To highlight the wide range of publications reviewed in Choice, each month Choice editors feature some noteworthy reviews from the current issue.

Ackerly, Brooke.  Doing feminist research in political and social science, by Brooke Ackerly and Jacqui True.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.  303p bibl indexes; ISBN 9780230507760, $85.00; ISBN 9780230507777 pbk, $28.00.
48-6534  H62   2010-283813 MARC
 
Ackerly (Vanderbilt Univ.) and True (Univ. of Auckland, New Zealand) explore how a feminist research ethic can infuse the research process, from constructing the research question to producing data and explicating findings. The layout of the book facilitates understanding by integrating “information boxes” and visual diagrams defining key concepts, providing examples of actual research projects, and including links to Internet-based exercises and other resources. Furthermore, the authors note that constructing the book itself involved employment of a feminist research ethic, in that undergraduate and graduate students provided input for revisions. The authors link the central tenets of the feminist research ethic (e.g., attentiveness to power, attentiveness to boundaries of inclusion and exclusion, attentiveness to relationships, and commitment to self-reflection) with both nonlinear research processes and a consistent attention to how research impacts and is impacted by social and political contexts. Feminist works involving ethnography and/or social and political research projects would accompany this book well, as they would provide extensive examples of the feminist research ethic in the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. — C. L. Lalonde, D’Youville College

American FactFinder.  Internet Resource.
48-6035
http://factfinder2.census.gov/main.html 

[Revisited Apr’11] The US Census is complex and a bit daunting for users. American Fact Finder, a section within the census Web site, was a welcome feature that allowed users straightforward access to selected census data with no training. This is no longer the case. American Fact Finder has undergone a significant makeover, while data from the older (legacy) version remain available at this point http://factfinder.census.gov/. The new American Fact Finder now offers a wide assortment of search, display, and save options within a much more powerful search engine, and access to significantly detailed data sets related to population, housing, economics, industry, and geographic data. In order to assist users in the transition to the new version, a selection of quality video tutorials, with attached written transcripts, are offered. These tutorials are exceptionally well done and represent a significant effort to make understandable and usable a complex, multiple-step search and retrieval process.

Users of the new database may now create and customize maps, modify statistical tables through sorting and filtering rows/columns, and bookmark search results for later use. Users may also save data in a presentation format with notes and footnotes or in files designed for spreadsheet software. Not all 2010 census data have been released at this point; projected release dates can be found in the 2010 Census Data Products Release Schedule. The US Census is a rich source of finely detailed information not readily available elsewhere. The new American Fact Finder makes available a great deal of statistical information for users who choose to learn the process for accessing it. The information stored here is crucial for researchers. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. — C. W. Bruns, California State University—Fullerton 
   
Archibald, J. David.  Extinction and radiation: how the fall of dinosaurs led to the rise of mammals.  Johns Hopkins, 2011.  108p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780801898051, $65.00.
48-6299  QE861  2010-22281 CIP
 
The mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous about 66 million years ago is arguably one of the most significant events in Earth’s history. If nonavian dinosaurs had not gone extinct, then people would not be reading or writing about this event, as Stephen J. Gould often noted. In the ten million years after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundary, there was a rapid radiation of mammals into the many forms known today. These two topics, both the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs and subsequent radiation of mammals, are the focus of this fascinating book. Archibald (San Diego State), an expert on fossil mammals from the Cretaceous and early Tertiary, addresses both the patterns and causes of extinction at the K/T boundary. He argues against the single-cause extraterrestrial impact hypothesis, instead favoring multiple causes, including impact, volcanism, and sea level and climate change. The book includes six chapters that cover the fossil record of nonavian dinosaurs, Mesozoic mammals, and eutherian (placental) mammals; patterns and causes of extinction at the K/T boundary; and the origin and radiation of modern mammals after the extinction event. The illustrations are mostly black-and-white drawings, which vary widely in quality. Extensive notes supplement the text. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals in paleontology. — E. J. Sargis, Yale University  
 
