I M Not Like Everybody Else

Despite the presence of the Flaming Lips in a commercial for a copier and Iggy Pop’s music in luxury cruise advertisements, Jeffrey T. Nealon argues that popular music has not exactly been co-opted in the American capitalist present. Contemporary neoliberal capitalism has, in fact, found a central organizing use for the values of twentieth-century popular music: being authentic, being your own person, and being free. In short, not being like everybody else. Through a consideration of the shift in dominant modes of power in the American twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from what Michel Foucault calls a dominant “disciplinary” mode of power to a “biopolitical” mode, Nealon argues that the modes of musical “resistance” need to be completely rethought and that a commitment to musical authenticity or meaning—saying “no” to the mainstream—is no longer primarily where we might look for music to function against the grain. Rather, it is in the technological revolutions that allow biopolitical subjects to deploy music within an everyday set of practices (MP3 listening on smartphones and iPods, streaming and downloading on the internet, the background music that plays nearly everywhere) that one might find a kind of ambient or ubiquitous answer to the “attention capitalism” that has come to organize neoliberalism in the American present. In short, Nealon stages the final confrontation between “keepin’ it real” and “sellin’ out.”

I’m Not Like Everybody Else is a collection of short stories and poetry that explores how the rainy North-West can create anti-heroes and rebel spirits. Drawing from the music and culture of the region, Richard explores themes of isolation, focusing on rebellious thoughts and actions from a cast of characters that have been marginalised and driven to the edge of society. “Manchester, you are in my blood, I can never leave you.” The book was written in an unplanned and spontaneous frenzy and at a time of extreme emotional turmoil for the author. I’m Not Like Everybody Else expresses themes of isolation through the eyes of those who are alienated by society: murderers, psychopaths, the homeless, the falsely accused, cross-dressers and fatalistic revisionists. “I’m not like everybody else. I feel that strong urge for isolation too.” Inspired by Irvine Welsh and Charles Bukowski, Richard’s second collection will be enjoyed by readers based in the North-West, as well as fans of poetry and short stories, and his first collection, I Wasn’t Made For These Times.

The last forty years have seen a massive change in the delivery of healthcarein the UK. Starting from well outside the establishment, SteveBollen negotiated his way through prejudice and personal problemsand, from a base in one of the most socially deprived areas in the UK,rose through the ranks to become one of the country's leading sportsinjury surgeons. Part autobiography, part observation, comment and commentaryon the Health Service, health, life, love and death, sprinkled withstardust from his long association with top sportsmen and women,his story shares the laughter, tears, frustrations and triumphs of a longand fulfilling surgical career.

Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else is a critical biography of Ray Davies, with a focus on his music and his times. The book studies Davies’ work from the Kinks’ first singles through his 2006 solo album, from his rock musicals in the early 1970s to his one-man stage show in the 1990s, and from his films to his autobiography. Based on interviews with his closest associates, as well as studies of the recordings themselves, this book creates the most thorough picture of Davies’ work to date. Kitts situates Davies’ work in the context of the British Invasion and the growth of rock in the '60s and '70s, and in the larger context of English cultural history. For fans of rock music and the music of the Kinks, this book is a must have. It will finally place this legendary innovator in the pantheon of the great rock artists of the past half-century. Thomas M. Kitts, Professor of English and Chair of the Division of English/Speech at St. John’s University, NY, is the co-editor of Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks, the author of The Theatrical Life of George Henry Boker, articles on American literature and popular culture, reviews of books, CDs, and performances, and a play Gypsies. He is the book review editor of Popular Music and Society and the editor of The Mid-Atlantic Almanack.

