The Bastard Instrument chronicles the history of the electric bass and the musicians who played it, from the instrument’s invention through its widespread acceptance at the end of the 1960s. Although their contributions have often gone unsung, electric bassists helped shape the sound of a wide range of genres, including jazz, rhythm & blues, rock, country, soul, funk, and more. Their innovations are preserved in performances from artists as diverse as Lionel Hampton, Liberace, Elv...

U2’s success and significance are due, in large part, to finding inventive, creative solutions for overcoming obstacles and moving past conventional boundaries. As it has embraced change and transformation over and over again, its fans and critics have come to value and expect this element of U2. These new essays from the disciplines of organizational communication, music theory, literary studies, religion, and cultural studies offer perspectives on several ways U2’s dynamic of change has ...

Singular and star-studded writings on America’s neon-lit playgroundAt once a Technicolor wonderland and the embodiment of American mythology, Las Vegas exists at the Ground Zero of a reverence for risk-taking and the transformative power of a winning hand. Jake Johnson edits a collection of short essays and flash ideas that probes how music-making and soundscapes shape the City of Second Chances. Treating topics ranging from Cher to Cirque de Soleil, the contributo...

A challenge to the “end of the shari‘a” thesis in Islamic legal historiographyIn the second half of the nineteenth century, states across the Muslim World developed new criminal codes and reshaped their legal landscapes, laying the foundations of the systems that continue to inform the application of justice today. Influenced by colonialism and the rise of the modern state’s desire to control its populations, many have seen the introduction of these codes as a pivo...

Louise Mercier is the elder of two stepsisters. She has been the private secretary to a very demanding boss for years. Her half-sister, who is twenty years younger and a talented artist, dropped out of university to become a homeless wanderer. However, she is due to inherit a large legacy on her twenty-fifth birthday. The last Louise sees of her sister is a visit from her, accompanied by a young American. Louise thinks she has joined a closed community in Yorkshire, but they refuse to reve...

Let’s say you’re the manager of one of the most beloved franchises in Major League Baseball, with every past and current player available on your bench. Game time is approaching and the ump needs your line-up card. Who’s your starting pitcher? Fireballer Dwight Gooden, lights-out Tom Seaver, or run-stingy Jacob de Grom? Is Gary Carter behind the plate or Mike Piazza? Who’ll bat clean-up? Combining statistical analysis, common sense, and a host of intangibles, Brian Wright constructs an all...

Much of the contemporary discussion of the Jesus tradition has focused on aspects of oral performance, storytelling, and social memory, on the premise that the practice of communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century CE. Brian J. Wright overturns that premise by examining evidence that demonstrates communal reading events in the first century. Wright disproves the simplistic notion that only a small segment of society in certain urban are...

Success Profiles: Conversations With High Achievers, Volume 2 is a collection of interviews from the highly acclaimed Success Profiles Radio featuring host Brian K Wright. Featured experts include Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank, Chris Powell from ABC's Extreme Weight Loss, Olympic gymnast Jonathan Horton, Marshall Sylver, Dan Lok, and many more.The leaders featured in Success Profiles: Conversations With High Achievers, Volume 2 all overcame difficult obstacles on their way to fi...

This book of matrices with Black boys as the main character is designed to help gifted and talented education teachers leverage Black boys’ identities to inform and shape how they plan and deliver curriculum and instruction and manage the multicultural, democratic, and culturally responsive classroom. Ford and colleagues (2005) spoke to the notion of and need for ‘self-reflective instruction.’ We argue that all teachers must want to and learn how to legitimize the “everyday” experiences th...

Much of the contemporary discussion of the Jesus tradition has focused on aspects of oral performance, storytelling, and social memory, on the premise that the practice of communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century CE. Brian J. Wright overturns that premise by examining evidence that demonstrates communal reading events in the first century. Wright disproves the simplistic notion that only a small segment of society in certain urban are...

Clear, Relevant, Evidence-Based Guidance to Support Early Childhood EducatorsAcademic's Choice Awards Smart Book Winner. Developmentally appropriate practice is the foundation on which quality early learning is built. The fourth edition of this classic, influential text addresses developmentally appropriate practice within the context of the ever-changing and evolving world of early childhood education. With a strong focus on equity and teaching an...

Worship. That intimate, face-to-face encounter with our most wonderful God, where we lavish our love upon Him... hear His heart... and simply, BEHOLD. Worship the King is a book compiled by authors who know what it is to have their hearts entwined with His in the intimacy of worship. Come; respond to the calling of the deep and share the mysteries in this secret place... Worship the King. Nic Bilman begins with examples and an exhortation about how we can function like thermostats vs. ther...