For Beginners Blog

Happy Birthday FDR!

2012-01-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

One of the most gifted presidents to ever run the Oval Office, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, turns 130 today. After defeating Herbert Hoover, FDR became the 32nd President of the United States. During his first term in office, the United States was at the worst point of the Great Depression. With a quarter of the workforce unemployed, rising food prices, declining industrial production and over two million Americans homeless FDR had the daunting task of bringing the US afloat again. Roosevelt’s “first 100 days” came with a “new deal” for the American people. The series of economic programs focused on the relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy to pre depression levels and the reformation of the financial system to prevent a repeated depression.

Nevertheless, the United States slowly pulled out of the great depression solidifying FDR’s landslide re-election where he continued his recovery program during his second term in office. During this time Europe and Asia were on the verge of war as Germany annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia while Italy invaded and annexed Ethiopia and Japan invaded China. FDR however, promised his soldiers "you boys are not going to be sent into any foreign war."

World War II, however, would break out before the end of FDR’s second term. Roosevelt’s third term would be dominated by this event and the preparation for a possible conflict began by upgrading and training the Armed Forces. The United States would become the “Arsenal of Democracy” until the attacks on Pearl Harbor where war was finally declared against the Axis Powers.

The “Big Three”: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, Commanded the Allied forces in the European, African and Pacific theaters. The Allied Forces secured victories over the Battle of Midway, Britain, Stalingrad and El Alamein resulting in the impending victory for the Allies.

Unfortunately, less than a month before the fall of Germany, President Roosevelt passed. During his years in office FDR suffered from high blood pressure, systemic atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. His death was met with grief around the world. FDR led his country out of its greatest economic collapse and victory in the greatest war in modern history. Franklin Delano Roosevelt will forever be remembered as one of our nation’s best and brightest. Happy birthday bro.

Want to learn more about FDR, try FDR AND THE NEW DEAL FOR BEGINNERS.

PIPA...SOPA...DRAMA

2012-01-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

When Internet heavy weights such as Wikipedia, Reddit, Googlestart censoring themselves, they are representing the millions of online usersin this nation.

The internet is one of the most robust and prominent jobcreators this nation has at the moment. It has been the back bone ofrevolutions in Syria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and many more by enablingcommunication with everyday people like ourselves around the world. Congress, however,has proposed a couple of bills that could jeopardize the very existence of theinternet as we know it. The bills are aproposition to protect the entertainment industry from rampant copyright infringementsthat can be found in every corner if the internet. The bills are called Protect-IPAct and Stop Online Piracy Act or PIPA and SOPA for short.

Here is a breakdown on how these two bills will operate.Corporations want to have the ability to shut down and remove illicit siteswhere consumers download and share movies, music, video games and softwarewithout paying for them. Most of these sites, however, are based out of the jurisdictionof the United States. Protect-IP will combat this problem by giving governmentthe authorization to have US based internet service providers to block accessto infringing domain names. They may also have the option to sue websites thathave links to these sites. That means search engines, blogs and directories canall be target by these corporations. The bill also gives the government theability to cut off funds to infringing websites by cancelling the accounts ofUS based payment services and advertisers.

The bill however has been loosely written that it can be athreat to the existence of every website on the internet. The ability to sueany website that a corporation feels is not filtering the illicit sites wellenough can mean the end to websites such as Tumbler, Facebook, Twitter,Youtube, heck even For Beginners! The bill would give government a powerfultool to hinder freedoms granted under the Constitution and protected by ourservicemen and women alike.

The internet as it is today is a medium where people andcultures can connect for the greater good of humanity. Having the governmentmeddle with this structure for the sakes of a few extra songs downloaded onItunes or for boost sales on a ridiculously overpriced movie ticket. This needsto stop. Already we are seeing a glimpse of what could happen if such a bill ispassed. Just a week ago theowner/creator of a popular file sharing site TVShack could be extradited to theUS so he can be tried for copyright infringement. If he is found guilty he canface five to ten years in federal prison for simply providing links to otherwebsites that hosted pirated content.

But when all hope is lost the common man and woman can riseup to save the day. How you may ask? By calling up, E-mailing, Twittering orleaving a Facebook message on your representative’s page and express how youfeel about the proposed bill. Here in Connecticut, both Sen. Liberman (I) andSen. Blumenthal (D) are both co-sponsors of this bill. These senators have alsoreceived hefty amounts of money to fund their campaigns. Sen. Blumenthal received$154,066 from the entertainment industry while Sen. Lieberman received $4,800. It’sa no brainer why they would be in favor of this legislation. But being thefreedom loving American that I am have already contacted my senators regardingthis bill and demanded they reconsider their support for the bill. They’ll get as far as we let them folks.

Jeffrey Lewis For Beginners

2012-01-06T12:26:00.002-05:00

Jeffrey Lewis. Singer, songwriter and avid illustrator hehas become something of a local celebrity in the New York Anti-Folk scene, agenre that takes the depth of politically charged 1960’s folk music andsubverts it. With a downbeat self-deprecating humor, anoff-kilter singing style, a mixture of acoustic and 'punk' songs which featurethemes of everyday occurrences and feelings Jeffrey Lewis has managed to stayon top of his industry while many others failed as he was starting out.

“I realized that youdidn’t really need anything but a tape recorder to make an album, If you hadsongs you felt strongly enough about, you could just put them on tape, andhopefully people would like them.”

While performing, he would introduce to his audience rhythmichistorical tales of communism, nations and historical figures, a long highlightof his show. Jeffrey Lewis’s illustrations have come to light to mainstream audiences.His works have been commissioned by the History Channel and has contributed toMeasure for Measure, a blog about songwriting on the New York Times.

Jeffrey Lewis will also be illustrating our up and comingbook, Gender and Sexuality For Beginners. We hope to keep workingwith you Mr. Lewis and congratulations on your continued success.

Happy would-be 40th Birthday Space Shuttle program

2012-01-06T12:25:00.000-05:00

On January 5, 1972 then President Richard Nixon announcedthe full scale development of the Space Shuttle Program. “ I have decided today” he went on to say, “That the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirelynew type of space transportation system designed to help transform the spacefrontier of the 1970's into familiar territory, easily accessible for humanendeavor in the 1980's and '90's.” Seven years later the first fully functionalorbiter, Columbia, was delivered tothe Kennedy Space Center.

Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and finallyEndeavour have all captured the imagination of the American public. With 135 flightsunder its belt, the Shuttle Program pushed America’s technological prowess to awhole new level far outpacing rival nations. Without NASA and the ShuttleProgram we would have never had the delight of Astronaut Ice Cream, 50% of theBill Nye the Science Guy episodes and the childhood dreams of billions ofchildren, including mine (and yours! C’mon don’t lie!), around the world.

To learn more about the exploration of space read Astronomy For Beginners.

The 220th anniversary of the Ratification of the Bill of Rights

2011-12-16T13:49:00.002-05:00

Following approvalby the state of Virginia,the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution,also known as the Bill of Rights became the judicial basis for the newly formed country.
In September1789, 55 delegates of the first Congress of the United States approved 12amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states forratification. The amendments were intended to protect the basic unalienablerights of each U.S. citizen, guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press,assembly, and religion, the right to fair trial and to bear arms. The powersnot delegated to the federal government would be kept for the states and thepeople.

On December 15, 1791, Virginia becamethe 10th of 14 states to approve 10 of the 12 amendments, giving the Bill ofRights the two-thirds majority necessary to make the bill into law. Somenotable names in the delegation were: Alexander Hamilton representing New York,Benjamin Franklin representing Pennsylvania, James Madison representingVirginia as well as George Washington representing Virginia.

The Bill ofRights holds a pivotal role in U.S law and government, and isregarded as the beacon of the freedoms enjoyed throughout our nation. Tolearn more about the U.S. constitution and its history check out the upcoming US Constitution For Beginners March of2012.

Iceland Recognizes Palestine as a State

2011-12-16T13:33:00.003-05:00

It has been three months since the Palestinian leader MahmoudAbbas brought his bid for statehood to the U.N., a move the U.S. stronglyrejected. But despite the setback this week during a ceremony Iceland's Foreign Minister, Ossur Skarphedinsson, officially informed his Palestinian counterpart, Riyadh Al Maliki, that Iceland officially recognized Palestine as a state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Icelandic parliament passed a measure without objections to recognizethe state of Palestine. The vote passed with 38 votes in favor and 13abstaining. Al Maliki cheered the resolution and proclaimed it conveys great importance to the Palestinians, and that this step will encourage other countries to do the same. The chairman of the opposition however,stated “Icelanders do not have sufficient knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinianconflict to get involved. The opposition also maintains that the dispute shouldbe resolved through bilateral negotiations.” Iceland’s Foreign Minister ÖssurSkarphéðinsson said in a UN address that itwould be foolish to deny Palestine rights in the middle of the democraticrevolution brought on by the Arab Spring.

There are more than 100 countries around the world that have recognized Palestine as a state. Which include Uruguay, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Well chairman of the opposition, I would highly recommend For Beginners, excellent historical viewpoint of Palestinian and Israeli culture and politics with Arabs and Israel For Beginners available now!

Happy Birthday Noam Chomsky!

2011-12-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

Born December 7^th 1928, Noam Chomsky has become a worldrenowned linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist and activist. Noam Chomsky iscurrently a professor in the department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MassachusettsInstitute of Technology where his works have influenced fields such as computerscience, mathematics and psychology. While a professor at MIT, he publishedSyntactic Structures a theory of“generative grammar” that transformed linguistics from an indistinct disciplineinto a major social science.

Outside of the academic realm, Noam Chomsky is an avidpolitical activist where he has described himself as an Anarcho-Syndicalist,which is a branch of anarchism that focuses on the labor movement. Chomsky has expressedhis opinions on politics and world events, which are widely cited, publicizedand discussed. His most recent activism has been with the Occupy movementswhere he himself has associated himself with.

To learn more about Noam Chomsky and his works check out Chomsky For Beginners

Light Shed on Women's History

2011-11-28T12:19:00.001-05:00

The National Women’s History Museum presents the newest installment oftheir mini-documentary series about women’s history. The 20-minute videotitled, Keepers of History: Women WhoProtected One Half of our Nation’s Story, spotlights various women in Americanhistory, all of whom are otherwise undetected in everyday school lessons.

Two women in focus are Mercy Otis Warren and Mary Ritter Beard. MercyOtis Warren aided the American Revolution with her anonymous anti-Britishplays. She also kept records of the war’s history in three handwritten volumes.Mary Ritter Beard lent her hand during the Suffrage Movement and also publishedworks in the topic of women’s history as early as 1915.

The idea behind the documentary series is to expose women like MercyOtis Warren and Mary Ritter Beard and their valiant strides to make the woman’svoice heard. This visual series is not unlike Women’s History For Beginners. The book concentrates on thequestion, who are the great women of history and why don’t we know more aboutthem? To further prove how little we know about these female leaders, theintroduction of the book poses as a fifty-question test on the great women ofthe past. The reader is invited to take the test— with the expectation thatmost will fail, having been undereducated in women’s history.

With the increased production of tools like, Women’s History For Beginners and Keepers of History: Women Who Protected One Half of our Nation’s Story,women’s history will soon be as valued, exposed and understood as the historypresented to us on a daily.

To view Keepers of History:Women Who Protected One Half of our Nation’s Story, please visit http://www.nwhm.org/about-nwhm/press/featured-press/keepers.

For more information about Women’s History For Beginners, and other For Beginners books,please visit http://www.forbeginnersbooks.com/.

Thanks You Thank You and again Thank You

2011-11-23T14:44:00.001-05:00

The month of November bringsremarkable fall colors, hot chocolate and cozy nights by the fire. It's also atime of Thanksgiving - a period for Thank You’s. In reflection, we all have establishedwhat it means to be thankful by appreciating our friends and family - even thebeauty that surrounds us every day becomes reason to give thanks. So this is abig thank you for everyone who took time away from their overwhelmingly busylives and spent a few moments within our online community, privileged us bysharing their works. As well as offeringfeedback and comments on others manuscripts and interaction with authors,members and public. Thank you for following our social media, joining ourreading, meeting us at book festivals and commenting, sharing and reading ourbooks. You guys are the best community a person can ask for!

