Ig Publishing

The work of one of the most powerful new voices in independent Cuban journalism, The Hidden Island is a searing portrait of life in contemporary Cuba, where the struggles of ordinary citizens collide with the brutal repression of the government. In this powerful collection of essays, we encounter a memorable and diverse cast of regular Cubans who are trying to survive with few resources and little hope - including a female boxer in a country that has long outlawed women''s boxing, a boy who collects money for the country''s underground lottery, a male gigolo, and the residents of a neighborhood that is so poor that the government doesn''t officially recognize its existence. We also meet the homeless, and vendors who eke out a meager living by selling fruit and vegetables, scraping by in a former socialist paradise. Jimenez Enoa juxtaposes these ordinary lives against the repressive tactics of the government, or ''regime.'' He describes his ''walks'' around Villa Marista, the headquarters of the secret police, and the spies, confidantes, informers and regime sympathizers who crush anyone who questions the official narrative, which forces many independent journalists into exile. In a final self-portrait in the book about his own exile, Jimenez Enoa writes that, ''to escape from Cuba is to fall into the world, to realize that Cuba is an island that has been hijacked by a political system which ensures that the country remains locked inside the twentieth century.''

After Hours: Scorsese, Grief and the Grammar of Cinema is a live wire examination of author Ben Tanzer''s relationship to Martin Scorsese''s famous 1985 film, and how it helped him to make sense of the death of his father. Tanzer also delves into the overall importance of Scorsese and his films to his family, using After Hours as a lens into his life decisions - most particularly in the form of late-night visits to downtown New York City in the 1980s when he first came of age and began to ask himself how one manages to live a life of meaning, excitement, exploration, and joy.

Two decades ago, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) pierced the hearts of audiences with its poignant autopsy of a relationship gone wrong. Yet depending on the angle with which it''s watched, the film looks completely different: happy or sad, triumphant or tragic, therapeutic or heart-wrenching. Combining film exegesis with memoir, author and YouTube celebrity Maia Wyman takes a look at Eternal Sunshine as she comes to terms with the tumultuous dissolution of a relationship in her life. Wyman takes the reader on a journey through the making of the film, from inception to production, to internet popularity and beyond. She dissects what the film means to fans, as well as the people who made it - some of whom were, themselves, grappling with difficult breakups. Wyman comes to realise, as the main characters, Joel and Clementine do, that no matter how hard we try, in the end, our painful memories are as important as the happy ones.

“Bernays’ honest and practical manual provides much insight into some of the most powerful and influential institutions of contemporary industrial state capitalist democracies.”—Noam Chomsky “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”—Edward Bernays A seminal and controversial figure in the history of political thought and public relations, Edward Bernays (1891–1995), pioneered the scientific technique of shaping and manipulating public opinion, which he famously dubbed “engineering of consent.” During World War I, he was an integral part of the U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI), a powerful propaganda apparatus that was mobilized to package, advertise and sell the war to the American people as one that would “Make the World Safe for Democracy.” The CPI would become the blueprint in which marketing strategies for future wars would be based upon. Bernays applied the techniques he had learned in the CPI and, incorporating some of the ideas of Walter Lipmann, as well as his uncle, Sigmund Freud, became an outspoken proponent of propaganda as a tool for democratic and corporate manipulation of the population. His 1928 bombshell Propaganda lays out his eerily prescient vision for using propaganda to regiment the collective mind in a variety of areas, including government, politics, art, science and education. To read this book today is to frightfully comprehend what our contemporary institutions of government and business have become in regards to organized manipulation of the masses.