Isn't This Fun?

Author: Michael Foley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471154831
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 394

Book Description
Michael Foley, the author of bestselling The Age of Absurdity, wants to understand why he doesn't appear to be experiencing as much 'fun' as everyone else . . . And so, with characteristic wit and humour, Foley sets out to understand what fun really means, examining its heritage, its cultural significance and the various activities we associate with fun. He investigates pursuits such as dancing, sex, holidays, sport, gaming and comedy, and concludes that fun is not easy, simple and fixed, as many seem to believe, but elusive, complex and constantly changing. In fact, fun is a profoundly serious business. His findings will invigorate you with insights, quite possibly help you to understand why the post-post-modern is actually the pre-pre-modern and, at the very least, make you laugh at life. ‘This book is such a wondrous kaleidoscope of rage, based on such a deep reading of all the sources, that I shall be searching out his other works to read forthwith. The man is a marvel.’ Daily Mail

This Is Not the Jess Show

Author: Anna Carey
Publisher: Quirk Books
ISBN: 1683691989
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
“A fantastically smart, funny, and thoughtful thriller.”—Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star The year is 1998: Titanic just won six Oscars, boy bands are dominating MTV’s airwaves, and like any other teenager Jess Flynn is just trying to survive high school. Between a crush on her childhood best friend, overprotective parents, and her sister’s worsening health, the only constant is her hometown of Swickley, which feels smaller by the day. Jess is resigned to her small-town life, until the day she discovers a mysterious device with an apple logo, causing her to question everything and everyone she’s ever known. As more cracks appear in Jess’s world, she faces a choice: can she live the rest of her life knowing it’s a lie, or should she risk everything for the truth? A fast-paced, mind-bending YA thriller packed with ’90s pop culture references and perfect for fans of Riverdale, This Is Not the Jess Show will keep readers guessing until the very end. Now with an excerpt from the explosive and thrilling conclusion, This Is Not the Real World!

This Book Will Not Be Fun

Author: Cirocco Dunlap
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0399550615
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
*A 2018 Children's and Teen Choice Book Award Finalist! A mouse who acts as a careful custodian of his book tries to guarantee his reader some peace and order in spite of escalating chaos. For fans of The Book With No Pictures and This Book Just Ate My Dog! A book is no place for tomfoolery, and this mouse assures us that his book is to be no exception. Just please ignore that Word-Eating Flying Whale, and—oh, no, the lights have gone out. Wait, what is THAT?! Nothing to fear. Everything is under control. . . . Readers will delight as this charming yet uptight mouse is challenged and subverted by gloriously imaginative creatures that are like nothing you’ve ever seen. Will our little mouse succumb to the attractiveness of their overwhelming exuberance? Newcomer Cirocco Dunlap delivers an on-point debut picture-book text that dances outside the boundaries of its pages. Olivier Tallec breathes extra lunacy into this nutty little world with his absurdist palette and amusing forms.

Play Anything

Author: Ian Bogost
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096506
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
How filling life with play-whether soccer or lawn mowing, counting sheep or tossing Angry Birds -- forges a new path for creativity and joy in our impatient age Life is boring: filled with meetings and traffic, errands and emails. Nothing we'd ever call fun. But what if we've gotten fun wrong? In Play Anything, visionary game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost shows how we can overcome our daily anxiety; transforming the boring, ordinary world around us into one of endless, playful possibilities. The key to this playful mindset lies in discovering the secret truth of fun and games. Play Anything, reveals that games appeal to us not because they are fun, but because they set limitations. Soccer wouldn't be soccer if it wasn't composed of two teams of eleven players using only their feet, heads, and torsos to get a ball into a goal; Tetris wouldn't be Tetris without falling pieces in characteristic shapes. Such rules seem needless, arbitrary, and difficult. Yet it is the limitations that make games enjoyable, just like it's the hard things in life that give it meaning. Play is what happens when we accept these limitations, narrow our focus, and, consequently, have fun. Which is also how to live a good life. Manipulating a soccer ball into a goal is no different than treating ordinary circumstances- like grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and making PowerPoints-as sources for meaning and joy. We can "play anything" by filling our days with attention and discipline, devotion and love for the world as it really is, beyond our desires and fears. Ranging from Internet culture to moral philosophy, ancient poetry to modern consumerism, Bogost shows us how today's chaotic world can only be tamed-and enjoyed-when we first impose boundaries on ourselves.

