Peter A. Dorsey's Books

Sacred Estrangement

The Rhetoric of Conversion in Modern American Autobiography

By: Peter A. Dorsey

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Sacred Estrangement

The Rhetoric of Conversion in Modern American Autobiography

By: Peter A. Dorsey

Sacred Estrangement analyzes certain works by important American writers and thinkers in the context of the "rhetoric of conversion." Such analysis is especially valuable because it provides a reliable index of the relationship between the self and larger communities. Traditionally, "conversion" has served a socializing function, signifying that one has come into alignment with certain linguistic, behavioral, and cultural expectations. The socialization process is particularly apparent in the Christian conversion narratives of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries: by publicly testifying to a conversion experience, believers became empowered members, not only of God's elect community but also of a local population. As modern autobiography developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Christian pattern was secularized and individualized. Conversion became a model for many kinds of psychological change. With the coming of the twentieth century, however, the authors upon whom Peter Dorsey focuses, including William and Henry James, Henry Adams, Edith Wharton, Ellen Glasgow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Wright, radically revised conversion rhetoric. If conversion had traditionally linked the search for illumination with the search for a defined social role, these writers increasingly used conversion as an index of estrangement from mainstream America. Dorsey documents this profound change in the way American intellectuals defined the "self," not in terms of personal orientation toward or away from a given community, but as a resistance to such an orientation altogether, as if social forces by their "nature" were a threat to personal identity.

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Page Count

201

Publisher

Penn State Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0271073403

ISBN 13

9780271073408

Tommy Dorsey

Livin' in a Great Big Way, A Biography

By: Peter J. Levinson

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Tommy Dorsey

Livin' in a Great Big Way, A Biography

By: Peter J. Levinson

Swing has never gone out of style. It was the music the Greatest Generation danced to--and went to war to. And no musician evokes the Big Band era more strikingly than Tommy Dorsey, whose soaring trombone play and hit tunes influenced popular music for a generation. Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) led a rich and complex life. Beginning with his childhood in the coal mining towns of Pennsylvania, we follow the young trombonist's journey to fame and fortune during the Jazz Age. Tommy, with his brother Jimmy, created one of the most popular bands of the era and played with such giants as Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller. They also launched the career of a skinny young singer named Frank Sinatra. But Tommy's volcanic personality eventually split the band and Tommy went off on his own. Drawing on exhaustive new research and scores of interviews with the musicians who knew him best, Levinson delves into Dorsey's famously eccentric lifestyle and his oversize appetite for drink, women, and perfection. The first biography on Dorsey in more than thirty years, Tommy Dorsey is a dazzling portrait of the Big Band's brightest star--his tumultuous life, his turbulent times, and the unforgettable music that made him a legend.

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386

Publisher

Da Capo Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0786734949

ISBN 13

9780786734948

A House for My Name

A Survey of the Old Testament

By: Peter J. Leithart

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A House for My Name

A Survey of the Old Testament

By: Peter J. Leithart

The best stories subtly weave themes and characters and symbols into a stunning final tapestry. This Old Testament survey, written for family and classroom reading, reveals the rich weave that makes Scripture the Story of stories.

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304

Publisher

Canon Press & Book Service

Published Date

ISBN 10

1885767692

ISBN 13

9781885767691

Common Bondage

Slavery as Metaphor in Revolutionary America

By: Peter A. Dorsey

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Common Bondage

Slavery as Metaphor in Revolutionary America

By: Peter A. Dorsey

“This is a brilliant book that I believe will make a very valuable and original contribution to the way scholars understand the use of language in the era of the American Revolution and the origin and limited nature of Revolutionary era anti-slavery sentiment.” —Robert Olwell, author of Master, Slaves, and Subjects: The Culture of Power in the South Carolina Low Country, 1740–1790 In the American revolutionary era, the antislavery rhetoric of certain founding fathers often took on a life of its own. The distinctions they drew between the British imperial order and the bright dawn of liberty in a new American republic seemed, at times, to compel the freedom of the slaves as well as the freedom of white colonists. But Peter A. Dorsey shows that this rhetoric was often more strategic than principled, and he argues that understanding this ploy helps to explain why an early antislavery movement failed to achieve its goals once the American Revolution was over. In Common Bondage, Dorsey examines how patriots and those who opposed them understood slavery within a broader tradition of revolutionary thought. Especially prominent in the rhetoric and reality of the eighteenth century, this fluid concept was applied to a wide variety of events and values and was constantly being redefined. Dorsey explains the classical meaning of rhetoric as “to persuade” but notes that it can also mean “to mask” or “to mislead.” He shows how these different senses of the word merged, as revolutionary rhetoric was used to achieve limited ends. By examining the figurative extension of slavery in revolutionary rhetoric, Dorsey recaptures the transforming energy of the ideas it promoted and points toward a better understanding of the regressive aftermath. The resulting composite psychology of the slave-holding culture that existed during the country's formative years allows us to better trace the development of American racism. Peter A. Dorsey is the chair of the English Department at Mt. Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He is the author of Sacred Estrangement: The Rhetoric of Conversion in Modern American Autobiography.

