Washington University Books

This is the autobiography of Armando Rodriguez who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. His beginnings were humble but through hard work and a positive attitude, Armando has created a rich and rewarding life journey for himself. His story is inspiring, detailed and full of humor.

From the poor house in Mexico to the administration of four United States Presidents - sounds like an unbelievable mountain to climb in life, but that's exactly what Armando Rodriguez did. "From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator's Journey" is the inspirational life story of US Assistant Commissioner of Education of Armando Rodriguez who entered the nation speaking no English whatsoever but through a solid work ethic, truly made something of himself. He told his story to biographer Keith Taylor who has made Rodriguez's life story truly come to, pardon the pun, to life off the pages of "From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator's Journey". It deserves a space on any community library biography shelf, and is highly recommended reading for anyone who desire an awe-inspiring tale.

I would highly recommend this book for ANYONE planning to pursue a graduate degree in the sciences. Those early in their graduate career will also find it helpful. Dr. Smith covers several topics from the qualities of a good researcher, choosing the right school, choosing a thesis advisor, as well as scientific ethics and scientific writing. I have found this book very useful. I just wish I would have had it when I was a junior or senior in college!

I liked the book in general, its compact style and sound advice. It serves as a guide that maybe useful to grad students especially those in their first years, a recommended reading.
What I didn't like was:
1- The first chapters were more like a research paper full of citations and quote that distracted me a lot from the main topic. Fortunately this style didn't continue for the later chapters.
2- If you are not a chemistry/psychology student you will feel uncomfortable sometimes since the books quotes many examples from those fields. But all in all is ok.
3- Still not what I wanted exactly, a book that covers the thought process for discovery, generating ideas, and the transition from the more relaxed/dependent style of undergraduate to the rigor/creative style of grad. school. Surely the book talks about this in one chapter or two but what I wanted was more devotion to these concepts.

Joseph Bathanti fiction has a similarity to his poetry: pitch perfect. The characters in this wonderful book seem incredibly real, as only people existing in words and confined to the page can be. They resonate in our heart and from our own experiences. I love his wonderful book of poems, "This Metal." At moments, both this book and his poetry allow us to transcend.
If you want to read an original voice. If you have a fondness for that place in youth's memory on the edge of manhood. If you have a fondness for Pittsburgh and environs. If you want to read a good book ... try this one.

All these fourteen stories are about Fritz, a high-school aged boy who doesn't really succeed at anything, barely even pinning his opponent during a wrestling match against the School of the Blind. His Italian uncles can't even successfully drown him in a swimming pool on his mother's birthday. Lots of weird, funny things going on here. This book remind me of a cross between David Mitchell's novel "Black Swan Green" and the film "A Christmas Story" (the one about Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun).

It seems to me that the driving force in these stories is the subconscious, as Fritz and his mother (a stripper) have some weird Oedipal thing going on, and at one point Fritz tries to be man enough to do the manual labor (hod carrying for bricklayers) that his father had failed at. It seems to me like Fritz is struggling to get away from his own subconscious, but really has nowhere to run. All the stories in "The High Heart" are narrated by Fritz, except one called "Fading Away." (I thought that was really clever.) This is the first book I've read by Joseph Bathanti, and it seems well written to me, and the language and images are really vivid. The back of this book says it won the 2006 Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Worth reading.

The Inner Bird is not a typical bird book, and therein lies a great deal of its value. It is the first recent popular science treatment of the anatomy of birds, and how that anatomy ties into the features more commonly written about aspects of avian biology; evolution, behaviour and taxonomy. Even experts of bird ecology or taxonomy will find something of value here, it brings back the almost Victorian emphasis on anatomy, on the skeleton, on how the shape drives the function (and visa versa). The treatment of evolution takes the recent revolution in our understanding of birds as dinosaurs from a skeletal point of view, and the recent breakthroughs in avian systematics and cladistics as derived from DNA and molecular analysis are explained for the layman and contrasted with previous attempts to assemble a tree of life for the class Aves.

The scholarship isn't always flawless, there are a few statements that will leave you scratching your head ("[bee-eaters] are one of only a few small non-passerine birds that undertake lengthy migrations"?). The price is also rather hefty, and the index could have been more helpful, but these are minor distractions in what is otherwise an excellent book that fills a gap in the market.

