Ground-breaking dual biography that explores pop music's two most influential songwriters, offering new insights into their creative thinking.

"Bob Dylan and John Lennon are two of the most influential figures in popular music history. Dylan is arguably the twentieth century's most important singer-songwriter. His works have been covered more often than any other solo composer, and sales of his own records put him comfortably in the thirty most popular performers in United States' history. Lennon was founder and erstwhile leader of the Beatles who remain, by some margin, the most covered songwriters ever and the all-time top-selling popular music entertainers worldwide"--

Bob Dylan and John Lennon are two of the most iconic names in popular music. Dylan is arguably the twentieth century's most important singer-songwriter. Lennon was founder and leader of the Beatles who remain, by some margin, the most covered songwriters in history. While Dylan erased the boundaries between pop and poetry, Lennon and his band transformed the genre's creative potential. The parallels between the two men are striking but underexplored. This book addresses that lack. Jon Stewart discusses Dylan's and Lennon's relationship; their politics; their understanding of history; and their deeply held spiritual beliefs. In revealing how each artist challenged the restrictive social norms of their day, the author shows how his subjects asked profound moral questions about what it means to be human and how we should live. His book is a potent meditation and exploration of two emblematic figures whose brilliance changed Western music for a generation.

This new exploration of Marx as a Jewish thinker presents “a perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments” of his life and work (Jonathan Rose, Wall Street Journal). A philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor, Karl Marx was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history. But he is rarely thought of as a Jewish thinker, and his Jewish background is either overlooked or misrepresented. Here, distinguished scholar Shlomo Avineri argues that Marx’s Jewish origins made a significant impression on his work. Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, and his family had enjoyed full emancipation under earlier French control of the area. But then its annexation to Prussia deprived the Jewish population of its equal rights. These developments led to the reluctant conversion of Marx’s father, and similar tribulations radicalized many other Jewish intellectuals of that time. Avineri puts Marx’s Jewish background in its proper and balanced perspective, and traces Marx’s intellectual development in light of the historical, intellectual, and political contexts in which he lived.

Amazon.com ExclusivesFeaturing a foreword by Thomas Jefferson, a Dress the Supreme Court layout, and, oddly enough, a profile of George "The Iceman" Gervin, America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, from Jon Stewart and the writers of the Emmy Award-winning The Daily Show, is by far one the most irreverent and wittiest (and may we add smartest) political book you're likely to encounter. Amazon.com spoke with Jon Stewart a few days before the 2004 publication of America (The Book) and they discussed bald eagles, magical talking cats, Thor Heyerdahl, and much more • Read the Amazon.com Interview with Jon Stewart • Listen to the Amazon.com Interview with Jon Stewart • Watch a "vintage" Amazon.com Exclusive Video from Jon StewartMore from Jon Stewart Naked Pictures of Famous People America (The Book) [Audio CD] The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004 [DVD]

This inspired bio musical about The One and Only begins with Groucho as an old man doing his famous Carnegie Hall show. It then goes back to the beginnings of the Marx Brothers and their struggles to make it in vaudeville, their rise to stardom and their eventual break up. All classic Groucho songs are included. One actor plays Groucho, another plays Chico and Harpo, and one actress plays all the wives, girlfriends and Margaret Dumont. A hit in New York, across the U.S. and in London, this show will delight Marx Brothers fans and the as yet uninitiated.

John Lennon wrote Skywriting by Word of Mouth, an impressive collection of writings and drawings, during Yoko Ono's pregnancy with Sean, and always planned to have it published. The book's publication was a wish that seemed to end with Lennon's assassination in 1980 and the theft of the manuscript from the Lennons' home in 1982. When it was recovered and first published in 1986, Skywriting received immediate critical and popular acclaim. Filled with Lennon's extraordinary creative powers and lavishly illustrated with his own drawings, the collection reveals his fertile creative spirit up close and in full force. Included in Skywriting are "Two Virgins," written when the public learned that John and Yoko were living together as husband and wife, and John's only autobiography, "The Ballad of John and Yoko." In addition there are notes on his falling in love with Yoko, the breakup of the Beatles, his persecution by U.S. authorities, and his withdrawal from public life. This is a book with John Lennon's spirit on every page—a spirit the world needs to remember.

"Throughout his various stages, Dylan's work reveals an affinity with the Zen worldview, where enlightenment can be attained through self-contemplation and intuition rather than through faith and devotion. Much has been made of Dylan's Christian periods, but never before has a book engaged Dylan's deep and rich oeuvre through a Buddhist lens."--Back cover.

American democracy is the world's most beloved form of government, which is why so many other nations are eager for it to be imposed on them. But just what exactly is it? Jon Stewart and his fellow patriots from the Emmy-winning The Daily Show finally deliver the answer. They offer their insights into a unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and exploring the reasons why concepts like 'One man, one vote', 'Government by the people', and 'Every vote counts' have become such popular urban myths. Includes such favourites as Ancient Rome: The First Republicans; The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted and White; The President: King of Democracy; The Supreme Court: 18 Legs, Four Tits, One Mission; Running for Office: What Are You Thinking?; The Media: Can It Be Stopped?; The Future of Democracy: The Constitutional Robocracy and You