Interior States

Winner of The Believer Book Award for Nonfiction "Meghan O'Gieblyn's deep and searching essays are written with a precise sort of skepticism and a slight ache in the heart. A first-rate and riveting collection." --Lorrie Moore A fresh, acute, and even profound collection that centers around two core (and related) issues of American identity: faith, in general and the specific forms Christianity takes in particular; and the challenges of living in the Midwest when culture is felt to be elsewhere. What does it mean to be a believing Christian and a Midwesterner in an increasingly secular America where the cultural capital is retreating to both coasts? The critic and essayist Meghan O'Gieblyn was born into an evangelical family, attended the famed Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for a time before she had a crisis of belief, and still lives in the Midwest, aka "Flyover Country." She writes of her "existential dizziness, a sense that the rest of the world is moving while you remain still," and that rich sense of ambivalence and internal division inform the fifteen superbly thoughtful and ironic essays in this collection. The subjects of these essays range from the rebranding (as it were) of Hell in contemporary Christian culture ("Hell"), a theme park devoted to the concept of intelligent design ("Species of Origin"), the paradoxes of Christian Rock ("Sniffing Glue"), Henry Ford's reconstructed pioneer town of Greenfield Village and its mixed messages ("Midwest World"), and the strange convergences of Christian eschatology and the digital so-called Singularity ("Ghosts in the Cloud"). Meghan O'Gieblyn stands in relation to her native Midwest as Joan Didion stands in relation to California - which is to say a whole-hearted lover, albeit one riven with ambivalence at the same time.

The Handbook of Interior Design explores ways of thinking that inform the discipline of interior design. It challenges readers to consider the connections within theory, research, and practice and the critical underpinnings that have shaped interior design. Offers a theory of interior design by moving beyond a descriptive approach to the discipline to a 'why and how' study of interiors Provides a full overview of the most current Interior Design research and scholarly thought from around the world Explores examples of research designs and methodological approaches that are applicable to interior design upper division and graduate education courses Brings together an international team of contributors, including well established scholars alongside emerging voices in the field – reflecting mature and emergent ideas, research, and philosophies in the field Exemplifies where interior design sits in its maturation as a discipline and profession through inclusion of diverse authors, topics, and ideas