A marvellously readable and entertaining analysis of what makes people laugh, and why. The book looks at humour from every possible angle: between the sexes, across cultures, between generations, giving lavish examples to illustrate the points raised. The author examines the elements of humour and its cultural differences and illustrates his examples with specific jokes or genres of jokes. Not only analysing humour and comedy, it places humour in its social context and outlines how it has developed over time. The author analyses the 'joker' and the 'jokee' as well as the joke-text. No one has done this since Freud and it certainly has not been done in a book that is readable and is definitely attractive to a general audience. Whether it is 'Dumb Blondes', 'Absent-minded Professors', 'Englishmen, Irishmen or Scotsmen', 'Mothers-in-law', 'Hot Redheads' or talking animals, why do we find these personas so funny? Read this fascinating analysis of the dynamics, the history and the social context of humour. What are the seven categories of dirty jokes? Who are the great Jewish comedians and comic writers? What is different about Aussie Humour? The author was educated at Westminster College, Oxford and Adelaide University and has had a lifetime's interest in all things humorous and poses the question: 'What makes us laugh?'.
Deals with the topic of game theory. This textbook discusses the general game models including deterministic, strategic, sequential, bargaining, coalition, and fair division games. It emphasises on the process of mathematical modeling.
Drawing on the generic and mythic strength of comedy and the theories of Bakhtin, Bergson, and Hobbes, this book identifies the radical nature of early modern English comedy. The satirical comedic actions that shape the "Shepherds' Play," Thomas Dekker's pamphlets, and the comic dramas of Marston, Middleton, and Jonson are all driven, Bowers points out, by an ability to criticize authority, assert plebeian culture, and insist on the complexity and innovation of human discourse. The texts examined (including The Jew of Malta, Metamorphosis of Ajax, Antonio and Mellida, Bartholomew Fair, The Alchemist, and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside) simultaneously create and employ standard comedic elements. Farce, absurdity, excess, over-the-top characters, unremitting irony, black humor, toilet humor, and tricksters of all types - such features and more combine to satirize medical, religious, and political authority and to implement necessary social change. Written with a narrative ease, Radical Comedy in Early Modern England shows how comic interventions both describe and reconfigure prevalent authority in its own time while arguing that, through early modern comedy, one can observe the changes in social behavior and understandings characteristic of the Renaissance.
It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how they fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now he tells the most dramatic story of all--the titanic battle for Western Europe. D-Day marked the commencement of the European war's final campaign, and Atkinson's riveting account of that bold gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich--all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. With The Guns at Last Light, the stirring #1 New York Times bestseller and final volume of this monumental trilogy, Atkinson has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that unshackled a continent and preserved freedom in the West.
Wayne Lott decides to pursue a career as a prosecutor and ends up in Stonewall County, Mississippi. While following leads involving a missing businessman, a suspicious airplane, and a drug-running ring out of Colombia, he uncovers a deadly web of bribery and conspiracy.
Explore a universe run amok with savage beasts, bloodthirsty bandits, and the biggest bad of all—corporations, in this full-color hardcover encyclopedia of Gearbox’s beloved videogame franchise! The universe of Borderlands is an inhospitable wilderness that spans every biome conceivable. It’s also a land full of opportunity, but only if you have wits, skill, and guns. Lots of guns. Many come to Pandora in search of the Vault in the hopes of finding wealth, fame, or power. This is the definitive guide to the bold people who live there and in the surrounding galaxy, the mercenaries, monsters, and wilds they contend with, and the ridiculous arsenal they employ. Dark Horse Books and Gearbox present The Worlds of Borderlands—a bombastic guide to Pandora, its surrounding planets and the characters who live there. This volume is filled with art and trivia relating to the guns, vehicles, ships, companies, and adventurers of the worlds-spanning universe—and the monstrous fauna who would eat all of them.
Meet Andy Curran, drummer in a struggling jazz trio. When a distinctly odd street person sings at an open mic night at the club where they work, it's clear they've found their salvation: a vocalist of incredible talent. After she departs as abruptly as she'd arrived, Andy sets out to discover where Olivia Saint has gone and who she really is
Most everyone is familiar with the story of Charlie Wilson' s War, immortalized on the big screen by actor Tom Hanks in the title role. What most people aren' t familiar with are the countless stories of the boots on the ground who helped the determined Congressman Charlie Wilson execute his mission to help free the people of Afghanistan from Soviet occupation. The Stinger Proxy, a novel based on my own personal experience as an Army bomb tech who served in “ Charlie Wilson' s War,” is one such story.Set in 1988 at the height of the Cold War, a large U.S.-funded supply of weapons and ammunition bound for Afghanistan mysteriously explodes in Islamabad, Pakistan. A young Army sergeant is quickly deployed with a hand-picked team of Explosive Ordnance Disposal soldiers to assist the Pakistan Army with cleanup operations. What they uncover is an intricate plot to steal the most valuable of those weapons &– the Stinger missiles that had been helping the Afghan Mujahideen turn the tide against the occupying Soviet Army.The classified mission, led by two seasoned Vietnam veterans, is soon compromised by an unknown security breach and the team is targeted by hostile intelligence operatives. Fearing for the lives of the EOD team, the CIA must hide them in a safehouse until the threat is mitigated.In the course of their work, the American EOD team encounters two integral characters in this tortuous plot. None better than “ Jeb” — the covert Green Beret colonel who has been facilitating weapons shipments to Afghanistan for years. And none worse than “ Whitebeard” — the Pakistani Army general and deputy director of Inter-Services Intelligence who orchestrates the plan to lift the Stingers.With the Stinger missiles now in the wrong hands, it' s anybody' s guess how, or where, they' ll be used. The team must come to terms with the possibility that the Stingers— once bound for Afghanistan— may ultimately have been used in the assassination of Pakistani President Muhammad Zia ulHaq and two American diplomats.Adding to the intrigue is the beautiful CIA Officer “ Tara” who is tasked with tracking the leak that led to the threat against the EOD team. She inadvertently falls for the young sergeant in the process, and the two must reconcile their feelings with the fact that their relationship can' t last.While this story takes place some thirty-three years ago, it is relevant as a contrast and comparison to the current situation in Afghanistan. It speaks to the best intentions of our nation, and how those intentions often go awry.
A social historian examines the use of technology in modern U.S. history and offers a different way to group American generations. The G.I. Generation. Silents. Baby Boomers. Gen Xers. Millenials. Generation Z. Every generation has its label and box. But the real question is: Why? Enter GenTech. It’s a whole new way to look at American generations. Instead of the conventional fixed and linear dates for generational cohorts, Dr. Rick Chromey proposes a fresh understanding that’s fluid and more of a loop, rooted to the technology each generation experiences in their “coming of age” years. Since 1900, there has been more technological change than in all of previous combined history. The airplane. The automobile. Radio. Television. Nuclear energy. Rockets. Internet. Cellphones. Robots. Furthermore, there’s a massive cultural shifting unlike anything witnessed since the Dark Ages gave way to the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, Scientific, and Industrial Ages. Consequently, postmodern generations (born since 1960) have grown up in a new, cyber, wireless, and visual high-tech culture that’s forever changed how we do business, learn, socialize, broadcast, entertain, and worship. It’s technology that shapes us, gives every generation its personality, and seeds who we’ll become tomorrow. GenTech opens a whole new perspective on how to view the world and understand why every generation matters. Praise for GenTech “Whether you’re a technology nerd or wizard, this intriguing book will help you connect the digital dots. You’ll see how technology is profoundly shaping our culture—and you, like it or not. Plus, you’ll discover how technology affects each generation differently, for better or worse.”—Thom Schultz, co-author of Don’t Just Teach…Reach!
The story begins with a scene off the coast of North Carolina in 1813 where a mystery began. From there, in present day Wyoming, two friends who have not seen each other in several years are off an excursion to cover a political meeting that Mike Hamilton’s boss has sent him to cover for the small town newspaper that he works for. At the venue, Mike meets a beautiful woman who seeks him out to share something, although the ‘something’ is pretty vague. She leaves an impression upon him, and a mysterious note, that will be hard for him to forget. A tragic event occurs that leaves Mike completely unprepared for what will come next. He shares with a television reporter what he heard and saw, but that story will only be aired once as it does not fit into the narrative of those that control such things. After being interviewed by the FBI, and told what he can and cannot say in public, he is contacted by Janice Felton, a world-renown financial icon, who invites him to her ranch in California for an interview. While there, he learns that she really is not interested in conducting an interview. Instead, she has an assignment of her own invention that she wants him to pursue. On a far-away island in the Caribbean, Leia Franklin, a woman who went to grade school with Mike, learns of his involvement with the event in Wyoming through the media attention surrounding it. While Mike is travelling to California for his interview with Janice Felton, Leia attempts to contact him. After his meeting with Janice Felton, they finally do connect, and something is kindled between them. Leaving California the following day, Mike is driving his old Volvo through the Sierra Nevada Mountains in an attempt to make a leisurely trip while deciding how to approach the assignment that Janice Felton had given him. He has no idea of where all of this will take him. Interlaced with the unfolding story in the present day, there are vignettes of other actors, both in the past and in the present, who will be converging with Mike as he embarks on the greatest adventure of his previously uneventful life to a place where he had never been before.
A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year: “Uniformly excellent” stories about our relationships with each other and with the treacherous natural world (Publishers Weekly). In the title story, a man and woman travel across an eerily frozen lake—under the ice. “The Distance” casts a skeptical eye on Thomas Jefferson through the lens of a Montana man’s visit to Monticello. “Eating” begins with an owl being sucked into a canoe and ends with a man eating a town out of house and home, and “The Cave” is a stunning story of a man and woman lost in an abandoned mine. Other stories include “The Fireman,” “Swans,” “The Prisoners,” “Presidents’ Day,” “Real Town,” and “Two Deer.” Each is remarkable in its own way, sure to please both new readers and avid fans of Rick Bass’s passionate, unmistakable voice. “Bass focuses a naturalist’s eye not only on the frozen lakes and interplay of predator and prey often found in his work but also on the ebb and flow of human emotions and relationships . . . Thought-provoking and entertaining, these stories move along quickly but continue to resonate long after the reader is done; several have been anthologized in award collections.” —Library Journal “Beautiful in their magical imagery, dramatic in their situations, and exquisitely poignant in their insights, these stories of awe and loss are quite astonishing in their mythic use of place and the elements of earth, air, fire, and water.” —Booklist “Bass puts his talent as a nature writer to terrific use.” —The New York Times Book Review “Bass’s language glistens with the beauty of the landscapes he evokes.” —San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
Therapist George Samuel creates an experimental form of group therapy for men dealing with grief. The men: a non-stereotypical bouncer, an ex-cop turned farmer, a quirky programmer, a clever history teacher, a carefree college kid, and an antagonistic redneck, are asked to write poems and take pictures on a given topic weekly. Right before the sessions are about to begin, Dr. Samuel dies. After some persuading, his son, George Jr., takes over. George Jr. is not a therapist but an elementary teacher. The poems and dialogue are revealing, interesting, and more often than not comical. The grief the men are experiencing is not revealed to the last chapter, and even then, there is humor. East of Anywhere is optimistic, entertaining and a reminder of the healing power of art, honesty, and friendship.
In November, countless families across Texas head out for the annual deer hunt, a ritual that spans generations, ethnicities, socioeconomics, and gender as perhaps no other cultural experience in the state. Rick Bass’s family has returned to the same hardscrabble piece of land in the Hill Country—“the Deer Pasture”—for more than seventy-five years. In A Thousand Deer, Bass walks the Deer Pasture again in memory and stories, tallying up what hunting there has taught him about our need for wildness and wilderness, about cycles in nature and in the life of a family, and particularly about how important it is for children to live in the natural world. The arc of A Thousand Deer spans from Bass’s boyhood in the suburbs of Houston, where he searched for anything rank or fecund in the little oxbow swamps and pockets of woods along Buffalo Bayou, to his commitment to providing his children in Montana the same opportunity—a life afield—that his parents gave him in Texas. Inevitably this brings him back to the Deer Pasture and the passing of seasons and generations he has experienced there. Bass lyrically describes his own passage from young manhood, when the urge to hunt was something primal, to mature adulthood and the waning of the urge to take an animal, his commitment to the hunt evolving into a commitment to family and to the last wild places.
