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Spanning more than fifty years of family history, this chronicle of a creative father and son is partially set against the background of Hollywood. But! the heart of the story lies along the Camino de Santiagoâ"the thousand-year-old pilgrimage path, also known as âThe Way,â across northern Spain, from which Sheenâs father emigrated to the U.S. and to which Estevezâs own son has returned to live. There, Estevez directed his father in the filming of The Way, a major film to be released in October, 2011, and which has already garnered praise at the Toronto Film Festival. Along the Way celebrates the authorsâ profound bond with each other, offers candid insight into their lives and careers, and explores the differing paths of spirituality they have taken through a multigenerational saga that has come full circle beneath the Iberian sun. What emerges is a raw, strikingly intimate portrait of two seekers whom readers will come to know as strong men of many important roles, perhaps the greatest of which are as fathers and sons.This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a co! mmunity of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Pu! rchase o f the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery."The Way" is a powerful and inspirational story about family, friends, and the challenges we face while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world. Martin Sheen plays Tom, who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son , killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago,. Rather than return home, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage to honor his son's desire to finish the journey. What Tom doesn't plan on is the profound impact the journey will have on him. From the unexpected and, oftentimes, amusing experiences along "The Way," Tom begins to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world again. Through his unresolved relationship with his son, he di! scovers the difference between "the life we live and the life we choose."See Kai Run Emilio - Brown See Kai Run and Smaller promote healthy development of babies' and children's feet with their ultra-flexible soles, soft leather and wide toe box. Our footwear meets the American Podiatric Medical Association's rigorous standards for foot health and functionality and has been awarded the APMA's prestigious Seal of Acceptance. See Kai Run shoes are available in whole sizes 3 through 9 and are appropriate for pre and new walkers, as well as older toddlers up to 3 years old. See Kai Run and Smaller uppers are made from buttery-soft leather with breathable leather lining. Great care is taken to ensure that the leather used for our shoes meets the most stringent available US and international guidelines. Only quality materials are used to ensure the soft, flexible, comfortable shoes that are ideal for your child's feet. The exterior of See Kai Run & Smaller leather shoes can be sp! rayed with a non-toxic water repellent for extra protection. T! o clean our shoes, use a little mild detergent and a damp cloth and allow to air dry.

The daughter of a wealthy Virginia planter, innocent Rose Woodbine curses cruel fate for leading her to the court of the British King Charles -- and into an unwanted marriage with handsome and dangerous Lord Pierce Deforte, a man she dares never love.
His soul searing desire for the stunning Rose had once blinded Pierce to the treacherous machinations of his enemies. Now banished from his beloved England, he lives the life of a pirate -- seeking vengeance on those who betrayed him... including the beautiful temptress whom he once held dear. On a storm-tossed sea they are united once more -- he, no longer a noble, but the notorious brigand called Dragonslayer. And she, one his bride, is now his helpless prisoner -- forced to submit to his fury, his will...and the blistering, sensuous need that chains h! er captive heart.

