November 2011

New York Times calls Karlawish’s historical novel “marvelous”

by Shaun Manning November 29, 2011

The New York Times reviewed Dr. Jason Karlawish's historical novel Open Wound: The Tragic Obsession of Dr. William Beaumont, praising its precise treatment of the doctor/patient relationship–in particular, the unique doctor/patient relationship that existed between frontier physicial Dr. William Beaumont and gut-shot trapper Alexis St. Martin in the early 19th century. Setting the unusual circumstances of Beaumont's care in the context of more familiar terms–and suggesting that, despite radical advancements in the fields of medicine, some things never change–the Times said: The relationship between doctor and patient is hard enough to parse when both are in the same room. When [...]

Poker as Poetry of Money

by Shaun Manning November 28, 2011

Guest blogger Ole Bjerg is the author of Poker: The Parody of Capitalism, available now from the University of Michigan Press. His book argues, among other things, that the poker is a form of cultural expression not unlike fine arts and literature, and here he discusses briefly how to consider the game in similar terms. The relationship between money, economy, and gambling is comparable to the relationship between language, prose, and poetry. In prose, the functioning of language is more or less taken for granted, and language is used as a medium for conveying meaning, for instance, stating a fact [...]

Tamara Piety Discusses Implications of First Amendment on Pharmaceutical “Speech”

by Shaun Manning November 23, 2011

Tamara Piety, author of the forthcoming University of Michigan Press title Brandishing the First Amendment: Commercial Expression in America, recently spoke with the Pharmalot blog on the implications of expanding First Amendment protections to corporate marketing speech, specifically as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry. At the heart of the discussion is a Supreme Court decision striking down a Vermont law that restricted data mining–in this case, records of which doctors prescribe which medicines–for marketing purposes. Piety explained that "the data mining and pharmaceutical companies argued that Vermont’s singling out of marketing for different treatment than say, research or law [...]

British Press Adores ‘First Actresses’ Exhibition

by Shaun Manning November 22, 2011

The First Actresses, an exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery celebrating the first women to take to the stage in Britain following the Restoration in 1660, has set tongues wagging in the major UK newspapers. Focusing largely on two portraits of Nell Gwynn, an actress and mistress of King Charles II, The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Daily Telegraph have all weighed in with praise for the exhibition. From The Times (subscription required): From Lely to Lawrence, the leading artists of the day took them into their studios, the singers and dancers as well as the actresses, there to [...]

“Lost Eagles” Makes List of Top 50 Books on the Great War

by Shaun Manning November 16, 2011

Blaine Pardoe's Lost Eagles: One Man's Mission to Find Missing Airmen in Two World Wars (University of Michigan Press, 2010) is among the top 50 entries on the Great War Essential Reading List. The list, which includes listings for and discussions of more than 1200 titles, featured Lost Eagles on its Facebook page counting down the best of the best titles on World War I from its exhaustive registry. Pardoe's biography of Frederick Zinn details how Zinn developed a system for determining the fates of air force pilots shot down behind enemy lines, a system that has continued from its [...]

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