The Madonnas of Echo Park

The Madonnas of Echo Park

Author: Brando Skyhorse

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-02-08

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1439170843

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We slipped into this country like thieves, onto the land that once was ours. With these words, spoken by an illegal Mexican day laborer, The Madonnas of Echo Park takes us into the unseen world of Los Angeles, following the men and women who cook the meals, clean the homes, and struggle to lose their ethnic identity in the pursuit of the American dream. When a dozen or so girls and mothers gather on an Echo Park street corner to act out a scene from a Madonna music video, they find themselves caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. In the aftermath, Aurora Esperanza grows distant from her mother, Felicia, who as a housekeeper in the Hollywood Hills establishes a unique relationship with a detached housewife. The Esperanzas’ shifting lives connect with those of various members of their neighborhood. A day laborer trolls the streets for work with men half his age and witnesses a murder that pits his morality against his illegal status; a religious hypocrite gets her comeuppance when she meets the Virgin Mary at a bus stop on Sunset Boulevard; a typical bus route turns violent when cultures and egos collide in the night, with devastating results; and Aurora goes on a journey through her gentrified childhood neighborhood in a quest to discover her own history and her place in the land that all Mexican Americans dream of, "the land that belongs to us again." Like the Academy Award–winning film Crash, The Madonnas of Echo Park follows the intersections of its characters and cultures in Los Angeles. In the footsteps of Junot Díaz and Sherman Alexie, Brando Skyhorse in his debut novel gives voice to one neighborhood in Los Angeles with an astonishing— and unforgettable—lyrical power.


Aztec Goddesses and Christian Madonnas

Aztec Goddesses and Christian Madonnas

Author: Joseph Kroger

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-04-28

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1351956116

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The face of the divine feminine can be found everywhere in Mexico. One of the most striking features of Mexican religious life is the prevalence of images of the Virgin Mother of God. This is partly because the divine feminine played such a prominent role in pre-Hispanic Mexican religion. Goddess images were central to the devotional life of the Aztecs, especially peasants and those living in villages outside the central city of Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City). In these rural communities fertility and fecundity, more than war rituals and sacrificial tribute, were the main focus of cultic activity. Both Aztec goddesses and the Christian Madonnas who replaced them were associated, and sometimes identified, with nature and the environment: the earth, water, trees and other sources of creativity and vitality. This book uncovers the myths and images of 22 Aztec Goddesses and 28 Christian Madonnas of Mexico. Their rich and symbolic meaning is revealed by placing them in the context of the religious worldviews in which they appear and by situating them within the devotional life of the faithful for whom they function as powerful mediators of divine grace and terror.


Yakov and the Seven Thieves

Yakov and the Seven Thieves

Author: Madonna

Publisher: Callaway Editions

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780670058877

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When Yakov, the cobbler's son lies dying, it is the thieves, pickpockets, and criminals of the village whose prayers are heard, causing the boy to be healed.


Madonna

Madonna

Author: J. Randy Taraborrelli

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2001-09-27

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0743228804

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Madonna! Megastar. Lover. Mother. Opportunist. Chameleon. Role model. She's all of these things...and more. Yet, who is she, really? In Madonna: An Intimate Biography, author J. Randy Taraborrelli's scrupulously researched and completely balanced unauthorized biography of one of the world's most celebrated entertainers, the reader is allowed to draw his or her own conclusions. Indeed, the portrait bestselling author Taraborrelli paints here is of a truly complex woman, one who is driven and determined to succeed at any cost, yet who displays remarkable vulnerability when it comes to matters of the heart. It is significant that Madonna: An Intimate Biography is the first such book written about the star in over a decade, because in the past ten years the ever-changing Madonna has gone through her biggest transformation yet -- from tempestuous sex goddess to happily married mother. Amazingly, as she launches her first worldwide tour in eight years, she is now -- at forty-something -- enjoying one of the most successful periods of her groundbreaking career. Whereas other books about Madonna have been based on previously published material, Madonna: An Intimate Biography is the result of ten years of exclusive interviews with people who are speaking publicly about her for the first time, including close friends, business associates and even family members. Since Taraborrelli interviewed the star herself early in her career, he is now able to draw from such firsthand experiences to place her success story in perspective and provide new, stunning insights. The true Madonna, as presented here, is not merely a sensation-seeking tabloid vixen, but a flesh-and-blood woman with human foibles and weaknesses -- as well as great strengths and ambitions. For the first time, the reader learns about the complex nature of her difficult relationship with her father, and how the two finally found one another after years of estrangement; how Warren Beatty broke her heart, and why the two never wed; how she and John Kennedy, Jr., became romantically involved, his mother's reaction to the prospect of Madonna as a daughter-in-law and why it could never have worked out; the truth of her relationships with the fathers of her two children and how, as a loving and attentive mother, she has evolved into a surprisingly different woman...and what the future holds for her. Madonna: An Intimate Biography is a truly explosive and definitive account of the life of an entertainer who is undoubtedly one of the most popular, trendsetting figures of our time. Full of amazing disclosures about her private life and public career, New York Times bestselling author J. Randy Taraborrelli's latest work reveals Madonna in a new -- and surprisingly inspiring -- way. Not only a feast for fans, this book is great entertainment for anyone who enjoys a remarkable story, stirringly told.


