Daniel O'Brien

Star Points: Connections Old and New is a mystery novel in which a young couple living in Japan stumbles upon a centuries old illusive quest to solve the mystery of the "Star Points." Along the way their lives show us aspects of Japanese culture, they learn about meditation, and give us hope that the world can truly make connections and work together ...someday.

If films drawing on Middle East tropes often highlight white Westerners, figures such as Sinbad and the Thief of Bagdad embody a counter-tradition of protagonists, derived from Islamic folklore and history, who are portrayed as ‘Other’ to Western audiences. In Muslim Heroes on Screen, Daniel O’Brien explores the depiction of these characters in Euro-American cinema from the silent era to the present day. Far from being mere racial masquerade, these screen portrayals are more complex and nuanced than is generally allowed, not least in terms of the shifting concepts and assumptions that inform their Muslim identity. Using films ranging from Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Bagdad, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, El Cid, Kingdom of Heaven and The Message to The Wind and the Lion, O’Brien considers how the representational strategies of Western filmmakers may transcend such Muslim stereotypes as fanatic antagonists or passive victims. These figures possess a cultural significance which cannot be fully appreciated by Euro-American audiences without reference to their distinction as Muslim heroes and the implications and resonances of an Islamicized protagonist.

If films drawing on Middle East tropes often highlight white Westerners, figures such as Sinbad and the Thief of Bagdad embody a counter-tradition of protagonists, derived from Islamic folklore and history, who are portrayed as ‘Other’ to Western audiences. In Muslim Heroes on Screen, Daniel O’Brien explores the depiction of these characters in Euro-American cinema from the silent era to the present day. Far from being mere racial masquerade, these screen portrayals are more complex and nuanced than is generally allowed, not least in terms of the shifting concepts and assumptions that inform their Muslim identity. Using films ranging from Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Bagdad, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, El Cid, Kingdom of Heaven and The Message to The Wind and the Lion, O’Brien considers how the representational strategies of Western filmmakers may transcend such Muslim stereotypes as fanatic antagonists or passive victims. These figures possess a cultural significance which cannot be fully appreciated by Euro-American audiences without reference to their distinction as Muslim heroes and the implications and resonances of an Islamicized protagonist.

The fourth edition of this well received book provides an authoritative and up-to-date resource to support good practice in travel medicine, a field that has evolved substantially in recent years. Concretely, there has been intensified monitoring of health problems among travelers, as well as extensive research efforts, which have led to the development of evidence-based approaches to the field. The book includes expert recommendations regarding e.g. immunizations, malaria prophylaxis, travelers’ diarrhea, altitude sickness, emerging infections, and non-infectious health issues encountered by travelers. It provides a practical approach to the pre-travel consultation and management of most issues that arise in medical care for travelers. In addition, it provides expert advice for high-risk travelers, e.g. those with immunosuppression, the elderly, pregnant women and young children. The text offers a user-friendly, practical handbook for healthcare practitioners during their clinical consultations, as well as nurses and pharmacists.

The fourth edition of this well received book provides an authoritative and up-to-date resource to support good practice in travel medicine, a field that has evolved substantially in recent years. Concretely, there has been intensified monitoring of health problems among travelers, as well as extensive research efforts, which have led to the development of evidence-based approaches to the field. The book includes expert recommendations regarding e.g. immunizations, malaria prophylaxis, travelers’ diarrhea, altitude sickness, emerging infections, and non-infectious health issues encountered by travelers. It provides a practical approach to the pre-travel consultation and management of most issues that arise in medical care for travelers. In addition, it provides expert advice for high-risk travelers, e.g. those with immunosuppression, the elderly, pregnant women and young children. The text offers a user-friendly, practical handbook for healthcare practitioners during their clinical consultations, as well as nurses and pharmacists.

Jimmy, an introspective and world-traveled social studies teacher, lives a quiet life working in a Minnesota high school. Having lived in Japan for several decades-a country that he considers his second home-he is caught off-guard by the ancient and unfinished legacy that has followed him back across the Pacific. As the sun sets, Jimmy begins to see strange events in his home: a disembodied hand in the moonlight, then the full apparition of a Japanese woman in traditional kimono. Despite being separated by the boundaries of time and space, life and death, Jimmy and the mysterious woman develop a karmic connection. Together, they search for the root of her eternal restlessness in the hopes of attaining her kaiho (freedom). Jimmy must unravel her past to discover how their destinies are intertwined, and how they might heal one another....

Jimmy, an introspective and world-traveled social studies teacher, lives a quiet life working in a Minnesota high school. Having lived in Japan for several decades-a country that he considers his second home-he is caught off-guard by the ancient and unfinished legacy that has followed him back across the Pacific. As the sun sets, Jimmy begins to see strange events in his home: a disembodied hand in the moonlight, then the full apparition of a Japanese woman in traditional kimono. Despite being separated by the boundaries of time and space, life and death, Jimmy and the mysterious woman develop a karmic connection. Together, they search for the root of her eternal restlessness in the hopes of attaining her kaiho (freedom). Jimmy must unravel her past to discover how their destinies are intertwined, and how they might heal one another....

This book provides wide-ranging commentary on depictions of the black male in mainstream cinema. O’Brien explores the extent to which counter-representations of black masculinity have been achieved within a predominately white industry, with an emphasis on agency, the negotiation and malleability of racial status, and the inherent instability of imposed racial categories. Focusing on American and European cinema, the chapters highlight actors (Woody Strode, Noble Johnson, Eddie Anderson, Will Smith), genres (jungle pictures, westerns, science fiction) and franchises (Tarzan, James Bond) underrepresented in previous critical and scholarly commentary in the field. The author argues that although the characters and performances generated in these areas invoke popular genre types, they display complexity, diversity and ambiguity, exhibiting aspects that are positive, progressive and subversive. This book will appeal to both the academic and the general reader interested in film, race, gender and colonial issues.