In their indie sensation The Puffy Chair, writer/directors Mark and Jay Duplass used the retrieval of a piece of furniture to explore the relationship between a close-knit trio. Their studio follow-up represents something both fresh and familiar. Not to be confused with the children's book of the same name, Baghead retains their emphasis on character over plot mechanics, but this time they infuse their humorous approach with horror overtones. Matt (Ross Partridge), Chad (Steve Zissis), Catherine (Elise Muller), and Michelle (Greta Gerwig, who appears with Mark Duplass in Hannah Takes the Stairs) work as extras in Los Angeles. Matt convinces them to accompany him to his family cabin to write a script in which they a! ll get to star. As they collaborate, it becomes apparent that ! Chad has eyes for Michelle and that Matt and Catherine have been an on-and-off thing for years. The screenplay becomes an excuse to organize their personal and professional lives, until Michelle spots a man with a brown paper bag on his head skulking in the woods. Is he a manifestation of the emotions roiling between the quartet, a psychotic killer, or a friend playing a cruel trick? Baghead turns into a frisky take on The Blair Witch Project, except the Duplass Brothers have more than thrills in mind, since it takes a spooky dude to remind these self-absorbed actors about the importance of friendship. The concept may be slight and the execution rudimentary, but the makers of Baghead have devised an unexpectedly poignant romp. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Amazon.com
What does one make of a movie whose plot revolves around second-rate actors who scare each other by wearing bags on their heads? This conundrum and more are exploited to stro! ng effect by young directing team Mark and Jay Duplass, in their low-budget, grade Z cult comedy, Baghead. This follow up to their debut effort, The Puffy Chair, stars two couples who head to their parentsâ cabin in an attempt to make their own horror film free from the constraints of the film industry. Brothers, Matt (Ross Partridge) and Chad (Steve Zissis), host bimbos Michelle (Greta Gerwig) and Catherine (Elise Muller) on a weekend adventure that is less than intellectually stimulating. As sexual tensions increase, brown paper bags are busted out and the characters seek revenge upon each other by pretending to be masked peeping toms. This meta-narrative of a movie about the making of the movie is further confused when the bunch suspects that there is an extra baghead on the scene, a really psychotic one. A few actually scary moments add gusto to this film that mostly feels like a poâ manâs rendition of Blair Witch Project, with its hand-held c! amera stylings. Highlights throughout involve Chad, the nerdie! r, uglie r brother who manages many funny lines and boosts the humor bigtime. That Baghead is a fairly terrible film, with slow, moronic dialogue and long scenes in which little or nothing happens, may well be intentional. Itâs impossible to judge. Baghead is so ripe with irony that it bags the idea that itâs cool to strive towards making a fine film, and the story gives up on trying to be good before it even tries. The characters start washed-up and stay washed-up, as does the movie. But this strange resignation that makes Baghead awful is also what makes it conceptually unique; the Duplass brothers did, after all, complete the film and release it. One wonders why directors bother making a movie that presumes itself worthy of wearing a baghead? This is Bagheadâs virtueâ"it left me feeling as if I had a bag over my head, dumb for missing some bit of subversive genius. --Trinie Dalton
Filmmakers Mark a! nd Jay Duplass have written a celebrity blog for us to promote their new film, Baghead.
Why the hell are we trying to make a horror film about a guy with a paper bag on his head? This, even more than âto be or not to beâ was the question for myself and my brother Jay going into shooting Baghead. We had just come off of our first micro-budget feature The Puffy Chair, a sensitive, funny, quirky relationship movie that wowed Sundance, sold big, played incredibly well in theaters, DVD, and TV, and gained us favor in the indie world the world over. So, again, why would we be so stupid as to make a horror movie based around a guy with a bag on his head?
Iâm still not quite sure. When I look back, what we shoul! d have done is clear⦠we should have made another relationsh! ip movie to cash in on Puffyâs success. But, we were compelled to make Baghead, so we did it. And then something really interesting happened. We discovered that we are hopelessly and helplessly ourselves on set. For example, even if something terrifying was happening in the horror plot, we couldnât help training the camera on all of the little personal dynamics happening among the 4 lead characters, just like we did on The Puffy Chair. No matter how eerie or cool-looking our lighting got, we were infinitely more obsessed with the chubby guy whose advances were being rejected by the hottie girl.
About a week into filming, we realized we had something VERY different on our hands. We had a horror movie shell⦠âguy with bag on head comes to get 4 people in a cabin in the woods.â We all know this set-up, right? Not too original. But, we were making a highly sensitive relationship dramedy inside of this horror film because, in the end, that! âs what Jay and I know how to do best and thatâs what we love showing.
So, basically, we started panicking. How do you make a movie work thatâs scary, funny, and (ultimately) endearing and touching as we understand the nature of our desperate, sweet, tragically flawed lead characters? The answer was⦠I hope we donât @&*# it up.
