Product Description

Customer Reviews (19)

very disappointed!
I have contacted you people several times (at least 3) about my disappointment, to no avail!I have filed my complaints and no one has taken the time to respond or try and "fix" this.Is anyone listening?Does anyone care?Will I ever order from you again?Will I tell everyone I know about my experience?You Bet!!

Roots of Detroit's Decline
Detroit, Michigan has been a city with numerous serious problems, one of which is a declining population (loss of approximately one million in the last 55-60 years).A common perception is that Detroit's decline began with the riot (people usually say "riots") of 1967, during which at least 43 persons died, and then continued during the mayoral administration (1974-1994) of Coleman Young.According to this perception, Detroit literally went to hell in a handcart during the 1960s-1990s period.Several journalistic accounts have appeared reflecting this viewpoint; perhaps the best-known is DEVIL'S NIGHT AND OTHER TRUE TALES OF DETROIT (1990) by Ze'ev Chafets.

Historian and native Detroiter Thomas Sugrue sees things rather differently.In this book, THE ORIGINS OF THE URBAN CRISIS, a revision of a dissertation and thus heavily documented, the author argues that Detroit's problems predate the riot and can be traced back to the 1940s and, in some areas, earlier still. For Sugrue, two words beginning with the letter "d" are at the root of Detroit's (and, by extension, some other northern cities') problems: discrimination and deindustrialization.A few words about each.

(Racial) discrimination in this case refers to efforts by Detroit's then white majority to make blacks live in certain prescribed areas of the city and to frustrate their efforts to move outside these areas.It also involved efforts to stymie blacks' efforts to seek and obtain better jobs especially in the auto industry, Detroit's major industry during the last one hundred years.Blacks were thus essentially confined to what one called "the meanest and dirtiest jobs" (chapter 4).

Deindustrialization is brilliantly described in perhaps the book's most convincing chapter (number 5). We learn that during the 1949-1960 period four major recessions decimated the Detroit auto industry, causing the Big 3 (and others) to permanently reduce their work forces, close their plants, and, worst of all, relocate their operations to other areas.Detroit's loss of manufacturing jobs between 1947 and 1963 amounted to 134,000;during that same period the city's number of working age males and females increased.

As the author makes clear in Chapter 5, Detroit's population decline did not begin in the 1960s; it started during the 1950s as a result of deindustrialization. (Detroit's population peaked in about 1954 or 1955 at a little under two million.) And while he does not mention another fact, it was also in the middle 1950s that the first of the Detroit area's suburban shopping malls opened. Might this have been a contributing factor in the population decline? I am also curious about Appendix A, which purports to show the "Dissimilarity of Blacks and Whites in Major US Cities".I could not locate a discussion of this concept in the text of the book and have no idea what it means. Perhaps someone reading this will assist me.

The book sheds much light on Detroit today and is must reading for anyone interested in the city, past or present.There are some very interesting photographs (e.g. a cement wall on page 65, sometimes known as "the wailing wall") but, sadly, no bibliography.I'll give it 4.75 stars.
Tim Koerner August 2010

For all those who still believe Detroit's decline began with the '67 riots...
There's quite a bit of repetitiveness in this sprawling, scholarly work, but despite its excessive thoroughness (the bibliography alone comprises almost 1/4 of the book) it's actually quite readable.The factual, dispassionate approach does lean heavily on the side of black Detroit, but does justify itself and unlike some black power/black pride diatribe, this didn't make me feel defensive (as a white person).Instead, I came away from this book armed with an improved understanding of the complex systemic factors which exacerbated inequality between blacks and whites in postwar Detroit- and by inference other rust belt cities.

