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Turnout: Making Minnesota the State that Votes
by Joan Anderson GroweHigh voter turnout in Minnesota is no accident. It arose from the traditions of this state's early Yankee and northern European immigrants, and it has been sustained by wisely chosen election policies. Many of these policies were designed and implemented during the twenty-four-year tenure of Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Anderson Growe. In inspiring and often funny prose, Growe recounts the events that framed her life and changed the state's voting practices. She grew up in a household that never missed an election. After an astounding grassroots feminist campaign, she was elected to the state legislature in 1972; two years later, she was elected secretary of state, the state';s chief elections administrator. As one of the nation's leading advocates for reliable elections and convenient voting, Growe worked with county officials to secure Election Day registration (used for the first time in 1974) as a Minnesota norm. She brought new technology into elections administration and promoted "motor voter" registration. And as an ardent feminist, she has encouraged and inspired scores of other women to run for office. Part political history and part memoir, this book is a reminder to Minnesotans to cherish and protect their tradition of clean, open elections.
The Twelve Chairs (Northwestern World Classics)
by Ilya Ilf Evgeny Petrov Anne O. FisherWinner, 2012 Northern California Book Award for Fiction in Translation More faithful to the original text and its deeply resonant humor, this new translation of The Twelve Chairs brings Ilf and Petrov’s Russian classic fully to life. The novel’s iconic hero, Ostap Bender, an unemployed con artist living by his wits, joins forces with Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, a former nobleman who has returned to his hometown to look for a cache of missing jewels hidden in chairs that have been appropriated by the Soviet authorities. The search for the chairs takes them from the provinces of Moscow to the wilds of the Transcaucasus mountains. On their quest they encounter a variety of characters, from opportunistic Soviet bureaucrats to aging survivors of the old propertied classes, each one more selfish, venal, and bungling than the last. A brilliant satire of the early years of the Soviet Union, as well as the inspiration for a Mel Brooks film, The Twelve Chairs retains its universal appeal.
Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush
by Graeme ThompsonThe first ever in-depth study of Kate Bush's life and career, Under The Ivy features over 70 unique and revealing new interviews with those who have viewed from up close both the public artist and the private woman: old school friends, early band members, long-term studio collaborators, former managers, producers, musicians, video directors, dance instructors and record company executives.
The Unfinished House (Judy Bolton Mysteries #11)
by Margaret Sutton Pelagie DoaneJudy and Peter work to expose and outsmart a group of real estate swindlers. The Piper family has won a piece of property in Roulsville which is 15 feet by 100 feet. Since the property is not wide enough for a house, Mrs. Piper must purchase the adjoining property at a much higher than usual price so that she can build a house. Peter is determined to help Mrs. Piper, so the young people design a home that can be built on a narrow lot of land and hire men to begin building the home. Soon after construction begins, the young people are warned to beware of the Red Circle. Strange sounds are heard at night as the Piper home is built. Several people become sick with a strange illness apparently caused by the Red Circle. Judy's search for the mysterious culprit becomes even more desperate when her beloved cat Blackberry falls ill!
Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America
by Nathaniel FrankWith unfailing logic, Frank dissects the patterns of bigotry and fear that have fought to preserve a gay ban in the military and shows that the time to do away with it has come--not just as a moral issue, but also as a practical matter of survival for the military itself.
The Up Stairs Lounge Arson: Thirty-two Deaths in a New Orleans Gay Bar, June 24, 1973
by Clayton Delery-EdwardsOn June 24, 1973, a fire in a New Orleans gay bar killed 32 people. This still stands as the deadliest fire in the city's history. Though arson was suspected, and though the police identified a likely culprit, no arrest was ever made. Additionally, government and religious leaders who normally would have provided moral leadership at a time of crisis were either silent or were openly disdainful of the dead, most of whom were gay men. Based upon review of hundreds of primary and secondary sources, including contemporary news accounts, interviews with former patrons of the lounge, and the extensive documentary trail left behind by the criminal investigations, The Up Stairs Lounge Arson tells the story of who frequented this bar, what happened on the day of the fire, what course the investigations took, why an arrest was never made, and what the lasting effects of the fire have been.
