In Life,

The Politics of Entertainment

Make-Believe Media

The Politics of Entertainment

From Publishers Weekly

This perceptive study by the author of The Sword and the Dollar convincingly argues that TV and film are not popular culture, but marketed mass culture; and that these media do not distort reality, but preempt it. Their scripts, Parenti asserts, support militarism, imperialism, racism, sexism and authoritarianism, and the producer who offers work not supportive of these themes is in trouble. The corporations which control the media use their power to "legitimate the hegemonic ideological system," for example, they present negative views of working-class people--as boors, buffoons and sometimes lovable slobs--and of labor unions. The book is entertainingly written and rich in instances of the effort to force an artificial reality on viewers. Photos not seen by PW.

From Library Journal

In this well-written polemic, Parenti, whose previous book Inventing Reality: The Politics of the Mass Media ( LJ 1/86) lambasted the Fourth Estate, argues that the American entertainment industry promotes stereotypes and perpetuates Western, white male supremacy. Reviewing films and television programs from the 1930s ( Gunga Din ) to 1990 ( Pretty Woman ), he finds that even those films that attempt to explore minority characters and their motivations portray images of underlying ideals that reflect capitalist and individualistic values. Parenti also discusses the roles of film distribution and television censorship in making sure that "supply creates demand." This provocative work belongs in all types of libraries. Political science and communication studies faculties will want to use this title as supplemental reading to the older, but more balanced book on the same topic: Cinema, Politics, and Society in America edited by Philip Davies and Brian Neve (St. Martin's, 1982). Photographs not seen.

- Ebba Kraar King, formerly with North Carolina State Univ. Libs., Raleigh

From Kirkus Reviews

Having previously taken aim at, among other topics, American foreign policy (The Sword and the Dollar, 1988) and media propaganda techniques (Inventing Reality, 1986), veteran progressive critic Parenti now delivers a swift kick to the assumption that American mass entertainment, although vapid, remains basically harmless. Parenti argues that ``make-believe media'' promote belief in economic and political values that support a corrupt status quo (``images and themes that propagate private enterprise, consumerism, superpatriotism, imperialism, racial stereotyping, and sexism''). While readers may question many of the implicit concepts Parenti uses to measure media performance (belief in class struggle, etc.), his exploration of topics--from Rambo's influence on Reagan to the way the movies rewrote the civil-rights struggle to make the FBI the hero to how working people are systematically portrayed as crass--are likely to challenge them to ask exactly what they have been absorbing. Parenti argues that even the genre of horror flicks--King Kong and giant grasshoppers--had a subtext of encouraging public fear of swarthy Third World hoards and communist attack. Other chapters explain how children's programming now is a seamless web of shows about toys, how medical dramas and law-enforcement programs distort reality, and how ownership of media in ever-fewer hands leads to even tighter ideological control and suppression of diversity of opinion. Prickly analysis, peppered with the remains of neatly dissected cultural icons. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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In Beauty, Life

Creative revolution

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In Food, Life

Modern Guide to Hosting

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In Life,

How to freeze your credit

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In Life,

A Loving Approach to Dementia Care

Making Meaningful Connections with the Person Who Has Alzheimer's Disease or Other Dementia or Memory Loss

Caring for someone with dementia means devotedly and patiently doing a hundred little things each day. Few care providers are trained to meet the challenges of dementia, however―and that is where A Loving Approach to Dementia Care can help. The book offers practical, compassionate advice on overcoming caregiving obstacles and maintaining meaningful relationships with loved ones who have dementia and memory loss.

Laura Wayman’s program of care emphasizes communication, affirmative response, and empowerment―transforming the caregiving process from a burden into a fulfilling journey. Her true stories of caregiving illustrate the principles of this loving approach, giving readers essential tools for connecting with people who have dementia. A practitioner whose strategies have seen great success in thousands of individual homes and facilities across the country, Wayman explains that denying dementia symptoms can make a hard situation worse and shows how understanding the limits and possibilities of the person who has dementia can make all the difference in the world.

In this thoroughly revised edition, Wayman adds fresh caregiving insights, two completely new chapters that explore the dangers of denial by both caregivers and people with memory loss, and the "Dementia-Aware Guide to Caregiving"―a quick reference tool for advice on how to respond to specific difficult behaviors. In addition to offering valuable lessons on providing the best possible care, Wayman urges caregivers not to neglect themselves: take care of yourself so you will have physical and mental energy to share with your loved one. Her practical tips will help you balance your own needs with those of your loved one, creating a more positive experience for everyone. A Loving Approach to Dementia Care is an empathetic guide, filled with respect, calm, creativity―and love.

