Almost two decades later, it has become the premier guide to the history of rock & roll, and has been selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum as its official source of information. Giving full coverage to all aspects of the rock scene, it tells the story of rock & roll in a clear and easy reference format, including complete discographies, personnel changes for every band, and backstage information like date and place of birth, from Elvis Presley to Eminem.Since the last edition, the music scene has exploded in every area, from boy-bands to hip-hop, electronica to indie rock. Here, the Encyclopedia explores them all—'NSync, Notorious B.I.G., Ricky Martin, Radiohead, Britney Spears, Blink-182, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Portishead, Fatboy Slim, Fiona Apple, Lil' Kim, Limp Bizkit, Oasis, Outkast, Yo La Tengo, TLC, and many, many more. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Third Edition includes all the facts, phenomena, and flukes that make up the history of rock. Accompanying the biographical and discographical information on the nearly 2,000 artists included in this edition are incisive essays that reveal the performers' musical influences, first breaks, and critical and commercial hits and misses, as well as evaluations of their place in rock history. Filled with hundreds of historical photos, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia is more than just a reference book, it is the bible of rock & roll.

    But is the leisure that Aristotle spoke of--the freedom to do nothing--the same as the leisure we look forward to each weekend? With fascinating anecdotal detail, Rybczynski unfolds the history of leisure from ancient Rome to the Enlightenment to today, explores the origins of the week and the weekend, and illuminates its profound influences on our lives.

    The author, who had been a senior editor at The Week in New York, recounts her year in Yemen teaching journalism to the staff of The Yemen Observer in Sana'a, the capital, where she now lives.

    Beginning at the time of Alexander the Great, the monsters come fast and furious--Behemoth and Leviathan, Gog and Magog, Satan and his demons, Grendel and Frankenstein, circus freaks and headless children, right up to the serial killers and terrorists of today and the post-human cyborgs oftomorrow. Monsters embody our deepest anxieties and vulnerabilities, Asma argues, but they also symbolize the mysterious and incoherent territory beyond the safe enclosures of rational thought. Exploring sources as diverse as philosophical treatises, scientific notebooks, and novels, Asma unravelstraditional monster stories for the clues they offer about the inner logic of an era's fears and fascinations. In doing so, he illuminates the many ways monsters have become repositories for those human qualities that must be repudiated, externalized, and defeated.

    War is coming for the knights, dragons, and a damsel who is not quite in distress, but finds her heart’s desire in the strong men of the Border Lair. A chance meeting with a young male dragon seals the fate of one adventurous female poacher. The dragon’s partner, a ruggedly handsome knight named Gareth, takes one look at the shapely woman and decides to do a little poaching of his own. Sir Gareth not only seduces her, but falls deeply in love with the girl who is not only unafraid of dragons but also possesses the rare gift to hear their silent speech. He wants her for his mate, but mating with a knight is no simple thing. To accept a knight, a woman must also accept the dragon, the dragon’s mate … and her knight too. She is at first shocked, then enticed by the lusty life in the Lair. War is in the making and only the knights and dragons have a chance at ending it before it destroys their land and their lives. But there’s nothing a knight enjoys more than a noble quest and winning the heart and trust of a maiden is the noblest quest of all.

    This audio CD contains an introductory speech by author Walter Mosley followed by Stephen King's acceptance speech.

    For a full appreciation of literature or visual art, knowledge of the Greek myths is crucial. In this much-loved collection, poet and scholar Robert Graves retells the immortal stories of the Greek myths. Demeter mourning her daughter Persephone, Icarus flying too close to the sun, Theseus and the Minotaur … all are captured here with the author’s characteristic erudition and flair.The Greek Myths is the culmination of years of research and careful observation, however what makes this collection extraordinary is the imaginative and poetic style of the retelling. Drawing on his experience as a novelist and poet, Graves tells the fantastic stories of Ancient Greece in a style that is both absorbing and easy for the general reader to understand. Each story is accompanied by Graves’ interpretation of the origins and deeper meaning of the story, giving a reader an unparalleled insight into the customs and development of the Greek world.

    He and his guildies make constant warfare against their rivals in the Secret Order, a guild led by the dark Lich-Lord, who’s also rumored to be a crazy hacker in real life, and they make fun of players who just use the game for stupid things like getting laid. But when the Lich-Lord releases a powerful spell that traps most of the players in the game permanently, Kromgorn accidentally winds up stuck in the avatar of his friend Lacey—a stupid, low-level female character that was designed exclusively to get down and dirty with the in-game pleasure system. Even worse, he gets captured by the orcs and thrown into their harem dungeon, where he finds he’s powerless to resist his captors! The developers really modeled female bodies correctly in this game, and it’s humiliating to have to go from being a high-level barbarian to a simpering little harem girl. With his guild drawing closer to an epic encounter with the Lich-Lord, they need all the high-level players they can get! Will Krom figure out a way to get himself out of this useless body and get back in time to help his friends, or will he be stuck forever working on his back in a dirty harem dungeon? The only way out of this mess might be to give in to his situation and embrace his new body in order to outmaneuver his foes. Who knows? He might even end up enjoying himself… With 150+ pages of humorous, gender-swapped fantasy action and some VERY steamy scenes, this book is intended for mature audiences who enjoy FF and MF encounters with lots of gender-bending fun.

