Life And Death In The Magic City
Life And Death In The Magic City

Author: Jay M. Glass

Publisher:

Published: 2020-04-10

Total Pages: 628

ISBN-13: 9780996944632

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Glass provides a frank tour de force review of Jefferson County, Alabama during the turbulent first half of the 20th Century as seen through the eyes of the coroners, law enforcement officials and news media of that time. Material for this book was compiled over a period of 40 years.Glass's determination to assemble it into a cohesive final product was driven by my desire to avoid the fate of the non-fictional character depicted by Joseph Mitchell in his story titled "Joe Gould's Secret. This book includes portions of a number of transposed verbatim official record entries. These include the actual, uncorrected content to include misspellings and grammatical errors contained in the original documents. This foreknowledge precludes the repetitive use of the Latin term for "thus it was originally written," abbreviated as "sic," to indicate these errors. Interview records and newspaper accounts have been edited to reduce their length by not including statements or material which were considered to be redundant or which did not directly relate to the matter presented. The term "Magic City" in the title of this book is employed as a metaphor for the entirety of Jefferson County and not just for the city of Birmingham. A number of incidents which are presented occurred in Bessemer---"The Marvel City," as well as in the adjacent, then bustling West Jefferson County area commonly known as the "Cut-Off." The period which is covered extends from the late 1890s to a point just prior to the start of the World War II. The use of selected Blues music verses, which I believe serve as relevant introductions to subject matter contained in certain chapters, is predicated on the statement that: "The Blues are about the most elemental stuff in our lives---love, sex, betrayal---and our deepest longings."3 Similar, and even more extensive historical information, can be found within the coroner's records of most cities in this country and every jurisdiction has its own tales to tell. However, this is a partial story of this particular town, the "Magic City," in the early 20th century as portrayed through documented incidents and certain statistics. Although much of the material in these pages is about death, the actual subject is life.

Magic City
Magic City

Author: Burgin Mathews

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2023-11-28

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13:

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Magic City is the story of one of American music's essential unsung places: Birmingham, Alabama, birthplace of a distinctive and influential jazz heritage. In a telling replete with colorful characters, iconic artists, and unheralded masters, Burgin Mathews reveals how Birmingham was the cradle and training ground for such luminaries as big band leader Erskine Hawkins, cosmic outsider Sun Ra, and a long list of sidemen, soloists, and arrangers. He also celebrates the contributions of local educators, club owners, and civic leaders who nurtured a vital culture of Black expression in one of the country's most notoriously segregated cities. In Birmingham, jazz was more than entertainment: long before the city emerged as a focal point in the national civil rights movement, its homegrown jazz heroes helped set the stage, crafting a unique tradition of independence, innovation, achievement, and empowerment. Blending deep archival research and original interviews with living elders of the Birmingham scene, Mathews elevates the stories of figures like John T. "Fess" Whatley, the pioneering teacher-bandleader who emphasized instrumental training as a means of upward mobility and community pride. Along the way, he takes readers into the high school band rooms, fraternal ballrooms, vaudeville houses, and circus tent shows that shaped a musical movement, revealing a community of players whose influence spread throughout the world.

Real Cities
Real Cities

Author: Steve Pile

Publisher: SAGE Publications Limited

Published: 2005-05-01

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780761970415

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What is real about city life? Real Cities shows why it is necessary to take seriously the more imaginary, fantastic and emotional aspects of city life. Drawing inspiration from the work of Walter Benjamin, Sigmund Freud and Georg Simmel, Pile explores the dream-like and ghost-like experiences of the city. Such experiences are, he argues, best described as phantasmagorias. The phantasmagorias of city life, though commonplace, are far from self-evident and little understood. This book is a path-breaking exploration of urban phantasmagorias, grounded empirically in a series of unusual and exciting case studies. In this study, four substantial phantasmagorias are identified: dreams, magic, vampires and ghosts. The investigation of each phantasmagoria is developed using a wide variety of clear examples. Thus, voodoo in New York and New Orleans shows how ideas about magic are forged within cities. Meanwhile vampires reveal how specific fears about sex and death are expressed within, and circulate between, cities such as London and Singapore. Taken together, such examples build a unique picture of the diverse roles of the imaginary, fantastic and the emotional in modern city life. What is "real" about the city has radical consequences for how we think about improving city life, for all too often these are over-looked in utopian schemes for the city. Real Cities forcefully argues that an appreciation of urban phantasmagorias must be central to what is considered real about city life.

The Magic City
The Magic City

Author: Edith Nesbit

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2018-07-03

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 9781722177416

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The Magic City Edith Nesbit The Magic City by Edith Nesbit When young Philip Haldane builds a play city out of odds and ends, the fantastic creation comes to life, and he and new stepsister Lucy are magically transported into it. Now they must try to save the Magic City by fulfilling an ancient prophecy-despite a mysterious adversary determined to steal their glory for herself. How Philip and Lucy come to forge a friendship and together triumph over impending disaster makes for a riveting read. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

Nine Lives
Nine Lives

Author: Dan Baum

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2009-02-10

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0385529600

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The hidden history of the haunted and beloved city of New Orleans, told through the intersecting lives of nine remarkable characters. “Nine Lives is stunning work. Dan Baum has immersed himself in New Orleans, the most fascinating city in the United States, and illuminated it in a way that is as innovative as Tom Wolfe on hot rods and Truman Capote on a pair of murderers. Full of stylistic brilliance and deep insight and an overriding compassion, Nine Lives is an instant classic of creative nonfiction.” —Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain Nine Lives is a multivoiced biography of a dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city, told through the lives of night unforgettable characters and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed New Orleans in the 1960s, and Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. Dan Baum brings the kaleidoscopic portrait to life, showing us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved. BONUS: This edition contains a Nine Lives discussion guide.

