A collection of essays engaging with Buddhism in Thailand and the virtues of distraction and variety within the materialist turn in studies of religion. In Thailand, Buddhism is deeply integrated into national institutions and ideologies, making it tempting to think of Buddhism in Thailand as a textual, institutional, cultural, and conceptual whole. At the same time, religious expression in the country reflects anything but a single order. Often gaudy, cacophonous, variegated, and jumbled, diversity and apparent contradiction abound. A more open engagement with Buddhism in Thailand requires a willingness to be distracted, to step away from received hierarchies and follow the intriguing detail in the ornate design, the odd textual reference, and to prefer "thin description" over a search for meaning. Justin McDaniel's well-known book-length writings in Buddhist and Theravada studies cannot be fully understood without taking into account his shorter writings, what he calls his wayward distractions. Collected together for the first time, these essays cover subjects ranging from ornamental art to marriage and emotion, the role of Hinduism, neglected gender and ethnic diversity, Buddhist inflections in contemporary art practice, and the boundaries between the living, dead, and undead. These writings will be of importance to students of Theravada and Thailand, of religion in Southeast Asia and more generally, of the materialist turn in studies of religion.

A retrospective on the life and work of the gifted sculptor, Charles H. Forrester (1928-2010), reveals a man whose mind was in constant motion. His artwork spans six decades and is lavishly illustrated with commentary from art historians and contemporary artists. A Mind in Motion: The Art of Charles H. Forrester offers an in-depth guide into the mind and artistic legacy of the artist. Curated by his daughter, Winifred, the book vividly presents more than eighty stunning images organized by ten distinct categories and five creative series of his most significant artwork. This richly visual coffee table book will appeal to art lovers everywhere. Forrester was the master of the visual pun and comes to life through his legacy — sculptures, paintings and drawings, and journals. He was especially adept at working with the human figure, creating abstract figurative forms in materials ranging from welded steel to laminated-plywood. His engineering prowess was reflected in his kinetic sphere sculptures and wire suspension works. He captured startlingly realistic details, yet his works are highly stylized – often twisted into sly visual puzzles and riddles. The artist’s large concrete outdoor sculptures across the United States and England are among his most well-known works, but he also created many smaller sculptures cast in bronze and aluminum. With roots in New York and the Pacific Northwest, and as a teacher for thirty years in England and Kentucky, Forrester’s work directly impacted generations of sculptors and artists. His frequent sabbaticals and residencies in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas provided him inspiration for his life-long creativity. In 1998, Forrester and his wife, Dorothy, moved to East Nashville, where he maintained a studio up until his death in 2010. The late artist’s sculptures have been exhibited nationwide, receiving numerous awards. Some of Forrester’s more notable public artwork was commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce, Springfield, Oregon; Medford, Oregon public parks; Shakespeare Memorial Theater in Ashland, Oregon; the Bundy Art Museum, Waitsfield, Vermont; Broughton High School, Salford, England; Bowling Green-Warren County, Kentucky Hospital; and Northern Telecom, Nashville, Tennessee Additional contributors to the book are: John Forrester, son of Charles Forrester, Rome, Italy; Russ Faxon, sculptor, Bell Buckle, TN; Caroline Phillips, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon; Sam Hunt, Adjunct Professor of Art, Western Kentucky University.

The unsolved mysteries precipitated by a harmless prank resurface twenty years later when a boy from Sadie's old neighborhood returns to town.

Walter Dean Myers wrote more than one hundred books for young adults. He won the Coretta Scot King Award for African-American and served as the U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. This biography delves into the inspirational life of Myers and exposes the hardships he overcame to become one of the most regarded children’s book authors in our lifetime. Through this book, readers will gain a deep insight into this influential author’s work and how Myers fought for more African American authors of young adult fiction to be recognized.

The Philosopher’s Toothache proposes that early modern Stoicism constituted a radical mode of performance. Stoicism—with its focus on bodily sensation, imagined spectatorship, and daily mental and physical exercise—exists as what the philosopher Pierre Hadot calls a “way of life,” a set of habits and practices. To be a Stoic is not to espouse doctrine but to act. Informed by work in both classical philosophy and performance studies, Donovan Sherman argues that Stoicism infused the complex theatrical culture of early modern England. Plays written and performed during this period gave life to Stoic exercises that instructed audiences to cultivate their virtue, self-awareness, and creativity. By foregrounding Stoicism’s embodied nature, Sherman recovers a vital dimension too often lost in reductive portrayals of the Stoics by early modern writers and contemporary scholars alike. The Philosopher’s Toothache features readings of dramatic works by William Shakespeare, Cyril Tourneur, and John Marston alongside considerations of early modern adaptations of classical Stoics (Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius) and Neo-Stoics such as Justus Lipsius. These plays model Stoic virtues like unpredictability, indifference, vulnerability, and dependence—attributes often framed as negative but that can also rekindle a sense of responsible public action.

The fascination with tragedy and the subsequent theatre of voyeurism are part of human nature, especially when it involves our icons, celebrities and musicians. Knocking On Heaven's Door is the definitive book of rock 'n' roll, pop, R&B and blues deaths. Often, only the biggest selling artists are written about and sometimes it is the death of a personality that cements their iconic status. Knocking On Heaven's Door not only covers the rock legends who lived hard and died young, this detailed reference contains over 1,000 obituaries of music industry personalities, famous and obscure from mid-fifties to the present day. Alphabetical entries of all the important individuals, including: noteworthy producers, managers, songwriters, record company founders A&R men and even critics, puts all the information at your finger tips. Nick Talevski has spent a decade researching this comprehensive and authoritative reference book and it will be an indispensable and practical addition to every music library, full of irresistible and intriguing information.