Library Journal articles from January 2002

Library Journal archives from January 2002

The ideal trustee is gone: she had a perfect vision and the genius, grace, and style to make it happen. (Editorial).(Obituary)
January 1, 2002... I never got enough time with Betty Jane Narver. My need to be with her started when we first met during one of my fleeting, hurried visits to Seattle. I was taken to dinner at her wonderfully chaotic home in a grand old Seattle neighborhood....

Protection by ignorance. (Letters).
January 1, 2002... As a librarian who has lived through... Pearl Harbor... the "election" of George W. Bush... I heartily commend your strong stand against censorship (John Berry, "In Crises, We Need Librarians More," LJ 11/1/01, p. 8). The last thing the...

Centuries of social capital. (Letters).
January 1, 2002... I enjoyed Nancy Kranich's "Libraries Create Social Capital" (LJ 11/15/01, p. 40-41) but hasten to add a historical note. American libraries have actually functioned as sites for the exchange of social capital for centuries. In the 18th...

A feminist columnist. (Letters).
January 1, 2002... In Blaise Cronin's screed ("Amazons R Us," LJ 10/15/01, p. 54), he seems to be unaware that the "redoubtable" Camille Paglia revels in calling herself an Amazon feminist. Perhaps he takes issue only when the Amazons in question wield laptops....

Tumid ritornello. (Letters).
January 1, 2002... Cronin's tumid ritornello on feminism ("Amazons R Us," LJ 10/15/01, p. 54)... is a rehash of what he's written about before, and it attributes a quote from Karen Schneider to Sarah Pritchard. Library science faculty have an obligation to avoid...

Teaching politics. (Letters).
January 1, 2002... I was pleased to see the letter reminding us that libraries can educate the public regarding the history and politics of the current "war on terrorism" ("Managing emotions" Letters, LJ 11/1/01, p. 10). Our library's first reaction was to mount...

LSTA set at $168M; NCLIS likely to expire in a year. (Late Bulletins).(Library Services and Technology Act)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Finalizing the Labor-HHS appropriations bill for FY02, both House and Senate negotiators agreed on funding Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) programs at $168 million, the President's request, far less than library advocates desired....

Librarian among new USAC board members. (Late Bulletins).(Anne Leslie Campbell)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Anne Leslie Campbell, director of the National City Public Library, near San Diego, has been named one of six new board members of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). USAC administers the four universal service programs,...

New security at ALA Midwinter Meeting. (Late Bulletins).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Just as Americans have faced new security measures at airports, librarians attending this month's Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) in New Orleans, and subsequent ALA conferences, will see tighter security. According...

Penguin using ebrary software to distribute Classics online. (Late Bulletins).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Penguin Books has cut a deal with ebrary to use the vendor's ebrarian software to distribute electronically the venerable orange-spined Classics line. The publisher says the relationship with ebrary will allow it to "take advantage of the...

Libraries, universities meet with lawyers on Patriot Act: questions about patron confidentiality heating up; after TV controversy, ALA issues distancing statement. (News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Representatives from libraries, library groups, and institutions of higher education, plus the Justice Department, gathered last month to discuss the USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to...

NYPL's ground zero branch open: plan also developing for preserving physical materials from attack. (News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The New York Public Library has re-opened its New Amsterdam branch, located three blocks north of the World Trade Center (WTC) complex. Clean-up operations involved manually dusting and reshelving some 40,000 items; the library's air ducts...

CIPA case pushed back to March: libraries should apply for E-rate; COPA appeal raises questions. (News).(Children's Internet Protection Act and Child Online Protection Act)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The trial date for the American Library Association's (ALA) challenge to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) has been pushed back to March 25, 2002, from February 14, 2002, after the federal government sought the extension. The case...

CSU Dean resigns over flood funds: administration makes departments compete for final recovery money. (News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Saying it was a "time for new leadership," Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins, Dean of Libraries Camila Alire has resigned her post. Alire has been widely applauded for her efforts in leading the CSU library after a devastating flood...

Libs., education, and the IMLS: director Robert Martin shares his vision for the future of libraries. (News).(Institute of Museum and Library Services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Robert Martin is the first librarian to head the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), created in 1996 when library programs were taken out of the Department of Education and merged with the existing Institute of Museum Services....

Group challenges Bush access order: Public Citizen says plan violates Presidential Records Act. (News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, has filed suit in a federal court in Washington, DC, to overturn President Bush's executive order that limits access to the records of former Presidents. Public Citizen contends that the executive...

