Playing The Races

Why did so many of the writers who aligned themselves with the social and aesthetic aims of American literary realism rely on stock conventions of ethnic caricature in their treatment of immigrant and African-American figures? As a self-described "tool of the democratic spirit," designed to "prick the bubble of abstract types," literary realism would seem to have little in common with the aggressively dehumanizing comic imagery that began to proliferate in magazines and newspapers after the Civil War. Indeed, critics such as Alain Locke hailed realism's potential to accomplish "the artistic emancipation of the Negro," a project that logically extended to other groups systematically misrepresented in the comic imagery of the period. From the influential "Editor's Study" at Harper's Monthly, William Dean Howells touted the democratic impulse of realist imagery as an alternative to romanticism's "pride of caste," which is "averse to the mass of men" and "consents to know them only in some conventionalized and artificial guise." Yet if literary realism pursued the interests of democracy by affirming "the equality of things and the unity of men," why did its major practitioners, including Howells himself, regularly employ comic typification as a feature of their representational practice? Critics have often dismissed such apparent lapses in realist practice as blind spots, vestiges of a genteel social consciousness that failed to keep pace with realism's avowed democratic aspirations. Such explanations are useful to a point, but they overlook the fact that the age of realism in American art and letters was simultaneously the great age of ethnic caricature. Henry B. Wonham argues that these two aesthetic programs, one committed to representation of the fully humanized individual, the other invested in broad ethnic abstractions, operate less as antithetical choices than as complementary impulses, both of which receive full play within the period's most demanding literary and graphic works. The seemingly anomalous presence of gross ethnic abstractions within works by Howells, Twain, James, Wharton, and Chesnutt hints at realism's vexed and complicated relationship with the caricatured ethnic images that played a central role in late nineteenth-century American thinking about race, identity, and national culture. In illuminating that relationship, Playing the Races offers a fresh understanding of the rich literary discourse conceived at the intersection of the realist and the caricatured image.

Gross ethnic abstractions within works by Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Charles Chesnutt hints at realism's vexed and complicated relationship with the caricatured ethnic images that played a central role in late nineteenth-century American thinking about race, identity, and national culture."--Résumé de l'éditeur

Heroes Assemble! From the seas below to the skies above, from the land to the stars, heroes are all around us, and they come in many different forms. Now you can go beyond the common races and play a member of these 12 imaginative races in your game. Delve into each race's culture and see the world from their unique point of view. Play a character that you have always dreamed of playing, with all-new specific character options tailored to each race's flavor. Expand your horizons and your gaming experience with these Advanced Races today! The Book of Heroic Races: Advanced Compendium is the essential guide for playing untold numbers of characters. This 252-page supplement features: Racial Traits to play 12 different races, plus 60 Alternate Racial Traits and 49 Character Traits to customize your character for your desired unique play experience 125 New Character Class Options, including archetypes, sorcerer and bloodrager bloodlines, oracle mysteries and shaman spirits, cavalier orders, cleric domains and subdomains, rogue talents, alchemist discoveries, familiars and animal companions, time thief temporal talents, soulknife blade skills, and much more 93 New Feats, including martial arts styles, metamagic feats, combat feats, and feats to enhance your chosen racial traits 84 New Magic Items, Mundane Items, and Technological Items 61 New Spells and Psionic Powers 23 New Deities and Philosophies, reflecting the unique viewpoints and values of each race Details for crafting your unique adventurer, as well as suggestions for GMs on how to incorporate each of these races into your campaign world Be Heroic With These Advanced Races Today!

This new D&D sourcebook details the major races of the Eberron world, with an in-depth look at the new races of the Eberron Campaign Setting, including changelings, the kalashtar, shifters, and the warforged.

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had questions about police reform? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life. "Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for these times, and any time, truth be told." ―Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can't Touch My Hair

He's never had a problem keeping things professional with his employees...until she waltzed onto his property. Vaughn Harding heads from the city to small-town Ruby Creek, intent on revitalizing his family's ranch and the scandal attached to its name in the wake of his grandfather's unexpected passing. He needs a win, and when he hires Billie Black to train his best but most stubborn racehorse, he hopes she can deliver. Billie is talented. Whip-smart. Sassy. And so damn tempting. She and Vaughn clash from the moment they meet, but he can't stop thinking about her. And in a small town, on an even smaller farm, it's hard to keep their distance. Even harder to keep their friction from turning into fire. With every smart-mouthed comment, every game they play, Vaughn ends up wanting more. Her lips. Her trust. Her heart. Billie Black is the whole package, and possibly the only one who can save Vaughn's business--and him. Vaughn wants it all. But at what cost? Because for the first time, he doesn't just want to win races...he wants to win the girl.