This book contains 11 essays and a comprehensive bibliography. The essays reveal the extent to which Philip K. Dick's personal obsessions pre-figured postmodernist concerns with humanity's self-alienation, cultural and personal paranoia, and the politics of simulation, deceit, and self-deception. The contributors reveal how Dick's ontological concerns, stated in his repeated questioning of What is real?, are also political concerns. Thus, they examine the philosophical and religious foundations on which his work rests, offering much-needed arguments which reveal both his philosophical depth and the extent to which he drew from esoteric and occult religions. His cultural critique also receives significant exposition, as the contributors reveal how Dick's fiction enacts the larger cultural struggles of cold war America, with its conflicting private visions and public realities, and its personal and political loyalties. The contributors argue for the significance of heretofore neglected or marginalized texts of Dick as well, including in their discussions many early short stories from the early 1950s and neglected novels of the mid-1960s, arguing that there is a need to understand how Dick shaped (or misshaped) his fictions so as to reimagine the life of his society.

Philip K. Dick: Contemporary Critical Interpretations (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy)

Literature & Fiction

Umland, Samuel J.

History & Criticism

Praeger

This is the first book to examine the various uses of the Arthurian legend in Hollywood film, covering films from the 1920s to the present. The authors use five representational categories: intertextual collage (or cult film); melodrama, which focuses on the love triangle; conservative propaganda, pervasive during the Cold War; the Hollywood epic; and the postmodern quest, which commonly employs the grail portion of the legend. Arguing that filmmakers rely on the audience's rudimentary familiarity with the legend, the authors show that only certain features of the legend are activated at any particular time. This fascinating study shows us how the legend has been adapted and how through the popular medium of Hollywood films, the Arthurian legend has survived and flourished.

The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film: From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Humor & Entertainment

Umland, Rebecca A.

Movies

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background.
CliffsNotes on Call of the Wild &amp; White Fang covers not one, but two of Jack London’s best known adventures. Meet an amazing dog named Buck and his human friend John Thornton in Call of the Wild, and then follow the story of two men, Henry and Bill, and the life of an unforgettable wolf cub.
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The Call of the Wild and White Fang (Cliffs Notes)

Cliff Notes

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer a look into critical elements and ideas within classic works of literature. The latest generation of titles in this series also features glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.
CliffsNotes on Dracula digs into the story of a count who survives by sipping the blood from living (and unsuspecting) donors.
Following the hauntingly frightful tale of vampires and victims, this study guide provides summaries and commentaries for each chapter within the nineteenth-century novel. Other features that help you figure out this important work include
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<li> A look into the life of the author, Bram Stoker</li>
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Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Stoker's Dracula (Cliffs Notes)

British & Irish

CliffsNotes

This is Bradbury's best-known novel. The science fiction tale concerns censorship and anti-intellectualism, carried on in an alternate society that conducts huge book burnings as part of the social agenda. It is a spooky and yet uplifting book.

Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (Cliffs Notes)

Jump-start your understanding of Mary Shelley's famous story of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation by opening the pages of CliffsNotes on Frankenstein, the study guide that can raise your insight as well as your test scores! Here, you'll explore the relationship between the monster and his creator, but with CliffsNotes on Frankenstein you'll also get in-depth character analysis, critical essays, and insight into the novel's literary devices. You'll also discover background information on the life of Mary Wollestonecraft Shelley and the creation of this, her most famous work, which was sparked by a suggestion that her circle of friends each write a ghost story to pass the time.

Shelley's Frankenstein (Cliffs Notes)

Examines the life and work of the Scottish artist and film director, from his youth and early career as a portrait painter, through his direction of the influential cult film "Performance," and his eventual suicide in 1996.

Donald Cammell: A Life on the Wild Side

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

FAB Press

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Books by Umland, Samuel J.