Central America Books

Over ten years ago, this book completely changed the course of events in my life for months. Let me explain!: I was wiling away the hours with nothing to do during a 2-week hospital stay in Madrid, going over the notes for my master's thesis about Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo, when someone suggested I read this masterpiece about a Baroque Mexican nun to pass the time. At first I thought the suggestion was absurd, hardly a book that would help the hours go by quickly, but I gave the book a chance (the Spanish-language version, of course) and soon met Sor Juana Inés, with whom my only previous encounters had been on a Mexican banknote.

Sor Juana Inés was so far ahead of her time that it would have been a miracle for her NOT to have been persecuted and ejected from the society of her times. Octavio Paz (could anything less be expected from such an author) makes her life even more fascinating than it probably was in reality, as he examines her comings and goings from birth to death, or at least as much as can possibly be known, since his study is probably the most thorough that exists. Sor Juana's biography is amazing and caused me to drop my thesis and change topics entirely. I spent my whole hospital stay engrossed in her tale of love, erudition and ill-fated struggles for equality. I can't shower enough praise on this book, which opened up my appetite for knowing more about her...since then I have read more and more, as well as all of Sor Juana's works, and never get enough. If you want to see what is was like to know that women deserved full equality, to have the intelligence beyond comparison and be forced to use that intelligence with the utmost care so as not to violate strict social norms, and get away with it for years, sor juana will be your heroine, as she should be for so many more women in this world who are unfamiliar with her.

This would be a great text for any hispanic literature, women's studies, gay and lesbian studies, mexican history or a wealth of other courses, or just as a text of interest to women and people in general.

This book by the Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz is a great account of the life of one of the best writers of Hispanic literature. Sor Juana created astonishing poems about life, love, and people. It is a pity that only little is known about the facts of her life. As with Shakespeare, must of what we know about her comes from her literary legacy. Octavio Paz is able to solve some of the mystery that surrounds Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.

This is a balanced, penetrating examination of Sor Juana and the elements that shaped her life. She understood that her passion was the pursuit of knowledge and that she could never fulfill her life's work unless she became a nun. In addition to describing Sor Juana Paz enlightens his readers about the masculine society into which she was born. She was a brave, talented woman who spoke up for what she believed in.

Latin American Research Review
Inter-American Relations And Encounters: Recent Directions in the Literature
June 22, 2000:
Kyle Longley adopts the interaction between the two types of birds as a metaphor for the relationship between the United States and another small Central American country, Costa Rica. Like the sparrow, such countries rely on evasion and manipulation in their dealings with the hawkish powers of the world. Longley develops his thesis by using U.S.--Costa Rican relations during the period from 1942 to 1957 as a case study.

Basing his arguments on voluminous printed and manuscript sources, including documents from Costa Rica's Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Longley begins by reviewing the relationship during the administration of President Rafael Calderon (1940-1944), who proved a cooperative ally during World War II. Calderon's close ties with the Communist Party (the Vanguardia Popular) aroused little concern during the war. But U.S. officials became alarmed when his successor, Teodoro Picado (1944-1948), although staunchly pro-United States, failed to distance himself from a connection that was viewed with increasing disfavor. As a result, when Picado attempted to impose Calderon as his successor in 1948 and ignited the revolution led by Jose Figueres, the U.S. government favored the rebels despite reservations about Figueres.

With the triumph of the revolution, Figueres headed a junta that gave way in 1949 to the presidency of Otilio Ulate. In 1953 Figueres himself was elected president. Figueres and his associates (who formed the Partido Liberacion Nacional in 1951) undertook policies displeasing to Washington, such as nationalizing the banking system and negotiating a more favorable contract with the United Fruit Company. What most alarmed U.S. officials was Figueres's material and moral support for the Caribbean Legion, which was dedicated to the ouster of dictators in the region. Figueres did not waver, however, and criticized U.S. support for the dictators, going so far as to boycott the 1954 inter-American meeting because it was held in Caracas, where President Marcos Perez Jimenez held sway.