So as you sit with your familyover Thanksgiving dinner, remember your family you have in your computer deskand give thanks for all the accomplishments we have been able to achieve as acommunity.

Philosophical Thursday

2011-11-16T12:47:00.001-05:00

WorldPhilosophy Day is annually observed on the third Thursday of November to honorphilosophical figures and ideas around the world since 2002. The day involvesthe share of thoughts and discussions of new ideas and motivates public debate anddialogue on society’s challenges. World Philosophy Day is funded and promotedthrough United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) initiative that attracts people around the world to engage in sharedreflection on contemporary issues. This year’s discussions would include:

- The International Panel: “Philosophy and Spirit of Justice: the EquitableSharing of Scientific Benefits”

- 11th International Meeting on New Philosophical Practices – PhilosophicalPractices and Development of Critical Thinking

- A symposium tribute entitled “Relevance of Mohammed Arkoun’s Thought”

- Round table on “Philosophy in the Public Space”

- A symposium: “Equal Opportunities at School: What Kind of Equality? What Kind ofOpportunities? Knowledge sharing in question”

Philosophyhas opened the door for new concepts and innovative ideas. Philosophers such asPlato and Aristotle have laid the foundations of critical thinking, independenceand creativity across the world and this day will surely inspire our greatthinkers of the future. To learn more about philosophy and the greatsof the field read: Chomsky for Beginners,Philosophy For Beginners, Deconstruction For Beginners, Derrida For Beginners,Eastern Philosophy For Beginners and many other philosophically based booksin our collection

Woody Harrelson Looks to Carl Jung for Stability

2011-11-09T13:04:00.001-05:00

Woody Harrelson is much more dynamic than we thought. Theactor who once played the beloved bartender Woody Boyd in the eighties sitcom, Cheers, has long surpassed hisreputation on the small screen. Harrelson has played characters that areseemingly beyond his scope. He played a murderer in the 1994 film, Natural Born Killers and was a militaryofficer in the 2009 film, The Messenger.In the same year, Harrelson played a zombie hunter in Zombieland. It’s not easy to make those types of characterswitches; one minute you’re a homicidal maniac and the next you’re astraight-laced military officer. That has to rack the brain. Apparently, thisis not the case for Harrelson.

In the article WhyEverybody Knows His Name by David Carr for the New York Times (October 30^th edition), Harrelsonexplains how it is simple for him to mentally get into the roles he takes on. Helooks to the works of Carl Jung to maintain a level head. By referring to Jung,Harrelson is able to make his connection between the ‘individual psyche’ andthe ‘collective unconscious.’ Jung ForBeginners (written by Jon Platania, Ph. D. and illustrated by Joe Lee)explains Jung’s theories and concepts in depth. Harrelson directly refers tothe concept of ‘shadow,’ which is the “unconsciouspart of the personality characterized by traits that the conscious ego wants torejects or ignore,” (Platania 72).

In Harrelson’s latest film, Rampart, (due to release December 2011) he plays a corrupt LApolice officer. This may not be much of a switch from some other roles he’splayed, but it’s a switch from his everyday life. Harrelson is a vegan whopractices Yoga and is generally at ease. He’ll look to Jung again for mentalbalance throughout the project.

Jung's Dangerous Methods

2011-10-28T12:18:00.004-04:00

For those considering watching A Dangerous Method coming to theaters next month consider Jung For Beginner.

Carl Gustav Jung, second only to Freud in the world ofpsychoanalysis, is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the humanpsyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration.Jung recommended the use of spirituality as a cure for alcoholism and isconsidered to have an indirect role in Alcoholics Anonymous. Jung also proposedthe use of art therapy to alleviate trauma and emotional distress. He taught usthat psychology and religion can not only coexist peacefully together, but thatthey can enhance us, inspire us, and help us complete ourselves.

Freud, for all of his brilliance, reduced us to little more thanvessels of hormones with high IQs. Jung, for all of his flaws, gave us back oursouls. Learn more about Jung and his works with Jung For Beginners.

Check out our updated website www.forbeginnersbooks.com thatshowcases our December releases.

Dante and his Inferno

2011-10-28T12:17:00.000-04:00

Born in FlorenceItaly, Dante Alighieri was a poet, literary theorist, moral and politicalphilosopher. During his life, Dante belonged to a political group called theWhite Guelphs who were at disagreement with the Black Guelphs over the influenceof the Papal who where consequently exiled. The Black Guelphs however soonreturned to power and exiled the White Guelphs along with Dante who wereordered to stay away from Florence and pay a fine. Dante conversely refused topay the fine. While other White Guelphs where eventually granted permission toreturn to Florence, Dante wasn’t. Dantewent on to personally slander Pope Boniface VIII with his famous epic poem The Divine Comedy.

Even without the utility of aprinting press, Dante's rhyming style assured that everyone would hear his side of thestory. He put those responsible for his exile in an ironic literaryinterpretation of Hell, reserving a special spot for Pope Boniface VIII. Dante died and remains in Ravenna still serving his seven century longexile. In 2008, the city of Florence pardoned Dante and awarded him the GoldenFlorine, the city’s highest honor, sparking the argument again. As a result,Dante’s last inheritor, Serego Alighieri, boycotted the ceremony.

Learn more about Dante and hisworks with Dante For Beginners also check out our updated website www.forbeginnersbooks.com thatshowcases our December releases.

Picasso turns 130

2011-10-21T11:51:00.000-04:00

Born on October 25^th1881, Pablo Picasso - painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer - is one of the most paramount and influentialartists of the 20^th century. Picasso started his career in Paris wherehe was given an exhibition at a gallery on Paris’ rue Lafitte. He won favorablereviews and remained in Paris through periods of his career. His work iscomprised of some 50,000 works of art which are divided into different series,his most notable the “blue period.” He continued to work through the Nazi occupationof France, joining the French Resistance Movement. Picasso still remains one ofthe top ranked artists, and more of his paintings have been stolen than those ofany other artist.

Learn moreabout Picasso and art theory with ArtTheory For Beginners.

