Cornell U. Press

Chaos and cosmos; on the image in aesthetics and art history.

Concentrating on the image, aesthetics, and the discipline of art history, Lang follows the arc of theory from chaos — a jumble or aggregate of sensuous impressions — to cosmos — the rendering of perceptible and intellectual data into form and system. Her core argument is that aesthetic phenomena defy human desire to find a unitary truth or meaning in them. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The cinema of globalization; a guide to films about the new economic order.

They are set in Beijing, in New York, and in Berlin, or in tea fields, plastics factories, and sweatshops. Rarely do these feature-length documentaries, short films, television programs, or fare suitable for the neighborhood cineplex express the belief that globalization is a good idea, whether on a grand or small scale. As Zaniello (honors program, Northern Kentucky U. and labor studies, National Labor College) points out, these films tend to focus on just one or two aspects of globalization in hopes the aggregate effort will at least sensitize viewers. In 201 reviews Zaniello describes traditional documentaries such as The Corporation, commercial efforts such as Rollover, purely agit-prop work such as Uprooted, satirical and humorous work such as the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet series, cinema-verité (A Decent Factory) and mockumentaries such as EPIC 2014. The commentary is brisk and frequently illustrated with production stills. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The iron whim; a fragmented history of typewriting. (reprint, 2005)

Now that the age of the typewriter has come and gone, Wershler-Henry (communications, Wilfrid Laurier U.) argues not only that its ghost still haunts us, but that it has always haunted. Like reporting fleeting sightings of that ghost, he looks at the archaeology of typewriting, first impressions, dictation, typewriting as discipline, speed, and typewriting after the typewriter. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Metropolis on the Styx; the underworlds of modern urban culture, 1800-2001.

Pike (literature, American U.) explores the myriad ways that people in the 19th century used, conceived, and imagined basements and other underground spaces, and how their approaches continue to influence the very different spaces that characterize the 21st century. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Tables of knowledge; Descartes in Vermeer's studio.

Stone (Romance languages and literature, comparative literature, Washington U., St. Louis) demonstrates that Dutch genre paintings and still lifes enact in visual form a process of recording information similar to that of Descartes. Investigating such diverse topics as the explosion of data about the natural world resulting from 17th-century advances in optics and the proliferation of material goods in prosperous Dutch homes, she contends that art offered the Dutch a way of bearing witness to ordinary experiences that was satisfying and also surprisingly Cartesian. Her assertions are well argued and supported with 16 color reproductions of Dutch masterworks. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)