Read, Listen, Watch

Staff Picks and Suggestions

Brain Injury as a Chronic Disease, March 15

The Northeastern Department of Physics is hosting a lecture that will honor Professor Alan H. Cromer, Ph.D.  On the occasion of the publication of Janet M. Cromer’s memoir, Professor Cromer Learns to Read: A Couple’s New Life after Brain Injury, Janet will present the following lecture: Brain Injury as a Chronic Disease: The Impact on Survivors and Caregivers. Janet is kindly donating a copy of her book to Snell Library. She will be signing copies after her lecture. Janet M. Cromer, RN, MA, LMHC is a psychiatric RN, licensed psychotherapist, educator, and award-winning medical writer. Date:  Monday, March 15th Time: 5:00pm – 6:30pm Location: NU Graduate School of Speech Language Pathology, West Village G, Room 108 Dowload a copy of the event flyer here.

Miss an Event?

For those of you who haven’t caught on, Northeastern University Libraries sponsors at least one event every month, from Meet the Author visits to  presentations by a successful alum. Though there’s nothing quite like sitting in front of a journalist-turned-author speaking about her experiences in Afghanistan or watching the tears fall down your neighbor’s face in reaction to a philosopher’s jokes about life and death, fear not! Technology has you covered if you missed an event. In addition to the iTunes U and YouTube University accounts, the library also has a Flickr page that allows you to scroll through events in a matter of seconds. As the Library Events Photographer, I urge you to check out this page and the Snippets Gallery, both of which feature the authors you may not have had the opportunity to see in person. In the glorious age of technology, it’s almost a sin to fall behind. Happy browsing!

Eating Animals

For some, Spring Break 2010 will be remembered as a week of beach volleyball, piña coladas, and wet t-shirt contests. For others, its significance (or lack of such) will fade from memory and exist simply as another vacation at home. For me, this particular recess will always mark my trek into veganism. It began with a link passed on from a friend; more specifically, an excerpt from Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals, an article which appeared in the New York Times Magazine’s Food Issue. At that point, something struck me about eating meat. Though he wrote what I’ve read dozens of times before—that the food industry is corrupt, that his vegetarianism sparked from an acute realization of what sat on his plate—Safran Foer surprised me with a philosophical angle. He managed to tie together his grandmother’s Holocaust stories with the psychology behind meat and engage me in a story that speaks not only of animal suffering, but of the implications to humanity. I was hooked. I immediately took to a train to Brookline Booksmith and bought the hardcover for myself. Less than five days later, I swore off meat for good. Unlike Fast Food Nation or the countless documentaries about the modern food industry that have flooded the mainstream within the last decade, Safran Foer’s piece doesn’t simply show readers where their food comes from in the hopes that they throw their fists into the air and burn the slaughterhouses to the ground. Instead, the author takes the reader on a personal tour of family establishments, factory farms, slaughterhouses, and, probably most notably, his own home. He includes himself in the story more than anyone, highlighting the importance of food to culture and soul. What this book did more than any other of its kind was urge me to think beyond the type. Statements like the following urged me to not just read and research, but to think about the implications of my decisions, and to really examine why my morality ends at the dinner table:
“…Taste, the crudest of our senses, has been exempted from the ethical rules that govern our other senses. Why? Why doesn’t a horny person have as strong a claim to raping an animal as a hungry one does to confining, killing and eating it? It’s easy to dismiss that question but hard to respond to it. Try to imagine any end other than taste for which it would be justifiable to do what we do to farmed animals…. Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else? If contributing to the suffering of billions of animals that live miserable lives and (quite often) die in horrific ways isn’t motivating, what would be? If being the number one contributor to the most serious threat facing the planet (global warming) isn’t enough, what is? And if you are tempted to put off these questions of conscience, to say not now, then when?”
Safran Foer’s book presented the facts and asked the questions that, whether or not we’ll readily admit it, haunt us. Frankly, the small-town values of the family farm have been virtually demolished to make way for a more profitable, inexcusably inhumane market. For the first time, this reality was coupled with the question, “If I don’t feel comfortable serving my baby boy chicken anymore, if I can’t explain to my child why it’s okay to eat fish, why should any of us be consuming such a dangerous product?” As a thinker, I couldn’t avoid doing. After I’d made my decision, I became aware of the good fortune of Northeastern students. The school’s commitment to healthy eating provided me with access to a variety of vegan options and the feeling that a moral diet didn’t necessarily have to be a difficult one. Stetson’s Levine Marketplace offers an entire vegan-friendly kitchen with a staff member even friendlier. International Village extends a hand to vegetarians with a falafel and veggie burger station. All of the dining halls are equipped with a full salad bar and local-grown vegetables. In addition, the library itself has at least two resources for further reading, Everything You Need to Know About Being a Vegan by Stefanie Iris Weiss and The Vegan Sourcebook by Joanna Stepaniak, both available as eBooks. Countless other resources are available in the library and online about vegetarianism. Before you leap straight to the book or become a vegetarian yourself, I suggest that you take a couple minutes to check out the same article that got me interested. Only with passion can we seek change.

