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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Customs & folklore > Customs
Today, women everywhere clamor for the latest erotic bestselling
novels--their scenes of daring sexual exploits have fired up our
collective imagination. But before we turned to fiction for our
turn-ons, Nancy Friday unleashed a sexual revolution with her
collections of uninhibited writings--the "real "fantasies of "real
"women, in books that broke "all "the rules. . . .
FORBIDDEN FLOWERS
After "My Secret Garden," Nancy Friday's first boundary-shattering
collection, rocked America and freed women to put their most
private longings and secret desires into words for all to read,
hundreds more were inspired to do just that: From the seeds sown in
"My Secret Garden "grew "Forbidden Flowers," an even more explicit
and colorful gathering of daring imaginings, uninhibited dreamings,
and real-life experimental encounters experienced by women just
like you. More fun than fiction, more supremely sexy than you ever
imagined, here are the kinds of fantasies that dare you to cross a
line and pluck some forbidden flowers of your very own.
Recent years have seen dramatic changes to the events industry. The
influence of social media and global communications technology,
increased focus on environmental sustainably and social
responsibility, and changes to the economic and cultural landscape
have driven rapid expansion and increased competition. Special
Events: Creating and Sustaining a New World for Celebration has
been the event planner's essential guide for three decades,
providing comprehensive coverage of the theory, concepts and
practice of event management. The new Eighth Edition continues to
be the definitive guide for creating, organizing, promoting, and
managing special events of all kinds. Authors, Seungwon "Shawn" Lee
and Joe Goldblatt, internationally-recognized leaders and educators
in the industry, guide readers through all the aspects of
professional event planning with their broad understanding of
diverse cultures and business sectors. This definitive resource
enables current and future event leaders to stretch the boundaries
of the profession and meaningfully impact individuals,
organizations, and cultures around the globe. Global case studies
of high-profile events, such as the PyeongChang Winter Olympic
Games and Norway's Constitution Day annual event, complement
discussions of contemporary issues surrounding safety, security,
and risk management. Each chapter includes "Ecologic," "Techview,"
and/or "Secureview," mini-case studies, a glossary of terms,
plentiful charts, graphs, and illustrations, and links to
additional online resources.
For the uninitiated, the quinceanera celebrates the passage of
a fifteen-year-old girl into adulthood: It's a bit bat mitzvah with
a dash of debutante ball, and loaded with the same potential for
hilarity and adolescent angst. In this original anthology, fifteen
of the brightest and funniest Latino writers, men and women alike,
share their own memories of these moving and often absurd
extravaganzas--tales of that unique form of familial humiliation
that is borne of the best intentions, fierce love, and the
infectious joy of parents finally allowing their little girl to
grow up.
'A rich achievement full of glorious anecdotes' Hugo Vickers A
Royal Christmas is a Christmas pudding of a book, enticingly full
of silver threepenny pieces. Organised thematically, it covers such
topics as Christmas and conflict in the 20th century, Christmas
pastimes, festive feasts, Christmas and the Commonwealth, and many
more, to reveal the many ways in which the Royal Family have
celebrated the festive season through the ages. Jeremy Archer has
delved into the Royal Archives to uncover the personal thoughts of
many members of the Royal Family during the Christmas period. What
comes over most strongly from Queen Victoria's journals is the
importance of family: the joys they shared, the trials they
endured, and the carefully-selected gifts they exchanged. Although
there is much happiness, tragedy is a common bed-fellow,
particularly in earlier times. And conflict is seldom very far
away. But this is a celebration - both of an enduring festive
season and an extraordinary family. 'An easy to read treat for
royal enthusiasts, skilfully assembled to highlight significant
episodes in our history from the comic to the tragic informative
and enjoyable' Sarah Bradford 'Jeremy Archer has an eye for an
anecdote and a clever way of arranging his material. The result is
like an enormous bran tub: dip in, and you're sure to find
something to keep you entertained' Kathryn Hughes, The Mail on
Sunday
_______________ 'An autobiographical meditation on feminism, power
and womanhood ... Full of Isabel's wisdom and warm words' - Grazia
'In her small, potent polemic . . . Isabel Allende writes about the
