Bøger udgivet af McFarland & Company

Superheroes are enjoying a cultural resurgence, dominating the box office and breaking out of specialty comics stores onto the shelves of mainstream retailers. A leading figure behind the superhero Renaissance is Grant Morrison, long-time architect of the DC Comics' universe and author of many of the most successful comic books in recent years. Renowned for his anarchic original creations--Zenith, The Invisibles, The Filth, We3--as well as for his acclaimed serialized comics--JLA, Superman, Batman, New X-Men--Grant Morrison has radically redefined the superhero archetype. Known for his eccentric lifestyle and as a practitioner of "pop magic," Morrison sees the superhero as not merely fantasy but a medium for imagining a better humanity. Drawing on a variety of analytical approaches, this first-ever collection of critical essays on his work explores his rejuvenation of the figure of the superhero as a means to address the challenges of modern life.

In 1932, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff, introduced another icon to the classic monster pantheon, beginning a journey down the cinematic Nile that has yet to reach its end. Over the past century, movie mummies have met everyone from Abbott and Costello to Tom Cruise, not to mention a myriad of fellow monsters. Horrifying and mysterious, the mummy comes from a different time with uncommon knowledge and unique motivation, offering the lure of the exotic as well as the terrors of the dark. From obscure no-budgeters to Hollywood blockbusters, the mummy has featured in films from all over the globe, including Brazil, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, and even its fictional home country of Egypt--with each film bringing its own cultural sensibilities. Movie mummies have taken the form of teenagers, superheroes, dwarves, kung fu fighters, Satanists, cannibals and even mummies from outer space. Some can fly, some are sexy, some are scary and some are hilarious, and mummies quickly moved beyond horror cinema and into science fiction, comedy, romance, sexploitation and cartoons. From the Universal classics to the Aztec Mummy series, from Hammer's versions to Mexico's Guanajuato variations, this first-ever comprehensive guide to mummy movies offers in-depth production histories and critical analyses for every feature-length iteration of bandaged horror.

Science fiction cinema, once relegated to the undervalued "B" movie slot, has become one of the dominant film genres of the 21st century, with Hollywood alone producing more than 400 science fiction films annually. Many of these owe a great deal of their success to the films of one defining decade: the 1950s. Essays in this book explore how classic '50s science fiction films have been recycled, repurposed, and reused in the decades since their release. Tropes from Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), for instance, have found surprising new life in Netflix's wildly popular Stranger Things. Interstellar (2014) and Arrival (2016) have clear, though indirect roots in the iconic 1950s science fictions films Rocketship X-M (1950) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and The Shape of Water (2017) openly recalls and reworks the major premises of The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954). Essays also cover 1950's sci-fi influences on video game franchises like Fallout, Bioshock and Wolfenstein.

The legendary story of Beowulf comes to us in only one medieval manuscript with no illustrations. Modern comic book and graphic novel artists have created visual interpretations of Beowulf for decades, both illustrating and altering the classic story to pull out new themes. This book examines the growing canon of Beowulf comic books and graphic novels since the 1940s, and shows the remarkable emergence of new traditions--from re-envisioning the medieval look, to creating new plotlines, and even to transforming his identity. While placing Beowulf in a fantastical medieval setting, a techno-dystopia of the future, or modern-day America, artists have appropriated the tale to comment on social issues such as war, environmental issues, masculinity, and consumerism. Whether Beowulf is fighting new monsters or allying with popular comic book superheroes, these artists are creating a new canon of illustration that redefines Beowulf's place in our culture.

This volume is a fresh examination of the works of Jules Verne, the pioneering and enduringly popular science fiction writer. Essays study Verne's various novels--including Around the World in Eighty Days, The Mysterious Island and The Adventures of Captain Hatteras. Included essays offer analyses of literary responses to Verne's work, assessments of film adaptations of his novels and discussions of steampunk, the Verne-inspired science fiction subgenre that has influenced writers like Philip Jose Farmer, Caleb Carr and Adam Roberts.

Warren Buffett famously invoked the metaphor of a tapeworm when describing what healthcare is to the American economy. The United States spends approximately 20% of its gross national product on healthcare, but it is unclear where the money goes or who is minding the store. This healthcare crisis is mostly about money--not lack of money, but rather misspending of money. From the perspective of a healthcare auditor and provider, this work describes the problems of American healthcare finance and proposes solutions. Extensive charts and graphs are used to trace where money goes in the American healthcare system, while other topics such as ethics in healthcare billing, un-auditable hospital costs and scams are discussed. There is evidence that clearly identifies where the money goes, and its destination may surprise the reader.

The Middle Ages in Western Europe extended from roughly 500 to 1500 c.e. During these thousand years, hundreds of monastic communities were founded and played important roles in religious, economic, social, literary and even military realms. Each had different emphases and goals, ranging from aristocratic monasteries and nunneries that offered comfort and security, to rural institutions that specialized only in the most ascetic lifestyles. This book has two goals. The first is to detail the most significant monastic and secular events of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, such as the decline of the Roman Catholic Church, the rise of Protestantism and the various types and purposes of monasteries and nunneries. The second is to introduce some notable (and unusual) individuals who made their mark upon the Middle Ages-- such as Eustache, the French monk who became a pirate and made a pact with the Devil.

The Americans experienced great social change in the decade following World War I. They were restless, often discontented, searching for the good life--the one promised to the generation who, cheered on by patriotic slogans and propaganda, enlisted to fight on European battlefields. While young writers such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald romanticized the lives of Americans in postwar Europe and the U.S., a number of women authors in the 1920s looked through a darker lens. The novels of Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, Margaret Wilson, Edna Ferber, Ellen Glasgow, Dorothy Scarborough and Dawn Powell--set mainly in the 19th century--searched the past for the origins of postwar upheaval, especially with respect to the status of women. Today, a few iconic male novelists of the 1920s are synonymous with the spirit and culture of the Jazz Age. This book focuses on their female contemporaries--largely neglected by both critics and readers--who remain relevant for their exploration of timeless social and psychological themes, the battle of the sexes and its tragic consequences.

Challenging the human understanding of life and death, the zombie figure represents a fragmentation of personhood. From its earliest appearances in literature, the zombie characterized a human being that was no longer an indivisible whole, embodying the ontological debate over which elements of personhood are most uniquely human. Through its literary evolution, the zombie's missing element gradually approached a finer definition, as narratives moved beyond highlighting metaphysically opaque concepts like "soul" or "will." Studying over a century of American literary history, this book explores how zombies translate cultural concepts and definitions of personhood. Chapters detail how literary zombies have long presented narratives of American cultural self-examination.

Although a major star in the 1910s, Theda Bara--known as "The Vamp"--was largely neglected until the 1990s, when her fame began to resurface. Since then, there have been biographies, documentaries and other works that have brought the silent film actress back into the spotlight, including a painstaking stills reconstruction of her lost epic Cleopatra. This is a complete examination of Bara's more than 40 films, as well as her theater and radio appearances, down to the smallest detail. With the vast majority of Bara's films considered lost, it is a particularly valuable resource for fans and scholars, and includes information about each film's genesis, director, plot, censorship problems, and critical and public reactions. Also included is a biographical overview, with many illuminating anecdotes.

Michael Jack Schmidt, in the minds of many the greatest third baseman of all time, was a Philadelphia institution. From 1973 to 1989 he led the Phillies to five National League championship series and two World Series. Twelve times an All-Star, Schmidt was perhaps baseball's premier power hitter during the 1970s and 1980s. His 548 home runs are seventh best all-time. In the field he was just as exceptional, winning ten Gold Gloves, more than any other third baseman besides Brooks Robinson. A three-time N.L. Most Valuable Player (1980, 1981 and 1986), Schmidt was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, his first year of eligibility. This book is the first serious account of Schmidt's celebrated career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Concentrating on contemporary newspaper accounts, periodicals, baseball histories and biographies by Schmidt's teammates, this long-overdue work is the full story of one of the game's greatest sluggers, and one of its true heroes and role models.

This book examines the history and influence of the Group Theatre, the most significant acting company in America. Founded during the Great Depression, the Group presented the first plays of Clifford Odets, Sidney Kingsley, and William Saroyan, and launched the careers of Franchot Tone, John Garfield, Elia Kazan, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Martin Ritt, and Luther Adler. The intense realism of their performances inspired generations of writers, actors, and directors in both theater and film. After the Group closed, its former members directed or produced the Broadway plays Brigadoon, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Camino Real, Bus Stop, The Music Man, Equus, and Yentl. In Hollywood, Group alumni produced, directed, or starred in the award-winning films On the Waterfront, East of Eden, Twelve Angry Men, Hud, Fail-Safe, 1776, Serpico, Network, Norma Rae, and The Verdict. Four of the nation's best-known acting teachers--Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, Robert Lewis, and Stella Adler--came from the Group. The studios they established remain the most highly regarded acting schools in the world, with venues on four continents.

