I recently wrote a chapter for a forthcoming Cultural Studies book The Hummer: Myths and Consumer Culture. The editors are now in the process of finishing up various technical details, and the tentative timeframe for publication at this point is December roughly three months behind schedule, which isn’t so bad.

Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology at University College London and author of a number of books on consumer culture, graciously agreed to write a preface to the book; Editor Ellen Gorman said ‘we think his contribution is incisive and compelling in a number of ways, especially as an outsiders look at the cultural work of the Hummer as an American object and at the scholarly work provided in the book.’

The editors plan to present information about the book at conferences and other forums in the Spring when possible. One such conference may be for the Automobile Culture Popular Culture Association, April 4-7, 2007, Boston Marriott Copley Place, Boston, Massachusetts. They have requested authors to come and talk but I think I’ll give this one a miss unless someone coughs up the airfair. And, as we are on the subject of the Hummer, check out this recent article in Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2147657/

Below, is the list of contributions for the book.

Preface

Getting Behind the Wheel, Daniel Miller

Introduction

Ellen Gorman and Elaine Cardenas, Co-editors;

Myth as Space

• A Gated Community on Wheels – Randel Hanson
• The H3: Television Advertising and the Reconfigured Homeland – Julia Himberg
• Becoming Auto-Mobile, or Taking a Road Less Traveled – JZ Long
• The Hummer: The Return of the Hard Body – James K. Walker

Myth as Body

• Armored Bodies: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the HumVee – Joanne Clarke-Dillman
• The Stop and Stare Aesthetics of the Hummer: Aesthetic Illusion as an Independent Function – Ellen Gorman
• Primordial Enchantment: Print Media, Promotional Culture and the Hummer’s Siren Song – Shane Gunster
• The Hummer as Cultural and Political Myth: A Multi-Sited Ethnographic Analysis – Scott A. Lukas

Myth as Discourse

• The H2 — The HumVee’s Kinder, Gentler Other – Elaine Cardenas
• (R)evolutions: Myths of the Hummer in the New York Times – Christopher M. Sutch
• Homeland Security: The Hummer as Apocalyptic Vehicle – Matt Yockey
• The Hummer as Brute Image – Alain Silver

Myth as Vehicle

• Resisting Hummers through Visual Rhetoric: FUH2.com as Counterpublic – Derek S. Foster
• Auto Militarization: Citizen Soldiers, the Hummer, and the War on Terror – Jeremy Packer
• The Hummer: Race, Military, and Consumption Politics – Julie Sze

Hans VB by Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief at wikimedia

Another of my short stories is to be published by the nice folks at Route. ‘Trying to find Van Breukelen’ will appear in a new collection in the forthcoming months. Originally called ‘The Death of the Flower Girl’, it was short listed out of 240 for the Three Cities Connect writing competition.

The story basically involves a father taking his son to visit the grave of  his mother. To help the child come to terms with the grief they play a game, trying to spot the names of former Forest players’ on the gravestones. As always it is my intention to get in Nottingham references as and when I can.

Hans Van Breukelen was the Nottingham Forest keeper between 1982-84. He took over from Shilts and played 142 games. I chose him for the title because he has a great name and because ‘Trying to Find Stevie ‘One-Eye’ Sutton’ hasn’t quite got the same ring…

On the novel front, I am currently editing down This is all I Know for Route. Losing words is probably more important than writing them and so the novel is slowly sharpening up. This is consuming all my time and so all other writing has been put on hold until this is finished. The publication date is Spring 2007.