Examining a wide range of comics and graphic novels - including works by creators such as Will Eisner, Leela Corman, Neil Gaiman, Art Spiegelman, Sarah Glidden and Joe Sacco - this book explores how comics writers and artists have tackled major issues of Jewish identity and culture. With chapters written by leading and emerging scholars in contemporary comic book studies, Visualizing Jewish Narrative highlights the ways in which Jewish comics have handled such topics as: *Biography, autobiography, and Jewish identity *Gender and sexuality *Genre - from superheroes to comedy *The Holocaust *The Israel-Palestine conflict *Sources in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish myth Visualizing Jewish Narrative also includes a foreword by Danny Fingeroth, former editor of the Spider-Man line and author of Superman on the Couch and Disguised as Clark Kent..

Curious to calculate and interpret your or others' birth charts? The new edition of this highly praised reference to astrology from world-renowned astrologers Julia and Derek Parker is here to guide you. Explore the world of astrology and learn how to draw and interpret your own charts with this authoritative approach to the practice. Parkers' Astrology guides you through the techniques, showing you how to use astrology to improve every aspect of your life, from relationships and career to health and finance. Written in an easy-to-understand style, beautifully illustrated, and filled with practical information, it is an unbeatable reference guide for every aspiring astrologer and for those with more experience. Informative descriptions of the 12 sun signs, explanations of interpretative techniques, guidance on chart interpretations, and updated text on all the latest astrological developments make Parkers' Astrology the most authoritative guide to astrology.

Discover this beautiful pack of hands-on resources to bring the power of modern astrology into your everyday life. Using material from the latest edition of the best-selling resource, Parkers' Astrology, this interactive pack guides you through the key astrological building blocks and techniques to help you find your path in every aspect of life, from relationships and career to health and finances. Lift the lid off this gorgeous box of treasures to understand precisely where you fit within the sun signs, planets, houses and moon cycles at play. Make sense of who you are and discover how the workings of the cosmos can affect and influence how you feel and what you do. With three sets of cards for the planets, sun signs, and houses, two double-sided wheels for the earth, wind, fire, and water elements, three twelve-sided astro dice, and a detailed handbook, you'll be equipped to tune into the complex astrological landscape and reclaim cosmic control of your life. Decode the stars to write your own future! Dive right in to discover: - Detailed information on Planets, Sun Signs, Houses, and Lunar Cycles. - A section on how to use the following interactive elements included in the pack: - Pack of 12 cards: Planets, including Chiron, and Nodes. - Pack of 12 cards: Sun Signs. - Pack of 12 cards: Houses. - 2 x double-sided spinning wheels: For Earth, Fire, Air, Water. - Astro-dice: 3 x 12-sided dice (one for Planets, Chiron, Nodes; one for Signs; one for Houses). A must-have set for established astrologers who would like a beautiful set of resources that they can use every day - for themselves and for others, seeking the clarity and guidance that astrology can provide when making big decisions.

Of all contemporary American writers, Philip Roth is perhaps the most ambitious, yet he is one of the most underrepresented in terms of critical attention given his place in American letters. Unlike many aging novelists, whose production and creative mastery wane over time, Roth has demonstrated a unique ability not only to sustain his literary output, but also to surpass the scope and talent inherent in his previous writings. He has been awarded many literary honors, and in the 1990s alone he won every major American book award. This long-overdue collection of essays covers Roth's entire output and links themes across works, highlighting those thoughts and ideas that recur frequently. Unlike older introductions to Roth's writings, this volume will provide up-to-date coverage of all his works. Each chapter introduces the work or works under discussion, provides a brief summary of the story, and moves on to a lively analysis of its various literary elements and its significance in Roth's overall body of work. While each chapter focuses on the central issues in the specific work, several larger themes that run throughout many of his writings will be addressed, including the rise of suburbanization in post-war America, the problems and prominence of the family, American (Jewish) ethnicity, comedy and satire, the costs of literary celebrity, the promises and failures of the American dream, and others. Newcomers to and fans alike will find everything they need in this volume to build a better appreciation of Roth's work.

Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle is the first comprehensive look at comic books by and about race and ethnicity. The thirteen essays tease out for the general reader the nuances of how such multicultural comics skillfully combine visual and verbal elements to tell richly compelling stories that gravitate around issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality within and outside the U.S. comic book industry. Among the explorations of mainstream and independent comic books are discussions of the work of Adrian Tomine, Grant Morrison, and Jessica Abel as well as Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's The Tomb of Dracula; Native American Anishinaabe-related comics; mixed-media forms such as Kerry James Marshall's comic-book/community performance; DJ Spooky's visual remix of classic film; the role of comics in India; and race in the early Underground Comix movement. The collection includes a "one-stop shop" for multicultural comic book resources, such as archives, websites, and scholarly books. Each of the essays shows in a systematic, clear, and precise way how multicultural comic books work in and of themselves and also how they are interconnected with a worldwide tradition of comic-book storytelling.

Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle is the first comprehensive look at comic books by and about race and ethnicity. The thirteen essays tease out for the general reader the nuances of how such multicultural comics skillfully combine visual and verbal elements to tell richly compelling stories that gravitate around issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality within and outside the U.S. comic book industry. Among the explorations of mainstream and independent comic books are discussions of the work of Adrian Tomine, Grant Morrison, and Jessica Abel as well as Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's The Tomb of Dracula; Native American Anishinaabe-related comics; mixed-media forms such as Kerry James Marshall's comic-book/community performance; DJ Spooky's visual remix of classic film; the role of comics in India; and race in the early Underground Comix movement. The collection includes a "one-stop shop" for multicultural comic book resources, such as archives, websites, and scholarly books. Each of the essays shows in a systematic, clear, and precise way how multicultural comic books work in and of themselves and also how they are interconnected with a worldwide tradition of comic-book storytelling.

When Nell Gwyn, an actress on the London stage, first became familiar with the king, she was no better than a prostitute. Yet from the moment Charles II summoned her, there was never any suggestion that she granted her sexual favours to anyone but him; unlike some of his other lovers, she was as loyal to him as the Queen. On his deathbed Charles prayed neither for his Church nor his people, but asked that "Nelly might not starve". Nell Gywn's name is one of those few familiar to us all, yet what can we really know of this sensuous woman - the sensation of restoration England - who captured the heart of the king? This biography sets Nell Gywn's life against the backdrop of London during the Restoration and the ups and downs of theatrical life in the 17th century. Drawing on letters and contemporary accounts, and with dramatic portayals of the main characters, Derek Parker's book provides us with a vivid insight into the character of a woman who rose from nothing to be loved by a king.

In 1800, while the coast of Australia had finally been charted, the vast interior of the continent, and routes across its deserts and mountains from north to south and east to west lay all undiscovered. By 1874, its lands had been all but won. Derek Parker's new and exciting book gathers together the stories of those intrepid explorers who, often against great odds, on journeys of months or even years, beat starvation, inadequate information and mapping, disease and loss, to forge a route which would enable the country's development. From early explorers, who were generally escaped convicts, to the son of a Lincolnshire surgeon who coined the name 'Australia'; from explorers Major Mitchell, who slaughtered aborigines, to Sir George Grey, who learnt their language, recorded their culture and came to love and understand them; and from the greatest overland expedition in Australian history in 1844 to continued failed attempts to find a mythical 'inland sea', this is a fascinating read. Illustrated by portraits, contemporary sketches and documents, and maps, this is a collection of tales of courage and determination despite overwhelming odds.