Taking a postmodern critical approach, this collection of new essays explores The CW Network's popular television drama The Vampire Diaries, taking in the complete original series (2009-2017), its spinoffs, source novels and fan fiction. Spanning three decades, TVD has engaged its predominantly teenage audience with storylines around love, friendship, social politics and gender roles. Contributors traverse the franchise's metamorphosis to suit the complex tastes of an early 21st century audience.

Without the proper all-around skills, no soccer player can reach his or her potential, and without skilled players, no team can play on the championship level. Players and coaches, then, need more than just a routine collection of offensive drills to be successful. In addition to goal scoring, players need instruction in ball or field control, perhaps the most important skill that needs to be mastered. This handbook is designed to help the soccer coach, amateur or expert, to instruct players in, first, the most elementary skills, building up to the drills for sophisticated "plays" common in higher levels of game play. This book illustrates the exact method for teaching each individual skill, showing correct body positions and the various progressive stages of each drill.

This is a book of biographies of 23 European women who were among the earliest arrivals in Colonial America. They came to found their homes in a wilderness or to carry out the work of their religious denomination. Most never got to return to visit their childhood homes or relatives, performing hard work daily the rest of their lives. Eliza Lucas Pinckney and others came looking for financial gain; some such as Ann Lee came to escape religious persecution; a few such as Margaret Brent came looking for adventure. Also profiled in this book are Priscilla Mullins Alden, Alice Carpenter S. Bradford, Margaret Tyndal Winthrop, Anne Marbury Hutchinson, Mary Barrett Dyer, Lady Deborah Dunch Moody, Penelope Van Princis Stout, Lady Frances Culpeper Berkeley, Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse, Elizabeth Haddon Estaugh, Henrietta Deering Johnston, Susanna Wright, Sister Marie Madeleine Hachard, Elizabeth Timothy, Elizabeth Murray Smith, Margarethe Bechtel Jungmann, Mary Barnard Williams, Mary White Rowlandson, Jane Randolph Jefferson, and Anne Dudley Bradstreet.

Bismarck once said that God looked after drunkards, children and the U.S. of A. Some say that baseball should be added to the list. It must have been divine intervention that led the sport through a series of transformative challenges from the end of World War II to the game's first expansion in 1961. During this period baseball was forced to make a number of painful choices. From 1949 to 1954, attendance dropped more than 30 percent, as once loyal fans turned to other activities, started going to see more football, and began watching television. Also, the sport had to wrestle with racial integration, franchise shifts and unionization while trying to keep a firm hold on the minds and emotions of the public. This work chronicles how baseball, with imagination and some foresight, survived postwar challenges. Some of the solutions came about intelligently, some clumsily, but by 1960 baseball was a stronger, healthier and better balanced institution than ever before.

Ever since the English settled in America, extreme poverty and the inability of individuals to support themselves and their families have been persistent problems. In the early nineteenth century, many communities established almshouses, or "poorhouses," in a valiant but ultimately failed attempt to assist the destitute, including the sick, elderly, unemployed, mentally ill and orphaned, as well as unwed mothers, petty criminals and alcoholics. This work details the rise and decline of poorhouses in Massachusetts, painting a portrait of life inside these institutions and revealing a history of constant political and social turmoil over issues that dominate the conversation about welfare recipients even today. The first study to address the role of architecture in shaping as well as reflecting the treatment of paupers, it also provides photographs and histories of dozens of former poorhouses across the state, many of which still stand.

Since the early 1930s "MacPhail" has been a big name in baseball. Three generations of this one family have provided leadership, innovation and vision for the sport. Larry, Lee and Andy MacPhail, representing very different eras of American life, have each addressed baseball's needs and opportunities in his own way. During the 1930s and 1940s Larry MacPhail served as general manager and vice president of the Cincinnati Reds, executive vice president and president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and part owner and president of the New York Yankees. He was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. Larry's son, Lee, worked for 13 years in the Yankee organization before serving as general manager and president of the Baltimore Orioles. Lee later served two five-year terms as president of the American League and two years as president of the Player Relations Committee. Lee was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998, becoming the only son ever to join his father in the Hall. Lee's son, Andy, worked in management positions for the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros and the Minnesota Twins before becoming president and CEO of the Cubs.

