New Releases by Sean Murphy

Tragedy strikes, and the Bat-family face the fight of their lives against an army of super-villains and waning public support. A new discovery reinforces Jack’s plot to jeopardize the Dark Knight’s standing in Gotham City, and Harley’s obsession with The Joker reaches a new height—and threatens to change the game for good!

Public support for Batman dwindles and Gotham City’s 99 percent rally around ex-Joker Jack Napier’s crusade to expose decades of corruption within the GCPD. A proposition inspires new revelations about Harley and The Joker’s past; and as Jack transforms into a hero of the middle class and takes extreme measures to mobilize a revolutionary army of super-villains, Bruce struggles to stay focused on engineering a technological breakthrough to save Alfred.

After learning that he has contracted the HIV virus, attorney Zak Raven leaves his practice behind to set forth on a mission of relaxation ¿ until his peaceful trip goes wildly astray, leaving Zak shipwrecked on what he thinks is a deserted island with only the words in his own journal to keep him company.Unknown to Zak, four miles below the surface secretly hides a government experimentation center where scientists are playing God by trying to artificially evolve a human based species that can survive evacuation missions in deep space. Within 900 years, earth will be dealt a deathblow by a mountain-size asteroid. However, so far they have only achieved creating living abominations. Zak and these creatures are on a collision course, and he must rise to the challenge! Part of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the Evergreen AIDS Foundation.

In this collection of essays, reviews and ruminations, best-selling author Sean Murphy attempts to tackle the world in writing, one topic at a time. Selecting a sampling of his most popular pieces as well as some personal favorites, Murphy ranges from movies and literature to politics, sports and tributes for the departed. At his blog, Murphy''s Law, and as a columnist for PopMatters and contributing editor for The Weeklings, Murphy has combined enthusiasm and proficiency in the service of short and extended analyses. Throughout this compilation he shifts seamlessly between culture, the arts and an ongoing interrogation of American society. Ranging from acclaimed foreign films like Walkabout to addictive pop-candy like Caddyshack, or remembering the impact of Steve Jobs and Norio Ohga (who invented the compact disc), this collection at times eulogizes, castigates and celebrates culture, both high and lowbrow. Whether describing the ordeal of putting down a beloved dog, the melodrama of unrequited teen crushes, or seeking out authentic Chinese cuisine in rural Virginia, Murphy takes a deep dive on topics familiar and obscure. Were the ''90s a soulless wasteland or an artistic apogee, ripe for reassessment? What''s the best scene in cinematic history? How did Muhammad Ali''s most important fight take place outside the ring? Did mistakes made early in Obama''s first term presage the unimaginable spectacle of Donald Trump? Can the millennial generation understand, much less appreciate, the lost art of making mix-tapes? Has 21st Century information overload made enlightenment possible, or even desirable? Equal parts reporter and raconteur, Murphy brings an informed acumen to essays mercifully free from academic jargon and pretension. By turns studious, confrontational, hilarious and philosophical, Murphy''s Law, Vol. Two will leave readers better informed, provoked and, hopefully, inspired to discover the work of some geniuses who''ve fallen outside the lower frequencies.

Celebrate your Infidel self by coloring pigs and bacon. Flags and Patriotism ooze form this book as you color your pride of being American! Don''t tread on me! Get your creative juices flowing in this funny coloring book! We have made room for you to add your own touch to each page! How fun is that! All ages will have fun in their own ways in this book!

In this collection of essays, reviews and ruminations, best-selling author Sean Murphy attempts to tackle the world in writing, one topic at a time. Selecting a sampling of his most popular pieces as well as some personal favorites, Murphy ranges from music to movies, literature to politics, sports to tributes for the departed. At his blog, Murphy''s Law, and as a columnist for PopMatters and contributing editor for The Weeklings, Murphy has combined enthusiasm and proficiency in the service of short and extended analyses. Throughout this compilation he shifts seamlessly between culture, the arts and an ongoing interrogation of American society. Why is Robert Johnson the most influential American musician of the 20th Century? How-and why-did Dennis Miller go from being one of the better comedians in the world to a humorless hack? Why are even the most gifted novelists unable to write convincing sex scenes in their fiction? Was the first round of Hagler vs. Hearns in 1985 the most exciting three minutes in sporting history? Is it reasonable to suggest that Chinatown is the only perfect American film ever made? What does it mean to declare Stephen King the Paul Bunyan of letters? Is it possible we don''t adequately celebrate either Moby Dick or The Great Gatsby? Why should everyone consider cancelling their subscription to The Washington Post? Does nostalgia play a defensible, even necessary role in one''s art or life? Equal parts reporter and raconteur, Murphy brings an informed acumen to essays mercifully free from academic jargon and pretension. His subjects cover so-called high and lowbrow and just about anything in between, and it''s obvious throughout that his only agenda is to celebrate, or castigate, or cross-examine his own impulses and predispositions. By turns studious, confrontational, hilarious and philosophical, Murphy''s Law, Vol. One will leave readers better informed, provoked and, hopefully, inspired to discover the work of some geniuses who''ve fallen outside the lower frequencies.

