{"title":"Kevin Mcaleer","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"errol-flynn-an-epic-life-book-kevin-mcaleer-9783962580056","title":"Errol Flynn - an Epic Life","description":"Poetry. Literary Nonfiction. Biography. The basic drama with Errol Flynn was that he had everything--looks, charm, talent, intelligence, and a huge following of devoted fans and willing women. He was the classic image of a swashbuckling hero and romantic lover. That which other men merely fantasized about, Flynn did with style and dash, living in a way which surpassed any film he ever made. But somewhere on the road to movie immortality he embarked on a destructive lifestyle that wrecked his career and ultimately killed him. Why did it happen? What were the forces at work in this complex individual whose own father regarded him as an enigma? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKevin McAleer is not the first author to wend his way through the maze of myth and falsehood that comprises Flynn's legend, but no one has yet attempted an epic narrative of his life in verse. Flynn's ghostwriter for his memoir \u003cem\u003eMy Wicked, Wicked Ways\u003c\/em\u003e called him one of the most poetic men I have ever met, and McAleer holds the view that biographies and other accounts of Flynn have failed to capture his verve and essential spirit, which had greater affinity to an age of high-flown lyricism than to our own prosaic times. Flynn himself was fond of claiming that he'd been born into the wrong century, so McAleer is taking him at his word and recounting his saga in the same way as did English balladeers the tale of Robin Hood--Flynn's most memorable screen incarnation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn detailing Flynn's life, McAleer draws inspiration from Lord Byron's playful and jocose \u003cem\u003eDon Juan\u003c\/em\u003e, whose stanza form he employs. Flynn was not only the embodiment of Byronic romanticism but one of the twentieth century's great libertines, having also assumed the title role in the 1948 Hollywood film \u003cem\u003eAdventures of Don Juan\u003c\/em\u003e, so it is only fitting that the roguish \u003cem\u003eottava rima\u003c\/em\u003e stanza be used in recounting his life. This is poetry for people who think they don't like poetry and for all those who enjoy dishy movie-star bios and a gusto-filled romp.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49565428580625,"sku":"GOR009341908","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/3962580050.jpg?v=1751317991"},{"product_id":"postdoc-the-foreign-and-other-misadventures-of-a-ne-er-do-well-scholar-book-kevin-mcaleer-9783962580889","title":"Postdoc - The Foreign and Other Misadventures of a Ne'er-Do-Well Scholar","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50467436953873,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50467439902993,"sku":"CIN3962580883G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/3962580883.jpg?v=1750903520"},{"product_id":"dueling-book-kevin-mcaleer-9780691034621","title":"Dueling","description":"This is a study of duelling in Germany, an activity which flourished among the country's upper-class men. The book argues that duelling was one way in which upper-class German society distinguished itself from other groups, and that it was this difference that helped lead to the rise of Nazism.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50762629546257,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50762632724753,"sku":"CIN0691034621VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53107260555537,"sku":"GOR009114258","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53376797802769,"sku":"CIN0691034621G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0691034621.jpg?v=1750847796"},{"product_id":"dueling-book-kevin-mcaleer-9780691608419","title":"Dueling","description":"The question of what it takes \"to be a man\" comes under scrutiny in this sharp, often playful, cultural critique of the German duel--the deadliest type of one-on-one combat in fin-de-siecle Europe. At a time when dueling was generally restricted to swords or had been abolished altogether in other nations, the custom of fighting to the death with pistols flourished among Germany's upper-class males, who took perverse comfort in defying their country's weakly enforced laws. From initial provocation to final death agony, Kevin McAleer describes with ironic humor the complex protocol of the German duel, inviting his reader into the disturbing mindset of its practitioners and the society that valued this socially important but ultimately absurd pastime. Through a narrative that cannot restrain itself from poking fun at the egos and prejudices that come to the fore in the pursuit of \"manliness,\" McAleer offers both an entertaining and thought-provoking portrait of a cultural phenomenon that had far-reaching effects.\nThe author employs a wealth of anecdotes to re-create the dueling event in all its variety, from the level of insult--which could range from loudly ridiculing a man's choice of entree in an upscale restaurant to, more commonly, bedding his wife--to such intricacies as the time and place of the duel, the guest list, the selection of weapons and number of paces, dress options, and the decision regarding when to let the attending physician set up his instruments on the field. As he exposes the reader to the fierce mentality behind these proceedings, McAleer describes the duel as a litmus test of courage, the masculine apotheosis, which led its male practitioners to lay claim to both psychic and legal entitlements in Wilhelmine society. The aristocratic nature of the duel, with its feudal ethos of chivalry, gave its upper-middle-class practitioners even more opportunity to distinguish themselves from the underclasses and other marginalized groups--such as Socialists, Jews, left-liberals, Catholics, and pacifists, who, for various reasons, were stigmatized as incapable of \"giving satisfaction.\"\nThe duel, according to McAleer, was thus a social mirror, and the dueling issue political dynamite.  Throughout these accounts, the author sustains a personal voice to convey the horror and fascination of what at first appears to be simply a curious fringe activity, but which he goes on to reveal as an integral element of German society's consciousness in the late nineteenth century. In so doing, he strengthens the argument that Germany followed a path of development separate from the rest of Europe, leading to World War I and ultimately to Hitler and the Nazis.  Originally published in 1994.  The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53333749235985,"sku":"NIN9780691608419","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780691608419.jpg?v=1774227206"},{"product_id":"dueling-book-kevin-mcaleer-9780691015941","title":"Dueling","description":"This sharp, often playful, cultural critique of the German duel, the deadliest type of one-on-one combat in fin-de-siecle Germany, questions what it took to be a man. From initial provocation to final death agony, the book invites the reader into the complex mindset and protocol of the duel.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53627483521297,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53627483947281,"sku":"CIN0691015945A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780691015941.jpg?v=1780743645"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-kevin-mcaleer.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}