On week 2, we happened to catch a glimpse of the film Saw on TV, and it became clearer to us how Baghead could be a really interesting film for this time frame in cinema. Saw is great in its own right, but itâs mean, itâs gory, and itâs not really scary. Somehow, the crazy sound design, gore, and effects, took the film further and further away from being actually scary. Whereas, with Baghead, we somehow stumbled into something genuinely frightening, with our $50,000 budget, no sound f/x, no score, no make-up⦠just a ridiculous paper bag and the question of âwho the hell i! s under that bag?â So, we started to feel smart. Confident. ! Inspired in new ways. We even waxed philosophical about how brilliant we were to âcome up with his conceptâ (that we totally lucked into, btw)â¦
On week 3, we finished the shoot and all looked at each other a little shell shocked. What did we just do? Is this movie even gonna work? Cut to a year later. Weâre opening the film at the Sundance Film Festival and every buyer is calling us, making insanely inflated offers, asking us how we came up with such a brilliant, genre-smashing concept.
I guess it kinda comes down to the old adage our dad used to tell us⦠âIâd rather be lucky than good.â
--Mark & Jay Duplass

With good source material (Stephen Fried's A Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer, the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza

Meet Emily and Paul: The parents of two young children, Emily is the newly promoted VP of marketing at a large corporation while Paul works from home or from clients' offices as an independent IT consultant. Their lives, like all of ours, are filled with a bewildering b! lizzard of emails, phone calls, yet more emails, meetings, pro! jects, p roposals, and plans. Just staying ahead of the storm has become a seemingly insurmountable task.
In this book, we travel inside Emily and Paul's brains as they attempt to sort the vast quantities of information they're presented with, figure out how to prioritize it, organize it and act on it. Fortunately for Emily and Paul, they're in good hands: David Rock knows how the brain works-and more specifically, how it works in a work setting. Rock shows how it's possible for Emily and Paul, and thus the reader, not only to survive in today's overwhelming work environment but succeed in it-and still feel energized and accomplished at the end of the day.
YOUR BRAIN AT WORK explores issues such as:
- why our brains feel so taxed, and how to maximize our mental resources
- why it's so hard to focus, and how to better manage distractions
- how to maximize your chance of finding insights that can solve seemingly insurmountable problems
- ! how to keep your cool in any situation, so that you can make the best decisions possible
- how to collaborate more effectively with others
- why providing feedback is so difficult, and how to make it easier
- how to be more effective at changing other people's behavior
The Samsung Focus weighs 4.07 ounces and measures 4.84 x 2.56 x 0.39 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 6.5 hours of talk time, and up to 300 hours (12.5 days) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies as well as AT&T's dual-band 3G network (850/1900 MHz; HSPA/UMTS) plus international 3G networks (2100 MHz).


![]() Playset includes 3 figures, 1 light-up lantern, a projectile launcher, and more! |
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Turn on the Adventure!
With Imaginext Green Lantern Planet OA Playset, kids get to make the action happen! They turn the Green Lantern figure on a disk, and a door opens. They turn the Kilowog figure on another disk to aim the launcher, then press to fire! Thereâs a lantern that lights up at the press of a button, and a space tether that attaches to a figureâ"kids can just spin the thumbwheel to let that figure explore Planet OA!
Build Confidence and Develop Imagination
As characters in your childâs adventures, Imaginext figures like Green Lantern and Kilowog can help your child build self-confidence and eagerness to explore. The Green Lantern Planet OA play set provides a backdrop for your child to expand the boundaries of his imagination. And using his imagination is the best adventure of all!
What'! s In The Box?
1 moon base, 3 figures, 1 light-up lante! rn, 1 pr ojectile launcher with 1 projectile, 3 button cell batteries, and a DC Super Friends DVD.
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Vanity Fair pr! esents 21 true stories of the new hard times
Where did ! all the billions go?
Commissioned by the editors at Vanity Fair magazine, The Great Hangover is an eye-opening collection of essays on the global economic crisis by fifteen of the most respected contemporary business writers in America, including:
Bryan Burrough (Barbarians at the Gate) on the atmosphere of uncertainty and fear that preceded the demise of Bear Stearns . . .
Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker) on Iceland's bizarre national implosion . . .
Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) on the decline of The New York Times and the threat to the ailing newspaper industry . . .
Mark Seal on the defining figure of the seriously tarnished New Gilded Age: the Grand Master of Greed, Bernie Madoff . . .
Along with compelling and sometimes hair-raising pieces from a dozen other Vanity Fair contributors on the recent recession's myriad villains and victimsâ"and the worldwide impact of the financial d! ownturn.
Vanity Fair presents 21 true stories of the new hard times
Where did all the billions go?
Commissioned by the editors at Vanity Fair magazine, The Great Hangover is an eye-opening collection of essays on the global economic crisis by fifteen of the most respected contemporary business writers in America, including:
Bryan Burrough (Barbarians at the Gate) on the atmosphere of uncertainty and fear that preceded the demise of Bear Stearns . . .
Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker) on Iceland's bizarre national implosion . . .
Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) on the decline of The New York Times and the threat to the ailing newspaper industry . . .
Mark Seal on the defining figure of the seriously tarnished New Gilded Age: the Grand Master of Greed, Bernie Madoff . . .
Along with compelling and sometimes hair-raising pieces from a dozen other Vanity Fa! ir contributors on the recent recession's myriad villains ! and vict imsâ"and the worldwide impact of the financial downturn.
From the director of "Old School" comes a new comedy about a bachelor party in Vegas gone horribly wrong. Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and his three buddies (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis) drive to Vegas for a night they'll never forget. But when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning with pounding headaches, they can't remember a thing and the groom is nowhere to be found. With little time to spare the trio must attempt to retrace their bad decisions from the night before in order to get Doug back to LA in time for his wedding. Soundtrack features performances by The Dan Band and Mike Tyson. Every bad hangover starts with a great party album.PreToxx tablets are taken before drinking to prevent hangovers. The 100% natural time-release formula works while you drink, neutralizing the toxic effects of alcohol metabolism that cause hangover symptoms. Search for us on Facebook, become our Fan, and receive a coupon to buy 1 bottle and get 1 FREE!



Low on plot and high on self-discovery, High Fidelity takes a good 30 minutes or so to find its groove (not unlike Cusack's Grosse Pointe Blank), but once it does, it settles into it comfortably and builds a surprisingly touching momentum. Rob is basically a grown-up version of Cusack's character in Say Anything (who was told "Don't be a guy--be a man!"), and if you like Cusack's brand of smart-alecky romanticism, you'll automatically be won over (if you can handle Cusack's almost-nonstop talking to the camera). Still, it's hard not to be moved by Rob's plight. At the beginning of the film he and his coworkers at the record store (played hilariously by Jack Black and Todd Louiso) seem like overgrown boys in their secret clubhouse; by the end, they've grown up considerably, with a cl! ear-eyed view of life. Ably directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons), High Fidelity features a notable supporting cast of the women in Rob's life, including the striking, Danish-born Hjejle, Lisa Bonet as a sultry singer-songwriter, and the triumphant triumvirate of Lili Taylor, Joelle Carter, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Rob's ex-girlfriends. With brief cameos by Tim Robbins as Laura's new, New Age boyfriend and Bruce Springsteen as himself. --Mark Englehart


Low on plot and high on self-discovery, High Fidelity takes a good 30 minutes or so to find its groove (not unlike Cusack's Grosse Pointe Blank), but once it does, it settles into it comfortably and builds a surprisingly touching momentum. Rob is basically a grown-up version of Cusack's character in Say Anything (who was told "Don't be a guy--be a man!"), and if you like Cusack's brand of smart-alecky romanticism, you'll automatically be won over (if you can handle Cusack's almost-nonstop talking to the camera). Still, it's hard not to be moved by Rob's plight. At the beginning of the film he and his coworkers at the record store (played hilariously by Jack Black and Todd Louiso) seem like overgrown boys in their secret clubhouse; by the end, they've grown up considerably, with a cl! ear-eyed view of life. Ably directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons), High Fidelity features a notable supporting cast of the women in Rob's life, including the striking, Danish-born Hjejle, Lisa Bonet as a sultry singer-songwriter, and the triumphant triumvirate of Lili Taylor, Joelle Carter, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Rob's ex-girlfriends. With brief cameos by Tim Robbins as Laura's new, New Age boyfriend and Bruce Springsteen as himself. --Mark Englehart

