Download or read book City of Quartz written by Mike Davis and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2006-09-17 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition of the visionary social history of Los Angeles is “as central to the L.A. canon as anything that . . . Joan Didion wrote in the seventies” (New Yorker) No metropolis has been more loved or more hated. To its official boosters, “Los Angeles brings it all together.” To detractors, L.A. is a sunlit mortuary where “you can rot without feeling it.” To Mike Davis, the author of this fiercely elegant and wide- ranging work of social history, Los Angeles is both utopia and dystopia, a place where the last Joshua trees are being plowed under to make room for model communities in the desert, where the rich have hired their own police to fend off street gangs, as well as armed Beirut militias. In City of Quartz, Davis reconstructs L.A.’s shadow history and dissects its ethereal economy. He tells us who has the power and how they hold on to it. He gives us a city of Dickensian extremes, Pynchonesque conspiracies, and a desperation straight out of Nathaniel West—a city in which we may glimpse our own future mirrored with terrifying clarity. In this new edition, Davis provides a dazzling update on the city’s current status.
Download or read book The Blue Moon Boys written by Ken Burke and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2006-08 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Handbook of Warnings written by Michael S. Wogalter and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2006-01-20 with total page 872 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A technical discussion that includes theory, research, and application, this book describes warning design standards and guidelines; aspects of law relevant to warnings such as government regulations, case/trial litigation, and the role of expert testimony in these cases; and international, health/medical, and marketing issues. Broken into thirteen
Download or read book Collected Works written by Whitney Balliett and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2002-04-15 with total page 892 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jazz critic for The New Yorker since 1957 and the author of some fifteen books, Whitney Balliett has spent a lifetime listening to and writing about jazz. "All first-rate criticism," he once wrote in a review, "first defines what we are confronting." He could as easily have been describing his own work. For nearly half a century, Balliett has been telling us, in his widely acclaimed pitch-perfect prose, what we are confronting when we listen to America's greatest—and perhaps only original—musical form. Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1954-2001 is a monumental achievement, capturing the full range and register of the jazz scene, from the very first Newport Jazz Festival to recent performances (in clubs and on CDs) by a rising generation of musicians. Here are definitive portraits of such major figures as Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Django Reinhardt, Martha Raye, Buddy Rich, Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Art Tatum, Bessie Smith, and Earl Hines—a list that barely scratches the surface. Generations of readers have learned to listen to the music with Balliett's graceful guidance. For five decades he has captured those moments during which jazz history is made. Though Balliett's knowledge is an encyclopedic treasure, he has always written as if he were listening for the first time. Since its beginnings in New Orleans at the turn of the century, jazz has been restlessly and relentlessly evolving. This is an art form based on improvising, experimenting, shapeshifting—a constant work in progress of sounds and tonal shades, from swing and Dixieland, through boogie-woogie, bebop, and hard bop, to the "new thing," free jazz, abstract jazz, and atonal jazz. Yet, in all its forms, the music is forever sustained by what Balliett calls a "secret emotional center," an "aural elixir" that "reveals itself when an improvised phrase or an entire solo or even a complete number catches you by surprise." Balliett's celebrated essays invariably capture the so-called "sound of surprise"—and then share this sound with general readers, music students, jazz lovers, and popular American culture buffs everywhere. As The Los Angeles Times Book Review has observed, "Few people can write as well about anything as Balliett writes about jazz."
Download or read book The Fallen Angel written by John Alex Harrison and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2020-01-09 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1993, Michael Pappenhauser, a Catholic Monsignor, is shot in the head and stuffed into the trunk of his own Buick. A priceless artifact is missing so says emissaries from the Vatican in Rome. A postmarked letter from Mexico to the Gazelle Daily News in San Bernardino is evidence that the priest was alive in Mexico. The killer is never found. The seemingly perfect crime. 16 years later, Prosecutor Johnny Drake discovers that Tony Buffalino had accused the Monsignor of infidelity with his wife, the rich, beautiful, and world renown diviner of the Tarot, Madame Ivory. She wears a ring of Fortune, that when she blows on it, her eyes glow red like the Devil. Tony telephones Scott Hartless a.k.a. Mr. S. Monk, a devout monk at the Canterbury Cathedral in England is an assassin willing to kill anyone and anything to defend the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. Scott leaves for America and is arrested by patrol officer Big Will who tells him that confession is good for the soul. Sheila Williams, an African- American gay defense attorney from Palm Springs, takes the case. She elicits the help of a robot named Roberta with artificial intelligence and vast legal knowledge. The robot is the first synthetic human who is sentient with the capability to testify in court. The robot will soon be knocking on the U.S. Supreme Courthouse doors. Cyberspace libraries from around the world fling open their coffers and money comes rolling in to the Mr. S. Monk Defense Fund. On the courthouse steps, the robot is assassinated, Pandemonium, like an atomic bomb sends the crowds into chaos. This is a gripping novel that pulls the reader into the lives and sexual affairs of the characters in what looks like a world gone mad. Electrifying and shocking. Brilliantly executed.
