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Religious Satire in the Era of New Atheism presents a contemporary account of religious satire as evidenced by the modern art of stand-up comedy.Focused on the context of the post-9/11 American culture phenomenon, sometimes referred to as the New Atheism – as embodied by public intellectuals such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins – it documents the rise of comedic satire in relation to evangelical beliefs and religious dogma. Drawing on the author's own experience of stand-up performance, it examines the comedy of figures such as Mark Maron, Bill Maher, and Ricky Gervais and presents material from interviews with comedians including Lewis Black, John Fugelsang, and Leigh Ann Lord to provide unique insights into some of the issues and definitions surrounding satire.With attention to the demonstrable rise in religious satire following the events of September 11, 2001, the author considers the clear link between this increase and the New Atheist movement, exploring shared themes and presence at specific events, such that stand-up comedy represents the Avant Garde of the New Atheists.

Gathered for the first time: one of America's great humorists revisits the books and movies from his youth—often with some embarrassment—in this complete, 22-piece collectionFrom October 1948 to October 1953, The New Yorker published humorist S. J. Perelman's “Cloudland Revisited” series: 22 reviews of once-popular books and silent films whose expiration dates had passed. All but forgotten even at the time, they were nonetheless part of Perelman's youth and made an indelible mark on him.In the comic genius's biting satire they live once again:Gertrude Atherton's sensationalist fantasy Black OxenSax Rohmer's supervillain blockbuster The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchuthe “underwater” silent film adaptation of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the SeaEdgar Rice Burrough's 1914 novel Tarzan of the Apesand George Barr McCutcheon's 1901 historical fantasy novel Graustark—the Game of Thrones of its era—which launched numerous sequels and film adaptations The complete series is collected here for the first time. With self-deprecating humor and frequent embarrassment, Perelman reflects on how rereading and rewatching brings us in contact with how we, like an old book or film, have both changed and remained the same. This paperback includes a tribute to Perelman's art by another beloved New Yorker writer, Adam Gopnik.

A beloved classic returns: S. J. Perelman's own selection of the very best of his hilarious stories and sketchesPulitzer Prize–winning author Joshua Cohen (The Netanyahus) reintroduces America's zaniest humorist to a new generation of readersWhen asked about himself the writer Sidney Joseph Perelman once quipped,'before they made him, they broke the mold.'Nowhere is S. J. Perelman's one-of-a-kind, madcap sensibility—his gift for wordplay, witticism, spoofery, and sheer nonsense—on better display than in his classic collection Crazy Like a Fox, here restored to print for the first time in decades.In a playful, loving tribute to the funny man, novelist Joshua Cohen—also an erudite wordsmith and punster—introduces Perelman's sui generis comic pieces to a new generation of readers, certain to fall in love with the writer whom The New York Times once noted for his ability “to transform the common cliché or figure of speech into an exploding cigar.” Included here are such beloved classics as:the Joycean virtuoso performance “Scenario”“A Farewell to Omsk,” Perelman's hilarious homage to Dostoevskyand “Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer,'his side-splitting send-up of the hardboiled detective fiction of Raymond ChandlerHere is Perelman's own selection of the very best of his inimitable humor, restored to print for the first time in decades.

This anthology of studies is a follow-up to Political Humor Worldwide: The Cultural Context of Political Comedy, Satire, and Parody. It further examines political humor as a distinct sub-discipline of political communication, influenced and shaped by a country's culture. The book's contributors, experts drawn from the academic fields of political science, communication, linguistics, sociology, culture studies, political psychology, and others, offer an assortment of studies from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Focusing on political humor in the media, the authors offer a panorama of political humor—including political satire, parody, and cartooning—in Spain, Poland, Montenegro, Turkey, Japan, Australia, Iran, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, and Indonesia, among others. They detail political humor's multifaceted and versatile nature, suggesting that national culture and political humor expressed in the news media are intertwined; thus, understanding political humor requires looking at the cultural landscape of a given country or society. The book helps readers to better understand the factors that shape political humor across the globe in a variety of political and media systems.

In this comedic novel set in New Orleans in the late 1980s, an inveterate lottery player will risk everything--except gainful employment--to strike it rich. Filled with local-flavored humor, it features engaging, unforgettable characters and a unique plot that offers insights into fate, faith, and the vagaries of life.

Robert Musil (1880 - 1942) was an Austro-Hungarian novelist and essayist, known for his masterpiece'The Man Without Qualities.'He was born on November 6, 1880, in Klagenfurt, Austria, during the era of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Musil, influenced by the philosophical and cultural currents of his time, stood out for his keen observation of society and his profound psychological analysis. His most famous work,'The Man Without Qualities,'is a monumental novel that examines the decadence of European society on the eve of World War I. Musil addressed themes such as alienation, the search for meaning, and the crisis of traditional values, establishing himself as a precursor of existentialism.

