City Between Worlds

City Between Worlds

Author: Leo Ou-fan Lee

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010-05-01

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 0674046897

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Hong Kong is perched on the fault line between China and the West, a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Leo Ou-fan Lee offers an insiderÕs view of Hong Kong, capturing the history and culture that make his densely packed home city so different from its generic neighbors. The search for an indigenous Hong Kong takes Lee to the wet markets and corner bookshops of congested Mong Kok, remote fishing villages and mountainside temples, teahouses and noodle stalls, Cantonese opera and Cantopop. But he also finds the ÒrealÓ Hong Kong in a maze of interconnected shopping malls, a jungle of high-rise residential towers, and the neon glow of Chinese-owned skyscrapers in the Central Business District, where land development, global trade, capital accumulation, consumerism, and free-market competition trump every valueÑexcept family. Lee illuminates the relationship between Hong KongÕs geography and its colonial experience, revisiting colonial life on the secluded Peak, in the opium-filled godowns along the harborfront, and in crowded, plague-infested tenements. He examines, with a criticÕs eye, the ÒHong Kong storyÓ in film and fiction: romance in the bars and brothels of Wan Chai, crime in the walled city of Kowloon, ennui on the eve of the 1997 handover. Whether viewed from Tsing Yi Bridge or the deck of the Star Ferry, from Victoria Peak or Lion Rock, Hong Kong sparkles here in all its multifaceted complexity, a city forever between worlds.


Book Synopsis City Between Worlds by : Leo Ou-fan Lee

Download or read book City Between Worlds written by Leo Ou-fan Lee and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-05-01 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hong Kong is perched on the fault line between China and the West, a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Leo Ou-fan Lee offers an insiderÕs view of Hong Kong, capturing the history and culture that make his densely packed home city so different from its generic neighbors. The search for an indigenous Hong Kong takes Lee to the wet markets and corner bookshops of congested Mong Kok, remote fishing villages and mountainside temples, teahouses and noodle stalls, Cantonese opera and Cantopop. But he also finds the ÒrealÓ Hong Kong in a maze of interconnected shopping malls, a jungle of high-rise residential towers, and the neon glow of Chinese-owned skyscrapers in the Central Business District, where land development, global trade, capital accumulation, consumerism, and free-market competition trump every valueÑexcept family. Lee illuminates the relationship between Hong KongÕs geography and its colonial experience, revisiting colonial life on the secluded Peak, in the opium-filled godowns along the harborfront, and in crowded, plague-infested tenements. He examines, with a criticÕs eye, the ÒHong Kong storyÓ in film and fiction: romance in the bars and brothels of Wan Chai, crime in the walled city of Kowloon, ennui on the eve of the 1997 handover. Whether viewed from Tsing Yi Bridge or the deck of the Star Ferry, from Victoria Peak or Lion Rock, Hong Kong sparkles here in all its multifaceted complexity, a city forever between worlds.

The Space Between Worlds

The Space Between Worlds

Author: Micaiah Johnson

Publisher: Del Rey

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0593135067

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NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens the very fabric of the multiverse in this stunning debut, a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging. WINNER OF THE COMPTON CROOK AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • “Gorgeous writing, mind-bending world-building, razor-sharp social commentary, and a main character who demands your attention—and your allegiance.”—Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—NPR, Library Journal, Book Riot Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total. On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security. But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world but the entire multiverse. “Clever characters, surprise twists, plenty of action, and a plot that highlights social and racial inequities in astute prose.”—Library Journal (starred review)


Book Synopsis The Space Between Worlds by : Micaiah Johnson

Download or read book The Space Between Worlds written by Micaiah Johnson and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens the very fabric of the multiverse in this stunning debut, a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging. WINNER OF THE COMPTON CROOK AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD • “Gorgeous writing, mind-bending world-building, razor-sharp social commentary, and a main character who demands your attention—and your allegiance.”—Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—NPR, Library Journal, Book Riot Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total. On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security. But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world but the entire multiverse. “Clever characters, surprise twists, plenty of action, and a plot that highlights social and racial inequities in astute prose.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Between Worlds

