Ranging from the novels of James Fenimore Cooper to Louis L'Amour, and from classic films such as STAGECOACH to spaghetti Westerns like A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, culture scholar Lee Clark Mitchell shows how Westerns as a genre helped assuage a series of crises in American culture by responding to fears and obsessions of its audience--particularly what it means to be a "man". 30 photos. 5 line drawings.
The Spad Driver is a work of fiction portraying the world of a young American sailor who finds himself at war not only with a determined North Vietnamese enemy, but also with a complex assortment of characters involved with a drug ring. The story centers on Dan Roberts, a pilot who enters the Vietnam War with little idea of the actual realities of battle. As Roberts grows to understand the true nature of death and conflict, he finds himself questioning the war itself and the loyalties of his fellow sailors when he is assigned the investigation of the disappearance of a young man named Franklin. During the investigation he uncovers a series of duplicitous characters involved in drug dealings. He soon finds his life threatened by unknown forces, while he tries to overcome the dangers of war. The author contrasts Roberts' investigations with the battles he encounters as he simultaneously faces the overwhelming threat of air combat, the insidious plot of the drug ring and his own personal problems. While focusing on the interactions of the sailors with one another, the author introduces several diverse characterizations. Timothy Bryan and Bobby Thomas are two men close to Roberts but suspected of questionable motives and Peter O'Leary, a sympathetic friend, who is revealed to be responsible for Franklin's death. Ultimately, Roberts must overcome multiple betrayals. The core of The Spad Driver is the description of the complex world that the characters inhabit. The story focuses on the meaning of the Vietnam War through Roberts and the character of Major Nguyen Binh, a disillusioned North Vietnamese intelligence officer, and concludes with the President of the United States reacting to the harsh realities of war.
The Future, America is a irradiated wasteland where, on its East Coast, lies Mega City - one vast, violent metropolis whose citizens live in perpetual fear. Imposing order on this urban chaos are the Judges - judge, jury and executioners rolled into one. Foremost among them is Dredd who is given a mission to road-rest a rookie Judge - the powerful psychic Cassandra Anderson.In the course of this training day, the two Judges head for a seemingly routine homicide in the notorious Peach Trees mega-block - a 200-story vertical slum run by the pitiless Ma-Ma clan.When the judges attempt to arrest one of Ma-Ma's chief henchmen, Ma-Ma shuts down the entire building and orders her clan to hunt the Judges down. The Judges are now caught in a vicious and relentless fight for survival.
Welcome to Overland! Where the California sun shines down on synthetic grass and plastic oranges bedeck the trees all year round. Steam billows gently from the chimney tops and the blue tarpaulin lake is open for fishing... Hollywood set-designer George Godfrey has been called on to do his patriotic duty and he doesn’t believe in half-measures. If he is going to hide an American aircraft plant from the threat of Japanese aerial spies he has an almighty job on his hands. He will need an army of props and actors to make the Lockheed factory vanish behind the semblance of a suburban town. Every day, his “Residents” climb through a trapdoor in the factory roof to shift model cars, shop for imaginary groceries and rotate fake sheep in felt-green meadows. Overland is a beacon for the young women labouring below it: Queenie, dreaming of movie stardom while welding sheet metal; Kay, who must seek refuge from the order to intern “All Persons of Japanese Ancestry”. Meanwhile, George’s right-hand Resident, Jimmy, knows that High Command aren’t at all happy with the camouflage project... With George so bewitched by his own illusion, might it risk confusing everybody – not just the enemy? Overland is a book like no other -- to be read in landscape format. Based on true events, it is a novel where characters' dreams and desires come down to earth with more than a bump, confronting the hardships of life during wartime. As surreal and playful as it is affecting and unsettling, no-one other than Graham Rawle could have created it.
Placing Eastern Europe in a global context, this provides new perspectives on the political, economic, and cultural transformations of the late twentieth century.
No one captures the glory, adventure and drama of the courageous men and women who tamed the America West like award-winning author Terry Johnston. His Plainsmen series brims with colorful characters, fierce battles and compelling historical lore. The Civil War was over, and a great westward march began. Settlers and soldiers poured out of the East along the Bozeman Trail, cutting deep into sacred Sioux hunting grounds. For Red Cloud and his warriors, there would be no choice but to fight for their ancestral rights. Seen through the eyes of gruff Sergeant Seamus Donegan, here is the historically accurate tale of a tragic opening to the war between two great civilization: the Fetterman Massacre of 1866.
MAILBOXES - MANSIONS - MEMPHISTOPHELES is the first short story collection by Andrew Barger, award winning author of COFFEE WITH POE: A NOVEL OF EDGAR ALLAN POE'S LIFE and THE BEST HORROR SHORT STORIES 1800-1849: A CLASSIC HORROR ANTHOLOGY. In the collection Andrew unleashes a blend of character-driven dark tales, which are sure to be remembered. In "Azra'eil & Fudgie" a little girl visits a team of marines in Afghanistan and they quickly learn she is more than she seems. "The Mailbox War" is a deadly tale of a weekend hobby taken to extremes while "The Brownie of the Alabaster Mansion" sees a Scottish monster of antiquity brought back to life. "Memphistopheles" contains a tale of the devil, Memphis, barbeque and a wannabe poet. "The Serpent and the Sepulcher" is a prose poem that will be cherished by all who experience it. "The Gebult Mansion" recounts a literary hoax played by Andrew on his unsuspecting social networking friends that involves a female vampire. Last, "Stain" is an unforgettable horror story that is uniquely presented backwards or forwards. Experience these memorable stories tonight!