Book Review: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

Product Details: Author: Edmund Morris 920 page paperback Publisher: Modern Library Released: 2001 While it would be difficult to capture the spirit of any American President, a position held by some of our most complex citizens, it would seem almost impossible to relate the essence of one of the greatest, Theodore Roosevelt. America’s 26th President was a personality that knew few bounds and even less fear and unlike many of those before or after him, he could have retired at the age of 40 having never entered the White House with an already incredible list of accomplishments. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt covers this time period, from his birth in 1858 to his first day in office as President in 1901 after William McKinley was shot. The book opens with a rich anecdote of the annual New Year’s Day ritual in which citizens of the Capital would file through the White House to shake the President’s hand. Morris cleverly introduces the story’s hero through the eyes of people that waited hours in freezing January temperatures to grip the President’s hand for no more than a second and a half. Morris describes the incredible line of people stretching down Pennsylvania Avenue and the overwhelming impression each is left with when they look Roosevelt in the eyes and take his hand. Through this we are shown not only the collective affection for the President but also his own will and love for the people as by 2:00pm he has shaken over 8,000 hands without pause. We get a glimpse of the determination and integrity of a man that by many accounts should barely have lived past adolescence due to wave after wave of illness. This episode sets the tone for the ensuing 900 pages, a battle of will for someone that is constantly knocked down and by sheer determination continues to get back up. Before reading the book most may have a basic recollection of Teddy Roosevelt’s extensive resume of accomplishments, ranging from professional historian and zoologist to New York City Police Commissioner and Medal of Honor nominee. It’s important then to recognize how skillful Morris is in thoroughly covering these accomplishments but not dwelling on them or letting them define both his book and its subject. It would be too easy to simply recount the first half of Roosevelt’s life through his various titles and positions, yet Morris instead provides the perhaps more important personal context for those accomplishments. He paints a picture of the man through not only the extensive correspondence and journals he kept, but also descriptions of the world he lived in. As much as Morris describes the world in which Roosevelt lived, he also depicts the world he shaped through an incredible cult of personality. Morris utilizes quotes from several people that were in close proximity to Roosevelt both personally and professionally to describe the penetrating effect he had on those around him. More often than not the quote will begin with an unrelenting first impression of a brash, awkward man who was direct almost to a fault, before giving way to a forgiving remark about a certain uncanny ability to win over both heart and mind. In explaining how stoic, dry and emotionally stunted men like Henry Adams, Thomas Reed, and Henry Cabot Lodge tolerated the boisterous Roosevelt , Morris writes that they “…grew dependent upon [Roosevelt’s] warmth, as lizards crave the sun” (164). Perhaps as significant to the casual reader as historical accuracy and citation, the book is remarkably well paced for such a large volume. Morris does well to keep the story moving even when there’s opportunity for much more elaborate description or inferences and seems to keep the reader’s sanity in mind at all times. He is no doubt writing for both the history enthusiast and uninitiated and plays to both throughout the book, writing like a novelist but introducing enough primary source material to keep scholars content. Descriptions are rich in detail and even the action reads like a thriller at times but there is also an extensive section of notes and bibliography at the back of the book. It should be said though that Morris’ depiction is colored by a somewhat romantic reverence for Roosevelt. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is almost Homer-esque, a sprawling epic poem in which the hero is determined to overcome the countless obstacles through cunning and determination on his way home from battle. Both Odysseus and Teddy are imprisoned at the beginning of each story (One on Calypso’s Island, one by illness), and both authors are sympathetic to their characters by forgiving any personality flaws as a product of their hardship. While this doesn’t exactly take away from the integrity of the book as its only “a feeling”, it does make me wonder if there were any more less than glowing accounts of his personality or ability. In total The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a very well written and extensively researched book on one our greatest President’s and should go down as an authoritative account of his life before taking office. It seems a biography of such an exciting life would practically write itself without too much narrative effort from the author, but not taking it lightly, Morris’s skill actually adds to the story. Needless to say I’m excited to read the next installment in the trilogy, Theodore Rex, because if it’s even a bit as interesting I’m sure it will be a great read. This book and Theodore Rex are available from Snell Library.  The Library also has a number of other books on Roosevelt, including his speeches and autobiography.

Miss an Author Talk?

If you have missed one this semester, no need to worry.  You can watch them online on Northeastern’s Youtube and iTunes University channels.  Below, watch John Nichols and Bob McChesney discuss the crisis in modern-day American journalism: Catch up on other Library programs and let us know what you think! If you’re interested in John Nichols and Bob McChesney’s presentation, read their book The Death and Life of American Journalism, available at Snell Library.  (Both also have published other books on journalism in the Library’s collection as well.) If you’re a journalism or communications student, you might also be interested in checking out librarian Julie Jersyk’s subject guide pages, or making a research appointment to learn more.