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Gone: a memoir of love, body, and taking back my life
By Linda K Olson, Linda K. Olson. 2020
The author relays the ways in which her life was drastically altered after a train crash resulted in her life…
as a triple amputee. She discusses the impact on her marriage, career, parenthood, and the logistics of daily life. Some strong language. 2020The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture
By Glen Weldon. 2016
A witty, intelligent cultural history from NPR book critic Glen Weldon explains Batman's rises and falls throughout the ages--and what…
his story tells us about ourselves.Since his creation, Batman has been many things: a two-fisted detective; a planet-hopping gadabout; a campy Pop-art sensation; a pointy-eared master spy; and a grim and gritty ninja of the urban night. For more than three quarters of a century, he has cycled from a figure of darkness to one of lightness and back again; he's a bat-shaped Rorschach inkblot who takes on the various meanings our changing culture projects onto him. How we perceive Batman's character, whether he's delivering dire threats in a raspy Christian Bale growl or trading blithely homoerotic double-entendres with partner Robin on the comics page, speaks to who we are and how we wish to be seen by the world. It's this endlessly mutable quality that has made him so enduring. And it's Batman's fundamental nerdiness--his gadgets, his obsession, his oath, even his lack of superpowers--that uniquely resonates with his fans who feel a fiercely protective love for the character. Today, fueled by the internet, that breed of passion for elements of popular culture is everywhere. Which is what makes Batman the perfect lens through which to understand geek culture, its current popularity, and social significance. In The Caped Crusade, with humor and insight, Glen Weldon, book critic for NPR and author of Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, lays out Batman's seventy-eight-year cultural history and shows how he has helped make us who we are today and why his legacy remains so strong.The Weird World of Eerie Publications
By Stephen R. Bissette, Mike Howlett. 2010
Eerie Publications' horror magazines brought blood and bad taste to America's newsstands from 1965 through 1975. Ultra-gory covers and bottom-of-the-barrel…
production values lent an air of danger to every issue, daring you to look at (and purchase) them.The Weird of World of Eerie Publications introduces the reader to Myron Fass, the gun-toting megalomaniac publisher who, with tyranny and glee, made a career of fishing pocketbook change from young readers with the most insidious sort of exploitation. You'll also meet Carl Burgos, who, as editor of Eerie Publications, ground his axe against the entire comics industry. Slumming comic art greats and unknown hacks were both employed by Eerie to plagiarize the more inspired work of pre-Code comic art of the 1950s.Somehow these lowbrow abominations influenced a generation of artists who proudly blame career choices (and mental problems) on Eerie Publications. One of them, Stephen R. Bissette (Swamp Thing, Taboo, Tyrant), provides the introduction for this volume.Here's the sordid background behind this mysterious comics publisher, featuring astonishingly red reproductions of many covers and the most spectacularly creepy art.Considering Watchmen: Poetics, Property, Politics
By Andrew Hoberek. 2014
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen has been widely hailed as a landmark in the development of the graphic novel.…
It was not only aesthetically groundbreaking but also anticipated future developments in politics, literature, and intellectual property. Demonstrating a keen eye for historical detail, Considering Watchmen gives readers a new appreciation of just how radical Moore and Gibbons's blend of gritty realism and formal experimentation was back in 1986. The book also considers Watchmen's place in the history of the comics industry, reading the graphic novel's playful critique of superhero marketing alongside Alan Moore's public statements about the rights to the franchise. Andrew Hoberek examines how Moore and Gibbons engaged with the emerging discourses of neoconservatism and neoliberal capitalism, ideologies that have only become more prominent in subsequent years. Watchmen's influences on the superhero comic and graphic novel are undeniable, but Hoberek reveals how it has also had profound effects on literature as a whole. He suggests that Watchmen not only proved that superhero comics could rise to the status of literature--it also helped to inspire a generation of writers who are redefining the boundaries of the literary, from Jonathan Lethem to Junot Díaz. Hoberek delivers insight and analysis worthy of satisfying serious readers of the genre while shedding new light on Watchmen as both an artistic accomplishment and a book of ideas.Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero
By Grant Morrison. 2011
From one of the most acclaimed and profound writers in the world of comics comes a thrilling and provocative exploration…
of humankind's great modern myth: the superhero. The first superhero comic ever published, Action Comics no. 1 in 1938, introduced the world to something both unprecedented and timeless: Superman, a caped god for the modern age. In a matter of years, the skies of the imaginary world were filled with strange mutants, aliens, and vigilantes: Batman, Wonder Woman, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the X-Men--the list of names as familiar as our own. In less than a century, they've gone from not existing at all to being everywhere we look: on our movie and television screens, in our videogames and dreams. But what are they trying to tell us? For Grant Morrison, arguably the greatest of contemporary chroniclers of the "superworld," these heroes are powerful archetypes whose ongoing, decades-spanning story arcs reflect and predict the course of human existence: Through them we tell the story of ourselves, our troubled history, and our starry aspirations. In this exhilarating work of a lifetime, Morrison draws on art, science, mythology, and his own astonishing journeys through this shadow universe to provide the first true history of the superhero--why they matter, why they will always be with us, and what they tell us about who we are . . . and what we may yet become.Our Hero
By Tom De Haven. 2010
Since his first appearance in Action Comics Number One, published in late spring of 1938, Superman has represented the essence…
of American heroism. "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound," the Man of Steel has thrilled audiences across the globe, yet as life-long "Superman Guy" Tom De Haven argues in this highly entertaining book, his story is uniquely American. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the midst of the Great Depression, Superman is both a transcendent figure and, when posing as his alter-ego, reporter Clark Kent, a humble working-class citizen. An orphan and an immigrant, he shares a personal history with the many Americans who came to this country in search of a better life, and his amazing feats represent the wildest realization of the American dream. As De Haven reveals through behind-the-scenes vignettes, personal anecdotes, and lively interpretations of more than 70 years of comic books, radio programs, TV shows, and Hollywood films, Superman's legacy seems, like the Man of Steel himself, to be utterly invincible.Frankenstein: How A Monster Became An Icon: The Science And Enduring Allure Of Mary Shelley's Creation
By Sidney Perkowitz, Eddy Von Mueller. 2018
Few creations have risen from literary origins to reach world-wide importance like Frankenstein. This landmark volume celebrates the bicentenary of…
Mary Shelley's creation and its indelible impact on art and culture. The tale of a tormented creature created in a laboratory began on a rainy night in 1816 in the imagination of a nineteen-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, newly married to the celebrated Romantic poet Percy Shelley. Since its publication two years later, in 1818, Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus has spread around the globe through every possible medium and variation. Frankenstein has not been out of print once in 200 years. It has appeared in hundreds of editions, perhaps more than any other novel. It has inspired a multitude of stage and screen adaptations, the latest appearing just last year. “Frankenstein” has become an indelible part of popular culture, and is shorthand for anything bizarre and human-made; for instance, genetically modified crops are “Frankenfood.” Conversely, Frankenstein’s monster has also become a benign Halloween favorite. Yet for all its long history, Frankenstein's central premise—that science, not magic or God, can create a living being, and thus these creators must answer for their actions as humans, not Gods—is most relevant today as scientists approach creating synthetic life. In its popular and cultural weight and its expression of the ethical issues raised by the advance of science, physicist Sidney Perkowitz and film expert Eddy von Muller have brought together scholars and scientists, artists and directions—including Mel Brooks—to celebrate and examine Mary Shelley’s marvelous creation and its legacy as the monster moves into his next century.How Are You Peeling?
By Saxton Freymann, Joost Elffers. 1999
A wide range of emotions is presented through fruit and vegetable sculptures. Readers discover the range of expressions that a…
tomato or a kiwi can display, as they delight in the rhyming text that asks about their own emotions.How Are You Peeling?
