Java is famous for its combination of diverse cultural forms and religious beliefs. Andrew Beatty considers Javanese solutions to the problem of cultural difference, and explores the ways in which Javanese villages make sense of their complex and multi-layered culture. Pantheist mystics, supernaturalists, orthodox Muslims and Hindu converts at once construct contrasting faiths and create a common ground through syncretist ritual. Vividly evoking the religious life of Javanese villagers, its controversies and reconciliations, its humour and irony, its philosophical seriousness, and its formal beauty, Dr Beatty probes beyond the finished surfaces of ritual and cosmology to show the debate and compromise inherent in practical religion. This is the most comprehensive study of Javanese religion since Clifford Geertz's classic study of 1960.
Have you ever found yourself re-reading the same sentence four or five times and thought 'I should get more sleep'? Are you clueless as to why one paragraph just seems to 'flow' while you simply can't recall the contents of another? Guess what: you are not alone. Even the best writers fail to grasp why their writing works. The Reader's Brain is the first science-based guide to writing, employing cutting-edge research on how our minds process written language, to ensure your writing can be read quickly, assimilated easily, and recalled precisely - exactly what we need to transform anyone into a highly effective writer. Using the 5Cs - clarity, continuity, coherence, concision, and cadence - this book combines irreverent humour with easy-to-follow principles that will make readers perceive your sentences, paragraphs, and documents to be clear, concise, and effective.
Comparing the Glasgow of the 70s and 80s with the Glasgow of today - looking at its culture, its humour, the rise and fall of its heavy industry and the hopes for its future.
Mixing humour, heartache and science, award-winning comedian, author and accidental relationship guru Rosie Wilby embarks on a quest to investigate, understand and conquer the psychology of heartbreak
Both natural and cultural selection played an important role in shaping human evolution. Since cultural change can itself be regarded as evolutionary, a process of gene-culture coevolution is operative. The study of human evolution - in past, present and future - is therefore not restricted to biology. An inclusive comprehension of human evolution relies on integrating insights about cultural, economic and technological evolution with relevant elements of evolutionary biology. In addition, proximate causes and effects of cultures need to be added to the picture - issues which are at the forefront of social sciences like anthropology, economics, geography and innovation studies. This book highlights discussions on the many topics to which such generalised evolutionary thought has been applied: the arts, the brain, climate change, cooking, criminality, environmental problems, futurism, gender issues, group processes, humour, industrial dynamics, institutions, languages, medicine, music,
Challenging Blank Minds and Sticky Moments in Counselling: A Revised Edition is a hugely pragmatic text that draws on humour and experience to explore and help to demystify some of the issues and dil
Thomas Middleton is one of the major English Renaissance dramatists alongside Marlowe, Shakespeare and Jonson. Middleton continues to fascinate audiences and readers with his black humour, his wry and
Thomas Middleton is one of the major English Renaissance dramatists alongside Marlowe, Shakespeare and Jonson. Middleton continues to fascinate audiences and readers with his black humour, his wry and
The classic Usborne sticker word book, with busy scenes illustrated with warmth and humour by Stephen Cartwright.Each scene is accompanied by labelled stickers of objects to talk about, search for and
Rob Brydon tells story of his slow ascent to fame and fortune in Small Man in a Book. A multi-award-winning actor, writer, comedian and presenter known for his warmth, humour and inspired impressions,
Courtney Dicmas introduces babies to basic concepts with her award-winning charm and humour. In Opposites, interactions between animals with drastically different characteristics provides plenty of op
A collection of interlinked tales of crime and retribution laced with dark humour, set around the festive season - from the No. 1 bestseller Stuart MacBride Thieves, drug dealers, l
The hilarious follow-up to 15 Things Not to Do with a Baby has all the warmth and humour of its predecessor, focusing on the relationship between children and their granny. DON'T hide an elephant in G
Opening with the exotic Lady Death entering the gumshoe-writer's seedy office in pursuit of a writer named Celine, this novel demonstrates Bukowski's own brand of humour and realism, opening up a la
Behind the scenes, stories, jokes and analysis of all the Monkey Island games, including many interviews of the creators. LucasArts has become a legendary developer in part because of The Secret of Monkey Island, which was created here in 1990. The Secret of Monkey Island, the world's most famous point-and-click adventure game, owes its reputation to its world of colourful, delightfully anachronistic pirates, to its Monty Python humour, but also, quite simply, to the fact that it revolutionised a genre. This book is a tribute to the adventures of Guybrush Threepwood, the great pirate. But it also aims to explain why Monkey Island represents a decisive step forward in the way a story can be told through a video game. It will also look back at the turbulent history of LucasArts and Telltale Games, discover a few recipes for voodoo toddy, learn interactive pirate reggae songs, shine at a social gathering of forty-something geeks and discover lines as sharp as a boarding sword (useful for
Graham Greene is among the major creative talents of our time. During a career which spanned more than sixty years, he achieved a world-wide reputation. As skilful in writing with humour as with serio
****The nation's favourite cartoonist - Express****Giles enthusiasts will be thrilled with this latest collection of classic cartoons. Capturing Giles's trademark style and British humour, the 2021