Between Worlds

Author: Bill Richardson

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2007-03-16

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1440628963

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Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, may be the most charismatic figure in the Democratic Party today and one of its best natural politicians whose name isn't Bill Clinton. He is the man Colin Powell has called for advice, and the man George Stephanopoulos once called the Red Adair of diplomacy in homage to his ability to put out international fires. He has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize and is counted as one of our most knowledgeable politicians on Iraq and Saddam Hussein; on Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Al-Qaeda; on North Korea; on energy policy; on Latin American affairs; on domestic politics; and on Hispanic America. Richardson's background as the son of an American businessman father and a Mexican mother has offered him an unusual starting point from which to seek a life in public service, but one of his most interesting roles has been that of global troubleshooter. What he has to say about how to negotiate to get what you want shows his true colors: He can be blunt, but charming; tough, but respectful; realistic, but hopeful. Through his work as a hostage negotiator sitting across the table from the likes of Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and many others-as well as his toil on Capitol Hill, in the United Nations, and New Mexico's state government-he has learned the vital importance of preparation: know as much as possible about your adversary; test your partner's truthfulness; know how much you can concede; never lie and always be direct. Between Worlds is the surprising story of one of our most seasoned and captivating national figures.


Book Synopsis Between Worlds by : Bill Richardson

Download or read book Between Worlds written by Bill Richardson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-03-16 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, may be the most charismatic figure in the Democratic Party today and one of its best natural politicians whose name isn't Bill Clinton. He is the man Colin Powell has called for advice, and the man George Stephanopoulos once called the Red Adair of diplomacy in homage to his ability to put out international fires. He has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize and is counted as one of our most knowledgeable politicians on Iraq and Saddam Hussein; on Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Al-Qaeda; on North Korea; on energy policy; on Latin American affairs; on domestic politics; and on Hispanic America. Richardson's background as the son of an American businessman father and a Mexican mother has offered him an unusual starting point from which to seek a life in public service, but one of his most interesting roles has been that of global troubleshooter. What he has to say about how to negotiate to get what you want shows his true colors: He can be blunt, but charming; tough, but respectful; realistic, but hopeful. Through his work as a hostage negotiator sitting across the table from the likes of Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and many others-as well as his toil on Capitol Hill, in the United Nations, and New Mexico's state government-he has learned the vital importance of preparation: know as much as possible about your adversary; test your partner's truthfulness; know how much you can concede; never lie and always be direct. Between Worlds is the surprising story of one of our most seasoned and captivating national figures.

Bridge Between Worlds

Bridge Between Worlds

Author: Dan Millman

Publisher: H J Kramer

Published: 2009-11-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1932073701

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A decade before Dan Millman wrote his spiritual classic Way of the Peaceful Warrior, a motorcycle crash ended his Olympic dreams. Some years later, two thugs, one armed with a metal pipe, closed in to attack a young writer named Doug Childers. These two young men had no notion that they would one day meet, become friends, and draw upon their experiences to create a collection of inspiring stories about people whose lives were changed by extraordinary events. Each story in this newly revised volume (formerly titled Divine Interventions) describes a unique journey across a metaphorical bridge to a higher reality. These stirring accounts of the lives of ordinary people as well as iconic figures, past and present, will awaken in readers a renewed faith in the mysterious possibilities hidden in daily life.


Book Synopsis Bridge Between Worlds by : Dan Millman

Download or read book Bridge Between Worlds written by Dan Millman and published by H J Kramer. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A decade before Dan Millman wrote his spiritual classic Way of the Peaceful Warrior, a motorcycle crash ended his Olympic dreams. Some years later, two thugs, one armed with a metal pipe, closed in to attack a young writer named Doug Childers. These two young men had no notion that they would one day meet, become friends, and draw upon their experiences to create a collection of inspiring stories about people whose lives were changed by extraordinary events. Each story in this newly revised volume (formerly titled Divine Interventions) describes a unique journey across a metaphorical bridge to a higher reality. These stirring accounts of the lives of ordinary people as well as iconic figures, past and present, will awaken in readers a renewed faith in the mysterious possibilities hidden in daily life.

