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Mazes And Monsters (novel)
''Mazes and Monsters'' is a 1981 novel by Rona Jaffe. The novel is a cautionary tale regarding the then-new hobby of fantasy role-playing games. The book was adapted into a made-for-television movie by the same name in 1982 starring Tom Hanks. Background The novel is based in large part on the largely apocryphal "steam tunnel incidents" of the late 1970s. These urban myths developed during the infancy of role playing games, generally purporting that university students playing a live action version of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' or similar game disappeared into the utility tunnels of the school and became lost, and in some cases died of hypothermia or other causes. The legends had risen due to newspaper reports concerning the disappearance of a Michigan State University student named James Dallas Egbert III. Egbert had played ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and did in fact go into the steam tunnels of his school, but with the intent of committing suicide. When his attempt on his life faile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rona Jaffe
Rona Jaffe (June 12, 1931 – December 30, 2005) was an American novelist who published numerous works from 1958 to 2003. During the 1960s, she also wrote cultural pieces for ''Cosmopolitan''. Biography Jaffe was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931, the only child of Samuel Jaffe, an elementary-school principal, and his first wife, Diana (née Ginsberg). Her grandfather was a construction magnate who built the Carlyle Hotel. Growing up in affluent circumstances on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, she graduated from Radcliffe College in 1951. Jaffe wrote her first book, '' The Best of Everything'' (1958), while working as an associate editor at Fawcett Publications in the 1950s. It was quickly adapted into a film starring Joan Crawford, also called '' The Best of Everything'' (1959). The book has been described as distinctly "pre-women's liberation" in the way it depicts women in the working world. Camille Paglia noted in 2004 that the book and popular HBO series ''Sex and the Cit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators often work for attorneys in civil and criminal cases. History In 1833, Eugène François Vidocq, a French soldier, criminal, and privateer, founded the first known private detective agency, "Le Bureau des Renseignements Universels pour le commerce et l'Industrie" ("The Office of Universal Information For Commerce and Industry") and hired ex-convicts. Much of what private investigators did in the early days was to act as the police in matters for which their clients felt the police were not equipped or willing to do. Official law enforcement tried many times to shut it down. In 1842, police arrested him in suspicion of unlawful imprisonment and taking money on false pretences after he had solved an embezzlement case. Vidocq later suspecte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Pulling
Patricia A. Pulling (June 30, 1948 – September 18, 1997) was an anti-occult campaigner from Richmond, Virginia. She founded Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD), an advocacy group that was dedicated to the regulation of role-playing games such as ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Biography Pulling formed B.A.D.D. after her son Irving committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest on June 9, 1982. Irving was active in role-playing games, and she believed his suicide was directly related to the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. The grieving mother first filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her son's high school principal, Robert A. Bracey III, holding him as responsible for what she claimed was a ''D&D'' curse placed upon her son's character shortly before his death. She also filed suit against TSR, Inc., ''D&D'''s publishers. She appeared on an episode of ''60 Minutes'' which also featured Gary Gygax, creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and which aired in 1985. B.A.D.D. Pulling founde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons & Dragons Controversies
The role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''), which receives significant attention in the media and in popular culture, has been the subject of numerous controversies. The game sometimes received negative coverage, especially in the early 1980s during the game's early years. Because the term ''D&D'' may be mistakenly used to refer to all types of role-playing games, some controversies regarding ''D&D'' mistakenly pertain to role-playing games in general, or to the literary genre of fantasy. Part of the controversies concern the game and its alleged impact on those who play it, while others concern business issues at the game's original publisher, TSR. The game is now owned by Wizards of the Coast. At various times in its history, ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') has received negative publicity for alleged promotion of Satanism, witchcraft, suicide, pornography, and murder. The moral panic, or feeling of fear spread among many people that some evil threatens the well-bei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobgoblin (book)
''Hobgoblin'' is a 1981 horror novel by American writer John Coyne about Scott Gardiner, a teenaged boy who becomes obsessed with ''Hobgoblin'', a fantasy roleplaying game based on Irish mythology, as his life in the game and in reality slowly blend. Description Like the contemporaneously-published ''Mazes and Monsters'' by Rona Jaffe, this is a species of problem novel (although not aimed at young adult readers) by an established writer, which treats the playing of roleplaying games as indicative of deep neurotic needs. In both books, the protagonist is (or at least appears to be) suffering from schizophrenia (or some analogous condition); in both books, the attainment of mature adulthood is accompanied by the abandonment of role-playing games. Context and reception Like the Jaffe book, ''Hobgoblin'' was published at the height of '' Dungeons & Dragons popularity and soon after the intense media coverage of the Egbert steam tunnel incident ( urban myths wherein rolepl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon (magazine)
