The Meaning of Puck

The Meaning of Puck

Author: Bruce Dowbiggin

Publisher:

Published: 2009-09-01

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781554702121

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WITH A NEW EPILOGUE If hockey is the portrait of who we are, it isn't a pretty picture. Funny, irreverent, argumentative: In this dazzling cultural autopsy of our national pastime, Bruce Dowbiggin shows how the game reflects--and distorts--ideas about who we are. Or who we think we are. In the process, he takes on issues like fighting and violence, globalization, anti-Americanism, separatism versus federalism, greed and racism. "[I]nsightful, angry, caustic, funny and exasperating--somewhat like the man himself. This isn't just a screed, but a thoughtful and honest look at who we are, at heart, hockey and all."--Catherine Ford "[T]he most profound book of the 2008 crop. These thoughtful essays are purposely designed to be provocative. Some stances will make you mad, while others you will agree with, perhaps surprisingly. All will make you think, and undoubtedly feel passionate about whichever side of the debate you find yourself on." --hockeybookreviews.ca "Dowbiggin... has written a terrific new book about this country's love affair with hockey."--Steven Paikin, The Agenda "Dowbiggin is an exhilarating thinker and a very eloquent spokesman on behalf of his ideas. Myself, I think he should be asked to deliver the Massey Lectures." --Paul Quarrington, author, King Leary "I'll have nothing more to say to this coward...." --Don Cherry, Hockey Night in Canada "Bruce Dowbiggin is one of the great hockey chroniclers of our time." --David Adams Richards, winner of the Governor General's Award for fiction


Puck of Pook's Hill

Puck of Pook's Hill

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Publisher: New York : Doubleday, Page

Published: 1906

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13:

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Dan and Una perform their shortened version of A midsummer night's dream and accidentally conjure up Puck. For many afternoons Puck brings them the bold adventurers who made their fortunes and left their marks everywhere on the English countryside.


Word Origins And How We Know Them

Word Origins And How We Know Them

Author: Anatoly Liberman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-04-13

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0199889015

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Written in a funny, charming, and conversational style, Word Origins is the first book to offer a thorough investigation of the history and the science of etymology, making this little-known field accessible to everyone interested in the history of words. Anatoly Liberman, an internationally acclaimed etymologist, takes the reader by the hand and explains the many ways that English words can be made, and the many ways in which etymologists try to unearth the origins of words. Every chapter is packed with dozens of examples of proven word histories, used to illustrate the correct ways to trace the origins of words as well as some of the egregiously bad ways to trace them. He not only tells the known origins of hundreds of words, but also shows how their origins were determined. And along the way, the reader is treated to a wealth of fascinating word facts. Did they once have bells in a belfry? No, the original meaning of belfry was siege tower. Are the words isle and island, raven and ravenous, or pan and pantry related etymologically? No, though they look strikingly similar, these words came to English via different routes. Partly a history, partly a how-to, and completely entertaining, Word Origins invites readers behind the scenes to watch an etymologist at work.


A Midsummer-night's Dream

A Midsummer-night's Dream

Author: William Shakespeare

Publisher:

Published: 1734

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13:

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National Sylvan Theatre, Washington Monument grounds, The Community Center and Playgrounds Department and the Office of National Capital Parks present the ninth summer festival program of the 1941 season, the Washington Players in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," produced by Bess Davis Schreiner, directed by Denis E. Connell, the music by Mendelssohn is played by the Washington Civic Orchestra conducted by Jean Manganaro, the setting and lights Harold Snyder, costumes Mary Davis.


The Magic Puck

The Magic Puck

Author: Sarah Clifford

Publisher: Aloa LLC

Published: 2021-11-05

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9780578317656

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The magic begins when Kodie Bear is gifted a hockey puck from his dad at a frozen pond. What unfolds is a fun-filled hockey journey in rhyme, offering Kodie Bear a glimpse of the future filled with friendship, memories, and love of the game. With adorable illustrations and a flowing storyline, this book is perfect for hockey fans and players, young and old.


