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Museums have become ground zero in America's culture wars. Whereas fierce public debates once centered on provocative work by upstart artists, the scrutiny has now expanded to mainstream cultural institutions and the ideas they present. In Displays of Power, Steven Dubin, whose Arresting Images was deemed "masterly" by the New York Times, examines the most controversial exhibitions of the 1990s. These include shows about ethnicity, slavery, Freud, the Old West, and the dropping of the atomic bomb by the Enola Gay. This new edition also includes a preface by the author detailing the recent Sensation! controversy at the Brooklyn Museum. Displays of Power draws directly upon interviews with many key combatants: museum administrators, community activists, curators, and scholars. It authoritatively analyzes these episodes of America struggling to redefine itself in the late 20th century.

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memories of amnesia, paris review edition ... Read more

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Chloe, a young reporter from L.A., gets the opportunity of a lifetime. She has an interview with Ike Reuben, a film-maker and novelist whose work has been a constant source of inspiration for her since college. This opportunity triggers Chloe's past in a series of flashbacks, containing memories that may actually threaten to impede her interview. But Ike has a past of his own to address, manifesting itself in the form of dreams, which are the result of some kind of narcolepsy, or uncontrollable "sleep attacks". He is somehow able to slip in between the cracks, laying unconscious in one reality, while living and witnessing another. When the two meet, they discover that their pasts are actually what can set them free, and that the line between memories and dreams is finer than they could ever imagine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good B&W comic --
-- but just didn't grab me.

B&W is good, or can be. No problem there. Drawing, photos, and photoshop stuff work for me too, some times. And so does non-linear storytelling, as long as I have some thread to hold onto.

This combination just ddn't come together for me, though. Drawing and photo mixes never looked finished, scan-lined flashbacks (flashforwards? flashes?) sat poorly in context.

There's a lot of energy here. Just not a lot of skill in either narration or visual storytelling. I look forward to truly enjoyable stories from this artistic team, given some more experience.

//wiredwierd

BALTIMORE CITY PAPER:All Shook Up, by Tom Chalkley
John Malloy didn't read a lot of comic books as a kid, and that's probably a good thing. The Baltimore artist's ambitious new graphic novel, Amnesia, is refreshingly free of the graphic and thematic clichés of American comic books, while making the most of the unique narrative qualities of the comics form. It helps, of course, that Malloy can really write and really draw; comicdom is fraught with both clunky collaborations and auteurs who can hold up one end of the act but not the other.

Amnesia begins with a young writer named Chloe who sets out to interview Ike Reuben, an artist/writer/filmmaker/musician whose work she not only admires, but finds strangely familiar. Reuben has just resurfaced--in Baltimore, of all places--after a long, unexplained disappearance. When Chloe finally finds him, he's in and out of a mysterious narcoleptic state. While others puzzle over his unconscious form, Reuben suffers through a series of harrowing, dreamlike sequences. Ultimately, Chloe gets sucked into Reuben's alternate world. It's not giving away too much to say that the story resolves on an unconventionally hopeful note. And, oh yes, there's a lone terrorist who slips in and out of the plot at crucial moments.

Amnesia is preoccupied with issues of memory, déjà vu, dreams, and parallel realities, themes that Malloy underscores by alternating graphic styles over the course of the story. Each of the book's three running subplots is portrayed in its own medium. The present-tense, "real world" story of Chloe's quest appears in angular pen-and-ink drawings that evoke harsh sunlight and the character's jangled nerves. Extended flashbacks to Chloe's childhood and youth are conveyed in atmospheric paintings. Reuben's hallucinatory experiences are told with digitally manipulated photography. Many comics artists employ this kind of graphically cued intercutting, as do filmmakers (think of the color shifts that sorted out the three story lines in last year's Traffic), but Malloy pulls it off with particular assurance. Amnesia's abrupt changes work because they conform to the story's weird logic, and because the characters are consistent regardless of the media depicting them. All the character art is based on photographic references--an easy shortcut to both naturalism and consistency--and the dialog reads, for the most part, like real people talking.

It would be surprising, however, if all this switch-hitting didn't result in a bit of unevenness. Amnesia's strongest passages, in terms of both text and artwork, are Chloe's flashbacks. Some of the small, gray paintings in these sequences look like snapshots from a dysfunctional family album; others, with objects in and out of focus, suggest the murkiness of childhood memories. The dialog between teenage Chloe and her abrasive party-brat friend Janice is heartbreakingly true to life, a stinging reminder of why we're glad we're not in high school anymore.

