This book explores the experience of China's migrant labourers in Shanghai from anthropological, and gendered analyses, offering extraordinary insights into the life-world of the marginalized people. China has hundreds of millions of internal migrants coming from the countryside to the big cities in search of fame, fortune, or just a living. The author also examines the gender dynamics at work, in intimacy and leisure of this marginalized, yet huge population. With an in-depth and multidisciplinary examination of the experience of restaurant workers in Shanghai, this book sheds humanising new light on the experience of the megacity from the inside and will be of direct value to policymakers, demographers, feminist scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, and responsible citizens.
Provine boldly goes where other scientists seldom tread—in search of hiccups, coughs, yawns, sneezes, and other lowly, undignified, human behaviors. Our earthiest instinctive acts bear the imprint of our evolutionary origins and can be valuable tools for understanding how the human brain works and what makes us different from other species.
"A Mother's Journey: Through Laughter and Tears" is a book that will inspire, encourage, and validate all mothers who have the important job of raising the wonderful children that God has blessed us all with. The author's humorous writings teach us to be able to laugh at life's little tragedies, as we remember that we are not alone in our journey. Motherhood is a shared voyage, the commonalties of which span all ages and all women throughout the world! Kimberly Garrow creatively reminds us that we are together in this beautiful journey called motherhood. The stories in this book will make you laugh and will tug at your heart. The author understands a woman's heart, in relation to preconception, pregnancy, and being a new mom; the whole journey in between and beyond is beautifully captured in the pages of this book. Reading Kimberly's book is like taking a trip through your own life as a mother, whether you are just contemplating becoming a mother, whether you are a mom, or whether you are now enjoying your children's children. Every reader will relate to Kimberly Garrow's cleverly written stories and poems, as well as the underlying emotions and strengths captured throughout this book. This book is a celebration of mothers everywhere! Enjoy the journey!
Explores the range and complexity of human emotions and their transmission across cultural traditionsWhat makes us laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time? How do these two primal, seemingly discrete and non-verbal modes of expression intersect in everyday life and ritual, and what range of emotions do they evoke? How may they be voiced, shaped and coloured in literature and liturgy, art and music?Bringing together scholars from diverse periods and disciplines of Hellenic and Byzantine studies, this volume explores the shifting shapes and functions of laughter and tears. With a focus on the tragic, the comic and the tragicomic dimensions of laughter and tears in art, literature and performance, as well as on their emotional, socio-cultural and religious significance, it breaks new ground in the study of ancient and Byzantine affectivity.Key featuresIncludes an international cast of 25 distinguished contributors Prominence is given to performative arts and to interactions with other cultures Transitions from Late Antiquity to Byzantium, and from Byzantium to the Renaissance, form focal points from which contributors look backwards, forwards and sidewaysHighlights the variety, audacity and quality of the finest Byzantine works and the extent to which they anticipated the renaissance
As eighteen-year-old Lorenzo Adamani works his way down the Aspromonte mountainside toward the coastal town of Gioia Taura, he is carrying a small hemp sack over his shoulder - a sack containing everything he owns. He is on his way to America, escaping the extreme hardship and poverty of the oppressed Italian South. Responding to American corporate labor recruiters, he does not know what to expect, but is hopeful of a better life -- a life that will enable him to support his mother and siblings left behind in Calabria. With hopes unfulfilled, Lorenzo is left to make his own way while navigating rough terrain and perilous life circumstances. He eventually finds Mariella, and the two of them create a life together -- struggling, desperately at times, to support a large family in a hostile anti-immigrant environment. Their ultimate success is a testament to their unshakable character and the strength and durability of their Calabrian roots. With Tears and Laughter is an historical fiction novel telling the story of millions of Southern Italians forced to leave Italy during the late nineteenth century and first part of the twentieth century. This mass immigration is seen in the lives of protagonists whose circumstances and identities shift from peasant subsistence roots in Calabria, Italy to hardship and confusion in America. Lost dreams and financial struggles gradually turn into a life beyond mere survival - a life of contrasting values, cultural integration, and triumphs across generations. Moving back and forth between Southern Italy and the United States, arranged marriages are intertwined with love, Italian wedding feasts, and sometimes humorous intergenerational and cultural differences. As the book moves back and forth in time and between locations, stories are generated from the standpoint of historical events and actual, as well as fictionalized, recollections. The chapters containing these integrated stories sometimes tell us about the direct experiences and hardships associated with a de facto forced immigration. "New York, New York" stands out in this regard. Here we see how arrival and adaptation to urban tenement life, difficult and stressful in its own right, transitions into the recruited laborers' realization of their indentured servitude. Other chapters tell stories indirectly related to the protagonists' immigration - stories depicting what it is like to be reduced in status as a result of being displaced and unwanted. For example, "Confessions" speaks to how Lorenzo, as a result of a life constantly challenged by hardships and accusations, uses the confessional as an opportunity to proclaim his innocence rather than confess his sins. "Sickle-Bar Farm" demonstrates how the quest to reproduce the familiar terrace farm lifestyle of Southern Italy becomes distorted and confused in the United States. With a humorous touch, we experience the contrast between a subsistence farm-life of the Calabrian mountainsides and a failed small business farm in Western Pennsylvania. When finished with this book the reader will have journeyed through the lives of two diaspora Italian immigrants - two courageous and strong people who suffered greatly to make a better life for their children, and others as well.
A memoir by the legendary television executive detailing his pioneering work on Saturday Night Live, Sunday Night Football, the Olympics, the NBA, music videos, late night, and more. Think of an important moment in live TV over the last half-century. Dick Ebersol was likely involved. Dropping out of college to join the crew of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Ebersol worked the Mexico City Olympics during the famous protest by John Carlos and Tommie Smith as well as the Munich Olympics during the tragic hostage standoff. He went on to cocreate Saturday Night Live with Lorne Michaels and later produced the show for four seasons, helping launch Eddie Murphy to stardom. After creating Friday Night Videos and partnering with Vince McMahon to bring professional wrestling to network TV, he next took over NBC Sports, which helped turn basketball into a global phenomenon and made history as the first broadcaster to host the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, and the Summer Olympics in the same year; it was Ebersol who was responsible for Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta. Then, following a plane crash that took the life of his fourteen-year-old son Teddy and nearly killed him, he determinedly undertook perhaps his greatest career achievement: creating NBC’s Sunday Night Football, still the #1 primetime show in America. The Today show’s headline-making hosting changes, the so-called “Late-Night Wars,” O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase—Ebersol had a front-row seat to it all. From Saturday Night to Sunday Night is filled with entertaining and illuminating stories featuring such boldface names as Billy Crystal, Michael Jordan, Bill Clinton, Jay Leno, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and Larry David. (Ebersol even inspired the famous Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza pretends he didn’t quit his job.) More than that, the book offers an insightful history and analysis of TV’s evolution from broadcast to cable and beyond—a must-read for casual binge-watchers and small-screen aficionados alike.
There’s nothing funny about dying … or is there? Malachy McCourt, Jacquelyn Mitchard, and 22 more share hilarious and moving stories of confronting death. Exit Laughing makes death more approachable as it reveals the funny side of “passing on.” As painful as it is to lose a loved one, Exit Laughing shows us that in times of grief, humor can help us with coping and even healing. Best-selling author Amy Ferris explains how her mother’s dementia led to a permanent ban from an airline. Ellen Sussman writes of flying her mother's body home and watching the burial wardrobe spill out on the baggage carousel. Broadway and television actor Richard McKenzie shares the riotous story of a funeral procession led by a lost hearse. Bonnie Garvin even manages to find a heavy dose of dark humor in her parents’ three unsuccessful attempts at a double suicide. These stories, along with tales from Joshua Braff, Barbara Graham, Dianne Rinehart, and more, constitute a book whose purpose is to remind readers that when dealing with illness, aging, and dying, there is an important place for laugh-out-loud humor.
Do you believe that joy is a choice? Dawn Barton does. She's an upbeat Southerner with good hair and a successful business background, but she's had more heartache than most of us can imagine. Laughing Through the Ugly Cry is a collection of honest and sometimes raw stories. Dawn throws an arm around readers as she brings them along on her journey through the loss of a child, divorce, cancer, rape, the death of her only sibling, her husband's substance abuse, and finding her way back to Jesus in the middle of it all. Dawn shares her personal story to show readers how to find happiness and purpose even in the darkest of days. By laughing through the ugly cry, you will discover how to: Shut down negative feelings causing you to feel inadequate Identify the pros despite how challenging the cons may seem Embrace joy wherever you can find it Learn how to be honest with yourself and process grief in a healthy way Dawn writes, "If more women were open about just how difficult our lives feel and how hard we are on ourselves, I think we'd learn to relax a little and give ourselves the grace God gives us every day." Laughing Through the Ugly Cry is great for: Women of any age seeking comfort, encouragement, and inspiration Book clubs and girls' nights--Dawn poses thoughtful group questions to support meaningful conversations about growth and joy
