Faculty Reading List - Summer 2007
Lizzie Benestad, Classics
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Set in Africa, Achebe describes the culture of an Ibo clan from the point of view of Okonkwo, one of the respected leaders of the tribe. Christian missionaries establish themselves in the village which leads to conflict between the natives and white missionaries, resulting in a tragic end.
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Painting, Jonathan Harr
Harr tells the true story of a young art student who discovers a clue which leads to the discovery of an original Caravaggio masterpiece, "The Taking of Christ." Told as a detective story, Harr also gives details about the restoration of the painting and the life of the Baroque artist, Caravaggio.
The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad
Seierstad provides a glimpse into life in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. Living with a middle-class family in the Spring of 2002, she recounts their experiences recovering from war and living under fundamentalist Islam.
Augustan Culture, Karl Galinsky
An overview of the rule of the first emperor of Rome, Augustus. Galinsky addresses political and social history, as well as art, architecture, literature, and religion.
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
A story of friendship in Afghanistan between two boys, beginning with their childhood days. An unspeakable event changes their relationship. Amir, after fleeing to America, returns to Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban to seek forgiveness from his friend. Thus begins a journey of redemption for Amir.
Blake Billings, Christian Doctrine, Humanities, Abbey Singers
The Story of Civilization, by Will and Ariel Durant
Nancy Brzys, Assistant Headmaster, Student Life
Ann Hood's The Knitting Circle.......about a mother's loss of her child and the knitting circle and the friends made there that helped to sustain/heal her. Also, every person had a story, a tragic event in their own life which reminds us as human beings that we are all bearing a burden at times.
Seven Ages of Paris, by Alistair Horne
I am knee deep in this really good book, a Brit's extraordinary telling of Paris' history - one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities in the world. I am reading it slowly to savor it, but also so I can absorb the many stories he tells.
Laureen Bonin, English
Let Me Finish by Roger Angell
A writer for The New Yorker and stepson to E.B. White, Angell offers up a series of anecdotal stories about the various editors and writers at the magazine, along with some interesting and poignant memories of E.B. White.
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
I like food and cooking, but would in no way look for the experience that Buford did in signing up to work with Mario Batali, the famous Italian chef-which is what this middle-aged inexperienced man did, for free. This recounts his year of restaurant cooking education with Batali at Babbo and at other venues at which he learned, to an amazing degree, the ins and outs of being a chef, including how to butcher a pig, which he did in his New York apartment.
Michael R. Bonin, Ph.D., Head of English, Director, Summer English Program
I just finished Richard Ellman's Yeats: The Man and the Masks. This isn't a new book, but a classic of literary biography-as is his later biography of James Joyce. Ellman examines not just the events of William Butler Yeats' life, but the sequence of personae or voices Yeats employed during his career as probably the greatest poet of the 20th Century. So the book combines poetic analysis with psychology-and history, since Yeats had a long, complex relationship with Irish nationalism. Yeats' "The Lake Isle at Innisfree" was the first real poem I remember reading, when I was in grade school, and I'm still captivated by his haunting lines.
Kelly Christopher, Director of Student Activities, Athletic Trainer
I'm in the midst of reading The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. It's about a small Maine family whose loneliness and dark secrets haunt each one of them individually all while affecting the dynamic. The story takes a turn when an act of violence involving their 14-year-old daughter forces the family to deal with their own transgressions while trying to hold the family together.
Roberto Guerenabarrena, Head of Modern Languages, Director of Salamanca Summer Trip
Grimpow - El Camino Invisible (Grimpow - The Invisible Road) by Rafael Abalos. Set in the Middle Ages, Grimpow scours Europe searching for clues of the Knights Templar treasure. Pure escapist and a fun read.
Meditation and Mantras by Swami Vishnu-Devananda. This is a primer on meditation and repetitive prayer. It serves both as a 'how-to' book and as an overview of Vedantic theory.
Dan Hodes, Humanities
"God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot." Hogge, Alice.
An historic religious tome that gives the reader a fascinating look into the lives of priests such as Edmund Campion, John Gerard and Henry Garnet who gave their lives in the effort to reinstate Catholicism in late 16-Century England. The book recounts intense religious conflict during Queen Elizabeth's reign, which was marked by fines, persecution and death for those who did not adhere to her strict laws regarding church attendance and religious practice.
"How We Got Here: The 70's: The Decade that Brought You Modern Life - For Better or Worse," by David Frum.
A MUST-READ!!!! This is a brilliant book. Mr. Frum has written about the 1970s in a style-combining politics, pop culture, values, and yes, humor-that should be the model for all future historians. Frum's thesis, that the origin of what we call the "modern world" came from the 1970s, is proved beyond a shadow of a doubt. From Vietnam to Watergate, from blue jeans to disco, from divorce to busing, from New Age cults to Arab sheiks, you will not find a better read on the 1970s than in the pages of this book. The 1960s have a reputation as America's turning-point decade, but Frum convincingly argues that the 10 years following mattered more.