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298

Publisher

Univ. of Tennessee Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1572336714

ISBN 13

9781572336711

A Forest of Time

American Indian Ways of History

By: Peter Nabokov

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A Forest of Time

American Indian Ways of History

By: Peter Nabokov

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258

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521568749

ISBN 13

9780521568746

A Knock at Midnight

Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

By: Clayborne Carson,Peter Holloran

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A Knock at Midnight

Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

By: Clayborne Carson,Peter Holloran

Warner Books, in conjunction with Intellectual Properties Management, Inc., presents an extraordinary collection of sermons by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-many never before published-along with introductions an documentary of the world's leading ministers & theologians.

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147

Publisher

Grand Central Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0759520194

ISBN 13

9780759520196

Ethnographic Bibliography of North America

By: George Peter Murdock,Timothy J. O'Leary

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Ethnographic Bibliography of North America

By: George Peter Murdock,Timothy J. O'Leary

Approximately 15,000 entries dealing with ethnography, history, psychology, human biology and medicine of native peoples of North America. Includes published materials issued before and during 1972.

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454

Publisher

New Haven : Human Relations Area Files Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0875362133

ISBN 13

9780875362137

America's Religions

From Their Origins to the Twenty-first Century

By: Peter W. Williams

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America's Religions

From Their Origins to the Twenty-first Century

By: Peter W. Williams

A panoramic introduction to religion in America, newly revised and updated

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Page Count

706

Publisher

University of Illinois Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

025207551X

ISBN 13

9780252075513

Electric Shock

From the Gramophone to the iPhone – 125 Years of Pop Music

By: Peter Doggett

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Electric Shock

From the Gramophone to the iPhone – 125 Years of Pop Music

By: Peter Doggett

Ambitious and groundbreaking, Electric Shock tells the story of popular music, from the birth of recording in the 1890s to the digital age, from the first pop superstars of the twentieth century to the omnipresence of music in our lives, in hit singles, ringtones and on Spotify. Over that time, popular music has transformed the world in which we live. Its rhythms have influenced how we walk down the street, how we face ourselves in the mirror, and how we handle the outside world in our daily conversations and encounters. It has influenced our morals and social mores; it has transformed our attitudes towards race and gender, religion and politics. From the beginning of recording, when a musical performance could be preserved for the first time, to the digital age, when all of recorded music is only a mouse-click away; from the straitlaced ballads of the Victorian era and the ‘coon songs’ that shocked America in the early twentieth century to gangsta rap, death metal and the multiple strands of modern dance music: Peter Doggett takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the history of music. Within a narrative full of anecdotes and characters, Electric Shock mixes musical critique with wider social and cultural history and shows how revolutionary changes in technology have turned popular music into the lifeblood of the modern world.

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Page Count

738

Publisher

Random House

Published Date

ISBN 10

144813031X

ISBN 13

9781448130313

Elvis Day by Day

By: Peter Guralnick,Ernst Jorgensen

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Elvis Day by Day

By: Peter Guralnick,Ernst Jorgensen

From Elvis's definitive chronicler and Ernst Jorgensen, the premier archivist and reissue producer of Elvis's recordings, comes a unique portrait of Presley's life and music. 300+ photos.

