Download or read book The Destruction and Creation of Michael Jackson written by Ellis Cashmore and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2022-05-19 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Jackson died in 2009, but he has never really left us and there are no signs he ever will. A globally acclaimed child star in the 1970s, the world's premier entertainer in the final decades of the 20th century, a perplexingly odd character in the 21st century, Jackson defied every known category and became borderline incomprehensible. To remedy this, in The Destruction and Creation of Michael Jackson, Ellis Cashmore reflects the restless, unorthodox and mysterious life Jackson led in order to understand more about him as well as his cultural impact. Exploring how Jackson emerged from the post-civil rights era when America was searching for someone who symbolized a new age as it struggled to unburden itself of racial inequality, Cashmore's book is the first to examine Jackson's career through the prisms of American racial politics and celebrity culture. Uniquely structured, beginning in the present and journeying back to Jackson's birth, The Destruction and Creation of Michael Jackson will excite and enliven debates on this controversial figure, one that very much continues to remain embedded within our culture.
Download or read book MJ The Genius of Michael Jackson written by Steve Knopper and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-10-06 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive biography of Michael Jackson, a “vivid…gripping...authoritative account of a world-changing force of nature” (Rolling Stone), celebrating the King of Pop’s legendary contributions to music, dance, and popular culture. From the moment in 1965 when he first stepped on stage—at age seven—in Gary, Indiana, Michael Jackson was destined to become the undisputed King of Pop. In a career spanning four decades, Jackson became a global icon, selling over four hundred million albums, earning thirteen Grammy awards, and spinning dance moves that captivated the world. Songs like “Billie Jean” and “Black and White” altered our national discussion of race and equality, and Jackson’s signature aesthetic, from the single white glove to the moonwalk, defined a generation. Despite publicized scandals and controversy, Jackson’s ultimate legacy will always be his music. In an account that “reminds us why Michael Jackson was, indeed, a ‘genius’ entertainer” (New York Newsday), Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper delves deeply into Jackson’s music and talent. From the artist’s early days with the Jackson 5, to his stratospheric success as a solo artist, to “Beat It” and “Thriller,” “Bad” and “The Man in the Mirror,” to his volatile final years, his attempted comeback, and untimely death, Knopper draws on his “critical and reportorial savvy in assessing Jackson’s creative peaks and valleys,” (USA TODAY) exploring the beguiling and often contradictory forces that fueled Michael Jackson’s genius. Drawing on an amazing four hundred interviews—ranging from Jackson’s relatives, friends, and key record executives to celebrities like will.i.am and Weird Al Yankovic—this critical biography puts his career into perspective and celebrates his triumph in art and music. This is “a thoughtful look at an artist who grew up in a segregated mill town and who, for the rest of his life, made music to bring down walls” (Chicago Tribune).
Download or read book The Creation and Destruction of Value written by Harold James and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-10-22 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harold James examines the vulnerability and fragility of processes of globalization, both historically and in the present. This book applies lessons from past breakdowns of globalizationÑabove all in the Great DepressionÑto show how financial crises provoke backlashes against global integration: against the mobility of capital or goods, but also against flows of migration. By a parallel examination of the financial panics of 1929 and 1931 as well as that of 2008, he shows how banking and monetary collapses suddenly and radically alter the rules of engagement for every other type of economic activity. Increased calls for state action in countercyclical fiscal policy bring demands for trade protection. In the open economy of the twenty-first century, such calls are only viable in very large statesÑprobably only in the United States and China. By contrast, in smaller countries demand trickles out of the national container, creating jobs in other countries. The international community is thus paralyzed, and international institutions are challenged by conflicts of interest. The book shows the looming psychological and material consequences of an interconnected world for people and the institutions they create.