Beal, Timothy.  The rise and fall of the Bible: the unexpected history of an accidental book.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.  244p index; ISBN 9780151013586, $25.00.
48-6216  BS511   2010-5734 CIP
 
The Bible is–or should be–dead. Long live the Bible! This, very, very briefly, is the message of this fast-paced, fact-filled, and utterly convincing volume by Beal (Case Western). The “Bible” that is dying is a fairly recent development–a cultural icon of an infallible text that constitutes God’s first and last word on every topic in an eternal and non-debatable fashion. In part, this Bible is the victim of the success of modern merchandisers and marketers, who, in their (often well-meaning) efforts to make the Word infinitely relevant, have squandered its “sacred capital.” The future, as Beal imaginatively charts it, is partly a result of the digital revolution. More fundamentally, this future is a modern reflection of how biblical materials actually developed in antiquity–as an evolving literature that invites, or even insists upon, questions from those who encounter it; as a library one browses with the expectation of coming upon the unexpected; and as a partner, albeit a hoary one, in open-ended conversations that stimulate rather than stifle personal reflection. Accessibly written and incorporating many of Beal’s own experiences, this book belongs in every collection that contains at least one copy of some form of the Bible. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. — L. J. Greenspoon, Creighton University  
 
Berman, Barry.  Competing in tough times: business lessons from L.L. Bean, Trader Joe’s, Costco, and other world-class retailers.  FT Press, 2011.  239p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780132459198, $39.99.
48-6388  HF5429  2010-31430 CIP
 
Despite the title, Berman (Hofstra Univ.) provides insights that are valuable during good times as well as bad. While the analysis and prescriptions are relevant to tough times, as noted in the title, they are in fact sound theory and practice in all business conditions. Berman’s suggested strategies and points are generously supported with citations to academic research and illustrated by real-world actions by standout retailers. While this book is apparently intended as a stand-alone work aimed primarily at professionals, it would also serve well as a supplement to a major textbook in an upper-division undergraduate or graduate course. It provides plenty of actionable guidance for managers in a way that promotes understanding of the underlying concepts so that the reader will know the “why” as well as the “what.” As a result, students would also better understand the connections between theory and practice. An appendix contains metrics of best-practice retailers in the areas of financial performance, customer service, and worker satisfaction. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional readership. — J. Gaskins, Longwood University

Best, Joel.  Everyone’s a winner: life in our congratulatory culture.  California, 2011.  199p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780520267169, $24.95.
48-6602  HN90   2010-34646 CIP
 
Consider the puffery of success excess: “excellence,” “best,” and “number one!” reverberate in the American psyche. The US is a nation of winners. Yet the ironically named sociologist Best (Univ. of Delaware) points to an obvious problem: if everyone wins, any accompanying merit is not especially meritorious. Well, readers may be surprised at how well American culture ignores this possibility. Best argues that Americans live in an age of status affluence in which there are innumerably more opportunities than ever before to seek and gain status (all those “My child is a third-grade honor roll student!” bumper stickers on minivans or the trophies given for just being on a team). Still, the abundance of awards and honorifics (consider the ubiquity, popularity, and now overly casual use of the word “hero”) has not quelled the belief that status is a scarce commodity. In this pithy, witty, and wise little book, Best characterizes the college rankings arms race, the new hero, and the self-congratulatory US society. More descriptive than the recent theoretical book by Francesco Duina (Winning: Reflections on an American Obsession, CH, Apr’11, 48-472), this work will make many readers wince with recognition. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — D. S. Dunn, Moravian College

Better than the best: black athletes speak, 1920-2007, ed. by John C. Walter and Malina Iida.  Washington, 2010.  264p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780295990538 pbk, $24.95.
48-6347  GV697  2010-31726 CIP
 