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In Life,

#Obsession

#Obsession: Freeing Yourself from Social Media Disorder

There is a real epidemic of social media addiction in this country and abroad - wherever anyone has access to the Internet. When a British youth tries to kill himself because he cannot take the perfect "selfie," we know humankind has crossed a line into dangerous and toxic territory.

Beneath the surface topic of social media disorder, this book is really about self-esteem related disorders that lead to over-reliance on outside validation. Because it is new and pervasive, especially to a young generation raised under its influence and never knowing anything different, social media is the main culprit for behavior disorders plaguing otherwise balanced individuals.

This book explores the outer extremes of the disorder and then furnishes several important, yet simple, processes by which to restore psychological balance. Social Media is a positive tool in our lives when used properly. This book serves as a guide on how to interact with social media in a healthy way.

People are becoming more and more obsessed with communicating an idealized version of themselves to strangers and creating an electronic ghost personality that exists only because certain facts are edited out.

This is one of the first and most enlightening books on this growing epidemic of social media addiction. It is a fascinating exploration of social media, but also a way to see yourself in the many amazing case histories - and decide if you are a victim of this modern malady.

#Obsession will appeal to anyone who uses social media, which is nearly everyone on the planet, even people in third world countries.

About the Authors

Seyedeh Tina Sadri, M.A. L.M.F.T. is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She is the Founder of Newport Mental Wellness, a private practice in Newport Beach, California.

Tina supports various programs in Orange County and has quickly gained notoriety for her support in programs that help women and children. She was featured as one of Orange County's Dynamic Women of 2014 in Modern Luxury Riviera Magazine. Her advocacy and experience in women and children's wellness was instrumental in writing about the topic of social media and its affect on today's society.

Randall Frakes is a prolific screenwriter and book author. He is the author of bestselling first two TERMINATOR novelizations and co-authored . He edited an annotated JAMES CAMERON'S TITANIC: THE ILLUSTRATED SCREENPLAY and contributed to the bestselling JAMES CAMERON'S AVATAR: AN ACTIVIST SURVIVAL GUIDE.

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In Life,

Perfect Bet: How Science and Math Are Taking the Luck out of Gambling

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In Life, Style

The Fashion industry careers

The Fashion Industry and Its Careers, 3rd Edition, offers an exploration of the fashion industry - from raw materials to marketing to the ultimate consumer - and explores fashion careers across the board. For each career covered, readers will learn about what to expect on the job, required education and training, and the relationship of the role to the industry as a whole. The third edition is fully updated with recent developments in technology, world economics and globalization and effects on industry sectors and career opportunities. Through current, applied industry information and personal assessments throughout, students gain a critical understanding of what careers match their aptitudes, skill sets, and interests - and how to begin down a path to a successful career in the fashion industry.

New to this edition:

-In-depth job descriptions for a wider range of careers expanded to include Marketing Director, Product Marketing Manager, Brand Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Web Site Marketing Personnel, Creative Art Director, Copy Writer, Customer Service and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Staff in Chapter 9; and Digital Media Artist, Graphic Designer, Fashion Journalist, and Fashion Blogger in Chapter 12.

-New Profiles are presented at the conclusion of chapters-from young executives and entrepreneurs, such as freelance trend forecaster and fashion entrepreneur Erin Burke (Chapter 11), Marivi Avalos Monarrez, Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director for Asia at Fashionbi (Chapter 9), and Mandy Raines-Cordia, Women's Contemporary Apparel Buyer for Zappos.com (Chapter 10); to legends and true teachers, like David Wolfe, Creative Director of The Doneger Group (Chapter 1), fashion journalist Robin Givhan (Chapter 12), and fashion educator Dr. Catherine Amoroso Leslie at Kent State University (Chapter 14).·

-Organizational changes to the unit structure align the content with current industry practice and emphasize career areas with the greatest growth potential. New Chapter 12 familiarizes readers with the growing career sector of digital media and visual communication.

-A fully updated photo program contains more than 75 new photographs and a 16-page color insert of all-new full color images.