By Saxton Freymann, Joost Elffers. 1999
A wide range of emotions is presented through fruit and vegetable sculptures Readers discover the range of expressions that…
a tomato or a kiwi can display as they delight in the rhyming text that asks about their own emotionsI Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation (I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation)
By Natalie Nourigat. 2019
When artist Natalie Nourigat left her life in Portland to move to Los Angeles and pursue a job in animation,…
she realized that despite her research, nothing truly prepared her for the wild world that awaited in the studios of Southern California. This autobiographical how-to graphic novel explores the highest highs and lowest lows of pursuing a dream in animation. Brushed with a dose of humor and illustrated advice about salaries, studio culture, and everything in between, I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation is the unique insider experience you won’t find anywhere else. Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.Vivir con arte
By Joaquín Sánchez. 2021
JOAQUÍN sabe que la manera de vivir de verdad es VIVIR CON ARTE Todos tenemos algo en común: vivimos lo…
bueno, lo malo, lo peor y lo mejor. A todos nos toca luchar para conseguir lo mejor, sin dejar de disfrutar lo bueno; esforzándonos para pasar lo malo y superar lo peor. Porque de lo más bajo puedes subir a lo más alto... o al revés. Y el secreto de una buena vida siempre está en el mismo lugar: en tu cabeza, ¡y en tus manos! No importa si eres futbolista o trabajas en una oficina, porque todos tenemos nuestra historia. Y esta es la mía. Verás que no es ningún cuento de hadas, sino un día a día de esfuerzo, porque hace tiempo que tomé una decisión: disfrutar del presente y trabajar para el futuro, valorando las cosas buenas y a las personas que quiero. Porque para vivir la vida no basta con respirar. Hay que vivir con arte. «Si has visto alguna vez en tu vida un partido de fútbol, aunque sea por casualidad, te habrás fijado en una cosa: todos los jugadores fallan en alguna jugada o en alguna acción. Todos. Desde el número uno del mundo, hasta el chaval que juega en el recreo del cole. Los fallos y los errores son normales, tanto en la alta competición como en el día a día. Intentar ser perfecto es la excusa para no moverte de tu sitio: "Si no me sale bien, ¿para qué intentarlo?". Pues para conseguir las cosas que quieres, para eso. Porque si no te atreves a fallar, jamás podrás ganar.»Recipes from the World of Tolkien: Inspired by the Legends
By Robert Tuesley Anderson. 2020
Ever wondered what Lembas Bread, Cram, or Beorn's Honey Cakes might taste like?From Crickhollow Apple Loaf, Pippin's Minas Tirith Lunch,…
and Brandywine Fish Pie to Dwarven Spiced Pickled Beetroot, Westfarthing Fairings, and Beorn's Twice-Baked Cakes, Recipes from the World of Tolkien includes over 75 mouth-watering recipes that will take you on a journey through Middle-earth, delivering a treat for your taste buds and your imagination.Immerse yourself in Tolkien's epic fantasy world with recipes inspired by its places and characters. Whether it's breakfast or second breakfast, elevenses or afternoon tea, lunch or dinner - cook up a feast fit for orcs and elves alike.This collection of delicious recipes also features stunning illustrations and artwork throughout, as well as short feature essays that explore the compelling role of food in Tolkien's works. This is the perfect, must-have addition to any Tolkien fan's bookshelf.This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers.Recipes from the World of Tolkien: Inspired by the Legends
By Robert Tuesley Anderson. 2020
Ever wondered what Lembas Bread, Cram, or Beorn's Honey Cakes might taste like?From Crickhollow Apple Loaf, Pippin's Minas Tirith Lunch,…
and Brandywine Fish Pie to Dwarven Spiced Pickled Beetroot, Westfarthing Fairings, and Beorn's Twice-Baked Cakes, Recipes from the World of Tolkien includes over 75 mouth-watering recipes that will take you on a journey through Middle-earth, delivering a treat for your taste buds and your imagination.Immerse yourself in Tolkien's epic fantasy world with recipes inspired by its places and characters. Whether it's breakfast or second breakfast, elevenses or afternoon tea, lunch or dinner - cook up a feast fit for orcs and elves alike.This collection of delicious recipes also features stunning illustrations and artwork throughout, as well as short feature essays that explore the compelling role of food in Tolkien's works. This is the perfect, must-have addition to any Tolkien fan's bookshelf.This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers.Recipes from the World of Tolkien: Inspired by the Legends (Literary Cookbooks)
By Robert Tuesley Anderson. 2020
These Lord of the Rings-themed recipes are sure to satisfy Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves...and humans too! If you&’ve ever wondered what…
a Hobbit, an Elf, or a Dwarf might eat in a day&’s meals, this cookbook is for you! Whip up some tasty fare with recipes that cover all six mealtimes from the realm of J.R.R. Tolkien. Divided by the time of day, these recipes use modern ingredients and culinary techniques, and American measurements. A great resource for Lord of the Rings parties, this book is a perfect way to experience real food that tastes like a fantasy!This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers.The Elven Cookbook: A Recipe Book Inspired by the Elves of Tolkien
By Robert Tuesley Anderson. 2022
Discover Tolkien's Elves like never before with 60 easy and delicious recipes inspired by all things Elven from The Silmarillion,…
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This is the perfect, must-have addition to any Tolkien fan's bookshelf and follows the international success of The Recipes of Tolkien.The Elven Cookbook features photos of many of the recipes as well as stunning line illustrations of Elves by renowned illustrator Victor Ambrus. There are short feature essays that explore the compelling role of food in Tolkien's works, and bring the Elven world - from their creation by the Valar in The Silmarillion to their final departure from Middle-earth at the end of The Lord of the Rings - to life.From a real-world take on a recipe for Lembas Bread to original creations such as Celebrimbor's Dropped Scones and Mirkwood Coq-au-Vin, you'll discover recipes for every meal of the day that transport you into Tolkien's world.With vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and omnivorous recipes, there's something for everyone and The Elven Cookbook is the perfect gift for every Tolkien fan looking for inspiration in the kitchen.This work is unofficial and is not authorized by the Tolkien Estate or HarperCollins Publishers.Wonder Woman: New edition with full color illustrations
By Noah Berlatsky. 2017
William Marston was an unusual man—a psychologist, a soft-porn pulp novelist, more than a bit of a carny, and the…
(self-declared) inventor of the lie detector. He was also the creator of Wonder Woman, the comic that he used to express two of his greatest passions: feminism and women in bondage. Comics expert Noah Berlatsky takes us on a wild ride through the Wonder Woman comics of the 1940s, vividly illustrating how Marston’s many quirks and contradictions, along with the odd disproportionate composition created by illustrator Harry Peter, produced a comic that was radically ahead of its time in terms of its bold presentation of female power and sexuality. Himself a committed polyamorist, Marston created a universe that was friendly to queer sexualities and lifestyles, from kink to lesbianism to cross-dressing. Written with a deep affection for the fantastically pulpy elements of the early Wonder Woman comics, from invisible jets to giant multi-lunged space kangaroos, the book also reveals how the comic addressed serious, even taboo issues like rape and incest.Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peter Comics 1941-1948 reveals how illustrator and writer came together to create a unique, visionary work of art, filled with bizarre ambition, revolutionary fervor, and love, far different from the action hero symbol of the feminist movement many of us recall from television.Considering Watchmen: New edition with full color illustrations
By Andrew Hoberek. 2017
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen has been widely hailed as a landmark in the development of the graphic novel.…
