Yesterdays Tomorrow

How the communist revolution failed, presented in a series of catastrophes. The communist project in the twentieth century grew out of utopian desires to oppose oppression and abolish class structures, to give individual lives collective meaning. The attempts to realize these ideals became a series of colossal failures. In Yesterday's Tomorrow, Bini Adamczak examines these catastrophes, proceeding in reverse chronological order from 1939 to 1917: the Hitler-Stalin Pact, the Great Terror of 1937, the failure of the European Left to prevent National Socialism, Stalin's rise to power, and the bloody rebellion at Kronstadt. In the process, she seeks a future that never happened.

Recipient of the Hugo and Nebula Awards for his writing, Barry Longyear flexes his creative and comic chops in Yesterday’s Tomorrow. In these true stories, Longyear wanders from scenic Maine backdrops to the smoky hum of backwoods Twelve Step meetings, all while dissecting why some recoveries don’t come naturally—and why it’s okay to let down our guard and laugh. Recovery is one hell of a roller coaster. It twists and plummets, upending our stomachs, while some maniac cackles hysterically in the front car. What’s so damn funny? Besides our stomach’s contents, what are we missing? Truth is, while we all sit anxiously awaiting that next drop, Barry Longyear is enjoying the wild ride. An award-winning author and proprietor of the Life Sucks Better Clean blog, Barry has been on recovery’s ride for a while now. He understands the importance of stupid questions and sarcastic responses. He’s honest to the point of embarrassment. And he has real problems: with friends, with self-ordained recovery police, and with the god of his childhood. But he also has a strong recovery full of laughter. Despite all its ups and downs, your recovery, too, can be a good one.

From Jules Verne to the Jetsons, from a 500-passenger flying wing to an anti-aircraft flying buzz-saw, the vision of the future as seen through the eyes of the past demonstrates the play of the American imagination on the canvas of the future.

Yesterday's Tomorrow is a book of poems exploring the ephemeral nature of time, love and life. With poems written as far back as 2009, it is yesterday's insights for tomorrow's readers.

Revered then virtually forgotten, Leonard Cohen has proved a lasting phenomenon. One of the most influential songwriters of our time, reconciling literature and poetry with popular music. In the 1990s Leonard Cohen’s music career appeared to have died. Cohen was in his seventies by then and no one expected new songs, never mind a worldwide tour that broke records for attendance. While many discovered his work during this resurgence, long-standing fans had never deserted him. His combination of poetry and soulful song had reached into their hearts when they were young and his connection with them never weakened. As a teenager author, Marc Hendrickx, wrote to Cohen and later the singer turned up on Marc’s doorstep. This is Marc’s journey through the work of Cohen. There are no conclusions, simply perspective and reflections.

Yesterday's Tomorrow is a valentine to an era of optimism, relaxed lifestyle, and innovative design; a large-format, general audience book, illustrated with rarely seen art and photography of the mid-20th century reflecting the unique style that Walt Disney and his artists contributed to the era. If you've seen Sleeping Beauty, read Dwell Magazine, shopped at Design Within Reach, or watched Mad Men, this book is for you and all those who love this extraordinary era of Disney.

2012 was a year of financial crises and ecological disasters, of endings and forebodings. The world did not end on December 21st as the Mayan calendar predicted, but became the stage for new beginnings, utopian communities, protest groups and solidarity movements. The essays in this book form an intertextual space for negotiating meaningful facts and fictions with an aim to understanding the present. Discussions focus on utopia and dystopia from literature and film, not only within the framework of science fiction but also critical theory, gender politics and social sciences. The authors of these essays are international academics whose interest lies in utopian studies and who attended the 13th International Conference of Utopian Studies, “The Shape of Things to Come”, held in Tarragona, Spain, in 2012.