Broadway Books

Bryson's dictionary for writers and editors.

Covering spelling, punctuation, abbreviations, and US, UK, and foreign names and phrases, this reference offers a readable and often humorous guide to the problems of English spelling and usage most commonly encountered by editors and writers. Pronunciations have been simplified, without use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. An appendix on punctuation, a glossary of grammatical terms, and conversion tables are also included. Bryson won the 2004 Aventis Prize for his A Short History of Nearly Everything. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The enemy at home; the cultural left and its responsibility for 9/11. (reprint, 2007)

This book presents a new dolchstoßlegende for a new century. Conservative pundit D'Souza argues that the "cultural left" of the United States is responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. His charges boil down to two essential points. First, he argues, the "cultural left" has fostered a decadent American culture that "angers and repulses" the traditional Islamic world. Secondly, and one suspects more central to his purpose here, he argues that by criticizing US foreign policy, the "cultural left" has thereby encouraged terrorist attacks. This is a paperbound reprint of the 2007 work, and it includes a new afterword responding to critics, primarily from the right. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A freewheelin' time; a memoir of Greenwich Village in the sixties.

Rotolo, who was romantically involved with Bob Dylan from 1961 to 1964 (she's the girl on the cover of his debut album), has written this memoir of the rise of the folk music movement in Greenwich Village from a firsthand perspective. Exhibiting a writing style that is succinct yet impassioned, she vividly recreates that period in history while recounting her own growing political awareness, and explains how folk music eventually led her to a life of activism (she became involved in the Civil Rights Movement). Fans of Bob Dylan and folk music in general should enjoy this volume. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Oil on the brain; adventures from the pump to the pipeline. (reprint, 2007)

This is a paperbound edition of a 2007 book. Journalist Margonelli unpacks the global political economy of petroleum by interviewing a diverse range of people around the world involved in and impacted by oil, including gas station owners, commodity traders, managers of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and refinery and drilling rig workers. In addition to describing the path of gasoline from under the ground to the tank of an automobile, she offers chapters that explore the oil politics of Venezuela, Chad, Iran, Nigeria, and China. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)