Longley shows that Figueres pursued a nationalist agenda and at times defied Washington while retaining U.S. support when regimes that threatened U.S. hegemony (like those ruling Guatemala and Iran) faced extinction. Longley attributes Figueres's success to several factors, but above all to his anticommunist posture and to his preference for accommodation rather than confrontation. Figueres and the PLN also benefited from Costa Rica's favorable image in the United States and from a network of sympathizers, such as Adolf Berle and liberal members of the U.S. Congress. Longley might have undertaken a more extended comparison of the Costa Rican case with that of Guatemala, or better yet, with that of Bolivia, whose 1952 revolution also received benevolent treatment and substantial economic assistance from the United States. Cole Blasier's study of U.S. responses to twentieth-century revolutions in Latin America, The Hovering Giant (1985), pointed out the essential moderation of Victor Paz Estenssoro and other B olivian leaders and their skill in cultivating advocates in Washington.

In the conclusion to The Sparrow and the Hawk, Longley generalizes beyond the Costa Rican case to that of small countries in their dealings with major powers. Adapting the thesis of James Scott's Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (1985), Longley argues that subordinate states, like peasants, can devise nonviolent strategies that enable them to shape their relations with the United States. Thus Longley, like Gambone, aligns himself firmly with those who assign agency to peripheral states.

The Sparrow and the Hawk is one of the most beautyful books I ever read. It explains how Jose Figueres was able to flirt with socialism and capitalism, but at the same time he knew both extremes were bad. Figueres's tactis enabled him to calm the F.B.I and the C.I.A., in times were the common enemy was communism. Above all this, Longley can be regarded as an authority on El 48.The people of Costa Rica than you (Longley)for contributing with such a work to our history. Certainly, the younger generations of ticos will not forget for what our ancestors fought.

The importance of history lies in the knowledge and the lessons that, we men, have learned throught our existance. Certainly, El 48 and it's aftermath is the turning point point in Costa Rica's history. Longley is able to explain how Figueres's policies sought the well-being of the people, without employing extreme capitalistic or socialistic measures. Figueres, the man in the middle of socialism and capitalism was able to convince the ticos and the americans that his policies were necessary for such a poor country as Costa Rica.

I think this book is a very good book,in that it is a counter to the typical "price guide" arrowhead books, this book does not go that route, and discusses the lithics in more of a professional manner, and is more for people who are interested in the cultures, and the lithics and not in what something is worth. The only critique I have is that the book trys to cover too large an area...i would prefer one that is aimed at specific states (even though the boundaries lap over state lines), and would prefer the author to stick with established nomenclature as to lumping points into various categories. I think the book is headed in the right direction but needs improvements.

excellant point type guide to arrowheads of the southwest. Much information on the cultures that made them and on how they were made.

This is an essential reference. Noel Justice has done an amazing job of gathering the references and synthesizing a very complex and diverse array of "spear and arrow points" in this volume. I can also recommend "Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of California and the Great Basin". Well worth the rather high price.

Lawrence Griswold's account of his travels in South America and southeast Asia in the 1920s and 30s is as endearing as it is ridiculous. Much in the same manner as the geographers and historians of the ancient world, his narrative walks the fine line between epic real-life experience and absurd, cliched hyperbole. The result is an entertaining tale of faraway places in a time when the world was a little less accessible, and political correctness had not yet been invented. Griswold's unflappable persona in the work coupled with his descriptions of the people he meets along the way provides most of the humor, as well as the ridiculousness of several of the situations in which he and his traveling companions find themselves. The anecdotal and episodic nature of the book means that it is not a whole unit overall, but Griswold does an excellent job of finishing his creation with flourish: the tale of the Komodo dragon and the castor oil.