An Ever Going Dream

2011-10-21T10:09:00.002-04:00

The memorial dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. onOctober 16^th saw an array of speakers ranging from the President andVice President to civil rights leaders such as Al Sharpton and Martin LutherKing III. During his speech, President Barack Obama proclaimed “I know we willovercome, I know this because of the man towering over us.” His speech focusedon Dr. King’s broad themes of equality, justice and peaceful protests. Obamaurged Americans to harness the energy of the civil rights movement for today'schallenges and to remain committed to King's philosophy of peaceful resistance.

Learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., PresidentBarack Obama and the civil rights movement with Black History For Beginners, Barack Obama For Beginners and Malcolm XFor Beginners

Foucault's 85th birthday by guest blogger Lydia Fillingham

2011-10-14T14:16:00.000-04:00

Foucault's 85th birthday would be today, and alas because of AIDS he will not see it.

I thought I would take the opportunity of this day to say a few words about what matters to me about Foucault, what led me to write Foucault for Beginners, and still draws me to his works.

Foucault was a French philosopher and historian who worked particularly to understand the workings of power and knowledge and how people are regulated within society. He thought we should look beyond narrow definitions of government to a "wider sense of techniques and procedures designed to direct the behaviour of men." He looked for instance in The Birth of the Prison at how social science around criminology worked to develop prisons, starting in the 18th century, where the prisoners were subjected to ever greater discipline, and were made ever more visible to the eye of the guards. This was happening at a time when the same could be said of the new position of workers in factories as they developed. He thought that the views of people developed in social science had significant power over how people live their lives. In The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1 he proposed that the very existence of people called homosexuals is a result of developments in social science, again mainly in the 19th century. Prior to that there were homosexual acts, which the church might disapprove of, but not a separate kind of person, different from others.

I also deeply enjoy reading Foucault, and always find it mind-expanding, leading me to look at things in a new way. I hope that my book might make that experience a little easier to understand, by giving a general framework of Foucault's thought. On his birthday, we can look around us and speculate at what he would have made of matters since his death. I think, for example, he would have had a fascinating understanding of the interplay of knowledge and legislated non-knowledge involved in the Don't Ask Don't Tell regime, for instance, where any knowledge about a person could get him or her expelled from the army, and the soldier had to fight to keep no knowledge the official stance--and what that said about the kind of people the army defined "homosexuals" as being. I would love to hear other practices people think he might have been interested in, through comments on this blog.

The New Deal…With a #Hashtag

2011-10-12T11:39:00.000-04:00

The plightof the middle and lower class families are nothing new to American politics. As#Occupywallstreet roars into its fourth week, spreading throughout major UScities and even different countries, you can almost hear the voice of FranklinDelano Roosevelt. “For too many of us” he bellows, “the political equalitywe once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality.” The sameharsh realities of the Great Depression can be seen in today’s protests. The fightfor economic equality, the end of corporate greed and the prosecution of thoseresponsible for the economic collapse of 2008 almost coincides with the violentstreet protests seen during the Great Depression. What would FDR say about theprotests? How would he reconcile with the downtrodden? “I pledge you, I pledgemyself, to a new deal for the American people.” Learn more about our 32^ndpresident and his New Deal with FDR and The New Deal For Beginners.

How to Have a Dada Birthday

2011-10-06T10:25:00.000-04:00

The problem is that the whole ideaof writing a “Happy birthday” blog about Dada is that it is against Dada.

Dadas did not want prettybirthdays. They preferred spontaneity, sweeping out of the old, downrightugliness (especially if it shocked the bourgeosis) and simultaneous happenings.

Still, if “the spirit of Dada isalways in man,” any day can be a birthday of Dada.

So the guests to the Dada party,birthday or not, might look like this:

http://www.marcelduchamp.net/L.H.O.O.Q.php

or this:

http://www.english.emory.edu/DRAMA/HugoBall.gif

or this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HansArp-CloudShepher1953.JPG

There would be sound poems,performed simultaneously by different artists (you’re not supposed to “get it,”by the way)

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/dada/techniques/sound.shtm

And perhaps music by John Cage (akindred spirit)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E

Then something would have to bedestroyed. http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=81209

And someone would be pelted with asteak.

Guest blog by Elsa M. Bell, author of Dada and Surrealism For Beginners, in honor of the beginning of Dadaism, believe to have taken root at the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916.

The Big 1.6.7 for Friedrich Nietzsche!

2011-10-05T11:49:00.001-04:00

A big happy birthday for 19th century German philosopher,poet, composer and classical philologist Friedrich Nietzsche! Nietzsche whowill be turning 167 next week is best known for his views in the realm ofexistentialism, nihilism and postmodernism. He was appointed chair of classicalphilology at the University of Basel at the age of 24, the youngest in theUniversity's history. Nietzsche moved on as an independent philosophertraveling across Europe. During this time he wrote his most notable works, suchas Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Gay Science, and Beyond Good and Evil, amongstothers.

Tragically, in 1889 Nietzschehad a mental breakdown and consequently died on August 25th 1900. After his death,however, his works became more popular. Nietzsche had followings in the 1890’samongst left-wing Germans, while conservative Germans wanted to ban his works forbeing subversive. In the 1900’s his works were associated with anarchistmovements and by World War I Nietzsche was inspiration for right wing Germanmilitarism. To this day Nietzsche remains a controversial figure for hisviews but his stance on individualism still resonates in the 21st century. Celebrate his birthday by reading Nietzche For Beginners.

Ayn Rand eBook Available

2011-10-04T14:23:00.002-04:00

Starting today, there is a straight-forward,easy-to-understand guide to classics including Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainheadavailable at lightning speed from the internet to you. Get insight into the life of renowned authorAyn Rand as well as a simple explanation of many of the ideas in her mostfamous works. The Ayn Rand For Beginners ebook is the perfect tool for studying onthe go, whether for a test or your own personal improvement.

Find this fully illustrated digital file on our site or throughyour favorite ebook retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more, orask your local bookseller for a physical copy!

A Truly Banned Book

2011-09-30T15:40:00.003-04:00

To many young and rebellious teenagers, The Anarchist Cookbook would be your first memorable exposure tocounter-culture. It was written by William Powell in response to the US involvementin Vietnam War. The central idea was that through violence the “common man” canbring political change. The bookcontains instructions for the manufacture of explosives, acids, telecommunicationsmodifications and hacking, growing and production of drugs amongst other thingsthat will cause bodily harm. The authorhas long since renounced his views that led to the publication of his work.William Powell recently wrote:

“The book,in many respects, was a misguided product of my adolescent anger at theprospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in a war that I did notbelieve in …Unfortunately, the book continues to be in print and with theadvent of the Internet several websites dealing with it have emerged… Iconsider it to be a misguided and potentially dangerous publication whichshould be taken out of print.”

There have been many rumors spread on the ownership of thisbook, including being automatically updated to probable terrorist list. Thoughit is legal to possess the literature it can be used against you as evidence ifyou were to be arrested on charges of terrorism, menacing or reckless endangerment. A most recent case was that of Ian Davison.In 2010, Davison and his son were imprisoned under anti-terrorism laws formanufacturing ricin (a toxin) and their possession of the Anarchist Cookbook was noted by the authorities. The Anarchist Cookbook is banned in manystate-run libraries in the United States though many librarians fight thatdecision to this day.

Banned Books throughout History

2011-09-26T11:43:00.000-04:00

Banned Books Week serves as a reminder that there areefforts underway to pull “questionable” books off of library shelves. Thecampaign was started in 1982 by activist Judith Krug, who was an avid firstamendment and library activist. Banned Books Week is held in the last week ofSeptember in the United States and is also celebrated by Amnesty International.The events goal is to “teach the importance of our First Amendment rights andthe power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists whenrestraints are imposed on the availability of information in a freesociety."

Some notable books that have been on the ban list for thecontext of the literature have been: A Day No Pigs Would Die byRobert Newton Peck which highlights the honest approach of the brutality of pigfarming, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis whichcontains scenes that are graphic enough to be banned from a lot of librariesand its release protested by Gloria Steinem for violence against women and All Quiet on the Western Front which wasbanned in Nazi Germany for being demoralizing and insulting to the Armed Forcesof Germany.

This coming week however, in celebration of Banned BooksWeek, Mark Twain’s “Eve’s Diary” will be unbanned. The trustee of CharltonLibrary in Massachusetts, Richard Whitehead, stated “On Tuesday, September 20,2011 the board of library trustees unanimously voted to unban Eve's Diary. Ithink that Mark Twain would be very pleased and I'm sure that he would have somethinghumorous to say about it.”

Heidegger's Birthday

2011-09-22T14:53:00.002-04:00

This Monday, we celebrate the birth of one of humanity’sgreatest and most influential philosophers, and coincidentally the subject of aFor Beginners book, Martin Heidegger. Know chiefly for his book Beingand Time, Heidegger questioned the fundamentals of ancient Greekphilosophers including Socrates, Plato, and their contemporaries. He shifted the focus of philosophicalquestions from the nature of the people and objects in the world to their veryexistence.

Heidegger’s work is complex and notoriously difficult,dealing with questions of existence vs. nothingness, simply trying to explainwhy the world exists in the first place. Core concepts include ‘Being,’ the condition which allows other thingsto come into existence; ‘beings,’ the objects and people who populate theworld; the ‘Nothing,’ the default condition without existence; and Dasein, interpreted as the condition ofcaring, or a being for whom being is a question.

These concepts may seem commonplace for deep thinkers today,but it was Heidegger who brought them to the collective attention of the world. Many important schools of thought areinfluenced by Heidegger. His works havehad an impact on theology, aesthetics, literary criticism, and culturalstudies. His ideas influenced some ofhistory’s other great minds as well, including Jacques Derrida, MichelFoucault, and Jacques Lacan.

This year, we celebrate over a century of culture enrichedby these powerful ideas. Happy birthday,Martin Heidegger, may your revelations continue ‘Being’ remembered for years tocome.

Atlas Shrugged Turns 54!

2011-09-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

As the leavesstart turning from a forest and woodsy green to the bright colors of pumpkin orangeand autumn yellow. Tourists from around the world are gearing up to gaze on NewEngland’s October foliage. But for the literary traveler another event will be unfoldingin the next coming weeks. Written by the renowned Objectivist Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged will be turning 54 yearsold on October 10th, echoing her message of individualismand free will.

Ayn Rand’sfirst major literary success came about with the novel The Fountainhead. Her manuscriptwas rejected by twelve publishers before being picked up by Bobbs-MerrillCompany in 1943. Her novel, which promoted individualism versus collectivism within theperson, gained immense popularity by word of mouth selling over 6.5 million copiesworldwide. Twelve years later Ayn Rand would publish her second most successfulnovel.

Atlas Shrugged which was first publishedin 1957 is considered her Magnus Opus. The noveladvocated “rational selfishness” or the principal that an action is rational ifand only if itmaximizes ones self-interest. It was hailed and scorned by critics after itsdebut on the #6 spotof the New York Times bestseller list.

Though largely criticized, Ayn Rand has attracted an energetic and committed fan base. So committedare her followers that they have even created a dating and networking website in herhonor www.theatlasphere.com.

Want to knowmore about Ayn Rand and her philosophical views? For Beginners along with Dr.Andrew Bernstein provide a clear down-to-earth analysis of Ayn Rand and her works.

Constitution Day

2011-09-16T09:10:00.001-04:00

On September 17, 1787, forty whitemen met in Philadelphia to sign a document which they had argued over in secretfor four months. (A total of 55 delegates had been meeting since May 14). Itwas the United States Constitution, and since September 17 falls on a Saturdaythis year, the US has temporarily set the celebration date for September 16, aFriday.

The question is what Americansshould be celebrating here. For some, the Constitution is an idol made of penand paper instead of gold and jewels. It is something fixed and eternal. Itsmeaning was established once and for all by those 40 (or 55?) white men. Somepeople think that we can ascertain one meaning from those 40 (or 55?) whitemen; and, moreover, that that one meaning from 1787 should be applied today.