'Animal Farm'by George Orwell is a captivating allegory that takes you on a thought-provoking journey. Set on a farm, the animals rebel against their human oppressors, establishing their own society. Initially, it's a utopian vision of equality and justice, but power and corruption soon creep in.Orwell's storytelling brilliance shines as each animal represents a facet of society, and their revolution mirrors historical events. Witness the rise and fall of their animal-led government, the emergence of a ruthless elite, and the haunting parallels with the human world.This novella is a warning against totalitarianism, propaganda, and the corrupting influence of power. Orwell's vivid prose and sharp social commentary make'Animal Farm'an essential read for those interested in politics and society. It's a timeless tale of how ideals can be twisted, leaving you pondering the nature of power and the fragility of freedom.ABOUT THE AUTHORGeorge Orwell, the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, was a renowned English writer and essayist. Born on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, India, he is best known for his literary contributions that challenged totalitarianism and explored the consequences of oppressive government systems. Orwell's early life included experiences as an imperial police officer in Burma, which profoundly influenced his views on British imperialism. His first notable work,'Down and Out in Paris and London', was published in 1933, recounting his experiences among the working class and homeless. However, it was Orwell's dystopian novels that catapulted him to literary fame.'Animal Farm,'published in 1945, is a satirical allegory that critiques the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. In 1949, he released his magnum opus,'Nineteen Eighty-Four,'which portrayed a nightmarish future under a totalitarian regime, coining terms like'Big Brother'and'thoughtcrime'that have become part of popular culture. Orwell's writing style is marked by its clarity and social commentary. He was a passionate advocate for truth and freedom of expression, which is evident in his essays like'Politics and the English Language.'Sadly, Orwell's life was cut short by tuberculosis, and he passed away on January 21, 1950, at the age of 46. His works remain not only literary classics but also influential critiques of authoritarianism and the dangers of propaganda, ensuring his enduring legacy in the world of literature and political thought.

A witty satire of the medical professionThe Doctors'Dinner Party is an eleventh-century satire in the form of a novella, set in a medical milieu. A young doctor from out of town is invited to dinner with a group of older medical men, whose conversation reveals their incompetence. Written by the accomplished physician Ibn Buṭlān, the work satirizes the hypocrisy of quack doctors while displaying Ibn Buṭlān's own deep technical knowledge of medical practice, including surgery, blood-letting, and medicines. He also makes reference to the great thinkers and physicians of the ancient world, including Hippocrates, Galen, and Socrates.Combining literary parody with social satire, the book is richly textured and carefully organized: in addition to the use of the question-and-answer format associated with technical literature, it is replete with verse and subtexts that hint at the infatuation of the elderly practitioners with their young guest. The Doctors'Dinner Party is an entertaining read in which the author skewers the pretensions of the physicians around the table.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Retrait du titre par le distributeur numérique, à la demande de l'éditeur.

Satire, Humor, and Environmental Crises explores how satire and humor can be employed to address and mitigate ecological crises at individual and collective levels. Besides scientific and technological endeavors, solutions to ecological crises must entail social and communicative reform to persuade citizens, corporations, organizations, and policymakers to adopt more sustainable lifestyles and policies. This monograph reassesses environmental behavior and messaging and explores the promises of humorous and satiric communication therein. It draws upon a solid and interdisciplinary theoretical foundation to explicate the individual, social, and ecospheric determinants of behavior. Creative works of popular culture across various modes of expression, including The Simpsons, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and The New Yorker cartoons, are examined to illustrate the strong if underappreciated relationship between humor and the environment. This is followed by a discussion of the instruments and methodological subtleties involved in measuring the impacts of humor and satire in environmental advocacy for the purpose of conducting empirical research. More broadly, the book aspires to participate in urgent cultural and political discussions about how we can evaluate and intervene in the full diversity of environmental crises, engage a broad set of internal and external partners and stakeholders, and develop models for positive social and environmental transformations.This book will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in environmental humanities, communication science, psychology, and critical humor studies. It can further benefit environmental activists, policymakers, NGOs, and campaign organizers.

Onze histoires, onze aventures humaines qui partagent les mêmes centres d'intérêt : les travers au quotidien des sociétés africaines actuelles en proie aux affres du sous-développement. L'éducation, la religion, les petits métiers, l'orientation professionnelle, les mœurs sont bien des thèmes que chevauchent des personnages parfois simples, parfois épiques mais qui jamais ne laissent indifférent.

Written by a scholar of satire and politics, Trump Was a Joke explains why satire is an exceptional foil for absurd political times and why it did a particularly good job of making sense of Trump.Covering a range of comedic interventions, Trump Was a Joke analyzes why political satire is surprisingly effective at keeping us sane when politics is making us crazy. Its goal is to highlight the unique power of political satire to encourage critical thinking, foster civic action, and further rational debate in moments of political hubris and hysteria. The book has been endorsed by Bassem Youssef, who has been referred to as the “Jon Stewart of Egypt,” and Srdja Popovic, author of Blueprint for Revolution, who used satirical activism to bring down Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.With a foreword by award-winning filmmaker, satirist, and activist Michael Moore, this study will be of interest to readers who follow politics and enjoy political comedy and will appeal to the communications, comedy studies, media studies, political science, rhetoric, cultural studies, and American studies markets.

