“Baudrillard’s latest commentary on the techno present and future, an installment of his reflections on the reality of contemporary western culture.”

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 90 pages

“Charting the intersection of technology and ideology, cultural production and social science, this book explores early-20th-century representations of non-Western indigenous people in films ranging from the documentary to the spectacular to the scientific. Turning the gaze of the ethnographic camera back onto itself, this book brings the perspective of a third eye to bear on the invention of the primitive Other, revealing the collaboration of anthropology and popular culture in Western construction of race, gender, nation and empire.”

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 299 pages
Illustrated

“The author is an initiated witch and elder in three other witch traditions besides his own. Discusses the roots of the old religion and shows the differences between true witches, old religionists, pop witches, Christian-defiled witches and Satanists. Believes witchcraft may be the faith of the future.”

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 231 pages

“Tells the story of the Nation of Islam—its rise in northern inner-city ghettos during the Great Depression through its decline following the death of Elijah Muhammad, in 1975, to its rejuvenation under the leadership of Louis Farrakhan. [Swedish academic] Mattias Gardell sets this story within the context of African-American social history, the legacy of black nationalism, and the long but hidden Islamic presence in North America… His investigation, based on field research, taped lectures, and interviews, leads to the fullest account of the Nation of Islam’s ideology and theology, its complicated relations with mainstream Islam, the black church, the Jewish community, extremist white nationalists, and the urban culture of black American youth, particularly the hip-hop movement and gangs.”

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 482 pages

The Project on Disney
If everybody at Disney World is enjoying themselves, why is nobody smiling?
Duke University’s Project on Disney sets out to answer this and other questions Mickey would rather leave unanswered, including the risks of being Goofy: “It’s unclear how many of the Disney characters pass out on a given summer day, though everyone is sure that they do. One man reports that during the summer a goodly part of his job is devoted to driving around, retrieving characters where they fall. One day he picked up three at one stop—Donald, Mickey, and Goofy: ‘All of them had passed out within five minutes of each other. They were just lined up on the sidewalk.’ This is in EPCOT which, unlike the Magic Kingdom with its system of underground tunnels, has a backstage behind the façades of the park’s various attractions to which the characters can escape if they have to. If they are in the Magic Kingdom, however, or on a parade float, they must simply ride it out or wait until they’ve recovered enough to walk to a tunnel entrance in costume and under their own steam. This can get a bit dicey. Passing out is sometimes prefaced by (and probably directly caused by) throwing up inside the costumes, which cannot be removed until out of the public view: ‘You’re never to be seen in a costume without your head, ever. It was automatic dismissal. It’s frightening because you can die on your own regurgitation when you can’t keep out of it. I’ll never forget Dumbo—it was coming out of the mouth during the parade. You have a little screen over the mouth. It was horrible. And I made $4.55 an hour.’” NN

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 252 pages
Illustrated

With a title that reinforces the already indelible “ghost in the radio” image from Cocteau’s Orpheus, Phantasmic Radio explores and expounds on the radio experiments of Artaud, John Cage, Valere Novarina (Theatre por Orielle), Gregory Whitehead, Louis Wolfson and Christoff Migone. A little on the arty and pretentious side (kind of unavoidable when dealing with the likes of Artaud and Cage), but full of information and frighteningly meticulous analysis on a subject that—thanks to the FCC-approved corporate stranglehold on commercial radio, the “family values” funding paranoia that has lobotomized public radio and Pacifica’s pathetic “suicide by political correctness”—most of us will never be able to experience firsthand. Better tape those Joe Frank shows, before he steps out of line and ends up as just another footnote in Phantasmic Radio: Volume 2! DB

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 124 pages

Giving insight to Pound’s work during his period in Italy, this book documents his diverse aesthetic, which concerned everything from Machine Art, and its new criterion for beauty, to his search for a type of writing ruled by mathematical rather than grammatical laws. SC

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 232 pages
Illustrated

Andy swished. Andy painted cocks. Andy camped. Andy made Blow Job. Andy wore wigs. Andy was fabulous. Back in the ‘60s, the straight world wondered, “Is he queer?’’ (Stupid question.) These days, they’re afraid to ask. “With few exceptions, most considerations of Warhol have ‘degayed’ him,” say the editors of this series of essays. “Despite the fact that many people ‘knew’ that Warhol was gay, hardly anyone, at least in the world of criticism and theory, will speak of it.” Warhol’s “straight” ascension into the fine art pantheon is halted here, for good reason. “To ignore Warhol’s queerness is to miss what is most valuable, interesting, sexy and political about his life and work.” GR

Publisher: Duke University
Paperback: 280 pages
Illustrated