Amnesia's weakest link is a wordy section in which a mysterious character--a masked woman who has already made several disturbing appearances--lays out a theory of parallel realities that is supposed to explain why, among other things, poor Reuben keeps zoning off to his digital dreamworld. These cosmic notions may be close to the author's heart, but the four-page lecture temporarily hijacks the narrative and punctures the sense of mystery that has sustained the story up to that point. It also makes for a lot of pictures of a woman dressed in what looks like a Halloween costume. She, like her message, was more intriguing earlier in the story, when her appearances were more fleeting and suggestive.

Ultimately, Amnesia's hall-of-mirrors plot and metaphysical speculations make a less lasting impression than the story's overall mood of desperate, lonely disorientation. Both Chloe and Reuben are, in different ways, uprooted characters; they grope through the fog and find each other. Readers, along the way, have to grapple with some confusing images and scene shifts, but this is a deliberate part of Malloy's scheme.

Considering the sophistication and subtlety of Malloy's comics work, it comes as a surprise that he did relatively little work in the form--chiefly producing art to accompany other writers' stories, including illustrations for City Paper--before launching his own graphic novel. He says he began to pay serious attention to comics about seven years ago, when classmates at Luzerne County (Pa.) Community College turned him on to a number of fantasy titles, including Neil Gaiman's Sandman series and The Crow by James O'Barr. Of those early influences, he says, "It was something that really got me into the art form. I'd never really seen anything like it before."

He began to teach himself the art of comics while studying painting and graphic design at college. Temporarily seduced by the sensational and narrative possibilities of fantasy art, he imitated the steroid-enhanced figures of Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta before finding his own multimedia approach.

There's scant trace of such juvenile exploration in Amnesia. Thanks to his relatively late-in-life introduction to the comics form, Malloy has generally avoided the worn-out conventions that make some would-be graphic novels look like what they are: just fat comic books. Technically, as many independent artists have shown, there's no longer a compelling reason why comics have to be rendered in traditional black line with flat color. Amnesia revels in texture and tonality. As for the conventional genres of superheroes, fantasy, and so on, Malloy says he wanted Amnesia to be "unclassifiable." The characters' unremarkable physical appearance is based on the artist's friends, including several trained actors, who posed for reference photos.

Another surprise: Malloy, despite having spent 18 months on Amnesia, is not particularly committed to comics as an art form. Among his influences, Malloy cites not only comics artists (Dave McKean, Dave Mazzuchelli, and several others) but novelist Tom Robbins ("I really like the way he writes women") and filmmaker David Lynch. His Mount Vernon studio contains several unfinished easel paintings. And for his next trick, Malloy says he'd like to work on a small movie or video. A versatile guy, just like his fictional Ike Reuben. Says Malloy, "I sort of admire that . . . artists who keep doing something different." ... Read more

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This fictional short story is this author's attempt at using a bit of humor to address a subject of profound significance: the leader's need to ensure that they practice the most fundamental and important elements of leadership. Although fictional, many will relate to this story, which at times admittedly, takes on an autobiographical feel. This is the third book in the Legacy Leader series. The first - "The Legacy Leader" - began with my thesis that, of all the traits a leader can and must posses, only two are non-negotiable. Those two non-negotiable qualities of a leader are character and integrity. It also addressed what can be labeled as the mechanics of leadership. The second book in the 'The Legacy Leader Series' is "Breakthrough Thinking." It addressed what the leader must do to drive teams to accomplish things they would have initially thought impossible. In this third volume - The Leader's Lobotomy - we will prick the memories of leaders who, having reached positions of significant responsibility in their organizations, suddenly, and without warning, develop the horrible disease called PIA - Promotion Induced Amnesia. Fortunately, there is an effective antidote to PIA. For leaders who are self aware, and who possess healthy levels of emotional intelligence, PIA is rarely fatal. However, not all are so lucky, and PIA has sadly become the leading cause of premature termination of many leaders. In this story, Ted, Jim's Corporate Guardian Angel (CGA), tutors Jim - a newly promoted executive - on important leadership fundamentals to ensure that he does not become infected with PIA and suffer the same ill fate as other, less fortunate, leaders. In his own unique and sometimes humorously sarcastic style, Ted helps Jim to practice timeless leadership principles that have been the cornerstone of other successful leaders. ... Read more

