Nomads of the Wind: A Natural History of Polynesia

Customer Reviews:

Just a taste of paradise.......2002-04-04

When I read this book I was looking for a detailed account of the natural history of the south pacific-the people, cultures, places, maps, archaeology, geology, biogeography, and so on. This book is very good, but not by any means exhaustive-its 11 chapters provide a useful overview of natural history, initial polynesian and then European discovery, and the various cultures of the Tahitian islands (chapters 1-2), the Fijian group (3), the Tongan group (4), a chapter on polynesian seafearing (5), the story of Fletcher Christian and the Bounty Mutineers (6), the Cook Islands (6), the Marquesas Islands (6-7), Easter Island (8), European Impact (9), Hawaii (9), New Zealand (10), and the future (11).

A strong point is the beautiful colour photographs and cultural depictions, however a notably weak point is the poorness of the maps. Often it is difficult to tell which islands belong to which particular "group" from the text, and the maps don't help in this respect-they are very simplisitic and look hand-drawn. These maps are in stark contrast to the beauty and extravagance of the colour photos of various wildlife, vistas and aerial photographs.

One of the best chapters is that on Easter Island with its stone statues, general cultural and natural history and subsequent decline. It is a little brief, but I found the archaeological accounts of it the islands cultural downfall particularly interesting. Basically, the ruling religious class (hanau eepe) are overthrown by a warrior class (matatoa) after the resource base of the island, and the cultural structure which depended on it, collapsed. By the time Europeans arrived in the 17th and 18th centuries, the island was already in warfare and decline.

Typical useful snippets include the taro root being found to contain natural flouride complexes by western science, which was discovered after someone researched why the polynesians seemed to have such good teeth. After the connection was made, flouide was routinely introduced into toothpaste/water in western societies. The New Zealand Maoris had no pigs or chickens, unlike other polynesians, probably because they were substituted by the now extinct Moa as a food source, after they first arrived in New Zealand. The presence of the sweet potatoe and other South American oddities suggests some natural or cultural influx from South America-either with seafarers from the east, by natural currents and winds (eg some lizards on Fiji, and South American trees on Easter Island), or by the polynesians themselves who may have reached South America, but never settled there. Another bit of trivia is on page 84-it is an aerial colour shot of the island where Tom Hanks was marooned in the movie "Castaway".

Overall quite a useful overview of the natural history of Polynesia, and beautifully illustrated, but not presented in any exhaustive detail.

Incredible pictures, inspiring journeys - excellent.......1999-11-01

Peter's journey throughout the Pacific, following in the footsteps of the travelling Polynesians, takes you far and wide across the vastness of the ocean. Excellently written and divided into easily negotiated sections, you can see in stages, how the islands came to be inhabited.

The pictures are breathtaking although the maps of the Pacific and individual islands look a little cheap and could have been more detailed for the price of the book.

Particularly poignant is the story of the most remote spot on earth, namely "Rapa Nui" or Easter Island. This strange tale tells how the island was populated and then brought about it's own extinction, leaving the eerie Moai figures staring out across the sea for all eternity.

A beautifully written piece of work, that I would recommend any arm chair traveller to read.

Book Description

I was forced to face the upsetting fact of my fourteen-year-old life:

I'm on my own. It's up to me to create the life I want. I must be mistress of my destiny or I'll never even skim the surface of normal.

And that's when the whole fiasco began.

One summer day, Libby and her best friend, Nadine, come up with a plan. Before their freshman year is over, they will each experience a serious kiss. Libby already has her ideal boy picked out. Everything is set.

But Libby's beer-guzzling father and fast food-addict mother have another plan: The family is moving. To the middle of nowhere. Away from all of Libby's friends and all hope of a normal life, much less a boyfriend.

As her life and her family are falling apart, Libby starts to wonder, Is happiness really about being normal? Or is being happy maybe just...being yourself? As she begins to figure out who she is, Libby discovers the most amazing thing of all -- being herself could also be the key to a perfect, incredible, wonderful, serious kiss.

Customer Reviews:

The Serious Kiss.......2007-04-09

I really liked The Serious Kiss by Mary Hogan. For her first book, she did a great job making her characters believable and easy to relate to. Although I haven't had to experience all of the awful things that Libby, the main character, had to go through, I can sympathize with her. I feel very lucky not to have an alcoholic father who loses everything and forces our family to move to a retirement trailer park with a grandma that i've never met in the middle of no where. But most of all, I am extremely happy not to be Libby and have to leave my house, school, best friend and almost boyfriend. This book makes you really think about your own life and hopefully realize like I did, that life isn't always as bad as it seems. Things could always be worse ot could even get better.

romantic.......2006-12-22

i loved this book.it is so crazy with the characters libby is so awsome and whe she kisses the guy it is so so romantic.i would recommended this book to my 7th grader friends and to anyone else thats in love.it totally rocks!!!!!!!!!

Great Book .......2005-03-23

The Serious Kiss is a great book. I love all of the crazy characters in this book. It's about a girl named Libby that has a crazy family and her best friend and she had made a deal that they each would have a serious kiss before the end of the school year. But everything goes wrong when her family moves to the desert and she finds out that she has a grandmother that she thought was dead and they end up moving into a trailer park. Her grandmother had the trailer put right next to hers, which makes everything even worse. Her dad and her grandmother hadn't spoken to each other in 20 years and she doesn't fit in at her new school. Also, her family is different from other families. So if you love the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison I am positive you will like this book also.

AWESOME!!.......2005-01-30

I bought this book because I LUV the cover! It looks just like my dog, PeeWee. But, when I read it, I quickly saw that it's much more than a book about a dog. The story was so great, I read every night after I was supposed to be a sleep. It's totally REAL. Like real life. Awesome! Why aren't there more books like this?? I can't wait to read Mary Hagen's next book!!

Brava!.......2005-01-03

This is the best book I've read in a long time. Libby, the heroine,
is likeable, smart, funny, vulnerable. The issues she deals with
from start to finish ring absolutely true. I don't think there's been
a better character than Libby since Harry Potter. I hope that the author,
Mary Hogan, is writing like crazy -- can't wait to read more of her books!

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Serious Kiss
Mary Hogan
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEYK80

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The Serious Kiss
Mary Hogan
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF0I26

Book Description

This Series provides a comprehensive survey of the major topics in the field of developmental biology. The volumes are valuable to researchers in animal and plant development, as well as to students and professionals who want an introduction to cellular and molecular mechanisms of development. The Series has recently passed its 30-year mark, making it the longest-running forum for contemporary issues in developmental biology.

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Int tables for crystallography

International Tables for Crystallography: Brief teaching edition of Volume A, Space-Group Symmetry 1989, with corrections

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Crystallography | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
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International Tables for Crystallography, Volume A: Space Group Symmetry (International Tables for Crystallography)

$The Basics of Crystallography and Diffraction (International Union of Crystallography Texts on Crystallography, 5)$ The Basics of Crystallography and Diffraction (International Union of Crystallography Texts on Crystallography, 5)

Crystal Structure Determination

Crystal Structure Refinement: A Crystallographer's Guide to SHELXL (International Union of Crystallography Texts on Crystallography)

ASIN: 9027725780

Book Description

The Fourth revised and enlarged Teaching Edition is based on the Fourth revised and corrected Edition (1996) of Volume A of International Tables for Crystallography, and has its own special subject index. The work comprises the 17 plane groups (two-dimensional space groups), 24 selected space groups and those basic text sections of Volume A which are necessary for the understanding of the space-group examples, for the determination of space groups, and for the transformations between the various space-group descriptions. The new edition contains new diagrams for all plane groups and space groups and includes space group No. 64 (Cmca) as an example of a space group with the `double' glide plane e. The Teaching Edition serves a threefold purpose: it should provide a handy tool for researchers and students to familiarize themselves with the use of the space-group tables in Volume A; it is designed for use in classroom teaching; and it can serve as a laboratory handbook, since the 24 examples chosen include most of the frequently occurring space groups for both organic and inorganic crystals.

Customer Reviews:

Int tables for crystallography.......2000-06-21

essential for any lab involved with x-ray crystallography. good reference source.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Atlantic Economic Journal, published by Atlantic Economic Society on September 1, 1994. The length of the article is 4702 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: Portes applied the econometric disequilibrium model of market economies to Centrally Planned Economies (CPEs) to show that the consumer goods sector was in equilibrium. Kornai considered these models inapplicable to CPEs and regarded CPEs as chronic shortage economies. Arguments on both sides of the debate are presented in this book. The conflict between Portes and Kornai lies in their microeconomic view of CPEs. While Portes acknowledges the welfare loss from shortages, Kornai analyzes and emphasizes it. Portes' view implies that changes in relative prices can reestablish equilibrium in CPEs. Kornai disagrees because CPEs do not respond to price changes like market economies. Only total reform, now attempted in many transition economies, can eliminate the imbalances.