Kaiser's book is called 'The Inner Bird' because he concentrates on the skeleton and internal features of this large and varied group of animals rather than the superficial plumage and behaviour which have been the subject of a great number of books in the past. It is an exceptional and possibly unique presentation of the highly specialized field of modern ornithology and the origin and development of the bird written in language readily accessible to the reader by an acknowledged expert. Kaiser describes the basic structure of birds, the most recent discoveries of feathered dinosaurs, early evolution and the way birds have adapted in their anatomy to different environments. The book is full of interesting insights and asides. Few people are aware for example that the bird was fully evolved long before the extinction of the dinosaurs or why penguins are so successful underwater (their anatomy allows them to generate pressure on the upstroke)or that the little swift may achieve speeds of more than 160 Km/hour. This book is not cheap but very good value for anyone who is interested in these extraordinary animals.

Greatest Hoosier artist ever? ... is a leading question. The sadly neglected tale of a shy 13 year-old boy traveling alone across the sea and the landscape to LaPorte, Indiana for early schooling and known there as "Sam Gilmour", was later to become universally known as one of the world's greatest artists -- Isamu Noguchi (a future Jeopardy question?).

Accessible, significant, colorful, inexpensive, the Modern Masters volume by Bruce Altshuler is easily the most accessible guide to Noguchi's works of a lifetime. This edition is distinguished by large illustrations, many in color and stylishly presented, yet in a less expensive paperback format. It is perhaps the best primer for recognizing the historic significance of the wide ranging yet simple, spiritual aesthetic gifts from this complex soul to the rest of us.

This book is filled with examples of Noguchi's artwork, mostly sculpture. I am currently enrolled in a Sculpture Class and found viewing the pictures a helpful reference for the sculptures I produced. It is most important as an artist to be influenced by other artists, and I feel that this book was successful in doing just that.

I recently wrote a research paper analyzing the usage of English in Japanese manga, and found this books approach to the subject quite useful. Originally it was only something I borrowed on Inter Library Loan, but after reading a few chapters, I knew I had to have the book. The writing style is easy to read and the topics he touches upon in each chapter are focused and interesting. Since there are not listed, here are the chapter titles in the book:

1) Prologue 2) The dynamics of English words in contemporary Japanese: Japanese English and a 'beautiful human life' 3) The history of Japanese English language contact 4) The Japanese writing system and English 5) The poetics of English in Japanese pop songs and contemporary verse 6) A new voice: The use of English as a new rhetoric in modern Japanese women's language 7) Using the graphic and pictorial image to explore Japan's 'Empire of Signs' 8) Is it naisu rice or good gohan?: In Japan, it's not what you eat, but how you say it 9) Language and culture contact in the Japanese colour of nomenclature system: From neon oranges to shocking pinks 10) Sense, sensation, and symbols: English in the realm of the senses 11) Images of race and identity in Japanese and American language and culture contact 12) Japan, English, and World Englishes

As you can see, there is a wide spread of topics that the book covers in regards to English in the Japanese language, and most are quite interesting!

Stanlaw presents us with the Japanese way of using English. In particular, he goes into detail about the use of English loanwords in Japanese for advertising, packaging, pop songs, and so forth. According to Stanlaw, these are not really loanwords, but English inspired creations. In other words, Japanese are using English for their own purposes in ways which they can appreciate rather than copying the usage of native speakers. It's a very interesting theory. The only reason for giving this four stars instead of five is that Stanlaw fails to make a distinction between English terms that are standard in Japanese and faddish terms, so quite a few of the examples that he provides are out of date and not used anymore. It would have been nice to make this distinction, and to elaborate on the processes behind both forms of usage. Other than that complaint, the ideas he presents in this book are very fascinating. I would recommend this to those who are thinking of teaching in Japan, or those who are studying Japanese overseas. You'll gain some insight into the Japanese use of language.

