Popular culture Books

Book SynopsisThis book is a state-of-the-art look at where toys have come from and where they are likely to go in the years ahead. The focus is on the interplay between traditional toys and play, and toys and play that are mediated by or combined with digital technology. As well as covering the technical aspects of computer mediated play activities, the authors consider how technologically enhanced toys are currently used in traditional play and how they are woven into childrens'' lives. The authors contrast their findings about technologically enhanced toys with knowledge of traditional toys and play. They link their studies of toys to goals in education and to entertainment and information transfer.This book will appeal to students, researchers, teachers, child care workers and more broadly the entertainment industry. It is appropriate for courses that deal with the specialized subject of toys and games, media studies, education and teacher training, and child development.Trade Review"Toys, Games, and Media provides an impressive overview of the toy culture, children, and digital media, and the influence of technology on play." "Highly Recommended."—CHOICE"Toys, Games, and Media provides a fascinating picture of the ways in which computer-mediated play is transforming the lives of both children and adults in the twenty-first century. It both raises and helps to answer important questions about our rapidly changing media environment. The book has much to recommend it. Its perspective is multicultural."—Journalism and Mass Communication QuarterlyTable of ContentsContents: G. Brougere, D. Buckingham, J. Goldstein, Introduction: Toys, Games, and Media. Part I:Toy Culture.A. Powers, The Revival of the English Toy Theatre. G. Wegener-Spohring, War Toys in the World of Fourth Graders. W. Hartmann, G. Brougere, Toy Culture in Preschool Education and Children's Toy Preferences. C.R. Yano, Kitty Litter: Japanese Cute at Home and Abroad. E. Grugeon, From Pokemon to Potter: Trainee Teachers Explore Children's Media-Related Play, 2000-2003. Part II:Children and Digital Media.E. Seiter, The Internet Playground. M. Albero-Andres, The Internet and Adolescents: The Present and Future of the Information Society. S. Kline, Learners, Spectators, or Gamers? An Investigation of Digital Play in the Media Saturated Household. J. Linderoth, B. Lindstrom, M. Alexandersson, Learning With Computer Games. Part III:How Technology Influences Play.M. Allen, Tangible Interfaces in 'Smart Toys'. D. Bergen, Preschool Children's Play With Rescue Heroes: Effects of Technology-Enhanced Figures on the Themes of Play. L. Plowman, R. Luckin, Children's Interaction with 'Smart' Toys. M. Fabregat, M. Costa, M. Romero, Adaptation of Traditional Toys and Games to New Technologies: New Products Generation.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisUltimately an examination on how movies affect the way we think and how film not only shapes our perceptions and our memories but in some ways comes to stand in for them, Suspects can be read as an unsettling examination of identity and the construction of self through the medium of narratives, or simply as a fascinating take on movie...

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Book SynopsisSet of 15 postcards by one of the leading artists of the Lowbrow movement.

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Book SynopsisRedisover the meditative art of colouring - whether stoned or sober!

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Book SynopsisA metal tin box set of 20 colour greeting cards featuring vintage Santa Claus designs from 1898-1918.

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Book SynopsisPranksters extraordinaire chart their rise through art and photos.

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Book SynopsisBobcat's fun bunny takes readers through over 50 easy recipes, explaining the whole process of cooking, preparing and eating cannabis.

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Book SynopsisAn intimate journey through Lennon's final years, including photos of Lennon and family.

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Book SynopsisLegendary cultivation pros from Cannabis Culture magazine share their tried-and-tested growing techniques to offer advice that will benefit any size garden and level of experience.

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Book SynopsisAn introductory book for anyone who wishes to grow their own marijuana indoors, with step-by-step instructions and photos.

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Book SynopsisA pithy, prickly new hedgehog dissecting all things celebrity, from a wannabe who just might not. A hot book for a cool topic!

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Book SynopsisThe first definitive, unauthorised, behind-the-scenes cultural history of the Bachelor franchise, America's favourite guilty pleasure.

