Sara Paretsky's groundbreaking mystery series about Chicago private investigator V.I. Warshawski debuted in 1982 and is still going strong. She is a co-founder of Sisters in Crime (worldwide organization supporting women writers), a sought-after public speaker and the 2015 president of the Mystery Writers of America. This book is the first comprehensive reference work on Paretsky, providing an overview of the Warshawski novels and short stories, her other novels, a volume of collected essays, her anthologies and journalism. Special attention is paid to the character of Warshawski--the tough, street-smart detective who challenges stereotypical representations of women in crime fiction--and to the significance of the Chicago setting. A guide to the scholarly and critical debates is included, along with discussion of media adaptations and references to key websites.

Presents alphabetized profiles of more than sixty twentieth- and twenty-first-century American women fiction writers, such as Sandra Cisneros, Toni Morrison, and Joyce Carol Oates, describing their lives, major works and themes, and critical receptions and providing primary and secondary.

This reference can be used by adult and teen readers seeking information about their favorite writers, and is a useful source for student reports and research papers."--BOOK JACKET.

Contains essays that provide information on various elements of popular culture in the United States during the twentieth century, covering the major areas of film, music, print culture, social life, sports, television and radio, and art and performance. Arranged alphabetically from A-to-D.

Here is a through assessment of the development of the University of Kansas during its first century. Clifford S. Griffin traces the University from little more than a high school or preparatory school to a college, and then to a major institution. No mere chronicle of the University's triumphs and progress, this book gives equal attention to the many disappointments and frustrations over the years. Griffin concerns himself not only with the physical growth of the institution, but with the nature of the University's goals and character as well. From John Fraser to W. Clarke Wescoe, each Chancellor of the University of Kansas faced unique problems in shaping the destiny of the ever-expanding institution. They struggled with the perils of an unstable economy, enrollment crises, departmentalization, disagreements with faculty and regents, disputes over open admission and the importance of scholarly research, demands for higher salaries and alteration of the curriculum, and even grasshopper plagues. Each administration competed for legislative appropriations, status, and public support. Anyone who has been associated with the University will find in this history many of the things he remembers best: its social organizations, athletic contests, student pranks, class feuds, and campus politics. Colorful Mount Oread personalities are described—leaders, scholars, politicians, and benefactors. Thirty-six photographs trace different phases of the University's growth. Even those individuals well informed concerning the history of the University will learn much about its past and its potential for the future. In addition, Griffin explores ideas about the purposes and practices of higher education, including the concept of the American state university as a servant of society. In many respects the development of the University paralleled the growth of the state itself; this book is therefore a valuable contribution to the cultural and intellectual history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Kansas.