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All in All: An Actor's Life On and Off the Stage
by Stacy KeachStacy Keach is known for movie roles like Fat City and American History X and the television series Titus, and of course Mike Hammer, but he's also revered in the industry as a serious actor who's passionate about his craft. In his long, impressive career, he has been hailed as America's finest classical stage actor, earning acclaim for his portrayals of Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, and King Lear. He has worked alongside and become friends with the giants of American culture, from Joseph Papp to George C. Scott, from James Earl Jones to Oliver Stone.Keach’s memoir begins with the riveting account of his arrest in London for cocaine possession. He takes readers through his trial and his time at Reading Jail as he battles his drug addiction and then fights to revive his career. Keach poignantly reveals his acting insecurities and relationship struggles. All in All is full of priceless behind the scenes Hollywood moments and friendships—from his late-night pool and backgammon showdowns with John Huston to his passionate relationship with Judy Collins.
All in Good Time: A Memoir
by Jonathan SchwartzAll in Good Time is a luminous memoir about growing up in the shadow of the golden age of songwriting and Sinatra, from the celebrated radio personality and novelist Jonathan Schwartz."Dancing in the Dark." "That's Entertainment." "By Myself." "You and the Night and the Music." They are part of the American Songbook, and were all composed by Arthur Schwartz, the elusive father at the center of his son's beautifully written book.Imagine a childhood in which Judy Garland sings you lullabies, Jackie Robinson hits you fly balls, and yet you're lonely enough to sneak into the houses of Beverly Hills neighbors and hide behind curtains to watch real families at dinner. At the age of nine, Jonathan Schwartz began broadcasting his father's songs on a homemade radio station, and would eventually perform those songs, and others, as a pianist-singer in the saloons of London and Paris, meeting Frank Sinatra for the first time along the way. (His portrait of Sinatra is as affectionate and accurate as any written to date.)Schwartz's love for a married woman caught up in the fervor of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and his other relationships with both lovers and wives, surround his eventually successful career on New York radio.The men and women who have roles to play include Richard Rodgers, Nelson Riddle, Carly Simon, Jimmy Van Heusen, Bennett Cerf, Elizabeth Taylor, and, of course, Sinatra himself.Schwartz writes of the start of FM radio, the inception of the LP, and the constantly changing flavors of popular music, while revealing the darker corners of his own history.Most of all, Jonathan Schwartz embraces the legacy his father left him: a passion for music, honored with both pride and sorrow.
All in the Timing: Fourteen Plays
by David IvesThe world according to David Ives is a very add place, and his plays constitute a virtual stress test of the English language -- and of the audience's capacity for disorientation and delight. Ives's characters plunge into black holes called "Philadelphias," where the simplest desires are hilariously thwarted. Chimps named Milton, Swift, and Kafka are locked in a room and made to re-create Hamlet. And a con man peddles courses in a dubious language in which "hello" translates as "velcro" and "fraud" comes out as "freud."At once enchanting and perplexing, incisively intelligent and side-splittingly funny, this original paperback edition of Ives's plays includes "Sure Thing," "Words, Words, Words," "The Universal Language," "Variations on the Death of Trotsky," "The Philadelphia," "Long Ago and Far Away," "Foreplay, or The Art of the Fugue," "Seven Menus," "Mere Mortals," "English Made Simple," "A Singular Kinda Guy," "Speed-the-Play," "Ancient History," and "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread."
All of Me
by Michael Posner Anne MurrayIn this revealing autobiography, Canada's first lady of song, for the first time, tells the whole story of her astonishing 40-year career in show biz. It is a candid retrospective of the extraordinary success achieved, and the prices that had to be paid."After 'Snowbird' hit, I was swept up like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and catapulted into a strange new universe ... If I thought for a moment that I was really in control of events, I was deluded." Anne Murray. An unflinching self-portrait of Canada's first great female recording artist, All of Me documents the life of Anne Murray, from her humble origins in the tragedy-plagued coal-mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia, to her arrival on the world stage. Anne recounts her story: the battles with her record companies over singles and albums; the struggle with drug- and alcohol-ridden band members; the terrible guilt and loneliness of being away from her two young children; her divorce from the man who helped launch her career, Bill Langstroth; and the deaths of two of her closest confidantes. The result is a must-read autobiography by Canada's beloved songbird.