MOURN LIKE A WINNERWhen it comes to grief, there's no room for second best. Sure, there are other guidebooks aimed at helping you cope with the emotional and practical challenges of losing a loved one. None, however, have been written by a comedy writer whose “therapeutic training” went no further than an undergraduate degree in psychology, and who lived through this terrible experience and emerged intact enough to write a bunch of jokes about it. What The Daily Show's America (The Book) was to civics and The Onion's Our Dumb Century was to the history of the twentieth century, Jason Roeder's hilarious (and often moving) Griefstrike! is to death, mourning, and somehow getting on with your life.

What is the role of the historical and political novel in our lives? Is it just a story from the past, or does it shape our historical con -scious -ness? Can we rely on the information within this type of fiction? According to many historicists, we cannot. However, we can also question numerous ideologically shaped history books that look more like fiction than scientific sources. Hence, historically and politically loaded fiction has an equal chance in the formational process of our historical consciousness. Besides, through satire and humor, which a scientist omits in a history book, a novelist manages to affect its reader on a different scale and leave a deeper trace. As E.,L. Doctorow once stated, ``The historian tells you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.''Hence, this study analyzes several significant concepts such as historiography, historical consciousness, power, its elements, and the way it operates; traces major characteristics of historical and political fiction, and determines the role of satire within them. Eventually, through the analysis of several prominent contemporary novels, it provides vivid examples of all the concepts that have been discussed.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions comes a stunning collection about those moments when everything changes—for the better, for the worse, for the outrageous—as a diverse cast of characters bounces from Italy to Idaho, questioning their roles in life and finding inspiration in the unlikeliest places.We all live like we're famous now, curating our social media presences, performing our identities, withholding those parts of ourselves we don't want others to see. In this riveting collection of stories from acclaimed author Jess Walter, a teenage girl tries to live up to the image of her beautiful, missing mother. An elderly couple confronts the fiction writer eavesdropping on their conversation. A son must repeatedly come out to his senile father while looking for a place to care for the old man. A famous actor in recovery has a one-night stand with the world's most surprising film critic. And in the romantic title story, a shy twenty-one-year-old studying Latin in Rome during “the year of my reinvention” finds himself face-to-face with the Italian actress of his adolescent dreams.Funny, poignant, and redemptive, this collection of short fiction offers a dazzling range of voices, backdrops, and situations. With his signature wit and bighearted approach to the darkest parts of humanity, Walter tackles the modern condition with a timeless touch, once again “solidifying his place in the contemporary canon as one of our most gifted builders of fictional worlds” (Esquire).

Vile Bodies is a 1930 novel satirising the bright young things: decadent young London society after World War I. The title appears in a comment made by the novel's narrator in reference to the characters'party-driven lifestyle: “All that succession and repetition of massed humanity... Those vile bodies...”

An experimental and humorous modern satire about Leonard Swanson, a hip-hop visionary from the north-west of England, as he works in factories and tries to make the greatest rap album of all time.'Unfortunately making the greatest rap album of all time was to be put on hold as the insidious Job Centre advisors had finally had enough of my shit. I would be forced to sign up to one of the town's two recruitment agencies, or I would be starved of weed money.'Leonard Swanson lives in an obscure north-western town — the kind that'has a knack for swallowing you whole'. He is supposed to be making the greatest rap album of all time, Swan Songs, but instead is forced to work in one of the town's factories,'picking things up and putting them down for twelve hours in a giant white room'. Swan Songs follows Leonard as he works, quits, signs on, and travels the country, playing in small capacity venues for even smaller capacity audiences, for which he gets'paid in booze, drugs and a night on a bed bug-ridden mattress somebody dragged in from the street', all the while making the album he thinks will change hip-hop forever. Part Alan Sillitoe and part William Burroughs, UK rapper Lee Scott's debut novel, partially based on his own experiences of becoming a rapper in Runcorn, is an experimental and humorous modern satire about the perils of being a hip-hop visionary far from the beaten track...

Superficially, this book is very similar to others of its type and time--a spirited girl comes out into society and must choose between her rebellious and outcast cousin or a conventional young man. Rachel chooses the conventional young man, but as their marriage begins to degenerate, she comes into contact with her cousin once more. She falls in love with him--will she leave her husband and run off with her romantic but weak lover? And looming over all of this is the spectre of her grandmother, The Duchess, an old woman whose powers and health are waning but not yet gone.

This book critically examines the role and politics of humour and the performance of power in South Asia. What does humour do and how does it manifest when lived political circumstances experience ruptures or instability? Can humour that emerges in such circumstances be viewed as a specific narrative on the nature of democracy in the region? Drawing upon essays from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, this volume discusses many crucial historical and contemporary themes, including dance-drama performances in northern India; caste and stand-up comedy in India; cartoon narratives of citizens'anxieties; civic participation through social media memes in Sri Lanka; media, politics and humorous public in Bangladesh; the politics of performance in India; and the influence of humour and satire as political commentaries. The volume explores the impact of humour in South Asian folklore, ritual performances, media and journalism, and online technologies.This topical and interdisciplinary book will be essential for scholars and researchers of cultural studies, political science, sociology and social anthropology, media and communication studies, theatre and performance studies, and South Asian studies.