Download or read book The Trials of Michael Jackson written by Lynton Guest and published by Aureus. This book was released on 2020-07 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: News of Michael Jackson's appearances in court on paedophile charges in 2005 was broadcast to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Everyone had opinions about the testimony and the witnesses as the drama was played out in the small town of Santa Maria in California. This book not only tells the story of that trial but of what was secretly going on behind the scenes - a far more important and mysterious tale than that unfolding in the courthouse.The Trials of Michael Jackson reveals the sensational events which led to the downfall of a megastar at the hands of the mighty Sony company and an obsessive but compliant prosecutor. Using previously unpublished material, personal interviews and evidence gathered during research on three continents, Lynton Guest uncovers the truth about the bitter feud between one of the biggest corporations in the world and pop music's greatest legend.The Trials of Michael Jackson is a roller-coaster ride, from the ashes of a defeated Japan in 1945 to the twenty-first century celebrity culture which now spans the globe. It provides the most authoritative look yet at the music business and its extreme excesses over the last forty years. But more than anything else The Trials of Michael Jackson shows how the man who gave us Thriller, the biggest selling record of all time, was hunted down and all but destroyed by forces beyond even his control. The death of one of the planet's greatest legends in June 2009 has generated unprecedented speculation, rumour and controversy. There are more questions than answers and the report by the Los Angeles coroner in August 2009 means that Jackson's death is now officially a homicide.Is there a hidden agenda between Dr Conrad Murray, his paymasters AEG Live and Sony Corporation?Why was Propofol, a powerful anaesthetic administered to Michael Jackson by Dr Murray? What is Philip Anschutz's involvement in Jackson's death? Was Michael Jackson worth more dead than alive? These questions are only a few raised by Lynton Guest in this hard hitting Second Edition in his quest to seek the truth in The Trials of Michael Jackson.
Download or read book Covert Processes at Work written by Robert J. Marshak and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2006-08-13 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first and only guide to diagnosing and dealing with the hidden or covert factors that can ruin even the most meticulously planned change processes. Organizational change initiatives often fail because they focus exclusively on the rational, overt aspects of change, overlooking the powerful role played by concealed or irrational factors. It’s well known that these covert processes—such as hidden agendas, blind spots, office politics, tacit assumptions, secret hopes, wishes and fears—frequently sabotage change efforts, but up until now nobody has offered a rigorous, consistent way of identifying and dealing with them. Drawing on over thirty years of experience as an organizational change consultant to global corporations and government agencies, Robert J. Marshak shows precisely how to bring these hidden processes to light and deal with their negative impact. Marshak identifies five different dimensions of covert processes, presents an integrated model to explain the ultimate source of all of them, and shows how to diagnose whether any covert processes might be at work in your organization. He then offers specific tools and techniques for engaging and managing these “under-the-table” processes and for creating the kind of organizational environment in which such hidden dynamics are unable to flourish. Covert Processes at Work is a comprehensive and practical guide that managers, leaders, and consultants can use to deal with the hidden dynamics that are often at the root of many organizational problems. “Adding these tools…will take both your practice and your clients to a whole new level of capability and impact.” —Karen Boylston, PhD, Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education
Download or read book Appetite for Self Destruction written by Steve Knopper and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, Appetite for Self-Destruction recounts the epic story of the precipitous rise and fall of the recording industry over the past three decades, when the incredible success of the CD turned the music business into one of the most glamorous, high-profile industries in the world -- and the advent of file sharing brought it to its knees. In a comprehensive, fast-paced account full of larger-than-life personalities, Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper shows that, after the incredible wealth and excess of the '80s and '90s, Sony, Warner, and the other big players brought about their own downfall through years of denial and bad decisions in the face of dramatic advances in technology. Big Music has been asleep at the wheel ever since Napster revolutionized the way music was distributed in the 1990s. Now, because powerful people like Doug Morris and Tommy Mottola failed to recognize the incredible potential of file-sharing technology, the labels are in danger of becoming completely obsolete. Knopper, who has been writing about the industry for more than ten years, has unparalleled access to those intimately involved in the music world's highs and lows. Based on interviews with more than two hundred music industry sources -- from Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. to renegade Napster creator Shawn Fanning -- Knopper is the first to offer such a detailed and sweeping contemporary history of the industry's wild ride through the past three decades. From the birth of the compact disc, through the explosion of CD sales in the '80s and '90s, the emergence of Napster, and the secret talks that led to iTunes, to the current collapse of the industry as CD sales plummet, Knopper takes us inside the boardrooms, recording studios, private estates, garage computer labs, company jets, corporate infighting, and secret deals of the big names and behind-the-scenes players who made it all happen. With unforgettable portraits of the music world's mighty and formerly mighty; detailed accounts of both brilliant and stupid ideas brought to fruition or left on the cutting-room floor; the dish on backroom schemes, negotiations, and brawls; and several previously unreported stories, Appetite for Self-Destruction is a riveting, informative, and highly entertaining read. It offers a broad perspective on the current state of Big Music, how it got into these dire straits, and where it's going from here -- and a cautionary tale for the digital age.
Download or read book The Varieties of Temporal Experience written by Michael D. Jackson and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to live in time, between the unforeseeable and the irreversible? In The Varieties of Temporal Experience, Michael Jackson demonstrates the significance of a phenomenology of time for ethnography, philosophy, and history through a multifaceted consideration of the gap between our cultural representations of temporality and the bewildering multiplicity of our experience of being-in-time. Jackson explores temporality in a subjective mode as a form of literary anthropology. The first part of the book tells the story of John Joseph Pawelka, whose 1910 escape from prison and subsequent disappearance became one of New Zealand’s great unsolved mysteries, discussing what it reveals about the interplay of popular stories, hidden histories, and media narratives in constructing allegories of national and moral identity. In the second, Jackson reflects on journeys up and down the islands of New Zealand, touching on the ways that personal stories are interwoven with social and historical events. Throughout this groundbreaking book, Jackson juxtaposes philosophy, history, and ethnography in an attempt to do justice to the extraordinary variety of temporal experience, at the same time exploring the ethical and existential quandaries that arise from the complexity of lived time.
Download or read book Michael Jackson written by Shawn Henning and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2009-09-29 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As fans of entertainers our voice is often overlooked. We are passed off as simple fans who really don't know to much. The media, with all their experts, reports, opinions, and speculations are often times not the truth. For the first time the fans of Michael Jackson will speak out. False reports and rumors are exposed in this book and the Author provides in indepth look at the media theories and speculations. The fans finally have a book that expresses what they know to be the truth about The Icon of Music Michael Jackson. The Author takes you through Michael Jackson life from the viewpoint of a fan. Backed by intense research and interview from noted film-maker and defense witness for Michael Jackson Larry Nimmer who also wrote this about the book. "You've done excellent research and there were some things that I learned that I didn't know. It was interesting what you had to say about the accusers and about his dad, Joe Jackson. I liked your comparison that Americans will sleep with animals in their bed but they are not accused of bestailiaty... good comparison... You've presented a convincing story about people who fabricated stories for personal gain, including the media, at the expense of Michael Jackson... great job and very interesting." Larry Nimmer
Download or read book Burning the Books written by Richard Ovenden and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The director of the famed Bodleian Libraries at Oxford narrates the global history of the willful destruction—and surprising survival—of recorded knowledge over the past three millennia. Libraries and archives have been attacked since ancient times but have been especially threatened in the modern era. Today the knowledge they safeguard faces purposeful destruction and willful neglect; deprived of funding, libraries are fighting for their very existence. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point. Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the UK Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process. More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the US Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In Burning the Books, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.
Download or read book Starting Over written by La Toya Jackson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-05-29 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: La Toya Jackson was always closer to Michael than anyone knew. In this heartfelt memoir, she pays tribute to his tortured soul, revealing the intimate moments she shared with the deeply troubled pop legend. The first sibling to arrive at the hospital after Michael was rushed there, and the informant on his death certificate, La Toya noticed suspicious details and demanded a second autopsy. For the first time, she unveils shocking behind-the-scenes dealings that she believes led to her brother's death, and she provides unprecedented insight into the destruction of one of the most dynamic artist/performers in history.
Download or read book Otherness and Power Michael Jackson and His Media Critics written by Susan Woodward and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Otherness and Power: Michael Jackson and His Media Critics is an innovative study of the cultural impact of Michael Jackson. Jackson had millions of ardent fans around the world, but from the early days of his adult career many in the media mocked and reviled him. How did such divergent attitudes come about? This book examines the origins and psychological underpinnings of the media's hostility by closely analyzing some of the most harshly critical writings about Jackson. While racism and discomfort with Jackson's "otherness" have previously been recognized as the elements that fueled media criticisms, Susan Woodward reveals another important factor: the perception that Jackson was extraordinarily powerful, in ways that went beyond celebrity and wealth. Through research and careful analysis, Woodward explores the ways in which Jackson's power was seen, the largely unconscious response to his power, the functions of the media's criticisms and the origins of the perceptions of Jackson's power.
