One part intellectual and one part private eye, Ron Rosenbaum takes readers into "the secret parts" of the great mysteries, controversies, and enigmas of our time, including: the occult rituals of Skull and Bones, the legendary Yale secret society that has produced spies and presidents, including George Bush and George W. Bush. the Secrets of the Little Blue Box, the classic story of "Captain Crunch" and the birth of hacker culture. the "unorthodox" cancer-cure clinics of Tijuana. the Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal. the unsolved murder of JFK's mistress. Also including sharp, funny cultural critiques that range from Elvis to Elisabeth KÜbler-Ross, Bill Gates to Oliver Stone, and J.D. Salinger to the Zagat® guide, The Secret Parts of Fortune is a vital record of American culture.
A respected journalist delves into mysteries that have obsessed Americans, such as the death of JFK's mistress, the Watergate burglary, and Hitler's ancestry
In Explaining Hitler, Ron Rosenbaum investigates the meanings and motivations people have attached to Hitler and his crimes against humanity. What does Hitler tell us about the nature of evil? In often dramatic encounters, Rosenbaum confronts historians, scholars, filmmakers, and deniers as he skeptically analyzes the key strains of Hitler interpretation. A balanced and thoughtful overview of a subject both frightening and profound, this is an extraordinary quest, an expedition into the war zone of Hitler theories, “a provocative work of cultural history that is as compelling as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart” (New York Times). First published in 1998 to rave reviews, Explaining Hitler became a New York Times–bestseller. This new edition is an update of that classic and a critically important contribution to the study of the twentieth century's darkest moment.
“[Ron Rosenbaum] is one of the most original journalists and writers of our time.” –David Remnick In The Shakespeare Wars, Ron Rosenbaum gives readers an unforgettable way of rethinking the greatest works of the human imagination. As he did in his groundbreaking Explaining Hitler, he shakes up much that we thought we understood about a vital subject and renews our sense of excitement and urgency. He gives us a Shakespeare book like no other. Rather than raking over worn-out fragments of biography, Rosenbaum focuses on cutting-edge controversies about the true source of Shakespeare’s enchantment and illumination–the astonishing language itself. How best to unlock the secrets of its spell? With quicksilver wit and provocative insight, Rosenbaum takes readers into the midst of fierce battles among the most brilliant Shakespearean scholars and directors over just how to delve deeper into the Shakespearean experience–deeper into the mind of Shakespeare. Was Shakespeare the one-draft wonder of Shakespeare in Love? Or was he rather–as an embattled faction of textual scholars now argues–a different kind of writer entirely: a conscientious reviser of his greatest plays? Must we then revise our way of reading, staging, and interpreting such works as Hamlet and King Lear? Rosenbaum pursues key partisans in these debates from the high tables of Oxford to a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in a strip mall in the Deep South. He makes ostensibly arcane textual scholarship intensely seductive–and sometimes even explicitly sexual. At an academic “Pleasure Seminar” in Bermuda, for instance, he examines one scholar’s quest to find an orgasm in Romeo and Juliet. Rosenbaum shows us great directors as Shakespearean scholars in their own right: We hear Peter Brook–perhaps the most influential Shakespearean director of the past century–disclose his quest for a “secret play” hidden within the Bard’s comedies and dramas. We listen to Sir Peter Hall, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, as he launches into an impassioned, table-pounding fury while discussing how the means of unleashing the full intensity of Shakespeare’s language has been lost–and how to restore it. Rosenbaum’s hilarious inside account of “the Great Shakespeare ‘Funeral Elegy’ Fiasco,” a man-versus-computer clash, illustrates the iconic struggle to define what is and isn’t “Shakespearean.” And he demonstrates the way Shakespearean scholars such as Harold Bloom can become great Shakespearean characters in their own right. The Shakespeare Wars offers a thrilling opportunity to engage with Shakespeare’s work at its deepest levels. Like Explaining Hitler, this book is destined to revolutionize the way we think about one of the overwhelming obsessions of our time.
In 1998, Ron Rosenbaum published Explaining Hitler, a national bestseller and one of the most acclaimed books of the year, hailed by Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times as "lucid and exciting . . . a provocative work of cultural history that is as compelling as it is thoughtful, as readable as it is smart." Time called it "brilliant . . . restlessly probing, deeply intelligent." The acclaim came as no surprise to those who have been reading Ron Rosenbaum's journalism, published widely in America's best magazines for three decades. The man known to readers of his New York Observer column as "The Edgy Enthusiast" has distinguished himself as a writer with extraordinary range, an ability to tell stories that are frequently philosophical, comical, and suspenseful all at once. In this classic collection of three decades of groundbreaking nonfiction, Rosenbaum takes readers on a wildly original tour of the American landscape, deep into "the secret parts" of the great mysteries, controversies, and enigmas of our time. These are intellectual adventure stories that reveal: ¸ The occult rituals of Skull and Bones, the legendary Yale secret society that has produced spies, presidents, and wanna-bes, including George Bush and his son George W. (that's the author, with skull, on the cover, in front of the Skull and Bones crypt) ¸ The Secrets of the Little Blue Box, the classic story of the birth of hacker culture ¸ The Curse of the Dead Sea Scrolls; "The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal"; the underground realms of "unorthodox" cancer-cure clinics in Mexico; the mind of Kim Philby, "the spy of the century"; the unsolved murder of JFK's mistress; and the mysteries of "Long Island, Babylon" ¸ Sharp, funny (sometimes hilarious) cultural critiques that range from Elvis to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Bill Gates to Oliver Stone, Thomas Pynchon to Mr. Whipple, J. D. Salinger to the Zagat Guide, Helen Vendler to Isaac Bashevis Singer ¸ And a marriage proposal to Rosanne Cash Forcefully reported, brilliantly opinionated, and elegantly phrased, The Secret Parts of Fortune will endure as a vital record of American culture from 1970 to the present.
Presents a literary investigation of the heated controversies among historians, psychologists, philosophers, and theologians about the life and nature of Adolf Hitler
We call it justice—the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the incarceration of corrupt politicians or financiers like Rod Blagojevich and Bernard Madoff, and the climactic slaying of cinema-screen villains by superheroes. But could we not also call it revenge? We are told that revenge is uncivilized and immoral, an impulse that individuals and societies should actively repress and replace with the order and codes of courtroom justice. What, if anything, distinguishes punishment at the hands of the government from a victim’s individual desire for retribution? Are vengeance and justice really so very different? No, answers legal scholar and novelist Thane Rosenbaum in Payback: The Case for Revenge—revenge is, in fact, indistinguishable from justice. Revenge, Rosenbaum argues, is not the problem. It is, in fact, a perfectly healthy emotion. Instead, the problem is the inadequacy of lawful outlets through which to express it. He mounts a case for legal systems to punish the guilty commensurate with their crimes as part of a societal moral duty to satisfy the needs of victims to feel avenged. Indeed, the legal system would better serve the public if it gave victims the sense that vengeance was being done on their behalf. Drawing on a wide range of support, from recent studies in behavioral psychology and neuroeconomics, to stories of vengeance and justice denied, to revenge practices from around the world, to the way in which revenge tales have permeated popular culture—including Hamlet, The Godfather, and Braveheart—Rosenbaum demonstrates that vengeance needs to be more openly and honestly discussed and lawfully practiced. Fiercely argued and highly engaging, Payback is a provocative and eye-opening cultural tour of revenge and its rewards—from Shakespeare to The Sopranos. It liberates revenge from its social stigma and proves that vengeance is indeed ours, a perfectly human and acceptable response to moral injury. Rosenbaum deftly persuades us to reconsider a misunderstood subject and, along the way, reinvigorates the debate on the shape of justice in the modern world.