-Social Media Strikes boxes interspersed throughout the text explore how social media trends are integrated into the various levels of the industry and describe the impact of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linked In, and more.

-Case Studies in Career Exploration showcase profiles of companies, interviews with individuals, industry scenarios, and insider tips

-The Job Search boxes feature sample advertisements for actual positions in fields discussed within each chapter

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In Life, Travel

The best New York novels

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk: A Novel

NOW A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER

“Transporting…witty, poignant and sparkling.”

―People (People Picks Book of the Week)

“Prescient and quick....A perfect fusing of subject and writer, idea and ideal.”

―Chicago Tribune

“Extraordinary…hilarious…Elegantly written, Rooney creates a glorious paean to a distant literary life and time―and an unabashed celebration of human connections that bridge past and future.

―Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed)

"Rooney's delectably theatrical fictionalization is laced with strands of tart poetry and emulates the dark sparkle of Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Truman Capote. Effervescent with verve, wit, and heart, Rooney’s nimble novel celebrates insouciance, creativity, chance, and valor."

―Booklist (starred review)

“In my reckless and undiscouraged youth,” Lillian Boxfish writes, “I worked in a walnut-paneled office thirteen floors above West Thirty-Fifth Street…”

She took 1930s New York by storm, working her way up writing copy for R.H. Macy’s to become the highest paid advertising woman in the country. It was a job that, she says, “in some ways saved my life, and in other ways ruined it.”

Now it’s the last night of 1984 and Lillian, 85 years old but just as sharp and savvy as ever, is on her way to a party. It’s chilly enough out for her mink coat and Manhattan is grittier now―her son keeps warning her about a subway vigilante on the prowl―but the quick-tongued poetess has never been one to scare easily. On a walk that takes her over 10 miles around the city, she meets bartenders, bodega clerks, security guards, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be, while reviewing a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak, illuminating all the ways New York has changed―and has not.

A love letter to city life in all its guts and grandeur, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney paints a portrait of a remarkable woman across the canvas of a changing America: from the Jazz Age to the onset of the AIDS epidemic; the Great Depression to the birth of hip-hop.

Lillian figures she might as well take her time. For now, after all, the night is still young.

City of Glass: The Graphic Novel

A graphic novel classic with a new introduction by Art Spiegelman

Quinn writes mysteries. The Washington Post has described him as a "post-existentialist private eye." An unknown voice on the telephone is now begging for his help, drawing him into a world and a mystery far stranger than any he ever created in print.

Adapted by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, with graphics by David Mazzucchelli, Paul Auster's groundbreaking, Edgar Award-nominated masterwork has been astonishingly transformed into a new visual language.

"[This graphic novel] is, surprisingly, not just a worthy supplement to the novel, but a work of art that fully justifies its existence on its own terms."--The Guardian

Namaste New York: A Novel

The inspiring story of three Poor Indian Graduate Students (also called "PIGS") in their early twenties who arrive in America with little concept of the challenges they will face as they make their way in a strange new land that offers both extraordinary opportunities and devastating heartbreak. Vijay was only a boy when his father heroically lost his life during the 1993 Hindu-Muslim riots in Bombay. From the time of his death, Vijay knew that he would travel to America one day in order to fulfill his father's dreams. But he never could have imagined that America might have its own plans for him, or that the dreams he had for himself could change so unexpectedly.

For Lakshminarayanan, coming to America was both an escape from the fate that awaited him in India and an opportunity to save his family from an impoverished life that threatened their very survival. He had to make his plans work no matter what the personal cost, as his future was not the only one at stake. Raj was reticent about his past, secretive about his present, and never discussed his future. But he was certain of his destiny, and every decision in his life up until this point had been made with a singular goal in mind, a goal that had nothing to do with earning money, obtaining an education, or building a successful career.

But all he had was a faded photograph, a CD of grainy images of 9/11, and admission to a prestigious American university. He wasn't sure it would be enough, but he couldn't turn back now. The lives of these three boys become immutably intertwined as they embark on a journey that will alter their beliefs about themselves and each other, and irrevocably change the lives of those around them. This is a story of struggle, loss, hope, love, friendship, and the indomitable spirit that resides in the hearts of immigrants who share a common ambition, endure a common struggle, and strive to make a better life for themselves and those they love.