The English Roses

The English Roses

Author: Madonna

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 63

ISBN-13: 9780141500966

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When a new boy comes to their school, jealousy and envy cause problems for the five best friends known as the English Roses.


The Digital Child

The Digital Child

Author: Daniel Dervin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 1351372459

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Nothing is more synonymous with the twenty-first century than the image of a child on his or her smart phone, tablet, video game console, television, and/or laptop. But with all this external stimulation, has childhood development been helped or hindered? Daniel Dervin is concerned that today's childhood has become unmoored from its Rousseauist-Wordsworthian anchors in nature. He considers childrens development to be inextricably linked with inwardness, a psychological concept referring to the awareness of ones self as derived from the world and the internalization of such reflections. Inwardness is the enabling space that allows ones thoughts, experiences, and emotions to be processed. It is an important adaptive marker of human evolution. In The Digital Child, Dervin traces the evolution of how we have perceived childhood in the West, and thus what we have meant by inwardness, from pre-history to today. He identifies six transformational stages: tribal, pedagogical, religious, humanist, rational, and citizen leading up to a new stage, the digital child. This stage has emerged from current unprecedented and pervasive technological culture. Dervin delves deeply into each stage that precedes today's, studying myths, literary texts, the visual arts, cultural histories, media reports, and the traditions of parenting, pediatrics, and pedagogy. Weaving together approaches from biology, culture, and psychology, Dervin revisits who we once were as a species in order to enable us to grasp who we are becoming, and where we might be heading, for better or worse.


Madonna and Me

Madonna and Me

Author: Laura Barcella

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2012-03-06

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1593764294

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For nearly 30 years, Madonna has been at the center of the media spotlight. She has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, launched her own record label, headlined an Oscar-award-winning film, authored bestselling books for both adults and children, inspired global street-fashion trends, and instigated international debates over a range of feminist issues from sexual fetish to adoption ethics. Masterfully harnessing her talent and power to navigate her ascent to stardom, she has become the very definition of iconic. She has also been a constant companion. In Madonna and Me, more than forty women write about Madonna’s influence on their lives. No subject goes unexplored—from sex and money to fashion and identity, the stories are just as brazen, bold, and balls-to-the-wall as Madonna. They explore the evolution of her chameleonlike personas—material girl and “boy-toy” tartlet, kooky Kabbalist and savvy businesswoman, siren and mother—and her impact on culture as a groundbreaking feminist. Of course, not all women worship at her altar, and likewise the essays in Madonna and Me are brutally honest, funny, engaging, and real. They delve into the hearts, souls, memories, and moments of contemporary women, celebrating the ways in which Madonna has inspired us and challenged us, pushing us to be bolder, edgier, braver versions of ourselves.


Albert Cleage Jr. and the Black Madonna and Child

Albert Cleage Jr. and the Black Madonna and Child

Author: Jawanza Eric Clark

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-09-14

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1137546891

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In this collection, black religious scholars and pastors whose expertise range from theology, ethics, and the psychology of religion, to preaching, religious aesthetics, and religious education, discuss the legacy of Albert B. Cleage Jr. and the idea of the Black Madonna and child. Easter Sunday, 2017 will mark the fifty year anniversary of Albert B. Cleage Jr.’s unveiling of a mural of the Black Madonna and child in his church in Detroit, Michigan. This unveiling symbolized a radical theological departure and disruption. The mural helped symbolically launch Black Christian Nationalism and influenced the Black Power movement in the United States. But fifty years later, what has been the lasting impact of this act of theological innovation? What is the legacy of Cleage’s emphasis on the literal blackness of Jesus? How has the idea of a Black Madonna and child informed notions of black womanhood, motherhood? LGBTQ communities? How has Cleage’s theology influenced Christian education, Africana pastoral theology, and the Black Arts Movement? The contributors to this work discuss answers to these and many more questions.