Most Popular Books by David Byrne

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • David Byrne’s incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economic, social, or technological—now updated with a new chapter on digital curation. “How Music Works is a buoyant hybrid of social history, anthropological survey, autobiography, personal philosophy, and business manual”—The Boston Globe Utilizing his incomparable career and inspired collaborations with Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and many others, David Byrne taps deeply into his lifetime of knowledge to explore the panoptic elements of music, how it shapes the human experience, and reveals the impetus behind how we create, consume, distribute, and enjoy the songs, symphonies, and rhythms that provide the backbeat of life. Byrne’s magnum opus uncovers thrilling realizations about the redemptive liberation that music brings us all.

For over thirty years, besides making music, David Byrne has focused his unique genius upon forms as diverse as the archaeology of music as we know it, architectural photography and the uses of PowerPoint. Now he presents his most personal work to date, a collection of drawings exploring the form of the tree diagram. Arboretum is an eclectic blend of science, automatic writing, self-analysis and satire. A journey through irrational logic – the application of scientific rigour and form to irrational premises, proceeding from careful nonsense to unexpected sense. The tree diagram is a form that might reveal more about yourself than you dreamed possible.

From former Talking Heads frontman and multimedia visionary David Byrne and revered bestselling author, illustrator, and artist Maira Kalman--an inspiring celebration in words and art of the connections between us all. Don''t miss the Spike Lee film of the Broadway hit American Utopia--on HBO. A Beat Most Anticipated Graphic Novel of Fall 2020 A joyful collaboration between old friends David Byrne and Maira Kalman, American Utopia offers readers an antidote to cynicism, bursting with pathos, humanism, and hope--featuring his words and lyrics brought to life with more than 150 of her colorful paintings. The text is drawn from David Byrne''s American Utopia, which has become a hit Broadway show and is now a film from Spike Lee on HBO. The four-color artwork, by Maira Kalman, which she created for the Broadway show''s curtain, is composed of small moments, expressions, gestures, and interactions that together offer a portrait of daily life and coexistence. With their creative talents combined, American Utopia is a salvo for kindness and a call for jubilation, a reminder to sing, dance, and waste not a moment. Beautifully designed and edited by Alex Kalman, American Utopia is a balm for the soul from two of the world''s most extraordinary artists.

"...an engaging book: part diary, part manifesto." The Guardian A round-the-world bicycle tour with one of the most original artists of our day. Urban bicycling has become more popular than ever as recession-strapped, climate-conscious city dwellers reinvent basic transportation. In this wide-ranging memoir, artist/musician and co-founder of Talking Heads David Byrne--who has relied on a bike to get around New York City since the early 1980s--relates his adventures as he pedals through and engages with some of the world''s major cities. From Buenos Aires to Berlin, he meets a range of people both famous and ordinary, shares his thoughts on art, fashion, music, globalization, and the ways that many places are becoming more bike-friendly. Bicycle Diaries is an adventure on two wheels conveyed with humor, curiosity, and humanity.

In his latest book, writer, photographer, musician, and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has created an extraordinary document and critique of the times we live in. Your Action World parodies the "inspirational" promotional materialsincluding books, tapes, and corporate advertising - with which we are inundated daily. Byrne''s impulse is to fight back, "to stem the tide of images and bullying texts that assault all of us, by building dikes and dams of my own images and texts. To understand the enemy I must become one with the enemy, I must be of one mind with the enemy. I must infect myself in order to be immunized." An intelligent, quirky document from one of our most innovative artistswith a cool debossed PVC cover and 4-color stickerYour Action World will be the cult hit of the season.

Walk down any street in Mexico, and you''ll be greeted by images of soccer stars, mariachi singers, space ships, taxis, tortas, tequila, or any one of the colorful posters that shopkeepers, advertisers, designers, and artists have put up throughout their cities and towns. Sensacional: Mexican Street Graphics is the definitive collection of these outrageous, vivid, exuberant, and downright beautiful images that so often define public space south of the border. In contrast to the corporate efficiency of so much American signage, the images collected here depict a vibrant and experimental visual culture. Advertising everything from sex clubs, wrestling arenas, and restaurants to dentist''s offices, auto-body shops, locksmiths, and shoe-repair stores, these images provide an inspiring monument to the craft of vernacular design, and are as much a part of the streetscape as the buildings they cover. Following a foreword by renowned musician and artist David Byrne, and an introduction by design historian Steven Heller, Sensacional presents more than 300 full-color illustrations of Mexico''s most animated street graphics.

How do quantitative methods help us to acquire knowledge of the real world? What are the `do′s′ and `don′ts′ of effective quantitative research? This refreshing and accessible book provides students with a novel and useful resource for doing quantitative research. It offers students a guide on how to: interpret the complex reality of the social world; achieve effective measurement; understand the use of official statistics; use social surveys; understand probability and quantitative reasoning; interpret measurements; apply linear modelling; understand simulation and neural nets; and integrate quantitative and qualitative modelling in the research process. Jargon-free and written with the needs of students in mind, the book will be required reading for students interested in using quantitative research methods.

Two essays contextualising Bern Porter''s work accompany his 1972 poetry collection.

