Hip-Hop is now a global multi-billion pound industry. It has spawned superstars all across the world. There have been tie-in clothing lines, TV stations, film companies, cosmetics lines. It even has its own sports, its own art style, its own dialect. It is an all-encompassing lifestyle. But where did it all begin Who created it How did it become such a phenomenon Jeff Chang, an American journalist, has written the most comprehensive book on Hip-Hop to date. He introduces the major players who came up with the ideas that form the basic elements of the culture. He describes how it all began with social upheavals in Jamaica, the Bronx, the Black Belt of Long Island and South Central LA. He not only provides a history of the music, but a fascinating insight into the social background of young black America. Stretching from the early 70s through to the present day, this is the definitive history of Hip-Hop. It will be essential reading for all DJs, B-Boys, MCs and anyone with an interest in the history of America.

Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation

Arts & Photography

CHANG, Jeff

Music

Picador USA

Already a bestseller in England, Morrison's memoir of his father's life and death is both moving and intelligent. His subject is the life and death of a parent, a father at once beloved and exasperating, competent and inept, charming and infuriating, strong and terribly vulnerable. A classic of family literature.--The Spectator.

And when did you last see your father

Blake Morrison

The author ponders the redemptive power of secular love in this novel. Their bodies had expired, but anyone looking at them could see that Joseph and Celice were still devoted, the couple seemed to have achieved a peace the world denies, a period of grace, defying even murder. They were still man and wife, quietly resting, dead but not yet departed

Being Dead

Literature & Fiction

Crace, Jim.

Contemporary

A surprising mystery--and love story--set in rural SicilyLike many memorable works of fiction, The Almond Picker hinges on a question, in this case: who is Maria Rosalia Inzerillo, known as Mennulara, the almond picker? Born into a desperately poor Sicilian farming family, Mennulara went into service when she was only a girl, as a maid for a well-to-do local family; by dint of hard work and intelligence, she became the indispensable administrator of the family's affairs and was said to be rich. Still, she was a mere servant, and now (as the story begins) she is dead.Who was she, really? Simonetta Agnello Hornby's wonderfully entertaining novel about this mysterious woman -- a bestseller in Italy when it was published in 2002 -- has all the suspense of a witty thriller, the emotions of a powerful love story, and the evocative atmosphere of a historical novel. Set in Sicily in the 1960s, a violent, complicated society in the midst of tumultuous change, where young and old, rich and poor, men and women are set against each other, The Almond Picker is the story of a woman who negotiated for her freedom as no one else dared. Unusual instructions in Mennulara's will perplex the family she worked for and send the children on a kind of treasure hunt, for each of them wants to secure her fabled riches. She is no longer physically present, but her mysterious importance to them and to the village comes into focus in a series of dramatic encounters and spiky exchanges among the neighbors. Everyone has a very different idea about Mennulara's amazing life. Was she a humble servant who ruled her master, or perhaps a pawn for the Mafia? Was she a seducer and opportunist, a sly blackmailer waiting for a payoff, or the opposite? During the thirty days following her death, the surprising truth is revealed.

The Almond Picker

SimonettaAgnelloHornby

In a memoir of his father's life and death, the author asks if we can ever see parents as themselves, why they cannot reveal their secrets to us, and what they take with them that cannot be recovered when they die.

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

MORRISON, Blake

Parenting & Relationships

Controlled and devoured by his addiction to gambling, Jorge enlists the help of Lucia, a beautiful analyst, in a battle of wits for his soul

Dostoevsky's Last Night

Peri Rossi, Cristina

Presents a cultural history of mood music and explores its psychological, social, and commercial aspects

Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsong

Lanza, Joseph

The author of On Love returns with the story of the ups and downs of an affair between Alice and Eric, complete with drawings and diagrams and a chorus of thinkers about love--from Descartes to Aretha Franklin.

The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping and the Novel

BOTTON, ALAIN DE

British & Irish

A slightly mad environmentalist named Dr. Barbara takes over a Pacific atoll and creates a utopian community, which quickly becomes a less than ideal place. By the author of Empire of the Sun.

Rushing to Paradise

BALLARD,J.G.

History & Criticism

On Animal Planet, animals possess the ability to talk as well as any human. They rebel against their human keepers, breaking out of zoos and leaving homes to live as independent beings. For most animals, however, freedom means working a steady job (usually for human bosses) and enjoying the comforts and complacencies of human life. Into this mix flies Charlie the Crow, rabble-rouser and avian revolutionary, whose mission it is to wean animals from the bottle of contemporary culture. But the animals find that freedom depends on who's defining it, and Charlie becomes a media celebrity - appearing on talk shows to promote books, movies, and other endorsement opportunities. As the revolution is co-opted by savvy profiteers, like the marketing maven Bunny Fairchild, Charlie goes underground, traveling with his reluctant pal Buster the Penguin (who longs for his domestic life back in Antarctica), pursued by an assortment of animal activists, CIA and military operatives, reporters, movie moguls, publishers, and others. Everyone wants a piece of Charlie's radical action...even if they have to kill him to get it.

Animal Planet

Bradfield, Scott

Humor & Satire

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