Nichola Gutgold

But unlike face to face communication, I think online communication can only take relationships so far. It is ambient awareness that helps connect people, but not truly connect with people the way that face to face communication does.  more »

Besides the sobering lessons in Edwards's book is that sad reality that most of the time the American press and public prefers a dumbed-down version of the political spouse. The media wants not even sound bites from our political spouses, but 'picture bites' usually of Barbie-doll like perfection, demure, uncomplicated and ultimately quiet. more »

Amitav Ghosh's In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale published by Vintage is an early non-fiction work by the noted Indian novelist (whose work The Glass Palace is a favorite of mine). Ghosh wrote In an Antique Land after living in 1980 as a graduate student in an Egyptian farming village. He excavates a little known aspect of Middle Eastern history in a book that moves back and forth from the 12th century to the 20th, detecting and describing the interactions, real and imagined, of an Indian slave and local Egyptian merchants, holy men, and sorcerers.Gardeners and lovers of mysteries will be pleased to learn that several of the books of British born (John) Beverley Nichols have been re-issued by Timber Press. In Down the Garden Path, I chortled at lines such as "I would rather be made bankrupt by a bulb merchant than by a chorus girl." I expect the same witty, high-spirited writing in Merry Hall. And if I wish my flowers served up with a bit of murder and sleuthing, Nichols' detective novel, *The Moonflower, praised by novelists Somerset Maugham and Elizabeth Bowen, also rests on my to-read pile.  more »

Respected communication scholar Erika Falk also extends her previous work by examining gender bias and maintenance in the press coverage of Hillary Clinton’s announcement to seek the presidency in 2008. Editor Edwards furthers her investigation of political cartoons by making “an examination of twenty years worth of masculinity as an interpretive frame” in editorial cartoons. Optimistically she notes that as more women enter presidential politics it could lead to a more neutralized gender depiction in cartoons. She notes the dearth of press coverage for women candidates both from the beginning of their presidential efforts in 1872 to today. That Barack Obama credited Chisholm for paving the way for his presidential success, should make race and gender scholars consider her important 1972 presidential race. more »