[June 12, 2006]

Books for Understanding New Orleans: Association of American University Presses Offers Comprehensive Bibliography on Crescent City's History, Culture

(Ascribe Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) NEW YORK, June 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Association of American University Presses announces the publication of Books for Understanding: New Orleans a free online guide to some of the best books about the Big Easy. The guide is available at: http://www.aaupnet.org/news/bfu/nola/list.html.

The list marks the Association's 2006 annual meeting, held in New Orleans from June 15-18. More than 500 scholarly communications and publishing professionals will gather to further professional development and create collaborative relationships. AAUP wanted to recognize the importance of the meeting's location in the city so recently devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and still struggling to procure the resources needed to recover, re-plan, and rebuild.

One of the world's most storied and vibrant cities, New Orleans offers writers and scholars a wealth of fascinating material. The new book list features a range of subjects -- from the Civil War to Creole and Cajun cooking to Tennessee Williams and the historic figures of New Orleans Jazz.

A taste of the 120 titles included:

- The Booklover's Guide to New Orleans by Susan Larson (LSU Press, 1999) Larson, longtime book editor for theNO Times-Picayune, has compiled histories of the city's many literary lights, tours of the literary landscape, and an extensive reading list into this delightful companion to the city.

- Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina, edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter (UPenn Press, September 2006)

The editors, directors of the Penn Institute for Urban Research, focus the volumeon four major issues: making cities less vulnerable to disaster, reestablishing economic viability, responding to the permanent needs of the displaced, and recreating a sense of place.

- New Orleans Sketches, by William Faulkner (University Press of Mississippi, 2002) These pieces represent Faulkner's first forays into serious fiction, written while living in the French Quarter as a young man.

- New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape by Peirce F. Lewis (University of Virginia Press, 2004)

This classic work of social history and geography, fully revised in 2004, traces the city's development over time, and laying out a comprehensive understanding of the role New Orleans' urban layout played in the Katrina disaster.

- African-American Mayors: Race, Politics, and the American City, edited by David R. Colburn and Jeffrey S. Adler (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2005)

A collection of essays exploring the complex challenges faced by black mayors in urban centers, it features a study of Ernest Dutch Morial, New Orleans' first Creole mayor.

- Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and Inventor of Jazzby Alan Lomax (Univ. of California Press, 2001)

Lomax, himself an American musical icon for his work archiving the American Folk Song, traced the fascinating story of jazz composer Jelly Roll Morton. This edition includes scores of Morton's arrangements, chronologies, and a look at his tremendous influence on jazz and American culture.

Books for Understanding is a free public service of the Association of American University Presses to help librarians, journalists, educators, and interested readers find the best books on current events. The program highlights one of the highest values of university presses: to publish top research and scholarship in all fields regardless of immediate commercial potential. Often the most complete and illuminating background research and knowledge for a breaking news story is only available in scholarly books from presses committed to the public interest.

The Association of American University Presses is the world?s largest organization of nonprofit scholarly publishers. AAUP is dedicated to the support of creative and effective scholarly communications. Through its programs and information resources, AAUP helps its members fulfill their common commitments to scholarship, the academy, and society. Visit www.aaupnet.orgto learn more about the Association and its members.

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CONTACT: Brenna McLaughlin, Association of American University Presses communications, 212-989-1010 x24,, bmclaughlin@aaupnet.org

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