The legendary comedian uses his “hilarious yet soul-shaking” humor to confront racism's unjust impact on the health and wellbeing of Blacks and minorities (Black Enterprise).White people love survival guides, but have you noticed they're always about ridiculous activities in locations far from home. You know who really needs a survival guide? Black and brown Americans. For surviving their own damn country! Minority populations wake up every day in a battle for their health and safety. Thankfully, legendary activist-comedian D. L. Hughley offers How to Survive America, a fearless satire that exposes racism's unjust toll on our bodies and minds.Even before COVID-19 disproportionately impacted minority communities, life expectancy for Blacks was a full three years less than for white Americans. The very air we breathe is more polluted, our water is more contaminated, our local food options are toxic, and our jobs are underpaid. Despite the obvious need, the quality of our health care is tragically inadequate. Our communities are statistically less safe than the average, and yet we're terrorized by the law-enforcement and criminal-justice systems that are supposed to protect us, sending Blacks to prison at five times the rate of whites. Not least, our means of addressing these injustices—voting—is perennially under assault.It's enough to drive you crazy. Well, guess what? According to Cigna, Blacks are 20 percent more likely to report “psychological distress” yet “50 percent less likely to receive counseling or mental health treatment.” It's almost like the entire country has been structured with no regard for our welfare. Hmmm.Whether you're Black, white, brown, or Asian, don't leave home without arming yourself with How to Survive America!

At home, work, and out in our ever-changing world, we're all just doing our best. In this modern parody, Frog and Toad are here to commiserate and lend some laughter.Full of wry humor and deep compassion for our modern vulnerabilities, the stories in Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best perfectly capture the heartwarming authenticity of Lobel's famous amphibian friends while revealing razor-sharp truths about the world we live in today. Through Frog and Toad, we see the anxieties that are woven throughout our everyday existence, from our well-meaning but often-failed attempts at practicing self-care to our struggle to balance the gifts and burdens of technology. Toad ponders a variety of questionable schemes to pay off his credit cards, while Frog spends too much time scrolling through the newsfeed on his phone. But despite their daily frustrations and existential concerns, they know that having a friend to share life's burdens makes even the darkest days brighter.

Adam Gopnik presents the very best of S. J. Perelman, America's zaniest humorist.S. J. Perelman (1904-1979) wrote for the Marx Brothers films Horse Feathers and Monkey Business and won an Oscar for his screenwriting on Around the World in Eighty Days, but he remains best known for his many sketches and essays penned for The New Yorker during its golden age of humor. In these short comic pieces--Perelman called them feuilletons--his penchant for wordplay, witticism, spoofery, self-deprecation, and plain zaniness are on full display. The New York Times once noted his ability in these magazine pieces'to transform the common cliché or figure of speech into an exploding cigar.'Author and New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik has selected the very best of them, including Perelman's parodies of books and films, his biting social satire, autobiographical pieces, and a selection from the celebrated Cloudland Revisited series, in which Perelman reminisces nostalgically about books and movies encountered in youth before describing in his inimitable hyperkinetic style the rude shock of revisiting them as an adult. Also included in this volume are the acclaimed play The Beauty Part (1963) from Perelman's Broadway career; profiles of the Marx Brothers, Dorothy Parker, and his brother-in-law Nathanael West; and a selection of letters written to correspondents such as Groucho Marx and Paul Theroux.

L'humour coïncide d'ordinaire avec les champs de significations de la gaieté, du divertissement, de la liberté et de la cohésion sociale. Sous ce vernis candide et conciliateur, l'humour est pourtant loin d'être une activité humaine dénuée de violence. Alors que certaines productions humoristiques (plaisanteries quotidiennes, stand-up, films, etc.) portent avec elles une violence aisément (re)connaissable, d'autres en couvent une qui se révèle être beaucoup plus subtile, qu'on peine à discerner. Le racisme, l'homophobie, le sexisme, la misogynie, la transphobie et le dédain des classes populaires sont encore largement banalisés. L'imperceptibilité de cette violence liée aux systèmes de domination est parfois telle qu'elle (pré)dispose certains groupes à en user, (re)produisant par cela les conditions de leur propre marginalisation. Ce phénomène, Pierre Bourdieu l'a nommé « violence symbolique ». En adoptant cette notion comme outil de travail, et en la revisitant, ce collectif examine les parts sombres de l'humour, sans cependant en négliger la puissance critique. Composé de réflexions théoriques et d'études de cas, cet ouvrage a pour but de rendre plus perceptibles ces liens qui unissent humour et violence, qu'on peine encore aujourd'hui à discerner.

