For Beginners Anniversary Contest

This coming Monday marks a very special day for us: it’s the fourth anniversary of For Beginners! We’re still going strong, with plenty of new books on the way for next year, including Marx’s Das Kapital, Jane Austen, Women’s History, The U.S. Constitution, Dante, and Unions For Beginners. To celebrate, we’re holding a contest on Facebook and Twitter for our readers. On Monday, be one of the first four people to comment on our Facebook page with your favorite For Beginners book that you’ve read or retweet our message with your favorite, and you could win your choice of one of our books! Check out this list for all the possibilities.

Thanks to all of the readers and fans who have kept us going for four great years!

Recommendations for Graphic Nonfiction Books

The Atlantic has an interesting new article compiling “10 Masterpieces of Graphic Nonfiction.” The list includes a variety of diverse subjects, from Beatniks to DNA and genetics to the Dalai Lama, even an illustrated version of the classic Elements of Style. Though these books are likely to appeal to comic book fans, they are sure to be enjoyed by anyone hoping to learn more about these fascinating topics through a more visual and artistic medium.

One of the books from the list, The Beats, was edited by Paul Buhle, author of FDR and the New Deal For Beginners. He teamed up again with one of the authors, the late Harvey Pekar, to coedit a new book called Yiddishkeit: Jewish Vernacular and the New Land, due to be released this September 1.  The Jewish Book Council Blog just named it the Book Cover of the Week. The book is a comics anthology that explores the spread of Yiddish across different cultures through illustrations, original stories, and even a play.

Existentialist Books Parody

The Spoof! just ran a fun “review” that mentions Existentialism for Beginners. The author describes reading through a collection of existential books recently inherited from his grandfather, including gems like Something for Nothing—three hundred blank pages.

“Existentialism for Beginners should have been the first book I read, for it alerted me to the pitfalls of reading the other books. However, upon completing it, I no longer had any of the books. And I'd never had a grandfather. Indeed, I am the only person in the world, and the rest of you exist solely in my memory. Sorry to have to tell you this way.”

Meditation with Zen For Beginners Author

Next Sunday, Zoran Josipovic, author of Zen For Beginners, will be hosting the third in a series of workshops at Village Zendo in New York.  During the course of the event, Josipovic will explore ways to shed the stress and tension inherent in living a dualistic life.  Josipovic will be sharing methods of embodied nonduality which relax patterns of resistance and transcend the boundary between body and environment.

Take this opportunity to let go of your everyday stress and learn from PhD and Research Professor, Zoran Josipovic.  For more information, visit the event site, or click here to register.

A Time of Sacrifice and Reflection

This year the Islamic holy time known as Ramadan falls within the month of August. The majority of Muslims will spend this month fasting from dawn until dusk in order to purify themselves, evaluate their lives and refocus their attention on God.  While food, drink, smoking and sex are all expressly prohibited, the overarching religious themes encourage practitioners to abstain from all indulgent and sinful behaviors.  Each part of the body is to be denied.  The tongue must not tell lies, the ears must not listen to slanderous talk and the feet must not take the body to sinful places.

While the body goes without, the soul is nourished.  Ramadan is a time of frequent prayer.  Many Muslims read the Qur'an partially or in total during the holy month.  Though the fasting takes on meanings unique to each person, two of rewards for the pious are obvious:

By practicing self-sacrifice, Muslims find out how it feels to be hungry, thus allowing them a more powerful empathy with those less fortunate than themselves.  Also, by setting aside bad habits and indulgent behavior for a time, many will have the opportunity to reevaluate their life choices and perhaps make improvements.

Ramadan ends at the end of August with 'Eid-ul-Fitr, the Festival of Fast-Breaking.

One Year Countdown until the London Olympics

This Wednesday marked one year until the start of the London Olympic Games on July 27, 2012. The events will take place in thirty-two venues from July 27 to August 12, followed by the Paralympic Games from August 29 to September 9.

The Olympics have come a long way since their origins in ancient Greece. Though the Games were discontinued in 393 A.D., the idea was revived during the nineteenth century, and the first modern Olympic Games were held 1896 in Athens, Greece. Back then, things were very different; women were not allowed to compete, and the first-place finishers won silver medals, not gold. Only 241 athletes from fourteen countries participated, though at the time this group of countries was the largest number ever assembled for a sporting event. Now in the present day, the London Games of next summer will include 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries competing in twenty-six sports.

Further Reading: The Olympics For Beginners

Preview Night and Movie Deal for ComicCon

ComicCon International: San Diego 2011 opens tomorrow, following tonight’s exclusive preview event. The convention is something of a mecca for comic book fans of the world and continues to become increasingly popular among mainstream audiences.  Tickets to last year’s convention were sold out in the same day the 100,000+ registration slots were made available for sale.  Costumed cosplayers, graphic novel fans, and exalted stars of the comic, cartoon, television and movie industry will be swarming San Diego this week to get a glimpse of their favorite authors and illustrators as well as access to vast arrays of merchandise, premier screenings, and panels led by industry experts.  

Highlights of the convention include a DC talent search, a panel from sci-fi and fantasy legends about storytelling in videogame and other fringe genres, insights into the future of the Marvel Universe and its next year of comics, a Q&A by the creators of rising webcomic Penny Arcade, and the premier of Year One, one of DC’s first entries in its newly reset and re-launched comic dynasty.

Film Director Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame recently told Publisher’s Weekly that a movie and book about the convention is in the works, with names such as Stan Lee, Harry Knowles, founder of Ain’t It Cool news, and Thomas Tull, chairman of Legendary Pictures, appearing on his list of producers.  The movie will take an in-depth look at ComicCon, from the crowded exhibit halls teeming with excited fans to the behind-the-scenes areas where order is imposed on the chaos.