Category Archives: books
Spinning Yarns about this Spinning Planet
Narrative threads: reading, writing, talking after the conference is over Continue reading
The Challenge of Writing about a Fast-Changing China: Notes from the Borderland Between Scholarship and Journalism, with Jeff Wasserstrom and Mara Hvistendahl
This episode is another joint venture with The China Beat blog, a recording of the conversation between Jeff Wasserstrom and Mara Hvistendahl held at UC Irvine on April 23rd. As described on the China Beat, “The lively discussion covered Hvistendahl’s … Continue reading
Martha Sandweiss’s Passing Strange: Excellent History at the Edge of Knowability
The first thing to know about Martha Sandweiss’s Passing Strange is that it is gripping. When I first cracked it open, in a Seattle hotel room last March, I found myself one hundred pages in before checking the time. This … Continue reading
Stephen Pyne’s How-To of History: Thinking, Choosing, Writing
(Apologies to those of you who dutifully waited up Wednesday for this post; it’s that time of semester. But my book manuscript did get finalized as you waited, so it’s a step closer to store shelves!) I was quite impressed … Continue reading
Inspiration Points: Death on my nightstand
It’s certainly just coincidence that as I was reading through Margaret Atwood’s Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing last night and considered her ideas about writing being about facing one’s own mortality, I realized that the books on … Continue reading
What's print got to do with it? New frontiers of digital of scholarship
History, for me, remains text-centric, which I hope sounds perverse in a conversation about history and new media. Although I’m not technically accomplished, neither am I a Luddite. And I’ve drunk enough Derridian Kool-Aid to be willing to see most … Continue reading
What's Not New About Swine Flu
By Nick Bravo & Jana Remy Shockjock Jay Severin just got suspended by his radio station after a disturbingly xenophobic and racist tirade that, for all its hate, remains surprisingly unoriginal. Here’s what he said: “We should be, if anything, … Continue reading
The China Beat blog: Where the East is Read
The China Beat blog, despite being completely outside my field, is one of my favorite history-themed blogs. The engaging mix of articles keeps me thinking and learning more about China than I ever knew I wanted to. Of particular interest … Continue reading
Episode 6, Part 1: Patricia Nelson Limerick
Just for the record, I’d like you to know that I danced plenty in high school, thank you very much. With that off my chest, I do hope that you’ll take a moment to tune in to Patty’s reading of … Continue reading
Episode 3, Part 2: Jeff Wasserstrom
This MHP episode offers an informal interview with China historian Jeff Wasserstrom, where he discusses a variety of topics about writing history. He gives advice on publishing book reviews, overcoming writer’s block, and names some of his favorite history books. … Continue reading
