Jennifer Mason

The Issue of how assets are distributed after death is of increasing significance for larger numbers of people. In this original and path-breaking study, the authors examine the principle means through which people plan to dispose of their assets after death: by the use of wills. By offering an empirical study of 800 English wills, the book identifies significant patterns of bequeathing among a cross-section of the population, and not just among those sections of society who enjoy substantial wealth. This leads us to focus upon what wills tell us about the family and kin relationships, and upon how people transmit their assets across generations: to their families and to institutions and organizations.

A San Francisco dominatrix, Elizabeth Cromwell, is drawn into the sudden disappearance of Edith Barlow, an heir to the estate of an old friend of Elizabeth's, a woman who herself had vanished seven years earlier. A struggling poetry zine, a mom-and-pop mobile diner in the Northern California redwoods, a 400-meter hurdler who just missed the 2004 Olympics, a women's track coach with a yen for bullwhips, a billionaire with a state-of-the-art S&M dungeon, a man serving a life sentence in Alabama, an enigmatic signature, K(s, x), on a cheap oil painting, an erotic art dealer in Georgia-these are a few of the many mysterious parts in a highly convoluted string of strange disappearances that Elizabeth puts together with the help of an ex-Missouri Highway Patrolman retired in San Francisco on physical disability.

My book is about my personal life and views that I've encountered over the years and wanted to turn into written real-life stories. By doing this, I think it would help and inspire those who can relate to my everyday situations and struggles. Without these experiences I've encountered over the years, my book wouldn't be possible.

My book is about my personal life and views that I've encountered over the years and wanted to turn into written real-life stories. By doing this, I think it would help and inspire those who can relate to my everyday situations and struggles. Without these experiences I've encountered over the years, my book wouldn't be possible.

Visiting Berkeley, a French mathematician, Robert Lavoisier, crosses paths by chance with Elizabeth Cromwell, a professional dominant, in a vacant house in Montclair, California. The owner of the house is dead. He has kept a statue of Elizabeth in a hollow book, Der Mann Ohne Eigenschaften(The Man Without Qualities), one of several items of an obsessive erotic attachment to her. She is at the house to take them. As Lavoisier leaves he invites Cromwell to join him at a bar. When she arrives later at the bar she is told that a man inside has died of a heart attack. She leaves, not knowing that Lavoisier has been murdered. Lavoisier's car is found parked two blocks from his house, his cell phone and wallet tucked in a seat compartment, but his laptop is missing. In his search for the laptop, a mathematician at UC Berkeley, a close friend of Lavoisier, deduces that Elizabeth stole it, but on meeting her realizes his error. He realizes at a second meeting that it is the strangeness of Elizabeth's encounter with Lavoisier that is the vital piece of evidence that any explanation of Lavoisier's murder must contend with. Most strange of all is Lavoisier's invitation to Elizabeth to join him at a bar. On the resonance of a phrase, "Partitions of Unity," they are led to a paper of twenty years earlier in a journal of psychoanalysis: "Les Diagrammes Enfantinsof a Schizophrenic Adolescent." From this paper they resolve three separate mysteries that encompass the death of Lavoisier. In the process they discover each other.

Visiting Berkeley, a French mathematician, Robert Lavoisier, crosses paths by chance with Elizabeth Cromwell, a professional dominant, in a vacant house in Montclair, California. The owner of the house is dead. He has kept a statue of Elizabeth in a hollow book, Der Mann Ohne Eigenschaften(The Man Without Qualities), one of several items of an obsessive erotic attachment to her. She is at the house to take them. As Lavoisier leaves he invites Cromwell to join him at a bar. When she arrives later at the bar she is told that a man inside has died of a heart attack. She leaves, not knowing that Lavoisier has been murdered. Lavoisier's car is found parked two blocks from his house, his cell phone and wallet tucked in a seat compartment, but his laptop is missing. In his search for the laptop, a mathematician at UC Berkeley, a close friend of Lavoisier, deduces that Elizabeth stole it, but on meeting her realizes his error. He realizes at a second meeting that it is the strangeness of Elizabeth's encounter with Lavoisier that is the vital piece of evidence that any explanation of Lavoisier's murder must contend with. Most strange of all is Lavoisier's invitation to Elizabeth to join him at a bar. On the resonance of a phrase, "Partitions of Unity," they are led to a paper of twenty years earlier in a journal of psychoanalysis: "Les Diagrammes Enfantinsof a Schizophrenic Adolescent." From this paper they resolve three separate mysteries that encompass the death of Lavoisier. In the process they discover each other. About the AuthorAt age 14, Jennifer Mason left Kansas for Malibu. With a nagging alter ego, neither able to talk herself into or out of a commitment to writing, she took the coast road to San Francisco. In an abandoned Prohibition speakeasy, she invented the English Department, where she discovered a voice in a brand of professional dominance as mysterious in its puritan fantasy as it is comical in its enactments of how we need to feel. She is the author of four previous novels, The Oddball Gypsy Raconteur, Valedictorian, Sebastopol, and Tors Lake.Like Partitions of Unityher stories follow their characters through scenes of what they think they see when they are most confused, the way things usually are when we struggle for an erotic connection. She lives and writes on Noe Street.

How is it possible to feel an affinity with a place? What is happening when someone feels almost literally transported to another time by a smell or a texture or a song? Why do striking family resemblances sometimes feel uncanny? In each of these cases a potent connection is being made, involving forces, flows, energies and atmospherics that conventional sociological approaches can find hard to grasp, but that are important nonetheless. In this innovative book Jennifer Mason argues that these are affinities – potent charges and charismatically lively connections in personal life, that rise up and matter in some way and that enchant or toxify the everyday. She suggests that exploring affinities opens up new possibilities for conceptualizing the experience of living in the world through what she calls the 'socio-atmospherics of everyday life'. This book invites the reader to embrace possibilities and themes that may seem outside the usual range, and to engage in a more open, attentive, inventive and poetic sociological sensibility.

How is it possible to feel an affinity with a place? What is happening when someone feels almost literally transported to another time by a smell or a texture or a song? Why do striking family resemblances sometimes feel uncanny? In each of these cases a potent connection is being made, involving forces, flows, energies and atmospherics that conventional sociological approaches can find hard to grasp, but that are important nonetheless. In this innovative book Jennifer Mason argues that these are affinities – potent charges and charismatically lively connections in personal life, that rise up and matter in some way and that enchant or toxify the everyday. She suggests that exploring affinities opens up new possibilities for conceptualizing the experience of living in the world through what she calls the 'socio-atmospherics of everyday life'. This book invites the reader to embrace possibilities and themes that may seem outside the usual range, and to engage in a more open, attentive, inventive and poetic sociological sensibility.

Whether characters in movies, books, or nightmares, vampires are among the most recognizable monsters in the world. Today, vampires are characterized by fangs and an unshakable lust for human blood, but some vampire myths differ from these notions. Vampire lore around the world is an entertaining introduction to a variety of cultures. Readers will be thrilled to discover that some ancient myths are actually scarier than modern stories. They'll also find several explanations for vampire behavior to be entertainingly bizarre, such as people clawing their way out of graves because they weren't quite dead yet.

They're called drakon in Greek, azhdaha in Persian, kelekona in Hawaiian, and have names in numerous other cultures as well. They're dragons. Many cultures even agree on what the giant serpents look like, though they may differ on whether these mythical creatures are benevolent or evil. This ultra-compelling volume takes readers on a tour of world cultures and dragon lore. Sometimes, this folklore is entwined with actual historical events, such as a Roman general's supposed encounter with a water-spewing dragon on a march to Africa. Breathtaking images and fascinating fact boxes contribute to this extremely high-interest text.

The werewolf, or lycanthrope, is a human that can take an animal form or an animal that can take human form. Shape-shifters are prevalent in the legends of world cultures, including the Greek minotaur, Celtic selkies, Navajo skin-walkers, and more, dating back to the oldest myths from around the globe. Cave paintings from 25,000 years ago depict images of half-human half-animal figures. This thrilling volume is full of grisly tales as well as surprising scientific explanations for some werewolf anecdotes. Remarkable artwork, coupled with spooky fact boxes, aid in producing a truly eerie reading experience.