Download or read book The Blue Sapphire of the Mind written by Douglas E. Christie and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-12-04 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There are no unsacred places," the poet Wendell Berry has written. "There are only sacred places and desecrated places." What might it mean to behold the world with such depth and feeling that it is no longer possible to imagine it as something separate from ourselves, or to live without regard for its well-being? To understand the work of seeing things as an utterly involving moral and spiritual act? Such questions have long occupied the center of contemplative spiritual traditions. In The Blue Sapphire of the Mind, Douglas E. Christie proposes a distinctively contemplative approach to ecological thought and practice that can help restore our sense of the earth as a sacred place. Drawing on the insights of the early Christian monastics as well as the ecological writings of Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, Annie Dillard, and many others, Christie argues that, at the most basic level, it is the quality of our attention to the natural world that must change if we are to learn how to live in a sustainable relationship with other living organisms and with one another. He notes that in this uniquely challenging historical moment, there is a deep and pervasive hunger for a less fragmented and more integrated way of apprehending and inhabiting the living world--and for a way of responding to the ecological crisis that expresses our deepest moral and spiritual values. Christie explores how the wisdom of ancient and modern contemplative traditions can inspire both an honest reckoning with the destructive patterns of thought and behavior that have contributed so much to our current crisis, and a greater sense of care and responsibility for all living beings. These traditions can help us cultivate the simple, spacious awareness of the enduring beauty and wholeness of the natural world that will be necessary if we are to live with greater purpose and meaning, and with less harm, to our planet.
Download or read book The Greengrocer and His TV written by Paulina Bren and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-15 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia brought an end to the Prague Spring and its promise of "socialism with a human face." Before the invasion, Czech reformers had made unexpected use of television to advance political and social change. In its aftermath, Communist Party leaders employed the medium to achieve "normalization," pitching television stars against political dissidents in a televised spectacle that defined the times. The Greengrocer and His TV offers a new cultural history of communism from the Prague Spring to the Velvet Revolution that reveals how state-endorsed ideologies were played out on television, particularly through soap opera-like serials. In focusing on the small screen, Paulina Bren looks to the "normal" of normalization, to the everyday experience of late communism. The figure central to this book is the greengrocer who, in a seminal essay by Václav Havel, symbolized the ordinary citizen who acquiesced to the communist regime out of fear. Bren challenges simplistic dichotomies of fearful acquiescence and courageous dissent to dramatically reconfigure what we know, or think we know, about everyday life under communism in the 1970s and 1980s. Deftly moving between the small screen, the street, and the Central Committee (and imaginatively drawing on a wide range of sources that include television shows, TV viewers' letters, newspapers, radio programs, the underground press, and the Communist Party archives), Bren shows how Havel's greengrocer actually experienced "normalization" and the ways in which popular television serials framed this experience. Now back by popular demand, socialist-era serials, such as The Woman Behind the Counter and The Thirty Adventures of Major Zeman, provide, Bren contends, a way of seeing—literally and figuratively—Czechoslovakia's normalization and Eastern Europe's real socialism.
Download or read book Michael Jackson Beyond the Moonwalk written by Daniel D. Lee and published by SkyCuration. This book was released on with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I wanted to do something special for Motown 25. That's where the moonwalk came from." - Michael Jackson Embark on an extraordinary journey through the life of Michael Jackson, the enigmatic artist who transformed the music industry and captivated audiences worldwide. "Michael Jackson: Beyond the Moonwalk" delves deep into the story of the King of Pop, exploring his unparalleled career, personal struggles, and enduring influence. One of the most thrilling moments in Michael Jackson's career occurred on March 25, 1983, during the television special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever," celebrating the 25th anniversary of Motown Records. As anticipation built, Michael took the stage, dressed in a black sequined jacket, black pants, white socks, and a single white glove—an ensemble that would become iconic. After performing a medley of hits with his brothers, the Jackson 5, Michael stepped forward to perform "Billie Jean." The opening beats were instantly recognizable, and the audience's excitement was palpable. As Michael sang and danced, his movements were precise yet fluid, each step perfectly in sync with the music. The moment that would go down in history came during the instrumental break of "Billie Jean." Michael paused, then began to glide backward effortlessly, creating the illusion of walking forward while actually moving backward. This move, later known as the moonwalk, left the