Indiana University Press blog

Staff recommendations for 50% off spring book sale

Today is the first day of spring, and we're celebrating with a 50% off book sale! It can be a daunting task to make a selection from our 2,000+ titles, so we surveyed our staff to see which books they recommend to jump-start your spring reading. We hope you find something you like from the list below, which includes a wide range of interests from American History to Women's Studies! Check out the IU Press website for a complete list of books. Our sale ends March 22, so don't delay purchasing your favorite titles at half off!

American History

• Defeating Lee
  Dave Hulsey, Director of Sales and Marketing
• The Darkest Dawn
  Rich Pierce, Systems Analyst/Programmer
• Somebody’s Darling
  Bernie Zoss, Production Director
• Dillinger: The Untold Story
  Rhonda Vander Dussen, Sales and Marketing Assistant
• A Life is More Than a Moment
  Mary Lou Shelly, Senior Customer Service Representative

Anthropology

• Connected in Cairo
  Angela Burton, Managing Editor
• The Art of Loving Krishna
  Marvin Keenan, Project Manager

Art & Photography

• Contemporary Quilt Art
  Linda Bannister, Journals Marketing Manager
• Saving the Big Cats
  Kate Matthen, Marketing and Sales Coordinator
• Real Stories of Big Cat Rescues
  Mary Beth Haas, Sales Manager

Education

• Searching for Hope
  Mandy Clarke, Trade Marketing and Publicity Manager
• Conversations with Great Teachers
  Rebecca Tolen, Sponsoring Editor

Film & Media

• The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies
  Dan Pyle, Production Coordinator and Vendor Liaison
• The Magazine Article
  Joy Andreakis, Electronic and Serials Publishing Manager

Literature & Essays

• Earth Works
  Laura Baich, Electronic Marketing Manager
• Rural Free
  Jennifer Witzke, Marketing Designer
• Petersburg
  Peter Froehlich, Rights Manager

Books from the Global African Voices series:

• Little Mother
  Dee Mortensen, Senior Sponsoring Editor
• Life and a Half
  June Silay, Project Manager
• Murambi, The Book of Bones
  Jennifer Coyle, Customer Service Representative

Book from the Break Away Books series:

• The Glimpse Traveler
  Sarah Jacobi, Assistant Sponsoring Editor

Book from the Library of Indiana Classics series:

• A Girl of the Limberlost
  Kathy Stout, Accounting Associate

Music

• Debussy Redux
  Raina Polivka, Sponsoring Editor
• Beethoven in America
  Pam Rude, Senior Book Designer

Nature

• Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests
  Linda Oblack, Sponsoring Editor
• 101 Trees of Indiana
  Nancy Lightfoot, Project Manager
• Fishes of Indiana
  Steve Carter, Warehouse Manager
• Mammals of Indiana
  Laura Hohman, Production Assistant
• Perennials Short and Tall
  Dan Nichols, Operations Director
• The Natural Heritage of Indiana
  Tony Brewer, Composition Coordinator

Politics

• Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate
  Janet Rabinowitch, Director

Railroads

• Moonlight in Duneland
  Mary Blizzard, Book Designer
• The Indiana Rail Road Company
  Jamison Cockerham, Book Designer

Science

• Dinosaurs of Eastern Iberia
  Bob Sloan, Editorial Director
• Why You Can Never Get to the End of the Rainbow And Other Moments of Science
  Ted Boardman, Technology Director

Women’s Studies

• A Home of Her Own
  Judith Caldwell, Journals Production Manager
• To Write Like a Woman
  Darja Malcolm-Clarke, Project Manager

World History

• Last Folio
  Mollie Ables, Marketing Services Coordinator
• The Style of Paris
  Theresa Halter, Publicity Coordinator

Author event: Amber Day to speak at Boston College

Amber Day, author of Satire and Dissent, will be a part of a panel discussion at Boston College Nov. 15. The panel titled "Satire as Informing" includes a discussion of the relevance of satirical news and its popularity with college students. 

This free event begins at 7:30 p.m. at Higgins 300 at Boston College. For more information, visit the Boston College Events website.  

13 years after Matthew Shepard's murder, new book examines media coverage of his case

During the early hours of October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a college student at the University of Wyoming, was horribly beaten and left to die. His killers drove him to the outskirts of town, took his wallet and shoes and tied him to a fence, where they kicked, taunted, and beat him unconscious with the butt of a pistol. They left him tied to the fence in the cold night. Eighteen hours later, he was found by a mountain biker who said he initially thought he was a scarecrow—a comparison that would be much cited in the coverage of the murder. He never regained consciousness, and died 13 years ago today.

The role the media played in cultivating, shaping, and directing the collective emotional response to the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., who was also brutally killed four months before Shepard, is explored in Jennifer Petersen's gripping new book, Murder, the Media, and the Politics of Public Feelings.

The horrific crimes against these two men provoked a passionate public outrage. The intense media coverage of the murders made moments of violence based in homophobia and racism highly visible, which eventually led to the passage of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009. 

Tracing the emotional exchange from news stories to the creation of law, Petersen calls for an approach to media and democratic politics that takes into account the role of affect in the political and legal life of the nation.

Read an excerpt from the book.

New book examines media coverage of James Byrd Jr. and Matthew Shepard cases

In the late evening of Saturday, June 6, 1998, in Jasper, Texas, three young white men offered a ride to James Byrd Jr., a middle-aged black man who was walking home from his niece’s bridal shower. After sharing beers and cigarettes with Byrd, they beat him before tying him by the feet to the back of their truck and dragging him for two and a half miles and dumping his decapitated body by the side of the road near a predominantly black church. One of these men, Lawrence Russell Brewer, is set to die in Texas Wednesday evening.

Just four months later, Matthew Shepard, a college student at the University of Wyoming, was horribly beaten and left to die. His killers drove him to the outskirts of town, took his wallet and shoes and tied him to a fence, where they kicked, taunted, and beat him unconscious with the butt of a pistol. They left him tied to the fence in the cold night. Eighteen hours later, he was found by a mountain biker who said he initially thought he was a scarecrow—a comparison that would be much cited in the coverage of the murder.

The horrific murders of these two men provoked a passionate public outrage. The intense media coverage of the murders made moments of violence based in racism and homophobia highly visible, which eventually led to the passage of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009. The role the media played in cultivating, shaping, and directing the collective emotional response to these heinous crimes is explored in Jennifer Petersen's gripping new book, Murder, the Media, and the Politics of Public Feelings.

Tracing the emotional exchange from news stories to the creation of law, Petersen calls for an approach to media and democratic politics that takes into account the role of affect in the political and legal life of the nation.

Read an excerpt from the book.

IUP author appears in Page One movie

Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times opens in Bloomington September 1 as part of the Ryder Film Series. The film will be shown in FARM's Rootcellar Lounge at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Listen closely for the voice of Ugly War, Pretty Package author Deborah Jaramillo, who is interviewed by Brian Stelter in the documentary! She was interviewed for a New York Times piece on the media's coverage of the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq.

Book review: Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War

"This enjoyable volume is a welcome addition to the literature on popular culture in Italy. It is a comprehensive and informative book which will be of great interest to scholars and postgraduate students of Italian cultural and social studies, and to those working on Italian history and politics of the twentieth century." —The European Legacy

Book review: Murder, the Media, and the Politics of Public Feelings

"Petersen makes use of an intriguing thesis and presents an insightful source for journalism and broadcasting students." —Library Journal

Book review: Satire and Dissent

"In this compelling new book, Day manages to not only persuasively argue why political satire has gained such a foothold in our popular culture, but also convincingly argues why it matters." —Liminalities

Book review: Migrant Media

"[The author's] work contributes not only to the anthropology of media, but also to other areas of anthropology, such as community and migration studies. Her work is truly timely, as it offers answers to questions that German politicians are now (again) asking with populist overtones. I hope that expert voices, such as Kosnick’s, will be heard in this debate, and that they will be included in the development of policies that do not go past 'Turkish migrants' but include them in the discussion." —H-SAE

Choice reviews - June 2011

The following books were reviewed in the June issue of Choice magazine (requires subscription): 

Hollywood Gamers 

"[The author] provides a comprehensive transdisciplinary history of ideas, performing a necessary critical convergence in order to encompass the complexity of his topic. ...Highly recommended."

New Francophone African and Caribbean Theatres 

"An important resource for a broad audience, the book is particularly valuable for its in-depth discussion of a number of Francophone plays. ...Highly recommended."