Most Popular Books by Andrew Norris

This book is not another critical biography, but an interpretive essay investigating what we feel is the cultural and historical importance of Zappa and Beefheart in the context of a wide-ranging network of references that run from Michelangelo and Arcimboldo to William Burroughs and Vaclav Havel. Readers who are only vaguely familiar with their music will be introduced to a projected pantheon of maximalist artists and “moments” which will in turn give rise to poetic-associational readings designed to encourage them to explore the processes of art production, consumption and rejection in their expanding totality and to consider the body as the fluctuating constant against which all composition (addition and subtraction of parts) is attempted. In many ways, this book is also intended as a maximalist alternative to the cultural studies take on the study of popular music, which generally neglects aesthetics in favor of the merely semiotic and sociological and is reluctant to investigate the relationships and coincidences of mass, underground and “elitist” culture. In what follows, we will propose an (anti-)method, a conspiracy theory of the mind that seeks to foster a promotional application of “paranoid” criticism risking its very credibility (and sanity) to abandon itself to the energizing virtues of connectivitis and coordinology.

Becoming Who We Are clarifies the political and existential aspects of Stanley Cavell's understanding of ordinary language and of skepticism, and shows the close connection between his reception of Kant, Heidegger, and Austin and his exploration of what Emersonian Perfectionism offers to democracy and modern life.

This study examines how hunger narratives and performances contribute to a reconsideration of neglected or prohibited domains of thinking which only a full confrontation with the body’s heterogeneity and plasticity can reveal. From literary motif or psychosomatic symptom to revolutionary gesture or existential malady, the double crux of hunger and disgust is a powerful force which can define the experience of embodiment. Kafka’s fable of the "Hunger Artist" offers a matrix for the fast, while its surprising last-page revelation introduces disgust as a correlative of abstinence, conscious or otherwise. Grounded in Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the figure of the fraught body lurking at the heart of the negative grotesque gathers precision throughout this study, where it is employed in a widening series of contexts: suicide through overeating, starvation as self-performance or political resistance, the teratological versus the totalitarian, the anorexic harboring of death. In the process, writers and artists as diverse as Herman Melville, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Christina Rossetti, George Orwell, Knut Hamsun, J.M. Coetzee, Cindy Sherman, Pieter Breughel, Marina Abramovic, David Nebreda, Paul McCarthy, and others are brought into the discussion. By looking at the different acts of visceral, affective, and ideological resistance performed by the starving body, this book intensifies the relationship between hunger and disgust studies while offering insight into the modalities of the "dark grotesque" which inform the aesthetics and politics of hunger. It will be of value to anyone interested in the culture, politics, and subjectivity of embodiment, and scholars working within the fields of disgust studies, food studies, literary studies, cultural theory, and media studies.

`I was impressed with the accessibility of the book, offering a guided tour through the history, context and purposes of reminiscence therapy, the range of applications from promoting social and emotional stimulation to reminiscence as psychotherapy. It also provides a brief overview of its theoretical underpinnings... As a book for health professionals interested in reminiscence work, it is a must for the shelf... most importantly it emphasizes the need for adequate training and supervision for those undertaking this type of work... the authors [also] provide a very good working guide to the assessment process′ - Aging and Health In this practical and accessible book, leading exponents of reminiscence work describe the purposes and techniques of reminiscence and set out detailed guidelines on how to implement and conduct a wide range of reminiscence activities with different types of client. Highlighting its tremendous diversity and potential - and its special ability to allow people of all ages and abilities to communicate deeply about their lives - the authors separate out the different aims of reminiscence, which include intellectual or social stimulation, allowing people to leave behind them a cultural legacy, or a means of intergenerational communication. They show clearly how each can be directly beneficial either to clients or their carers, or for improving the culture of the arena in which the activity is being carried out.

A handbook that provides all those working with elderly people in residential care hospitals and within the community practical information on groupwork with elderly individuals.

The fourth edition of this legal guide for advisers of housing associations and housing association tenants provides comprehensive coverage of this area of law. It incorporates wide-ranging changes in law and policy, including the shift towards a more holistic approach

This new edition of a well-established text provides a comprehensive, digestible and accessible introduction to trade mark law, explaining the technicalities of the law in plain, non-technical language.

Counting the cost: impact of invasive animals in Australia 2004.

Background and Goal of Study:Post Intubation Laryngotracheal Stenosis (PILTS) is a serious debilitating complication of invasive ventilation. Estimated incidence varies widely from 0.6% to 21% following endotracheal intubation or tracheostomy. Information on the impact this condition has on its sufferers is scarce in the literature. Our aim was to identify the themes emerging around the impact on quality of life reported by PILTS patients. Materials and Methods:Members of an international social media group set up by a foundation established to promote awareness and provide support for the patients affected by tracheal stenosis were invited to take part in a short online survey. It included free text option on the impact the condition has on quality of life, the responses to which were evaluated using thematic analysis assisted by the software package NVivo-11 (QSR International Pty Ltd.; Melbourne, Australia). Results and Discussion:Ninety one participants completed the survey, the majority of which were from the USA. Sixty seven of the respondents have had or currently have laryngotracheal stenosis, while the rest comprised carers and one healthcare professional with interest in LTS. Forty eight percent were diagnosed with PILTS several years after developing symptoms with 90% respondents indicating there was confusion over the diagnosis. Seventy percent needed multiple endoscopic dilatation procedures and 60% had had more than 10 outpatient appointments. Ninety one percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that PILTS has a major impact on their quality of life. The thematic analysis found PILTS affected the individualu2019s quality of life in the following multiple areas; physical activity, psychological and emotional wellbeing, financial costs, social context with impact on work, family and community. Conclusion(s):This qualitative study suggests that PILTS is usually misdiagnosed for several years. The majority of those diagnosed undergo multiple procedures and surgeries and numerous outpatient appointments, with ninety percent reporting a significant impact on their quality of life. Impact on quality of life varies from personal health through to work and family and the wider community, extending over time. This survey has highlighted the need for further in-depth research into the lived experience of patients with post-intubation laryngotracheal stenosis.