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Backing into Forward: A Memoir
by Jules FeifferA gifted storyteller who has delighted readers and theater audiences for decades, Jules Feiffer now turns his talents to the tale of his own life. Plagued by learning problems, a controlling mother, and a debilitating sense of fear, Feiffer embarked on his first cartoon apprenticeship at the age of seventeen, emboldened only by a passion for success and an aptitude for failure. He vividly recalls those transformative years working under the legendary Will Eisner, and later, after he was drafted into the army, his evolution from "smart-ass kid into an enraged satirist." Backing into Forward also traces Feiffer's love life, from a doomed hitchhiking trip to reclaim his high-school sweetheart to losing his virginity in Greenwich Village, and his road to marriage and fatherhood. At the center of this journey is Feiffer's prolific creativity. In dazzling detail, he recounts the birth of his subversive graphic novella Munro, his entrée into New York's literary salons, collaborations with film greats Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, and Jack Nicholson, and other major turning points. Brimming with wry punch lines, slices of Americana, and pithy social commentary, Backing into Forward charts Feiffer's rise as an unlikely and incisive provocateur during the conformist fifties and the Vietnam and Civil Rights sixties and seventies.
Backlund: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling's World Champion
by Robert H. Miller Bob Backlund Roddy PiperBob Backlund began life as a poor farm boy in the little village of Princeton, Minnesota, with a population of just over 2,000 people. He was a below-average student with a lackluster work ethic and a bad attitude, who hung with the wrong crowd and made a lot of bad choices. He was a kid whose life was headed for disaster-until a local coach took interest in him, suggested that he take up amateur wrestling, and offered to work with him if he promised to stay out of trouble.It was in North Dakota that Bob Backlund had the first of several chance encounters that would shape his destiny. While working out at the YMCA gymnasium in Fargo, North Dakota, where he wrestled for North Dakota State, Backlund met a well-known professional wrestler, "Superstar” Billy Graham. The men talked, and at Graham’s suggestion, Backlund was inspired to pursue a career in professional wrestling.Less than five years from that day, on February 20, 1978, Backlund would find himself halfway across the country, standing in the middle of the ring at Madison Square Garden with his hand raised in victory as the newly crowned World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion. The man Backlund pinned for the championship that night was none other than "Superstar" Billy Graham.Featuring contributions from Bruno Sammartino, Harley Race, Terry Funk, Pat Patterson, Ken Patera, Sergeant Slaughter, The Magnificent Muraco, George "The Animal” Steele, "Mr. USA” Tony Atlas, The Iron Sheik, and many others, this book tells the incredible story of the life and nearly forty-year career of one of the most famous men to ever grace the squared circle.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports-books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Backstage Pass (The Hollywood Sisters #1)
by Mary WilcoxLights. Camera. Backstabbing. My sister, Eva, just hit the big time as a TV teen -- but the big time is hitting back. Someone on the set is planting lies about her in the gossip columns. Can I crack the case before Eva becomes just another falling star? My camera is trained on two jealous actresses, one kick-butt publicist, and the boy next door (well, he plays one on TV). No one is playing their part as expected. As it turns out... not even me.
Backstage Passes: Life on the Wild Side with David Bowie
by Angela Bowie Patrick CarrThere are countless books about the great rock/pop icon of the twentieth century, David Bowie. But only one written by the woman who met him aged just nineteen, married him, had a child with him and helped shape his image and the early stages of his career. In one of the great rock'n'roll exposés, Angela Mary Hartnett Bowie gives a riveting account of her years with Bowie and his progress from aspiring young singer to international rock stardom. She emerges as a witty, powerful personality in her own right, and as his partner of ten years has insights into his background and personality that are exclusively hers. American, educated in Cyprus, Switzerland, the US and then London, Angie brought her confidence and sophistication to the young David’s life and is credited with conceptualizing the costumes for the Ziggy Stardust stage show, which was his breakthrough to success. This is a fascinating glimpse into the music and club scene of early seventies London, and later the rock lifestyle in New York and Los Angeles. Angie knew everyone and gives a colorful, wry account of the ambience, and her brushes with other giants of the decade - Jagger, Elton John, Lou Reed, the Jacksons and members of Led Zeppelin, to name just a few. Her story gives a unique take on life with the inscrutable Bowie and she recounts the dissolution of their marriage, and his descent into cocaine addiction, with courage and charm.