Puckstruck

Puckstruck

Author: Stephen Smith

Publisher: Greystone Books

Published: 2014-10-25

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 177164091X

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Like many a Canadian kid, Stephen Smith was up on skates first thing as a boy, out in the weather chasing a puck and the promise of an NHL career. Back indoors after that didn’t quite work out, he turned to the bookshelf. That’s where, without entirely meaning to, he ended up reading all the hockey books. There was Crunch and Boom Boom, Slashing! and High Stick; there was Max Bentley: Hockey’s Dipsy-Doodle Dandy, Blue Line Murder, and Nagano, a Czech hockey opera. There was Blood on the Ice, Cracked Ice, Fire On Ice, Power On Ice, Cowboy On Ice, and Steel On Ice. In Puckstruck, Smith chronicles his wide-eyed and sometimes wincing wander through hockey’s literature, language, and culture, weighing its excitement and unbridled joy against its costs and vexing brutality. In exploring his own lifelong love of the game, hoping to surprise some sense out of it, he sifts hockey’s narratives in search of hockey’s heart, what it means and why it should distress us even as we celebrate its glories. On a journey to discover what the game might have to say about who we are as Canadians, he seeks to answer some of its essential riddles.


Puck of the Starways

Puck of the Starways

Author: Keith Hill

Publisher: Disjunct Books

Published: 2024-06-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781067014322

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Day in and day out, never resting, Puck played. Having no body, he flitted from star to star, solar system to solar system. Ever at fun, he gambolled through the ten thousand veils of reality. Life to him was a joy, and that joy was his life's whole meaning. Yet he whose time-span was measured in units far exceeding an earthly aeon found that, in the end, he could not escape time. And one day a message came to Puck from the very centre of the Starways, commanding that he attend on the Gods. So away flew Puck. Away through the ten thousand layers of reality. And in a trice he was bowing before the Starways' Gods. "Puck," said the Gods, "there is a world of which you know nothing. This world is called the Land of the Happy. Always the Land of the Happy has been true to its name. But now doubt and pain have entered the lives of those who live there. Go to the Land of the Happy, Puck. On behalf of the Gods, go and discover why one living there is sad." So begin the adventures of Puck. In a series of linked stories, Puck delights in the wonders, comedies, sorrows and joys that enrich human existence. Spinning tales that delight and confound, playfully mixing magic with metaphysics, the fabulous with moral questions, this is an inspired addition to fantasy story-telling in the tradition of Lord Dunsay, Alberto Calvino and Ursula Le Guin.


Egotistical Puckboy

Egotistical Puckboy

Author: Eden Finley

Publisher: Absolute Books

Published: 2022-02-10

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9781922743046

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EZRAPartying, dudes, and hockey. What more could a gay NHL player want?If it weren't for Anton Hayes, my life would be perfect.Not that he affects my life in any way. At all. That would imply I care what the winger from Philly thinks of me.Which I don't.Not even a one-night stand with him can thaw his misplaced animosity toward me.He says I'm the one with the ego, but he can talk. He rivals me for most egotistical puck boy in the league.I hate him as much as he hates me. Even if I crave a repeat.ANTONWhen it comes to hockey, I'm all about the game.I've worked for years to be one of the best in the league, and I've done it without splashing my orientation all over the tabloids.My hockey image is one I've carefully cultivated, and after one night with Ezra Palaszczuk, I risk it all.He's cocky, obnoxious, and has an ego bigger than Massachusetts. And okay, maybe he's the sexiest man I've ever known.We'll never get along. Not when we sleep together. Not even when my possessive streak awakens.That doesn't stop us from falling into bed together over and over again.


Us Against You

Us Against You

Author: Fredrik Backman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 1982157518

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From Fredrik Backman, New York Times bestselling author of Beartown, comes a heart-wrenching story of the ways loyalty, friendship, and love carry a small community through its darkest days. After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local junior hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. As the tension between the two towns simmers, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to try to save the Beartown club. Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more heated. As the big game between Beartown and Hed approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent. Us Against You is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that form and colour our communities. Compelling and heartbreaking, it’s a roller-coaster ride of emotions and a showcase for “Fredrik Backman’s pitch-perfect dialogue and unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness).