{"title":"Will Brooker","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWill Brooker\u003c\/strong\u003e offers insightful explorations into popular culture, blending scholarly analysis with accessible narrative. His works delve into iconic figures and franchises, inviting readers to reconsider their cultural significance through fresh perspectives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the sprawling universe of \u003cem\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/em\u003e to the enduring impact of David Bowie in \u003cem\u003eWhy Bowie Matters\u003c\/em\u003e, Brooker’s writing navigates the intersection of arts, biography, and cultural critique with thoughtfulness and passion.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"star-wars-by-will-brooker-9781839021633","title":"Star Wars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe release of \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e in 1977 marked the start of what would become a colossal global franchise. \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e remains the second highest-grossing film in the United States, and George Lucas's six-part narrative has grown into something more: a culture that goes far beyond the films themselves, with tie-in toys, novels, comics, games, and DVDs, as well as an enthusiastic fan community which creates its own \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e fictions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCritical studies of \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e have treated it as a cultural phenomenon, or in terms of its special effects, fans and merchandising, or as a film that marked the end of New Hollywood's innovation and the birth of the blockbuster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWill Brooker's illuminating study of the film takes issue with many of these commonly-held ideas about \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e. He provides a close analysis of \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e as a film, carefully examining its shots, editing, sound design, cinematography, and performances. Placing the film in the context of George Lucas's previous work, from his student shorts to his 1970s features, and the diverse influences that shaped his approach, from John Ford to Jean-Luc Godard, Brooker argues that \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e is not, as Lucas himself has claimed, a departure from his earlier cinema, but a continuation of his experiments with sound and image. He reveals Lucas's contradictory desires for total order and control, embodied by the Empire, and for the raw energy and creative improvisation of the Rebels. What seemed a simple fairy-tale becomes far more complex when we realise that the director is rooting for both sides; and this tension unsettles the saga as a whole, blurring the boundaries between Empire and Republic, dark side and light side, father and son.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn his foreword to this new edition, Will Brooker discusses how subsequent films in the series, specifically \u003ci\u003eRogue One\u003c\/i\u003e (2016) and \u003ci\u003eThe Last Jedi\u003c\/i\u003e (2017), foregrounded and developed the themes of opposition that are at the heart of \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e. He shows how Derridean theories of opposites which become undermined and subverted, and which change places, are made more clear with hindsight and provide us with a useful lens for looking back at the 1977 \u003ci\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PTY Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47428146888940,"sku":"9781839021633","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781839021633.jpg?v=1774767158"},{"product_id":"why-bowie-matters-by-will-brooker-9780008313722","title":"Why Bowie Matters","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA unique, moving and dazzlingly researched exploration of the places, people, musicians, writers and filmmakers that inspired David Jones to become David Bowie, what we can learn from his life’s work and journey, and why he will always matter.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen David Bowie died on 10th January 2016, it seemed the whole world was united in mourning. His greatest hits were sung tearfully in pubs up and down Britain, garlands of flowers were left at the Aladdin Sane mural in his old stomping ground of Brixton and tributes poured in from a galaxy of stars. To many of us, Bowie was so much more than a pop idol. But why?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eWhy Bowie Matters\u003c\/em\u003e, Professor Will Brooker answers that question persuasively, as both a fan and an academic. A Bowie obsessive since childhood, he hit the headlines over the course of a year-long immersive research project that took him from London to Berlin and New York, following in Bowie’s footsteps, only listening to music and reading books he loved, and even at times adopting his fashion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this original and illuminating book, Professor Brooker approaches Bowie from various angles, re-tracing his childhood on the streets of Bromley, taking us through his record collection and bookshelves, and deciphering the symbols and codes of his final work, \u003cem\u003eBlackstar\u003c\/em\u003e to piece together how an ordinary suburban teenager turned himself into a legend, and how perhaps we too could be a little more Bowie.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe shows us that while David Robert Jones died on that terrible day in January, David Bowie will live on forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47603358793964,"sku":"9780008313722","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780008313722-why-bowie-matters.jpg?v=1778061104"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/will-brooker.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}