Backstage with a Ghost
by Joan Lowery NixonBrian and Sean investigate a series of suspicious accidents at a theater waiting to be torn down.
Backstory
by Avani GreggIn this funny, vulnerable, and all-too-real memoir, award-winning content creator and actress Avani Gregg takes you behind the scenes of her incredible life, sharing how a girl from small-town Indiana went on to become TikToker of the Year. With more than 55 million followers on social media; invitations to glamorous events around the world; awards, magazine covers, and even her own makeup line - Avani Gregg never imagined this wild ride for herself. After all, she was just from a small town, spending her time hanging with friends and family and combing thrift-store racks for finds. It only took one video - her famous 'Clown Girl Check' - and she suddenly found herself vibing as one of the original Hype House creators. 'People think I exploded overnight,' the eighteen-year-old TikTok sensation says. 'But they don&’t know the half of it. They don&’t know what came before or after. They don&’t know my Backstory.' In this eye-opening memoir, Avani shares the ups and down of her remarkable life, including the devastating back injury that forced her to retire from gymnastics and abandon her dreams of Olympic gold. In the aftermath, struggling to make sense of it all, she found her calling: creating jaw-droppingly dramatic make-up looks on social media that leave her 'Bebs' begging for more. Diving deep into topics like mental health, relationships, bullying and more, Avani shares her private sketchbook and most intimate thoughts: 'There&’s a lot we all think and feel but are afraid to say out loud. Well, I&’m saying it…and it&’s gonna get deep.'This is the unfiltered, revealing and deeply inspiring Backstory of someone with big dreams and how she worked to achieve them. And Avani is not holding back.
Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1990s
by Patrick McGilliganPatrick McGilligan continues his celebrated interviews with exceptional screenwriters in Backstory 5, focusing on the 1990s. The thirteen featured writers—Albert Brooks, Jean-Claude Carrière, Nora Ephron, Ronald Harwood, John Hughes, David Koepp, Richard LaGravenese, Barry Levinson, Eric Roth, John Sayles, Tom Stoppard, Barbara Turner, and Rudy Wurlitzer—are not confined to the 1990s, but their engrossing, detailed, and richly personal stories create, in McGilligan’s words, "a snapshot of a profession in motion." Emphasizing the craft of writing and the process of collaboration, this new volume looks at how Hollywood is changing to meet new economic and creative challenges. Backstory 5 explores how these writers come up with their ideas, how they go about adapting a stage play or work of fiction, how they organize and structure their work, and much more.
Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1990s
by Patrick McgilliganPatrick McGilligan continues his celebrated interviews with exceptional screenwriters with Backstory 5, focusing on the 1990s. The thirteen featured writers are not confined to the 1990s, but their engrossing, detailed, and richly personal stories create, in Patrick's words, "a snapshot of a profession in motion."
Backstory: My Life So Far
by Avani GreggIn this funny, vulnerable, and all-too-real memoir, award-winning content creator and actress Avani Gregg takes you behind the scenes of her incredible life, sharing how a girl from small-town Indiana went on to become TikToker of the Year.With more than fifty million followers on social media; invitations to glamorous events around the world; awards, magazine covers, and even her own makeup line—Avani Gregg never imagined this wild ride for herself. After all, she was just from a small town, spending her time hanging with friends and family and combing thrift-store racks for finds. It only took one video—her famous &“Clown Girl Check&”—and she suddenly found herself vibing as one of the original Hype House creators. &“People think I exploded overnight,&” the eighteen-year-old TikTok sensation says. &“But they don&’t know the half of it. They don&’t know what came before or after. They don&’t know my Backstory.&” In this eye-opening memoir, Avani shares the ups and down of her remarkable life, including the devastating back injury that forced her to retire from gymnastics and abandon her dreams of Olympic gold. In the aftermath, struggling to make sense of it all, she found her calling: creating jaw-droppingly dramatic makeup looks on social media that leave her &“Bebs&” begging for more. Diving deep into topics like mental health, relationships, bullying, and more, Avani shares her private sketchbook and most intimate thoughts: &“There&’s a lot we all think and feel but are afraid to say out loud. Well, I&’m saying it…and it&’s gonna get deep.&” This is the unfiltered, revealing, and deeply inspiring Backstory of someone with big dreams and how she worked to achieve them. And Avani is not holding back.
