Search results for ""Author Alex"

Notoriously difficult to define as a genre, Live Art is commonly positioned as a challenge to received artistic, social and political categories: not theatre, not dance, not visual art... and often wilfully anti-mainstream and anti-establishment. But as it has become an increasingly prevalent category in international festivals, major art galleries, diverse publications and higher education streams, it is time for a reassessment. This collection of essays, conversations, provocations and archival images takes the twentieth anniversary of the founding of one of the sector’s most committed champions, the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) in London, as an opportunity to consider not only what Live Art has been against, but also what it has been for. Rather than defining the practices in oppositional terms – what they might be seeking to critique, reject or disrupt – this collection reframes these practices in terms of the relations and commitments they might be used to model or advocate. What kinds of care and recovery do they enable? What do they connect as well as reject? What do they make possible as they test the impossible? What ideas of success do they stand for as they risk failure? In this way, the central theme of the collection, and to which all contributors were invited to respond, is the idea of agency: the capacity for new kinds of thoughts, actions and energies as enacted by individual artists and groups. It seems appropriate that this question would be considered in relation to the history of one particular ‘agency’: LADA itself. These questions are explored in a unique conversational format, bringing together a diverse range of emerging and established practitioners, curators and leading figures in the field, each paired with another practitioner for a live conversation that has been sensitively edited for the page. Curated within a structure of five overlapping themes – Bodies, Spaces, Institutions, Communities and Actions – this format produces unexpected insights and accounts of the development of the field. Each theme also contains two provocative essays by leading scholars, thinkers and makers, exploring the conceptual frames in more detail. The result is a collection that is as heterogeneous, ambitious, contradictory and inspiring as the field of Live Art itself. Contributors: Aaron Williamson, Adrian Heathfield, Alan Read, Alastair MacLennan, Alexandrina Hemsley, Amelia Jones, Andrew Mottershead, Andy Field, Anne Bean, Barby Asante, Bryan Biggs, Cassils, Catherine Wood, David A. Bailey, Dominic Johnson, Gary Anderson, George Chakravarthi, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Hayley Newman, Heike Roms, Helen Paris, James Leadbitter, Jamila Johnson-Small, Jane Trowell, Jen Harvie, Johanna Tuukkanen, John Jordan, John McGrath, Jordan McKenzie, Joshua Sofaer, Katherine Araniello, Kira O'Reilly, Lena Šimić, Leslie Hill, Lois Keidan, Lois Weaver, Manuel Vason, Martin O'Brien, Mary Paterson, Rajni Shah, Rebecca French, Richard Dedomenici, Ron Athey, RoseLee Goldberg, Selina Thompson, Simon Casson and Tim Etchells. Co-published with Live Art Development Agency. Winner of the 2021 TaPRA Edited Collection Prize

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'Frantically wacky and wilfully confusing ... gratifyingly clever and very amusing' - MAIL ON SUNDAY'Frothy, fast and funny' - SCOTLAND ON SUNDAYColin Hollinghead is a young man going nowhere fast. Working for his dad might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but starting at the bottom in the widget-making industry has somehow lost its appeal. And now the business is in trouble. At least his father has a plan to turn things round - a new work force that will improve profit margins and secure the company's future for eternity. The deal looks great on paper, but they do say that the devil is in the detail - and the old rogue certainly seems to be involved in some capacity. Colin needs help. Perhaps his new friend from J.W. Wells & Co. (Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants) can help. Sparkling with wit and oozing charm, Tom Holt's new comic caper will delight his readers and prove once and for all that going to work can actually be hell.And now the business is in trouble. At least his father has a plan to turn things round - a new work force that will improve profit margins and secure the company's future for eternity. The deal looks great on paper, but they do say that the devil is in the detail - and the old rogue certainly seems to be involved in some capacity. Colin needs help. Perhaps his new friend from J.W. Wells & Co. (Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants) can help.Sparkling with wit and oozing charm, Tom Holt's new comic caper will delight his readers and prove once and for all that going to work can actually be hell.Books by Tom Holt: Walled Orchard Series Goatsong The Walled Orchard J.W. Wells & Co. Series The Portable Door In Your Dreams Earth, Air, Fire and Custard You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps The Better Mousetrap May Contain Traces of Magic Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages YouSpace Series Doughnut When It's A Jar The Outsorcerer's Apprentice The Good, the Bad and the Smug Novels Expecting Someone Taller Who's Afraid of Beowulf Flying Dutch Ye Gods! Overtime Here Comes the Sun Grailblazers Faust Among Equals Odds and Gods Djinn Rummy My Hero Paint your Dragon Open Sesame Wish you Were Here Alexander at World's End Only Human Snow White and the Seven Samurai Olympiad Valhalla Nothing But Blue Skies Falling SidewaysLittle PeopleSong for NeroMeadowlandBarkingBlonde BombshellThe Management Style of the Supreme BeingsAn Orc on the Wild Side

