Modern Print Activism in the United States
Ashgate, 2013
Hardcover, 270 pages, $99.95

Director of Humanities and Sciences Rachel Schreiber edits this book devoted to the explosion of socially and politically activist print culture that occurred in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. These essays focus on specific groups, individuals, and causes that relied on print as a vehicle for activism. They also take up the variety of print forms in which calls for activism have appeared, including fiction, editorials, letters to the editor, graphic satire, and non-periodical media such as pamphlets and calendars.

Power to the People: The Graphic Design of the Radical Press and the Rise of the Counter-Culture, 1964-1974
University of Chicago Press, 2013
Hardcover, 264 pages, $45

Though we think of the 1960s and the early '70s as a time of radical social, cultural, and political upheaval, we tend to picture the action as happening on campuses and in the streets. Yet the rise of the underground newspaper was equally daring and original. Thanks to advances in cheap offset printing, groups involved in antiwar, civil rights, and other social liberation issues began to spread their messages through provocatively designed newspapers and broadsheets. This vibrant new media was essential to the counterculture revolution as a whole, helping to motivate the masses and proliferate ideas.

This book is assembled by the renowned graphic designer and CCA Design faculty member Geoff Kaplan of General Working Group. It presents more than 700 full-color images and excerpts from these publications, many of which have not been seen since they were first published almost 50 years ago.

Reinventing the Chicken Coop: 14 Original Designs with Step-by-Step Building Instructions
Storey Publishing, 2013
Paperback, 192 pages, $19.95

Hey backyard chickens: meet contemporary design! Coauthors Matthew Wolpe (assistant studio manager in CCA's fabrication shop) and Kevin McElroy present 14 complete building plans for chicken coops that range from the purely functional to the outrageously fabulous. Eleven of the 14 are by the authors, and one of the remaining three is by two CCA alumni: Yvonne Mauser (Wood/Furniture 2006) and Adam Reineck (Industrial Design 2005). One has a water-capturing roof; one is a great homage to mid-Modern architecture; and another has a built-in composting system. Some designs are suitable for beginning builders, and some are challenging enough for experts. Step-by-step building plans are accompanied by full-color photographs and detailed construction illustrations.

Western Roads
Grind Show Editions, 2013
Paperback, 172 pages, $14

Western Roads is a semiautobiographical tale of wanderlust, friendship, and murder by CCA alumnus Michael Walsh (Individualized Major 1995). The story follows Walsh and his confederate, Othello Bolen, who flee Minneapolis after an incident in St. Paul. They meet a few years later in California and boil toward the climactic finish. The work is experimental and urgent, like a bebop jazz solo. It depicts the multifarious characters Walsh meets while rambling, his hatred of institutions and societal control, his struggle with depression, and, above all, his insatiable desire to "see what's out there, "to move," whether it be by hitchhiking, train hopping, or driving a dilapidated Mustang. "The tar roll was my sanctuaire. My Muse. My mentor. Passage to the bright midnight's pageant of actors, scenes -- and I got to play a part."