Backstreet Boys
by Anna Louise GoldenWhen they say Quit Playing Games With My Heart, you better listen-- 'cause they're the Backstreet Boys, one of the hottest boy-bands ever to take the stage. These five ultra-fine guys have won the hearts of millions. So step back into their awesome world and see what made them tick at this exciting, early stage of their careers. An insider's look back at the band: Howie Dorough was the peacemaker of the group. But watch out-this flirtatious hunk was also known as the "Latin lover." Kevin Richardson, as the group's gorgeous oldest member, sometimes had to be the responsible one. Nick Carter, the band's youngest member, wasn't called "Chaos" for nothing-- this blond-haired, blue-eyed cutie was a major prankster! Brian Littrell, a big-time hottie, was the comedian of the bunch-- Jim Carrey was his idol, and he loved to play practical jokes. AJ McLean, deeply romantic-- he wrote the band's love ballads, and this sexy songster was rarely seen without his trademark sunglasses.Fall in love all over again with the Backstreet Boys as they celebrate more than twenty years of top-charting success.
Backstreet Mom: A Mother's Tale of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean's Rise to Fame, Struggle with Addiction, and Ultimate Triumph
by Denise I. McLean Nicole P. GotlinFeatured on "Oprah" and "Good Morning America. Backstreet Mom is the story of one single mother's courageous battle to save her son could be the story of any woman with a child in trouble. There's more money at stake, more public attention and a larger than life career in the balance. An integral part of the Backstreet Boys from the very beginning, AJ McClean's mother, Denise, traveled with the group and served as their publicist and fan club coordinator. In close proximity to the successes and heartbreaks of her son's career, Denise watched her son's painful descent into alcoholism and depression. This revealing account tells the tale of AJ's rise to superstardom, his decline into addiction, and his struggles through rehab, and offers a look at the harsh world of the music industry. Any mother who's ever faced the pain of a child unraveling will find herself in the pages of this honest and inspiring memoir.
Backward Glances: Contemporary Chinese Cultures and the Female Homoerotic Imaginary
by Fran MartinBackward Glances reveals that the passionate love one woman feels for another occupies a position of unsuspected centrality in contemporary Chinese mass cultures. By examining representations of erotic and romantic love between women in popular films, elite and pulp fiction, and television dramas, Fran Martin shows how youthful same-sex love is often framed as a universal, even ennobling, feminine experience. She argues that a temporal logic dominates depictions of female homoeroticism, and she traces that logic across texts produced and consumed in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan during the twentieth century and the early twenty-first. Attentive to both transnational cultural flows and local particularities, Martin shows how loving relations between women in mass culture are usually represented as past experiences. Adult protagonists revel in the repeated, mournful narration of their memories. Yet these portrayals do not simply or finally consign the same-sex loving woman to the past--they also cause her to reappear ceaselessly in the present. As Martin explains, memorial schoolgirl love stories are popular throughout contemporary Chinese cultures. The same-sex attracted young woman appears in both openly homophobic and proudly queer-affirmative narratives, as well as in stories whose ideological valence is less immediately clear. Martin demonstrates that the stories, television programs, and films she analyzes are not idiosyncratic depictions of marginal figures, but manifestations of a broader, mainstream cultural preoccupation. Her investigation of representations of same-sex love between women sheds new light on contemporary Chinese understandings of sex, love, gender, marriage, and the cultural ordering of human life.