For others, the Constitution ismore a process. Thus Edmund Randolph, one of the five men charged with draftingthe Constitution, observed that “In the draught of a fundamental constitution,”it was necessary to “insert essential principles only, lest the operations ofgovernment should be clogged by rendering those provisions permanent andunalterable, which ought to be accommodated to times and events...” Constitutionsupporter John Marshall (who later led the Supreme Court) would write in afamous opinion that “[The Constitution is] intended to endure for ages to come,and, consequently, to be adapted to the various CRISES of human affairs.”

So in intention and reality, theConstitution is a process. The critical question is who gets to play in thegame. Another Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Charles Evan Hughes) claimed “Weare under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is.” Ifyou are a mandarin—or simply a plutocrat who believes that judges should servethe rich—then this constitutes a comfortable position. History, however, proves this false. Jeffersonand Madison (1789-1799) and the New England states (1814-1815) said stategovernments should have a say. President Jackson did not like this version ofstates rights, and when South Carolina suggested it he threatened to invadeSouth Carolina with an army. At another point, in reaction to a Supreme Courtdecision, he said “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforceit.”

It is also fair to say that Union soldiersand discontented slaves had something to do with re-defining the Constitutionin the 1860s. Rebellious farmers and workers forced the Supreme Court to changeits position on political economy in 1937. (And in 1951 one of the justices(Owen Roberts) said as much, admitting that he changed his vote because hewanted to avoid “radical changes.”)

The Supreme Court takes a lot ofcredit for the impressive results of the mid-twentieth century US racial rightsrevolution. Yet southern whites ignored the Court until Blacks started sittingat lunch counters and marching in the streets in the 1960s. The American Blackcause was helped because part of the USA white power elite worried about“coloured” people “going Communist” in Africa, Asia, and South America.

In my forthcoming book, U.S. Constitution for Beginners (ForBeginners 2012), I have called the Constitution a “truce.” What should becelebrated about the Constitution Day is the degree to which ordinary peoplehave a chance to define the ongoing terms of the truce. What is garbage aboutcelebrating Constitution Day is the degree to which Ivy League mandarins andplutocrat puppets claim that ordinary people have no role in attempting todefine the terms of the truce.

Certainly pundits and idolworshippers will be offended by this version of the Constitution. It smacks ofmere power, things arbitrary, and opportunist compromise. Yet I can only readmy Constitution and US history. How otherwise can a black slave be counted as3/5 a person? How otherwise is segregation legal in 1896, and illegal in 1954?Or wage and hour regulation illegal in 1936, and legal again in 1937? Howotherwise can some fictional entity be considered a human person for purposesof “free speech”? In the 1970s law professors discussed health care in terms ofa constitutional right, now they question whether it has anything to do withthe national economy.

On Constitution Day people should learn to see, andthen do something about what their eyes and hearts tell them. Otherwise themandarins, plutocrats and idolaters will do it for them.

-Steve Bachmann, author of U.S. Constitution For Beginners

Global Warming

2011-09-14T14:09:00.000-04:00

Today, former Vice President Al Gore launched an aggressivenew online campaign “24 Hours of Reality.”In an effort to dampen the influence of global warming debunkers withsignificant new evidence on the correlation between greenhouse emissions andrecent disastrous weather experienced here in the United States and across theglobe.

The presentations are comprised of 24 one hour live-streamspresented by scientists, businessmen and activists all sharing theirexperiences through the projects website. The project will be presented in 13different languages spanning across 24 time zones where Gore will conclude his presentationin New York City.

Al Gore catapultedthe issues of global warming and brought it to the world’s attention with his 2006documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”For Beginners along with Dean Goodwin, Ph.D. offers an in-depth analysis onthis subject with Global Warming ForBeginners (Printed on 100% recycled paper). We here at For Beginnersunderstand that no one can do everything but all of us can do something.

Sources: http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/09/24-hours-of-reality-al-gores-latest-climate-change-project/245049/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/09/14/are-we-ready-for-al-gores-climate-reality/

24Hours of Reality:

http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/

Pluto and Changing Astronomy

2011-09-13T09:47:00.004-04:00

Five years ago, the Milky Way galaxy held nine planets. Then, the comparison of dwarf planet Eris toprevious title holder of ‘Ninth Planet’, Pluto, forced a change that wouldcause textbooks worldwide to be rewritten and transform the way we definedplanets forever. In 2006, astronomistsfrom all over Earth came together to determine a universal rule by whichplanets could be identified.

The decided the following:

A planet orbits a sun
A planet has enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape
A planet must be the dominant gravitational body in its orbit

Pluto passes the first two tests, but within its far-flungorbit, known now as the Kuiper Belt, there exist many other objects of similarsize or mass, including Eris, a round icy object larger and more massive thanthe previous ninth planet. With thesedefinitions in place, it became clear that Pluto no longer made the cut. It, Eris, and several other bodies in theKuiper Belt are now known as dwarf planets.

Every book on astronomy which endeavored to remain currenthad to be rewritten, which was no simple task. Our own Astronomy For Beginnerswas no exception, and shortly after Pluto’s reclassification, a new version waspublished. It just goes to show thatnothing lasts forever. Sorry, Pluto!

New Art by Poetry Illustrator Reuben Negron

2011-09-08T15:30:00.000-04:00

Reuben Negron, illustrator for one of our most successfultitles, Poetry For Beginners, has anew art show for his series of paintings called “This House of Glass” at theLike the Spice gallery. The openingreception is this Friday night at 6:30.

Like the Spice’s own website describes Negron’s exhibition best:

In these new works, each subject is avolunteer, drawn to Negron's project by his desire to unravel a particular knotin their recent memory. He adopts the role of confidant and digests innumerablemorsels of honesty over several weeks or months. These conversations turn intovisual collaborations between Negron and his model, conceived as a collectivenarrative told on their terms. He establishes trust with his subjects and ultimatelya degree of untouchable intimacy through his pointed engagement. The paintingsblossom from layered photographs of each subject in a space associated with hisor her anecdote. Tension builds between strength and fragility,loneliness and confidence, vulnerability and neglect, in Negron's mission todisclose the sitter's mind-frame. The singularity of reality fails in capturingthe subject amid their tumultuous circumstances; thus Negron's images arecomposed of a string of moments rather than a single snapshot. His paintingscapture an individual that has considered their own past yet exists in thepresent amid details of transpired events.