Nacida, pues en el contexto referido, esta monografía que someto al juicio benévolo del lector, toma su título derivándolo de la incisiva exresión de una sátira del romano Juvenal, que se refiere al campo embarrado del foro, donde, como los gladiadores en el circo, contienden los juristas. Y surge como reafirmación del lema que, desde mis inicios en el oficio, ha animado mi vocación de Abogado: intra legem serviam iustitiam ex auctoritate orationis meae, consciente de que el buen desempeño de los jurisperitos, como ya lo advirtió el Rey Sabio, resulta esencial para el buen orden de la comunidad en la que estamos insertos.Por eso confío en llevar al ánimo del lector mi convencimiento de que la sátira y la censura, así como el encomio, de la Justicia y de los jurisprudentes, oficiantes y demás auxiliares del foro, ha de verse, más que cómo incomprensión y reproche o halago de la sociedad, muchas veces exagerado e injusto uno y otro, cómo muestra de la inquietud popular por las disfunciones del aparato de Administración de Justicia y, a la vez, como estímulo para el perfeccionamiento ético-morla, científico y técnic-práctico de los propios juristas y curiales de las instituciones en que ejercen profesionalmente su labor; por consiguetne, tanto la sátira como el laude, más allá de la mala fe o dde la candidez que puedan referíseles, expresanel interés social por la calidad del Ordenamiento Jurídico vivo sobre el que asienta nuestra convievencia cívica y no pueden reducirse a, o motejarse de, ingeniosa exageración meramente festiva de las aristas del oficio de los juristas. De ahí el interés formativo que revista para éstos en particular.

A fable for our times, Joni Murphy's Talking Animals takes place in an all-animal world where creatures rather like us are forced to deal with an all-too-familiar landscape of soul-crushing jobs, polluted oceans, and a creeping sense of doom.It's New York City, nowish. Lemurs brew espresso. Birds tend bar. There are bears on Wall Street, and a billionaire racehorse is mayor. Sea creatures are viewed with fear and disgust and there's chatter about building a wall to keep them out.Alfonzo is a moody alpaca. His friend Mitchell is a sociable llama. They both work at City Hall, but their true passions are noise music and underground politics. Partly to meet girls, partly because the world might be ending, these lowly bureaucrats embark on an unlikely mission to expose the corrupt system that's destroying the city from within. Their project takes them from the city's bowels to its extremities, where they encounter the Sea Equality Revolutionary Front, who are either a group of dangerous radicals or an inspiring liberation movement.In this novel, at last, nature kvetches and grieves, while talking animals offer us a kind of solace in the guise of dumb jokes. This is mass extinction as told by BoJack Horseman. This is The Fantastic Mr. Fox journeying through Kafka's Amerika. This is dogs and cats, living together. Talking Animals is an urgent allegory about friendship, art, and the elemental struggle to change one's life under the low ceiling of capitalism.

From the bestselling author of AM I DOING THIS RIGHT? comes an honest, hilarious, entirely relatable illustrated guide to living life right. And wrong.This is not your average self-help book. There are no filters, no frittatas and no fake. In Help Self, Tanya gets real as she discusses food, love, friendship, careers and mental health, and (of course) she gets real hilarious too. From being mistaken for a pregnant woman when she'd just had too many Cheezels, to understanding whatever alien language your friend's child is speaking, to overcoming an unexpected breakup with your best friend, Tanya Hennessy has all the life-hack, pro-tips for getting through this chaos we call life.'This isn't my favourite book.'Tanya's dad

'...a great story. Gamers will love this tale. If you want to really feel what gaming is about, not to mention what life is about, you should devour it. I did, and I want a sequel. In the meantime, I'll read it again.'Ed Greenwood, creator of The Forgotten RealmsDungeon Party links a fantasy world and the people playing in it. When longstanding personality conflicts erupt, the volatile Randall Keller secedes from Alan Crandall's gaming group. In pursuit of a coveted prize at an upcoming convention, Alan replaces Randall with two female recruits who reinvigorate the campaign. Randall chooses a darker path by spreading infectious cynicism through the gaming community while plotting his revenge. When the Middle Mirth convention gets underway, Alan's group must stop Randall and his avatar before they devastate worlds both fictional and real.

Can laughter really be used to undermine the appeal of terrorist groups? And should it be? Is there any truth in the stereotypical notions of fanaticism as humorless, and of humor as the antithesis of fanaticism? What is the deeper significance of the jihadi's status as an object of mockery in Arabic popular culture? Joking About Jihad explores this thicket of problems sprouting from one of the most basic--and supposedly most innocent--of human behaviors, and looks at how it has been applied to one of the least obviously laughable phenomena in the world today. Ramsay and Alkheder draw on original interviews and hitherto unexamined texts, combining insights from fields as diverse as politics, psychology, cultural studies, Islamic studies and humor research. Examining apparently spontaneous joking, professional comedy and even the jokes told by jihadis themselves, they show how Salafi jihad has been made laughable in the modern Arab world, and why it matters.

Our heroine, a moderately successful TV writer in L.A., wants her life to be as sunny and perfect as a Hollywood rom-com: a cool job, a wacky best friend, and lots of age-appropriate hot guys just dying to date her. Instead, she's a self-described spinster who is swimming in anxiety and just might have a tiny little brain tumor. So she turns to an unlikely source for inspiration: the eighteenth-century novelist and diarist Frances Burney, who pretty much invented the chick-lit novel. A semi-autobiographical unromantic comedy, The Spinster Diaries is a laugh-out-loud satire of both the TV business and the well-worn conventions of chick lit—as well as the true tale of the forgotten writer who inspired Jane Austen to greatness. It's an endearing and refreshingly honest testament to how one person's life can reach out across the centuries to touch another's.

Splitting through the clear waters beside the rainbow hotel, Daniel Benchimol finds a waterproof mango-yellow camera and uncovers the photographed reveries of a famous Mozambican artist, Moira. In this exquisite new novel, Agualusa's reader loses all sense of reality.In The Society of Reluctant Dreamers, Daniel dreams of Julio Cortázar in the form of an ancient giant cedar, his friend Hossi transforming into a dark crow, and most often of the Cotton-Candy-Hair-Woman, Moira, staring right back at him. After emails back-and-forth, Moira and Daniel meet, and Daniel becomes involved in a mysterious project with a Brazilian neuroscientist, who's creating a machine to photograph people's dreams. Set against the dense web of Angola's political history, Daniel crosses the hazy border between dream and reality, sleepwalking towards a twisted and entirely strange present.

In this “blisteringly innovative and outrageous” (The Observer) novel that the Los Angeles Times describes as'somewhere between Nabokov's Pnin and Veep,” a young politician discovers a mysterious stuffed aardvark on his doorstep and sets out on a journey to find out what it means.Early one August morning, millennial congressman Alexander Paine Wilson (R) receives a strange package in the mail. Inside is an enormous taxidermied aardvark. What does it mean? Well, everything. Hurtling from the beginning of the universe to present-day Washington, DC, this astonishing, edge-of-your-seat novel is at once a piercing look into the sick heart of our democracy and a profoundly moving meditation on the nature of love, power, and evil. In the end you will not only know the meaning of the aardvark, you will see our current reality through new eyes.•One of Time Magazine's Must-Read Books of 2020•

The hilarious collection of'leaked'correspondence between Michael Spicer's genius comic creation - AKA The Man in the Room Next Door - and political figures, ranging from Boris Johnson to Donald Trump and Jared Kushner. Just who is the secret political adviser calling himself The Man in the Room Next Door? No one knows. We don't even know his name. But now the lid is about to be blown clean off, because the secret files of the world's most influential• political media adviser are published in this book. Packed with letters, memos, texts, tweets, emails, journal entries, leaked documents and crude doodles, these pages will reveal who The Man in the Room Next Door is and, more importantly, his thoughts on those who employ his services, including Donald ‘dangerous puffin'Trump, Boris ‘posh motorboat'Johnson and some of their least competent colleagues. This book is the evidence that anyone can be a world leader. Just as long as they're wearing the right earpiece. •fictional The files for this title were updated and resupplied by the publisher on 26 October 2020 to correct some formatting issues with the ebook edition. Users may need to update their devices in order to access the latest files.

The First Men in the Moon tells the story of a journey to the moon undertaken by the two protagonists, a businessman narrator, Mr. Bedford, and an eccentric scientist, Mr. Cavor. Bedford and Cavor discover that the moon is inhabited by a sophisticated extraterrestrial civilization of insect-like creatures they call'Selenites'.

The former White House correspondent shares “a tale of an ambitious but principled on-air journalist navigating the ego-infested waters of cable news” (Washington Post).Natalie Savage grew up focusing her ambition on her reporting career instead of her personal life. Now her efforts are paying off. Offered the title of White House correspondent—temporarily—she knows she has the grit, principles, and instincts to succeed. But first she must compete with a vacuous frat boy for the position.Navigating rating wars, sexual harassment and an international political crisis to prove herself, Natalie begins to wonder if achieving her dreams really means compromising on everything she stands for.This juicy insider's take on contemporary journalism tackles dirty politics, the #MeToo movement, and accusations of fake news as a dedicated young woman does all she can to hold truth to power.

A savage satire of a United States in the throes of insanity, this hilarious novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Circle tells the story of a noble ship, the Glory, and the loud, clownish, and foul Captain who steers it to the brink of disaster.'A short parable for our times that is 30 percent Veep, 30 percent Voltaire, and the rest flavored by Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Swift, Percival Everett, and Salman Rushdie.'—Los Angeles Review of BooksWhen the decorated Captain of a great ship descends the gangplank for the final time, a new leader, a man with a yellow feather in his hair, vows to step forward. Though he has no experience, no knowledge of nautical navigation or maritime law, and though he has often remarked he doesn't much like boats, he solemnly swears to shake things up. Together with his band of petty thieves and confidence men known as the Upskirt Boys, the Captain thrills his passengers, writing his dreams and notions on the cafeteria wipe-away board, boasting of his exemplary anatomy, devouring cheeseburgers, and tossing overboard anyone who displeases him. Until one day a famous pirate, long feared by passengers of the Glory but revered by the Captain for how phenomenally masculine he looked without a shirt while riding a horse, appears on the horizon. Absurd, hilarious, and all too recognizable, The Captain and the Glory is a wicked farce of contemporary America only Dave Eggers could dream up.

