Year of no clutter

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Cyrus Bozorgmehr

Reveals how the Wu-Tang Clan secretly recorded a single-copy album before auctioning it for millions to one of the most hated men in America, detailing how they prevented leaks using strategies that reflect present-day views on creative property and music devaluation. "The untold story of the world's must controversial album--a surreal tale of secret recordings, baffled customs agents, the world's most hallowed art institutions, and a villain of comic book proportions. In 2007, the innovative young Wu-Tang producer, Cilvaringz, took an incendiary idea to his mentor the RZA. They felt that the impact of digitization threatened the sustainability of the record industry and independent artists, while shifting the perception of music from treasured works of art to disposable consumer products. Together they conceived a statement so radical that it would unleash a torrent of global debate--a sole copy of an album in physical form, encased in gleaming silver and sold through an auction house for millions as a work of contemporary art. The execution of this plan raised a number of complex questions: Would selling an album for millions be the ultimate betrayal of music? How would fans react to an album sold on the condition that it could not be commercialized? And could anyone ever justify the selling of the album to the infamous Martin Shkreli? As headlines flashed across the globe, the mystery only deepened. Opinions were sharply divided over whether this was high art or hucksterism--quixotic idealism or a cynical cash grab. Was it a noble act of protest, an act of cultural vandalism, an obscene symbol of greed, a subversive masterpiece, a profound mirror for our time, or a joker on capitalism's card table? As senior adviser to the project, Cyrus Bozorgmehr is uniquely placed to unlock the secrets behind the album and tell the full, unadulterated story. With explosive revelations about backroom plans made public tor the first time, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin charts the album's journey from inception to disruption in vivid style. An extraordinary adventure that veers between outlandish caper and urgent cultural analysis, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin twists and turns through the mayhem and mischief, while asking profound questions about our relationship with art, music, technology, and, ultimately, ourselves."--Jacket.

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Nora Glickman

"This book recounts the life and career of Raquel Liberman, a Polish Jewish prostitute and victim of the White Slave Trade, which brought women from Eastern Europe to Argentina from the late 1880s to the 1930s. This volume sheds light on the events leading up to a dramatic confrontation between Raquel Liberman and the Zwi Migdal, the largest Jewish prostitution organization of the early twentieth century. Liberman's struggle with the Zwi Migdal and her triumphant public victory over her oppressors was political cause celebre in its time. Nora Glickman's study is a new consideration of Liberman's historical significance, examining Liberman's recently released personal correspondence (translated textually from Yiddish) and details of Liberman's previously concealed private life."--BOOK JACKET.

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Nick Gardner

A collection of inspirational stories of ordinary people who took a great idea and turned it into a hugely successful business.

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Jamie Novak

This book is the thrifty organization guide that shows you what to keep and what to toss. Have you ever bought a duplicate of something when you couldn't find the one you already had at home? Have you ever held on to a brand-new jacket you know you ll never wear or found that the magazine subscription you didn't like was automatically renewed because you forgot to cancel it in time? Everyone knows that clutter can be unsightly and time-consuming, but it can also cost you money. Stop Throwing Money Away is the first guide that shows you how to get organized and save or make money at the same time. Step by step, room by room, you ll learn how to reduce, reuse, recycle, swap, sell, share and more as you streamline your possessions and your life. This book explains the secrets of half-and-half organizing, showing you how to make money by paring what you own by half and plugging cash clutter traps by shopping at home. It exposes the four ways our clutter makes us poor and how to change our habits and behavior. - Publisher.