In this well documented and highly readable book, James Stark provides a history of vocal pedagogy from the beginning of the bel canto tradition of solo singing in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries to the present. Using a nineteenth-century treatise by Manuel Garcia as his point of reference, Stark analyses the many sources that discuss singing techniques and selects a number of primary vocal 'problems' for detailed investigation. He also presents data from a series of laboratory experiments carried out to demonstrate the techniques of bel canto.

The...

World War II. The Korean Conflict. Vietnam. For three long decades Americans came of age against a constant backdrop of war and conflict. In "Woodfiber Dreams," James Stark presents thirteen tales from these turbulent decades-an era when war, fear, racism, and social expectations combined to rob a nation's youth of their childhood.

Within these pages, you'll meet Davey, a ten-year-old boy equipped with a knife and trained dog, as he provides for his mother in his father's absence during the Korean War. You'll encounter Billy, a housing project kid grappling to reconcile his new found...

The mid-twentieth century was a pivotal time in American history. Through the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, our nation saw creeping changes that led to social upheaval. In his new short story collection, "Love in the Time of Cholesterol," James Stark looks back on these decades and how their events still affect people today.

Each story presents unique characters and scenarios, but all look at the widely varying manifestations of love. At his wife's urging, a man explores the physical and emotional side effects of taking the "little blue pill." A wife seeks an emotional connection with her...