In this New York Times–bestselling author’s “very funny novel,” a frustrated woman gets the ultimate makeover—by making an unwitting deal with the devil (Library Journal). Florida real estate agent Barbara Chessner is down on her luck, up several dress sizes, drowning herself in Bloody Marys—and, worst of all, has just been dumped by her husband for a blonde TV weatherperson. Tired of living the life of a woman in a “before” ad, Barbara stumbles outside in the midst of a thunderstorm and beseeches heaven to help her—unaware that someone diabolical might be listening . . . Barbara wakes up with golden hair (not her own premature gray), perfect pitch (she’s tone deaf), a strange black dog (registered to her), no double chin, a waistline . . . and definite cleavage! Talk about a good night’s sleep! Even more bizarre and seemingly wonderful things begin to happen to Barbara, including some potential new romances, and her friends at the real estate agency attribute the inexplicable to everything from hot flashes to dark forces. Not even she knows what the devil is going on. But when she finds out, all hell is going to break loose . . . “Barbara is a terrific character—clever, witty, and truly likable.” —Library Journal “Sly, smart-mouthed fun.” —People “Fiendishly funny.” —Booklist

Infernal Affairs has received journalistic, popular and corporate notice but little vigorous critical attention. In this book, Gina Marchetti explores the way this example of Hong Kong's cinematic eclecticism has crossed borders as a story, a commercial product and a work of art; and has had an undeniable impact on current Hong Kong cinema. Moreover, she uses this trilogy to highlight the way Hong Kong cinema continues to be inextricably intertwined with global film culture and the transnational movie market. Infernal Affairs served as the source for the Academy Award-winning film The Departed (2006). The Martin Scorsese-directed film won Oscars for best motion picture, director, adapted screenplay and film editing. This is the first time that an American film based on a Hong Kong production swept the Academy Awards by winning four top prizes.

A dead body on the beach turns out to be a live demon on the run from some of the nastiest bounty hunters in this dimension-or the next. Protecting one demon from another, Tess gets wrapped up in a case that's as dangerous as it is mind-boggling, especially when it begins to involve her own past.

When afterlife attorney Edna Bishop goes to Hell on a case, the client repays her by hijacking her living body! Now the condemned soul -- and Edna's body -- face an eternity on ice, unless the eccentric Dr. Holiday can brave a jungle of Infernal bureaucracy and save Edna from her own personal hell. A humorous urban fantasy about the perils of red tape in the afterlife.

Vols. for 1886-1896, Pt. I includes State weather service and Vital statistics.

East Asian Screen Industries is a guide to the film industries of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the PRC. The authors examine how local production has responded to global trends and explore the effects of widespread de-regulation and China's accession to the World Trade Organisation.

This book discusses the notion of “Hong Kong as Method” as it relates to the rise of China in the context of Asianization. It explores new Hong Kong imaginaries with regard to the complex relationship between the local, the national and the global. The major theoretical thrust of the book is to address the reconfiguration of Hong Kong’s culture and society in an age of global modernity from the standpoints of different disciplines, exploring the possibilities of approaching Hong Kong as a method. Through critical inquiries into different fields related to Hong Kong’s culture and society, including gender, resistance and minorities, various perspectives on the country’s culture and society can be re-assessed. New directions and guidelines related to Hong Kong are also presented, offering a unique resource for researchers and students in the fields of cultural studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, globalization and Asian studies.

How and why did films from Hong Kong — a former British Crown Colony and map-speck — become so popular? Post-WWII, creative freedom was scarce in Asia, but Hong Kong was a safe space for filmmakers seeking to profit from overseas Chinese markets and Chinatowns worldwide. Both Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest set up massive operations in Hong Kong and let the celluloid slip. By the 1980s, Hong Kong's Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan were famous throughout Asia. Their winning formula of humour and martial arts prowess ripped through kung fu stereotypes, while filmmakers like Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam served up fantasy, horror and noir crime dramas for rabid cinemagoing hordes in the grindhouses of Kowloon. It was a glorious time. This book is the nonpareil true story of the Hong Kong film industry, one that doesn’t skimp on the good bits: the hyperkinetic films themselves. Included are intrepid firsthand accounts of the culture and international fanbases to have emerged around these movies. More Sex, Better Zen, Faster Bullets contains the best bits of Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head (1996) and Hollywood East (2000) — the two best known tomes on Hong Kong films of the twentieth century — revised and with the inclusion of new material. The result is the most comprehensive encyclopedia of Hong Kong film available anywhere.