An unexpected box-office hit in the late summer of 2000, Bring It On is a smart, snappy teen comedy that bristles with good cheer (literally) and lively, down-to-earth characters. The story may be fairly predictable (who's going to win the big championship?), but director Peyton Reed and screenwriter Jessica Bendinger have fleshed out their characters with formidable strength and provided them with sharp dialogue. Dunst is a radiant comedian, projecting warmth, determination, sincerity, and a sublime airheadedness, and Union is an impressive dancer and counterpart to Dunst, matching her admirably despite her limited onscreen time.! An excellent young supporting cast rounds out the film, most ! notably Eliza Dushku (Faith of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jesse Bradford (Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill) as siblings new to Rancho Carne, who become Torrance's best friend and potential new boyfriend, respectively. All in all, a pleasantly surprising and intelligent teen movie. Don't miss the opening sequence, a hilarious send-up of all those high school cheerleading routines you had to sit through at boring pep rallies. --Mark EnglehartBring on the spirit, spunk and sass with everyone's favorite cheerleading series in the Bring It On
Collection! All four high-energy, fun Bring It On movies are here: Bring It On, starring Kirsten Dunst; the hilarious sequel Bring It On Again; the elecGet ready for more fun, attitude and excitement in this all-new comedy! When popular Britney Allen (Hayden Panettiere) moves from posh Pacific Vista to working-class Crenshaw Heights, her life goes from cheer-topia to cheer-tastrophe. Britney finds herself at odds with ! her new classmates, especially head cheerleader Camille (Solange Knowles-Smith). But when she wins a spot on the cheer squad and faces her former team in a cross-town cheer-off to star in music sensation Rihanna's upcoming video, only one team can "bring it" and earn a place in cheer history! Starring: Solange Knowles, Hayden Panettiere, Gus Carr, Marcy Rylan, Cindy Chiu, Giovonnie Samuels, Francia Raisa, Danielle Savre, Jessica Nicole Fife, Jake McDorman, Eric Bruskotter, Kiersten Warren, Rihanna Directed by: Steve RashBring It On: All or Nothing is the idealized version of what happens when a rich girl from an elite California school is forced to transfer to an urban setting for her senior year of high school. Former head cheerleader Britney (Hayden Panettiere, Ice Princess) finds herself with a quandary--does she join the new squad, or does she stick to the promise she made to her old teammates that she'll never cheer again? Given that this is the second s! equel to the Bring It On franchise, which started with ! Kirsten Dunst's 2000 flick, and that there's really no reason for this movie to exist without a match-up between Britney's old and new squads, of course she must bring her pompoms out of retirement. In between routines, she manages to land the hottest male cheerleader, Jesse (Gus Carr), and befriend Camille (Beyonce's little sis Solange Knowles-Smith), the feisty head of the squad. She even excuses Britney from practice when the latter lies and says her family pet has died: "Who am I to stand between a white girl and her dead dog?" Beyond the inclusion of a few broad stereotypes dealt for laughs, this straight-to-DVD movie doesn't dwell on any real racial issues that a spoiled white girl actually might face at a predominantly ethnic school. Unlike Dunst's film, which was mindless but well-crafted, this sequel asks nothing of its actors but to look good and leap high. Bring It On: All or Nothing has already been brought. Twice. --Jae-Ha KimHigh-flyin' fun, hot music an! d no-holds-barred competition go to new heights in this all-new comedy! The feisty East Coast Jets have ruled the Cheer Camp Championships with spunk and attitude for the past few years. Now the spirited West Coast Sharks thinThe world of cheerleading crashes full-force into the world of young love ala Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story in this boy meets girl, Sharks versus Jets, cheerleading competition where the West-Coast Sharks cheerleading team takes on the reigning champion East-Coast Jets in a cheer camp championship that will culminate in a world-wide tour. Passion and attitude pervade both cheer squads and team leaders Carson (Ashley Benson) and