Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector, 8th edition. Coming on the heels of the greatest economic disaster since the Great Depression, this recently published textbook is particularly timely and should reach an even wider audience than previous editions. Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs Chancellor's Professor John L. Mikesell is the author of Fiscal Administration (Cengage Learning, 2010), one of the premier graduate textbooks in the field of public budgeting and financial administration. "The federal government entered the recession woefully unprepared because of many years of budgetary mismanagement and an unwilling ness to take actions necessary for fiscal sustainability," Mikesell said. "This textbook may be written as much for public administrators as it is for public affairs students." The updated textbook analyzes President Obama's federal budget and includes the most recent tax and fiscal data available. It also provides extensive coverage of the federal budget-making process as well as federal tax reform proposals and the deliberations of Obama's tax reform panel. Mikesell, an authority on the revenue side of public finance, said the textbook will help students understand where money for public budgets comes from and teach them to "run the numbers." The book gives detailed instruction on complex issues and calculations with real -world contemporary case studies that provide context to key finance and budgetary topics.

Cultural Critique and the Global Corporation. As American corporations continue to expand in a globalized market, researchers are analyzing how these businesses have transformed cultural and social life around the world. The latest addition to the "Tracking Globalization" series from IU Press, Cultural Critique and the Global Corporation, edited by Purnima Bose and Laura E. Lyons, examines the powerful influence of these corporation s. Through six case studies, the contributors examine the effects of specific corporate practices on individuals and communities and the various ways activists and academics are responding to labor and environmental issues. These case studies draw upon CEO memoirs, annual reports, management manuals, advertising campaigns and other sources to analyze the effects of the behavior of six major firms. Throughout the book, the authors explain how corporations have continued to exploit their partnerships with society in an effort to maximize their own success . This in-depth look into the relationship between corporations and the global world will offer readers a better understanding of how the practices of contemporary corporations affect their everyday lives. Bose is associate professor of English and director of the Cultural Studies Program at Indiana University Bloomington. She is also the author of Organizing Empire: Individualism, Collective Agency, and India. Lyons is associate professor of English at the University of Hawaii.

Opera for All Seasons: 60 Years of Indiana University Opera Theater. From opera presented in reconfigured army barracks to those mounted on a stage rivaling that of New York's Metropolitan Opera House, Indiana University Opera Theater has grown into a world-class training ground for opera's next generation. Marianne William Tobias's abundantly illustrated new book, Opera for All Seasons: 60 Years of Indiana University Opera Theater (Indiana University Press), captures the excitement, hard work, and talent that distinguish each performance throughout six decades of IU Opera Theater history. More than 300 pictures and illustrations accompany Tobias' in-depth examinatio n of opera history from the inaugural Tales of Hoffman, a legendary Parsifal, and a performance of Martinu's Greek Passion at the Met, to the 2008 La Boheme -- the first opera streamed live on the Internet from IU to a worldwide audience. IU Opera Theater's unique and impressive tradition has been created and maintained by many of the people who grace the book's pages, as well as countless others. Tobias is the author of Classical Music without Fear: A Guide for General Audiences and an accomplished pianist, public radio commentator, lecturer, and writer. She currently serves as program annotator for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Religious Giving: For Love of God. Editor David H. Smith and nine co-authors, several of them Indiana University faculty members or staff, consider the connection between religion and giving within the Abrahamic traditions in Religious Giving, recently published by IU Press. Each contributor begins with the assumption that there is something inherently right or natural about the connection while exploring such questions as to whom should we give, how much should we give, and what is the connection between our giving and our relationship with God? Chapters deal with Muslim, Jewish and Christian traditions of philanthropy, the paradox of "obligatory generosity ," giving in the age of affluence, and consumer debt and Christian money management. "The driving concern behind the two years of work that led to these essays," Smith writes, "is to try to ensure that, insofar as the Abrahamic religious traditions inform and motivate persons, this guidance -- and, if you will, inspiration -- is thoughtful, constructive, and helpful to giver, recipient, and the larger society." Smith, an emeritus professor of religious studies at IU Bloomington, is also director of the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. Among his books are Entrusted: The Moral Responsibilities of Trusteeship, Early Warning and Good Intentions.

The Living and the Undead: Slaying Vampires and Exterminating Zombies. With the upcoming release of the latest Twilight movie and the popularity of at least two current TV series dedicated to vampires, it would seem that interest in the horror genre is peaking. However, a new edition of an Indiana University professor's book, The Living and the Undead (University of Illinois Press, 2010), argues that each generation has reshaped the stories of vampires and other undead creatures to fit new times. Author Gregory A. Waller, professor and chair of the IU Department of Communication and Culture, says that the changing meaning and scope of the violent confrontation between the living and the undead has often been at the heart of an ongoing story. "To some degree you can connect each version of this story to a particular historical moment," Waller said. "What interested me when I wrote that book was the variations and transformation of this story across media from the 19th century through the 1980s." Waller examined a wide range of novels, stories, plays, films and TV movies, going back more than 100 years. The edition features a new preface in which Waller positions his analysis in relation to the explosion of vampire and zombie films, fiction and criticism in the past 25 years.

Albee in Performance. With his new book Albee in Performance (IU Press, July 2010), Rakesh Solomon gives readers complete access to renowned playwright and director Edward Albee. Solomon examines all aspects of the 15 productions directed by Albee, from The American Dream to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, revealing how Albee's directorial vision helps shape his plays. Solomon's observation of the rehearsals and performances of all of Albee's plays starting in the mid-1970s provided him with insight impossible to find elsewhere. With contributions from Albee himself (including the foreword), the book is able to shed light on some of the more ambiguous moments in his plays, allowing readers an unparalleled look into one of the most distinguished playwrights of the 20th century. The book even receives a rare blessing from the subject himself. "Anyone wishing to study not only me as a director and author, but the creative mind at practical work will be gratified," said Albee. Albee in Performance will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, from scholars, teachers and fans to directors, designers and students. Rakesh Solomon teaches in the Department of Theatre and Drama at Indiana University Bloomington.