Laurentian Reviews
Spring 2006

Two new books by Assistant Professor of Sociology R. Danielle Egan explore a shadowy topic in the world of "adult entertainment": exotic dance.

Dancing for Dollars and Paying for Love: The Relationships Between Exotic Dancers and Their Regulars was published in January by Palgrave Macmillan. The publishers state, "This book takes an in-depth look at the relationships exotic dancers have with their regular customers, and explores the limits of using feminist theory to discuss sex work. Incorporating interviews, personal accounts and field notes, Egan sheds light on the feminist debates on sex work and women's power. She focuses on the dynamics of desire and fantasy in exotic dance clubs to illustrate the complexity of gendered relations in everyday life. This is an accessible, revealing and new look at a perennially intriguing and divisive subject."

Egan is also one of three editors of a book of essays, Flesh for Fantasy: Producing and Consuming Exotic Dance, published in January by Thunder's Mouth Press. Its publishers state that the book "moves beyond the old debates and gives the reader a glimpse of what exotic dancing is like through the eyes of the stripper. The essays in Flesh for Fantasy cover workplace policies and conditions, legal restrictions, customer behavior, and the struggle to overcome the stereotypes associated with the profession."

A new Penguin Classics book, Rubén Darío: Selected Writings, includes translations of the Nicaraguan author's work by Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures Steven F. White. The volume, edited and with an introduction by author and National Public Radio commentator Ilan Stavans, includes translations by White and two others.

Darío (1867-1916) was the leader of the Modernista movement, which sought a language and a style that would distinguish newly emergent nations from the old imperial power of Spain. His writing offered a new vision of the world, cosmopolitan yet connected to the rhythms of nature.

A new book by James Garbarino '68, a well-known authority on violence in boys, examines the increase in violent behavior by girls. See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What Can Be Done About It was published in February of 2006 by Penguin Press. The publishers state, "Just 10 years ago, almost 10 boys were arrested for assault for every girl. Now the ratio is four to one, and it's dropping rapidly. What's going on? See Jane Hit is the first big-picture answer to this crucial question, a groundbreaking examination of this hidden epidemic by one of America's most respected authorities on juvenile violent aggression."

Garbarino is the Maude C. Clarke Chair in Humanistic Psychology at Loyola University in Chicago. He has appeared frequently on nationally broadcast news and information programs including "Nightline," PBS's "NewsHour," "Larry King Live," "Meet the Press," "The Today Show," National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and many more. He is the author of numerous books about adolescent development. Garbarino has been awarded both an Alumni Citation (1990) and an honorary degree (1995) from St. Lawrence for his career achievements. He will make a presentation about his newest book at the Chautauqua Institute on July 26, 2006; for information, go to www.stlawu.edu/alumni/events/html.

The Celebration of Hogmanay, by an alumna from the Class of 1986 who writes under the pseudonym Constance Weston, is the author’s first book. Set in Scotland, where Hogmanay is the traditional New Year’s revelry, it’s a romance of new beginnings and bold steps into unfamiliar territory that includes several recipes from the dishes prepared and served at the fictional guest house that’s featured in the story. The book’s appendix details the cross-stitch patterns referred to by the owner and those employed in her guest house.

An economics major at St. Lawrence and native New Englander, Weston has traveled nearly 200 miles over the rugged Scottish highlands, on foot. She resides in Lakewood, Col., with her husband and three dogs.

Susan Oleksiw ’67 has written mystery novels before, and in A Murderous Innocence she reintroduces us to characters she has employed previously.  When two sometime small-town drug addicts die within a short time, the police chief’s investigation turns up complications and intrigue. Further difficulty stems from the beginning effects of drugs on the chief’s quasi-family.

Oleksiw has written numerous crime fiction novels, is the editor of a series of reader’s guides to mysteries, and is a review of crime fiction.  She has also published several scholarly articles on Indian literature and art, as well as short stories and essays based in India.

After Joan Fernbach Kingson ’73 succumbed to cancer, her husband wrote Lessons From Joan, about how the family coped with her illness.  There is one brief mention of her attendance at St. Lawrence.