Download or read book Working People of California written by Daniel Cornford and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the California Indians who labored in the Spanish missions to the immigrant workers on Silicon Valley's high-tech assembly lines, California's work force has had a complex and turbulent past, marked by some of the sharpest and most significant battles fought by America's working people. This anthology presents the work of scholars who are forging a new brand of social history—one that reflects the diversity of California's labor force by paying close attention to the multicultural and gendered aspects of the past. Readers will discover a refreshing chronological breadth to this volume, as well as a balanced examination of both rural and urban communities. Daniel Cornford's excellent general introduction provides essential historical background while his brief introductions to each chapter situate the essays in their larger contexts. A list of further readings appears at the end of each chapter. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1995.
Download or read book Unto Us a Son Is Given written by Donna Leon and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller: “Venice shines through the pages of this novel. . . . Coupled with unexpected twists and turns [it] doesn’t disappoint” (Tulsa Book Review). A Los Angeles Times Bestseller • A Library Journal Mystery Bestseller • A Booklist Best Crime Novel of the Year • A Crime Reads Most Anticipated Book of the Year Guido Brunetti is urged by his father-in-law to investigate—and preferably intervene in—the seemingly innocent plan of the elderly Gonzalo Rodríguez de Tejeda to adopt a much younger man as his son. Under Italian inheritance laws, this man would then be heir to Gonzalo’s entire fortune, a prospect Gonzalo’s friends find appalling. For his part, Brunetti wonders why the old man, a close family friend, can’t be allowed his pleasure in peace. And yet, what seems innocent on the Venetian surface can cause tsunamis below. Gonzalo unexpectedly drops dead on the street, and one of his friends—who just arrived in Venice for the memorial service—is strangled in her hotel room. Now with an urgent case to solve, Brunetti reluctantly untangles the long-hidden mystery in Gonzalo’s life that has ultimately led to murder . . . a resolution that brings him more pain than satisfaction. “Like Louise Penny, Leon has cultivated an utterly devoted audience, ever anxious to get to know more about her characters.” ―Booklist (starred review) “Redolent, as always, with the sights, smells, sounds, and mealtimes of the water-immersed city. . . . In Leon’s latest, a pleasantly deceptive lull . . . is dissolved with deadly force.” ―The Seattle Review of Books
Download or read book Dead Heat written by William Murray and published by Eclipse Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a story of obsessions and people who pursue their dreams at any cost. The haunted young woman who shows up one day outside horse trainer Jake Fontana's tack room, is not merely looking for work, but has an agenda: she wants to become a great race rider.
Download or read book Graveyard Blues written by Phillip Danna and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2016-03-09 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From midnight to 0200 are the hours that the streets are usually still moving with the bright headlights, from mostly cars flashing in the one direction and the red taillights flashing about in the other direction, giving the darkness an eerie and sometimes grotesque mingling of flashing multi-colored neon lights of businesses with the haze of streetlights. The excitement of the night to come is highlighted with the manmade Aurora Borealis of dancing hews. At 2 a.m. the bars close down, therefore, the restaurant’s alcohol drinks stop flowing. Now the streets are less filled with the kind of traffic that started that morning. Most of the business lights are dimmer, but not all. Mixed with a small amount of employees returning home from their late night shift are the cars returning from the bars. When graveyard begins and when the day darkens, many peace officers fall or are killed in the course of their job to protect the public while you are in your home safe. The hunt begins for criminals and we find them with handguns, knives, and all kinds of weapons. This is the time the drug addict’s dope is taken. This book describes the danger for the officer when he must solve the problems before he leaves to handle another call. The reader will understand when darkness arrives; the danger increases. It is a lonely shift as the deputy slowly drives his patrol until while looking for criminal activity in his area. Now the cat and mouse game begins as he is fighting fatigue and trying to stay alert for the next call. There are people out there who want to kill you or disable you rather than face arrest. You call for backup for help when you are arresting a dangerous person like a cold-blooded killer and especially when you are completing graveyard shift. As you slide under your warm blankets that cop is working the graveyard shift. Sleep peacefully and remember the road warriors are chasing crooks out in the neighborhood. And the war on crime begins again in the dark of night.