Walk Between Worlds

Walk Between Worlds

Author: Samara Breger

Publisher: Bywater Books

Published: 2021-08-31

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1612942261

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Sergeant Major Scratch Keyes of the King’s Guard is having a bad day. On what should be the biggest night of her life, everything suddenly goes horribly wrong. First, her king denies her the promotion she rightfully earned, as well as the knighthood that goes along with it. And then, when Scratch is wallowing somewhere near the fetid rock bottom, she and her best friend, the flamboyant and carefree Sergeant James Ursus, are arrested for orchestrating the abduction of Princess Frances and sentenced to death. On the whole, things could be better. Luckily, help comes in the form of the mysterious Shae siblings—Vel and Umbrella—who inform the doomed pair that the issue of the missing Princess is far more complicated than it appears. After a daring escape, the four embark on an ill-advised rescue mission through a forest filled with beasts, bandits, and mysterious fair folk, bringing nothing with them but a kitchen knife and the vague outline of a plan. Their destination is the Between, a sacred and shadowy fae-guarded place that promises to deliver Scratch and James to the princess—if they manage to survive. But Scratch didn’t rise above her humble childhood in the Royal City slums by accepting things at face value. It’s clear that the enigmatic Shaes are hiding something, but what do they know? Who are they working with? And why, in the name of all the divine constellations in the scrambled sky, can't Scratch stop staring at Brella? Samara Breger’s debut novel, Walk Between Worlds is a romantic queer fantasy adventure that will make you laugh even as it keeps you on the edge of your seat.


Book Synopsis Walk Between Worlds by : Samara Breger

Download or read book Walk Between Worlds written by Samara Breger and published by Bywater Books. This book was released on 2021-08-31 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sergeant Major Scratch Keyes of the King’s Guard is having a bad day. On what should be the biggest night of her life, everything suddenly goes horribly wrong. First, her king denies her the promotion she rightfully earned, as well as the knighthood that goes along with it. And then, when Scratch is wallowing somewhere near the fetid rock bottom, she and her best friend, the flamboyant and carefree Sergeant James Ursus, are arrested for orchestrating the abduction of Princess Frances and sentenced to death. On the whole, things could be better. Luckily, help comes in the form of the mysterious Shae siblings—Vel and Umbrella—who inform the doomed pair that the issue of the missing Princess is far more complicated than it appears. After a daring escape, the four embark on an ill-advised rescue mission through a forest filled with beasts, bandits, and mysterious fair folk, bringing nothing with them but a kitchen knife and the vague outline of a plan. Their destination is the Between, a sacred and shadowy fae-guarded place that promises to deliver Scratch and James to the princess—if they manage to survive. But Scratch didn’t rise above her humble childhood in the Royal City slums by accepting things at face value. It’s clear that the enigmatic Shaes are hiding something, but what do they know? Who are they working with? And why, in the name of all the divine constellations in the scrambled sky, can't Scratch stop staring at Brella? Samara Breger’s debut novel, Walk Between Worlds is a romantic queer fantasy adventure that will make you laugh even as it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Between Worlds

Between Worlds

Author: Marilyn Gardner

Publisher:

Published: 2014-06

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9780983865384

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"Marilyn Gardner was raised in Pakistan and went on to raise her own five children in Pakistan and Egypt before moving to small town New England. This book will resonate with those who have lived outside of their passport country, as well as those who have not. These essays explore the rootlessness and grief as well as the unexpected moments of humor and joy that are a part of living between two worlds."--Back cover.


Book Synopsis Between Worlds by : Marilyn Gardner

Download or read book Between Worlds written by Marilyn Gardner and published by . This book was released on 2014-06 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Marilyn Gardner was raised in Pakistan and went on to raise her own five children in Pakistan and Egypt before moving to small town New England. This book will resonate with those who have lived outside of their passport country, as well as those who have not. These essays explore the rootlessness and grief as well as the unexpected moments of humor and joy that are a part of living between two worlds."--Back cover.

Between Worlds

Between Worlds

Author: Leslie Umberger

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-10-02

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 0691182671

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"Bill Traylor (ca. 1853-1949) is regarded today as one of the most important American artists of the twentieth century. A black man born into slavery in Alabama, he was an eyewitness to history--the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, the Great Migration, and the steady rise of African American urban culture in the South. Traylor would not live to see the civil rights movement, but he was among those who laid its foundation. Starting around 1939, Traylor--by then in his late eighties and living on the streets of Montgomery--took up pencil and paintbrush to attest to his existence and point of view. In keeping with this radical step, the paintings and drawings he made are visually striking and politically assertive; they include simple yet powerful distillations of tales and memories as well as spare, vibrantly colored abstractions. When Traylor died, he left behind more than one thousand works of art. In Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor, Leslie Umberger considers more than two hundred artworks to provide the most comprehensive and in-depth study of the artist to date; she examines his life, art, and powerful drive to bear witness through the only means he had, pictures. The author draws on a wealth of historical documents--including federal and state census records, birth and death certificates, slave schedules, and interviews with family members-- to clarify the record of Traylor's personal history and family life. The story of his art opens in the late 1930s, when Traylor first received attention for his pencil drawings on found board, and concludes with the posthumous success of his oeuvre"--


