Art Study

The Gospel According to Breaking Bad takes a thoroughly Christian look at AMC's popular and critical TV hit. Covering such weighty theological issues like identity, death, justice, power, fate, free will, and the gospel itself, listeners will be coerced into thinking more deeply about the universal questions Breaking Bad asks. In sections covering the colors and metaphors of Breaking Bad, fans will also come to a further appreciation for one of the most well-done TV series in recent history.

Helen Hayes, acclaimed "First Lady of the American Theatre", has been on stage, screen, and television for more than fifty years. In that time she moved among the world's most famous and talented: actors, film stars, writers, businessmen. She speaks with wit, wisdom, and candor on topics both public and private.

Without a doubt, Schopenhauer is one of the giants of Western philosophy. He represents a turning point from the quest to define the external world as something apart from our experience to a recognition of our experience as the medium of our world. Philosophy is a discourse, a conversation spread out over centuries that explores and develops different lines of thought.

In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France's Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous, 35,000 volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships between books and readers, books and collectors, order and disorder, memory and reading.

Scandal, shock, and rivalry all have negative connotations, don't they? They can be catastrophic to businesses and individual careers. A whiff of scandal can turn a politician into a smoking ruin. But these potentially disastrous "negatives" can and have spurred the world of fine art to new heights. A look at the history of art tells us that rivalries have, in fact, not only benefited the course of art, from ancient times to the present, but have also helped shape our narrative of art, lending it a sense of drama that it might otherwise lack.

When The Flip Wilson Show debuted in 1970, Black faces were still rare on television, Black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow “Flip” Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover of Time as “TV’s first black superstar”? Flip is a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture.

The world’s skyscrapers have brought us awe and wonder, and yet they remain controversial—for their high costs, shadows, and overt grandiosity. But, decade by decade, they keep getting higher and higher. What is driving this global building spree of epic proportions? In Cities in the Sky, author Jason Barr explains all: why they appeal to cities and nations, how they get financed, why they succeed economically, and how they change a city’s skyline and enable the world’s greatest metropolises to thrive in the 21st century.

As World War II approached, the six most powerful media moguls in America and Britain tried to pressure their countries to ignore the fascist threat. The media empires of Robert McCormick, Joseph and Eleanor Patterson, and William Randolph Hearst spanned the United States, reaching tens of millions of Americans in print and over the airwaves with their isolationist views.

Over his 30-year career at Condé Nast, Nicholas Coleridge has witnessed it all. From the anxieties of the Princess of Wales to the blazing fury of Mohamed Al-Fayed, his story is also the story of the people who populate the glamorous world of glossy magazines. With relish and astonishing candour, he offers the inside scoop on Tina Brown and Anna Wintour, David Bowie and Philip Green, Kate Moss and Beyonce and a surreal weekend away with Bob Geldof and William Hague.

Who works in a theater? What is the green room? How do actors know where to stand on stage? Who controls the lights? Go on a guided tour of a theater to find out! Meet an actor and a director, see how the lighting works, hear the orchestra tune up, and watch as cast and crew get ready to perform.

Today it is widely recognized that gay men played a prominent role in defining the culture of mid-20th-century America, with such icons as Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Montgomery Clift, and Rock Hudson defining much of what seemed distinctly "American" on the stage and screen. Even though few gay artists were "out," their sexuality caused significant anxiety during a time of rampant anti-homosexual attitudes.

In this interactive, informative book, Lewis scholar Majorie Lamp Mead and literary expert Leland Ryken unlock the door to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardobe, inviting you to step inside - deeper and deeper, past the musty fur coats - and gaze in wide-eyed wonder once again at the magical, wintery world Lucy first found.

The goodness of God is waiting for us to taste and see. The aroma of Christ surrounds us. In Sensing God, musician and theologian Joel Clarkson points us to a life of faith that is enchanted by the glory of divine craftsmanship, inviting us to practice a faith that is true, good, pure, and altogether lovely.

To many who have discovered his books, C. S. Lewis is more than simply a writer; he has been a spiritual mentor. Here, over 50 Christians share how meeting the mind and imagination of Lewis in his books sparked the beginning or changed the course of their spiritual journey. These inspiring reflections have been shared by ordinary laypeople as well as many well-known leaders and writers.

A follow-up to the bestseller Sigil Witchery, Visual Alchemy takes a deeper look at the extraordinary connection between art and magic. Laura Tempest Zakroff expands on her signature sigil witchery method, an accessible and intuitive approach to crafting effective sigils. She covers numerous topics, including how to connect to the artist within, draw inspiration to you, and easily incorporate art into your ritual practice. Featuring more than fifty shared magic sigils, this book empowers you to put aside fear and unleash the full potential of your imagination.

Featuring a preface by C. S. Lewis biographer and editor Walter Hooper, Richard Platt’s As One Devil to Another takes up where the legendary Narnia author’s Screwtape Letters left off. In this gripping work, senior devil Slashreap corresponds with his protégé Scardagger. As Satan’s underlings exchange dark musings, light is shed on human failings, the nature of evil, and God’s divine intent.

American Libraries editor in chief Leonard Kniffel offers a compelling collection of interviews with prominent figures--all of whom have special connections to libraries. From President Barack Obama to actress Julie Andrews; from basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to former First Lady and librarian Laura Bush and many others, stars of literature, politics, entertainment, and the public arena speak with Kniffel about the ways libraries have been critical in their lives.

Josh Kaufman's 'The Personal MBA' is your practical guide to mastering the art of business without the formal business school experience. This comprehensive book offers a clear and concise overview of essential business concepts, from marketing to finance, strategy to leadership.

Andrea Palladio is the most influential architect who ever lived - much more so than those heroes of the Modern Movement - Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. It is significant that buildings we call "Palladian" are still being built today - for example, by the British architect Quinlan Terry. Palladio’s ideas were disseminated not only by his buildings, but also, even more effectively, by his writings, most notably by his didactic masterpiece, I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), published in 1570.

The Power of Art is an epic work of non-fiction that will transform our understanding of the world by unlocking the human stories behind millennia of art. Taking listeners from ancient Babylon to contemporary Pyongyang, the eminent curator Caroline Campbell explains art's power to illuminate our lives, and inspires us to benefit from its transformative and regenerative power.