I picked up a hard copy first edition of this at the Strand in NYC. This is the type of book I love. Well written adventure in a world that has passed. What has also passed is book quality. The edition I have is so solidly put together, someone will pick up same in 2070 and no doubt enjoy this book as much as I did. A testament to the hardware and software . The 20 and 30s period was at the cusp of when the jungles of Malaysia, Panama, and Brazil were not yet overly intruded upon by the outside world. Lawrence's sense of humor in the many situations ultimately demonstrate his respect for the locals and locale (but his being a "boss" on these expeditions hides that a bit). Incidences of death amongst colleagues, porters, and now rare wildlife (there are few tiger hunts here that are bit sad)are too easily put aside. But on a one off basis there are some great moments with the West Pointer in Panama, the irresponsible American kid taken along to the Philippines, the hardships of the overweight archeologist up the Amazon, the tiger encounter in Malaysia and more. I laughed aloud many times. This balances the distress one gets on a de-capitation or two and depletion of Sumatran rhinos. An excellent read. Some of the situations tie out so wonderfully here that one wonders about some creeping fiction. I have found though that travel done right leads one into situations that can not be made up. Lawrence, I keep my doubts in check.

Our all-American adventurer friend, Lawrence Griswald takes his archaeology passion to the jungles of Central and South America where he meets with killers, traps and really big snakes. Then, off to Indonesia to be the first to capture the deadly living dinosaur: the Komodo Dragon. If these 20's and 30's Indiana Jones adventures are to be believed, then Griswold was the greatest explorer ever. Otherwise, he's the greatest story spinner ever. Either way, who cares. Watch out for the chapter called "Thirst!"

this book is amazing and so are her classes. i've been lucky enough to take two of her classes. we really are lucky that people like her are writing.

How much correcting do we do? I believe that we should be correcting behavior, not warehousing people. Because if these guys leave here and move into my neighborhood I want something productive out of them. Let's have them get a job and pay some taxes, you know.
Officer (in Rhodes 199)

Thus in reform "the criminal becomes simultaneously the `other' (a byproduct of damage, disorder or difference) and yet potentially `like us' (wanting the same thing, thus reformable, but needing useful strategies for conformity, skills for survival...)
Lorna A. Rhodes (Total Confinement 198)

If repression has indeed been the fundamental link between power, knowledge, and sexuality since the classical age, it stands to reason that we will not be able to free ourselves from it except at a considerable cost.
Michel Foucault

In Total Confinement: Madness and Reason in the Maximum Security Prison, Lorna Rhodes, plays Marlow to several versions of Kurtz in this prison Heart of Darkness. I chose the Conrad metaphor because essentially Rhodes is speaking to the `Other' of the `Other.' Confined to a maximum security prison, the prisoner is our `Other.' To be mentally ill in a prison is to be removed from general population and further confined. Essentially, these `extreme' `Others are the end of the line. Ironically, towards the end of her project, the questions run a grade more fundamental. What are we doing here? Are we here to reform or warehouse? If the answer is to reform, then arguably a more fundamental re-questioning is due. How can we turn these guys back into, not just general population, but society at large; when all we are doing is making things worse. In the end, Foucault reminds us that we have invested so much into this discourse that we cannot extricate ourselves from it without considerable cost. Do we try something different?

Reminded of Abramsky's musings where I wrote: "Abramsky writes, "Violence, it seems, is nascent within most human beings. Put all except the most resolutely pacifist individuals into conditions in which they have absolute control over others they believe to be "bad" or criminally minded, and chances are the confrontations will escalate into violence; that cruel impulses normally hidden deep below the surface will bubble up and find an outlet; that the infliction of pain, and the giving of orders for others to inflict pain, will become commonplace" (Abramsky 34). Abramsky conjures up the spirit of Hannah Arendt and speaks of the 1961 trial in Jerusalem of Nazi Adolf Eichmann. Indeed, the irony of Eichmann was not that he was spectacular. On the contrary, it was Eichmann's "ordinariness" (Abramsky 34) that makes him and as a result this book so compelling." Rhodes argues, just as Abramsky that there seems to be an institutional quality about prisons that take away from the specificity of the individual and lumps all `criminals' - even the `crazy' ones - and treats them along policy lines that no longer (or arguably ever did) have any efficacy. While Abramsky seeks to, at least on one level, to reveal the banality and institutional quality of the prisons, Rhodes takes us deeper into the heart of darkness. We speak, just like Marlow, to Kurtz.