'One of the genuine masterpieces of sci-fi.'— R. D. MullenIn this satirical and enduringly relevant work of science fiction, the acclaimed Czech author Karel Čapek offers a prescient fable of the benefits and dangers of atomic power. Originally published in 1922, the story is set in a then-futuristic Czechoslovakia of 1943, in which an inventor develops the Karburator, a device with the potential to provide abundant low-cost energy. But the reactor's exciting possibilities are shadowed by its dangerous side effect: instead of carbon dioxide, it emits the Absolute, a spiritual essence that inspires a powerful religious fervor. Greed triumphs over ethics as the inventor and his business partner proceed with mass production of the Karburator, resulting in simmering religious strife that ignites a world war.Karel Čapek is best known for popularizing the term'robot'in his play R.U.R., a seminal work of science fiction in which the robots are metaphors for a world dehumanized by social organization and technology. He offers another strikingly foresighted vision in The Absolute at Large, written decades before global warming awareness yet predicting the catastrophic consequences of the unchecked pursuit of profit by business and industry.

Forget pigs and carthorses and bring on the Big Beasts, because Animal Farm has been reimagined. This time it's the creatures in the zoo that have decided to take back control. And instead of a parable about the evils of communism, the fable is the life of Margaret Thatcher.It's 2010, and Baroness Thatcher (a lappet-faced vulture) is losing it. And so she's an unreliable narrator: grand, uncompromising, deluded. But before she drops off her perch, it's time to set the record straight. What turned a grocer's daughter from Grantham into the most powerful woman in the world? What put all that infamous iron into her soul?And it's also time to take a satirical swipe at other, more recent prime ministers. Who is the battle-scarred rhino caught in the glare of the spotlights? And why does he agree with Nick? What animal is David Cameron? And why would Lady Thatcher want to inspect some organ that has been inserted into the mouth of a pig?‘Hilarious – sometimes devastatingly so.'– Lindsay Clarke, prize-winning author of The Chymical Wedding

In this exuberantly satirical novel, the tutor Atzbacher has been summoned by his friend Reger to meet him in a Viennese museum. While Reger gazes at a Tintoretto portrait, Atzbacher—who fears Reger's plans to kill himself—gives us a portrait of the musicologist: his wisdom, his devotion to his wife, and his love-hate relationship with art. With characteristically acerbic wit, Bernhard exposes the pretensions and aspirations of humanity in a novel at once pessimistic and strangely exhilarating.'Bernhard's... most enjoyable novel.'—Robert Craft, New York Review of Books.'Bernhard is one of the masters of contemporary European fiction.'—George Steiner

Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer Yahtzee Croshaw (Mogworld, Jam, Will Save the Galaxy for Food).A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret.After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history--and magical citizens--to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.On the trail of the killer are the Ministry's top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician.But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness...

For readers craving a humorous antidote to the sound and the fury of American politics, this clever satire, written in iambic pentameter in the style of Shakespeare, wittily fictionalizes the events of the first two years of the Trump administration.No one thought that MacTrump—Lord of MacTrump Towers, Son of New York—would ascend to the highest position in the kingdom. Yet with the help of his unhappy but dutiful wife Lady MacTrump, his clever daughter Dame Desdivanka, and his coterie of advisers, MacTrump is comfortably ensconced in the White Hold as President of the United Fiefdoms, free to make proclamations to his subjects through his favorite messenger, McTweet.The Democrati, mourning the loss of their cherished leader O'Bama, won't give up without a fight. They still remember the disastrous reign of George the Lesser, and they can see Putain's dark influence on MacTrump. Their greatest hope is MacMueller, tasked with investigating the plot that empowered MacTrump's rise to the throne.As Desdivanka schemes to overthrow her father's councilors, and as Donnison and Ericson—trapped in their own Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-like storyline—prove useless to their father, MacTrump soon realizes he has no true allies. Will he be able to hold on to his throne? Only time will tell in this tragicomic tale of ambition, greed, and royal ineptitude.

A comedy for our times” (The Guardian), Middle England is a piercing and provocative novel about a country in crisis. From the frenzy of the 2012 Olympics to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, here Jonathan Coe chronicles the story of modern Britain by way of a cast of characters whose world is being upended.There are newlyweds who disagree about the country's future and, possibly, their relationship; a political commentator who writes impassioned columns about austerity from his lavish town house while his radical teenage daughter undertakes a relentless quest for universal justice; and Benjamin Trotter, who embarks on an apparently doomed new career in middle age, and his father, whose last wish is to vote to leave the European Union. A sequel to The Rotters'Club and The Closed Circle that stands entirely alone, Middle England is a darkly comic look at our strange new world.