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A collection of scholarship on monsters and their meaning—across genres, disciplines, methodologies, and time—from foundational texts to the most recent contributions Zombies and vampires, banshees and basilisks, demons and wendigos, goblins, gorgons, golems, and ghosts. From the mythical monstrous races of the ancient world to the murderous cyborgs of our day, monsters have haunted the human imagination, giving shape to the fears and desires of their time. And as long as there have been monsters, there have been attempts to make sense of them, to explain where they come from and what they mean. This book collects the best of what contemporary scholars have to say on the subject, in the process creating a map of the monstrous across the vast and complex terrain of the human psyche.Editor Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock prepares the way with a genealogy of monster theory, traveling from the earliest explanations of monsters through psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, and cultural studies, to the development of monster theory per se—and including Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s foundational essay “Monster Theory (Seven Theses),” reproduced here in its entirety. There follow sections devoted to the terminology and concepts used in talking about monstrosity; the relevance of race, religion, gender, class, sexuality, and physical appearance; the application of monster theory to contemporary cultural concerns such as ecology, religion, and terrorism; and finally the possibilities monsters present for envisioning a different future. Including the most interesting and important proponents of monster theory and its progenitors, from Sigmund Freud to Julia Kristeva to J. Halberstam, Donna Haraway, Barbara Creed, and Stephen T. Asma—as well as harder-to-find contributions such as Robin Wood’s and Masahiro Mori’s—this is the most extensive and comprehensive collection of scholarship on monsters and monstrosity across disciplines and methods ever to be assembled and will serve as an invaluable resource for students of the uncanny in all its guises.Contributors: Stephen T. Asma, Columbia College Chicago; Timothy K. Beal, Case Western Reserve U; Harry Benshoff, U of North Texas; Bettina Bildhauer, U of St. Andrews; Noel Carroll, The Graduate Center, CUNY; Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Arizona State U; Barbara Creed, U of Melbourne; Michael Dylan Foster, UC Davis; Sigmund Freud; Elizabeth Grosz, Duke U; J. Halberstam, Columbia U; Donna Haraway, UC Santa Cruz; Julia Kristeva, Paris Diderot U; Anthony Lioi, The Julliard School; Patricia MacCormack, Anglia Ruskin U; Masahiro Mori; Annalee Newitz; Jasbir K. Puar, Rutgers U; Amit A. Rai, Queen Mary U of London; Margrit Shildrick, Stockholm U; Jon Stratton, U of South Australia; Erin Suzuki, UC San Diego; Robin Wood, York U; Alexa Wright, U of Westminster.

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To commemorate the journal’s quarter-century, this double issue consists of foundational pieces arranged in conversation with one another. Common Knowledge has opened lines of communication among schools of thought in the academy, as well as between the academy and the community of thoughtful people outside its walls, and the pages of the journal challenge the ways we think about scholarship and its relevance to humanity. Contributors to the issue include former presidents, prime ministers, and archbishops, along with winners of the Nobel Prize, Man Booker Prize, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award, MacArthur Fellowship, International Balzan Prize, and Holberg International Prize. Contributors. M. H. Abrams, Edward Albee, Barry Allen, Wayne Andersen, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Sir Isaiah Berlin, Marianna Birnbaum, Sir John Boardman, G. W. Bowersock, Aldo Buzzi, Caroline Walker Bynum, Anne Carson, William M. Chace, J. M. Coetzee, Cornelius Castoriadis, Stanley Cavell, Stuart Clark, Inga Clendinnen, Francis X. Clooney, Christopher Coker, Maria Conterno, Michael Cook, Lorraine Daston, Lydia Davis, Natalie Zemon Davis, Thibault De Meyer, Gunter Eich, Sir John H. Elliott, Caryl Emerson, Mikhail Epstein, Péter Esterházy, Roger Cardinal Etchegaray, Fang Lizhi, Paul Feyerabend, Michael Fried, Joseph Frank, Manfred Frank, Luis Garcia, Clifford Geertz, Carlo Ginzburg, Philip Gossett, Stephen Greenblatt, Thom Gunn, Jürgen Habermas, Ian Hacking, Václav Havel, Sir Edward Heath, Albert O. Hirschman, David Hollinger, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Miroslav Holub, Maya Jasanoff, Albert R. Jonsen, Stanley N. Katz, Hugh Kenner, Sir Anthony Kenny, Sir Frank Kermode, Jee Leong Koh, Joseph Leo Koerner, Yusef Komunyakaa, György Konrád, Bruce Krajewski, László Krasznahorkai, Anton O. Kris, Julia Kristeva, Bruno Latour, Ewa Lipska, Greil Marcus, Steven Marcus, Samuel Menashe, Adam Michnik, Jack Miles, Alexander Nehamas, Reviel Netz, Sari Nusseibeh, Jeffrey M. Perl, Marjorie Perloff, J. G. A. Pocock, W. V. Quine, Belle Randall, Nadja Reissland, Colin Richmond, Richard Rorty, Ingrid Rowland, Hanna Segal, Amartya Sen, Quentin Skinner, Barbara Herrnstein Smith, A. L. Snijders, Timothy Snyder, Susan Sontag, Isabelle Stengers, Wis?awa Szymborska, Miguel Tamen, G. Thomas Tanselle, Sir Keith Thomas, Stephen Toulmin, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Michiko Urita, Bas van Fraassen, Marina Vanzolini, Gianni Vattimo, Helen Vendler, Charlie Samua Veric, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Sir Bernard Williams, Lord (Rowan) Williams, H. R. Woudhuysen, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Santiago Zabala

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After the swift defeat of the Taliban in 2001, American optimism has steadily evaporated in the face of mounting violence; a new “war of a thousand cuts” has now brought the country to its knees. In the Graveyard of Empires is a political history of Afghanistan in the “Age of Terror” from 2001 to 2009, exploring the fundamental tragedy of America’s longest war since Vietnam. After a brief survey of the great empires in Afghanistan—the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the British in the era of Kipling, and the late Soviet Union—Seth G. Jones examines the central question of our own war: how did an insurgency develop? Following the September 11 attacks, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country—killing, capturing, or scattering most of al Qa’ida’s senior operatives—and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of struggle and conflict. But Jones argues that as early as 2001 planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, he says, the United States has managed to push al Qa’ida’s headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan, the distance from New York to Philadelphia. While observing the tense and often adversarial relationship between NATO allies in the Coalition, Jones—who has distinguished himself at RAND and was recently named by Esquire as one of the “Best and Brightest” young policy experts—introduces us to key figures on both sides of the war. Harnessing important new research and integrating thousands of declassified government documents, Jones then analyzes the insurgency from a historical and structural point of view, showing how a rising drug trade, poor security forces, and pervasive corruption undermined the Karzai government, while Americans abandoned a successful strategy, failed to provide the necessary support, and allowed a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan to catalyze the Taliban resurgence. Examining what has worked thus far—and what has not—this serious and important book underscores the challenges we face in stabilizing the country and explains where we went wrong and what we must do if the United States is to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen many of the great world powers to enter the region.

