James C. Cobb Wins Georgia Author of the Year Award

The Georgia Writers Association, in conjunction with Kennesaw State University, has given its Georgia Author of the Year Award in History to THE BROWN DECISION, JIM CROW, AND SOUTHERN IDENTITY by James C. Cobb. In this spirited defense of the landmark civil rights case and its place in our history, Cobb addresses a growing trend of dismissiveness and negativity toward the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling and other accomplishments of the civil rights movement.

Calling the book "ornery but learned," historian Robert J. Norrell (author of The House I Live In: Race in the American Century) has praised THE BROWN DECISION... as "a powerful assertion of the centrality of the Brown decision to the South's racial progress in the twentieth century. Those who have said otherwise get taken to the woodshed in this lively little book."


Jim Cobb blogs here
Another book by Jim Cobb
The Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Resources from National Public Radio on the fiftieth anniversary of Brown

Photo: Michael Patterson

Sea Turtle Expert Talks about Her New Book

Radio listeners in south central Florida recently got to hear Carol Ruckdeschel on 1430 WLKF, where she talked about sea turtles and the environmental challenges facing these magnificent creatures. The coauthor of the new book SEA TURTLES OF THE ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS OF THE UNITED STATES, Ruckdeschel is one of the Southeast's foremost authorities on sea turtle conservation.

Though sea turtles have been swimming the seas for 100 million years, they are now on U.S. and international endangered lists. The species covered in this book are the loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp's ridley, green sea turtle, hawksbill, and olive ridley. Chapters on each species cover distribution, habitats, appearance, life history and behavior, and conservation.
Color photos of hatchlings and adults are included, as are migration maps. Equipped with this book, readers will be better able to understand sea turtle biology and support sea turtle conservation efforts.

Carol is based at the Cumberland Island Museum
Lots more sea turtle information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Book on Dragonflies and Damselflies Grows Out of Author's Love of Flying and Birding

171 species of odonata (the class of insects commonly known as dragonflies and damselflies) have been documented in Georgia. This recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals how Giff Beaton, an airline pilot and respected amateur ornithologist, came to write the authoritative work on odonata in Georgia. Scheduled for publication in Spring 2007, Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast will feature more than 400 color photos and 150-plus color maps.

Lots of great nature photography at Giff's web site
Odonata have been around for a long time
The cultural and artistic impact of odonata

Theatre Library Association Recognizes Two Outstanding University of Georgia Press Books

UNCLE TOM MANIA and EUGENE O'NEILL'S LAST PLAYS are among the select group of finalists for the Theatre Library Association's 2005 George Freedley Memorial Award. Established in 1968 to honor the late George Freedley, theatre historian, critic, author, and first curator of the New York Public Library Theatre Collection, the annual George Freedley Memorial Award honors the best English-language work about live theatre published in the United States.

Read a review of Uncle Tom Mania
Read a review of Eugene O'Neill's Last Plays
More about the place of Uncle Tom's Cabin in our history and culture
Lots of authoritative information about Eugene O'Neill's life and work

Reviews Continue to Roll in for Frank Kogan's Real Punks Don't Wear Black

"There isn't a single section in which his insinuating, conversational style doesn't illuminate his subjects. Kogan writes - and I mean this as a compliment - like a twenty-year-old intoxicated by the reaches of his power to conjure. Every one of REAL PUNKS DON'T WEAR BLACK's chapters is directed at the ideal listener; each awakens us from the torpor of saturation. More music is accessible to us than ever." - Stylus Magazine

"One of the greatest books of collected music criticism. Kogan is one of the fiercest and most dependably fascinating cultural theorists working, and he's absolutely on fire when he digs hard into something like the Iggy Pop death-drive in DMX's music or the frantic violence of the Contortions' live shows ... Kogan's starry-eyed idealism and conceptual rigor make him one of the best writers and thinkers in rock criticism." - Pitchfork

"A book that convinced me that reading about pop music can be cooler than actually listening to it ... Kogan isn't so much writing about his time as writing himself into existence through pop. It's a damn fine performance." - Eye Weekly

Check out Frank Kogan's MySpace blog
Read the rolling teenpop thread on ILX - a frequent hangout for Frank
Words and Music and But Is It Garbage?: two more great books about pop music and contemporary culture

New Reader's Guide Available for Coming-of-Age Novel The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

More than a decade after it first appeared, Chris Fuhrman's posthmously published novel remains one of our most popular fiction titles. Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a "sad and beautiful" story that "captures wonderfully the vulnerability and overdone cynicism of adolescence," THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS has long needed a reader's guide - not only for those picking it up for the first time but for dedicated fans who find new meaning in the story with each rereading.

See the reader's guide for The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
See all of our reader's guides
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is also a critically acclaimed film
See more work by Dean Rohrer, illustrator of our award-winning book cover