The former Rolling Stone writer and MTV host takes off from classic Roger Ebert and sails boldly into the new millennium.Millions grew up reading the author's record reviews and watching him on MTV's "The Week in Rock." In this collection of more than 200 movie reviews from MTV.com and, more recently, the Reason magazine Website, plus sidebars exclusive to this volume, Loder demonstrates his characteristic wry voice and finely honed observations. The author shines when writ...

Microdoses of the straight dope, stories so true they had to be wrapped in fiction for our own protection, from the best-selling author of But What if We're Wrong?A man flying first class discovers a puma in the lavatory. A new coach of a small-town Oklahoma high school football team installs an offense comprised of only one, very special, play. A man explains to the police why he told the employee of his local bodega that his colleague looked like the lea...

The definitive biography of the revolutionary band Nirvana and its star-crossed frontman Kurt Cobain, hailed by Rolling Stone as “the first [book] to comprehensively tell the band’s tale from Aberdeen, Wash., to world domination”“Amazingly raw and candid . . . an unsparing and extremely honest depiction of the group’s highly tumultuous history . . . Come As You Are is as good as rock bios get.”—Billboard“Just ...

An award-winning journalist investigates Amazon’s impact on the wealth and poverty of towns and cities across the United States.In 1937, the famed writer and activist Upton Sinclair published a novel bearing the subtitle A Story of Ford-America. He blasted the callousness of a company worth “a billion dollars” that underpaid its workers while forcing them to engage in repetitive and sometimes dangerous assembly line labor. Eighty-three years later, the mar...

From the “deliriously clever” (Boston Globe) Simon Garfield, New York Times bestselling author of Just My Type, comesthe wild and fascinating story of the encyclopedia, from Ancient Greece to the present day.New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice""A brilliant book about knowledge itself.” —Deirdre Mask, author of The Address Book**“Garfield’s witty history captures th...

**“A read so riveting, it's not hard to imagine watching it unfold on Sunday nights.” —The Associated Press“An incisive account that is more than a rosy victory lap for one of TV’s most influential channels.” —Eric Deggans, NPR’s “Books We Love”“It’s Not TV proves to be a lively companion to all these shows.” —Andrew O’Hagan, The New York Review of BooksThe inside story of HBO, the start-up company that reinvented television—by two veteran...

Grunge Is Dead weaves together the definitive story of the Seattle music scene through a series of interviews with the people who were there. Taking the form of an “oral” history, this books contains over 130 interviews, along with essential background information from acclaimed music writer Greg Prato.The early ’90s grunge movement may have last only a few years, but it spawned some of the greatest rock music of all time: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgard...

The creator of Animal House at last tells the real story of the fraternity that inspired the iconic film-a story far more outrageous (and funny!) than any movie could ever capture. Animal House, the film adaptation of stories Chris Miller published in National Lampoon about his experiences at a Dartmouth fraternity, is among the most beloved and successful comedies of all time. In fact, its portrayal of college party life is still imitated on campuses across the country—toga party, anyone?...

A gripping, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American ambassador who attempted to stop the slide to war.In 1932, Japan was in crisis. Naval officers had assassinated the prime minister and conspiracies flourished. The military had a stranglehold on the government. War with Russia loomed, and propaganda campaigns swept the country, urging...

**An instant New York Times bestseller!“Informative, endlessly entertaining.”—BuzzFeed“Generation X’s definitive chronicler of culture.”—GQFrom the author of But What If We’re Wrong comes an insightful, funny reckoning with a pivotal decade**It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while anothe...

A collection of the year’s top food writing, selected by guest editor Sohla El-Waylly and series editor Silvia Killingsworth.Culinary creator, writer and community advocate, Sohla El-Waylly selects the best twenty articles published in 2021 that celebrate the many innovative, comforting, mouthwatering, and culturally rich culinary offerings of our country.Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.