Book Synopsis Between Worlds by : Leslie Umberger

Download or read book Between Worlds written by Leslie Umberger and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Bill Traylor (ca. 1853-1949) is regarded today as one of the most important American artists of the twentieth century. A black man born into slavery in Alabama, he was an eyewitness to history--the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, the Great Migration, and the steady rise of African American urban culture in the South. Traylor would not live to see the civil rights movement, but he was among those who laid its foundation. Starting around 1939, Traylor--by then in his late eighties and living on the streets of Montgomery--took up pencil and paintbrush to attest to his existence and point of view. In keeping with this radical step, the paintings and drawings he made are visually striking and politically assertive; they include simple yet powerful distillations of tales and memories as well as spare, vibrantly colored abstractions. When Traylor died, he left behind more than one thousand works of art. In Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor, Leslie Umberger considers more than two hundred artworks to provide the most comprehensive and in-depth study of the artist to date; she examines his life, art, and powerful drive to bear witness through the only means he had, pictures. The author draws on a wealth of historical documents--including federal and state census records, birth and death certificates, slave schedules, and interviews with family members-- to clarify the record of Traylor's personal history and family life. The story of his art opens in the late 1930s, when Traylor first received attention for his pencil drawings on found board, and concludes with the posthumous success of his oeuvre"--

Traveling Between Worlds

Traveling Between Worlds

Author: Thomas Adam

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1603445625

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In Traveling between Worlds, six authors explore the connectedness between Germans and Americans in the nineteenth century and their mutual impact on transatlantic history. Despite the ocean between them, these two groups of people were linked not only by the emigration from one to the other but also by ongoing interactions, especially among their intellectuals. Christof Mauch's introduction examines the history of the German-American exchange and of cultural exchanges in general. Focusing on various aspects of the German-American relationship, Eberhard Bruning, John T. Walker, Thomas Adam, Gabriele Lingelbach, Andrew P. Yox, and Christiane Harzig examine the cultural and communicative exchanges that occurred both between the two countries and within them. Topics such as travel, cultural interpretation, ideological and intellectual transfer, the immigrant experience, and German-American poetry are all considered. Traveling between Worlds demonstrates that exchange was facilitated and maintained by ordinary individuals such as teachers and scholars, immigrants and natives, and held implications that last to this day.


Book Synopsis Traveling Between Worlds by : Thomas Adam

Download or read book Traveling Between Worlds written by Thomas Adam and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Traveling between Worlds, six authors explore the connectedness between Germans and Americans in the nineteenth century and their mutual impact on transatlantic history. Despite the ocean between them, these two groups of people were linked not only by the emigration from one to the other but also by ongoing interactions, especially among their intellectuals. Christof Mauch's introduction examines the history of the German-American exchange and of cultural exchanges in general. Focusing on various aspects of the German-American relationship, Eberhard Bruning, John T. Walker, Thomas Adam, Gabriele Lingelbach, Andrew P. Yox, and Christiane Harzig examine the cultural and communicative exchanges that occurred both between the two countries and within them. Topics such as travel, cultural interpretation, ideological and intellectual transfer, the immigrant experience, and German-American poetry are all considered. Traveling between Worlds demonstrates that exchange was facilitated and maintained by ordinary individuals such as teachers and scholars, immigrants and natives, and held implications that last to this day.

Writing-between-Worlds

Writing-between-Worlds

Author: Ottmar Ette

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2016-02-22

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 3110462877

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This book proposes that there is no better, no more complex way to access a community, a society, an era and its cultures than through literature. For millennia, literature from a wide variety of geocultural areas has gathered knowledge about life, about survival, and about living together, without either falling into discursive or disciplinary specializations or functioning as a regulatory mechanism for cultural knowledge. Literature is able to offer its readers knowledge through direct participation in the form of step-by-step intellectual and affective experiences. Through this ability, it can reach and affect audiences across great spatial and temporal distances. Literature – what different times and cultures have been able to understand as such in a broad sense – has always been characterized by its transareal and transcultural origins and effects. It is the product of many logics, and it teaches us to think polylogically rather than monologically. Literature is an experiment in living, and living in a state of experimentation. About the author Ottmar Ette has been Chair of Romance Literature at the University of Potsdam, Germany, since 1995. He is Honorary Member of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) (elected in 2014), member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (elected in 2013), and regular member of the Academia Europaea (since 2010).