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Most professors and administrators are aware that academic freedom is in danger of being brushed aside by a public that has little understanding of what is at stake. They may be only marginally aware that the defense of academic freedom is endangered by certain confusions concerning the nature of academic freedom, the criteria for its violation, and the structure of an adequate justification for claims to it. These confusions were enshrined in some of the central documents on the subject, including the 1940 Statement on Academic Freedom and Tenure, agreed upon by the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges and endorsed by many professional organizations. Careful analysis of them will not do away with debate; it will bring the debate into focus, so that attacks on academic freedom can be appraised as near or far away from the center of the target and can then be appropriately answered. Nearly all the contemporary writing on academic freedom consists of attack or defense. The Concept of Academic Freedom is the first book to deal exclusively with fundamental conceptual issues underlying the battle. In the discussion of these issues, certain philosophical positions crystallize: radical versus liberal conceptions of the status and function of university teachers, specific versus general theories of academic freedom, consequential versus nonconsequential theories of justification. Partisans (and enemies) of academic freedom would do well to decide on which side of these divisions they stand, or how they would mediate between sides. Otherwise many questions will remain unclear: What is under discussion—a special right peculiar to academics or a general right that is especially important to academics? Is justification of that right possible? Can the right be derived from other rights, or from the theory of justice or of democratic society? Or is the argument for academic freedom one that more properly turns on the consequences for society as a whole if that freedom is not protected? The essays in this book explore these and other problems concerning the defense of academic freedom by radicals, the justification for disruption on campus, and the control of research. Contributors to the volume include Hugo Adam Bedau, Bertram H. Davis, Milton Fisk, Graham Hughes, Alan Pasch, Hardy E. Jones, Alexander Ritchie, Amelie Oksenberg Rorty, Rolf Sartorius, T. M. Scanlon, Richard Schmitt, John R. Searle, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and William Van Alstyne. All are outstanding in their fields. Many have had practical experience in the legal profession or with the American Association of University Professors on the issue of academic freedom.

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What role do objects play in crafting the religions of Southeast Asia and shaping the experiences of believers? The Spirit of Things explores religious materiality in a region marked by shifting boundaries, multiple beliefs, and trends toward religious exclusivism. While most studies of religion in Southeast Asia focus on doctrines or governmental policy, contributors to this volume recognize that religious "things"—statues, talismans, garments, even sacred automobiles—are crucial to worship, and that they have a broad impact on social cohesion. By engaging with religion in its tangible forms, faith communities reiterate their essential narratives, allegiances, and boundaries, and negotiate their coexistence with competing belief systems. These ethnographic and historical studies of Southeast Asia furnish us with intriguing perspectives on wider debates concerning the challenges of secularization, pluralism, and interfaith interactions around the world. In this volume, contributors offer rich ethnographic analyses of religious practices in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma that examine the roles materiality plays in the religious lives of Southeast Asians. These essays demonstrate that religious materials are embedded in a host of practices that enable the faithful to negotiate the often tumultuous experience of living amid other believers. What we see is that the call for plurality, often initiated by government, increases the importance of religious objects, as they are the means by which the distinctiveness of a particular faith is "fenced" in a field of competing religious discourses. This project is called "the spirit of things" to evoke both the "aura" of religious objects and the power of material things to manifest "that which is fundamental" about faith and belief. Contributors: Julius Bautista, National University of Singapore; Sandra Cate, San Jose State University, California; Margaret Chan, Singapore Management University; Liana Chua, Brunel University, London; Cecilia S. de la Paz, University of the Philippines (Diliman); Alexandra de Mersan, Centre Asie du Sud-Est (Paris) and Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales; Johan Fischer, Roskilde University, Denmark; Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California; Klemens Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, New York City; H. Leedom Lefferts, Drew University and Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; Nguyên Thi Thu Huong, Academic Council of the National Museum of History, Hanoi, and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; Anthony Reid, Australian National University, University of California–Los Angeles, and National University of Singapore; Richard A. Ruth, United States Naval Academy; Kenneth Sillander, University of Helsinki; Vu Thi Thanh Tâm, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; and Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Malaysia