Backwards & In Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film
by Alicia MaloneStories of women in the film industry, onscreen and off, and interviews with Ava DuVernay, America Ferrera, Geena Davis, Octavia Spencer, and more. Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels . . . One of the first people to ever pick up a motion picture camera was a woman—as was the first screenwriter to win two Academy Awards, the inventor of the boom microphone, and the first person to be credited with the title Film Editor. From Hollywood&’s earliest days, women have been revolutionizing, innovating, and shaping how we make movies. Yet their stories are rarely shared. In Backwards and in Heels, film reporter and author of The Female Gaze Alicia Malone tells the history of women in film through stories about incredible ladies who made their mark throughout each era of Hollywood, from the first women directors, to the iconic movie stars, to present-day activists. These inspiring stories also highlight the specific obstacles women have had to face. Backwards and in Heels combines research and exclusive interviews with influential women and men working in Hollywood today, such as Geena Davis, J.J. Abrams, Ava DuVernay, Octavia Spencer, America Ferrera, Paul Feig, Todd Fisher, and many more, as well as film professors, historians, and experts.
Bad Beats and Lucky Draws: Poker Strategies, Winning Hands, and Stories from the Professional Poker Tour
by Phil HellmuthChampion poker player provides strategies, narratives of past poker challenges, examples, and advice from other great players.
Bad Beats and Lucky Draws: Poker Strategies, Winning Hands, and Stories from the Professional Poker Tour
by Phil Hellmuth Jr.Bad Beats and Lucky Draws is your down-and-dirty guide to the world of high-stakes professional poker. Phil Hellmuth, nine-time World Series of Poker Champion and author of Play Poker Like the Pros, presents a blow-by-blow account of many of poker's "clash of the titans" hands from the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour, and the European Tour. Phil provides insights into what the players were thinking and includes his own take on what they (and in many cases what he) should have done differently. Highly entertaining and instructive, Bad Beats and Lucky Draws gives you a seat at the table with the best bluffs, reads, and over-the-top plays such as the hand that won Phil his record-tying ninth bracelet at the 2003 World Series to the heartbreaking play that knocked him out of the "Big One." Bad Beats and Lucky Draws also includes special contributions by Doyle BrunsonJohnny ChanAnnie DukeHoward LedererDaniel NegreanuTed ForrestJennifer Harman Layne Flack Men Nguyen John Bonetti
Bad Film Histories: Ethnography and the Early Archive
by Katherine GrooA daring, deep investigation into ethnographic cinema that challenges standard ways of writing film history and breaks important new ground in understanding archives Bad Film Histories is a vital work that unsettles the authority of the archive. Katherine Groo daringly takes readers to the margins of the film record, addressing the undertheorization of film history and offering a rigorous corrective. Taking ethnographic cinema as a crucial case study, Groo challenges standard ways of thinking and writing about film history and questions widespread assumptions about what film artifacts are and what makes them meaningful. Rather than filling holes, Groo endeavors to understand the imprecisions and absences that define film history and its archives. Bad Film Histories draws on numerous works of ethnographic cinema, from Edward S. Curtis&’s In the Land of the Head Hunters, to a Citroën-sponsored &“croisière&” across Africa, to the extensive archives of the Maison Lumière and the Musée Albert-Kahn, to dozens of expedition films from the 1910s and 1920s. The project is deeply grounded in poststructural approaches to history, and throughout Groo draws on these frameworks to offer innovative and accessible readings that explain ethnographic cinema&’s destabilizing energies.As Groo describes, ethnographic works are mostly untitled, unauthored, seemingly infinite in number, and largely unrestored even in their digital afterlives. Her examination of ethnographic cinema provides necessary new thought for both film scholars and those who are thrilled by cinema&’s boundless possibilities. In so doing, she boldly reexamines what early ethnographic cinema is and how these films produce meaning, challenging the foundations of film history and prevailing approaches to the archive.
Bad Girls and Sick Boys: Fantasies in Contemporary Art and Culture
by Linda S. KauffmanLinda S. Kauffman turns the pornography debate on its head with this audacious analysis of recent taboo-shattering fiction, film, and performance art. Investigating the role of fantasy in art, politics, and popular culture, she shows how technological advances in medicine and science (magnetic resonance imaging, computers, and telecommunications) have profoundly altered our concepts of the human body. Cyberspace is producing new forms of identity and subjectivity. The novelists, filmmakers, and performers in Bad Girls and Sick Boys are the interpreters of these brave new worlds, cartographers who are busy mapping the fin-de-millennium environment that already envelops us.Bad Girls and Sick Boys offers a vital and entertaining tour of the current cultural landscape. Kauffman boldly connects the dots between the radical artists who shatter taboos and challenge legal and aesthetic conventions. She links writers like John Hawkes and Robert Coover to Kathy Acker and William Vollmann; filmmakers like Ngozi Onwurah and Isaac Julien to Brian De Palma and Gus Van Sant; and performers like Carolee Schneemann and Annie Sprinkle to the visual arts. Kauffman's lively interviews with J. G. Ballard, David Cronenberg, Bob Flanagan, and Orlan add an extraordinary dimension to her timely and convincing argument.