All of Me: My Extraordinary Life
by Barbara WindsorThis ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. Born in the East End of London just before the war, Barbara Windsor made her first stage appearance at the age of 13. From her early roles as the original Carry On dolly bird to her hit as Peggy Mitchell in the award-winning BBC drama EastEnders, her spectacular success in theatre, film and TV has made her a British icon - the Cockney kid with a dazzling smile and talent to match. Here, for the first time, she talks in depth about the people and events that have shaped her career: her lonely childhood, her doomed marriage to Ronnie Knight, her legendary affairs, how she has never let her fans down whatever her personal anguish. This is the heart-warming story of a courageous woman and consummate performer who has always made sure the show goes on.
All of Me: My Extraordinary Life - The Most Recent Autobiography by Barbara Windsor
by Barbara WindsorTHE HEART-WARMING AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY BARBARA WINDSOR CHRONICLING HER EARLY CHILDHOOD IN LONDON'S EAST END TO RECEIVING A DBE IN 2000'A whopping, no-holds-barred rollercoaster of a book' Mail on Sunday`Barbara Windsor emerges from these pages as a personality both strong and sunny' Sunday TelegraphBorn in the East End of London just before the war, Barbara Windsor made her first stage appearance at the age of 13. From her early roles as the original Carry On dolly bird to her longest role as Peggy Mitchell in the award-winning BBC drama EastEnders, her spectacular success in theatre, film and TV has made her a British icon - the Cockney kid with a dazzling smile and talent to match.Here, for the first time, she talks in depth about the people and events that have shaped her career: her lonely childhood, her doomed marriage to Ronnie Knight, her legendary affairs, how she never let her fans down whatever her personal anguish. This is the heart-warming story of a courageous woman and consummate performer who has always made sure the show goes on.'By living up to its title alone it makes a nonsense of every other showbiz bleat 'n' brag ever put to paper' Julie Burchill'Infinitely more interesting than the sentimental schmaltz we have read about her before' Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph
All of Us with Wings
by Michelle Ruiz KeilThis young adult fantasy debut about love, found family, and healing is &“a fantastical ode to the Golden City&’s postpunk era,&” told through the eyes of a Mexican-American girl (Entertainment Weekly). &“Complex and beautiful, blending folklore, San Franciscan history, the music scene, vampires, magic . . . hard to put down.&” —School Library Journal Seventeen-year-old Xochi is alone in San Francisco, running from her painful past: the mother who abandoned her, the man who betrayed her. Then one day, she meets Pallas, a precocious twelve-year-old who lives with her rockstar family in one of the city&’s storybook Victorians. Xochi accepts a position as Pallas&’s live-in governess and quickly finds her place in the girl&’s tight-knit household, which operates on a free-love philosophy and easy warmth despite the band&’s growing fame. But on the night of the Vernal Equinox, as a concert afterparty rages in the house below, Xochi and Pallas perform a riot-grrrl ritual in good fun, accidentally summoning a pair of ancient beings bound to avenge the wrongs of Xochi&’s past. She would do anything to preserve her new life, but with the creatures determined to exact vengeance on those who&’ve hurt her, no one is safe—not the family Xochi&’s chosen, nor the one she left behind.
