Illinois Books

I am Creole (French and Native American). From what my grandparents and great-grandparents had told me about Louisiana of the 19th century -- the collection captures the culture and essence of the Creoles and Creole culture and society of that period. And, nothing is lost in the translation by Norman Shapiro -- keeps the meaning and flow of the language intact.

They both loved the orphaned child. But which of them knew what was best for her?

Rachael Whitaker -- Boston born and bred, she relunctantly joins her mother and stepfather on a wagon train to Illinois in the spring of 1837. When her mother falls ill, she finds her destiny becoming inextricably linked with...

Adam Hawk -- As a frontiersman, he is far below Rachael's social station. Yet he and Rachael are inevitably drawn together by their mutual love for...

Doris Ferguson -- An orphaned eight year-old girl of unknown parentage.

Adam is determined to take Dorie to see her Indian grandfather. Rachael is just as determined to stop him, no matter how far she has to follow, no matter what she has to endure. To Rachel this is not just a contest of wills -- it's a battle for a soul. But Adam has a promise to keep, and he's not one to hold a promise lightly.

Explores sexual violence against Victorian working women, Victorian notions of femininity and masculinity, and the culture of violence in which they existed. 900+ criminal and civil cases that were investigated reveal that these women were more than just victims.

Perhaps it is Phipps' virtues as a painter that invigorate these poems with so much lush color and gorgeous visual detail. Her poems are also full of music--her Caribbean lullabies and fierce stories. CROSSROADS AND UNHOLY WATER is an amazing and mature debut!

Ben Reitman was a hobo, medical doctor, anarchist, and social reformer of the early 20th century. This book reveals his world, a world that most history books tend to ignore- the world of the hobos and political radicals (they were often one and the same) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is the world of "Hobohemia." Much of this world centered around old time Chicago (the winter quarters for most hobos) and such institutions as the Hobo College, the Dill Pickle Club, and Bughouse Square. I know that one doesn't think of hobos discussing politics, economics, literature, and the arts, but that was a large part of their world. In many ways it reminds one of the world of the Beats during the 1950's- Jack Kerouac would have fit right in. In fact, considering the surprising prevalence of jazz,"free love" and recreational drugs, it uncannily prefigured the Beat scene.

The people that Reitman knew makes an impressive list: Emma Goldman, Jack Reed, Walter Lippman, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, General Jacob Coxey, James Eads How (the "millionaire hobo") and Al Capone. The description of the many, now unknown, hobo philosophers is even more remarkable, for these were very remarkable men. These were free thinkers and intelligent and sensitive critics of the society around them. As for Reitman himself, I not only feel that I know him from reading this book, but I admire him and regret never actually meeting him.

Oh yes, while most of the men covered in this book were labeled as "radicals" by the authorities of their time, all they really wanted was to improve life for the average working man (the hobo was essentially a migrant worker) and make society a little fairer. For this they were persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, and often murdered. Some things never change....

I enjoyed Dance of the Dialectic and did a presentation on it in my Marxism class. It goes in-depth into how Marx thinks, how he uses terminalogy, how he comes up with his different terms, and explains the basis behind how Marx comes up with his theories using the dialectic. I was asked a question during my presentation of whether this was Ollman's interpretation of Marx dialectic or basically Ollman's own dialectic. The terminalogy and phrases Ollman uses to define the different characteristics of Marx's dialectic (such as 'thought concrete') I have not found in Marx's writing, leading me to believe Ollman invented some of these terms that Marx would have never used. Although it is what these terms represent that is important, it can, I suppose, also be argued that the meaning behind these terms he uses are not really what Marx conciously meant to use. These could be Ollman's understandings and assumptions of how Marx used the dialectic. Perhaps he is putting words into Marx's mouth by categorizing all the different steps of Marx's dialectic (there are 7 steps of 'level of generality' alone), which Marx may have never consciously known he was doing. I claim to be no expert on Marx, but I do have some knowledge of his writings and the history of him. I have not found much literature on Marx's dialectic compared to all the other stuff written about Marx, and this book is a great way to see inside Marx and Marx's thought process. Ollman offers an organized and very interesting analysis of Marx's thought process. I would encourage those interested in reading about Marx's method of using the Dialectic to buy this book.

How does one convey the sense of what it means to write poetry? Read "Your Card Read 'Poet-Mechanic'" in this volume to understand the power of Alice Fulton's work. How can one conceivably write a poem about dust? Read "Toward Clairvoyance" to appreciate her brilliance. This book is a work that grabs your instinct and won't let go.

This book offers a fantastic introduction to Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo's theatre, cultural context and roots. It's essays discuss his performance, his writing and the wonderfully controversial and comical elements of Fo's unique theatre. The essays are by Fo specialists all over the world and they are excellently introduced by the editors (Farell and Scuderi), both eminent Fo specialists themselves. "Stage, Text and Tradition" is a very clear, concise and illuminating presentation of one of the greatest actors/performers/authors of own time. If you are in to theatre and life, I strongly recommend this book!

This group of poems each with its own visual icon is a powerful evocation of the author's fieldwork among the Maya in Guatemala. It is a must read for those interested in the Maya and /or new ethnographic writing. Together with his book of short narratives, "Breath on the Mirror," it reveals a dedicated and artistic fieldworker/artist/poet. He is also the translator of the Mayan Bible: "The Popol Vuh" and the just released "Rabinal Achi," a pre-Columbian Mayan play of war and sacrifice.

Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow And The Informer System In The Mccarthy Era is the fascinating story of Harvey Matusow, a Communist party member turned undercover FBI informer who served as a leading witness for the goverment during the histrionics of the McCarthy era. His shocking testimony, which included claims that Communists fostered loose sex, tried to infiltrate the Boy Scouts, and taught politically charged Mother Goose rhymes to children, escalated as he named over 200 people as Communists and became a prosecutorial witness against them in major criminal cases. Eventually he presented a sensational recantation of his testimony in 1955, and he himself was prosecuted for perjury - for the recantation, not his original testimony. Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow And The Informer System In The Mccarthy Era an eye-opening biographical account of one man's role in McCarthy-era history, and his legacy concerning how government informers are treated and regulated to this day.