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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Time to update everyone on the 1A/B/C book list
following yesterday's afternoon meeting. We have, out of a desire to solicit
more feedback, put off making any firm decisions on delisting or new listings
until we give folks another chance to speak up in defense of the texts they are
using. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here's the list of works still in doubt, by
class:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1A: <EM>Zami</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Paradise</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Native Speaker</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Text Book</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Of the books above, two in particular
(<EM>Zami</EM> and <EM>Paradise</EM>) seem to have little interest. I'd be
interested in hearing what people are doing with them -- if anything.
</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Barring a defense of the above from some quarter
not hitherto heard from, the above works might well be bumped from the list. We
don't want to remove a book that's seeing use, but neither do we want unsightly
cobwebs on our bookshelf. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I will briefly make a comment on <EM>Text Book
</EM>myself, one that seems fairly consistent with what I'm hearing from
others: It seems that those of us who are inclined to use <EM>Text Book</EM> at
all only ever use a few pages from it, and so usually we just distribute a
handout or assign a reading or two on Reserve from the book. Is that a fair
assessment? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You'll also recall that I distributed some
descriptions of texts that might be considered for inclusion on future lists; we
have trimmed down the list only slightly. It now includes the following
works:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1A: <EM>Having our Say</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1B: <EM>Reefer Madness</EM> (this is another book
by Schlosser of <EM>Fast Food Nation</EM> fame)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1B: <EM>The Hungry Woman</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Rereading America</EM> (a
reader)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Farewell my Lovely</EM> (for use in
combination with <EM>Devil in a Blue Dress</EM>)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>In the Belly of the Beast</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Cruddy</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Two texts seemed like possibly interested
additions, but have been put off until an experiment can be made of them:
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>Reading Lolita in Tehran</EM> (I screwed up
and left this one out of the last list; its description appears
below)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1C: <EM>The Diamond Age</EM> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If others are willing to give either of the above a
test drive, keep us posted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The remaining texts, listed below, were on our
"endangered list" earlier, but appear to have been rescued:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>Always
Running</EM> (1A)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><FONT face=Arial
size=2><EM>Twilight</EM> (1B)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><FONT face=Arial
size=2><EM>Medea</EM> (1B)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><FONT face=Arial
size=2><EM>Tortilla Curtain</EM> (1B)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>Heroes
and Saints</EM> (1B)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><SPAN style="COLOR: white"><FONT
color=#000000><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>Confessions of a Justified
Sinner</EM>... (1C)</FONT> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><SPAN style="COLOR: white"><FONT
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2><EM>Dreaming in Cuban</EM> (1C) (Someone at our
meeting pointed out that this particular text's author is a professor on campus.
Given this fact, and the possibility that interested instructors might be able
to nab the author as a guest speaker or visitor to their classes, we thought
that we should keep it around a little while longer, in the hopes that it might
be able to get better use than it has been getting so far.)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: gray"><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>The
Dispossessed</EM> (1B)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lastly, here is a description and
recommendation of the aforementioned <EM>Reading Lolita</EM>, a text that I
sloppily left out of the last batch of descriptions. At the moment, it does not
look as though we will be adopting it, but we'd be interested in input from
those who experiment with the work. The paragraph below is in the recommender's
own words (not mine).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Reading Lolita in Tehran, A Memoir
in Books</STRONG> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Franklin Gothic Book" size=2>I highly recommend
Nafisi’s book <I>Reading Lolita in </I><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:City><st1:place><I>Tehran</I></st1:place></st1:City><I>, A Memoir in
Books </I>(2003, IBSN 081297106X, 384 pages). I found it last spring when I
was searching for just the right book to give as a gift to a young relative of
mine preparing to go away to college. I thought this suited her, and for the
same reasons our students, because it approaches literary analysis from a
perspective of examining how books impact the lives of readers. In addition,
the topical nature of the setting is relevant and informative as an aid for
our students, and all of us, as we seek to better understand a part of the
world that has become so integral to our own politics and culture. Even though
it belongs most naturally in a 1C class, I hope that we will include this text
in our program somewhere, even if the 1C portion of the program is eliminated,
because it is so powerful. Given the memoir bent of the book, I think that it
could function quite well as a 1A text too. Below, I’ve pasted a review of the
book from the Barnes & Noble web site (where, by the way, the text is
ranked at 95 for B & N sales). It provides a brief summary of the text and
a positive assessment of the writing.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-TOP: 6pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><FONT
face="Franklin Gothic Book"><FONT size=2>Library Journal<?xml:namespace prefix
= o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 25.7pt"><FONT
face="Franklin Gothic Book"><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Nafisi taught English
literature at the </SPAN><st1:place><st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">University</SPAN></st1:PlaceType><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> of </SPAN><st1:PlaceName><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Tehran</SPAN></st1:PlaceName></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> from 1979 to 1981, when she
was expelled for refusing to wear the veil, and later at the Free Islamic
University and Allameh Tabatabai in </SPAN><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Tehran</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">. In 1997, she and her family
left </SPAN><st1:country-region><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Iran</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> for the
</SPAN><st1:country-region><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United
States</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">. This riveting memoir details
Nafisi's clandestine meetings with seven hand-picked young women, who met in
her home during the two-year period before she left Iran to read and discuss
classic Western novels like Lolita, The Great Gatsby, and Pride and Prejudice.
The women, who at first were suspicious of one another and afraid to speak
their minds, soon opened up and began to express their dreams and
disappointments as they responded to the books they were reading. Their
stories reflect the oppression of the Iranian regime but also the
determination not to be crushed by it. Nafisi's lucid style keeps the reader
glued to the page from start to finish and serves both as a testament to the
human spirit that refuses to be imprisoned and to the liberating power of
literature. Highly recommended for all libraries. [For an interview with
Nafisi, see p. 100.]-</SPAN><st1:place><st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Ron
Ratliff</SPAN></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">, </SPAN><st1:State><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Kansas</SPAN></st1:State></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> State Univ.,
</SPAN><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Manhattan</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> Copyright 2003 Reed Business
Information. </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P class=MsoNormal dir=ltr style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 25.7pt"><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p>Okay, that's
all I have for you in this report. Please let me know if you have any strong
feelings about the first list of texts above. </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal dir=ltr style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 25.7pt"><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><o:p>- Gray
Scott</o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></BODY></HTML>