In 1809 Washington Irving published "A History of New York," the work that make him instantly famous. Conceived as a parody of Samuel L. Mitchill's guidebook "The Picture of New York" (1807), Irving's "History" purports to be written by the fictitious Diedrich Knickerbocker. It was, perhaps, the first American book to be embargoed by the publisher--that is, it was published in Philadelphia to keep its contents secret from the press in New York. Before the book was published, Irving and his friends even coordinated a hoax through the local papers, publishing a series of notices advertising Knickerbocker's inexplicable disappearance: "there are some reasons for believing he is not in his right mind," and "a very curious kind of written book has been found in his room."

The book was such a success that Irving revised it repeatedly during his lifetime, and readers should note which edition they are purchasing. Most recent editions reprint either the original text or the last revision, which are so different that they may as well be considered different works. By the time of the Author's Revised Edition of Irving's collected works, published in 1848, Irving had completely rewritten over a tenth of the book, added about 7,000 words of new material, softened the sarcasm, eliminated the mocking references to Jefferson's presidential administration, removed many risque passages and double entendres, and polished the overall style. The barbs are more personal in the earlier edition; Irving aimed his parody more broadly forty years later. In sum, while the earlier edition was considered more scandalous--even "naughty"--and cheekier in its wit and tone, the last edition is certainly more polished and "mature"--and might be considered by many as noticeably easier to read. (The remainder of this review focuses on the 1809 edition.)

The book's conceit is that the fictitious Knickerbocker, a Dutch descendant, nostalgically mourns the passing of Dutch hegemony on the island of "Manna-hata, Manhattoes, or as it is vulgarly called Manhattan," and he offers a rousing defense (read: mock hagiography) of the Dutch governors. But Irving's satire is aimed not simply at the long-dead colonists of New York; his depictions of various Dutch leaders evoke many of his contemporaries. Thus, Wilhelmus Kleft seems an awful lot like Thomas Jefferson, and Jacobus von Poffenburgh recalls General James Wilkinson (who was caught up in Aaron Burr's allegedly treasonous schemes against Jefferson's government). The "hero" of the book, however, is Peter Stuyvesant, whose glorious qualities are manifold--even if his rule was considered authoritarian and his last act as governor was to rebel against his own king, who had ceded Manhattan to his brother, the duke of York.

Irving, as Knickerbocker, also mocks the pretensions of historical scholarship. He offers philosophical justifications for the obesities of city leaders ("Who ever heard of fat men heading a riot?") and praises the well-honed Dutch civil defense against Yankee encroachments ("Never was a more comprehensive, a more expeditious, or, what is still better, a more economical measure devised, than this of defeating the Yankees by proclamation."). He interrupts his narrative several times with admonishments to the reader or faux biographical meanderings, and, near the end of the book, he acknowledges that his tone has changed from that of a "crabbed cynical, impertinent little son of a Dutchman" to a "most social, companionable regard." Of the many readers that began his book, "some dropped down dead (asleep) on the field; others threw down my book in the middle of the first chapter, took to their heels and never ceased scampering until they had fairly run it out of sight . . . Every page thinned my ranks more and more."

This last self-deprecatory joke is certainly the case for modern would-be readers: Irving's archaic prose can be a slog, and his historical and literary references will perplex even the most arduous. But not all the humor is dated, and quite often patient readers will be rewarded by a comment or pun that may even cause them to laugh out loud.

Washington Irving's A Knickerbocker's History of New York is the single funniest book in American literature. Despite a weak and too-lengthy opening segment on the origin of life and other awkward philosophical questions (the merits of this section are addressed by Irving/Knickerbocker in volume two), once the Dutch colonize the ancient island of Manhattoes (present-day Manhattan), Irving hits a rollicking gallop, going full stride at full speed and doesn't stop until the dubious William the Testy is vanquished at the first volume's end.

"Diedrich Knickerbocker" was arguably the greatest of the several personae Irving adopted during the course of his long writing career. 'Diedrich' penned 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle,' as well as short stories 'Wolfert Weber,' 'The Devil And Tom Walker,' 'Kidd The Pirate,' and 'Dolph Heyliger.' Irving achieved magic whenever he wrote, but when he steps into Knickerbocker's antique Dutch shoes, the combination of humor, history and folklore that results is unique, sweeping, and highly entertaining.

