Best of
Pop-Culture

2011

Lady Gaga


Terry Richardson - 2011
    During the time period he followed Gaga, Richardson took over 100,000 images and attended more than 30 Monster Ball dates around the world. From the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal rally in Portland, Maine, to the Thierry Mugler show at Maxime, Paris, Richardson captures Lady Gaga as you've never seen her before. A year-long global odyssey- -all access, nothing off limits--this is the book Lady Gaga fans have been waiting for.

Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge


Mark Yarm - 2011
    Though it sold miserably, the record made music history by documenting a burgeoning regional sound, the raw fusion of heavy metal and punk rock that we now know as grunge. But it wasn’t until five years later, with the seemingly overnight success of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” that grunge became a household word and Seattle ground zero for the nineties alternative-rock explosion.Everybody Loves Our Town captures the grunge era in the words of the musicians, producers, managers, record executives, video directors, photographers, journalists, publicists, club owners, roadies, scenesters and hangers-on who lived through it. The book tells the whole story: from the founding of the Deep Six bands to the worldwide success of grunge’s big four (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains); from the rise of Seattle’s cash-poor, hype-rich indie label Sub Pop to the major-label feeding frenzy that overtook the Pacific Northwest; from the simple joys of making noise at basement parties and tiny rock clubs to the tragic, lonely deaths of superstars Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley.Drawn from more than 250 new interviews—with members of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, Hole, Melvins, Mudhoney, Green River, Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, L7, Babes in Toyland, 7 Year Bitch, TAD, the U-Men, Candlebox and many more — and featuring previously untold stories and never-before-published photographs, Everybody Loves Our Town is at once a moving, funny, lurid, and hugely insightful portrait of an extraordinary musical era.

Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America


Leslie Knope - 2011
    The book chronicles the city's colorful citizens and hopping nightlife, and also explores some of the most hilarious events from its crazy history—like the time the whole town was on fire, its ongoing raccoon infestation, and the cult that took over in the 1970s. Packed with laugh-out-loud-funny photographs, illustrations, and commentary by the other inhabitants of Pawnee, it's a must-read that will make you enjoy every moment of your stay in the Greatest Town in America. Praise for Pawnee: "Carrying this book around is a good way of picking up girls with glasses." —Tom Haverford "I have read over four books, and this is by far the one that has me in it the most." —Andy Dwyer "Literally the greatest endeavor of human creativity in the history of mankind." —Chris Traeger

The Mythology of Supernatural: The Signs and Symbols Behind the Popular TV Show


Nathan Robert Brown - 2011
    From angels to demons, The Mythology of Supernatural explores the religious roots and the ancient folklore of the otherworldly entities that brothers Sam and Dean Winchester face on the hit television show Supernatural--and that have inhabited the shadows of human imagination across countless cultures and centuries.

The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion


Joss Whedon - 2011
    It's a little more complicated than that..." All will be revealed in the Official Visual Companion, featuring in-depth interviews, the full screenplay by Whedon and Goddard, stunning production art, and hundreds of color photos!

Monsters in the Movies


John Landis - 2011
    He also surveys the historical origins of the archetypal monsters, such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves, and takes you behind the scenes to discover the secrets of those special-effects wizards who created such legendary frighteners as King Kong, Dracula, and Halloween's Michael Myers. With more than 1000 stunning movie stills and posters, this book is sure to keep even the most intense fright-seekers at the edge of their seats for hours!

Hunger Games Companion


Lois H. Gresh - 2011
    When sixteen-year-old Katniss learns that her little sister has been chosen, she steps up to fight in her place and the games begin.The Hunger Games Companion takes readers behind the scenes and includes fascinating background facts about the action in all three books, a revealing biography of the author, and amazing insights into the series' main themes and features - from the nature of evil, to weaponry and rebellions, to surviving the end of the world. It's everything fans have been hungering for since the very first book!This book is not authorized by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press or anyone involved in the Hunger Games movie.

Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott C.


Scott C. - 2011
    has delighted an international fanbase with his unique watercolor paintings, illustrations, and drawings. Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott C. is his first monograph, the best and most imaginative works of art in his emerging career.Admirers and collectors seek out Scott C.’s appearances at such diverse venues as Comic-Con in San Diego and Galerie Arludik in Paris to see his unusual depictions of pop-culture subjects and original creations: Victorian-era dinosaurs at high tea; lumberjacks and their sometimes-awkward relationship with trees; and ninjas lounging in their living room at home. These and other reflections of Scott C.’s artistic vision have kept him on the radar of such pop-culture trend outlets as Flavorpill and Hi-Fructose.

The Unofficial Guide: Walt Disney World 2012


Bob Sehlinger - 2011
    Coverage of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter including best times to beat the crowds, the best places to buy Butterbeer, and the scoop on all the shops in the village of Hogsmeade. Walt Disney World Resort theme parks are rated best in the world. earning high marks for things outside of the traditional theme park experience. Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival, which takes place for six weeks every fall and showcases food from twenty-five countries, was rated by Forbes Traveler as one of the Best U.S. Food and Wine Festivals. In 2011, Disney not only launched its new cruise ship, the Disney Dream, it also announced plans of a complete overhaul of Pleasure Island set to begin construction and reopen as Hyperion Wharf

Boo: The Life of the World's Cutest Dog


J.H. Lee - 2011
    With nearly a million Facebook fans, and adding more each day, Boo is poised to become an international superstar. This charming book features exclusive new photographs of Boo doing all his favorite things: lounging around, playing with friends, exploring the whole wide world, and making those famous puppy-dog eyes. To know Boo is to love him, and this book is for anyone who loves the cutest dog ever.

The Complete Peanuts, 1979-1982


Charles M. Schulz - 2011
    The perfect gift item.The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980: It’s 1980, Charlie Brown… and Peppermint Patty is wearing corn-rows! Plus, a strange romance...Charles Schulz enters his fourth decade as the greatest cartoonist of his generation, and Peanuts remains as fresh and lively as it ever was. (How do we know it’s 1980? Well, for one thing Peppermint Patty gets herself those Bo-Derek-in-10 cornrows — Peanuts’ timelessness occasionally shows a crack!) That said, The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980 includes a number of classic storylines, including the month-long sequence in which an ill Charlie Brown is hospitalized (including a particularly spooky moment when he wonders if he’s died and nobody’s told him yet), and an especially eventful trek with Snoopy, Woodstock, and the scout troop (now including a little girl bird, Harriet). And Snoopy is still trying on identities left and right, including the “world-famous surveyor,” the “world-famous census taker,” and Blackjack Snoopy, the riverboat gambler. In other extended stories, Snoopy launches an ill-fated airline (with Lucy as the agent, Linus as the luggage handler, and Marcie as what it was still OK then to call the stewardess)… Peppermint Patty responds to being leaked upon by a ceiling by hiring a lawyer (unfortunately, she again picks Snoopy)… plus one of the great, forgotten romances of Peanuts that will startle even long-time Peanuts connoisseurs: Peppermint Patty and…“Pig-Pen”?!The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982: With this volume, The Complete Peanuts ventures into the lesser-known 1980s, and Peanuts fans are sure to find plenty of surprises.In Snoopy-family news, Spike is drafted into the Infantry (don’t worry, it’s only Snoopy’s imaginary World War I army), and a brand new brother, “Marbles” (with the spotty ears) takes his bow. We also see two major baseball-oriented stories, one in which Charlie Brown joins Peppermint Patty’s team, and another in which Charlie Brown and his team lose their baseball field.In other stories, Peppermint Patty witnesses the “butterfly miracle,” Linus protests that he is not Sally’s “Sweet Babboo,” Sally (in an unrelated sequence) gets fat, the Van Pelts get into farming, and two of the most eccentric characters from later Peanuts years, the hyperaggressive Molly Volley and the whiny “Crybaby” Boobie, make a return engagement.Charles Schulz’s Peanuts world will never grow old, and Fantagraphics’ complete reprinting of this masterpiece, now in its eighth year — still lovingly designed by world-class cartoonist Seth — has firmly established itself as one of the very finest archival comic-strip projects ever done.

Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood


Ellen F. Brown - 2011
    Various Mitchell biographies and a compilation of her letters tell part of the story, but until now no single source has told the full saga. This entertaining account of the rise of a bestseller tells how Mitchell's book was developed, marketed, distributed, and otherwise groomed for success in a bygone era.

TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural


Stacey AbbottLaura Felschow - 2011
    A natural heir to The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural has developed a strong cult following as it evolved past its monster-of-the-week origins and into a global battle between Heaven and Hell, as Dean and Sam attempt to avert the Apocalypse. Amidst the action and horror, the brothers enjoy the pleasures of the road, listening to hard rock, drinking beer and eating fast food, while driving their iconic Impala.TV Goes to Hell is the first book to give a full and fascinating examination of the series under the creative control of creator/producer Eric Kripke. This collection of essays, written by leading scholars, situates the series within debates surrounding folklore, religion, comedy, gender, and sexuality, and considers the impact of the show's genre-bending hybridity and its signature use of hard rock. The book aslo examines the show's innovative approach to storytelling and its unique relationship with its critics and its fans. Designed for fans of the show, as well as scholars and students, TV Goes to Hell unravels the wonders and horrors of Supernatural.(Includes a comprehensive episode guide through season six.)

Star Trek Book of Opposites


David Borgenicht - 2011
    EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORDS!WITH THE HELP OF Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and two dozen colorful pictures from across the galaxy, teach your children the meaning of big and little, hot and cold, apart and together, and much more!

Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads


Kirk Demarais - 2011
    But what would you really get if you entrusted your hard-earned $1.69 to the post office?Mail-Order Mysteries answers this question, revealing the amazing truths (and agonizing exaggerations) about the actual products marketed to kids in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. Pop-culture historian Kirk Demarais shares his astonishing collection, including:100 Toy Soldiers in a Footlocker Count Dante’s World’s Deadliest Fighting Secrets GRIT Hercules Wrist Band Hypno-Coin Life-Size Monsters Mystic Smoke Sea Monkeys Soil From Dracula’s Castle U-Control Ghost Ventrilo Voice Thrower...and many, many more!With more than 150 extraordinary, peculiar, and downright fraudulent collectibles, Mail-Order Mysteries is a must-have book comic book fans everywhere. Trust us.

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Tunes into TV


Bathroom Readers' Institute - 2011
    From test patterns to Top Chef, from My Three Sons to Mad Men, as well as TV news, advertising, scandals, sitcoms, dramas, reality shows, and yadda yadda yadda, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Tunes into TV is “dy-no-mite!” Read about…   * Gilligan’s seven deadly sins* The inside story of TV’s first commercial* What goes on behind the scenes of Jeopardy!* The most incredibly bizarre shows from around the world* Why Gene Roddenberry tried to beam the original Star Trek cast into space* What reality show producers don’t want you to know* How the King of Late Night crushed his competition* What really went down on the island of LOST* Unexpected sitcom fatalities* TV’s greatest chimpsAnd much, much more!

Fat Ladies in Spaaaaace: A Body-Positive Coloring Book


Nicole Lorenz - 2011
    This coloring book features eighteen fat scifi heroines doing what they do best: trekking across the time and space, blasting off into adventure, and saving the day.

Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History


Ross Halfin - 2011
    This fully authorized visual history of the band follows them from the new wave of British heavy metal to their massive Pyromania and Hysteria albums to the sustained power of their records and tours today. Legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin has been shooting Def Leppard since 1978, and his candid and definitive pictures have helped capture and shape the image of the band. Def Leppard includes more than 450 classic and unseen photographs, along with text from Halfin and stories and commentary by the band members and others. The book's publication coincides with the release of an all-new Def Leppard album in the spring and a worldwide tour in the summer.

Grantland Quarterly: Vol 1


Bill Simmons - 2011
    It will feature the best sports writing from the website, delivered in a full-color book featuring original artwork and a host of print-exclusives—including original fiction, new writing from editor-in-chief Bill Simmons, posters and pull-out sections, old-school baseball cards and mini-booklets, and a cover that looks and feels like you're holding a basketball. Like its namesake website, Grantland Quarterly will regularly include some of the most exciting and form-pushing sports writers currently plying the trade, including Chuck Klosterman, Malcolm Gladwell, Tom Bissell, Harris Wittels, John Brandon, Anna Clark, Chris Jones, Colson Whitehead, and many more.

The Age of Movies: Selected Writings


Pauline Kael - 2011
    Kael called movies "the most total and encompassing art form we have," and she made her reviews a platform for considering both film and the worlds it engages, crafting in the process a prose style of extraordinary wit, precision, and improvisatory grace. To read The Age of Movies, the first new selection in more than a generation, is to be swept up into an endlessly revealing and entertaining dialogue with Kael at her witty, exhilarating, and opinionated best. Her ability to evoke the essence of a great artist-an Orson Welles or a Robert Altman-or to celebrate the way even seeming trash could tap deeply into our emotions was matched by her unwavering eye for the scams and self-deceptions of a corrupt movie industry. Here in this career spanning collection are her appraisals of the films that defined an era-among them Breathless, Bonnie and Clyde, The Leopard, The Godfather, Last Tango in Paris, Nashville-along with many others, some awaiting rediscovery, all providing the occasion for masterpieces of observation and insight, alive on every page.

Transformers Vault: The Complete Transformers Universe - Showcasing Rare Collectibles and Memorabilia


Pablo Hidalgo - 2011
    Loaded with never-before-seen images, this book is a guide to the epic battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, as it began with toys and television, and continued to comics, film, games, and other media. There's something here for all generations, from classic toys that have become sought-after collectibles to the amazing, high-tech visuals of the three live-action films.Hasbro has opened its official archives, gathering more than 250 images and several featured pieces of memorabilia. Look inside for a sheet of Generation One tech specs with a secret revealer, a rare pencil sketch from comics artist Casey Coller, an unseen character profile for Hot Rod from the 1986 film, an animation cel, and much more. Exclusive photos of Japanese Transformer prototypes, archival development art, and brand-new information about the future of the Transformers make this the ultimate package for every fan.

Peter Paul and Mary: Fifty Years in Music and Life


Peter Yarrow - 2011
    . . here is the first and only book that visually tells us the intimate story of Peter, Paul, and Mary and their music, through their own words and with iconic images that follow their passionate, fifty-year journey to the center of America’s heart. The very best of thousands of photographs, many rare and never before published, taken over five decades by some of the world’s top photographers, follow them from their earliest performances in the 1960s, when Mary was the most desired, beautiful, and charismatic performer and a new role model for women. Follow the trio as they lead America to discover the passionate soul of folk music. Join the struggle for racial equality, social justice, and freedom in this memorable journey, from the historic 1963 March on Washington with Martin Luther King, Jr., to the trio’s appearance before a half million people in 1969 to end the Vietnam War, to their singing at the Hollywood Bowl for Survival Sunday in 1978, helping to launch the anti-nuke movement, the world’s first international environmental movement.Through these images, you can feel and almost hear the trio’s songs calling for a more caring, better world as you see them performing with a courage and conviction that became for so many the embodiment and sound track of their generation’s awakening to conscience, to activism, and to a new dream for all of humankind. Peter, Paul, and Mary’s songs of defiant hope and a certain unmasked innocence are still a powerful part of our American consciousness, and this book reenacts the history of how the trio marked our lives with their indelible stamp of honesty of the sort we yearn to recapture and recreate in our own time—for ourselves, our children, and the generations to come.

Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art


Gallery 1988 - 2011
    "...a classy movie-geek-must-have..." - Kevin Smith"This book is 176 pages of stunning, creative, witty, and sometimes just down-right funny art pieces." - We Are Movie Geeks "I personally recommend the hell out it, and I hope it does well -- because I'll get every single damn collection Gallery 1988 and Titan Books puts out." - Topless Robot "It’s just a damned gorgeous book filled with stunning, movie-related artwork." - Hollywood.com "Quite simply this book is a must have.  If ever there was a book for movie inspired Art collectors then this is it." - Poster Shizzle "The artwork is beautiful, and anyone who loves film owes it to themselves to check it out." - Ain't It Cool "Crazy 4 Cult: Cult Movie Art is absolutely amazing and should be picked up by anyone and everyone who considers themselves a moving pictures enthusiast." - Posterocalypse "A book that belongs on every movie geek's coffee table." - Movies.com "There’s nothing like Crazy 4 Cult and this book shows you why." - Very Aware "Love Movies? Love Cult Art? Then 'Crazy 4 Cult' Is the Book for You." - Moviefone "THIS BOOK ROCKS!" - Cool and Collected --The annual Crazy 4 Cult art show in LA has quickly become a phenomenon, with thousands of visitors, a million hits on its website on opening day, and high profile buyers including Kevin Smith and Edgar Wright. Why? Because the cream of the pop culture-influenced art scene - including Shepard Fairey, creator of the Obama 'Hope' poster - come together to celebrate cult movies with art that is surprising, beautiful and very, very cool.This lavishly produced book presents the best of the first 4 years of the show, with art inspired by such movies as The Big Lebowski, Edward Scissorhands, Blade Runner, Donnie Darko, A Clockwork Orange, Pulp Fiction and many more.