Rhodes takes into account the inmates' perspective and actions within the confines of the `control unit' of the supermaxes. In this regard, Marlow is listening to Kurtz and telling us there is more there than meets the eye - if we even get that far. Waxing optimistic, she asks the questions through both the inmates and the correction workers to see if there is any hope in the prison "system." In conclusion, Rhodes ultimately shows us that the modern-day prisons tell us more about ourselves than the prisoners we confine.

As much as American Furies is an important piece of literature on the issue of prisons, Total Confinement adds and Rhodes takes a fundamentally different tack - theoretically, politically, and philosophically. Total Confinement gives us a subaltern perspective on the supermax system. In this ethnographic survey, Rhodes takes on a more humanistic approach. What happens when people are forced into a box (no pun intended) to confirm to becoming "Christian gentlemen" (Rhodes 198). She asks is there real relief from "the inertia of prison bureaucracy"? Rhodes, I would contend, argues that the answer lies in prisoner "humanity." Since contemporary prisons really say less about the prisoners but more about the society that creates, runs, and maintains them, then it is we, not prisoners that are compelled to ask the hard questions. While Abramsky, I argue waxes cynical and is pessimistic, Rhodes posits that everyone is "struggling it out" in our prisons, and "hope" is alive.

What does the prison Kurtz have to say? Does the subaltern really speak? What is heard is that deep within the caverns of these prisons is a psychological give and take that build more resentment and less understanding of the situation on either side - prisoner or correction worker. Trapped in an administrative framework, good intentioned correction workers are stifled and prevented from effecting creative solutions to problems. Mind you, there are good reasons for thinking safety first but the overkill in terms of equipment and facility - Is it really doing any good? After a careful examination of Abramsky and Rhodes, I am convinced more than ever that the problem is really more fundamental. In effect, the institutional momentum is driving more and more reactionary solutions to a more fundamental problem that is not being addressed.

Miguel Llora

This is a meticulously researched and theoretically sophisticated expose of a deeply hidden yet increasingly important facet of American culture. As the United States more and more becomes a prison nation, books like this will become essential reading not only for scholars but for average citizens.

Ever since I visited Cross Creek (Rawling's home), I've been on the look out for more author's homes or related sites to visit. It was such a great experience to see her place after reading her books.
Now with Traveling Literary America, readers can visit places associated with Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain, Jack London, Edgar Allan Poe and other admired authors. Besides such well known authors, he includes more offbeat literary figures such as poet Joyce Kilmer's home (New Brunswick, NJ) and songwriter Woody Guthrie's birthplace (Okemah, Okla).
I can't wait to see some of these places and having the book on hand allows me to fit them in wherever I travel in the US.

Anyone who loves books-which presumeably includes anyone reading this review website, will love Traveling Literary America. It is a hefty (more than 500 pages) and features more than 200 literary sites in nearly all 50 states, including author homes, memorials, poetry walks, exhibits and museums. What's more, author B.J. Welborn offers descriptions of towns associated with a particular writer (Jack Kerouac's Lowell, Mass; Willa Cathers "Catherland" in red Clouod, Neb); unusual literary treasures (Yiddish Center in Amherst, Mass); art colonies (MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire); hiking trails (Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Trail in New York), and sidebars on literary movements (Romanticism, the Beat Generation). There is a lot of fascinating stuff in here.

I'm sure I'll be using this book as a reference for many years to come. If you do any kind of book-related traveling, you'll be glad you picked up a copy.

Welborn crossed the U.S. several times while researching the book, and her diligence shows. The guide is loaded with excellent facts and useful tips, and it couldn't be easier to navigate.