Being a social service researcher, I was disappointed in the relative lack of statistical rigor.Correlation often seems to be confused with causation, and in some places statistics are provided without context.For example, in one place the author notes that "of twelve proposed public housing sites in Detroit in the 1940s, only three were built"- yes, but these were just "proposed" projects, how does that rate compare to urban planning at large?In another place "37,382 black families and 56,758 white families applied for public housing.41 percent of white applicants and only 24 percent of black applicants made it onto the waiting list"- yes, but is race the only variable here or could there other factors involved?Considering that this book probably didn't aspire to be a controlled trial or formal research study, though, those flaws can be forgiven, and in fact aren't so bad compared to most other books of its kind.

Overall, Sugrue clearly and convincingly makes the argument that the problems of Detroit today do not reflect inherent limitations of its current residents, but rather stem from "interconnected forces of race, residence, discrimination, and industrial decline, the consequences of a troubled and still unresolved past."He provides us with a powerful argument against those who say, "why don't they just get a job" by providing a detailed history of the forces of decentralization, deindustrialization, and automation stripping away the lowest rung of the economic ladder, chiefly low skill automotive jobs not requiring literacy.He attributes the burgeoning "alternative economy of gambling, drugs, and prostitution" to this lost economy.Most of us don't see this dynamic, but they should.

Though the work focuses primarily on describing policy and trends, it's at its most powerful when it's anecdotal.For example, the most enduring image for me is that of the presumably well-intentioned Easby Wilson becoming the first black in an all-white neighborhood, only to see his home repeatedly vandalized and his family harassed by literally an all-ages mob of neighbors.

Ripped Off
I paid for this book but it never was never delivered.The seller will not return messages and Amazon has proved unhelpful in this matter.Rather unsatisfied with this particular transaction.

A Compelling Look Into American Poverty and Neglect
A telling chronicle of a Detroit divided. Sugrue reveals that beneath the luster of the prosperous economy and industrial prosperity lied a neglected rusted core, fostered by racial discrimination, economic fluctuations and one-sided politics. The Origins Of The Urban Crisis, reveals two Detroit's, which we've rarely seen or heard of in mainstream media or historical text. The author explains how a city once on the leading edge of industry fell from grace due to a rapidly changing economy, de-industrialization, and business flight. Leaving those without the means to escape the declining metropolis behind.

As a result of discriminatory practices and a fledgling economy, housing choices and career choice was sorely limited for Detroit blacks which had substantial social, environmental and political consequences that would plague Detroit for years to come. As a consequence Detroit whites fearing an ever changing racial and economic landscape fought black migration into there neighborhoods to mantain there neighborhoods racial and financial composition at the expense of blacks fleeing the instability and despair of the inner city ghetto. This is an impressive and sobering commentary on urban America, race relations and the immense consequences of neglect and discrimination. Fully recomended for anybody wanting insight into post war Detroit and the factors which fostered poverty, societal instability and its current day status. ... Read more

Product Description
This study examines the stages by which Detroit, beginning with the enfranchisement of Blacks in 1870, achieved the status of having more black elected officials than any other US city by 1974. Stages examined include the effects of ethnic competition with European immigrant groups, the effects of Henry Ford's factories, the Great Depression, and World War II. ... Read more

Product Description
Conservatives often condemn the poor, particularly African-Americans, for having children out of wedlock, joblessness, dropping out of school, or tolerating crime. Liberals counter that, with more economic opportunity, the poor differ little from the nonpoor in these areas. In answer to both, Coping with Poverty points to the survival strategies of the poor and their multiple roles as parents, neighbors, relatives, and workers. Their attempts to balance multiple obligations occur within a context of limited information, social support, and resources. Their decisions may not always be the wisest, but they "make sense" in context.
Contributors use qualitative research methods to explore the influence of community, workplace, and family upon strategies for dealing with poverty. Promising young scholars delve into poor black inner-city neighborhoods and suburbs and middle-income black urban communities, exploring experiences at all stages of life, including high-school students, young parents, employed older men, and unemployed mothers. Two chapters discuss the role of qualitative research in poverty studies, specifically examining how this research can be used to improve policymaking.
The volume's contribution is in the diversity of experiences it highlights and in how the general themes it illustrates are similar across different age/gender groups. The book also suggests an approach to policymaking that seeks to incorporate the experiences and the needs of the poor themselves, in the hope of creating more successful and more relevant poverty policy. It is especially useful for undergraduate and graduate courses in sociology, public policy, urban studies, and African-American Studies, as its scope makes it THE basic reader of qualitative studies of poverty.
Sheldon Danziger is Director of the Poverty Research and Tranining Center and Professor of Social Work and Public Policy, University of Michigan. Ann Chih Lin is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Michigan.
... Read more

