UChicago Press free eBook of the month

[elaysee]

The University of Chicago's free eBook of the month for October is
Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future
by Newton N. Minow and Craig L. LaMay

The book can be obtained by following this link to the press' web site, providing an email address, and downloading via Adobe Digital Editions. As with most of their titles, this one is a (DRMed) PDF.

Newton Minow was the originator of the televised presidential debate and has been the foremost promoter of them for more than fifty years. He is uniquely qualified to tell the story of the debates: their creation, evolution, and the role they play in our elections.

“There may be no one alive who cares more about America’s democracy than Newton Minow, who was there at the creation of the modern political debate. The riveting first-person stories he and Craig LaMay tell of debates in one election after another take us to the heart of American political life and argue for a continued central role for debates in our electoral process. Their book is must reading for anyone who wants to understand how to ensure that comes about.”—Judy Woodruff

[elaysee]

November's free eBook from the U of Chicago Press is
How to Do It: Guides to Good Living for Renaissance Italians
by Rudolph M. Bell

The book can be obtained by following this link to the press' web site, providing an email address, and downloading via Adobe Digital Editions. As with most of their titles, this one is a (DRMed) PDF.

How to Do It shows us sixteenth-century Italy from an entirely new perspective: through manuals which were staples in the households of middlebrow Italians merely trying to lead better lives. Addressing challenges such as how to conceive a boy, the manuals offered suggestions such as tying a tourniquet around your husband's left testicle. Or should you want to goad female desires, throw 90 grubs in a liter of olive oil, let steep in the sun for a week and apply liberally on the male anatomy. Bell's journey through booklets long dismissed by scholars as being of little literary value gives us a refreshing and surprisingly fun social history.

[FizzyWater]

Oh dear me. I see men all over this forum cringing and crossing their legs as they read that little blurb!

[banjobama]

"I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK!" said no man ever.

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Oh dear me. I see men all over this forum cringing and crossing their legs as they read that little blurb!

[FizzyWater]

In fairness to the men on the forum, I found a nasty little section about how to tell if an unborn baby is a boy or girl.

Or else try inserting roots of aristolochia (birthwort) in a honey-soaked wad of uncombed wool into her vagina, leaving it there from early morning until noon; then put it in your mouth. A sweet taste means a boy, sour a girl; if it tastes neither sweet nor sour, then the woman is not pregnant.

Now I'm cringing and crossing my legs!

[Prestidigitweeze]

Always up for a bit of wincing -- clicked on the link.

People who cringe and scissor their limbs reading the quoted entries on this thread should try looking at the photos in ReSearch #12 (Modern Primitives). Now there's a book I'd rather not peruse again. My friend heard me groaning all the way down the hall.

Thanks for the notice, though!

Edit: In case you're curious.

[elaysee]

The tourniquet advice seemed like the sort of thing a couple would buy into if they had six kids all the same sex, not much knowledge of science, and a great deal of desperation.

I wondered more how anyone would believe that eau de week-old grubs could attract anyone, or whether you'd want any of the resultant attention. Maybe the zombie legends actually come from Renaissance Italy.