Shapeshifters
Title | Shapeshifters PDF eBook |
Author | John B. Kachuba |
Publisher | Reaktion Books |
Pages | 201 |
Release | 2019-06-10 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1789140978 |
There is something about a shapeshifter—a person who can transform into an animal—that captures our imagination; that causes us to want to howl at the moon, or flit through the night like a bat. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and other weird creatures appeal to our animal nature, our “dark side,” our desire to break free of the bonds of society and proper behavior. Real or imaginary, shapeshifters lurk deep in our psyches and remain formidable cultural icons. The myths, magic, and meaning surrounding shapeshifters are brought vividly to life in John B. Kachuba’s compelling and original cultural history. Rituals in early cultures worldwide seemingly allowed shamans, sorcerers, witches, and wizards to transform at will into animals and back again. Today, there are millions of people who believe that shapeshifters walk among us and may even be world leaders. Featuring a fantastic and ghoulish array of examples from history, literature, film, TV, and computer games, Shapeshifters explores our secret desire to become something other than human.
Shapeshifters
Title | Shapeshifters PDF eBook |
Author | Meg Gaertner |
Publisher | Monster Histories |
Pages | 33 |
Release | 2019-08 |
Genre | Juvenile Nonfiction |
ISBN | 1543571255 |
"Explores the history behind stories of shapeshifters"--
Shapeshifters
Title | Shapeshifters PDF eBook |
Author | Délani Valin |
Publisher | Harbour Publishing |
Pages | 92 |
Release | 2022-11-19 |
Genre | Poetry |
ISBN | 0889714290 |
In Shapeshifters, Délani Valin explores the cost of finding the perfect mask. Through a lens of urban Métis experience and neurodivergence, Valin takes on a series of personas as an act of empathy as resistance. Some personas are capitalist mascots like the Starbucks siren, Barbie and the Michelin Man, who confide the hopes and frustrations that lay hidden behind their relentless public enthusiasm. Others include psychiatric diagnoses like hypochondria, autism and depression, and unlikely archetypes such as a woman who becomes a land mass by ending the quest to shrink herself. In more confessional poems, the pressure to find relief from otherness often leads to magical thinking: portals, flight, telepathy and incantations all become metaphors for survival. Shapeshifters maps ways in which an individual can attempt to fit into a world that is inhospitable to them, and makes a case to shift the shape of that world.
Viral Shapeshifters
Title | Viral Shapeshifters PDF eBook |
Author | Gerard KM Goh |
Publisher | Simplicity Research Institute |
Pages | 137 |
Release | 2017-08-31 |
Genre | Science |
ISBN | 9811147140 |
Despite billions of dollars spent on decades of research, no vaccine has been found for the deadly HIV. Why has it been so difficult to find an effective vaccine for HIV, or the herpes simplex virus-2, while we have managed to find those for rabies, polio and smallpox? After years stalking the HIV and other viruses with a computer, the author detected something very strange in the outer shell protein of HIV-1. He believes that the virus is literally acting as a shapeshifter in evading the host immune system. This book is about a scientific adventure that covers the HIV, SARS, Yellow Fever, Ebola and other viruses. As this book explains, each virus has its own story in terms of evolution and its interactions with humans. It also argues that early vaccine successes with the smallpox, rabies and polio viruses were due to the hard shells of those viruses. The concept of viral shapeshifting also opens up a new world of possibilities in improved treatments for cancers and infectious diseases. The presentation in this book is aimed both at the curious layman and researchers.
Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters in Popular Culture
Title | Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters in Popular Culture PDF eBook |
Author | Kimberley McMahon-Coleman |
Publisher | McFarland |
Pages | 213 |
Release | 2014-10-01 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0786492503 |
In recent years, shapeshifting characters in literature, film and television have been on the rise. This has followed the increased use of such characters as metaphors, with novelists and critics identifying specific meanings and topics behind them. This book aims to unravel the shapeshifting trope. Rather than pursue a case-based study, the works are grouped around specific themes--adolescence, gender, sexuality, race, disability, addiction, and spirituality--that are explored through the metaphor of shapeshifting. Because of the transformative possibilities of this metaphor and its flexibility, the shapeshifter has the potential to change how we see our world. With coverage of iconic fantasy texts and a focus on current works, the book engages with the shapeshifting figure in popular culture from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
The Shapeshifters
Title | The Shapeshifters PDF eBook |
Author | Stefan Spjut |
Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Pages | 595 |
Release | 2015 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 054408408X |
Far off the grid in northern Sweden, a small network of people have been tasked with hiding the last remaining trolls from the public eye, and one young woman will do whatever it takes to bring the truth to light, in this literary thriller that is "intensely riveting and constantly surprising" (Karl-Ove Knausgard).
Coyotes! Nature's Shapeshifters
Title | Coyotes! Nature's Shapeshifters PDF eBook |
Author | Dr. Richard A. NeSmith |
Publisher | Applied Principles of Education & Learning |
Pages | 50 |
Release | 2020-10-17 |
Genre | Juvenile Nonfiction |
ISBN |
Coyotes were the most misunderstood, maligned, and hated creatures on the North American continent. Most of the hate for coyotes was propagated by people who did not understand the importance or the contribution coyotes make to create a healthy environment. As you begin to understand the role that coyotes play in nature, you will see how they are not evil creatures but keystone species. When you start to see how they shape to their environment, new respect and awe develop. After a closer look, we have discovered that coyotes are indeed keystone species that benefit other animals in their ecosystems. Finally, you will be impressed by coyotes' ability to withstand nearly all odds of attacks and attempts to eradicate them.