    To millions of listeners, Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run is much more than a rock-and-roll album—it’s a poetic explosion of freedom and frustration. It confirmed Springsteen’s status as a quintessential American performer: the rocker who, more than any other, gives voice to our hopes, fears, and aspirations. Runaway Dream chronicles the making of the album that launched Springsteen and his E Street Band into the firmament of American art, deftly sketching the ambition, history, and personalities that combined to create the enduring Born to Run.Springsteen wanted Born to Run to be the greatest rock record ever made. For a musician with just two modest-selling LPs to his credit, it was an extraordinary ambition, and session by session, track by track, Masur shows just how much grit, as well as genius, went into realizing it. Runaway Dream offers an expert tour of the trials and triumphs of Springsteen’s work. In addition to the story of the album itself, Masur masterfully places Born to Run within American cultural history, showing why the girls, hot rods, and Jersey nights of the album still resonate, even for listeners born years after its release.

    For the moments of struggle and temptation that every man faces, and the times in life when he feels surrounded and under attack, John's message is profoundly simple-those moments are precisely the time for an unwavering faith. In this book, John schools today's believers in seven qualities of unwavering faith:1. It hears and sees what the world cannot see or hear.2. It prays earnestly even though it has already heard the answer.3. It is strong when there is no evidence of the answer.4. It always says, "Go Again!"5. It goes on when there's just a little evidence.6. It believes for the big when it sees the little.7. It begins with nothing but ends up doing mighty things for God.Osteen also provides principles for those times when faith doesn't seem to be working. Becoming a Man of Understanding Faith is a guidebook to stronger faith, from a man who spent a lifetime testing its limits.

     When Nate Wilson looks at the world around him, he asks "What is this place? Why is this place? Who approved it? Am I supposed to take it seriously?" What could such an outlandish, fantastical world say about its Creator? In these sparkling chapters, Wilson gives an aesthetic examination of the ways in which humanity has tried to make sense of this overwhelming carnival ride of a world. He takes a whimsical, thought-provoking look at everything from the "magic" of quantum physics, to nature's absurdities, to the problem of evil, evolution and hell. These frequently humorous, and uniquely beautiful portraits express reality unknown to many Christians-the reality of God's story unfolding around and among us. As the author says, "Welcome to His poem. His play. His novel. His comedy. Let the pages flick your thumbs."

     Outlawed noblewoman Jaida’s been everything from a high speed courier on Arcalis Prime to a waitress in the cloud café’s on Selenis. Different careers, different names, different identities. When a cover got easy–so easy she started to believe it herself–she knew she’d been in the same place too long and it was time to move on. Before she got comfortable and started to make mistakes. Mistakes would allow Imperial Prince Seth to find her, and if that happened, people would die… But after five years, Seth has found her, and she can no longer outrun her destiny: she’ll be the prince’s courtesan, but he’ll never own her heart… He wanted the one woman he couldn’t have… Five years ago he thought he’d found his princess, the woman he wanted to be his bride and rule alongside him. But instead of accepting his betrothal bracelet, she refused him and ran. Unable to let the insult lie, he’s chased her ever since. Now he finally has her, captured while working on the docks and he can finally get his revenge on the woman who spurned him. The woman he can’t get out of his head. He’ll make her his courtesan and get her out of his system for good… But all is not as it seems, and the truth he thought he knew turns out to be a lie. When Jaida’s life is threatened by a hidden enemy, can Seth see through the lies in time to save her… or will he lose everything to deceit? **Please note - This title has previously been released with another publisher and has not been revised or altered significantly.**

    As Season 3 of the award-winning TV series opens, it is 1920 and Downton Abbey is waking up to a world changed forever by World War I. New characters arrive and new intrigues thrive as the old social order is challenged by new expectations.In this new era, different family members abound (including Cora's American mother, played by Shirley MacLaine) and changed dynamics need to be resolved: Which branch of the family tree will Lord Grantham's first grandchild belong to? What will become of the servants, both old and new?The Chronicles of Downton Abbey, carefully pieced together at the heart and hearth of the ancestral home of the Crawleys, takes us deeper into the story of every important member of the Downton estate.This lavish, entirely new book from Jessica Fellowes focuses on each character individually, examining their motivations, their actions, and the inspirations behind them. An evocative combination of story, history, and behind-the-scenes drama, it will bring fans even closer to the secret, beating heart of the house.

    Today, porn is everywhere, but where is it art? 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom surveys the history of pornography and argues that the success and vibrancy of a society relates to its permissiveness in sexual matters.This history of erotic art brings together some of the most provocative illustrations ever published, showcasing the evolution of pornography over diverse cultures from prehistoric to modern times. Beginning with the Venus of Willendorf, created between 24,000-22,000 bce, and book-ended by contemporary photography, it also contains a timeline covering major erotic works in several cultures. 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom ably captures the ancient and insuppressible creative drive of the sexual spirit, making this book a treatise on erotic art.

    A New York Times Notable Book of the Year in Hyperion hardcover.