A Note from the Author I write many poems, they are like diary entries for me. They commemorate and explore significant moments in my life. I do not necessarily write my poems for a public audience or with the goal of conveying a specific meaning to a reader. It is my hope that the words, images, experiences, and feelings conveyed in my poems will speak to the lives and emotions of the benevolent and brave people who take time to wander through this book of poems. It was only because of the encouragement of friends and family that I found the motivation and insanity to solicit a publisher for my book of poems. My early poems can broadly be considered a reflection on how we often make decisions that create distance between who we are and the people we want to be. My more recent poems deal, in part, with the adjustment inherent to the sudden and unexplained arrival of love and the process of, and choices involved in, moving from youth into adulthood. Along the journey are poems that were written for the purpose of seeking to understand myself and to be deciphered by others. Also included are many poems written only out of a spirit of spontaneity and fun.

The last forty years have seen a massive change in the delivery of healthcare in the UK. Starting from well outside the establishment, Steve Bollen negotiated his way through prejudice and personal problems and, from a base in one of the most socially deprived areas in the UK, rose through the ranks to become one of the country's leading sports injury surgeons. Part autobiography, part observation, comment and commentary on the Health Service, health, life, love and death, sprinkled with stardust from his long association with top sportsmen and women, his story shares the laughter, tears, frustrations and triumphs of a long and fulfilling surgical career.

Combining the personal memories and critical analysis of a self-confessed pop addict with a wealth of contemporary documentary evidence, Gathered From Coincidence reconstructs a truly momentous era to tell the story of the music of the Sixties year by year. By tracing in parallel the origins and development of the recording careers of major talents on both sides of the Atlantic - the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield and many more besides - this account shows how they traded creativity with one another. All the great Sixties' hits - as well as a host of less well-known gems - are described in the context of the charts of the day, tracking the ups and downs of different trends as they came and went, such as: rock'n'roll, rhythm & blues, psychedelia, modern folk, the concept album or supergroups. But beyond this, each chapter also places the music in a broader historical and cultural setting of landmark events at home and abroad - the space race, the Profumo affair, the Cold War, Vietnam, the growth of satire - to show how, as the decade unfolded, the paths of pop and current affairs drew ever closer together. If you thought the Sixties were just about the fleeting dreams of hippies in the Summer of Love, then think again! This book will open your eyes to a far-reaching imaginative legacy and how it came to shape pop music as a dazzling art form in its own right.

How did a short, fat alcoholic become one of the most successful TV producers in the world? The self-help industry tells you that if you're positive, if you put your best foot forward and if you just believe in yourself you will find happiness. Let's be real, you can read all the inspirational quotes you want. You can spend your days giving yourself affirmations in your heart-shaped mirror and trying to learn to love yourself. You can say your mantra over and over again while sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat. But the truth is, you still won't have the life you want. That's where You're Not That Great (but neither is anyone else) comes in. This ruthlessly funny and straight-talking guide teaches you how to recognise your weaknesses, your regrets and your f*ck-ups in order to live a better life. No regrets? That's BS. If you have no regrets it means you haven't learnt from your mistakes. As JON RONSON says in the book: 'You are your insecurities. I wake up in he morning and it's anxiety that propels me to be my best'. Topics covered include: * How damaging (and stupid) it is to make your goal in life to 'be happy' * That you absolutely DON'T have to love yourself before you love someone else * How you have the power to make yourself feel like shit and how to use that power 'Any antithesis to the vat of self-book books that proclaim to deliver happiness by smiling more, is welcome. Here, Elan Gale takes a break from his day job producing US reality TV shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, to deliver a straight-talking guide that encourages you to find your weaknesses, regrets and your f*ck-ups in order to live a better life.' GQ Australia 'Elan's collection of insights is the hilarious, engaging and necessary dose of reality that's been missing from our lives' AMANDA SEYFRIED 'it'll take all your preconceived notions of "positive thinking" and "positive affirmations" and "everything happens for a reason" and flip them on their motherflippin' heads' MAMAMIA 'Anyone can write a self-help book, but not everyone who you wish would, does. Until now!' Elle Magazine 'energetic, honest, refreshing and also plain funny' POPSUGAR 'if Jean Paul Sartre were alive, he'd probably invite Gale to hang at the Sorbonne to critique life and all its miseries' EXECUTIVE STYLE