Hanna Pustuła-Lewicka Books

The last collection of stories written by Raymond Carver before his death.

In this timely and incisive book, Sergei Medvedev argues that Russia's war in Ukraine was not merely a whim of Putin's obsession: rather, it was the result of two decades of authoritarian degradation and post-imperial ressentiment, a culmination of Putin's regime and of Russia's entire imperial history. Building on his prize-winning book The Return of the Russian Leviathan, Medvedev argues that It was not only Putin that started this war, but Russia itself, which, by and large, has imagined and embraced the war with enthusiasm, seeking to relive its own military glory and colonial past. Medvedev examines the ways in which three building blocks of Russia's identity - the cult of violence, the cult of memory and the cult of war - have combined to produce this war, a war which has come to represent a national idea that Russia has been seeking to realize since the demise of the Soviet Union. He shows that the brutal way this war is fought is not an excess but the norm, a true embodiment of Russia as it is, with its rule of violence, terror and disregard for human life and dignity.

No Logo employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing—and the powerful potential of a growing activist sect that will surely alter the course of the 21st century. First published before the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, this is an infuriating, inspiring, and altogether pioneering work of cultural criticism that investigates money, marketing, and the anti-corporate movement. As global corporations compete for the hearts and wallets of consumers who not only buy their products but willingly advertise them from head to toe—witness today’s schoolbooks, superstores, sporting arenas, and brand-name synergy—a new generation has begun to battle consumerism with its own best weapons. In this provocative, well-written study, a front-line report on that battle, we learn how the Nike swoosh has changed from an athletic status-symbol to a metaphor for sweatshop labor, how teenaged McDonald’s workers are risking their jobs to join the Teamsters, and how “culture jammers” utilize spray paint, computer-hacking acumen, and anti-propagandist wordplay to undercut the slogans and meanings of billboard ads (as in “Joe Chemo” for “Joe Camel”). No Logo will challenge and enlighten students of sociology, economics, popular culture, international affairs, and marketing.