Millions of people read weekly supermarket tabloids. Yet little serious effort has been made to understand why so many Americans make a valued place for these papers in their lives. Instead, the tabloids are dismissed as the epitome of "trash"--sensational, gossipy, stereotyped, ephemeral. Libraries shun them. As the papers are "trashed" by critics, so by extension are their largely working-class readers, who are viewed as unworthy of consideration. This book, the first full-length analysis of the tabloids within their historical and cultural contexts, examines the interplay among tabloid writer, text, and audience. Drawing on anthropology, communications, folklore, and literary theory, Elizabeth Bird argues that tabloids are successful because they build on and feed existing narrative traditions, much as folklore does. Men and women, to judge from letters and interviews, read the tabloids from different perspectives. And while people buy the papers for various reasons, readers tend to be alienated from some aspects of the dominant culture. The tabloids are popular precisely for the reasons they are despised: formulaic yet titillating, they celebrate excess and ordinariness at the same time. After beckoning readers into a world where life is dangerous and exciting, the tabloids soothe them with assurances that, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home. Thus, while readers are active, playful consumers, we cannot assume that the papers offer a real opportunity to resist cultural subordination.

How and when does there come to be an "an­thropology of the alien?” This set of essays, written for the eighth J. Lloyd Eaton Confer­ence on Fantasy and Science Fiction, is con­cerned with the significance of that question. "[Anthropology] is the science that must desig­nate the alien if it is to redefine a place for itself in the universe,” according to the Introduction. The idea of the alien is not new. In the Re­naissance, Montaigne’s purpose in describing an alien encounter was excorporation--man­kind was the "savage” because the artificial devices of nature controlled him. Shake­speare’s version of the alien encounter was in­corporation; his character of Caliban is brought to the artificial, political world of man and incor­porated into the body politic "The essays in this volume . . . show, in their general orientation, that the tribe of Shakespeare still, in literary studies at least, outnumbers that of Montaigne.” These essays show the interrelation of the excorporating pos­sibilities to the internal soundings of the alien encounter within the human mind and form. This book is divided into three parts: "Searchings: The Quest for the Alien” includes "The Aliens in Our Mind,” by Larry Niven; "Effing the Ineffable,” by Gregory Benford; "Border Patrols,” by Michael Beehler; "Alien Aliens,” by Pascal Ducommun; and "Metamorphoses of the Dragon,” by George E. Slusser. "Sightings: The Aliens among Us” includes "Discriminating among Friends,” by John Huntington; "Sex, Superman, Sociobiology,” by Joseph D. Miller; "Cowboys and Telepaths,” by Eric S. Rabkin; "Robots,” by Noel Perrin; "Aliens in the Supermarket,” by George R. Guffey; and "Aliens 'R’ U.S.,” by Zoe Sofia. "Soundings: Man as the Alien” includes "H. G. Wells’ Familiar Aliens,” by John R. Reed; "Inspiration and Possession,” by Clayton Koelb; "Cybernauts in Cyberspace,” by David Porush; "The Human Alien,” by Leighton Brett Cooke; "From Astarte to Barbie,” by Frank McConnell; and "An Indication of Monsters;” by Colin Greenland.

The emergency management response to Hurricane Katrina revealed more than just a failure of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but systemic problems in all levels of government. In 'Unacceptable, ' award-winning journalist Walter M. Brasch explores not only the facts of the disaster, but WHY the federal response was inefficient

An introduction to philosophy for children explains how children can be encouraged to ask the right questions, reason effectively, think for themselves, and begin to understand more about themselves and the world around them.

Inspiring, intelligent and practical, this user-friendly guide provides a wonderful introduction to using P4C (Philosophy for Children) in primary schools. This extremely accessible book provides an introduction to philosophy for children. It explains how you can encourage children to ask the right questions, reason effectively, think for themselves, and begin to understand more about themselves and the world around them. Inspiring and intelligent, with clearly presented, practice-based examples, it is full of fun and engaging activities that work right across the curriculum.

"Walter Brasch is the most informed, opinionated, witty, and delightful commentator on the media scene today." -Aspen Media Review Like two of his role models, Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton was one of the nation's most dynamic and effective presidents, and like his mentors, he was one of the most vilified. He left office with one of the highest approval ratings for his personal moral conduct. He would affect Americans like few people ever could, and no one could be neutral.