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Book SynopsisThis book charts Carl Gustav Jung's 33-year (1928-61) correspondence with James Kirsch, adding depth and complexity to the previously published record of the early Jungian movement. Kirsch was a German-Jewish psychiatrist, a first-generation follower of Jung, who founded Jungian communities in Berlin, Tel Aviv, London, and Los Angeles. Their letters tell of heroic survival, brilliant creativity, and the building of generative institutions, but these themes are darkened by personal and collective shadows. The Nazi era looms over the first half of the book, shaping the story in ways that were fateful not only for Kirsch and his career but also for Jung and his. Kirsch trained with Jung and acted as a tutor in Jewish psychology and culture to him. In 1934, fearing that anti-Semitism had seized his teacher, Kirsch challenged Jung to explain some of his publications for the Nazi-dominated Medical Society for Psychotherapy. Jung's answer convinced Kirsch of his sincerity, anTrade Review‘The Jung and Kirsch letters offer an inner look at the ever-deepening exchange of thoughts, dreams and concepts of early Jungian psychology between these two influential and powerful men. As Kirsch journeys from Nazi Germany to Israel, to England, and finally to Los Angeles, California, we experience his seeking for a homeland, an outer and inner home for his brilliance and commitment to Jungian psychoanalysis, and his personal family. Kirsch’s profound identity with his Jewish roots and his challenge to Jung to understand and integrate the philosophy and history of the Jewish people gives a deeply meaningful insight into the collective and individual struggle of that era, and is equally important today. Reading this book is crucial to our understanding of Jungian psychology.’ - Jacqueline Zeller Levine, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, The C.G. Jung Institute of Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA‘The Jung-Kirsch correspondence opens unique insights into their lifelong cooperation and their developing ideas about clinical and cultural issues. James Kirsch was one of the first who explained Jewish culture and identity to Jung. This edition of their letters is a milestone in the study of cultural complexes. It is eye-opening and fascinating to read.’ - Dr. Jörg Rasche, Psychoanalyst IAAP, ISST, C. G. Jung Institute Berlin, Germany‘The Jung-Kirsch Letters belongs to a category of literature where the thoughts and ideas of the psychoanalytic masters are revealed behind their more formal writings. We are here served an exceptional vista of ruminations, theoretical and clinical discussions, dreams and personal emotions, as they crystallize into meaningful ideas. Ann Lammers’ skilful editing renders this correspondence between Jung and one of his most prominent Jewish disciples into a masterful volume of great interest for readers, both professional and lay, interested in depth psychology.’ - Erel Shalit, Ph.D., Jungian psychoanalyst and author, Tel Aviv, IsraelTable of ContentsList of Illustrations. Kirsch, Preface. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Lammers, Introduction. The Letters. 1928-1932, Berlin. 1933-1934, Tel Aviv. 1935-1938, London. 1940-1947, Los Angeles. 1948-1949, The Institute. 1950-1952, Aion and Job. 1953, Jungians in L.A. 1954, Habent sua fata . 1955-1958, Zurich/Tokyo. 1959-1961, Mysterium. Appendix A: James Kirsch, 1934, "Then He Will Open the Ears of Men." Appendix B: Letters of C.G. Jung and Hilde Kirsch. Appendix C: James Kirsch, 1954, "'The Red One': A Psychological Interpretation of a Story by Jack London." Appendix D: A Brief History of the AAGP/IAAGP. Addendum: Letter of Aniela Jaffé, 27 May 1961. Editor’s Note. Translators’ Note. List of Letters. Selected Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisHow does he do it?We can't all be drop-dead gorgeous, but we can all be ugly hot! Pete Davidson's unlikely rise from the depths of his mom's basement to the upper echelons of fame and straight into the arms of A-listers like Ariana Grande, Kate Beckinsale, Kim Kardashian, and Emily Ratajkowski gives hope to us all. With meticulous analysis, insightful quotes, scientific-ish studies, admittedly irrelevant trivia, and loads of cheeky humor, Ugly Hot: The Unauthorized Dating-Up Guide for Fans of Pete Davidson holds all the secrets to finding love above your station, just like Pete. Follow the magical journey of a Staten Island everymanturnedHollywood playboy and collect valuable knowledge along the way, including:- How to exude supreme confidence and give off that BDE!- How to use humor and questionable fashion to your advantage- How to be vulnerable in a way that's more sexy than annoying- How to low-key seduce someone who seems way ou

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Book SynopsisReissued for today's reader with a cover by the renowned artist Seymour Chwast, In Our Time exemplifies Tom Wolfe's writing on 1970s America.In Our Time is a biting collection of Tom Wolfe's essays and illustrations cataloging and critiquing the state of 1970s American society. In this slim but unsparing collection of razor-sharp observations and mordant caricatures, Wolfe reaffirms his role as the great chronicler, debunker, and exuberant plain speaker of American letters. Wolfe's joyriding satirical tour through the emerging American archetypes of the 1970s is an essential portrait of the delirious, maddening decade.

