Unlike Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben, Colonel Sanders was a real person, although never a real colonel. It was some honorary title bestowed on notable Kentuckians by the governor. Yet Sanders introduced himself to his associates by it. It’s one of many entertaining affectations — including bleaching his beard — that Josh Ozersky uncovers in “Colonel Sanders and the American Dream” (University of Texas Press, $20).
Andrea O’Reilly Herrera’s “Cuban Artists Across the Diaspora” (University of Texas Press, $25) measures the pull of home and history on artists like José Bedia and María Brito.