Wordapodia: Volume One
Wordapodia: Volume One

Author: Matthew J. Goldberg

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2010-09-02

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 1450222749

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Humorist and wordsmith extraordinaire Matthew Goldberg shares over two hundred and fifty fake words for others to learn and use as they attempt to heal themselves from carpool tunnel syndrome, battle strange hankerings for good old-fashioned Talibanjo music, and watch helplessly as their dogs conk out from barkolepsy. Goldberg was unintentionally born into a family that has always used words creatively and he relies on his internal artistic fire to share both one-word and multiple-word entries, called wordapods. While introducing such words and phrases as boredello, anthropomurphic, and hit-and-shun accident, Goldberg includes definitions, sample sentences, ways to master the word, and trivia that will both entertain and inform. Goldberg interviews dozens of fascinating characters that help define the words including Vegestarian Mars Greenman, Pastafari Scholar Tosh Kingsmon, and baseball fan and original boob bird Clara Heatley. Meant for the creative word enthusiast, the budding semantician, and for anyone with a good sense of humor, Wordapodia: Volume One provides a unique compilation of new words, fun facts, and observations. So, hold your breath, grab on to your caribooster seat, and get ready for a wild ride through one mans imagination.

The Encyclopedia of Country Music
The Encyclopedia of Country Music

Author: Michael McCall

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 665

ISBN-13: 0199920834

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Immediately upon publication in 1998, the Encyclopedia of Country Music became a much-loved reference source, prized for the wealth of information it contained on that most American of musical genres. Countless fans have used it as the source for answers to questions about everything from country's first commercially successful recording, to the genre's pioneering music videos, to what conjunto music is. This thoroughly revised new edition includes more than 1,200 A-Z entries covering nine decades of history and artistry, from the Carter Family recordings of the 1920s to the reign of Taylor Swift in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Compiled by a team of experts at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the encyclopedia has been brought completely up-to-date, with new entries on the artists who have profoundly influenced country music in recent years, such as the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban. The new edition also explores the latest and most critical trends within the industry, shedding light on such topics as the digital revolution, the shifting politics of country music, and the impact of American Idol (reflected in the stardom of Carrie Underwood). Other essays cover the literature of country music, the importance of Nashville as a music center, and the colorful outfits that have long been a staple of the genre. The volume features hundreds of images, including a photo essay of album covers; a foreword by country music superstar Vince Gill (the winner of twenty Grammy Awards); and twelve fascinating appendices, ranging from lists of awards to the best-selling country albums of all time. Winner of the Best Reference Award from the Popular Culture Association "Any serious country music fan will treasure this authoritative book." --The Seattle Times "A long-awaited, major accomplishment, which educators, historians and students, broadcasters and music writers, artists and fans alike, will welcome and enjoy." --The Nashville Musician "Should prove a valuable resource to those who work in the country music business. But it's also an entertaining read for the music's true fans." --Houston Chronicle "This big, handsome volume spans the history of country music, listing not only artists and groups but also important individuals and institutions." --San Francisco Examiner "Promises to be the definitive historical and biographical work on the past eight decades of country music. Well written and heavily illustratedan unparalleled work, worth its price and highly recommended." --Library Journal

The Road Gets Longer If I Stop
The Road Gets Longer If I Stop

Author: Rick Garvia

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1300413735

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Rick Garvia is a writer, amateur landscaper, former professional homebuilder, traveler, yoga hack, reader, wine drinker, amateur photographer, boulder mover, dog lover, loud sneezer, spelling snob, coffee drinker, father, brother, son and a happily married regular guy facing growing older with equal amounts of frustration, amazement and aplomb. The Road Gets Longer If I Stop is a collection of short stories from his popular blog. Described as "out-of-the-box, insightful, humorous, and smart," each story digs deeper yet barely scratches the surface of a life spent trying to figure things out. The colorful short stories, insightful musings and razor sharp dialogue will capture the reader's imagination and curiosity.

Black Swans
Black Swans

Author: Eve Babitz

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2018-04-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1640090517

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"Babitz’s talent for the brilliant line, honed to a point, never interferes with her feel for languid pleasures." —The New York Times Book Review A new reissue of Babitz’s collection of nine stories that look back on the 1980s and early 1990s—decades of dreams, drink, and glimpses of a changing world. Black Swans further celebrates the phenomenon of Eve Babitz, cementing her reputation as the voice of a generation. With an introduction by Stephanie Danler, bestselling author of Sweetbitter. "On the page, Babitz is pure pleasure—a perpetual–motion machine of no–stakes elation and champagne fizz." —The New Yorker

Kitsch
Kitsch

Author: Monica Kjellman-Chapin

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2020-05-15

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1527551350

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Kitsch: the mere word evokes mental images of cutesy collectibles, treacly trinkets, sweetly sentimental scenes, thematically trite tabletop tchotchkes, or perhaps anemic appropriations of canonical works of art. Frequently dismissed as facile, lowbrow, or one-off, throwaway aesthetics, kitsch elicits responses that range from the sardonic smirk laced with derision to the grin glimmering with the indulgence in a “guilty” pleasure. Kitsch, however, is surprisingly mobile and complex, as evidenced by its recent renewal as “kitschy cool.” This ambiguity not only allows it to gesture towards a disparate array of artifacts and ideations, but also to be pushed and pulled in various applicatory directions. The contributors to this collection address the problem of how and what kitsch might signify, and approach the kitsch question as a complex, nuanced interrogative. They consider kitsch in relation to its historical association with pseudo-art, its theoretical underpinnings and connections to class, the deliberate mobilization of kitsch in the work of specific artists, kitsch as a form of practice, as well as kitsch’s traffic with race, patriotism, and postmodernism. The essays in this collection necessarily cut a wide interpretative path, mapping the terrain of the phenomenon of kitsch – historically, conceptually, practically – in multivocal ways, befitting the polysemous creature that is kitsch itself. Drawing upon art history, popular culture studies, philosophy, and visual culture, the authors’ responses to the “big” question of kitsch move well beyond habitual artificial boundaries, far beyond the simple binaries of good/bad, high/low, elite/popular, or art/kitsch, into far more complex, challenging, and ultimately rewarding territory.