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Book SynopsisTherèsa M. Winge is Associate Professor in Apparel and Textile Design at Michigan State University, USA. She is the author of Body Style (Bloomsbury Academic, 2012), an avid fan of Cosplay, and has judged Cosplay competitions and participated in Cosplay costume panels.Trade ReviewEngages with a variety of issues seated within the realm of cosplay ... Costuming Cosplay celebrates the creative power of cosplay, illustrating the significant effects of play and fun. * Journal of Folklore Research *[A] must-read for scholars of dress and culture or anyone interested in the complex world of cosplay and fandom. Winge’s first-hand accounts and analysis of cosplay costume are insightful and engaging. The book provides a holistic background on cosplay and simultaneously investigates the nuances of the cosplay way of life. Especially intriguing are the detailed discussions on the construction and negotiation of archetype character identities through costume and body modification. -- Jessica Strübel, University of Rhode Island, USAWinge's insider role, as a fan of fandom and as a past judge of Cosplay competitions, contributes authenticity to this valuable guide to understanding the Cosplay subculture and the intimate meanings of their 'looks' or costume. -- Abby Lillethun, Montclair State University, USAWinge’s analysis is full of fresh insight ... Indispensable reading for cosplay scholars it is likely to remain a touchstone for many years to come. * Journal of Textile Science and Technology *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Cosplay Chapter 2: Cosplay Subculture Chapter 3: Dressing the Part Chapter 4: Cosplay is a Way of Life Chapter 5: Girl Power Chapter 6: Cosplay Worlds Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book is not for you. It is not for architectural academic elites. It is not for those who have gentrified our neighborhoods, overly intellectualized the profession, and ignored all contemporary Black theory within the discipline. You have made architecture a symbol of exclusion, oppression, and domination rather than expression, aspiration, and inspiration. This book is not for conformistsBlack, White, or other. As architecture grapples with its own racist legacy, Hip-Hop Architecture outlines a powerful new manifestothe voice of the underrepresented, marginalized, and voiceless within the discipline. Exploring the production of spaces, buildings, and urban environments that embody the creative energies in hip-hop, it is a newly expanding design philosophy which sees architecture as a distinct part of hip-hop''s cultural expression, and which uses hip-hop as a lens through which to provoke new architectural ideas.Examining the present and the future of Hip-Hop ArchiTrade ReviewThe book hip-hop architecture deserves—and the one our era of reckoning demands. * Metropolis *This compelling book simultaneously challenges an inherent elitism (and whiteness) in contemporary architectural theory and practice, and embraces and expands the scholarly vocabulary of the canon. * Library Journal *Hip-Hop Architecture is a call for building design to be instated as the fifth pillar of this cultural movement, joining dance, drama, fine arts and music… As idiosyncratic, challenging and genre-redefining as Hip-hop’s other cultural manifestations, Cooke’s book argues for a new approach to urban design that better expresses the Black and African American experience. * Wallpaper* *Cooke's book reminds us how what has been built to date is the result of the application of political, social and cultural ideas and principles that have intentionally excluded certain sections of the population. Architecture is the manifesto of this exclusion and, over time, becomes testimony of the errors of a society that should no longer belong to us. So the author starts from hip-hop to get to the maximum systems, because hip-hop is a culture that binds people, unites them in community, through music, sounds, dances. Its pages describe and reflect the values of a culture linked by sound and words. * Elle Décor Italia *Well-researched, engaging and fresh ... [Cooke] strips the paternalizing aspects off, which often pervade the treatises emanating from the ivory towers of academia. * Scene Point Blank *Hip-Hop Architecture is a meditation on architecture’s intersection with one of the most influential contemporary cultural movements—hip-hop. Cooke’s deft textual and visual riffs merge hip-hop’s sonic and performative modalities—remix, breakdance, graffiti—with traditions and practices that inform black spatiality and design. * Mabel O. Wilson, Columbia University, USA *Cooke’s Hip-Hop Architecture is presented at exactly the time we need a new way to think about form, space, surface, construction, renovation, cities, activism, and the power of a cultural moment that has reshaped the planet. But don’t call this book timely—call it brave, urgent, phresh, and a book that reflects a perspective that the discipline of architecture has needed for a long time. * Ronald Rael, University of California-Berkeley, USA *Hip-Hop Architecture makes the most compelling argument to date for an emerging movement in architecture defined by modalities of practice—deejaying, emceeing, breakdancing, and graffiti writing—rather than by reference to the Western architecture canon. * Michael Speaks, Dean, Syracuse University School of Architecture *As the creative world begins to face its racist legacy, Cooke’s book reflects on the ways in which spaces are created to exclude or include, and the potential of Hip-Hop Architecture to create buildings, spaces, and urban environments that are more inclusive and empowering to the underrepresented and marginalized. * Design Miami *Table of ContentsLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOREWORD Building Blocks - Michael Eric Dyson ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Shout Outs, Big Ups, and Thank Yous VOLUME I: Ready or Not: An Introduction to Hip-Hop Architecture VOLUME II: Step into A World: Perspectives and Narratives from the History and Theory of Hip-Hop Architecture VOLUME III: As I Manifest: Contemporary Speculations on Hip-Hop Architectural Education and Practice VOLUME IV: Flipping to the B-Sides: Tangents to and Projections from Hip-Hop Architecture APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book SynopsisAnglo-American culture is marked by a gladiatorial impulse: a deep cultural fascination in watching men fight each other. The gladiator is an archetypal character embodying this impulse and his brand of violent and eroticised masculinity has become a cultural shorthand that signals a transhistorical version of heroic masculinity. Frequently the gladiator or celebrity fighter - from the amphitheatres of Rome to the octagon of the Ultimate Fighting Championships - is used as a way of insisting that a desire to fight, and to watch men fighting, is simply a part of our human nature. This book traces a cultural interest in stories about gladiators through twentieth and twenty-first-century film, television and videogames.Trade ReviewSteenberg moves deftly across time, space, media and story type, interrogating the gladiator as a powerful archetype of joyous nostalgic violence. This definitive study maps cinema, genre histories and masculinity in new and thought-provoking ways: a truly spectacular achievement. -- Yvonne Tasker, Professor of Media and Communication, University of Leeds, UKAre You Not Entertained offers a comprehensive and meticulously researched account of the figure of the gladiator across visual media. From Ancient Rome to The Hunger Games and The Bachelor, the volume carefully traces the contested place of the gladiator. -- Frances Smith, Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Sussex, UKAre You Not Entertained is a brilliant, engaging, and innovative examination of the archetypal gladiator character, from its origins in Ancient Rome to its depictions in movies and other popular media, and brings timely attention to the complex intersections between gladiatorial masculinity, violence, nostalgia, and eroticism. -- Cynthia Felando, Lecturer, University of California, Santa Barbara, USATable of ContentsList of Figures, Tables and Illustrations Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction: Millennial Masculinity and the Gladiators of Y2k - “Are You Not Entertained?” 1. A Gladiatorial Genealogy: “My Name Is Gladiator” 2. Genre Play: “Playthings of the Crowd” 3. The Arena Fight: “Two Men Enter. One Man Leaves” 4. Nostalgia: “Is Rome Worth One Good Man’s Life?” 5. The Gladiatorial Burlesque: “Do You Like Movies About Gladiators?” 6. Celebrity: “Win the Crowd” Conclusion: We Were Entertained Bibliography Filmography Appendix: Arena Fight Analysis

