Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 13, 2004|Volume 32, Number 18

Yale Books in Brief

The following is a list of books recently or soon-to-be published by members of the Yale community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.

To submit information about books for this column, send e-mail to opa@yale.edu.

Boys Will Be Boys: A Daughter's Elegy
Sara Suleri Goodyear, professor of English
(University of Chicago Press)

"Boys Will Be Boys: A Daughter's Elegy" is a follow-up to Sara Suleri Goodyear's 1987 book "Meatless Days," in which she describes her childhood recollections of the women in her family while growing up in Pakistan. In her new book, Suleri Goodyear's father, Z.A. Suleri -- a prominent political agitator and journalist in Karachi -- is a central character. In her portrait of her father, whom she describes as "preposterous ... counting himself king of infinite space," she describes his demands of loyalty from his children, his interference in their lives and relationships, his ability to banish them from his favor and his contrariness. The author dips in and out of her upbringing in Pakistan and her life in the United States, moving between public and private history in a memoir that addresses questions of loss and cultural displacement through a comic lens.

The Bronze Horseman: Falconet's Monument to Peter the Great
Alexander M. Schenker, professor emeritus of Slavic linguistics
(Yale University Press)

"The Bronze Horseman" deals with the cultural setting that prepared the ground for the Russian monument and provides life stories of those who were involved in its creation: the sculptors Etienne-Maurice Falconet and Marie-Anne Collot; the engineer Marin Carburi; the diplomat Dmitry Golitsyn; and Catherine the Great's "commissar" for culture, Ivan Betskoi. Schenker also touches upon the resonance of the monument in Russian culture, which, since its unveiling in 1782, has become the icon of St. Petersburg and has alimented the so-called "St. Petersburg theme" in Russian letters, familiar from the works of such writers as Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol and Bely.

Directions in Sexual Harassment Law
Edited by Catharine A. MacKinnon and Reva B. Siegel, the Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law
(Yale University Press)

Reva Siegel wrote the introductory essay for this book, a new edition of the 25-year-old work with the same title published by Catharine MacKinnon. In this volume, contributors appraise what has been accomplished in sexual harassment law and what still needs to be done, exploring such topics as the importance and definition of consent and unwelcomeness; issues of same-sex harassment; questions of institutional responsibility for sexual harassment in both employment and education settings; considerations of freedom of speech; effects of sexual harassment doctrine on gender and racial justice; and transnational approaches to the problem. An afterword by MacKinnon assesses the changes wrought by sexual harassment law in the past quarter century.

Experiences of Depression: Theoretical, Clinical, and Research Perspectives
Sidney J. Blatt, professor of psychiatry and psychology
(APA Books)

In "Experiences of Depression," Sidney J. Blatt integrates nearly 30 years of clinical insight and research exploring the nature of depression and the life experiences that contribute to its emergence. Beginning with case studies of two depressed patients in long-term treatment, the book demonstrates the value of considering the psychological dimensions of depression. Blatt identifies two types of depression that have distinct roots. One, which he terms "anaclitic depression," arises from feelings of loneliness and abandonment. The other, which he terms "introjective depression," is born of feelings of failure and worthlessness. Blatt contends that recognizing these fundamentally different depressive experiences has important clinical implications.

Feelings in History, Ancient and Modern
Ramsay MacMullen, the Dunham Professor of History and Classics Emeritus
(Regina Books)

Historian Ramsay MacMullen describes "Feelings in History, Ancient and Modern" as a "how-to" book on the best way of reading the records of the past. He surges that when looking at any moment that changed history, individuals must look for and define the urge that made the change, and argues that historians should read that history empathetically -- not in a detached or coldly rational way -- as much with their hearts as with their heads. His book includes illustrations from both historical sources and modern historians, and includes a chapter of comment drawn from modern psychology.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Levin named to review panel on intelligence operations

Scientist gets $6 million for study of Parkinson's disease

U.S. poet laureate appointed as Rosenkranz Writer-in-Residence

Yale Rep stages a 'King Lear' for the ages

Yale Rep's 'King Lear': A classic tale in an ancient setting

YHHAP: They don't just work for the homeless, but with them

Yale Art Gallery acquires floor mosaic from ancient city

Graduate School again increases stipends for doctoral students

President re-establishes Minority Advisory Council

Exhibition features 'Big and Green' architectural designs

Law practitioners to explore 'rebellious' strategies for change

Yale's NCAA self-study is available to community online

Scientists discover low level of enzyme in people with epilepsy

Event explores challenges of children in foster care . . .

Japanese puppetry to open Yale Rep's Special Event series

Panetti piece celebrating work with quartet to make East Coast premiere

Yale scholars Snyder and Gay honored . . .

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes