Bøker utgitt av Akashic Books,U.S.

Two estranged childhood friends find themselves on parallel paths to return to the site of the conversion therapy camp that tore them apart.

An oral history of the legendary band Primus, with a star-studded cast of interviewees (Tom Waits, Phish front man Trey Anastasio, etc.)

"A taut thriller set in Florida's desolate panhandle, part coming-of-age story, all hard-boiled noir. Eighteen-year-old Travis Hollister is always the stranger who comes to town. As a twelve-year-old escaping a disordered and unhappy home and parents who loved hard but couldn't make it work, Travis left the Midwest to spend a summer with his grandparents in the Deep South. There he met Delia, the love of his life, who, tragically, was beyond his reach for two reasons-she was his aunt and she was sixteen years old. That summer made Travis guilty of crimes discovered and undiscovered. For his public wrongs, he did time, six years in a Nebraska reform school. For his undiscovered wrongs, he suffers mightily and wants desperately to be shriven. Can he achieve redemption or is he bound for the hell on earth he can imagine all too well? Driven by his need to rejoin the human community, he becomes the stranger who arrives in Panama City, Florida, searching for Delia, the aunt who was the idol of his twelve-year-old passion. Who is she now? What have the years done to her? Will she welcome the return of Travis or fear it? What will she do about the return of the stranger she once held to her teenage heart"--

An oral history (with photographs) of the greatest American bar band of the twenty-first century.

A photo-filled oral history of the DC-area music studio that brought us some of the most iconic recordings by Bad Brains, Bikini Kill, Fugazi, and so many more.

Two weeks before his twenty-first birthday, Las Vegas native Bobby Ingersoll finds out he''s inherited a crushing gambling debt from his scumbag father. The debt is owed to an even scummier bag named Fraser Ruphart who oversees his bottom-rung criminal empire from the classy-adjacent Trump International Hotel. Bobby''s prospects of paying off the note, which comes due the day he turns twenty-one, are about as dim as the sign on the tower''s facade. The two weeks pass in the blink of a (snake) eye, but before Bobby''s luck runs out, he stumbles upon enough cash to pay Ruphart off and change his family''s fortune. More importantly, he finds himself with a new, for lack of a better word, faith. Bobby does not consign his big break to a ''higher power'' - what Penn Jillette hero ever could? Instead, he devises and devotes himself to Random, a philosophy where his life choices are based entirely on the roll of his ''lucky'' dice. What follows is a hilarious exploration into not so much what defines

If the Gutenberg Bible is the alpha, Against the Written Word is the OMEGA.

In her gripping follow-up to the widely acclaimed Dust Bowl Mystery Death of a Rainmaker, Laurie Loewenstein brings 1930s Oklahoma evocatively to life.

"Aleksandar and Isobel are siblings and former classical music prodigies, once destined for greatness. As the only Eastern European family growing up on their block on the far southside of Chicago, the pair were inseparable until each was forced to confront the absurdity of tragedy at an early age and abandon their musical ambitions. Now in their twenties, they find themselves encountering ridiculous jobs, unfulfilling romantic relationships, and the outrageousness of ordinary life. Doomed by fate, a family history of failure, an odd mother, an absent father, and a younger brother with a peculiar fondness for catastrophes, the two siblings have all but given up. But when an illness forces Isobel and her three-year-old daughter to move back into the family home, Aleks becomes deeply involved in the endless challenges that surround his relatives. Once Isobel begins playing cello again, Aleks comes to see a world of possibility and wonder in the lives of his extraordinarily complicated family."--

"Within these pages you'll find stories of those walking the straight and narrow; until something untoward happens. Maybe it's someone taking a step out of line, getting caught up in circumstances spiraling out of their control. Maybe they're planning the grift, the grab ... whatever it is to finally put them over. Other times the steps they take are to get themselves or people they care about out from under. You'll find the offerings in these pages are a rich mix of tone; tales told of hope, survival, revenge, and triumph. Excursions beyond the headlines and the hype. The settings herein reflect South Central today or chronicle its colorful past, such as the days of the jazz joints along Central Avenue ... From South Park to East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, from the borderlands of Watts to the one-time Southern Pacific railroad tracks paralleling Slauson Avenue, take a tour of a section of Los Angeles that may be unfamiliar to you but you will get to know, at least a little, by the time you finish reading this entertaining and engaging anthology"--

"Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Brand-new stories by: Peter Heller, Barbara Nickless, Cynthia Swanson, Mario Acevedo, Francelia Belton, R. Alan Brooks, D.L. Cordero, Amy Drayer, Twanna LaTrice Hill, Manuel Ramos, Mark Stevens, Mathangi Subramanian, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, and Erika T. Wurth

In the early 1970s, éCsar Alvarez enlists in the Navy to escape a life of crime; while the decision saves him from the streets, it also lands him amid volatile racial tensions at a crucial moment in US history.

A stunning collection of the most iconic photographs ever taken of Black Flag, along with never-before-seen shots and a foreword by Chuck Dukowski. 256 jam-packed pages, over 300 photographs, and over 70% of the photos have never been seen."[A] lively, lavishly assembled collection of Black Flag photos . . . Fury is palpable throughout the book--even rehearsals look like barnburners."--Los Angeles Times"This gorgeous book collects [Friedman's] photographs chronologically, while capturing the full intensity, drama, and ethos of the group . . . For those of us who were too young to be there, this is the next best thing. These still images come to life with every turn of the page, so put on Damaged and dig in."--The Big Takeover"Many of Friedman's photos of the band midperformance include, critically, galvanized audience members, which reinforces the idea that early punk was a social movement. Friedman . . . has been fighting the good fight with his lens for decades. What I See documents a band standing in for any artist committed to questioning rules and living with integrity."--Shelf Awareness, STARRED ReviewWhat I See: The Black Flag Photographs of Glen E. Friedman is an incredible compilation of all of Friedman's most iconic and recognizable images (from 1980 to 1983), of this seminal American punk band, as well as over one hundred never-before-seen photos made during those phenomenal peak years in the group's history.The book includes a foreword by Chuck Dukowski, a cofounder and bass player of Black Flag. Friedman's own introduction to the book takes readers through his journey with the group, from the very first time he heard their music, to his perspectives on the music of the era, to the how, why, and what Black Flag were doing at the time. His words provide additional context to the imagery, explaining what drove him to create his art alongside the band.From the streets around Black Flag's single-room home base/office, rehearsing for their first album, handing out flyers, wheat-pasting posters, driving for hours to a show and returning the same night, house parties, clubs, to the big stage and the beach, Glen E. Friedman was there with his heart, soul, and most importantly his camera. In What I See, he shares with us and inspires us with these images that were made over an incredibly volatile four-year time span.

"Twenty-one years after the publication of his landmark debut collection Yellow, Don Lee returns to the short story form for his sixth book, The Partition. The Partition is an updated exploration of Asian American identity, this time with characters who are presumptive model minorities in the arts, academia, and media. Spanning decades, these nine novelistic stories traverse an array of cities, from Tokyo to Boston, Honolulu to El Paso, touching upon transient encounters in local bars, restaurants, and hotels. Culminating in a three-story cycle about a Hollywood actor, The Partition incisively examines heartbreak, identity, family, and relationships--the characters searching for answers to universal questions: Where do I belong? How can I find love? What defines an authentic self?"--Provided by publisher.

In Alcohol, Tobacco, And Firearms, Tim McLoughlin draws upon his three-decade career in the criminal justice system with his characteristic wit and his fascination with misfits and malfeasance. A lifetime living and working in New York City feeds short stories that evoke a landscape of characters rife with personal arrogance and misjudgement; and nonfiction essays about toeing the line when the line keeps disappearing.

"Following the success of Paris Noir, the Akashic Noir Series has expanded to include the famously diverse and sometimes controversial suburbs of this legendary city."--Provided by publisher.

My Dog Romeo is a playful and endearing tribute to Ziggy Marley's beloved pet dog Romeo.

"When two sisters wander the shore on their family beach outing in search of seashells, smooth pebbles, and other sandy treasures, they discover a gigantic seed pod large enough to hold them afloat. Unable to resist, they climb aboard, and before they know it are swept across the ocean to a mysterious island populated by marvelous vegetation and outsized insects. As they explore, their vessel is carried back out to sea, and they are stranded on the grand isle. Curiosity has led them far from home and only an act of daring and resourcefulness will bring them back. This wordless adventure leads the audience through a richly imagined land packed with spectacular flowers and foliage well suited to Willy Wonka's botanical garden. Samworth combines the natural with the surreal in harmonious colors to create a landscape that promises new discoveries on each visit"--Amazon.com.

"After being abandoned by his animal friends, Little John Crow must come to terms with what it means to be part of a community when you are a vulture."--

A deep dive into the role that mass-appeal movies, television, videos, and music played in Donald Trump's failed reelection campaign, including brand-new interviews with some of the major players."The former personal manager for artists including Nirvana and Bonnie Raitt interviewed some of the most well-known performers who raised their voices against the former president--including Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and Rosanne Cash, among others--for his recently released book, Bloody Crossroads 2020: Art, Entertainment, and Resistance to Trump."--The Hill"Bloody Crossroads 2020 is a riveting and thoughtful tour of the role artists played in resisting the horrors of the Trump presidency. Danny Goldberg provides a bracing and thorough recollection that is both a service and a reminder for artists to stay engaged and awake. To counter those who continually tell me to 'shut up and sing, ' I will buy a couple of crates of this book and get my marching boots polished. Thank you, Danny, for reminding me how it went down, and where it might go."--Rosanne Cash"The people who produce our popular culture--the performers and makers of TV shows and movies and music and the rest--are nearly all on the political left. (Which drives the right crazy; crazier.) Danny Goldberg--impresario, activist, mensch--knowingly and passionately chronicles how and why more of his fellow culture-makers than ever enlisted in the fight to save American democracy in 2020. Our annus horribilis had a political happy ending, and Bloody Crossroads 2020 is its star-studded souvenir program."--Kurt Andersen, author of Evil Geniuses and FantasylandBloody Crossroads 2020 takes a deep dive into the role that mass-appeal movies, television, videos, and music played in America's political culture in the year of Donald Trump's failed reelection campaign. The book also explores the impact of entertainment celebrities in communications, fundraising, and campaigning to support the election of Joe Biden.Although there existed a decades-old tradition of "liberal Hollywood," Trump's ascension to the presidency in 2016 triggered an unprecedented level of engagement by artists and performers. Within days of the 2016 election, a critical mass of entertainers, from teenagers to the last survivors of the World War II generation--blockbuster movie stars, art-film auteurs, Broadway dramatists, comedians, and musicians from the worlds of classical, country, pop, rock, R&B, and hip-hop--all seemed to have heard the tom-tom beat of resistance at the same moment and amplified a moral alternative to Trumpism. That level of engagement intensified with rare passion and purpose in the period of 2020 chronicled in Bloody Crossroads 2020--the Democratic primaries, the COVID-19 pandemic, the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, the conviction of sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, and the 2020 general election campaign--culminating in Trump's failed insurrection.Exhaustively researched, Bloody Crossroads 2020 draws from brand-new interviews with Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Rosanne Cash, David Simon, Adam McKay, Chuck D, David Corn, Mandy Patinkin, and many more. It also explores the important political activities of entertainers like Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Alyssa Milano, Mark Ruffalo, Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, Bette Midler, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Wanda Sykes.Bloody Crossroads 2020 expertly dissects and celebrates how the empowering actions of artists and entertainers helped a record turnout of everyday citizens realize a triumphant 2020 election.

