Good Reads: July | August 2014

New books of interest to the Longhorn Universe

Charlie Chaplin, Director

By Donna Kornhaber

We know him best as the mustachioed actor who was the biggest star of the silent film era, but Charlie Chaplin was also a prolific director. Critics haven’t paid much attention to Chaplin’s directing credits—until now. In a hotly anticipated book (it was named one of the New Yorker’s “Books to Watch Out For”), UT English professor Kornhaber makes the case that Chaplin’s directing represented a major new visual style.

Surf Texas

Photos by Kenny Braun; foreword by Stephen Harrigan

Name a few quintessentially Texan sports, and surfing probably isn’t at the top of your list. But ours is one of the top six surfing states in the country. Sure, the waves tend to be gentle swells rather than towering breakers, but that’s what makes Texas surfing so special. The meditative pace and the space between waves, plus the rare thrill of catching a big one, are lovingly portrayed in this black-and-white photo essay. UT Press’s beautiful packaging of the book makes it a coffee-table mainstay.

Men of Color in Higher Education

Edited by Ronald Williams, with Victor B. Saenz

Nearly half of young men of color aged 15-24 will end up unemployed, incarcerated, or dead. That sobering statistic, from a 2010 College Board report, shows just how far men of color have been left behind when it comes to higher education. UT’s Victor B. Saenz—who splits his time between the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, the College of Education, and the College of Liberal Arts—and colleagues have authored a new book full of proven models that help men succeed in college. The book delves into the social, structural, and institutional forces that have to change in order to bridge the gap.

Rethinking Iranian Nationalism and Modernity

Edited by Kamran Scot Aghaie and Afshin Marashi

What does it mean to be Iranian? Encompassing the identity of an entire nation is a daunting task, and Aghaie—the chair of UT’s Middle Eastern Studies department and a leading scholar of modern Iranian history—takes it on with aplomb in this book of interdisciplinary essays on Iranian nationalism. From sociology to gender studies, art to architecture, Rethinking Iranian Nationalism paints a fuller picture of Iran’s place in the world than ever before.