Lee W. Bailey and Mary Pat Fisher, eds., An Anthology of Living Religions
(Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1999)

Bailey, an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, and Fisher offer collection of contemporary discussions of the living world religions. Various chapters explore the basic nature of religion itself — such as the phenomenon of the sacred, polytheism and monotheism, the question of the origin of the universe, and the nature of mythological symbolism versus literal interpretation. Writings deal with the role of women in contemporary religious practice and with ethical questions such as the role of religion in environmental attitudes. Indigenous sacred ways are treated with the same care as the major world religions. The global, interfaith movement is presented. Web sites and video companion pieces are listed for class presentation and further research.

Raymond Gozzi Jr., The Power of Metaphor in the Age of Electronic Media.
(Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press, 1999).

Gozzi, an associate professor of television-radio, argues in the book’s first half that the contemporary interest in metaphor is related to the increasing prominence of electronic media. Their imagery, he says, is pushing the entire culture’s discourse toward metaphorical modes of conception and the making of meaning. The second part of the book is a collection of Gozzi’s articles on metaphors in relation to media, computers, and education.

Sandra L. Herndon, Jeanine R. Barr, and Lynette S. Eastland, eds., Communication in Recovery: Perspectives on Twelve-Step Groups
(Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press, 1999)

This volume is a compilation of the latest applied research in therapeutic communication focused specifically on the recovery process. Proceeding from the assumption that matters of health are rooted in the spirit, chapters draw from a variety of perspectives in examining and critiquing the ways in which individuals are empowered by themselves and others in making constructive life changes with the assistance of 12-step groups.

Susan Ito ’81 and Tina Cervin, eds., A Ghost at Heart’s Edge: Stories and Poems of Adoption
(Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1999)

While there are many nonfiction books available on adoption, this is the first-ever literary anthology on the subject. Written by both novice and well-known authors, including Alison Lurie, Isabel Allende, Sandra McPherson, Louise Erdrich, Chitra Divakaruni, and Lynna Williams, this collection contains 50 stories and poems from all points of view of the adoption triad: biological parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees. The stories take place in such varied places as Nebraska, Rome, New Orleans, and India. The book’s title is a line from a poem written by Katharyn Howd Machan, associate professor of writing at Ithaca College and former teacher of Susan Ito, whose work is included in the book.

David Lebovitz ’81, Room for Dessert
(New York: HarperCollins, 1999)

With 100 recipes for cakes, custards, soufflés, tarts, pies, cobblers, sorbets, sherbets, ice creams, cookies, candies, and cordials — and a foreword by Alice Waters — Room for Dessert offers up a feast. Lebovitz, former pastry chef at Berkeley’s legendary Chez Panisse (ICQ, fall 1997), studied there under Waters and founding pastry chef Lindsay Shere. He shares their commitment to fresh, seasonal ingredients presented simply. After leaving Chez Panisse, Lebovitz served as pastry chef at the Bay Area restaurant Monsoon, experimenting with a wide variety of Asian ingredients. Now he’s offering his expertise to the home cook in this volume, which is illustrated with 75 full-color photographs.