New Books: May 2023

"A trenchant analysis of how the wealthiest 9.9 percent of Americans--those just below the tip of the wealth pyramid--have exacerbated the growing inequality in our country and distorted our social values"--

What if everything you thought you knew about aging was wrong? This bold historical account helps explain how ageism has seeped into our lives, slowly and silently shaping our own misconceptions about aging--and about ourselves. Ageism Unmasked takes a journey through time to reveal how politics, technology, religion, media, and medicine have shaped a modern aging narrative that bears little resemblance to reality. Aging is a process, and it doesn't just happen to old people. We are all aging every moment of our lives. Ageism is reflexively forming opinions about people, and how we interact with them, based on their age. And we all do it, without thinking about it. Ageism is so deeply infused in our thinking, language and actions that it is practically invisible. Even attempts to be anti-ageist fall into perilous traps that perpetuate, rather than discourage, ageism. Ageism Unmasked will help readers let go of our desperate need to stay young, appreciate how we all age, and reset our expectations for getting old.

As zealots in Washington intensify their preparations for an American attack on Iran, the story of the CIA's 1953 coup-with its many cautionary lessons-is more urgently relevant than ever. All the Shah's Men brings to life the cloak-and-dagger operation that deposed the only democratic regime Iran ever had. The coup ushered in a quarter-century of repressive rule under the Shah, stimulated the rise of Muslim fundamentalism and anti-Americanism throughout the Middle East, and exposed the folly of using violence to try to reshape Iran. Selected as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and the Economist, it's essential reading if you want to place the American invasion of Iraq in context-and prepare for what comes next.

An illustrated guide to the fantastic world of Japanese myths: retelling the stories and exploring how Japanese mythology has changed over time, as new gods, heroes, and spirits have entered the canon--Publisher's description.

"Latinx Teens examines how Latinx teenagers influence twenty-first century U.S. popular culture. The book explores the diverse ways that contemporary mainstream film, television, theatre, and young adult literature invokes, constructs, and interprets adolescent Latinidad"--

"This book acquaints students with the work of contemporary moral philosophers. Each chapter has been revised and updated. The third edition includes a new chapter on moral contractualism and an extensively revised chapter on virtue ethics and care ethics. Additionally, the book discusses recent work by moral psychologists making an impact on moral theory."--Publisher description.

"Oprah Winfrey and renowned brain development and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry discuss the impact of trauma and adversity and how healing must begin with a shift to asking "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?". Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry explore how what happens to us in early childhood influences the people we become. They challenge us to shift from focusing on "What's wrong with you?" or "Why are you behaving that way?" to asking "What happened to you?". Many of us experience adversity that has a lasting impact on our physical and emotional health. What happens to us in childhood is a powerful predictor of our risk for health problems down the road and offers scientific insights into the patterns of behaviors so many struggle to understand. Here, Winfrey shares stories from her own harrowing past and her understanding of the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma at a young age. Joining forces with Dr. Perry, one of the world's leading experts on childhood trauma, Winfrey marries the power of storytelling with science and clinical experience to better understand and overcome the effects of trauma. The two focus not only a new understanding of people's behavior but also on trauma's effects on our own lives. It's a subtle but profound shift in our approach to trauma that allows each of us to understand our past so that we may clear a path to our future - opening the door to resilience and healing in a proven, powerful way." --

"In April 1944 a teenager named Rudolf Vrba was planning a daring and unprecedented escape from Auschwitz. After hiding in a pile of timber planks for three days while 3,000 SS men and their bloodhounds searched for him, Vrba and his fellow escapee Fred Wetzler would eventually cross Nazi-occupied Poland on foot, as penniless fugitives. Their mission: to tell the world the truth of the Final Solution. Vrba would produce from memory a breathtaking report of more than thirty pages revealing the true nature and scale of Auschwitz - a report that would find its way to Roosevelt, Churchill and the Pope, eventually saving over 200,000 Jewish lives. A thrilling history with enormous historical implications, THE ESCAPE ARTIST is the extraordinary story of a complex man who would seek escape again and again: first from Auschwitz, then from his past, even from his own name. In telling his story, Jonathan Freedland - the journalist, broadcaster and acclaimed, multi-million copy selling author of the Sam Bourne novels - ensures that Rudolf Vrba's heroic mission will also escape oblivion"--Publisher's description.

"This new interpretive history of Mexican art and architecture from the Spanish Conquest to the early decades of the twenty-first century is the most comprehensive introduction to the subject in fifty years. James Oles ranges widely across media and genres, offering new readings of paintings, murals, sculptures, buildings, prints, and photographs. He interprets major works by such famous artists as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, but also discusses less familiar figures who were equally important in the construction of national identity. The story of Mexican art is set in its rich historical context by the book's treatment of political and social change. The author draws on recent scholarship to examine crucial issues of race, class, and gender, including an exploration of the work of indigenous artists during the colonial period, and of women artists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Throughout, Oles shows how artists in Mexico participated in local and international developments, and highlights the important role played by Mexicans in the art world of the last five centuries."--Page 4 of cover.