"Growing up in dire poverty in Suffolk, Virginia, Sugar (born Ta'Shauna) Rodgers never imagined that she would become an all-star player in the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association). Both of her siblings were in and out of prison throughout much of her childhood and shootings in her neighborhood were commonplace. For Sugar this was just a fact of life. While academics wasn't a high priority for Sugar and many of her friends, athletics always played a prominent role. She mastered her three-point shot on a net her brother put up just outside their home, eventually becoming so good that she could hustle local drug dealers out of money in one-on-one contests. With the love and support of her family and friends, Sugar's performance on her high school basketball team led to her recruitment by the Georgetown Hoyas, and her eventual draft into the WNBA in 2013 by the Minnesota Lynx (who won the WNBA Finals in Sugar's first year). The first of her family to attend college, Sugar speaks of her struggles both academically and as an athlete with raw honesty. Sugar's road to a successful career as a professional basketball player is fraught with sadness and death--including her mother's death when she's fourteen, which leaves Sugar essentially homeless. Throughout it all, Sugar clings to basketball as a way to keep herself focused and sane. And now Sugar shares her story as a message of hope and inspiration for young girls and boys everywhere, but especially those growing up in economically challenging conditions. Never sugarcoating her life experiences, she delivers a powerful message of discipline, perseverance, and always believing in oneself."--Provided by publisher.

"Plib is like every other N²²rfbl²²k kid on Earth, except for one thing. He loves humans--those horrible, terrifying monsters who dominated the planet ten billion years ago. Only one thing about the humans bothers Plib. What happened to them all?"--From publisher's description.

"Ric Ocasek's rock and roll classic 'Good Times Roll'--the third single from the Cars' groundbreaking debut 1978 album--leaps off the page in illustrator Rob Sayegh Jr.'s playful picture book. Two cats hysterically confront an unraveling ball of yarn with familiar feline antics that will charm parents and children alike, all to the tune of one of rock and roll's most memorable songs."--Back cover.

A beautifully curated collection from celebrated photographer Glen E. Friedman's early years. "The Idealist is a retrospective collection of Friedman's aesthetics, [featuring] some of the images for which he is justly acclaimed and many others that will be new to his fans, ranging from DogTown skateboarders, and hard-core heroes to hip-hop icons, cityscapes to portraits, public intellectuals to historical monuments." --BOMB The Idealist showcases the photography of Glen E. Friedman, who the Washington Post calls, "One of the greats of his generation." The Idealist is the work of a true visionary, effortlessly mixing landscapes, still life, and documentary photography in an exploration of his own innate idealism. The images are enhanced with original comments from some of the most progressive and politically controversial thinkers of our time--Ralph Nader, Reverend Al Sharpton, Ian MacKaye, Cornel West, and Ian F. Svenonius. This collection of photographs from 25 years (1976-2001) of Friedman's work concentrates on his visual aesthetic and is the public introduction to his striking fine-art photography. Though he continues a heavy focus on both imagery and message, only a few of his traditional photographs of legendary people in the hip-hop, punk, and skate communities will be recognized. The Idealist traces Friedman's development as a fine artist as his subject matter includes a breathtaking international scope of landscapes, still life, and documentary, highlighting his capacity to capture essential moments of most anything he sets his eyes on, to help us open ours.

Renowned photographer Glen E. Friedman's breathtaking and ambitious exploration of clouds. "Recognize your humility, recognize the power of nature, recognize the beauty of the world. It is rare to find a photography book like t

"Meet the Kings, one of the most influential families in New York City. In the power circles of the movers and shakers, they are regarded as modern-day royalty. A politically connected father, a socialite mother, and three promising children: they look every bit the all-American family ... but every family has secrets. Some darker than others. Of all the children, Shadow is the least like the rest of the Kings. To call him soft wouldn't be quite accurate, but he lacks the leadership qualities of his older brother, Ghost, or the ruthless tendencies of his sister Lolli. Shadow is just ... Shadow. Instead of accepting his role in the Monarchy created by his father, Shadow would rather spend his days chasing women and hanging out in the hood with his best friends, Fresh and Pain. He is totally oblivious to the perils that come with his last name--until danger introduces itself. On the night of their mother's fiftieth birthday gala, their father, Chancellor, is set to announce his plans to turn his political focus beyond his current position as a member of the city council. He has tasted the benefits that come with holding office, and has the power and influence to make a serious run at climbing the political ladder. The future is looking bright for the King family. That is, until the devil comes to claim his due, and threatens to destroy everything Chancellor has worked to build. To survive the coming storm, each member of the royal family will have to make a sacrifice, even those who are reluctant to wear the crown"--