Walter (emer., Univ. of Washington) and Iida (graduate student, Univ. of Hawai’i) have gathered oral histories related by 13 black athletes. Several are quite famous, e.g., Wimbledon champion and scholar Arthur Ashe and Hall of Fame basketball player/coach Lenny Wilkens. Several are less known, including sprinter Mae Faggs Starr, who was the first American woman to compete in three Olympics, and Jennifer Johnson, who was elected to the Wheelchair Sports Hall of Fame for her table tennis success. Some of the histories are more readable than others because the storytellers’ voices vary, but the power of the stories, both individually and in aggregate, compensates for this minor flaw. Common themes run through the histories, e.g., the role of family and education, and each history concludes with the athlete’s discussing the ever-present question of whether African Americans have some physical advantage in sport. Each takes the question seriously and concludes that intangibles such as desire, ambition, and dedication are the critical factors. The book’s most remarkable contribution to the literature, though, is that it offers previously unpublished stories of great athletes, some of whom did not publish memoirs. Encountering their voices is a wonderful gift. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. — S. K. Fields, Ohio State University   
   
Brown, Lester R.  World on the edge: how to prevent environmental and economic collapse.  W.W. Norton, 2011.  240p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780393080292, $26.95; ISBN 9780393339499 pbk, $15.95.
48-6236  GE149   MARC
 
Brown, Earth Policy Institute (EPI) president, issues a clarion call for people worldwide to take action against a looming catastrophe caused by numerous, interconnected, environmentally damaging trends that threaten the food and water supplies crucial for human survival. He underscores the urgency of dealing with these issues now by asserting that the global economic recession and recent near collapse of the international financial system was a mere bump in the road compared to what lies ahead. He sets out “Plan B” to address global problems that include declining water resources, shrinking crop yields, increasing demand for food because of continued population growth, and the insidious heating of the planet. His plan has four interconnected components: stabilizing the climate, restoring Earth’s natural support systems, stabilizing population, and eradicating poverty. Most important, Brown estimates that the budget for restoring natural systems and eradicating poverty will be under $200 billion per year and can be derived from shifting national security funding to more-urgent food and water (survival) problems. This book is available in its entirety on the EPI Web site, with additional references not included in the print version. A must read for policy makers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — M. Evans, emeritus, SUNY Empire State College  
 
French, Paul.  Fat China: how expanding waistlines are changing a nation, by Paul French and Matthew Crabbe.  Anthem Press, 2010.  224p index; ISBN 9780857289780, $99.00; ISBN 9780857289650 pbk, $29.95; e-book ISBN 9780857289865 e-book, contact publisher for price.
48-6358  RC628  2010-36953 MARC
 
China’s dramatic changes in the last 30 years have drawn attention from global researchers in various fields. Different from books that focus more on China’s economic and political changes, Fat China investigates an alarming health problem that many Chinese heard little about 30 years ago and still have little awareness of today. French and Crabbe (both, Access China) warn that obesity and obesity-related illnesses are rapidly emerging in China and will have far-reaching effects on China’s health care system. The authors attribute this health problem to the fast change in lifestyles of China’s rising rich and middle classes and examine how the changes have been generated and reinforced by profit-driven multinational and local food and supermarket corporations. Food shortage changed to food abundance within 30 years, and many Chinese were not prepared to confront the negative effects of the change. This eye-opening and pioneering book on obesity in China is based on comprehensive research and statistical data. More important, the authors examine the health problem against global economic, sociocultural, and political backgrounds and in much broader contexts. Definitely a great addition to China studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — A. Y. Lee, George Mason University 
 
Hudson, Michael W.  The monster: how a gang of predatory lenders and Wall Street bankers fleeced America–and spawned a global crisis.  Times Books, 2010.  365p index; ISBN 9780805090468, $26.00.
48-6409  HG2040  2010-3223 CIP
 
