Book picks similar to
Interactive Digital Narrative: History, Theory and Practice by Hartmut Koenitz
games
library-watch
literary-theory
text-adven-interactive-fict
Trail of the Gunman
R. Cameron Cooke - 2017
Cameron Cooke... Elijah Jones is a man with a violent past ... Setting out for the Arizona Territory, Jones seeks to escape his past and live a quieter, gentler life in the vast wilderness of the Mogollon Rim. But men who once made their living with the gun cannot simply walk away. In an untamed land teeming with Apaches and desperadoes, Jones finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a territorial war pitting him against new foes - and old ones... Through showdowns on dusty streets to savage gunfights in the wild, Jones is dogged by the demons of his former life, and realizes he must face them if he ever hopes to leave the trail of the gunman far behind...
Cheat
P.S. Power - 2015
Take it, if you can. Mason Sims is a freelance three dimensional printing and nano design tech, one of the most complex jobs available. Most days he simply focuses on his work, his one friend, virtual reality, and lives a quiet life, untroubled by other people. Right up until his best friend, Sam, who lives life as a gender neutral person, gets him involved in a situation far more intense and dangerous than Mason would have ever dreamed possible. Ripped from his old life, he must now figure out how to save the world from certain destruction. Can he survive trying? Could anyone?
Tea, Travel & Thrill
Jitendra Rathore - 2017
The settings span from Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to the desert of Rajasthan. These are the kind of stories that everyone can easily relate to--childhood memories, ghost stories, close encounters with a man-eater, and emotion-filled accounts of friendships.
Mossad: The Stories You Haven’t Heard Of Israel’s Most Effective Secret Service
Peter Russo - 2017
(Previously Turkey had owned Palestine. It had never been owned or ruled by Palestinians). An argument that will continue until one of the countries is either destroyed or disarmed. Palestine, being an Arab nation, has many allies in the surrounding areas, giving them a geographical, numerical and financial advantage. Be that as it may, the drive of Mossad is able to keep Israel’s head above water and their interests intact.The agency has performed—or been a part of—some of the boldest and fearless operations ever executed. For example, after the Munich Massacre of their sportsmen by Palestinian terrorist organisation Black September, Israel wanted justice, or vengeance. To do so, the Mossad scoured the globe for those that were a part of the terrorist group Black September and is suspected of killing the murderers. The Jewish religion has been combating anti-Semitism since the Egypt in the old testament—the Mossad is the result. It is their persistence that makes them such an effective fighting force in Israel’s arsenal.
A Real One Captured My Heart
K. Renee - 2020
Throwing caution to the wind, Shanice decides to live her best life while on a girl’s trip to Mexico. Gia, Shanice’s best friend only concern is her daughter. Trying to care for her daughter while breaking ties from her controlling ex is harder than Gia ever imagined. This is one fight however that Gia refuses to lose. Hurt by love, Truth Baylor is all about his money. Along with his right hand, Gabe, Truth is the plug to the streets. Neither of them are worried about women until they stumble upon Shanice and Gia. What started out as a vacation fling quickly escalates when Shanice and Truth happen to run into each other back at home. Will they continue what was started in Mexico or will the trust issues they both have interfere with something magical? When drama and feelings start to get crazy, Shanice will be able to tell everyone what it’s like to be Falling for Real One, even if it’s not a good thing.
How Fiction Works
James Wood - 2008
M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Milan Kundera's The Art of the Novel, How Fiction Works is a scintillating study of the magic of fiction--an analysis of its main elements and a celebration of its lasting power. Here one of the most prominent and stylish critics of our time looks into the machinery of storytelling to ask some fundamental questions: What do we mean when we say we "know" a fictional character? What constitutes a telling detail? When is a metaphor successful? Is Realism realistic? Why do some literary conventions become dated while others stay fresh?James Wood ranges widely, from Homer to Make Way for Ducklings, from the Bible to John le Carré, and his book is both a study of the techniques of fiction-making and an alternative history of the novel. Playful and profound, How Fiction Works will be enlightening to writers, readers, and anyone else interested in what happens on the page.
I Am Secretly an Important Man
Steven "Jesse" Bernstein - 1996
"The work is deeply felt...Bernstein has been there and brought it back. Bernstein is a writer." [William S. Burroughs]
Pulp Fiction
Dana Polan - 2000
He shows how broad Tarantino's points of reference are, and analyzes the narrative accomplishment and complexity. In addition, Polan argues that macho attitudes celebrated in film are much more complex than they seem.
Vertigo
Charles Barr - 2002
Released in 1958, Hitchcock's masterpiece is a pinnacle of the cinema. Yet in it Hitchcock abandoned his trademark suspense, allowing the central mystery to be solved halfway through. What remained was a study in sexual obsession, as James Stewart's Scottie pursues Madeleine/Judy (Kim Novak) to her death in a remote Californian mission. Novak is ice-cool but vulnerable, Stewart - in the darkest role of his career - genial on the surface but damaged within.