Mid-Century Ads: Advertising from the Mad Men Era


Jim Heimann - 2011
    These optimistic indicators paint a fascinating picture of the colorful capitalism that dominated the spirit of the 1950s and 60s, as concerns about the Cold War gave way to the carefree booze-and-cigarettes Mad Men era. Also included is a wide range of significant advertising campaigns from both eras, giving insight into the zeitgeist of the period. Bursting with fresh, crisp colors, these ads have been digitally mastered to look as bright and new as the day they first hit newsstands.

Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison


Gary Tillery - 2011
    George Harrison was a working class mystic. Born in Liverpool as the son of a bus conductor and a shop assistant, for the first six years of his life he lived in a house with no indoor bathroom. This book gives an honest, in-depth view of his personal journey from his blue-collar childhood to his role as a world-famous spiritual icon.Author Gary Tillery’s approach is warmly human, free of the fawning but insolent tone of most rock biographers. He frankly discusses the role of drugs in leading Harrison to mystical insight but emphasizes that he soon renounced psychedelics as a means to the spiritual path. It was with conscious commitment that Harrison journeyed to India, studied sitar with Ravi Shankar, practiced yoga, learned meditation from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and became a devotee of Hinduism. George worked hard to subdue his own ego and to understand the truth beyond appearances. He preferred to keep a low profile, but his empathy for suffering people led him to spearhead the first rock-and-roll super event for charity. And despite his wealth and fame, he was always delighted to slip on overalls and join in manual labor on his grounds. At ease with holy men discussing the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, he was ever the bloke from Liverpool whose father drove a bus, whose brothers were tradesmen, and who had worked himself as an apprentice electrician until the day destiny called.Tillery’s engaging narrative depicts Harrison as a sincere seeker who acted out of genuine care for humanity and used his celebrity to be of service in the world. Fans of all generations will treasure this book for the inspiring portrayal it gives of their beloved “quiet” Beatle.

Voguing and the House Ballroom Scene of New York City 1989-92


Chantal Regnault - 2011
    Early the next year, Madonna had one of the biggest hits of her career, with the single Vogue, and when Jennie Livingston's film Paris Is Burning arrived in cinemas the same year, winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the mainstream got hip to New York City's extraordinary ball culture, from which the film and McLaren and Madonna's songs had arisen. Paris Is Burning documented a gay ballroom scene that emerged in Harlem in the mid-1980s, which drew African American and Latino gay and transgender communities to compete against one another for their dancing skills, the verisimilitude of their drag and their ability to walk on the runway. Photographer Chantal Regnault spent many years recording this scene, from which the dance style known as voguing arose. A visual riot of fashion, polysexuality and subversive style, Voguing and the Ballroom Scene of New York 1989-1992 is also an extraordinary document on sexuality and race. The wild years of voguing are vividly captured in hundreds of Regnault's amazing, previously unpublished photographs. The book also features interviews with key figures from the movement, essays, flyers and ephemera. Photographer and documentarist Chantal Regnault was born in France. She left Paris after the 1968 uprisings and lived in New York for the next 15 years. At the end of the 1980s she became immersed in Harlem's voguing scene. Also around this time, Regnault developed an interest in Haitian voodoo culture and began to divide her time between Haiti and New York. Her widely published photographs have appeared in major magazines and newspapers, including Vanity Fair and the New York Times.

The Cult of LEGO


John Baichtal - 2011
    It's a book by LEGO® fans, for LEGO fans, and you and your kids will love it.In The Cult of LEGO, Wired's GeekDad blogger John Baichtal and BrickJournal founder Joe Meno take you on a magnificent, illustrated tour of the LEGO community, its people, and their creations.The Cult of LEGO introduces us to fans and builders from all walks of life. People like professional LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya; enigmatic Dutch painter Ego Leonard (who maintains that he is, in fact, a LEGO minifig); Angus MacLane, a Pixar animator who builds CubeDudes, instantly recognizable likenesses of fictional characters; Brick Testament creator Brendan Powell Smith, who uses LEGO to illustrate biblical stories; and Henry Lim, whose work includes a series of models recreating M.C. Escher lithographs and a full-scale, functioning LEGO harpsichord.Marvel at spectacular LEGO creations like: A life-sized Stegosaurus and an 80,000-brick T. Rex skeleton Detailed microscale versions of landmarks like the Acropolis and Yankee Stadium A 22-foot long, 350-pound re-creation of the World War II battleship Yamato A robotic, giant chess set that can replay historical matches or take on an opponent A three-level, remote-controlled Jawa Sandcrawler, complete with moving conveyor belt Whether you're a card-carrying LEGO fanatic or just thinking fondly about that dusty box of LEGO in storage, The Cult of LEGO will inspire you to take out your bricks and build something amazing.Praise for The Cult of LEGO"I defy you to read and admire this book and not want to doodle with some bricks by the time you're done." —Gareth Branwyn, online editor-in-chief, MAKE Magazine"This fascinating look at the world of devoted LEGO fans deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone who's ever played with LEGO bricks." —Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief, Wired"A crazy fun read, from cover to cover, this book deserves a special spot on the bookshelf of any self-respecting nerd." —Jake McKee, former global community manager, the LEGO Group"An excellent book and a must have for any LEGO enthusiast out there. The pictures are awesome!" —Ulrik Pilegaard, author of Forbidden LEGO"We're all members of the Cult of LEGO—the only membership requirement is clicking two pieces of plastic together and wanting to click more. Now we have a book that justifies our obsession." —James Floyd Kelly, blogger for GeekDad.com and TheNXTStep.com

Crazy Train: The High Life and Tragic Death of Randy Rhoads


Joel McIver - 2011
    He first came to international prominence in 1979, when he was recruited from the cult metal band Quiet Riot to play with Ozzy Osbourne, who had been fired from Black Sabbath for his drink and drug addictions and was in urgent need of a co-writer to kickstart a solo career. How and why Ozzy and Randy went on to find enormous success is one of the key themes of Crazy Train, named after the first and most famous Osbourne/Rhoads co-composition. It was Randy's pioneering combination of neo-classical soloing, catchy riffage and unforgettable songwriting which propelled Ozzy. The two albums that Randy recorded with Quiet Riot and the two with Ozzy showcase the young guitarist's immense ability, although the full extent of his talent may never have been revealed. In 1982 he died in an air crash. The parallels between Crazy Train and the author's best-selling To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton (Jawbone 2009) are intentional and obvious. Both books deal with a musical prodigy who died tragically in his mid-20s; both men have a vast following and a profile which has risen in the years since their deaths; and both men have a large coterie of friends, family and associates prepared to tell their stories for the very first time.

Christian Dior


Patrick Demarchelier - 2011
    Famous for launching the “New Look,” Christian Dior’s landmark first collection that marked a sea change in women’s dress after the Second World War, Dior is known today for its exquisite couture line of dramatic dresses. This book comprises a portfolio of portraits of over one hundred incredible gowns from the entire era of Christian Dior haute couture, including dresses designed by Dior himself. All of the images were shot by Patrick Demarchelier, known for his exquisite fashion portraits that grace the pages of Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and many other magazines.

The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood


Glen Retief - 2011
     Glen Retief's childhood was at once recognizably ordinary--and brutally unusual.Raised in the middle of a game preserve where his father worked, Retief's warm nuclear family was a preserve of its own, against chaotic forces just outside its borders: a childhood friend whose uncle led a death squad, while his cultured grandfather quoted Shakespeare at barbecues and abused Glen's sister in an antique-filled, tobacco-scented living room.But it was when Retief was sent to boarding school, that he was truly exposed to human cruelty and frailty. When the prefects were caught torturing younger boys, they invented "the jack bank," where underclassmen could save beatings, earn interest on their deposits, and draw on them later to atone for their supposed infractions. Retief writes movingly of the complicated emotions and politics in this punitive all-male world, and of how he navigated them, even as he began to realize that his sexuality was different than his peers'.

The Complete Record Cover Collection


Robert Crumb - 2011
    It was an invitation the budding artist couldn't resist, especially since he had been fascinated with record covers-particularly for the legendary jazz, country, and old-time blues music of the 1920s and 1930s-since he was a teen. This early collaboration proved so successful that Crumb went on to draw hundreds of record covers for both new artists and largely forgotten masters. So remarkable were Crumb's artistic interpretations of these old 78 rpm singles that the art itself proved influential in their rediscovery in the 1960s and 1970s. Including such classics as Truckin' My Blues Away, Harmonica Blues, and Please Warm My Weiner, Crumb's opus also features more recent covers done for CDs. R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection is a must-have for any lover of graphics and old-time music.

