Among the most accomplished color photographers of our time, Jeff Brouws presents over 80 resplendent photographs capturing the dreamy magic of the carnival midway. Gravity-defying amusement rides, brightly colored booths, the beseeching barkersBrouws' tableaux are accompanied by dozens of historical images from photographers such as Ben Shahn, Marion Post Wolcott, and Arthur Rothstein, and vivid text by cultural historian Bruce Caron. Inside the Live Reptile Tent is a journey to the heart of every special weekend and holiday adventure.

Among the most accomplished color photographers of our time, Jeff Brouws presents over 80 resplendent photographs capturing the dreamy magic of the carnival midway. Gravity-defying amusement rides, brightly colored booths, the beseeching barkers -- Brouws' cableaux are accompanied by dozens of historical images from photographers such as Ben Sbahn. Marion Post Wolcott, and Arthur Rothstein, and vivid text by cultural historian Bruce Caron. Inside the Live Reptile Tent is a journey to the heart of every special weekend and holiday adventure.

Evocative images of buildings and places, seen from the American road. Like many who grew up during the spread of sprawl--with its predictable landscape of housing developments, shopping malls, interstate highways, and big-box construction--acclaimed photographer Jeff Brouws is drawn to places that still embody the vernacular past as well as to those that starkly portray the soulless, franchised American landscape. What began as cultural geography of Main Streets became a visual critique of the myth of upward mobility that created this car-centered, paved-over universe. Some images look outward to the edges of suburbia where sprawl is encroaching upon nature. Others turn inward, documenting the devastated inner cities. All the stunning color photographs reflect the complex beauty and desolation of visual life in our time.

Viewing contemporary Latin American films through the lens of queer studies reveals that many filmmakers are exploring issues of gender identity and sexual difference, as well as the homophobia that attempts to defeat any challenge to the heterosexual norms of patriarchal culture. In this study of queer issues in Latin American cinema, David William Foster offers highly perceptive queer readings of fourteen key films to demonstrate how these cultural products promote the principles of an antiheterosexist stance while they simultaneously disclose how homophobia enforces the norms of heterosexuality. Foster examines each film in terms of the ideology of its narrative discourse, whether homoerotic desire or a critique of patriarchal heterosexism and its implications for Latin American social life and human rights. His analyses underscore the difficulties involved in constructing a coherent and convincing treatment of the complex issues involved in critiquing the patriarchy from perspectives associated with queer studies. The book will be essential reading for everyone working in queer studies and film studies. The films discussed in this book are: De eso no se habla (I Don't Want to Talk about It) El lugar sin límites (The Place without Limits) Aqueles dois (Those Two) Convivencia (Living Together) Conducta impropia (Improper Conduct) The Disappearance of García Lorca La Virgen de los Sicarios (Our Lady of the Assassins) Doña Herlinda y su hijo (Doña Herlinda and Her Son) No se lo digas a nadie (Don't Tell Anyone) En el paraíso no existe el dolor (There Is No Suffering in Paradise) A intrusa (The Interloper) Plata quemada (Burnt Money) Afrodita (Aphrodite) Fresa y chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate)

This volume presents a new way of looking at aspects of American culture that are at once familiar & increasingly rare. Jeff Brouws has recorded the discarded icons of highway culture, from abandoned drive-in movie screens to the rusty pickup truck. Essays by cultural critics compliment the images.

The first collection dedicated to analysing the casual, social, and mobile gaming movements that are changing games the world over.

The carnival sideshows of the past have left behind a fascinating legacy of mystery and intrigue. The secrets behind such daring feats as fire-eating and sword swallowing and bizarre exhibitions of human oddities as "Alligator Boys" and "Gorilla Girls" still remain, only grudgingly if ever given up by performers and carnival professionals. Working alongside the performers, Joe Nickell blows the lid off these mysteries of the midway. The author reveals the structure of the shows, specific methods behind the performances, and the showmen's tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds. He also traces the history of such spectacles, from ancient Egyptian magic and street fairs to the golden age of P.T. Barnum's sideshows. With revealing insight into the personal lives of the men and women billed as freaks, Nickell unfolds the captivating story of the midway show.