toxic effects of "machismo", combining wit with anger as she picks
apart the patriarchy' - Independent 'Allende has everything it
takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing
humanity' - New York Times An Independent, Guardian and Grazia
Highlight for 2021 _______________ The wise, warm, defiant new book
from literary legend Isabel Allende - a meditation on power,
feminism and what it means to be a woman When I say that I was a
feminist in kindergarten, I am not exaggerating. As a child, Isabel
Allende watched her mother, abandoned by her husband, provide for
her three small children. As a young woman coming of age in the
late 1960s, she rode the first wave of feminism. She has seen what
has been accomplished by the movement in the course of her
lifetime. And over the course of three marriages, she has learned
how to grow as a woman while having a partner, when to step away,
and the rewards of embracing one's sexuality. So what do women
want? To be safe, to be valued, to live in peace, to have their own
resources, to be connected, to have control over their bodies and
lives, and above all, to be loved. On all these fronts, there is
much work to be done, and this book, Allende hopes, will 'light the
torch of our daughters and granddaughters with mine. They will have
to live for us, as we lived for our mothers, and carry on with the
work still left to be finished.' _______________ 'Her thoughts,
language and ideas traverse fluidly through ideas of gender,
historic injustices, her marriages and bodily experiences and
literary references . . . Allende's love for women is palpable' -
Sydney Morning Herald
This book tells the story of my days in, and my love of, the fields
and countryside, starting when I was just a small lad, learning the
ways and the fine art of poaching. I am in my early fifties now,
with nearly a lifetime of experiences behind me. This book records
all of my antics, my escapades and closely-kept secrets. I tell all
the different ways of rabbit catching, plus many of the poaching
tricks I have mastered over those bygone years. In my opinion, it
is a book to be passed on down the generations, for the
up-and-coming young rabbiting lads who want to learn the fine art
of rabbit catching and mastering the art of growing wild moorland
heather up on the hill tops.
A "sharp and entertaining" (The Wall Street Journal) exploration of
fashion through the ages that asks what our clothing reveals about
ourselves and our society. Dress codes are as old as clothing
itself. For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol;
fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change; and dress codes,
a way to maintain political control. Merchants dressing like
princes and butchers' wives wearing gem-encrusted crowns were
public enemies in medieval societies structured by social hierarchy
and defined by spectacle. In Tudor England, silk, velvet, and fur
were reserved for the nobility, and ballooning pants called "trunk
hose" could be considered a menace to good order. The
Renaissance-era Florentine patriarch Cosimo de Medici captured the
power of fashion and dress codes when he remarked, "One can make a
gentleman from two yards of red cloth." Dress codes evolved along
with the social and political ideals of the day, but they always
reflected struggles for power and status. In the 1700s, South
Carolina's "Negro Act" made it illegal for Black people to dress
"above their condition." In the 1920s, the bobbed hair and
form-fitting dresses worn by free-spirited flappers were banned in
workplaces throughout the United States, and in the 1940s, the
baggy zoot suits favored by Black and Latino men caused riots in
cities from coast to coast. Even in today's more informal world,
dress codes still determine what we wear, when we wear it--and what
our clothing means. People lose their jobs for wearing braided
hair, long fingernails, large earrings, beards, and tattoos or
refusing to wear a suit and tie or make-up and high heels. In some
cities, wearing sagging pants is a crime. And even when there are
no written rules, implicit dress codes still influence
opportunities and social mobility. Silicon Valley CEOs wear
t-shirts and flip-flops, setting the tone for an entire industry:
women wearing fashionable dresses or high heels face ridicule in
the tech world, and some venture capitalists refuse to invest in
any company run by someone wearing a suit. In Dress Codes, law
professor and cultural critic Richard Thompson Ford presents a
"deeply informative and entertaining" (The New York Times Book
Review) history of the laws of fashion from the middle ages to the
present day, a walk down history's red carpet to uncover and
examine the canons, mores, and customs of clothing--rules that we
often take for granted. After reading Dress Codes, you'll never
think of fashion as superficial again--and getting dressed will
never be the same.
