The Union Bookshelf regularly calls special attention to books written by alumni and other members of the Union community. If you're an author and would like to be featured, please send us a copy of the book or the jacket as well as your publisher's news release. Our address is Public Relations Office, Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. 12308-3169.
Frederick S. Frank '57 and Anthony Magistrale Edgar Allen Poe's hauntingly chilling tales and poems popularized the Gothic. His works are taught in schools and colleges, both in America and Europe, and are of particular interest to those interested in the labyrinthine workings of the human mind.
The Poe Encyclopedia, a reference book with more than 1,900 alphabetically-arranged entries, provides complete and current coverage of Poe's life and work. All entries include bibliographical notes for explanation and suggested further reading. Frederick Frank is professor emeritus of English at Allegheny College and has published several articles and two previous books. Magistrale is professor of English at the University of Vermont. The publisher is Greenwood Publishing Group.
Peter Lefcourt '62 Picture this: a prominent Schenectady, N.Y., urologist dresses in his Prozac-addicted wife's size eight beige knit dress, handcuffs her to the stove, and then dies in the middle of a slightly less-than-normal sex act. Pinned and embarrassed, she gets out of the situation, which is followed by a police and courtroom drama replete with a cast of eccentric and colorful characters including a vindictive Rottweiler and a mute Mohawk Indian burglar.
Abbreviating Ernie (published by Villard, a division of Random House) is a satire on modern
love, tabloid journalism, and justice. Lefcourt, a writer and television producer, lives in the Hollywood Hills. This is his fourth novel.
David Butenhof '78 A practical textbook, Programming with POSIX Threads (Addison-Wesley) teaches a method of multitasking programming that allows faster, easier, and more responsive results. The book addresses debugging, the major problem with thread programming, and gives a look at future standardization; it also includes annotated examples illustrating real-world concepts as well as a Pthreads mini-reference. Butenhof, an engineer with Digital Equipment Corp., was the lead architect and developer of Digital's threading architecture and the designer of the Pthreads interfaces on Digital UNIX 4.0.
Don Dulchinos '78
Fitz Hugh Ludlow, of the Class of 1856, was the best-selling author of The Hasheesh Eater in the years before the Civil War. A short story writer, drama and music critic, and journalist, he mingled with the high society of New York and became a celebrated figure in Bohemian circles. He journeyed to the West Coast on the Overland Stage and his dispatches to the East were devoured by an eager public. After the Civil War, he became a leading expert in the treatment of opium addiction. In his book, Pioneer of Inner
Space: The Life of Fitz Hugh Ludlow (Autonomedia Press), Dulchinos illuminates this quintessential American adventurer and man of letters.
Evan 1. Schwartz '86 With new Web sites cropping up at the rate of one per minute, it is essential that
businesses from huge conglomerates to lone entrepreneurs-design and maintain their Web pages to provide maximum benefit. In his book,
Webonomics: Nine Essential Principles for Growing Your Business on the World Wide
Web, Schwartz gives nine laws and several sure-fire tips for success. His book demystifies the digital landscape and puts the strategies essential for success within easy reach of any company. The author, an award-winning journalist specializing in information technology, is a former staff editor for
Business Week and contributing editor for Wired magazine. His book is published by Broadway Books, Bantam Doubleday Dell.