Recently Published by Alumni

FEATURED BOOK

My Generation: Collected Nonfiction features thirty-three pieces by William Styron ’47, some previously unpublished and several taken from Styron’s papers in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke. Here is why the editor James L.W. West III thinks the author’s work still resonates.

Styron was a public writer—that is to say that he addressed important public issues in both his fiction and nonfiction. Styron read widely and thought carefully before he arrived at positions on race, genocide, warfare, capital punishment, depression, and other social issues. He held to his positions consistently. Certainly these problems haven’t disappeared. Reading Styron’s work now reminds us of where we started and how far we still have to travel.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

Pure Sex by Gordon Dalbey ’64 and his wife, psychologist Mary Andrews-Dalbey, is an exploration of sexual desire as a spiritual phenomenon.

Daughters, Dads, and the Path Through Grief: Tales from Italian America by Lorraine Mangione ’76 and Donna H. DiCello includes stories of fifty Italian-American women who have suffered through the loss of their fathers. It explores the healing process through the perspective of Italian-American culture.

Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness by Kerry Hannon ’82 offers techniques to help change old habits and attitudes to make work more enjoyable and engaging.

Inside ISIS: The Brutal Rise of a Terrorist Army by Benjamin Hall ’06 is a narrative based on firsthand experience and personal interviews that investigates: Who makes up ISIS? Where did they come from? And how can they be stopped?

Saved for a Purpose: A Journey from Private Virtues to Public Values by James A. Joseph is an ethical autobiography that includes insights on moral philosophy and leadership. Joseph is professor emeritus of the practice of public policy.

Four Years in the Mountains of Kurdistan: An Armenian Boy’s Memoir of Survival (1915-1919) is Aram Haigaz’s firsthand account of surviving the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and working as a servant and shepherd among Kurdish tribes for four years. The memoir was translated from Armenian to English by the author’s daughter, Iris Haigaz Chekenian A.M. ’51.

SUMMER TRAVEL READS

Luca Lipparini, Alaine Jacobs, and Amanda Kelso of the Global Education Office recommend these summer-suitable books.

Peter Hessling’s River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze: Teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer in the river town of Fuling, Hessling and his fellow Corps member explore a strange new world, but find themselves examined and analyzed with startling clarity as well, proving that travel offers just as much insight into the other as it does into ourselves.

Ernesto Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey: A great motorcycle adventure and a coming-of-age story that allows us to understand the many faces of a painfully beautiful and exploited continent, its contradictions, and its people.

Tiziano Terzani’s A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East: A year of travels by land gives the author the opportunity to see Asia with different eyes and engage in spiritual and philosophical reflections, and provides the reader with great socioeconomic and historical commentary on the region.

Tony Cohan’s On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel: An honest look into the lives of American expats who move to San Miguel, Mexico, highlighting the nuances of Mexican culture and traditions that one can only learn through immersion.