New Releases

"Smashed for the Holidays" (Ruby Star Records, '07), the latest recording from vocalist/songwriter Jacqui Naylor (B.S., '91), offers a special blend of her trademark "acoustic smashes": familiar rock tunes "smashed together" with holiday standards.

"San Francisco's International Hotel: Mobilizing the Filipino American Community in the Anti-Eviction Movement" (Temple University Press, '07) by Estella Habal (B.A., '91) explores a successful fight for low-income housing for the elderly.

Carol Muske-Dukes (M.A., '70) founded a creative writing program at Riker's Island prison?the first of its kind. Her intense experiences there served as background for her novel "Channeling Mark Twain" (Random House, '07).

What's an elephant to do with his trunk at dinner? Miss Perfect, an avian Emily Post, has the answer in "Dear Miss Perfect: A Beast's Guide to Proper Behavior" (Houghton Mifflin, '07), a children's book written and illustrated by Sandra Dutton (M.A., '80).

"Bridging the Tacoma Narrows" (Carquinez Press, '07) by construction worker turned photographer John V. Robinson (M.A., '98) provides a close-up view of the planning and building of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state.

"The Doors" by The Doors with Ben Fong-Torres (B.A., ?66), a former senior editor and writer at Rolling Stone magazine, offers an all-access pass to the band's history (Hyperion, ?07).

"The Street of a Thousand Blossoms" (St. Martin's Press, '07), a novel by Gail Tsukiyama (B.A., '75; M.F.A., '81), follows the lives of orphaned brothers Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto before, during and after World War II.

Professor of Creative Writing Toni Mirosevich (M.A., '92; M.F.A., '94) imbues seemingly ordinary moments with meaning and wonder in "Pink Harvest," her first collection of nonfiction writing.

The Alexander String Quartet, SF State's Quartet in Residence, has released "Fragments," two compact-disc volumes of chamber music by Dmitri Shostakovich (Foghorn Classsics, '07). The set includes String Quartets 1-15 and the Piano Quartet featuring Professor of Music Roger Woodward.

"The Plants of Middle Earth: Botany and Sub-creation" (The Kent State University Press, '06), written by Dinah Hazell (M.A., '94), is an illustrated botanical tour through J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

"Touching the Web of Southern Novelists" (University of Tennessee Press, '06) by David Madden (M.A., '58) examines the work of such critically acclaimed writers as Flannery O' Connor and Ernest Gaines (B.A., '57).

Vicki Howard (M.A., '91) investigates the history of a $70 billion industry in "Brides, Inc.: American Weddings and the Business of Tradition (University of Pennsylvania Press, '06).

In her latest collection of poetry, "Next Life" (Wesleyan University Press, '07), Rae Armantrout (M.A., '75) asks readers to consider that something all together different may lie beneath the worldly surface of things.

Cole Swensen's (B.A., '80; M.A., '83) eleventh collection of poetry, "The Glass Age" (Alice James Books, '07) is an extended poem?part art criticism, part art history?and considers the phenomenon of glass.

Ron Baker (B.S., '84) lays out a new road map for businesses of all sizes to rethink how they measure customer value and in turn, find new ways to raise profits in "Measure What Matters" (John Wiley & Sons, '06).

Bob Dougherty (B.S., '83) examines the history of an isolated rural community nestled in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains in "Images of America: La Honda" (Arcadia Publishing,'07).

In "Faint Praise" (University of Missouri Press, '07), Gail Pool (M.A., '75) takes readers behind the scenes of the book review business and examines how books are selected for review and the various roles publishers, authors and readers play in the process.

"Underneath It All" (Kensington Books, '07), a novel by Margo Candela (B.A., '97), follows Jacqueline Sanchez, a young woman who seeks to find her true identity amid laugh-out-loud family and work drama.