Up From Invisibility

Gross traces the relation of lesbians and gays to the media and astutely points to the latter's lingering inability to embrace the complex reality of gay identity.

A half century ago gay men and lesbians were all but invisible in the media and, in turn, popular culture. With the lesbian and gay liberation movement came a profoundly new sense of homosexual community and empowerment and the emergence of gay people onto the media's stage. And yet even as the mass media have been shifting the terms of our public conversation toward a greater acknowledgment of diversity, does the emerging "visibility" of gay men and women do justice to the complexity and variety of their experience? Or is gay identity manipulated and contrived by media that are unwilling—and perhaps unable—to fully comprehend and honor it? While positive representations of gays and lesbians are a cautious step in the right direction, media expert Larry Gross argues that the entertainment and news media betray a lingering inability to break free from proscribed limitations in order to embrace the complex reality of gay identity. While noting major advances, like the opening of the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore—the first gay bookstore in the country—or the rise of The Advocate from small newsletter to influential national paper, Gross takes the measure of somewhat more ambiguous milestones, like the first lesbian kiss on television or the first gay character in a newspaper comic strip.

A magical romance between a boy cursed with invisibility and the one girl who can see him, by New York Times bestselling authors Andrea Cremer (Nightshade) and David Levithan (Every Day) Stephen is used to invisibility. He was born that way. Invisible. Cursed. Elizabeth sometimes wishes for invisibility. When you’re invisible, no one can hurt you. So when her mother decides to move the family to New York City, Elizabeth is thrilled. It’s easy to blend in there. Then Stephen and Elizabeth meet. To Stephen’s amazement, she can see him. And to Elizabeth’s amazement, she wants him to be able to see her—all of her. But as the two become closer, an invisible world gets in their way—a world of grudges and misfortunes, spells and curses. And once they’re thrust into this world, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how deep they’re going to go—because the answer could mean the difference between love and death. Praise for INVISIBILITY * " Levithan and Cremer again prove themselves masters of their craft. The inventive, enrapturing story that follows involves spellseekers and a curse-casting grandfather, but Stephen’s and Elizabeth’s journey is largely about redemption, self-acceptance, and love. Cremer and Levithan make Stephen’s invisibility something every reader can relate to, and therein lies the magic." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "A must-read for both the realist and the romantic!" --Teen Vogue "[An] enigmatic mash-up of fantasy and romance set in contemporary real-world Manhattan. The collaboration of Levithan and Cremer creates a seamless narrative." --Booklist “Once in a while, along comes a book like this one, written by two great authors, with a fun premise and nice execution, and I don't feel like I need to cover my enjoyment of it with a cough and a sheepish grin. So thanks for that, Andrea Cremer and David Levithan!” --ForeverYA "Cremer and Levithan craft a tale of love and magic in their first collaborative effort." --School Library Journal "A fast-paced supernatural thriller that will surely leave readers wanting more.[A] love child of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Levithan’s Every Day." --Kirkus Reviews

Strato Nyman couldn't be more of an odd-one-out. He's the only black kid in Hedgecombe-upon-Dray, he knows more about particle physics than his teacher, and he's constantly picked on by school bully Lloyd Archibald Turnbull. It's only at home that he blends in to the background - his parents are too busy arguing to notice he exists. But one day, Strato picks up a dusty old book in a mysterious bookshop and learns how to become invisible. He soon discovers that people aren't always what they seem a and realizes standing out isn't so bad after all.

An NYRB Classics Original The hero of The Invisibility Cloak lives in contemporary Beijing—where everyone is doing their best to hustle up the ladder of success while shouldering an ever-growing burden of consumer goods—and he’s a loser. Well into his forties, he’s divorced (and still doting on his ex), childless, and living with his sister (her husband wants him out) in an apartment at the edge of town with a crack in the wall the wind from the north blows through while he gets by, just, by making customized old-fashioned amplifiers for the occasional rich audio-obsessive. He has contempt for his clients and contempt for himself. The only things he really likes are Beethoven and vintage speakers. Then an old friend tips him off about a special job—a little risky but just don’t ask too many questions—and can it really be that this hopeless loser wins? This provocative and seriously funny exercise in the social fantastic by the brilliantly original Ge Fei, one of China’s finest living writers, is among the most original works of fiction to come out of China in recent years. It is sure to appeal to readers of Haruki Murakami and other fabulists of contemporary irreality.

DIVFred Wagner thought his newfound ability would bring big opportunities, but some special powers aren’t as useful as they appear to be/divDIV/divDIV/divDIV Advertising copywriter Fred Wagner lives a mundane existence, dreaming of being a novelist but making scant progress on his first literary effort. His career has stalled and his personal life is falling to pieces, but everything seems poised to change when, one day, Fred realizes he can will himself in and out of visibility. A world of possibilities seems finally within reach—that is, until Fred learns that invisibility isn’t the panacea he hoped it would be./divDIV /divDIVFilled with humor and pathos, Being Invisible perceptively examines the life of a struggling writer and the power each of us has to change our own lives./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Thomas Berger including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection./divDIV /divDIV/div

Winner of American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award! Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old-boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming-Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby's new condition; even his dad the physicist can't figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He's a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She's blind, and Bobby can't resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again-before it's too late.

A light-hearted friendship story about a homeless, bullied, and orphaned elf called, Zak and his growing friendship with his pink, purple, and pretty fairy friend, Zara. The story begins when Zak shows Zara the Invisibility ball that Jakob the red wizard gave him for all his hard work as a special treat for his birthday. Zak and Zara decide to be rather daring and break with the long-standing Elf, Faun, and Fairy rules and traditions of Doon Hill by going up to have a quick look at the fabled, mysterious, and somewhat confusing world of the humans who live above the secret commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies who live under Doon Hill in Aberfolye, Scotland. On their journey, Zak and Zara catch sight of some beautiful and wonderful things and also discover some not-so-wonderful and beautiful things which make them seriously think twice about humans and their lack of respect for the planet and its creatures and its natural beauty. AUDIOBOOK AND PAPERBACK OUT NOW! A note about Doon Hill The 19th century was a funny time in Scotland when there were many tales told of elves, fauns and fairies that lived quietly and secretly under the wooded hills of Aberfoyle. But for the Rev Robert Kirk, an interest in the magical life of the little creatures saw him come to an unfortunate end, apparently. The minister at Kirkton Church from 1685 to 1692 wrote the book: The Secret Commonwealth Of Elves, Fauns, And Fairies. But his revelations incurred the wrath of the sprites and he was captured by them on Doon Hill. The minister was taken down to the land of the fairies. Some say his body was placed inside a tree on top of the hill. A substitute body was placed on the ground by the fairies, local people mistook it for the minister and buried it in the nearby cemetery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Front cover logo: Ai Free Publication ® ™ is a UK Registered Trademark. Trade Mark No: UK00003915810. No Ai was used in the writing and publication of this book. QR Code & Trademark supplied and available at aifreepublication.org