Black Tom: A Novel of Sabotage in New York Harbor

The year is 1916. War rages in Europe while Patrick Kelly, a young patrolman in the Jersey City Police Department, has battles of his own to fight. He dreams of heroic exploits, little knowing how the old grudge between his father and Frank Hague, Patrick’s boss, will ruin his plans, or how his love for Claire Connolly, a beautiful chorus girl, will change his life. Least of all does he see the spectre of Black Tom. Despite America's neutrality in the war, U.S. manufacturers are engaged in making and selling to the Allies an enormous amount of arms of all kinds. Before these weapons are loaded onto ships and sent across the Atlantic, they are stored at Black Tom Island in Jersey City, a munitions depot projecting into New York Harbor just behind the Statue of Liberty.

On July 30, 1916, a massive explosion shakes the harbor, a blast so tremendous it’s felt in Philadelphia and Baltimore. German agents have sabotaged the munitions depot, with its huge store of shrapnel shells, rifle cartridges, gunpowder and other ammunition and explosives, turning it into an inferno. The cataclysm rocks Jersey City, Manhattan, and Brooklyn to the core, terrifying residents, causing staggering destruction, and resulting in death and injury. Down at Black Tom, Patrick’s opportunity for heroism has arrived, but at what terrible cost? Black Tom is a novel rich in historical detail, a vivid portrait of Jersey City and New York City in the years before the U.S. entered the Great War. It is a love story and a tale of local politics and international espionage.

Surrender, New York: A Novel

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Imaginative and fulfilling . . . an addictive contemporary crime procedural.”—Michael Connelly, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

Caleb Carr, the author of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, returns with a contemporary, edge-of-your-seat thriller featuring the brilliant but unconventional criminal psychologist Dr. Trajan Jones.

In the small town of Surrender in upstate New York, Dr. Jones, a psychological profiler, and Dr. Michael Li, a trace evidence expert, teach online courses in profiling and forensic science from Jones’s family farm. Once famed advisors to the New York City Police Department, Trajan and Li now work in exile, having made enemies of those in power. Protected only by farmhands and Jones’s unusual “pet,” the outcast pair is unexpectedly called in to consult on a disturbing case.

In rural Burgoyne County, a pattern of strange deaths has emerged: adolescent boys and girls are found murdered in gruesome fashion. Senior law enforcement officials are quick to blame a serial killer, yet their efforts to apprehend this criminal are peculiarly ineffective.

Jones and Li soon discover that the victims are all “throwaway children,” a new state classification of young people who are neither orphans, runaways, nor homeless, but who are abandoned by their families and left to fend for themselves. Two of these throwaways, Lucas Kurtz and his older sister, Ambyr, cross paths with Jones and Li, offering information that could blow the case wide open.

As the stakes grow higher, Jones and Li must not only unravel the mystery of how the throwaways died but also defend themselves and the Kurtz siblings against shadowy agents who don’t want the truth to get out. Jones believes the real story leads back to the city where both he and Dr. Kreizler did their greatest work. But will Jones and Li be able to trace the case to New York before they fall victim to the murderous forces that stalk them?

Tautly paced and richly researched, Surrender, New York brings to life the grim underbelly of a prosperous nation—and those most vulnerable to its failings. This brilliant novel marks another milestone in Caleb Carr’s triumphant literary suspense career.

Praise for Surrender, New York

“[A] page-turning thriller . . . For maximum enjoyment: surrender, reader.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Every word of fiction Carr has produced seems to have been written in either direct or indirect conversation with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. . . . [Surrender, New York] allows Carr to deploy his indisputable gift for the gothic and the macabre, and the pursuit is suspenseful and believable.”—USA Today

“[A] long-awaited return.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“[A] superb mystery . . . [that moves] at a swift and often terrifying pace. As in The Alienist, Carr triumphs at every twist and turn.”—Providence Journal

“Edgar Allan Poe would have understood this book and hailed it a masterpiece. . . . A terrific story with a great setting and a very modern social message.”—The Globe and Mail

“[An] engrossing mystery.”—Library Journal

“A compulsive read . . . Carr once again delivers a high-stakes thriller featuring a new band of clever, determined outcasts.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Carr’s many fans will find this well worth the wait.”—Kirkus Reviews

Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York

Post–Civil War New York City is the battleground of the American dream. In this era of free love, emerging rights of women, and brutal sexual repression, Freydeh, a spirited young Jewish immigrant, toils at different jobs to earn passage to America for her family. Learning that her younger sister is adrift somewhere in the city, she begins a determined search that carries her from tenement to brothel to prison—as her story interweaves with those of some of the epoch's most notorious figures: Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Susan B. Anthony; sexual freedom activist Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president; and Anthony Comstock, founder of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, whose censorship laws are still on the books.