E! Entertainment


Kate Durbin - 2011
    Durbin traces the migratory patterns of the flightiest members of our televised demimonde, from the vacant bedrooms of the Playboy Mansion to the modern gothic of Kim Kardashian's fairytale wedding, rendering a fabulous, fallen world in a language of diamond-studded lavishness."Durbin elevates petty O.C. arguments between Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag to the status of serious literature." -Nylon Magazine"Durbin calls attention to the female character tropes and formulaic narratives that so frequently make up reality TV shows: cattiness, competition amongst women, archetypes for female friendships, etcetera. But far from the snark of most tabloids and celebrity gossip blogs, Durbin considers these women with respect, taking them seriously." -Bitch Magazine"Kate Durbin is pop culture’s stenographer. E! Entertainment ingeniously peers inside the television static, revealing the many fictions that make up our reality, and the many realities which make up our fictions. It’s also a lot of fun to read. I love it.”-Heidi Montag, star of MTV’s The Hills“Since it’s clear that ours is a Golden Age of TV it makes perfect sense that it might be a perfect moment for some Golden Age-type writing on reality television. Boom! That’s what you get in Durbin’s yummy delve into housewives, sexy sirens, lonesome doomed doves, and other boys and girls behaving badly but always with a sense of power.”-Jerry Saltz, senior art critic, New York Magazine

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!


Robert Ben Garant - 2011
    Well…maybe not the best of them, but certainly the most successful. (If you’re aiming to win an Oscar, this is not the book for you!) But if you can type a little, and can read and speak English—then you too can start turning your words into stacks of money! This is the only screenwriting book you will ever need (because all other ones pretty much suck). In these pages, Garant and Lennon provide the kind of priceless tips you won’t find anywhere else, including: -The art of pitching -Getting your foot in the door -Taking notes from movie stars -How to get fired and rehired -How to get credit and royalties! And most important: what to buy with the huge piles of money you’re going to make! Writing Movies for Fun and Profit will take you through the highs and lows of life as a professional screenwriter. From the highs of hugging Gisele Bündchen and getting kung fu punched by Jackie Chan to the soul-crushing lows of Herbie: Fully Loaded. Read this book and you’ll have everything you need to make your first billion the old-fashioned way—by “selling out” in show business! A portion of the authors’ proceeds from this book are being contributed to the USO of Metropolitan Washington, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to serving active duty military members and their families in the greater Washington, DC, region.

The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive


Ray Connolly - 2011
    Ray Connolly was lucky. He was a journalist and he knew all of them, John Lennon confiding in him that he’d left the Beatles four months before it became public knowledge; and later Paul McCartney asking him for an interview so that he could explain his side of the break-up. Before that, Connolly went to Beatles’ recording sessions at the Abbey Road studios, knew the Beatles' wives, visited the homes of three of them, and was a frequent visitor to the Beatles' Apple London base. In the front row at George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh in Madison Square Gardens, he also followed the Magical Mystery Tour around England’s West Country, and when John Lennon decided to send his MBE back to the Queen it was Ray Connolly he phoned to break the news. Later, when John Lennon lived in New York, there would be letters from him, while Ringo had the second lead in the movie That’ll Be The Day which Ray Connolly wrote. This isn’t a biography of the Beatles. Nor is it a dissertation on their music or an analysis of their lyrics. It is Ray Connolly's story of the Beatles, a selection of some of his many interviews with them and others connected with them, as well as articles, reviews, news stories and reflections that he's published over the past forty five years in various British national newspapers – as well as several pieces being published here for the first time. Home, culture and Lady Madonna - Paul; Ringo back from meditating - ‘It was just like Butlins’; The Magical Mystery Tour - ‘Maybe we goofed,’ says Paul; ‘Sometimes I go to John’s house and play with his toys and sometimes he comes and plays with mine’- Ringo; The Apple boutique…from take-away to give-away; The enigmatic Yoko; Paul talking about the White Album; Great and turbulent times at Apple; ‘If George leaves, he leaves…’ said John, during the unhappy filming of Let It Be; On the roof - the last gig; Paul marries Linda and John marries Yoko; The Ballad of John and Yoko; There are various ways of doing business…and there’s Allen Klein’s way. Elvis, Dylan, John Lennon and me; Paul talks about the Abbey Road album; ‘Paul is dead’ and John’s MBE goes back to the Queen; ‘I’ve left the Beatles…’ said John; A weekend in Canada with the Lennons; ‘You’re the journalist, not me…’ said John; Paul on ‘Why the Beatles broke up’; John and 'the Ignoble Alf'; John talking about his songs; John…‘performing flea’ or ‘crutch for the world’s social lepers’?; George and the Concert for Bangladesh; 'Imagine that’s the B-side', said John; John and Yoko’s early days in New York; Michael X and John; 'No more four gods on stage’, says John; Ringo in the movie That’ll Be The Day; Paul on how he turned down John’s invitation for them to play together again; John's Lost Weekend; Paul and his favourite songs; Paul – the Japanese Jailbird; Unimaginable - December, 1980; Mark Chapman and what turns a fan into a killer; The story of Working Class Hero’- the Beatles movie that never was; Twenty years after Sergeant Pepper - hit and myth? Paul talks about the Beatles Anthology; Linda McCartney 1941-1998; The story of Paul and Linda; ‘That’s the youngest tramp I’ve e

LIFE 75 Years: The Very Best of LIFE


LIFE - 2011
    In these pages are the best war photos ever taken for LIFE; the best photo essays ever to grace our pages (including the works of Capa and Parks and Smith); the loveliest pictures from Hollywood (in fact, the best pictures of Marilyn Monroe ever taken by such as Halsmann, Eisenstaedt and her dear friend Milton Greene), the best sports pictures, the funniest pictures we ever ran. The best pictures from the space race, and the most significant pictures to the human race, including Lennart Nilsson's "Life Before Birth."This is a premium volume of LIFE, and beyond its 200-plus pages, which include a review of every LIFE cover ever published, there is, included here, the ultimate premium: The first-ever LIFE issue, with the Margaret Bourke-White photograph of the Fort Peck Dam on the cover, reprinted in its entirety, at actual size (which was really big 10 1/2" x 14") and able to be detached. We've come a long way: We, you, those places, LIFE itself. This book tells, and celebrates, that voyage.

I Love Lucy: A Celebration of All Things Lucy: Inside the World of Television’s First Great Sitcom


Elisabeth Edwards - 2011
    Upon the 60th anniversary of the landmark television show's debut and the 100th birthday of superstar Lucille Ball, I Love Lucy is the ultimate celebration of the show we love.This book brings to life the world of the show and its impact more fully than ever before. Rare backstage photos and images from the stars' personal collections illustrate new stories about the making of I Love Lucy. Highlights include Lucille Ball's personal commentary on her favorite episodes, taken from previously unpublished interviews. Chapters filled with trivia, character bios, fashions, music, recipes featured on the show, and much more make this an informative and fabulously entertaining tribute to the classic show.

Planet Word


J.P. Davidson - 2011
    Davidson's remarkable Planet Word.'The way you speak is who you are and the tones of your voice and the tricks of your emailing and tweeting and letter-writing, can be recognised unmistakably in the minds of those who know and love you.'Stephen FryFrom feral children to fairy-tale princesses, secrets codes, invented languages - even a language that was eaten! - Planet Word uncovers everything you didn't know you needed to know about how language evolves. Learn the tricks to political propaganda, why we can talk but animals can't, discover 3,000-year-old clay tablets that discussed beer and impotence and test yourself at textese - do you know your RMEs from your LOLs? Meet the 105-year-old man who invented modern-day Chinese and all but eradicated illiteracy, and find out why language caused the go-light in Japan to be blue. From the dusty scrolls of the past to the unknown digital future, and with (heart) the first graphic to enter the OED, are we already well on our way to a language without words?In a round-the-world trip of a lifetime, discover all this and more as J. P. Davidson travels across our gloriously, endlessly intriguing multilingual Planet Word.John Paul Davidson is a film and television director and producer. After studying at Bristol University and completing his doctoral field work in The University of Malysia, he joined the BBC's Travel and Exploration Unit as their resident anthropologist.Stephen Fry's film, stage, radio and television credits are numerous and wide-ranging. He has written, produced, directed, acted in or presented productions as varied as Wilde, Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Fry's English Delight and QI. After writing many successful books, his recent memoir The Fry Chronicles was a number one bestseller.