The City of Death
The City of Death

Author: Sarwat Chadda

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2013-10-29

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0545576407

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"A fabulous, action-packed modern take on Indian mythology. I can't wait to read more!" -- Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series, on The Savage Fortress Perfect for fans of Roshani Chokshi and Rick Riordan!"A fabulous, action-packed modern take on Indian mythology. I can't wait to read more!" -- Rick Riordan on The Savage FortressMeet Ash Mistry: eighth grader, pretty good video gamer, guy with a massive crush on the beautiful Gemma . . . Oh, and the Eternal Warrior of the death goddess Kali. Just when Ash has settled back into his everyday London life, his friend Parvati arrives with a mission: The evil Lord Savage is plotting to steal the Koh-I-Noor diamond. Ash and Parvati manage to intercept it, but at a terrible price-Gemma's death.Outcast and heartbroken, Ash returns with Parvati to India, where he meets up with old friends and develops new powers. But he's haunted by Gemma and thoughts of revenge. As he hunts Savage all the way to a long-hidden kingdom, Ash must face the prospect that he may no longer be entirely human . . . and his warrior side may lie beyond his control.

Death
Death

Author: Joan Tollifson

Publisher:

Published: 2019-11

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9781916290303

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This book celebrates the great stripping process of aging, dying and spiritual awakening. Beautiful, poignant, at times humorous, transcendent, messy, down to earth, refreshingly honest--the book explores death, and more importantly, being alive, through a rich mix of personal stories and spiritual reflections. Joan writes about her mother's final years and about being with friends and teachers at the end of their lives. She shares her own journey with aging, anal cancer, and other life challenges. She explores what it means to be alive in what may be the collapse of civilization and the possible extinction of life on earth due to climate change. Pointing beyond deficiency stories, future fantasies, and oppressive self-improvement projects, Joan invites an awakening to the immediacy of this moment and the wonder of ordinary life. She demonstrates a pathless path of genuine transformation, seeing all of life as sacred and worthy of devotion, and finding joy in the full range of our human experience.

Ship of Magic
Ship of Magic

Author: Robin Hobb

Publisher: Spectra

Published: 2003-12-30

Total Pages: 834

ISBN-13: 0553900250

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The first book in a seafaring fantasy trilogy that George R. R. Martin has described as “even better than the Farseer Trilogy—I didn’t think that was possible.” Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. Now the fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia. For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy. For Althea’s young nephew, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard the Vivacia, the ship is a life sentence. But the fate of the ship—and the Vestrits—may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider: the ruthless buccaneer captain Kennit, who plans to seize power over the Pirate Isles by capturing a liveship and bending it to his will. Don’t miss the magic of the Liveship Traders Trilogy: SHIP OF MAGIC • MAD SHIP • SHIP OF DESTINY

Geologic Life
Geologic Life

Author: Kathryn Yusoff

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2024-03-18

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1478059281

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In Geologic Life, Kathryn Yusoff theorizes the processes by which race and racialization emerged geologically. Examining both the history of geology as a discipline and ongoing mineral and resource extraction, Yusoff locates forms of imperial geology embedded in Western and Enlightenment thought and highlights how it creates anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, and anti-Brown environmental and racial injustices. Throughout, she outlines how the disciplines of geology and geography---and their conventions: surveying, identifying, classifying, valuing, and extracting—established and perpetuated colonial practices that ordered the world and people along a racial axis. Examining the conceptualization of the inhuman as political, geophysical, and paleontological, Yusoff unearths an apartheid of materiality as distinct geospatial forms. This colonial practice of geology organized and underpinned racialized accounts of space and time in ways that materially made Anthropocene Earth. At the same time, Yusoff turns to Caribbean, Indigenous, and Black thought to chart a parallel geologic epistemology of the "earth-bound" that challenges what and who the humanities have chosen to overlook in its stories of the earth. By reconsidering the material epistemologies of the earth as an on-going geotrauma in colonial afterlives, Yusoff demonstrates that race is as much a geological formation as a biological one.

Magic City
Magic City

Author: Trick Daddy

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-11-16

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1439157677

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“A thug is someone who stands on his own. He lives by the decisions he makes and accepts the consequences. A thug is comfortable in his own skin. I wear mine like a glove.” Trick Daddy was born a thug—just a stone’s throw from downtown Miami, yet a world away from its dazzling beauty and sparkling wealth. Where grinding poverty, deadly crime, and devastating racial tension taught kids to live by the ’hood rules. Remarkably, Trick came from nothing and made it big just when his chances had run out. Magic City is the extraordinary tale of a boy whose father was a pimp, who learned to hustle to survive, and whose only role model was his brother, the drug dealer he watched plying his trade on the block. It’s the untold truth behind the cult movie Scarface, of the drug money that transformed the city into a shining mecca for the rich and famous while turf wars between smalltime pushers claimed countless lives. It’s also the incredible story of how that potent mixture of extremes—the electric pulse and glittering abundance of South Beach and the crime, corruption, and despair in its shadows—gave rise to the most dominant sound in hip-hop today. Magic City is an ode to Miami, a riveting tale of a paradise lost and a native son determined to infuse it with new life.