The Birth of Plenty: How the Prosperity of the Modern World Was Created

William J. Bernstein
online access from McGraw-Hill eBook Library
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
online access from EBSCOhost
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In The Birth of Plenty, William Bernstein, the bestselling author of The Four Pillars of Investing, presents his provocative, highly acclaimed theory of why prosperity has been the engine of civilization for the last 200 years.

This is a fascinating, irresistibly written “big-picture” work that highlights and explains the impact of four elements that when occurring simultaneously, are the fundamental building blocks for human progress:

·         Property rights, which drive creativity
·         Scientific rationalism, which permits the freedom to innovate without fear of retribution;
·         Capital markets, which provide funding for people to pursue their visions;
·         Transportation/communication, which allows for the effective transfer of ideas and products.

Meticulously researched, splendidly told, and featuring a new preface and introduction, The Birth of Plenty explains the interplay of the events, philosophies, and related phenomena that were nothing less than the crucible of the modern age. This is one of the rare books that will change how you look at the world.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

一九八四 (1984)

喬治. 歐威爾 (George Orwell)
online access from Apabi
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

在二十世紀許多重要的文學作品，《一九八四》是難得一見的傑作，因為書中對未來的悲觀假想，隨著時代變得愈來愈真實，也愈來愈讓人無法忘懷。

故事描述在1984年的世界中，大洋國裡每個人都活在「老大哥」的監視下，政府說什麼，人民就得相信什麼，只要言語間透露出一點懷疑或者好奇，就很可能從此人間蒸發。人類生活變成了一個惡夢，而在這惡夢中，有一個可憐蟲試圖尋找個人獨立存在的意義。

溫斯頓．史密斯就是這個可憐蟲。他愛上茱莉亞之後，發現自己的人生不必是如此無聊和死氣沉沉，生命還有各種可能性，包括自由意志。

雖然思想警察能挖出每一個背叛行動，兩人的頭頂上總是有警察監視的眼線盤旋，他們還是開始質疑政府，一步步籌畫計謀，但老大哥無法容忍異議份子，就算只是有念頭也不行，兩個人終究不堪折磨而互相出賣了對方……

歐威爾可說預知了現代生活的情況──無所不在的電視、語言的扭曲，而且還建構出一個如地獄般的駭人世界。本書自出版以來就是學生的必讀讀物，也名列史上最令人心驚的小說之一。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction

Julian Stallabrass
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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Contemporary art has never been so popular, but what is its role today and who is controlling its future? Contemporary art is supposed to be a realm of freedom where artists shock, break taboos, flout generally received ideas, and switch between confronting viewers with works of great emotional profundity and jaw-dropping triviality. But away from shock tactics in the gallery, there are many unanswered questions. Who is really running the art world? What effect has America's growing political and cultural dominance had on art?

Here Julian Stallabrass takes us inside the international art world to answer these and other controversial questions, and to argue that behind contemporary art's variety and apparent unpredictability lies a grim uniformity. Its mysteries are all too easily explained, its depths much shallower than they seem. Contemporary art seeks to bamboozle its viewers while being the willing slave of business and government. This book is your antidote and will change the way you see contemporary art.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

Collections
Contemporary Art (Larry Qualls Archive)
New Museum of Contemporary Art Exhibitions
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art: Painting and Sculpture
[Accessible on Campus Only]

安迪．沃霍爾: 永不結束的15分鐘 (Andy Warhol )

尼科爾林 (Geoff Nicholson) 著
online access from Apabi
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本書主要介紹了安迪．沃霍爾生活的時代背景、主要思想，相關重大事件及其對人類文明進程的影響；介紹了安迪．沃霍爾的代表作，以及該作品的創作緣由及其影響；以審慎生動的方式來研習該作品的言論；解釋關鍵術語及概念；援引簡潔易懂的實例；提供深入探討的問題。

讀者在閱讀過程中可以了解他的奮鬥閱歷、成功經驗、切身體會以及對事業、對人生的執著追求，因而可以得到更多的啟發，吸取更多的科學精神和人文精神的養料。對青年讀者來說，會起到勵志的作用，使得今後在自己的成長過程中，會時時感到這些潛移默化的影響；而對中老年讀者來說，也可以對比自己的事業和人生經歷，獲得新的感悟。

(摘錄自dangdang.com)

Creator: Andy Warhol
   [Accessible on Campus Only]

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley
online access from SuperStar Digital Library (Chinese)
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 The astonishing novel Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley's legendary vision of a world of tomorrow utterly transformed. In Huxley's darkly satiric yet chillingly prescient imagining of a "utopian" future, humans are genetically designed and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order. A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded and as a thought-provoking yet satisfying entertainment.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

電影閱讀美學

簡政珍 著
online access from iRead eBook
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著名詩人文學理論家簡政珍教授以其獨到的眼光，引導讀者「看」∕「閱讀」電影，如同作者對文學詩作裡語言的敏銳，電影中的色彩光影、影像構圖、運鏡取景、敘述與旁白等，都是「精讀細品」的對象。作者以細緻的觀察力帶領讀者進入銀幕世界，暢覽電影奇妙豐富的想像空間。

第三版是增訂二版後的大幅度改版，除內容更動，順序調整外，又加上《證人》、《浪蕩子》、《大開眼界》、《意外的春天》、《天堂歲月》、《紅色警戒線》、《新天堂樂園》、《靈異第六感》、《親情無價》、《神秘河流》、《冰血暴》、《冰風暴》、《胭脂扣》、《柳樹之歌》、《天堂的小孩》以及大陸影片《活著》、《洗澡》、《草房子》、《那人那山那狗》等片的討論。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Topic: Film

Topic: Theatre
[Accessible on Campus Only]