In response to the dire economic conditions in eighteenth-century Ireland, A Modest Proposal ironically exhorts the poor to provide their offspring as food to the rich. Skilfully applying a wealth of classical rhetorical techniques, Swift's satirical tour de force takes a savage swipe at the selfishness of the ruling classes and the heartlessness of the various utilitarian solutions put forward by contemporary thinkers. In addition to this seminal piece, this volume includes other humorous and polemical writings – which, taken together, provide an invaluable introduction to Swift as a master satirist and pamphleteer. Contains: ‘A Short View of the State of Ireland', ‘A Modest Proposal', ‘The Present State of Ireland Considered'and ‘An Examination of Certain Abuses, Corruptions and Enormities in the City of Dublin'

Over the centuries leading up to their composition many genres and authors have emerged as influences on Horace's Satires, which in turn has led to a wide variety of scholarly interpretations. This study aims to expand the existing dialogue by exploring further the intersection of ancient satire and ethics, focusing on the moral tradition of Epicureanism through the lens of one source in particular: Philodemus of Gadara. Philodemus was an Epicurean philosopher who wrote for a Roman audience and was one of Horace's contemporaries and neighbours in Italy. His works, which were preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 but have nevertheless not been widely read on account of their fragmentary nature, feature a range of ethical treatises on subjects including patronage, friendship, flattery, frankness, poverty, and wealth. Epicurean Ethics in Horace: The Psychology of Satire offers a serious consideration of the role of Philodemus'Epicurean teachings in Horace's Satires and argues that the central concerns of the philosopher's work not only lie at the heart of the poet's criticisms of Roman society and its shortcomings, but also lend to the collection a certain coherence and overall unity in its underlying convictions. The result is a ground-breaking study of the deep and pervasive influence of Epicurean ethical philosophy on Horace's Satires, which also reveals something of the poet behind the literary mask or persona by demonstrating the philosophical consistency of his position throughout the two books.

Satire on everyday life. A reflection on the value and personal relationships between individuals. How to act in front of current reality? PUBLISHER: TEKTIME

Viaje del Parnaso es una obra narrativa en verso de Miguel de Cervantes publicada el año 1614 escrita en tercetos que cuenta el viaje al monte Parnaso de Cervantes y los mejores poetas españoles para librar una batalla alegórica contra los malos poetas.

Classic science fiction novel. According to Wikipedia:'Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books. Together with Jules Verne, Wells has been referred to as'The Father of Science Fiction'.

Larnaca Press makes the world's greatest literature available at the touch of a button for less than a dollar, and every book has a linked table of contents to make reading easier. Martin Chuzzlewit was the last picaresque novel written by the legendary Charles Dickens. The novel, well known for its satirical tone and theme of selfishness, centers around a young boy living with his grandfather.

Master storyteller Henry James transports readers to New England in the 1870s for his satire of the American women's rights movement. Charismatic speaker Verena Tarrant is at the center of an acrimonious struggle between two distant cousins. Olive Chancellor sees Verena as a potential leader of the suffragettes and jealously attempts to isolate her protégée from the society of men. The man Olive particularly abhors is cynical Southern lawyer Basil Ransom, who seeks a conventional marriage with Verena. The rivalry between liberal Olive and conservative Basil for Verena's attentions and loyalty forms a compelling tale of politics, feminism, and a nascent lesbian attraction.Set in the decade following the Civil War, The Bostonians offers a fascinating portrait of its era, particularly in its reflection of women's social roles. James's highly visual descriptions of town and country scenes complement the abstractions of his characters'attitudes and arguments, and the narrative abounds in his customary acute insights and subtle irony.

Sympathetic, good-for-nothing Rosso Fiorentino leaves the beautiful Italian Riviera to follow the woman he loves to America, and soon finds himself the hero of a darkly funny tale when his improbable business plan becomes the rage on Wall Street.Rosso Fiorentino, a charming loser who dreams of becoming a writer, falls in love with Chloé, a brilliant young woman with a troubled past. They meet in India, where famous Italian novelist the Maestro has decided to spend his last days. They cross paths again in Portofino, and Rosso, following the Maestro's injunction to finally do something worthwhile with his life, enlists the help of his friends, a baker and a street peddler, to follow Chloé to America and sell focaccia on the streets of New York. While Rosso struggles to make a living with odd jobs, Chloé, now armed with a law degree from Chicago, gets hired by a top Wall Street firm.Rosso is eventually able to achieve his dream, opening a little bakery in Queens, followed by a second on Broadway. The business is an instant success. The banks start throwing money at him, and overnight the company undergoes the largest IPO in U.S. history. At least until the bubble bursts and all plays out in a New York courtroom.This modern fairy tale about ambition, hubris, love, and redemption exposes the absurdity of the 2008 global meltdown, and foreshadows the future, all with scintillating wit.

A fast, funny, deeply hilarious debut--The Glitch is the story of a high-profile, TED-talking, power-posing Silicon Valley CEO and mother of two who has it all under control, until a woman claiming to be a younger version of herself appears, causing a major glitch in her over-scheduled, over-staffed, over-worked life.Shelley Stone, wife, mother, and CEO of the tech company Conch, is committed to living her most efficient life. She takes her'me time'at 3:30 a.m. on the treadmill, power naps while waiting in line, schedules sex with her husband for when they are already changing clothes, and takes a men's multivitamin because she refuses to participate in her own oppression. But when she meets a young woman also named Shelley Stone who has the same exact scar on her shoulder, Shelley has to wonder: Is she finally buckling under all the pressure? Completely original, brainy, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Glitch introduces one of the most memorable characters in recent fiction and offers a riotous look into work, marriage, and motherhood in our absurd world.