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Book Motel of the Mysteries

Download or read book Motel of the Mysteries written by David Macaulay and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1979-10-11 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A future archeologist finds the remnants of a mysterious ancient people—us—in a wry satire that is “a marvel of imagination and . . . wonderfully illustrated” (The New York Times). It is the year 4022, and the entire ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985. Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist, is crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site when he feels the ground give way beneath him. Suddenly, he finds himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, is clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber. Carson's incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one laid to rest on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber. These dramatic discoveries give Carson all the clues he needs to piece together the entire civilization—which he gets utterly wrong. The acclaimed author and illustrator of Castle and Pyramid, David Macaulay presents a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek satire of both historical presumption and American self-importance.

Book American Autopia

    Book Details:
  • Author : Gabrielle Esperdy
  • Publisher : University of Virginia Press
  • Release : 2019-10-28
  • ISBN : 0813943108
  • Pages : 567 pages

Download or read book American Autopia written by Gabrielle Esperdy and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2019-10-28 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early to mid-twentieth-century America was the heyday of a car culture that has been called an "automobile utopia." In American Autopia, Gabrielle Esperdy examines how the automobile influenced architectural and urban discourse in the United States from the earliest days of the auto industry to the aftermath of the 1970s oil crisis. Paying particular attention to developments after World War II, Esperdy creates a narrative that extends from U.S. Routes 1 and 66 to the Las Vegas Strip to California freeways, with stops at gas stations, diners, main drags, shopping centers, and parking lots along the way. While it addresses the development of auto-oriented landscapes and infrastructures, American Autopia is not a conventional history, offering instead an exploration of the wide-ranging evolution of car-centric territories and drive-in typologies, looking at how they were scrutinized by diverse cultural observers in the middle of the twentieth century. Drawing on work published in the popular and professional press, and generously illustrated with evocative images, the book shows how figures as diverse as designer Victor Gruen, geographer Jean Gottmann, theorist Denise Scott Brown, critic J.B. Jackson, and historian Reyner Banham constructed "autopia" as a place and an idea. The result is an intellectual history and interpretive roadmap to the United States of the Automobile.

Book The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children s Literature

Download or read book The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children s Literature written by Bernice E. Cullinan and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 930 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides articles covering children's literature from around the world as well as biographical and critical reviews of authors including Avi, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Anno Mitsumasa.

Book A Critic Writes

    Book Details:
  • Author : Reyner Banham
  • Publisher : Univ of California Press
  • Release : 1996
  • ISBN : 9780520088559
  • Pages : 396 pages

Download or read book A Critic Writes written by Reyner Banham and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rayner Banham's interests ranged from architecture and the culture of pop art to urban and industrial design. This selection of essays includes discussions of Italian Futurism, Adolf Loos, Paul Scheerbart, and the Bauhaus, as well as the contemporary architecture of Gehry, Stirling and Foster.

Book Torn from the Nest

    Book Details:
  • Author : Clorinda Matto de Turner
  • Publisher : Oxford University Press
  • Release : 1999-04-29
  • ISBN : 0199939012
  • Pages : 262 pages

Download or read book Torn from the Nest written by Clorinda Matto de Turner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999-04-29 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clorinda Matto de Turner was the first Peruvian novelist to command an international reputation and the first to dramatize the exploitation of indigenous Latin American people. She believed the task of the novel was to be the photograph that captures the vices and virtues of a people, censuring the former with the appropriate moral lesson and paying its homage of admiration to the latter. In this tragic tale, Clorinda Matto de Turner explores the relationship between the landed gentry and the indigenous peoples of the Andean mountain communities. While unfolding as a love story rife with secrets and dashed hopes, Torn from the Nest in fact reveals a deep and destructive class disparity, and criticizes the Catholic clergy for blatant corruption. When Lucia and Don Fernando Marin settle in the small hamlet of Killac, the young couple become advocates for the local Indians who are being exploited and oppressed by their priest and governor and by the gentry allied with these two. Considered meddling outsiders, the couple meet violent resistance from the village leaders, who orchestrate an assault on their house and pursue devious and unfair schemes to keep the Indians subjugated. As a romance blossoms between the a member of the gentry and the peasant girl that Lucia and Don Fernando have adopted, a dreadful secret prevents their marriage and brings to a climax the novel's exposure of degradation: they share the same father--a parish priest. Torn from the Nest was first published in Peru in 1889 amidst much enthusiasm and outrage. This fresh translation--the first since 1904--preserves one of Peru's most distinctive and compelling voices.

Book Electronic Hearth

    Book Details:
  • Author : Cecelia Tichi
  • Publisher : Oxford University Press
  • Release : 1992-10-29
  • ISBN : 0195359984
  • Pages : 262 pages

Download or read book Electronic Hearth written by Cecelia Tichi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1992-10-29 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all talk about the "tube" or "box," as if television were simply another appliance like the refrigerator or toaster oven. But Cecilia Tichi argues that TV is actually an environment--a pervasive screen-world that saturates almost every aspect of modern life. In Electronic Hearth, she looks at how that environment evolved, and how it, in turn, has shaped the American experience. Tichi explores almost fifty years of writing about television--in novels, cartoons, journalism, advertising, and critical books and articles--to define the role of television in the American consciousness. She examines early TV advertising to show how the industry tried to position the new device as not just a gadget but a prestigious new piece of furniture, a highly prized addition to the home. The television set, she writes, has emerged as a new electronic hearth--the center of family activity. John Updike described this "primitive appeal of the hearth" in Roger's Version: "Television is--its irresistible charm--a fire. Entering an empty room, we turn it on, and a talking face flares into being." Sitting in front of the TV, Americans exist in a safety zone, free from the hostility and violence of the outside world. She also discusses long-standing suspicions of TV viewing: its often solitary, almost autoerotic character, its supposed numbing of the minds and imagination of children, and assertions that watching television drugs the minds of Americans. Television has been seen as treacherous territory for public figures, from generals to presidents, where satire and broadcast journalism often deflate their authority. And the print culture of journalism and book publishing has waged a decades-long war of survival against it--only to see new TV generations embrace both the box and the book as a part of their cultural world. In today's culture, she writes, we have become "teleconscious"--seeing, for example, real life being certified through television ("as seen on TV"), and television constantly ratified through its universal presence in art, movies, music, comic strips, fabric prints, and even references to TV on TV. Ranging far beyond the bounds of the broadcast industry, Tichi provides a history of contemporary American culture, a culture defined by the television environment. Intensively researched and insightfully written, The Electronic Hearth offers a new understanding of a critical, but much-maligned, aspect of modern life.

Book Hip to the Trip

    Book Details:
  • Author : Peter B. Dedek
  • Publisher : UNM Press
  • Release : 2007-05-01
  • ISBN : 0826341950
  • Pages : 192 pages

Download or read book Hip to the Trip written by Peter B. Dedek and published by UNM Press. This book was released on 2007-05-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before and since its official closure in 1985, historic U.S. 66 became associated with the deserts, Indians, and cowboys of the Southwest, the "Okies" of the Great Depression, and the millions of vacationers who took to the highway in their streamlined automobiles and found adventure on the open road from the late 1940s to the 1970s. Route 66 has such name recognition that in the past twenty years it has been used to advertise products ranging from blue jeans, to root beer, to automobiles. The highway enjoyed only about thirty years of dominance as a primary auto and truck route from 1926 to around 1956. Gradually replaced by interstates into the 1980s, Route 66 became forever fixed in the history and lore of the Southwest and the United States. Route 66 provides a unique vantage point from which to better understand American popular culture from the 1920s to the present. The purpose of this book is not to simply recount the history of Route 66, but to create a comprehensive portrait of the cultural meaning of the highway. What was Route 66 at its pinnacle, what is it today, and what might it become in the future?

Book Worth a Thousand Words

Download or read book Worth a Thousand Words written by Bette D. Ammon and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1996-09-15 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide provides a single-source, comprehensive listing of a fascinating and helpful group of books-picture books for older readers. A multitude of ideas about how to use them in the classroom supplements this list of carefully selected quality fiction and nonfiction books that focuses on universal themes, appeals to all ages, addresses important issues, and is accessible to multiple learning styles. Picture books aren't just for the very young. Innovative educators and parents have used them for years with readers of all ages and reading levels, knowing that students comprehend more from the visual-verbal connections these books offer. They are great tools for teaching visual literacy and writing skills; are effective with reluctant readers, ESL students, and those reading below grade level; and can easily be used to support various curriculum. This guide provides a single-source, comprehensive listing of a fascinating and helpful group of books and a multitude of ideas about how to use them in the classroom. The authors have carefully selected quality fiction and nonfiction that focus on universal themes, appeal to all ages, treat important issues, and are accessible to multiple learning styles.

