Chief Bender's Burden:
The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star
by Tom Swift, Class of '95
"Signal thanks to journalist Swift for this authoritative biography of Charles Albert Bender, the early 20th-century pitcher who managed to shine in both the big leagues and in life while confronting poverty and racism. Swift sets aside the myths about this most famous American Indian player while vividly describing him in the context of the famed Carlisle Indian School, baseball's Golden Age, Connie Mack and his Athletics, and the effects of gambling and alcoholism on sports. For all interested in the First Nations, quite apart from baseball."
Library Journal, starred review
Hardcover. $24.95

Grace of Grass and Water: Writings in Honor of Paul Gruchow
The late Minnesota author Paul Gruchow was often described as beautifully intense, bard-like and prophetic. While plying his talents as seer and naturalist, Gruchow was also a master of trenchant insight into the right ways of living, as well as the foibles and hypocrisies of modern society. This collection honors of the memory of Paul Gruchow through the words of the many he touched as mentor, teacher, colleague, friend.
Ice Cube Press. Paperback. $16.95

A Mirror of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910
This beautiful oversized art book catalogs the Scandinavian Exhibition which ran at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts during the summer of 2007. Here we can follow the development of Nordic landscape painting from the early 19th century to the decades surrounding the beginning of the 20th century. During this time “the significance of landscape painting as a vehicle of cultural expression grew and it developed new aspirations as a bearer of symbolic meaning, often with national overtones.” The exhibition and, thus, the catalog, brings together much of the best from the heyday of Nordic landscape painting.
Narayana Press. Hardcover. $59.95

Grump Groan Growl
by Bell Hooks
illustrated by Chris Raschka, Class of '81
2008. Some days the grumpies just take over. So don't let that anger build up — embrace your feelings, overcome your aggression, and be your best self. Bell Hooks' honest text radiates positivity while Chris Raschka's dynamic art adds humor to a book that is perfect for all ages.
Hyperion. Hardcover. $16.99

The Dog Says How
by Kevin Kling
In this wonderfully original collection of autobiographical stories, popular storyteller and NPR commentator Kevin Kling deftly weaves pitch-perfect scenes of childhood antics and adulthood absurdities with themes of overcoming tragedy, forging lifelong friendships, and living with disabilities in a complex world. Many classic and never-before-told tales are collected in The Dog Says How.
Borealis Books. Hardcover. $22.95

What St. Olaf is reading!

These are the recent top ten bestselling titles at the St. Olaf Bookstore.

1. Listening for God, Volume 3: Contemporary Literature and the Life of Faith
edited by Paula Carlson
Where do you listen for God? In this new collection of stories and essays, the challenge is to pay attention everywhere. Listening for God is a resource intended to help readers investigate how life and faith merge in surprising ways and places. Contemporary American literature may not be the most predictable place to listen for God, but it may well turn out to be among the most rewarding.
Paperback. $13.99

2. The Sorrows of an American
by Siri Hustvedt
The Sorrows of an American is a soaring feat of storytelling about the immigrant experience and the ghosts that haunt families from one generation to another. Siri Hustvedt’s exquisitely moving prose reveals one family’s hidden sorrows through an extraordinary mosaic of secrets and stories that reflect the fragmented nature of identity itself.
Hardcover. $25.00

3. Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences
by Joseph L. Mbele, Associate Professor of English
This book discusses differences between African and American culture, to help prevent cultural miscommunications which might poison or ruin relationships.
Paperback. $14.00

4. The Lutheran Handbook
The essential field guide for all things Lutheran. Confirmands – or anyone hiking the trails of life's adventures and challenges – will want to pack this handy illustrated field guide to Lutheran theology and culture. This enjoyable, easy-to-read, reliable, all-in-one collection helps you understand the essential information about our theology, culture and Lutheran way of life.
Paperback. $14.99

5. Dear Old Hill: The Story of Manitou Heights, The Campus of St. Olaf College
by Joseph M. Shaw, Professor Emeritus of Religion and College Historian
Joe Shaw '49, author of Dear Old Hill, joined the St. Olaf faculty in 1957 and taught in the Department of Religion until his retirement in the spring of 1991. Joe's interest in St. Olaf history has continued from the writing of the Centennial volume, History of St. Olaf College 1874-1974, to the present.
Paperback. $8.95

6. Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson
Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Paperback. $15.00

7. Madness: A Bipolar Life
by Marya Hornbacher
When Marya Hornbacher published her first book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, she did not yet know the reason for her all-but-shattered young life. At age twenty-four, Hornbacher was diagnosed with Type 1 rapid-cycle bipolar, the most severe form of bipolar disease there is. In Madness, in her trademark wry and utterly self-revealing voice, Hornbacher tells her new story.
Hardcover. $25.00

8. Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics
by Donna Brazile
Cooking with Grease is an inspiring, behind-the-scenes memoir of the life and times of a tenacious political organizer and the first African-American woman to head a major presidential campaign. Donna Brazile fought her first political fight at age nine -- campaigning (successfully) for a city council candidate who promised a playground in her neighborhood. By the 2000 presidential election, Brazile had become a major player in American political history -- and she remains one of the most outspoken and forceful political activists of our day.
Paperback. $13.00

9. The Star Machine
by Jeanine Basinger
From one of our leading film authorities, a rich, penetrating, amusing plum pudding of a book about the golden age of movies, full of Hollywood lore, anecdotes, and analysis. Jeanine Basinger gives us an immensely entertaining look into the “star machine,” examining how, at the height of the studio system, from the 1930s to the 1950s, the studios worked to manufacture star actors and actresses.
Hardcover. $35.00

10. Th. N. Mohn: First President of St. Olaf College
by Joseph M. Shaw, Professor Emeritus of Religion, College Historian
Joseph M. Shaw is a professor emeritus of religion at St. Olaf College. Graduating from St. Olaf with a major in English in 1949, he did further study at Luther Seminary and at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he received the Ph.D. degree. Shaw joined the Department of Religion at St. Olaf in 1957 and taught until his retirement in 1991. Th. N. Mohn: First President of St. Olaf College is a companion volume to Shaw’s Bernt Julius Muus: Founder of St. Olaf College (1999).
Paperback. $15.95