"[This book] is a study of America's most controversial personal automobile. Featuring more than fifteen essays, this collection analyzes the Hummer through a wide array of disciplines. The editors, Elaine Cardenas and Ellen Gorman, have divided the essays into four groups: myth and space, myth and body, myth and discourse, and myth as vehicle. An introduction by the editors places the study of the Hummer in a cultural context." -- from cover, page 4.

From military missions to trips to the mall, the Hummer is truly a unique vehicle. It's big, it's tough, and it has rolled its way onto American roads. Let's take a ride through the history of the Hummer with Sports Illustrated for Kids author Michael Bradley! Book jacket.

They call her Hummer because she does: all the time. At least whenever she's thinking of horses, which is pretty close to saying all the time. However, there is something Hummer avoids thinking of at all costs: why her father doesn't go in the house anymore, but sleeps in the barn, and why her mother neither bathes nor cleans house, or ever goes outside. Every time Hummer goes in, she holds her breath to avoid the smell of garbage. Twelve-year old Hummer is shy, quiet, and thin. But on horseback, she's fantastic. Her old pony Mike has gotten stiff and asthmatic. But one night Hummer catches an Arabian mare that has escaped. When the old-man owner turns up, he lets Hummer borrow the horse-call it a loan-and it is about to change Hummer's life.

2032-LeAnn Bethany "Beth" Connors, appears to be a normal, twelve-year-old girl. But on the inside, Beth is a special child, an accidental mutant with incredible intelligence, amazing strength, and a gift that allows her to communicate with machines. She loves karate, soccer, music, and hanging out with her friends. But more than anything, Beth wants to be free after years of isolation and captivity in Arizona. After other mutated children suffer heart conditions from a defective gene, Beth's superior knowledge is called upon to help save their lives. Years of testing and training have gone into developing these children into the next generation of humans, but an errant pilot stumbles upon the testing area and is killed by one of the more aggressive mutants. Her captors-the same scientists who trained her to kill, heal, and operate almost every piece of military hardware our country has to offer-have been ordered to terminate Beth and all others like her. But Beth's amazing abilities allow her to escape in a specially designed Hummer outfitted with the latest in technology. Beth searches for others like her in order to save lives and eventually finds a community of people who understand her-through them she finds friendship and acceptance. But when Beth learns her former captors want to destroy this species of humans, she must use everything she has learned to survive.

The all-new Hummer H3 will reach market in early 2005, just as this book chronicling its development is published. The H3 will offer traditional Hummer off-road durability and stump-pulling power in a smaller, more-affordable SUV-styled package. Interest in the new model is very high and the automotive website "edmunds.com" reported, ". . . the smaller and cheaper H3 is likely to become the most popular Hummer ever."

Part company history, part business tale, and part action novel, Hummer tells the story of the Humvee's rise from a utility vehicle bred for military use to a suburban status-symbol. More that a simple story of GM's clever branding scheme at a perfect juncture in automotive, consumer, and world histories, this book is a cultural dissection of what images make American's open their pocketbooks so readily, and how buying American consumers was never so easy-or conflicted. - The H2 is a huge hit for GM- Hummer is an American icon like the Corvette and Ford Pickup- This books offers a fun-to-read story- H3 is on its way in 2006- Interest continues to grow in this unique vehicle, with buyers pushing GM production numbers up for the HummerAmerican's got their first real look at the Hummer during the first Gulf War. Interestingly, because of the advent of 24-hour news at this same point in time, the Gulf War served as priceless free advertising for AM General's war machine. After seeing the Hummer in action, movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly helped to convince AM General to prep the Hummer for civilian sales and was one of the first to own one.The attention garnered by Schwarzenegger and other celebrities like Tom Clancy, Shaquille O'Neal, G. Gordon Liddy, and any other high-profile American with $100,000 to spare spurred General Motors to acquire the Hummer name for a new range of smaller SUV's. With a well-timed second war in Iraq, General Motors saw sales of its Hummer H2 skyrocket, just as "Ahnuld" prepared for the debut of the third installment of his Terminator movies, which cemented his Hollywood status as the king of action movies since the first battle in Iraq.They say timing is everything. With the exploration of everything from consumer buying habits and American economics to global military action and big-budget Hollywood star power, HUMMER tells the story of how priceless and valuable timing has been for America's largest and most recognizable SUV.About the AuthorMartin Padgett is the editor of the Web's Automotive Authority, www.TheCarConnection.com, and contributes regularly to Stuff magazine as the resident "road warrior." He also writes car news and columns for Import Tuner, Edmunds.com, and other publications. Padgett lives in Atlanta's Morningside neighborhood with his partner of seven years and four cats, an ever-changing roster of cars in the driveway, and easy access to the Gulf Coast.

In this engaging and accessibly written book, Population Health in America weaves demographic data with social theory and research to help students understand health patterns and trends in the U.S. population. While life expectancy was estimated to be just 37 years in the United States in 1870, today it is more than twice as long, at over 78 years. Yet today, life expectancy in the U.S. lags behind almost all other wealthy countries. Within the U.S., there are substantial social inequalities in health and mortality: women live longer but less healthier lives than men; African Americans and Native Americans live far shorter lives than Asian Americans and White Americans; and socioeconomic inequalities in health have been widening over the past 20 years. What accounts for these population health patterns and trends? Inviting students to delve into population health trends and disparities, demographers Robert Hummer and Erin Hamilton provide an easily understandable historical and contemporary portrait of U.S. population health. Perfect for courses such as population health, medical or health sociology, social epidemiology, health disparities, demography, and others, as well as for academic researchers and lay persons interested in better understanding the overall health of the country, Population Health in America also challenges students, academics, and the public to understand current health policy priorities and to ask whether considerably different directions are needed.