Brooke (Cassie Scerbo) are intent on defeating one another by any means necessary. A chance encounter between Jet Penn (Michael Copon) and Shark Carson sparks a quick romance, but team rivalry and suspicion repeatedly put the two at odds with one another. When a rumble between the Sharks and Jets injur! es a significant number of cheerleaders from both teams, the r! ivals mu st either forfeit any chance of victory or find a way to work together to combine their strengths and defeat a host of significant challengers. The parallels to West Side Story are purposeful and strong, but the incessant snobbish, self-absorbed attitudes of the cheerleaders, the stereotypical actions and slang of many characters, and the surprising lack of actual cheer footage make this program unappealing and at times downright distasteful. Great music like "Get Me Bodied" by Beyoncé Get Me Bodied , "Never Stop" by Hilary Duff Never Stop, "Division" by Aly and AJ Insomniatic and "He Said, She Said" by Ashley Tisdale He Said, She Said permeates the entire show and the actual cheer footage is spectacular. Aptly rated PG 13 for language, suggestive content, and rude humor. --Tami HoriuchiChristina Milian stars as sassy cheer captain Lina Cruz, whose world is turned upside-down when her family moves from the urban streets of East ! Los Angeles to the sunny beach town of Malibu. At her new school, Lina clashes with Avery, the ultra-competitive all-star cheer captain, while also falling for Averyâs super-cute brother, Evan. Linaâs always been able to rise to a challenge, but can she create a new all-star squad, beat Avery at the Spirit Championships, and still keep her romance with Evan? Hot music, fierce competition and high-flyinâ fun continue in this all-new movie!Like its predecessors in the Bring It On franchise, Bring It On: Fight to the Finish focuses on a perky cheerleader who's taken out of her comfort zone and ends up excelling in her new environment. This time around, the focus is on Lina Cruz (singer Christina Milian), whose family moves from East Los Angeles to Malibu. The streetwise teen makes an instant frenemy of alpha female Avery (Rachele Brooke Smith)--also a cheerleader--at her new school. Never mind that the two girls don't get along. There's more drama when ! Lina and Avery's brother Evan (Cody Longo) fall for each other! . Though Lina describes her new classmates as living "lifestyles of the rich and annoying" and Avery refers to Lina and her Latina friends as "illegal cheermigrants," the two really aren't that different. Both live for cheerleading and are super driven when it comes to their sport of choice. The viewer gets the impression that if both girls shared the same ethnicity (or at least a similar bank account), they'd be besties at school. The Bring It On franchise was spawned by Kirsten Dunst's hit film from 2000, which clearly had better writing and acting, as well as a larger budget to work with. While films like Bring It On: Fight to the Finish aren't going to win any awards, they do have an appeal to teenage girls and/or cheerleading fans. The plot really doesn't matter so much as the cheerleading choreography and the driving music behind it. And there's plenty of both in this production. --Jae-Ha Kim
Stills from Bring! it On: Fight to the Finish (Click for larger image)
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Imperialism as we knew it may be no more, but Empire is alive and well. It is, as Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri demonstrate in this bold work, the new political order of globalization. It is easy to recognize the contemporary economic, cultural, and legal transformations taking place across the globe but difficult to understand them. Hardt and Negri contend that they should be seen in line with our historical understanding of Empire as a universal order that accepts no boundaries or limits. Their book shows how this emerging Empire is fundamentally different from the imperialism of European dominance and capitalist expansion in previous eras. Rather, today's Empire draws on elements of U.S. cons! titutionalism, with its tradition of hybrid identities and expanding frontiers.
Empire identifies a radical shift in concepts that form the philosophical basis of modern politics, concepts such as sovereignty, nation, and people. Hardt and Negri link this philosophical transformation to cultural and economic changes in postmodern society--to new forms of racism, new conceptions of identity and difference, new networks of communication and control, and new paths of migration. They also show how the power of transnational corporations and the increasing predominance of postindustrial forms of labor and production help to define the new imperial global order.
