Jack Black

You hold in your hands a true lost classic, one of the most legendary cult books ever published in America. Jack Black's autobiography was a bestseller and went through five printings in the late 1920's. It has led a mostly subterranean existence since then - best known as William Burrough's favorite book, one he admitted lifting big chunks of from memory for his first novel, Junky. But it's time we got wise to this book, which is itself a remarkably wise book - and a ripping true saga. It's an amazing journey into a hobo underworld; freight hopping around the still wide open West at the turn of the 20th century, becoming a member of the "yegg" (criminal) brotherhood and a highwayman, learning the outlaw philosophy from the Foot-and-a-half George and the Sanctimonious Kid, getting hooked on opium, passing through hobo jungles, hop joints and penitentiaries. This is a chunk of the American story entirely left out of the history books - it's a lot richer and stranger than the official version. This new edition also includes an Afterword that tells some of what became of Black after he wore out the outlaw life and washed up in San Francisco, wrote this book and reinvented himself.

You Can't Win

The Road to Redunktion

Tracey Miller-Zarneke

A guide to the art of the animated film provides information about the drawing of the characters, locations, and dream sequence.

The Art of Kung Fu Panda

Based on his lectures and tapes, this book is a distillation of Jack Black's approach to self-improvement. It is essentially a life management book, full of advice for achieving excellence in all areas of life.

The Ultimate Mental Fitness Programme

MindStore

The Psychosis of Race offers a unique and detailed account of the psychoanalytic significance of race, and the ongoing impact of racism in contemporary society. Moving beyond the well-trodden assertion that race is a social construction, and working against demands that simply call for more representational equality, The Psychosis of Race explores how the delusions, anxieties, and paranoia that frame our race relations can afford new insights into how we see, think, and understand race’s pervasive appeal. With examples drawn from politics and popular culture—such as Candyman, Get Out, and the music of Kendrick Lamar—critical attention is given to introducing, as well as explicating on, several key concepts from Lacanian psychoanalysis and the study of psychosis, including foreclosure, the phallus, Name-of-the-Father, sinthome, and the objet petit a. By elaborating a cultural mode to psychosis and its understanding, an original and critical exposition of the effects of racialization, as well as our ability to discern the very limits of our capacity to think through, or even beyond, the idea of race, is provided. The Psychosis of Race speaks to an emerging area in the study of psychoanalysis and race, and will appeal to scholars and academics across the fields of psychology, sociology, cultural studies, media studies, and the arts and humanities.

A Lacanian Approach to Racism and Racialization

The Psychosis of Race

"Jack Black's story of his life as a professional thief." --Foreword.

An amazing autobiography of a criminal from a forgotten time in american history. Jack Black was a burgler, safe-cracker, highwayman and petty thief.

2021 Reprint of the 1926 Edition. Illustrated with photos of contemporary Hobo and Migrant life. You Can't Win is an autobiography by burglar and hobo Jack Black, written in the early to mid-1920s and first published in 1926. It describes Black's life on the road, in prison and his various criminal capers in the American and Canadian west from the late 1880s to early 20th century. The book was a major influence upon William S. Burroughs and other Beat writers. The book tells of Black's experiences in the hobo underworld, freight-hopping around the western United States and Canada, with the majority of incidents taking place from the late 1880s to around 1910. He tells of becoming a thief, burglar, and member of the yegg (safe-cracking) subculture, exploring the topics of crime, criminal justice, vice, addictions, penology, and human folly from various viewpoints, from observer to consumer to supplier, and from victim to perpetrator.

In what ways is comedy subversive? This vital new book critically considers the importance of comedy in challenging and redefining our relations to race and racism through the lens of political correctness. By viewing comedy as both a constitutive feature of social interaction and as a necessary requirement in the appraisal of what is often deemed to be ‘politically correct’, this book provides an innovative and multidisciplinary approach to the study of comedy and popular culture. In doing so, it engages with the social and cultural tensions inherent to our understandings of political correctness, arguing that comedy can subversively redefine our approach to ‘PC Debates’, contestations surrounding free speech and the popular portrayal of political correctness in the media and society. Aided by the work of both Slavoj Žižek and Alenka Zupančič, this unique analysis adopts a psychoanalytic/philosophical framework to explore issues of race, racism and political correctness in the widely acclaimed BBC ‘mockumentary’, The Office (UK), as well as a variety of television comedies. Drawing from psychoanalysis, social psychology and philosophy, this book will be highly relevant for postgraduate students and academic researchers studying comedy, race/racism, multiculturalism, political correctness and television/film.

A Psychoanalytic Exploration

Race, Racism and Political Correctness in Comedy

"A superb piece of autobiography." — Carl Sandburg. A major influence on William S. Burroughs and other Beat writers, this memoir by a drifter and small-time criminal recaptures a hobo world of hopping trains, burglaries, prison, and drug addiction.

A Story from Life

Scott Campbell

With equal parts style, humor, and insight, Scott C. has delighted an international fanbase with his unique watercolor paintings, illustrations, and drawings. Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott C. is his first monograph, the best and most imaginative works of art in his emerging career. Admirers and collectors seek out Scott C.'s appearances at such diverse venues as Comic-Con in San Diego and Galerie Arludik in Paris to see his unusual depictions of pop-culture subjects and original creations: Victorian-era dinosaurs at high tea; lumberjacks and their sometimes-awkward relationship with trees; and ninjas lounging in their living room at home. These and other reflections of Scott C.'s artistic vision have kept him on the radar of such pop-culture trend outlets as Flavorpill and Hi-Fructose.

The Art of Scott C.

Amazing Everything

Kyle Gass

Tenacious D

There was the film; there was the album; there was the tour; and now, the final piece of Tenacious D's masterful Post-Apocalypto universe: the graphic novel, complete with accompanied audio. In the fall of 2018, the Greatest Band in the World - Tenacious D (comprised of Jack Black and Kyle Gass) - added arguably its most crucial work to an already scintillating catalogue of rock greatness: Tenacious D in Post-Apocalypto the movie (available on YouTube) and Post-Apocalypto the album. And now - with great excitement - Tenacious D will add the final piece to the Post-Apocalypto universe: the graphic novel, which Jack Black drew and Kyle Gass wrote, complete with accompanied audio. Post-Apocalypto finds Tenacious D thrust into a world of complete and utter destruction following the drop of an atomic bomb. Surviving the attack in classic cinematic fashion (a good old imperishable 1950s refrigerator), the duo quickly learn that new forms of evil have spawned from the blast. One thing becomes apparent - for humanity to prevail, Tenacious D must save the world. With unimaginable twists and turns, an insane visit to the White House, a time machine, a space adventure, and the help of some tried-and-true daddy issues, Post-Apocalypto is as hilarious as it is political, and as brilliant and multi-faceted as its incredible creators.

Jack Black

About

Books

Join the club