 | Paul Freedman edited "Food: The History of Taste," a collection of essays by European and American historians that explores the evolution of food customs from ancient times to the present day. |
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.
Authors of new books can forward publishers’ book descriptions to susan.gonzalez. Benjamin Harshav has recently published two new books. “Explorations
in Poetics” is a collection of essays, published earlier and now revised,
which constitutes an introduction to a “grammar” of literature.
Developed by the author in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s, this theory of
the work of literature lay at the foundations of the Tel-Aviv School of Poetics.
The approach does not assume that the work of literature is a text with fixed
structures and meanings, but a text that invites the reader to evoke or project
a network of interrelated constructs, complementary or contradictory as they
may be. The volume explores a range of topics: the problems of fictionality,
presentation and representation, metaphor as interaction between several frames
of reference, the theory of Integrational Semantics in literary and other texts,
the meaning of sound patterns in poetry and the question of “literariness.” In “Food: The History of Taste,” Paul Freedman has gathered essays
by French, German, Belgian, American and British historians to present a comprehensive,
chronological history of taste from prehistory to the present day. The authors
explore such topics as the early repertoire of sweet tastes and the way people
learned to discriminate between different fats; the distinctive culinary contributions
made by classical antiquity and China; the subtle and varied food customs created
by the Islamic civilizations of Iberia, the Arabian desert, Persia and Baghdad
(the culinary capital of medieval Islam); the cuisine of the Middle Ages; French
cuisine’s rise to dominance in Europe and America; and the evolution
of modern restaurant dining, modern agriculture and modern kitchen technology,
among others. This new book by Judith Dupré, an architectural historian, examines
American monuments, both traditional and nontraditional, and the reasons — political,
psychological and emotional — for building them. The book features more
than 250 duotone photographs, a running timeline of milestones in the history
of time and memory, and a sculpted cover that evokes carved, inscribed stone
and the tactile experience of running one’s fingertips over a memorial.
The book is also a tribute to the real people whose memory is kept alive through
these memorials. Among the many monuments featured are the Lincoln Memorial,
the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the Civil Rights Memorial,
the Jerome and Rohwer internment/relocation camps, the Freedom Schooner Amistad,
the AIDS Quilt, Mount Auburn Cemetery, the Irish Hunger Memorial, the Alamo,
the Liberty Bell and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Kang Zhengguo’s memoir describes his life in Mao’s China and afterwards,
including his long stay in the prison camp system. He tells of how the innocuous
activity of keeping a journal led to accusations of his being a reactionary
member of the land-owning classes and of his ordeals as he is marched off from
college to a brick factory, a labor camp, prison, rural exile and, finally,
overseas exile. He escapes the Chinese gulag by forfeiting his identity: at
age 28 he is adopted by an aging bachelor in a peasant village, which enables
him to start a new life. Rehabilitated after Mao’s death, Zhengguo found
himself still subject to a recurring nightmare of party authority. This book features 24 sonnets that tell the story of Prudence Crandall and
her efforts to educate young African-American women in Canterbury, Connecticut,
1833-1834. The school began as a boarding school for white girls; when two
black women inquired about taking classes and Crandall agreed, the townspeople
withdrew their daughters. As she accepted more black students, the town became
more vocal in its resistance, poisoning the school water supply, refusing to
sell it supplies and charging Miss Crandall and others with a variety of “crimes.” Each
sonnet in “Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies & Little
Misses of Color” addresses an individual aspect of the story. The book
is written for children age 10 and older. Amy Bloom’s new novel is the epic and intimate story of Lillian Leyb,
who comes to America after her family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom. When
word comes that her daughter, Sophie, might still be alive, Lillian embarks
on an odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater in New York’s
Lower East Side to Seattle’s Jazz District, up to Alaska and along the
fabled Telegraph Trail toward Siberia. Her journey becomes more difficult and
dangerous as frail Lillian moves into the freezing wastelands of the Yukon,
never giving up hope. In “100 Million Unnecessary Returns,” Michael Graetz argues that
the U.S. tax code has become a tangle of loopholes, paperwork and inconsistencies,
a massive social program that fails tests of simplicity and fairness. More
importantly, he maintains, the tax system has failed to keep pace with the
changing economy, creating burdens and wastes of resources that weigh the nation
down. Graetz proposes a system where most Americans pay no income tax at all,
and those who do pay enjoy a far simpler tax process. This can be achieved,
he claims, without decreasing government revenues or removing key incenstives
for employer-sponsored health plans and pensions. This revised edition is a practical guide to the diagnosis and treatment of
skin disorders. The book outlines the pathophysiology, symptoms, clinical findings,
assessment and therapy of each disease and offers detailed guidelines for choosing
among therapeutic options. Also included are step-by-step instructions for
operative procedures and diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. A complete
and up-to-date formulary provides information on medications and other products
used in dermatology, including pharmacology and dosage. Emphasizing new and emerging therapies in each chapter, this reference provides
information for clinicians to provide accurate diagnoses and select the most
appropriate treatment regimens for patients with primary and metastatic brain
tumors and neurological complications of cancer. The guide reviews epidemiology,
identification and management of brain tumors while exploring the latest advances
in the field. “Power and Precedent” defines law as applied politics and examines
U.S. politics, a government created by Founders who did not believe political
parties were necessary. The book is a course whose lectures set out a jurisprudence
applicable to civil and scientific as well as common law. The thesis of the
course is that an understanding of the role of precedent in the common law
explains both the human condition and what has happened to the United States
since the decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The use of questions and
dialogue within the course involves the reader in the development of a jurisprudence
grounded in a philosophy of law. “Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code” offers a method to
develop sites in harmony with natural processes that is based on peer-reviewed
scientific findings. LAND Code can be readily used in conjunction with LEED,
EPA and other guidelines, and it features a rating scheme that weights each
development and land-use practice based on its environmental benefit and difficulty
of implementation; a step-by-step system that is accessible to non-experts;
a focus on land rather than buildings; and extensive use of photographs and
diagrams to illustrate practices and procedures. Chapters cover water, soil,
air, living resources, energy and materials. Throughout these chapters, the
authors recommend strategies that minimize disruption of the natural processes.
