Three new books spotlight work of USC alumni as author, editor

This fall marked the debut of three noteworthy new books with a Carolina connection.

Charles Frazier's second novel, Thirteen Moons, went on sale Oct. 3 as the follow-up to his phenomenally successful Cold Mountain (1997). The South Carolina Encyclopedia was published Sept. 30, and a new pictorial history of USC went on sale in October.

All three bear the imprint of USC alumni who worked on the books as author or editor.

Frazier, who received his Ph.D. in English from USC in 1986, won a warm pre-publication reception for Thirteen Moons, a story set in the 1800s about an orphan who fights for the Cherokee Indians during their removal from their ancestral land. Cold Mountain, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for 45 weeks, sold 4.1 million copies, won the National Book Award, and was made into a critically acclaimed movie.

The South Carolina Encyclopedia, edited by USC history professor Walter Edgar, '67 master's, '69 Ph.D., is a collaborative effort of the Humanities Council, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities; the USC Institute for Southern Studies, which Edgar directs; and the USC Press. It's the product of eight years of work by almost 700 people who produced some 2,000 entries in more than one million words that fill up 1,120 pages.

The pictorial history of USC is the work of University archivist Elizabeth West, '89, '95 master's, who compiled some 200 pictures depicting USC's 205-year history for Arcadia Publishing's Campus History Series. West also wrote the book's text. The 176-page volume includes more than 200 pictures, early historical documents, and paintings that cover USC's history before the development of photography.