“This House of Glass” will be at Like the Spice fromSeptember 9^th until October 9^th, so be sure to stop inand admire his paintings this month in Brooklyn. Until then, you can preview the series andview his other work on his blog.

Announcing the For Beginners Store

2011-09-06T10:56:00.002-04:00

Now you can show your love for For Beginners books withitems from our new CafePress store! Wehave T-shirts, hoodies and pajamas in several colors for men and women, as wellas kids’ clothing, hats, messenger bags, thermoses, mouse pads, iPhone casesand even food bowls for your pets. Eachis printed with the For Beginners eye logo and may have our title, URL or the‘Know More, Read Less’ tagline.

Follow the new button on our homepage or check out the storedirectly here.

Happy Howard Zinn’s Birthday!

2011-08-24T13:42:00.001-04:00

Today we celebrate the birthday of a man who gave to us anew lens through which to look at ourselves, our history, the Great AmericanAdventure. With his book A People’sHistory of the United States, Howard Zinn showed us the history that tookplace below the upper crust of the history most of our textbooks showed us.This was the story of the real people who built the country with their bloodand guts, not just the few elite individuals who have been singled out tosymbolize that history in our textbooks. In Zinn’s version of history, thingsare not quite so perfect, so clean cut. There are many nuances. Politics,strangely enough, looks very much the same 250 years ago as it does today. Thereis some difference between what politicians say publicly, and what theiractions say about what they really believe.

What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he wrote “all men arecreated equal” while he was at that very same moment a slaveholder, a man whokept other human beings as prisoners in order to reap the benefits of theirlabor without having to compensate them, without even having to regard them ashuman beings? The soaring rhetoric of the elite colonists who led the countryin rebellion against the mother country moved the hearts and souls of the rankand file people, the new Americans who came to this country from Europe. Ittouched the chords in the human heart that ring in harmony with the universallonging for freedom and justice. And it roused those people to fight for the cause,to free the colony from the rule of the most powerful empire in the world. Andagainst all odds, the revolution was a success. The British Crown let it go,let the colonists have their way. Then the colonial elite would have to dealwith the rabble themselves.

Jefferson’s moving call for democracy and equality, wordsborrowed mostly from John Locke, set off more than the colonial elite was quiteready for, and once the proverbial genie was out of the bottle there was nostuffing it back in. The aspirations for a free democratic society were ignitedin the hearts of the new Americans, and they continued their struggles torealize those dreams, even when in direct opposition to the aristocrats whocame to be known reverently as The Founding Fathers. So begins the story of theGreat American Dream, an epic drama that continues to play out today, day byday, as Americans strive for a more perfect union, more democratic indeed thanthe founding fathers envisioned or would have tolerated.

The history text books of our schools tell us a myth, acollection of many smaller myths. George Washington chopped down a cherry treeand was so honest that when he faced consequences for his act from his angrymother he said, “I cannot tell a lie…” Like the Christ child himself, this manwas destined to be a god among men, and to lead his nation to freedom against atyrannical king. It is a story designed to create reverence, obedience,acceptance of the social order. Our schools train us to be well behaved, “goodcitizens”. The real story is much greater, much deeper, much more full ofpassion and drama. It is the story of millions of individual lives, of thelegions of unnamed participants in a struggle to achieve the kind of society wewere promised in those moving founding documents. Every day the story continueson a million fronts. No one could tell the whole story. Every day could produceenough material for a giant volume. But Howard Zinn did us the service ofopening our eyes to that drama, the real drama under the surface of the storywe were told, the story of the lives of Americans who were not the rulers, thegenerals or the politicians. This is the real story of America, of theuniversal human aspiration for freedom, self-determination and justice.

Today it is fitting to pay tribute to Howard Zinn for hisgreat contribution to our understanding of ourselves as a nation, and beyondthat as citizens of the world, members of the human species. He opened the doorto a new way of looking at the world, at a history in which we are no longerjust bystanders, we are participants. We can be a part of making a new world.Every day we see headlines that show us that we must change our course inhistory. We need a new chapter in industrialization. One day someone makes an errorand the mighty Gulf of Mexico is fouled with millions of gallons of oil,destroying the lives and the habitats of many species and the livelihoods ofmany people who relied on that ecosystem for their existence. Practically everyliving system in the world is in decline under the attack of a harsh, predatoryindustrialization that has run its course and can no longer be sustained. Weknow we have to change, and yet every morning we get up out of bed and startthe day all over behaving just as we did before. After a short period of alarm,the president tells the oil companies they can go back to drilling in the Gulf,come what may. We must continue to drive this economy, keep the wheelsspinning, keep Wall Street generating more paper profits. And when another oil disasterhappens, we know the CEOs of the giant oil companies will once again say therewas nothing they could do to prevent it. Like lemmings we continue our marchtoward our own self-destruction. We know we have to change, but how? For today wewill just place one foot in front of the other and continue as we were. Letsomeone else deal with it.

But Howard Zinn has given us an alternative view. We are notcaught in an inevitable scenario. This world is the product of the actions ofmillions upon millions of people. The benefits we enjoy are largely the fruitsof the work and sacrifices of those who preceded us. These were not just thesoldiers we have been trained to admire because they sacrificed themselves tosome foreign war or other, but to the regular people, the activists who foughtfor the rights of laborers for a ten-hour day, then for an eight-hour day and afive-day week, for a salary that would represent a more fair return on thelabor that made others rich, so that they may be able to feed their families,even own a home of their own, perhaps even enjoy a bit of leisure in theirlives.

Wehave Zinn to thank for breaking through that myth and helping us to seeourselves for who we really are, for individuals with power to transform ourown lives and our world, not just subjects who must stand aside and watch asthe world is ruled by the powerful and the privileged. Zinn wrote “A People’sHistory of the United States” in 1980, just in time to help us in the 21^stCentury as we struggle to preserve our democracy against an onslaught againstit by the tyrannical powers of our time, the network of massive corporationswho now control our world and who are on the march every day to usurp morepower, more resources and to reduce individual Americans to slavery. Thestruggle never ends. As Francis Bacon wrote, “There are never wanting somepersons of violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have power andbusiness, will take it at any cost.” Therefore, the necessity of defending ourselvesagainst the onslaught of would-be tyrants never ends. In honor of Howard Zinn’sname day, let us set ourselves to the task of rebuilding our world, creating anew birth of democracy in the 21^st Century, in honor of those whohave built the great democratic institutions that we are heir to. As Ghandisaid, let us “be the change you want to see in the world.”

