Books & Recordings
Books
The Politics of Social Welfare in America
By Glenn Mackin
Cambridge University Press, 2013
Mackin, assistant professor of political science in the humanities department at the Eastman School, explores the ways in which politicians, academics, and citizens talk about welfare and disability. He argues that their perceptions guide policy, while those deemed “needy” have challenged that designation through activism.
Reminiscences: A Journey through Particle Physics
By Adrian Melissinos
World Scientific Press, 2012
Melissinos, a professor of physics at Rochester who has conducted research in particle physics for more than 50 years, recounts the evolution of the field from the late 1950s until the present.
Anxious Wealth: Money and Morality among China’s New Rich
By John Osburg
Stanford University Press, 2013
Based on three years of field research in Chengdu, a commercial center and capital of China’s Sichuan province, Osburg, assistant professor of anthropology at Rochester, offers insight into the private and professional lives of a segment of China’s new business class.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History
Edited by Joan Shelley Rubin and Scott Casper
Oxford University Press, 2013
Rubin, professor of history at Rochester, coedits the two-volume encyclopedia of the American “values, aspirations, anxieties, and beliefs” as expressed in popular culture as well as formal thought. Among the topics included are minstrel shows, video games, book clubs, and the pursuit of “wellness,” as well as the works of prominent artists, writers, and theologians.
The Wave Function: Essays on the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics
Edited by Alyssa Ney and David Albert
Oxford University Press, 2013
Ney, associate professor of philosophy at Rochester, coedits the volume of essays on the metaphysics of quantum mechanics and contributes the essay “Ontological Reduction and the Wave Function Ontology.” The volume includes an overview of the history of quantum mechanics and its place in metaphysics among realist alternatives.
Defiant Daughters: 21 Women on Art, Activism, Animals, and The Sexual Politics of Meat
Edited by Carol Adams ’72
Lantern Books, 2013
Adams collects 21 personal stories from young writers about the impact on their lives of Adams’s 1990 book The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory, in which Adams explored the connections between meat-eating and virility across cultures. Among the contributors is Lagusta Yearwood ’00.
Pay It Forward: Mentoring New Information Professionals
By Mary Ann Mavrinac and Kim Stymest
American Library Association, 2013
Mavrinac, vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries, coauthors a guide to mentoring. The authors offer tips to new information science professionals seeking a mentor, while arguing that mentoring is a partnership in which benefits extend to both parties.
Mercy! A Celebration of Fenway Park’s Centennial Told through Red Sox Radio and TV
By Curt Smith
Potomac Books, 2012
Smith, an author, political speechwriter, and senior lecturer in the English department at Rochester, presents the 100-year history of Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, through accounts from Red Sox radio and television broadcasters.
Mastering the Bow
By Gaelen McCormick ’92E
Carl Fischer, 2013
McCormick, a bassist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and a faculty member at the Eastman Community Music School, provides a guide to bow technique, based on Franz Wohlfahrt’s Studies for Violin, for beginning and intermediate students.
The ’90s: Diary of a Mess
By Alexsandra Sukhoy ’03S (MBA)
CreateSpace, 2013
Sukhoy, a Cleveland-area career coach and blogger, presents a collection of poetry, photography, and musings she created during and about the 1990s. The book features a foreword by artist Jacob Livshultz and afterword by comedian Deena Nyer Mendlowitz.
All I Want for Christmas
By Michael Bresner ’65
iUniverse, 2013
Bresner tells a story of murder and mayhem among Santa’s elves, and the efforts of Santa and his nemesis, the elf leader, to solve the mystery. The book is the first in a series of revisionist novels based on myths, legends, and fairy tales.
Reform of Eyewitness Identification Procedures
Edited by Brian Cutler ’82
American Psychological Association, 2013
Cutler, a psychologist and professor on the faculty of social sciences and humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, offers policy recommendations based on research in eyewitness memory, the composition of police line-ups, and other aspects of eyewitness identification. Cutler is also the author of Conviction of the Innocent: Lessons from Psychological Research (American Psychological Association).
