The Center of the Web examines the complexities of how solitude is perceived by women. Each contributor describes how solitude is a dimension of her personal and public life: how she defines it, if and how she seeks it, where she finds it, and how it influences her life. The voices in the book come from varied vantage points, illuminating women’s perspectives of solitude with regard to class, culture, race, and sexual identity. Some essays are grounded in philosophy, literature, or psychology, others are autobiographical, and some confront the seeming dichotomy of solitude on one hand, and care, connection, and responsibility on the other. With the contemporary focus on women’s experiences grounded in context and connection to others, this book presents a perspective often overlooked or unexamined.

Superstorm Sandy sent a strong message that a new generation of urban development and infrastructure is desperately needed, and it must be designed with resilience in mind. As cities continue to face climate change impacts while growing in population, they find themselves at the center of resilience and green city solutions, yet political and budgetary obstacles threaten even the best-planned initiatives. In The Guide to Greening Cities, seasoned green city leaders Sadhu Johnston, Steven Nicholas, and Julia Parzen use success stories from across North America to show how to turn a green city agenda into reality. The Guide to Greening Cities is the first book written from the perspective of municipal leaders with successful, on-the-ground experience working to advance green city goals. Through personal reflections and interviews with leading municipal staff in cities from San Antonio to Minneapolis, the authors share lessons for cities to lead by example in their operations, create programs, implement high-priority initiatives, develop partnerships, measure progress, secure funding, and engage the community. Case studies and chapters highlight strategies for overcoming common challenges such as changes of leadership and fiscal austerity. The book is augmented by a companion website, launching with the publication of the book, which offers video interviews of municipal leaders, additional case studies, and other resources. Rich in tools, insights, and tricks of the trade, The Guide to Greening Cities helps professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and students understand which approaches have worked and why and demonstrates multidisciplinary solutions for creating healthy, just, and green communities.

MICHAEL STRELOW WEAVES THE STORY OF A TOWN and its mysteries in his debut novel, The Greening of Ben Brown, an Oregon Book Award Finalist for fiction 2005. Ben Brown, the protagonist, becomes a citizen of East Leven, Oregon, after he recovers from an electrocution that has not left him dead but has turned him green. He befriends eighteen year-old Andrew James and together they unearth a chemical spill cover-up that forces the town to confront its demons and its citizens to choose sides. Strelow's lyrical prose and his talent for storytelling come together in this poetic and important first work that looks at how a town and the natural environment are inextricably linked. The Greening of Ben Brown will find itself in good company on the shelves between Winesburg, Ohio and To Kill a Mockingbird and readers of both will have a new story to cherish.