In the tradition of her bestselling World War II epic Gone to Soldiers, Marge Piercy once again re-creates a turbulent period in American history and explores changing attitudes in a land of sacrifice, suffering, promise, and reward.

New York, Actually: A Romance Novel

One man. One woman. Two dogs.

Meet Molly—New York's most famous advice columnist, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they're other people's. Still bruised from her last breakup, Molly is in no rush to find happily-ever-after—the only love of her life is her dalmatian, Valentine.

Meet Daniel—A cynical divorce lawyer, he's hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don't get involved, no one can get hurt. Until he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning…

Molly and Daniel both think they know everything about relationships. But as they try—and fail—to resist their undeniable chemistry, they'll soon discover they just might have a lot left to learn…

Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD
WINNER OF THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE
WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE
NAMED “NOVEL OF THE YEAR” BY THE UK’S SUNDAY TIMES

“Delirious storytelling backfilled with this much intelligence is a rare and happy sight.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“[Francis Spufford is] an author capable of making any topic, however unlikely, at once fascinating and amusing. Golden Hill is both.” —The New Yorker

“Nothing short of a masterpiece.” —The Guardian

The spectacular first novel from acclaimed nonfiction author Francis Spufford follows the adventures of a mysterious young man in mid-eighteenth century Manhattan, thirty years before the American Revolution.

New York, a small town on the tip of Manhattan island, 1746. One rainy evening in November, a handsome young stranger fresh off the boat arrives at a countinghouse door on Golden Hill Street: this is Mr. Smith, amiable, charming, yet strangely determined to keep suspicion shimmering. For in his pocket, he has what seems to be an order for a thousand pounds, a huge sum, and he won’t explain why, or where he comes from, or what he is planning to do in the colonies that requires so much money. Should the New York merchants trust him? Should they risk their credit and refuse to pay? Should they befriend him, seduce him, arrest him; maybe even kill him?

Rich in language and historical perception, yet compulsively readable, Golden Hill is a story “taut with twists and turns” that “keeps you gripped until its tour-de-force conclusion” (The Times, London). Spufford paints an irresistible picture of a New York provokingly different from its later metropolitan self but already entirely a place where a young man with a fast tongue can invent himself afresh, fall in love—and find a world of trouble.

New York: The Novel

Winner of the David J. Langum, Sr., Prize in American Historical Fiction

Named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post and “Required Reading” by the New York Post

Edward Rutherfurd celebrates America’s greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga, weaving together tales of families rich and poor, native-born and immigrant—a cast of fictional and true characters whose fates rise and fall and rise again with the city’s fortunes. From this intimate perspective we see New York’s humble beginnings as a tiny Indian fishing village, the arrival of Dutch and British merchants, the Revolutionary War, the emergence of the city as a great trading and financial center, the convulsions of the Civil War, the excesses of the Gilded Age, the explosion of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trials of World War II, the near demise of New York in the 1970s and its roaring rebirth in the 1990s, and the attack on the World Trade Center. A stirring mix of battle, romance, family struggles, and personal triumphs, New York: The Novel gloriously captures the search for freedom and opportunity at the heart of our nation’s history.

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Pages

The Politics of Entertainment

Make-Believe Media

The Politics of Entertainment

Creative revolution

Modern Guide to Hosting

How to freeze your credit

A Loving Approach to Dementia Care

A Loving Approach to Dementia Care

Making Meaningful Connections with the Person Who Has Alzheimer's Disease or Other Dementia or Memory Loss

#Obsession

#Obsession: Freeing Yourself from Social Media Disorder

Perfect Bet: How Science and Math Are Taking the Luck out of Gambling

The Fashion industry careers

The best New York novels

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk: A Novel

City of Glass: The Graphic Novel

Namaste New York: A Novel

Black Tom: A Novel of Sabotage in New York Harbor

Surrender, New York: A Novel

Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York

New York, Actually: A Romance Novel

Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York

New York: The Novel

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