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A wonderfully concise and readable, yet comprehensive, history of the Mediterranean Sea, the perfect companion for any visitor -- or indeed, anyone compelled to stay at home.'The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean.'Samuel Johnson, 1776The Mediterranean has always been a leading stage for world history; it is also visited each year by tens of millions of tourists, both local and international. Jeremy Black provides an account in which the experience of travel is foremost: travel for tourism, for trade, for war, for migration, for culture, or, as so often, for a variety of reasons. Travellers have always had a variety of goals and situations, from rulers to slaves, merchants to pirates, and Black covers them all, from Phoenicians travelling for trade to the modern tourist sailing for pleasure and cruising in great comfort.Throughout the book the emphasis is on the sea, on coastal regions and on port cities visited by cruise liners - Athens, Barcelona, Naples, Palermo. But it also looks beyond, notably to the other waters that flow into the Mediterranean - the Black Sea, the Atlantic, the Red Sea and rivers, from the Ebro and Rhone to the Nile. Much of western Eurasia and northern Africa played, and continues to play, a role, directly or indirectly, in the fate of the Mediterranean. At times, that can make the history of the sea an account of conflict after conflict, but it is necessary to understand these wars in order to grasp the changing boundaries of the Mediterranean states, societies and religions, the buildings that have been left, and the peoples' cultures, senses of identity and histories.Black explores the centrality of the Mediterranean to the Western experience of travel, beginning in antiquity with the Phoenicians, Minoans and Greeks. He shows how the Roman Empire united the sea, and how it was later divided by Christianity and Islam. He tells the story of the rise and fall of the maritime empires of Pisa, Genoa and Venice, describes how galley warfare evolved and how the Mediterranean fired the imagination of Shakespeare, among many artists. From the Renaissance and Baroque to the seventeenth-century beginnings of English tourism - to the Aegean, Sicily and other destinations - Black examines the culture of the Mediterraean. He shows how English naval power grew, culminating in Nelson's famous victory over the French in the Battle of the Nile and the establishment of Gibraltar, Minorca and Malta as naval bases. Black explains the retreat of Islam in north Africa, describes the age of steam navigation and looks at how and why the British occupied Cyprus, Egypt and the Ionian Islands. He looks at the impact of the Suez Canal as a new sea route to India and how the Riviera became Europe's playground. He shows how the Mediterranean has been central to two World Wars, the Cold War and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. With its focus always on the Sea, the book looks at the fate of port cities particularly - Alexandria, Salonika and Naples.

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This collection covers the period February 1862-March 1864, which constituted the final two years and one month that Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne commanded the Royal Navy’s North America and West India Station. Its chief focus is upon Anglo-American relations in the midst of the American Civil War. Whilst the most high-profile cause of tension between the two countries — the Trent Affair — had been resolved in Britain’s favour by January 1862, numerous sources of discord remained. Most turned on American efforts to blockade the so-called Confederacy, efforts that often ran afoul of international law, not to mention British amour-propre. As commander of British naval forces in the theatre, Milne’s decisions and actions could and did have a major impact on the state of affairs between his government and that of the US.While noting in one private exchange with the British ambassador to Washington, Richard, Lord Lyons, that he had been "enjoined to abstain from any act likely to involve Great Britain in hostilities with the United States," Milne added ominously, "yet I am also instructed to guard our Commerce from all illegal interference" and it is plain from his correspondence that both he and the British government were prepared to use force in that undertaking. Thus, between apparently high-handed behaviour by the US Navy and Milne’s and the Palmerston government’s resolve not to be pushed beyond a certain point, the ingredients for a major confrontation between the two countries existed. Yet most of Milne’s efforts were directed toward preventing such a confrontation from occurring. In this endeavour he was joined by Lyons and by the British government. No vital British interest was at stake in the conflict raging between North and South, and thus the nation was unlikely to become directly involved in it unless provoked by rash US actions.Yet there was no shortage of such provocations: the seizure of British merchant vessels bound from one neutral port to another, detaining such ships without first conducting a search of their cargo for evidence of contraband of war, the de facto blockade of British colonial ports, apparent violations of British territorial waters, the seizure of British merchantmen off the neutral port of Matamoros, Mexico, and the use of neutral ports as bases of operations by US warships among them. In responding to these and other sources of dispute between the US and Britain, Milne proved adept at pouring oil on troubled waters, so much so that in a late 1863 letter to Foreign Secretary Lord Russell, Lyons lamented his impending departure from the station: "I am very much grieved at his leaving….No change of admirals could be for the better."This collection centres upon Milne’s private correspondence, especially that between him and Lyons, First Lord of the Admiralty the Duke of Somerset and First Naval Lord Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Grey. It also includes private letters to and from many of Milne’s other professional correspondents and important official correspondence with the Admiralty.

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‘I laughed and cried my way through this book in all its unputdownable glory. Nancy’s writing is utterly sublime.’ Julie CaplinWhen did having it all become doing it all?Penny Baker is coping. Just about.Three kids, one dog, one lovely but sometimes oblivious husband. Tick, tick tick.She is even managing to hold her own among the competitive school mums - if you don’t look too closely. But when she finds herself also caring for her elderly mother, diagnosed with dementia, the household is thrown into disarray and Penny finds herself stretched to breaking point trying to meet everyone’s needs.Can she make the new family situation work? And is there any chance of finding some space in it all for herself?Fans of Milly Johnson, Gill Sims and Alexandra Potter will adore this funny, relatable and uplifting read.Praise for The Mother of All Problems:‘Genuinely laugh-out-loud, but also deeply moving... a warm, witty, page-turner of a book.’ Kathleen Whyman‘I absolutely loved this book... funny, heartwarming and just brilliant. If you like Motherland, this is a book for you!’ Olivia Beirne‘One of the best books I have read this year. Funny and heartbreaking by turns. One to devour, rejoice in and reflect upon. An absolute triumph.’ Jenni Keer'Hilarious, heartbreaking and so relatable - a brilliant yet poignant take on the struggles of real life.' Nina Kaye‘Frank, fun and touching... crafted beautifully to tell a story many ‘sandwiched’ readers will identify with...a very special read.’ Faye Brann‘What a glorious book - warm, hilarious and utterly relatable. Nancy Peach’s writing is delicious.’ Donna Ashcroft‘Poignant yet hilarious...Prepare to laugh out loud and be moved to tears as you read this book.’ Helga Jensen‘Brilliantly written and utterly refreshing. Nancy’s writing is inspiring, quick-witted and heartbreaking in equal measure.’ Zoe Allison‘Laugh-out-loud funny but also very moving. If you’ve ever struggled to keep all the plates spinning then this is the book for you.’ Nicola Gill‘Properly hilarious and equally heartbreaking, Nancy Peach writes her acute observations of family life in the shadow of dementia both frankly and with endearing wit... a timely and relevant portrayal of today’s Sandwich Generation, brilliantly cloaked in sparkling humour and hope.’ Pernille Hughes‘Absolutely hilarious and heartwarming all at the same time.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘Captivating, witty, hilarious, emotional, raw and real! One of the best books I’ve read in the last few months!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘What an absolutely beautiful story this was. I laughed out loud, I cried and I had many moments of self-reflection’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘Great, totally relatable read, particularly for women of a certain age…Would highly recommend this’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review‘What a delightful, heartwarming book…The story was compelling and entertaining’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

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A collection of scholarship on monsters and their meaning—across genres, disciplines, methodologies, and time—from foundational texts to the most recent contributions Zombies and vampires, banshees and basilisks, demons and wendigos, goblins, gorgons, golems, and ghosts. From the mythical monstrous races of the ancient world to the murderous cyborgs of our day, monsters have haunted the human imagination, giving shape to the fears and desires of their time. And as long as there have been monsters, there have been attempts to make sense of them, to explain where they come from and what they mean. This book collects the best of what contemporary scholars have to say on the subject, in the process creating a map of the monstrous across the vast and complex terrain of the human psyche.Editor Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock prepares the way with a genealogy of monster theory, traveling from the earliest explanations of monsters through psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, and cultural studies, to the development of monster theory per se—and including Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s foundational essay “Monster Theory (Seven Theses),” reproduced here in its entirety. There follow sections devoted to the terminology and concepts used in talking about monstrosity; the relevance of race, religion, gender, class, sexuality, and physical appearance; the application of monster theory to contemporary cultural concerns such as ecology, religion, and terrorism; and finally the possibilities monsters present for envisioning a different future. Including the most interesting and important proponents of monster theory and its progenitors, from Sigmund Freud to Julia Kristeva to J. Halberstam, Donna Haraway, Barbara Creed, and Stephen T. Asma—as well as harder-to-find contributions such as Robin Wood’s and Masahiro Mori’s—this is the most extensive and comprehensive collection of scholarship on monsters and monstrosity across disciplines and methods ever to be assembled and will serve as an invaluable resource for students of the uncanny in all its guises.Contributors: Stephen T. Asma, Columbia College Chicago; Timothy K. Beal, Case Western Reserve U; Harry Benshoff, U of North Texas; Bettina Bildhauer, U of St. Andrews; Noel Carroll, The Graduate Center, CUNY; Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Arizona State U; Barbara Creed, U of Melbourne; Michael Dylan Foster, UC Davis; Sigmund Freud; Elizabeth Grosz, Duke U; J. Halberstam, Columbia U; Donna Haraway, UC Santa Cruz; Julia Kristeva, Paris Diderot U; Anthony Lioi, The Julliard School; Patricia MacCormack, Anglia Ruskin U; Masahiro Mori; Annalee Newitz; Jasbir K. Puar, Rutgers U; Amit A. Rai, Queen Mary U of London; Margrit Shildrick, Stockholm U; Jon Stratton, U of South Australia; Erin Suzuki, UC San Diego; Robin Wood, York U; Alexa Wright, U of Westminster.

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Carmen Boullosa’s Cleopatra Dismounts tells three versions of the life of Cleopatra. In the first sequence, Marc Antony had just disemboweled himself, knowing they had lost the war against Octavian and believing that Cleopatra was dead. Hugging his corpse, Cleopatra castigates Octavian and history for its betrayal of her, recalling variously how she had herself delivered to Caesar in a roll of carpet, and bore his child (Caesarion); the twins and third child she bore to Marc Antony; the bitterness of the recent military defeat. At this point Diomedes, variously described as an informer and her official chronicler, intercedes, admitting that this version of the story is not true to the brilliant, accomplished woman who was the true Cleopatra really was. Telling of how he betrayed Cleopatra, by altering the histories of her reign and allowing Caesar and others to destroy or change her scrolls, he begins again with the story of Cleopatra’s flight from Pompey (the Roman leader who was placed in charge of Cleopatra and her brothers and sisters after Ptolemy Auletes, her father and ruler of Egypt, died). The girl queen (Cleopatra inherited the throne as a teenager) sneaks with several faithful servants out of the palace into a wagon, accompanied by a group of brightly costumed gladiators, on her way to Ascalon. She and her supporters carve the words “Queen of Kings” (Cleopatra’s motto in real history) into the boards of the wagon in which she is traveling, and leave it behind when they reach Rome. When they are beset by pirates, Cleopatra stages an elaborate show using some costumes the young gladiator Apollodorus, who has become part of her retinue, helped her buy. She convinces the pirates that she is Isis (a myth which was in reality part of her statecraft). She makes an alliance with them and is taken in peace to Cilicia. The third and longest version of the Cleopatra story is a delightful interlude in which Cleopatra goes live with the Amazons. Cleopatra is at war with the Ruling Council of her husband and brother Ptolemy (she was, historically, forced to marry her brother because she could not rule alone as a woman). The Ruling Council has sent an envoy to summon her to Alexandria to make peace, but when she realizes it is a trap, she flees with her retinue. She arrives in Pelusium, a trade center on the Mediterranean, where many merchants have been stranded by bad weather, and where, as if by magic, she sees a replica of the cart, carved with the words “Queen of Kings,” she left behind in Rome. Chased by the “reception committee” of the Ruling Council, she escapes on the back of a magical bull. He carries her across the Mediterranean to the land of the Amazons, who take her in. The Amazons welcome her into their society of women, eschewing marriage and traditional female roles to live as warriors and hunters. They sing her the stories of their joining the Amazons and of the many myths that surround them. She meets a group of aged poets, kidnapped by the Amazons to write verses for them, because they love poetry and music. She learns that one Amazon, Orthea, is in love with a god who has the power of extreme heat and cold, and who caused an earthquake that day. The Amazons go to bed, falling into each other’s arms and making love. Though initially disgusted, eventually Cleopatra falls asleep in the protective (and erotic) embrace of Hippolyta, the Amazons’ queen. The next day, the Amazons go to battle a group of rebellious male warriors who charge the Amazons and seek, ultimately, to follow the Sirens. Charging them on their horses, driving cattle at them, the Amazons battle the men. One of their prized poets, however, in an act of suicide, surrenders himself to the Sirens, who devour him before everyone. This breaks the spell and the men cease their clamoring to get to the Sirens. Cleopatra sees Orthea consummating her passion for the god, which kills her. The Cyrene male warriors, who withstood the Sirens’ onslaught in their fort by plugging the windows with rocks and mud, invite Cleopatra and the Amazons to their court to celebrate their successful protection of so many men. Hippolyta declines but sends Cleopatra with her blessing. Once there, she is joyfully reunited with the gladiator Apollodorus and her faithful maidservant and right hand Charmian. The Cyrenes offer to ally with her against her enemies in Ptolemy’s Ruling Council. The alliance between Cleopatra and Caesar (wherein she was smuggled to him rolled up in a carpet, and he assisted her in defeating her enemies in Egypt, part of history) is presaged. At the close of the piece, Cleopatra returns to bid goodbye to the Amazons. She finds them naked, covered in blood, having just sacrificed a horse. Hippolyta is holding the horse’s castrated penis. She repudiates her earlier alliance with the Amazons and returns to Cyrene alone, to her military campaign to become the queen history knows.

