FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - As the University of Arkansas Press celebrates its 25^th year, it rolls out two books in its spring 2005 catalog that focus on popular culture - one on Oprah Winfrey's hugely influential book club, the other on a country music trio that helped launch Elvis Presley's career.

In February, the Press will launch the book "Reading with Oprah: The Book Club that Changed America," by Kathleen Rooney. In it, Rooney examines the cultural clashes that surrounded the high-profile book club.

Rooney visited Oprah Winfrey's show the day that Winfrey announced the end of the book club. She wrote an article for the Nation about that visit, then conducted extensive interviews, including many with book club authors, and research culminating in "Reading with Oprah." The book is a combination of scholarly research and popular culture, a theme that the UA Press director, Larry Malley, said readers will find throughout the spring catalog.

"On this list is a mixture of books -- scholarly books, general interest books, books where scholarship enlightens general interest," Malley said.

Another book that speaks to popular culture focuses on a country music trio that emerged in the 1950s and ushered in the rock 'n' roll era. "Looking Back to See: A Country Music Memoir" by Maxine Brown, chronicles the musical careers of the Browns - Maxine, her brother Jim Ed and sister Bonnie, natives of Pine Bluff, Ark. They had a Top Ten hit in 1954 - "Looking Back to See" - and became regulars on the show Louisiana Hayride. They introduced Elvis Presley on the show, who toured with them as their opening act.

The group had a fruitful relationship with Chet Atkins and later joined the Grand Ole Opry cast. In 1959, their rendition of Edith Piaf's song "The Three Bells" soared to No. 1 on both the pop and country music charts, led to appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand, and culminated with their being selected as the year's best vocal group by a number of associations and music magazines.

Jim Ed still resides in Nashville, Tenn., and sings with the Grand Ole Opry, and the trio still gathers for singing performances to this day. From Roy Acuff to Faron Young, the book is a veritable "who's who" of country music.

Malley cites two other UA Press books from the spring catalog that exemplify the scope of the work being published. "I Dream a World: The Operas of William Grant Still" by Beverly Soll, features a scholarly examination of the works of one of America's only African-American opera composers.

"It's a book musicologists will be interested in. It's a book about an accomplished African-American. It's a book about an Arkansas native," Malley said. "This book is representative of the broadening of our imprint."

"Just for Fun: The Story of AAU Women's Basketball" by Robert W. Ikard, is the first book on this popular subject. The book explores the history of women's basketball before the 1972 passage of Title IX, when women could only play organized, highly competitive basketball through the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). In "Just for Fun," Ikard shows how these women laid the foundation for today's national and collegiate teams. The book includes 55 period photographs of the women players and teams from that era.

Other books in the Spring 2005 catalog include two additions to the Arkansas Poetry Series, edited by Enid Shomer. The first, "Standing Around the Heart: Poems by Gary Fincke," features the poetry of an English professor and director of the Writer's Institute at Susquehanna University. The second, "King Vulture: Poems by K.E. Duffin," is the first book of poetry from this formalist poet.

Two books issued by the UA Press this spring, with the support of the Old State House Museum, include "John Barleycorn Must Die: The War Against Drink in Arkansas" by Ben F. Johnson III and "Our Own Sweet Sounds: A Celebration of Popular Music in Arkansas" by Robert Cochran, director for the Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies. The Old State House Museum in Little Rock currently has exhibits that feature the subject matter from both of these books.

Two other books round out the spring 2005 catalog. The first is "A Whole Country in Commotion: The Louisiana Purchase and the American Southwest," edited by Patrick G. Williams, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas; S. Charles Bolton, a history professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; and Jeannie M. Whayne, a UA history professor and director of the Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History at the University of Arkansas. The second is "Beyond Winning: National Scholarship Competitions and the Student Experience," edited by Suzanne McCray, associate dean of the Honors College at the University of Arkansas and director of the Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships.