Tag Archives: UC Press
With Twain a bestseller, UC Press’ Withey steps down
Lynne Withey has published many of Martin Luther King’s papers and brought the University of California Press into the digital era, but those achievements may be overlooked in favor of a man who has been dead for 100 years.
As Withey, 62, prepares to step down from her post as director of UC Press at the end of December, there are two words buzzing around her: Mark Twain.
UC Press is the publisher of the newly released Autobiography of Mark Twain, which has become a smashing success. The book, compiled by the editors of The Mark Twain Papers at the Bancroft Library, has been on The New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks. On Dec. 18, it was also the No. 1 non-fiction book on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list.
That’s quite an exit to make.
Yet, at Withey’s retirement party last week, held in the magnificent Morrison Library on the UC Berkeley campus, Twain was a mere footnote to Withey’s long list of accomplishments. (Although copies of his books and books about him were scattered around the room). Instead, people spoke of Withey’s vision for a university press, her talent for bringing academic work to a broad audience, her deft handling of the challenges of the Internet to publishing, and her calm demeanor.
“Everything Lynne has touched has headed in the direction of success,” said Lawrence Pitts, UC Berkeley provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “It’s been an exciting ride.” … Continue reading »
Huge book sale at UC Press
UC Press, with its amazing selection of reference books, scholarly tomes, art books and fiction, held its annual sale today. (It continues until 5 pm.) It’s called “The Hurt Sale,” because some of the books have bent pages or torn covers. The staff cordoned off a section of Berkeley Way right outside UC Press’ headquarters to set up a “plein air” bookstore. Hardbacks were $10 and paperbacks were just $5.
There was one entire bookshelf … Continue reading »
Newsweek jumps on Twain bandwagon
America’s irreverent literary sweetheart Mark Twain graced the cover of Newsweek magazine Monday, adding to a flurry of press hype surrounding the publication of his uncensored autobiography this fall.
The Newsweek article, which includes a never-before-published excerpt, is not the first to add to the anticipation of the release. Last month, The New York Times ran an article on Twain’s political pointedness in the manuscript, while the London newspaper The Independent published a steamy piece in June (We wrote about it in May).
The … Continue reading »
Eagerly awaiting the Mark Twain tell-all
The entire world, it seems, is waiting for the unveiling of Mark Twain’s autobiography, which the Bancroft Library and UC Press will publish in November, 100 years after Twain’s death. Here PBS’s Spencer Michaels takes a tour of the vault holding the Twain papers.
Gastronomica: where food meets academia
Did you know that poet Sylvia Plath was passionate about food? Or that Lee Miller, a top 1920s model, fashion photographer, and war correspondent was an excellent cook? Or that there is a a Bengali cooking implement called a bonti?
You would if you read the journal Gastronomica, which will be celebrating its 10th birthday in Berkeley over the next two days.
Gastronomica is published quarterly by UC press and is lauded as the place where food … Continue reading »
UC Press has new California initiative
Kim Robinson moved to Berkeley a year ago to take a job as regional publisher of UC Press. Her mandate: enhance the number and quality of books published on California and the West.
That might seem obvious for a university press based in Berkeley. But it wasn’t. While UC Press has always published books examining various facets of the West, it made a point not to publish too many for fear it would be labeled a regional rather than … Continue reading »
Bargains galore at UC Press sidewalk sale
UC Press is holding its annual sidewalk sale today until 5:30pm in front of its offices at 2120 Berkeley Way.
Hardbacks are $10.00 and paperbacks are $5.00. My favorite find? “California Gold Camps,“ by Erwin G. Gudde, who made a career writing books that revealed the origins of the state’s towns. (This books sells for as much as $150 online.)
There are many more current books available, too. The press is selling books at discount … Continue reading »
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