Books published by University of Iowa Press

The first book on the Jefferson highway, this covers its origin, history, and significance, as well as its eventual fading from most memories following the replacement of names by numbers on long-distance highways after 1926. In this study Lyell D. Henry Jr. contributes to the growing literature on the earliest days of road-building and long-distance motoring in the United States.

In a series of linked lyric essays, Detailing Trauma explores in vivid, sometimes graphic detail the many types of wounds from which the human body and spirit may suffer-and heal. Mapping the diseases and injuries that can afflict the body, the author asks how we can continue to live and love in the face of the great potential for suffering and loss.

In early twentieth-century US culture, sex sold. The Progressive Era was obsessed with prostitution, sexuality, and the staging of women's changing roles in the modern era. By the 1910s, plays about prostitution had inundated Broadway. Katie N. Johnson recovers six of these plays, presenting them with astute cultural analysis, photographs, and production histories.

Writing was the central passion of Emerson's life. Emerson advised that 'the way to write is to throw your body at the mark when your arrows are spent'. This title shows us an Emerson who is no granite bust but instead is a fully fleshed, creative person disarmingly willing to confront his own failures.

Originally published in 1999, Wildflowers and Other Plants of Iowa Wetlands was the first book to focus on the beauty and diversity of the wetland plants that once covered 1.5 million acres of Iowa. Now this classic of midwestern natural history is back in print with a new format and all-new photographs.

Set within the thoughtfully presented contexts of the technological revolution in American agriculture, the Second World War, the Cold War, and the emerging culture of affluence, The Farm at Holstein Dip is both a loving coming-of-age memoir and an educational glimpse into rural and small-town life in the US of the 1940s and 1950s.

Examines the 1897 murder of Edward Murray in Walford, Iowa. Skull in the Ashes traces the actions of main potagonists, showing how the Walford fire played a pivotal role in each man's life. Along the way, author Peter Kaufman gives readers a fascinating glimpse into forensics, detective work, trial strategies, and prison life at the close of the nineteenth century.

What is life about but the continuous posing of the questions: what happens next, and what do we make of it when it arrives? In these highly evocative personal essays, Douglas Bauer weaves together the stories of his own and his parents' lives, the meals they ate, the work and rewards and regrets that defined them, and the inevitable betrayal by their bodies as they aged.

Thirty-five years and many acres after planting his first patch of prairie flowers, Carl Kurtz is considered one of the deans of the great tallgrass prairie revival. The Prairie Enthusiast called the 2001 edition of his book a "readable and understandable introduction to prairie and the general steps in carrying out a reconstruction." Now this second edition reflects his increased experience with reconstructing and restoring prairie grasslands.Kurtz has completely revised every chapter of the first edition, from site selection and harvest to soil preparation, seeding, postplanting mowing, burning, and growth and development. He has written new chapters on establishing prairie in old pastureland and on the judicious use of herbicides, including a table that shows particular problem species, the types of herbicides that are most effective at controlling them, and the timing and method of treatment. New photographs illustrate species and steps, and Kurtz has expanded the question-and-answer section and updated the references and the section on midwestern seed sources and services.Tallgrass prairie is critical wildlife habitat and an important element in flood control and stream water treatment. The process of reconstructing and restoring prairie grasslands has made great strides in recent decades. Carl Kurtz's indispensable, step-by-step guide to creating a diverse and well-established prairie community provides both directions and encouragement for individual landowners as well as land managers working with government agencies and nonprofit organizations that have taken up the task of reconstructing and restoring native grasslands.

For fifty years, the music, words, story, and fans of Bob Dylan have fascinated David Gaines. Talking with students, exchanging Dylan trivia with fellow fans, or cheering on fan musicians doing Dylan covers during the Dylan Days festival, Gaines shows that, for many people, being a fan of popular culture couples serious critical and creative engagement with heartfelt commitment.

Providing a synthesis of New York's artistic and literary worlds, this book uses social and philosophical problems involved in reading a coterie to propose a language for understanding the poet, art critic, and Museum of Modern Art curator, Frank O'Hara. It situates O'Hara within a range of debates about art's possible relations to its audience.