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Nolan Withers was just an average guy, living a less than average life. Until the morning he awakens to find that he has Lethal Amnesia. Waking in a strange bed, dirty, bruised, and covered in blood, he discovers his entire memory is gone. Before he can begin to determine who or where he is, hardcore detective Lt. Anderson Cleves breaks down his door and arrests him for the murder of his girlfriend. A girlfriend he doesn't even remember! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great mystery thriller.Kept me turning the pages.
This book was a great read.From the very beginning it grabbed me and would not let me go until the very end. ... Read more

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Karl Krolow (1915-1999) was one of the most prominent German poets of the second half of the twentieth century. The sharply distinct phases of Krolow's work reflect the phases of German postwar poetry in general, giving his work a representative stature for the period; and his production as one of Germany's leading poetry critics is almost as impressive. Yet his poetry, despite its prominence, its stylistic facility, and his prolific output, has surprisingly not received sustained critical attention. This study locates for the first time the hidden thread that runs through Krolow's work: his uneasy relationship to the recent German past. During the entire period of Germany's gradual and often painful "coming to terms" with the Nazi regime, the war, and the Holocaust, Krolow engaged his technical virtuosity as a poet in a stunning avoidance of historical content, both Germany's and his own. He never addressed publicly his own activities in the Third Reich and during the war: this study fills in that gap and examines for the first time, with new historical research and documentation, his life during the Nazi period and his literary production before 1945, a body of work that has never before received any critical evaluation or even acknowledgment. With this new foundation, Neil Donahue presents Krolow's career from a wholly new perspective and provides a new foundation for future consideration of his work and of postwar German poetry in general. In so doing, Donahue presents in sum, but overturns, decades of Krolow criticism which, begun on a false footing, missed the real historical depth in his poems: the depth of avoidance.Neil H. Donahue is professor of German and Comparative Literature at Hofstra University. ... Read more

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In Legal Memories and Amnesias in America's Rhetorical Culture, Marouf Hasian, Jr. critically examines the rhetoric of law--specifically, the shifting lines between the notions of liberty and license. Hasian, Jr. explores how such issues as immigration, labor, national identity, race, and genetics have caused society to change how it thinks about, and uses, laws. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

THE LAW IS A LEGAL FICTION; OUR COURTS A LETHAL CIRCUS AND A THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
This book now seven years old should be required reading for each and every citizen of a democratic society, and ours too.

The author Dr. Hasian, with an additional doctorate in the Law, demystifies legal rhetoric and demands transparency for every citizen. He brilliantly reviews the history of law in America, including the Rosewood incident, Leo Frank, Holocaust trials, Typhoid Mary and quarantine, and John Brown declaring Natural Law at Harper's Ferry. He uncovers a "deep chasm between the principles of law and their dissemination in the public sphere" and protests the "Artificial boundaries . . . created between "principles" and mere opinion, judicial and "extrajudicial claims, the "rule of Law" and politics."

Interestingly this important polemical work was published in the year 2000, just before the interventionist Scalia-OConnor-Thomas-Rhenquist court threw our national elections, and before the invention of the legal issues surrounding Guantanamo, the suspension of Habeus Corpus, Abu Graibh, the violations of the War Powers Act, and the suspension of the United States Consitution by the current self-imposed administration. This book could be written to address each of these issues, unimaginable then. Or, rather, this book, and this author, would no longer find a publisher.

This courageous and insightful author guides us through this well footnoted book to become "skeptical of the claims of empowered decision makers who argue that they alone understand the "rule of law" while others misinterpret jurisprudental standards." He demands in our common and democratic social contract that all citizens be heard in the making and enforcing of the law, as our founders require of us. He supports his insights with equally brilliant quotations, including this from Peter Goodrich:

"Law is a literature which denies its literary qualities. It is a play on words which asserts an absolute seriousness; it is a genre of rhetoric which represses its moments of intention or fiction; it is a language that hides its indeterminacy in the justificatory discourse of judgment; it is a procedure based upon analogy, metaphor and repetition, and yet it claims to being a cold or disembodied prose. . . . It is in short, a speech or writing which forgets the violence of the word and the terror or jurisdiction of the text."

In short there is only one eternal, universal and infallible law for all peoples at all times, one of whose very simple clauses reads:
Thou shalt not kill.

