The popular recording star and successful songwriter--known in Nashville as the Storyteller--recounts his rise to stardom, provides inside glimpses of the country-music business, and profiles his fellow Opryland stars.

    What impact do these images and ideas have on people's identities?The new edition of Media, Gender and Identity is a highly readable introduction to the relationship between media and gender identities today. Fully revised and updated, including new case studies and a new chapter, it considers a wide range of research and provides new ways for thinking about the media's influence on gender and sexuality.David Gauntlett discusses movies such as Knocked Up and Spiderman 3, men's and women's magazines, TV shows, self-help books, YouTube videos, and more, to show how the media play a role in the shaping of individual self-identities.The book includes:a comparison of gender representations in the past and today, from James Bond to Ugly Bettyan introduction to key theorists such as Judith Butler, Anthony Giddens and Michel Foucault an outline of creative approaches, where identities are explored with video, drawing, or Lego bricks a Companion Website with extra articles, interviews and selected links, at: www.theoryhead.com.

    This volume encapsulates the finest work from Seeing Things (1991) with its lines of loss and revelation; The Spirit Level (1996) where we experience "the poem as ploughshare that turns time / Up and over."; the landmark translation of Beowulf (1999); Electric Light (2001), a book of origins and oracles; and his final collections, District and Circle (2006) and Human Chain (2010), which limn the interconnectedness of being, our lifelines to our inherited past.

    

    The text's emphasis on school culture, teachers as adult learners, developmental leadership, democratic education, and collegial supervision have helped to redefine the meaning of supervision and instructional leadership for both scholars and practitioners.

    In Amplified Leadership, “pastor’s coach” Dan Reiland gives you a proven process for developing new leaders that are established spiritually and trained practically. Not just a checklist of things you should do, Amplified Leadership provides an intentional development process that starts with your relationships and ends with empowered leaders who are ready to make an impact. With personal examples and proven advice, Reiland gives you the tools you need to: •Establish relationships •Engage followers •Embrace and equip team members •Coach your apprentices •Mentor new leadersThe ability to develop leaders is a life-changing gift. When you successfully empower and release people to leadership, you give them the opportunity to fulfill their potential and advance the mission of the church.

    The artists, some of whom rarely grant interviews, offer insights into the creative process, their influences and personal sources of inspiration, and the history of comics. The interviews amount to private gallery tours, with the artists commenting, now thoughtfully, now passionately, on their own work as well as the works of others.The book is generously illustrated with full-color reproductions of the artists’ works, including some that have been published and others not originally intended for publication, such as sketchbooks and personal projects. Additional illustrations show behind-the-scenes working processes of the cartoonists and particular works by others that have influenced or inspired them. Through the eyes of these artists, we see with a new clarity the achievement of contemporary cartoonists and the extraordinary possibilities of comic art.Extensive interviews with: Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Robert Crumb, Jaime Hernandez, Gary Panter, Seth, Art Spiegelman, Chris Ware

    He presents convincing arguments that when leaders emulate these qualities, they will inspire and empower the people they have been called to lead. Reflection and discussion questions and assessment questions make this ideal for group use. Conversational in tone and seasoned with real-life stories from his own successes and failures as a leader, Robinson helps Christian leaders wrestle with four questions that emerge from John’s introduction of Jesus, “and the word became flesh and dwelt among us….” • Jesus dwelt with those he led, how can I be closer to those I lead? • Jesus disciples beheld him, how can I be more transparent with those I lead? • The glory of Jesus was a reflection of his father, am I seeking my own glory? • Jesus led with grace and truth, how can I lead with grace and truth? The Incarnate Leader is indispensable reading for anyone in a position of leadership – whether in a church setting, corporation, school board, or home. The book is packaged as a short one-evening read, similar to other popular business books.

    Prowling through every story, these enigmatic creatures expose the truth that lies beneath the surface of every encounter between women and the men they love.A young woman finds two dark surprises in her home: a magpie dismembered by her mischievous cat, and an unsettling glimpse of her fiancé's secret inclinations...A pregnant housewife quietly suffers a visit from her troubled brother-in-law while her hidden anger comes to life in the suddenly hostile behavior of her docile house cat...A frustrated newlywed clings to the last vestige of her well-appointed upbringing — a pampered Himalayan high point — until a rangy stray cat shows her the true meaning of marriage...As clever, finessed, and keen as the feline disposition it celebrates, Of Cats and Men marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in fiction.

