Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 2, Page 21
Winter 1993
Between the covers

     The Day Hans Got His Way by David Atwell, Delaware '70. Houghton
Mifflin. The author recounts a Norwegian folk tale for children that
describes the misadventures of farmer Hans who trades places with his wife,
foolishly believing he can do a better job in household management.
     Tiberi: The Uncrowned Champion by Ed Okonowicz, Delaware '69, '84M,
and Andy Ercole. Jared Co. The book chronicles the life of 26-year-old
boxer David Tiberi, a Delaware-based, middleweight contender who lost a
1992 controversial bout to defending champion James Toney, called "the most
disgusting decision I've ever seen" by ABC-TV sports announcer Alex Wallau.
     The Undaunted Psychologist: Adventures in Research by Gary Brannigan,
Delaware '72M, '73Ph.D., and Matthew Merrens. McGraw-Hill and Temple
University Press. McGraw-Hill describes the 230-page book as "a compelling
narrative" that "replaces the droll conception of research scientists and
their work" and "communicates the excitement and enthusiasm of the research
process."
     What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship in America by Joan
DelFattore, U.D. professor of English. Yale University Press. The author
chronicles the textbook adoption process and the influence special interest
groups can exert on textbook content. Publishers Weekly says, "Her lucid
critique should serve as a rallying point for parents, teachers and
administrators who oppose textbook censorship."
     Engineering and the Mind's Eye by Eugene S. Ferguson, U.D. professor
emeritus of history. The MIT Press. According to The New York Times,
Ferguson has "summarized the history of design engineering from antiquity
to modern times, and composed a cautionary tale about over-reliance on the
seductive ease of computer-aided designs and the apparent accuracy of
computer-generated numbers."
     The Stolen House by Bernard Herman, U.D. associate professor of urban
affairs and public policy and associate director of the Center for Historic
Architecture. University of Virginia Press. Selected as an editor's choice
by The New York Times, the book is described as "an account of an 1812
lawsuit (leading) to a historian's fascinating examination of economic life
when most Americans were poor and the few rich knew no shame." The book not
only provides a history of the house, built between 1781-1784, and the
people associated with it, but opens up a window on life in southern
Delaware in the late-18th and early-19th century.
     The Learning Disabled Child by Sylvia Farnham-Diggory, U.D. H. Rodney
Sharp Professor Emerita of Educational Studies and Psychology. Harvard
University Press. The 288-page book offers valuable advice to parents
seeking the best methods of evaluating learning disabilities. It offers
advanced research and clinical data that clarify handicaps in reading,
writing, spelling, drawing, calculation, remembering and problem-solving
and outlines a straightforward assessment procedure designed to reduce
misclassifications.
     Thomas Eakins, His Life and Art by William I. Homer, U.D. H. Rodney
Sharp Professor of Art History. Abbeville Press. The oversized and lavishly
illustrated book is a critical biography and a compilation of Eakins' art
from when he studied in Paris as a young man through his mature years.
Homer describes Eakins as "a modern Leonardo da Vinci, combining art and
science in his paintings." Eakins was known for his portraits and studies
of Americans and their lives.
     Light in a Broken Home by Jane McCafferty, Delaware '83. University of
Pittsburgh Press. This collection of 12 short stories, which received the
Drue Heinz Literature Prize from its publisher, is described as having "The
rich substance of inner lives explored in language memorable, quotable,
with a life and integrity of its own."
     Chasing Uncle Charley by Cruce Stark, U.D. professor of English.
Southern Methodist University Press. Shortly after the Civil War has ended,
17-year-old Bo ventures into the wilds to track down his fugitive Uncle
Charley, once a school teacher, who, in a fit of rage, killed an inept
alligator hunter and shot a Texas town's butcher. According to The New York
Times Book Review, Stark's characters "linger in the memory: constantly in
motion, ranging across landscapes either bleak or weirdly beautiful,
tangled in a variety of violent alliances, speaking a wonderful laconic,
droll prose, they are believably strange and surprising."