Much writing about comedy in the last twenty years has only trivialized comedy as cheap or as temporary distraction from things that "really matter." It has either presented exhaustive taxonomies of kinds of humor--like wit, puns, jokes, humor, satire, irony--or engaged in pointless political endgames, moral dialogues, or philosophical perceptions. Comedy is rarely presented as a mode of thought in its own right, as a way of understanding, not something to be understood.Bruns' guid...

A guide to the fundamentals of understanding film history, filmmaking, and film appreciation.Film is not just a medium; it is also a language—and a global one at that. Essential Film History describes how this language emerged and how it has matured over the course of more than 125 years. Beginning with the experiments of the late nineteenth century, and tracking the development of cinematic storytelling, commercial distribution, and audience reception int...

Inspired by the debut album from legendary rock star Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell is a stellar collection of mysteries from some of the best writers in the genre.The fourth installment in the Music and Murder Mystery series, edited by Don Bruns, Bat Out of Hell is a nonstop thrill ride of engrossing mysteries from some of the best authors in the business. An anthology unlike any other, this collection includes a brand-new Jack Reacher story from And...

Inspired by the debut album from legendary rock star Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell is a stellar collection of mysteries from some of the best writers in the genre.The fourth installment in the Music and Murder Mystery series, edited by Don Bruns, Bat Out of Hell is a nonstop thrill ride of engrossing mysteries from some of the best authors in the business. An anthology unlike any other, this collection includes a brand-new Jack Reacher story from And...

Inspired by songs from AC/DC’s bestselling album, Back in Black, this anthology contains ten murder mysteries from ten bestselling writers—including a new Jack Reacher original by Andrew Child.The third collection in the Music and Murder Mystery Series, Back in Black features one story for each song from the seminal hard rock album of the same name. This book showcases ten brilliant mystery writers at the top of their game, including Reed Farrel C...

From Beat It to Billie Jean, the songs we know and love take on a brand-new, thrilling connotation in this anthology edited by Don Bruns.In this second collection in the Music and Murder Mystery series, nine award-winning, bestselling authors have written their own interpretations of the Thriller song list. With original work from some of the best mystery authors out there, the anthology includes stories from Heather Graham, Jeffery Deave...

Monaco's book was an instant classic when it first came out, and with new sections in its anniversary edition, is more essential than ever. A landmark in media studies, it is unique in its sophisticated understanding of both the art and technology of film. Molly Haskell, criticWhen it was first published in 1977, HOW TO READ A FILM established itself as a genuine classic in film studies and has been considered by many to be the source on film and media.Monaco's original boo...

Detective Mike Bennett takes on a chilling man trying to play god as he threatens New York with a terrifying epidemic in this gripping novel from the world’s #1 bestselling author.A calculating killer who calls himself The Teacher is taking on New York City, killing the powerful and the arrogant. His message is clear: remember your manners or suffer the consequences! For some, it seems that the rich are finally getting what they deserve. For New York's elite, it is...

The first edition of The Rhetoric of Fiction transformed the criticism of fiction and soon became a classic in the field. One of the most widely used texts in fiction courses, it is a standard reference point in advanced discussions of how fictional form works, how authors make novels accessible, and how readers recreate texts, and its concepts and terms—such as "the implied author," "the postulated reader," and "the unreliable narrator"—have become part of the standard critical l...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR • A treasure trove of bone-chilling tales from the “undisputed master of suspense and terror” (The Washington Post) who shaped American horrorFeatures the stories that inspired The Stand and over a dozen acclaimed horror movies and television series, including Children of the Corn, Lawnmower Man, Chapelwaite, and The BoogeymanStephen King’s first coll...

In this spiritual sequel to his influential Reading for the Plot, Peter Brooks examines the dangerously alluring power of storytelling.“There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. Nothing can defeat it.” So begins the scholar and literary critic Peter Brooks’s reckoning with today’s flourishing cult of story.Forty years after publishing his seminal work Reading for the Plot, his important contribution...

** The bestselling film book returns fully updated for 2026! ** With more than 1.75 million copies sold worldwide in 30 languages, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is the ultimate movie guide that celebrates the cult classics and their contemporary competitors, along with box office hits and breakout independents. Capturing the must-see movies of all time from more than 100 years of cinema, this go-to guide offers an abundance of witty analysis ...