The book lists over 200 homes, museums, exhibits, memorials, etc., and it's divided into sections by region of the country. It includes historical information about each author and his or her work, as well as little-known tidbits that will make your journeys infinitely more interesting.

If you're looking for a thorough reference on author homes and other literary landmarks, this is the book for you.

Although published in 1986, this remains a very informative book on the Vikings and their presence in North America. Wahlgren was a professor of Scandinavian languages, so he adds a very interesting linguistic layer, and uses many Old Norse words to bolster his arguements. He has included a great deal of archaeological evidence to explain the Viking way of life in Greenland and Newfoundland., and also information from the Icelandic sagas regarding Leif Eiriksson's and others' voyages.

Wahlgren explains very well some of the hoaxes and misinterpretations of "evidence" of the Vikings in numerous areas of North America. He delves into the controversy over the Kensington Stone (a stone with a runic inscription found in Minnesota), and with his linguistic background expertly debunks it.

I particularly enjoy Wahlgren's very readable style, full of cute little asides, while remaining scholarly. His personality and wit really shine through.

I read this book really quickly, I couldn't put it down. Wahlgren's idea is interesting and he backs it up well, with lots of interesting history and anecdotes. I'd like to see some arguments against it before believing he's right, but he makes a convincing argument. I enjoyed the book and hope to read more by him. Worth reading for anyone interested in Viking and old North American history.

A very well written, well illustrated, and fascinating recounting of Norse overseas activities in the Atlantic. After reaching and settling Iceland in the late 800s and Greenland in the late 900s, on several occasions recently settled Greenlanders indulged their exploratory and settlement urges and sailed for American shores, which Leif Eriksson had found and named Vinland ("Wineland") at his southern reach in about the year 1000.

Erik Wahlgren, a former professor of Scandinavian languages at UCLA, vividly describes the Viking background and the developing Norse culture, of which the Icelandic sagas became, many believe, the first truly notable body of literature in any Germanic language. As penetrating depictions of life, especially the better family sagas still have power to fascinate the modern reader. (This book's title can be a bit misleading since the Iceland and Greenland settlers were not "Vikings," i.e. sea raiders, but settled farmers and stockmen.) After describing the two saga versions of the Vinland story, in an interim chapter the author effectively debunks Minnesota's Kensington Stone as a hoax (the subject of an earlier Wahlgren work) as well as discussing other dubious claims. The rest of the book focuses chiefly on the Vinland ventures.

But just where WAS Vinland? Was it at the northern end of Newfoundland, the ruins Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine Ingstad uncovered and painstakingly excavated in the 1960s while finding a number of undoubted Norse artifacts? Although the Ingstad claim has has been accepted by many, Wahlgren thinks not. "Ingstad's dilemma stems from his natural preference for a thoroughly identified Old Norse habitation site over a theoretical one that has not been physically confirmed." . . . "The reconstructed Norse houses at L'Anse aux Meadows represents a first-class achievement in modern archeology, and a major enrichment of our geographical and historical knowledge." . . . "The Ingstad find stands on its own merits and needs no crutch. By the same token, it is not Vinland." Drawing on geographical, botanical, cultural and linguistic evidence, the author thinks it might have been built and used for a short time by other voyagers of which we have no extant record (the saga literature is very family selective and much of it has been lost over the centuries.) Or even -- in a tentative hunch Wahlgren throws out -- that it might just possibly have been Karlsefni's "Straumfjord" of Erik's Saga.

The author then makes a very plausible case for Leif's Vinland or land of grapes having been in the Maine-New Brunswick coastal border area, which is better left to the interested reader to judge for oneself after considering the cases for locations others have put forth. Wahlgren's theory is intriguing and definitely in the running. A previous reviewer thought his arguments convincing but reasonably expressed a desire to see opposing arguments. One can get a good idea of other major contentions by reading Ingstad and Carl Sauer (see my other reviews by clicking on the above link).