Veronica Ganz
by Marilyn SachsFirst published in 1968. One of the most famous bullies in children's books, Veronica Ganz has never met her match. She has systematically beaten up everybody in all of the classes, and has never been challenged until ... until little Peter Wedemeyer moves into the neighborhood. Taunting, teasing and always one step ahead of her mighty fists, Veronica must find a way to teach him who is boss.
A Very Close Conspiracy: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf
by Jane DunnThe lives of Virginia Woolf and her sister, Vanessa Bell, embodied opposites of human nature. The former was dedicated to the life of the mind and imagination, the latter to sensual experience. This book shows how the two sisters developed and enriched each other's lives.
Virginia Woolf: A Writer's Life
by Lyndall GordonThis "original, intuitive, and even exciting" (The New Yorker) portrait highlights the experiences that shaped Virginia Woolf's life and art-her childhood, her relationships with her father and sister, her marriage, and her descents into madness.
The Voice In The Suitcase (Judy Bolton Mysteries #8)
by Margaret SuttonA picnic, a strange suitcase with voices from within, a surprise golden anniversary party and a friendship across the proverbial railroad tracks the Judy into her latest mystery. Everything begins with Judy and her friends befriending a pair of hungry hobos caring a strange suitcase making very peculiar sounds resembling words. After accidentally being left behind, Judy and Honey on a man appears to be left for dead in a ditch. Now he has the strange suitcase which continues to talk to them. After dropping them off the middle of nowhere at an isolated, you would think the mystery is behind them. However, Judy befriends two younger girls one poor, one entitled, and befriends the poor one, helping her prepare her grandparents home for a surprise golden anniversary party. Soon Judy becomes concerned, however, when it appears that an uncle may be involved in criminal activity. Come along with Judy and her friends on her next adventure! The thirty-eight volume Judy Bolton series was written during the thirty-five years from 1932-1967. It is one of the most successful and enduring girls' series ever published. The Judy Bolton books are noted not only for their fine plots and thrilling stories, but also for their realism and their social commentary. Unlike most other series characters, Judy and her friends age and mature in the series and often deal with important social issues. To many, Judy is a feminist in the best light-smart, capable, courageous, nurturing, and always unwavering in her true beliefs; a perfect role model.
War Reporting for Cowards
by Chris AyresFrom the book: "Captain," I called out. -How dangerous is this going to be?" "Don't worry," he said with a straight face. "People think artillery is boring. But we kill more people than anyone else." Chris Ayres never wanted to be a war correspondent. A small-town boy, a hypochondriac, and a neat freak with an anxiety disorder, he saw journalism as a ticket to lounging by swimming pools in Beverly Hills and sipping martinis at Hollywood celebrity parties. Instead, he keeps finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether it's a few blocks from the World Trade Center on September 11 or one cubicle over from an anthrax attack at The New York Post. Then, a misunderstanding with his boss sees him transferred from Hollywood to the Middle East, where he is embedded with the Marine Corps on the front line of the Iraq War, headed straight to Baghdad with a super-absorbent camping towel, an electric toothbrush, and only one change of underwear. What follows is the worst (not to mention the first) camping trip of his life. War Reporting for Cowards is the Iraq War through the eyes of a "war virgin." After a crash course on "surviving dangerous countries" where he nearly passes out when learning how to apply a tourniquet, and a gas mask training exercise where he is repeatedly told he is "one very dead media representative," Ayres joins the Long Distance Death Dealers, a battalion of gung-ho Marines who kill more people on the battlefield than anyone else. Donning a bright blue flak jacket and helmet, he quickly makes himself the easiest target in the entire Iraqi desert. Ayres spends the invasion digging "coffin-sized" foxholes, dodging incoming mortars, fumbling for his gas mask, and, at one point, accidentally running into the path of a dozen Republican Guard tanks amid a blinding mud storm. By "bogged down" by the growing insurgency, Ayres realizes not only what the sheer terror of combat feels like, but also the visceral thrill of having won a fight for survival. In the tradition of M*A*S*H and Catch-22, War Reporting for Cowards is by turns extraordinarily honest, heartfelt, and bitterly hilarious. It is destined to become a classic of war reportage.
