New Book Roundup

November is turning out to be a busy month at UPM. We are pleased to release seven new books out this month. All of the titles below are now available. 

Baz Luhrmann: Interviews, edited by Tom Ryan
A collection of interviews with the acclaimed director of Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and the Oscar-nominated films Moulin Rouge!, Australia, and most recently The Great Gatsby. Here Luhrmann discusses his methods and his motives, explaining what has been important to him and his collaborators from the start and how he has been able to maintain an independence from the studios that have backed his films. 


Behold the Proverbs of a People: Proverbial Wisdom in Culture, Literature, and Politics, by Wolfgang Mieder

The thirteen chapters of this book comprise an intriguing and informative entry into the world of proverb scholarship, illustrating that proverbs have always been and continue to be wisdom's international currency. Noted scholar Wolfgang Mieder shows that proverbs matter in culture, literature, and politics. Proverbs remain part and parcel of oral and written communication, and, he demonstrates, they deserve to be studied from a range of viewpoints. 

Death, Disability, and the Superhero: The Silver Age and Beyond, by José Alaniz

Author José Alaniz seeks to redefine the contemporary understanding of the superhero. By drawing on DC and Marvel comics from the 1960s to the 1990s and marshaling insights from three burgeoning fields of inquiry in the humanities—disability studies, death and dying studies, and comics studies—Alaniz shows how death and disability, presumed absent or denied in the superhero genre, in fact form a core theme and defining function in the Silver Age.

Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna: A Children's Classic at 100, edited by Roxanne Harde and Lydia Kokkola

In celebration of Eleanor H. Porter’s Pollyanna centenary, this book presents thirteen original essays examines a wide variety Pollyannas’s themes and concerns, as well as adaptations in film, manga, and translation. Internationally respected and emerging scholars of children’s literature consider Porter’s germinal work from modern critical perspectives. 

Song of My Life: A Biography of Margaret Walker, by Carolyn J. Brown

Song of My Life is the first biography of Margaret Walker and includes many photographs and images of primary documents from the life of Margaret Walker. The book intends to reintroduce Margaret Walker to readers by telling her life story—a story that many can relate to as she overcame familiar obstacles related to race, gender, and poverty.

Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women's Rights at the 1884 New Orleans World's Fair, by Miki Pfeffer

This book chronicles the successes and setbacks of a lively cast of post-bellum women in the first Woman’s Department at a 1884 New Orleans World's Fair. From a wide range of primary documents, author Miki Pfeffer recreates the sounds and sights of 1884 New Orleans after Civil War and Reconstruction. Her primary focus is on how difficult unity was to achieve, even when diverse women professed a common goal.

Until You Are Dead, Dead, Dead: The Hanging of Albert Edwin Batson, by Jim Bradshaw and Danielle Miller

Bradshaw and Miller present the story of the legal trials of Albert Edwin Batson for the 1902 murder of six members of the Earll family. Also on display here is emotional trial of Batson’s mother; she believed him innocent and worked tirelessly but futilely to save her son’s life. More than two dozen photos of Batson, his mother, and the principals involved in his arrest and convictions help document the story.