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Book SynopsisHas a global queer popular culture emerged at the expense of local queer artists? In this book, Helton Levy argues that global queer culture is indebted to specific, local references that artists carry from their early experiences in life, which then become homogenized by contemporary media markets. The assumption that queer publics live and consume only through a global set of references, including gay parades and rainbow flags, for example, erases many personal complexities.Levy revisits media characters that have caught the attention of the broader public such as Calamity Jane (1953), the Daffyd Thomas character from the BBC comedy Little Britain (2003-2007), Brazilian drag queen Pabblo Vittar, French singer Christine and the Queens, and the Italian-Egyptian rapper Mahmood and argues that they have gradually blended in the public''s perception. This has often obscured the individual struggles faced by these characters, such as immigration, homophobia, poveTable of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Illustrations and Tables Series Editors’ Introduction Introduction: Globally queer? A tale of two worlds 1. Commodifying, de-commodifying, localising queer media and culture 2. Queer news 3. Queer artists 4. Trans influencers 5. Global platforms, local characters Conclusion: From globalized queerness to possible homecomings Index

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Book SynopsisShorlisted for the BAFTSS 2020 Award for Best MonographStarting out as an independent filmmaker, and despite his films being subjected to censorship in his native China, Jia Zhangke has become the country's leading film director internationally. Seen as one of world cinema's foremost auteurs, he has played a crucial role in documenting and reflecting upon China's era of intense transformations since the 1990s..Cecília Mello provides in-depth analysis of Jia's unique body of work, from his early films Xiao Wu and Platform, to experimental quasi-documentary 24 City and the audacious Mountains May Depart. Mello suggests that Jia's particular expression of the realist mode is shaped by the aesthetics of other Chinese artistic traditions, allowing Jia to unearth memories both personal and collective, still lingering within the ever-changing landscapes of contemporary China. Mello's groundbreaking study opens a door into Chinese cinema anTrade ReviewThe tone is serious and scholarly, and the author approaches her subject as if nothing could be as important in a world in which the liberal arts have been almost abandoned … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *Cecilia Mello's study of Jia Zhangke, China's leading independent director, brilliantly counterbalances the impulses towards realism and intermediality she finds in Zhangke's work. Its foreword by Walter Salles backs up Salles's and Mello's claim that Zhangke is the most important world film director of the twenty-first century so far, and Mello's thorough knowledge and understanding of Chinese cultures of this period underpins the book's location of memory between the realist impulse and the impure multilayeredness of Zhangke's films. -- BAFTSS Awards judgesOver the course of the past 25 years, there has been no better cinematic chronicle of China’s dramatic transformation than the films of Jia Zhangke... Cecília Mello digs deep into Jia’s body of work, unveiling a rich tapestry of intermingling songs, landscapes, textures, and intertexts. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding how Jia Zhangke’s films work. -- Michael Berry, Professor of Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies, UCLA, USACecília Mello’s refined analysis not only unravels Jia Zhangke’s poetics of cinema as a complex aesthetic of in- betweenness contemplating a world in inevitable transience and change, but also proposes an amazingly nuanced intermedial approach that illuminates from different vantage points the deep imbrication of art and life, memory and palpable reality. -- Ágnes Petho, Professor of Film Studies, Sapientia University, RomaniaCecília Mello’s book is a breakthrough. It clears the mists around Jia Zhangke’s famously “impure” realism, showing how it is shot through with Chinese aesthetics drawn from wuxia martial arts, Chinese opera performance, gardening, painting, and more. -- Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies, King’s College London, UKTable of Contents1. 'Introduction: Jia Zhangke, Realism, Memory and Impurity' 2. 'The Walls of China: Between Ephemerality and Permanence' 3. 'Ping Yao’s City Walls: On-Location Filming and the Weight of History' 4. 'Pop Music’s Sonic Memories' 5. 'Landscape Painting, Chinese Philosophy and the Aesthetic Innovation of Still Life' 6. 'Opera, Wuxia and China’s Imagined Civilization' 7. 'Painterly Still Lives and Photographic Poses: Stillness and the Moving Image' 8. 'Garden Heterotopias and the Memory of Space' 9. 'I Wish I Knew’s Cinephilic Journeys (an afterword on intertextuality)' 10. Bibliography

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Book SynopsisStudies the ways that diasporic Iranian Armenian authors and artists negotiate their identities as minoritized population within a liminal space that includes religious, ethnic, national, racial, cultural, gender, and sexual factors.Trade Review"This book blends scholarly and personal history with literature, film and art, thereby illustrating how questions of identity are navigated by Iranian Armenians, both in Iran and in exile. It is a fresh and nuanced study that approaches the subjects of minorities, race and migration through a non-western lens." -James Barry, Deakin University

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Book SynopsisA sparsely populated island in the North Atlantic recently made worldwide headlines in the Global Financial Crisis and for volcanic eruptions that caused unprecedented chaos to international air travel. Large contemporary audiences have formed very different images of Iceland through the vocal music and music videos of BjÃrk and Sigur RÃs. Just below the Arctic Circle, Icelandic men engage in more everyday vocal practices, where singing, literally for one''s Self, is an everyday life skill set against a backdrop of unique natural, historical, economic and social phenomena. Their sagas of song and singing are the subject of this book. The original Icelandic Sagas - among the most important collections of medieval European literature - are valued for richly detailed portrayals of individual lives. This book''s principle protagonists and collaborators share a heritage where Sagas remain central to national and local identity. While the oral traditions associated with them were largely ovTrade Review’Faulker's Icelandic Men and Me: Sagas of Singing, Self and Everyday Life has documented the lived experience behind, above, below, and beyond the social organization of men's singing habits, whether they are comforting their child for an evening, keeping themselves company in the barn, or getting out to their choir practices despite weather, pressing chores, and limited transportation. Song glues together the sense of self, the awareness of community, and the tangibility of nation, rendering life itself as a ’musical event’’. American Book Review ’Faulkner’s methods for researching, analysing, and theorizing these topics are impressively interdisciplinary ... The insights garnered from his personal experiences as first conductor and teacher and later researcher in the local musical community give the volume a strong ethnographic feel, which is complemented by brief but engaging sections of auto-ethnography. The integration of these multidisciplinary approaches is highly effective and will probably serve as a model for others’. Music and LettersTable of ContentsContents: Introduction; Telling tales and setting the scene; Baldur’s Saga; Icelandic sagas and songs; Singing social connections; Songworlds: the body and vocal places; Songs, spirituality and self therapy; Singing himself: singing and the construction of gender identity; My saga; Vocal events and singing’s agency in change; Conclusions, closure and the vocal celebration of self; Gallery; Bibliogaphy, sound and film recordings; Index.

