""The writing is a fascinating blend of wry, contemporary social narrative (a la Nick Hornby), yet conveying a message about the divisive South African culture reminiscent of JM Coetzee. Some of the brutally honest accounts of Joss' early sexual encounters would probably shock if taken out of context but he somehow manages to make them seem wholly acceptable as he struggles to come to terms with his many desires in an Apartheid-governed world."" - Rupert Reid DescriptionThis eccentric book is an attempt to make manic depression more widely understood given the stigmatism that it is usually associated with. The illness creates a jaundiced perception of people and reality and it is probably for this reason that the characters' names are changed; otherwise it is a real story. However, there is no distinction between reality and dreams. It is not a story about success, victory or triumph, although equally given the circumstances it is also not one of failure either. It is a journey that starts in normality and ends in the opposite corner, beginning with a disturbed and violent dream. The book charts the experiences of Joss through Africa and Australia, marriage and running a business. On a few occasions the narrative fails and the author expresses his nightmares, secret thoughts, imagery and disbeliefs in poetry. The sudden loss of control, or sanity and his arrival in a mental asylum and the view from inside is both very distressing and strangely humorous. It ends on a note of poignancy, recalling Joss' supposed recovery and his attempted assimilation back into society. A fascinating and thoroughly engaging read, a must for anybody who wishes to further understand the thoughts and actions of a manic depressive. About the AuthorJoss has been a Company Director and is now a student at the Open University. Joss is a republican who does not use products that have been tested on animals; prefers to buy second hand clothes from Oxfam; reads the Telegraph and listens to Radio Four. His experiences include; seeing a UFO; scratching a white rhino and a tarantula's stomach; riding an ostrich and he has been in a high-speed police car chase. Joss has run the Comrades Marathon (89 kilometres) in 7 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds. For nine years Joss was a vegetarian, did not eat chocolate, or drink alcohol. He is a one-time member of Greenpeace, votes Labour, is a pacifist, asthmatic, left hander, bow-legged, has one kidney and suffers from manic depression.

Funnybooks is the story of the most popular American comic books of the 1940s and 1950s, those published under the Dell label. For a time, “Dell Comics Are Good Comics” was more than a slogan—it was a simple statement of fact. Many of the stories written and drawn by people like Carl Barks (Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge), John Stanley (Little Lulu), and Walt Kelly (Pogo) repay reading and rereading by educated adults even today, decades after they were published as disposable entertainment for children. Such triumphs were improbable, to say the least, because midcentury comics were so widely dismissed as trash by angry parents, indignant librarians, and even many of the people who published them. It was all but miraculous that a few great cartoonists were able to look past that nearly universal scorn and grasp the artistic potential of their medium. With clarity and enthusiasm, Barrier explains what made the best stories in the Dell comic books so special. He deftly turns a complex and detailed history into an expressive narrative sure to appeal to an audience beyond scholars and historians.

Illustrated throughout, this fact-filled and funny encyclopedia reveals the best of British comics, discussing how these quirky and colourful creations have shaped the lives of British children since the seventies.

This mischievous guide contains everything you ever wanted to know about Beanotown - inside you'll find: - Character profiles for all your favourite residents, including Dennis, Gnasher, Minnie and Bananaman. - Fun facts about all the weird and wonderful locations - A history of Beanotown - A celebration of Dennis's best pranks - A fun Beanotown quiz to check whether you've been paying attention. Fully illustrated throughout, this is the ideal gift for young Beano fans.

Kerry D. Soper reminds us of The Far Side's groundbreaking qualities and cultural significance in Gary Larson and "The Far Side." In the 1980s, Gary Larson (b. 1950) shook up a staid comics page by introducing a set of aesthetic devices, comedic tones, and philosophical frames that challenged and delighted many readers, even while upsetting and confusing others. His irreverent, single panels served as an alternative reality to the tame comedy of the family-friendly newspaper comics page, as well as the pervasive, button-down consumerism and conformity of the Reagan era. In this first full study of Larson's art, Soper follows the arc of the cartoonist's life and career, describing the aesthetic and comedic qualities of his work, probing the business side of his success, and exploring how The Far Side brand as a whole--with its iconic characters and accompanying set of comedic and philosophical frames--connected with its core readers. In effect, Larson reinvented his medium by creatively working within, pushing against, and often breaking past institutional, aesthetic, comedic, and philosophical parameters. Due to the comic's great success, it opened the door for additional alternative voices in comics and other popular mediums. With its intentionally awkward, minimalistic lines and its morbid humor, The Far Side expanded Americans' comedic palette and inspired up-and-coming cartoonists, comedians, and filmmakers. Soper re-creates the cultural climate and media landscape in which The Far Side first appeared and thrived, then assesses how it impacted worldviews and shaped the comedic sensibilities of a generation of cartoonists, comedy writers, and everyday fans.

"Written by an international team of illustration historians, practitioners, and educators, History of Illustration covers image-making and print history from around the world, spanning from the prehistoric to the contemporary. With hundreds of color image, this book to contextualize the many types of illustrations within social, cultural, and technical parameters, presenting information in a flowing chronology. This essential guide is the first comprehensive history of illustration as its own discipline. Readers will gain an ability to critically analyze images from technical, cultural, and ideological standpoints in order to arrive at an appreciation of art form of both past and present illustration"--

"Jobremus Bojeffries is like any other father--trying to keep the peace in a house stuffed with two kids (Ginda and Reth), uncles Raoul and Festus, a baby, and old Grandpa Podlasp. Never mind that one's a werewolf, one's a vampire, Grandpa is in the last stages of organic matter, and the baby puts off enough thermonuclear energy to power England and Wales... All right, they're no ordinary family. And this is no ordinary book, with stories spanning decades, a whole chapter written as light opera, a Christmas episode, and an all-new, 24-page comic bringing the Bojeffries up to the present day."--page [4] of cover.

