What Should I Read Next? »

Jessica R. Feldman is Professor of English at the University of Virginia. Her published works include Gender on the Divide: The Dandy in Modernist Literature and Victorian Modernism: Pragmatism and the Varieties of Aesthetic Experience. She teaches widely in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature. Robert Stilling is a doctoral candidate in English Literature at the University of Virginia. He has published on Robert Frost in the Virginia Quarterly Review.

Even the most well-read among us feel gaps in our knowledge. Former English majors or art students want to understand the monetary system; mathematicians or doctors just want a great novel. What Should I Read Next? taps seventy University of Virginia professors for recommended readings in history, politics, literature, math, science, technology, the arts, and more. Each contributor picks five titles that speak to their area of inquiry, providing a general introduction and commentary on each selection.

The Barnes & Noble Review

What a great idea: ask some 70 colleagues at your university -- in this case the University of Virginia -- to provide a short essay with a list of five books on a subject in their fields. The result here is even better than the premise, since each prof responds in his or her own way, some recommending tried-and-true canonical works, others listing books in their areas that reach out to general readers, and others simply suggesting five ways of sampling a masterpiece. The contributions span the university curriculum and include suggestions on historical and political topics (the Founding Fathers, poverty in modern America, 19th-century Chicago); on science and mathematics (the evolution of visual perception, symmetry and group theory, the history of logic); and on literature and the arts (the poetry of mourning, 100 years of jazz, the 19th-century Spanish novel). Other essays explore religious ideas, child development, and issues in illness and mental health. In short, it's a real educational smorgasbord, much like an annotated course guide. Some authors find their way onto more than one list, but not always for the reason you might expect. Shakespeare shows up in readings for a study of ethical values as well on a more conventional list for the English "word hoard." Among contemporary writers and scholars, Jared Diamond, Michael Klarman, E. O. Wilson, Julia Alvarez, and Michael Pollan all make multiple appearances for their recent work in a wide range of disciplines. The delights here are many, and the intellectually curious will consult this clever collection time and again. Let's hope other universities follow the format -- a first-class education at your fingertips. --Thomas DePietro

Introduction ix
1 History, Memory, Politics The Past as Memory and Oblivion Alon Confino 1 Human Connections: History and the Latin American Novel Herbert Tico Braun 5 Your Culture or Your Rights? Women and the Multicultural Dilemma Denise Walsh 8 Best Sellers and Half-Truths: Misreading Iran in America Farzaneh Milani 13 How to Understand 9/11, Iraq, and Bush's War on Terrorism William B. Quandt 17 Writing Self and Society: East Asian Women Authors Ellen V. Fuller 20 Approaching China: Philosophy, History, and Politics Brantly Womack 24 Asian America: Studying Culture and Ethnicity Sylvia Chong 27 Improvising America: Rethinking the Founding Peter S. Onuf 31 Discerning Constitutional Meaning Daniel R. Ortiz 35 The Life and Afterlife of Slavery Lawrie Balfour 39 Ongoing Struggle: The Deeper History of the Civil Rights Movement Risa L. Goluboff 43
"The Cruel Radiance of What Is": Poverty in America since 1945 Grace Elizabeth Hale 47 Sex in the United States: Some History Cindy Aron 50 New Histories of the American West Christian W. McMillen 54 Political Power: How to Get It, Use It, and Avoid Losing It Larry Sabato 57 Media and Politics: Media Effects? Media Bias? Paul Freedman 61 Academic Capitalism: The Political Economy of Higher Education Brian Pusser 65 Tintin and the American Menace: French (Mis)representations of the United States Philippe Roger 69 Catastrophes and Commemorations: Shaping Nineteenth-Century Chicago Daphne Spain 73 Urban Plans and Urban Realities: Understanding Cities Dell Upton 77 Nations and Nationalism Krishan Kumar 80
2 Mathematics, Science, Technology Light and Life: The Evolution ofVisual Perception Dennis Proffitt 85 Everyday Evolution Edmund Russell 89 An Appreciation of Reality: Society and Science Reginald H. Garrett 92 Starship Earth User's Manual 2.0: Revising the Balance of Nature Herman H. Shugart 96 Perspectives on Global Warming Science Robert E. Davis 100 The Environmental Other: Finding and Losing Ourselves in Nature Jonathan Cannon 104 The Epic of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Universe Trinh Xuan Thuan 108 Doing Science: Physics, Genius, and Creativity Paul Fendley 111 Designing Matter: Molecules, Materials, and Their Importance to Society Cassandra L. Fraser 115 How Computing Changes Thinking David Evans 119 Symmetry and Group Theory Brian Parshall 123 Arguments: Exploring the History of Logic James Cargile 128
3 Literature At the Edge of War: Five from the 1850s Stephen Cushman 133 Mourning and Modern Poetry Jahan Ramazani 137 Doctors, Lawyers, and the Classics: Reading for Ethical Values Marcia Day Childress Julia D. Mahoney 140 Marketing Fiction: Victorian Serial Novels Stephen Arata 144 Love, Guilt, and Reparation: Fiction That Guides Us Karen Chase 148 Beside Ourselves: Ecstatic Poetry Lisa Russ Spaar 152 The Euphoric Suffering of Modern Heroines Alison Booth 156 Abroad at Home: Contemporary Interethnic Fiction Caroline Rody 160 Women between Cultures: Latina Writers of the United States Maria-Ines Lagos 164 Where Spain Is Real: The Nineteenth-Century Spanish Novel (and Beyond) Randolph D. Pope 167 Joyce's Ulysses, Five Ways Michael Levenson 171 Ovid's Metamorphoses Paul Barolsky 175 Beyond Shakespeare: Some Other High Points of English Renaissance Drama Clare R. Kinney 179 Dangerous Knowledge: Faust, Frankenstein, the Golem, and the Castle Jeffrey A. Grossman 183 Tolling the Bells: Liturgy and English Literature Bruce Holsinger 187 Return to the Word Hoard Elizabeth Fowler 190 Literature as Re-Viewing J. Paul Hunter 194
4 The Arts Art and Science in the Renaissance Francesca Fiorani 199 Maps, Graphs, and Icons: The Art of Visual Knowledge Representation Johanna Drucker 203 A Pilgrim's Guide: The Visual World of Medieval Art Lisa Reilly 207
"One, Two, Three, Four": One Hundred Years of Jazz and Counting Scott Deveaux 210 American Art and Material Culture Maurie Mcinnis 214
"Reading" Popular Entertainment John Frick 217 Music and Identity in the African Diaspora Melvin L. Butler 221 The Pleasures and Terrors of Speaking (and Reading) Aloud Judith Reagan 225
5 Mind, Body, Spirit The Beginning of Wisdom: Self-Knowledge Mitchell S. Green 231 Babies, Toddlers, and Teens: How Children Develop Judy Deloache 235 Illness Narratives David B. Morris 239 Psychiatric Anthropology: Mental Illness and Cultural Difference Larry Merkel 243 Exploring Human Diversity: An Entree into Anthropology Peter Metcalf 247 Sex and Morality John Portmann 250 For the Sake of Profit: Self-Interest, Self-Sacrifice, and Corporate Goals Ira Bashkow 253 The Four Goals of Life in Classical Hinduism John Nemec 257 Differing Inequalities: Considering India, Europe, and America R. S. Khare 261 Islam, Christianity, Judaism: Reading across a Difference Peter Ochs 265 The Need to Know Islam and Muslims Abdulaziz Sachedina 269 Index 273