Chris Gavaler's Books

Revising Reality

How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain the World

By: Chris Gavaler,Nat Goldberg

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Revising Reality

How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain the World

By: Chris Gavaler,Nat Goldberg

The past is fixed what happened happened. But our descriptions of that past are in constant flux, creating branching networks of contradictory accounts more complex than any fictional franchise. Revising Reality uses pop culture and media concepts of revision to untangle our real-world histories with startlingly revelatory results. Novels, comics, films, and TV shows can continue previous events (sequels), reinterpret events (retcons), or restart events (remakes), and audiences can ignore any of these revisions (rejects). Drawing on these four kinds of revision derived from franchises such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Marvel comics, Chris Gavaler and Nat Goldberg make sense of the stories we tell about a remarkable range of actual events, including scientific discoveries, Supreme Court cases, historical moments, folk heroes, and even trans names and human memory. They ask: What happened to the original, green-scaled dinosaurs after scientists decided dinosaurs had multi-colored feathers? When overturning Roe v. Wade, did the Supreme Court end the right to abortion, or did the Court claim that the right of the previous half century never existed? Since Ronald Reagan increased taxes, expanded government, and championed amnesty for undocumented immigrants, who is the Ronald Reagan whom today's conservatives champion as a model president? When a trans person comes out as trans, has their gender changed or has their gender remained consistent? Are our memories accounts of real events or some kind (or kinds) of revision? And if our memories are in flux, what does that say about our memory-dependent identities? Revising Reality answers these and so many more questions, providing surprising new tools for explaining the world and our relationship to it.

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Page Count

233

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350439630

ISBN 13

9781350439634

Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

A Philosophical Account

By: Nathaniel Goldberg,Chris Gavaler

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Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

A Philosophical Account

By: Nathaniel Goldberg,Chris Gavaler

This book addresses how our revisionary practices account for relations between texts and how they are read. It offers an overarching philosophy of revision concerning works of fiction, fact, and faith, revealing unexpected insights about the philosophy of language, the metaphysics of fact and fiction, and the history and philosophy of science and religion. Using the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien as exemplars, the authors introduce a fundamental distinction between the purely physical and the linguistic aspects of texts. They then demonstrate how two competing theories of reference—descriptivism and referentialism—are instead constitutive of a single semantic account needed to explain all kinds of revision. The authors also propose their own metaphysical foundations of fiction and fact. The next part of the book brings the authors’ philosophy of revision into dialogue with Thomas Kuhn’s famous analysis of factual, and specifically scientific, change. It also discusses a complex episode in the history of paleontology, demonstrating how scientific and popular texts can diverge over time. Finally, the authors expand their philosophy of revision to religious texts, arguing that, rather than being distinct, such texts are always read as other kinds, that faith tends to be more important as evidence for religious texts than for others, and that the latter explains why religious communities tend to have remarkable historical longevity. Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith offers a unique and comprehensive account of the philosophy of revision. It will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophy of literature, literary theory and criticism, and history and philosophy of science and religion.

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Page Count

185

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

100016411X

ISBN 13

9781000164114

Superhero Comics

By: Chris Gavaler

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Superhero Comics

By: Chris Gavaler

A complete guide to the history, form and contexts of the genre, Superhero Comics helps readers explore the most successful and familiar of comic book genres. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book reveals: ·The history of superhero comics-from mythic influences to 21st century evolutions ·Cultural contexts-from the formative politics of colonialism, eugenics, KKK vigilantism, and WWII fascism to the Cold War's transformative threat of mutually assured destruction to the on-going revolutions in African American and sexual representation ·Key texts-from the earliest pre-Comics-Code Superman and Batman to the latest post-Code Ms. Marvel and Black Panther ·Approaches to visual analysis-from layout norms to narrative structure to styles of abstraction

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Page Count

370

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1474226361

ISBN 13

9781474226363

Creating Comics

A Writer's and Artist's Guide and Anthology

By: Chris Gavaler,Leigh Ann Beavers

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Creating Comics

A Writer's and Artist's Guide and Anthology

By: Chris Gavaler,Leigh Ann Beavers

For creative writers and artists, comics provide unique opportunities for expression – but unique challenges, too. Creating Comics brings together in one volume an authoritative guide to the creative process, with practical drawing exercises throughout and an anthology of comics demonstrating the eclectic possibilities of the form. Creating Comic covers: · Using images to conceive and develop characters and stories · The complete range of possible relationships between two images · The step-by-step structure of visual narratives · How to approach each page like a unique canvas · Combining words and images to create new meanings Fully integrated with the main guide, the anthology section includes work by creators including: Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel, Jaime Hernandez, Marjane Satrapi, Adrian Tomine, and many others.

