"Jessica Hopper's music criticism has earned her a reputation as a firebrand, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music but the culture around it. With this volume spanning from her punk fanzine roots to her landmark piece on R. Kelly's past, The First Collection leaves no doubt why The New York Times has called Hopper's work "influential." Not merely a selection of two decades of Hopper's most engaging, thoughtful, and humorous writing,...

Music Is History combines Questlove's deep musical expertise with his curiosity about history, examining America over the past fifty years.

Traces the history of Japanese art from the seventh century through the present, offering insight into its long-time role in Japanese culture and the social factors that are shaping its development in the modern world.

A little girl falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a world of nonsensical and amusing characters.

Professor Weinstein of Brown University presents eighty-four lectures on the great classics of American literature, showing how such authors as Irving, Poe, Thoreau, Hemingway, and Faulkner bring the past to life, changing as each generation steps forward to interpret it anew.

A little female character called Koko represents the muse of music and dances and clowns her way through a breathless, animated short-history of western music from the beginning of time to punk. It’s an ideal introduction to a range of musical styles including pan flutes, baroque, romantic, circus music, jazz, French popular and opera.

The author addresses the topic of what makes horror horrifying and what makes terror terrifying. King delivers one colorful observation after another about the great stories, books and films that comprise of the horror genre--from Frankenstein and Dracula to The exorcist, The twilight zone and Earth vs. The flying saucers.

A nostalgic and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970's and 1980's, complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles.

Is there a song that changed your life? NPR's music authority Bob Boilen posed that question to some of today's best-loved musical legends and rising stars. In their answers the artists reflect on pivotal moments that inspired their work.

"An exploration of The Graduate's influence on filmmaking and how the movie both reflected and changed a generation's views of sex, work, and marriage"--