The Monster refers to the “Mortgage Savings Presentation,” the sales technique used by First Alliance Mortgage Company (FAMCO) to deceive borrowers of house mortgages. Hudson (Center for Public Integrity), a respected journalist, reports on the methods (with many specific examples) used by FAMCO, Long Beach Saving and Loan, Ameriquest, Argent, and others to make mortgage loans to unqualified (or subprime) borrowers who later found themselves in more financial difficulty. The methods included misrepresentation of interest rates, concealment of important loan provisions, teaser rates and exorbitant resets, loans without documentation (“no-doc” or “stated income” loans), fake W-2s, inflated property appraisals, nonexistent houses, and falsified ages and incomes of borrowers. The rise and fall of Roland Arnall, the “founding father of subprime,” provides the narrative thread, which is supported by a cast of unscrupulous salespeople who forced predatory mortgages on borrowers who were “weak, meek, and ignorant.” The subprime loans were transferred to investment banks (Ameriquest had a close connection with Lehman), then bundled (“securitized”), and, with a triple-A rating bestowed by the rating agencies, sold to unsuspecting investors. A realistic but repugnant revelation of relations between lenders and trusting, gullible, and ignorant borrowers in the mortgage market–a market fraught with fraud. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduate students. — R. A. Miller, emeritus, Wesleyan University  
 
Jacobsen, Joseph J.  Sustainable business and industry: designing and operating for social and environmental responsibility.  ASQ Quality, 2011.  190p bibl index afp ISBN 0-87389-810-9, $85.00; ISBN 9780873898102, $85.00.
48-6393  HD60   2010-53018 CIP
 
Jacobsen (environmental studies, Milwaukee Area Technical College) has developed a useful introduction to designing and operating sustainably. The book begins by explaining why businesses should be environmentally and socially responsible and follows with examples of ways organizations have used their mission and vision statements to guide and coordinate their efforts. Chapter 3 discusses ISO 9000, 14000, and 26000 as methodologies to bring firms to quality environmental management systems. The next chapter provides an extensive overview of social and environmental performance indicators for companies to understand their progress in reducing their carbon footprints, including 80 social and environmental measures. The author moves on to discuss the calculation of a return on a responsible investment (RORI) and the development of a project feasibility study, with an emphasis on maintaining business profitability while improving environmental performance. In chapter 6, Jacobsen explains how traditional continuous improvement methods can be bolstered to support an integrated social and environmental project. The book also discusses in great detail the use of the LEED rating system for green buildings. Working with suppliers on optimization is part of the perspective. Leigh Stringer’s The Green Workplace (CH, Apr’10, 47-4512) provides a wider range of hands-on green strategies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All students and professionals/practitioners. — C. Wankel, St. John’s University, New York  
 
Labaree, David F.  Someone has to fail: the zero-sum game of public schooling.  Harvard, 2010.  304p index afp ISBN 0-674-05068-1, $29.95; ISBN 9780674050686, $29.95.
48-6429  LA212  2010-12646 CIP
 
Labaree (Stanford Univ.) establishes an intriguing set of paradoxes in his quest to explain how US education has historically kept citizens dreaming for progress yet continually frustrating their hopes and aspirations. Following the path of two illustrious Stanford colleagues, David Tyack and Larry Cuban, coauthors of Tinkering toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform (CH, Mar’96, 33-4039), Labaree sees schools as piecemeal agents of institutional change, but rarely as transformers of the larger social system. He argues that “doing school” has been more prevalent than actually learning academics–his main theme in a prior well-received book, How to Succeed in School without Really Trying (1999). Labaree is perceptive and lucid in presenting his view that individual self-interest is a driving force in schooling and school reform. Parents are, in principle, committed to equal education for all, but in practice pursue educational advantages for their child. This pursuit of advantage often blunts the common good. Indeed, Labaree’s skeptical realism is well taken in this continuing age of consumerism. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — J. L. DeVitis, Old Dominion University  
 