Few writers could or would dare to write the kind of poetic sentances Irving/Knickerbocker could, such as "the inhabitants were of primitive stock, and had itermarried and bred in and in, never swarming far from the parent hive."

All lovers of American literature and history, and of Americana generally, should know this delightful, warm and amusing book. Too often today, when addressing the origins of American literature and our early writers, we turn to names like Hawthorne and Poe, forgetting that Irving came first and was in fact the first American writer ever to be taken seriously by Europeans. (It was Hawthorne and Poe that paid lip service to Irving, who was born a full 21 years before Hawthorne and 26 years before Poe.) Some historians and critics go so far as to credit Irving with the creation of the short story as a literary form; he was also the U.S. ambassador to Spain, a world traveler, a biographer of George Washington, and at one time requested to run for mayor of New York City (an invitation he kindly declined). Thanks largely to Irving, the New York City and Hudson River Valley areas have a thriving plethora of myth and folklore all their own. As Americans, we owe the dynamic, magnanimous and prolific Irving a great debt, which decade after decade we neglect to pay or acknowledge.

Knickerbocker's History of New York is not difficult reading, though it is too advanced for children and most teenagers. However, any young adult or adult with a love of American history, particularly with an interest in the founding of our country or the American Revolution specifically, will find it fascinating. Humorists will find it a page-turning delight, and send their volumes of Twain back to the library post-haste....

This is a very good, comprehensive book of Kwakiutl carving. I have been painting and carving northwest style art for 20 years and is a tremendous resource both for ideas and understanding the art style.

This is a classic work on the Kwakiutl (KWAH-kee-oo-tel) and other Northwest Coast (NWC) Indian tribes and features artifacts displayed at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology. NWC Indian art was functionally adapted to perform a task or to convey a message. Adaptation and continuity, tradition and change, are the hallmarks of the history and the culture of the Kwakiutl. They along with the Haida, Tlinglit, Tsimshian, and Coast Salish formed the culture area of the NWC Indian tribes who inhabited a long narrow ocean shoreline that stretched 1200 miles from Yakutat Bay to the Olympic Peninsula.

Mungo Martin was prominent in the formation of this collection. Martin (Indian name: Naka'penkem) was a full participant in the Kwakiutl ceremonial system. His expertise was critical in the separation of true Kwakiutl art from the fake. He also brought attention to the fact many NWC Indian artifacts and totem poles were destroyed by over-zealous missionaries who considered them pagan idols and that the remainder were and are eroding due to the humid weather endemic in the Pacific NW.

NWC Indians were highly developed builders of totem poles, canoes, masks, and elegantly decorated plank houses. Unlike the Plains Indians, they were able to porduce a rich variety of art as they were freed from a constant search for food. About 85% of the food consumed by these coastal people came from the ocean and rivers, the products of which were smoked and preserved for the long wet winters. Deer, Elk, and Bear were also plentiful throughout the forested areas. Thus, an affluent and highly developed society came into existence.

The Kwakiutl ornamented their bodies with tattoos, fiber capes with button decorations, and intricately carved heraldic crests. They were fine looking people with coppery/reddish colored hair, beards and moustaches. They and the Haida were considered the most skilled woodcarvers on the NW coast. The Kwakiutl built long wooden houses facing the sea without the use of saws, axes, or nails. The fronts of the houses were often painted in bright colors of black, red, and blue-green.

By the 1800s, the Kwakiutl began creating richly painted and very tall totem poles. The totems represented important events in a chief's life, illustrated through the use of crest figures piled one above the other throughout the length of the pole. The totems fronted houses and were initially designed as support for the buildings. Totems were also erected as memorials showing family lineages (either paternal or maternal), mortuary purposes, or to serve as an entrance to a house by carving a hole near the base of the pole for use as a doorway.

The three-dimensional carvings on the poles were emphasized by the flat painting behind them and by the pattern of cedar planking held in place by thongs or pegs made of antler and wood. Certain animals were used on totems to tell a story if they bore a close relationship with the people in a clan. Their power was expressed in the forceful paintings and carvings on the poles. Totems were an important part of the Kwakiutl rank sustem as the order of the symbols proclaimed the status of an individual or of the group which owned and displayed the pole.

