Popular Culture Books - Page 9

Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium

Dick Meyer

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Crown Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $14.65

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> Social Psychology & Interactions
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Americans are as safe, well fed, securely sheltered, long-lived, free, and healthy as any human beings who have ever lived on the planet. But we are down on America. So why do we hate us? According to Dick Meyer, the following items on this (much abbreviated) list are some of the contributors to our deep disenchantment with our own culture:

Cell-phone talkers broadcasting the intimate details of their lives in public spaces
Worship of self-awareness, self-realization, and self-fulfillment
T-shirts that read, “Eat Me”
Facebook, MySpace, and kids being taught to market themselves
High-level cheating in business and sports
Reality television and the cosmetic surgery boom
Multinational corporations that claim, “We care about you.”
The decline of organic communities
A line of cosmetics called “S.L.U.T.”
The phony red state–blue state divide
The penetration of OmniMarketing into OmniMedia and the insinuation of both into every facet of our lives

You undoubtedly could add to the list with hardly a moment’s thought. In Why We Hate Us, Meyer absolutely nails America’s early-twenty-first-century mood disorder. He points out the most widespread carriers of the why-we-hate-us germs, including the belligerence of partisan politics that perverts our democracy, the decline of once common manners, the vulgarity of Hollywood entertainment, the superficiality and untrustworthiness of the news media, the cult of celebrity, and the disappearance of authentic neighborhoods and voluntary organizations (the kind that have actual meetings where one can hobnob instead of just clicking in an online contribution).

Meyer argues—with biting wit and observations that make you want to shout, “Yes! I hate that too!”—that when the social, spiritual, and political turmoil that followed the sixties collided with the technological and media revolution at the turn of the century, something inside us hit overload. American culture no longer reflects our own values. As a result, we are now morally and existentially tired, disoriented, anchorless, and defensive. We hate us and we wonder why.

Why We Hate Us reveals why we do and also offers a thoughtful and uplifting prescription for breaking out of our current morass and learning how to hate us less. It is a penetrating but always accessible Culture of Narcissism for a new generation, and it carries forward ideas that resounded with readers in bestsellers such as On Bullshit and Bowling Alone.

O's Guide to Life: The Best of O, the Oprah Magazine (The Oprah Magazine)

Editors of The Oprah Magazine

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxmoor House Amazon Marketplace: 74 new & used starting at $0.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> By Topic -> Motivation
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Self-Help -> Personal Transformation
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Self-Help -> Success

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For anyone on a journey of self-discovery, here is the ultimate handbook for living well. O's Guide to Life, the new second volume of The Best of O, The Oprah Magazine book series, gathers the most empowering, energizing, and entertaining articles of the magazine's last two years. Filled with advice from experts such as Dr. Phil, Suze Orman, Martha Beck, and Oprah, the book addresses three major aspects of life. "Your Personal Best" focuses on emotional and physical well-being: maintaining health, building confidence, finding a sense of purpose and balance. "Relationships" provides the tools and insights everyone needs to forge better connections with our partners, families, friends, and co-workers. And, "Living in the World" urges the reader to make life more meaningful by helping and reaching out to others. This is a resource that readers will keep returning to for answers and inspiration.

Features

More than 100 of the best articles from O, The Oprah Magazine

Discover "Your Personal Best" with the latest information on weight loss, health, and beauty, plus must-reads about seeking happiness, getting through dark times, exploring spirituality, going solo, aging beautifully, and making your dreams a reality

Improve your relationships with advice from columnists such as Dr. Phil and Lisa Kogan on everything from dating, marriage, and sex to communication with family, friends, and co-workers

Get motivated by "Living in the World" with Oprah's intimate interviews with fascinating people who know how to give back, such as Christiane Amanpour and Desmond Tutu, stories about everyday heroes, and celebrities' eye-opening "Aha" moments

With more than 300 photos, 336 full-color pages, vibrant design, lush images, and an abundance of good writing, the energy of O, The Oprah Magazine radiates from every page

Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design

Faythe Levine, Cortney Heimerl

Amazon Price: $19.96 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Princeton Architectural Press Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $13.80

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General AAS
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Pop Culture -> Art
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Decorating

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Wonderful Companion 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I just received my book a few days ago and have already torn through it. It has a great balance of informative backgrounds about the artists involved with the companion documentary, soon to be released, and amazing visuals of the artists' work. I also really enjoyed the essays added throughout. I was especially excited to see one by Betsy Greer. I feel I have some knowledge about the artists' work that I would not have had if the book was not released. It also gives some insight on how the "New Wave of Craft" snowballed into what it is today. The timeline at the beginning of the book is also very illuminating.