William Catherine: Their Romance and Royal Wedding in Photographs


David Elliot Cohen - 2011
    Few events capture the world's heart and imagination like a British royal wedding. In 1981, we were enchanted as Prince Charles wed lovely Lady Di, generating worldwide attention and massive sales of wedding-related products. As the young managing editor of a photo-news agency, Cohen directed a team of five photojournalists who covered the wedding for several major news magazines. Through more than two hundred spectacular photographs (including 80 pages of their wedding alone), William & Catherine recounts the couple's wildly different childhoods, their romance and engagement, the events leading up to the wedding, and the grand affair itself--watched by over two billion worldwide. Here are the massive crowds lining the parade route, the sparkling celebrities at Westminster Abbey, the bride's spectacular gown, “The Kisses” on Buckingham Palace's balcony, and the worldwide celebrations. Also included is a brief pictorial history of British royal weddings from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840 to Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981. Including a brief history of British royal weddings, fascinating detailed captions, and a foreword by renowned royal watcher Robert Jobson, author of William & Kate, The Love Story and royal correspondent for four major British newspapers, this book magnificently illustrates the pomp, the pageantry, the history and enchantment of the romance that charmed the world.

mental_floss: The Book: The Greatest Lists in the History of Listory


Will Pearson - 2011
    Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the award-winning mental_floss magazine, authors Will Pearson, Mangesh Hattikudur, and Ethan Trex offer a cornucopia of additive, edifying, oddball, and irreverent information guaranteed to make dedicated trivia fans “feel smart again.” In the spirit of their top-selling book, Condensed Knowledge, mental_floss: The Book is perfect for everyone who likes to laugh while they learn.

Beatles For Sale on Parlophone Records


Bruce Spizer - 2011
    from 1962 through 1970. Each record is given a separate chapter, which tells the stories behind how the songs appearing on the disc were written and recorded. The chapters also detail how the records were marketed and contain sales and chart information. The book has chapters on the history of EMI and Parlophone Records, how records are mastered and manufactured, how EMI contracted with other record companies to press Beatles singles and albums to help meet demand, British radio and record charts in the sixties and other record-related topics. The book has over 700 illustrations, all in either color or original black and white.

In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City


Imogen Sara Smith - 2011
    Through detailed readings of more than 100 films set in suburbs, small towns, on the road, in the desert, borderlands and the vast, empty West, the author investigates the alienation expressed by film noir, pinpointing its motivation in the conflict between desires for escape, autonomy and freedom--and fears of loneliness, exile and dissolution. Through such films as Out of the Past, They Live by Night and A Touch of Evil, this critical study examines how film noir reflected radical changes in the physical and social landscapes of postwar America, defining the genre's contribution to the eternal debate between the values of individualism and community.

Lifestyle Illustration Of The 50s


Rian Hughes - 2011
    'Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s' provides a nostalgic trip into a world of Mid-Century Modern living.

Marilyn: Intimate Exposures


Susan Bernard - 2011
    Bernard's iconic photograph of Marilyn standing over the subway grate in a billowing white dress is synonymous with Hollywood glamour and sex appeal, and many of the images here have never before been published. They cover key moments in Marilyn's life, including her first professional sitting in 1946, all enlivened by fascinating excerpts from Bruno's journal.Fans of the blonde bombshell will also treasure the stunning, frameable print included with this keepsake book, and both Jane Russell (Marilyn's co-star in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and Lindsay Lohan have contributed forewords.

The Best American Magazine Writing 2011


American Society of Magazine Editors - 2011
    This year's selections include stories that not only covered the news but also made news, including Michael Hastings's "The Runaway General," which forced the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, days after being published in "Rolling Stone." Readers will also find Jane Mayer's "Covert Operations" ( "The New Yorker"), which exposed the Koch brothers' campaign against the Barack Obama presidency, turning the duo into a powerful symbol of modern, corporatized politics.The anthology contains Scott Horton's investigation into inmate suicides at Guant?namo Bay prison ( "Harper's Magazine"); Christopher Hitchens's wryly moving take on the politics of cancer ( "Vanity Fair"); Jonathan Van Meter's eye-opening portrait of Joan Rivers and her transgressive comedic genius ( "New York Magazine"); and Jonah Weiner's extraordinary musical biography of Kanye West, assembled from the artist's tweets and blog posts ( "Slate"). John Donvan and Caren Zucker describe the world's first autism case in "The Atlantic"; Atul Gawande shares the modern medical profession's poignant struggle with death and dying in "The New Yorker"; and Paul Theroux spins a thrilling tale in the "Virginia Quarterly Review" of a mad collector who acquires works of art only to destroy them. Read together or one at a time, these pieces exemplify the wholly immersive experience of well-crafted magazine writing.

Fame: Taylor Swift Graphic Novel


C.W. Cooke - 2011
    Her fans love her, radio and television adore her, and young men everywhere wish they could date her. Join us for a look at her life, from the very beginning all the way through today.

Fallingwater


Lynda Waggoner - 2011
    With stunning new photography commissioned especially for this book, Fallingwater captures the much-loved masterpiece by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright following its recent restoration. Built in 1936 for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann, Fallingwater is hailed as a twentieth-century masterpiece—a marvel of innovation and daring that appears to float over rushing falls. This volume is a major event in the story of this icon, with new authoritative texts on Fallingwater’s history, structure, restoration, and collections, including the house’s relationship to its setting and its importance to the sustainability movement; its meaning in the context of Wright’s body of work; the analysis and planning process that went into Fallingwater’s restoration and how a seemingly unsolvable problem was overcome through modern engineering. Destined to become the lasting volume on this seminal monument, the book is a tribute to genius and the long-awaited reconsideration of this masterwork.

500 Cameras: 170 Years of Photographic Innovation


Todd Gustavson - 2011
    Richly visual and wonderfully informative, it showcases 500 groundbreaking cameras from the museum's collection that forever changed our perception of the world, and of ourselves. Todd Gustavson, curator of technology at the George Eastman House, organizes the cameras into genealogical categories--from detective to digital, stereo to subminiature. Alongside the 35mm, you'll see curiosities like stereoscopic cameras, postcard cameras, and spy cameras hidden in watches, buttons, and fountain pens.Essays by experts in the field--including Robert Shanebrook, Martin Scott, and Mark Osterman--trace the technological development of the camera and provide insight into the innovators behind the lens.

Obsessed With Star Trek


Chip Carter - 2011
    More than just a trivia book, this interactive game includes an electronic scoring module that allows readers to quiz themselves or compete against a friend. With 2,500 new questions covering the expansive Star Trek universe, it's easy to test who really knows their ships, Spock, and Starfleet. Drawing from the entire television franchise and all the original films with behind-the-scenes scoop on development of the series and stills from favorite episodes and movies Obsessed With Star Trek is an out-of-this-world treat for Trekkies.

Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind


Jacob McMurray - 2011
    The book serves as a companion and contextualbackdrop to the Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses exhibition, which opensat Seattle’s Experience Music Project in 2011. This decade-and-a-half musicaljourney will be represented entirely through the lens of EMP’s oral history andpermanent object collection, an invaluable and rich cultural archive of over800 interviews and 140,000 objects — instruments, costumes, posters, recordsand other ephemera dedicated to the pursuit of rock ’n’ roll.Taking Punk to the Masses focuses on 100 key objects from EMP’s permanent collection that illustrate the evolutionof punk rock from underground subculture to the mainstream embrace (and subsequent underground rejection)of Grunge. These objects are put into context by the stories of those who lived it, culling from EMP’s vast archive oforal histories with such Northwest icons as Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, cartoonist Peter Bagge, design legend Art Chantry,Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson, Sub Pop founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, the Screaming Trees’ MarkLanegan, Nirvana’s krist Novoselic, photographer Charles Petersen, Soundgarden’s kim Thayil, and dozens of others.From the Northwest’s earliest punk bands like The Wipers, to proto-grunge bands of the 1980s like Green River,Melvins and Malfunkshun, through the heady 1990s when bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice inChains and Mudhoney rose to the national stage and popularized alternative music, Taking Punk to the Masses is the firstdefinitive history of one of America’s most vibrant music scenes, as told by the participants who helped make it so, andthrough the artifacts that survive.Over the past 15 years, Experience Music Project has amassed over 800 filmed oral history interviews with musicians,producers, club owners, fans, and others associated with every genre of music. These interviews, along with themuseum’s massive artifact collection, form the basis for every exhibition. The exhibition Nirvana: Taking Punk to theMasses includes footage from over 100 interviews. A selection of those interviews are included in a DVD, exclusive tothe Taking Punk to the Masses book.

FAME: Justin Bieber: The Graphic Novel


Claudio Avella - 2011
    His story is a timeless one: just like the story of the struggling actress discovered at the counter of the Hollywood soda fountain, Bieber has risen to incredible heights after being 'discovered' from a YouTube video posting. It's a new myth for the generation who never knew the world before the Internet.

Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study


Alexandra Heller-Nicholas - 2011
    Only on such rare occasions as Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, John Boorman's Deliverance and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill has the rape-revenge movie transcended what is commonly assumed to be its intrinsically regressive nature.

Menu Design in America: A Visual and Culinary History of Graphic Styles and Design, 1850–1985


Jim Heimann - 2011
     As restaurants proliferated, the menu became more than just a culinary listing. The design of the menu became an integral part of eating out and as such menus became a marketing tool and a favored keepsake.Menu Design is an omnibus showcasing the best examples of this graphic art. With nearly 800 examples, illustrated in vibrant color, this deluxe volume not only showcases this extraordinary collection of paper ephemera but serves as a history of restaurants and dining out in America. In addition to the menu covers, many menu interiors are featured providing a epicurean tour and insight to more than a hundred years of dining out. An introduction on the history of menu design by graphic design writer Steven Heller and extended captions by culinary historian John Mariani accompany the menus throughout the book. Various photographs of restaurants round out this compendium that will appeal to anyone who enjoys dining out and its graphic and gastronomic history.Nearly 800 stunning examples of menu design Covers more than a century of exquisite vintage design

The Beatles in Hamburg: The Stories, the Scene and How It All Began


Spencer Leigh - 2011
    Associating with gangsters and prostitutes and sleeping in appalling conditions behind a cinema screen, the Beatles pounded out beat music in strip clubs and dens of vice like the Indra, the Kaiserkeller, the Top Ten, and the Star-Club. In the process, they changed their way of playing, got arrested and deported, wore black leather, lost their bass player, sacked their drummer,developed a vast repertoire of raucous rock ’n’ roll songs, and fashioned a new hairstyle.The Beatles in Hamburg features interviews with the Beatles’ friends and contemporaries, including photographers Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer, bass player Klaus Voormann, Liverpool artists Gerry Marsden and Kingsize Taylor, singers Tony Sheridan and Roy Young, club managers Horst and Uwe Fascher, and many more. It is packed with close to 150 photographs of the Beatles and the Hamburg scene, some in full color and several never before seen.There have been hundreds of books about the Beatles, but here for the first time is the remarkable, fully illustrated account of the band’s formative years in Hamburg.

Out of the Vinyl Deeps: On Rock Music


Ellen Willis - 2011
    Her column, Rock, Etc., ran for seven years and established Willis as a leader in cultural commentary and a pioneer in the nascent and otherwise male-dominated field of rock criticism. As a writer for a magazine with a circulation of nearly half a million, Willis was also the country’s most widely read rock critic. With a voice at once sharp, thoughtful, and ecstatic, she covered a wide range of artists—Bob Dylan, The Who, Van Morrison, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joni Mitchell, the Velvet Underground, Sam and Dave, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder—assessing their albums and performances not only on their originality, musicianship, and cultural impact but also in terms of how they made her feel.Because Willis stopped writing about music in the early 1980s—when, she felt, rock ’n’ roll had lost its political edge—her significant contribution to the history and reception of rock music has been overshadowed by contemporary music critics like Robert Christgau, Lester Bangs, and Dave Marsh. Out of the Vinyl Deeps collects for the first time Willis’s Rock, Etc. columns and her other writings about popular music from this period (includingliner notes for works by Lou Reed and Janis Joplin) and reasserts her rightful place in rock music criticism.More than simply setting the record straight, Out of the Vinyl Deeps reintroduces Willis’s singular approach and style—her use of music to comment on broader social and political issues, critical acuity, vivid prose, against-the-grain opinions, and distinctly female (and feminist) perspective—to a new generation of readers. Featuring essays by the New Yorker’s current popular music critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, and cultural critics Daphne Carr and Evie Nagy, this volume also provides a lively and still relevant account of rock music during, arguably, its most innovative period.

Def Jam Recordings: The First 25 Years of the Last Great Record Label


Bill Adler - 2011
    This is the story of Def Jam in the words of its artists and top executives, taken from interviews and seamlessly told as a narrative of no-holds barred recollections and anecdotes, made even more compelling by the fact that Def Jam is one of the last great record labels to enjoy the widespread cultural influence that it does, in light of the increasing digitization of music. Def Jam celebrates a label that defined hip-hop and whose impact extends beyond its incredible roster of recording artists to all areas of culture--fashion, lifestyle, cinema, art--impacting the music business and pop culture forever. In 1984, Def Jam introduced a new kind of music and lifestyle--hip-hop--through aspiring record producer and punk-rocker Rick Rubin and party promoter/artist manager Russell Simmons. It has become the sound of young America, akin to Motown in the sixties. This is the first book to see the label whole: through an oral history woven from interviews (some exclusive) with its founders and artists such as LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Ja Rule, Rihanna, Ashanti, and Kanye West, as well as through rare memorabilia from personal archives of the label's movers and shakers: behind-the-scenes photos, flyers, advertisements, movie posters, album cover art, magazine covers, and press clips from around the world. It also showcases images from some of the best-known photographers of the era, including Albert Watson, Glen E. Friedman, Jonathan Mannion, and Annie Leibovitz. It is designed by Cey Adams, Def Jam’s founding creative director and is an insider's portrait of the last great record label.

Bugf#ck: The Worthless Wit and Wisdom of Harlan Ellison


Harlan Ellison - 2011
    History has no record of him. There is a moral in that, somewhere.""The problem with being a pain in the ass is that you never quite know who's trying to get you.""Why do people keep insisting that I join the 21st Century? I *LIVE* in the 21st Century! I just don't want to be bothered by the shitheads on the internet!""I have no mouth. And I must scream.""I think love and sex are separate and only vaguely similar."

Balenciaga


Pierre Arizzoli-Clémentel - 2011
    He was hailed by Coco Chanel as “the only true couturier among us,” and his clients included Princess Grace of Monaco and the Duchess of Windsor.This book is published to mark the inauguration of the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria, Spain, which will house a permanent collection of over one hundred pieces created by this master designer. It features an extraordinary selection of the most representative pieces from the Museum’s collection, and includes four essays written by specialists on Balenciaga’s work.

You Can Make Him Like You


Ben Tanzer - 2011
    A true exploration of what it means to live in our world, saturated with pop culture in the midst of real life struggles.

Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo


Michael Schiavi - 2011
    A founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and cofounder of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), Russo lived at the center of the most important gay cultural turning points in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His life as a cultural Zelig intersects a crucial period of social change, and in some ways his story becomes the story of a developing gay revolution in America. A frequent participant at “zaps” and an organizer of Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) cabarets and dances—which gave the New York gay and lesbian community its first social alternative to Mafia-owned bars—Russo made his most enduring contribution to the GAA with his marshaling of “Movie Nights,” the forerunners to his worldwide Celluloid Closet lecture tours that gave gay audiences their first community forum for the dissection of gay imagery in mainstream film.            Biographer Michael Schiavi unravels Vito Russo’s fascinating life story, from his childhood in East Harlem to his own heartbreaking experiences with HIV/AIDS. Drawing on archival materials, unpublished letters and journals, and more than two hundred interviews, including conversations with a range of Russo’s friends and family from brother Charlie Russo to comedian Lily Tomlin to pioneering activist and playwright Larry Kramer, Celluloid Activistprovides an unprecedented portrait of a man who defined gay-rights and AIDS activism. “Schiavi tells a compelling story in this biography—from his re-creation of life on the streets of East Harlem and in Greenwich Village of the 1960s and 1970s to the way he conveys Russo’s excitement about his film research and popular education to his account of the AIDS years in New York City.”—John D’Emilio, Italian American Review  “In [Schiavi’s] hands Russo’s life is both fascinating in its own right and a window into a larger milieu of activism during two critical decades.”—Italian American Review Best Special Interest Books, selected by the American Association of School Librarians Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers Finalist, Gay Memoir/Biography, Lambda Literary Awards Finalist, Over the Rainbow Selection, American Library Association

All Access: The Rock 'n' Roll Photography of Ken Regan


Ken Regan - 2011
    His early work with Bob Dylan an the Rolling Stones made him the photographer of choice for historic music events such as Live Aid and Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now Worldwide benefit concerts, which gave Regan unique access to the personal side of the music industry’s biggest stars.The definitive collection of Regan’s best work and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the past forty years covers an amazing Who’s Who list of rock superstars:Joan Baez, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Janis Joplin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Madonna, Roy Orbison, The Rolling Stones, Carly Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, James Taylor, U2,The Who ... and more!With a wealth of timeless images and revealing stories from his private photoshoots, Access delivers an intimate look at the artists, performances, and unforgettable moments that define popular music.

