Spring 2015 Fine Print
Lara’s Shadow
By Alan Fleishman ’61
B. Bennett Press
This compelling piece of historical fiction tells the love story of a Jewish-American Army officer and a German woman caught in post-Holocaust hate. Like the main character in Lara’s Shadow, author Alan Fleishman ’61 is a Jewish American who served in a tank battalion in Germany at the height of the Cold War. The military tensions with the Soviet Union, and the tensions between the American soldiers and their German hosts, provided grist for an intriguing novel. Although his new novel is not autobiographical, he drew heavily on his own experiences. And he credits Carla Seybrecht Skladany ’61 and Allan Sidle ’61 for inspiring him to write this, his third novel.
The Brentwood Anthology by Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange
Co-edited by Michael Wurster ’62 and Judith Robinson
Lummox Press
Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange (PPE) was founded in 1974 by Michael Wurster ’62 and four others as a voluntary association of local poets. Its purpose was to provide services to local poets, especially those outside the “university loop,” including workshops, readings, events and a network for information. The Brentwood Anthology is this first collection of works from members of the PPE, including 22 nationally and regionally known poets. It was named “Best Poetry Anthology for November” by the Washington Independent Review of Books.
The Happiest People in the World
By Brock Clarke ’90
Algonquin Books
Take the format of a spy thriller, shape it around real-life incidents involving international terrorism, leaven it with dark, dry humor, toss in a love rectangle, give everybody a gun, and let everything play out in the outer reaches of upstate New York — there you have an idea of Brock Clarke ’90’s new novel, The Happiest People in the World. The book has received high praise from The New York Times Book Review, Publisher’s Weekly, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal and more and was an Amazon Best Book of the Month in November 2014.
The Fragmentary History of Priscus: Attila, the Huns and the Romans, AD 430-476
By John Given ’94
Arx Publishing
Translated by classics scholar John Given ’94, associate professor and program director of classical studies and vice chair of the faculty of East Carolina University, this new translation of The Fragmentary History of Priscus arranges the fragments in chronological order, complete with intervening historical commentary to preserve the narrative flow. It represents the first translation of this important historical source that is easily approachable for both students and general readers.
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Published April 14, 2015