Lawrence, Greg.  Jackie as editor: the literary life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  St. Martin’s, 2011.  322p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780312591939, $25.99.
48-6143  PN149  2010-37256 CIP
 
Few first ladies have influenced US history and imagination as did Jacqueline Kennedy (Onassis), who was known to her friends as Jackie. Though Eleanor Roosevelt was admired widely for her activism, Onassis and Roosevelt had little in common. Onassis’s late-life, 19-year career in publishing has attracted little attention but should be taken seriously. She was a valid contributor, and some specialized studies would not have appeared without her insistence. Lawrence (a freelance writer and author of Dancing on My Grave [1986] and other books) unearths Onassis’s work at two major houses, Viking and Doubleday, where she was the hands-on editor of nearly 100 books (most of which reflect her interests and progressive convictions). Some authors with whom Onassis worked are of interest in the academy. One example is Dorothy West, an African American writer of the Harlem Renaissance known for The Living Is Easy (1945), who published her second novel, The Wedding (1995), with Onassis as editor. A worthy companion to Barbara Perry’s Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier (CH, May’05, 42-5482), this book is for anyone interested in “Jackie” or in late-20th-century business and social history. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.
— P. D. Travis, Texas Woman’s University  
 
Mader, Günter.  Walls: elements of garden and landscape architecture, by G^D”uünter Mader and Elke Zimmermann.  W.W. Norton, 2011.  136p bibl ISBN 0393732940 pbk, $40.00; ISBN 9780393732948 pbk, $40.00.
48-6093  TH4965  2010-31110 CIP
 
First published in German in 2008, this work is the second in these two authors’ series of visually inspiring guides to the design potential inherent in the most fundamental architectural elements of garden and landscape design. Like the earlier Zäune und Tore aus Hulz und Metall (2006), Walls is a comprehensive, luxuriously illustrated design manual organized by construction type, material, and structural or finish variations. In straightforward prose, the authors provide practical planning guidelines, design advice, definitions of terms, and frequent references to specific international design and building standards for each wall type, supporting these with structural diagrams and visual glossaries. These features alone make the book an indispensable primer for students of landscape design. The photographs, however, elevate Walls to the level of designer’s necessity. Every wall type, function, material, and finish is modeled by examples drawn from across the spectrum of ancient and traditional to bleeding-edge contemporary land art installations. While both authors are landscape designers/engineers, architect Mader is also a well-regarded garden historian (The English Formal Garden, with L. Neubert-Mader, 1997; Gartenkunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1999; Geschichte der Gartenkunst: Streifzüge durch vier Jahrtausende, 2006) and frequent contributor to European garden and landscape journals. Summing Up: Essential. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates, practitioners, and general audience. — K. S. Edwards, Clemson University

Michael Moore: filmmaker, newsmaker, cultural icon, ed. by Matthew H. Bernstein.  Michigan, 2010.  325p index afp; ISBN 9780472071036, $75.00; ISBN 9780472051038 pbk, $26.95.
48-6180  PN1998  2010-14036 CIP
 
Positioned by the publisher as “the first comprehensive volume focusing on the Moore phenomenon,” Bernstein’s collection ranges widely over Moore’s media work. The essays in the opening and closing sections (“Overviews” and “Beyond the American Multiplex: Moore in the Media Marketplace”) have a broad focus. For example, Gaylyn Studlar examines how Moore’s construction of class serves largely to elide his treatment of race and gender; Richard Kilborn discusses Moore’s reception in Britain (which, it turns out, is rather like his American reception); and Cary Elza looks at the converging Web presence of Moore http://www.michaelmoore.com and MoveOn http://www.MoveOn.org, before and after 2004. The essays in the two middle sections focus more narrowly, placing Moore’s films in comparison with the films of Emile de Antonio, the tradition of the essay film, Barbara Kopple’s American Dream, Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” series, and the dystopian tradition from 1984 to The Matrix. In an essay in the last section, Jeffrey Jones reads TV Nation and The Awful Truth in the context of its television predecessors and descendents. Although the volume offers little that is startlingly new, it does suggest a usefully varied set of lenses through which to view Moore’s work. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. — K. S. Nolley, Willamette University  
   