The werewolf, or lycanthrope, is a human that can take an animal form or an animal that can take human form. Shape-shifters are prevalent in the legends of world cultures, including the Greek minotaur, Celtic selkies, Navajo skin-walkers, and more, dating back to the oldest myths from around the globe. Cave paintings from 25,000 years ago depict images of half-human half-animal figures. This thrilling volume is full of grisly tales as well as surprising scientific explanations for some werewolf anecdotes. Remarkable artwork, coupled with spooky fact boxes, aid in producing a truly eerie reading experience.

The third edition of this best-selling text guides students and researchers through the process of doing qualitative research, clearly explaining how different theoretical approaches inform what you do in practice. The text bridges the gap between ‘cookbook’ and more abstract approaches to qualitative research, by posing ‘difficult questions' that researchers should be asking themselves . The book invites researchers to engage in a creative and critical practice in how they draw insights, interpret a range of types of data and craft knowledge from qualitative research. Fully revised and updated, with three new chapters, this edition: · Covers the full research process, with new material on analysing and interpreting data and research ethics · Engages with exciting new developments in the field through challenging qualitative researchers to be creative with how they research and with what they find. · Examines the potential of qualitatively-led approaches to mixed methods, and their implications for research design, research practice and the production of convincing arguments. A theoretically engaged, grounded approach to qualitative researching, this remains the ideal text to guide students to become thoughtful, creative and effective qualitative researchers.

The third edition of this best-selling text guides students and researchers through the process of doing qualitative research, clearly explaining how different theoretical approaches inform what you do in practice. The text bridges the gap between ‘cookbook’ and more abstract approaches to qualitative research, by posing ‘difficult questions' that researchers should be asking themselves . The book invites researchers to engage in a creative and critical practice in how they draw insights, interpret a range of types of data and craft knowledge from qualitative research. Fully revised and updated, with three new chapters, this edition: · Covers the full research process, with new material on analysing and interpreting data and research ethics · Engages with exciting new developments in the field through challenging qualitative researchers to be creative with how they research and with what they find. · Examines the potential of qualitatively-led approaches to mixed methods, and their implications for research design, research practice and the production of convincing arguments. A theoretically engaged, grounded approach to qualitative researching, this remains the ideal text to guide students to become thoughtful, creative and effective qualitative researchers.

Negotiating Family Responsibilities provides a major new insight into contemporary family life, particularly kin relationships outside the nuclear family. While many people believe that the real meaning of 'family' has shrunk to the nuclear family household, there is considerable evidence to suggest that relationships with the wider kin group remain an important part of most people's lives. Based on the findings of a major study of kinship, and including lively verbatim accounts of conversations with family members concepts of responsibility and obligation within family life are examined and the authors expand theories on the nature of assistance within families and argue that it is negotiated over time rather than given automatically.

When the Soviet Union's satellite Sputnik 1 entered Earth's orbit in 1957, people in the United States demanded that Americans "catch up" with space technology. The Space Race between the two world superpowers had begun. This authoritative volume explains how the technology developed, who developed it, and the tragedies and triumphs that led to the success of Apollo 11 and subsequent missions. It also addresses the advances of space travel today and the possibility of colonization in outer space. Readers will appreciate the many crucial STEM concepts and eye-catching images included in this gripping account.

The popularity of motorsports hasn't waned since the advent of the automobile. In fact, some races began for the sole purpose of getting people interested in driving cars for the first time, such as the Peking-to-Paris race of 1907. This wide-ranging book, full of dynamic photographs, is an intriguing historical look at the world of racing, but also offers valuable information about the competitions of today, such as the Indy 500. Readers will love finding out about the famous figures of the racing circuit as well as learning about different kinds of races and racecars.

The popularity of motorsports hasn't waned since the advent of the automobile. In fact, some races began for the sole purpose of getting people interested in driving cars for the first time, such as the Peking-to-Paris race of 1907. This wide-ranging book, full of dynamic photographs, is an intriguing historical look at the world of racing, but also offers valuable information about the competitions of today, such as the Indy 500. Readers will love finding out about the famous figures of the racing circuit as well as learning about different kinds of races and racecars.