Indiana Books

This book explores the largely unfamiliar world of women in Anglo Saxon England and, to a lesser degree, Norse Age Scandinavia. On one hand, Anglo Saxon women could divorce their husbands and independently own property, while their conterparts in Latin-speaking countries enjoyed no such rights. On the other hand, female babies in Germanic societies were often left to die from exposure with only a bit of pork fat to suck on. This book reminds us that the world of our Teutonic ancestors is nearly as alien to modern Northern Europeans (and their American cousins) as that of distant cultures--and that the Norman Conquest obliterated the Teutonic heritage of the English as surely as white settlers undermined the heritage of Native American Indians centuries later.

The Washington Times, April 22, 1991

The New Soviet Man and Woman: Sex-role socialization in the U.S.S.R. by Lynne Atwood (Indiana University Press, $39.95, $14.95 paper, 263 pages). Reading this study of the plight of Soviet women after several years of Mr. Gorbachev's reformism is cause for wonder as to whether the liberation of women from second-class citizenship will be realized sooner in Kuwait than in the Soviet Union. Anyone who has read the recent book, "Soviet Women," by Francine du Plessix Gray, knows that their plight is rooted deep in Russian culture.

Miss Atwood, a British-trained Sovietologist, concludes that the present socioeconomic climate will drive women back from their supposed emancipation under Bolshevism to the more traditional female role of homemaker. It is not easy to predict the capacity of a social system to change, but if there is one area of Soviet social development where little progress will occur, it is likely to be in the area of women's rights.

I found this book extremely well conceived and substantively outstanding. It provides a set of essays by philosophers, lawyers, sociologists, doctors, theologians, etc. in which critical ethical and policy issues raised by the new reproductive technologies are addressed. Moreover, it provides descriptions of policies and procedures at four different sorts of egg donation centers in various parts of the country. Finally, it provides recommendations by a board funded by respected foundation grantors and composed of people who would have been appointed to a public board were Congress and the President willing to have one on this controversial subject. It's a must for anyone who wants to know what is going on in this field.

Having read all of the Deets Shanahan series, I can comfortably say this series and its unlikely hero just keep getting better! Love has done good things for Deets and he is closer to acknowledging that fact now than ever before. Meanwhile, his cronies help the story move along briskly. Tense, realistic, at times comical (the bar owner is a favorite of Deets and of mine!), the latest in the series is a tribute to the very talented Tierney's hometown (Indianapolis) and the author's highly refined sense of character! Bravo!

Do you have a compelling interest in Freudian or Jungian analyses of vulgar humor? If so this is the book for you. If not, don't stop yet. Do you simply like dirty jokes? This may be for you too, but will probably be a bit on the esoteric expensive side. Do you have a cultural or literary interest in the development and similarity of dirty joke themes around the western world and throughout history? If so, these are (there are 2 volumes) absolutely the resource that you can't do without. Both your sense of humor and higher instincts for the scholarly will be amply rewarded. Additionally, if you have the warped or puerile sense of entertainment by the irony of juxtaposing the elevated with the profane, Legman will become your favorite author. One caution: if you have some sensitivity about the coarse and obscene, limit yourself to the first volume. The second moves more into the areas of sexual perversion and body function humor and accordingly is less suited to delicate sensitivities....

NOGUCHI & RICKEY & SMITH
Several years ago as I was just beginning to flounder around in the thicket of ignorance surrounding Isamu Noguchi's years growing up in Indiana, a very helpful curator at the Indiana University Art Museum not only introduced me to their landmark 1970 catalogue but gave me a copy, which later I determined to be rare and somewhat obscure. I recently replaced that copy, which I had lost track of after lending it to a an IU art student friend, for a price of $99 from the used-book market. When a unit of Indiana University questioned my use of this information, I was prompted to revisit the item more thoroughly. In the annals of Indiana Arts it is a landmark presentation. I'll leave it to IU to adequately honor its importance, but briefly it is a loving collection and presentation by Thomas T. Solley, the distinguished, long-time director of the IU Art Museum, of the greatest trio of Hoosier sculptors ever--Isamu Noguchi, George Rickey, and David Smith.

Noguchi & Rickey & Smith
An exhibition of sculpture in honor of the
Sesquicentennial of Indiana University
Organized by Thomas T. Solley with
Catalogue by Daniel Mato
November 8--December 13, 1970
Indiana University Art Museum
Bloomington, Indiana
Indiana University Art Museum Publication 1970/4 [53pp]
cr Copyright Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, Indiana, 1970

It is a primal document for Indiana Arts of several of the greatest sculptors of the 20th Century. It is further distinguished by describing those individuals, born at about the same time, of being raised in similar, small Midwestern cities, and sharing the same Hoosier ethos.

An unlikely title from the bass player for Emerson, Lake & Palmer and King Crimson.

A tell-all chronicle of ELP's concerts in northeast Indiana in the 1970's.

Title comes from the rare unreleased song "Northeast Indiana conservation tillage demonstration project" which is available only on bootleg.

Andrew Stoner's look into this part of Indiana history is outstanding. I read this one cover-to-cover. Stoner has written this in easy-to-read, well-researched chapters. Some of the cases I had heard of before, but many were new to me. As a lifelong Hoosier, I found myself shocked and amazed that this was a part of our history, but I know it's true. I think readers will enjoy the careful research, the attention to detail, and most of all the resolution each case is brought to at the end of each chapter.

I love reading this guy.
Eric Hansen is a journalist with a flair for telling stories about Notre Dame football that go beyond the history of the Fighting Irish. Author Hansen's knack for painting the picture of the athlete and their connection to the Golden Dome uncovers the mystique and tradition of Notre Dame football. The foremost authority of Irish Football creates another page turner. I'm buying a case of books for my friends who love the Fighting Irish. My Christmas shopping is almost done.

A book should be judged by whether it achieves it's apparent purpose. The purpose of this book is to give a detailed account of life in Germany in the 1500's, and Strauss does so with meticulous detail. His writing is academic, but not wasteful. He makes his points with skill and precision and provides numerous examples. For this, he receives 5 stars.

That said, the book is extremely dull. I read it as research on 1600th century life, and I am glad that I did, but it is not what I would call "entertaining." The long descriptions of the town's political system, council meetings, attitudes of the burgers, etc. were great sleepy-time material. Most of the text is strictly reference/ research quality writing (which, to be fair, is exactly what the book purports to be).

One exception is Chapter 5, "Daily Life and Work." If you read no other section of the book, read this one. Aside from the morbidly fascinating descriptions of public executions and torture, this part contains surprising details about the cleanliness of a 16th century German town. Not only the city streets, but the citizens themselves were very clean. Public bathes provided the equivalent of a steam, scrub, and message, and nearly every ordinary citizen received this treatment at least once a week. Workers usually received not only their wages, but something called "bath money" expressly for this purpose, and the Council manipulated the system to keep the price low and within reach of all but the very poorest. Other details of housing and upkeep of public property also surprised me. The whole book was worth reading for that one chapter.