Charlie Chaplin's remarkable life and comedic talent have been the focus of countless popular and scholarly studies. In this groundbreaking work, Chaplin's often underrated skills as a film director take center stage. Highlighting the screen icon's significance as a filmmaker, this study focuses on the heart of Chaplin's cinema--his silent works starring his alter-ego, Charlie--and examines both his great silent film features like The Kid, The Gold Rush and Modern Times, and his shorter, earlier films like The Immigrant, The Pawn Shop, The Pilgrim and A Dog's Life. An analysis of the formal properties of Chaplin's filmmaking reveals the merit of his cinema, the depth of its emotion and the extent of its meaning. Chaplin is among the great artists of any medium, in any time, with an ability to touch on very subtle aspects of the human condition.

Located on Pea Patch Island at the entrance to the Delaware River, Fort Delaware was built to protect Wilmington and Philadelphia in case of an attack by sea. When the Civil War broke out, Fort Delaware's purpose changed dramatically--it became a prisoner of war camp. By the fall of 1863, about 12,000 soldiers, officers, and political prisoners were being held in an area designed to hold only 4,000--and known as the "Andersonville of the North," a place where terrible sickness and deprivation were a way of life despite the commanding general's efforts to keep the prison clean and the prisoners fed. Many books have been written about the Confederacy's Andersonville and its terrible conditions, but comparatively little has been written about its counterparts in the North. The conditions at Fort Delaware are fully explored, contemplating what life was like for prisoners and guards alike.

Hepatitis is a disease of the liver which affects millions of Americans each year. For most people, symptoms are mild and are resolved within a few weeks or months. For others, however, hepatitis is life-altering, becoming a chronic problem which causes irreparable internal damage. The diversity of causes--which range from bacteria and toxins to metabolic disorders--and their corresponding methods of transmission have made hepatitis a hard ailment to control. In recent years, vast progress has been made toward the identification, prevention and treatment of this disease. Combining scientific knowledge with practical concerns, this comprehensive guide provides a plethora of information on the broad class of diseases referred to by the collective term of hepatitis. With a view toward patient education, it discusses the history, symptoms, cause and disease course of hepatitis' various forms. Covering Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B as well as more recently discovered varieties, the text examines immune system response to the disease and its effect on liver function. Non-infectious causes such as metabolic disorders are also discussed. Practical information regarding diagnostic laboratory and imaging tests as well as conventional and alternative treatments is provided. The final chapter lists a variety of resources for anyone dealing with the reality of the disease including books, CDC publications, hepatitis organizations and foundations, drug treatment financial assistance and transplant information. An extensive glossary of medical terms and an index are also included.

When Norzom Lala was two years old, her father fled their family tent in Tibet's mountains after a yak trading deal turned sour. Along with her six siblings, Norzom was then raised by her mother, a nomadic pastoralist who taught her children to integrate themselves with nature. Several dramatic circumstances forced Norzom from her Tibetan home to a Chinese boarding school, and finally to the shores of America to live with her estranged father. As Norzom navigated jobs, school, relationships and a dying sister back home, she lost herself to the vices of a strange land. It was only when Norzom released herself back to the wonders of nature (and, indeed, a therapist) that she ultimately learned what was worth sacrificing in her quest for survival. This memoir chronicles Norzom's experiences navigating tragedies, culture shocks and her own relationship with nature, all the while honoring the traditions and legacy of the Tibetan nomad.

The idea of the frontier--once, the geographical borderline moving further and further West across the North American continent--has shaped American science fiction television since its beginnings. TV series have long adapted the frontier myth to outer space and have explored American Wests of the future. This book takes a deeper look at the futuristic frontiers within such series as Star Trek, Firefly, Terra Nova, Defiance and The 100, revealing how they rethink colonialism, the environment, spaces of risk and utopian/dystopian worlds. Harnessing forms of speculation and the post-apocalyptic imagination, these series engage with matters of the present, from the legacies of colonialism to climate change and the increasing integration of humans and technologies. In doing so, these series question in novel ways the very idea of borders and reshape cultural binaries such as Self/Other, wilderness/civilization, city/nature, human/non-human and utopia/dystopia.

Over the centuries, humans have conjured images--the stuff of dreams, convictions, and ardent desire--to describe our afterlife. The vision of heaven can appear as simple as a place among the stars or as complex as a universe filled with a multitude of busy souls. Positioned at the intersection of art, religion, and culture, this book sheds new light on human creativity in its portrayal of the afterlife. Beginning with prehistoric burial objects that help with one's heavenly needs, it travels through history to probe ancient texts, examines enigmatic carvings, dissects the meaning of paintings, and discusses contemporary perspectives in film and media. The author demonstrates that humans around the world have always had the capacity to confront the "final frontier" in spirited, hopeful, and beautiful ways.

