The films of Jonathan Demme (b. 1944) reflect his ebullient personality and are often infused with his love for Caribbean culture, pop music, fashion, and characters who reveal offbeat tastes and dept
Beginning in 1957 with the release of his directorial debut The Left Handed Gun, Arthur Penn (b. 1922) quickly became an iconoclastic and influential American film director. Moving deftly between come
Conversations with Ursula K. Le Guin assembles interviews with the renowned science-fiction and fantasy author of The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Lathe of Heaven, and the Earthsea seq
For many months after Hurricane Katrina, life in New Orleans meant negotiating streets strewn with debris and patrolled by the United States Army. Most of the city was without power. Emptied and ruine
In 1971, the outlandish originator of gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) commandeered the international literary limelight with his best-selling, comic masterpiece Fear and Loathing in L
A collection of revealing conversations with animators, voice actors, and designers who worked extensively with Walt Disney during the heyday of his animation studio preserves an account of the Disney
Conversations with Kazuo Ishiguro collects nineteen interviews, conducted over the past two decades on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, with the author of Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the
Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Interviews features talks with the master director of such classics as All About Eve, The Barefoot Contessa, and Cleopatra. Mankiewicz (1909-1993) was a creative force in Hollywo
A landmark volume exploring the public presentation and application of folk culture in collaboration with communities, Public Folklore is available again with a new introduction discussing recent tren
This is the first study to explore fully the myth of America as reflected in the nation's popular music. Beginning with the songs of the Pilgrims and continuing through more than two centuries of hist
During and after the Harlem Renaissance, two intellectual forces --nationalism and Marxism--clashed and changed the future of African American writing. Current literary thinking says that writers with
Anne McCaffrey: A Life with Dragons is the life story of a writer who vividly depicts alien creatures and new worlds. As the author of the Dragonriders of Pern series, McCaffrey (b. 1926) is one of th
From hand-rendered folk signs to high-dollar church marquees, religious messages and imagery saturate the landscape of the American South. In With Signs Following, photographer and southern studies sc
With his trademark porkpie hat, floppy shoes, and deadpan facial expression, Buster Keaton (1895-1966) is one of the most iconic stars of Hollywood's silent and early sound eras. His elaborate sets, c
With its variety of habitats, Mississippi contains an especially rich and diverse set of native and naturalized flowering plants. First published in 1989, this handy volume is the comprehensive, full-
Conversations with Sonia Sanchez is a diverse collection of engagements with poet, teacher, and activist Sonia Sanchez. While it is common to associate Sanchez with the Black Arts Movement of the 1970
Rich Harvest tells of the development and progress of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, beginning with Oliver Hudson Kelley's first activities on behalf of the farmer organization. It represents the
In these stimulating papers from the Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference in 1985, feminism and Faulkner studies collide, with beneficial results for each.The disruptive and disturbing characterizati
The cookie cutter shark lives in the deep Gulf, looks like an Italian sausage with bulging eyes, and glows in the dark. It feeds by attaching itself to a sperm whale and gnawing hunks of flesh. Often
Roman Polanski (b. 1933) arrived on the international scene in 1962 with his first feature film, Knife in the Water, and his face would be on the cover of Time magazine by the end of that year. His vi
From 1991 to 2000, Don Krug and Ann Parker traveled throughout Wisconsin to the urban areas, small towns, and rural communities, talking with artists who created outside the mainstream of university a
The lives and fates of the colorful inhabitants of a small Minnesota town--including an adulterous Lutheran minister, his wayward and pregnant daughter, a biker with a heart of gold, and a local gay c
From the moment Katherine Anne Porter arrived on the American literary scene in 1922, the public was intrigued with her life. Yet she herself revealed only scant facts of her background and often gave
Martha Sigall worked with all the classic cartoon characters-Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tom & Jerry, Droopy Dawg, Beany & Cecil, Tweety, and Porky Pig-and the madcap artists who created them-Chuc
In this collection of interviews with Gore Vidal, one of America's most prolific authors, the writer, screenwriter, and raconteur proves himself to be a witty, acerbic, and cantankerous conversational
BIOGRAPHY ‥ LITERARY CRITICISM--> The Beat movement nurtured many female dissidents and artists who contributed to Beat culture and connected the Beats with the second wave of the women's movement. Al
Literary Criticism -- Biography --> Conversations with F. Scott Fitzgerald assembles over thirty interviews with one of America's greatest novelists, the author of The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the N
Beginning in 1963 with the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and reaching a high pitch ten years later with the televised mega-event of the "Battle of the Sexes"-the tennis match be
With essays by Tony Badger, David L. Chappell, Elizabeth Jacoway, Richard H. King, Ralph E. Luker, Charles Marsh, Keith D. Miller, Linda Reed, and Lauren F. Winner In the 1950s and 1960s the American
Jim Harrison (b. 1937) is well known for his blunt, brave style in prose, poetry, screenplays, and nonfiction. InConversations with Jim Harrison, the Michigan-born writer's directness and passion shin
Steven Soderbergh's cinema-making star has blazed with sex, lies, and videotape, sputtered with The Underneath, and flared again with the acclaimed movie Traffic. Steven Soderbergh: Interviews charts
Along with the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, hot rods and custom cars are powerful symbols of resistance, rebellion, and the high-octane lifestyle. Since the 1950s, these flashy restyled automobiles hav
For investing movies with an image of style and glamour George Cukor (1899--1983) is considered one of the founding fathers of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The roll call of the great films he made and
Perhaps the most gifted and invigorating of the American independent film directors of the past two decades, Jim Jarmusch (b. 1953) has presented moviegoers with his uniquely personal vision, from his
On both sides of the stage improv-comedy's popularity has increased exponentially throughout the 1980s and '90s and into the new millennium. Presto! An original song is created out of thin air. With n
Ranging from 1988 to 1999, this book includes interviews with the acclaimed Chinese director of such films as Red Sorghum (1987), Shanghai Triad (1995), and Not One Less (1999) and the trilogy Ju Dou
The fictional characters of Porgy, Bess, Black Maria, Sportin' Life, and the other Gullah denizens of Catfish Row have attained a mythic status and have become inextricably identified with Charleston.
American soul music of the 1960s is one of the most creative and influential musical forms of the twentieth century. With its merging of gospel, R&B, country, and blues, soul music succeeded in cr
The life and early death of a South Side guitar genius, the greatest unheralded Chicago blues-maker Jimi Hendrix called Earl Hooker "the master of the wah-wah pedal." Buddy Guy slept with one of Hook
Enhanced with fifteen new essays, the benchmark of an acclaimed writer's spunk and sense of place Ellen Gilchrist has amassed a nationwide following, and her readers eagerly anticipate each new short
