Penn Press Log

Enchantment--Now Available

Enchantment: On Charisma and the Sublime in the Arts of the West
C. Stephen Jaeger
440 pages | 6 x 9 | 52 illus.
Cloth Mar 2012 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4329-1 | $69.95 | £45.50
A volume in the Haney Foundation Series

This book examines charisma as the force in art, literature, and film that engages the reader's or viewer's consciousness and inspires admiration and imitation. Thirteen chapters analyze the workings of charisma and its effects, ranging from Homer to Woody Allen. Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Saunders Robinson.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here.

Name that Zoot Contest Extended to Friday

Penn Press is doing you solid. We're extending the deadline for this week's Name that Zoot contest to Friday, August 5 at 12:00  noon eastern time.

This week's winner will receive a copy of Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style by Kathy Peiss, plus a chance at the grand prize, a gift certificate for ReVamp vintage clothing reproduction.

Here again is the final question.

Name the famous bird who stars in the patriotic propaganda cartoon Spirit of '43. In this animated short, a zoot suit wearing spendthrift tempts this civilian bird to waste war time wages on pleasure instead of paying taxes and buying war bonds.

If you know the answer, please send it to pressmkt@pobox.upenn.edu.

Send your answer by 12:00 noon on August 5, 2011. If you answer correctly, you will be entered in a raffle to win a copy of Zoot Suit. The winner of the grand prize will be selected from the four weekly winners.

This week's winner  and the winner of the grand prize will be announced on August 5 and notified by email.

Click here for complete contest rules.

Name that Zoot Contest: Week One

It's time to play Name that Zoot, the best university press contest, north, south, east, or west.

Take a look at the man on the cover of Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style, by Kathy Peiss. If you can correctly name the person on the cover, you will be entered in a raffle to win a copy of Zoot Suit. Not only that, you will be eligible to win the grand prize, a gift certificate for ReVamp.

Stumped? Here's a clue. Tin Tan.

Send the answer to pressmkt at pobox dot upenn dot edu by 12:00 midnight on July 12, 2011. The winner will be announced on July 13 and notified by email.

Click here for complete contest rules.

Thet Sambath Looks Behind the Killing Fields in Print and On Screen

Cambodian journalist Thet Sambath continues to dig for the truth behind the killing fields in his writings and on screen. He coauthored Behind the Killing Fields: A Khmer Rouge Leader and One of His Victims with Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon. Thet also collaborated on the documentary film Enemies of the People which will be screened at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York beginning June 18.

New York Times film critic Stephen Holden praised the reporter for his work on the documentary:

Enemies of the People. . . is an inspiring film. To hear people recall committing unspeakable acts while under duress is liberating for them and for us. And the story of Mr. Thet Sambath, who spent years researching and interviewing, is a testament to one man’s persistent search for the truth. The faces and voices of these ordinary people forced to kill raises the age-old question: Who, in the same situation, would have acted differently?

In the film, as in the book Behind the Killing Fields, Thet attempts to dissect the heart of political violence by confronting Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea, a. k. a. Brother Number 2, Pol Pot's top lieutenant during the 1970s. As a survivor of this  bloody regime, Thet offers a critical perspective to one of the darkest episodes in world history.

Spring Overstock Sale--Save 70%

It's a beautiful day (at least in Philadelphia) and the perfect time for the Penn Press Spring Overstock Sale to begin. Hundreds of titles have been marked down by 70 percent. Visit the overstock sale web page for a complete list of discounted books. There's an array of books to chose from, but quantities are limited so check out these bargains now before they're gone.

Sound in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction--Now Available

Sound in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Edited by David Suisman and Susan Strasser
336 pages | 6 x 9 | 13 illus.
Cloth  2009 | ISBN 978-0-8122-4199-0 | $49.95 | £32.50
A volume in the Hagley Perspectives on Business and Culture series

Scholars investigate sound as part of the social construction of historical experience and as an element of the sensory relationship people have to the world, showing how hearing and listening can inform people's feelings, ideas, decisions, and actions.

Read more . . .

Book reviewers: to request a press copy, contact Ellen Trachtenberg.
Educators: to request an exam copy for course use consideration, click here