Paula Marie Coomer
Booktrope, 2010
While more known for her short stories, Paula Coomer takes the novel form to tell the story of Patricia Morrison, the daughter of Kentucky hill folk who leaves her hardscrabble life in Appalachia to discover a new existence in the West. After an unpleasant divorce, she lands on the Nez Perce Indian reservation to work as a nurse. The book, told in the main character’s voice, incorporates an exploration of … » More …
Images That Injure
edited by Susan Dente Ross and Paul Martin Lester
Praeger, 2011
WSU English professor Ross and her colleagues examine pictorial stereotypes in the media.
Seaside Stories
by S.R. Martin, Jr. ’74
Blue Nile Press, 2009
Short stories of life in Seaside, on California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies
by David G. James and David Nunnallee
Oregon State University Press, 2011
A unique chronicle of the life cycles of the butterfly species native to Cascadia. Read the feature article.
Cornell W. Clayton and Nicholas P. Lovrich
WSU Press, 2011
Washington state has its own distinct brand of democracy, growing from the early Populist and Progressive movements of the early twentieth century. This series of essays from leading scholars, journalists, and authorities on Washington’s government and politics delves into the unique facets of the state’s leaders, voters, and laws.
Edited by WSU political science emeritus professor Nicholas Lovrich and Cornell Clayton, … » More …
Travis N. Ridout and Michael M. Franz
Temple University Press, 2011
Another major election year has arrived and with it, the inevitable onslaught of political advertisements. Do those ads influence the way we vote, or do they just provide the background noise and distraction that build cynicism toward the modern democratic process?
Those are critical questions asked by Washington State University associate professor of political science Travis Ridout and his colleague … » More …
Richard Harlan Miller
Gray Dog Press, 2011
In an expensive downtown Spokane condo lives a predator. You wouldn’t guess it from his expensive wine, conservative clothes, classical music, and penchant for nature and historical TV programs, but Darius is part of a group who must drink the blood of humans.
They don’t use the v-word, turn into bats, or sleep in coffins, but the bloodsuckers in All You Can Eat live a very long time … » More …
Noriko Kawamura , Yoichiro Murakami, and Shin Chiba, editors
University of Washington Press, 2011
The idea of “peace” in our complex and conflicted world sometimes seems out of reach or even antiquated. The authors in this collection recognize these realities and make a concerted effort to build a new theory of peace studies.
Noriko Kawamura, a WSU assistant professor of history, co-edited the volume, which includes contributions from a number of Washington State faculty along … » More …
Alex Kuo
Haven Books, 2011
Ge and G, mathematicians in northern China and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, respectively, navigate parallel academic paths at the beginning of this unique and challenging novel by WSU English professor Alex Kuo. The two characters don’t know each other, but their lives reflect a common experience over the course of 30 years.
The Chinese woman Ge and Chinese-American man G share a disgust for the emptiness of their teaching and the revolutions … » More …
Alex Kuo
Wordcraft of Oregon, 2011
WSU English professor Alex Kuo’s newest collection of poetry, A Chinaman’s Chance: New and Selected Poems 1960-2010, will sadden, fascinate, and unexpectedly jar its readers into a fresh perspective of the sometimes terrifying world that we live in. This collection of Kuo’s poems provides a nice poetic balance, as readers are able to experience lyrical, narrative, and prose poetry all in the same book. Kuo’s writing conveys ideas about … » More …
Charles Argersinger, 2010
I have long admired Dr. Argersinger’s work so I was eager to hear his new CD, L.A. Rendezvous. Argersinger (a retired WSU music professor) is a consummate composer of contemporary art music and a superb jazz arranger and composer, so it was no surprise that the album exhibits a high level of craftsmanship. What did surprise me is the variety of instrumental and vocal selections featured on the album.
The CD consists of … » More …
Luz Maria Gordillo
University of Texas Press, 2010
There are communities of people who live their lives in two places at once. Residents of Detroit, Michigan, and the small town of San Ignacio, Mexico, for example. In her book, historian Luz Maria Gordillo sets out to explain the history of this phenomenon, which dates back to the 1940s when the Bracero Program started bringing temporary Mexican laborers into the Midwest.
She hones that focus to … » More …