The holidays are almost here, and Black Friday…well…okay, look, we value our readers too much to make them wait until the day after Thanksgiving to get The Good Deals. You deserve nice things, and so do your friends and family this holiday season! That’s why we’re again offering a special, early access to our annual holiday sale as our way of thanking you for supporting our authors this year, and every year. Through Cyber Monday, November 27, get 40% off ALL titles with coupon code HOLIDAY23! Don’t delay, because when early access ends, the discount will drop to the standard 25%. Happy reading!
Our Holiday Sale Early Access Starts Now!
We get it: someone in your household wants to bring in a tree while another hasn’t put away the Halloween decorations yet. We suggest using this liminal time to get started with your holiday shopping (and reading). Many of our readers look forward to our traditional post–Thanksgiving holiday sale to fill their shelves, nightstands and gift bags. This year, instead of waiting around for Black Friday, we’re opening up early access to you, our loyal readers and followers, as a way of saying “thank you!” for celebrating with us all year round. From now through Cyber Monday, November 28, get a Santa–sized 40% off ALL titles with coupon code HOLIDAY22! Don’t delay, because when early access ends, the discount will drop to the standard 25%. Happy reading!
FLASH SALE: Batman Books
FLASH SALE: We’re celebrating the release of the new movie ‘The Batman’! Now through March 11th, Get 25% off our titles about The Batman movies and comics with coupon code BATMAN25. Browse our selection here.
McFarland Book Is The Guardian’s “Oddest Book Title of the Year”
Roy Schwartz’s 2020 book, Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete History of the World’s Greatest Hero, has won Competing against five other finalists, Schwartz’s book won in a landslide, receiving 51% of the 11,000 votes cast. The inaugural Diagram Prize was awarded in 1978.
In a comment to The Guardian, Schwartz says: “I’m sincerely honoured to receive this august literary prize. It’s a great reminder that even serious literature is allowed to be fun.”Is Superman Circumcised? is a journey through comic book lore, American history, and Jewish tradition, examining the entirety of Superman’s career from 1938 to date, and is sure to give readers a newfound appreciation for the Mensch of Steel! Superman is the original superhero, an American icon, and arguably the most famous character in the world—and he’s Jewish! Introduced in June 1938, the Man of Steel was created by two Jewish teens, Jerry Siegel, the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe, and Joe Shuster, an immigrant. They based their hero’s origin story on Moses, his strength on Samson, his mission on the golem, and his nebbish secret identity on themselves. They made him a refugee fleeing catastrophe on the eve of World War II and sent him to tear Nazi tanks apart nearly two years before the US joined the war. In the following decades, Superman’s mostly Jewish writers, artists, and editors continued to borrow Jewish motifs for their stories, basing Krypton’s past on Genesis and Exodus, its society on Jewish culture, the trial of Lex Luthor on Adolf Eichmann’s, and a future holiday celebrating Superman on Passover.
Roy Schwartz has written for newspapers, magazines, websites, academic organizations, law firms, tech companies, toy companies, and production studios. He has taught English and writing at the City University of New York and is a former writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library. He is the director of marketing and business development of a regional law firm.
Newly Published: English Magic and Imperial Madness
English Magic and Imperial Madness: The Anti-Colonial Politics of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Peter D. Mathews
Regency England was a pivotal time of political uncertainty, with a changing monarchy, the Napoleonic Wars, and a population explosion in London. In Susanna Clarke’s fantasy novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the era is also witness to the unexpected return of magic. Locating the consequences of this eruption of magical unreason within the context of England’s imperial history, this study examines Merlin and his legacy, the roles of magicians throughout history, the mythology of disenchantment, the racism at work in the character of Stephen Black, the meaning behind the fantasy of magic’s return, and the Englishness of English magic itself. Looking at the larger historical context of magic and its links to colonialism, the book offers both a fuller understanding of the ethical visions underlying Clarke’s groundbreaking novel of madness intertwined with magic, while challenging readers to rethink connections among national identity, rationality, and power.
Newly Published: Reading the Gravestones of Old New England
Reading the Gravestones of Old New England
John G.S. Hanson
Newly Published: The New Fiction Technologies
The New Fiction Technologies: Interactivity, Agency and Digital Narratology
Shawn Edrei
Newly Published: The JFK Assassination Dissected
The JFK Assassination Dissected: An Analysis by Forensic Pathologist Cyril Wecht
Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D. and Dawna Kaufmann
Newly Published: Dream Medicine
Dream Medicine: The Intersection of Wellness and Consciousness
Kimberly R. Mascaro
Newly Published: Speculative Modernism
William Gillard James Reitter and Robert Stauffer
Newly Published: “Devil Dog” Dan Daly
Charley Roberts
Newly Published: The American Cardiovascular Pandemic
David Gordon
Newly Published: A Lost Colony Hoax
Brandon Fullam
Newly Published: Writings of a Rebel Colonel
Samuel Walkup
Newly Published: After Vicksburg
Myron J. Smith, Jr.
Jewish Book Month
November is Jewish Book Month! At McFarland, we’re celebrating by highlighting our Jewish Studies line, which includes everything from biographies of prominent Jewish community members to religious histories, holocaust filmographies, memoirs and more. Now through November 15th, get 25% off our using code JBM25 on the McFarland website.
Newly Published: Community College Leadership
Gary L. Rhodes and Mark A. Creery, Sr.
Newly Published: The Nurse in Popular Media
Edited by Marcus K. Harmes, Barbara Harmes and Meredith A. Harmes
Newly Published: Inside Abu Ghraib
William Edwards, Robert P. Walters, Jr. and Paul Zanon
Newly Published: Joseph James Kinyoun
Joseph K. Houts, Jr.
Newly Published: The Force of The Umbrella Academy
Edited by Lisann Anders
Even as the major superhero film franchises appear to be exhausting their runs The Umbrella Academy demonstrates that the superhero genre is still extremely effective at creating role models with lasting psychological resonance and allegories with extraordinary emotional impact. These essays give a voice to the misunderstood family members of The Umbrella Academy in the comic book series and its highly popular Netflix adaptation. They explore different forces like individualism, identity, family, and feminism. One of the most striking features that unites these concepts is the linkage between violence with voice, as well as violence’s aestheticized depiction.
Newly Published: A Worldbuilder’s Guide to Magic
Brent A. Stypczynski
Newly Published: American Roadkill
Don H. Corrigan
Newly Published: Presidents versus Senators
F. Martin Harmon
Newly Published: Digesting Foods and Fads
Judi Nath
Newly Published: Small Cities Thinking Big
Michael G. Hall
Newly Published: The Transmedia Vampire
Edited by Simon Bacon
This book explores vampire narratives that have been expressed across multiple media and new technologies. Stories and characters such as Dracula, Carmilla and even Draculaura from Monster High have been made more “real” through their depictions in narratives produced in and across different platforms. This also allows the consumer to engage on multiple levels with the “vampire world,” blurring the boundaries between real and imaginary realms and allowing for different kinds of identity to be created while questioning terms such as “author,” “reader,” “player” and “consumer.” These essays investigate the consequences of such immersion and why the undead world of the transmedia vampire is so well suited to life in the 21st century.
Newly Published: Anthony Trollope
Nicholas Birns and John F. Wirenius
Anthony Trollope’s novels and stories entertain while vividly bringing the Victorian era to life. His deep empathy for the underdog led him to subvert conventions, exploring the lives of women, as well as men, and choosing as heroes and heroines outsiders who would be viewed with suspicion by his readers. Trollope’s profound insight to human nature made him the first novelist in English to develop three dimensional characters and to create the novel sequence. This literary companion introduces readers to his life and work. A-to-Z entries explore Trollope’s short story collections, and nonfiction contributions, as well as important themes in the works. This companion also includes fresh voices of contributors that bring in their contemporary insights to bear on Trollope’s achievements, facilitating the understanding of Trollope’s perspectives in relation to feminism, queer studies, and transnationalism.
Newly Published: Rehearsing for Doomsday
Scott Cook
Newly Published: The Flat Tire Murders
Michael P. Burns
Newly Published: Gettysburg Eddie Plank
Dave Heller
Newly Published: Seven Games in ’62
John Iamarino
Newly Published: Major League Turbulence
Douglas M. Branson
Halloween Horror Sale
Newly Published: Amos Alonzo Stagg
David E. Sumner
Under Stagg’s leadership, Chicago emerged as one of the nation’s most formidable football teams during the early 20th century, winning seven Big Ten championships and two national championships. After Chicago forced him to retire at 70, Stagg found another coaching position at College of the Pacific, where he was forced to retire at 84. He found another job and never fully retired from coaching until he was 98. His marriage to his wife to Stella—his de facto assistant coach—lasted almost 70 years. Sports Illustrated wrote of him, “If any single individual can be said to have created today’s game, Stagg is the man. He either invented outright or pioneered every aspect of the modern game from…the huddle, shift and tackling dummy to such refinements as the T-formation strategy.” This biography tells the story of his life and many innovations, which made him one of the great pioneers of college football.
Newly Published: Ted Sullivan, Barnacle of Baseball
Pat O’Neill and Tom Coffman
Newly Published: The Dark Side of G.K. Chesterton
John C. Tibbetts
This is a critical study of the great British man of letters G.K. Chesterton, devoted to the novels, stories and essays that explore the darker fringes of his wild imagination. “Everything is different in the dark,” wrote Chesterton; “perhaps you don’t know how terrible a truth that is.” Chesterton’s use of the theme of “gargoyles” provides the thematic structure of the book. It covers the detective stories of Father Brown and others, the locked rooms and miracle crimes in his writing, his status as a science fiction writer, and the riddles and paradoxes of three works—Job, The Man Who Was Thursday, and the play The Surprise. This volume also includes an interlude about Chesterton and Jorge Luis Borges and a robust appendix including interviews about the formation of Ignatius Press’s Collected Chesterton.
Newly Published: Surviving Stephen King
Rebecca Frost
Newly Published: Caesars Palace Grand Prix
Randall Cannon
Newly Published: “Don’t Shoot, G-Men!”
Michael Newton
Newly Published: Encyclopedia of Television Miniseries, 1936–2020
Vincent Terrace
In 1936, as television networks CBS, DuMont, and NBC experimented with new ways to provide entertainment, NBC deviated from the traditional method of single experimental programs to broadcast the first multi-part program, Love Nest, over a three-episode arc. This would come to be known as a miniseries. Although the term was not coined until 1954, several other such miniseries were broadcast, including Jack and the Beanstalk and Women in Wartime.
In the mid–1960s the concept was developed into a genre that still exists. While the major broadcast networks pioneered the idea, it quickly became popular with cable and streaming services. This encyclopedic source contains a detailed history of 878 TV miniseries broadcast from 1936 to 2020, complete with casts, networks, credits, episode count and detailed plot information.Newly Published: Nineties to Now
Matthew McKeever
Newly Published: Through Thick and Thin
Carolyn Roy-Bornstein
Newly Published: The Laird Rams
Andrew R. English
Newly Published: Puppet Master Complete
Nat Brehmer
This book is a comprehensive history of the most successful straight-to-video horror franchise of all time: Puppet Master. It provides an in-depth exploration of all 14 films to date—including a made-for-TV crossover and a theatrical reboot—and the action figures, comics, and other merchandise that have helped to keep the brand alive for the past 30 years. Puppet Master was the first film for independent producer extraordinaire Charles Band’s Full Moon Entertainment, launching a franchise and a micro-budget studio that have both continued to this day. What led to the film’s success? How did a little movie about killer puppets, designed to cater to the then-booming video market, wind up surviving video stores themselves? How did a series that had never even had a theatrical entry wind up with an unusually successful toy series? All of these questions are answered within these pages. Featuring new interviews with some of the biggest creative minds behind the franchise, as well as dozens of behind-the-scenes photos, this book is the ultimate guide to horror’s most murderous marionettes.
