"From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play. Willis Wu doesn't perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He's merely Generic Asian man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but he is always relegated to a prop. Yet...

"There can be no doubt: Keanu Reeves is a phenomenon. He's at once a badass action star, a hunky dreamboat who People magazine has called 'the Internet's boyfriend,' a vintage motorcycle enthusiast, a niche art book publisher, a living meme, and a legend. He seems to upend every rule governing celebrity in the 21st century. But how? In Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant, cultural critic Alex Pappademas attempts to address Keanu's unmatched eternality and...

"The iconic images of Uncle Sam and Marilyn Monroe, or the "fireside chats" of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the oratory of Martin Luther King, Jr.: these are the words, images, and sounds that populate American cultural history. From the Boston Tea Party to the Dodgers, from the blues to Andy Warhol, dime novels to Disneyland, the history of American culture tells us how previous generations of Americans have imagined themselves, their nation, and their...

How can confusing directions actually help us? Why can large bonuses make CEOs less productive? Why is there such a big difference between what we think will make us happy and what really makes us happy? In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality...

This title introduces you to one of the world's most popular legendary monsters. Your readers will learn about the real-life history surrounding monsters such as Big Foot, the kraken, the Loch Ness Monster, and dragons. Features include a table of contents, glossary, and index. Plus, an Xtreme Challenge page with content questions help readers process and build upon their monster knowledge. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state...

Created and compiled by Charles Krauthammer before his death, this collection spans the personal, political and philosophical--including never-before-published speeches and a major new essay about the effect of today's populist movements on the future of global democracy--

Music critic Steven Hyden explores nineteen music rivalries and what they say about life Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually--what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us? Music opinions bring out passionate debate in people, and Steven Hyden knows that firsthand. Each chapter in YOUR FAVORITE BAND IS KILLING ME focuses on a pop music rivalry,...

"Why do we love stories about scammers so much? Journalist Tori Telfer dives into the stories of historical female con women and explains why we are so enamored by their scams"-- The art of the con has a long and venerable tradition, and its female practitioners are some of the best-- or worst. Telfer introduces us to a host of lady swindlers whose scams ranged from the outrageous to the deadly. Among them : In 1700s Paris, Jeanne de Saint-R©♭my...

In this exceptional cultural history, Atlantic Senior Editor Ronald Brownstein—"one of America's best political journalists (The Economist)—tells the kaleidoscopic story of one monumental year that marked the city of Los Angeles' creative peak, a glittering moment when popular culture was ahead of politics in predicting what America would become.
Los Angeles in 1974 exerted more influence over popular culture than

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