All that Hollywood Allows: Re-reading Gender in 1950s Melodrama (Gender And American Culture Ser.)
by Jackie ByarsAll that Hollywood Allows explores the representation of gender in popular Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Both a work of feminist film criticism and theory and an analysis of popular culture, this provocative book examines from a cultural studies perspective top-grossing film melodramas, such as A Streetcar Named Desire, From Here to Eternity, East of Eden, Imitation of Life and Picnic. Stereotypically viewed as a complacent and idyllic time, the 1950s were actually a time of dislocation and great social change. Jackie Byars argues that mass media texts of the period, especially films, provide evidence of society's consuming preoccupation with the domestic sphere - the nuclear family and its values - and she shows how Hollywood melodramas interpreted and extended societal debates concerning family structure, sexual divisions of labour, and gender roles. Her readings of these films assess a variety of critical methodologies and approaches to textual analysis, some central to feminist film studies and some previously bypassed by scholars in the field.
All the King's Horses: The Equestrian Life of Elvis Presley
by Kimberly Gatto Victoria RacimoWhen Elvis Presley decided he wanted to buy a horse in 1966, he didn't want just any horse. "He wanted a Golden Palomino," Priscilla Presley remembers. "He would get up at 3:00 in the morning, go to certain farms and ranches and say, 'Do you have a Golden Palomino for sale?' People would say, 'That was Elvis Presley!" Elvis's legendary love of horses drove him to find the Golden Palomino who would become his beloved companion Rising Sun, and to fill Graceland's stables and Circle G Ranch with horses for family and friends to ride. In the first-ever book dedicated to Elvis's equestrian side, horse lovers Kimberly Gatto and Victoria Racimo share rare stories, interviews, and photographs that shed light on the beautiful, quiet life the King lived when he was with his horses.
All the Moves (But None of the Licks): Secrets of the Record Business
by Clive SelwoodClive Selwood is the man who invented "chart hyping," the man who started the first "hippie" record label, and who pioneered the concept of radio "session" recordings with one of the most successful independent record labels ever. Replacing Des O'Connor as a Butlin Redcoat, falling foul of London gangsters, taking a major record company to the top of the league, getting fired and taking sweet revenge by making its main rival the No.1 singles company--Clive Selwood has had his fingerprints all over the secret machinations of both the UK and international music industries for over four decades. A director of such international record companies as Elektra, UK Records, CBS, and Pye, and creator, with John Peel, of the Dandelion independent label and Strange Fruit Records, Clive Selwood worked with such legendary names as Jim Morrison, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Barry White, Rod Stewart, Abba, Elton John, and hundreds more. Illustrated with photographs from the author's private collection, this memoir covers every facet of the music business--lawyers, chart fixing, marketing, record production, music festivals, record executives and personalities, artist management, sex, bribery, and the creation of both successful and unsuccessful record companies. Having helped to shape and guide the careers of some of the world's leading recording artists, Clive Selwood chooses to dedicate this fascinating memoir to the millions of "air guitarists" with all the classic moves of their heroes--from Slowhand to Slipknot--but none of their licks, and the countless souls trapped in mundane jobs who dream of the danger and the excitement that the music business would appear to offer.
All the News That's Fit to Sell: How the Market Transforms Information into News
by James T. HamiltonThat market forces drive the news is not news. Whether a story appears in print, on television, or on the Internet depends on who is interested, its value to advertisers, the costs of assembling the details, and competitors' products. But in All the News That's Fit to Sell, economist James Hamilton shows just how this happens. Furthermore, many complaints about journalism--media bias, soft news, and pundits as celebrities--arise from the impact of this economic logic on news judgments. This is the first book to develop an economic theory of news, analyze evidence across a wide range of media markets on how incentives affect news content, and offer policy conclusions. Media bias, for instance, was long a staple of the news. Hamilton's analysis of newspapers from 1870 to 1900 reveals how nonpartisan reporting became the norm. A hundred years later, some partisan elements reemerged as, for example, evening news broadcasts tried to retain young female viewers with stories aimed at their (Democratic) political interests. Examination of story selection on the network evening news programs from 1969 to 1998 shows how cable competition, deregulation, and ownership changes encouraged a shift from hard news about politics toward more soft news about entertainers. Hamilton concludes by calling for lower costs of access to government information, a greater role for nonprofits in funding journalism, the development of norms that stress hard news reporting, and the defining of digital and Internet property rights to encourage the flow of news. Ultimately, this book shows that by more fully understanding the economics behind the news, we will be better positioned to ensure that the news serves the public good.