I look forward to and pray for the good Doctor's update of this excellent and correct assessment of man's arbitrary and politicized law and its unjust application in our times. The situation has only become much worse.
... Read more

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The four Bleeker children try desperately to solve the mystery of Amnesia, a very special cat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Cat Called Amnesia a review by Rachel
"It's a life or death situation, if you want to consider it that way". During the Bleeker family's vacation, the four Bleeker kids Angus, (the protagonist), Trina, Ray, and Katie find a beautiful orange-brown and black striped tiger cat in A Cat Called Amnesia by E.W. Hildick. Amnesia comes to the Bleeker's farmhouse in Connecticut after a storm. Since they can't just take the cat home with them, the kids have to find the cat's owner, and fast. The kids only have a week to find the cat's owner, or the ASPCA will put the cat to sleep.
While the kids are searching for the cat's owner, they come across a trailer almost in the woods. The kids go up to the trailer and knock on the door. A lady comes out of the trailer and asks the kids what they want. When the kids show the lady the cat, she starts screaming like a teakettle. The kids start to think that she did something bad (like murder) and the cat reminds her of what she did. Just to make sure, the kids spy on her.
When the kids spy on the lady, the lady ends up spotting them. The lady came to the kid's house and told the parents what the kids did. Next, the kids tell the lady they're sorry and everybody why they did what they did. The lady apologizes for scaring the kids. She said she screamed because she was allergic to cats. She then told the kids to check for cat owners on boats and ask boat proprietors.
Do they ever find Amnesia's owner, or is it the end for the cat? If you want to know the answer, try reading "A Cat Called Amnesia" by E.W. Hildick. ... Read more

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"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you . . ." So begins a scripture in the Gospel of Thomas that inspires Amber during her quest to discover her true identity and the answers to the eternal questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose?

Although wrapped in the fictional elements of mystery, romance and drama, this book holds a true story of one woman?s extraordinary journey as she searches for answers to these profound questions.

Abducted by a stranger, Amber escapes with her life, but her memory, name and identity are lost. She regains her identity soon after she discovers some surprising information in ancient Gospels and the Gnostics? teachings. These ancient manuscripts were banned after their creation, hidden for centuries and discovered by accident in 1945, buried in Egypt.

During those first centuries, the Gnostics taught the value of the inner personal power of individuals. In order to teach these lessons that were banned, secret societies were formed and forced to hide from those in power. Amber becomes intrigued with these centuries-old mysteries as she struggles with life?s concerns and the mystery of her own identity.

During her journey to self-discovery, Amber finds the gifts of friendship and love. Finally, she unearths the most powerful treasure of all?one that liberates her for all time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

My New Outlook
After reading this remarkable I story, i found myself questioning my life.The story revolves around this woman who lost herself and in the process of finding who she once was, she discovered a whole new woman.Change is possible for anyone and that really is what this book taught me.The different characters seemed to be real and alive and I just felt like they were people I knew somewhere, people that I connected with or will connect with at some point.The different morals and lessons that were brought out in the various characters were accurate and true.Its a real life book in a real life world with real life people.Everyone can take something away from this book and that is why I love it and recommend it to everyone!Its not a self-help book more of an self-awareness book!

Enjoyable read.
This book is not only an enjoyable read, but also a self-help book to make us realize we can rise above bad situations. It is wonderful to see Amber's life unfold and see her become the wonderful woman she truly is.I would recommend this book.

Wonderful Read!!
Deciphering Amber is a wonderful read!!It was an amazing book that weaves a story of very resourceful women with a little self-help information interspersed throughout.A very easy, enlightening read that makes you feel you can do anything you set your mind to.Would definately recommend this book!

Deciphering Amber
Deciphering Amber

If you are looking for practical life skills, you will find them in this touching and illuminiating story.It is rare to find a fictional story that is revelant and helpful to the lives of ordinary people.It revolves around the disappearance of a young woman and how it changes her life and the lives of her family and friends.The main character, Amber, has lost her memory by a blow to her head but manages to free herself from an abductor and get medical help.Authorities botch up any attemps to locate someone to recognize her by missprinting her age in the newspaper as 12 instead of 21.

The story tells of the process that Amber took to become independant and get her life back on track.It tells the reader of her courage and hard work, and how the friendship of Cora enables her to return to life outside the shelter center.
Amber's process of healing includes joining a womens' group. Each week they read passages from many books of interest. Ms. Dickinson, the author, teaches us, without preaching, that with a belief in oneself, and along with perseverance and friendships, a person can lift themselves up and climb out of bad situations; by looking forward and setting goals it is possible to achieve our desires.She also accepts that bad things happen, like the abduction and that some marriages cannot be saved.We learn that it is important to make peace with your parents today because tomorrow may be too late. We learn that when you help others it comes back to you in ways you would not expect.By planting a garden you can enrich your life through the simple act of seeing its beauty on a daily basis--little things matter.

The gift of this book to any young woman can make a positive difference by teaching her to value herself. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more