Nobody's Nation offers an illuminating look at the St. Lucian, Nobel-Prize-winning writer, Derek Walcott, and grounds his work firmly in the context of West Indian history. Paul Breslin argues that Walcott's poems and plays are bound up with an effort to re-imagine West Indian society since its emergence from colonial rule, its ill-fated attempt at political unity, and its subsequent dispersal into tiny nation-states. According to Breslin, Walcott's work is centrally concerned with the West Indies' imputed absence from history and lack of cohesive national identity or cultural tradition. Walcott sees this lack not as impoverishment but as an open space for creation. In his poems and plays, West Indian history becomes a realm of necessity, something to be confronted, contested, and remade through literature. What is most vexed and inspired in Walcott's work can be traced to this quixotic struggle. Linking extensive archival research and new interviews with Walcott himself to detailed critical readings of major works, Nobody's Nation will take its place as the definitive study of the poet.

Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and an Anglo mother, Urrea moved to San Diego at age three. In this memoir of his childhood, Urrea describes his experiences growing up in the barrio and his search for cultural identity.

In her long career, Ugresic has published several novels (e.g., The Ministry of Pain), but she made her name with her essay collections, which have caused controversy and earned her the admiration of writers and critics abroad. In these latest musings, written over the course of several years, Ugresic leaves no stone unturned and no thought contained, doing what she does best: writing about the human condition through her own experience. Refusing to establish a central theme, she touches upon a wide range of topics: the paradox of multiculturalism, metaphors as our "defense against nightmares," the eerie similarities between capitalism and communism, and ways in which we try to rise hopelessly above our less-than-perfect existence. Along the way, she pays homage to the works of literature that have influenced her own creative process, in an effort to pay "a symbolic literary tax on narcissim" because "writing is not the humblest of vocations." Perhaps not, but Ugresic certainly knows how to balance being a critic with being criticized. Recommended for all libraries collecting cultural criticism.--Mirela Roncevic, Library Journal Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How do university finances really work? From flagship public research universities to small, private liberal arts colleges, there are few aspects of these institutions associated with more confusion, myths or lack of understanding than how they fund themselves and function in the business of higher education. Using simple, approachable explanations supported by clear illustrations, this book takes the reader on an engaging and enlightening tour of how the money flows. How does the university really pay for itself? Why do tuition and fees rise so fast? Why do universities lose money on research? Do most donations go to athletics? Grounded in hard data, original analyses, and the practical experience of a seasoned administrator, this book provides refreshingly clear answers and comprehensive insights for anyone on or off campus who is interested in the business of the university: how it earns its money, how it spends it, and how it all works.

If you are a red blooded American who really loves and wants to help your country, then this book is a must read for you! It gives Americans of all walks of life the chance to sit down and calmly look at themselves with the hope that they will take to heart the author's analysis and common sense suggestions. The book is not intended to be a complete makeover of America, but rather a way to save what's great and improve what may be in the way of our survival as the world's greatest superpower in history. Remember, nobody is perfect!

The English speaking Caribbean's most unique recent political experiment, as chronicled in the pages of the Free West Indian, and other organs of the revolution.

This book is an unveiling of the egregious behavior of white America perpetrated against people of color, particularly the black man that they so commonly named Negro—a name that primarily denotes “a piece of commodity-usable property.” This is an exposé on love and forgiveness or how else can we, as a nation, or even the world, move on. This book reveals how the black man accepted being a Negro, a piece of commodity, and, even now, refuses to detach himself from that subservient consciousness of the Negro. I Ain’t Nobody’s Negro is the beginning of a quest to change people’s consciousness of who they are. The black man was systematically taught, for over two hundred years, that black is bad and white is good; thus is the reason why he fries his hair straight, colors his eyes, and bleaches his skin—all to be as close to white as he can. He was trained to subconsciously hate himself. This book shows the black man how to become self-fulfilled and self-reliant and how to love himself as well as those that committed the hate-filled atrocities against him over the years.

Nobody's Children is an intense look at child welfare policies on abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption. Elizabeth Bartholet, one of the nation's leading experts on family law, challenges the accepted orthodoxy that treats children as belonging to their kinship and their racial groups and that locks them into inadequate biological and foster homes. She asks us to apply the lessons learned from the battered women's movement as we look at battered children, and to question why family preservation ideology still reigns supreme when children rather than adult women are involved. Bartholet asks us to take seriously the adoption option. She calls on the entire community to take responsibility for its children, to think of the children at risk of abuse and neglect as belonging to all of us, and to ensure that "Nobody's Children" become treasured members of somebody's family.

One of America's most prominent historians and a noted feminist bring together the most important political writings and testimonials from African-Americans over three centuries.

With the prospect of a never-ending war on terror before us, the need for a Department of Peace in the federal government has never been more urgent. Bills for establishing one have been introduced to Congress throughout the twentieth century until today. The authors of this compelling book of essays contend that the costs of war always outweigh the benefits, even for the victors. They argue that the only way we're going to be able to stop fighting senseless wars is if we have a division of the federal government devoted every day to making peace. In We Need a Department of Peace readers learn the history of such a proposal through original documents and hear new arguments calling for such a department. The story begins in 1793 with "A Plan of a Peace-Office for the United States" by Benjamin Rush, one of the Founding Fathers and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Frederick Schuman's "Why a Department of Peace?" makes the case for the creation of a Department of Peace and tells the story of twentieth century efforts through the late 1960s. Mary Liebman, a prominent activist, continues the legislative story into the 1970s. Finally, Charlie Keil's "Waging Peace" is a manifesto for the new millennium and his "Resolution for a Department of Peace" sets out the core legislative program in only one hundred fifty words.