An accessible undergraduate textbook in computational neuroscience that provides an introduction to the mathematical and computational modeling of neurons and networks of neurons. Understanding the brain is a major frontier of modern science. Given the complexity of neural circuits, advancing that understanding requires mathematical and computational approaches. This accessible undergraduate textbook in computational neuroscience provides an introduction to the mathematical and computational modeling of neurons and networks of neurons. Starting with the biophysics of single neurons, Robert Rosenbaum incrementally builds to explanations of neural coding, learning, and the relationship between biological and artificial neural networks. Examples with real neural data demonstrate how computational models can be used to understand phenomena observed in neural recordings. Based on years of classroom experience, the material has been carefully streamlined to provide all the content needed to build a foundation for modeling neural circuits in a one-semester course. Proven in the classroom Example-rich, student-friendly approach Includes Python code and a mathematical appendix reviewing the requisite background in calculus, linear algebra, and probability Ideal for engineering, science, and mathematics majors and for self-study
Sincerity--the claim that the voice, figure, and experience of a first-person speaker is that of the author--has dominated both the reading and the writing of Anglo-American poetry since the romantic era. Most critical studies have upheld an opposition between sincerity and the literary marketplace, contributing to the widespread understanding of the lyric poem as a moral refuge from the taint of commercial culture. Guided by the question of why we expect poetry to be sincere, Susan Rosenbaum reveals in Professing Sincerity: Modern Lyric Poetry, Commercial Culture, and the Crisis in Reading that, in fact, sincerity in the modern lyric was in many ways a product of commercial culture. As she demonstrates, poets who made a living from their writing both sold the moral promise that their lyrics were sincere and commented on this conflict in their work. Juxtaposing the poetry of Wordsworth and Frank O'Hara, Charlotte Smith and Sylvia Plath, and Anna Laetitia Barbauld and Elizabeth Bishop, Rosenbaum shows how on the one hand, through textual claims to sincerity poets addressed moral anxieties about the authenticity, autonomy, and transparency of literature written in and for a market. On the other hand, by performing their "private" lives and feelings in public, she argues, poets marketed the self, cultivated celebrity, and advanced professional careers. Not only a moral practice, professing sincerity was also good business. The author focuses on the history of this conflict in both British romantic and American post-1945 poetry. Professing Sincerity will appeal to students and scholars of Anglo-American lyric poetry, of the history of authorship, and of gender studies and commercial culture.
A daily glass of wine prolongs life—yet alcohol can cause life-threatening cancer. Some say raising the minimum wage will decrease inequality while others say it increases unemployment. Scientists once confidently claimed that hormone replacement therapy reduced the risk of heart disease but now they equally confidently claim it raises that risk. What should we make of this endless barrage of conflicting claims? Observation and Experiment is an introduction to causal inference by one of the field’s leading scholars. An award-winning professor at Wharton, Paul Rosenbaum explains key concepts and methods through lively examples that make abstract principles accessible. He draws his examples from clinical medicine, economics, public health, epidemiology, clinical psychology, and psychiatry to explain how randomized control trials are conceived and designed, how they differ from observational studies, and what techniques are available to mitigate their bias. “Carefully and precisely written...reflecting superb statistical understanding, all communicated with the skill of a master teacher.” —Stephen M. Stigler, author of The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom “An excellent introduction...Well-written and thoughtful...from one of causal inference’s noted experts.” —Journal of the American Statistical Association “Rosenbaum is a gifted expositor...an outstanding introduction to the topic for anyone who is interested in understanding the basic ideas and approaches to causal inference.” —Psychometrika “A very valuable contribution...Highly recommended.” —International Statistical Review
Walter A. Rosenbaum’s classic Environmental Politics and Policy provides definitive coverage of environmental politics and policy, lively case material, and a balanced assessment of current environmental issues. The first half of the book sets needed context and describes the policy process while the second half covers specific environmental issues such as air and water; toxic and hazardous substances; energy; and a global policymaking chapter focused on climate change and trans-boundary politics. The eleventh edition includes updates on the Trump administration's initiatives and controversies with regard to environmental policy, offering the currency and relevancy needed for any environmental politics course.
Mountain Murder is the fifth entry in the Western Slope Mystery series. All are set in a fictionalized version of Colorado’s Western Slope. Mountain Murder opens on a high plateau late on a December afternoon where a Colorado Parks Ranger is checking snowmobiles for current registration stickers. He is about to quit for the day when a new group appears. They don’t have stickers, current or otherwise. As he asks for identification, he is shot in the back. The ranger’s death quickly grows from a county investigation to include C.W. Blakenship of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, then expands to three county sheriff departments and the state police. When leads point to a Texas drug and weapons operation with ties to Mexican cartels, the FBI and the ATF also come into play. The hunt for the killers and stolen weapons plays out in high country snow and gunfire.
This book gathers examples of the author's criticism from the span of his writing career, each of which demonstrates his passion for the way we view movies, as well as how we write about them.