"Can table manners make or break a megamerger? Can a faxing
faux-pas derail a promising business relationship? Can an improper
introduction cost you a client? Can manners (or lack of them)
really kill a career? Absolutely. In an era when companies are
competing on the basis of service, manners are much more than a
social nicety -- they're a crucial business skill. In fact, good
manners are good business. This no-nonsense ""manners reference""
refreshes readers on everyday etiquette and makes sure they're on
their best behavior. It provides quick guidance on such pertinent
and timely topics as: * telephone, e-mail, and Internet etiquette *
table manners *grooming and business dress * written communications
* gift giving * resumes and interviews * making introductions *
public speaking * networking, and more."
In all, thirty-nine coronations have been held in Westminster
Abbey, beginning with Harold II on 6 January 1066. Only two
monarchs - Edward V and Edward VIII - were uncrowned, and a further
twenty or so Scottish monarchs were crowned usually at either Scone
Abbey or Holyrood Abbey. In The Throne, Ian Lloyd will turn his
inimitable, quick-witted style to these key events in British royal
history, providing fascinating anecdotes and interesting facts:
from William the Conqueror's Christmas Day crowning when jubilant
shouts were mistaken by his guards as an assassination attempt to
the dual coronation of William and Mary in 1689, and from the
pared-back 'Half Crown-ation' of William IV to the televised
spectacle of Elizabeth II's 1953 ceremony. With the spectacle of
the first coronation in seventy years promised in May 2023, Lloyd
also introduces key elements of the service, such as the Coronation
Chair made for King Edward I and the famously uncomfortable Gold
State Coach, as well as changes in the Crown Jewels over the
centuries. This will be a bright, accessible celebration of British
culture and the ultimate pomp of royalty.
Whether it is morning coffee or tea, or champagne with dinner and a
glass of port after, these handy reference books offer insight into
coffee and tea blends and champaigne and port vintages. Over 100
full-color photographs help to identify the "best of the best."
Drink and enjoy!
From the late eighteenth century to the present day, public
exhibitions featuring displays of human anatomy have proven popular
with a wide range of audiences, successfully marketed as
educational facilities for medical professionals as well as
improving entertainments for the general public. Partly a product
of the public sanitation and health reform movements that began in
the eighteenth century, partly a form of popular spectacle, early
public anatomical exhibitions drew on two apparently distinct
cultural developments: firstly, the professionalisation of medicine
from the mid 1700s and the increasingly central role of practical
anatomy within it; secondly, the rise of a culture of public
spectacles such as world fairs, public museums, circuses and side
shows, and the use of new visual technologies these spaces
pioneered. Such spectacles often drew on medical discourses as a
way of lending legitimacy to their displays of human bodies, while
their popularity also helped make the then-contentious practice of
anatomy publicly acceptable.
This book examines the cultural work performed by such exhibitions
and their role in (re)producing new ways of seeing and knowing the
body over the modern era. While public anatomical exhibitions might
seem to occupy a marginal position in the history of popular
culture and that of medicine, their distinctive intermixing of the
medical and the spectacular has made them an influential and
intensely productive cultural space, an important site of emergence
for new ideas about bodily health and care. This book traces the
influential role of such exhibitions in popularising a distinctly
modern idea of the body as something requiring constant work and
careful self-cultivation-an idea which continues to play a central
role in the contemporary fascination with practices and
possibilities of self-improvement. Through a series of
representative case studies-including eighteenth-century
exhibitions of anatomical Venuses, nineteenth-century anatomical
museums "for men only" that served as quack clinics for sexual
disorders, traditional and contemporary freak shows, and the recent
public display of real human remains in Body Worlds and other such
exhibitions-Anatomy as Spectacle traces how these exhibitions
taught their spectators to see their bodies as something requiring
constant self-monitoring and management, constructing an embodied
modern subject who is always responsible, productive, temperate,
and focused on self-improvement.
