The Iron
Cage, Rashid Khalidi, cloth, October 2006, $24.95, 978-0-8070-0308-4
New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman cites and quotes (approvingly)
in his op-ed from book in the Sunday, May 20th issue: “. . . we have
to open a dialogue with Hamas—not to embrace it, but to lay out a gradual
pathway that will bring it into relations with Israel. As Rashid Khalidi,
Columbia University’s Palestinian expert and author of The Iron Cage
points out: ‘If we let the Palestinian Authority be destroyed, and then
we keep Hamas isolated’—even though it won a democratic election
that we sponsored—‘we will end up with the hard boys, the gangs
you see today on the streets of Gaza, who respond to no authority at all.’”
Plain Secrets,
Joe Mackall, June 2007, cloth, $24.95, 978-0-8070-1064-8
“State of Belief with Welton Gaddy” (nationally on Air America)
interview to air Saturday, May 26 at 10 a.m. and Sunday, May 27th at 7 p.m.
Booklist, Starred review in the June 1st issue: “Wonderful and
enlightening . . . This is a loving portrait, warts and all, of an often-misunderstood
people.”
Cleveland Magazine, review in the May 2007 issue: “…Mackall
does the job beautifully, painting an intimate portrait of the family that
leaves the reader feeling humbled by the common thread that’s woven into
all of us.” —Sarah English, Cleveland Magazine
Without a
Map, Meredith Hall, cloth, April 2007, $24.95, 978-0-8070-7273-8
Publishers Weekly, review in the May 21st issue: “he offers
a welcome corrective to much of the aggressive rhetoric that has pervaded
the debate over the war in Iraq.”
Courting
Equality, Patricia A. Gozemba and Karen Kahn, cloth, May 2007,
$34.95, 978-0-80706620-1
In Newsweekly, article posted May 18th: http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ar&article_code=3910
“For gay marriage boosters, to read "Courting Equality"
is a literary experience of sheer ecstasy, a brief pause of unbridled joy
in the ongoing - and by no means over - struggle to preserve and protect same-sex
marriage. It's a delightful sneak peak over the rainbow.”
Bloggers on the May 16th Courting Equality launch:
The Missing
Class, Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen, September 2007,
Cloth, $26.95, 978-0-8070-4139-0
“Just above the artificial ‘poverty line,’ millions of hard-working
people struggle invisibly to gain a foothold on the promise of the American
Dream. Their raw hardships and persistent hopes, collected in this book of
unflinching portraits, ought to sound the alarm for an America grown complacent.”
—David Shipler, author of The Working Poor: Invisible in America
Deaf Life, excerpt with Brewster images in the June issue
Big-Box Swindle,
Stacy Mitchell, cloth, November 2006, $25.95, 978-0-8070-3500-9
Atascadero News (CA), letter to the editor, May 18th issue: “This
letter is for anyone who still thinks that Wal-Mart would be an asset to our
city, and also our city council. I urge you! I implore you! Please read this
book: Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega Retailers and The Fight for
America's Independent Businesses by Stacy Mitchell.”
Just Released:
Plain Secrets,
Joe Mackall, June 2007, cloth, $24.95, 978-0-8070-1064-8
Print:
Booklist, Starred review in the June 1st issue: “Wonderful and
enlightening . . . This is a loving portrait, warts and all, of an often-misunderstood
people.”
Publishers Weekly, review in the April 9th issue: “By focusing
on the loves and losses of one large Amish clan, Mackall breathes life into
a complex group often idealized or caricatured . . . it is a deeply respectful
account that never veers toward sensationalism.”
Cleveland Magazine, review in the May 2007 issue: “…Mackall
does the job beautifully, painting an intimate portrait of the family that
leaves the reader feeling humbled by the common thread that’s woven into
all of us.” —Sarah English, Cleveland Magazine
Reviews and coverage forthcoming in the Boston Globe, Chronicle of Higher
Education, Ohioana Quarterly Review, Religionwriter.com, and Mennonite
Weekly Review
Broadcast:
Around Noon (WCPN, Cleveland NPR), Monday, June 25th, 12:10-12:25pm, live
interview
“State of Belief with Welton Gaddy” (nationally on Air America)
interview to air Saturday, May 26 at 10 a.m. and Sunday, May 27th at 7 p.m.
Blurbs:
“Joe Mackall's Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Amish meets
the biggest challenge of a book such as this by living up to his subtitle:
Mackall is both outside and among in equal measure, and it's the most difficult
terrain to occupy. Plain Secrets vibrates in that in-betweenness, in ways
that only songs or poems usually can, and it does so in prose that's as clear
as water. It’s built the way the Amish build their barns—everything
here is plumb and level.” —Diana Hume George, author of The Lonely
Other: A Woman Watching America
“In simple but elegant prose that matches the values of his subject,
Joe Mackall takes us deep into the Amish community. He neither romanticizes
nor condemns an alternative way of living, but provides stunning insight through
the generosity and compassion of his own heart.” —Chris Offutt,
author of The Same River Twice and Kentucky Straight
“Joe Mackall's patience, empathy, and dogged curiosity illuminate this
fine, fascinating study of an elusive culture. Plain Secrets is a provocative,
humbling, and soulful book.” — Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s
Melancholy
Author Appearances:
The Amish In American Conference, Elizabethtown, PA, June 7-9th
Nebraska Summer Writers’ Conference, June 16-23rd
Joseph Beth Booksellers (OH), Tuesday, June 26th at 7:00 pm
Beacon Press is a department of the