realities of the area. This book puts political Islam into a vernacular that is ready for consumption by a U.S. audience.

One of the most interesting things I found was the author's discussion of the affects that contact with democracy, no matter how limited the democracy, has had on Islamic political groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hizbullah and many other groups have had contact with some forms of democratic participation with varying degrees of success. The Muslim Brotherhood went from being a group that was suppressed to being allowed limited participation in elected government. When it became clear how much support they had they were once again violently suppressed. The question becomes will they continue down the path of moderation and participation or will their suppression lead to frustration and a recurrence of violence. The Mubarak and U.S. governments have a lot to say about what happens in the future to this group, if they decide that this group is to dangerous and must be suppressed there is a good chance that parts of the organization will become disillusioned and may resort to violence, but if they are allowed to become an active participant there is a real possibility that participation will have a further moderating affect.

Of course when one looks at the example of how Hamas was treated the prospects do not look good. One of the main points from Mr. Ayoob's is just how much of a moderating affect democratic participation can have on Islamic groups as evidenced by Turkey's AKP party. In a strange twist it is now the secularists in Turkey who have become authoritarian while it is the moderate conservative Islamic parties that have become ingrained in the political system that seems to be the voice of reason and moderation. Unfortunately Hamas' experiment in democracy seems to be heading toward abject failure due to circumstances beyond their control. They have not been given the opportunity to really join in the democratic process since they have been assailed from outside from the very beginning of their electoral victory.

This hypocrisy of the West has not gone unnoticed by the Muslim world. How the West purports to advocate democratization but only as long as the right groups get elected. The U.S. especially is generating ill will from this part of the world while at the same time pursuing policies that inhibit moderation. The rhetoric that comes from the U.S. about the moderating influence of democracy may well be true, but until we honestly pursue democratic change, no matter what the outcome for us, then we will be stuck with the same illegitimate, authoritarian regimes that are breeding grounds for disenchanted and potentially violent people. Islam is not inherently violent as some would have us believe, but just like all human beings given the right circumstances they can be forced into lashing out against the objects of their torment, whether that is authoritarian regimes or governments that back those regimes.

Mr. Ayoob does an excellent in job with very few pages detailing for the reader just how divergent political Islam really is. The author speaks of how we in the West tend to think of political Islam as being a "monolith", and he does an excellent job dispelling that myth and showing how each brand of Islamism, while many times espousing a universalistic agenda, is unique to its on context. Each Islamic group incorporates different aspects and theories of Islam to suit their unique situations. While there may be some violent, extremist elements they are a small minority. Many of these groups such as the AKP have shown themselves ready to join in the representative process and attempt to achieve their aims within the system. The author has given us plenty of examples of how democracy has a pronounced moderating affect on these Islamic organizations. It is up to us to focus our attention from the vocal and violent minority and focus our attention on helping the moderate majority, even when this help seems to be in contradiction to our own interests because in the end when these groups join the democratic process we all win.

This is a fantastic book that needs to be read and reread. I am eagerly awaiting the next publishing from this author.