This is the story of how a small SOE unit led by Patrick Leigh Fermor kidnapped a German general on the Nazi-occupied island of Crete in 1944. For thirty-two days, they were chased across the mountains as they headed for the coast and a rendezvous with a Royal Navy launch waiting to spirit the general to Cairo. Rick Stroud, whose Phantom Army of Alamein won plaudits for its meticulous research and its lightness of touch in the telling, brings these same gifts to bear in this new project. From the adrenalin rush of the kidnapping, to the help provided by the Cretan partisans and people, he explains the overall context of Crete's role in World War II and reveals the devastating consequences of this mission for them all. There have been other accounts, but Kidnap in Crete is the first book to draw on all the sources, notably those in Crete as well as SOE files and the accounts, letters, and private papers of its operatives in London and Edinburgh.
Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves! This colorful, compact guidebook is perfect for spending a week or less in Florence: City walks and tours: Five detailed tours and walks showcase Florence's essential sights, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo, and Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, plus specific recommendations for each neighborhood Rick's strategic advice on what's worth your time and money What to eat and where to stay: Sample artigianale gelato, chat with locals over a glass of Chianti, and enjoy the Old-World ambience of a Florentine bed and breakfast Day-by-day itineraries to help you prioritize your time A detailed, detachable fold-out map, plus museum and city maps throughout Full-color, portable, and slim for exploring on the go Trip-planning practicalities like when to go, how to get around, basic Italian phrases, and more Lightweight yet packed with information on what to do and see, Rick Steves Pocket Florence truly is a tour guide in your pocket. Spending more time in the region? Try Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany.
A sequel to The Trident Deception follows the launch of China's expansion campaign throughout Asia by way of Japan, a plot that is countered by three unlikely allies including America's National Security Advisor, the commanding officer of a submarine and a Navy SEAL.
I always thought that Frank O’Hara was really a modern Catullus, transported to cast a naughty eye over NYC, so who is Rick Snyder? I suppose Lucretius is one guess, with his observant materialism, tonal modesty and plain living, but there’s also humour here, the irony of Aristophanes, bouncing through Bakhtin, Deleuze and Plato. Then there’s the hints of a pastoral Theocritus landed in Tennessee. Euripides, Catullus as well . . . he’s a poet with more than one string to his classical bow, but then there’s Wordsworth, and Ashbery, and even Basho and yes, O’Hara playing through these flash card collages and lyrical odes and oddities, atomistic instances and grand speculations. In short measure we traverse a universe of contemporary ephemera and centuries of lyric play. What remains constant here is the magic of wit and the living eye that makes lyric poetry live on every page. —Martin Corless-Smith In sly and witty lyrics, Rick Snyder forges elegies out of the neon debris of neo-liberal America. His cityscapes are simultaneously ironic and sublime, a balancing act only possible through his exacting craft and pitch-perfect ear. The poems in Here City are self-aware, reflexive, and full of wily surprise. —Joanna Fuhrman
What makes those normal, when faced with bizarre occurrences, feel the need to lay blame on those not like them without just cause? Senior citizens are being stripped of dignity and clothing while being placed on public display in Schaumburg, Illinois. They are found everywhere, including a Civil War Reenactment. Popular consensus lays blame on MrAld (emerald) Thausen. MrAld is befriended by Dana, who's a deli worker, part-time crop duster and new butcher's aide. Upon one senior citizen's unintended death, Sheriff Todd Chili White gets unwilling help from a psychic. Psychic does not help solve it. Only MrAld's organizational psyche, through growing confidence from Dana, finds the guilty party.
