"This is the first book to address in a serious way the impact of the music of "Weird Al" Yankovic. Through original interviews with the man himself, Lily Hirsch addresses Yankovic's relationship to past parody songs and his unique approach to the art form, inviting music enthusiasts of all stripes to reconsider Yankovic's music"--

From medieval romances and tales of chivalry found in the realist novels of the 19th century, to experimental modernist works and today's explorations of the self, Great Novels explores the finest novels from around the world and through time.

A strongly critical look at Karl Marx and how a fascination with the Judeo-Christian devil influenced Marxism and his political writings. Examines Marx's antagonism to organized religion, particularly the Catholic Church, concluding that socialist and communist ideologies are, at their core, evil.

"The entire history of popular music over the past fifty years refracted through the big genres that have defined and dominated it-including rock, country, punk, R&B, dance and hip-hop-woven together into a cosmic reckoning with music's evolution as a popular art form, as a huge cultural and economic force, and as an essential component to our identities, from Black Sabbath to Black Flag to Beyoncé, and beyond"--

"In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans--and all movie lovers--could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he...

Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Smarsh witnessed firsthand the vulnerabilities and strengths of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. Country music was a language among women-- and no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton. Here Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social...

Beginning in the year of Prince's birth, 1958, with the recording of Minnesota's first R&B record by a North Minneapolis band called the Big M's, Got to Be Something Here traces the rise of that distinctive sound through two generations of political upheaval, rebellion, and artistic passion. Funk and soul become a lens for exploring three decades of Minneapolis and St. Paul history as music journalist Andrea Swensson takes us through the neighborhoods...

A meditation instructor and former English teacher shows how the great classics of Western literature illustrate the essential concepts of Eastern philosophy. The discussion includes works by authors such as John Keats, William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Frederick Douglass, and many others.

The New York Times film critic shows why we need criticism now more than ever. --Amazon.com

"In his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction, America's most original and controversial literary critic and legendary Yale professor writes trenchantly about fifty-two masterworks spanning the Western tradition"--