Download or read book Fever written by Sean Rowe and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2007-09-03 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James M. Cain meets Elmore Leonard in this blisteringly fast debut thriller in which hijacking a cruise ship is just the first step in one man's sprint to deliverance -- or destruction.
Download or read book Under and Alone written by William Queen and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2007-06-26 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1998, William Queen was a veteran law enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. When a “confidential informant” made contact with his boss at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, offering to take an agent inside the San Fernando chapter of the Mongols (the scourge of Southern California, and one of the most dangerous gangs in America), Queen jumped at the chance, not realizing that he was kicking-starting the most extensive undercover operation inside an outlaw motorcycle gang in the history of American law enforcement. Nor did Queen suspect that he would penetrate the gang so successfully that he would become a fully “patched-in” member, eventually rising through their ranks to the office of treasurer, where he had unprecedented access to evidence of their criminal activity. After Queen spent twenty-eight months as “Billy St. John,” the bearded, beer-swilling, Harley-riding gang-banger, the truth of his identity became blurry, even to himself. During his initial “prospecting” phase, Queen was at the mercy of crank-fueled criminal psychopaths who sought to have him test his mettle and prove his fealty by any means necessary, from selling (and doing) drugs, to arms trafficking, stealing motorcycles, driving getaway cars, and, in one shocking instance, stitching up the face of a Mongol “ol’ lady” after a particularly brutal beating at the hands of her boyfriend. Yet despite the constant criminality of the gang, for whom planning cop killings and gang rapes were business as usual, Queen also came to see the genuine camaraderie they shared. When his lengthy undercover work totally isolated Queen from family, his friends, and ATF colleagues, the Mongols felt like the only family he had left. “I had no doubt these guys genuinely loved Billy St. John and would have laid down their lives for him. But they wouldn’t hesitate to murder Billy Queen.” From Queen’s first sleight of hand with a line of methamphetamine in front of him and a knife at his throat, to the fearsome face-off with their decades-old enemy, the Hell’s Angels (a brawl that left three bikers dead), to the heartbreaking scene of a father ostracized at Parents’ Night because his deranged-outlaw appearance precluded any interaction with regular citizens, Under and Alone is a breathless, adrenaline-charged read that puts you on the street with some of the most dangerous men in America and with the law enforcement agents who risk everything to bring them in.
Download or read book NASCARFor Dummies written by Mark Martin and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2005-04-29 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers the latest drivers, records, and rule changes All-new color photos highlight the fun and excitement of NASCAR Ever wonder what's under the hood of today's stock cars? Want to know the latest about the changes in NASCAR? Top driver Mark Martin puts you behind the wheel on an insider's tour of NASCAR, offering great insights into the new drivers, sponsorship changes, safety requirements, and racing schedule — helping you get more out of every race you watch! Discover how to: Understand the rules, regulations, and standings Identify driver skills and racing strategies Get up to speed on NASCAR lingo Enjoy racing from the stands and on TV Locate NASCAR tracks near you
Download or read book Big John s Speedway Grill written by John Youk and published by Meredith Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains interviews and stories with celebrity drivers on the NASCAR racetrack, including Kyle Petty, Sterling Marlin, and others. This book also features recipes including appetisers, entrees, sides, and desserts, each illustrated with colour photos.
Download or read book Outlaw Country written by William W. Johnstone and published by Pinnacle. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes an excerpt from Go west, young man: a novel of America.