Based on the award-winning film starring Moriah Peters and Chris Massoglia, Because of Grácia follows the stories of Chase Morgan, Grácia Davis, and their fellow high school seniors as they face life-altering decisions on their journeys of faith, friendship, and love. Chase Morgan would love to live up to his name and pursue something great. It's his senior year and he’s still as insecure as ever, but Eastglenn High's newest student is about to turn that around. Grácia is a girl with charisma, intelligence and conviction, but she’s not as “together” as Chase and his best friend OB might think. A dark past gives her a unique connection with Bobbi, a misunderstood classmate with a strained home life and an all-too-cute boyfriend as her means of escape. As Bobbi struggles with a life-and-death decision and Chase risks rejection, Grácia challenges her friends, teachers and even herself to experience the transformative power of grace.
Zeus has punished his son Apollo--god of the sun, music, archery, poetry, and more--by casting him down to earth in the form of a gawky, acne-covered sixteen-year-old mortal named Lester. The only way Apollo can reclaim his rightful place on Mount Olympus is by restoring several Oracles that have gone dark. What is affecting the Oracles, and how can Apollo/Lester do anything about them without his powers? After experiencing a series of dangerous--and frankly, humiliating--trials at Camp Half-Blood, Lester must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships--with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Come along for what promises to be a harrowing, hilarious, and haiku-filled ride. . . .
Adam Osidis and the Mosak travel the blasted lands of Zhal to deliver the Mud King to the only force strong enough to undo his stranglehold on his army of compromised slaves. The Mud King's whispers have made Adam Osidis the most hated man in Zhal, but when he offers Adam a solution to all his troubles, will he join the calculating monster and betray his fellow Mosak for a second chance at life? RICK REMENDER and JEROME OPens smash-hit dark fantasy series returns for its second chapter! Collects SEVEN TO ETERNITY #5-9
Just in time for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series on Disney+, a refreshed edition of The Lightning Thief graphic novel If you haven't yet submerged yourself in the graphic novel adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, treat yourself to this refreshed edition with an exciting new cover. Four huge talents from the comic book industry contributed to this adaptation of the classic that has sold millions of copies worldwide, has been on the New York Times best-seller list for more than twelve years, and is the basis of an 8-episode series on Disney+. Mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking out of the pages of twelve-year-old Percy Jackson's textbooks and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Now, he and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. Series creator Rick Riordan joins forces with four of the biggest names in comic books to tell the story of a boy who must unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
Praise from Jesse Green, New York Times Chief Theater Critic, Arts, in the 2023 Holiday Gift Guide: “From A (the director George Abbott) to Y ('You Could Drive a Person Crazy'), The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia, by Rick Pender, offers an astonishingly comprehensive look, in more than 130 entries, at the late master’s colleagues, songs, shows and methods." The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia is a wonderfully detailed and comprehensive reference devoted to musical theater’s most prolific and admired composer and lyricist. Entries cover Sondheim’s numerous collaborators, from composers and directors to designers and orchestras; key songs, such as his Academy Award winner “Sooner or Later” (Dick Tracy); and major works, including Assassins, Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story. The encyclopedia also profiles the actors who originated roles and sang Sondheim’s songs for the first time, including Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Mandy Patinkin, and Bernadette Peters. Featuring a detailed biographical entry for Sondheim, a chronology of his career, a listing of his many awards, and discussions of his opinions on movies, opera, and more, this wide-ranging resource will attract musical theater enthusiasts again and again.
During her history, the steamboat Kingston survived wrecks and fires, until finally being sunk near one of Kingstons ship graveyards in 1930. This book tells her story.
A unique brand of justice, morality, and heroism." "Gripping, immersive, entertaining." In Episode One . . . Beaten. Burned. Broken. Capt. John Regent returns a paraplegic after escaping months of captivity and torture — except no one knows who took him or what he disclosed. When a government agent comes for answers, she discovers John's fantastical secret and sets him at war with his own country. But the veteran in the wheelchair has one last mission, and he'll fight off the powers-that-be long enough to save the life of a troubled soldier — even if it costs John his own.
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