If you know where to look, you'll find the greatness of the golden age of neon in New England. If you don't, here's your chance! The golden age of neon in New England lasted more than 30 years, from the dark days of the Great Depression through the go-go years of the 1960s, but its spectacular legacy remains. With dozens of original color photographs and informative text, New England Neon takes armchair travelers--and nostalgia lovers--up and down the main streets and back roads of the region, from the shores of Lake Champlain to the tip of Cape Cod. Photographed and written by Susan Mara Bregman, the volume celebrates the style and exuberance of these one-of-a-kind creations in Boston and Brattleboro, Kittery and Cranston, New Haven and Weirs Beach. Evoking an era when New England glowed at night, the book might make you want to go candlepin bowling or grab a hot wiener and a coffee milk.

Without neon, Las Vegas might still be a sleepy desert town in Nevada and Times Square merely another busy intersection in New York City. Transformed by the installation of these brightly colored signs, these destinations are now world-famous, representing the vibrant heart of popular culture. But for some, neon lighting represents the worst of commercialism. Energized by the conflicting love and hatred people have for neon, Flickering Light explores its technological and intellectual history, from the discovery of the noble gas in late nineteenth-century London to its fading popularity today. Christoph Ribbat follows writers, artists, and musicians—from cultural critic Theodor Adorno, British rock band the Verve, and artist Tracey Emin to Vladimir Nabokov, Langston Hughes, and American country singers—through the neon cities in Europe, America, and Asia, demonstrating how they turned these blinking lights and letters into metaphors of the modern era. He examines how gifted craftsmen carefully sculpted neon advertisements, introducing elegance to modern metropolises during neon’s heyday between the wars followed by its subsequent popularity in Las Vegas during the 1950s and '60s. Ribbat ends with a melancholy discussion of neon’s decline, describing how these glowing signs and installations came to be seen as dated and characteristic of run-down neighborhoods. From elaborate neon lighting displays to neglected diner signs with unlit letters, Flickering Light tells the engrossing story of how a glowing tube of gas took over the world—and faded almost as quickly as it arrived.

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "A radiant first novel. . . . [Neon in Daylight] has antecedents in the great novels of the 1970s: Renata Adler’s Speedboat, Elizabeth Hardwick’s Sleepless Nights, Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays. . . . Precision—of observation, of language—is Hoby’s gift. Her sentences are sleek and tailored. Language molds snugly to thought." —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times "What do you get when a writer of extreme intelligence, insight, style and beauty chronicles the lives of self–absorbed hedonists—The Great Gatsby, Bright Lights, Big City, and now Neon in Daylight. Hermione Hoby paints a garish world that drew me in and held me spellbound. She is a marvel."" —Ann Patchett, author of Commonwealth New York City in 2012, the sweltering summer before Hurricane Sandy hits. Kate, a young woman newly arrived from England, is staying in a Manhattan apartment while she tries to figure out her future. She has two unfortunate responsibilities during her time in America: to make regular Skype calls to her miserable boyfriend back home, and to cat–sit an indifferent feline named Joni Mitchell. The city has other plans for her. In New York's parks and bodegas, its galleries and performance spaces, its bars and clubs crowded with bodies, Kate encounters two strangers who will transform her stay: Bill, a charismatic but embittered writer made famous by the movie version of his only novel; and Inez, his daughter, a recent high school graduate who supplements her Bushwick cafe salary by enacting the fantasies of men she meets on Craigslist. Unmoored from her old life, Kate falls into an infatuation with both of them. Set in a heatwave that feels like it will never break, Neon In Daylight marries deep intelligence with captivating characters to offer us a joyful, unflinching exploration of desire, solitude, and the thin line between life and art.

As defined by the outdoor advertising legend, Douglas Leigh, a neon spectacular is "an oversized advertising display with neon or lamps in unusual animations". As the roaring twenties took off in America, outdoor advertisers had a field day creating gigantic and unusual signs to appeal to the public. It was a competition to see who could create the most outstanding display. From steaming coffee pots to flying neon signs on blimps, it could be argued that the United States was at the top of the outdoor advertising game.In a short period of time, Japan recovered from the destruction of World War II and swiftly reindustrialized. Japan's neon industry, which had sprouted in the 1920s, made a great comeback as the country achieved economic prosperity. Japan is now known to be the world's neon mecca. Whether a beer company, bank, or restaurant, huge neon signs could be seen in abundance along highways, skyscrapers, and train tracks.Over the years, Japan developed their own production methods, materials, and designs for neon lights. From the neon bans during the war, to the sprawling economic booms, Neon Spectacular: Japan provides an inside look into the history of the Japanese neon industry with stories and photographs from over 100 years' time.

Candlepin bowling is hard. So hard, in fact, that no one has ever bowled a perfect game. The pins are tall and skinny, the balls are small enough to fit in a player's hand, and the fallen pins are not cleared between rolls. Originating in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the late 19th century and played today mostly in New England and eastern Canada, the game has a rich and colorful history. In the days before automation, sure-footed pin boys manually reset the pins and returned the balls. A long-running, top-rated Boston television show regularly transformed unassuming candlepinners into regional celebrities. And the game has something called a Half Worcester. Author and photographer Susan Mara Bregman bowled at dozens of candlepin centers, combed through dusty archives, and interviewed industry insiders to create this affectionate look at one of America's quirkiest pastimes.

Take to the road to discover the history and artistry of North America’s disappearing neon signs. Neon Road Trip chronicles the history of the commercial neon sign with a curated collection of photographs capturing the most colorful and iconic neon still surviving today. The vivid photographs are arranged according to the signs' imagery, with sections such as Spirit of the West, On the Road, Now That’s Entertainment, and Ladies, Diving Girls & Mermaids. Sixteen of the most iconic landmark signs include brief histories on how that unique sign came to be. A resource section includes a photography index by location and a Neon Museums Visitor’s Guide. John Barnes studied art, graphic design, sculpture and photography, earning a BFA degree in documentary photography from the University of Delaware 1984. He worked as a commercial advertising photographer for over fifteen years both on the east coast and in San Francisco, and has been a fine art photographer for the last 30 years. He recently spent the last two years traveling around the United States and Canada photographing iconic neon signs. John resides in Seattle but spends most of his time traveling taking photographs.

This Pulitzer Prize–winning collection pairs twelve new poems with work from seven previous volumes by “one of the most extraordinary poets writing today” (Kenyon Review). The poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa traverses psychological and physical landscapes, mining personal memory to understand the historical and social contexts that shape experience. Neon Vernacular charts the development of his characteristic themes and concerns by gathering work from seven of his previous collections, along with a dozen new poems that continue the autobiographical trajectory of his previous collection, Magic City. Here, Komunyakaa shares an intimate and evocative life journey, from his childhood in Bogalusa, Louisiana—once a center of Klan activity and later a focus of Civil Rights efforts—to his stormy relationship with his father, his high school football days, and his experience of the Vietnam War and his difficult return home. Many of the poems collected here are drawn from limited editions and are no longer available.