Who is the Bill Bailey whose exploits were chronicled in song? How many popular songs have titles containing the words “moon,” “heart,” or “baby”? Where is the road to Mandalay? How many female names can you think of that have been mentioned in song titles? Discover this fascinating information and more about some of America's most known and loved popular songs in this delightful sampler. The Popular Song Reader contains over 200 short essays on the backgrounds of a wide variety of twentie...

Fads by nature and by definition are hard to capture, yet Hoffmann and Bailey have captured over one hundred of the passing fashion fancies and merchandising miracles during America’s short history in their latest collection of fads, Fashion & Merchandising Fads.Life devoid of fads is impossible to imagine, and the fads that do enter our lives become vehicles for amusement upon retrospection. How long any fad stays in vogue is anybody’s guess, but Hoffmann and Bailey have again found those...

Chocolate Fads, Folklore & Fantasies is the low-cal answer to satisfying chocolate cravings. Documenting the chocolate phenomenon by means of 1,000+ chocolate chunks of information, this tempting book discusses:Chocolate Fads: chocolate books, chocolate goodies (cakes, candy, cookies, ice cream), chocolate clubs, chocolate festivals, chocolate fund-raising, chocolate marketing, chocolate media, and chocolate noveltiesChocolate Folklore: chocolate companies, chocolat...

From “Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)?” to a list of all song titles containing the word “werewolf,” Rock Music in American Popular Culture II: More Rock ’n’Roll Resources continues where 1995’s Volume I left off. Using references and illustrations drawn from contemporary lyrics and supported by historical and sociological research on popular cultural subjects, this collection of insightful essays and reviews assesses the involvement of musical imagery in personal issues, in soc...

True to the spirit of the all-American athlete and our society's seemingly endless pursuit of and passion for leisure activities is Sports & Recreation Fads. This readable and fascinating reference book highlights some of the most notable as well as some long-forgotten pastimes and personalities. Sporting and recreation events have thrived in the United States for more than two centuries. Just about every sport and recreation embraced from Colonial America to the present has had its faddis...

As religious fervor grows, Dr. Fishwick, a recipient of the Ray and Pat Browne Award for Lifetime Achievement from The American Culture Association, takes a sweeping look at religion in the United States--the country with the highest church attendance in the Western world. Popular religion can take many shapes and forms. It can wax and wane, but it cannot be eliminated or ignored. That is what prompted him to write Great Awakenings: Popular Religion and Popular Culture.He ponders how relig...

The memoir that inspired the two-time Golden Globe Award–winning comedy series: "Funny . . . heartbreaking . . . [and] utterly absorbing" (Lee Smith, New York Times–bestselling author of Guests on Earth).Oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician—from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York...

Less than 0.001% of all kids that start playing hockey will play a single game in the NHL. Those lucky enough to come close will experience a world filled with incredible highs and perilous lows. "So You Want Your Kid to Play Pro Hockey" takes the reader on a journey through the various levels of hockey to learn about politics, misconceptions, predators and hazing, drug addiction and alcohol abuse, and several other cultural intricacies.Learn about the differences between the NCAA ...

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of the National Book Award finalist War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning Chris Hedges challenges the Christian Right’s religious legitimacy and argues that, at its core, it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society.Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists first spoke of the United States becoming a Christian nation that would build a ...

Take a seat and settle in—it's a gigantic treasury of trivia and humor for our twenty-fifth (is that porcelain?) anniversary!IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Winner in HumorForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards, Honorable Mention in Humor"Fully Loaded" is putting it mildly. This behemoth of a book is overflowing with incredible stories, surprising facts, weird news, little-known origins, forgotten history, fun wordplay, and ever...

The result of careful research, this stylish biography of infamous blues musician Robert Johnson reveals the real story behind the mythical talent that made him a musical legend. According to some, Robert Johnson learned guitar by trading his soul away to the Devil at a crossroads in rural Mississippi. When he died at age 27 of a mysterious poisoning, many superstitious fans came to believe that the Devil had returned to take his due. This diligent study of Johnson’s life debunks these myt...

"Covering many of the biggest names and greatest events in sports, it's a wonderful collection of yarns and reminiscences, told in Perk's inimitable style" ( Postmedia News ).Dave Perkins was once told by a bluntly helpful university admissions officer: "You don't have the looks for TV or the voice for radio. You should go into print." Which he did, first at the Globe and Mail, and then for thirty-six well-travel...