of European ethnics and that of the sixties antiwarmovement and its detractors. The last couple of chap-

ters focus on the incredible popularity of the song fol-lowing the events of September 11, 2001. In particular,

Kaskowitz delves deeply into the home that “GodBless America” has found in the social rituals of Major

League baseball stadiums.For many, Irving Berlin’s song worked as a kind

of salve in the days and weeks following 9/11. Butafter the start of the Iraq War, the song again borethe weight of multiple and conflicting meanings.

While it was sung as an anthem of inclusion at a2006 rally for immigration reform, such instances

were aberrant. It was most often associated withpatriotism, and patrons at ballgames even began to

feel coerced into participating in the nationalistic rit-ual that singing “God Bless America” had become.

The Yankees went as far as to bar fans from usingthe bathroom during the song.

Throughout the book, Kaskowitz directs the readerto an accompanying Web site which hosts multimediafiles, including video and audio of various renditions of

the song, as well as political speeches and even an eth-nographic survey of baseball fans that Kaskowitz con-

ducted. This set of resources effectively highlightsKaskowitz’s interdisciplinary approach. For example,

Kaskowitz explains in musical terms the differencebetween the earliest iterations of the song, wherein

Berlin’s composition bore the trademarks of the TinPan Alley tradition, and subsequent versions that fea-tured a slower tempo, less swing, and more classical

flourishes. The Web site allows the reader to actuallyhear the difference.

Kaskowitz highlights the importance of turningethnomusicology towards the study of “superculture,”

or the “musical practices of the mainstream” (10). Indoing so, Kaskowitz both celebrates the power of

“God Bless America” in fostering civic unity and cau-tions us to be wary of the ways in which such a power

can be co-opted for exclusionary and martial aims.Invoking Eric Hobsbawm, Kaskowitz identifies “GodBless America” as having become implicated in the

“invented traditions” of American nationalism. ButKaskowitz is as enthusiastic as she is critical. In the era

of the iPod, the tortuous history of “God Bless Amer-ica” suggests a promise for secular communal singing

and shared civic experience.

–-Andrew Paul

University of Minnesota

Graphic Novels and Comics in the

Classroom: Essays on the Educational

Power of Sequential ArtCarrye Kay Syma and Robert G. Weiner, Editors. Jefferson,

NC: McFarland, 2013.

Carrye Kay Syma and Robert G. Weiner’s edited

collection, Graphic Novels and Comics in the Class-

room, situates the volume within an already burgeon-

ing academic discourse focusing on a “readable,practical, and applicable” approach for readers andeducators to consider (7). Rather than offering a

descriptive approach to valorize the academic contri-butions of comics, these essays outline an engaging

prescriptive model of when, where, how, and whycomics and graphic novels function in classroom set-

tings and contribute to a myriad of learning outcomes.Despite this forward approach, the text effectively uti-

lizes research, as each chapter balances itself nicelywithin the current discourses on the social, cultural,

and political values of critically assessing comics.The collection logically divides into five key sec-

tions, with the first called, “Significance of Graphic

Novels and Comics: Then and Now.” Here, in threeessays, authors trace the use of comics in the classroom

(at all levels of education) as a tool for increasing liter-acy, promoting the value of multimodal texts in ESL

courses, and spend time examining how student atti-tudes (even those of resisting readers) are transformed

through the visual and written dynamic of comicbooks. Especially provocative are the points raisedabout comic books as an avenue to broaden students’

reading habits, the understanding that comics respondto the changing needs of millennials, and the value of

visual cultural stimuli for modern learners.Section Two is titled, “Teaching Graphic Novels

and Comics in the Classroom,” and three pieces dia-logue about course design, what books are beneficial

and why, and outline useful assignments to demystifythe process for those interested in syllabi creation and

curriculum development. The authors discuss their dif-ficulties dealing with skeptical colleagues and sharestudent reflections on the classes and processes of skill

development. Rather than presenting a cookie-cuttersyllabus for duplication, these essays explore the

thought processes behind how and why instructorschose to incorporate comic books and graphic novels

Book Reviews 231

in their courses. Additionally, student reflection pro-vides insight into the direct reactions of learners.