Dan McDonough, Assistant Headmaster, Dean of Faculty
Over the March break, I read The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I had read her collection of short stories (Interpreter of Maladies) several years ago, and seeing a preview for the move of The Namesake made me decide to read this book, her first novel. It tells the story of a family's emigration from India and the tension between joining American culture and retaining one's own national identity. The main character is followed from birth in America to his mid-thirties. Lahiri is able to show both the positive and negative parts of assimilation.
I also read The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, a novel about a doctor who delivers his twin children and realizes one of them has Down's Syndrome. Without really thinking things through, he tells his nurse to bring the Down's child to an institution and simply tells his wife that the child has died before she ever sees it. The repercussions of this event haunt the nurse, the doctor, and his family for the next 20 years.
Eamonn O'Brien, Humanities & English
No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy. A fairly sparse writing style and a gruesome story about a young man who finds a satchel of drug money. One of the best books I have ever read.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, by J. Maarten Troost. An hysterical account of what it is like to give up the rat-race.
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser. You'll never look at food the same way.
Teachers Have it Easy, by Moulthrop, Calegari & Eggers. A scathing and insightful look at the problems plaguing the educational system in America in regards to hiring, training, and retaining talented teachers.
Bob Rainwater, Head of Science
Arthur and George, by Julian Barnes, which was the choice for the faculty book club to read in March. It's fictionalized (but fairly accurate) parallel biographies of Arthur Conan Doyle and George Edalji in late 19th-Century England. It's fascinating in some parts and too wordy in others.
Baudolino, by Umberto Eco, tells the life story and adventures of a man named Baudolino, born the son of a peasant, who becomes part of the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Fredric Barbarossa in the late 12th century. It gives an entertaining picture of Europe in the 12th century, as Arthur and George does of 19th-C. England. I read Baudolino because I have enjoyed other books by Eco. I'm still trying to make up my mind whether I would recommend it.
Roberta Stevens, Library Director
Brotherly Love: Murder and the Politics of Prejudice in Nineteenth-Century Rhode Island by Charles Hoffmann
An intriguing account of a New England rush to judgment in the 1840s about the murder of a R.I. textile manufacturer and the ensuing vigorous but slapshod manhunt led by the victim's brother, a U.S. senator from RI, and residents of the town. A well-written local history on a still-timely issue: the effect of class and ethnicity on criminal justice.
Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge: A View from Europe by Jean-Noel Jeanneney.
The announcement that Google plans to digitize the contents of several leading U.S. libraries sent tremors through the book industry and world of academia. Jean-No�l Jeanneney, president of France's Bibliothèque Nationale, responds to what he views as a far more worrisome aspect of Google's proposed project than simply copyright issues: its possibility of inaccurately altering the world's cultural heritage.
The Camel Club and its sequel, The Collectors, by David Baldacci - political thrillers set in Washington, D.C.
By Fire into Light: Four Catholic Martyrs of the Nazi Camps by Malham
A spiritual biography of four people of faith-a Jew, two Carmelites, and a Deacon-inexorably bound together in the confines of a Nazi concentration camp, but dedicated to their faith in god and to the dignity of mankind. An heroic spiritual journey.
Foie Gras by Ginor
A celebration of the silky, rich culinary specialty, including the history of its introduction to the USA, along with wonderful photos and recipes.
The Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the World by Campbell,
A fascinating story of how the iconic vineyards of France, and virtually every other grape-producing region in the world except for the USA, were wiped out in the mid-1860s due to a tiny, root-sucking aphid known as phylloxera that had been introduced into France from American grapevines.
Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern
An endearing and sometimes humorous account of a well-known media personality and author who launches into a new career - that of an EMT - in order to attempt to stave off her increasing depression and bring new meaning to her life.
The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews, by Peter Duffy
The amazing story of three Jewish brothers who, after witnessing the rest of their family led away to certain extermination by the Nazis in 1941, defied and evaded them by establishing a hidden camp deep within the woods of Belarus. The brothers convinced other Jews to join them, forming a community that survived until 1944, when more than 1,000 of them appeared, alive and well, from the woods upon learning that the Germans had retreated in defeat.
Fred Zilian, Ph.D., Head of History, International Student Advisor
I recently finished The Tale of Genji, by Mirasaki Shikibu. The Japanese maintain this is the world's first novel. The adventures and relationships of a Japanese prince in medieval Japan. Reignited my interest in poetry.
Currently reading: The Known World, Edward Jones. Pulitzer Prize (2004) I never knew that some free blacks owned slaves in the antebellum South.
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