Bookshelf

UPCOMING

LIGHT AND VARIABLE: A Year of Celebrations, Holidays, Recipes and Emily Dickinson

LIGHT AND VARIABLE: A Year of Celebrations, Holidays, Recipes and Emily Dickinson. (Connie Cronley, University of Oklahoma Press, 272 pp., paperback - $16.95)

In LIGHT AND VARIABLE, Cronley romps through the calendar year. Honest, unpretentious and laced with self-deprecating humor, these essays revolve around holidays or events such as Festival of Sleep Day, National Failures Day and Blame Someone Else Day.

Cronley marvels at subjects close to her heart including small towns, rescued dogs, deviled eggs, know-it-all hair dressers, church squabbles, women's history, cowgirls and her own Cherokee heritage.

Cronley introduces us to Oklahoma movie stars Jennifer Jones and Tony Randall, glamorous café society singer Lee Wiley, champion poker player Bobby Baldwin and one of the state's legendary American Indian ballerinas, Moscelyne Larkin. Step into Cronley's world where the mood, like Oklahoma weather, is always light and variable.

Cronley, an award-winning journalist and radio commentator, is a native Oklahoman and Cherokee citizen. She is the author of SOMETIMES A WHEEL FALLS OFF. (September)

THE PAPERS OF WILL ROGERS VOLUME FIVE: The Final Years, August 1928-August 1935

THE PAPERS OF WILL ROGERS VOLUME FIVE: The Final Years, August 1928-August 1935. (Edited by Steven K. Gragert and M. Jane Johansson, University of Oklahoma Press, 704 pp., cloth - $49.95)

This volume of THE PAPERS OF WILL ROGERS traces the career of Oklahoma's beloved entertainer during his most popular years and extends past his 1935 death.

By 1928, the Cherokee humorist and commentator had reached national prominence through his newspaper columns, silent films, recordings, books, philanthropic endeavors and lecture tours. His fame, fortune and influence, however, had yet to crest. This volume showcases many documents, including correspondence with some of the most significant figures of the day, revealing his rise to fame as the nation's leading social and political commentator and as a star of radio, stage and film.

Rogers' career ended when he and the famous aviator Wylie Post died in an airplane crash in Alaska. The history of his final years includes radio broadcast transcripts, contracts and business documents as well as nearly 200 telegrams and letters to family, friends and notable public figures - the majority of which have never been published. It also covers the aftermath of his airplane accident including his death certificate, an account of his funeral, settlement of his estate, efforts to pay tribute to his memory and unauthorized attempts to capitalize on his fame.

Gragert is archivist and historian for the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Okla. Johansson is assistant professor of history at Rogers State University in Claremore. (October)

RECENT

EATING FIRE, TASTING BLOOD

EATING FIRE, TASTING BLOOD: Breaking the Great Silence of the American Indian Holocaust. (Marijo Moore, Thunder's Mouth Press, 432 pp., paperback - $16.95)

For five centuries - from Columbus's arrival in 1492 to the U.S. Army's massacre at Wounded Knee in the 1890s and the renewed assault in the 1970s - this continent's indigenous people endured the most massive and systematic act of genocide in the history of the world.

In EATING FIRE, TASTING BLOOD, 20 established and up-and-coming American Indian writers from disparate nations and tribes offer stirring reflections on the history of their people. This is not a collection of essays about Native Americans, but rather a collection by Native Americans - the story of Native holocaust on a tribe-by-tribe level as told by those few who have been fortunate enough to survive. Included are original essays by the late Vine Deloria Jr., Paula Gunn Allen, Linda Hogan and Eduardo Galeano.

Moore is a Cherokee author, artist, poet, essayist, lecturer, editor, publisher and workshop presenter. She attended Tennessee State University in Nashville and Lancashire Polytechnic in Preston, England, where she received the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in literature. (June)

AMERICAN INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND THE REBUILDING OF NATIVE NATIONS

AMERICAN INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND THE REBUILDING OF NATIVE NATIONS. (Edited by Eric. D. Lemont, University of Texas Press, 360 pp., paperback - $21.95)

Since 1975, when the U.S. government adopted a self-determination policy for American Indian nations, many of the 562 federally recognized nations have seized the opportunity to govern themselves and determine their own economic, political and cultural futures. As a first step, many nations are revising constitutions originally developed by the U.S. government to create governmental structures more attuned to cultural and political values. These constitutions and the governing institutions they create are fostering governmental stability and accountability, increasing citizen support of government and providing a foundation for economic and political development.

This book brings together the writings of tribal reform leaders, academics and legal practitioners to offer an overview of American Indian nations' constitutional reform processes and the rebuilding of Native nations.

The book is organized in three sections. The first part investigates the historical, cultural, economic and political motivations behind recent reform efforts. The second part examines the areas of reform, including criteria for tribal citizenship and the reform of governmental institutions. The book concludes with a discussion of how Indian nations are navigating the process of reform, including overcoming the politics of reform, maximizing citizen participation and developing short- and long-term programs of civic education. (June)

- Travis Snell