Americans want it both ways. They are committed to cultural diversity, yet demand an endless variety of cheap consumer goods from a global system that destroys distinct ways of life. In this groundbreaking work, David Steigerwald argues that Americans have papered over this paradox by embracing the rhetoric of diversity and multiculturalism, which hides the extent to which they have accepted homogenized ways of working and living.

Vanities of the Eye investigates the cultural history of the senses in early modern Europe, a time in which the nature and reliability of human vision was the focus of much debate. In medicine, art theory, science, religion, and philosophy, sight came to be characterised as uncertain or paradoxical - mental images no longer resembled the external world. Was seeing really believing? Stuart Clark explores the controversial debates of the time - from the fantasies and hallucinations of melancholia, to the illusions of magic, art, demonic deceptions, and witchcraft. The truth and function of religious images and the authenticity of miracles and visions were also questioned with new vigour, affecting such contemporary works as Macbeth - a play deeply concerned with the dangers of visual illusion. Clark also contends that there was a close connection between these debates and the ways in which philosophers such as Descartes and Hobbes developed new theories on the relationship between the real and virtual. Original, highly accessible, and a major contribution to our understanding of European culture, Vanities of the Eye will be of great interest to a wide range of historians and anyone interested in the true nature of seeing.

This collection of essays and selected poetry responds to an address on Samoan religious culture given by Samoa’s Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Ta’isi Tupuola Tufuga Efi, to the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions. The address challenges some fundamental aspects of and assumptions in modern Samoan indigenous religious culture. The essays and poetry form a carefully woven critique, from within and outside Samoa, of aspects of Samoa’s religious and cultural values.

Vintage Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the #1 bestseller that will forever define late-twentieth-century New York style. "No one has portrayed New York Society this accurately and devastatingly since Edith Wharton" (The National Review) “A page-turner . . . Brilliant high comedy.” (The New Republic) Sherman McCoy, the central figure of Tom Wolfe's first novel, is a young investment banker with a fourteen-room apartment in Manhattan. When he is involved in a freak accident in the Bronx, prosecutors, politicians, the press, the police, the clergy, and assorted hustlers high and low close in on him, licking their chops and giving us a gargantuan helping of the human comedy, of New York in the 1980s, a city boiling over with racial and ethnic hostilities and burning with the itch to Grab It Now. Wolfe's novel is a big, panoramic story of the metropolis that reinforces the author's reputation as the foremost chronicler of the way we live in America. Adapted to film in 1990 by director Brian De Palma, the movie stars Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, and Morgan Freeman.

Reza Saint-Michel is a rather typical 23 year old of the new millennium. On the first night in June, Reza and two friends embark on a riotous night in New York City, encountering a vibrant stream of characters along the way. What starts off as a night of lighthearted camaraderie, slowly evolves into a candid reflection of the cultural conversations and dilemmas that this generation is wrapped up in. As events unfold, discussions about identity, healthcare, the environment, housing, and more take place. So often labeled lazy, uninformed, and over-sensitive; the characters strike these claims down while reflecting the ardent frustration and ambition that permeates this generation. The young are meant to play, but that doesn't mean they can't also be informed and passionate about what's going on in the world around them. The two modes of being aren't mutually exclusive, they're intrinsically intertwined in this generation. This is a story of friendship, an ode to the illuminated city and its myriad scope of characters. It's a portrait of youth in the modern age. Laden with poetic imagery and a glimmering palette of emotions, this is The Vapid Vanities of Wonder.

What role does 'vanity' play in the lives of 21st century subjects? Exploring a range of fields including public health, information technology, media studies and feminist approaches to the body and beauty, this book offers a broad analysis of how 'vanity' shapes contemporary Western societies and its understandings of selfhood.

Culture in the Vanity Bag is an informal but ecological study of Indian clothing and adornment. It is mainly about the historical evolution of costumes and seeks to illustrate their relationship with different cultures that have been seen in India.Chaudhuri s descriptions are animated by great attention to detail, anecdotes, extracts from novels and Sanskrit texts. There is more in this book besides simple entertainment and elementary information.