Difficult Is the Path: Why Life as a Disciple of Jesus Is Not for the Fainthearted
By R. Roderick Cyr ’01S (MBA)
Crossbooks, 2013
Cyr, chief financial officer of Own Products in San Francisco, explores the meaning of Jesus’s declaration in the Sermon on the Mount, “difficult is the path that leads to life.” Arguing that churches have ignored Jesus’s message, Cyr argues for the value of the difficult path and the ways in which it might lead to a more satisfying and purposeful life.
The Last Akaway
By Gary Karton ’91
Brattle Publishing Group, 2013
In Karton’s young adult fantasy, the last akaway—a rare, magical creature that connects children to their spirit animals—is in danger, and 11-year-old Brody Boondoggle leads the effort to save it.
Lucy in the Mind of Lennon
By Tim Kasser ’94 (PhD)
Oxford University Press, 2013
Kasser, professor of psychology at Knox College in Illinois, offers a psychobiography of the Beatles’ John Lennon, exploring a question oft-asked by Beatles fans, What was the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” about? The book is part of the Oxford Pyschobiography Series.
Marine Corps Marathon: An Epic Journey in Photographs
By Steve Nearman ’82 and Jeff Horowitz
MCM Photobooks, 2013
Nearman, a sports journalist who covered the Marine Corps Marathon for the Washington Post and other publications, coauthors a 150-page coffee table photo book showcasing the 37-year history of the 26.2-mile race that winds through Washington, D.C., each fall.
Engineering Dynamics: From the Lagrangian to Simulation
By Roger Gans
Springer, 2013
Gans, professor of mechanical engineering at Rochester, offers an overview of dynamics designed for beginning graduate students in mechanical engineering and related disciplines.
The It Girl Rules: It’s Getting Haute in Here—Tips on Navigating Your Style Journey
By Tamika Nurse ’02S (MBA)
It Girl Industries, 2013
Nurse, an apparel marketer and CEO of It Girl Industries, offers fashion and style advice for women striving “to stir up their creativity and become their best selves.”
Constitution 20XX
By Allen H. Brown ’53
Paper Tier, 2013
Allen, a retired Air Force avionics engineer, offers his first novel, a science fiction thriller in which a catastrophic event wipes out much of the American population, forcing the nation to begin anew.
Recordings
Blue Serenade
By the Brian Cunningham Quartet
Jazz Project, 2013
The quartet that includes drummer and producer Jud Sherwood ’89 performs original works by guitarist and composer Cunningham. The recording is the 10th produced by Sherwood on his Jazz Project label.
From Afar
By Nicholas Goluses
Albany Records, 2012
Goluses, professor of guitar at the Eastman School, performs a varied program including the first recording of the solo version of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Joseph Schwantner’s From Afar.
An American Hallel: The Sacred Choral Music of Michael Isaacson
By Counterpoint
Michael Isaacson, 2013
The professional vocal ensemble Counterpoint performs works by Michael Isaacson ’79E that offer a contemporary interpretation of the Jewish conception of gratitude.
All the Days of My Life: The Wedding Album
By Vicente Avella ’98E (MM)
Pandora’s Boombox Records, 2013
Pianist Avella presents music offering “a current expression to the traditional wedding classics.” The producer is Windham Hill founder William Ackerman.
Less Is More
By Rich Thompson ’84E (MM)
Origin Records, 2013
Thompson, a drummer and associate professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at Eastman, performs original compositions and standards with trumpeter Terell Stafford, pianist Gary Versace ’93E (MM), saxophonist and Eastman graduate student Doug Stone, and bassist and Eastman associate professor of jazz studies and contemporary media Jeff Campbell ’02E (DMA).
Books & Recordings is a compilation of recent work by University alumni, faculty, and staff. For inclusion in an upcoming issue, send the work’s title, publisher, author or performer, a brief description, and a high-resolution cover image, to Books & Recordings, Rochester Review, 22 Wallis Hall, P. O. Box 270044, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0044; or by e-mail to rochrev@rochester.edu.