Arts & Culture
Book Recommendations of the Week
“Colony,” by John Tayman, is the fascinating story of a leper colony on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. Now a national park, this was a place of exile and despair for many people when little was known or understood about this disease and there was no cure. The author makes the history come alive with the personal stories of many of the people who were literally hunted down and torn from their families and communities, many of them as children, then exiled and abandoned there. Woven into these narratives is the history of government public health policy and medical research. This book reads like a thriller – I couldn’t put it down.
You can find “Colony” on the 5th floor of the University Library: RA644.L3T39 2006.
To view video book recommendations by faculty and students go to BookPointers, located at the bottom of the library homepage: http://library.uwsp.edu
Liz Zentner
Library Services Assistant
Published in 1986, “Reckoner” is a collection of 40 poems by James Tate, one of the greatest living American poets. While Tate has published over a dozen books of poetry, “Reckoner” stands out as a classic example of his work.
Cagey and audacious, surreal and beautiful, the works in “Reckoner” offer a style of poetry that is truly unique. Poems such as “A Beer Ain’t Got No Bone” and “Pigs of the Deep” paint a strange and lovely commentary on the routine of life. This book pairs exceptionally well with strong, malty beer and dark roasted coffee.
You can find “Reckoner” on the fourth floor of the University Library with the call number PS3570.A8 R4 1986.
Aaron F. Nichols
Access Services Librarian
University Library
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