Each chapter provides background, describes benefits for both developers and
ecosystems and recommends protective strategies. The final chapter of the book
provides a series of examples of actual development projects in which a variety
of approaches have successfully attained sustainable development.
T H I S
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Yale Books in Brief
Explorations in Poetics and The Polyphony of Jewish Culture
Benjamin Harshav, professor of comparative literature and the J. and H. Blaustein
Professor of Hebrew Language and Literature
(Stanford University Press)
“The Polyphony of Jewish Culture” is a collection of essays meant “to
reflect the polyphony of voices that make up together the totality of modern
Jewish culture,” according to Harshav. He elucidates the complexities of
Hebrew and Yiddish metrics and offers new readings of poems in both languages.
In addition, he offers theoretical and critical insights into both multilingualism
and translation, and discusses the complex transformations in modern Jewish culture.
Also, using the works of Marc Chagall, Harshav teaches how to read the language
of painting.
Food: The History of Taste
Edited by Paul Freedman, professor of history
(University of California Press)
Monuments: America’s History in Art and Memory
Judith Dupré ’08, M.A.R. candidate at the Divinity School
(Random House)
Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China
Kang Zhengguo, senior lector in East Asian languages and literatures; translated by Susan Wilf
(W.W. Norton)
Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color
Elizabeth Alexander, professor of African- American studies, American studies and English, and Marilyn Nelson,
with illustrations by Floyd Cooper
(Boyds Mills Press)
Away
Amy Bloom, lecturer in English
(Random House)
100 Million Unnecessary Returns: A Simple, Fair and Competitive Tax Plan for the United States
Michael Graetz, the Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor of Law
(Yale University Press-London)
Manual of Dermatologic Therapeutics, 7th Edition
Kenneth A. Arndt, clinical professor of dermatology, and Jeffrey Hsu
(Lippincott, Williams and Williams)
Brain Tumors: Practical Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment (Neurological Disease and Therapy)
Edited by Joachim M. Baehring, assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery,
and Joseph M. Piepmeier, the Nixdorff-German Professor of Neurosurgery
(Informa Healthcare)
Power and Precedent: The Role of Law in the United States
Jan G. Deutsch, the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor Emeritus of Law and
Professorial Lecturer at the Law School
(Vanderplas Publishing)
Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code: Guidelines for Sustainable Land Development
Diana Balmori, critic at the School of Architecture and lecturer at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and Gaboury Benoit, professor of environmental
chemistry at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
(Wiley)
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Fossil from giant sea scorpion found
Paleontologist named next Peabody director
Yale senior and Law School student win Rhodes Scholarships
Renovation of Yale Bowl celebrated at The Game
Victor Vroom is named the inaugural BearingPoint Professor
Jonathan Feinstein appointed the John G. Searle Professor
Going the Distance: Scientist takes students to the Amazon . . .
Kissinger to take part in symposium on . . .
Venezuela’s future under Hugo Chávez will be explored . . .
Museum celebrates 200th anniversary of fall of ‘Weston’ meteorite
An old classic is seen through a modern lens at Yale Rep
Babies’ preference for altruists suggests social evaluation . . .
Monsanto expands support for center’s plant research
A likeness
Symposium will examine the architecture of Yale’s 22 libraries
Special events to highlight holiday season in New Haven
Gallery of gifts
Back to ‘The City’
Memorial service for Dr. Melvin Lewis
Yale Books in Briefs
Campus Notes
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