Traces the history of movies dealing with kungfu, samurai swordsmen, and ninja warriors and discusses the careers of performers such as Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jackie Chan

Martial Arts Movies: From Bruce Lee to the Ninjas

Arts & Photography

Palmer, Bill

Palmer, Karen

Performing Arts

LYLE STUART +

From Bruce Lee to the Ninjas: Martial Arts Movies

Meyers, Richard

Harlib, Amy

Humor & Entertainment

Early in 1971, "Five Fingers of Death" premiered in a New York movie theater. This was America's first look at a Chinese martial arts movie. In Chicago that same year, "Duel of the Iron Fist" debuted. With the release of Bruce Lee's films, the market exploded. And thus began America's love affair with what is one of the most misunderstood and maligned film genres. The "Encyclopedia" covers the genre from 1920 to 1994. The genre, however, can be very confusing: films often have several titles, and many of the stars have more than one pseudonym. In an effort to clarify some of the confusion, the authors have included all the information available to them on almost 3,300 films. Each entry includes a listing of the production company, the cast and crew, distributors, running times, reviews with star ratings whenever possible, and alternate film titles. A list of film series and one of the stars' pseudonyms, in addition to a 7,900 name index, are also included. Illustrated.

The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies

Movies

Scarecrow Press

As I attempted to digest stories of spiritual cannibalism, of curses that could cost a student her eyesight or ignite the pages of the books she read, I knew I was not alone in my skepticism. And yet, when I caught sight of the waving arms of an industrious scarecrow, the hair on the back of my neck would stand on end. It was most palpable at night, this creepy feeling, when the moon stayed low to the horizon and the dust kicked up in the breeze, reaching out and pulling back with ghostly fingers. There was something to this place that could be felt but not seen. With these words, Karen Palmer takes us inside one of West Africa’s witch camps, where hundreds of banished women struggle to survive under the watchful eye of a powerful wizard. Palmer arrived at the Gambaga witch camp with an outsider’s sense of outrage, believing it was little more than a dumping ground for difficult women. Soon, however, she encountered stories she could not explain: a woman who confessed she’d attacked a girl given to her as a sacrifice; another one desperately trying to rid herself of the witchcraft she believed helped her kill dozens of people. 
In Spellbound, Palmer brilliantly recounts the kaleidoscope of experiences that greeted her in the remote witch camps of northern Ghana, where more than 3,000 exiled women and men live in extreme poverty, many sentenced in a ceremony hinging on the death throes of a sacrificed chicken. 
As she ventured deeper into Ghana’s grasslands, Palmer found herself swinging between belief and disbelief. She was shown books that caught on fire for no reason and met diviners who accurately predicted the future. From the schoolteacher who believed Africa should use the power of its witches to gain wealth and prestige to the social worker who championed the rights of accused witches but also took his wife to a witch doctor, Palmer takes readers deep inside a shadowy layer of rural African society. 
As the sheen of the exotic wore off, Palmer saw the camp for what it was: a hidden colony of women forced to rely on food scraps from the weekly market. She witnessed the way witchcraft preyed on people’s fears and resentments. Witchcraft could be a comfort in times of distress, a way of explaining a crippling drought or the inexplicable loss of a child. It was a means of predicting the unpredictable and controlling the uncontrollable. But witchcraft was also a tool for social control. In this vivid, startling work of first-person reportage, Palmer sheds light on the plight of women in a rarely seen corner of the world.

Spellbound: Inside West Africa's Witch Camps

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Free Press

Follows the lives of several strangers in New Orleans in the 1950s

All Saints

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Soho Pr Inc

Three lives intersect in 1950s New Orleans: those of Harlan Desonnier, a Cajun man just released from prison for accidentally killing his wife; Glory Wiltz, a white nurse who has left her marriage to a black musician; and Father Frank, a Catholic priest whose loss of faith has led to a self-imposed banishment.

Soho Press

Border Dogs

Working as a border patrolman near San Diego, James Reese is haunted by memories of the recently deceased birth mother that gave him up for adoption when he was six years old and wonders about his biological father, a convicted murderer. 12,000 first printing.

United States

"Writ[ten] with skill and courage . . . Palmer does the big scenes as perfectly as the small ones."-Chicago Tribune
"Mysterious and compelling."-Publishers Weekly
"A colorful portrayal of border life, written with steady-handed compassion . . . suspenseful."-San Diego Union Tribune
"A fascinating look at race and family, loyalty and allegiance."-Rocky Mountain News
A decades-old murder comes unsolved, threatening a border cop who must investigate before he becomes a victim himself.

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

She's Under Here: A Love Story, A Horror Story, A Reckoning

Self-Help

Relationships

Algonquin Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Palmer, Karen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Palmer, Karen