The Value Of Worthless Lives

Publisher description

In this innovative portrait of the Italian-American experience, Ilaria Serra looks closely at 58 representative works written during the high tide of Italian migration.

The rubric "Quality of Life" first came to the explicit attention of the medical profession a little over thirty years ago. Despite the undoubted fact that each one of us has his or her own Quality of Life, be it good or bad, there is still no general agreement about its definition, or the manner in which it should be evaluated. Although much has been written about quality of life, this work has been largely concerned with population-based studies, especially in health policy & health economics. The importance of individual quality of life has been neglected, in part because of a failure to define quality of life itself with sufficient care, in part perhaps because of a belief that it is impossible to develop a meaningful method of measuring individual variables. It is a fundamental belief of the editors of this book that the primary focus of quality of life is & must continue to be the individual, who alone can define it & assess its changing personal significances. The individual perspective is of vital importance not only to patients but to their doctors too, & is more & more frequently proposed as the most meaningful measure of outcome in clinical research, especially in non-remitting or chronic conditions. Workers who wish to consider wider aspects of influences on the illnesses suffered by individuals & the health care that they receive will find much to stimulate them in the methods of documentation proposed in this book. Those mainly concerned with population samples rather than individuals may also find the sensitive methods of investigation proposed here not only to be applicable to their own areas of interest, but also rewarding in perhaps unexpected ways.

Celebrating one of the most important Italian American female authors of our time, Personal Effects offers a lucid view of Louise DeSalvo as a writer who has produced a vast and provocative body of memoir writing, a scholar who has enriched our understanding of Virginia Woolf, and a teacher who has transformed countless lives. More than an anthology, Personal Effects represents an author case study and an example for modern Italian American interdisciplinary scholarship. Personal Effects examines DeSalvo’s memoirs as works that push the boundaries of the most controversial genre of the past few decades. In these works, the author fearlessly explores issues such as immigration, domesticity, war, adultery, illness, mental health, sexuality, the environment, and trauma through the lens of gender, ethnic, and working-class identity. Alongside her groundbreaking scholarship, DeSalvo’s memoirs attest to the power and influence of this feminist Italian American writer.

1898 has Appendix: Condensed index of reports of Connecticut Board of Agriculture, 1866-98.

A translation of a German humanist tract written popularly for a wide audience by Josef Popper (1838-1921), most widely known by the pseudonym "Lynkeus." On the first page, Popper provides the ethical ideal that is meant to serve as the foundation for his program of social reform: "The obliteration of any individual who has not willfully or forcibly endangered another...is a much more important event than all the political, religious, and national events, and all scientific, artistic, and technical progress of all centuries and people taken together." Introduction by Joram Graf Haber. Paper edition (unseen), $21.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

What We Owe to Our Children examines its title subject by pondering three questions: what constitutes children's well-being? What responsibilities do parents have to ensure their children's well-being? And what responsibilities does the state have in helping parents? Tim Fowler argues that, although parents are rightly seen as the primary caregivers, society has a duty to ensure that children's interests are promoted.