Newly Published: The Adventures of Ozzie Nelson
John R. Holmes
Newly Published: The Suffrage Photography of Lena Connell
Colleen Denney
Newly Published: The Art of Medieval Jewelry
T.N. Pollio
Newly Published: Voting for War
Walter B. Jones, Jr. with Taylor Sisk
Newly Published: Norman Corwin
By Wayne Soini
Newly Published: Legislative Foundations of American Consumer Society
New on our bookshelf:
By Bob Sullivan
Newly Published: Women and Mixed Race Representation in Film
Valerie C. Gilbert
Newly Published: The Mythic Mr. Lincoln
Jeff O’Bryant
Newly Published: The NHL’s Mistake by the Lake
Gary Webster
Newly Published: Tar Heels in Gray
John B. Cameron
Newly Published: Nineteenth Century Detective Fiction
LeRoy Lad Panek
Newly Published: The Working Class in American Literature
Edited by John F. Lavelle and Debbie Lelekis
Literary texts are artifacts of their time and ideologies. This book collection explores the working class in American literature from the colonial to the contemporary period through a critical lens which addresses the real problems of approaching class through economics. Significantly, this book moves the analysis of working-class literature away from the Marxist focus on the relationship between class and the means of production and applies an innovative concept of class based on the sociological studies of humans and society first championed by Max Weber. Of primary concern is the construction of class separation through the concept of in-grouping/out grouping. This book builds upon the theories established in John F. Lavelle’s Blue Collar, Theoretically: A Post-Marxist Approach to Working Class Literature (McFarland, 2011) and puts them into practice by examining a diverse set of texts that reveal the complexity of class relations in American society.
Newly Published: Coming Home to the Third Reich
Grant W. Grams
Newly Published: Like Boy Scouts with Guns
Roger S. Durham
Newly Published: Opening the East River
Thomas Barthel
Newly Published: Beyond the Living Dead
Edited by Bruce Peabody and Gloria Pastorino
In 1968, George Romero’s film Night of the Living Dead premiered, launching a growing preoccupation with zombies within mass and literary fiction, film, television, and video games. Romero’s creativity and enduring influence make him a worthy object of inquiry in his own right, and his long career helps us take stock of the shifting interest in zombies since the 1960s. Examining his work promotes a better understanding of the current state of the zombie and where it is going amidst the political and social turmoil of the twenty-first century.
These new essays document, interpret, and explain the meaning of the still-budding Romero legacy, drawing cross-disciplinary perspectives from such fields as literature, political science, philosophy, and comparative film studies. Essays consider some of the sources of Romero’s inspiration (including comics, science fiction, and Westerns), chart his influence as a storyteller and a social critic, and consider the legacy he leaves for viewers, artists, and those studying the living dead.Newly Published: Max Gordon
Jacob Kornhauser and Dylan Kornhauser
Newly Published: George Washington Parke Custis
Charles S. Clark
Newly Published: Judge, Jury and Executioner
Edited by Alicia M. Goodman, Matthew J. McEniry, Ryan Cassidy and Robert G. Weiner
Since the Punisher’s first appearance in the pages of Spider-Man #129, the character has become one of the most popular and controversial figures in Marvel’s vast universe. The Punisher represents one of the most recognizable types of anti-heroes. His iconic skull insignia stands for a unique type of justice: protecting the innocent while violently eliminating everyone he sees as a villain. This collection examines the Punisher from philosophical perspectives about morality and justice. Essays critique the character through the lenses of gender and feminism; consider the Punisher’s veteran status in relation the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars; and examine how politics and gun violence connect the Punisher’s world with the real world. Many iterations of the Punisher are examined within, including the Netflix release of Marvel’s The Punisher, comics series such as Punisher: MAX, Marvel Knights, and Cosmic Ghost Rider, and several fan fiction stories.
Newly Published: Southern Baptists
Slayden A. Yarbrough and Michael Kuykendall
Boxing Catalog and Sale
We’ve been hitting the speedbag with subject sales lately, and fight night is finally here: check out our newest and, through October 15, get 25% off with coupon code BOXING25!
Newly Published: The ARVN and the Fight for South Vietnam
Nghia M. Vo
Newly Published: Defining America in the Radical 1760s
Jude M. Pfister
Newly Published: The River Batteries at Fort Donelson
M. Todd Cathey and Ricky W. Robnett
Newly Published: Transformed in a Stroke
Laurel Kamada
Newly Published: Mohawk Recon
Russell Pettis
Newly Published: The Body in Theory
Edited by Becky R. McLaughlin and Eric Daffron
Written by a diverse body of scholars—art historians, cultural theorists, English professors, philosophers, psychoanalysts, and sociologists from North America and Europe—these essays bring into conversation two intellectual giants frequently seen as antagonists, and thus rarely seen together. Topics covered include: the intersections of Foucault and Lacan and how they bring to light new thoughts on the senses, the self-destructive body, ableism and disability in Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water, body image and the ego, selfie-culture, and metamorphosis in Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation, among others.
Newly Published: The Longest Siege
Russell W. Blount, Jr.
Newly Published: When Home Is Not Safe
Edited by Judith Skillman and Linera Lucas
Newly Published: Bill DeWitt, Sr.
Burton A. Boxerman and Benita W. Boxerman
Newly Published: Deconstructing Bret Easton Ellis
Annette Schimmelpfennig
Aimed at aficionados of Ellis’s works as well as students of contemporary American fiction and literary theory, this book discusses the central issues in Ellis’s novels through 2019 and offers a new perspective for the practical use of Derrida’s ideas. In order to ensure accessibility, a theoretical chapter introduces all the concepts necessary to understand a Derridean analysis of Ellis’s fiction. As Rip says in Imperial Bedrooms: “It means so many things, Clay.”
Newly Published: A Short Good Life
Philip Lister
Newly Published: Radio Psychics
John Benedict Buescher
Newly Published: Dyslexia and the Journalist
Tony Silvia and Suzanne Arena
Newly Published: The Sociology of Sports
Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan
Heavy Metal Music and Culture Catalog
New in Softcover: Forry
Forrest J Ackerman (1916–2008) was an author, archivist, agent, actor, promoter, and editor of the iconic fan magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland; a founder of science fiction fandom; and one of the world’s foremost collectors of sci-fi, horror and fantasy films, literature, and memorabilia.
This biography begins with a foreword by Joe Moe, Ackerman’s caregiver and close friend since 1982. It documents Ackerman’s lifelong dedication to his work in both literature and film; his interests, travels, relationships and associations with famous personalities; and his lasting impact on popular culture. Primary research material includes letters given by Ackerman to the author during their long friendship, and numerous reminiscences from Ackerman’s friends, fans and colleagues.Newly Published: The Definitive Diva
New on our bookshelf:
The Definitive Diva: The Life and Career of Maria Callas
By John Louis DiGaetani
Newly Published: The Medieval Mediterranean City
New on our bookshelf:
The Medieval Mediterranean City: Urban Life and Design Before European Hegemony, 1250-1380
By Felicity Ratté
New in Softcover: The First Black Boxing Champions
Edited by Colleen Aycock and Mark Scott
Newly Published: Interpreting and Responding to Classroom Behaviors
Michael O. Weiner Les Paul Gallo-Silver and Tal D. Lucas
Newly Published: U.S. Navy Patrol Vessels
Ken W. Sayers
Newly Published: The Science of Sci-Fi Cinema
Edited by Vincent Piturro
Newly Published: The Rail, the Body and the Pen
Edited by Brian Cowlishaw
Many of the best-known British authors of the 1800s were fascinated by the science and technology of their era. Dickens included spontaneous human combustion and “mesmerism” (hyptnotism) in his plots. Mary Shelley created the immortal Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his creature. H.G. Wells imagined the Time Machine, the Invisible Man, and invaders from Mars. Percy Shelley was as infamous at Oxford for his smelly experiments and for his atheism.
