![]() ![]() Now that technology and geographic illiteracy are increasingly insulating us from the lay of the land around us, we are going to be needing these people more than ever. As he travels the nation meeting others of his tribe-map librarians, publishers, "roadgeeks," pint-sized National Geographic Bee prodigies, the computer geniuses behind Google Maps and other geo-technologies-he comes to admire these geographic obsessives. Ken Jennings was a map nerd from a young age himself, you will not be surprised to learn, even sleeping with a bulky Hammond atlas at the side of his pillow, in lieu of the traditional Teddy bear. Some even draw thousands of their own imaginary maps, lovingly detailing worlds that never were. Some pore over million-dollar collections of the rarest maps of the past others embrace the future by hunting real-world cartographic treasures like "geocaches" or "degree confluences" with GPS device in hand. ![]() counties, for example, or all 936 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some crisscross the map working an endless geographic checklist: visiting all 3,143 U.S. In a world where geography only makes the headlines when college students are (endlessly) discovered to be bad at it, these hardy souls somehow thrive. Much as Brainiac offered a behind-the-scenes look at the little-known demimonde of competitive trivia buffs, Maphead finally gives equal time to that other downtrodden underclass: America's map nerds. Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks is Ken's followup to his 2005 best-seller Brainiac. ![]()
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![]() ![]() It poses a great threat to humanity and has the potential to become a virus that will lead to an unrecoverable future. They tell the story of a former detective in futuristic Los Angeles who is framed for the crime of dealing an illegal mind-altering drug in the form of a bio-digital microchip. ![]() ![]() The novels are set in the year 2043, 54 years into the future. TekWar, is based on Shatner’s series of detective novels, published in 1989. Matt Michnovetz ( 24, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) will develop and write the series. Pure Imagination Studios is teaming up with Shatner Universe to develop and produce a mixed reality adult animated series based on William Shatner’s science fiction thriller “TekWar.” The franchise began as a bestselling book series as well as a popular live-action television series featuring Shatner the “TekWar” universe also includes a comic book series and a video game. ![]() ![]() ![]() Here is a writer who has never met a metaphor or simile she couldn't put to good use. This much plot might sink a story, but Turnage makes it work. Jesse), a long-forgotten bank robbery, and a kidnapping. Mo (short for Moses) loves the Colonel and Lana, but she can't curb her curiosity: isn't anybody missing a lucky newborn? Mo scratches this itch by sending messages in bottles to her "Upstream Mother." Into this implausible but hilarious premise arrives an out-of-town detective, a dead body (cafe customer Mr. Both are taken in by Miss Lana, owner of the Tupelo Cafe. ![]() Eleven years ago, Mo LoBeau arrived in Tupelo Landing, N.C., a newborn baby girl washed downstream during a hurricane and rescued by "the Colonel," a stranger who can't remember anything about his own past. ![]() ![]()
![]() ![]() One day, Curtis Mayhew's special talent allows him to overhear a child's cry for help (THIS MAN IN THE CAR HE'S GOT A GUN), which draws him into the dangerous world of Partlow and LaFrance. and he can sometimes hear things that aren't spoken aloud. What those friends don't know is that Curtis has a special talent for listening. ![]() In a different part of town, Curtis Mayhew, a young black man who works as a redcap for the Union Railroad Station, has a reputation for mending quarrels and misunderstandings among his friends. Joining together they leave their small time confidence scams behind to attempt an elaborate kidnapping-for-ransom scheme in New Orleans. ![]() Angel-faced John Partlow and carnival huckster Ginger LaFrance are among the worst of this lot. In the midst of this misery, some folks explored unscrupulous ways to make money. Businesses went under by the hundreds, debt and foreclosures boomed, and breadlines grew in many American cities. ![]() ![]() ![]() Ultimately though, what makes King special is that he's an unusually imaginative horror writer who's as interested in characterisation as he is in fright. ![]() The first 50 pages of Joyland could easily be, say, (the not unappealing prospect of) John Irving writing at two-thirds power. King is also good at giving a sense of the way a gallant, romantic, innocent young man filters everything through the prism of love, asking the question: "Would my girlfriend like this?" of each of his experiences. "It only when you get to be 25 or so that you begin to suspect you've been looking at the map upside