Cycling and Cinema
Cycling and Cinema

Author: Bruce Bennett

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-04-30

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1906897999

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A unique exploration of the history of the bicycle in cinema, from Hollywood blockbusters and slapstick comedies to documentaries, realist dramas, and experimental films. Cycling and Cinema explores the history of the bicycle in cinema from the late nineteenth century through to the present day. In this new book from Goldsmiths Press, Bruce Bennett examines a wide variety of films from around the world, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters and slapstick comedies to documentaries, realist dramas, and experimental films, to consider the complex, shifting cultural significance of the bicycle. The bicycle is an everyday technology, but in examining the ways in which bicycles are used in films, Bennett reveals the rich social and cultural importance of this apparently unremarkable machine. The cinematic bicycles discussed in this book have various functions. They are the source of absurd comedy in silent films, and the vehicles that allow their owners to work in sports films and social realist cinema. They are a means of independence and escape for children in melodramas and kids' films, and the tools that offer political agency and freedom to women, as depicted in films from around the world. In recounting the cinematic history of the bicycle, Bennett reminds us that this machine is not just a practical means of transport or a child's toy, but the vehicle for a wide range of meanings concerning individual identity, social class, nationhood and belonging, family, gender, and sexuality and pleasure. As this book shows, two hundred years on from its invention, the bicycle is a revolutionary technology that retains the power to transform the world.

Culture on Two Wheels
Culture on Two Wheels

Author: Jeremy Withers

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2016-07-01

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 0803290454

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Bicycles have more cultural identities than many realize, functioning not only as literal vehicles in a text but also as “vehicles” for that text’s themes, ideas, and critiques. In the late nineteenth century the bicycle was seen as a way for the wealthy urban elite to reconnect with nature and for women to gain a measure of personal freedom, while during World War II it became a utilitarian tool of the French Resistance and in 1970s China stood for wealth and modernization. Lately it has functioned variously as the favored ideological steed of environmentalists, a means of community bonding and aesthetic self-expression in hip hop, and the ride of choice for bike messenger–idolizing urban hipsters. Culture on Two Wheels analyzes the shifting cultural significance of the bicycle by examining its appearances in literary, musical, and cinematic works spanning three continents and more than 125 years of history. Bringing together essays by a variety of cyclists and scholars with myriad angles of approach, this collection highlights the bicycle’s flexibility as a signifier and analyzes the appearance of bicycles in canonical and well-known texts such as Samuel Beckett’s modernist novel Molloy, the Oscar-winning film Breaking Away, and various Stephen King novels and stories, as well as in lesser-known but equally significant texts, such as the celebrated Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Sacrifice and Elizabeth Robins Pennell’s nineteenth-century travelogue A Canterbury Pilgrimage, the latter of which traces the route of Chaucer’s pilgrims via bicycle. Listen to an interview with the author.

The Yellow Jersey
The Yellow Jersey

Author: Ralph Hurne

Publisher: Breakaway Books

Published: 2016-04-24

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13:

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“This is sports fiction at its very best. Mr. Hurne has a cool, downbeat style descended from Lardner and Hemingway, and a fine hand with the hairpin turns of suspense.” —The New York Times Book Review “The greatest cycling novel ever written. . . . An underground classic. . . . A cycling book that follows a different course—one with drama and characters you can relate to, whose actions raise questions about life on and off the bicycle. . . . The heart of The Yellow Jersey is the Tour de France itself, which Hurne views as a metaphor for life. . . . Thoroughly entertaining.” —Bicycling “Full of wit, charm, excitement, and intelligence.” —Publishers Weekly Terry Davenport is nearly washed up. After a career of good but never great bicycle racing in Europe, he is past his prime, and given lately to chasing women rather than leading the pack through the Alps. He contemplates how he might find a comfortable retirement, and is wallowing in an existential crisis. But his final Tour de France—which he rides only as a favor to his young protegé, to pace him through the early stages—develops by a series of accidents into the chance of a lifetime. And though Davenport is old, he is wily and tough and fearless. His arduous, painful, heroic performance in the face of impossible odds is unforgettable. A sports thriller—with stunning descriptions of competitive cycling—and a keen meditation on mortality, The Yellow Jersey is an extraordinary novel.

Hero on a Bicycle
Hero on a Bicycle

Author: Shirley Hughes

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Published: 2013-04-23

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 076366359X

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In her first novel, beloved author Shirley Hughes presents a World War II adventure proving that in extraordinary circumstances, people are capable of extraordinary things. Italy, 1944: Florence is occupied by Nazi forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though — and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings — with only a bicycle to help them — do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II.

Routledge Companion to Cycling
Routledge Companion to Cycling

Author: Glen Norcliffe

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-12-14

Total Pages: 802

ISBN-13: 1000575403

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Routledge Companion to Cycling presents a comprehensive overview of an artefact that throughout the modern era has been a bellwether indicator of the major social, economic and environmental trends that have permeated society The volume synthesizes a rapidly growing body of research on the bicycle, its past and present uses, its technological evolution, its use in diverse geographical settings, its aesthetics and its deployment in art and literature. From its origins in early modern carriage technology in Germany, it has generated what is now a vast, multi-disciplinary literature encompassing a wide range of issues in countries throughout the world.

Road Movies
Road Movies

Author: D. Orgeron

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2007-12-09

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 0230610218

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Road Movies engages with two foundational twentieth century technologies: cinematic and automotive. It is a book about road movies, a genre burdened by its own seductiveness. It is also, however, a book about images of human mobility more generally and the social function those images have served.

Put Me Back on My Bike
Put Me Back on My Bike

Author: William Fotheringham

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-12-31

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1446435873

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Discover the story of Britain’s ultimate cyclist and his ill-fated race during the 1967 Tour de France, from the bestselling author of Half Man Half Bike Tom Simpson was an Olympic medallist, world champion and the first Briton to wear the fabled yellow jersey of the Tour de France. He died a tragic early death during the 1967 Tour. A man of contradictions, Simpson was one of the first cyclists to admit to using banned drugs, and was accused of fixing races, yet the dapper 'Major Tom' inspired awe and affection for the obsessive will to win which was ultimately to cost him his life. Put Me Back on My Bike revisits the places and people associated with Simpson to produce the definitive story of Britain's greatest ever cyclist. The fully revised and updated edition of William Fotheringham's classic biography features a new foreword and postscript further exploring the truth behind the legend. ‘The best cycling biography ever written' Velo ‘A beautiful explanation of why Simpson's legend still exerts such a powerful hold’ Sunday Times

Ride
Ride

Author: John Buultjens

Publisher: Pitch Publishing

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781785313387

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Ride lays bare the harrowing beginnings and the tough life lessons learned by superstar John Buultjens on his rise to BMX glory. Raised by his poor family in Glasgow, he slept rough to escape his father's beatings. Placed in a children's home, he adopted by a bi-racial couple. After conquering his own racism, his life turned around, and the movie E.T. inspired a love of BMX. John's emigration to Australia saw him becoming one of BMX's biggest names. Then came the call from California to lead the most famous BMX brand, Haro. Now their global brand manager, he backs and sponsors riders across the globe. Hollywood has turned his unbelievable journey into a movie. Here, John reveals inner secrets including murders, hatred, sexual abuse--and how his white-knuckle ride has taken him to the top against all the odds.

Seven Deadly Sins
Seven Deadly Sins

Author: David Walsh

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-06-06

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1471129810

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THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE CENTURY SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR MADE INTO THE FILM, THE PROGRAM, STARRING BEN FOSTER AND CHRIS O'DOWD AS THE AUTHOR The true story of the greatest deception of our time. From award-winning journalist David Walsh, the definitive account of the author’s twelve-year quest to uncover and make known the truth about Lance Armstrong’s long history of performance-enhancing drug use, which ultimately led to the cyclist’s being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. When Lance Armstrong fought back from life-threatening cancer to win the 1999 Tour de France - the so-called 'Tour of Renewal' - it seemed almost too good to be true. It was. Sunday Times journalist David Walsh was one of a small group who was prepared to raise awkward questions about Armstrong's seemingly superhuman feats. And so began a long battle to reveal the truth that finally ended in October 2012 when the cyclist was banned from the sport for life. Walsh's gripping and moving personal account of his struggles is a revealing insight into the murkier end of professional cycling - a place where having the right doctor can make all the difference and where there existed a conspiracy of silence. As he shows, it never was about the bike. However, spurred on by a few brave people who were prepared to speak out in the hope of saving the sport they loved, Walsh continued to probe, and eventually he was vindicated when Armstrong's reputation was ruined. In this updated edition, covering Armstrong's confession to Oprah, Seven Deadly Sins takes the reader into a world of doping and lies, but shows that there is always hope for a better future.

The Urban Biking Handbook
The Urban Biking Handbook

Author: Charles Haine

Publisher: Fair Winds Press

Published: 2011-08

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1592536956

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Cyclists are everywhere, the cautionary bumper stickers tell you. More than ever before, bicycle culture is everywhere, too: from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, city planners are making big changes to city infrastructure for the increasing numbers of people who are leaving their cars at home (or deep-sixing them altogether) and upgrading to two wheels. Biking in the city is no longer just for bike messengers with a death wish. Biking's benefits are myriad: better fitness, smaller environmental footprint, quiet and low profile, cheaper, greater accessibility. For each new, non-competitive cyclist in the consumer marketplace, there is at least one bicycle that needs to be fixed, maintained, and customized. Cyclists are looking for communities of like-minded people to learn the basics of repair and maintenance, the tricks of the trade, and get some super inspiring ideas for making their bike reflect their lifestyle choices. Quarry's The Urban Biking Handbook: The DIY Guide to Building, Rebuilding, Tinkering with, and Repairing Your Bicycle for City Living is a hardworking, illustrated guide to the cycling lifestyle. Not only does it teach tons of repair and maintenance techniques, it shows such popular skills as converting a multiple-gear bike into a fixed-gear bike (or fixie), building your own wheels, and how to build a Frankenbike from parts scavenged from several bikes. All the techniques and projects are framed by spotlights on urban bike culture worldwide: profiles of bike mechanics, bike builders, bike artists, and more.