Category Archives: The Mixed-Up Bookshelves

Antibooks

Posted on December 11, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Since some of the other cool kids are looking at LibraryThing’s Unsuggester, I thought I’d add a few comments. I think John Emerson is basically right that it has to do with the peculiar sample at LibraryThing in the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 10 Comments

From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves: The Culture of the Copy

Posted on August 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Just a quick note on this 1996 book, which makes for an interesting contrast to Norton’s Republic of Signs. I don’t know anything about Hillel Schwartz, though I have two of his books. He’s got a good eye for interesting … Continue reading →

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From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves: Republic of Signs

Posted on August 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Continuing my voyage in the Wayback Machine to the early 1990s, I was re-reading Anne Norton’s 1993 work Republic of Signs: Liberal Theory and American Popular Culture. I liked the book when I first read it and I still do. … Continue reading →

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We, Myself and Them

Posted on August 8, 2006 by Timothy Burke

One thing I’ve been thinking about in the last two days when I’ve taken a break from writing to catalog books is the academic moment of the early 1990s in the humanities. That’s when I was working on my dissertation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Politics, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 4 Comments

From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves: Reader’s Digest Illustrated History of South Africa

Posted on August 3, 2006 by Timothy Burke

The Reader’s Digest Illustrated History of South Africa (subtitled The Real Story), in the revised third edition, is the best historical textbook I have ever seen. I’d assign this book in a second in relevant classes. Only problem is that … Continue reading →

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From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves: “Homelands, Harlem and Hollywood”

Posted on August 2, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Rob Nixon’s published work seems to me like a good direction for the more public, accessible side of scholarly discourse to be heading over the long haul, particularly his 2001 book Dreambirds. That could be what we’re looking for out … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 1 Comment

From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves: “African History For Beginners”

Posted on August 1, 2006 by Timothy Burke

We have a bunch of the “For Beginners” books published by Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative (WRP) at home somewhere, almost all of them from when they came in fairly plain if stylish brown covers. Someone should write a book … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 4 Comments

From the Mixed-Up Bookshelves of Professor Timothy J. Burke

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Timothy Burke

I’ve promised (threatened?) to do something like this before, but I’m really committed now. I’ve been meaning to sit down with my bookshelves and go through them very seriously, to re-examine books I’ve read in the past and read newer … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 6 Comments