Customer Reviews:
The Readers Digest of cultural understanding.......2007-08-09
Nothing I've seen is more clearly and heart warmingly convincing of the advantages to understanding other cultures. The person who reads and rereads this book will have keys to life skills that will serve them in all professional contexts, all relationships, all cultures.
This is profundity made accessible and simple.
BryanLeeDavidson.......2007-04-03
Every one should read this book. No matter who you are or where your from it's an eye opener.
best cultural adjustment handbook.......2007-02-08
This is a succinct and accurate guidebook on the basic differences between cultures. The author has personal experience of many different cultures and offers a practical framework from which the reader can evaluate experiences in differing cultures. My husband and I use it much in our international work/travel situations, give it away often, and lend our own copy out frequently to those traveling in or moving to new cultures. Great resource.
Foreign to Familiar.......2007-01-10
Having lived overseas for 8 years, I find this information incredibly right on, and such an enjoyable and easy read, full of good stories. I have shared several of Sarah's stories with friends who also have lived cross-culterally.
A Blessing to the World Traveller.......2006-03-03
As short as this book may be, the words and insight provided on these pages is essential for anyone from any walk of life entertaining the idea of world travel. It gives you something to work with in understanding other people's views. Excellent read!
Book Description
What is popular culture? How does it differ from mass culture? And what does popular "text" reveal about class, race, and gender dynamics in a society? In this bestselling work, Prof. Fiske takes a new approach to studying cultural artifacts.
Customer Reviews:
True intellectual at work.......1999-10-01
Fiske is one of the few intellectuals considering the media in an easily accessible way whose work doesn't fall into the boring, and woefully inadequate school of 'the media is making every child a killer' stupidity. He carefully and with relevance examines just how media audiences use media texts to produce what we want from them: we are not as controlled by the evil corporate powers as much as either they or knee-jerk reactionary critics would like us to believe. A thoroughly well written and engaging read, and one that will challenge your mind in great ways
Book Description
"Blog" is short for "Web log"-an online site with time-dated postings, maintained by one or more posters, that features links and commentary. But that is like saying a car is a means of transportation featuring four wheels. Millions are changing their habits when it comes to information acquisition, and the blogosphere has appeared so suddenly as to surprise even the most sophisticated of analysts. In
Blog, best-selling author Hugh Hewitt helps you catch up with and get ahead of this phenomenon.
Up until now no influential blogger has written a definitive book about this phenomenon. Since Hugh Hewitt's blog site-
HughHewitt-was launched in early 2002, more than 10 million people have visited this site. Why does this visitor traffic matter? People's attentions are up for grabs. If you depend upon the steady trust of others, suddenly you have an audience waiting to hear from you. The race is underway, though, to gain mindspace and to be part of the blogosphere readers' habits and to position yourself as well as your business or organization at the forefront of this information movement.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book on Blogs.......2007-07-21
Hugh is one of the pioneers of blogging. He presents a good summary of what blogging is and how blogging will impact our future.
The big picture, from a political junkies slant.......2007-03-18
This impeccably well-written book (this dude can write!) is about blogs and how they are melting down mainstream media's influence and importance.
Hugh Hewitt asserts that "People's attentions are up for grabs" and blogs are capturing much of that attention. He is a national syndicated radio host and has one of the most popular political opinion blogs with over 100,000 unique visitors some days. His knowledge of the blogoshere is apparent. He examines recent events that have brought blogs into the mainstream consciousness including Dan Rather's recent disaster involving forged documents.
Hugh doesn't hide his political opinions or the fact that he is a political junkie. Although this book is a quick and fun read, those not interested in US politics may end up skimming some of the later sections including the 41-page appendix A, "Early Writings on Blogging."
Part 1 contains historical information on significant blogging events, all political in nature, a fascinating comparison of the development of the movable type printing press and blogs, and a brief history of text as it relates to blogging. Although I ignore politics as much as possible, each of his examples were familiar to me as they were "big deals" in the news. His concept of "blog storms" is interesting; when many blogs start examining the same events or story, an opinion storm brews and if it breaks, fundamentally changes the public's perceptions. Examples include John Kerry's Vietnam service in August 2004 and Dan Rather's blind faith in his forged documents in September 2004.
