The only biography authorized by Washington himself offers a rare, intimate glimpse of his life through his assumption of the presidency. The text includes remarks he made upon reading a portion of the manuscript.
Though widely read by early Christians, the book of Enoch was banned by the church in the fourth century and considered lost for 1,600 years. A mention of it in the New Testament led 19th-century scholars to a manuscript of the Enoch story in Hebrew and Aramaic verse, and a theological study of the manuscript in English followed in 1912. Yet it too eventually disappeared from public view. This edition of the lost biblical book is re-written in contemporary English and recounts the apocalyptic vision revealed to Enoch, the father of Methuselah, when he was taken to heaven by archangels who showed him the future of mankind as he looked down upon the world.
Laud Humphreys (1930–1988) was a pioneering and fearless sociologist, an Episcopal priest, and a civil rights, gay, and antiwar activist. In graduate school during the late 1960s, he conducted extensive fieldwork in public restrooms in a St. Louis city park to discover patterns of impersonal sex among men. He published the results in Tearoom Trade. Three decades later the book still triggers many debates about the ethics of his research methods. In 1974, he was the first sociologist to come out as gay. Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology examines the groundbreaking work through the life of a complex man and the life of the man through his controversial work. It is an invaluable contribution to sociology and a fascinating record of a courageous life.
The art criticism of the painter David Humphrey merits an anthology. But neither Humphrey nor Periscope wanted to present his writing as archival documents from 1990 to 2008. We decided it would be more innovative to treat the texts as the starting point for a book that acknowledges and extends the connections between Humphrey's studio practice and his criticism. The outcome is Blind Handshake. It foregrounds the social life surrounding contemporary art-the practices and gestures, the dialogues and monologues that determine its place in the world. Organized thematically, the book considers Coupling Dramas, Unknowable Others, Collective Solitudes, Prosthetic Selves, and Good Liars. Artists drawn into the action include Richard Prince, Chris Ofili, Lucien Freud, Mamma Anderson, Tony Oursler, John Currin, Mary Heilmann, Catherine Murphy, and Amy Sillman. The book's designer Geoff Kaplan employed aspects of graphic novels, magazine layouts, and art monographs in translating the writing and illustrations into a mutant creature. Introductions by Chris Kraus and Alexi Worth provide contexts for understanding the book's presentation of the turbulent intersubjectivity that pervades contemporary art. AUTHOR: David Humphrey Has exhibited his art throughout the United States and curated several shows in New York City. He is a recipient of the Rome Prize and a Senior Critic at the Yale School of Art. His art criticism has appeared in Art in America, Art issues, among other publications. ILLUSTRATIONS 176 colour images *