Citation Details
Title: Models of disequilibrium and shortage in centrally planned economies.
Author: Eva Marikova Leeds
Publication: Atlantic Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1994
Publisher: Atlantic Economic Society
Volume: v22 Issue: n3 Page: p70(9)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The second economy in disequilibrium and shortage models of centrally planned economies: Christopher M. Davis (Berkeley-Duke occasional papers on the second economy in the USSR)

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The second economy in disequilibrium and shortage models of centrally planned economies: Christopher M. Davis (Berkeley-Duke occasional papers on the second economy in the USSR)
Christopher Davis
Manufacturer: Orders to BDOP, c/o Clifford Gaddy, Dept. of Economics, Duke University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Shopping & Commerce | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006EQ1US

Customer Reviews:

Great for creepy bedtime stories..........2001-05-21

This is a collection of short horror/weird stories orginally published in various pulp magazines from 1920's to 1950's. Some are better than others, but all are very entertaining. The stories are obviously dated, but they give a sense of nostalgia...like sitting in your grandparents' attic and discovering long forgotten treasures that someone once dearly loved. If your into that Lovecraft meets Twilight Zone genre, then you'll love this one.

RIVALS OF WEIRD TALES - 30 GREAT FANTASY & HORROR STORIES FROM THE WEIRD FICTION PULPS

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RIVALS OF WEIRD TALES - 30 GREAT FANTASY & HORROR STORIES FROM THE WEIRD FICTION PULPS
Robert; Stefan Dziemianowicz & Martin Greenberg (editors), H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Jack Williamson, Hugh B. Cave, Richard Matheson, Henry Kuttner, August Derleth, C.L. Moore, Manly Wade Wellman, Carl Jacobi et Weinberg
Manufacturer: Bonanza
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Amazon.com

Among the most beloved of American writers, Eudora Welty's stories and novels have entertained us for over half a century. Here, in her memoirs, she writes with her usual candor and grace about how a writer's sensibilities are shaped. As compelling as her stories, as witty as her personality, as finely honed as her fiction, Welty's account of her life is a powerful and fulfilling read.

Book Description

Now available as an audio CD, in Eudora Welty's own voice, or as a book.

Eudora Welty was born in 1909 in Jackson, Mississippi. In a "continuous thread of revelation" she sketches her autobiography and tells us how her family and her surroundings contributed to the shaping not only of her personality but of her writing. Homely and commonplace sights, sounds, and objects resonate with the emotions of recollection: the striking clocks, the Victrola, her orphaned father's coverless little book saved since boyhood, the tall mountains of the West Virginia back country that become a metaphor for her mother's sturdy independence, Eudora's earliest box camera that suspended a moment forever and taught her that every feeling awaits a gesture. She has recreated this vanished world with the same subtlety and insight that mark her fiction.

Even if Eudora Welty were not a major writer, her description of growing up in the South--of the interplay between black and white, between town and countryside, between dedicated schoolteachers and the public they taught--would he notable. That she is a splendid writer of fiction gives her own experience a family likeness to others in the generation of young Southerners that produced a literary renaissance. Until publication of this book, she had discouraged biographical investigations. It undoubtedly was not easy for this shy and reticent lady to undertake her own literary biography, to relive her own memories (painful as well as pleasant), to go through letters and photographs of her parents and grandparents. But we are in her debt, for the distillation of experience she offers us is a rare pleasure for her admirers, a treat to everyone who loves good writing and anyone who is interested in the seeds of creativity.

Customer Reviews:

very interesting.......2007-07-16

I found this book interesting as it brought me into a world that existed for a young girl in 1925. It's well written and not too taxing. If one is interested in how to write about themselves it's a great tool. (Although it doesn't give directions, it shows by example).