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If you love Ali Hazelwood, Sally Thorne and Helen Hoang, you'll LOVE Lyssa Kay Adams!'The most inventive, refreshing concept in rom-coms!' Entertainment Weekly The Bromance Book Club was one of Bustle's '21 Rom-Coms To Give You Warm And Fuzzy Feelings All Season Long'!Raves for The Bromance Book Club:'A you're-gonna-burn-dinner book because you will not want to put it down. Laugh out loud with tons of heart, this is an absolutely adorable must read' AVERY FLYNN'A delight! . . . I raced to finish this book, but still never wanted it to end!' ALEXA MARTIN'A delightful, fast-paced read with the perfect mix of laugh-out-loud and swoony moments - every town should have a Bromance Book Club' EVIE DUNMORE'It is the reading aloud in this story that ultimately wins my heart, and shows that everything worth knowing can be learned from romance' KC DYER.......................................'Tis the season to take out the mistletoe - and for a second chance at love.Country music's golden boy Colton Wheeler felt the most perfect harmony when he was with Gretchen Winthrop. But for her, it was a love-him-and-leave-him situation. A year later, Colton is struggling to make music, with only the Bromance Book Club standing between him and self-pity. It's hard for immigration attorney Gretchen not to feel a little Scrooge-ish about the excess of Christmas when her clients are scrambling to pay rent. So when her estranged, wealthy family makes her an offer that could help, she can't say no. She just needs to convince Colton to be the new face of their whiskey brand. No big deal . . .Colton agrees to consider Gretchen's offer in exchange for three dates before Christmas. With the help of the Bromance Book Club, he's determined to prove there's still a spark between them. But can Gretchen and Colton overcome the ghosts of Christmas past to build a future together?.......................................Readers are LOVING the Bromance Book Club series!'Five stars for this sweet, sexy, funny read''Wow! What to say about this book? It was everything and more . . . I loved absolutely everything about this book' 'Sweet and heartfelt and lovely. Vlad is just an absolute love and I could read about him being in love in every book!''This book was the full package. Amazing plot, great characters, sexual chemistry, heart, humour, vulnerability . . . A masterclass on romance novel construction' 'Heartfelt, sweet, emotional and tender . . . I can't get enough of this group of friends and I can't wait for the next addition!''I adored this book so much and flew through it so fast because I was loving it so much. I found myself laughing out loud multiple times . . . I just loved being back in this world with these characters so much!''Perfect for the summer holidays. An absolute feel-good romance with plenty of heart, laugh-out-loud scenes, and vulnerable yet strong characters. I couldn't put this book down'Don't miss any of the charming and swoonworthy Bromance Book Club reads!The Bromance Book ClubUndercover BromanceCrazy Stupid BromanceIsn't It Bromantic?A Very Merry Bromance