Sean Murphy’s acclaimed 6-issue miniseries about reality TV show starring a clone of Jesus Christ is now collected in a Deluxe Edition hardcover, with over 100 pages of new, bonus material and new cover art! J2 causes both outrage and adulation. Religious zealots either love or hate the show, angry politicians worry about its influence on the nation, and members of the scientific community fear the implications of cloning a human being at all, let alone the Son of God.

Far from the auction halls of the elite, The Collector seeks out rare and mysterious artifacts across the world. At home in the salons of Paris as he is in the jungles of Borneo, The Collector is a man who has dedicated his life to finding objects very special and almost unknown , which tracks through his research in a variety of locations. But beware, a man who comes into possession of such items does not hesitate to use any means without scruple. Set against the backdrop of late 19th-century colonialism, The Collector is a delightful, swashbuckling adventure by a master of European comic books - Sergio Toppi!

Question: How do you get over it? Answer: You don''t. You don''t want to. It makes you who you are. Sean Murphy lost his mother days after her fifty-ninth birthday, following a five-year battle with cancer. In this eloquent memoir, he explores his family history through the context of grief, compassion, faith, and the cultivation of an artistic sensibility. Unfolding in a range of voices, brutal and tender in its portrayal of terminal illness, Please Talk about Me When I''m Gone is an unyielding love story, in which devotion and memory are capable of transcending death.

A special behind-the-scenes look at Vertigo''s newest hit series. THE WAKE is a strange, epic tale with so much more broiling below the surface than meets the eye. This ''Director''s Cut'' will reprint the first issue, plus a variety of bonus features like character designs, script pages, black and white art and more to give you a glimpse of the creative process.

Despite the excitement around "data science," "big data," and "analytics," the ambiguity of these terms has led to poor communication between data scientists and organizations seeking their help. In this report, authors Harlan Harris, Sean Murphy, and Marck Vaisman examine their survey of several hundred data science practitioners in mid-2012, when they asked respondents how they viewed their skills, careers, and experiences with prospective employers. The results are striking. Based on the survey data, the authors found that data scientists today can be clustered into four subgroups, each with a different mix of skillsets. Their purpose is to identify a new, more precise vocabulary for data science roles, teams, and career paths. This report describes: Four data scientist clusters: Data Businesspeople, Data Creatives, Data Developers, and Data Researchers Cases in miscommunication between data scientists and organizations looking to hire Why "T-shaped" data scientists have an advantage in breadth and depth of skills How organizations can apply the survey results to identify, train, integrate, team up, and promote data scientists

A reality TV show starring a clone of Jesus Christ causes chaos across the U.S. of the near future in PUNK ROCK JESUS, a new graphic novel written and drawn by Sean Murphy, the acclaimed illustrator of JOE THE BARBARIAN and AMERICAN VAMPIRE. J2 causes both outrage and adulation. Religious zealots either love or hate the show, angry politicians worry about its influence on the nation, and members of the scientific community fear the implications of cloning a human being at all, let alone the Son of God. Thomas McKael is the clones''s bodyguard and former IRA operative, who despite his turbulent past is hired to protect the new Jesus-a baby who captivates the world, but grows up to become an angry teenager. When falling ratings force the network to cut Jesus''s mother from the series the young star runs away, renounces his religious heritage and forms a punk rock band. And what starts off as babysitting for Thomas becomes an epic battle, as Jesus goes to war against the corporate media complex that created him.