Editorial Review:

Faythe Levine traveled 19,000 miles to document what has emerged as a marriage between historical technique, punk culture, and the D.I.Y. ethos. For "Handmade Nation" (along with the documentary film of the same name, coming in 2009), she and Cortney Heimerl have selected 24 makers and 5 essayists who work within different media and have different methodologies to provide a microcosm of the crafting community. Participants in this community share ideas and encouragement through websites, blogs, boutiques, galleries, and craft fairs. Together they have forged a new economy and lifestyle based on creativity, determination, and networking. Twenty-four artists from Olympia, Washington to Providence, Rhode Island, and everywhere in between show their work and discuss their lives.

"Handmade Nation" features photographs of the makers, their work environment, their process, their work, and discussions of how they got their start and what motivates them.

The Circus: 1870-1950

Amazon Price: $126.00 List Price: $200.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Taschen Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $126.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Performing Arts -> Theater -> Circus
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Graphic Arts -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Performing Arts -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

During its heyday one hundred years ago, the American circus was the largest show-biz industry the world had ever seen. From the mid-1800s to mid-1900s, traveling American circuses performed for audiences of up to 14,000 per show, employed as many as 1,600 men and women, and crisscrossed the country on 20,000 miles of railroad in one season alone. The spectacle of death-defying daredevils, strapping super-heroes and scantily-clad starlets, fearless animal trainers, and startling freaks gripped the American imagination, outshining theater, vaudeville, comedy, and minstrel shows of its day, and ultimately paved the way for film and television to take root in the modern era. Long before the Beat generation made "on the road" expeditions popular, the circus personified the experience and offered many young Americans the dream of adventure, reinvention, and excitement. Organized into nine thematic chapters, the book sheds new light on circus history, from a behind-the-scenes look at life on the move, to the freedoms enjoyed by early female performers, to the innovative production skills that demanded as much know-how as a modern-day film production. For the first time ever, contemporary readers can now experience the legend of the American circus in full effect. The book's broad subject matter, riveting images, and diverse visual material will appeal both to the circus aficionado and those who have never before been to circus.

Kirby: King of Comics

Mark Evanier

Amazon Price: $24.37 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Abrams Amazon Marketplace: 69 new & used starting at $11.60

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Artists, A-Z -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Artists, A-Z -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Evanier's heartfel tribute to Kirby succeeds on every level 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

There has been so much written on Jack Kirby's work; so many tributes in the past, that I was not prepared to be bowled-over by this one. But then Mark Evanier--who knew and worked for Kirby--is not your average "fan." He's a guy whose own creative credits (Groo, Garfield, etc., etc...) are so impressive that I should slap myself for not realizing that any book he'd do on Kirby would be a sensation. Aside from the lavish reproduction quality and the generously-sized book itself, I'd say that the selection of images impressed me most mightily. Kirby's output was so phenomenal, how do you boil it down to the essentials? And yet, given the space limitations, I think Evanier has done it. His selections not only hit Kirby's high-points, but manage to carry along the biographical narrative. I was also glad that Evanier had sidebars on many of Kirby's inking collaborators whose work became so essential to our enjoyment of Kirby. And of course Evanier gave us probably the most accurate telling of the difficult Stan Lee/Jack Kirby relationship (about which Stan must bear his shame to his grave). If I may be so bold as to inject a moral into the Kirby story, it's probably that creators must take control of their creations--as people like Will Eisner and Walt Disney did-- and not become dependent on publishers, virtually none of whom ever seem to be willing to pay creators their due. Thanks for this ultimate Jack Kirby homage, Mark!

Editorial Review:

Jack Kirby created or co-created some of comic books’ most popular characters including Captain America, The X-Men, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Mighty Thor, Darkseid, and The New Gods. More significantly, he created much of the visual language for fantasy and adventure comics. There were comics before Kirby, but for the most part their page layout, graphics, and visual dynamic aped what was being done in syndicated newspaper strips. Almost everything that was different about comic books began in the forties on the drawing table of Jack Kirby. This is his story by one who knew him well—the authorized celebration of the one and only “King of Comics” and his groundbreaking work.

“I don’t think it’s any accident that . . . the entire Marvel universe and the entire DC universe are all pinned or rooted on Kirby’s concepts.” —Michael Chabon

Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game

Pimpin' Ken

Amazon Price: $10.16 List Price: $11.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon Spotlight Entertainment Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $5.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion -> General AAS
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Relationships -> Love & Romance

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The names change, but the game remains the same.

The pimp has reached nearly mythical status. We are fascinated by the question of how a guy from the ghetto with no startup capital and no credit -- nothing but the words out of his mouth -- comes not only to have a stable of sexy women who consider him "their man," but to drive a Rolls, sport diamonds, and wear custom suits and alligator shoes from Italy.

His secret is to follow the "unwritten rules of the game" -- a set of regulations handed down orally from older, wiser macks -- which give him superhuman powers of charm, psychological manipulation, and persuasion.

In Pimpology, star of the documentaries Pimps Up, Ho's Down and American Pimp and Annual Players Ball Mack of the Year winner Ken Ivy pulls a square's coat on the unwritten rules that took him from the ghetto streets to the executive suites. Ken's lessons will serve any person in any interaction: Whether at work, in relationships, or among friends, somebody's got to be on top. To be the one with the upper hand, you've got to have good game, and good game starts with knowing the rules.

If you want the money, power, and respect you dream of, you can't just "pimp your ride," you need to pimp your whole life. And unless you've seen Ray Charles leading Stevie Wonder somewhere, you need Ken's guidelines to do it. They'll reach out and touch you like AT&T and bring good things to life like GE. Then you can be the boss with the hot sauce who gets it all like Monty Hall.

Psilocybin Mushroom Handbook: Easy Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

L. G Nicholas, Kerry Ogame

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 11 to 13 days By: Quick American Archives Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $13.57

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Gardening & Horticulture -> Techniques -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Popular Culture

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Mushrooms?! What Mushrooms?! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I will have to admit, prior to this piece of literature I was completely ignorant of ANYTHING and ALL THINGS mushroom. For me to make any inclination towards whether the scientific lingo, or the description of the biology of a mushroom, is correct or incorrect would be intellectually disingenuous. However, the book is very definitive in those avenues that I cannot either confirm or refute. So, with that disclaimer aside I can scribe my review:

The book begins out of a comical, humorous and sarcastic fashion that ensnared my attention to what I thought was going to be a very soporific read. After the first three chapters of the introduction to the biology of mushrooms and other technical aspects, of which the authors' comical bearings aid interest, the book starts to yield some of what you seek. However, the fourth chapter is on sterility of the environment and materials-which the authors inundate you with pervasively- this seems extremely inane at first. I was initially feeling that their emphasis on sterility was nothing short of a nuance of madness. Throughout the book I asked myself was the processes, materials and sterility too meticulous, but after I finished the book I understood why it was so. When cultivating these species on a mass scale you may NEED to use the ornate procedures and materials to render the fruits of your labor and to obviate contamination.

At times you can feel that some of the information seems self-contradicting, but if you read the book from cover to cover prior to your endeavor you will understand why it is that you confused yourself. Merely floundering around the book will manifest some confusion due to the myriad of processes and avenues described. For instance, there are different procedures you may take with one method that you will not use on another, such as materials, temperatures, containers, etc. I exhort you, as do the authors, to read the book in full prior to your mushroom cultivation.

This book, in my opinion, offered intricate and salutary references for ALL materials needed, and even those you do not. The chapter on materials has indications in the form of symbols meaning whether or not certain materials are needed initially, where to procure said items and free or cheaper alternatives. In this section I do have a few disagreements though. There are a few items that you DO NOT need to start that are indicated as items needed as a beginner (in their defense, the key states that the symbol means "likely to be needed as a beginner"). Those items are: a pressure cooker, petri dishes, media flasks, alcohol lamp, scalpel, funnels, measuring pipette & bulb, graduated cylinders, parafilm and malt extract. If you extricate these from your materials needed you will save two hundred dollars or more. Most of those items can be replaced by cheap alternatives or altogether negated from the process.

