In celebration of the year's end and the holiday season, we’re offering a 30% discount on all print editions of our 2013 titles. That’s a whopping 100+ books all 30% off through the end of the year. Peruse our 2013 titles here, add the books you want to your shopping cart, then enter this promo code: HOLIDAYS2013 to redeem the offer.
In the event that the sheer magnitude of this offer strikes you as a little overwhelming, we’ve assembled a quick gift guide, shining a light on some of our most popular and reader-friendly titles of the past year.
For the Bibliophile:
Counterculture Colophon: Grove Press, the Evergreen Review, and the Incorporation of the Avant-Garde
$19.56 (Cloth)
Voracious readers and English nuts will appreciate Loren Glass’ biography of the boundary-pushing publishing house that shepherded the Beats, dissidents and foreign luminaries, tussled with obscenity laws, and put a megaphone to the mouth of American counterculture. Grove Press, publishers of Beckett, Kerouac, Che, the Marquis de Sade, and Malcolm X, led the “paperback generation” to ideological insurgency. Glass draws from a wealth of research and extensive interviews with the recently deceased founder and owner, Barney Rosset to craft a comprehensive account of this wildly influential press. (Check out Loren Glass' Q&A with authors Boris Kachka and Jay Gertzman on personalities in postwar publishing).
For the Armchair Quarterback:
15 Sports Myths and Why They’re Wrong
$20.96 (Cloth)
Here’s one for the sports buff in your life—the ones whose peanut gallery commentary is the second best part of the Super Bowl (after the commercials). In this book authors Fort and Winfree apply sharp economic analysis to bust some of the most widespread urban legends about college and professional athletics, dismantling misconceptions one chapter at a time and revealing how these myths serve a handful of powerful parties, often at the expense of sports fans. Deadspin editor Tim Marchmann calls it a “pointed and sprightly” book that has “a lot of fun with the absurdities of professional sports” and underscores major flaws within the collegiate arena begging for reform (see the full WSJ review here). Also see Two Sports Myths and Why They’re Wrong—Paper, $9.00—below.
For the Aspiring Pundit:
The Eclipse of Equality: Arguing America on Meet the Press
$20.96 (Cloth)
Follow politics? Watch the news? Got opinions? Author Solon Simmons follows 70 years of Meet the Press episodes to trace the rhetorical history of the bifurcation of party politics and the so-called “culture wars” gridlocking the political system today. War and foreign affairs, race struggles, debt and taxation, and class and labor relations all come into play in this decades-old forum for political discussion. The Eclipse of Equality is an accessible must-read for avid media spectators, Meet the Press fans, and political commentators (professional, or otherwise).
For the Pragmatic Environmentalist:
Flourishing: A Frank Conversation About Sustainability
$12.56 (Paper)
Here's a title of equal interest for Sierra Club members and Forbes subscribers: conversational and candid, Flourishing demonstrates how sustainability has become little more than a fashionable idea—with business and government applying band aids and quick-fixes doomed to fail. Authors John Ehrenfeld and Andrew Hoffman are shifting the pendulum in this crucial and emotive discussion, making the case for a cultural shift in consumption and accountability. Illuminating and timely, Flourishing provides readers with (cautious) hope for the future.
For the Satirist:
No Billionaire Left Behind: Satirical Activism in America
$17.46 (Paper)
Members of Colbert Nation are likely candidates for this wittily rendered depiction of American protest and parody. Anthropologist, Angelique Haugerud embedded herself into a group of activists who express their political disillusionment by masquerading as extravagantly gowned, tuxedoed and top-hatted faux billionaires. A colorful snapshot of a decidedly unique American social movement, No Billionaire Left Behind exposes the role of parody and irony as vehicles for political sincerity.
For the Social Activist:
Blinded By Sight: Seeing Race Through the Eyes of the Blind
$17.46 (Paper)
Inspired by the biopic, Ray, Blinded by Sight is a telling investigation of how race is coded in myriad ways—not just visual cues. By investigating how the blind perceive race, Obasogie not only susses out a deeper understanding of what makes up our idea of racial difference but also puts the idealistic dream of “colorblindness” to bed. Culturally relevant, accessible and insightful, Blinded by Sight is required reading for those interested in race and how it operates in the U.S. (Related: read an interview with a literally colorblind man on how he perceives race on The Toast).
For the Nostalgic Feminist:
Having It All in the Belle Epoque: How French Women’s Magazines Invented the Modern Woman
$27.96 (Cloth)
If you have strong opinions about ELLE magazine’s recent mission to rebrand feminism (or you know someone who does), Having It All is a rich, image-laden case study that delves into the enduring role magazines play in shaping women’s aspirations and sense of self. Rachel Mesch’s book is a dynamic one, blending history with visual analysis and literary criticism as she conveys how modern womanhood emerged in the early 1900s at the convergence of fashion, education and ambition. (Get a sneak peek at the interior images by scrolling through Mesch's Slate articles).
Hey, Stanford Briefs make great stocking-stuffers—just saying. Briefs are concise, cut-to-the-quick reads that deliver expert insights into urgent current events and provocative ongoing research. Also—did we mention how cheap they are? $9.00 after the discount—except for Two Sports Myths—that one's just 4 bucks.
Click on a cover to learn more:
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The Holiday Gift Guide is only the tip of the iceberg—see all titles available at the discount price here.
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