In Print

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The Seventh King
by Njedeh Anthony
NVL Publishing, $7
Rooted in Revelations 17:10, this first book by Njedeh Anthony, a program analyst with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, takes readers on a fantastical journey through the life of a man named Hades as he struggles to answer the question that has haunted him since birth: Who – or what – is The Seventh King? Born into hatred and raised by a cursed woman, Hades has a special ability to reach a deeper part of his soul than others, giving him strange powers and visions. He travels the world studying various religions and uncovering secret societies and underground sects, all in search of mysterious monarch. This book is available for purchase at Amazon.com.
03/03/08
Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope
by Donald E. Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller, photographs by Jerry Berndt
University of California Press, $29.95
In a companion to their acclaimed work Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide, Donald E. Miller, professor of religion at USC College and director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC, and his co-author and wife interviewed 300 Armenians to bring together firsthand testimony about the social, economic and spiritual circumstances of Armenians during the 1980s and 1990s when their country faced war, pogroms and earthquakes. The vivid descriptions of the Millers’ experiences during their research trips and searing photographs by Jerry Berndt bring contemporary Armenia to life.
02/25/08
It Knows You By No Other Name
by Dan McNay
iUniverse, $15.95
Dan McNay, technical team manager in USC Purchasing Services, has run a cemetery in Illinois, sold used and rare books in the French Quarter and once won the staff speed calculator competition at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Now he has published a murder-suspense novel and designed the cover himself. His story takes readers through the tumultuous summer of 12-year-old Jake, whose life is changed when his mother’s lover returns, his grandmother dies and he saves his mother’s life, all the while learning there are some things you just cannot escape.
02/25/08
Campus Secrets: College Tales of Love and Loathing, Fear and Favor
by Robert Ellwood
Lulu.com, $18
Robert Ellwood, professor emeritus of religion at USC College, has spent years on university campuses, from growing up in a college town to a 30-year career as a professor. In his first collection of short stories, he draws on these experiences, leaving no corner of campus unturned. His stories cover all aspects of college life, from dorm rooms, sorority and fraternity row to graduate school, faculty and administration, with the final chapter devoted to the college experience during the 1960s.
02/25/08
About My Life and the Kept Woman
by John Rechy
Grove Press, $24
Raised as a Mexican-American in Texas, John Rechy routinely faced discrimination. As he grew older – and as his fascination with a notorious woman deepened – he became aware that their differences were not just in his heritage but in his sexuality. For the first time, Rechy, a lecturer in USC College’s Master of Professional Writing Program, writes openly about his life, from his childhood during the Great Depression to his rebellious times in school, a defiant period in the army, his arrest in Los Angeles and emergence as a writer, creating a testament to the power of pride and self-acceptance.
02/18/08
Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization
by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright
Collins, $26.95
Every company and organization is a tribe – everyone knows, or knows of, everyone else. More powerful than teams, companies or even CEOs, an assortment of key leverage points have not been mapped until now, following an eight-year study by Dave Logan Ph.D. ’97, lecturer, former associate dean and former director of USC Marshall’s Office of Executive Education, along with co-author Halee Fischer-Wright ’06. Featuring a foreword by University Professor Warren Bennis, the authors show leaders how to employ their companies’ so-called tribes to maximize productivity and profit. The book includes interviews with NASCAR chief executive officer Brian France and Dilbert creator Scott Adams, among others.
02/18/08
Narrative and the Cultural Construction of Illness and Healing
ed. by Cheryl Mattingly and Linda C. Garro
University of California Press, $19.95
Powerful stories of healing can illuminate the practices and experiences surrounding illness that might otherwise be neglected or overlooked. Inspired by the possibilities of storytelling, Cheryl Mattingly, professor in the USC College Department of Anthropology and the Department of Occupational Science, and her co-author have compiled a volume of essays that illustrate the various understandings of illness and healing that people hold in cultures around the world.