Starmaker: Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, the Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me


Jay Bernstein - 2011
    From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a personal manager and television producer, Bernstein's life is chronicled in his own words. In addition to his rise to greatness, Bernstein also describes the relationships he had with stars and relates the stories behind some of the crazy stunts he pulled to garner attention, such as paying women to throw hotel keys at Tom Jones, having Entertainment Tonight host Mary Hart's legs insured for one million dollars, and getting married underwater for an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Written with style and a sense of humor, this autobiography shares the intimate details of Jay Bernstein's fascinating life.

Seeing through Race: A Reinterpretation of Civil Rights Photography


Martin A. Berger - 2011
    Martin A. Berger’s provocative and groundbreaking study shows how the very pictures credited with arousing white sympathy, and thereby paving the way for civil rights legislation, actually limited the scope of racial reform in the 1960s. Berger analyzes many of these famous images—dogs and fire hoses turned against peaceful black marchers in Birmingham, tear gas and clubs wielded against voting-rights marchers in Selma—and argues that because white sympathy was dependent on photographs of powerless blacks, these unforgettable pictures undermined efforts to enact—or even imagine—reforms that threatened to upend the racial balance of power.

Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy


Janice M. Bogstad - 2011
    Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). Part One of the collection, Techniques of Structure and Story, compares and contrasts the organizational principles of the books and films. Part Two, Techniques of Character and Culture, focuses on the methods used to transform the characters and settings of Tolkien's narrative into the personalities and places visualized on screen. Each of the sixteen essays includes extensive notes and a separate bibliography. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays


Jason Fisher - 2011
    Tolkien. Since Tolkien drew from many disparate sources, an understanding of these sources, as well as how and why he incorporated them, can enhance readers' appreciation. This set of new essays by leading Tolkien scholars describes the theory and methodology for proper source criticism and provides practical demonstrations of the approach.

Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter


Carolyn Hinsey - 2011
    The style and influence of the afternoon serial resonate in every existing dramatic entertainment and reality show, as the soaps continue to engross and entertain millions of viewers around the world every single day. In Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter, author and veteran soap expert Carolyn Hinsey brings a unique passion and perspective to the genre, having covered daytime television for more than twenty years. In this enthralling new work, she shares all the dirt, dish, and drama that make soaps great from what happens on-set to what makes it on-air, from backstage drama to back room dealings, and all the sensational soapy scandal from the daytime bedroom to the network boardroom. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, celebrity contributions, insider analyses, and a true fan's perspective; Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter vividly makes the case that daily dramas still serve up a delicious dish of programming with a purpose. Where are we now? The #1 soap "The Young and the Restless," currently has over 4 million viewers every day (take that, Jon Stewart!). "As The World Turns" went off the air in Sept. 2010 with a higher rating than "Mad Men." Clearly, there is enormous interest in the still-surviving daytime soaps and a desire for them to thrive for another 50 years. Soap operas have blazed a trail across television that continues to be relevant in our homes and in our lives to this day; to millions of loyal viewers there is no doubt that you can still find plenty of love in the afternoon!

The RecordSetter Book of World Records: 300 + Extraordinary Feats by Ordinary People


Dan Rollman - 2011
    Best of all, if you get inspired, you’ll get tips and wisdom on how to set a world record of your own. The book will released by Workman on October 10th, 2011.

Sonics in Warholia


Megan Volpert - 2011
    LGBT Studies. Speaking directly to the pop icon's ghost, Megan Volpert dives into a completely charted yet utterly unknown ocean that is Andy Warhol. The resulting collection of love letters and hate mail audaciously perforates the scene of the usual cultural suspects with icy shrapnel in a terrifying mirror game. This is not a biography, but a book that reflects Andy detects him, the Andy who deflects. Working into territory that channels the essay as its more radical practitioners imagine, Megan revives the prose poem and rethinks herself. As the idea of a "real" Andy begins to decay, the author learns to invent him and discovers herself everywhere. Remaking this mythic man in the image of her own baggage, Megan gives us her most personal writing to date and a striking truth: everybody becomes Andy."

American Idol: Celebrating 10 Years


Shirley Halperin - 2011
    Vaulting contestants from obscurity to mega stardom in a sensational display, this book celebrates the countless memorable moments over the past decade. With more than seven hundred images--beginning with Kelly Clarkson from the season one finale, to highlights of fan favorites, zany auditioners, the judge's best moments, and everything in between--this book is the ultimate visual history of American Idol. Many never-before-published images from behind the scenes, on stage, in the dressing room, and unforgettable performances, make this collection the ultimate collector's item for every American Idol fan.

See/Saw: Connections Between Japanese Art Then and Now


Ivan Vartanian - 2011
    Often defined by its references to manga or anime, contemporary Japanese art in fact has much broader roots. By drawing parallels between the art of Japan past and present, this compelling volume reveals how current artists rework the traditional forms and techniques of Japanese art history. Modern takes on time-honored conventions are illustrated by the work of a star-studded roster of contemporary artists including Tabaimo, Makoto Aida, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, and Yayoi Kusama. Aficionados of both contemporary and traditional Japan are sure to appreciate this fresh perspective on art and the power of visual culture.

Preston Bailey Flowers: Centerpieces, Place Setting, Ceremonies, and Parties


Preston Bailey - 2011
    From one of the most renowned floral couturiers and event planners working today comes a rich presentation on the art of flower arranging perfect for home decoration and inspiration and of interest to professionals. In his first single-topic book, Preston Bailey shares his philosophy about flower design, walking the reader through the creation of his highly original floral centerpieces and other arrangements with advice on how to achieve the same results. For each arrangement, Bailey discusses his inspiration and describes the type of flowers used, providing great detail on those he selects for the tables, both for the centerpieces and the place settings. He explains how the flowers influence the mood of each event, and illuminates the role that flowers play in the selection of lighting, table linens, and overall room decor. The arrangements vary from smaller groupings easily replicated at home, to the more elaborate works of art for which Bailey is renowned. Appealing to both the amateur and the professional, Preston Bailey Flowers is an essential and unforgettable addition to the flower-design canon.

Chocolate and Cheese


Hank Shteamer - 2011
    Nearly two decades on, though, Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman and Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo preside over one of the most devoted cult fan bases in American music. So how exactly did Ween manage to transcend joke-band oblivion?One answer is that, in the years following their MTV breakthrough, Ween gradually polished their output, turning their staunchly primitive musical sketches into hi-fi paintings. Chocolate and Cheese, released in 1994, marked Freeman and Melchiondo's first crucial steps in this direction. Based on new, in-depth interviews with both members of Ween, as well as producer Andrew Weiss and associates ranging from Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) to Spike Jonze, this book explores the song-by-song creation of Chocolate and Cheese and how the album served as a bridge between Ween's original two-guys-and-a-4-track incarnation and the rich, virtuosic rock & roll force they would later become.

Bite By Bite: 100 Stylish Little Plates You Can Make for Any Party


Peter Callahan - 2011
    With a career spanning more than two decades and a client list including celebrities, politicians, Fortune 500 companies, and New York City socialites, Peter has earned a reputation for creating hors d’oeuvres that are as inventive and beautiful as they are delicious. A two-sip shot cleverly matched to a small bite is an incredible icebreaker, especially when the appetizer is playfully served on an edible spoon or inside a miniature Chinese take-out container. Bite-size cheeseburgers are served on tiny home-baked poppy seed buns with all the trimmings. Mango-marinated shrimp are served individually on lollipop sticks sprinkled with fresh cilantro; diminutive plantain cones are filled with dollops of tuna tartare; and chicken is rolled into nori “cigarettes.” And for an impressive encore, how about shots of coffee with sugar donuts, or mini bagels with lox and cream cheese paired with caviar cones and champagne?In Bite by Bite, his debut cookbook, Callahan welcomes readers to share in the fun and beauty of his creations, providing inspiration for parties—whether casual gatherings, dinner parties, baby showers, or formal occasions such as weddings and holiday soirees—and 100 recipes for the home cook, ranging from savory to sweet, comfort food to haute cuisine. According to Peter, being prepared is the key to pulling off a self-catered party like a professional. With that in mind, he has included a “Kitchen Tools and Conveniences” section, listing the key equipment that will help you create the delicious masterpieces in this book. In the recipes he also notes what can be made in advance, how best to schedule your time, and any emergency substitutions and shortcuts that will make life easier on the big day. Along the way, he divulges his secrets and inspiration, recounting stories of how he dreamed up dishes that he’s catered for his impressive roster of celebrity clients.Full of creative recipes, unique party ideas, and vibrant food photography, Bite by Bite is your go-to source for inspired hors d’oeuvres and whimsical treats that will transform any gathering into an unforgettable event.

