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SNAFU UNIVERSITY by Alfred Gingold '68, MFA '71 (Spark Publishing). Gingold, who was responsible for send-ups of L.L. Bean (Items from Our Catalogue and More Items from Our Catalogue) and the New Yorker (Snooze: The Best of Our Magazine), foists on the public a tongue-incheek admissions brochure to end all admissions brochures. Snafu University ("America's Oldest Safety School") boasts such courses as "Balloon Animals Intensive," "Orgasmic Chemistry," and "You Say Hoagie, I Say Hot Italian: Regional Foods in Context."As the school's creed proclaims,"Neither piddling intellect nor iffy study habits are impediments to success," and "a handsomely framed diploma decorates a wall for decades, and impresses people big-time."

BYRDCLIFFE edited by Nancy Greene (Cornell University Press). Founded in 1903 in Woodstock, New York, by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, a wealthy disciple of John Ruskin and William Morris, and his artist wife, Jane Byrd McCall, the Byrdcliffe arts colony played an important role in the Arts and Crafts movement. It transformed Woodstock from a farming village to an artists' enclave, an identity it maintains today. Byrdcliffe captures the ferment of the colony's first years, the importance of Byrdcliffe furniture and pottery, and the lives of those who worked there. The book, edited by Nancy Green, the senior curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, accompanies a traveling exhibit that honors Byrdcliffe's centennial.

LAS VEGAS WEDDINGS by Susan Marg '73 (HarperCollins).Whether you find the idea of a wedding in Las Vegas kitschy or glamorous, consider this: almost five percent of all American weddings take place there. Susan Marg explores the Vegas wedding industry, covering everything from the city's history to star marriages to a section devoted to Elvis. She also includes a chapel directory for those who may want to plan their own Vegas wedding.

ATTITUDE! by Katharine Davis Fishman '58 (Tarcher/Penguin). For a year, Fishman followed eight teenage dancers at the Ailey School as they juggled a routine of endless daily practice and rehearsals, jobs, schoolwork, and other pressures. Fishman concluded that while talent is important, what matters most is the hard work that goes into developing that talent, and, as a result, the opportunity one is given to continue working hard.

THE CHINA STUDY by T. Colin Campbell, PhD '62, with Thomas M. Campbell II (BenBella Books). This study examines more than 350 variables of health and nutrition with surveys from 6,500 adults across rural China and Taiwan. Campbell, a professor emeritus of nutritional science at Cornell, and his son Thomas call into question the practices of many dietary programs, such as the Atkins diet, that enjoy widespread popularity in the West.

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