Selected Essays from the 38th Annual Conference of the American Italian Historical Association, "Speaking Memory: Oral History, Oral Culture and Italians in America," Los Angeles, November 3-6, 2005. AIHA is devoted to the interdisciplinary scholarly study of the culture, literature, history, sociology, psychology, and politics of Italians in America. See AIHAweb.org

This book introduces readers to a wide range of interpretations that take oral history and folklore as the premise with a focus on Italian and Italian American culture in disciplines such as history, ethnography, memoir, art, and music. Del Giudice has assembled a wide range of scholars in this innovative collection.

The extraordinary Watts Towers were created over the course of three decades by a determined, single-minded artist, Sabato Rodia, a highly remarkable Italian immigrant laborer who wanted to do "something big." Now a National Historic Landmark and internationally renowned destination, the Watts Towers in Los Angeles are both a personal artistic expression and a collective symbol of Nuestro Pueblo-Our Town/Our People. Featuring fresh and innovative examinations that mine deeper and broader than ever before, Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts is a much anticipated revisitation of the man and his towers. In 1919, Sabato Rodia purchased a triangular plot of land in a multiethnic, working-class, semi-rural district. He set to work on an unusual building project in his own yard. By night, Rodia dreamed and excogitated, and by day he built. He experimented with form, color, texture, cement mixtures, and construction techniques. He built, tore down, and re-built. As an artist completely possessed by his work, he was often derided as an incomprehensible crazy man. Providing a multifaceted, holistic understanding of Rodia, the towers, and the cultural/social/physical environment within which the towers and their maker can be understood, Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts compiles essays from twenty authors, offering perspectives from the arts, the communities involved in the preservation and interpretation of the towers, and the academy. Most of the contributions originated at two interdisciplinary conferences held in Los Angeles and in Italy: "Art & Migration: Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts, Los Angeles" and "The Watts Towers Common Ground Initiative: Art, Migrations, Development." The Watts Towers are wondrous objects of art and architecture as well as the expression and embodiment of the resolve of a singular artistic genius to do something great. But they also recount the heroic civic efforts (art and social action) to save them, both of which continue to this day to evoke awe and inspiration. Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts presents a well-rounded tribute to one man's tenacious labor of love. A portion of royalties from this book will go to support the work of the Watts Towers Arts Center.

Two volumes in one. In 1897 Bram Stoker wrote a classic horror story that has spawned hundreds of imitators but has never been surpassed. From Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire to such writers as Stephenie Meyer, the story of the vampire--and the godfather of them all, Dracula--lives on. Compelling, chilling, engrossing, filled with suspense and fear--this is a tale you can't put down. This edition includes an interview with Bram Stoker, as well as a rare and exciting prologue that Stoker wrote that was removed by the original publisher in an effort to shorten the book. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's prophetic classic, deals with the dangers inherent in the single-minded pursuit of science. It also portrays the injustice of a society that persecutes those who are "different." Could Dr. Frankenstein's creation have become a man rather than a monster? Disturbing, thought-provoking, and moving, Frankenstein is much more than a novel of terror.