Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story, Antonia Felix (Newmarket Press). As President Bush’s national security adviser, Rice ‘75M.A. is definitely in the public eye. The author highlights Rice’s passions, which include family, religion, music, education and football, while tracing her path to the White House.
The Powers of Heaven and Earth: New and Selected Poems, John Frederick Nims ’37, ’39M.A. (Louisiana State University Press). Nims, who died in 1999, was the author of eight collections of poetry. Here the publishers present his previously chosen selection of poems that illuminate, with wit and joy, his thoughts on the nature of eternity.
Granta 21: The First Twenty-One Years,_ edited by Ian Jack_ (Granta Books). An anthology of fiction, memoirs and essays from the esteemed literary magazine. Seamus Deane, Notre Dame chair of Irish Studies, weighs in with the wondrous “Ghost Story.”
Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show, Bernard M. Timberg and Robert Erler ’60, ’66M.A. (University of Texas Press). The behind-the-scenes view of talk shows and their hosts includes Erler’s “A Guide to Television Talk.”
Celt and Pepper, Ralph McInerny (St. Martin’s Minotaur). Philosophy professor McInerny turns his eye on Notre Dame, in this academic mystery series featuring the Knight brothers investigating the death of a visiting professor and Irish poet.
Language, Religion, Knowledge: Past and Present, James Turner (Notre Dame Press). The ND history professor begins this book of essays by exploring the role religion has played in American higher education, then turns his pen to the place Catholicism could inhabit in educational institutions today.
Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell, Jane Golden, Robin Rice and Monica Yant Kinney ’93, photographs by David Graham and Jack Ramsdale (Temple University Press). The murals gracing neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia highlight a vibrant public art project and help define a variety of communities.
Cosmatique Ornament: Flat Polychrome Geometric Patterns in Architecture, Paloma Pajares Ayuela (Norton). An illustrated study of stone mosaics created by the Italian artists of the late Middle Ages known as the Cosmatique. The New York Times Book Review called the book the “handsomest and most intellectually stimulating” of architecture studies. Its author is an associate professor of architecture at Notre Dame.
Thomas Struth: 1977-2002, Douglas Eklund, Ann Goldstein, Charles Wylie ’84, Maria Morris Hambourg (Yale University Press). A retrospective of the career of the critically renowned German photographer. The catalog is a fitting companion to an exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art, organized by Wylie, which travels to New York and Chicago this year.
Oracle Essentials: Oracle 9i, Oracle 8i & Oracle 8,_ Rick Greenwald, Robert Stackowiak ‘78 and Jonathan Stern_ (O’Reilly). Along with detailed, practical information on Oracle database features, this second edition also looks at Oracle 9i.
The Band of the Fighting Irish: A Pictoral History of the Notre Dame Band (University of Notre Dame Bands). Volume I of this memory book of photos includes the marching, concert and jazz bands, band buildings and special memories from band archives.
Gladys: Love Conquers Alzheimer’s, Joe Schrantz ’57 (Infinity). The true story of how a decorated war veteran cares for and still cherishes his wife, who suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s.
Recreating the American Republic: Rules of Apportionment, Constitutional Change, and American Political Development, 1700-1870, Charles A. Kromkowski ’86 (Cambridge University Press). An analysis of three crucial times in U.S. history—the American Revolution, the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the Civil War.
Environmental Justice: Creating Equity, Reclaiming Democracy, Kristin S. Shrader-Frechette (Oxford University Press). The poor and disenfranchised are too often the victims of environmental pollution, their neighborhoods often chosen for dangerous industries and toxic landfills. The ND professor of philosophy and biological sciences here presents a case for the ethical need to remedy environmental problems.
Decoding the Church: Mapping the DNA of Christ’s Body, Howard A. Snyder ’83Ph.D., Daniel V. Runyon (Baker Books). The authors use the organic DNA metaphor to look at church structure and mission, including leadership and church as community.
The Politics of Cultural Differences: Social Changes and Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period, edited by David C. Leege, Kenneth D. Wald, Brian S. Krueger and Paul D. Mueller ’00M.A. (Princeton University Press). In this study of national campaign strategies from 1960 to ’96, the authors argue that parties emphasized cultural conflict regarding patriotism, race, gender and religion. Leege is an ND emeritus professor of political science.