HappyBirthday, Howard Zinn! We love you!

- David Cogswell, Author of Howard Zinn For Beginners and the upcoming Unions For Beginners

The Digital Future of Indie Bookstores by Anthony D Fiore

2011-08-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

It is no longer a question of durability. Thee-reader is here to stay.

Sales of products like Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes &Noble’s Nook, and Sony’s Reader have nearly doubled every year for the pastthree years and are expected to continue this steady climb throughout the restof the year and into 2013.

Online E-book sales have also sky-rocketed in thepast 3 years since the ground breaking release of the Kindle. So much thatAmazon has recently reported that they sell 105 e-books for every 100 printbooks. The New York Times Bestseller List reflects similar statisticswith several titles selling more digital copies than print.

The numbers don’t lie, people are really taking tothe e-reader. And it’s no wonder, these little devices are addicting. Owners ofe-readers, myself included, love the portability, the sleek appearance, andhandy digital features like being able to search the text, adjust the fontsize, and look up dictionary definitions.

And there’s an e-reader for everybody. I love myNook for its simplicity. No distracting keyboard, no internet browser, nogames. Just a pocket sized book on a digital matte screen. It’s so streamlined,I find it even less distracting than reading a real book. No more licking myfingers to turn the page, no more flipping ahead to see how many pages to thenext chapter. I’ve read twice as many books this summer since I got my Nookthan I normally do.

But for people who feel that constant need to be plugged in, thereare e-readers that connect to the internet, receive emails, have built in mp3players. A step up there are tablets, for people who like picture books andcomics, who need vibrance and color, or just like to play games betweenchapters.

The question is no longer how the e-reader willsurvive, the electronic age of books is starting now. The question is how bookswill survive in this digital age.

Well, not actual books. Many types of books, likecoffee table books or art books, will never have to compete with an electronictablet. But even your run of the mill novels or memoirs will continue tosurvive in the same way that CDs and even vinyl records have continued tosurvive in the age of MP3s. As long as people continue to appreciate theintellectual aesthetic of a full bookshelf in their homes, there will be placesto find print books. Even if that means mass pilgrimages of print purists toobscure back alleys in Brooklyn or Alameda County to find a rare copy of TheHelp.

Rather, the question is, how will the independentbooksellers survive in this online market?

As if it wasn’t enough to have to compete withcorporate giants like Barnes & Noble, Costco, and Amazon, now theseindependently owned neighborhood book stores have to find ways to keep theirsales up as more and more people are buying digital.

Luckily, there are some really cool innovations tocombat this very dilemma. Many organizations like Google, the AmericanBooksellers Association (ABA), IndieBound, and Blue Fire are working togetherto keep independent bookstores in the game. Because we all love ourneighborhood bookstores; they’re warm, they’re inviting, and they have thosehand written index cards that let us know which books are the best read. Peoplewant to support their local bookstores, and now they can online.

Google got the ball rolling by putting over 3million e-books online, the biggest selection of e-books online, surpassingBarnes & Noble by 1 million and Amazon by a little over 2 million. Theythen teamed up with the ABA’s IndieCommerce, a branch devoted to supportingindependent bookstores in the digital age, to put those e-books on anyindependent bookstore’s website. Thus creating online independent bookstoreswhere booksellers can sell digital copies of books just as they would sellprint in-store. On May 9th, Old Harbor Books of Sitka Alaska was the 250thindependent bookseller to open an online bookstore with Google e-books.

Now IndieCommerce and IndieBound are working withBlue Fire technology to produce an app for iPhone, iPad, and droid that willconnect to an online database of independent bookstores so you can shop andread on the go.

The next logical step seems to be e-readers beingsold in store at indie bookstores to promote online sales.

The biggest opposition to these advancements,however, is the Kindle itself. The Kindle is the only e-reader that usesexclusive reader software. In other words, if you own a Kindle, the only booksyou can read on it are books bought off of Amazon. Thus Amazon has cut out anycompetition.

With Kindle being the most recognized name in thecurrent e-reader market, this poses a serious threat to any forward progressfor indies. It’s still early, so all we can do is hope that the Kindle phasesout like HD DVDs or the Betamax, allowing room for more open-minded deviceslike the Nook or the Reader to take the market.

For Beginners Anniversary Contest

2011-08-19T11:39:00.000-04:00

This coming Monday marks a very special day for us: it’s the fourthanniversary of For Beginners! We’re still going strong, with plenty of newbooks on the way for next year, including Marx’sDas Kapital, Jane Austen, Women’s History, The U.S. Constitution, Dante,and Unions For Beginners. Tocelebrate, we’re holding a contest on Facebook and Twitter for our readers. OnMonday, be one of the first four people to comment on our Facebook page withyour favorite For Beginners book that you’ve read or retweet our message with yourfavorite, and you could win your choice of one of our books! Check out this list for all thepossibilities.

Thanks to all of the readers and fans who have kept us goingfor four great years!

Recommendations for Graphic Nonfiction Books

2011-08-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

TheAtlantic has an interesting new article compiling “10 Masterpieces ofGraphic Nonfiction.” The list includes a variety of diverse subjects, from Beatniksto DNA and genetics to the Dalai Lama, even an illustrated version of theclassic Elements of Style. Thoughthese books are likely to appeal to comic book fans, they are sure to beenjoyed by anyone hoping to learn more about these fascinating topics through amore visual and artistic medium.

One of the books from the list, The Beats, was edited by Paul Buhle, author of FDR and the NewDeal For Beginners. He teamed up again with one of the authors, thelate Harvey Pekar, to coedit a new book called Yiddishkeit: Jewish Vernacular and the New Land, due to be releasedthis September 1. The JewishBook Council Blog just named it the Book Cover of the Week. The book is acomics anthology that explores the spread of Yiddish across different culturesthrough illustrations, original stories, and even a play.