down and not until you're 40 are you entirely sure." Is King talking, just very slightly, about himself here? He's never made any secret of his literary good taste and there are some fantastic paragraphs early on: "When you're 21, life is a road map," he tells us. In what feels like a few too many jumps into the present, Devin tells us he has a slightly dull writing job, and he never got to be the acclaimed, medium-selling, New Yorker magazine-feted novelist he wanted to be. ![]() ![]() After having me hooked until that point, I just didn’t buy the explanation. I finished reading this book over a month ago and still don’t really know how I feel about it. There was some repulsion attached to them due to some of their components but I could imagine myself finding treasures from nature, random leaves and branches (not some of the other objects Caroline uses), and attempting to create art from them. Some of Caroline’s art fascinated me.Īs I read about Caroline’s sculptures, I could see them. ![]() I wanted to find out what had happened in Caroline’s past. I was interested in the relationship between this mother and daughter. It’s the past intruding on the present, it’s patronising men, it’s equating being good with being safe, it’s about what happens when we refuse to be silenced. Told by Lila in 2019 and Caroline in 2004, this is a story of fear, nightmares and accidental art. ![]() “There are things that I’ve seen … Things I can’t ever forget.” She’s convinced that The Cur is back and wants to protect her daughter from experiencing what she has. Thirteen year old Lila wants more freedom but her mother refuses to give it to her.Ĭaroline is haunted by her past. Lila’s mother, a famous artist, keeps her past a secret from her daughter. ![]() ![]() Hence this book is not only a retrospective of this decade's most impressive comic strips, but also a sharp reminder of shifting public opinion. What is especially striking is the outrage over McGruder's early criticism of the Bush administration's response to the 9/11 attacks. Five collections of The Boondocks have been published: All The Rage. This leads to Part III, “The Controversy,” which reprints many of the strips from 1999 onward that various newspaper editors refused to run. Aaron Vincent McGruder (born May 29, 1974) is an American writer, cartoonist, and producer. These allow McGruder to express his political opinions more openly and point to various controversies that the strip aroused. ![]() Part II, “The Media,” consists primarily of interviews with McGruder from newspapers, magazines and television. The first section of the book collects characteristically witty Boondocks strips from 2003 through 2005 on topics ranging from Iraq and Hurricane Katrina to the frustrations of computer help lines and the inanity of newly concocted slang. ![]() This new collection serves as a farewell to the series' comics incarnation and takes a very unusual form. ![]() The strip ended in 2006, following its debut as an animated series on Comedy Central's Adult Swim Since it started national syndication in 1999, McGruder's comic strip has been famous for its sharp satiric perspective on African-American culture. ![]() ![]() Contact your A to Z Books rep or email to discuss your return. A to Z Books is subject to limitations placed on us by the publishers, so there are some items that are considered "special order" and not eligible for returns and others may be subject to return fees. Once the items have been returned to A to Z Books a refund will be processed. ![]() Please contact us for a Return Authorization number to begin the process. Returns: If you are not satisfied with the items you have received you can return them to us for a full refund. Please contact us directly for expedited shipping quotes. Expedited shipping is available but additional fees will apply. Standard ground shipping is no additional charge on all tax exempt orders. ![]() Shipments are made through USPS, FedEx or UPS and standard shipping rates apply. Shipping & Handling: All orders placed will ship via Best Way as determined by A to Z. ![]() ![]() Some recent additions since my last email update include an excerpt of the chapter "Dating" that appeared in The Daily Beast, and a lengthy interview with me about the book that appeared on Autostraddle (who included Excluded on their Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2013 list). ![]() I want to start by thanking everyone who came out to my book readings for Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive during the Fall last year, and for everyone who bought the book and/or helped get the word out about it! I really appreciate it!įor those of you who missed the book tour, no worries, you can listen to my Seattle Excluded book reading at Elliot Bay Books in December courtesy of the KUOW radio program Speakers Forum.Īs always, you can read plenty of excerpts, blurbs, reviews, and interviews related to the book on my Excluded webpage. ![]() |