It was not only aesthetically groundbreaking but also anticipated future developments in politics, literature, and intellectual property. Demonstrating a keen eye for historical detail, Considering Watchmen gives readers a new appreciation of just how radical Moore and Gibbons’s blend of gritty realism and formal experimentation was back in 1986. The book also considers Watchmen’s place in the history of the comics industry, reading the graphic novel’s playful critique of superhero marketing alongside Alan Moore’s public statements about the rights to the franchise. Andrew Hoberek examines how Moore and Gibbons engaged with the emerging discourses of neoconservatism and neoliberal capitalism, ideologies that have only become more prominent in subsequent years.Watchmen’s influences on the superhero comic and graphic novel are undeniable, but Hoberek reveals how it has also had profound effects on literature as a whole. He suggests that Watchmen not only proved that superhero comics could rise to the status of literature—it also helped to inspire a generation of writers who are redefining the boundaries of the literary, from Jonathan Lethem to Junot Díaz. Hoberek delivers insight and analysis worthy of satisfying serious readers of the genre while shedding new light on Watchmen as both an artistic accomplishment and a book of ideas. Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.Destruction, Ethics, and Intergalactic Love: Exploring Y: The Last Man and Saga offers a creative and accessible exploration of the…
two comic book series, examining themes like nonviolence; issues of gender and war; heroes and moral failures; forgiveness and seeking justice; and the importance of diversity and religious pluralism. Through close interdisciplinary reading and personal narratives, the author delves into the complex worlds of Y and Saga in search of an ethics, meaning, and a path resonant with real-world struggles. Reading these works side by side, the analysis draws parallels and seeks common themes around the four central ideas of seeking and making meaning in a meaningless world; love and parenting through oppression and grief; peacefulness when surrounded by violence; and the perils and hopes of diversity and communion. This timely and thoughtful study will resonate with scholars and students of comic studies, media and cultural studies, philosophy, theology, literature, psychology, and popular culture studies.The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Film That Terrified a Rattled Nation
By Joseph Lanza. 2019
When Tobe Hooper’s low-budget slasher film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, opened in theaters in 1974, it was met in equal…
measure with disgust and reverence. The film—in which a group of teenagers meet a gruesome end when they stumble upon a ramshackle farmhouse of psychotic killers—was outright banned in several countries and was pulled from many American theaters after complaints of its violence. Despite the mixed reception from critics, it was enormously profitable at the domestic box office and has since secured its place as one of the most influential horror movies ever made. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Its Terrifying Times, cultural critic Joseph Lanza turns his attentions to the production, reception, social climate, and impact of this controversial movie that rattled the American psyche. Joseph Lanza transports the reader back to the tumultuous era of the 1970s defined by political upheaval, cultural disillusionment, and the perceived decay of the nuclear family in the wake of Watergate, the onslaught of serial killers in the US, as well as mounting racial and sexual tensions. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Its Terrifying Times sets the themes of the film against the backdrop of the political and social American climate to understand why the brutal slasher flick connected with so many viewers. As much a book about the movie as the moment, Joseph Lanza has created an engaging and nuanced work that grapples with the complications of the American experience.Impossible People
By Julia Wertz. 2023
In her keenly observed graphic memoir, Impossible People, celebrated cartoonist Julia Wertz chronicles her haphazard attempts at sobriety and the relentlessly…
challenging, surprisingly funny, and occasionally absurd cycle of addiction and recovery.Opening at the culmination of a disastrous trip to Puerto Rico, the first page of Impossible People finds Julia standing stupefied in the middle of the jungle beside a rental jeep she's just crashed. From this moment, the story flashes back to the beginning of her five-year journey towards sobriety that includes group therapy sessions, relapses, an ill-fated relationship, terrible dates, and an unceremonious eviction from her New York City apartment. Far from the typical addiction narrative that follows an upward trajectory from rock bottom to rehab to recovery, Impossible People portrays the lesser told but more common story: That the road to recover is not always linear. With unflinching honesty and a healthy dose of humor, Wertz details the arduous, frustrating, and hilarious story of trying and failing and trying again.