02/18/08
Times of Trouble: Violence in Russian Literature and Culture
ed. by Marcus C. Levitt and Tatyana Novikov
University of Wisconsin Press, $60
Russians and non-Russians alike long have debated the reasons for the conspicuous marks of violence in Russian history and culture. Some blame Russia’s huge size, unforgiving climate and exposed geographical character, while others place the blame on cultural and religious traditions or on despotic rulers. Marcus C. Levitt, associate professor at the USC College’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, and his co-editor have compiled a collection of essays investigating Russian history as well as depictions of violence in the visual arts and in literature.
02/11/08
Out of the Fringe: Contemporary Latina/Latino Theatre and Performance
ed. by Caridad Svich and María Teresa Marrero
Theatre Communications Group, $18.95
“There is a wave of dramatists, storytellers and poets creating work intensely personal and idiosyncratic, eerie and lyrical, metaphysical and emotive,” writes Caridad Svich, co-editor of this anthology of 10 plays written by some of the most influential and prolific theatre artists of the late 20th century. These artists, including Luis Alfaro, part-time lecturer at the USC School of Theatre, and Oliver Mayer, assistant professor at the USC School of Theatre, explore issues ranging from sexual and cultural identity to notions of love, beauty and death.
02/11/08
Modeling and Control of Complex Systems
ed. by Petros A. Ioannou and Andreas Pitsillides
CRC Press, $149.95
In order to comprehend the behavior of a complex system – such as robots, congestion control in computer networks, biomedical systems or home automation systems – one must understand the behavior of the different elements and how they act together to form the whole. Petros Ioannou, professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, and his co-editor bring together a number of research experts, including USC Viterbi’s Hwan Chang, Bhaskar Krishnamachari, Sami Masri, Avinash Sridharan and Yun Wang, to share their latest research and to show how complex systems are dealt with across many different disciplines.
02/11/08
Broadcasts From the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America Into War
by Philip Seib
Potomac Books, $16.95
With the words “This is London,” Edward R. Murrow’s groundbreaking radio broadcasts from 1939 to 1941 brought the war into America’s living rooms. Though widely considered a paragon of journalistic objectivity, Murrow had a clear agenda to bring America into the war – and he slanted his broadcasts accordingly, writes Philip Seib, professor of journalism and public diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. Behind the scenes, Murrow helped the British court U.S. public opinion and secure American funds for a British intelligence operation. Seib examines Murrow’s work and life during this crucial time.
02/04/08
The Segregated Scholars: Black Social Scientists and the Creation of Black Labor Studies, 1890-1950
by Francille Rusan Wilson
University of Virginia Press, $37.50
Francille Rusan Wilson, associate professor at USC College, paints a portrait of the lives and contributions of 15 black scholars who studied the economic inequalities faced by black workers over six decades. Wilson looks at the professional and political commitments of scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Abram L. Harris and Carter G. Woodson, placing a special emphasis on little-known female social scientists such as Gertrude McDougald, Emma Shields Penn and Elizabeth Haynes, to show how these men and women were solid academicians as well as social activists who fought for equality.
02/04/08
The Arrogance of American Power: What U.S. Leaders Are Doing Wrong and Why It’s Our Duty to Dissent
by Nancy Snow
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., $22.95
“America is a love-it-or-hate-it, like-it-or-leave-it maelstrom of public opinion,” writes Nancy Snow, adjunct professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. In her book, she explores the tendency of U.S. administrations and media – past and present – to focus on projecting a better image of the U.S. rather than addressing the issues behind the reasons why the country’s image is so poor, at home and abroad. She examines the U.S. administration’s propaganda techniques and argues for a government that spends less time diverting public attention and more time enlisting citizens to help improve foreign relations.