Book The Threshold of Forever  Essays and Reviews

Download or read book The Threshold of Forever Essays and Reviews written by Darrell Schweitzer and published by Wildside Press LLC. This book was released on 2017-03-24 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Darrell Schweitzer's third collection of essays and reviews, a successor to the well-received "Windows of the Imagination" and "The Fantastic Horizon," is a balanced mixture of scholarship and entertainment, ranging over the entire spectrum of imaginative literature, from the oldest novel in the world (1st century B.C.) to classic (and not-so-classic) pulp fiction, to childhood reading, to examinations of the works of such masters as H.P. Lovecraft, M.R. James, Robert Bloch, Stanley Weinbaum, John W. Campbell, and Thomas M. Disch. In between we encounter such surprising topics as a proposal for an H.P. Lovecraft biopic ("The Whole Wide Lovecraft"), the eccentricities of William Beckford (the author of Vathek), and even a report from Blobfest, an annual street fair devoted to the famous 1958 cult film, at which Schweitzer, as a member of the press, was allowed to touch the original Blob. Many of these pieces have been published in the prestigious "The New York Review of Science Fiction." "Schweitzer writes in an informative style that’s knowledgeable, witty, and high accessible. This is the finest kind of criticism -- it makes you want to read more, both of the critic's own prose and that of the writers he’s discussing. Highly recommended!" -- Robert Reginald. Darrell Schweitzer is a novelist, short-story, writer and critic, a former editor of the legendary "Weird Tales" magazine, and a four-time World Fantasy Award finalist and one-time winner. His previous book of essays, "The Fantastic Horizon," was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award.

Book Death Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity

Download or read book Death Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity written by Ian Morris and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992-10-22 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this innovative book Dr Morris seeks to show the many ways in which the excavated remains of burials can and should be a major source of evidence for social historians of the ancient Graeco-Roman world. Burials have a far wider geographical and social range than the surviving literary texts, which were mainly written for a small elite. They provide us with unique insights into how Greeks and Romans constituted and interpreted their own communities. In particular, burials enable the historian to study social change. Ian Morris illustrates the great potential of the material in these respects with examples drawn from societies as diverse in time, space and political context as archaic Rhodes, classical Athens, early imperial Rome and the last days of the western Roman empire.

Book To Interpret the Earth

    Book Details:
  • Author : Stanley A. Schumm
  • Publisher : Cambridge University Press
  • Release : 1998-07-30
  • ISBN : 9780521646024
  • Pages : 148 pages

Download or read book To Interpret the Earth written by Stanley A. Schumm and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-07-30 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise and imaginative discussion of the scientific approach to problems within the earth sciences for students and researchers.

Book Digging Deeper

    Book Details:
  • Author : Eric H. Cline
  • Publisher : Princeton University Press
  • Release : 2020-11-03
  • ISBN : 0691211396
  • Pages : 176 pages

Download or read book Digging Deeper written by Eric H. Cline and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of 1177 B.C., an accessible primer to the archaeologist's craft An archaeologist with more than thirty seasons of excavation experience, Eric H. Cline has conducted fieldwork around the world, from Greece and Crete to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. In Digging Deeper, Cline answers the questions archaeologists are most frequently asked, such as: How do you know where to dig? How are excavations actually done? How do you know how old something is? Who gets to keep what is found? How do you know what people from the past ate, wore, and looked like? Adapted from Cline's acclaimed book Three Stones Make a Wall, this lively little volume is brimming with insights and practical advice about how archaeology really works. Whether you are an armchair archaeologist or embarking on your first excavation, Digging Deeper is an essential primer on the art of the dig.

Book Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age

Download or read book Reconceptualizing Mental Illness in the Digital Age written by Elliott B. Martin, Jr. and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-18 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Digital Age has changed everything. Mental illness is nothing like what it was even twenty years ago. Since the advent of the Internet, suicide rates have soared. Depression has become the single most debilitating disease in the world. The majority of people who go to their doctor, to an emergency department, and to urgent care have no discernible physical disease. Roughly half of all adults in Western countries struggle with at least one addiction. We now live in a 24/7 miasma of media bombardment, of neuro-saturation, and of mental exhaustion. Technology has obliterated the human mind’s ability to keep up, and in this brave new world it is time for an honest and forthright reassessment of both mental illness and mental wellness. This book elegantly describes how we got to this point, the culmination of different historical perspectives on mental illness, and the evolution of the digital disorders of our time. It offers a reconsideration of normal versus pathological, and the possibility and desirability of achieving mental wellness in a digital environment.

