Entertainment Theory

The Queer Art of Failure is about finding alternatives - to conventional understandings of success in a heteronormative, capitalist society; to academic disciplines that confirm what is already known according to approved methods of knowing; and to cultural criticism that claims to break new ground but cleaves to conventional archives.

The Big Bang Theory is a television phenomenon. To the casual viewer, it’s a seemingly effortless comedy, with relatable characters tackling real-life issues, offering a kind of visual comfort food to its millions of dedicated fans. But the behind-the-scenes journey of the show from a failed pilot to a global sensation is a fascinating story that even the most die-hard fans don’t know in its entirety. The Big Bang Theory:The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series is a riveting, entertaining look at the sitcom sensation.

No Bull Music Theory for Guitarists is the groundbreaking guitar theory book for guitar players. Now, guitarists of all levels can understand most of the music theory they'll ever need, without the confusion. Easy-to-understand language, explanations, and practical examples mean you can understand in hours music theory concepts that can confuse guitar players for years. No music reading or theory knowledge required!

If you thought music theory was dull, think again! With the right guidance, it can be woven into every practice – and you'll see astounding results straight away. Playing by ear will get you a long way – it certainly worked for Jimi Hendrix. But the world will only ever know one Hendrix… and for every inspirational story you’ve heard about a famous guitarist who knows nothing of music theory, there’s a whole host of other stories about musicians who do – they’re just not the ones who make the headlines.

Matt Dahlia was a recent college grad with no direction in his life: his business was dead on arrival and all his friends had left town. He was broke and searching for belonging in a world that didn’t understand him. That is, until he serendipitously met Thomas, who not only felt the same way he did, but had a project in mind: Together, along with two more like-minded strangers, they were going to move into a one-bedroom apartment and film themselves doing 30 things they had never done before in 30 days.

Film Studies is a concise and indispensable introduction to the formal study of cinema. Ed Sikov offers a step-by-step curriculum for the appreciation of all types of narrative cinema, detailing the essential elements of film form and systematically training the spectator to be an active listener and critic. He treats a number of fundamental factors in filmmaking, including editing, composition, lighting, the use of color and sound, and narrative.

Traditionally, piano lessons can be boring and require a fixed time. And most books are either too complex or boring. This often leaves people frustrated and feeling like giving up. Instead, this book explains the essentials in an easy to understand way. The lessons build on skills one by one, plus bonus videos to really guarantee you learn everything you need to play the piano. It’s like having a teacher in the room with you! By the end of this book, you will be able to understand the core concepts of playing piano and reading and composing music.

Local guitar teachers seem like a great option at first, but you could risk getting stuck with a wannabe rock star who can't really teach you. Or you could try books, but most books are far too bulky and will leave you no better than where you started. Strumming a chord or two is not enough, nor is shredding a mindless solo piece. If you do not understand the essentials of music theory, you will never learn to truly play the guitar.

What would happen to international politics if the dead rose from the grave and started to eat the living? Daniel Drezner's groundbreaking book answers the question that other international relations scholars have been too scared to ask. Addressing timely issues with analytical bite, Drezner looks at how well-known theories from international relations might be applied to a war with zombies.

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there's a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped. And a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them. Armed with foreign film visas, Mendez and an unlikely team of CIA agents and Hollywood insiders traveled to Tehran....

Do you need to be able to read music to play guitar? These are some of the first questions I’m usually asked as a guitar teacher. Over my 25+ year career as a musician and guitar teacher, I have come across many guitarists who cannot read a single note of music or tell you a major triad from a min7flat5 chord. In fact, I think it’s one of the most hotly debated topics in guitar playing circles anywhere around the world, certainly in the online space. I say relax! Which person is a better player? That’s a 100 percent subjective judgement, and it’s not for me to decide.

Forty essays on history, art, and literature to lift your mind and spirit. Guy Davenport serves as the listener's guide through history and literature, providing links between music and sculpture, modernist poets and classic philosophers, the past and present-pointing out the values and avenues of thought that have shaped our ideas and our thinking.

You’re standing at the forefront of a technological revolution… But who do you want to be in charge: It or you? Generative AI is shaping the future, and there’s really no choice but to get on board… and it’s only when you do that you’ll be able to access its incredible benefits. Want to boost your creativity? Enhance your efficiency? Solve problems more easily? AI can help you with all of these things… But it requires something of you first.

Music Theory for Guitarists, Volume 2 continues where volume 1 in the series left off, showing you more guitar theory concepts you need to gain an even greater understanding of the guitar fretboard. Use this knowledge to become a better improviser, soloist, singer-songwriter or composer, and all round musician! This audiobook (with optional workbook and backing tracks downloadable from the author's website) is perfect for any player from beginner to advanced who wants to better understand crucial guitar theory topics and quickly and easily bring their music theory skills near pro-level.

Scouted by a modeling agent when she was just sixteen years old, Cameron Russell first approached her job with some reservations: She was a serious student with her sights set on college, not the runway. But modeling was a job that seemed to offer young women like herself unprecedented access to wealth, fame, and influence. Besides, as she was often reminded, “there are a million girls in line” who would eagerly replace her.

“Playing changes”, in jazz parlance, has long referred to an improviser’s resourceful path through a chord progression. Playing Changes boldly expands on the idea, highlighting a host of significant changes - ideological, technological, theoretical, and practical - that jazz musicians have learned to navigate since the turn of the century. Nate Chinen, who has chronicled this evolution firsthand throughout his journalistic career, vividly sets the backdrop, charting the origins of jazz historicism and the rise of an institutional framework for the music.

Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut best seller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted audiences as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times best seller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history.

You love music, right? Well, if you answered yes, you’re not alone! Most people in the world appreciate the art of expressing feelings and ideas through sounds and words. But, have you always wondered how you make those beautiful music pieces come to life? You saw those pieces of paper, those codes and symbols that made you ask what those are for, am I right again? We all appreciate music and its beauty, but we know there is a whole theory behind it, with many features like notes, tones, and more.

The history of the films, cartoons, toys, and more: The Back to the Future series is a timeless collection that is greatly revered by all audiences. The beauty of this audiobook by Brad Gilmore is that it doesn't present the history of the film as textbook information. Gilmore discusses these films from a place of passion and so effectively reveals how the history behind the movies is just as engaging as the films themselves.

We live in an age of the mobile image. This recent kinetic revolution of the image has enormous consequences not only for the way we think about contemporary art and aesthetics but also for art history as well. Responding to this historical moment, Theory of the Image offers a fresh new theory and history of art from the perspective of this epoch-defining mobility. The image has been understood in many ways, but it is rarely understood to be fundamentally in motion.