Product Description
A study of prostitution in 19th-century Virginia City
... Read more

Product Description
Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes is a collection of nonfiction works by women writers. These works focus on the Midwest: living with the five interconnected freshwater seas that we know as the Great Lakes. Contributing to this collection are renowned poets, essayists, and fiction writers, all of whom write about their own creative streams of consciousness, the fresh waters of the Great Lakes, and the region's many rivers: Loraine Anderson, Judith Arcana, Rachel Azima, Mary Blocksma, Gayle Boss, Sharon Dilworth, Beth Ann Fennelly, Linda Nemec Foster, Gail Griffin, Rasma Haidri, Aleta Karstad, Laura Kasischke, Janet Kauffman, Jacqueline Kolosov, Susan Laidlaw, Lisa Lenzo, Linda Loomis, Anna Mills, Stephanie Mills, Judith Minty, Anne-Marie Oomen, Rachael Perry, Susan Power, Donna Seaman, Heather Sellers, Gail Louise Siegel, Sue William Silverman, Claudia Skutar, Annick Smith, Leslie Stainton, Kathleen Stocking, Judith Strasser, Alison Swan, Elizabeth A.Trembley, Jane Urquhart, Diane Wakoski, and Leigh Allison Wilson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fresh Water is too hard to give up.
I love the Great Lakes. My great-great-grandparents were pioneers in Manistee. I live close to the lake in Chicago. Our family is tied to water from the 1600s of the West coast of France. Fresh Water was on my wish list for a long time. I asked for it for Christmas. Now I can't give it away. The Notes on the Contributors has too many references to other literature the authors have written and ecological societies around the Great Lakes. The stories vary from personal to purposeful.

Fresh, indeed
Having grown up on Lake Ontario, living now in high desert country, I was longing for the big vista of "my lake". Fresh Water is full of well written strong experiences and images that vividly recalled my years on the lake. I could almost smell and feel that big body of fresh water, remember the intensity of storms and forgotten mystery, as well as the joy of quiet early morning swims. Gifts from Alison Swan and all the contributors!