Bad History and the Logics of Blockbuster Cinema
by Patrick McgeeIn his latest book, Patrick McGee argues for the political and social significance of mass culture through the interpretation of four recent big-budget movies: T itanic, Gangs of New York, Australia, and Inglourious Basterds. Through philosophical and historical contextualization, he reveals the logic of what appears on the screen, a logic that shows how these films both represent and distort the historical record in order to articulate a truth that challenges conventional history as a discipline. Counterdisciplinary in its method, this exciting work asserts that no movie can ever be reduced to the absolutely authentic or the absolutely inauthentic.
Bad Influence: The buzzy debut memoir about growing up online
by Oenone Forbat'An ideal summer read' EVENING STANDARD'Equal parts insightful and entertaining - whatever your take on influencers, Bad Influence is a great read' YOMI ADEGOKEOenone didn't set out to become an influencer. The word barely existed when she started posting on Instagram at university to document her 'fitness journey' after a toxic relationship came to a messy end.In this humorous meditation on her digitized life, Oenone chronicles the pits and peaks of coming of age online. Grappling with modern-day issues on a public stage - from body image and personal boundaries to the limitations of online activism, Bad Influence examines what happens when your day-to-day reality becomes #content - and that #content pays your bills.It asks: can you truly be authentic online? Can social media be a force for good? Is it necessarily bad for our mental health?Written with wit, warmth and honesty, this is a candid account of what it really means to be an influencer, from someone still figuring it out: the good, the bad and the instagrammable.'Warm, juicy, and eye-opening, like having a chat with a best friend' ANNIE LORD'If ever a book captured the zeitgeist, this is it' GRACE CAMPBELL'Funny, warm and brilliantly engaging' LUCY VINE
Bad Influence: The hotly-anticipated debut memoir about growing up online - 'An ideal summer read' EVENING STANDARD
by Oenone ForbatA smart, humorous and candid account of coming of age on the internet, from the much-loved online personality Oenone Forbat.'I have spent most of my adult life online, so much so that it can be hard to know which parts of me are the 'real' me and which parts I have subconsciously edited, facetuned and perhaps exaggerated, to suit being so hyper-visible'Oenone didn't set out to become an influencer. The word barely existed when she started posting on Instagram at university to document her 'fitness journey' after a toxic relationship came to a messy end.In this humorous meditation on her digitized life, Oenone chronicles the pits and peaks of coming of age online. Grappling with modern-day issues on a public stage - from body image and personal boundaries to the limitations of online activism, Bad Influence examines what happens when your day-to-day reality becomes #content - and that #content pays your bills.It asks: can you truly be authentic online? Can social media be a force for good? Is it necessarily bad for our mental health?Written and narrated with wit, warmth and honesty, this is a candid account of what it really means to be an influencer, from someone still figuring it out: the good, the bad and the instagrammable.(P)2023 Quercus Editions Limited
Bad Influence: The hotly-anticipated debut memoir about growing up online - 'An ideal summer read' EVENING STANDARD
by Oenone Forbat'An ideal summer read' EVENING STANDARD'Equal parts insightful and entertaining - whatever your take on influencers, Bad Influence is a great read' YOMI ADEGOKEOenone didn't set out to become an influencer. The word barely existed when she started posting on Instagram at university to document her 'fitness journey' after a toxic relationship came to a messy end.In this humorous meditation on her digitized life, Oenone chronicles the pits and peaks of coming of age online. Grappling with modern-day issues on a public stage - from body image and personal boundaries to the limitations of online activism, Bad Influence examines what happens when your day-to-day reality becomes #content - and that #content pays your bills.It asks: can you truly be authentic online? Can social media be a force for good? Is it necessarily bad for our mental health?Written with wit, warmth and honesty, this is a candid account of what it really means to be an influencer, from someone still figuring it out: the good, the bad and the instagrammable.'Warm, juicy, and eye-opening, like having a chat with a best friend' ANNIE LORD'If ever a book captured the zeitgeist, this is it' GRACE CAMPBELL'Funny, warm and brilliantly engaging' LUCY VINE