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Book SynopsisA celebration of the life of the acclaimed comic book storyteller through his work as well as interviews with fellow creators.Will Eisner (19172005) is universally considered the master of comics storytelling, best known for The Spirit, his iconic newspaper comic strip, and A Contract With God, the first significant graphic novel. This seminal work from 1978 ushered in a new era of personal stories in comics form that touched every adult topic from mortality to religion and sexuality, forever changing the way writers and artists approached comics storytelling. Noted historian Paul Levitz celebrates Eisner by showcasing his most famous work alongside unpublished and rare materials from the family archives. Also included are original interviews with creators such as Jules Feiffer, Art Spiegelman, Scott McCloud, Jeff Smith, Denis Kitchen, and Neil Gaimanall of whom knew Eisner and were inspired by his wTrade Review“Eisner was not only ahead of his times; the present times are still catching up to him.” * John Updike *“What Will did was and is timeless.” * Neil Gaiman *“Will Eisner is, and remains, one of my precious idols.” * Frank Miller *"He was the greatest.” * Harvey Kurtzman *“Will Eisner is a national treasure.” * Jules Feiffer *“Will Eisner is the heart and mind of American comics.” * Scott McCloud *“Eisner is the single person most responsible for giving comics its brains.” * Alan Moore *“Eisner was unique in feeling from the start that comic books were not necessarily this despised, bastard, crappy, lowbrow kind of art form, and that there wasa potential for real art.” * Michael Chabon *“This is the book that Will Eisner’s life and career deserve . . . informative and entertaining, and belongs in every library collection.” * ICv2 *