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408

Published Date

ISBN 10

0345420896

ISBN 13

9780345420893

Dream Boogie

The Triumph of Sam Cooke

By: Peter Guralnick

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Dream Boogie

The Triumph of Sam Cooke

By: Peter Guralnick

From the acclaimed author of Last Train to Memphis, this is the definitive biography of Sam Cooke, one of most influential singers and songwriters of all time. Sam Cooke was among the first to blend gospel music and secular themes -- the early foundation of soul music. He was the opposite of Elvis: a black performer who appealed to white audiences, who wrote his own songs, who controlled his own business destiny. No biography has previously been written that fully captures Sam Cooke's accomplishments, the importance of his contribution to American music, the drama that accompanied his rise in the early days of the civil rights movement, and the mystery that surrounds his death. Bestselling author Peter Guralnick tells this moving and significant story, from Cooke's childhood as a choirboy to an adulthood when he was anything but. With appearances by Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Fidel Castro, The Beatles, Sonny and Cher, Bob Dylan, and other central figures of this explosive era, Dream Boogie is a compelling depiction of one man striving to achieve his vision despite all obstacles -- and an epic portrait of America during the turbulent and hopeful 1950s and 1960s. The triumph of the book is the vividness with which Peter Guralnick conveys the astonishing richness of the black America of this era -- the drama, force, and feeling of the story.

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Page Count

780

Publisher

Back Bay Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0316055158

ISBN 13

9780316055154

Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey

By: Peter Guralnick,Robert Santelli,Holly George-Warren

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Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey

By: Peter Guralnick,Robert Santelli,Holly George-Warren

A companion to the groundbreaking PBS documentary series, this volume is a unique and timeless celebration of the blues, from writers and artists as esteemed and revered as the music that moved them. Included in this stunning collection are Essays by David Halberstam, Hilton Als, Suzan-Lori Parks, Elmore Leonard, Luc Sante, John Edgar Wideman, and many others Timeless archival pieces by writers such as Stanley Booth, Paul Oliver, and Mack McCormick Evocative color illustrations and rare vintage photography Illuminating and in-depth conversations and portraits of musicians, ranging from Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith to John Lee Hooker and Eric Clapton Lyrics of legendary blues compositions Personal essays by the series directors Martin Scorsese, Charles Burnett, Richard Pearce, Wim Wenders, Marc Levin, Mike Figgis, and Clint Eastwood Excerpts from literary masters James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Eudora Welty, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and William Faulkner Tracing the art form's path from juke joints, house parties, and recording studios to musicians such as Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues proves, in the words of Willie Dixon, "The blues are the roots; every-thing else is the fruits.

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Page Count

290

Publisher

Harper Collins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0060525452

ISBN 13

9780060525453

Swingin' on Central Avenue

African American Jazz in Los Angeles

By: Peter Vacher

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Swingin' on Central Avenue

African American Jazz in Los Angeles

By: Peter Vacher

The development of jazz and swing in the African-American community in Los Angeles in the years before the second World War received a boost from the arrival of a significant numbers of musicians from Chicago and the southwestern states. In Swingin’ on Central: African-American Jazz in Los Angeles, a new study of that vibrant jazz community, music historian and jazz journalist Peter Vacher traveled between Los Angeles and London over several years in order to track down key figures and interview them for this oral history of one of the most swinging jazz scenes in the United States. Vacher recreates the energy and vibrancy of the Central Avenue scene through first-hand accounts from such West Coast notables as trumpeters Andy Blakeney , George Orendorff, and McLure “Red Mack” Morris; pianists Betty Hall Jones, Chester Lane, and Gideon Honore, saxophonists Chuck Thomas, Jack McVea, and Caughey Roberts Jr; drummers Jesse Sailes, Red Minor Robinson, and Nathaniel “Monk” McFay; and others. Throughout, readers learn the story behind the formative years of these musicians, most of whom have never been interviewed until now. While not exactly headliners—nor heavily recorded—this community of jazz musicians was among the most talented in pre-war America. Arriving in Los Angeles at a time when black Americans faced restrictions on where they could live and work, jazz artists of color commonly found themselves limited to the Central Avenue area. This scene, supplemented by road travel, constituted their daily bread as players—with none of them making it to New York. Through their own words, Vacher tells their story in Los Angeles, offering along the way a close look at the role the black musicians union played in their lives while also taking on jazz historiography’s comparative neglect of these West Coast players. Music historians with a particular interest in pre-bop jazz in California will find much new material here as Vacher paints a world of luxurious white nightclubs with black bands, ghetto clubs and after-hours joints, a world within a world that resulted from the migration of black musicians to the West Coast.