Download or read book Iceland written by Andrew Evans and published by Bradt Travel Guides. This book was released on 2017-11-01 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new, thoroughly updated edition of Bradt's Iceland, recipient of the Lowell Thomas Award (the highest travel writing award available in the United States) providing more context for individual places than any other guidebook, plus honest, investigative hotel and restaurant reviews that hide nothing. Based on 20 years of personal and business travel, exploration and adventure all around the country, Bradt's Iceland is in-depth, well-researched and comprehensive, featuring a year-round approach to travelling in Iceland in line with the development of the local tourist industry to offer attractions beyond the normal summer season. This latest edition covers the growing tourist infrastructure: the new, fully-paved road system, better routes through the interior, a wave of new hotels and resorts, more tour companies with more tour options, new adventure activities, plus day tours from port city destinations and tips for those travellers arriving by cruise ship. Natural history and wildlife experiences are featured prominently along with a focus on the outdoors and help in accessing even the most difficult corners of Iceland. Also featured is the most in-depth political and economic analysis offered by any guidebook since the turmoil of 2008. And, even though Iceland is notoriously expensive, there are now a lot more options for travellers, including more hostels, campsites, and budget airlines. This new edition also includes a foreword by the newly elected President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. Containing information on remote offshore islands, the uninhabited interior and Reykjavik's bustling music and art scene, this remains the definitive guide.
Download or read book Salt of the Earth written by Jack Olsen and published by Crime Rant Books. This book was released on 2020-05-28 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joe Gere said he died on the afternoon his twelve-year-old daughter Brenda disappeared. It was left to Brenda's mother Elaine to sustain her stricken family, search for her missing child, and pressure the authorities for justice. From the first minutes of the investigation, suspicion fell on Michael Kay Green, a steroid-abusing "Mr. Universe" hopeful, but there was no proof of a crime, leaving police and prosecutors stymied. With a new introduction by bestselling true crime author M. William Phelps. Tips and sightings poured in as lawmen and volunteers combed the Cascades forest in the biggest search on Northwest history. Years passed with no sight of the blue-eyed girl or the bright clothes she'd worn on the day she disappeared, but Elaine remained undaunted. Salt of the Earth is the true story of how one woman fought and triumphed over life-shattering violence and how she healed her family-and herself. Salt of the Earth is the true story of a courageous woman who survived a hellish twentieth-century nightmare. Mob violence, injustice, kidnapping, murder, and suicide were the black holes in the awful astronomy of Elaine Gere's life. Somehow she had to summon the courage to endure: to honor her beloved dead and to rebuild the shattered lives of the sons who depended on her strength. Jack Olsen has been lauded for his psychological insights into the most violent criminals in such previous masterworks as Doc, The Misbegotten Son, and Predator, but he has never overlooked their victims. By viewing the world through the eyes of Elaine Gere and her devastated family, he finds the core values that enabled them not only to survive and flourish, but, in the end, to triumph. Gilbert Taylor: In the annals of humanity, the Gere family is unexceptional and ordinary--unless one looks as closely at their lives as Olsen does. A boomer-age couple, Joe and Elaine Gere move between California and Idaho a dozen times on their roller coaster ride of solvency and bankruptcy and have three children. Much the steadier spouse, energetic Elaine always manages to land a clerical federal job wherever Joe moves the family. The wanderlust ensues from Joe's first career misfortune, as a cop disabled during a melee with a mob. His relatives thought that incident started his slide toward suicide, and his addictive (regrets of hitting her and promises to reform) abuse of Elaine demonstrates the complexity of Joe's insidious demons. But he holds on, Elaine remaining loyal, until another bolt from the blue--the kidnapping and murder of their 12-year-old daughter. Here Olsen is at his dispassionate, yet concerned, best, introducing the subplot of the suspect's life (a wife beater), the course of the investigation, and the ultimate denoument of the case. In this mass-media age, many women will identify with, and perhaps be inspirited by, Olsen's fine chronicle of the Gere family.
Download or read book Metrology and Fundamental Constants written by Theo W. Hänsch and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 683 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the exciting characteristics of metrology is its intimate relationship between fundamental physics and the leading edge of technology which is needed to perform advanced and challenging experiments and measurements. This title includes a set of lectures which present the relevant progress in Metrology.
