Endorsements
"A remarkable book not only would my students learn from it. . . but I learned from it as well. It’s rare that I read a textbook that makes me want to “sit in” on the writer’s class, but this is one of those instances. Often the titles of these kinds of books seem to be overstatements but the subtitle of this book—Ideas That Matter—couldn’t be more accurate."
—Chad Hammett, Texas State University
"The more I see of [Reading the World], the more sold on it I become. . . . Austin has offered us, rather than a mere collection, a web or network, in which students can explore connections among authors, ideas, cultures, and disciplines. . . . The selections are outstanding the mix of artwork, short works, and longer works is also brilliant. . . . The variety helps an instructor to design a course that builds from light reading to more serious fare, or to design a class that skims the surface of a wide range of topics by only drawing on the lighter selections. This flexibility is one of the text’s great advantages."
—Graham R. Scott, University of California, Riverside
"The mix of selections is excellent. . . . The images are not just “extras” to dress up the book but, rather, provocative, idea-oriented images that ought to provoke interesting discussions and papers. . . . The book is filled with rich, challenging pieces spanning thousands of years [and] the author provides just enough apparatus to make the readings accessible for students."
—Michael Hennessy, Texas State University
"It is rare to find an editor who truly understands the need students have for context and connections when reading such an anthology, or one who is able to provide such a breadth of materials exploring similar concepts. In the last year, I have reviewed some thirty texts, and found it difficult to tell one from the other; such is not the case here."
—Abigail D. Waldron, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
"The selections are pertinent and timely. They represent a variety of points of view and they reflect a diversity of cultures. Even those generated by Western culture are not hegemonic."
—James E. Barcus, Baylor University
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