Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2019 -

Renowned Rimbaldien and editor of the journal Nineteenth-Century French Studies, Whidden (Univ. of Oxford, UK) brings all the erudition of his previous studies--which include Authority in Crisis in French Literature, 1850-1880 (CH, Jun'15, 52-5222) , Leaving Parnassus: The Lyric Subject in Verlaine and Rimbaud(CH, Dec'07, 45-1923), and the edited collection Models of Collaboration in Nineteenth-Century French Literature: Several Authors, One Pen (CH, Sep'10, 48-0144)--to bear in this accessible biography of a turbulent artist whose explosive and ephemeral talent upended and reoriented French poetry. The originality of this concise volume lies in its thoughtful fusion of criticism and reportage, and its unique organization of the poet's well-documented life. Chapters entitled "Walls," "Fields," and "Capital" rely on correspondence and published verse to outline Rimbaud's small-town origins and literary emergence, whereas "Wounds," "Worlds," and "Afterlives" address his vagabonding, homecomings, and legacy. Written with nonspecialists in mind, this volume pairs well with Graham Robb's more comprehensive Rimbaud: A Biography (CH, Apr'01, 38-4364) and Edmund White's more specialized Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel (2008). In addition to generous excerpts of Rimbaud's poetry and letters, this work incorporates ample drawings and photographs, some by the poet himself, to introduce a truly catalytic and creative life.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.

This playful but challenging study is a testament to the wide-ranging intellect of the late Mary Sheriff (a professor of art at Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), whose scholarship was formative in the field of 18th-century art history. Sheriff argues that the conceit of an enchanted island ruled by a powerful woman, a fantasy seemingly detached from, and indeed opposed to, the realities of French Enlightenment culture, in fact distilled key political and aesthetic concerns--concerns about the construction of masculinity, the imposition of political authority over distant lands, and the perils of sexual and aesthetic pleasure. The book opens with two conceptual chapters that define and theorize the concept of the island and explore 18th-century notions of magic. These are followed by four interrelated case studies--"archipelagos" is Sheriff's term--of imaginary and real islands and the women associated with them, from Circe to the mixed-race women of Saint-Domingue. In each chapter, Sheriff's characteristically dazzling play between texts and images and her virtuoso readings of single artworks reinforce her argument that islands condense the era's thinking about pleasure, politics, and gender. Sheriff's sophisticated but accessible study is indispensable for students and scholars of 18th-century art and culture.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

In this superb study, Balderston (Univ. of Pittsburgh) draws attention to Borges's manuscripts and marginalia to highlight why Borges's writing process merits critical attention. Borges did not believe in a "final" text, and Balderston points out how the prolific writer obsessively edited his own texts, even after publication. Rejected words, quotations, scribbles, handwriting, reading notes, annotation systems, and countless manuscript revisions take precedence in this study, and through the lens of critique genetique, i.e., genetic criticism, Balderston takes readers "backstage" to "Borges's kitchen" to showcase the "making of" or origins of canonical texts. A highlight of this book is the richness of the archival material. A renowned Borges scholar, Balderston explains his own quest in acquiring copies of manuscripts and marginalia and the difficulties of accessing materials, which are scattered in numerous library archives and personal collections. Of special interest are the facsimiles with transcriptions. At the end of this study readers will be reminded of Borges's words quoted in the introduction: "Lo marginal es lo mas bello" (What is marginal is what is most beautiful). Balderston includes an extensive bibliography.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

In this analysis of novels, short stories, essays, plays, and chronicles, Estrada (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) takes readers on a journey through Mexican history and culture, highlighting the mythifying and problematic representations of iconic Mexican women: specifically, Dona Marina/Malinche, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Leona Vicario, the soldaderas of the Mexican Revolution, and Frida Kahlo (treated in the epilogue). Estrada explains how, as representatives of a system of signs and symbols, each woman embodied a different period of Mexican history--the conquest, the colonial period, independence, the Mexican Revolution, and the post-revolutionary era. The author demonstrates how these prominent cultural icons' significance and influence has evolved over time and gained new meaning. In particular, Estrada engages in a complex discussion of how these women have been transformed into "objects of consumerism" in neoliberal Mexico. The problematic gender representations Estrada presents demonstrate how these iconic women oftentimes fall victim to misinterpretation, exoticism, and what he calls "historical invisibility." This book is indispensable for scholars of Mexican literature, in particular those focusing on women and gender studies.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.