Catapulted to fame in 1982 with the publication of her third novel—the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Color Purple—Alice Walker has become one of America’s most celebrated and divisive authors. With books such as Meridian and The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Walker’s writing has frequently been cited for messages in support of civil rights and feminism. Above all, however, Walker is a spiritual seeker. Her works are dominated by the search for truth, wholeness, and the spirit that connects everyone and everything. In Alice Walker’s Metaphysics: Literature of Spirit, Nagueyalti Warren examines the philosophy and worldview present in all of Walker’s writing. Warren contends that Walker is a literary theologian, citing the transformative changes that take place in the author’s fictional characters. Warren also points to Walker’s bravery in approaching taboo subjects, her generosity of spirit, and her love for humanity, which are represented throughout her poems, novels, short stories, children’s books, and essays. This analysis is further supplemented by primary sources from Walker’s unpublished material, including notes and scrapbooks. By exploring the spirituality evident throughout the author’s work, this volume shows how Walker challenges readers to recognize and understand their responsibility to the earth—and to one another. Providing a fresh, accessible look at one of the twentieth century’s most prolific women writers, Alice Walker’s Metaphysics: Literature of Spirit will appeal to both academics and fans of the author’s varied literature.

"Sex, Race, and God is the impassioned manifesto of a white feminist's reckoning with the meaning of race-including her own whiteness-in doing theology. We should be discussing, and acting on many of Thistlethwaite's insights for quite some time. She has made a vital contribution to the feminist theological enterprise and to the critical relationship between back and white women in it."-Carter Heyward"Sex, Race, and God is a sincere attempt to listen to and learn from African-American women. . . a serious and largely successful effort to create a method that addresses differences rather than proposing wishful commonalities. Many women of color will find it promising a basis for dialogue."-The Women's Review of Books"This pivotal book illuminates a significant ongoing debate at the intersection of two fields: contemporary theology and feminist studies."-Choice"Thistlethwaite does what so few white feminists have done: genuinely interact with (and learn from) the strong differences in experience and perspective between African -American women and European-American women."-The Other Side

This study explores female identity formation in novels by women of colour from the 1970's and 1980's. Drawing on feminist discussions of gender, race, and identity, it contends that while generalized notions based on race and gender are valid, they must be used with caution. The selected novels share certain formal and thematic characteristics when depicting marginalized American women of colour, which motivates bringing them together. The book traces a few significant models of identity formation connected to genres such as feminist versions of the Kuenstlerroman, the Bildungsroman, and the novel of awakening.

Cryptography’s essential role in the functioning of the city, viewed against the backdrop of modern digital life. Cryptography is not new to the city; in fact, it is essential to its functioning. For as long as cities have existed, communications have circulated, often in full sight, but with their messages hidden. In Cryptographic City, Richard Coyne explains how cryptography runs deep within the structure of the city. He shows the extent to which cities are built on secrets, their foundations now reinforced by digital encryption and cryptocurrency platforms. He also uses cryptography as a lens through which to inspect smart cities and what they deliver. Coyne sets his investigation into the cryptographic city against the backdrop of the technologies, claims, and challenges of the smart city. Cryptography provides the means by which communications within and between citizens and devices are kept secure. Coyne shows how all of the smart city innovations—from smart toasters to public transportation networks—are enabled by secure financial transactions, data flows, media streaming, and communications made possible by encryption. Without encryption, he says, communications between people and digital devices would be exposed for anyone to see, hack, and misdirect. He explains the relevant technicalities of cryptography and describes the practical difference it makes to frame cities as cryptographic. Interwoven throughout the book are autobiographical anecdotes, insights from Coyne’s teaching practice, and historical reports, making it accessible to the general reader.

Magic is a Drug. Dirty Deals Lead to Deadly Ends. When the Magic Enforcement Agency is called out to the scene of a dirty magic lab explosion, a body with a bullet wound is found in the smoldering ruins. As Detective Kate Prospero and her partner, Special Agent Drew Morales, hunt down the killer, they uncover evidence that a dangerous new coven may be operating in the Cauldron. It’s not long before the bodies start piling up, and the heat is on for the team to make an arrest. Solving the murders will require unraveling dangerous alliances between the city’s dirty magic covens. And if they’re not careful, the new complexities of Morales and Prospero’s own partnership threaten to make a volatile situation downright deadly.

Chronicles the campaign by Frank and Deborah Popper to return to the Buffalo Commons on the Great Plains.