Against Interpretation and Other Essays
Susan Sontag - 1966
Originally published in 1966, it has never gone out of print and has influenced generations of readers all over the world. It includes the famous essays "Notes on Camp" and "Against Interpretation," as well as her impassioned discussions of Sartre, Camus, Simone Weil, Godard, Beckett, Lévi-Strauss, science-fiction movies, psychoanalysis, and contemporary religious thought.This edition has a new afterword, "Thirty Years Later," in which Sontag restates the terms of her battle against philistinism and against ethical shallowness and indifference.
Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
Tom Bissell - 2010
He is also an obsessive gamer who has spent untold hours in front of his various video game consoles, playing titles such as Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, BioShock, and Oblivion for, literally, days. If you are reading this flap copy, the same thing can probably be said of you, or of someone you know. Until recently, Bissell was somewhat reluctant to admit to his passion for games. In this, he is not alone. Millions of adults spend hours every week playing video games, and the industry itself now reliably outearns Hollywood. But the wider culture seems to regard video games as, at best, well designed if mindless entertainment. Extra Lives is an impassioned defense of this assailed and misunderstood art form. Bissell argues that we are in a golden age of gaming—but he also believes games could be even better. He offers a fascinating and often hilarious critique of the ways video games dazzle and, just as often, frustrate. Along the way, we get firsthand portraits of some of the best minds (Jonathan Blow, Clint Hocking, Cliff Bleszinski, Peter Molyneux) at work in video game design today, as well as a shattering and deeply moving final chapter that describes, in searing detail, Bissell’s descent into the world of Grand Theft Auto IV, a game whose themes mirror his own increasingly self-destructive compulsions. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is like no other book on the subject ever published. Whether you love video games, loathe video games, or are merely curious about why they are becoming the dominant popular art form of our time, Extra Lives is required reading.
The Legend of Zelda (Legends of Localization, #1)
Clyde Mandelin - 2015
Because it's a long way from Japan to the West, even for a legendary hero.
A Short History of Wisconsin
Erika Janik - 2010
A Short History of Wisconsin recounts the landscapes, people, and traditions that have made the state the multifaceted place it is today. With an approach both comprehensive and accessible, historian Erika Janik covers several centuries of Wisconsin's remarkable past, showing how the state was shaped by the same world wars, waves of new inhabitants, and upheavals in society and politics that shaped the nation.Swift, authoritative, and compulsively readable, A Short History of Wisconsin commences with the glaciers that hewed the region's breathtaking terrain, the Native American cultures who first called it home, and French explorers and traders who mapped what was once called "Mescousing." Janik moves through the Civil War and two world wars, covers advances in the rights of women, workers, African Americans, and Indians, and recent shifts involving the environmental movement and the conservative revolution of the late 20th century. Wisconsin has hosted industries from fur-trapping to mining to dairying, and its political landscape sprouted figures both renowned and reviled, from Fighting Bob La Follette to Joseph McCarthy. Janik finds the story of a state not only in the broad strokes of immigration and politics, but also in the daily lives shaped by work, leisure, sports, and culture. A Short History of Wisconsin offers a fresh understanding of how Wisconsin came into being and how Wisconsinites past and present share a deep connection to the land itself.
Mad about Star Wars: Thirty Years of Classic Parodies
Jonathan Bresman - 2007
. .
It is a period steeped in cinematic lore. Rebel filmmaker George Lucas, striking from a base in Northern California, won a tremendous box office victory against all odds with Star Wars, his sci-fi spectacular.During the ensuing craze, MAD's "Usual Gang of Idiots" managed to steal a few laughs at the movie's expense, soon discovering that Star Wars was the ultimate pop culture punching bag.Pursuing each Star Wars film's release with more mockery, the MAD men spent the next three decades making a farce of the Force and spreading mirth across the galaxy.Now, in this special edition volume, you'll chuckle as the Star Wars saga's greatest moments are mocked by such MAD greats as Dick DeBartolo, Mort Drucker, Don Martin, and Sergio Aragones; smirk as the striking similarities between the space battles created by Industrial Light & Magic and by the "Usual Gang of Idiots" are revealed; hum along to the unforgettable Star Wars musical, as penned by MAD's master lyricist, Frank Jacobs; gasp at the startling insights into R2-D2's love life; and marvel at the real reason why Lucas's lawyers never sued MAD.And that's just the beginning. . . .So, pick up this book and see why, when Star Wars gets the MAD treatment . . . Sith happens! It is your destiny.
After Photography
Fred Ritchin - 2008
In a world beset by critical problems and ambiguous boundaries, Fred Ritchin argues that it is time to begin energetically exploring the possibilities created by digital innovations and to use them to better understand our rapidly changing world.Ritchin—one of our most influential commentators on photography—investigates the future of visual media as the digital revolution transforms images into a hypertextual medium, fundamentally changing the way we conceptualize the world. Simultaneously, the increased manipulation of photographs makes photography suspect as reliable documentation, raising questions about its role in recounting personal and public histories. In the tradition of John Berger and Susan Sontag, Ritchin analyzes photography's failings and reveals untapped potentials for the medium.