Reiss, Benjamin 1964-

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REISS, Benjamin 1964-

PERSONAL:

Surname is pronounced "reese"; born October 26, 1964, in Boston, MA; son of David (a psychiatrist) and Jo Ann (a psychologist) Reiss; married Devora Stengel, August 9, 1998; children: Isaac, Sophie. Ethnicity: "Caucasian (Jewish)." Education: Oberlin College, B.A., 1986; University of California—Berkeley, M.A., 1995, Ph.D., 1997. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of English, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118. E-mail—breiss@tulane.edu.

CAREER:

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, assistant professor of American literature and culture, 1998—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Mellon fellow, 1989-93; fellow of National Endowment for the Humanities and American Antiquarian Society, 2001-02.

WRITINGS:

The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 2001.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A study of insane asylums and nineteenth-century American culture.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, August 13, 2001, review of The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America, p. 298.

Washington Post Book World, October 14, 2001, review of The Showman and the Slave, p. T9.

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