Bad Motherfucker: The Life and Movies of Samuel L. Jackson, the Coolest Man in Hollywood
by Gavin EdwardsA fascinating exploration and celebration of the life and work of the coolest man in Hollywood, Samuel L. Jackson—from his star-making turns in the films of Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino to his ubiquitous roles in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, not to mention the cult favorite Snakes on a Plane.Samuel L. Jackson&’s embodiment of cool isn&’t just inspirational—it&’s important. Bad Motherfucker lays out how his attitude intersects with his identity as a Black man, why being cool matters in the modern world, and how Jackson can guide us through the current cultural moment in which everyone is losing their cool. Edwards details Jackson&’s fascinating personal history, from stuttering bookworm to gunrunning revolutionary to freebasing addict to A-list movie star.Drawing on original reporting and interviews, the book explores not only the major events of Jackson&’s life but also his obsessions: golf, kung fu movies, profanity. Bad Motherfuckerfeatures a delectable filmography of Jackson&’s movies—140 and counting!—and also includes new movie posters for many of Jackson&’s greatest roles, reimagined by dozens of gifted artists and designers. The book provides a must-read road map through the vast territory of his on-screen career and more: a vivid portrait of Samuel L. Jackson&’s essential self, as well as practical instructions, by example, for how to live and work and be.
Bad News (Routledge Revivals)
by John Hewitt Jean Hart Peter Beharrell Brian Winston Howard Davis Paul Walton John Eldridge Gregg PhiloIt is a commonly held belief that television news in Britain, on whatever channel, is more objective, more trustworthy, more neutral than press reporting. The illusion is exploded in this controversial study by the Glasgow University Media Group, originally published in 1976. The authors undertook an exhaustive monitoring of all television broadcasts over 6 months, from January to June 1975, with particular focus upon industrial news broadcasts, the TUC, strikes and industrial action, business and economic affairs. Their analysis showed how television news favours certain individuals by giving them more time and status. But their findings did not merely deny the neutrality of the news, they gave a new insight into the picture of industrial society that TV news constructs.
Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film (SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema)
by Dominic LennardSince the 1950s, children have provided some of horror's most effective and enduring villains, from dainty psychopath Rhoda Penmark of The Bad Seed (1956) and spectacularly possessed Regan MacNeil of The Exorcist (1973) to psychic ghost-girl Samara of The Ring (2002) and adopted terror Esther of Orphan (2009). Using a variety of critical approaches, including those of cinema studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and psychoanalysis, Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors offers the first full-length study of these child monsters. In doing so, the book highlights horror as a topic of analysis that is especially pertinent socially and politically, exposing the genre as a site of deep ambivalence toward—and even hatred of—children.
Bad Singer: The Surprising Science of Tone Deafness and How We Hear Music
by Tim FalconerIn the tradition of Daniel Levitin’s This Is Your Brain on Music and Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia, Bad Singer follows the delightful journey of Tim Falconer as he tries to overcome tone deafness — and along the way discovers what we’re really hearing when we listen to music.Tim Falconer, a self-confessed “bad singer,” always wanted to make music, but soon after he starts singing lessons, he discovers that he’s part of only 2.5 percent of the population afflicted with amusia — in other words, he is scientifically tone-deaf. Bad Singer chronicles his quest to understand human evolution and music, the brain science behind tone-deafness, his search for ways to retrain the adult brain, and his investigation into what we really hear when we listen to music. In an effort to learn more about his brain disorder, he goes to a series of labs where the scientists who test him are as fascinated with him as he is with them. He also sets out to understand why we love music and deconstructs what we really hear when we listen to it. And he unlocks the secret that helps explain why music has such emotional power over us.