Paul McDonald

Christina Ratcliffe and the Forgotten Heroes of Malta's War

Ladies of Lascaris

Richard Dyer

This revised edition of Richard Dyer's bestselling text traces the developments in the study of Stars since the book's first appearance.

Stars

Janet Wasko

The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry is a collection of essays by leading scholars that examines the state of the U.S. film industry, from the l980s to present day. Includes important discussions of the industry’s labour and star systems, as well as intellectual property and state relations Considers the role of independent producers, the global marketplace for Hollywood product, corporate changes, and various new media windows, including video, DVD to cable, satellite, and online channels of delivery Brings together an international team of leading film scholars Offers a balanced and fresh approach to this important contemporary period in Hollywood

The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry

By integrating star studies and film industry studies, HollywoodStardom reveals the inextricable bonds between culture andcommerce in contemporary notions of film stardom. Integrates the traditions of star studies and industry studiesto establish an original and innovative mode of analysis wherebythe ‘star image’ is replaced with the ‘starbrand’ Offers the first extensive analysis of stardom in the‘post-studio’ era Combines genre, narrative, acting, and discourse analysis withaspects of marketing theory and the economic analysis of the filmmarket Draws on an extensive body of research data not previouslydeployed in film scholarship A wide range of star examples are explored including GeorgeClooney, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, WillSmith, and Julia Roberts

Hollywood Stardom

Allen Ginsberg- Cosmopolitan Comic

Comic novelist and critic Paul McDonald explores the philosophy of humour in a book that will appeal to philosophers and creative writers alike. One aim of this book is to assess theories of humour and laughter. It concentrates mainly on philosophical approaches to humour- including those of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Descartes, Hobbes, Bergson, Kant, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Freud and Bakhtin, but also explores such fields as cultural studies, literary theory, religion, psychoanalysis, and psychology; this broad focus makes for a richer account of humour, its relationship with philosophical thought, and its bearing on the human condition. Readers are invited to engage in creative writing exercises designed to exploit this crucial facet of humour, and to help them explore relevant issues imaginatively. In this way they will deepen their understanding of those issues, whilst at the same time cultivating their own creative skills. REVIEW COMMENT "The philosophical study of humour has a complex and fitful history: few people have been brave enough to write about humour seriously, and those who have tend to disagree with one another. For those seeking an entry point, Paul McDonald’s The Philosophy of Humour (2012) gives a useful overview of the major theories. There are those who believe that laughter derives from a sense of superiority (Hobbes and Bergson) or from a sense of relief, or release of energy (Freud’s “economy of psychic expenditure”). But the earliest, most primal examples of humour all seem to have some sort of incongruity at their heart. McDonald gives the example of “the Lion Man figure found in 1939 in the Swabian Alps”, which is thought to be about 35,000 years old. Having the body of a lion and the legs of a man, it is thought to be one of the earliest examples of represented incongruity, dating from the time when human beings first developed “an ability to juxtapose disparate concepts”. Jonathan Coe, The Guardian.

The Philosophy of Humour

When the videocassette recorder was launched on the consumer market in the mid-1970s, it transformed home entertainment. Bringing together complementary but also competing interests from the consumer electronics industry and the film, television and other copyright industries, video created a new sector of media business. Two decades later, DVD reinvented video media for the digital age. DVD provided consumers with an innovative form of entertainment technology and almost instantaneously became the catalyst for a huge boom in the video market. Although the VCR and DVD created major markets for video hardware and software, the video business has been continually shaped by industry conflicts and tensions. Repeatedly the video market has become divided when faced with the introduction of competing formats. Easy reproduction of films and other works on cassette or disc made video software a lucrative market for the copyright industries but also intensified struggles to combat the effects of commercial piracy. 'Video and DVD Industries' examines the business of video entertainment and provides the first study looking at DVD from an industrial perspective. Detailing divisions in the video business, the book outlines industry battles over incompatible formats, from the Betamax/VHS war, to competing laserdisc systems, alternatives such as video compact disc or Digital Video Express, and the introduction of HDDVD and Blu-ray high-definition systems. Chapters also look at the formation of international markets in the globalization of video media, the contradictory responses of the Hollywood studios to video and DVD, and the legal and technological measures taken to control industrialized video piracy.

