Extraordinary Bodies

Author: Rosemarie Garland Thomson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231544774
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Book Description
Extraordinary Bodies is a cornerstone text of disability studies, establishing the field upon its publication in 1997. Framing disability as a minority discourse rather than a medical one, the book added depth to oppressive narratives and revealed novel, liberatory ones. Through her incisive readings of such texts as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Rebecca Harding Davis's Life in the Iron Mills, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson exposed the social forces driving representations of disability. She encouraged new ways of looking at texts and their depiction of the body and stretched the limits of what counted as a text, considering freak shows and other pop culture artifacts as reflections of community rites and fears. Garland-Thomson also elevated the status of African-American novels by Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde. Extraordinary Bodies laid the groundwork for an appreciation of disability culture and an inclusive new approach to the study of social marginalization.

Freakery

Author: Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 9780814782224
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 426

Book Description
A groundbreaking anthology that probes the disposition towards the visually different Giants. Midgets. Tribal non-Westerners. The very fat. The very thin. Hermaphrodites. Conjoined twins. The disabled. The very hirsute. In American history, all have shared the platform equally, as freaks, human oddities, their only commonality their assigned role of anomalous other to the gathered throngs. For the price of a ticket, freak shows offered spectators an icon of bodily otherness whose difference from them secured their own membership in a common American identity--by comparison ordinary, tractable, normal. Rosemarie Thomson's groundbreaking anthology probes America's disposition toward the visually different. The book's essays fall into four main categories: historical explorations of American freak shows in the era of P.T. Barnum; the articulation of the freak in literary and textual discourses; contemporary relocations of freak shows; and theoretical analyses of freak culture. Essays address such diverse topics as American colonialism and public presentations of natives; laughing gas demonstrations in the 1840's; Shirley Temple and Tom Thumb; Todd Browning's landmark movie Freaks; bodybuilders as postmodern freaks; freaks in Star Trek; Michael Jackson's identification with the Elephant Man; and the modern talk show as a reconfiguration of the freak show. In her introduction, Thomson traces the freak show from antiquity to the modern period and explores the constitutive, political, and textual properties of such exhibits. Freakery is a fresh, insightful exploration of a heretofore neglected aspect of American mass culture.

Total Immersion

Author: Terry Laughlin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451688334
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
Swim better—and enjoy every lap—with Total Immersion, a guide to improving your swimming from an expert with more than thirty years of experience in the water. Terry Laughlin, the world’s #1 authority on swimming success, has made his unique approach even easier for anyone to master. Whether you’re an accomplished swimmer or have always found swimming to be a struggle, Total Immersion will show you that it’s mindful fluid movement—not athletic ability—that will turn you into an efficient swimmer. This new edition of the bestselling Total Immersion features: -A thoughtfully choreographed series of skill drills—practiced in the mindful spirit of yoga—that can help anyone swim more enjoyably -A holistic approach to becoming one with the water and to developing a swimming style that’s always comfortable -Simple but thorough guidance on how to improve fitness and form -A complementary land-and-water program for achieving a strong and supple body at any age Based on more than thirty years of teaching, coaching, and research, Total Immersion has dramatically improved the physical and mental experience of swimming for thousands of people of all ages and abilities.

Big and Small

Author: Lynne Vallone
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300231717
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 373

Book Description
A groundbreaking work that explores human size as a distinctive cultural marker in Western thought Author, scholar, and editor Lynne Vallone has an international reputation in the field of child studies. In this analytical tour-de-force, she explores bodily size difference—particularly unusual bodies, big and small—as an overlooked yet crucial marker that informs human identity and culture. Exploring miniaturism, giganticism, obesity, and the lived experiences of actual big and small people, Vallone boldly addresses the uncomfortable implications of using physical measures to judge normalcy, goodness, gender identity, and beauty. This wide-ranging work surveys the lives and contexts of both real and imagined persons with extraordinary bodies from the seventeenth century to the present day through close examinations of art, literature, folklore, and cultural practices, as well as scientific and pseudo-scientific discourses. Generously illustrated and written in a lively and accessible style, Vallone’s provocative study encourages readers to look with care at extraordinary bodies and the cultures that created, depicted, loved, and dominated them.