Book Ebook  Research Design and Methods  A Process Approach

Download or read book Ebook Research Design and Methods A Process Approach written by Kenneth Bordens and published by McGraw Hill. This book was released on 2014-10-16 with total page 1220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach takes students through the research process, from getting and developing a research idea, to designing and conducting a study, through analyzing and reporting data. Information on the research process is presented in a lively and engaging way, highlighting the numerous decisions, both big and small, that must be made when designing and conducting successful research.

Book Forensic Science

    Book Details:
  • Author : William J. Tilstone
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  • Release : 2006-03-24
  • ISBN : 1576075923
  • Pages : 316 pages

Download or read book Forensic Science written by William J. Tilstone and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2006-03-24 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only A–Z reference work on forensic science, one of the most intriguing and exciting fields in criminological studies. From dandruff to DNA, from ammunition to infrared spectrophotometry, forensic scientists employ the commonplace and the esoteric to get their man or woman. Forensic Science is the only comprehensive reference work accessible to nonexperts on this fast-changing and ever-fascinating field of criminological study. Readers will learn how the latest scientific breakthroughs and the well-honed instincts of forensics experts come together to provide the clues and amass the evidence to bring America's most notorious criminals to justice. From famous firsts in forensics to possible future developments in the science, the expert team of contributors put together by William Tilstone, executive director of the National Forensic Science Technology Center, examines techniques and technologies, key cases, critical controversies, and ethical and legal issues.

Book Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective

Download or read book Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective written by Alan P. Sullivan and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective, contributors illustrate the virtues of various ecological, experimental, statistical, typological, technological, and cognitive/social approaches for understanding the origins, formation histories, and inferential potential of a wide range of archaeological phenomena. As archaeologists worldwide create theoretically inspired and methodologically robust narratives of the cultural past, their research pivots on the principle that determining the origins and histories of archaeological phenomena is essential in understanding their relevance for a variety of anthropological problems. The chapters explore how the analysis of artifact, assemblage, and site distributions at different spatial and temporal scales provides new insights into how mobility strategies affect lithic assemblage composition, what causes unstable interaction patterns in complex societies, and which factors promote a sense of “place” in landscapes of abandoned structures. In addition, several chapters illustrate how new theoretical approaches and innovative methods promote reinterpretations of the regional significance of historically important archaeological sites such as Myrtos-Pyrgos (Crete, Greece), Aztalan (Wisconsin, USA), Tabun Cave (Israel), and Casas Grandes (Chihuahua, Mexico). The studies presented in Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective challenge orthodoxy, raise research-worthy controversies, and develop strong inferences about the diverse evolutionary pathways of humankind using theoretical perspectives that consider both new information and preexisting archaeological data. Contributors: C. Michael Barton, Brian F. Byrd, Gerald Cadogan, Philip G. Chase, Harold L. Dibble, Matthew J. Douglass, Patricia C. Fanning, Lynne Goldstein, Simon J. Holdaway, Kathryn A. Kamp, Sam Lin, Emilia Oddo, Zeljko Rezek, Julien Riel-Salvatore, Gary O. Rollefson, Jeffrey Rosenthal, Barbara J. Roth, Sissel Schroeder, Justin I. Shiner, John C. Whittaker, David R. Wilcox

Book Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean

Download or read book Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean written by Thomas Galoppin and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-12-31 with total page 1080 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancient religions are definitely complex systems of gods, which resist our understanding. Divine names provide fundamental keys to gain access to the multiples ways gods were conceived, characterized, and organized. Among the names given to the gods many of them refer to spaces: cities, landscapes, sanctuaries, houses, cosmic elements. They reflect mental maps which need to be explored in order to gain new knowledge on both the structure of the pantheons and the human agency in the cultic dimension. By considering the intersection between naming and mapping, this book opens up new perspectives on how tradition and innovation, appropriation and creation play a role in the making of polytheistic and monotheistic religions. Far from being confined to sanctuaries, in fact, gods dwell in human environments in multiple ways. They move into imaginary spaces and explore the cosmos. By proposing a new and interdiciplinary angle of approach, which involves texts, images, spatial and archeaeological data, this book sheds light on ritual practices and representations of gods in the whole Mediterranean, from Italy to Mesopotamia, from Greece to North Africa and Egypt. Names and spaces enable to better define, differentiate, and connect gods.