history and criticism

An official character guide for "My Hero Academia" that contains character profiles, stats, trivia, and an interview.

Profiles ten Native American musicians, including Cherokee vocalist Michael Bucher, Seminole flutist Mary Youngblood, Navajo punk rock band Blackfire, Cree country singer Shane Yellowbird, and others.

"From the authors of The Fifty-Year Mission and So Say We All, comes the first and only comprehensive oral history of the Star Wars movie franchise. For the past four decades, no film saga has touched the world in the way that Star Wars has, capturing the imaginations of filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Now, for the first time ever, Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the bestselling authors of The Fifty-Year Mission, are telling the entire story of this blockbuster franchise from the very beginning in a single exhaustive volume. Featuring the commentaries of hundreds of actors and filmmakers involved with and impacted by Star Wars, as well as writers, commentators, critics, executives, authors, film historians, toy experts and many more, Secrets of the Force, will reveal all in Altman and Gross's critically acclaimed oral history format from the birth of the original film through the latest sequels and the new televisions series"--.

An introduction to Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," telling the story of the play about a creditor who demands a pound of flesh as payment of a defaulted debt and a man who must solve a riddle game to win the hand of his love, with excerpts from the text, descriptions of the main characters, and background information on the customs of the time.

"[This book] is a . . . project that unravels all modes and methods of black performance, in thismoment when black performers are coming to terms with their value, reception, and immense impact on America. [The author] examines how black performance happens in specific moments in time and space--midcentury Paris, the moon, or a cramped living room in Columbus, Ohio. At the outset of this project, [he] became fascinated with clips of black minstrel entertainers like William Henry Lane, better known as Master Juba. Knowing there was something more complicated . . . in the history and legacy of minstrelsy, [he] uncovered questions and tensions that help to reveal how black performance pervades all areas of American society"--Provided by publisher.

Looks at the history of diaries from ancient times through the early twenty-first century.

"More than a history of Western movies, [this book] intertwines film history, the history of the American West, and American social history into one . . . volume"--Provided by publisher.

"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times"--Provided by publisher.

A history of the rock concert that was the dream of four men and became a reality in 1969.

A collection of interviews with British punk rock group the Clash conducted by various music writers, including Lester Bangs, Nick Kent, and Lenny Kaye.