U Reads 2008

Absorbing books selected by leading minds at the U of M

Looking for a great read? You've come to the right place. U Reads is a recommended reading list sponsored by the University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education, adults' gateway to the lifelong learning resources at the University.

Each year we ask some of the U’s leading minds to let us in on the book that had the most impact on their thinking in the past year. We hope you enjoy the selections and commentaries for 2008!

In addition to your free poster and bookmark, which you can request below, we hope you'll check out the June 16 Curiosity Camp about U Reads, titled You Have to Read This! Curiosity Camp offers summer daylong events for adults that will engage your mind and refresh your spirit. You Have to Read This! will feature talks by Doug Armato, director of the University of Minnesota Press; Toni McNaron, professor emerita of English; Patricia Simmons, phyisican and chair of the Board of Regents; and author Faith Sullivan.  Find out more.

Order a free U Reads 2008 poster and bookmark here.

Selections for U Reads 2008:

The Elegant Gathering of White Snows by Kris Radish

Recommended by Nicki R. Crick, Professor, Director, Institute of Child Development, Center on Relational Aggression

“I chose this book because it portrays the power of women’s friendships to heal, support, and transform lives. As a researcher who studies the dark side of some female relationships, it is wonderful to be reminded of the positive nurturing side. I hope that this book inspires you as much as it did me."

Without: Poems by Donald Hall

Recommended by Andrea Gilats, Director, LearningLife

“This book entered my life in late 1998 or early 1999, when I was consumed with grief after the death of my husband from ‘carcinoma of unknown primary origin.’ Poet Donald Hall had lost his wife, fellow poet Jane Kenyon, to leukemia just three years earlier. During the final year of her illness and for the year after she died, he wrote poems — letters in lines — to her.”

Remembered happiness is agony;
So is remembered agony.

“Donald Hall wrote these lines while he and Jane were suffering, not years later, when the thick scabs of spent grief and even keel of resignation would have fogged the poet’s voice. Without is a blood-letting of the soul transformed into enduring art. It affirms for me that poetry is life made from death. I needed Donald Hall’s blood to live, and to live, he had no choice but to give it.

Your presence in this house
is almost as enormous
and painful as your absence.

“I continue to find myself in these poems, and I still connect deeply with the appalling universal truth they contain: ultimately, none of us are spared. I encourage all of us to read this courageous, accessible, and life-affirming book, and to experience the unparalleled power of great art.”

The Feast of Love: A Novel by Charles Baxter

Recommended by Patricia Hampl, Regents Professor of English

“I’d like to recommend this novel rather than a memoir for several reasons, mainly because it’s a wonderful read.  Charlie is my friend and colleague, I confess with pride.  I’m not sure everyone realizes that not only is he a Minnesotan by birth, but he has recently come back to Minnesota from Michigan and teaches on a visiting basis in the Creative Writing Program.  He is one of the most compelling writers of my generation and one of the most esteemed novelists working in America today.  The Feast of Love, which was released as a major motion picture just this fall, is a Midwestern novel, a novel of our times and our vernacular.  It is one of the books that I hold most dear.  I'd also recommend his novella and collection of short stories, Believers.”

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Recommended by James Kakalios, Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy, Author of The Physics of Superheroes

“Rarely has a comic book superhero adventure fulfilled its potential as the basis of a ‘Literature of Ethics’ as in Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ 1986-7 miniseries Watchmen. Set in its own superhero universe, a world where non-powered costume crime fighters, already made somewhat irrelevant by the appearance of a truly superpowered character, have been forced into retirement by an act of Congress. In this alternate version of America, President Nixon in 1972 had superheroes intervene in the Vietnam War, and thus remains President in 1985. With the world on the brink of a nuclear World War III, why is someone killing retired superheroes? Watchmen is a murder mystery, a superhero adventure, an alternate history science fiction tale (with a pirate story thrown in), a conspiracy thriller, and an examination of free will, ethics and responsibility — that is, it is a novel. Don’t take my word for it — Time magazine selected Watchmen for its list of 100 Best English Language Novels from 1923 to the Present, the only graphic novel chosen for this honor. See why the director Terry Gilliam called Watchmen “the War and Peace of graphic novels.” Coming as a major motion picture by Warner Brothers in Spring 2009, directed by Zack Snyder, the director of 300.”