Laura Thompson's grandmother Violet was one of the great
landladies. Born in a London pub, she became the first woman to be
given a publican's license in her own name and, just as pubs
defined her life, she seemed to embody their essence. Laura spent
part of her childhood in her grandmother's Home Counties
establishment, mesmerised by the landlady's gift for creating the
mix of the everyday and the theatrical that defined the pub's
atmosphere, making it a unique reflection of the national
character. Her memories of this time are just as intoxicating- beer
and ash on the carpets in the morning, the deepening rhythms of
mirth at night, the magical brightness of glass behind the bara
Through them she traces the story of the English pub, asking why it
has occupied such a treasured position in our culture. But even
Violet, as she grew older, recognised that places like hers were a
dying breed, and Laura also considers the precarious future they
face. Part memoir, part social history, part elegy, this book pays
tribute to an extraordinary woman and the world she epitomized.
For many Americans, eating is a religion. We worship at the
temples of celebrity chefs. We raise our children to believe that
certain foods are good and others are bad. We believe that if we
eat the right foods, we will live longer, and if we eat in the
right places, we will raise our social status. Yet what we believe
to be true about food is, in fact, quite contradictory.
Part expose, part social commentary, The Gospel of Food is a
rallying cry to abandon the fads and fallacies in favor of calmer,
more pleasurable eating. By interviewing chefs, food chemists,
nutritionists, and restaurant critics about the way we eat,
sociologist Barry Glassner helps us recognize the myths,
half-truths, and guilt trips they promulgate, and liberates us for
greater joy at the table.
A fascinating expose of the global revolution you've never heard
of: a deep-pocketed, tech-savvy Christian movement reshaping our
societies from within. How has a Christian movement, founded at the
turn of the twentieth century by the son of freed slaves, become
the fastest-growing religion on Earth? Pentecostalism has 600
million followers; by 2050, they'll be one in ten people worldwide.
This is the religion of the Holy Spirit, with believers directly
experiencing God and His blessings: success for the mind, body,
spirit and wallet. Pentecostalism is a social movement. It serves
impoverished people in Africa and Latin America, and inspires
anti-establishment leaders from Trump to Bolsonaro. In Australia,
Europe and Korea, it throws itself into culture wars and social
media, offering meaning and community to the rootless and
marginalised in a fragmenting world. Reporting this revolution from
twelve countries and six US states, Elle Hardy weaves a timeless
tale of miracles, money and power, set in our volatile age of
extremes. By turns troubling and entertaining, Beyond Belief
exposes the Pentecostal agenda: not just saving souls, but
transforming societies and controlling politics. These modern
prophets, embedded in our institutions, have the cash and the
influence to wage their holy war.
'An important and timely book.' - Philippa Gregory Joan of Navarre
was the richest woman in the land, at a time when war-torn England
was penniless. Eleanor Cobham was the wife of a weak king's uncle -
and her husband was about to fall from grace. Jacquetta Woodville
was a personal enemy of Warwick the Kingmaker, who was about to
take his revenge. Elizabeth Woodville was the widowed mother of a
child king, fighting Richard III for her children's lives. In Royal
Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives of these four unique
women, looking at how rumours of witchcraft brought them to their
knees in a time when superstition and suspicion was rife.
'An excellent and comprehensive exploration of this fascinating
subject.' - Philip Carr-Gomm, author Druid Mysteries 'Samhain was
the entry point into winter, a time of hardship, cold and hunger
... It was also a time of introspection, of communing with the dead
and the otherworld - themes that have somehow survived, albeit
distorted, into the modern era.' The modern celebration of
Halloween is derived from the ancient festival of the dead known in
Ireland as Samhain. It is from Ireland that we have inherited most
of our Halloween traditions, mainly through the diaspora. Delving
into the ancient past, this book uncovers the history of this
festival in Britain, Ireland and Brittany, including the forgotten
goddess Tlachtga and the sacred temple of the Druids in Co. Meath,
where the first Halloween fires were lit.
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