Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature
By Tracy Fessenden ’83

In her book, Culture and Redemption (Princeton University Press), Tracy Fessenden ’83 challenges the conventional notion that the United States, founded in religious tolerance, has gradually and naturally established a secular public sphere that is equally tolerant of all religions. Instead, she contends that the uneven separation of church and state has functioned to promote particular forms of religious possibility while containing, suppressing or excluding others. Through an examination of legal cases, children’s books, sermons and polemics together with literature from the 17th-to-20th centuries, Fessenden shows how the vaunted secularization of American culture proceeds not as an inevitable byproduct of modernity, but instead through concerted attempts to render dominant forms of Protestant identity continuous with democratic, civil identity.

Fessenden is an associate professor of religious studies and women’s and gender studies at Arizona State University.

The Engaged Sociologist: Connecting the Classroom to the Community
By Kathleen Korgen ’89 and Jonathan M. White

The Engaged Sociologist (Pine Forge Press), by Kathleen Korgen ’89 and Jonathan M. White, brings the “public sociology” movement into the classroom, as it teaches students to use the tools of sociology to become effective participants in our democratic society. Through exercises and projects, the authors encourage students to practice the application of these tools in order to get both hands-on training in sociology and experience with civic engagement in their communities. The book also provides a global perspective as it aims to connect students to the worldwide community. By specifically illustrating how students can influence society, The Engaged Sociologist entices students to become more active, effective citizens.

Korgen is an associate professor of sociology at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J.

Awesome Bill from Dawsonville: My Life in NASCAR
By Chris Millard ’82 and Bill Elliott

Awesome Bill from Dawsonville (HarperEntertainment) is the autobiography of NASCAR racer Bill Elliott. Co-authored by Chris Millard ’82, this is not only the story of Elliott’s rise to become Winston Cup Champion, it is also a primer on the ascent of America’s fastest-growing sport. The reader rides alongside Elliott as he battles the sport’s greatest racers and sets the all-time record for the fastest official speed ever recorded in a stock car. Elliott also shares his thoughts on the dark side of racing: the stresses it places on relationships, the ever-present physical risks and the weight of fame. He is candid and critical in discussing the intense rivalry between the late Dale Earnhardt and himself—and sheds new light on their storied relationship as well as on Earnhardt’s death. Throughout Elliott’s story, NASCAR emerges from a Southern diversion into a national phenomenon.

Former director of communications for Jack Nicklaus and Golden Bear International, Millard is co-author of Nicklaus By Design: Golf Course Strategy and Architecture.

All American: Why I Believe in Football, God, and the War in Iraq
By Robert P. McGovern ’89

All American (William Morrow), by Robert P. McGovern ’89, is the story of the friends, mentors and heroes the author has encounter throughout his life. From his days in Catholic school to his years as a college and professional football player to his current career as an Army judge advocate general, McGovern believes that he knows an “All American” when he sees one—and, in this book, he introduces us to those he has met from all walks of life. A former prosecutor, McGovern was in lower Manhattan on 9/11. After working at Ground Zero, he asked to be mobilized from his Army Reserve duty to active duty. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq and returned from both tours convinced that Americans needed to hear another side of the war on terrorism—the side he saw firsthand.

McGovern played professional football for the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. Now an Army captain, he is stationed in Virginia.

High Society: How Substance Abuse Ravages America and What to Do About It
By Joseph A. Califano Jr. ’52

In High Society (PublicAffairs), Joseph A. Califano Jr. ’52 points out that a child who reaches 21 without smoking, using illegal drugs or abusing alcohol is virtually certain never to do so. He then chronicles the fearful cost in personal pain and public dollars of our nation’s failure to act on this truth. Califano shows how substance abuse is the culprit in crime, domestic violence, the spread of AIDS, teen pregnancy and poverty. He takes on alcohol and tobacco interests that buy political protection and seed a culture of substance abuse among our nation’s children. He explains the importance of parent power, proposes revolutionary changes in prevention, treatment and criminal justice, and calls upon everyone to confront this plague that has maimed and killed more Americans than all our wars, natural catastrophes and traffic accidents combined.

Califano is founder of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York City.

Capital Speculations: Writing and Building Washington, D.C.
By Sarah Luria

Sarah Luria’s Capital Speculations (University of New Hampshire Press) examines the vital political connection between architecture and literature in the formation of America’s capital. City planners believed that designing Washington, D.C., as a physical model of the Constitution and its balance of powers would help citizens bond with the newly created nation. Luria demonstrates how political and financial speculation combined to build the city and, once established, how the capital became a stage for the visions of subsequent reformers. She analyzes five political reformers and the sites they used to promote their ideas. Although each author’s work describes a different relationship between text and physical space, all five combine political speculation and marketplace psychology.

Luria is an associate professor of English at Holy Cross.

Out of What Chaos
By Lee Oser

In the novel, Out of What Chaos (Scarith), Lee Oser showcases the escapades of the band Rex and The Brains as they break into the Portland, Ore., rock scene, record their first CD, and tour from Vancouver to Los Angeles behind their chart-topping single. It is the story of hard-partying rockers finding their way amidst the frenzied panorama of 21st-century America. The country embraces the band, but as its fame grows, tragedy strikes, and Freddie Fontane finds himself torn between his rock ’n’ roll lifestyle and his girlfriend, whose claim on his heart continues to grow. In the end, the worlds of love and celebrity collide, and Freddie must make a decision about how to live.

Oser is an associate professor of English at Holy Cross.

Our Landless Patria: Marginal Citizenship and Race in Caguas, Puerto Rico, 1880-1910
By Rosa E. Carrasquillo

In Our Landless Patria (University of Nebraska Press), Rosa E. Carrasquillo examines issues of race and citizenship in Puerto Rico, tracing how the process of land privatization accelerated a series of struggles for natural resources between the poorest sectors of society and the landed elite. Since former slaves were barred from formally obtaining land, they developed an alternative citizenship that validated their livelihood, putting in motion a series of civil claims that protected people’s mobility rights and their access to land. However, the rural poor’s claims for a more egalitarian society—what Carrasquillo calls “marginal citizenship”—could not transform the political exclusion of the racially mixed population because of its heavy borrowing from the Spanish legal system. In particular, marginal citizenship embodied patriarchy as a model to regulate social relations at home, failing to address gender inequalities and perpetuating class differences.

Carrasquillo is an assistant professor of history at the College.