As you have probably noticed, there are quite a few investing books out there. Many of them were written by some of the world's greatest investors. So, why should you read our book? Stock investing is more prevalent than ever, whether directly or indirectly through brokerage accounts, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, or retirement plans. Despite this, the vast majority of individual investors have no training on how to pick stocks. And, until now, there hasn't been a truly accessible, easy-to-understand resource available to help them. The Little Book of Investing Like the Pros was written to fill this void. We believe the simplicity and accessibility of our stock picking framework is truly unique. Using real-world examples and actual Wall Street models used by the pros, we teach you how to pick stocks in a highly accessible, step-by-step manner. Our goal is straightforward—to impart the skills necessary for finding high-quality stocks while protecting your portfolio with risk management best practices. Our practical approach is designed to help demystify the investing process, which can be intimidating. This training will help set you apart from others who are largely flying blind. Pilots require extensive training before receiving a license. Doctors must graduate medical school, followed by a multi-year residency. Even those providing professional investment advice require certification. But, anyone can buy a stock without any training whatsoever. While buying stocks on a hunch and a prayer may not endanger your life, it can certainly put your finances at risk.
The authors have produced the first "on the ground" study (not just clinical or chemical) of MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), or "ecstasy" as it is frequently designated. A psychoactive substance related to both the amphetamines and mescaline, MDMA has become popular in recent years as one of the new "designer" drugs. First used in therapeutic treatment, its recreational or street use has increased in recent years. The authors track the efforts (with psychiatrists and researchers in opposition) of the DEA to ban the drug.
The saying "It's a jungle out there" refers to a competitive environment in which you'd better hone your skills if you hope to survive. And you'd better do what you can to keep a roof over your head, food in your belly, a leaf on your loins, and a mate who'll help pass on your genes to the next generation of jungle Jims and Janes. Distinguished professor and cognitive psychologist David Rosenbaum takes this metaphor of surviving in the wild and applies it to the competitive arena within the brain. He argues that the overarching theory of biology, Darwin's theory, should be the overarching theory of cognitive psychology, the science of mental functioning. He explores this new and intriguing idea by showing how neural elements compete and cooperate in a kind of inner jungle, where only the fittest survive. Competition within your brain does as much to shape who you are as the physical and figurative competition you face externally. Just as the jungle night seethes with noisy creatures beckoning their mates, issuing their warnings, and settling their arguments, you might have trouble falling asleep at night because the thoughts in your head are fighting for their chance at survival. Rosenbaum's pursuit of this bold idea explains why we are shaped into who we are, for better or worse, because we are the hosts of inner battlefields. Written in a light-hearted tone and with reference to hypothetical neural "creatures" making their way in a tough environment, Rosenbaum makes cognitive psychology and his theory easy to understand and exciting to ponder. Rather than rely on the series of disconnected phenomena and collection of curiosities that often constitute cognitive psychology, It's a Jungle in There provides a fascinating way to place all cognitive phenomena under one flourishing tree.
With twenty-nine fading fast and thirty on the horizon, single-again Lou Bergman vows to become the capital-I Interesting person she knows she was meant to be. Which means ditching her cheesy job as a wedding videographer to write screenplays, moving out of her boring-beige apartment and heading downtown to explore the more...er, diverse facets of New York City. Because she has only one year to prove to her dishy nemesis, Jake Roth, that she's creative, edgy and quite possibly the most fascinating woman on the planet. But when Interesting also means lots of pressure, no satisfying food and leaving behind all her friends-including Jake-maybe a lowercase interesting life wouldn't be all that bad....
Dick Rosenbaum, born to a Jewish immigrant family in 1930s upstate New York, first met with discrimination as a young boy. Intensifying his personal struggle was the onset of alopecia hair loss at age 8. Through his new autobiography we learn that Dick Rosenbaum not only beat the odds but actually turned his hair condition into a major asset which he used to enhance his career throughout his remarkable life. Rosenbaum traces his career as a Cornell Law student, a practicing attorney in Rochester, New York, and then head of his county's Republican Committee, which segued into a nomination as the youngest New York Supreme Court Judge in history. Quickly advancing to the pinnacle of state politics in the 1970s, Rosenbaum was appointed chairman of the New York Republican Party by millionaire Governor Nelson Rockefeller. This valuable connection would give Rosenbaum entrée into national politics when Rockefeller assumed the vice presidency under Gerald Ford. Rosenbaum's achievements are punctuated by his frank reflections on lessons learned from failed runs for the New York governorship, his return to practicing law in the private sector, and the challenges of balancing family life with public service. Dick Rosenbaum narrates each moment with his characteristic booming enthusiasm and candid anecdotes, while sharing thoughtful insights derived from witnessing the shakeups of some 45 years of American political life. Rosenbaum's journey is a unique portrait of self-made success.
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