This book of essays explores representations of technology in the work of various nineteenth-century British authors. Essays cluster around two important areas of innovation— transportation and medicine. Each essay contributor accessibly maps out the places where art and science meet, detailing how these authors both affected and reflected the technological revolutions of their time.Newly Published: Nixon Rebuilds
John David Briley
Richard Nixon’s election to the presidency in 1968 was an improbable vindication for a man branded as a loser after unsuccessful presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Yet during the 1966 mid-term elections, he emerged as the critical figure who united the fractured Republican Party after the disastrous 1964 presidential election. Along the way, he sensed how large swaths of the American public were moving against the Democrats, and how a candidate could take advantage of this.
Filling an important gap in the Nixon literature, this book explores his dynamic reinvention during the dark days of the mid-sixties—a period that mirrored his 1946–1952 rise from obscure congressman to Eisenhower’s vice-president. Beginning with his 1962 press conference after losing the California governor’s election and ending with his 1968 presidential victory, a far more human Nixon is revealed, unlike the familiar caricature of the shady politician and orchestrator of Watergate who would do anything to win.
Newly Published: Barney Dreyfuss
Brian Martin
Newly Published: The Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899
John J. Michalik
Newly Published: Ancient Greeks on the Human Condition
Matthew Sims
This book examines the writings of four ancient Greeks–Homer, Thucydides, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Each of these four individuals represents a different approach toward the human condition, ranging from the heroic and tragic to the comic and absurd. This book focuses on how the human condition can best be understood within the framework of these four perspectives by examining the major contributions of these Greek writers, whether in the form of epic (Homer’s Iliad), history (Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War), or drama (the plays of Euripides and Aristophanes). These various perceptions of Greek thought illuminate our understanding of what it means to be fully human. By focusing on the concepts of the heroic, tragic, comic, and absurd, we can see how these ancient Greek authors still provide key insights for us today as they clarify those timeless features that define the human condition.
Newly Published: Dead Man’s Curve
Mark A. Moore
Newly Published: Watch Us Roll
Edited by Shelly Jones
Actual play is a movement within role-playing gaming in which players livestream their gameplay for others to watch and enjoy. This new medium has allowed the playing of games to become a digestible, consumable text for individuals to watch, enjoy, learn from, and analyze. Bridging the gap between the analog and the digital, actual play is changing and challenging our expectations of tabletop role-playing and providing a space for new scholarship. This edited collection of essays focuses on Dungeons and Dragons actual play and examines this phenomenon from a variety of different disciplinary approaches. Authors explore how to define actual play, how fans interact with and affect the narrative and gameplay of actual play, the diversity of gamers (or lack thereof) within actual play media, and how audiences can use actual play media for more than mere entertainment.
Newly Published: Thirteen Charges Against Benedict Arnold
Ennis Duling
Newly Published: Screening American Nostalgia
Edited by Susan Flynn and Antonia Mackay
This book examines American screen culture and its power to create and sustain values. Looking specifically at the ways in which nostalgia colors the visions of American life, essays explore contemporary American ideology as it is created and sustained by the screen. Nostalgia is omnipresent, selling a version of America that arguably never existed. Current socio-cultural challenges are played out onscreen and placed within the historical milieu through a nostalgic lens which is tempered by contemporary conservatism. Essays reveal not only the visual catalog of recognizable motifs but also how these are used to temper the uncertainty of contemporary crises. Media covered spans from 1939’s Gone with the Wind, to Stranger Things, The Americans, Twin Peaks, the Fallout franchise and more.
Newly Published: Lessons from a Disabled Caregiver
William G. Reed
Newly Published: Adapting Stephen King
Joseph Maddrey
Stephen King’s fiction has formed the basis of more motion picture adaptations than any other living author. Over half a century since his earliest publications, Hollywood filmmakers continue to reinvent, reimagine, remake, and reboot King’s stories, with mixed results. This book, volume 1 in a series, examines the various screen adaptations of King’s first three novels: Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining. Reaching further than questions of fidelity to the author and adherence to directorial visions, it charts the development of each individual adaptation from first option to final cut. Through old and new interviews with the writers, producers, and directors of these films–as well as in-depth analyses of produced and unproduced screenplays–it illuminates the adaptation process as an intricately collaborative endeavor. Rather than merely synopsize the resulting stories, its goal is to compare, contrast, and contextualize each of these adaptations as the products of their creators.