Saving The Right Stuff

From "America's nerviest journalist" (Newsweek)--a breath-taking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space. "Tom Wolfe at his very best" (The New York Times Book Review) Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers, that made The Right Stuff a classic.

One of the seminal groups of the Eighties, The Smiths' career was as brilliant as it was brief. Now, drawing on interviews with band members, producers, and colleagues, music journalist Simon Goddard presents a meticulous chronological survey of the group's musical evolution, from their first demos in 1982 to their final fractured studio session five years later. Investigating the stories behind the songs, and detailing every British TV and radio session, he also offers a unique analysis of each track's concert life. Granted unprecedented access to The Smiths' studio archives and to the private collection of outtakes and rehearsals retained by drummer Mike Joyce, the author lifts the lid on unreleased material as well as the lost songs and alternate versions that have remained closely guarded secrets until now.

Saving Haiti, Saving the World breaks three rules by looking at politics, religion, and ethnicity as they related to each other at the birth of the Revolutionary era and as they do now. It argues that Haiti and the United States mirror one another. By exploring the connectedness of religion, race, and ethnicity in these not-so-opposite countries, the book tackles the question: is Christianity all the problem-solver a democratic republic needs?

The Astronaut: Cultural Mythology and Idealised Masculinity interrogates the historical and cultural dynamics of one of the most revered icons of the 20th century. Analysing a diverse range of cultural representations the book postulates the construction of an intertextual mythology through which the astronaut becomes an embodiment of American ideological values and heroic manhood. The discursive processes at work in the range of media texts examined serve to embed the astronaut into the cultural imaginary as a largely coherent and uncontested exemplar of idealised masculinity. Using a range of interdisciplinary analytical tools the book examines how the social construction of this masculine ideal iterates and naturalises gender hegemony. The book situates the astronaut within the context of a modern/postmodern theoretical framework linking shifts in gender perspectives to the contradictory narratives and characterisations that inform the mediation of the astronaut. In so doing, the book argues for a re-evaluation of the, often oversimplified, use of the term hegemonic masculinity as an anchoring point for the critique of masculinity. The strength of this work is its interdisciplinary diversity and its interconnection of a range of themes including gender, representation, history, ideology, the postmodern and the media. Drawing upon contemporary theoretical debates while redeploying seminal theoretical texts the book offers new cultural interrogations of a highly familiar historical subject.

Thanks to an unfortunately tasty-looking radioactive garden slug, eleven-year-old Murdo McLeod is now the world's worst superhero. His two powers are pretty unique: the first is sliding up walls. Quite slowly. The second is secreting slippery slime from his skin. (Yes, just as disgusting as it sounds.) In a world where superhero competition is fierce, Slugboy doesn't make the grade. No one wants help fighting bad guys from someone with a horrible habit of (quite literally) messing things up. He's so underrated, in fact, that when an evil mastermind devises a plan to capture all the other superheroes, Slugboy isn't even on his list. Now, Slug Boy has to use his not-so-super and oh-so-gross abilities to free the other superheroes and save the world. Let's hope he doesn't slip up.

New York Times Bestseller Picture this. Your hair is a mess and you feel like a nut. You open your Drybar book and you feel better already! The Drybar Guide to Good Hair for All is the ultimate handbook for at-home hairstyling. Author Alli Webb, a long-time stylist and life-long curly hair girl, founded Drybar in 2010 as an affordable luxury—offering women a great blowout in a beautiful and fun atmosphere. Today, there are more than 60 Drybars across the country, with more opening every day. Drybar’s book makes it easy for women to get the Drybar look at home. Webb shares her tried and true tricks and tips in three in-depth sections featuring more than 100 style-inspiration photograph and step-by-step tutorials. Bright, upbeat, and loaded with style and substance, this book will give readers everywhere a good hair day at home!

Discusses the history of rock and roll music in the comic book industry.