Part 2 focuses on the meltdown of mainstream media due in part to their extreme leftwing political bias and loss of trust with most news consumers. Hugh also comments briefly on a large number of influential and widely read blogs, primarily political in nature. He makes a good case that blogs have gained the trust that mainstream media has lost. "Why bloggers blog?" is an interesting question. Hewitt believes that bloggers are vain and blog for two reasons: to persuade, and to leave a record of having been there. He claims that both pursuits are a blast in real time and I concur. In the recent past, those who wanted to persuade had to persuade someone to let them persuade, for example a magazine or newspaper editor. Today the gatekeeper is gone. Anyone can start a blog, and if they have something interesting to say and some luck, might generate an enormous audience. The public takes on the role of editor by choosing what to read or not read. Bloggers have the same authority as big name columnists for the mainstream media, whether they have 10 or 10,000 regular readers.
Part 3 is the most fascinating but by its nature least detailed section. It concentrates on blogs and business uses, which are in their infancy. Hewitt suggests first developing a defensive blog strategy, as the destructive power of the blogosphere is immense. He then moves onto ways to use blogs for public relations and marketing purposes, including suggestions on finding appropriate bloggers for organizations, and advertising on blogs. Hewitt's "A Dozen Blogs I Would Start If I Were . . ." contains some fascinating thoughts on uses for blogs. The last chapter, "Getting Started: The Technology," contains very little technical advice as Hewitt isn't a technologist, but does have a superb list of key rules of "blogging success and significance."
I fully enjoyed this book despite despising politics. Since much of blog's recent rise into the public consciousness has been due to political events, some political content is unavoidable. Hewitt makes no apology for his political views or focus, and he shouldn't. He simply uses his experiences with blogs, which are unabashedly political, as his primary view into the blogosphere. The book is worth reading just for Hewitt's many insights, for example that bloggers run the spectrum from pure aggregators of other's materials to pure analysts, "blogs are about trust," and bloggers are part of a new culture of hyperscutiny.
Too Political.......2007-03-06
Too much right-slanting political dribble in this book. Do we really need another book about blogging?
The Power of Blogging - I Think You Already Know ;).......2006-12-07
One of my current interests is "how to blog successfully", and when I came across Hugh Hewitt's book Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World, it inevitably peaked my interest, wanting to look for insights that can help me become a better blogger.
However, this is the wrong book for that - or rather, this is a prequel to the howto's that I was wishing for.
Hewitt's book is intended as a business justification for individuals and businesses that are still undecided on the virtue of blogging. He started the book by providing real world examples where the blogosphere generated impacts at national and world stages. That used to be the realm of influence for the Main Stream Media (MSM), but the toppling of Trent Lott and the Rathergate incident opened the door for the blogosphere as a legitimate alternative media outlet. Hewitt then further extrapolate the trend and draw parallels to Gutenberg's printing revolution to predict an oncoming media revolution, and ask reader to prepare and utilize for oncoming blog swarm. And finally, he shared some thoughts on what can people blog, and how to prepare a blog strategy for businesses.
While Hewitt gave extensive treatment and account on the historical blogosphere events and formulate his thesis on the blog revolution, it provides little information on implementation. Of course, the title of the book does not suggest an in-depth analysis of successful blogging, so it would be unfair of me to say this book did not meet an objective that it should not meet, but it would be interesting to see if the author would publish a sequel on that particular topic.
Now - I did not know of Hugh Hewitt before I pick up the book, and I was surprised to the amount of political overtones and the despise toward MSM in the book. He is definitely not shy about his views on some of these subjects, and it feels "in-you-face". If you are not a Hewitt fan already or you are not used to hearing people speaking in tones of "I know better than you", then you might not enjoy this book too much.
Who will get benefit from this book?
If you are thinking of blogging, either for personal or business reasons, but are still unsure about the possible impacts (or returns), then this book should do it for you.
On the other hand, if you are already blogging, or decided to start blogging, then you can safely skip this book without losing much. But of course, you can always buy the book for an interesting recount of what happened to Lott and Rather ;)
Don't waste your money or valuable reading time!.......2006-09-05
Quite simply, I just couldn't get through the boorish political slamming. The author did not deliver on the promise "Understanding The Information Reformation That's Changing Your World". It's more about Hughy Hewitt's political tyrants than a serious inquiry on Blogs. He should take a course in writing, or run for office. Wish I could get a refund.