“Anyone looking for insightful quotes, humor, Zen wisdom, or even just a good story will find something in these bite-sized anecdotes.” —Tricycle Magazine Drawn from the archives of major Zen centers in America and interviews with some of the most seminal figures of American Zen, including Philip Kapleau, Bernie Glassman, Gary Snyder, and Walter Nowick, One Bird, One Stone presents the notable encounters between teachers and students, the moments of insight and wisdom, the quotable quotes, and the humor of Zen as it has flowered in America over the last one hundred-plus years. Murphy, a Zen student and an accomplished writer, conducted numerous personal interviews and distilled over one hundred pithy stories. He covers Zen masters Suzuki, Maezumi, Seung Sahn, Robert Aitken, and Philip Kapleau along with earnest students Gary Snyder, Alan Watts, and Philip Whalen and others. “Sean Murphy’s eloquent book is thought-provoking and lovely. This collection of 108 new teaching stories in the American Zen Buddhist tradition is a poetic account of the transplanting of Zen Buddhism to this new Western soil and some of the various ways it has taken root here in the lives of a wide spectrum of teachers and practitioners.” —Sharon Salzberg, New York Times–bestselling author and cofounder of The Insight Meditation Center “The book gives you a profound glimpse into the well of the Zen mind.” —Santa Fe New Mexican “Stories to inspire the mind and to find the true heart.” —Stephen and Ondrea Levine, authors of Who Dies? “Intelligent, funny, wise and, best of all, speaks to the heart.” —Rafe Martin, Zen Bow

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the successor to the Data Encryption Standard, and is potentially the world''s most important block cipher (a method for encrypting text). While existing analytical techniques for block ciphers have used a statistical approach, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the application of algebraic techniques to the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). These techniques may have a dramatic effect on the security of the AES.

Greg is having a great day. Not only did his dad just buy him a brand new yellow Jeep, but it''s also the day his friend Trent is coming home from college to visit. Trent, on the other hand, has been in better moods. He''s broken-hearted and alone yet again after his cheating girlfriend dumped him. Their other friend, Brad, isn''t doing so well either. He''s been getting into fist fights with his dad. Brad and Greg are convinced that a party is the solution to all their woes, but Trent wants to break in Greg''s new Jeep with some serious off road adventure. Are these three truly prepared for what they''ll find when they leave the pavement behind? Not a chance!

During the Second World War, several British citizens chose to reject their country and collaborate with the Axis powers. Here, Sean Murphy uncovers the reasons for their treacherous activities.

The first man in twelve generations of his family not to have ended his life as a suicide, Bibi Brown embarks on a search for his mysterious Uncle Otto, a legendary eccentric and junk collector living on Hope Valley Hubcap Ranch, a quest that leads him on a bewildering search for the meaning of life. A first novel. Reprint.

"Sean Murphy returns with a tale that introduces an utterly captivating hero: struggling writer Frank Matthews. Newly arrived in L.A., Frank is toiling in obscurity when he bumps into an old classmate on the Malomar pier. Max Peterson is arrogant, blustering - a remarkably untalented writer whose latest pulp fiction effort, City of Breasts, has Hollywood calling. And besides six-figure advances, Max has something else Frank desperately wants: his exquisite wife, Magee." "Burning with envy. Frank agrees to take up residence in Max''s garage apartment, and as he''s swept into Max and Magee''s world of nouveau wealth and near-celebrity, something extraordinary happens...with Max conveniently out of town, Frank can''t help prying into his old friend''s journals and diaries. And what happens next will reveal the astonishing secret to Max''s newfound talent...and the truth about the great American novel that could be the biggest illusion of all."--BOOK JACKET.

This new research monograph discusses the basis of one of Ireland''s most extensive (and profitable) hoaxes: the MacCarthy Mor Affair, and the attendant scandal surrounding the selling of Irish traditional titles to otherwise sane businessmen and professionals. Murphy''s research covers the origins of the old Gaelic titles in pre-Norman Ireland. Principally the title of Chief, the collapse of the Gaelic order, the survival of some chiefly titles, the Gaelic Revival and the emergence of the Office of Arms. An account is given of the Office of Chief Herald as part of the new Irish state and the courtesy recognition under Dr. MacLysaght in 1944 and years that followed. Finally the emergence of one Terrence MacCarthy of Belfast as "MacCarthy Mor, Prince of Desmond" and his initial success and final unmasking is amusingly and cogently described.

This book is a clear and informative introduction to cryptography and data protection - subjects of considerable social and political importance. It explains what algorithms do, how they are used, the risks associated with using them, and why governments should be concerned. Important areas are highlighted, such as Stream Ciphers, block ciphers, public key algorithms, digital signatures, and applications such as e-commerce. This book highlights the explosive impact of cryptography on modern society, with, for example, the evolution of the internet and the introduction of more sophisticated banking methods. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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