Other books that might interest you

• 

  It Can’t Rain All the Time - The...

  Alisha Mughal

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A passionate analysis of the ill-fated 1994 film starring the late Brandon Lee and its long-lasting influence on action movies, cinematic grief, and emotional masculinity
  		 
  Released in 1994, The Crow first drew in audiences thanks to the well-publicized tragedy that loomed over the film: lead actor Brandon Lee had died on set due to a mishandled prop gun. But it soon became clear that The Crow was more than just an accumulation of its tragic parts. The celebrated critic Roger Ebert wrote that Lee’s performance was “more of a screen achievement than any of the films of his father, Bruce Lee.”
  		 
  In It Can’t Rain All the Time, Alisha Mughal argues that The Crow has transcended Brandon Lee’s death by exposing the most challenging human emotions in all their dark, dramatic, and visceral glory, so much so that it has spawned three sequels, a remake, and an intense fandom. Eric, our back-from-the-dead, grieving protagonist, shows us that there is no solution to depression or loss, there is only our own internal, messy work. By the end of the movie, we realize that Eric has presented us with a vast range of emotions and that masculinity doesn’t need to be hard and impenetrable.
  		 
  Through her memories of seeking solace in the film during her own grieving period, Alisha brilliantly shows that, for all its gothic sadness, The Crow is, surprisingly and touchingly, a movie about redemption and hope.
  		 
  About the Pop Classics Series
  		 
  Short books that pack a big punch, Pop Classics offer intelligent, fun, and accessible arguments about why a particular pop phenomenon matters.

  Show book

• 

  The Shortest History of Greece -...

  James Heneage

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computers—the glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny? Alexander the Great's fame has rolled down the centuries, but the golden Hellenistic Age that followed is largely forgotten. "Byzantine" conjures decadence and deadly intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire that ruled from Constantinople and saved Europe twice from invasion was, in fact, Greek. 
   
   
   
  Greece's modern chapter, too, tells of triumph and calamity—from liberation and expansion to schism, homegrown dictatorship, Nazi occupation, and civil war. Today's nation is battered by austerity, encroaching climate change, and a refugee crisis—yet unwavering in its ancient values. 
   
   
   
  James Heneage captures the full Grecian drama in this riveting, short history, revealing Greece as the wellspring of Western civilization—and a model that may yet save modern democracy.

  Show book

• 

  Nine Lives - My Risky Road from...

  Claire Kahane

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In this tell-all memoir, a woman in her eighties, born during the Great Depression to Jewish immigrants, unveils her intimate self-transformations in the course of nine decades. Determined at an early age to prove herself a free spirit in a male-dominated world, as a young adult Kahane went on the road, hitchhiking her way into and out of risky adventures and romantic affairs, ceaselessly chasing new experiences. But what started out as a “road book” takes a different turn in midlife when, influenced by the insights of psychoanalysis and feminism, she became a feminist professor, mother, and wife. In later life, her story changed tracks again when a visit to Auschwitz compelled her to confront her own family history of loss and renewal. The memoir ends with a surprising new twist that opens to a hopeful future. In this long and hard-earned coming-of-age story, readers will find a piece of themselves.

  Show book

• 

  Bygone East Ham

  Brian Evans

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  East Ham was sparsely inhabited in the fourteenth century and had not changed much with the advent of the railway in the 1850s. Farmers and market gardeners grew crops for the 'distant' London market, their houses scattered thinly from Wanstead flats in the north to just south of the turnpike road.
  A phenomenal transformation came in the second half of the nineteenth century as the demands of Britain's growing industries and population led to the use of land for factories and, eventually, to a house-building boom. Fortunately, photos of these amazingly rapid changes have survived to add great impact to this narrative of East Ham's past.
  Brian Evans captures the rise of East Ham from an area of fields and marshes to a county borough by 1914. Bygone East Ham will fascinate all who know the place whilst adding greatly to our understanding of the making of the present district.

  Show book

• 

  A Fire in the Wilderness - The...

  John Reeves

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The riveting account of the first bloody showdown between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee—a battle that sealed the fate of the Confederacy and changed the course of American history. 
   
   
   
  At the outset of the Battle of the Wilderness, General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia remained capable of defeating the Army of the Potomac. But two days of relentless fighting in dense Virginia woods, Robert E. Lee was never again able to launch offensive operations against Grant's army. Lee, who faced tremendous difficulties replacing fallen soldiers, lost 11,125 men—or 17% of his entire force. On the opposing side, the Union suffered 17,666 casualties. 
   
   
   
  The alarming casualties do not begin to convey the horror of this battle, one of the most gruesome in American history. The impenetrable forest and gunfire smoke made it impossible to view the enemy. Officers couldn't even see their own men during the fighting. The incessant gunfire caused the woods to catch fire, resulting in hundreds of men burning to death. "It was as though Christian men had turned to fiends, and hell itself had usurped the place of the earth," wrote one officer. When the fighting finally subsided during the late evening of the second day, the usually stoical Grant threw himself down on his cot and cried.

  Show book

• 

  A Pain in my Ass - Explicit sex...

  Ben Dover

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  If there is one thing I believe I have held fast all these years, it is the one that holds no shame in all the intricacies of the human mind, body, and soul. What intrigues me the most is how two or more people can create rhythms, music, trust, and bodily pleasure. No matter what debauchery society might try to bestow on those who seek a little bit of freedom using a natural and exciting mechanism, I offer no judgment. This book is a series of stories to “get the juices flowing” and probably allow you to be more comfortable with yourself and maybe your partner(s). Outlined is an array of adventures, kinky twists, and quirks you will enjoy. I know I certainly enjoyed curating them for you. 
  This book is a no-holds-barred platform, and it is certainly not a euphemism for the soft, adulterated, hidden wantings of intimacy. 
  It is a dive into the art of satisfying primal needs with drooling, tears, a tinge of unrepentant guilt, and, dare I say, pleasurable heavings, screams, and possible drownings as the best possible side effects. 
  Between your wildest imaginations and a rather sultrily dexterous pen, shameless pleasure is the only goal. 
  With you in mind, 
  Ben Dover

  Show book