Our roundup of noteworthy publications by Wesleyan alumni, faculty members, and parents.

CARLO ROTELLA ’86

Good with Their Hands: Boxers, Bluesmen and Other Characters from the Rust Belt

(University of California Press, 2002)

In this fine investigation of postindustrial urban America, Rotella illuminates the lives of ?some people who are good with their hands and the meaning we can find in their handiwork.? He talks to an amateur woman boxer in Erie, Pa., who also studies clinical psychology; a successful blues musician in Chicago; a policeman-turned-film producer in New York City, whose work with the NYPD became the basis for the hit film The French Connection; and a visionary landscape artist involved in an urban renewal project in Brockton, Mass. Rotella not only skillfully portrays in detail the work and aspirations of his characters, he connects each of them to their ever-changing environments, which, with the decline of manufacturing industries, have much less demand for the skills of individuals who thrive on physical work. The author dazzles the reader with his enthusiasm for his various subjects and his energetic, thought-provoking research.

—David Low ’76

FICTION AND POETRY

MICHAEL RICHARDSON ’92

Plans for a Mushroom Radio: A Novel in Fifty Fits

(Sporidia Press, 2002)

D.B. WEISS ’93

Lucky Wander Boy

(Plume, 2003)

NONFICTION

SAM BARDFELD ’90

Latin Violin: How to Play Salsa, Charanga, and Latin Jazz Violin

(Gerard & Sarzin, 2002)

AMY BLOOM ’75

Normal: Transexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude

(Random House, 2002)

MARY BOSWORTH, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY

The U.S. Federal Prison System

(Sage, 2002)

CHARLES LEMERT, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY

Dark Thoughts: Race and the Eclipse of Society

(Routledge, 2002)

DAVID LINDORFF ’71

Killing Time: An Investigation Into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal

(Common Courage Press, 2003)

DAVID LOREY ’83

Global Environmental Challenges of the Twenty-First Century: Resources, Consumption, and Sustainable Solutions

(Scholarly Resources, 2002)

PETER MARK, PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY

?Portuguese? Style and Luso-African Identity: Precolonial Senegambia, Sixteenth?Nineteenth Centuries

(Indiana University Press, 2002)

IRA ROBINSON ’45

Planning Canadian Regions

(University of British Columbia Press, 2001)

SYLVIA FORGES-RYAN MALS ’97 AND EDWARD RYAN

Take a Deep Breath: The Haiku Way to Inner Peace

(Kodansha America, 2003)

CHRISTOPHER SCHEDLER ’90

Border Modernism: Intercultural Readings in American Literary Modernism

(Routledge, 2002)

CDs

David Leisner ’76, classical guitarist, has a new solo recording, Music of the Human Spirit (Azica Records, 2002). He is also one of the performers for Haydn’s Quartet for Guitar and Strings in D major, Op. 2/2 on the CD, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival (Koch, 2002).

John Montgomery ’85, singer, songwriter and guitarist, has released his debut recording, One Step Away(Circus Drum Records, 2002).