The Warning on the Window (Judy Bolton Mysteries Series #20)
by Margaret SuttonJudy is at it again! An early mornign call for Peter with Judy and Roberta tagging along has dire implications for Peter. With Peter critically injured, Judy and Roberta have to solve the mystery of these increasingly frequent "accidents" on Arthur's development. What is the meaning of the warning on the window and will it help find Peter's assailant?
Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde
by Alexis De VeauxWinner of the 2005 Lambda Literary Award, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award: the first and "essential" (Choice) biography of the author, poet, and American icon of womanhood, black arts, and survival. During her lifetime, Audre Lorde (1934-1992), author of the landmark Cancer Journals, created a mythic identity for herself that retains its vitality to this day. Drawing from the private archives of the poet's estate and numerous interviews, Alexis De Veaux demystifies Lorde's iconic status, charting her conservative childhood in Harlem; her early marriage to a white, gay man with whom she had two children; her emergence as an outspoken black feminist lesbian; and her canonization as a seminal poet of American literature.
Washington's Monument: And the Fascinating History of the Obelisk
by John Steele GordonThe colorful story behind one of America's greatest monuments and of the ancient obelisks of Egypt, now scattered around the world. Conceived soon after the American Revolution ended, the great monument to George Washington was not finally completed until almost a century later; the great obelisk was finished in 1884, and remains the tallest stone structure in the world at 555 feet. The story behind its construction is a largely untold and intriguing piece of American history, which acclaimed historian John Steele Gordon relates with verve, connecting it to the colorful saga of the ancient obelisks of Egypt. Nobody knows how many obelisks were crafted in ancient Egypt, or even exactly how they were created and erected since they are made out of hard granite and few known tools of the time were strong enough to work granite. Generally placed in pairs at the entrances to temples, they have in modern times been ingeniously transported around the world to Istanbul, Paris, London, New York, and many other locations. Their stories illuminate that of the Washington Monument, once again open to the public following earthquake damage, and offer a new appreciation for perhaps the most iconic memorial in the country.
Watermark
by Karin KallmakerTeresa Mandrell's first encounter with advertising executive Rayann Germaine begins badly and goes downhill from there. Within minutes of their meeting, Rayann dubs Teresa a "bumbling amateur." The event changes the course of Teresa's life -- she abandons the corporate world for what she hopes is a more satisfying career in Fine Arts Management. When budget cuts leave her without work, Teresa gets a job as a design artist in another firm, only to discover that the new department head is ... Rayann! But the difference in the woman's demeanor is so startling that Teresa can't believe her eyes. Although the woman she'd fought with had been insensitive and rude, she was full of fire and passion. This Rayann is cold and withdrawn. To Teresa's chagrin, the woman doesn't even remember their fight. In fact, the two fall easily into an increasingly harmonious work relationship. As they grow even closer, Teresa slowly uncovers layer after layer of Rayann's hurtand pain. When she at last arrives at the terrible truth, Teresa is left with one burning question: How can she turn Rayann's heart away from grief and lead her back toward life and love?
We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama
by E. J. Dionne Jr. Joy-Ann ReidA collection of Barack Obama's greatest speeches selected and introduced by columnist E. J. Dionne and MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid. We Are the Change We Seek is a collection of Barack Obama's 26 greatest addresses: beginning with his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq War and closing with his final speech before the United Nations in September 2016. As president, Obama's words had the power to move the country, and often the world, as few presidents before him. Whether acting as Commander in Chief or Consoler in Chief, Obama adopted a unique rhetorical style that could simultaneously speak to the national mood and change the course of public events. Obama's eloquence, both written and spoken, propelled him to national prominence and ultimately made it possible for the son of a Kenyan man and a white woman from Kansas to become the first black president of the United States. These speeches span Obama's career--from his time in state government through to the end of his tenure as president--and the issues most important to our time: war, inequality, race relations, gun violence and human rights. The book opens with an essay placing Obama's oratorical contributions within the flow of American history by E. J. Dionne Jr. , columnist and author ofWhy The Right Went Wrong, and Joy Reid, the host ofAM Joyon MSNBC and author ofFracture.