audience and viewers at home in awe. It was a moment of pure magic, a demonstration of Michael's exceptional talent and his ability to captivate and surprise. From his early days with the Jackson 5 to his groundbreaking solo career, this comprehensive biography captures the essence of Michael's journey. Discover how he revolutionized the music video medium with iconic productions like "Thriller," "Beat It," and "Black or White," setting new standards for visual storytelling. Explore his collaborations with legendary producer Quincy Jones, resulting in timeless albums that blended pop, rock, R&B, and funk, pushing the boundaries of music and performance. The book also provides an unflinching look at Michael's personal struggles, including his battles with vitiligo, lupus, and addiction, and the intense media scrutiny that followed him throughout his life. It addresses the controversies that marred his legacy, including the child abuse allegations and the impact of the 2005 trial on his personal and professional life. Michael's significant humanitarian efforts and his profound impact on social issues through songs like "Man in the Mirror" and "Earth Song" are meticulously detailed, highlighting his dedication to using his platform for positive change. The biography also explores his lasting influence on contemporary artists and the music industry, demonstrating how his innovative techniques in music production, choreography, and performance continue to inspire new generations. "Michael Jackson: Beyond the Moonwalk" is not just a biography; it's a tribute to an artist whose contributions to music, dance, and culture are timeless. With rich detail and comprehensive research, this book paints a vivid portrait of Michael Jackson, celebrating his genius while acknowledging the complexities of his life. Whether you are a lifelong fan or a new admirer, this biography offers a profound and engaging look at the man who forever changed the landscape of popular music.
Download or read book Michael Jackson and the Blackface Mask written by Harriet J. Manning and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-22 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blackface minstrelsy, the nineteenth-century performance practice in which ideas and images of blackness were constructed and theatricalized by and for whites, continues to permeate contemporary popular music and its audience. Harriet J. Manning argues that this legacy is nowhere more evident than with Michael Jackson in whom minstrelsy’s gestures and tropes are embedded. During the nineteenth century, blackface minstrelsy held together a multitude of meanings and when black entertainers took to the stage this complexity was compounded: minstrelsy became an arena in which black stereotypes were at once enforced and critiqued. This body of contradiction behind the blackface mask provides an effective approach to try and understand Jackson, a cultural figure about whom more questions than answers have been generated. Symbolized by his own whiteface mask, Jackson was at once ’raced’ and raceless and this ambiguity allowed him to serve a whole host of others’ needs - a function of the mask that has run long and deep through its tortuous history. Indeed, Manning argues that minstrelsy’s assumptions and uses have been fundamental to the troubles and controversies with which Jackson was beset.
Download or read book On Michael Jackson written by Margo Jefferson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2007-01-09 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning cultural critic brilliantly unravels the complexities of one of the most enigmatic figures of our time in this passionate, incisive, and bracing work of cultural analysis. Who is Michael Jackson and what does it mean to call him a “What Is It”? What do P. T. Barnum, Peter Pan, and Edgar Allan Poe have to do with our fascination with Jackson? How did his curious Victorian upbringing and his tenure as a child prodigy on the “chitlin’ circuit” inform his character and multiplicity of selves? How is Michael Jackson’s celebrity related to the outrageous popularity of nineteenth-century minstrelsy? What is the perverse appeal of child stars for grown-ups and what is the price of such stardom for these children and for us? What uncanniness provoked Michael Jackson to become “Alone of All His Race, Alone of All Her Sex,” while establishing himself as an undeniably great performer with neo-Gothic, dandy proclivities and a producer of visionary music videos? What do we find so unnerving about Michael Jackson’s presumed monstrosity? In short, how are we all of us implicated? In this stunning book, Margo Jefferson gives us the incontrovertible lowdown on call-him-what-you-wish; she offers a powerful reckoning with a quintessential, richly allusive signifier of American society and popular culture.
Download or read book A Man Called Destruction written by Holly George-Warren and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first biography of the artist who “essentially invented indie and alternative rock” (Spin) A brilliant and influential songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, the charismatic Alex Chilton was more than a rock star—he was a true cult icon. Awardwinning music writer Holly George-Warren’s A Man Called Destruction is the first biography of this enigmatic artist, who died in 2010. Covering Chilton’s life from his early work with the charttopping Box Tops and the seminal power-pop band Big Star to his experiments with punk and roots music and his sprawling solo career, A Man Called Destruction is the story of a musical icon and a richly detailed chronicle of pop music’s evolution, from the mid-1960s through today’s indie rock.