To learn to listen for the stories.......2007-03-15

This is an outstanding memoir. In telling of her own development as a writer Welty devotes much time to telling the story of her parents, and their families. She writes of them with respect, understanding and appreciation. She also by telling the story of the families gives a picture of the American world of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
While Welty does not devote most of her pages to describing her authorial practice she does provide insightful passages into her overall development. Here is a key one

" But it was not until I began to write, as I seriously did only when I reached my twenties, that I found the world out there revealing, because ( as with my father now)memory had become attached to seeing , love had added itself to discovery and because I recognized in my own continuing longing to keep going , the need I carried inside myself to know- the apprehension first, and then the passion, to connect myself to it. Through travel I first became aware of the outside world ; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way of becoming part of it."

Welty in the opening section of the work tells how she learned to listen not simply to, but for the stories which she would make literature out of. In the second section she speaks of 'Learning to See' .and the third is devoted to 'Finding a Voice'.
Again I was impressed by her ability to write even of minor characters in her life with perception and sympathy.
A fine work.

Inspirational for new student writers.......2006-07-13

Eudora Welty does an excellent job of understanding the importance of storytelling as it relates to becoming a writer. My students in the ENG101 Comp course have said this book was inspirational in jump starting their writing assignments for the course. They said she gave them many ideas; she presented herself as a "real" person - not an author they felt were "above them"...a great beginning for one writer's beginnings...in this case, my students!

Wonderful, warm story.......2006-05-25

What a lovely, warm and engaging little book! I have read many of Miss Welty's works, and wanted to know what makes such a talented writer "tick". I loved this book for the insight on growing up in the South, and for the kind way in which she wrote about her family. With so many people out there writing books about how terrible their upbringing was-this was truly refreshing. My house was a lot like hers in a way-every room was one in which books could be read. One of the most memorable lines in the book was "Learning stamps you with its moments". Miss Welty seemed very curious about the world around her and this was encouraged by her parents. This curiousity is what made her a wonderful writer. A lot of her memories of her childhood make appearances in her stories. I highly recommend "One Writer's Beginnings" to anyone who is curious about Miss Welty's work, or anyone who is already a fan and wants to know more about her.

Wonderful Book!.......2004-07-21

I pick this book up and read it over and over again. It's WONDERFUL! Ms. Welty does a great job explaining her life growing up in Jackson, Mississippi in the first half of the 20th Century and how it influenced her writing. Her descriptions of her school prinicipal and the town librarian are priceless as are her descriptions of sunday school at the Methodist Church. Originally delivered as a part of the Massey Lectures on American Civilization at Harvard University, she did a wonderful job spinning these into a super little book. After reading the book I had to visit her home in Jackson and see Jefferson Davis School across the street.

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ONE WRITERS BEGINNINGS

Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000H1IH3O

Becoming a Writer, On Becoming a Novelist, One Writer's Beginnings

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Becoming a Writer, On Becoming a Novelist, One Writer's Beginnings

Manufacturer: Quality Paperback Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IANCL6

Another Kind of Writer, 1946: The Ups and Downs and Starts and Stops of One Writer's Beginnings

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Another Kind of Writer, 1946: The Ups and Downs and Starts and Stops of One Writer's Beginnings
Wallace J. Gordon
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1403394326

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One Writer's Beginnings.
EUDORA: WELTY
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCQKKW

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One Writers Beginnings
Eudora Welty
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SZT8YG

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One Writers Beginnings
Eudora Welty
Manufacturer: HARVARD UNIV PRESS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000X16PJQ

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One Writer s Beginnings
Eudora Welty
Manufacturer: Harvard Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K3M0LE

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One Writer's Beginnings
Eudora Welty
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8CAE2

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One Writer's Beginnings
Welty Eudora
Manufacturer: Harvard UP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDLNQW

Book Description

This is an authoritative and accessible guide to modern ideas in the broad interdisciplinary fields of cultural and critical theory that have developed from interactions among different modern traditions of thought. All strands of theory are represented in a volume that reflects the remarkable dissolution during the past 20 years of many of the traditional boundaries separating disciplines of study. Work in these fields that appeared before the twentieth century is included when it forms an important context for understanding later thinking. A special feature of the dictionary is the inclusion of a number of speculative or polemical essays on selected key topics or authors. Entries include movements such as deconstruction, the work of individual theorists such as Louis Althusser, Karl Marx, Raymond Williams, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva and Virginia Woolf, and also important concepts. This dictionary will be invaluable to students and scholars in such disciplines as literature, film studies, cultural studies, philosophy, history, theology, linguistics, politics, law, urban studies, psychoanalysis, and women's studies. It is supported by an analytic index and a comprehensive bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

The DEFINITIVE guide to all things theoretical!!.......1998-02-18

I strongly reccomend this book to anyone working in the fields of cultural and communications theory. The explanations are straightforward and accurate. The cross-referencing is exhaustive and well laid out. The first dictionary I ever read cover to cover!!!

