Crap Souvenirs

Crap Souvenirs
Author: Doug Lansky
Publisher: Perigee Books
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2012
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9780399537653

The author of the Signspotting series casts a gimlet eye on unfortunate souvenirs from around the worldNfrom the kitschy and crude to the downright creepy.

Crap

Crap
Author: Wendy A. Woloson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2020-10-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 022666449X

Crap. We all have it. Filling drawers. Overflowing bins and baskets. Proudly displayed or stuffed in boxes in basements and garages. Big and small. Metal, fabric, and a whole lot of plastic. So much crap. Abundant cheap stuff is about as American as it gets. And it turns out these seemingly unimportant consumer goods offer unique insights into ourselves—our values and our desires. In Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America, Wendy A. Woloson takes seriously the history of objects that are often cynically-made and easy to dismiss: things not made to last; things we don't really need; things we often don't even really want. Woloson does not mock these ordinary, everyday possessions but seeks to understand them as a way to understand aspects of ourselves, socially, culturally, and economically: Why do we—as individuals and as a culture—possess these things? Where do they come from? Why do we want them? And what is the true cost of owning them? Woloson tells the history of crap from the late eighteenth century up through today, exploring its many categories: gadgets, knickknacks, novelty goods, mass-produced collectibles, giftware, variety store merchandise. As Woloson shows, not all crap is crappy in the same way—bric-a-brac is crappy in a different way from, say, advertising giveaways, which are differently crappy from commemorative plates. Taking on the full brilliant and depressing array of crappy material goods, the book explores the overlooked corners of the American market and mindset, revealing the complexity of our relationship with commodity culture over time. By studying crap rather than finely made material objects, Woloson shows us a new way to truly understand ourselves, our national character, and our collective psyche. For all its problems, and despite its disposability, our crap is us.

Three Stations

Three Stations
Author: Martin Cruz Smith
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2013-08-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1471131173

Don't miss the latest book in the Arkady Renko series, THE SIBERIAN DILEMMA by Martin Cruz Smith, ‘the master of the international thriller’ (New York Times) – available to order now! AN ARKADY RENKO NOVEL: #7 'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid 'Makes tension rise through the page like a shark's fin’ Independent *** Investigator Arkady Renko has been suspended from the Moscow prosecutor's office for smashing through the corruption of Russia's underbelly to uncover unpleasant truths. Despite this, he strives to solve a final case: a young woman is found dead in a work shed on the perimeter of Moscow's main rail hub, and Renko is the only one who recognises it to be more than a simple drug overdose. The case quickly unveils itself as an entangled web of murder, money and madness that stretches from the lowest of street urchins to the powerful billionaires, uncovering the extent of corruption and fear in an emergent Russia. Praise for Martin Cruz Smith 'The story drips with atmosphere and authenticity – a literary triumph' David Young, bestselling author of Stasi Child ‘Smith not only constructs grittily realistic plots, he also has a gift for characterisation of which most thriller writers can only dream' Mail on Sunday 'Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' Guardian 'Brilliantly worked, marvellously written . . . an imaginative triumph' Sunday Times ‘Martin Cruz Smith’s Renko novels are superb’ William Ryan, author of The Constant Soldier

Redefining Kitsch and Camp in Literature and Culture

Redefining Kitsch and Camp in Literature and Culture
Author: Justyna Stępień
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2014-09-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1443867799

Redefining Kitsch and Camp in Literature and Culture is a collection of fourteen essays dealing with the performative character of kitsch and camp aesthetics in popular culture and avant-garde productions. Anticipated in both literature and culture, the book traces the evolution of two aesthetics from a number of theoretical perspectives, including gender studies, queer studies, popular culture studies, aesthetics, film studies and postcolonial studies. The volume provides a much-needed commentary on the mechanisms and functions of kitsch and camp in contemporary literary and cultural studies, reflecting on various transformations that are currently underway.

Cold Remains

Cold Remains
Author: Sally Spedding
Publisher: Sparkling Books
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2012
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1907230289

Jason Robbins and Helen Jenkins arrive at eerie Heron House in Carmarthenshire. Together they discover what dangers lurk behind the walls; how the post-war past bleeds into the present when the tormented soul of the young woman haunting them will stop at nothing to have her story told. But is the ghost's version of events to be trusted?

Double Or Nothing

Double Or Nothing
Author: Raymond Federman
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 1998
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1573660752

Double or Nothing challenges the way we read fiction and the way we see words, and in the process, gives us back more of our own world and our real dilemmas than we are used to getting.

Whirlwind

Whirlwind
Author: Joseph R. Garber
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0061873926

From the New York Times bestselling author of the pulse-pounding Vertical Run comes a spellbinding new white-knuckle thriller to keep you up all night. Charlie McKenzie is the best at what he does, and what he does best of all is the CIA's dirty work. At least he did until his bosses double-crossed him. Jailed and disgraced to cover up a mammoth intelligence blunder, Charlie wants to get even. Opportunity knocks when Irina Kolodenkova, a young Russian spy, stumbles across a top-secret technology called Whirlwind, the most important military breakthrough since the atomic bomb. Charlie's the only one with the very special skills needed to track her down and retrieve it. The desk jockeys who betrayed Charlie have no choice: they have to put him back on the job. But Charlie already knows too much. Once he recovers Whirlwind, his enemies plan to betray him again -- this time for keeps. They put a lethal South African soldier of fortune on Charlie's trail. His orders: keep Charlie in your crosshairs until he finds Whirlwind, then take him down. However, Charlie has plans of his own, and he is not going to be an easy kill. Quite the contrary ...

Battleground Pacific

Battleground Pacific
Author: Sterling Mace
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2012-05-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1250005051

A powerfully wrought WWII memoir by a member of the fabled 1st Marine Division depicted in HBO's "The Pacific" that profiles a dramatic, "under the helmet" view of some of the worst action of the Pacific War.

Stephens Plays: 3

Stephens Plays: 3
Author: Simon Stephens
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2014-05-08
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1408176874

Harper Regan follows a woman's road trip through the heart of England in a violent and comic exploration of the moralities of sex and death. Quietly harrowing, this play is a barometer for our times exploring dark secrets and familial estrangement. Marine Parade is a musical about sex, betrayal and hope, set in a run-down B&B on Brighton's waterfront. A moving and poignant play, it 'captures the peculiar aroma of Brighton, with its mix of the bracing and the melancholy' (Guardian). Olivier award-winning play On the Shore of the Wide World is an epic piece about love, family, Roy Keane and the size of the galaxy. Punk Rock is based on Simon Stephens's experience as a teacher and he describes this play as 'The History Boys on crack'. It explores the underlying tensions and potential violence in a group of affluent, articulate seventeen year old students.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Author: Hunter S. Thompson
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2010-09-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 030774406X

50th Anniversary Edition • With an introduction by Caity Weaver, acclaimed New York Times journalist This cult classic of gonzo journalism is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken. Also a major motion picture directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.