'Shadow Man is a harrowing and horrific game of consequences' Val McDermid THE BRILLIANTLY COMPELLING SECOND NOVEL IN THE DI LUKAS MAHLER SERIES A missing child. A seventy-year-old murder. And a killer who's still on the loose. Ten year-old Erin is missing; taken in broad daylight during a friend's birthday party. With no witnesses and no leads, DI Lukas Mahler races against time to find her. But is it already too late for Erin - and will her abductor stop at one stolen child? And the discovery of human remains on a construction site near Inverness confronts Mahler's team with a cold case from the 1940s. Was Aeneas Grant's murder linked to a nearby POW camp, or is there an even darker story to be uncovered? With his team stretched to the limit, Mahler's hunt for Erin's abductor takes him from Inverness to the Lake District. And decades-old family secrets link both casesin a shocking final twist. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MARGARET KIRK'S DEBUT NOVEL SHADOW MAN: 'Gripping' 'Kept me on my toes right to the end' 'Another great detective is born' 'Shadow Man has a taut plot, maintains suspense cleverly and is crisply written' 'The city of Inverness is almost a character in its own right' 'A top-notch crime thriller, full of intricate twists with a disturbing insight into the mind of a cold blooded killer' 'Dark and atmospheric, I just couldn't put it down'

The sweeping story of cartoons, comic strips, and graphic novels and their hold on the American imagination. Comics have conquered America. From our multiplexes, where Marvel and DC movies reign supreme, to our television screens, where comics-based shows like The Walking Dead have become among the most popular in cable history, to convention halls, best-seller lists, Pulitzer Prize–winning titles, and MacArthur Fellowship recipients, comics shape American culture, in ways high and low, superficial, and deeply profound. In American Comics, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers through their incredible but little-known history, starting with the Civil War and cartoonist Thomas Nast, creator of the lasting and iconic images of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus; the golden age of newspaper comic strips and the first great superhero boom; the moral panic of the Eisenhower era, the Marvel Comics revolution, and the underground comix movement of the 1960s and ’70s; and finally into the twenty-first century, taking in the grim and gritty Dark Knights and Watchmen alongside the brilliant rise of the graphic novel by acclaimed practitioners like Art Spiegelman and Alison Bechdel. Dauber’s story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. Throughout, he describes the origins of beloved comics, champions neglected masterpieces, and argues that we can understand how America sees itself through whose stories comics tell. Striking and revelatory, American Comics is a rich chronicle of the last 150 years of American history through the lens of its comic strips, political cartoons, superheroes, graphic novels, and more. FEATURING… • American Splendor • Archie • The Avengers • Kyle Baker • Batman • C. C. Beck • Black Panther • Captain America • Roz Chast • Walt Disney • Will Eisner • Neil Gaiman • Bill Gaines • Bill Griffith • Harley Quinn • Jack Kirby • Denis Kitchen • Krazy Kat • Harvey Kurtzman • Stan Lee • Little Orphan Annie • Maus • Frank Miller • Alan Moore • Mutt and Jeff • Gary Panter • Peanuts • Dav Pilkey • Gail Simone • Spider-Man • Superman • Dick Tracy • Wonder Wart-Hog • Wonder Woman • The Yellow Kid • Zap Comix … AND MANY MORE OF YOUR FAVORITES!

C++ Primer Plus, Sixth Edition New C++11 Coverage C++ Primer Plus is a carefully crafted, complete tutorial on one of the most significant and widely used programming languages today. An accessible and easy-to-use self-study guide, this book is appropriate for both serious students of programming as well as developers already proficient in other languages. The sixth edition of C++ Primer Plus has been updated and expanded to cover the latest developments in C++, including a detailed look at the new C++11 standard. Author and educator Stephen Prata has created an introduction to C++ that is instructive, clear, and insightful. Fundamental programming concepts are explained along with details of the C++ language. Many short, practical examples illustrate just one or two concepts at a time, encouraging readers to master new topics by immediately putting them to use. Review questions and programming exercises at the end of each chapter help readers zero in on the most critical information and digest the most difficult concepts. In C++ Primer Plus, you’ll find depth, breadth, and a variety of teaching techniques and tools to enhance your learning: A new detailed chapter on the changes and additional capabilities introduced in the C++11 standard Complete, integrated discussion of both basic C language and additional C++ features Clear guidance about when and why to use a feature Hands-on learning with concise and simple examples that develop your understanding a concept or two at a time Hundreds of practical sample programs Review questions and programming exercises at the end of each chapter to test your understanding Coverage of generic C++ gives you the greatest possible flexibility Teaches the ISO standard, including discussions of templates, the Standard Template Library, the string class, exceptions, RTTI, and namespaces Table of Contents 1: Getting Started with C++ 2: Setting Out to C++ 3: Dealing with Data 4: Compound Types 5: Loops and Relational Expressions 6: Branching Statements and Logical Operators 7: Functions: C++’s Programming Modules 8: Adventures in Functions 9: Memory Models and Namespaces 10: Objects and Classes 11: Working with Classes 12: Classes and Dynamic Memory Allocation 13: Class Inheritance 14: Reusing Code in C++ 15: Friends, Exceptions, and More 16: The string Class and the Standard Template Library 17: Input, Output, and Files 18: The New C++11 Standard A Number Bases B C++ Reserved Words C The ASCII Character Set D Operator Precedence E Other Operators F The stringTemplate Class G The Standard Template Library Methods and Functions H Selected Readings and Internet Resources I Converting to ISO Standard C++ J Answers to Chapter Reviews