Video and DVD Industries

This is a true historical account of war in the air, at sea and on land in the battle for Malta's survival in the Second World War. It was a battle which decided the outcome of the war in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Adrian Warburton, the airman described in the subtitle by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, went missing in 1944 in a single-seat American aircraft. He had flown at least 395 operational missions mostly from Malta. Unusually for a reconnaissance pilot, 'Warby' as he was known was credited with nine aircraft shot down. He lay undiscovered for sixty years. He is the RAF's most highly decorated photo-recce pilot.In Malta, Adrian met Christina, a stranded dancer turned aircraft plotter in the secret world deep beneath Valletta's fortress walls. She too was decorated for heroism. Together, they became part of the island's folklore. How important was Malta and the girl from Cheshire to the man behind the medals? This tale takes the form of a quest opening in a cemetery in Bavaria and closing in another in Malta. In between, the reader is immersed within the tension and drama surrounding Malta's Greater Siege retracing the steps of the main characters over the forever changed face of the island following its heroic victory.

Malta's Greater Siege & Adrian Warburton DSO* DFC** DFC (USA)

Version 4.0 of the SPIKEware Rapid Decision Support SAS Macro package! Over 250 time-tested SAS macros to make your everyday SAS Programming steps much easier! This technical User's Guide will help you maximize your SAS Software experience.

Rapid Decision Support Usage Guide

A Study

Lydia Davis

Timothy Havens

Courtney Brannon Donoghue

A deep dive into the new era of digital content production and distribution In the twenty-first century, the platforms that both create and host content have become nearly as important as media itself. Companies such as Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube have attained a massive hold on the public imagination and have become an almost ineluctable part of people’s everyday lives. While the workings of media distribution had until very recently remained inconsequential to the average consumer, the recent popularization of various online platforms has made the question of distribution immediate to everyone. Digital Media Distribution: Portals, Platforms, Pipelines provides a timely examination of the multifaceted distribution landscape in a moment of transformation and conceptualizes media distribution as a complex site of power, privilege, and gatekeeping. These tensions have local, national, and global consequences on the autonomy of creative workers, as well as on how we gain access to, engage with, and understand cultural products. Drawing on original research into distribution practices in industries as diverse as television, film, videogames, literature, and adult entertainment, each chapter explores how digitization has changed media distribution and its broader economic, industrial, social, and cultural implications. Bringing together experts from around the world and across the media industries, Digital Media Distribution: Portals, Platforms, Pipelines presents a vast array of critical approaches and illustrative case studies for understanding the factors that have an impact on the way media travels and moves throughout our digital lives.

Portals, Platforms, Pipelines

Digital Media Distribution

The will-sapping tedium of life as a Walsall Reflector hack has given Dave 'Ichabod' McVane a serious thirst for the devil's juice. Now, after years of debauchery, booze has bitten back. Cathetered, bed-bound - and with what feels like a rhinoceros buffeting its way through his stomach - Dave wakes among 'regulars' in a hospital notorious for its high mortality rate. And if his darkest hour wasn't dark enough, a sinister figure from his student days at the Walsall Academy of New Knowledge reappears ... to leave Dave reeling with pain and paranoia as he faces a scalpel-happy surgeon. Join our hero as he embarks on a savage and hilarious ride from S&M to the NHS.

Kiss Me Softly, Amy Turtle

Through the intensive examination of films, magazines, advertising and critical texts, Dyer analyses the historical, ideological and aesthetic significance of stars, changing the way we understand screen icons. Paying particular attention to icons including Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne.

Paul McDonald’s book is the second in our Contemporary American Literature series, edited by Christopher Gair and Aliki Varvogli. Given that postmodernism has been associated with doubt, chaos, relativism and the disappearance of reality, it may appear difficult to reconcile with American optimism. Laughing at the Darkness demonstrates that this is not always the case. In examining the work of, among others, Sherman Alexie, Woody Allen, Douglas Coupland, Jonathan Safran Foer, Bill Hicks, David Mamet, and Philip Roth, McDonald shows how American humorists bring their comedy to bear on some of the negative implications of philosophical postmodernism and, in so doing, explore ways of reclaiming value.

