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Popular Culture September 2018
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| Austerlitz offers a blistering exploration of the deadly confluence of racism, stoned naïveté, biker belligerence, and rockstar obliviousness that resulted in the murder of 18-year-old Berkeley arts student Meredith Hunter at the Rolling Stones' infamously disastrous concert in Altamont, Calif. Hastily thrown together for December 1969 after the surprisingly peaceful success of Woodstock. But instead of hiring off-duty cops as security as Woodstock's organizers did, the organizers of Altamont brought on a phalanx of Hells Angels, chummy with local hippie bands like the Grateful Dead. The result, as hundreds of thousands of concertgoers swarmed the site, ingesting substances in a "full-on bacchanalia," was the "hippie aesthetic of laissez-faire planning" slamming into a violent atmosphere as the Angels beat anyone who got too close to the stage. It was during the Stones' set that the Angels "pummeled and stomped" Hunter after he pulled an unloaded pistol trying to ward off further beatings.
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Generation robot : a century of science fiction, fact, and speculation
by Terri Favro
Covering a century of science fiction, fact and speculation, from the 1950 publication of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, to the 2050 Singularity when artificial intelligence are predicted to merge, a nostalgic and fascinating book shows how our relationship with robotics and futuristic technologies has shifted over time. 15,000 first printing.
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A hard rain : America in the 1960s, our decade of hope, possibility, and innocence lost
by Frye Gaillard
"Frye Gaillard has given us a deeply personal history, bringing his keen storyteller's eye to this pivotal time in American life. He explores the competing story arcs of tragedy and hope through the political and social movements of the times - civil rights, black power, women's liberation, the Vietnam War and the protests against it. But he also examines the cultural manifestations of change--music, literature, art, religion, and science--and so we meet not only the Brothers Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X, but also Gloria Steinem, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Harper Lee, Mister Rogers, Rachel Carson, James Baldwin, Andy Warhol, Billy Graham, Thomas Merton, George Wallace, Richard Nixon, Angela Davis, Barry Goldwater, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Berrigan Brothers. "There are many different ways to remember the sixties," Gaillard writes, "and this is mine. There was in these years the sense of a steady unfolding of time, as if history were on a forced march, and the changesspread to every corner of our lives. As future generations debate the meaning (and I seek to do some of that here), I hope to offer a sense of how it felt. I have tried provide within these pages one writer's reconstruction and remembrance of a transcendent era--one that, for better or worse, lives with us still."--Provided by publisher
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| You're on an Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir by Parker Posey Parker takes us into her childhood home, goes behind the scenes of the indie film revolution in the nineties, shows us the delightful absurdity of the big-budget genre thrillers she's turned into art in a whole new way, and shares the creativity that will always be part of both her acting and her real, everyday life. More than just a memoir, this is an exploration, meditation, and celebration of what it means to be an artist. |
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| Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts.... by AJ Mendez BrooksWhat it's about: In this inspiring and upbeat memoir, three-time WWE champion A.J. Brooks chronicles how she survived an impoverished childhood rife with family dysfunction to become an empowered "real-life superhero" in a male-dominated industry.
Read it for: Brooks' unflinching, behind-the-scenes look at the oft-brutal world of professional wrestling; her motivational directive for readers to stay true to themselves. |
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Wrestling with the devil : the true story of a world champion professional wrestler-- his reign, ruin, and redemption
by Lex Luger
Lex Luger, wrestling megasensation and three-time world heavyweight champion, ruled the ring for years as "The Total Package." Whether he was making a dramatic entrance from a helicopter, defeating champ Hulk Hogan, or sculpting a near-perfect physique, Lex was on top of his game. Yet backstage, he was wrestling with addictions to sex, drugs, and alcohol-- things he clung to even when his mistress died suddenly of a drug overdose and Lex went to jail. There, Lex faced the truth: he was losing the fight for his life. And still awaiting him was his most brutal opponent yet, when the wrestling champ found himself helplessly paralyzed from the neck down. In Wrestling with the Devil, Lex Luger reveals never-before-told stories from his career, his struggle with personal demons, and how, through unexpected faith, grace, and redemption, he overcame all odds to fight the only battle that really matters
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| Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania by Daniel Bryan with Craig TelloWhat it is: an engaging, conversational memoir of Daniel Bryan's unlikely ascent to WWE stardom, hindered by his being "undersized" and his disinterest in fame and fortune.
Art alert: flip-book style animations add a whimsical touch to the lower corners of the book's pages.
About the author: Outside the ring, Bryan is an avid supporter of environmental advocacy and was named PETA'S Most Animal-Friendly Athlete of 2012. |
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My fight, your fight
by Ronda Rousey
The undefeated UFC champion and Hollywood star charts her difficult journey to fame, revealing her tragic childhood, her secrets behind her achievements and her experiences as pioneering woman athlete.
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| The Squared Circle : Life, Death and Professional Wrestling by David ShoemakerWhat it is: an eye-opening history of professional wrestling, from its sideshow origins in the late 1800s to its breakthrough during the beginnings of the television industry.
Is it for you? Adventurous readers and fans of Chuck Klosterman's cultural histories will appreciate this deep dive into ringside life.
Further reading: Sisterhood of the Squared Circle: The History and Rise of Women's Wrestling by Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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