In the end I felt I got my money's worth due to the confidence that was vibrant and resonant with me after the read. Each process is definitively describe step by step. I even felt well educated on the biology of mushrooms and alleviated of several societal misconceptions.

In closing, I do recommend this book and feel that it is very user-friendly to even the most doltish individual destitute of knowledge on mushrooms and their cultivation. So, kudos to the authors for their work and amalgamation of the latest techniques and procedures for the discreet cultivation of such a benign (depending upon species) substance!

Editorial Review:

This well-illustrated book allows anyone with common sense, a clean kitchen, and a closet shelf to grow bumper crops of mushrooms. Besides step-by-step guides to cultivating four species of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, the book offers a wealth of additional information, including an introduction to mushroom biology, a resource guide for supplies, advice on discreetly integrating psychedelic mushrooms into outdoor gardens, and insights into the traditional use of psilocybins in sacred medicine. Also included are appendices with a summary of all included recipes.

The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2008 Edition (Best Political Cartoons of the Year)

Daryl Cagle, Brian Fairrington

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Que Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $8.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Comic Strips -> General
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Comic Strips -> General AAS
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Cartooning

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Entry in This Venerable Series 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.

This latest entry in this venerable series is one of the best--and the most inclusive, too.

Thankfully, it includes many more cartoons from foreign cartoonists. It's wonderful to enjoy an international cartooning perspective.

Editorial Review:

The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2008 Edition

 

The Best of the Year in Editorial Cartoons

 

All of the top political cartoonists in the world contributed to this collection of the best cartoons of 2007, from Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index website, the most popular cartoon site on the web (www.cagle.com). More than eight hundred cartoons cover the major topics of the year, from lovesick diaper astronauts to the surge in Iraq. We have cartoons on Barry Bonds, Michael Vick, Paris Hilton in jail, Senator Larry Craig in the bathroom, the presidential candidates, poison Chinese toys and much, much more! News junkies and cartoon fans won't want to miss this great cartoon history of the year 2007!

 

 

The Curse of Lono

Hunter S. Thompson

Amazon Price: $37.79 List Price: $59.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Taschen Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $31.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Artists, A-Z -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Artists, A-Z -> General AAS
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very large! 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

WHile I was aware that this book was illustrated, I was not aware of the fact that it is huge! I thought it would be an illustrated, regular novel-size book. Instead it's about A3 size, and very heavy.. The pictures are great and all but if I had been aware of the size of this book I probably wouldn't have purchased it.

the coattails of one Hunter S. Thompson 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

excellent book. i was completely new to his writing beefore reading this gem. crazy bleep* guy! his work seems to be more of a writers' journaling than serious novel-stuff. a travel-blog; if you will.. i haven't gotten into many of his other works yet plan to, eventually. even a holy-roller could come out freshpresssed and standing tall after one of his tales. good stuff, though. very good stuff. if you were one of those, 'say no to drugs' individuals then a lot of this might come off as tumultuous and confusing and weird and odd and, basically, not ur cup of tea.. take care and rest that crazy mans' soul. cheers.

Editorial Review:

The Curse of Lono is to Hawaii what Fear and Loathing was to Las Vegas: the crazy tales of a journalist’s "coverage" of a news event that ends up being a wild ride to the dark side of Americana.

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood

Koren Zailckas

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin (Non-Classics) Amazon Marketplace: 235 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Women
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 200 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Garnering a vast amount of attention from young people and parents, and from book buyers across the country, Smashed became a media sensation and a New York Times bestseller. Eye- opening and utterly gripping, Koren Zailckas’s story is that of thousands of girls like her who are not alcoholics—yet—but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage and a stand-in for good judgment.

With one stiff sip of Southern Comfort at the age of fourteen, Zailckas is initiated into the world of drinking. From then on, she will drink faithfully, fanatically. In high school, her experimentation will lead to a stomach pumping. In college, her excess will give way to a pattern of self-poisoning that will grow more destructive each year. At age twenty-two, Zailckas will wake up in an unfamiliar apartment in New York City, elbow her friend who is passed out next to her, and ask, “Where are we?” Smashed is a sober look at how she got there and, after years of blackouts and smashups, what it took for her to realize she had to stop drinking. Smashed is an astonishing literary debut destined to become a classic.

“Gripping... one of the best accounts of addiction, the college experience, or even what it means to be an average teenage girl in America. A.” –Entertainment Weekly