Guadalajara book Fair Lures libns.: "free pass program" with ALA draws solid attendance from U.S. (Conference Report).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Despite some cancellations due to travel nerves, this year's Guadalajara book fair was humming. Feria Internacional de Libro (FIL), held November 26-28, 2001, is the second-largest Spanish-language book fair in the world after Argentina's...

Hope, caution on netLibrary deal: librarians see OCLC as a good match for continuity of service. (News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... As OCLC continues to move forward with its proposed purchase of cash-strapped e-book provider netLibrary, librarians voiced a mix of hope and concern over the company's fate. Noting that e-books were just beginning to make inroads with readers,...

Public libraries. (What's Happening In ...: News).(short notes)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The Queens Chamber of Commerce named Queens Borough Public Library, NY, director Gary E. Strong Business Person of the Year in the Large Business category, making him the first Queens librarian to be so honored. Criteria for the award included...

Scholastic universe offering more bang for library bucks: LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions alters pricing structure to single fee for all four modules. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions has enhanced its Scholastic Universe product, increasing coverage while decreasing prices. According to the company, users will enjoy a hefty 400 percent rise in newspaper sources, thanks to the addition...

Sirsi retiring the DRA brand name: banking on Unicorn system, Taos ends development with Version 1.2. (Industry News).(Data Research Associates )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The constantly shifting face of library automation has changed again. Sirsi, which purchased Data Research Associates (DRA) in 2001, has announced that with the integration of the two companies now complete, it is retiring the DRA brand name;...

Endeavor wins CSA award: vendor snags Chicago-based Lighthouse prize for excellence. (Industry News).(Chicago Software Association)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Endeavor Information Systems is the winner of the Chicago Software Association's (CSA) 2001 Lighthouse Award. According to the vendor, the award is presented "to the CSA member company which through sustained growth, national reputation, and...

Northern Light, Inmagic partner: combined IntelliMagic product merges internal and external news. (Industry News).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Inmagic and Northern Light have partnered to deliver what they believe to be the industry's first integrated business intelligence system for use within an enterprise. IntelliMagic merges internal and external business intelligence news and...

ProQuest Company acquires Softline: Ethnic NewsWatch, Gender Watch, 500 titles included in deal. (Online Databases).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... ProQuest Company's Information and Learning unit has acquired SoftLine Information, the producer of online databases for libraries and educational institutions. SoftLine's products offer more than 500 newspapers and magazines from ethnic,...

EBSCO acquires Alt-Healthwatch: marks the tenth full-text medical database added in 2001. (Online Databases).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Although ProQuest bought most of the company, the SoftLine-developed Alt-HealthWatch product was acquired by EBSCO Publishing, marking the tenth full-text medical database EBSCO has added to its line in 2001. Alt-Healthwatch centers on...

Dialog adds company profiles: service features 500,000 business operations in 188 countries. (Online Databases).(Dialog Corporation )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The Dialog Corporation is now marketing Dialog Company Profiles, a new standalone product offering one-stop access to up-to-the-minute, comprehensive studies of nearly 500,000 publicly traded and privately owned companies from 188 countries....

Gale group adds more content: Business Monitor International and Economist Intelligence on InfoTrac. (Online Databases).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Gale Group's InfoTrac databases and online Resource Centers have expanded business content with the addition of Business Monitor International and Economist Intelligence Unit data. These new agreements add 90 magazines, newsletters, and other...

B and ECPLS adds Brodart System: NY-based library subscribes to DartClix to add URLs on OPAC. (Installations).(Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System, NY (B&ECPLS) has contracted with Brodart Automation for the installation of the company's DartClix software to enhance its online catalog. Released in late 2000, DartClix is Brodart's...

Spanish Univs. buy Innovative System: dating to 13th century, Valladolid has collection of 600,000 books. (Installations).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Spain's University of Valladolid has contracted with Innovative Interfaces Inc. for the installation of a Millennium system to replace its aging automation solution. Dating back to the 13th century, the university serves a student population of...

WebWatch. (Imfotect).(sites)
January 1, 2002... CLICKING ON THE WEB... In the past, urban legends were often spread by word of mouth. Now, the Internet makes it much easier to spread tales about grieviously ill children collecting postcards, or lies about products or warnings of terrorist...

The consequences of cataloging. (Digital Libraries).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... AS OUR USAGE statistics decline (on average), owing to the perceived promise of the Internet, we must think imaginatively. More and more, I believe that means establishing ever-wider cooperative relationships with other libraries. After...

Mt. Healthy Branch Library, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton Country (PLC&HC).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Donna Barkley has been named Branch Manager, Mt. Healthy Branch Library, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County (PLC&HC). She was Branch Manager, Madisonville Branch, since 1997. Other appointments at the PLC&HC include Kathleen Due,...

Waco-McLennan Country Library.(Pamela Bonnell)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Pamela Bonnell has resigned as Director, Waco-McLennan County Library, TX. She had been with the system for nine years. Jackie Dodson, Associate Director, has been named Interim Director.

Columbia College Library.(Jo Cates)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Jo Cates has been named Director, Columbia College Library, Chicago. She was Regional Research Manager, Center for Business Knowledge, Ernst & Young, Chicago.

Owens Library, Northwest Missouri State University.(Robert W. Frizzell)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Robert W. Frizzell has been appointed Director of Libraries, Owens Library, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville. He was Director, Bailey Library, Hendrix College, Conway, AR.

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College.(dean James Matarazzo retires)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... James Matarazzo has retired after eight years as Dean, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston. He will be on sabbatical in fall 2002 and will return to teach part-time beginning in January 2003.

Stark County District Library.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Kent Oliver has been appointed Director, Stark County District Library, Canton, OH. He was Branch Services Manager, Johnson County Library, Shawnee Mission, KS.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).(Kay Raseroka, new president of the federation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Kay Raseroka has been elected to a two-year term as President of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Netherlands. She is Director of Library Services, University of Botswana, Gaborone. Raseroka will...

Palos Verdes Library District.(Barbara Roberts, new director of the district)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Barbara Roberts has been appointed Director, Palos Verdes Library District, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA. She was Deputy Director/County Librarian, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix.

Kent District Library (KDL).(Martha Smart, new district director)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Martha Smart has been appointed Director, Kent District Library (KDL), Comstock Park, MI. She was Manager, Grandville Branch of KDL.

Library Services, East Providence Public Library System.(Eileen Socha, new director)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Eileen Socha is now Director, Library Services, East Providence Public Library System, RI, having been Assistant Director. Socha replaces Roberta A.E. Cairns, who spent 35 years as a public librarian and was active in the Public Library...

San Francisco Deputy City Librarian.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Paul Underwood has been named San Francisco Deputy City Librarian. He was Director, Library Services, San Mateo County Library, CA.

Beecher Community Library.(Jennifer Young, new director)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Jennifer Young has been appointed Director, Beecher Community Library, IL. She was the Medical Librarian, Ingalls Hospital, Harvey, IL. Joyce Horath has been named Director of Special Projects, Beecher Community Library. She had volunteered as...

Obituaries.(rest in peace)(Obituary)
January 1, 2002... Elizabeth Malone "Bette" Britt, retired Librarian at the Library of Congress (LC), died October 4. She was 78. Britt was with LC for 30 years and specialized in serial records. Rebecca Todd Gossett, retired Librarian for the Maricopa County...

Susan Kent Los Angeles Public Library. (Librarian of the Year 2002).
January 1, 2002... "I LOVE MY JOB. It is the best job I've ever had! I work with the greatest group of people" says Susan Kent, City Librarian of Los Angeles. She had just been asked how she liked being head of the library system that serves the largest...

Best books of 2001.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... EACH FALL, LJ staff set aside countless hours, burning plenty of midnight oil in order to attack a pile of best book possibilities that can reach 250 titles. This year, to make the process both faster and better, we divided ourselves into...

Chance in the House of Fate. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Ackerman, Jennifer. Chance in the House of Fate. Houghton. ISBN 0-618-08287-5. $25. Science writer Ackerman's meditation on the connectedness of all things is so lushly and so intimately written--part of her story revolves around her...

American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Arana, Made. American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood. Dial. ISBN 0-385-31962-2. $23.95. Was she a "ladylike Latina" or a "wild American"? As Washington Post Book World editor Arana gracefully reveals, she spent her childhood precariously...

The Complete Works of Isaac Babel. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Babel, Isaac. The Complete Works of Isaac Babel Norton. tr. by Peter Constantine. ISBN 0-393-04846-2. $39.95. Before he was silenced by Stalin, Babel wrote countless pieces--diaries, plays, screenplays, and especially the incomparable...

Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Bobrick, Benson. Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired. S. & S. ISBN 0-684-84747-7. $26. The English Bible has been called the most important book ever published, and here Bobrick entertainingly...

Memory and the Mediterranean. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Braudel, Fernand. Memory and the Mediterranean. Knopf. tr. by Paul Braudel & Sian Reynolds. ISBN 0-375-40426-0. $35. In this sweeping historical survey of the Mediterranean from prehistoric times to the Byzantine Empire, esteemed historian...

True History of the Kelly Gang. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Carey, Peter. True History of the Kelly Gang. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41084-8. $25. Winner of the 2001 Booker Prize, this Australian Western cocks the ear like a pistol with its mesmerizing, dialect-driven narration. To some, Ned Kelly was a...

Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews; A History. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Carroll, James. Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews; A History. Houghton. ISBN 0-395-77927-8. $28. Now more than ever, Americans are investigating the connections between religion and politics. Carroll (An American Requiem) greatly...

America's Musical Life: A History. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Crawford, Richard. America's Musical Life: A History. Norton. ISBN 0-393-04810-1. $45. Ah, America, land of the free--and of music that is "derivative" yet, in the end, keenly original. So argues Crawford, former president of the American...

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Dai Sije. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Knopf. tr. by Ina Rilke. ISBN 0-375-41309-X. $20. During the Cultural Revolution, two young men enduring a miserable round of reeducation in the sticks discover a cache of forbidden...

Still Life with Oysters and Lemon. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Doty, Mark. Still Life with Oysters and Lemon. Beacon. ISBN 0-8070-6609-7. $18. This pristine study of poet Doty's recent life considered in light of a small still life painted by Dutch artist Jan Davidsz de Heem crackles with the same...

An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Elliot, Jason. An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan. Picador: St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-27459-9. $30. Written long before the names Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden started permeating the media, this heartfelt travelog recounts...

Aquagenesis: The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Sea. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Ellis, Richard. Aquagenesis: The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Sea. Viking. ISBN 0-670-03023-6. $25.95. How did life begin in the sea, and why did such creatures as sea turtles, dolphins, and whales, after having adapted to a...

Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Ellison, Ralph. Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings. Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64034-7. $19.95. Most of us just listen to it, but Ellison truly inhabited jazz. Lovingly collected here for the first time are the creme de la...

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Erdrich, Louise. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-018727-1. $26. At the center of Erdrich's bold new work is a mystery--and it's not just that the elderly Father Damien, who has served on an...

The Corrections. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Franzen, Jonathan. The Corrections. Farrar. ISBN 0-374-12998-3. $25. An ailing husband. A quintessentially flustered hausfrau of a wife. And three adult children at various stages of dysfunction. Out of this unpromising material Franzen...

Bulfinch: Little, Brown. (Best Books of 2001).
January 1, 2002... Frida Kahlo. Bulfinch: Little, Brown. ed. by Luis-Martin Lozano. ISBN 0-8212-2766-1. $85. In this generously illustrated book, Lozano (art history, Iberoamerican Univ., Mexico City) successfully captures the essence of Kahlo's...

Kissing the Virgin's Mouth. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Gershten, Donna M. Kissing the Virgin's Mouth. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-060-18567-8. $23. In this atmospheric debut, first winner of Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for works of social conscience, Guadalupe Magdalena Molina Vasquez...

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams; The Early Years, 1903-1940. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Giddins, Gary. Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams; The Early Years, 1903-1940. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-88188-0. $30. In 2002, Britney Spears reigns as queen of pop music, which Crosby invented some 75 years ago with his liquid gold croon....

Midsummer Snowballs. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Goldsworthy, Andy. Midsummer Snowballs. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-0624-4. $29.95. Most art books catalog pieces of art, but some also work as art-in-action themselves--as does this record of environmental sculptor Goldsworthy's latest project....

Silence in October. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Grondahl, Jens Christian. Silence in October. Harcourt. tr. by Ann Born. ISBN 015-100399-8. $24. This tale of a wife's inexplicable departure is indeed an "October" novel, meditative, melancholic, and profoundly right in its portrait of...

Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Gross, Jan T. Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. Princeton Univ. ISBN 0691-08667-2. $19.95. Gross's short narrative, centered on the massacre of 1600 Jews in Jedwabne, Poland, by their fellow citizens...

Looking for History: Dispatches from Latin America. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Guillermoprieto, Alma. Looking for History: Dispatches from Latin America. Pantheon. ISBN 0-375-42094-0. $25. The New Yorker's noted correspondent in Latin America for over a decade, Guillermoprieto here collects 17 recent essays on...

My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Habegger, Alfred. My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson. Random. ISBN 0-679-44986-8. $35. This in-depth biography may not reveal many new details of Emily Dickinson's well-documented life, but Habegger offers an...

The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Harpaz, Beth J. The Girls in the Van: Covering Hillary. St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-28126-9. $24.95. When First Lady Hillary Clinton sought to become U.S. senator from New York, she had to run as an outsider and near-novice. The New York...

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Hessler, Peter. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-060-19544-4. $26. In 1996, twenty-something Hessler arrived in the isolated city of Fuling, located in the heart of China, to teach English as a Peace Corps...

Seabiscuit: An American Legend. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: An American Legend. Random. ISBN 0-375-50291-2. $24.95. Move over, Michael Jordan. The real sports hero of the 20th century--an "American legend" who still makes racing fans gasp--was a fast and furious...

Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Review)
January 1, 2002... Jackson, H.J. Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books. Yale Univ. ISBN 0-300-08816-7. $27.95. Ever wonder what prompts readers to scribble in the margins of their books? Jackson's acclaimed history of marginalia, prompted by his study of its...

Spectacular Bodies: The Art and Science of the Human Body from Leonardo to Now. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Kemp, Martin & Marina Wallace. Spectacular Bodies: The Art and Science of the Human Body from Leonardo to Now. Univ. of California. ISBN 0-520-22792-1. $35. This lavishly illustrated catalog of a London gallery exhibition comprises an...

John Adams. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Review)
January 1, 2002... McCullough, David. John Adams. S. & S. ISBN 0-684-81363-7. $35. McCullough's epic approach is perfectly suited to our brilliant, contentious second president, who helped formulate a new nation and emerged the victor of the famously brutal...

Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama; The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... McWhorter, Diane. Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama; The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. S. & S. ISBN 0-684-80747-5. $35. The town that tragically became the hot seat of the Civil Rights Movement when four little girls...

Manifesto: A Century of Isms. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Manifesto: A Century of Isms. Univ. of Nebraska. ed. by Mary Ann Caws. ISBN 0-8032-6407-0. $35. The first of its kind, this collection of more than 200 artistic, literary, and cultural modernist manifestos from the United States and...

James Merrill: Collected Poems. (Best Books of 2001).
January 1, 2002... Merrill, James. James Merrill: Collected Poems. Knopf. ed. by J.D. McClatchy & Stephen Yenser. ISBN 0-375-41139-9. $40. This hefty volume, the first in a series that will present the complete works of this great American poet, assembles all...

Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Review)
January 1, 2002... Mezlekia, Nega. Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood. Picador: St. Martin's. ISBN 0-312-26988-9. $24. In this remarkable literary debut, Mezlekia recounts in fablelike and rhythmical prose his coming of age in Jijiga,...

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Review)
January 1, 2002... Milford, Nancy. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Random. ISBN 0-394-57589-X. $29.95. After publishing her best-selling Zelda, Milford spent 30 years on this book--and it shows. Milford's intimate knowledge of this great...

Mother Millett. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Millett, Kate. Mother Millett. Verso. ISBN 1-85984-607-6. $25. Feminist icon Millett is known for her undying willingness to surrender fully to the rawest emotions, whether personal or political. Written in compelling prose, this poignant...

To Begin Where I Am: Selected Essays. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Milosz, Czeslaw. To Begin Where I Am: Selected Essays. Farrar. ISBN 0-374-25890-2. $25. Here, Nobel laureate Milosz proves that his prose deserves as much admiration as his justly celebrated poetry. Spanning five decades, the pieces--seven...

Theodore Rex. (Best Books of 2001).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Morris, Edmund. Theodore Rex. Random. ISBN 0-3945-5509-0. $35. After the mixed reception to his experimental 1999 biography of Ronald Reagan, Morris returns to the subject and form that gained him the 1979 Pulitzer Prize. This second volume...

Hateship, Friendship, Courship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories. (Best Books of 2001).
January 1, 2002... Munro, Alice. Hateship, Friendship, Courship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41300-6. $24. In her tenth collection, Munro once again demonstrates her mastery of the short story form. While still set in her familiar territory...