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Book SynopsisThis engaging, knowledgeable book traces the American path France has followed since resolving its searing Algerian conflict in 1962. Barnett Singer convincingly demolishes two pervasive clichés about modern France: first, that the country never has been fit to fight wars, including wars on terror; and second, that the French have always been and remain overwhelmingly anti-American. Drawing on a wealth of archival sources, Barnett Singer clearly demonstrates that a serious and organized France fought strongly until its own divisions, international pressures, and the actions of de Gaulle ended the conflict with tragic consequences. The outcome led to an important sea change, clearing the way for France to embrace American culture, especially rock ''n'' roll, and more generally, an American-style emphasis on personal happiness. The author argues that today's France, wounded by the loss of traditions and stability, is increasingly pro-American, clinging to trends from across the Atlantic Trade ReviewHistorian Singer offers a provocative . . . examination of the changing postwar French national identity, arguing that France stopped being a 'serious' nation when it abandoned its 'noble' colonial enterprise in favor of searching for self-centered American-style 'happiness.' Singer raises interesting questions about how to evaluate the role of de Gaulle, and his focus on the idea of 'happiness,' particularly his insistence on the significance of pop music, brings an important new area of focus to 1960s Americanization. * CHOICE *Countering the notion that France has been and remains intractably anti-American, Singer instead argues that France began a transformation in the 1950s in which it shifted its focus from colonial concern with Algeria toward American-style celebration of personal happiness and an embrace of American culture and values, even suggesting that this embrace of America has proceeded 'too unabashedly in contemporary France.' He brings a biographical approach to the subject, examining key figures that illustrate the turn of soldiers from sober military values to seeking American-style materialism, the development of French rock and roll, and the contemporary 'full anchoring' of Americanization in France. * Book News, Inc. *This elegantly well-written monograph . . . [adds] new layers and new material to the investigation of France’s complicated relationship with the United States during the latter part of the twentieth century, and now, by bringing consideration of the first years of the twenty-first century, to reflect on what case studies (such as, in passing, that of Lance Armstrong) can reveal about France’s ‘Americanization.’ The range of topics that are covered . . . provides stimulating food for thought in easily digestible prose. Apart from its great readability and frequent allusion to thought-provoking case studies, a great strength of this volume is its recourse . . . to direct testimony from actors of the period . . . whose views are combined with clear historical judgment to give intriguing insights. Where analysis is not based on primary research through interviews or archive work, the argument advances through lively, direct, and well-focused consideration of a plethora of topics. . . . An excellent, decent, and plain-speaking study of French culture, society, and politics, which is both intriguingly personal and academically historical, and which should serve to provoke thought amongst students and researchers alike. Highly recommended reading. * Modern and Contemporary France *The Americanization of France will be of interest to scholars of French, American, and Algerian history, foreign policy, and culture. Barnett Singer’s lively, jargon-free prose makes the book accessible to undergraduates and other educated . . . readers. * Journal of American Culture *[Singer draws] on an admirably eclectic reading, observation, and experience. . . .An engaging account of his . . . reflections on the ever-attractive French. * Historian *[T]he book is intriguing, idiosyncratic, [and] entertaining. * Journal of Modern History *[T]he book is well documented and the archival material is impressive. Singer has made real use of departmental archives. . . . The footnotes . . . demonstrate a deep familiarity with the literature on postwar France. . . . [He] does an excellent job describing the way terror deforms civil society. * H-France Review *[I]n this engaging and sometimes brilliant book, Barnett Singer unlocks the mystery [of the enduring popularity of the singer Johnny Hallyday] and provides some very important clues about who Johnny Hallyday is and why he is so important in the story of postwar France.... Singer writes with a light and deft touch, but he is an impressively forensic researcher and his arguments are serious and sometimes groundbreaking.... It is to the great credit of a historian like Singer that he has started the work of excavating what it meant to be young and French at one of the crucial turning-points in the 20th century. * History Today *This is a stimulating, provocative, and unusual book. . . . [Singer] has produced a useful, absorbing, and challenging addition to our understanding of contemporary French culture. * French Politics, Culture, and Society *Compelling and provocative, The Americanization of France describes the shattering impact of the Algerian war on France and, in its wake, the French pursuit of happiness. Singer provides new and critical assessments of the bitter conflict—which divided France more profoundly than any other in its colonial history—as well as fresh and surprising insights into contemporary France. -- William A. Hoisington Jr., University of Illinois at ChicagoIn The Americanization of France, Barnett Singer has created an insightful, provocative reinterpretation of the powerfully moving transition of a nation and people. His characterization of de Gaulle is stunning. . . . And his sharply crafted images of French singers and cultural icons will not only remain with readers long after this sparkling account has been returned to the shelf; they will define those celebrities for anyone who picks up this book. -- John W. Langdon, Le Moyne CollegeFrance today is an enigma, and Barnett Singer’s book is a crucial guide as it searches for its identity. -- Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, author of The World of James Bond: The Lives and Times of 007Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Algerian Challenge in the Last Serious France Chapter 3: De Gaulle, the Algerian Denouement, and the End of an Era Chapter 4: From French Chanteurs to American Yé-Yé Chapter 5: Other Aspects of the “Happiness Revolution” in the 1960s and Beyond Chapter 6: Today’s Americanized France Chapter 7: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn Ethnomusicologizing: Essays on Music in the New Paradigms, composer and musicologist brings together a series of essays on music making in contemporary culture. More specifically, it focuses on the myriad ways we engage with musicas makers, as listeners, as consumers, as producers. Banfield labels this fully engaged process as ethnomusicologizing, as he explores the ways we create, share, teach, and discuss music. Throughout he argues that music is more than the experience of structured sound. It is rather a way of being more critically present as musicians and as citizens of sharing in the world itself. Ethnomusicologizing contains writings on contemporary music and culture studies, offering glimpses on more than just music history through reflective essays, interviews with contemporary artists, and exercises in the analysis and criticism of popular culture. In this work, Banfield instructs readers in the ways by which we may better appreciate and understand creative artistry and pTrade ReviewToday, many young musicians are driven by a short-sighted desire for money, fame, and power. But the purpose of art—true art—remains the search for meaning, purpose, inspiration, and spiritual fulfillment. Banfield is hopeful in this regard: 'Young people feel they are a more integral part of their success story if they are allowed to bring to a product a piece of who they are, what their story is. I think, despite our capitalistic surges, people always return back to the basic humanistic codes'. Such nuanced appraisals make Ethnomusicologizing a provocative and profitable read. * Thinking On Music *Table of ContentsPrelude Keeping the Core Creative Soul-Spirit Part 1: Theory: Music Thinking Theories, Teaching, and Approaches Chapter 1: Ethnomusicologizing: The Way Forward, Cultural Relevancy Chapter 2: Ethnomusicology Studies in Music Culture Chapter 3: Popular Music Culture: How to Teach and Reach within Popular Music Chapter 4: Black Music Matters Chapter 5: Notes From Cuba Chapter 6: The “I Theory” Part 2: History: Backbones, Songs Chapter 7: A Progressive View of American Popular Music History, 1948-2014 Chapter 8: American Mavericks Interviews Chapter 9: Harlem Renaissance 1920-1935: Artistry, Aesthetics, Politics and Popular Culture Chapter 10: CBMR Letter Chapter 11: Mom, Dad, and the Making of Symphony 10 with Sweet Honey In The Rock Part 3: Culture: New Standards, Cultural Critique Chapter 12: Wake up! What Time is It Really? Who Turns it Up, Down, and Back?: Values on The Cultural Dial Chapter 13: Does Our Music Still Bring The Good News Of The Day? Chapter 14: On The Crisis of Popular Arts and Society: Steps Ahead Chapter 15: The Problem With Jazz Chapter 16: Review of George Lewis, Les Exercices Spirituels Chapter 17: Don’t Use the “J word”: Jazz in its Connections to Culture and Meaning Chapter 18: From Hip-Hop To Zombie Nation Chapter 19: Critical Culture Concerns Today Chapter 20: The Songs We Need To Be Hearing Again: Music Culture and A Musician’s Credo To Citizenry Postlude: Afterthought on Ethnomusicologizing