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Page Count

375

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0810888335

ISBN 13

9780810888333

Frommer's Alaska

By: Charles P. Wohlforth,Peter Oliver

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Frommer's Alaska

By: Charles P. Wohlforth,Peter Oliver

Packed with completely up-to-date practical information, exact prices, and candid insider advice. It's the most authoritative, easy-to-use guide you can buy.

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Page Count

440

Publisher

MacMillan Publishing Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0028616405

ISBN 13

9780028616407

The Ponca Tribe

By: James Henri Howard,Peter Le Claire

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The Ponca Tribe

By: James Henri Howard,Peter Le Claire

The culture of the Ponca Indians is less well known than their misfortunes. A model of research and clarity, The Ponca Tribe is still the most complete account of these Indians who inhabited the upper central plains. Peaceably inclined and never numerous, they built earth-lodge villages, cultivated gardens, and hunted buffalo. James H. Howard considers their historic situation in present-day South Dakota and Nebraska, their trade with Europeans and relations with the U.S. government and, finally, their loss of land along the Niobrara River and forced removal to Indian Territory. The tragic events surrounding the 1877 removal, culminating in the arrest and trial of Chief Standing Bear, are only part of the Ponca story. Howard, a respected ethnologist, traces the tribe’s origins and early history. Aided by Ponca informants, he presents their way of life in his descriptions of Ponca lodgings, arts and crafts (pottery was made from blue clay found on the Missouri River), clothing and ornaments, food, tools and weapons, dogs and horses, kinship system, governance, sexual practices, and religious ceremonies and dances. He tells what is known about a proud (and ultimately divided) tribe that was led down a “trail of tears.” The Ponca Tribe was originally published in 1965 as a bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of American Ethnology. Introducing this edition is Donald N. Brown, a professor of sociology at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, and a Ponca authority.

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Page Count

244

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0803272790

ISBN 13

9780803272798

RETHINKING HOPI ETHNOGRAPHY

By: WHITELEY PETER M

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RETHINKING HOPI ETHNOGRAPHY

By: WHITELEY PETER M

The Hopi have long been the focus of intensive ethnographic studies that have contributed to the popularization and commodification of their ideas and practices. As a result, since the late 1980s the Hopi have imposed research restrictions that have protected their traditions and cultural sovereignty but have raised the possibility that Hopi ethnography has reached an end.

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322

Publisher

Smithsonian

Published Date

ISBN 10

1560988576

ISBN 13

9781560988571

Common Bondage

Slavery as Metaphor in Revolutionary America

By: Peter A. Dorsey

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Common Bondage

Slavery as Metaphor in Revolutionary America

By: Peter A. Dorsey

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298

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Univ. of Tennessee Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1572336714

ISBN 13

9781572336711

Sacred Estrangement

The Rhetoric of Conversion in Modern American Autobiography

By: Peter A. Dorsey

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Sacred Estrangement

The Rhetoric of Conversion in Modern American Autobiography

By: Peter A. Dorsey

Sacred Estrangement analyzes certain works by important American writers and thinkers in the context of the &"rhetoric of conversion.&" Such analysis is especially valuable because it provides a reliable index of the relationship between the self and larger communities. Traditionally, &"conversion&" has served a socializing function, signifying that one has come into alignment with certain linguistic, behavioral, and cultural expectations. The socialization process is particularly apparent in the Christian conversion narratives of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries: by publicly testifying to a conversion experience, believers became empowered members, not only of God's elect community but also of a local population. As modern autobiography developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Christian pattern was secularized and individualized. Conversion became a model for many kinds of psychological change. With the coming of the twentieth century, however, the authors upon whom Peter Dorsey focuses, including William and Henry James, Henry Adams, Edith Wharton, Ellen Glasgow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Wright, radically revised conversion rhetoric. If conversion had traditionally linked the search for illumination with the search for a defined social role, these writers increasingly used conversion as an index of estrangement from mainstream America. Dorsey documents this profound change in the way American intellectuals defined the &"self,&" not in terms of personal orientation toward or away from a given community, but as a resistance to such an orientation altogether, as if social forces by their &"nature&" were a threat to personal identity.

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Age

Page Count

229

Publisher

Penn State Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

027104067X

ISBN 13

9780271040677

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