Extraordinary People

Author: Peter May
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 1681443643
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 349

Book Description
IN THE FIRST BOOK OF PETER MAY'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ENZO FILES, FORENSICS EXPERT ENZO MACLEOD WAGERS THAT HE CAN SOLVE SIX PERPLEXING COLD CASES--AND UNEXPECTEDLY PLACES HIMSELF DIRECTLY IN HARM'S WAY. "ACTION-PACKED." --ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY "BRISK AND THRILLING." --THE BALTIMORE SUN "THOROUGHLY ENGAGING." --LIBRARY JOURNAL Half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo MacLeod used to be one of the top forensics experts in Scotland, and now he lives in Toulouse, working as a university professor. Divorced in Scotland and widowed in France, he has an estranged Scottish daughter and a French daughter he has raised by himself. As if his life isn't complicated enough, he soon finds himself unexpectedly on the hunt for solutions to some vexing cold cases thanks to an ill-advised wager about the power of forensic science. Meanwhile, in Paris, a man desperately seeking sanctuary flees into a church. The next day, his sudden disappearance will make him famous throughout France. Deep in the catacombs below the City of Light, MacLeod unearths disturbing clues deliberately left behind by a killer. But as the retired forensics expert draws closer to the truth, he discovers he may just wind up the next victim for his troubles.

Be Exceptional

Author: Joe Navarro
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 006302540X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 162

Book Description
"Anyone pursuing success must read this book." —Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference A master class in leadership from the world’s top body language expert From internationally bestselling author and retired FBI agent Joe Navarro, a groundbreaking look at the five powerful principles that set exceptional individuals apart Joe Navarro spent a quarter century with the FBI, pursuing spies and other dangerous criminals across the globe. In his line of work, successful leadership was quite literally a matter of life or death. Now he brings his hard-earned lessons to you. Be Exceptional distills a lifetime of experience into five principles that outstanding individuals live by: Self-Mastery: To lead others, you must first demonstrate that you can lead yourself. Observation: Apply the same techniques used by the FBI to quickly and accurately assess any situation. Communication: Harness the power of verbal and nonverbal interaction to persuade, motivate, and inspire. Action: Build shared purpose and lead by example. Psychological Comfort: Discover the secret ingredient of exceptional individuals. Be Exceptional is the culmination of Joe Navarro’s decades spent analyzing human behavior, conducting more than 10,000 interviews in the field, and making high-stakes behavioral assessments. Drawing upon case studies from history, compelling firsthand accounts from Navarro’s FBI career, and cutting-edge science on nonverbal communication and persuasion, this is a new type of leadership book, one that will have the power to transform for years to come.

Celebrate Your Body (and Its Changes, Too!)

Author: Sonya Renee Taylor
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1641520280
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Book Description
A body-positive guide to help girls ages 8 to 12 navigate the changes of puberty and grow into women Puberty can be a difficult time for a young girl—and it's natural not to know who (or what) to ask. Celebrate Your Body is a reassuring puberty book for girls that encourages them to face puberty and their body's changes with excitement and empowerment. From period care to mysterious hair in new places, this age-appropriate sex education book has the answers young girls are looking for—in a way that they can relate to. Covering everything from bras to braces, this body-positive puberty book for girls offers friendly guidance and support for when it's needed most. In addition to tips on managing intense feelings, making friends, and more, this book provides advice on what to eat and how to exercise so your body is healthy, happy, and ready for the changes ahead. PUBERTY EXPLAINED: Explanations on what happens, when it happens, and why the body (and mind) is amazing in every way. SOCIAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Help your young girl discover how to use her voice to stand up to peer pressure, stay safe on social media, and keep the right kind of friends. SELF-CARE TIPS: This body book for girls 9-12 helps them discover how to choose the right food, exercise, and sleep schedule to keep their changing bodies at their best. This inclusive puberty book for girls is the ultimate guide to facing puberty with confidence.

Disability Rhetoric

Author: Jay Timothy Dolmage
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 081565233X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
Disability Rhetoric is the first book to view rhetorical theory and history through the lens of disability studies. Traditionally, the body has been seen as, at best, a rhetorical distraction; at worst, those whose bodies do not conform to a narrow range of norms are disqualified from speaking. Yet, Dolmage argues that communication has always been obsessed with the meaning of the body and that bodily difference is always highly rhetorical. Following from this rewriting of rhetorical history, he outlines the development of a new theory, affirming the ideas that all communication is embodied, that the body plays a central role in all expression, and that greater attention to a range of bodies is therefore essential to a better understanding of rhetorical histories, theories, and possibilities.

Extraordinary Bodies

Author: Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231105170
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
Inaugurates a new field of disability studies by framing disability as a minority discourse rather than a medical one. The book examines disabled figures in Uncle Tom's Cabin and in African-American novels by Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde as well as in the popular cultural ritual of the freak show.

Obit

Author: Jim Sheeler
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143113836
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Like Everything I Really Needed to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten, or Tuesdays with Morrie, Obit is a wise and deeply moving book that illuminates the human condition. For ten years, Jim Sheeler has scoured Colorado looking for subjects whose stories he will tell for the last time. Most are unknowns, but that doesn't mean they're nobodies. Their obituaries are sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, and chock full of life lessons as taught by the people we all pass on the street every day. And thanks to Sheeler's brilliant and compassionate prose, it's not too late to meet them.