Against the background of the so-called 'obesity epidemic', Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection critically examines the discourses of physical perfection that pervade Western societies, shedding new light on the rhetorical forces behind body anxieties and extreme methods of weight loss and beautification. Drawing on rich interview material with cosmetic surgery patients and offering fresh analyses of various texts from popular culture, including internationally-screened reality-television shows including The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover and The Swan as well as entertainment programs and documentaries, this book examines the ways in which Western media capitalize on body anxiety by presenting physical perfection as a moral imperative, while advertising quick and effective transformation methods to erase physical imperfections. With attention to contemporary lines of resistance to standards of thinness and attempts to redefine conceptions of beauty, Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection will appeal to scholars and students of popular culture, television, media and cultural studies, as well as the sociology of the body, feminist thought, body transformation and cosmetic surgery.

Against the background of the so-called 'obesity epidemic', Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection critically examines the discourses of physical perfection that pervade Western societies, shedding new light on the rhetorical forces behind body anxieties and extreme methods of weight loss and beautification. Drawing on rich interview material with cosmetic surgery patients and offering fresh analyses of various texts from popular culture, including internationally-screened reality-television shows including The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover and The Swan as well as entertainment programs and documentaries, this book examines the ways in which Western media capitalize on body anxiety by presenting physical perfection as a moral imperative, while advertising quick and effective transformation methods to erase physical imperfections. With attention to contemporary lines of resistance to standards of thinness and attempts to redefine conceptions of beauty, Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection will appeal to scholars and students of popular culture, television, media and cultural studies, as well as the sociology of the body, feminist thought, body transformation and cosmetic surgery.

A draughtsman of remarkable ability, matching even his mentor Augustus John, Henry Lamb (1883-1960) was a founder-member of the Camden Town Group, exhibiting at their inaugural exhibition in 1911. He was a powerful and original War artist, and an engaging and sensitive portrait painter, whose group portraits in particular are as successful as those by any British painter of the age. To date unfairly eclipsed by the glamorous and culturally infl uential circle around him, Lamb is now probably best known through these fi gures and his many compelling portraits of them, amongst them Lady Ottoline Morrell, Evelyn Waugh and Lytton Strachey, whose monumental full-length portrait by Lamb in Tate Britain is probably the artist's best-known work. Lamb abandoned a promising medical career in Manchester to pursue his training as an artist at the London art school run by William Orpen and Augustus John. He found inspiration in the rural simplicity of Brittany, and a later visit to Ireland inspired his great genre painting Fisherfolk, Gola Island of 1913 - not seen in public since the last major retrospective in 1984. Following active service during the First World War as an army medical offi cer (for which he was awarded a Military Cross), he contributed two of the greatest artworks to the proposed National Hall of Remembrance a year after armistice in 1919. Following a productive period in Poole after the War, where he produced some evocative townscapes of its streets and skylines, he eventually settled in Coombs Bissett near Salisbury. Here he established a reputation as a sought-after portrait painter, executing a constant stream of landscapes, still lives, genre pictures and fi ne domestic subjects. Accompanying an exhibition at Salisbury Museum in 2018 and Poole Museum in 2019, Henry Lamb: Out of the Shadows will focus on over 50 works by the artist from across his career. As well as loans from major national collections, the group will include signifi cant works from private collections, including a substantial archive from the artist's family and a number of re-discovered masterpieces. The catalogue will also feature an introductory essay by Lamb's cousin, the writer Thomas Pakenham who knew the artist well.

GashWhile Gash's oeuvre is full of the period charm that might be expected from the decades that bridge either side of the Edwardian era, his pictures consistently offer something more substantial. His genre paintings bring to mind those of Charles Spencelayh but they display a less predictable and less laboured narrative. As a landscape painter he painted en plein air with relish; he excelled in themedium of pastel. According to his daughter, portraiture was the genre he enjoyed most. His portraits are consistently striking, moving impressively from conversation pieces, such as his elegant and engaging family group of c.1919, to the tradition of Swagger portraits which recall those of Gainsborough, Lawrence and Sargent. For an artist who died before he was 60 it is striking that his most memorable images are amongst his last. The Inseparables, for instance, demonstrates the kind of facility and originality that puts him comfortably on a stage with many of the better known international artists of his period. Indeed, his best work can be viewed as a potent last flowering of the landscape, portrait and genre tradition exemplified by artists such as Sir George Clausen, Stanhope Forbes and Mark Fisher. It is hoped that Walter Bonner Gash: Unsung Edwardian Hero will firmly re-establish Gash's reputation and demonstrate that his talent stands comparison with those of the better known Kettering artists Thomas Cooper Gotch and Sir Alfred East.

Autumn presents a stunning array of colors in rural East Tennessee, and Discovering October Roads is the perfect traveler's companion for better enjoying those scenic views. In a compelling, anecdotal narrative, the book describes seven road trips through the region, discussing not only the leaf colors to be seen but also the geology, landscape, and cultural history to be found along each route.

In their introduction, Harry Moore and Fred Brown offer an overview of the geologic history and topography of East Tennessee as well as an accessible explanation of the science behind the changing leaf colors. They also discuss a number of common trees and the autumn color associated with each. In the chapters that follow, the authors' descriptions of road trips are arranged according to three geographic areas: the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge, and the Cumberland Plateau. Complementing the narrative is a wealth of illustrations, including maps, geologic line drawings, and photographs -- many of which are reproduced in color.

Discovering October Roads will prove an indispensable resource for anyone seeking a deeper appreciation of East Tennessee's fall finery.

When a hot-air balloon gets lost during a race, the puppies from Nickelodeon's PAW Patrol take to the sky Perfect for boys and girls ages 3 to 7, this super-deluxe storybook includes over 30 stickers, game cards, and a poster.