A deeply moving compilation
Edited by award-winning environmentalist Alison Swan, Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes is an anthology of brief yet contemplative reflections upon the Great Lakes, all written by women. The essays are contemplative rather than scholarly in nature, dwelling upon emotion, history, the beauty of the Lakes and the need to preserve them. A deeply moving compilation filled with passion and respect for the spiritual bounty of nature. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This groundbreaking collection introduces the concept of gender power as a pervasive but overlooked force within institutions, particularly U.S. politics. It examines the ideological dimensions of masculinity--masculinism--and its pervasive and reinforcing effects. The essays examine gender as a property of institutions, something with deep symbolic meaning, as well as an analytic category importantly distinctive from sex. Theoretically rich, Gender Power, Leadership and Governance contributes to understandings of power and leadership as it provides a new perspective on men, women, and their relationships to governance.
Essays reveal the multiplicity of ways "compulsory masculinity" is imposed upon female leaders who wish to succeed in a man's world, and analyzes the use of interpersonal means to ensure masculine advantage. For example, only one woman in Congress was able to have a direct effect on any reproductive policy; other women experienced sexual harassment by offensive men, which resulted in their being distracted from performing as leaders.
Until now, studies of gender within the field of political science have focused centrally on women. Men have been studied as gendered beings whose thinking has shaped politics in ways advantageous to them, but this volume is unique in crossing multiple levels of analysis and demonstrating the interactive and reinforcing effects of gender power. The book is required reading for political scientists who have frequently been blind to masculinist assumptions and cultural belief systems when gender roles collide with leadership demands for women. It will also appeal to those in public administration and policy, sociology, and business studies.
"An important book that challenges the ways empirical research is done and the ways social scientists think about gender."--Nancy Hartsock, University of Washington
"A very useful book on gender and political leadership that weaves together scholarly research with practical applications and suggestions for change."--Virginia Sapiro, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"A very ambitious book, attempting no less than a paradigm shift in social science thinking."--Marcia Lynn Whicker, Rutgers University
Georgia Duerst-Lahti is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Government, Beloit College. Rita Mae Kelly is Director and Chair of the School of Justice Studies, and Professor of Justice Studies, Political Science, and Women's Studies, Arizona State University.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"Its Always Hard to Beat the Original"
"The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was", Martin Gardner & Russel Nye/Editors, Michigan State Univ. Press, 1957 (2nd 1994). ISBN 0-87013-366-7, PC 208/141 (Oz); Intro. 6 pgs., Appreciation 18 pgs., Royal Historian 16 pgs., Notes 3 pgs., Bibliog. 8 pgs.9 x 6".

A reprint of the original "(The Wonderful) Wizard of Oz" 1900 story by L. Frank Baum alongside some of Denslow's illustrations and, additionally, "Who He Was" with Hungiville's Introduction, (new edition), Russel Nye's "Appreciation" that distills the essence of Baum's bountiful literary writings and Gardner's succinct bibliography of Baum and his characters, etc.

So, if you wish to read the unblemished original "Wizard of Oz" and access many studied revelations about the author, the why and how of his characters, and an overview of the many neglected, overlooked or lesser Oz writings, essays, plays, or books, this is the fertile ground to explore.Not to be overlooked is the scandalous national controversy that arose in 1957 within the Detroit Public Library system denouncing Oz books as "poorly written" and "unwholesome" etc., a very serious matter at that time, we may find it humorous.

Readers will once again recall several ways to kill witches, cross rivers, cast magical spells and if you see "Wicked" on stage, it'll make the play even more memorial.

A Good, Literary Version of a Classic
This wonderful edition of the classic Oz tale is bothliterature and criticism in one volume.The entire story - unabridged- is here, with all of Denslows pictures (in black and white).It also includes two essays, one biographical and one critical, about Oz and it's creator, L.F.Baum.

The biographical essay by Martin Gardner is a good overview of Baum's "jack of all trades" life: chicken farmer, playwrite, traveling salesman, author.It includes many of the stories included in "To Please a Child," the wonderful biography of Baum that is long out of print.

The critical essay concerns the history of the Oz books as literature.Oz is considered by many both a Utopia and the first true American fairyland.Yet, critics of children literature rarely mention Baum along with other revered authors. Russel Nye captures perceptions of Oz over the first half century in a concise, but comprehensive manner.

My only criticism is that it was not changed from the first edition (published 1957) to the second (published 1994), other than a brief introduction.I would have like to have seen a review of how Oz has changed in the public consciousness in the past 43 years.

Enjoy this book, and enjoy the story at the end. ... Read more

Product Description
"The Chicago Literary Experience" examines the literary history of Chicago, covering the extended period from 1893-1953. Through an account of the city's rapid development from trading post to metropolis, the book contextualizes a number of Chicago authors - including Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Dreiser, Jane Addams, Carl Sandburg, Willa Cather, James T Farrell, Gwen-dolyn Brooks and Saul Bellow - in order to define a unique Chicago tradition. Because of the historical approach and relative obscurity of much of the material covered, the book will be a valuable addition to any university-level course on American realism and naturalism that aims to contextualize and move beyond the obvious 'classics'. ... Read more