Book Synopsis Writing-between-Worlds by : Ottmar Ette

Download or read book Writing-between-Worlds written by Ottmar Ette and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-02-22 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book proposes that there is no better, no more complex way to access a community, a society, an era and its cultures than through literature. For millennia, literature from a wide variety of geocultural areas has gathered knowledge about life, about survival, and about living together, without either falling into discursive or disciplinary specializations or functioning as a regulatory mechanism for cultural knowledge. Literature is able to offer its readers knowledge through direct participation in the form of step-by-step intellectual and affective experiences. Through this ability, it can reach and affect audiences across great spatial and temporal distances. Literature – what different times and cultures have been able to understand as such in a broad sense – has always been characterized by its transareal and transcultural origins and effects. It is the product of many logics, and it teaches us to think polylogically rather than monologically. Literature is an experiment in living, and living in a state of experimentation. About the author Ottmar Ette has been Chair of Romance Literature at the University of Potsdam, Germany, since 1995. He is Honorary Member of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) (elected in 2014), member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (elected in 2013), and regular member of the Academia Europaea (since 2010).

Play Between Worlds

Play Between Worlds

Author: T. L. Taylor

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2009-02-13

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0262250543

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A study of Everquest that provides a snapshot of multiplayer gaming culture, questions the truism that computer games are isolating and alienating, and offers insights into broader issues of work and play, gender identity, technology, and commercial culture. In Play Between Worlds, T. L. Taylor examines multiplayer gaming life as it is lived on the borders, in the gaps—as players slip in and out of complex social networks that cross online and offline space. Taylor questions the common assumption that playing computer games is an isolating and alienating activity indulged in by solitary teenage boys. Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), in which thousands of players participate in a virtual game world in real time, are in fact actively designed for sociability. Games like the popular Everquest, she argues, are fundamentally social spaces. Taylor's detailed look at Everquest offers a snapshot of multiplayer culture. Drawing on her own experience as an Everquest player (as a female Gnome Necromancer)—including her attendance at an Everquest Fan Faire, with its blurring of online—and offline life—and extensive research, Taylor not only shows us something about games but raises broader cultural issues. She considers "power gamers," who play in ways that seem closer to work, and examines our underlying notions of what constitutes play—and why play sometimes feels like work and may even be painful, repetitive, and boring. She looks at the women who play Everquest and finds they don't fit the narrow stereotype of women gamers, which may cast into doubt our standardized and preconceived ideas of femininity. And she explores the questions of who owns game space—what happens when emergent player culture confronts the major corporation behind the game.


Book Synopsis Play Between Worlds by : T. L. Taylor

Download or read book Play Between Worlds written by T. L. Taylor and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2009-02-13 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of Everquest that provides a snapshot of multiplayer gaming culture, questions the truism that computer games are isolating and alienating, and offers insights into broader issues of work and play, gender identity, technology, and commercial culture. In Play Between Worlds, T. L. Taylor examines multiplayer gaming life as it is lived on the borders, in the gaps—as players slip in and out of complex social networks that cross online and offline space. Taylor questions the common assumption that playing computer games is an isolating and alienating activity indulged in by solitary teenage boys. Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), in which thousands of players participate in a virtual game world in real time, are in fact actively designed for sociability. Games like the popular Everquest, she argues, are fundamentally social spaces. Taylor's detailed look at Everquest offers a snapshot of multiplayer culture. Drawing on her own experience as an Everquest player (as a female Gnome Necromancer)—including her attendance at an Everquest Fan Faire, with its blurring of online—and offline life—and extensive research, Taylor not only shows us something about games but raises broader cultural issues. She considers "power gamers," who play in ways that seem closer to work, and examines our underlying notions of what constitutes play—and why play sometimes feels like work and may even be painful, repetitive, and boring. She looks at the women who play Everquest and finds they don't fit the narrow stereotype of women gamers, which may cast into doubt our standardized and preconceived ideas of femininity. And she explores the questions of who owns game space—what happens when emergent player culture confronts the major corporation behind the game.