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Showing 1 - 16 of 16 items
Disarming Iraq
By Hans Blix. 2004
Blix reluctantly came out of retirement in 2000 to lead the U.N. weapons inspections team in Iraq because he was…
the only man everyone could agree on for the job. Three years later, those clamouring for military intervention grumbled at his inability (or, as they saw it, refusal) to present evidence of weapons of mass destruction, but he reminds readers that his assignment was to assess and report on the available evidence. A play-by-play account of the months of diplomacy and inspection efforts leading up to the Iraq war. Some descriptions of violence. 2004.Reaping the whirlwind: the Taliban movement in Afghanistan
By Michael Griffin. 2001
Griffin chronicles the rise of the Taliban from their first appearance in 1994, examines their place in the context of…
Afghanistan's political instability, and discusses the significance of their brand of Islamic fundamentalism. 2001.The island of seven cities: the discovery of a lost Chinese settlement in the Americas
By Paul Chiasson. 2006
2002. Architect Paul Chiasson climbed a mountain on Cape Breton and found an old wide, well-made road, once flanked by…
walls. After two years of study, he believed that these ruins were originally built by the Chinese, as part of a large colony that thrived on Canadian shores well before the European Age of Discovery. Chiasson addresses how the colony was abandoned and forgotten except in the storytelling and culture of the Mi'kmaq, whose written language, clothing, technical knowledge, religious beliefs and legends expose deep cultural roots in China. 2006.The sleeping buddha: the story of Afghanistan through the eyes of one family
By Hamida Ghafour. 2007
In 2003, journalist Ghafour was sent to Afghanistan, which she had fled in 1981, to cover the country's reconstruction. In…
a place totally changed from the world her parents had described, she discovered a school which teaches women a new kind of independence, her cousin's determined parliamentary campaign, and the archaeologist digging for his country's lost civilization in the form of a giant sleeping Buddha. Some descriptions of violence. 2007.Made-Up: A True Story of Beauty Culture under Late Capitalism
By Daphne B., Alex Manley. 2021
A nuanced, feminist, and deeply personal take on beauty culture and YouTube consumerism, in the tradition of Maggie Nelson’s Bluets…
As Daphné B. obsessively watches YouTube makeup tutorials and haunts Sephora’s website, she’s increasingly troubled by the ways in which this obsession contradicts her anti-capitalist and intersectional feminist politics. In this poetic treatise, she rejects the false binaries of traditional beauty standards and delves into the celebrities and influencers, from Kylie to Grimes, and the poets and philosophers, from Anne Boyer to Audre Lorde, who have shaped the reflection she sees in the mirror. At once confessional and essayistic, Made-Up is a meditation on the makeup that colours, that obscures, that highlights who we are and who we wish we could be. The original French-language edition was a cult hit in Quebec. Translated by Alex Manley—like Daphné, a Montreal poet and essayist—the book’s English-language text crackles with life, retaining the flair and verve of the original, and ensuring that a book on beauty is no less beautiful than its subject matter. “The most radical book of 2020 talks about makeup. Radical in the intransigence with which Daphne B hunts down the parts of her imagination that capitalism has phagocytized. Radical also in its rejection of false binaries (the authentic and the fake, the futile and the essential) through the lens of which such a subject is generally considered. With the help of a heady combination of pop cultural criticism and autobiography, a poet scrutinizes her contradictions. They are also ours.” —Dominic Tardif, Le Devoir “[Made-Up] is a delight. I read it in one go. And when, out of necessity, I had to put it down, it was with regret and with the feeling that I was giving up what could save me from a catastrophe.” —Laurence Fournier, Lettres Québécoises, five stars "Made-Up is a radiant, shimmering blend of memoir and cultural criticism that uses beauty culture as an entry point to interrogating the ugly contradictions of late capitalism. In short, urgent chapters laced with humor and wide-ranging references, Daphné B. plumbs the depths of a rich topic that’s typically dismissed as shallow. I imagine her writing it in eye pencil, using makeup to tell the story of her life, as so many women do." —Amy Berkowitz, author of Tender Points "A companion through the thicket of late stage capitalism, a lucid and poetic mirror for anyone whose image exists on a screen." —Rachel Kauder Nalebuff "Made-Up is anything but—committed to the grit of our current realities, Daphné B directs her piercing eye on capitalism in an intimate portrayal of what it means to love, and how to paint ourselves in the process. Alex Manley has gifted English audiences with a nuanced translation of a critical feminist text, exploring love and make-up as a transformative social tool." —Sruti Islam "The book will leave you both laughing in recognition and wincing at the reality of the beauty world’s impact on our collective psyche." —Chatelaine d"[Made-Up] examines the intersection of beauty culture and consumer culture... Aided by the work of writers like Anne Carson, Anne Boyer, Amanda Hess, and Arabelle Sicardi... B. makes sharp observations about the ideologies behind both beauty [...] and consumerism." —Bitch Media "Made-Up: A True Story of Beauty Culture under Late Capitalism is well worth reading." —Literary Review of Canada "[Made-Up], newly translated by writer/poet Alex Manley from its original French, puts an iBecause They Were Women: The Montreal Massacre (A Feminist History Society Book #13)
By Josée Boileau, Chantal Bilodeau. 2019
Telling stories specific to Columbia Plateau farmers and farmland, this journalist puts the lives and difficulties of individual farmers into…
national and global contexts. He interweaves family narratives, historical episodes and his own experience as a young harvest hand to illuminate the transformation of rural America from the 19th to 21st centuryAmong the islands: adventures in the Pacific (Adventures #3)
By Tim F Flannery. 2011
Twenty-five years ago, a young curator of mammals from the Australian Museum in Sydney set out to research the fauna…
