Review

Fall 2014

Asian American Women’s Popular Literature

Pamela Thoma

Temple University Press, 2013

Since Nathaniel Hawthorne famously complained about the “damned mob of scribbling women” in 1855, much has changed in American literary and popular culture, not least the nation’s racial demographics, which now include substantial numbers of Asian Americans, as well as other people of color. And yet, the significance of women’s popular fiction continues to be overlooked, if not derided outright, by many social and cultural … » More …

Summer 2014

New & noteworthy

Kierkegaard for the Church: Essays and Sermons

by Ronald F. Marshall ’71

Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013

Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophy and writings on Christianity have been a staple of classrooms and academics for many years, but have not necessarily been applied to the practice and teaching of the Christian faith. Marshall, pastor at First Lutheran Church in West Seattle since 1979, takes Kierkegaard’s criticisms of the Danish church and emphasis on individual engagement with the religion into pragmatic sermons and essays on the philosopher’s role in churches today. Marshall has authored more than 50 articles on religion, specializing in the works of Martin Luther … » More …

Summer 2014

Legal Guide to Social Media: Rights and Risks for Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Kimberly A. Houser

Allworth Press, 2013

Millions of photos, links, and comments are posted to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter every day, yet the legal briar patch of copyright, privacy, defamation, and more can snag both personal and business users. Houser, an attorney and clinical professor in Washington State University’s College of Business, wrote this book as a guide to some common legal risks of social media.

… » More …

Summer 2014

Hunger Immortal: The First Thirty Years of the West Seattle Food Bank, 1983–2013

Ronald F. Marshall ’71

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013

What is today the West Seattle Food Bank started as a shoestring operation in an abandoned public school building. A pair of retired grocers from South Dakota had taken on responsibility for distributing government commodities like cheese and peanut butter to needy community members.

Thirty years later, the food bank owns its own building, serves an average of 750 families a week, and … » More …

Summer 2014

The Aesthetics of Strangeness: Eccentricity and Madness in Early Modern Japan

W. Puck Brecher

University of Hawai‘i Press, 2013

Eccentricity and odd artistic behavior in the Edo period of Japan (1600–1868) proliferated as an aesthetic subculture that both resisted the rigidity of the Tokugawa realm and served as a source of moral and cultural values.

This study by Brecher, an assistant professor of Japanese language at Washington State University, delves into the complex role of oddballs and eccentrics as sources of artistic … » More …

Spring 2014

New & noteworthy

Operation Cody: An Undercover Investigation of Illegal Wildlife Trafficking in Washington State

Todd A. Vandivert ’79

2013

Undercover game wardens Todd Vandivert and Jennifer Maurstad posed as husband and wife businesspeople in 2010 to bring down commercial poachers and black market dealers in wildlife parts. This first person account by former Washington State Fish and Wildlife Detective Vandivert tells of their success as they risked their lives to reduce wildlife destruction in the Pacific Northwest.

Isaiah Shembe’s Prophetic Uhlanga

Joel E. Tishken

Peter Lang Publishing, 2013

During South Africa’s colonial era, Zulu Zionist prophet Isaiah Shembe and his Nazareth Baptist Church congregants saw … » More …

Spring 2014

A Yankee on Puget Sound

Karen L. Johnson ’78 and Dennis M. Larsen ’68

WSU Press, 2013

Pioneer Edward Jay Allen lived near Olympia when the Oregon Territory was split in two and federal politicians elected to name the new territory Washington, rejecting the local suggestion of Columbia. Allen helped survey a wagon road over Naches Pass, a backcountry route still in use by those who favor mud and adversity over miles per gallon and speed. Future Union general George B. McClellan shared a cabin with Allen one summer, leading to a fast friendship a decade before … » More …

Spring 2014

Civility and Democracy in America: A Reasonable Understanding

Cornell W. Clayton and Richard Elgar

WSU Press, 2012

This collection of essays from WSU professors and other scholars takes a hard look at the historical and contemporary state of civility in the country, probing the complexities and the causes of the current “crisis.”

The articles cover not just history, but religion, architecture, ethics, philosophy, and media studies, as the writers discuss the context of incivility and heated rhetoric surrounding major issues of social movements, civil rights, immigration, and other matters long affecting American democracy.

The collection of essays emerged from a 2011 conference on civility … » More …

Spring 2014

Soldiers of Paint

Doug Gritzmacher ’98 and Michael DeChant Jr.

Double Six Productions, 2013

Through clouds of smoke, soldiers call out to each other at Omaha Beach in the Normandy fields they recreated in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. Paintballs fly through the air as Allied troops storm toward concrete pillboxes filled with Axis troops intent on preventing the invasion.

It’s a hot, humid June day at the world’s largest paintball game, an annual reenactment of D-Day on 710 private acres. Thousands of paintball enthusiasts gather for this monumental event, captured in all of its chaos and camaraderie in the … » More …

Winter 2013

Think About That

Chance McKinney ’96

2013

As the rhythmic guitars launch “Son of a Gun,” the lead song from Chance McKinney’s album Think About That, it’s easy to get hooked into his industrial country music, a powerful blend of modern country and guitar-driven rock, with some unexpected surprises along the way.

If you can expect anything from McKinney’s music, it’s a solid dose of fun. In the second track, the organ, catchy melody, and backup singers from … » More …