Peek, Lori.  Behind the backlash: Muslim Americans after 9/11.  Temple University, 2011.  214p index afp; ISBN 9781592139828, $79.50; ISBN 9781592139835 pbk, $26.95; e-book ISBN 9781592139842 e-book, $79.50.
48-6612  E184   2010-10131 CIP
 
In this savvy, research-based book, sociologist Peek (Colorado State Univ.) reports on interviews with Arab and South Asian Muslim Americans conducted after the 9/11 attacks. Peek provides an excellent introduction to the oppressive realities these Americans face, including sharp increases in hate crimes and illegal government spying after 9/11. Chapters mostly deal well with the attack’s aftermath–racist stereotyping and harassment Muslim American respondents face in many areas, such as racial profiling on the streets and violent confrontations, and the sharply increased fear, isolation, and other negative impacts they experience. A penultimate chapter lays out their significant adaptations and resistance strategies. This important book counters many US myths about Muslim Americans, their origins, and their life experiences. It makes them “come alive” as important US residents seeking to counter “othering” by fellow Americans. One limitation is that the analysis is mostly informed theoretically by the useful disaster research literature (the author’s specialty) and makes less use of previous social science research on Muslim Americans and relevant theories of race/racism than is necessary to make full sense of these anti-Muslim realities. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — J. R. Feagin, Texas A&M University  
 
Rogel, Jean-Pierre.  Evolution: the view from the cottage, tr. by Nigel Spencer.  Ronsdale Press, 2010.  168p bibl index ISBN 1553801040 pbk, $21.95; ISBN 9781553801047 pbk, $21.95.
48-6269  QH367   Can. CIP
 
Books that claim to present a coherent view of the natural world are often too simple, suitable for a curious high school student, or far too technical for anyone other than an expert to appreciate. But Rogel, a French science author/journalist based in Canada, accomplishes this elusive goal, and he does it with wit and style. This is a book to savor. This reviewer even found a few points that he will now be making in his freshman biodiversity lectures. The work is divided into sections. The first introduces the general landscape of evolution and the importance of understanding why life comes in so many varieties. In the second section, readers come to appreciate the elegance of the Hox genes–the universal genetic developmental toolkit. The third and final part considers how humans have used their newfound knowledge of natural order for bioengineering and conservation. This work can be read, understood, and appreciated by a wide audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All students, teachers, and general readers.
— B. E. Fleury, Tulane University  
 
Singh, J. P.  Globalized arts: the entertainment economy and cultural identity.  Columbia, 2011.  208p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780231147187, $39.50; e-book ISBN 9780231519199 e-book, contact publisher for price.
48-6557  NX180  2010-14598 CIP
 
Singh (communication, culture, and technology, Georgetown Univ.) examines the relationship between “creative forces and cultural politics at micro- and global levels.” This important book addresses creative expression, international cultural policies, and the anxieties and enhanced collaborative opportunities associated with globalization. Singh distinguishes between creative products and cultural politics to analyze “how the politics of cultural deliberations lead to the ascendance of one or another notion of cultural identity in politics.” His nuanced presentation of the relationship between identity and cultural politics is multifaceted and thoughtful. Beginning with a discussion of value, markets, and patronage, the work then analyzes deliberations at the World Trade Organization, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, and the EU; the production of creative expression in developing countries; and the construction of what is deemed “cultural” in the case of Thailand. In conclusion, Singh argues that a “multicultural person or community is networked with others but maintains distinct and flexible identities.” The book is a detailed and sophisticated analysis of cultural policies and globalization. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduate collections and above. — L. J. Roselle, Elon University    
 
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