of the Pacific Islands. Starting with a survey of one of the most inaccessible islands in Melanesia - Woodlark, in the Trobriands Group - that young scientist found himself ghost-whispering, snake wrestling, Quadoi hunting and plunged waist-deep into a sludge of maggot-infested faeces in search of a small bat that turned out not to be earth-shatteringly interesting. With accounts of discovering, naming and sometimes eating new mammal species; being thwarted or aided by local customs; and historic scientific expeditions, Tim Flannery takes us on an enthralling journey through some of the most diverse and spectacular environments on earth.Remember when: reflections on a changing Australia
By Bruce Elder. 2003
Remember when tomatoes tasted like tomatoes and the bank manager knew you by name? Do you ever wonder what happened…
to the Aussie hamburger, backyard chooks, your local soft drink factory or that yellow fat around the edge of your steak? Life for the average Autralian has changed enormously over the past 50 years. There was once a time when family life revolved around the backyard, and every town and suburb was a real community. It was a time of milk bars, local cordial factories, billycart derbies and Saturday nights at the pictures. Life is very different now. Where have all the general stores and friendly banks gone, and why have they disappeared? And what of Aussie mateship and uniquely Australian language? Or Australian larrikinism and disrespect for pretension? Do they still exist, or have the changes to Australian life completely transformed our society? What has been gained, and, more importantly, what has been lost? Bruce Elder - travel writer, music commentator and social historian - reflects poignantly, and often humourously, on how Australian life has changed since the 1950s.Midnight in the garden of good and evil: a Savannah story
By John Berendt. 1995
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or…
self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. Life in this isolated remnant of the Old South is interspersed with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case, peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters. There are the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle, the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight.Growing up Asian in Australia
By Alice Pung. 2008
Asian-Australians have often been written about by outsiders, as outsiders. In this collection they tell their own stories with verve,…
courage and a large dose of humour. These are not predictable tales of food, festivals and traditional dress. The food is here in all its steaming glory - but listen more closely to the dinner-table chatter and you might be surprised by what you hear. Here are tales of leaving home, falling in love, coming out and finding one’s feet. A young Cindy Pan vows to win every single category of Nobel Prize. Tony Ayres blows a kiss to a skinhead and lives to tell the tale. Benjamin Law has a close encounter with some angry Australian fauna, and Kylie Kwong makes a moving pilgrimage to her great-grandfather’s Chinese village. Here are well-known authors and exciting new voices, spanning several generations and drawn from all over Australia. In sharing their stories, they show us what it is really like to grow up Asian, and Australian. Contributors include: Shaun Tan, Jason Yat-Sen Li, John So, Annette Shun Wah, Quan Yeomans, Jenny Kee, Anh Do, Khoa Do, Caroline Tran and many more.Asylum: voices behind the razor wire
By Heather Tyler. 2003
This book documents the impact that Australia's policy of mandatory detention of asylum-seekers is having on the physical and emotional…
well-being of men, women and children, and explores the role the media has played. Asylum gives voice to the real people behind the sensationalism, with first-hand accounts from asylum-seekers themselves. What happened to them in their own countries that made them feel they had to leave, their dangerous journeys to get to Australia, and the treatment they have received in detention centres. They stitch up their lips, go on hunger strikes, burn Australian buildings on Australian soil. Who are these desperate people and what enrages them so much?Dear Mr. Rudd: ideas for a better Australia
By Robert Manne. 2008
With the election of the Rudd government, there is revived interest in the nation’s future - both the challenges and…
the opportunities. What kind of future can we imagine for Australia? Dear Mr Rudd offers new essays by leading Australian thinkers on the key areas of interest: climate change, indigenous affairs, the economy, human rights, education, health, the republic and much more besides. Each essay serves up in a readable and inspiring way a set of new ideas to consider. This is not an academic contribution or a set of policy statements. Rather, at this time of national renewal, it is an invitation to debate and discussion issued by many passionate and imaginative Australians.The Australians: insiders & outsiders on the national character since 1770
By J. B Hirst. 2007
John Hirst has assembled the key assessments of the national character of Australia and Australians. There are insiders and outsiders.…
There is celebration and criticism. There is the difference between what Australians think of themselves and what they are really like. Hirst provides a set of introductory essays to accompany his selections.Black kettle and full moon: daily life in a vanished Australia
By Geoffrey Blainey. 2003
Master storyteller Geoffrey Blainey takes the reader on another absorbing journey - a guided tour of a vanished Australia. Covering…
the years from the first gold rush to World War I. Blainey paints a fascinating picture of how our forebears lived - in the outback, in towns and cities, at sea and on land. He looks at all aspects of daily life, from billycans to brass bands, from ice-making to etiquette, from pipes to pubs.Travels in American Iraq
By John Martinkus. 2004
SBS journalist John Martinkus provides a riveting portrait of a country on the brink of civil war. When the Coalition…
of the Willing liberated Iraq from the yoke of Saddam in early 2003, George W. Bush announced that the Second Gulf War was over. John Martinkus's account of seven weeks spent travelling independently around Iraq in early 2004 shows just the opposite. He takes us into the key places of the new Iraq - from Abu Gharib prison to the Coalition's sealed-off security zone. He provides an eye-witness account of the March 2004 Karbala bombings, and vivid accounts of meetings with ordinary Iraqis, religious leaders, insurgents and occupying troops - the events that take place beyond the official perspective. Tracing the ever-widening gap between rhetoric and reality, he shows that, amidst a developing guerrilla war and a chaotic reconstruction, the line between liberation and occupation has become thin indeed.