William Weaks Morris was a writer defined in large measure by his Southern roots. A seventh generation Mississippian, he grew up in Yazoo City frequently reminded of his heritage. Spending his college years at the University of Texas and at Oxford University in England gave Morris a taste of the world and, at the very least, something to write home about. This volume is a comprehensive reference work dealing with Willie Morris' life and works. It is also a literary biography based on hundreds of primary sources such as letters, newspaper articles and interviews. The principal focus is on Morris' literary legacy, which includes works such as North Toward Home, New York Days and My Dog Skip.

Abandoned on the streets of Philadelphia at age four, Matthew Saad Muhammad (1954-2014) survived orphanages, street gangs and prison to become one of the most exciting prizefighters of boxing's Golden Age of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Time and again he battled back from the brink of defeat to win against the best fighters of the era. His victory over Marvin Johnson for the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship was described by one veteran boxing writer as the only fight he covered where it seemed both fighters might die. He fought not just for wealth and fame but to discover his identity--he had no idea who he was, where came from or what happened to his parents. This book reveals the full story of "Miracle Matthew" and how he became one of Philadelphia's great ring legends.

One of the founding members of the Provincetown Players, Susan Glaspell contributed to American literature in ways that exceed the work she did for this significant theatre group. Interwoven in her many plays, novels and short stories is astute commentary on the human condition. This volume provides an in-depth examination of Glaspell's writing and how her language conveys her insights into the universal dilemma of society versus self. Glaspell's ideas transcended the plot and character. Her work gave prominent attention to such issues as gender, politics, power and artistic daring. Through an exploration of eight plays written between the years of 1916 and 1943--Trifles, Springs Eternal, The People, Alison's House, Bernice, The Outside, Chains of Dew and The Verge--this work concentrates on one of Glaspell's central themes: individuality versus social existence. It explores the range of forces and fundamental tensions that influence the perception and communication of her characters. The final chapter includes a brief commentary on other Glaspell works. A biographical overview provides background for the author's reading and interpretation of the plays, placing Glaspell within the context of literary modernism.

A killer monkey. Suburban witchcraft. Motorcycle jousting. A cockroach invasion. Despite this enticing list of other subjects, George A. Romero is best known for the genre-defining 1968 film Night of the Living Dead and subsequent zombie films. The non-zombie films in his decades-long career have gotten varied degrees of critical examination but they remain underexamined compared to the Dead flicks. This book focuses on Romero's "other" work, highlighting lesser-known films such as There's Always Vanilla (1971) and Bruiser (2000), as well as more popular films such as Martin (1977) and The Crazies (1973). It examines how his body of work participates in social critique by delving into issues such as capitalism's pitfalls and excesses, domestic and racial power imbalances, and our patriarchal culture's expectations of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality.

Babe Ruth was 40 and flabby in 1935. His days as a strapping, fearsome home run hitter were behind him. Baseball had flourished into big business through Ruth's swing and swag and didn't need him anymore. His dream was to become a manager but the New York Yankees--a dynasty he helped build--were not interested. But someone wanted him. Judge Emil Fuchs, luckless president of the Boston Braves, had lost a fortune on his perpetually losing team. Desperate to save the club from collapse, he needed Babe Ruth--not the fading slugger but the most famous brand on the planet. This book chronicles the Ruth and Fuchs partnership during a perplexing 1935 season with the 38-115 Braves--truly one of the worst baseball teams in history--along with Ruth's final games, back in the city where he debuted.

How did beloved movie dogs become man-killers like Cujo and his cinematic pack-mates? For the first time, here is the fascinating history of canines in horror movies and why our best friends were (and are still) painted as malevolent. Stretching back into Classical mythology, treacherous hounds are found only sporadically in art and literature until the appearance of cinema's first horror dog, Sherlock Holmes' Hound of the Baskervilles. The story intensifies through World War II's K-9 Corps to the 1970s animal horror films, which broke social taboos about the "good dog" on screen and deliberately vilified certain breeds--sometimes even fluffy lapdogs. With behind-the-scenes insights from writers, directors, actors, and dog trainers, here are the flickering hounds of silent films through talkies and Technicolor, to the latest computer-generated brutes--the supernatural, rabid, laboratory-made, alien, feral, and trained killers. "Cave Canem (Beware the Dog)"--or as one seminal film warned, "They're not pets anymore."