Shocking

Not too long ago, there was no coming back from death. But now, with revolutionary medical advances, death has become just another serious complication as David Casarett shows in this compelling volume. The entire history of resuscitation, from ancient times to today, is here explored, thus revealing exactly how malleable the term 'dead' actually is.

For the Victorians, electricity was the science of spectacle and of wonder. It provided them with new ways of probing the nature of reality and understanding themselves. Luigi Galvani's discovery of 'animal electricity' at the end of the eighteenth century opened up a whole new world of possibilities, in which electricity could cure sickness, restore sexual potency and even raise the dead. In Shocking Bodies, Iwan Rhys Morus explores how the Victorians thought about electricity, and how they tried to use its intimate and corporeal force to answer fundamental questions about life and death. Some even believed that electricity was life, which brought into question the existence of the soul, and of God, and provided arguments in favour of political radicalism. This is the story of how electricity emerged as a powerful new tool for making sense of our bodies and the world around us.

In this imaginative new work, Adam Lowenstein explores the ways in which a group of groundbreaking horror films engaged the haunting social conflicts left in the wake of World War II, Hiroshima, and the Vietnam War. Lowenstein centers Shocking Representation around readings of films by Georges Franju, Michael Powell, Shindo Kaneto, Wes Craven, and David Cronenberg. He shows that through allegorical representations these directors' films confronted and challenged comforting historical narratives and notions of national identity intended to soothe public anxieties in the aftermath of national traumas. Borrowing elements from art cinema and the horror genre, these directors disrupted the boundaries between high and low cinema. Lowenstein contrasts their works, often dismissed by contemporary critics, with the films of acclaimed "New Wave" directors in France, England, Japan, and the United States. He argues that these "New Wave" films, which were embraced as both art and national cinema, often upheld conventional ideas of nation, history, gender, and class questioned by the horror films. By fusing film studies with the emerging field of trauma studies, and drawing on the work of Walter Benjamin, Adam Lowenstein offers a bold reassessment of the modern horror film and the idea of national cinema.

Shocking Violence: Youth Perpetrators and Victims, A Multidisciplinary Perspective is written by contributors in the diverse fields of psychology, social work, educations, law enforcement, ministry, and the judicial system. The chapters cover the topic of youth violence with emphasis on recommendations for educators, parents, and treatment professionals to help children at risk. Many factors that contribute to youth violence are explored including an examination of personality development by Corrine Frantz and Rosemarie Scolaro Moser, who cite the incidents at Pearl, Mississippi, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Littleton, Colorado, and other events, looking for answers to explain what triggered these violent episodes. Michael Greene explores bullying and harassment in schools and its connection to violence. Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman examines the role of the media in promoting youth violence through an analysis of the Paducah, Kentucky, school shootings. Developmental models for intervention and suggestions for educators, psychologists, and parents are discussed in Celene Domitrovich and Janet Welsh's chapter on ways to foresee and prevent conduct problems. Other chapters examine causes and possible solutions to the epidemic of youth violence and offer help for parents and educators who are coping with traumatic death.

Ellie goes to see her family in Capri to celebrate her stepbrother Luke’s engagement…but what the rest of the family doesn’t know is that Luke is also her ex! It’s hard to keep her spirits up, hanging out at the resort alone. Ellie is afraid Luke will think she’s not over him, and when no one is looking, Luke keeps hitting on her. Ellie is in a tough spot, so in order to deter Luke, she pretends to be dating her other stepbrother, Jack, even though she can't stand him! But soon their pretend kisses become real, and being with Jack makes her heart pound. What on earth is she feeling for him?

Maggie, a young newspaper reporter, was pampered as a youth and her first major independent decision shocked her friends and family. She leaves her home and family abruptly, in the Chicago area, seeking to clear her mind and swirling emotions. She is confronted with alarming options, even en route, that test her character and judgment. She finds herself in the beautiful Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Maggie is attracted immediately to Bucky, a young county businessman, in the most unexpected manner, which constantly creates conflict. She is often forced to deal with raw fear, while rural characters and personalities amaze her beyond belief. She is drawn into a murder trial already in progress, and the defendant

A memoir of the rise and fall of one female screenwriter’s career during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Freddie Maas’s revealing memoir offers a unique perspective on the film industry and Hollywood culture in their early days and illuminates the plight of Hollywood writers working within the studio system. An ambitious twenty-three-year-old, Maas moved to Hollywood and launched her own writing career by drafting a screenplay of the bestselling novel The Plastic Age for “It” girl Clara Bow. With that script, she landed a staff position at powerhouse MGM studios. In the years to come, she worked with and befriended numerous actors and directors, including Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Eric von Stroheim, as well as such writers and producers as Thomas Mann and Louis B. Mayer. As a professional screenwriter, Frederica quickly learned that scripts and story ideas were frequently rewritten, and that screen credit was regularly given to the wrong person. Studio executives wanted well-worn plots, but it was the writer’s job to develop the innovative situations and scintillating dialogue that would bring to picture to life. For over twenty years, Freddie and her friends struggled to survive in this incredibly competitive environment. Through it all, Freddie remained a passionate, outspoken woman in an industry run by powerful men, and her provocative, nonconformist ways brought her success, failure, wisdom, and a wealth of stories, opinions, and insight into a fascinating period in screen history. Praise for The Shocking Miss Pilgrim “In this memorable tell-all, rise-and-fall memoir, Maas brings the gimlet hindsight of Julia Phillips’s You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again to early Hollywood, and the results are thoroughly captivating.” —Publishers Weekly “A bittersweet, extraordinarily detailed recollection of Maas’s 30-year career in the motion picture industry. . . . Chockablock with anecdotes, and a blinding amount of star-wattage to boot.” —Salon.com