    The title refers to the idea that those who are deviant propel the world forward at top speed. Delving into the center of the endless webs of repression against our bodies, desires, politics, and imaginations, are those whose actions and motion cut away at the systemic limitations of society. This collection of poems was written with the inspiration and work of these people in mind.As a working class queer poet, Conrad has had to fight through different stratifications of oppression his entire life. His poems vibrate with the flamboyant desire that manifests itself in queer culture, where the right to act on basic desires can become a battleground, and everyday acts of love and devotion must be enacted as a political form of defiance. The poems that emerge from this life long struggle illustrate the sharp edge of that defiance and desire, where joy is closely linked to death. In a world ruled by those who govern with fear, and in a landscape barbed with those who are terrified of desire, moving at speed of deviants is the only way to transform potential into action, and desire into positive change.

    Without undermining individual Bible study, private prayer, and meditation, the authors emphasize these pursuits for the purpose of both personal and community enrichment-that the whole body, as well as the individual, may be built up.Part 1 lays the groundwork of spiritual formation. Jonathan Morrow develops a distinctively evangelical theology, while Richard Averbeck writes about worship. Then Gordon Johnston and Darrell Bock delve into the text of Scripture, grounding the pursuit of spiritual formation in revealed truth.Part 2 focuses on functional aspects of spiritual formation. Klaus Issler emphasizes the importance of the heart in spiritual formation, while Reid Kisling illustrates the vital connection between character development and spiritual formation. Bill Miller explores love's role as the motivation for spiritual formation. Andrew Seidel examines servant leadership, and George Hillman extends the discussion to include the significance of calling. Gail Seidel discusses personal narrative as a catalyst for spiritual formation, and in closing, Harry Shields advocates the public preaching of the Word as a tool for spiritual formation.

    Carefully chosen selections from Frye, Benjamin, Lévi-Strauss, Lukács, Bakhtin, and other prominent theorists explore the historical significance of the novel as a genre, from its early beginnings to its modern variations in the postmodern novel and postcolonial novel.Offering a generous selection of key theoretical texts for students and scholars alike, Theory of the Novel also presents a provocative argument for studying the genre. In his introduction to the volume and in headnotes to each section, McKeon argues that genre theory and history provide the best approach to understanding the novel. All the selections in this anthology date from the twentieth century—most from the last forty years—and represent the attempts of different theorists, and different theoretical schools, to describe the historical stages of the genre's formal development.

    But how does the artist actually create his or her work? What is the source of an artist's inspiration? What is the force that impels the artist to set down a vision that becomes art? In this groundbreaking book, Edward Hirsch explores the concept of duende, that mysterious, highly potent power of creativity that results in a work of art. With examples ranging from Federico García Lorca's wrestling with darkness as he discovered the fountain of words within himself to Martha Graham's creation of her most emotional dances, from the canvases of Robert Motherwell to William Blake's celestial visions, Hirsch taps into the artistic imagination and explains, in terms illuminating and emotional, how different artists respond to the power and demonic energy of creative impulse.

    Even our home environment and the way that we parent can impact our children's potential to recover from difficulty.Dr Coulson explains the factors that help or hinder resilience and why common advice such as 'Toughen up, princess' just doesn't work. Learn the psychological secrets that will build your child's capacity to bounce back, stronger and more resilient than ever, including the ability to think flexibly, exercise self-control, and make safe and healthy choices. Discover the powerful impact of family, relationships, school and community, and the most effective ways to support your child.Dr Coulson aims to bolster resilience - not just in our children, but also in ourselves. Because it takes resilient parents to raise a resilient child.

    What bothers us about life and faith is real and gritty. We need a plain-spoken voice to offer God's answers to difficult struggles and painful doubts. Todd charges into these subjects with a fireman's courage, a small-town friend's vulnerability, and a local pastor's compassion. He helps articulate the questions people have, then gives them relevant biblical wisdom for taking their next steps in faith. God is ready to meet you! Are you ready to meet Him?