More than analysis, Empire is also an unabashedly utopian work of political philosophy, a new Communist Manifesto. Looking beyond the regimes of exploitation and control that characterize today's world order, it seeks an alternative political paradigm--the basis for a truly democra! tic global society.
(20010723)Empire is a sweepin! g book w ith a big-picture vision. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri argue that while classical imperialism has largely disappeared, a new empire is emerging in a diffuse blend of technology, economics, and globalization. The book brings together unlikely bedfellows: Hardt, associate professor in Duke University's literature program, and Negri, among other things a writer and inmate at Rebibbia Prison in Rome. Empire aspires to the same scale of grand political philosophy as Locke or Marx or Fukuyama, but whether Hardt and Negri accomplish this daunting task is debatable. It is, however, an exciting book that is especially timely following the emergence of terrorism as a geopolitical force.Hardt and Negri maintain that empire--traditionally understood as military or capitalist might--has embarked upon a new stage of historical development and is now better understood as a complex web of sociopolitical forces. They argue, with a neo-Marxist bent, that "the multitude" will ! transcend and defeat the new empire on its own terms. The authors address everything from the works of Deleuze to Jefferson's constitutional democracy to the Chiapas revolution in a far-ranging analysis of our contemporary situation. Unfortunately, their penchant for references and academese sometimes renders the prose unwieldy. But if Hardt and Negri's vision of the world materializes, they will undoubtedly be remembered as prophetic. --Eric de Place In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.
S. C. Gwynneâs Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most ! remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the ep! ic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.
Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon spec! ifically designed to fight them: the six-gun.
The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynneâs exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroadsâ"a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being.
Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend.
S. C. Gwynneâs account of these events is metic! ulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all! , thrill ingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.
Observing that "the difficulty with the achievements of empire is that they are much more likely to be taken for granted than the sins of empire," Ferguson stresses that the British did do much good for humanity in their quest for domination: promotion of the free movement of goods, capital, and labor and a common rule of law and governance chief among them. "The question is not whether British imperialism was without blemish. It was not. The question is whether there could have been a less bloody path to modernity," he writes. The challenge for the U.S., he argues, is for it to use its undisput! ed power as a force for positive change in the world and not to fall into some of the same traps as the British before them.
Covering a wide range of topics, including the rise of consumerism (initially fueled by a desire for coffee, tea, tobacco, and sugar), the biggest mass migration in history (20 million emigrants between the early 1600s and the 1950s), the impact of missionaries, the triumph of capitalism, the spread of the English language, and globalization, this is a brilliant synthesis of various topics and an extremely entertaining read. --Shawn CarkonenThis powerful, gripping action-thriller features John Leguizamo in a riveting performance the Los Angeles Times hails as "superb." "One of the best performances of the year!" The gritty streets of the South Bronx meet the white-collar world of Wall Street in Empire, a hard-hitting story about the pursuit of fast money and the high price of greed. Featuring Denise Richards, Isabella Rossellini and rap ! superstars Fat Joe and Treach, Empire is a high-intensity, urb! an thril l-ride!John Leguizamo is, in his own words, "young, Latin, and good looking" as the ambitious minimogul of the South Bronx drug trade in Franc Reyes' Latino twist on the urban crime saga. Reigning in his hyperactive energy, Leguizamo is like a coiled spring as the street-smart player who tries to leave the violence of his trade behind in an upwardly mobile odyssey, and Peter Sarsgaard brings a discomforting confidence to the smooth-talking investment banker trusted with his millions. Few of the other characters even register in the familiar underworld tale (though Denise Richards has fun as a bubbly, skin-deep seductress) and Reyes's flashy style is as distracting as it is energizing. It's the smoldering presence of Leguizamo that keeps the film centered through the betrayals, the bullet-riddled battles, and the slow realization that this cunning shark has just become bait in the deep seas of high finance. --Sean Axmaker