A Key to Balthasar: Hans Urs von Balthasar on Beauty, Goodness, and Truth


Aidan Nichols - 2011
    No writer has better revealed the spiritual greatness of the revelation to which the art of the church and the historic liturgies bear witness. Yet students and nonspecialist readers often find Balthasar daunting and difficult. This volume is the ideal introduction to his work. It unlocks the treasure of his theology by focusing on the beautiful, the good, and the true. These are the three qualities of being around which his great trilogy--The Glory of the Lord, Theo-Drama, and Theo-Logic--revolves. Though brief, the book captures the essence of what Balthasar wished to say.

Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon: A Geopolitical Prehistory of J-Pop


Michael K. Bourdaghs - 2011
    Pop music allowed Japanese artists and audiences to assume various identities, reflecting the country's uncomfortable position under American hegemony and its uncertainty within ever-shifting geopolitical realities. In the first English-language study of this phenomenon, Michael Bourdaghs considers genres as diverse as boogie-woogie, rockabilly, "enka," 1960s rock and roll, 1970s new music, folk, and techno-pop. Reading these forms and their cultural import through music, literary, and cultural theory, he introduces readers to the sensual moods and meanings of modern Japan. As he unpacks the complexities of popular music production and consumption, Bourdaghs interprets Japan as it worked through (or tried to forget) its imperial past. These efforts grew even murkier as Japanese pop migrated to the nation's former colonies. In postwar Japan, pop music both accelerated and protested the commodification of everyday life, challenged and reproduced gender hierarchies, and insisted on the uniqueness of a national culture, even as it participated in an increasingly integrated global marketplace. Each chapter in "Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon" examines a single genre through a particular theoretical lens: the relation of music to liberation; the influence of cultural mapping on musical appreciation; the role of translation in transmitting musical genres around the globe; the place of noise in music and its relation to historical change; the tenuous connection between ideologies of authenticity and imitation; the link between commercial success and artistic integrity; and the function of melodrama. Bourdaghs concludes with a look at recent Japanese pop music culture.

Carrie: Studies in the Horror Film


Joe Aisenberg - 2011
    Joe Aisenberg's dissection of Carrie is, amazingly, the first book-length critical study on this film ever released. In fact, so little has been written on Carrie in a critical fashion that Joe found, to his delight and horror, that he had the field pretty much all to himself. He has conducted new interviews with Brian DePalma, screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, and cast members, including cult legend P.J. Soles, with an in-depth analysis of plot and influence.

High Strung: Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, and the Untold Story of Tennis's Fiercest Rivalry


Stephen Tignor - 2011
    Viewed through the lens of the fabled 1981 U.S. Open match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, High Strung brings the golden age of tennis vibrantly alive once more. A fascinating chronicle that orbits around the four greatest, most enigmatic talents in the sport at the time—McEnroe, Borg, Jimmy Connors, and Vitas Gerulaitis—High Strung is a superior sports history, a must read for anyone who truly loves the game.

Tundra: The Next Degeneration


Chad Carpenter - 2011
    A collection of Tundra comics.

The Rude Pundit's Almanack


Lee Papa - 2011
    THERE’S NOWHERE TO HIDE FROM THE RUDE PUNDITIn the tradition of Abbie Hoffman, Bill Hicks, and Bill Maher, from the depths of the left side of the blogosphere, the Rude Pundit steps forth to defend the right to be liberal, to be sexually suspect, to be broke and pissed-off—and to make fun of Republicans all the time, all the time.Including:“Glenn Beck Is the New Martin Luther King (in Hell)”“Nuns and Guns”“Riding on an Airplane with Someone Who Talks to God”and profiles of great Americans of our time such as Tim Pawlenty, David Duke, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Jeb Bush and many, many more!YOU’LL LAUGH • YOU’LL CRY • YOU’LL GET NAUSEATED • YOU'LL GET AROUSED • AND IT’S (almost) ALL TRUEfeaturing charming anecdotes, twisted poems, gonzo reportage, tragic photographs, meaningless charts, Founding Fathers in compromising positions, and much, much more.

Feasting on the Word, Year A,


David L. Bartlett - 2011
    The twelve volumes cover all of the Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, along with moveable occasions. The page layout is truly unique. For each lectionary text, preachers will find brief essays--one each on the exegetical, theological, pastoral, and homiletical challenges of the text. Each volume also contains an index of biblical passages so that nonlectionary preachers may make use of it.

Into the Looking Glass: Exploring the Worlds of Fringe


Sarah Clarke Stuart - 2011
    With a strong basis in science fiction, Fringe has all of the archetypal characters and themes of the genre, from the covert mastermind and the mad scientist to dangerous advances in technology, parallel worlds, and man-made monsters. Along with many other post–9/11 television shows aired in the West, Fringe has demonstrated a society’s collective paranoia about foreign invaders, on the one hand, and domestic corruption on the other. It also lays bare the fear of radical advances in technology and urges its viewers to ponder the ethical limitations of science. This guide explores how the show uses these elements to tap into a deeper understanding of the human experience. Less focused on individual episodes, this book is split into three parts, each discussing a broad element of the narrative experience of the first three seasons of this multilayered show.

Charles Brittin: West and South


Charles Brittin, - 2011
    Brittin settled in Venice Beach, California, in 1951, and his beach shack became a hangout for the Berman circle, which included actors Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper, artist John Altoon, curator Walter Hopps and poet David Meltzer, among many others. A self-taught photographer, Brittin was working as a mailman at the time, and spent much of his free time wandering the streets with a camera; he came to know Venice intimately, and his pictures of the town are freighted with a hushed beauty and forlorn sweetness. In the early 1960s the focus of Brittin's life shifted dramatically when he became involved with the civil rights movement. "I suddenly realized I was compelled to do something," Brittin recalls, "because the times demanded it." As a photographer for the Congress of Racial Equality, Brittin documented the dramatic non-violent protests that occurred throughout Southern California, and made a courageous trip to the deep South, in 1965, to assist with the registration of black voters. As the 60s progressed he documented the antiwar movement, and by the end of the decade was devoting most of his time to the Black Panther Party. These two very different social revolutions are at the heart of Charles Brittin: West and South. With 150 images--138 of them previously unpublished--this monograph is published on the occasion of a 2011 retrospective at Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles.Charles Brittin (born 1928) moved to California from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after enrolling at UCLA. He contributed several photographs to Wallace Berman's Semina magazine throughout the 50s and 60s, while working as a photographer for Charles and Ray Eames. After a two-decade hiatus, Brittin returned to photography in the 1990s, also making video works.

Blood and Ink: The Art of the Tattoo


Russ Thorne - 2011
    Blood and Ink includes 150 tattoo transfers designed by real tattoo artists that you will really want to wear and offers helpful information about symbolism, placement, and meaning. This book is all you need to wear and understand the body art you love without making a commitment.

Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation?


Steven Hyden - 2011
    I’ve gone back and repurchased a lot of the CDs I sold off—which, thanks to the bargain bin at Half-Price Books, has actually been a fairly inexpensive proposition—and reacquainted myself with groups that I once adored before they died off, broke up, or settled into respectable but uninspired careers. My goal is to rediscover what I saw in these bands when I was a teenager, and figure out why the music went from enlightening to deadening so rapidly, from the bucolic early years of Lollapalooza to the apocalyptic assault of Woodstock ’99. Because as easy as it is now to take potshots at the mumbly, histrionic sounds of the ’90s, this is music that meant a great deal to me and many others at the time. Out of respect for my teenaged self, I’m giving it an honest re-examination.Each installment of Whatever Happened To Alternative Nation? will be tied to a year, starting with 1990—which I’m packaging with this introduction, since it’s really a prologue year—and proceed chronologically up through 1999. However, this isn’t intended to be a definitive history of grunge; I won’t be writing about every single Seattle band, or even most Seattle bands. A lot of it won’t even be about grunge; I also plan on looking at the feel-good bro tunes of Sublime, and the ironic arena-rock posturing of Urge Overkill, among other groups, and how they fit in with the overall narrative of ’90s alt-rock’s rise and fall. I promise I’ll completely overlook at least one of your favorite bands; please don’t take it personally. As a general rule, I’m interested in discussing ’90s bands that were played regularly on MTV and on the radio, even in a small city like my hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin, because this was the last time (as of now, anyway) that rock music acted as the engine under the hood of American pop culture. Inevitably, this series will reflect what I liked and cared about back then, which fortunately matches up with what millions of other teenaged residents of Alternative Nation liked and cared about. More than an exercise in nostalgia—or, worse, an excuse to pick on bands that haven’t aged all that well—I hope to give those who deserve it their due, and maybe figure out how something that seemed so promising at the time went so wrong." - excerpt from Whatever Happened To Alternative Nation?