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Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Almost 500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the drama of a modern-day soap opera. The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and talented young painter Raphael. Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling's panels. King provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating historical tale. --J.P. Cohen.
Price: $1.90
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Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory
Pitch Perfect is a behind-the-scenes look at the bizarre, often inspiring world of collegiate a cappella groups.The first collegiate a cappella group, the Yale Whiffenpoofs, was founded by Cole Porter back in 1909. But what had been largely an Ivy League phenomenon has, in the past fifteen years, exploded. And it’s not what you think. There are now more than 1,200 a cappella groups at colleges across the country. The very best of these collegiate groups square off in the annual International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella—a showdown marked by wrenching close calls and exhilarating triumphs. And, really, where else can you hear Michael Jackson’s “Bad” in four-part harmony? In Pitch Perfect, GQ editor Mickey Rapkin follows a season in a cappella through all its twists and turns, covering the breathtaking displays of vocal talent, the groupies (yes, a cappella singers have groupies), the rockstar partying (and run-ins with the law), and all the bitter rivalries. Along the way are encounters with boldfaced names such as President George W. Bush, Prince, David Letterman, Barack Obama, Barbra Streisand, Hillary Clinton, Marisa Tomei, Amanda Bynes, Nick Lachey, Merv Griffin, Jim Carrey, Microsoft’s Paul Allen, John Legend, and Jessica Biel. At the heart of the narrative are three a cappella groups whose interactions are anything but harmonious: the historic Tufts Beelzebubs, founded more than forty years ago with 40,000 albums sold since—and struggling to record a new album that lives up to the hype; Divisi of the University of Oregon, a relatively new, all-female group attempting to overcome a loss in the 2005 championship; and the University of Virginia Hullabahoos, the so-called bad boys of collegiate a cappella, who will attempt to compete on a higher level this year while retaining their casual soul. Bringing a lively new twist to America’s fascination with talent showdowns and peerless performers, Pitch Perfect is sure to strike a chord with readers..
Price: $12.97
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Superman vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors, and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon (Cappella Books)
Superman has fought for nearly seven decades to conquer radio, television, and film—but his battles behind the scenes have proved a far greater threat than any fictional foe. For the first time, one book unearths all the details of his turbulent adventures in Tinseltown. Based on extensive interviews with producers, screenwriters, cast members, and crew, Superman vs. Hollywood spills the beans on Marlon Brando’s eccentricities; the challenges of making Superman appear to fly; the casting process that at various points had Superman being played by Sylvester Stallone, Neil Diamond, Nicolas Cage, Ashton Kutcher, and even Muhammad Ali; and the Superman movies, fashioned by such maverick filmmakers as Kevin Smith and Tim Burton, that never made it to the screen. .
Price: $10.35
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Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment
Rupert Murdoch's recent multibillion-dollar purchase of the Wall Street Journal made international news. Yet it is but one more chapter in an untold story: the rise of an integrated conservative media machine that all began with Rush Limbaugh in the 1980s. Now Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph Cappella--two of the nation's foremost experts on politics and communications--offer a searching analysis of the conservative media establishment, from talk radio to Fox News to the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. Indeed, here is the first serious account of how the conservative media arose, what it consists of, and how it operates. To show how this influential segment of the media works, the authors examine the uproar that followed when Senator Trent Lott seemed to endorse Strom Thurmond's segregationist past. Limbaugh called the remarks "utterly indefensible," but added that a "double standard" was in play. That signaled a broad counterattack by the conservative media establishment, charging the mainstream media with hypocrisy (yet using its reports when convenient), creating a knowledge base (a set of facts or allegations for partisans to draw upon), and fostering an in-group identity. By analyzing such cases, together with survey data, Jamieson and Cappella find that Limbaugh, Fox News, and the Wall Street Journal opinion pages create a self-protective enclave for conservatives, shielding them from other information sources, and promoting strongly negative associations with political opponents. Limbaugh in particular, they write, fuses the roles of party leader and opinion leader in a fashion reminiscent of the nineteenth century's partisan newspaper editors. The rise of conservative media has fundamentally changed American politics. This thoughtful study offers the most authoritative and insightful account of this revolutionary phenomenon available today..
Price: $12.47
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The Sistine Chapel: A New Vision
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A Surge of Language: Teaching Poetry Day by Day
Does anybody think harder about teaching poetry than these guys? . . . In my considered opinion, no one does it better, thinks harder about it, or writes as refreshingly on the topic as Wormser and Cappella. The book you hold in your hands is a marvel and an elixir. All language arts teachers at any level should memorize it.
- Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Boise State University Poetry is part of the 7-12 English curriculum, but many students, and teachers too, are afraid of it. They think of poetry as esoteric, insular, even elitist. Baron Wormser and David Cappella prove otherwise. Poetry is in fact the lifeblood of language. It incorporates all aspects of the language arts. It deserves to be at the center of the English curriculum. And it can and should be taught daily. The authors show why and how. Their book takes the form of a fictional teacher's journal entries on his daily teaching of the reading and writing of poetry. His recurrent theme for appreciating poetry is to "slow down, pay attentionthere is much to be gained from this." And he demonstrates that truth. He looks at language closelyhow the poet uses language, revises, edits, and assesses; how potent language really is; how the fewest words can achieve the greatest impact. What's more, he highlights within the text major ideas for teaching and provides other teacher-friendly formats and information, including: - lists that detail practical exercises and strategies
- full-length poems
- anthologies for teacher reference.
Plus, the table of contents functions as a calendar of daily topics, making quick work of planning or honing in on areas of particular interest. A Surge of Language is the perfect antidote to pressure and stress. And it's a richer, more rewarding alternative to the lists of objectives that now comprise teaching. Both thoughtful and practical, it will inspire and guide teachers in their efforts to put some reflective practice back into their curriculums and classrooms. And it will get them to think in poetry, too. .
Price: $25.00
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The Animated Movie Guide (Cappella Books)
Going beyond the box-office hits of Disney and Dreamworks, this guide to every animated movie ever released in the United States covers more than 300 films over the course of nearly 80 years of film history. Well-known films such as Finding Nemo and Shrek are profiled and hundreds of other films, many of them rarely discussed, are analyzed, compared, and catalogued. The origin of the genre and what it takes to make a great animated feature are discussed, and the influence of Japanese animation, computer graphics, and stop-motion puppet techniques are brought into perspective. Every film analysis includes reviews, four-star ratings, background information, plot synopses, accurate running times, consumer tips, and MPAA ratings. Brief guides to made-for-TV movies, direct-to-video releases, foreign films that were never theatrically released in the U.S., and live-action films with significant animation round out the volume.
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Price: $16.91
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