New & Noteworthy Books
New Books from Independent &
University Presses
See full list of noteworthy books by category below
Posted on May 28, 2008
Chicken
Foot Farm
Novel by Anne Estevis
Pinata Books, April 2008
ISBN-10: 155885505X
ISBN-13: 978-1558855052
Paperback: 160pp; $10.95
On the eve of World War II, young Alejandro comes of age on his family's South Texas farm, known as Chicken Foot Farm because of how his mother marks her chicks. "Mama held the chick against her breast and splayed its left foot between her thumb and index finger. With her free hand she... quickly cut off the end of the chick's shortest toe." Rich with the customs and traditions of rural, Mexican-American life, Chicken Foot Farm depicts a multi-generational family in flux as change crawls relentlessly toward their land and lifestyle.
From
the Palmer Raids
to the Patriot Act:
A History of the Fight
for Free Speech in America
By Christopher M Finan
Beacon Press, May 2008
ISBN-10: 0807044296
ISBN-13: 978-0807044292
Paperback: 352pp; $25.95
The first comprehensive history of the evolution of Free Speech in America for a general readership, from a respected historian and free speech activist.
Latinos
in Lotusland
An Anthology of Contemporary
Southern California Literature
Edited by Daniel A. Olivas
Bilingual Press, April 2008
ISBN-10: 1931010471
ISBN-13: 978-1931010474
Paperback: 310pp; $20.00
Latinos in Lotusland brings to life Latino denizens of Los Angeles and the city's surrounding communities. The stories describe complex, diverse characters: young and old, gay and straight, rich and poor. Meet a Cuban-American screenwriter trying to pitch the "real" story behind the Bay of Pigs fiasco, a Mexican woman who believes she's seen a miracle, youths trying to avoid gang life while others embrace it, and many others.
O,
Captain
Poems by John Popielaski
The Ledge Press, March 2008
Paperback: 32pp; $8.00
Winner of The Ledge 2006 Poetry Chapbook award. This is John Popielaksi's third collection of poetry. Previously published works include Contemporary Martyrdom and A Brief Eureka for the Alchemists of Peace.
Selected
Poems: 1970-2005
Poems by Floyd Skloot
Tupelo Press, April 2008
ISBN-10: 1932195599
ISBN-13: 978-1932195590
Paperback: 160pp; $17.95
Selected Poems gathers 99 poems, Floyd Skloot’s selection of the finest work from his widely-praised five volumes of poetry. These poems show Skloot’s technical range and mastery of craft, his thematic development, and his growing maturity as a poet celebrating life while facing squarely its harsh challenges and sudden losses. Selected Poems allows a fresh assessment of this “poet of singular skill and subtle intelligence.” (Harvard Review)
Zublinka Among Women
Novel by Robert Wexelblatt
Ken Arnold Books, February 2008
ISBN-10: 0979963427
ISBN-13: 978-0979963421
Paperback: 340pp; $18.00
Zublinka is a beloved friend, author, and philosopher who, at the age of seventy, lives a rich and varied life of the mind and spirit. Actually, he lives several lives, writing poems and stories under pseudonyms, two of them female. He is also engaged by the lives of others. His dear friend Julia is having some marital difficulties that distress him. Julia's daughter, whom he calls George, adores him, and he writes stories for her, one under the pseudonym, Don Corleone, about "Finbad the Failer." A feminist philosopher condemns and flirts with him.
New & Noteworthy Books
Full list of new & noteworthy books received.
May 21, 2008
Poetry
Age of the Demon Tools, Mark Spitzer (Ahadada Books)
Away, Joel Thomas Katz (Mayapple Press)
Bear, Karen Chase (CavanKerry Press)
Bill’s Formal Complaint, Dan Kaplan (National Poetry Review Press)
Cage, Astrid Cabral (Host Publications)
Disappointed Psalms, Brian Clements (Meritage Press)
Husk, Terry Phelan (Box Turtle Press)
Like Vapor, Joy Gaines-Friedler (Mayapple Press)
The Man I was Supposed to Be, John Struloeff (Loom Press)
Narcissus, Cecilia Woloch (Tupelo Press)
Opening Day, William Corbett (Hanging Loose Press)
Pathogenesis, Peggy Munson (Switchback Books)
A Prehistory of Minds, Brian Aldiss (Mayapple Press)
Saunas, Jane Piirto (Mayapple Press)
Selected Poems: 1970-2005, Floyd Skloot (Tupelo Press)
Starting Friction, Tenea D. Johnson (Mayapple Press)
Three Early Manuscripts, Joseph Gracchiolo (Beacon Press)
Chapbooks
O, Captain, John Popielaski (The Ledge Press)
Fiction
The Curse of Eve and Other Stories, Liliana Blum (Host Publications)
End Credits, A. F. Rutzy (Casperian Books)
Hallam’s War, Elizabeth Payne Rosen (Unbridled Books)
High Hat, Greg Mandel (Ken Arnold Books)
Hotel Stories, Mike Tyler (The Art Cannot Be Damaged, Inc.)
Invite, Glen Pourciau (University of Iowa Press)
No Way to Peace, Tom Milton (Nepperhan Press)
Samuel Joseph for President, Malcolm Boyd (Ken Arnold Books)
A Tomb on the Periphery, John Domini (Gival Press)
Zublinka among Women, Robert Wexelblatt (Ken Arnold Books)
Anthologies
Latinos in Lotusland: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern California Literature, Ed. Daniel A. Olivas (Bilingual Review Press)
Nonfiction
American Furies, Sasha Abramsky (Beacon Press)
Can We Talk about Race?, Beverly Daniel Tatum (Beacon Press)
A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, John Powers (Snow Lion Publications)
From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act, Christopher M. Finan (Beacon Press)
The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World, Adrian Murdoch (Inner Traditions)
Soaring with Fidel, David Gessner (Beacon Press)
Spider Speculations, Jo Carson (Theatre Communications Group)
Vinegar into Honey, Ron Leifer (Snow Lion Publications)
YA/Children’s
Alamo Wars, Ray Villareal (Pinata Books)
Chicken Foot Farm, Anne Estevis (Pinata Books)
Do You Know the Cucuy?, Claudia Galindo (Pinata Books)
Growing Up with Tamales, Gwendolyn Zepeda (Pinata Books)
Witches, Owls, and Spooks, Alonso M. Perales (Pinata Books)