02/04/08
Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region
by R. Hrair Dekmejian and Hovann H. Simonian
I.B. Tauris, $29.95
R. Hrair Dekmejian, professor of political science at USC College, and Hovann H. Simonian, a research scholar in USC’s Department of Political Science, present a comprehensive analysis of the political and economic dynamics of the Caspian basin, a region where powerful geopolitical factors converge with significant energy resources and latent instability. The authors examine the area’s historical evolution, analyzing the domestic politics and foreign policies of bordering states. These analyses, coupled with political and economic risk assessment of the Caspian basin, provide a new understanding of the region.
01/28/08
Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made
by Kenneth Turan
University of California Press, $15.95
Part travelogue, part film history, Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio film critic Kenneth Turan, a lecturer in the USC College Master of Professional Writing program and adjunct faculty member at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, gives a tour of the international film festival circuit. He looks at several different film festivals, from the more well-known such as Cannes and Sundance, to the more obscure, such as Italy’s silent film festival Pardeonone or FESPACO, a celebration of African cinema in Burkina Faso. Through his exploration, he shows how festivals have become a growth industry and gives a behind-the-scenes look at how they operate.
01/28/08
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
by W. Timothy Gallwey, forward by Pete Carroll
Random House, $15
First published 30 years ago, this guidebook has become a touchstone for scores of people – not just tennis players – wanting to improve his or her performance in any activity. Sports psychologist W. Timothy Gallwey equips readers with the mental skills necessary to relax, focus and succeed. In this latest edition, Pete Carroll, head football coach of the USC Trojans, shares how Gallwey’s teachings have helped him and his athletes. “Whether we are preparing for an intersquad scrimmage or the National Championship game, these principles lie at the foundation of our program,” he writes.
01/28/08
Big Daddy: Jesse Unruh and the Art of Power Politics
by Bill Boyarsky
University of California Press, $29.95
Bill Boyarsky, a lecturer at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, draws on his experiences reporting on California and national politics for the Los Angeles Times to trace the life of Jesse Unruh, one of California’s most flamboyant and influential leaders whose presence was far-reaching, first in the state’s Capitol and eventually extending to Washington and Wall Street. Through his exploration of Unruh, who experienced poverty in Texas before becoming an architect of California politics, Boyarsky also chronicles the Great Depression and the fight for civil rights.
01/21/08
The Gospel of Food: Why We Should Stop Worrying and Enjoy What We Eat
by Barry Glassner
Harper Perennial, $14.95
Now in paperback, Barry Glassner’s best-selling book – part exposé, part social commentary – takes a hard look at how Americans eat and what guides their culinary choices. Glassner, USC executive vice provost and professor of sociology at USC College, interviewed chefs, food chemists, restaurant critics and others to expose myths, half-truths and contradictions. He argues that relying too much on scientific studies to guide dining habits can lead one into murky territory and that in the end, enjoyment of food must be part of the picture.
01/21/08
The Witch’s Flight: The Cinematic, the Black Femme and the Image of Common Sense
by Kara Keeling
Duke University Press, $22.95
Cinema had a significant effect on 20th-century black liberation movements, argues Kara Keeling, assistant professor of American studies and ethnicity at USC College and assistant professor of critical studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. In this study, she describes how cinema structures racism, homophobia and misogyny, looking specifically at the role of the black lesbian in film. Keeling examines one such character in Haile Gerima’s film Sankofa, images of women in the Black Panther Party, Pam Grier’s roles in various 1970s action films and the films Set It Off and Eve’s Bayou.
01/21/08
Loving With a Vengeance: Mass-Produced Fantasies for Women
by Tania Modleski
Routledge, $22.95
Tania Modleski, the Florence R. Scott Professor of English at USC College, explores three forms of popular narratives for women – Harlequin romances, Gothic novels and television soap operas – to provide a feminist perspective of women’s reading. In the second edition of her book, Modleski revisits her groundbreaking study of women’s relationships to mass-market romance fiction. She includes a new introduction addressing issues that have arisen since her book was first published in 1984, such as the popularity of the chick lit genre, and she responds to criticisms of her study.
01/14/08