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Book SynopsisWe may not often think of our clothes as having a function beyond covering our naked bodies and keeping us a little safer from the elements. But to discount the enormous influence of clothing on anything from economic cycles to the future of water scarcity is to ignore the greater meaning of the garments we put on our backs. Disrobed vividly considers the role that clothing plays in everything from natural disasters to climate change to terrorism to geopolitics to agribusiness. Chapter by chapter, Tang takes the reader on an unusual journey, telling stories and asking questions that most consumers have never considered about their clothing. Why do banker's wives sell off their clothes and how does that presage a recession? How is clothing linked to ethanol and starvation on the African continent? Could RFID in clothing save the lives of millions of people in earthquakes around the world? This book takes an everyday item and considers it in a way that readers may not have previously thTrade ReviewCan what you wear save your life, keep you safe, or kill people across the world? Syl Tang shows that, sometimes, it does. You've never read a national security book quite like Disrobed. A fresh perspective about how our individual choices can radically upend societies on the other side of the globe. Do clothes reflect the jagged fault lines between civilizations? Tang's Disrobed makes a compelling case that it just might. -- Aki Peritz, former CIA analyst who tracked the strategy, leadership and international links of Al Qaeda in Iraq; senior fellow at George Washington University's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security; adjunct faculty member at American UniversitySyl Tang’s Disrobed is a powerful thought-starter that articulates the butterfly effect from the mundane to the crucial. The book unveils an undercurrent of what is happening on the other side of the globe and connects the dots to what is right in front of us. Tang uses non-partisan, fact-based occurrences in worldwide events to show us the power of micro-action, and the potential of clothing as a political tool and predictive instrument. -- Yann Marois, Chief Marketing Officer, Grey GooseOur clothes speak, consume, and even save the world in Syl Tang's fascinating and insightful research about fashion and how its much more than just threads. -- Jonathan Woetzel, director and senior partner, McKinsey Global Institute, McKinsey and Co.The theory of the interconnectedness of all things, seen through the lens of fashion. Great fun, but raising some important questions - like why my lucky cufflinks always work. -- Paul James, Global Marketing and Branding for Millennium Hotels and Resorts; former Global Brand Leader, Starwood Luxury HotelsThis book defines the bridge between the garment industry and world of finance, industries that most people truly do not understand. The financial markets such as investment, banking and insurance companies rely heavily on the above sources for revenue and investments. Disrobed is the book that will open your eyes to the dynamics of two powerful and profitable industries. -- Salvador Rozenberg, professor, New York University, Tandon School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering and Urban SystemsIt is truly amazing how you have linked the issue of clothing with the ecosystem and global challenges. By highlighting the different elements and sectors, I have no doubt the reader will come away fascinated and inspired, with insights of how clothing plays a pivotal role in our lives. Syl Tang's book eloquently describes clothing's effect on our limited natural resources and also provides brilliant ideas and solutions that people can implement to create positive social change in society. Disrobed provides a gateway for the reader to recognize the value of ethical and sustainable clothing which can also address the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and thus help our common humanity. -- Amir A. Dossal, president, Global Partnerships ForumDisrobed was one of the better nonfiction books I’ve read in some time and was so good that I recommended it as a strong resource to one of my students who happens to be a fashion major — I suspect the contents of this book will prove to offer a forward-thinking approach as he continues in degree program…. All in all, Disrobed is a rather succinct but no less potent argument about how fashion is itself an indicator of social mood and social evolution…. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys an alternate paradigm on reading social changes, as it’s often true that the signs are right in front of us if only we’ll pay attention to them. Tang gives us the chance to do so, which could be very useful in what’s likely to be a rollercoaster of a world ahead. * Dwell in Possibility *

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Book SynopsisA lavishly illustrated guide to Star Wars action figures, comic books and all other kinds of memorabilia.

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Book SynopsisThe winking, rainbow-hued, glee-inducing anthropomorphic hearts illustrations of celebrated artist Chris Uphues are on full display in this book of 20 unique postcards. Printed on durable art card, these postcards are perfect to send or to display as mini inspirational wall art.

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Book SynopsisA dazzling insight into what gives meaning to our life and to us as a species.What makes us human? From Carlo Rovelli on the particles of dust that make us, to Caitlin Moran on the joy of Friday nights, and A C Grayling on how we express ourselves through culture: this illuminating book shares 130 mind-expanding answers to that question.We all want to understand our place in the universe and find a sense of purpose in the life. This book will help the reader navigate that journey with the help of leading names from the worlds of literature, history, philosophy, politics, sport, comedy and popular culture.Originally broadcast as a popular feature on the Jeremy Vine Show, What Makes Us Human? includes short essays from: Andrew Marr, Carlo Rovelli, Marian Keyes, Alain de Botton, Robert Webb, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, and many more.

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