Part Three, “Graphic Novels and Comics:Beyond the Text,” works to further the above sec-

tions by exploring five distinct courses which incor-porated comics into their design. One author

explores how he used V for Vendetta in a highschool class during a dystopian literature unit, while

another piece examines the value of acknowledgingcomics as high art in an art history classroom. In thesame vein, another contributor focuses on comics as

they shape her medieval literature course, whileanother explains connections to a history class, and

finally, a piece looks at how these texts inform andinfluence research-writing pedagogy. Rather than

appearing at odds with one another, these chaptersdovetail logically, highlighting the ways in which

comics and graphic novels can successfully apply toand enrich many disciplines.

Part Four, “Specific Graphic Novels and Comicsand Their Applications in Educational Settings,” con-tinues to explore how comics and graphic novels,

assignments, and course design merge to influence var-ious learning outcomes. Six essays work to present an

argument for the importance of comics in the class-room, with authors skillfully invoking examples such

as Persepolis, Y: The Last Man, Logicomix, BarefootGen, andUniversity Life to illustrate core concepts for

readers. Especially insightful is the explanation of howthe aforementioned University Life resonates withfirst-year college students and opens up new arenas for

dialogue, self-reflection, and campus exploration.Part Five, “Cultural Implications of Graphic Nov-

els and Comics,” rounds out the collection by dis-cussing issues such as multicultural education,

exploring global issues, outlining feminist readings ofAstonishing X-Men, negotiating the insights gained

from creating comics, and exploring comic panels as ameans for qualitative research. This section, through

five essays, traces how comic books can not only fur-ther traditional course objectives but also can lendthemselves to deeper inquiry when viewed through

focused critical lenses. In this section, provocativeissues such as using comics as a means to improve

male attitudes towards literacy and compositionappear side by side with the ways other students’

increase their awareness about gender issues throughtracing the origin story of Wonder Woman and

strong female characters.

Overall, this collection employs a wide rangeof voices to present a logical and well-organized

framework in favor of the inclusion of comics indiverse academic settings. The text is easy to read, free

from jargon, and balanced in terms of its scope. As itstitle indicates, this book will be of interest to librarians,

teachers, and students interested in exploring the aca-demic merits and educational applications of comics.

–-Jennifer M. Woolston

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts: Drive-By

Essays on American Dread, American

DreamsMark Dery. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,

2012.

Mark Dery’s I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts:

Drive-By Essays on American Dread, American

Dreams is, if nothing more, aptly named. (However, itis much more.) Each of the essays, which explore top-

ics relevant to nearly all Americans, is an unforeseenassault on a way of thinking and living in America.Then, as soon as the mind stops reeling from the first

battering, the essay has ended and a new attack waits inthe next. Dery’s wit, sarcasm, and willingness to cross

the lines we draw between appropriate and inappropri-ate, allow him to address topics ranging from the

Pope’s death and Catholicism’s attachment to thegothic with its “. . .martyrs and miracles, its relics and

stigmata, its exorcisms and excommunications. . .”(176) to the phallic symbolism of Madonna’s big toeand the pseudoscience of chirognomy’s relation to foot

fetishes.In the essay “Gun Play: An American Tragedy in

Three Acts,” Dery focuses on the obsession Americanshave with guns. He goes back to his childhood when

little boys ran around shooting cap guns and brings thereader full circle to the assassination of Kennedy and

the insistence that “Guns don’t kill people. People killpeople.” The idea that pervades Dery’s essay about the

American gun obsession is this: “After all, the Tree ofInsanity must be refreshed from time to time with theblood of innocent bystanders” (20). In “Things to

Come: Xtreme Kink and Future of Porn,” Dery allowsreaders to ride shot-gun as he browses the Web for

extreme kink for the sake of amusement and what he

232 Book Reviews