Set against a bustling winter backdrop in New Hampshire, the story unfolds during a time of economic prosperity and political tension as the vice president campaigns for the presidency. The narrative focuses on the heightened stress experienced by the Secret Service agents tasked with ensuring the vice president's safety amidst the charged atmosphere of the election.
The team assigned to protect the Vice-President of the United States faces escalating challenges when their leader, Felker, who excels at planning attacks, goes missing. They must navigate these difficulties while ensuring the V.P.'s safety.
Digging in the crates we uncovered this old-school classic from David Foster Wallace and his friend and room-mate Mark Costello, first published in 1990, long out of print, and previously unavailable outside the USA. A paean to the golden age of Hip-Hop and the first book to consider seriously its position as a vital force in American culture, Signifying Rappers is a must-read for fans of both Wallace and hip-hop. Set against the legendary 1980s scene, it maps the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance, glitz and gangsterdom, with an energy and exuberance which is as fresh today as when it was written.
Exploring the social dynamics of rural Ireland, William Trevor's short fiction is marked by an oppressive atmosphere that reflects familial ties and the weight of inheritance. The essay highlights how Trevor's portrayal of parent-child relationships serves as a lens to examine cultural stagnation in Ireland, suggesting that these relationships underpin the broader societal issues depicted in his work. Through this analysis, the essay reveals the intricate connections between personal legacy and the collective experience of an evolving yet constrained Irish identity.
The essay explores G. E. Moore's defense of the indefinability of goodness in "Principia Ethica," focusing on his open-question argument and the naturalistic fallacy. It critiques the implications of this view, addressing the problematic consequences of claiming moral truths are self-evident. The analysis highlights the challenges posed by Moore's intuitive meta-ethical theory, ultimately arguing that the reliance on intuition renders his perspective implausible. The paper provides a thorough examination of the complexities surrounding moral philosophy and the nature of ethical truths.
Finally back in print--David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello's exuberant exploration of rap music and culture. Living together in Cambridge in 1989, David Foster Wallace and longtime friend Mark Costello discovered that they shared "an uncomfortable, somewhat furtive, and distinctively white enthusiasm for a certain music called rap/hip-hop." The book they wrote together, set against the legendary Boston music scene, mapped the bipolarities of rap and pop, rebellion and acceptance, glitz and gangsterdom. Signifying Rappers issued a fan's challenge to the giants of rock writing, Greil Marcus, Robert Palmer, and Lester Bangs: Could the new street beats of 1989 set us free, as rock had always promised? Back in print at last, Signifying Rappers is a rare record of a city and a summer by two great thinkers, writers, and friends. With a new foreword by Mark Costello on his experience writing with David Foster Wallace, this rerelease cannot be missed.
Vi Asplund wächst als Tochter eines skurrilen Versicherungsgutachters in einem kleinen Dorf in New Hampshire auf. Große Teile ihrer Kindheit verbringen Vi und ihr Bruder Jens auf Unfallstellen, zu denen ihr Vater sie mitnimmt - zu entgleisten Frachtzügen etwa oder abgebrannten Häusern. Geprägt vom Eindruck allgegenwärtiger Katastrophen flüchtet sich Vi Jahre später zum Secret Service, wo sie als junge Agentin einen nervenzerreißenden Job als Bodyguard des Vizepräsidenten bekommt. Sie bewegt sich fortan in einer künstlichen und abgeschotteten Welt bürokratischer Sicherheit, die alle Risiken von vorneherein ausschließen soll - einer Welt, in der das Grundgefühl die Paranoia ist. Doch das wirkliche Leben erweist sich als unberechenbar und bricht mit all seinen Risiken, Unwägbarkeiten und Überraschungen immer wieder mit Macht über Vi und die Menschen, die sie umgeben, herein. Publishers Weekly „Eine literarische tour de force, die in keine Schublade passt und die bis ins kleinste Detail ebenso fesselnd wie originell ist.“ David Foster Wallace