Postmodernism and Optimism in American Humour

Laughing at the Darkness: Postmodernism and Optimism in American Humour

Bringing together 49 chapters from leading experts in media industries research, this major collection offers an authoritative overview of the current state of scholarship while setting out proposals for expanding, re-thinking and innovating the field. Media industries occupy a central place in modern societies, producing, circulating, and presenting the multitude of cultural forms and experiences we encounter in our daily lives. The chapters in this volume begin by outlining key conceptual and critical perspectives while also presenting original interventions to prompt new lines of inquiry. Other chapters then examine the impact of digitalization on the media industries, intersections formed between industries or across geographic territories, and the practices of doing media industries research and teaching. General ideas and arguments are illustrated through specific examples and case studies drawn from a range of media sectors, including advertising, publishing, comics, news, music, film, television, branded entertainment, live cinema experiences, social media, and music video. Making a vital and significant contribution to media research, this volume is essential reading for students and academics seeking to understand and evaluate the work of the media industries.

The Routledge Companion to Media Industries

Toni Morrison's ground-breaking novel, 'Beloved', is one of the most successful novels of all time, selling millions of copies internationally and inspiring critical commentary from scholars of the highest distinction. Its influence is such that it is studied by students of literature around the world and is often cited as one of the most significant books of modern times. However, its popularity belies its difficulty: many find the novel hard to read, struggling with its structure and occasionally fragmented style. This guide accessible, illuminating guide is designed to help readers engage with this complex work and achieve a deeper understanding of its context, the literary strategies it employs, and the various ways in which it has been interpreted since its publication in 1987. Paul McDonald is Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Course Leader for Creative Writing at the University of Wolverhampton, and is the author of eleven books, including three poetry collections and three comic novels.

Reading Toni Morrison's 'Beloved'

Reading Toni Morrison's Beloved

Samantha Roden

The Kepesh trilogy spans three decades of Philip Roth's career, beginning with The Breast in 1972, and continuing with the Professor of Desire in 1977 and The Dying Animal in 2001. This study demonstrates that the trilogy is not only worthy of critical analysis in its own right, but also that an appreciation of its themes and strategies deepens our understanding of his entire fictional enterprise, offering an invaluable perspective on one of the world's most important novelists. Paul McDonald works at the University of Wolverhampton where he is Senior Lecturer in American Literature, and Course Leader for Creative Writing. Among his other HEB titles are The Philosophy of Humour (2012), and Reading Beloved (2014). Samantha Roden is a Lead Practitioner for English at North East Wolverhampton Academy. She writes educational resources, digital pedagogical guides and conducts national webinars for Cambridge University Press. Her first full collection of poetry, Catch Ourselves in Glass, is forthcoming.

Philip Roth through the Lens of Kepesh

"This book examines the current state of global media distribution today, including legacy and born-digital media industries, and the social, cultural, and economic impact of the digital distribution ecosystem"--

This is a true historical account of war in the air, at sea and on land in the battle for Malta's survival in the Second World War. It was a battle which decided the outcome of the war in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Adrian Warburton, the airman described in the subtitle by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, went missing in 1944 in a single-seat American aircraft. He had flown at least 395 operational missions mostly from Malta. Unusually for a reconnaissance pilot, 'Warby' as he was known was credited with nine aircraft shot down. He lay undiscovered for sixty years. He is the RAF's most highly decorated photo-recce pilot. In Malta, Adrian met Christina, a stranded dancer turned aircraft plotter in the secret world deep beneath Valletta's fortress walls. She too was decorated for heroism. Together, they became part of the island's folklore. How important was Malta and the girl from Cheshire to the man behind the medals? This tale takes the form of a quest opening in a cemetery in Bavaria and closing in another in Malta. In between, the reader is immersed within the tension and drama surrounding Malta's Greater Siege retracing the steps of the main characters over the forever changed face of the island following its heroic victory.

ul McDonald

Looks at the development and changing organization of the star system in the American film industry. Tracing the popularity of star performers from the early "cinema of attractions" to the Internet universe, Paul McDonald explores the ways in which Hollywood has made and sold its stars. Through focusing on particular historical periods, case studies of Mary Pickford, Bette Davis, James Cagney, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, and Will Smith illustrate the key conditions influencing the star system in silent cinema, the studio era and the New Hollywood.

Paul McDonald

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