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Page Count

361

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350092835

ISBN 13

9781350092839

On the Origin of Superheroes

From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1

By: Chris Gavaler

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On the Origin of Superheroes

From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1

By: Chris Gavaler

Most readers think that superheroes began with Superman’s appearance in Action Comics No. 1, but that Kryptonian rocket didn’t just drop out of the sky. By the time Superman’s creators were born, the superhero’s most defining elements—secret identities, aliases, disguises, signature symbols, traumatic origin stories, extraordinary powers, self-sacrificing altruism—were already well-rehearsed standards. Superheroes have a sprawling, action-packed history that predates the Man of Steel by decades and even centuries. On the Origin of Superheroes is a quirky, personal tour of the mythology, literature, philosophy, history, and grand swirl of ideas that have permeated western culture in the centuries leading up to the first appearance of superheroes (as we know them today) in 1938. From the creation of the universe, through mythological heroes and gods, to folklore, ancient philosophy, revolutionary manifestos, discarded scientific theories, and gothic monsters, the sweep and scale of the superhero’s origin story is truly epic. We will travel from Jane Austen’s Bath to Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Mars to Owen Wister’s Wyoming, with some surprising stops along the way. We’ll meet mad scientists, Napoleonic dictators, costumed murderers, diabolical madmen, blackmailers, pirates, Wild West outlaws, eugenicists, the KKK, Victorian do-gooders, detectives, aliens, vampires, and pulp vigilantes (to name just a few). Chris Gavaler is your tour guide through this fascinating, sometimes dark, often funny, but always surprising prehistory of the most popular figure in pop culture today. In a way, superheroes have always been with us: they are a fossil record of our greatest aspirations and our worst fears and failings.

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Page Count

306

Publisher

University of Iowa Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1609383826

ISBN 13

9781609383824

Revising Reality

How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain the World

By: Chris Gavaler,Nat Goldberg

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Revising Reality

How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain the World

By: Chris Gavaler,Nat Goldberg

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Page Count

329

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350439649

ISBN 13

9781350439641

Creating Comics

A Writer's and Artist's Guide and Anthology

By: Chris Gavaler,Leigh Ann Beavers

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Creating Comics

A Writer's and Artist's Guide and Anthology

By: Chris Gavaler,Leigh Ann Beavers

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361

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350092835

ISBN 13

9781350092839

Pediatric Gastroenterology

By: Chris A. Liacouras,David A. Piccoli

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Pediatric Gastroenterology

By: Chris A. Liacouras,David A. Piccoli

This volume offers expert guidance in the assessment and treatment of gastroenterological disorders commonly encountered in clinical practice. It delivers all the information you need in the proven high-yield Requisites format - equipping you to master the material quickly.

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Page Count

376

Publisher

Elsevier Health Sciences

Published Date

ISBN 10

032303280X

ISBN 13

9780323032803

On the Origin of Superheroes

From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1

By: Chris Gavaler

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On the Origin of Superheroes

From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1

By: Chris Gavaler

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Page Count

306

Publisher

University of Iowa Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1609383818

ISBN 13

9781609383817

Superhero Comics

By: Chris Gavaler

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Superhero Comics

By: Chris Gavaler

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370

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1474226361

ISBN 13

9781474226363

Pretend I'm Not Here

By: Chris Gavaler

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Pretend I'm Not Here

By: Chris Gavaler

Spending long, languid weekends in St. Thomas would seem like a dream job for most people. For single, thirty-something Ashley Farrell, however, it comes with the humiliation of having to act as chaperone for the varlous bachelor and bachelorette winners of a popular TV dating show. But this dead-end junket shows signs of new life. Between safeguarding the morals of curvaceous Melissa and voracious Randy and avoiding the diamond-dripping wife of a reputed crime boss, Ashley is attracting the serious attention of a tall, deliciously sexy stranger she met on the airplane. Things are definitely looking up! Until she discovers a dead bodyguard on the beach... Until she finds herself surrounded by FBI agents... Until she is arrested for murder... And now there's big trouble in paradise for sure!

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Page Count

320

Publisher

HarperTorch

Published Date

ISBN 10

0060002530

ISBN 13

9780060002534

Superhero Thought Experiments

Comic Book Philosophy

By: Chris Gavaler,Nathaniel Goldberg

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Superhero Thought Experiments

Comic Book Philosophy

By: Chris Gavaler,Nathaniel Goldberg

Examining the deep philosophical topics addressed in superhero comics, authors Gavaler and Goldberg read plot lines for the complex thought experiments they contain and analyze their implications as if the comic authors were philosophers. Reading superhero comic books through a philosophical lens reveals how they experiment with complex issues of morality, metaphysics, meaning, and medium. Given comics’ ubiquity and influence directly on (especially young) readers—and indirectly on consumers of superhero movies and video games—understanding these deeper meanings is in many ways essential to understanding contemporary popular culture. The result is an entertaining and enlightening look at superhero dilemmas.

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232

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University of Iowa Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1609386558

ISBN 13

9781609386559

Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

A Philosophical Account

By: Nathaniel Goldberg,Chris Gavaler

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Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

A Philosophical Account

By: Nathaniel Goldberg,Chris Gavaler

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

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Page Count

185

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

100016411X

ISBN 13

9781000164114

Book's by Chris Gavaler

Revising Reality

Revising Reality

Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

Superhero Comics

Superhero Comics

Creating Comics

Creating Comics

On the Origin of Superheroes

On the Origin of Superheroes

Revising Reality

Revising Reality

Creating Comics

Creating Comics

Pediatric Gastroenterology

Pediatric Gastroenterology

On the Origin of Superheroes

On the Origin of Superheroes

Superhero Comics

Superhero Comics

Pretend I'm Not Here

Pretend I'm Not Here

Superhero Thought Experiments

Superhero Thought Experiments

Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

Revising Fiction, Fact, and Faith

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