The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory (Penguin Reference Books)

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More an Encyclopedia than a Dictionary
Strengths and Weaknesses

The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory (Penguin Reference Books)
David Macey
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0140513698
Release Date: 2002-07-30

Book Description

The most up-to-date and authoritative introduction to critical theory available, this acclaimed dictionary provides an ideal overview of the full range of theories, schools of thought, and theorists. Whether it's Arendt or Woolf, object relations or orientalism, postcolonial theory or postmodernism, readers will find incisive entries on the work of key figures, powerful summaries of the crucial debates, and clear explanations of both the links and differences between the various thinkers and schools.

"Remarkable for its comprehensiveness. . . . It is certainly a reference work I will want to have on my own shelves." (David Lodge)

Customer Reviews:

More an Encyclopedia than a Dictionary.......2007-10-08

A DICTIONARY OF CRITICAL THEORY by David Macey is one of those books that ought to be held in one hand while the other holds another text on literary theory. It is no easy task to succinctly summarize let alone analyze an imposingly long list of terms, writers, movements, and schools of critical thought, but Macey has come close. Assume that a reader is about to try to plow his way through the denseness that is the thought of Lacan. As a preliminary, that reader would be wise first to read the general background to Lacanian thought before navigating a way between Lacan's distinctions between the Real and the Imaginary stages of infantile growth. Or perhaps that reader feels a lack of understanding of Freud's oedipal issues. Macey is where to begin.

Macey's text is arranged alphabetically, as any proper dictionary should be, but this text is more encyclopedia than dictionary. Part of the not-so-obvious problem I have with Macey is the same that I have with any author who seeks to encapsulate all the knowledge of the world on one issue in one book. The question of authorial bias manifests itself not only in what is included or excluded, but also in the even-handedness of its treatment. Macey tends to smooth over any areas of political controversy that arise all too often in a discourse that is fraught with potential conflict. For example, as I was reading the entry on Noam Chomsky, the MIT linguist who has for years been an outspoken critic of both the United States and Israel, hardly anything was written that might cast an aspersion on Chomsky's own biases. What was presented was a rather technical explanation of Chomsky's linguistic theories, a matter of concern only to other linguists. I was surprised by Macey's omission of Frederick Jameson, one of the most outspoken Marxist critics of this century. Still, Macey's text is an indispensable tool for those who wish to learn how words affect ideas.

Strengths and Weaknesses.......2006-04-24

Yes and no. For some time, I have referred to the Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy. This I have found to be particularly helpful. I thought I might find the same with the Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. But first, what is critical theory? While there are several possible definitions, perhaps the following would make most sense. Scientific theory, in whatever field, uses "instrumental reason" for the purpose of "manipulating the external world". Critical theory might be said to be theory which examines the instrumental reason itself.

The Dictionary of Critical Theory is strong from the point of view that it is broad in the information it provides. It sketches e.g. both the origins and the outcomes of metaphysics, or both the early and the late work of Jacques Derrida -- and it gives one a good feel for the mood among academics, and for caveats one should be aware of. It is strong from the point of view that it succeeds in reducing vast and complex subject matter to concise and manageable entries -- and it is generally up to date. It also has a very useful bibliography at the back (80 pages).

I would consider it weak from the point of view that it is not as comprehensive as it might be. I looked up "systems theory". Nothing. I looked up "axioms", "coherentism", "Michael Polanyi". There was nothing -- where there might have been, at least, a single-line cross-reference. I would also consider it weak from the point of view that it sometimes seems too technical to be useful. For instance, I looked up "metalanguage". This, it says, is "a technical or second-order language used to describe and analyse a natural or first-order language". A dictionary, surely, is intended to be more explicatory than that.

The book is useful -- and I would rather have it than not. This is the first impression in paperback, and hopefully future editions would overcome some of the present shortcomings.

A DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL AND CRITICAL THEORY.

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A DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL AND CRITICAL THEORY.
Michael (ed.): Payne
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2XX46

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