A variety of woods were used for carving. Yew, Maple, Hemlock, Alder, Red and Yellow Cedar. Kwakiutl carvers made their own tools from stone, elk horn, nephrite, shell and subsequently steel. Creating his own tools gave each carver a broad base of competence and familiarity and enabled him to create lovely and unique art objects identifiable from those created by other carvers. Close integration of a master woodcarver with his society was a notable characteristic of NWC Indian culture.

Kwakiutl masks were outstanding examples of woodcarving. They were beautifully shaped and painted and adorned with feather and hair decorations. The masks were worn in special religious ceremonies by dancers who sang and spoke of myths handed down within families. Masks were imaginative, even farcical, with multiple parts, several heads, movable lower jaws, beaks and wings, all of which helped to heighten the drama of a potlatch (gift) ceremony. There were also transformation masks wherein the outer form might be an animal representing a human face which could be exposed when the dancer pulled a string. In this way, the NWC Indian belief that animals were humans in other forms could be visually represented.

No two masks were alike although they might represent the same spirit such as the mountain goat, grizzly bear, killer whale, or raven. All of these animals (beings) were believed to have mystical qualities thus connecting the wearer with the power of the supernatural beings the masks represented. Religious concepts and practices were inseperable from the social and economic realities of the Kwakiutl and other NWC Indians. Most of them recognized many supernatural beings or minor deities, who appeared the in the form of animals. The Kwakiutl could contact certain spirits if they had previously established the right to do so as they saw themselves surrounded by a multitude of animal spirits, most of them unfriendly. It was the job of the shaman to establish contact, placate hostile spirits, and to praise the friendly ones.

The continuity of the Kwakiutl culture is best illustrated by its extraordinary artifacts. Each work of Kwakiutl art fits within a specific cultural framework. This book will foster a readers' appreciation of these unique and very artistic people, their culture, and their beautiful creations.

kittredge's collection evades perfection only through inclusion of a number of less than outstanding tales and essays. these are pretty much identifiable by their first or second paragraphs though; it takes no great effort to just page forward to the next outstanding offering. the dream of montana is well woven here. the reality of montana, remarkably enough, is even better than the dream. my only real reservation about this book is that it is apt to draw a crowd: i would wish montana to remain as it is.

The Last Best Place is an anthology with incredible breadth and scope. It was put together over a three year period by a group of dedicated editors and researchers headed up by Annick Smith and William Kittredge. The goal was to identify and preserve Montanna's rich literary heritage ranging from the earliest Native American inhabitants and explorers to contemporary authors such as Rick Newby and Bill Hoagland.

The size of the anthology is proof that it was a daunting if rewarding task. Over 1,000 pages long, it cannot be considered "light" reading, and yet the writing shines. There are sections from Lewis and Clark, Osborne Russell and James Audubon, (all early visitors to Montana), side by side with Native American stories and myths by the like of Jerome Fourstar, James White Calf and Pete Beaverhead( don't miss "Chickadees" as told to Frank Linderman by Pretty-shield, Medicine Woman). Here too you will find cowboys, settlers and wild west characters such as Mary MacLane who declared from a very early age, "I want Fame...Let me but make a beginning, let me but strike the world in a vulnerable spot, and I can take it by storm." There are essays, legends, journals, tall tales and poetry; tales of stunning beauty, adventure, disaster, brutality and vision. This is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who understands the importance of place and is fascinated by the literature that has evolved out of it.

Something different in ethnic studies, Jacqueline M. Moore's Leading The Race provides an examination of the transformation of the black elite in the nation's capitol from 1880-1920. While historians generally imply that elite served their own interests which didn't improve the status of blacks in this country, Moore argues that this elite was forced to change its perspectives to become more racially conscious. Chapters consider influences on this change.

This work is a very excellent record of the social and cultural history of Black America's "social capital" during the late 19th century. Ms. Moore has done an excellent job in her research. Her work stands to join the ranks of such works as Williard Gatewood's "Aristocrats of Color"; Gerri Major's "Black Society"; and Stephen Birmingham's "Certain People: America's Black Elite", all of which reflect upon the glorious history of the black elite in Washington,D.C. during the late 19th Century. I highly recommend this one. I read it in one day!