We Who Are About To...
by Joanna Russ Samuel R. DelanyFirst published in 1976. A multi-dimensional explosion hurls the starship's few passengers across the galaxies and onto an uncharted barren tundra. With no technical skills and scant supplies, the survivors face a bleak end in an alien world. One brave woman holds the daring answer, but it is the most desperate one possible. Elegant and electric, We Who Are About To... brings us face to face with our basic assumptions about our will to live. While most of the stranded tourists decide to defy the odds and insist on colonizing the planet and creating life, the narrator decides to practice the art of dying. When she is threatened with compulsory reproduction, she defends herself with lethal force. Originally published in 1977, this is one of the most subtle, complex, and exciting science fiction novels ever written about the attempt to survive a hostile alien environment. It is characteristic of Russ's genius that such a readable novel is also one of her most intellectually intricate.
The Well Of Loneliness
by Radclyffe HallOriginally published in 1928, Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness is the timeless story of a lesbian couple's struggle to be accepted by "polite" society. When an unconventional woman named Stephen Gordon falls in love with an ingenue named Mary, their love affair gives Stephen her first taste of happiness. However, the pleasure the lovers find in each other is quickly tarnished by the disapproval of friends and family who refuse to welcome the "scandalous" couple in their homes. But the most difficult test of the women's love for each other comes when a young man offers to give Mary the "respect-ability" that Stephen can not. The Well of Loneliness is the thinly disguised story of Radclyffe Hall's own life. Shockingly candid for its time, this novel was the very first to condemn homophobic society for its unfair treatment of gays and lesbians. Banned outright in 1928, its publication marked an act of great courage which almost ruined Hall's literary career. Although half a century has passed since its initial publication, the issues of prejudice and persecution that Radclyffe Hall addresses remain sadly relevant today
Wendy Carlos: A Biography (Cultural Biographies Ser.)
by Amanda SewellWith her debut album Switched-On Bach, composer and electronic musician Wendy Carlos (b. 1939) brought the sound of the Moog synthesizer to a generation of listeners, helping to effect arguably one of the most substantial changes in popular music’s sound since musicians began using amplifiers. Her story is not only one of a person who blazed new trails in electronic music for decades but is also the story of a person who intersected in many ways with American popular culture, medicine, and social trends during the second half of the 20th century and well into the 21st. This biography tells the full story of her life and work and about the ways in which they reflect many dimensions of American culture. Author Amanda Sewell traces how Carlos's identity as a transgender woman has shaped many aspects of her life, her career, how she relates to the public, and how the public has received her and her music. She shows how cultural factors surrounding the treatment of transgender people affected many of the decisions that Carlos has made over the decades. Additionally, the book describes how cultural reception and perception of transgender people has colored how journalists, scholars, and fans have written about Carlos and her music for decades. Wendy Carlos: A Biography is essential reading for all who are interested in contemporary music and culture.
Wendy Carlos's Switched-on Bach (33 1/3 Ser. #141)
by Roshanak KheshtiSo much, popular and scholarly, has been written about the synthesizer, Bob Moog, and his brand-name instrument-and even Wendy Carlos, the musician who made this instrument famous. No one, however, has examined the importance of spy technology, the Cold War, and gender to this critically important innovation. What is the relationship between synthesizers, electronic music, and world politics? These unlikely correlations form the backdrop to Roshanak Kheshti's inquiry into Wendy Carlos's award-winning album. Through a postcolonial, feminist science and technology studies perspective, Kheshti explores the importance of Carlos's first album to synthesizer technology, home studio design, and sound color orchestration. She further examines the jockeying among world powers for status within an electronic music race akin to the Space Race of the same era. By focusing on Switched-On Bach (the highest-selling classical music recording of all time), this book examines the gendering of sound over the course of the twentieth century. Roshanak Kheshi is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and affiliate faculty in the Critical Gender Studies Program at the University of California, San Diego, USA.
What Are We Fighting For?: Sex, Race, Class and the Future of Feminism
by Joanna RussA study of the future of feminism calls for a return to the radical roots of feminism's direct political struggle during the 1960s and early 1970s and a move away from the de-politicized focus on women's psychology and personal relations of today.