As with many performing arts in Asia, neither the highly stylized images of the Javanese shadow play nor its musical complexity detracts from its wide popularity. By a context-sensitive analysis of shadow-play performances, Ward Keeler shows that they fascinate so many people in Java because they dramatize consistent Javanese concerns about potency, status, and speech. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book deals with post-war culture and society and the Edinburgh Festivals. The Edinburgh Festival is the world's largest arts festival. It has also been the site of numerous 'culture wars' since it began in 1947. Key debates that took place across the western world about the place of culture in society, the practice and significance of the arts, censorship, the role of organised religion, and meanings of morality were all reflected in contest over culture in the Festival City. This book explores the 'culture wars' of 1945-1970 and is the first major study of the origins and development of this leading annual arts extravaganza. This is the first critical history of the first 25 years of the world's biggest arts festival. It uses festivals (and key theatre ventures) in Edinburgh as a lens for understanding wider social and cultural change in post-war Britain. It draws upon a range of archival sources, including original oral history interviews with key players in the arts scene of Edinburgh and beyond.

As with many performing arts in Asia, neither the highly stylized images of the Javanese shadow play nor its musical complexity detracts from its wide popularity. By a context-sensitive analysis of shadow-play performances, Ward Keeler shows that they fascinate so many people in Java because they dramatize consistent Javanese concerns about potency, status, and speech. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

'A book of instructions to those who will dare one day the impossible. I bow my head in reverence' Werner Herzog 'Petit is an artist whose theatre is the sky' Robin Williams 'Fascinating. You will learn about the man, his work, his passion, his tenacity and lucidity' Marcel Marceau 'Petit outlines a whole approach to life. The lessons are simple, universal. Be committed. Feel alive. Give everything' Independent In cities you travel to, always remember to visit the highest monument. Remain at the top for many hours, looking into the void. In this poetic handbook, written when he was just twenty-three, the world-famous high-wire artist Philippe Petit offers a window into the world of his craft. Petit masterfully explains how preparation and self-control contributed to such feats as walking between the towers of Notre Dame and the World Trade Center. Addressing such topics as the rigging of the wire, the walker's first steps, his salute and exercises, and the work of other renowned high-wire artists, Petit offers us a book about the ecstasy of conquering our fears and reaching for the stars. Translated and introduced by Paul Auster A W&N Essential

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an exuberant biography of the world's greatest escape artist "Will leave [readers] entertained and astonished, and that's a kind of magic of its own."-Jerry Z. Muller, Jewish Review of Books In 1916, the war in Europe having prevented a tour abroad, Harry Houdini wrote a film treatment for a rollicking motion picture. Though the movie was never made, its title, "The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini: The Justly Celebrated Elusive American," provides a succinct summary of the Master Mystifier's life. Born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, Houdini grew up an impoverished Jewish immigrant in the Midwest and became world-famous thanks to talent, industry, and ferocious determination. He concealed as a matter of temperament and professional ethics the secrets of his sensational success. Nobody knows how Houdini performed some of his dazzling, death-defying tricks, and nobody knows, finally, why he felt compelled to punish and imprison himself over and over again. Tracking the restless Houdini's wide-ranging exploits, acclaimed biographer Adam Begley tells the story of a mystifying man's astonishing career. About Jewish Lives: Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. More praise for Jewish Lives: "Excellent."-New York Times "Exemplary."-Wall Street Journal "Distinguished."-New Yorker "Superb."-The Guardian

'I immersed myself in magic. I read every book I could get my hands on and practised and practised, day after day and night after night. Magic became my world...some might say an obsession.' When you're a kid life can seem tough; tougher for some than others. But the darkest of times can also be the most enlightening. When his late granddad showed him magic for the first time, Steven Frayne knew there was more to life than hiding from bullies. He had a destiny. A calling. In that moment Dynamo was born: the most exciting magician of the 21st century. Since then, Dynamo has shocked, thrilled and amazed men, women and children, from all walks of life, all over the world. With his mind-blowing illusions, he has catalysed a whole new era of magic. Now, in his very first book, Dynamo invites you to join him on a breathtaking journey across the globe. Be prepared to levitate Lindsay Lohan in Singapore, transform snow into diamonds in the Austrian mountains, and walk on water across the River Thames. Along the way, he reveals how to make the impossible possible, what it takes to pull off the greatest stunts man has seen, and why everyone needs magic in their lives. This is no illusion. This is Dynamo revealed.