PSU Magazine Spring 2004

T H E Love at Ground Zero: A Novel By Charles Deemer (English faculty), Three Moons Media, Longview, Texas, 2003. This short novel follows the ill-faLed romance between two New York Uni– versity students after one, Wes , rescues the other, Hayaam (a female Muslin foreign student) , from the south Lower of the World Trade Center before iL collapses on 9/11. Despite the objec– tions of both of their families, Wes and Hayaam begin a romance , and the experience changes Wes forever. Deemer is on the writing faculty His previous books include a novel , Emmett's Gift, and Seven Plays, which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Tell This Silence: Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech By Palli Duncan (Womens Studies faculty), University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, Iowa, 2004. Tell this Silence explores multiple mean– ings of speech and silence in Asian American women's writings in order to explore relationships among race , gender, sexuality, and national identity. Duncan argues that contemporary definitions of U.S. feminism must be expanded to recognize the ways in which Asian American women have resisted and continue to challenge the various forms of oppression in their lives. Writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Mitsuye Yamada , Joy Kagawa, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Nora Okja Keller, and Anchee Min deploy silence as a means of resistance , writes Duncan. Grasping Wastrels vs. Beaches Forever Inc. By Matt Love '86, Nestucca Spit Press, Pacific City, Ore., 2003. ln the book's eight essays, Love is "Covering the Fights for the Soul of the Oregon CoasL"-the subtitle of the book. Who remembers today LhaL Bob S H E L F Bacon, a mild-mannered professor al the former Oregon Medical School, had more LO do with the success of the "Beach Bill ," which legislated public access to Oregon beaches, than Gov. Tom McCall? Or how about the defeat of a coastal nuclear power plant or Lhe push for offshore oil drilling? Love, who lives on the Oregon Coast, Lelis with passion and olor some of the lost, ignored , or forgotten sL0ties about preserving Oregon's beaches. find the dead man . The action rico– chets between New Orleans and the Pacific Nonhwest. This is Denny "Doc" Macomber's first book. Magnificent Failure: Free Fall From the Edge of Space By Craig Ryan (adjunc t English faculty), Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2003. Locked in a desperate Cold War race against the SO\ieLs Lo find out if humans could survive in space and Oregon's Promise: An Interpretive History By David Peterson del Mar (Histo,y faculty), Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Ore., 2003. r------- live through a free The first survey of the state's history in more than 25 years, Oregon's Promise stretches from pre-contact indige– nous people to a consideration of con– temporary economic, social, political, and cultural divisions. Deemed by one bookstore owner as "A people's history of Oregon," the book argues that we should pay less attention Lo exotic celebrities like Levvis and Clark and focus on the lives of everyday residents. The book, de! Mar's third , was selected by the City Club of Portland as its first book in its new citywide reading group. The Killer Coin By Doc Macomber '84, PublishAmerica, Baltimore, Md , 2003. ln this modern day pirate sLOry of lost treasure , a woman is murdered and Lhe one clue the police have is a gold coin with a fingerprint on it. Problem is, the fingerprint belongs Lo a man presumed dead for several yea rs. The New Orleans police and the U.S. Military are both interested in this case and each sends in its own investigaLor Lo fa ll from space vehi– cles, the Pentagon gave civilian adventurer Nick Piantanida's Project StraLO-Jump little noLice until May Day 1966. That clay the former Lruck driver and peL store owner set a new world record for manned balloon altitude by rising more than 23 miles over the South Dakota prairie. He also tried Lo set the world record for the highest free fall para– chute jump. Never one Lo give in LO defeat , he Lried again later and died. Piamanida's family has commended Ryan for accurately capturing the life and motivations of their risk-taking relative. Ryan is also the author of The Preastronauts . Reviews are of faculty and alumni books, recordings, and Web publica– Lions. To have a work considered for this page, please submit pertinent information Lo PSU Magaz ine via email LO psu111ag@pd.x.edu , or fax Lo 503-725-4465, or mail to PSU Maga– zin e, Office of Publications, Portland State University, PO Box 751 , Portland , OR 97207-0751. SPRING 200+ PSU MAGAZINE 5