Making the Corps by Thomas E. Ricks

Recommended by Aaron Ledebuhr, U of M student, Marine Corps veteran, Co-President, Veterans Transition Center

“Marine Corps culture has been a mystery to the American public since its birth on November 10, 1775. It is hard for me to explain that culture to those who are curious. It is also hard for me to explain all of my experiences during my five years of active duty in the Marine Corps. This book gives an excellent firsthand narrative of one extremely important part of the experience: recruit training. This book shows how the Marine Corps instills its core values of honor, courage, and commitment into the recruits who accept the challenge. It is the Marine Corps’ ability to turn young men and women from all walks of life into disciplined Marines that is so amazing. The author’s ability to relate that transformation to the reader is incredible. This book brought back a lot of memories of my 13 weeks of ‘fun’ during Marine Corps Recruit Training, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. To my fellow Marines on campus — Semper Fi. To my fellow veterans on campus — thank you for your service and good luck. To my fellow students — thank you for your support.”

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

Recommended by Peter J. Olin, Professor, Director, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

“This is a fascinating book about the author’s personal trip through each of the food chains that sustain us--industrial, organic, alternative, and the food we forage for ourselves. Michael Pollan shares shocking insights into how our food is produced, challenges current assumptions, and offers visionary solutions to the problem. Dinner will never again look or taste quite the same.”

She’s No Lady: Politics, Family, and International Feminism by Arvonne Fraser

Recommended by Ann Pflaum, University Historian

“As a lifelong Minnesotan, I had always heard stories about the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and the young people backing Minneapolis mayor (later Senator and Vice President) Hubert Humphrey. One of these was a University of Minnesota student, Arvonne Skelton, from a farm near Lamberton, Minnesota. She subsequently married another Humphrey supporter, Donald Fraser. Even though she generously credited the accomplishments of others, I came away from this book in awe of Arvonne Fraser’s contributions spanning six decades: as a political insider and advocate for women, locally, nationally, and internationally. Her insights and candor make her story real. As longtime supporter Garrison Keillor wrote in the introduction, ‘Arvonne’s voice never changed...it is the voice of a Minnesota farm woman...She met all those people, could talk officialese...yet deep down she is related to my aunts who..told us children everything we wanted to know about the history of the family.’”

The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny & Terror by Natan Sharansky with Ron Dermer

Recommended by Mark B. Rotenberg, General Counsel

“This book makes the case for promoting democracy around the world, especially in the Middle East, and has had a major impact on the thinking of many American policymakers. It expresses a provocative view that has been part of foreign policy debates since Woodrow Wilson, namely, that freedom should be a central goal of the foreign policies of democratic nations. The author is a former Soviet political prisoner, former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, and winner of the Congressional Gold Medal for his work against totalitarian governments. He was named among the 100 most influential persons in the world by Time magazine.”

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Recommended by the Honorable Patricia S. Simmons, Chair, Board of Regents

“Perhaps it is because I need to read so much fact for my work as a physician and my role as a regent of the University, or maybe it’s just because I love to read novels, that my selection of a book for U Reads is a work of fiction. During my first reading of The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco’s book about books not only entertained me (I expect that from a novel), but more than any other book has led me down a path that keeps branching. When Eco’s protagonist quoted Ibn-Hazm on the definition of love as ‘ rebel illness,’ I had to track down the works of Ibn-Hazm. Who could stop reading when a chapter begins, ‘In which a few hours of mystic happiness are interrupted by a most bloody occurrence’? That there are books so important that people destroy them or die for them is not a new theme, but The Name of the Rose elevated the knowledge of the power of books to a conviction. Now, after years of seeking out and running into so many of the authors and figures to whom I was introduced, I am rereading Eco’s novel with a greater love of the book itself and deeper appreciation for all it has made me do, reading more great works and developing a passion for libraries. It doesn’t hurt that The Name of the Rose is a darned good mystery, too.”

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker

Recommended by Tubby Smith, Gophers basketball coach

“This is a great book about coaching and life, written by a former Gopher and a proven winner!”