These are by no means all of the Norse activities that Wahlgren discusses interestingly, lucidly and often wittily, including evidence of visits to the High Arctic -- fully as distant a voyage from the primary Greenland settlement area as Norway itself and even more difficult and hazardous. Too, there is definite record of one small ship with seventeen Greenlanders aboard being storm-blown from Markland (Labrador) to Iceland at the late date of 1347 and intimations of periodic visits to those North American shores to secure much-needed timber, "although not one in a hundred of these voyages had the slightest chance of being recorded." Wahlgren's final chapter contains a short but riveting account of what is known of the demise of the Norse Greenland settlements, after existing for half a millennium. For those who wish to get a visceral "feel" of life there, a recent and magnificent piece of historical fiction based on virtually all that is known of that time and place, and written in saga style, is Jane Smiley's "The Greenlanders" (see the Amazon reviews).

this is one of the best Lewis and Clark books, well researche and very easy to read. The objectivity of the author makes the book come forward to the present day and lets the reader see the total effect of the Lewis and Clark discoveries. A must read for any student of western history

Lavender has presented the story of Lewis & Clark in a format that makes reading history exciting. As a teacher of American History, this book is on my suggested reading list and the one most often discussed in class.

For students of the American West or Lewis & Clark, this as a "must read".

David Lavender just may have written the definitive history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It is a wonderfully wrought narrative, capturing the full width and breadth of this incredible journey. Lavender's sardonic tongue deflates many of the myths surrounding the "voyage of discovery," noting that for the most part this was a well-trodden path. The only actual "discovery" was that of linking the Missouri to the Columbia. However, this makes it no less an adventure.

He downplays the significance of Sacagewea. For the most part she was little used on this voyage. Her one major contribution was helping to secure horses for the great fording of the Bitteroot Mountains. Still, Lavender lavishes much attention on her and her son, which it seems that William Clark did as well. Her presence seemed to secure safe passage during their final leg down the Columbia River, as it made the expedition team seem less war-like.

Lavender also provides the background for the voyage, detailing President Jefferson's dream to establish an American Northwest Passage, linking one ocean to another. Lavender probes the seemingly paternal relationship between Jefferson and Lewis, and how Jefferson was able to win Congress over to a third attempt to cross the continent, despite questions regarding Lewis' qualifications. Jefferson personally trained Lewis for the expedition and provided added tutelage in the form of the leading lights of American science. Like a devoted son, Lewis made every effort to carry out the mission, which Jefferson sponsored, even when it seemed foolhardy to do so.

For those who haven't travelled this route before, you will be in good hands with David Lavender. For those who have, I think you will marvel at how masterful a job Lavender does in recording the events, giving the best rounded version of the "voyage of discovery" that I have read.

As a student of the Overland experience and a resident near the original trail in Nevada County I was just fascinated by this wonderful account. I wholeheartedly recommend this book and have given it as a gift to other early West enthusiasts.

Edwin Bryant's work is a classic not only of overland travel in 1846 but also of life in early California during the same time period.
The Kentucky newspaperman's writing style approaches poetic composition. He was a keen observer of every minute detail on the trail and when in California:
Geography; Indians; weather; describing the many people along the route; river fordings; acting the part of doctor to the many ailing emigrants; traveling with the Donner party; he and a handful of men separating from the main wagon train in Fort Laramie to go it alone; the perils, mishaps, hazards and beauty of the trail; meeting several celebrated individuals including Joseph Walker, Fremont, Sublette, Hastings, Hudspeth and Kearney to mention a few.
When in California, Bryant walked right into the United States' conquest of California from Mexico. He was a volunteer in Fremont's army to thwart insurgents. These and other timely events are well depicted. Bryant's description of what happened in the horrific Donner party expedition are piercing.
This is an exceptional book and highly recommended for enthusiasts of the early west.

