"Wonderful"-The New York Times. "Provocative, opinionated, and never dull"-Down Beat. "A singular book."-Studs Terkel. When it was first published, Alec Wilder's American Popular Song quickly became a classic and today it remains essential reading for countless musicians, lovers of American Song, and fans of Alec Wilder. Now, in a 50th anniversary edition, popular music scholar Robert Rawlins brings the book fully up-to-date for the 21st century. Whereas previous editions featured only piano scores, the format has been changed to lead sheet notation with lyrics, making it accessible to a wider readership. Rawlins has also added more than sixty music examples to help complete the chapter on Irving Berlin. One of the most fascinating features of the original edition was Wilder's inventive use of language, often revealing his strong and sometimes irreverent opinions. Wilder's prose remains relatively unaltered, but footnotes have been provided that clarify, elucidate, and even correct. Moreover, a new chapter has been added, discussing fifty-three songs by numerous composers that Wilder might have well included but was not able to. Songs by Ann Ronnell, Fats Waller, Jule Styne and many others are capped off with an examination of ten of Wilder's own songs.

A power-mad High Born witch forms a new army of wacky wizards and witches who lost the last war. It's a tough job. This brainless bunch prefers to guzzle gibber juice and clobber each other rather than follow orders. To boost her army, the witch ensnares covens of modern-day witches, who are innocent, ordinary folk. But Mortor, the worst High Born wizard, reappears and snatches her leadership. Desperate to share power, the witch lures Mortor into a farcical ceremony that ties these two High Borns together for eternity. Mortor and the grumpy gang set off to wallop the highly advanced good witches and wizards, who keep trouncing them instead. Meanwhile, the smart side are producing a film about the 'Great Wizard Wars'. But young witches and wizards starring in the film are in the very spot where the wicked warmongers land. Some are trapped. Can their friends rescue them and change the course of this Wacky Wizard War?