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In Nervous Device, Catherine Wagner takes inspiration from William Blake's "bounding line" to explore the poem as a body at the intersection between poet and audience. Using this as a figure for sexual, political and economic interactions, Wagner's poems shift between seductive lyricism and brash fragmentation as they negotiate the failure of human connection in the twilight of American empire. Intellectually informed, yet insistent on their objecthood, Wagner's poems express a self-conscious skepticism even as they maintain an optimistically charged eroticism."Wagner's fourth collection contains poems of memory and dark artifice. She writes with an obscure, magnetic lens. . . . Wagner contrasts these complicated poems with short, clean, pieces that offer a kind of breathing space for the reader. Not to be mistaken for trivial, the linguistic tightness of these poems are highlights of Wagner’s collection."—Publishers Weekly"Taking with one hand what they give with the other, Wagner's poems are full of vehemence and disdain and tenderness and somewhere, in some inexpugnable part of the body of language through which so many discomforting feelings pass, a thorny kind of joy. This is my idea of great poetry: in which 'The actual is / flickering a binary / between word and not-word.'"—Barry Schwabsky, Hyperallergic"Nervous Device is such a smart book. You never know where the poems are going to take you, or when some startling, often cringe-making image or thought will intrude. Unable to settle into a comfortable rhetorical space, these poems reject simple claims to knowing something or doing right or changing the world. Rather, they move like an erratic insect stuck in a language bell jar. Brilliant, and disturbing."—Jennifer Moxley"Nervous Device, the human machine, palpitating inside its own little bounding lines. These poems do everything the human device does, vibrating like an electrified tornado inside a glass jar, and make this reader profoundly alive to huge swathes of being. There is no machine for mastering the self (yet), but there are Cathy Wagner's poems."—Eleni Sikelianos"The poems in Nervous Device resonate with a knowing nod to time and the difficulty and struggle of being sentient and intimate—of loving while being human. This is poetry connectivty: sexy, poignant, knowing. And the poems here make me feel possible."—Hoa Nguyen"Wagner's poems contain multitudes, at once overflowing with seductive lyricism only to suddenly shift into brash fragmentation. She is informed, but the word subjective has no place whatsoever in her work. As the cover suggests, the potential for human connection is downright erotic for Wagner."Alexis Coe, SF Weekly"The notion that the audience is 'putting [their] finger in [her] vagina' while reading Nervous Device signals one of Wagner's primary thematic concerns in the collection: the complex relationship between poetry, sex, desire, and the body."—Joshua Ware"Wagner is to be lauded, first and foremost, for her daring, her conceptual eclecticism, and her linguistic range. . . . Nervous Device is a clear-eyed and brave testament to the changing currents of a poet's life."—Seth Abramson, The Huffington Post" . . . the manner in which Wagner structures the language through repetitive dialogue both builds meaning and breaks it apart. . . . Wagner balances disjunction and lucidity, private and public, distant and (riskily) up-close."—Jessica Comola, HTML Giant

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Goodreads Summer Romance Reading RecommendationBuzzfeed's Most Anticipated LGBTQ Romances of 2022'Exactly the slow-burn, second-chance, friends-to-lovers romance I was craving' ALI HAZELWOOD'The perfect holiday romance! . . . Move over, Stars Hollow. I'm moving to Fern Falls!' LACIE WALDON'The holiday romance of my dreams! The sweetness of a Hallmark holiday movie, set in a town that rivals Schitt's Creek, with plenty of steamy scenes to heat things up!' FALON BALLARD'Wintry perfection, a cozy flannel blanket of a book that wraps its reader in the warmest hug' RACHEL LYNN SOLOMONOffering a steamy, queer spin on the feel-good tropes Hallmark movie, this sweet, funny #OwnVoices rom-com is perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alexandria Bellefleur!'Who doesn't love a proper steamy holiday romance?!? Full of whimsical settings, humorous, cute, sexy and full of typical romance tropes' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review'A great second chance romance that has all the best parts of a Hallmark movie, lovely characters and sweet and spicy scenes that will warm your heart' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review'You have slow-burn, second-chance, friends-to-lovers romance and it's set in the holidays! . . . I loved the main characters, they're fun, genuine and a little spicy' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review'If you too love all things Christmas, don't miss this book' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review.........................................Morgan Ross can plan world-class events, but she didn't plan on returning to the hometown that broke her heart seven years ago - and re-discovering the girl of her dreams . . .With her career as a Los Angeles event planner imploding after a tabloid blowup, Morgan Ross isn't headed home for the holidays so much as in strategic retreat. Breathtaking mountain vistas, quirky townsfolk, and charming small businesses aside, her hometown of Fern Falls is built of one heartbreak on top of another . . .Take her one-time best friend turned crush, Rachel Reed. The memory of their perfect, doomed first kiss is still fresh as new-fallen snow. Way fresher than the freezing mud Morgan ends up sprawled in on her very first day back, only to be hauled out via Rachel's sexy new lumberjane muscles acquired from running her family tree farm.When Morgan discovers that the Reeds' struggling tree farm is the only thing standing between Fern Falls and corporate greed destroying the whole town's livelihood, she decides she can put heartbreak aside to save the farm by planning her best fundraiser yet. She has all the inspiration for a spectacular event: delicious vanilla lattes, acoustic guitars under majestic pines, a cozy barn surrounded by brilliant stars. But she and Rachel will ABSOLUTELY NOT have a heartwarming holiday happy ending. That would be as unprofessional as it is unlikely. Right?.........................................'Sparkles with humour and charm' SONIA HARTL'Will make your heart soar' ANNETTE CHRISTIE'Reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie . . . Cozy, comforting, and surprisingly steamy - this is the queer Christmas story we deserve!' ALISON COCHRUN'The feel-good, queer, second-chance holiday romance we've all been waiting for' ANITA KELLY'Kae's sparkling voice wraps you up like a warm blanket' AVA WILDER'Ultra cozy, heart-meltingly sweet, and full of warm wit' ROSIE DANAN'With its charming small town, snowy mountaintop kisses, and dreamy lesbian lumberjane, In the Event of Love is perfect for the holidays!' HELEN HOANG