In his own words Bryant describes his life on a wagon train going to California from the East Coast. If Bryant had a fault, it was that he too descriptive of the trail and events on the trail! If this wasn't enough, he was a doctor of the day, well, in his words, "Almost a Doctor." He was going to California to complete his studies. Like any good intern, he kept notes of who he treated on the trail and how he treated them. Also, being a bachelor, he was invited by the father of an eligible daughter to travel with them, "to let nature run it's course." This book should be a text book on the high school or the collegiate level.

Saguy's book accomplishes much and does so in an accessible and sophisticated way. I have used it to teach my undergraduates in an introductory gender course and they found it compelling and powerful. For them it opens up a black box of taken for granted assumptions about the relationship between gender and policy. It shows how gender shapes cultural and institutional arrangements, which in turn influences policy form and implementation, which in turn affects policy impacts and social change. The study does so with thoughtful analyses of indepth interviews of lawyers and human resource personnel, media analyses, and key informant interviews. My undergraduates thoroughly enjoyed the book and frequently referred to it in later discussions and essays. It had clearly impressed them. I will certainly use it in future courses.

I could also easily see using this book to teach about public policy. It is an excellent exemplar for social policy analysis. This is a beautifully written, excellent comparative analysis, and powerfully insightful study of how policies evolve in different contexts, yielding profoundly different implementation and impacts for individuals and society. In this way it can be useful not only for those interested in the specifics of the topic, but also for those interested in the broader questions of policy making, implementation and consequences.

Finally, I was recently at the University of Florida when Saguy's book came up in a conversation about women's studies. What is Sexual Harassment was to one of the senior scholars "a wonderful 'next generation' piece of scholarship" for future women's studies scholars to emulate.

In this pathbreaking comparative study, Saguy sheds light on a crucial aspect of the lives of many working women by analyzing the various frames through which sexual harassment is understood in two national contexts. While norms against sexual harassment are growing deeper roots in the American workplace, accusations of sexual improprieties remain often the object of ridicule in France. Saguy's explanation of this and other differences goes beyond traditional culturalist models. The beauty of her analysis is to capture some of the ways in which sexuality is used to gain power in the workplace, and the role played by cultural frameworks in mediating these modalities."--Michele Lamont, co-author of Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States

For more than 100 years, starting with Oliver Wendell Holmes' famous essay "The Path of the Law," American legal scholars have bemoaned the lack of a serious sociological jurisprudence, that would treat law as a social phenomenon, rather than as a conceptual game or an opportunity to indulge in covert advocacy disguised as scholarship.

Holmes was merely the first in a long line of legal thinkers to ignore his own advice (in his 30-year judicial career, he did basically nothing to advance any serious interdisciplinary study of law).

In her new book, Abigail Saguy demonstrates how a rigorous sociological investigation of a now-common legal concept from a comparative perspective can yield all sorts of insights into the nature of the politics of law.

Saguy compares the concepts of sexual harrassment as they have been developed by the American and French legal systems. Part of the book's value is how it reminds us that what now seems like a central concept of American, and to a much lesser extent, French, law, was something that literally did not even exist 30 years ago. She traces the genesis of the concept in the feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and describes how the concept has taken significantly different forms in France and America.

Her interviews with numerous prominent legal and political actors in both countries are fascinating, as is her analysis of the factors that have led to sexual harrassment being framed as a form of sex discrimination in America, and a crime of violence (albeit a widely ignored one) in France.

While Saguy's methods are markedly empirical, she does not overwhelm the reader with statistics. Rather, she weaves an engrossing narrative, that will interest lawyers, legal scholars, especially those with interests in comparative law, employment law, and gender politics, sociologists, political activists, and anyone else who is concerned with the use and abuse of sexual power in the workplace. (Among the many taken-for-granted issues Saguy helps clarify is the apparent arbitrariness ivolved in limiting the concept of sexual harrassment to workplace interactions).

This is a terrific book. If the academy produced more work like this, we wouldn't be suffering our current embarrassment of being able to read "The Path of the Law" 103 years after its publication with such a distinct sense of plus ca change . . .