Few books have attempted to contextualize the importance of video game play with a critical social, cultural and political perspective that raises the question of the significance of work, pleasure, fantasy and play in the modern world. The study of why video game play is 'fun' has often been relegated to psychology, or the disciplines of cultural anthropology, literary and media studies, communications and other assorted humanistic and social science disciplines. In Utopic Dreams and Apocalyptic Fantasies, Talmadge Wright, David Embrick and Andras Lukacs invites us to move further and consider questions on appropriate methods of researching games, understanding the carnival quality of modern life, the role of marketing in altering game narratives, and the role of fantasy and desire in modern video game play. Embracing an approach that combines a cultural and/or critical studies approach with a sociological understanding of this new media moves the debate beyond simple media effects, moral panics, and industry boosterism to one of asking critical questions, what does modern video game play 'mean,' what questions should we be asking, and what can sociological research contribute to answering these questions. This collection includes works which use textual analysis, audience based research, symbolic interactionism, as well as political economic and psychoanalytic perspectives to illuminate areas of inquiry that preserves the pleasure of modern play while asking tough questions about what such pleasure means in a world divided by political, economic, cultural and social inequalities.

The audacious first novel from the award-winning and bestselling author of Boy, Snow, Bird and What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours • “Oyeyemi brilliantly conjures up the raw emotions and playground banter of childhood. . . . A masterly first novel.”–The New York Times Book Review "Remarkable. . . . As original as it is unsettling, The Icarus Girl runs straight at the heart of what it means to belong."– O, The Oprah Magazine Jessamy “Jess” Harrison, age eight, is the child of an English father and a Nigerian mother. Possessed of an extraordinary imagination, she has a hard time fitting in at school. It is only when she visits Nigeria for the first time that she makes a friend who understands her: a ragged little girl named TillyTilly. But soon TillyTilly’s visits become more disturbing, until Jess realizes she doesn’t actually know who her friend is at all. Drawing on Nigerian mythology, Helen Oyeyemi presents a striking variation on the classic literary theme of doubles — both real and spiritual — in this lyrical and bold debut.

Covering the most troublesome aspects of parenthood, this book is full of real, sensible, down-to-earth guidance. Covering the most troublesome aspects of parenthood, this book is full of real, sensible, down-to-earth guidance. It restores you confidence in yourself so you don't feel undermined by all the self-proclaimed experts and enables you to raise your children in a way that is better for them...and lot better for you!

Human Nature and You is new fundamental thinking about all of us. It solves ancient dilemmas such as how all humans reason, how we each differ in that reasoning, and why we have a unique character at birth that shapes our personality and decisions throughout life. Its new theories revolutionize all our traditional thinking in philosophy, psychology, and politics, and give us our first truly leftist master plan for saving our societies. They also give us a new tool that reveals the innate character of anyone whose birth data we know. This tool, the Minnerly Impulse Pattern (or MIP), is superior to every method psychologists or other specialists have yet devised to reveal your total nature, including your strengths, weaknesses, and psychologic health or conflicts.

Friends fix you up with blind dates. Real friends fix you up with your fantasies... Regina just ended an awful relationship. The last thing she needs is her friends' help in finding a new one. When they pressure her into sharing her fantasies, she makes up one she thinks could never come true. After all, vampires don't even exist. Right? Wrong. And Dmitri Vid?me is the proof. He sees Regina's thoughts and knows her darkest fantasies. What Regina needs is someone who bring handcuffs as well as roses and who sees the possibilities offered by her sensual and giving nature. With all the electricity sparking between them, and some sneaky mental eavesdropping, Dmitri knows she wants him, too. He just doesn't know if she'll feel the same once she finds out about his nocturnal habits and his liquid diet.

Fantasy! The very word conjures images of escape from reality, from the mundaneness of ordinary daily life. Fantasy Worlds combines a look at the psychology and power of fantasy with profiles of a dozen groups of individuals exploring different types of fantasy. While some play with fantasy as an occasional release, others turn fantasy into an ongoing lifestyle that adds spice to their everyday routines. The groups featured include those with members who enjoy role-playing and other games, participate in fantasy parties, travel into past and future eras, explore offbeat adventures, and experiment with erotic fantasy games. It concludes with a discussion of how many individuals use fantasy for personal growth on their own or in role-playing groups. Besides illustrating some popular fantasies, the book shows how we all need some fantasy in our lives; how we are all fantasy seekers.