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Shortlisted for: **The Kathy Reichs Award for Fearless Female Character** **The Cat Amongst the Pigeons Award for Most Exceptional Debut** **FINALIST IN THE INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS AWARDS FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL** Part-time Florida bounty-hunter Lori Anderson isn’t a superhero … she’s a single mum with a lot on her plate. But when her family is threatened, she’ll stop at nothing to seek justice, and keep them safe… ‘A real cracker’ Mark Billingham ‘My kind of book’ Lee Child ‘Like Midnight Run, but much darker … really, really good’ Ian Rankin Six states. Three days. One chance to save her child… Lori Anderson is as tough as they come, managing to keep her career as a fearless Florida bounty hunter separate from her role as single mother to nine-year-old Dakota, who suffers from leukaemia. But when the hospital bills start to rack up, she has no choice but to take her daughter along on a job that will make her a fast buck. And that’s when things start to go wrong. The fugitive she’s assigned to haul back to court is none other than JT, Lori’s former mentor – the man who taught her everything she knows … the man who also knows the secrets of her murky past. Not only is JT fighting a child exploitation racket operating out of one of Florida’s biggest amusement parks, Winter Wonderland, a place where ‘bad things never happen’, but he’s also mixed up with the powerful Miami Mob. With two fearsome foes on their tails, just three days to get JT back to Florida, and her daughter to protect, Lori has her work cut out for her. When they’re ambushed at a gas station, the stakes go from high to stratospheric, and things become personal. Breathtakingly fast-paced, both hard-boiled and heart-breaking, Deep Down Dead is a simply stunning debut from one of the most exciting new voices in crime fiction. Praise for the Lori Anderson Series ‘This is romping entertainment that moves faster than a bullet’ Sunday Express ‘If you like your action to race away at full tilt, then this whirlwind of a thriller is a must’ Sunday People ‘Lively’ Sunday Times ‘An impressive thriller, the kind of book that comfortably sits alongside seasoned pros at the top of their game. Sultry and suspenseful, it marks a welcome first vow for an exceptional new voice’ Good Reading Magazine ‘Suspense, action, romance, danger and a plot that will keep you reading into the wee small hours. I loved it’ Lisa Gray, Daily Record ‘Fresh, fast and zinging with energy’ Sunday Mirror ‘Readers will cheer her every step of the way’ Publishers Weekly ‘Just a whole hell of a lot of fun’ New Books Magazine ‘Fresh, compelling and beautifully written’ S.J.I. Holliday ‘Fast-paced, engaging and hugely entertaining’ Simon Toyne ‘Brilliant and pacey’ Steve Cavanagh ‘A hell of a thriller’ Mason Cross ‘A blistering debut’ Neil Broadfoot ‘If you love romantic suspense, you’ll love this ride’ Alexandra Sokoloff ‘A stunning debut from a major new talent’ Zoë Sharp ‘One of my favourite debut novels for a long, long time’ Luca Veste ‘A gritty debut that will appeal to Sue Grafton fans’ Caroline Green ‘Crazy good … full-tilt action and a brilliant cast of characters’ Yrsa Sigurđardóttir ‘The pace moves at breakneck speed. The writing style is accomplished and real and this is quite simply one of the best debut novels I have ever read’ Angela Marsons

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When Owen Pitt and the rest of the Monster Hunter International crew are called away to mount a month’s-long rescue mission in a monster-infested nightmare dimension, Julie Shackleford—Owen’s wife and descendant of MHI founder Bubba Shackelford—is left behind. Her task: hold down the fort and take care of her new baby son Ray. Julie’s devoted to the little guy, but the slow pace of office work and maternity leave are starting to get to her. But when a routine field call brings her face-to-face with an unspeakable evil calling itself Brother Death, she’ll get more excitement than she ever hoped for. Julie is the Guardian of a powerful ancient artifact known as the Kamaresh Yar, and Brother Death wants it. In the wrong hands, it could destroy reality as we know it. Julie would die before giving it up. Then Ray goes missing, taken by Brother Death. The price for his safe return: the Kamaresh Yar. If Julie doesn’t hand over the artifact it means death—or worse—for baby Ray. With no other choice left to her, Julie agrees to Brother Death’s demands. But when you’re dealing with an ancient evil, the devil is in the details. To reclaim her son, Julie Shackleford will have to fight her way through necromantic death cults, child-stealing monsters, and worse. And she’ll have to do it all before Brother Death can unleash the Kamaresh Yar. It’s one woman against an army of monsters. But Julie Shackelford is no ordinary woman—she’s one tough mother! The Monster Hunter series: Monster Hunter International Monster Hunter Vendetta Monster Hunter Alpha Monster Hunter Legion Monster Hunter Nemesis Monster Hunter Siege Monster Hunter Guardian The Monster Hunter Memoirs series by Larry Correia and John Ringo: Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners Monster Hunter Memoirs: Saints About Larry Correia and the Monster Hunter International series: “[E]verything I like in fantasy: intense action scenes, evil in horrifying array, good struggling against the darkness, and most of all people—gorgeously flawed human beings faced with horrible moral choices that force them to question and change and grow.”—Jim Butcher “[A] no-holds-barred all-out page turner that is part science fiction, part horror, and an absolute blast to read.”—Bookreporter.com “If you love monsters and action, you’ll love this book. If you love guns, you’ll love this book. If you love fantasy, and especially horror fantasy, you’ll love this book.”—Knotclan.com “A gun person who likes science fiction—or, heck, anyone who likes science fiction—will enjoy [these books] . . . The plotting is excellent, and Correia makes you care about the characters . . . I read both books without putting them down except for work . . . so whaddaya waitin’ for? Go and buy some . . . for yourself and for stocking stuffers.”—Massad Ayoob “This lighthearted, testosterone-soaked sequel to 2009's Monster Hunter International will delight fans of action horror with elaborate weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, disgusting monsters, and an endless stream of blood and body parts.”—Publishers Weekly on Monster Hunter Vendetta About Sarah A. Hoyt: “[Three Musketeers creator] Alexandre Dumas would give [Sarah A. Hoyt] a thumbs up.” —Steve Forbes “[F]anciful and charming.” —Library Journal "First-rate space opera with a moral lesson. You won't be disappointed."—Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com “[A] tour de force: logical, built from assumptions with no contradictions . . . gripping.” —Jerry Pournelle “Exceptional, wonderful, and enormously entertaining.” —Booklist

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