All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire®
by Jonathan Abrams<P>The definitive oral history of the iconic and beloved TV show The Wire, as told by the actors, writers, directors, and others involved in its creation. <P>Since its final episode aired in 2008, HBO's acclaimed crime drama The Wire has only become more popular and influential. The issues it tackled, from the failures of the drug war and criminal justice system to systemic bias in law enforcement and other social institutions, have become more urgent and central to the national conversation. <P>The show's actors, such as Idris Elba, Dominic West, and Michael B. Jordan, have gone on to become major stars. Its creators and writers, including David Simon and Richard Price, have developed dedicated cult followings of their own. Universities use the show to teach everything from film theory to criminal justice to sociology. Politicians and activists reference it when discussing policy. When critics compile lists of the Greatest TV Shows of All Time, The Wire routinely takes the top spot. It is arguably one of the great works of art America has produced in the 20th century. <P>But while there has been a great deal of critical analysis of the show and its themes, until now there has never been a definitive, behind-the-scenes take on how it came to be made. With unparalleled access to all the key actors and writers involved in its creation, Jonathan Abrams tells the astonishing, compelling, and complete account of The Wire, from its inception and creation through its end and powerful legacy. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
All the Rage: A Partial Memoir in Two Acts and a Prologue
by Brad FraserA Canadian playwright's rise to fame amid the terrors of the AIDS era.Brad Fraser suffered an impoverished and abusive childhood, living with his teenage parents in motel rooms and shacks on the side of the highway in Alberta and Northern British Columbia. He grew to be one of the most celebrated, and controversial, Canadian playwrights, his work produced to acclaim all over the world. All the Rage chronicles Brad Fraser's rise as he breaks with his past and enrolls as a performing arts student. He is pulled into the newly developing Canadian theatre scene, where he shows great promise. But his early career is one of challenge after challenge, some of which result from his upbringing and prejudice against his queerness. But just as many challenges arise from his combative personality and willingness to challenge the establishment. Few Canadian artists have been as abrasive, notorious and polarizing as Fraser was in his youth.Woven through this tale of artistic development is his journey as a queer man coming into himself during the most exhilarating period in the Gay Liberation Movement, and the dawn of a global health crisis. What should have been a triumphant time in a young, successful playwright's life was blighted with the terrifying emergence of AIDS, and the sickness and death of comrades and lovers.This is both the story of an artist's evolution and an important work of gay history that has rarely been recounted from a Canadian perspective. Written with Fraser's trademark wit and candour, All the Rage is unsparing, sometimes shocking and always enthralling.
All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns
by Betty Gilpin"If DAVID RAKOFF and DAVID SEDARIS had a baby and that baby was Betty." —Zoe KazanIf you’ve ever felt like you were more, or at least weirder, than the world expected?you're not alone...In this collection, EMMY AWARD-nominated ACTRESS/WRITER Betty Gilpin "writes like an avenging angel, weaving a tapestry of light and darkness, hilarity, and pathos." (Dani Shapiro)"Pick up this WILDLY ORIGINAL, LAUGH-OUT-LOUD, freakishly-incisive debut." —Lisa Taddeo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three WomenOh. Hi. *takes six long gulps of water during which you’re like, may I help you?*My name is Betty. I have depression. I have passion. I have tits the size of printers. And also: I have a brain full of women.There’s Blanche VonFuckery, Ingrid St. Rash, and a host of others—some cowering in sweatpants, some howling plans for revolution, and one, oh God, and one . . . slowly vomiting up a crow? Worried for her. These women take turns at the wheel. That’s why I feel like a million selves. With a raised eyebrow and a soul-scalpel, I’d like to tell you how I got this way. Because maybe you feel this way too.Let’s hop from wild dissections of modern womanhood to boarding school musings to the glossy cringe of Hollywood. Let’s laugh at my failures and then quietly hope with me for the dream. Whether that dream is love or liberation or enough IMDB credits to taze the demon snapping at my ankles, we won’t know until the shit-fanning end.As a dear friend said after reading this book, it’s “either a masterpiece, or it’s…completely…” and then she glazed over into a haunted stare. Reader? This book is my opus and it is chaos.Welcome to All the Women in My Brain.
All-Terrain Survival for Fortniters: An Unofficial Guide to Battle Royale (Master Combat)
by Jason RichKnow your terrain and use it to your advantage with All-Terrain Survival. This all-new, unofficial, illustrated guide series will turn you into a master Fortnite: Battle Royale gamer by uncovering all the best strategies and secrets of this wildly popular game. Whether you play Fortnite: Battle Royale on a PC, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or your mobile device, you’ll find everything you need to stay at the top of your game. <P><P>Each book is packed with useful insider tips on topics like, staying alive longer, exploring, collecting a powerful arsenal, building, and snagging more victories during each match. When it comes to achieving #1 Victory Royale, the Fortnite Battle Royale: Master Combat Series provides the ultimate competitive edge. There are more than a dozen unique points of interest in Fortnite, all with different settings. <P><P>The best gamers know how to soldier their way through deserts, tropics, forests, villages, cities, ice-covered plains, mountains, small islands, and any other terrain they encounter. Thanks to this illustrated, how-to guide, you can learn to spot the key differences between terrains, rise to the unique challenge each one poses, and master each setting where matches are held. <P><P>Use the tips and secrets in this book to explore, survive, and battle your way to #1 Victory Royale. Master Combat: All-Terrain Survival has everything you need to tough-it-out through every terrain and be the last soldier standing.
Allan King's A Married Couple
by Zoe DruickLong before 'Reality TV,' Canadian filmmaker Allan King caused a stir by mixing people's private and public lives in his 1969 documentary A Married Couple. This observational cinema piece, which took an unscripted look at the urban Edwards family, was deemed too contentious to air by commissioning network CTV on the grounds of excessive nudity and obscenity. Nevertheless, the documentary was accepted by the Cannes festival, and it is now cited as a milestone in realist filmmaking.In Allan King's A Married Couple, Zoë Druick examines the film in the context of late 1960s cinematic and cultural movements. Through a scene-by-scene synopsis and an analysis of contemporary responses to the piece, she traces A Married Couple's influence on documentary and Canadian filmmaking. The fifth volume in the Canadian Cinema series, this work is an accessible and engaging introduction to a controversial film and its fascinating director.
Allan, Burning: A Novel
by Donald Everett AxinnHappily married with two beautiful children, successful architect and avid amateur aviator Allan Daniels finds his life plummeting into a nightmare when his wife suddenly announces that she wants a separation, maybe a divorce. Then, two days later, as he is piloting a seaplane from Long Island to Key West, the engine of his Cessna 185 seaplane sputters, then quits. Daniels's resolute skills as a pilot enable him to land safely in the Everglades, where a disheveled Miccosukee man named Tommy Handley finds him. But while Handley turns out to be from the same tribe as Daniels's mother, he also turns out to be a fugitive from justice, hiding out and evading capture in the protection of the remote swamps. When Daniels wakes in the middle of the night to find Handley groping for his wallet, Daniels defends himself--but accidentally kills his rescuer, then flees in his boat, from which locals later rescue him again. Daniels's explanation of what happened in the swamp doesn't sit well with savvy local lawman Sheriff Haskins, who suspects that Daniels is hiding something--but what? When Daniels finally confesses his guilt, it will set off a whole new chain of dire events in this fast-paced novel with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the final page.
Allegories of Contamination
by Patrick RumbleThe Trilogia della vita (Trilogy of Life) is a series of three films that Pier Paolo Pasolini completed before his horrifying assassination in 1975, and it remains among the most controversial of his cinematic works. In Allegories of Contamination Patrick Rumble provides an incisive critical and theoretical study of these films and the Marxist filmmaker's complex, original concept of the cinematic medium.With the three films that make up the Trilogy of Life - The Decameron, Canterbury Tales, and The Arabian Nights - Pasolini attempts to recapture the aura surrounding popular, predominantly oral forms of storytelling through a pro-modern vision of innocent, unalienated bodies and pleasures. In these works Pasolini appears to abandon the explicitly political engagement that marked his earlier works - films that led him to be identified with other radical filmmakers such as Bellocchio, Bertolucci, and Godard. However, Pasolini insisted that these were his 'most ideological films,' and his political engagement translates into a mannerist, anti-classical style or what he called a 'cinema of poetry.' Rumble offers a comparative study based on the concept of 'aesthetic contamination,' which is fundamental to the understanding of Pasolini's poetics. Aesthetic contamination concerns the mediation between different cultures and different historical moments. Through stylistic experimentation, the Trilogy of Life presents a genealogy of visual codes, an interrogation of the subjectivity of narrative cinema. In these films Pasolini celebrates life, and perhaps therein lies their simple heresy.
Allegories of the End of Capitalism: Six Films on the Revolutions of Our Times
by Milo SweedlerIn Allegories of the End of Capitalism, Milo Sweedler deconstructs the events of films Melancholia; Cosmopolis; Suffragette; Django Unchained; Elysium and Snowpiercer, the socio-political contexts they arise from and enter into, and their impact on contemporary culture and life. He examines how filmmakers from six different countries, across four continents, give narrative and audio-visual form to the frustration and anger that burst into public view in 2011, the ongoing class war between the super-rich and the rest of the world's population, and the insurrection that it yet to come.
Allegorithmic: The Company That Brought Substance to the World of 3D
by Sébastien DeguyAllegorithmic: The Company That Brought Substance to the World of 3D explores the journey of Allegorithmic, the software company behind Substance, a suite of tools that revolutionized texturing in computer graphics. This engaging narrative by Sébastien Deguy, the visionary founder and CEO of the company, chronicles the growth of Allegorithmic from its inception as a small startup to becoming a leader in digital content creation, pivotal in shaping the visual aesthetics of video games and films.The book highlights key technological innovations and strategic decisions that propelled the company forward, offering a detailed look at the challenges and triumphs of developing cutting-edge software solutions while building a team attached to its strong values and passion for digital artists.Key Features: Provides a detailed history of Allegorithmic, a company at the forefront of technological innovation in procedural textures and 3D content. Covers significant technical ground, discussing complex environments, procedural textures, and software development, while also delving into the creative aspects of these technologies. Spans the growth of a startup into a major player in the tech industry, providing insights into business strategies, team building, and international expansion. Reflects on the cultural shifts within the company and the broader industry, offering lessons on adapting to technological advancements and market demands. Ideal for tech enthusiasts, artists, and entrepreneurs, this deep book provides a comprehensive overview of the creativity and perseverance required to influence and lead in the tech industry.
Allegory in Enlightenment Britain: Literary Abominations
by Jason J. GulyaThis Palgrave Pivot argues for the significance of allegory in Enlightenment writing. While eighteenth-century allegory has often been dismissed as an inadequate form, both in its time and in later scholarship, this short book reveals how Enlightenment writers adapted allegory to the cultural changes of the time. It examines how these writers analyzed earlier allegories with scientific precision and broke up allegory into parts to combine it with other genres. These experimentations in allegory reflected the effects of empiricism, secularization and a modern aesthetic that were transforming Enlightenment culture. Using a broad range of examples – including classics of the genre, eighteenth-century texts and periodicals – this book argues that the eighteenth century helped make allegory the flexible, protean literary form it is today.
Allegra
by Shelley HrdlitschkaAllegra thinks being at a performing-arts high school will change her life and make her a better dancer. But high school is still high school, complete with cliques, competition and cruelty. Allegra's refuge comes in the form of a class she doesn't want to take—music theory, taught by a very young, very attractive male teacher. Soon all Allegra can think about is music composition—and Mr. Rochelli. But has she misunderstood his attention, or is he really her soul mate?
Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll
by Fred GoodmanThe story of the notorious rock and roll manager, revealing new, behind-the-scenes details about some of the biggest bands in music history. Allen Klein was like no one the music industry had seen before. Though he became infamous for allegedly causing the Beatles&’ breakup and robbing the Rolling Stones, the truth is both more complex and more fascinating. As the manager of both groups—not to mention Sam Cooke, Pete Townshend, Donovan, The Kinks, and numerous others—he taught young soon-to-be legends how to be businessmen as well as rock stars. While Klein made millions for his clients, he was as merciless with them as he was with anyone, earning himself an outsize reputation for villainy that has gone unchallenged until now. Through unique, unprecedented access to Klein&’s archives, veteran music journalist Fred Goodman tells the full story of how the Beatles broke up, the Stones achieved the greatest commercial success in rock history, and the music business became what it is today. &“Fred Goodman makes this world come alive, and any fan of rock or insider tales of the music industry will be in heaven reading about this fascinating, troubling character.&” —Judd Apatow &“Writing about contracts, percentages and deals can be tedious, but Goodman makes it as exciting as reading about an artist&’s sex life. The book explodes with inside dope.&” —Daily News (New York) &“Succeed[s] both as a compelling work of rock-&’n&’-roll history and as a cautionary business primer.&” —The Wall Street Journal
Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak and Cinemas of Decolonization (Film and Culture Series)
by Rosalind GaltThe pontianak, a terrifying female vampire ghost, is a powerful figure in Malay cultures, as loved and feared in Southeast Asia as Dracula is in the West. In animist tradition, she is a woman who has died in childbirth, and her vengeful return upsets gender norms and social hierarchies. The pontianak first appeared on screen in late colonial Singapore in a series of popular films that combine indigenous animism and transnational production with the cultural and political force of the horror genre.In Alluring Monsters, Rosalind Galt explores how and why the pontianak found new life in postcolonial Southeast Asian film and society. She argues that the figure speaks to a series of intersecting anxieties: about femininity and modernity, globalization and indigeneity, racial and national identities, the relationship of Islam to animism, and heritage and environmental destruction. The pontianak offers abundant feminist potential, but her disruptive gender politics also unsettle queer and feminist film theories by putting them in dialogue with Malay epistemologies. Reading the pontianak as a precolonial figure of disturbance within postcolonial cultures, Galt reveals the importance of cinema to histories and theories of decolonization. From the horror films made by Cathay Keris and Shaw Studios in the 1950s and 1960s to contemporary film, television, art, and fiction in Malaysia and Singapore, the pontianak in all her media forms sheds light on how postcolonial identities are both developed and contested. In tracing the entanglements of Malay feminist animisms with postcolonial visual cultures, Alluring Monsters reveals how a “pontianak theory” can reshape understandings of anticolonial aesthetics and world cinema.
Almost Hollywood, Nearly New Orleans
by Vicki MayerAt publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www. luminosoa. org to learn more. Early in the twenty-first century, Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the United States, redirected millions in tax dollars from the public coffers in an effort to become the top location site globally for the production of Hollywood films and television series. Why would lawmakers support such a policy? Why would citizens accept the policy's uncomfortable effects on their economy and culture? Almost Hollywood, Nearly New Orleans addresses these questions through a study of the local and everyday experiences of the film economy in New Orleans, Louisiana--a city that has twice pursued the goal of becoming a movie production capital. From the silent era to today's Hollywood South, Vicki Mayer explains that the aura of a film economy is inseparable from a prevailing sense of home, even as it changes that place irrevocably.