The Age of Absurdity

Author: Michael Foley
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781847375247
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
PHILOSOPHY. A wry and accessible investigation into how the desirable states of wellbeing and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life. Michael Foley examines the elusive condition of happiness common to philosophy, spiritual teachings and contemporary psychology, then shows how these are becoming increasingly difficult to apply in a world of high expectations. The common challenges of earning a living, maintaining a relationship and ageing are becoming battlegrounds of existential angst and self-loathing in a culture that demands conspicuous consumption, high-octane partnerships and perpetual youth. Foley presents an entertaining strategy of not just accepting but embracing today's world - finding happiness in its absurdity.

Fun for Anyone!

Author: Erin Alon Brain
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781736031209
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
Weston likes to have fun. He loves nail polish, glitter, race cars and rainbows. He starts at a new school, where he discovers not everyone's idea of fun is the same. Sometimes, people think that it's okay to try to force their likes and dislikes onto others. Weston gets bullied for what he enjoys. It hurts to be made fun of and pushed around, but with the help of new friends, his confidence returns. He realizes that he has to be resilient and stand up for what he believes in instead of conforming to someone else's ideals.

The Most Fun We Ever Had

Author: Claire Lombardo
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0525564233
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 641

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • “A gripping and poignant ode to a messy, loving family in all its glory.” —Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe In this “rich, complex family saga” (USA Today) full of long-buried family secrets, Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator turned stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. With the unexpected arrival of young Jonah Bendt—a child placed for adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years before—the Sorensons will be forced to reckon with the rich and varied tapestry of their past. As they grapple with years marred by adolescent angst, infidelity, and resentment, they also find the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.

C++ for the Impatient

Author: Brian Overland
Publisher: Pearson Education
ISBN: 0321888022
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 720

Book Description
A ready reference for C++, C++ for the Impatient offers the quickest way for busy students to learn the latest features of the C++ language and is a handy resoure for finding the answer to specific language questions quickly. Giving the most accurate, up-to-date information required, this books is also an essential guide to the new C++11 standard, including advanced uses of the C++ standard library.

Such a Fun Age

Author: Kiley Reid
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525541926
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Book Description
A Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • NPR • Vogue • Elle • Real Simple • InStyle • Good Housekeeping • Parade • Slate • Vox • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal • BookPage Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize An Instant New York Times Bestseller A Reese's Book Club Pick "The most provocative page-turner of the year." --Entertainment Weekly "I urge you to read Such a Fun Age." --NPR A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both. Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other. With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone "family," and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.

Have More Fun

Author: Mandy Arioto
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0310340454
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
When was the last time you had some good and serious fun? If your to-do list has become the boss of you, if you're so exhausted and overwhelmed you can't remember--all of that is about to change. Have More Fun is your crash course to getting unstuck, laughing freely, and enjoying the ride. MOPS International CEO, Mandy Arioto, is known to thousands worldwide as a lively storyteller, a force of hope, and an audacious risk-taker. She brings it all in this rollicking adventure of an audiobook bent on helping you do more of what makes you come alive. Have More Fun is for anyone who has forgotten that fun is an option. In a world where political dramas and cultural uncertainties churn through our news feed every day, Mandy is here to suggest that the answer to many of the most pressing questions is fun. How do I get more done? Fun. How do I parent in meaningful ways? Fun. How do I make friends? Fun. How can I find my purpose? Fun. How do I spice up my sex life? Fun. How do I adapt when things don't go as planned? Fun. How do I improve my marriage? Fun. Not to mention that choosing fun can be a spiritual discipline--a place to experience the boundless love and joy of God in everyday, surprising ways. If you have ever waited until your to-do list is finished to have fun or you can't remember the last time you really laughed, it is possible you might be taking life, work, or parenting too seriously. Weaving together science, historical trends, hilarious stories, practical ideas and spiritual truth, Mandy uncovers fresh ways to take fun seriously instead.