For the past two decades, ‘complexity’ has informed a range of work across the social sciences. There are diverse schools of complexity thinking, and authors have used these ideas in a multiplicity of ways, from health inequalities to the organization of large scale firms. Some understand complexity as emergence from the rule-based interactions of simple agents and explore it through agent-based modelling. Others argue against such ‘restricted complexity’ and for the development of case-based narratives deploying a much wider set of approaches and techniques. Major social theorists have been reinterpreted through a complexity lens and the whole methodological programme of the social sciences has been recast in complexity terms. In four parts, this book seeks to establish ‘the state of the art’ of complexity-informed social science as it stands now, examining: the key issues in complexity theory the implications of complexity theory for social theory the methodology and methods of complexity theory complexity within disciplines and fields. It also points ways forward towards a complexity-informed social science for the twenty-first century, investigating the argument for a post-disciplinary, ‘open’ social science. Byrne and Callaghan consider how this might be developed as a programme of teaching and research within social science. This book will be particularly relevant for, and interesting to, students and scholars of social research methods, social theory, business and organization studies, health, education, urban studies and development studies.

This important book examines how social science is applied now and how it might be applied in the future in relation to social transformation in a time of crisis.

Poetry, prose and images of two-three dimensional artworks.also contains CD of author''s work.

This interdisciplinary book examines the contemporary nature and possible futures of cities in a postindustrial and globalized world. Considering urban plans as complex systems and as products of collective human action, Byrne draws on urban history, geography, sociology, and studies from the developed, developing, and former soviet systems. He describes the crucial processes of the restructuring of urban employment, the creation of the built environment, and the transformation of "culture" in cities.

The transition to twenty-first century post-industrial capitalism from the ‘welfare’ industrial capitalism of the twentieth century, has affected the ways in which class is lived in terms of relational inequality and the factors that structure identity. Class After Industry takes a complex realist approach to the dynamics of individual lives, places, the social structure and analyses their significance in terms of class. A wide range of quantitative and qualitative studies are drawn on to explore how ‘life after industry’ shapes class, and the consequent potential for social change. The book will be of interest across the social sciences and beyond, to those concerned with how class forms might translate into political action.

What does the future hold for the welfare state in the post-industrial 21st century? Political and economic forces are threatening the taxation regimes of highly globalised, capitalist societies, prompting an urgent debate around the function of the welfare state and how we pay for it. In a challenge to current policy and thinking, David Byrne and Sally Ruane deploy the concepts and analytical tools of Marxist political economy to better understand these developments, and the possibilities they present for social change. Using the SNP in Scotland as an illustrative case study, current debates are related to a critical understanding of the relationship between taxation and spending, issues that are fundamental to early 21st century politics and the future of the welfare state.

Inequality in a Context of Climate Crisis after COVID uses a complex realist approach to examine the crisis of three interconnected problems: economic inequality, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Widely acknowledged as the key driver of political discontent and social instability, economic inequality across high and middle-income countries is profoundly interconnected with climate change. Both of these issues are now set within the particularly acute context of COVID-19 and its aftermath. Confronting the crisis of these inherently interwoven issues is now the major problem for all political and governance systems. This book uses a complex realist frame of reference to understand the character of social-cultural-economic-political-ecological systems. It gives us a vocabulary and modes of thinking to confront these societal challenges and inform future action. Contributing to our thinking about dynamic social systems, this text deploys complex realism to understand our trajectory towards increasing inequality. It puts complexity to work in addressing fundamental social issues in a context of climate crisis after COVID-19. This book will be of interest to students and scholars across the social sciences, in particular to those studying social inequality, climate change, heterodox economics, complex systems, and Master''s students in prgrammes with an applied focus. It will be of use to policymakers and practitioners.

Inspired by Yuval Harari''s international bestseller, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.

It''s 1975. In Leeds, the Millgarth Incident Room is the epicentre of the biggest manhunt in British police history. We follow Sergeant Megan Winterburn as she joins hundreds of officers working around the clock to find the man known as the Yorkshire Ripper. With public pressure mounting, the investigation resorts to increasingly audacious attempts to catch one of Britain''s most notorious serial killers. Olivia Hirst and David Byrne''s play The Incident Room goes behind the scenes to investigate the case that broke the British police force. It was first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019, and receives its London premiere at the New Diorama Theatre in February 2020.

''Social Exclusion'' is a key phrase in social policy and social politics across most of contemporary Europe. It is a description of the condition of individuals, households, neighbourhoods, ethnic and other ''identity'' groups, who can be identified as being excluded from society.The second edition of this widely read book explores developments in social theory, social experience and social policy in relation to Social Exclusion. The first part examines the origins of the term and implications of the difference between the ideas of ''exclusion'', ''underclass'', ''residuum'' and related concepts. The discussion is informed by the application of Complexity Theory. In the updated second part, the theoretical account is developed through a detailed review of the dynamics of individual lives in a changing social order. Income equality, spatial division, and exclusion in relation to health, education and cultural provision and processes are examined in a range of societies in Europe and North America.The last part contains a new chapter outlining the content and impact of national and international policies which have been specifically developed to address issues of exclusion. This is important reading for students on social sciences courses including sociology, social theory and social policy.

Family members and friends entertain a new baby on his first night at home.

As presented on his hugely successful speaking tour, David Byrne, sometime musician & photographer, has a message that will surprise some & stun others. He offers a source of faith for the feeble, doubt for the staunch, & determination for the timid, now in a pocket-sized edition. The first half of the book contains the English-language text. Turned around & upside down, the second half contains the text translated into Spanish. Both versions are illustrated by color photos. There is philosophy here, & other things that only a fool would try to describe. A book to puzzle, alarm & inspire, for those for whom too much is not enough.

A collection of photographs by writer and composer David Byrne of Talking Heads rock band, designed to appeal to photographers and rock fans alike. The collection appeared at the 1996 Edinburgh Festival. It is accompanied by Byrne''s account of his selection of the images and what they mean to him.