Book Description
Understanding Theology and Popular Culture is one of the first books to give a complete overview of the key issues and methods in this field of study. It provides a clear introduction to key theories and debates for those new to the subject, as well as developing a useful discussion and overview for more advanced researchers. Drawing on original case studies ranging from Eminem to The Simpsons, the text examines the nature and functions of popular culture, and presents a reasoned argument about the distinctive contribution that theology can make to popular culture studies.
Customer Reviews:
A Creative and Helpful Overview of the Field.......2005-11-26
Many theologians write about "popular culture," either directly or indirectly, but theology has been lacking a text that would help situate the larger field of studies in religion and popular culture. Lynch has written such a text: a map for theologians interested in the contemporary debates, as well as a proposal for a theological development of the key questions.
This book makes some very important contributions: foregrounding the importance of theological debates in the correlational tradition for pop culture/theology work; holding out the dignity of the experimental moment in which the "field" finds itself, mirrored in the trifecta of readings of pop culture artifacts in the latter part of the book; introducing the significance of judgment for pop culture/theology work; and strongly joining theological analysis of pop culture to the problematic of the everyday. That's a lot of boulders moved forward in about 200 pages.
I have some questions about whether and how the problem of "normativity" is the best way to describe the ethical impasse Lynch narrates in the field today. Still, this is an excellent book for helping theologians catch up to where the current debates are, or as a text for students to help them see how a seemingly simple task--asking how God and culture relate--is so complicated.
Tom Beaudoin
Santa Clara University
Book Description
`Graeme Turner is one of the leading figures in cultural studies today. When his gaze turns to celebrity, the result is a readable and compelling
account of this most perplexing and infuriating of modern phenomena. Read on!' -
Toby Miller, New York University
We cannot escape celebrity culture: it is everywhere. So just what is the cultural function of celebrity?
This is the first comprehensive overview of the production and consumption of celebrity from within cultural and media studies. The pervasive influence of contemporary celebrity, and the cultures it produces, has been widely noticed. Earlier studies, though, have tended to focus on the consumption of celebrity or on particular locations of celebrity - Hollywood, or the sports industries for instance. This book presents a broad survey across all media as well as a new synthesis of theoretical positions, that will be welcomed by all students of media and cultural studies. Among its attributes are the following:
-It provides an overview and evaluation of the key debates surrounding the definition of celebrity, its history, and its social and cultural function.
-It examines the `celebrity industries’: the PR and publicity structures that manufacture celebrity.
-It looks at the cultural processes through which celebrity is consumed.
-It draws examples from the full range of contemporary media - film, television, newspapers, magazines and the web.
Book Description
Since the 1930s the Walt Disney Company has produced characters, images, and stories which have captivated audiences around the world. How can we understand the appeal of Disney products? What is it about the Disney phenomenon that attracts so many children as well as adults?In this major new book, Janet Wasko examines the processes by which the Disney company - one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world - manufactures the fantasies which enthrall millions. She analyses the historical expansion of the Disney empire, examines the content of Disney's classic films, cartoons and TV programs and shows how they are produced, considering how some of the same techniques have been applied to the Disney theme parks. She also discusses the reception of Disney products by different kinds of audiences. By looking at the Disney phenomenon from a variety of perspectives, she provides a fresh and comprehensive account of one of the most significant media and cultural institutions of our time.This important book by a leading scholar of the entertainment industries will be of great interest to students in media and cultural studies and will appeal to a wide readership.
Customer Reviews:
"Academia" at it's worst..........2004-04-15
Being a Disney nut, I'll read just about anything that talks about the Disney corporation and culture. I found Understanding Disney at the library and eagerly picked it up. What a waste...
I should have been clued in on page 5 with this statement: "The continued expansion and popularity of the Disney empire calls for the deliberate integration of political economic analysis with insights drawn from cultural analysis and audience studies or reception analysis, or, in other words, analysis emphasizing the economic as well as the ideological, or production as well as consumption."
Huh?
She teaches a class at the University of Oregon on this stuff. Very academic and abstract, and too much so for my liking. While there were some interesting factoids about Walt's true history vs. the story told by Disney, she went into pure academia all too often. An example, labeled "Psychoanalysis And Pinocchio": "Brody observes the anal images and incorporation themes have been common in Disney tales, citing examples from The Three Little Pigs and Peter Pan. Anal images, especially featuring the "often-kick-in-the-butt" Jiminy Cricket, are a rampant in Pinocchio as images of erection (Pinocchio's nose, the donkey ears), and incorporation is appearnt in the scenes of Pinocchio and Gepetto in the whale's stomach."
Please!!!! You have *got* to be kidding me... She even covers Marxist analysis and the imperialist Disney. And kids pay to take this class?
Wasko is a bit verbose.......2003-06-04
I have to agree with another reviewer. The text can be tedious and annoying while not conveying any information. Her many references to "which I will discuss in chapter (x)..." is so common it becomes a joke in her writing. While the text can be informative at times her writing style tends to be annoying and pretentious. It's reminiscent of a speaker who spends all their time telling you what they are going to tell you, that they dont really have that much to say in the end.
the best book I have ever read about Disney.......2003-01-02
I have read many books on Disney. This book gives you all the details you want. It tells about the fun and interesting facts you want to know about disney. This book is a must. I have two of them just incase something happens to one of them.
Some things are just unnecessary..........2002-03-23
While the book is very interesting the author's constant use of phrases such as "which I'll discuss later in chapter x", "which we talked about in chapter x" was extremely distracting. She seemed to use this phrase at least once a page. Maybe she was just trying to make the book longer - who knows.
Information from Publisher's Web Site.......2001-11-04
Here is some information about this book from Polity Press:
Since the 1930s the Walt Disney Company has produced characters, images, and stories which have captivated audiences around the world. How can we understand the appeal of Disney products? What is it about the Disney phenomenon that attracts so many children as well as adults?
In this major new book, Janet Wasko examines the processes by which the Disney company - one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world - manufactures the fantasies which enthrall millions. She analyses the historical expansion of the Disney empire, examines the content of Disney's classic films, cartoons and TV programs and shows how they are produced, considering how some of the same techniques have been applied to the Disney theme parks. She also discusses the reception of Disney products by different kinds of audiences. By looking at the Disney phenomenon from a variety of perspectives, she provides a fresh and comprehensive account of one of the most significant media and cultural institutions of our time.
This important book by a leading scholar of the entertainment industries will be of great interest to students in media and cultural studies and will appeal to a wide readership.
Book Description
Disputes over religion and science, such as the divide between teaching "intelligent design" and evolution in U.S. schools, have brought to the public eye a struggle that Anthony Aveni argues is as old as culture itself. All societies seek to understand the natural world, but their search is shaped by culturally distinct views and experiences. In Uncommon Sense, Aveni explores the common and conflicting ways that ancient and contemporary societies have searched for the literal truth about the natural world's mysteries, from dinosaur bones to the Star of Bethlehem. Aveni demonstrates that a society's approach to making sense of the natural world can serve as a working definition of its culture, so strongly does it resonate with fundamental values and assumptions.
In ten fascinating essays, Aveni examines topics that have absorbed scientists, religious figures, and ordinary citizens over the centuries. He traces the tug of war between astronomy and astrology, reveals the underpinnings of our notions of cartography and the representation of space and time, and much more.
Readers interested in science, history, and world cultures will revel in this celebration of different cultures' common and uncommon questions and conclusions about the natural world.
Book Description
The Internet is transforming business, education, and maybe even ourselves. In this timely and unique text, Adam Joinson provides a clear, engaging and lively summary of the psychology of the Internet, while at the same time drawing lessons from previous technologies as diverse as the early telephone, telegraph, and even radio hams. Mixing anecdote with findings from psychological studies, this book provides a clear, compelling and insightful vision of the psychology of the Internet, and the implications for the design of future technologies.
Average customer rating:
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Open Fire: Understanding Global Gun Cultures
Charles Fruehling Springwood
Manufacturer: Berg Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Popular Culture
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Violence in Society
| Social Sciences
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General
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ASIN: 1845204174
Release Date: 2007-01-09 |
Book Description
Guns are everywhere: three quarters of a billion guns - from pistols to machine guns - exist in the world today. And guns are everything: a hard-won symbol of individual freedom, an index of crime and disorder, a whole industry legitimately contributing to an economy, a popular piece of sports equipment, and an object of desire, endlessly duplicated by toys, video games and films. Open Fire presents a broad analysis of the social, cultural and political significance of firearms and the worlds they create. Illustrated with a wide range of case material - from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa - Open Fire explores and questions this global icon of our times. Why do guns proliferate? What does it mean to shoot or to be shot? Who owns guns and who does not? How is a firearm, a manufactured thing, very different from any other object? Is there such a thing as a "gun psychology"? How are firearms regarded in places where they are largely non-existent? Is a gun a different thing when held by a white man?
Average customer rating:
- Men and Boys, Their Toys and How it Relates to Women
- An appealing pick
- Part gadget book, part pop psychology and all fun
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Boys And Their Toys: Understanding Men by Understanding Their Relationship With Gadgets
Bill, Jr. Adler
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
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Men
| Gender Studies
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| Relationships
| Health, Mind & Body
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Similar Items:
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The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy
ASIN: 081447344X |
Book Description
The key to understanding men is in understanding how they relate to their gadgets. Just because they may seem to show more interest in their computers...or their remote controls...or their fancy watches or their power mowers or their stereos... doesn't mean that their toys are really the most important things in their life. In Boys and Their Toys, bestselling author Bill Adler, Jr. explains how men use toys to assert their independence and freedom, relieve stress, connect to their lost childhood, and even express their nurturing side (without having to admit it). Written in Adler's fun, humorous style, the book reveals how women can:
* learn how a man's interest in particular "toys" can be used to predict his behavior
* know when a guy's passion for gadgets crosses the line into obsession and what to do about it
* take advantage of the human-gadget relationship to improve the human-human relationship
Smart and funny, Boys and Their Toys helps readers understand what makes their men tick...and grow closer with them in the process.
Customer Reviews:
Men and Boys, Their Toys and How it Relates to Women.......2007-06-03
As a male, I was truly unaware of how I connected with gadgets and how I connected with women through my connection with gadgets. When I sat down to analyze what the author had written, I realized that he has hit, dead on, how males function with the world around them. Written in a light style, this book is a must for all women who want to figure out why men seem to be more connected with their toys than they are their marriages. Buy it...you won't regret it!
An appealing pick.......2007-02-09
BOYS AND THEIR TOYS: UNDERSTANDING MEN BY UNDERSTANDING THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GADGETS provides a fun, light survey of how men use gadgets to make statements about freedom, knowledge, independence and even lost childhood. From telephones to remote controls, differences between male and female perspectives and usage offers insights into behavior, choice, and marketing to men. Academic and public library Business Studies reference collections will find it an appealing pick as suitable for business pursuits as for light general-interest reading for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the psychology of men and their attachment to technology.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Part gadget book, part pop psychology and all fun.......2006-12-01
The author of this book contacted me some time ago for my input about gadgets because he had heard that I am fascinated by the latest and greatest stuff. After we talked, he asked if I would write a few paragraphs about my favorite toy. I think he expected some electronic gizmo but instead I wrote about my motorcycle.
Here is, in part, what I wrote:
"One of my passions is riding my motorcycle, a Honda 750 Aero. I know it's a cliché but riding is freedom and excitement. When you're on a motorcycle you can't think of anything else other than the ride. You are forced to be in the moment and pay attention to the least stimuli. Unlike being in a car, you have excellent visibility coupled with vulnerability. Your senses are constantly bombarded. You feel every crack in the road and every odor in the air. Rain and road debris are not just inconveniences, they are life threatening challenges. In our digital age, motorcycling is analog, Taking a sharp curve is not ones and zeros, it's in betweens and shades. A little throttle here, a little lean there. Conditions change every nano-second."
Well, this made it into the book among the other boys and their toys.
What's great about this book, is that it explains to women what makes men tick, and especially why they like gadgets. Adler shows how you can learn about a guy's personality through the kind of gadgets he buys (or doesn't buy), and I have to say that the author nailed it. But the book goes beyond merely explaining men's behavior. It's tells our wives and girlfriends that toys and gadgets are important for men. For example, they give us a sense of (and sometimes real) freedom; toys let us relive parts of our boyhood; toys relieve stress.
This is part gadget book, part pop psychology and all fun to read. This book is a winner (and not just because I'm in it!).
Books:
- Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
- Groovy in Action
- Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors
- Hashish!
- Hell's Angels
- Here It Is! The Route 66 Map Series
- History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
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