''Dragon'' is one of the two official magazines for source material for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game and associated products, along with ''Dungeon (magazine), Dungeon''. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, ''The Strategic Review''. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007. Shortly after the last print issue shipped in mid-August 2007, Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro, Inc.), the publication's current copyright holder, relaunched ''Dragon'' as an online magazine, continuing on the numbering of the print edition. The last published issue was No. 430 in December 2013. A digital publication called ''Dragon+'', which replaces the ''Dragon'' magazine, launched in 2015. It is created by Dialect in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, and its numbering system for issues started at No. 1. History TSR In 1975, TSR, Inc. began publishing ''The Strategic Review''. At the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdrawal, decreased emotional expression, and apathy. Symptoms typically develop gradually, begin during young adulthood, and in many cases never become resolved. There is no objective diagnostic test; diagnosis is based on observed behavior, a history that includes the person's reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person. To be diagnosed with schizophrenia, symptoms and functional impairment need to be present for six months (DSM-5) or one month (ICD-11). Many people with schizophrenia have other mental disorders, especially substance use disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive–compulsive disorder. About 0.3% to 0.7% of people are diagnosed with schizophrenia during their lifetime. In 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Novel
The social novel, also known as the social problem (or social protest) novel, is a "work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel". More specific examples of social problems that are addressed in such works include poverty, conditions in factories and mines, the plight of child labor, violence against women, rising criminality, and epidemics because of over-crowding and poor sanitation in cities. Terms like thesis novel, propaganda novel, industrial novel, working-class novel and problem novel are also used to describe this type of novel; a recent development in this genre is the young adult problem novel. It is also referred to as the sociological novel. The social protest novel is a form of social novel which places an emphasis on the idea of social change, while the proletarian novel is a political form of the social protest novel which may emphasize revolution. While e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobgoblin (novel)
''Hobgoblin'' is a 1981 horror novel by American writer John Coyne about Scott Gardiner, a teenaged boy who becomes obsessed with ''Hobgoblin'', a fantasy roleplaying game based on Irish mythology, as his life in the game and in reality slowly blend. Description Like the contemporaneously-published ''Mazes and Monsters'' by Rona Jaffe, this is a species of problem novel (although not aimed at young adult readers) by an established writer, which treats the playing of roleplaying games as indicative of deep neurotic needs. In both books, the protagonist is (or at least appears to be) suffering from schizophrenia (or some analogous condition); in both books, the attainment of mature adulthood is accompanied by the abandonment of role-playing games. Context and reception Like the Jaffe book, ''Hobgoblin'' was published at the height of '' Dungeons & Dragons popularity and soon after the intense media coverage of the Egbert steam tunnel incident ( urban myths wherein rolepl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Radecki
Thomas Edward Radecki (born 1946) is a former American psychiatrist, founding member of the National Coalition on Television Violence and convicted criminal. He is known for his controversial views on the effects of portrayals of violence on teens and his opposition to depictions of violence in any form. He was later convicted of abusing his position as a doctor to commit sexual offenses; he was accused of trading prescription of opioids in exchange for sex with female patients. He is serving an 11- to 22-year prison sentence. Education He attended Ohio State College of Medicine, class of 1973, where he received his MD. His postgraduate education was done at the Philadelphia General Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Juris Doctor degree after studies at the Oklahoma City University School of Law (1995-1996), and the Southern Illinois University School of Law (1996-1998). Career He was licensed to practice as a doctor in Wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media Violence Research
The studies of violence in mass media analyzes the degree of correlation between themes of violence in media sources (particularly violence in video games, television and films) with real-world aggression and violence over time. Many social scientists support the correlation. However, some scholars argue that media research has methodological problems and that findings are exaggerated. Other scholars have suggested that the correlation exists, but can be unconventional to what is mainly believed. Complaints about the possible deleterious effects of mass media appear throughout history; Plato was concerned about the effects of plays on youth. Various media/genres, including dime novels, comic books, jazz, rock and roll, role playing/computer games, television, films, internet (by computer or cell phone) and many others have attracted speculation that consumers of such media may become more aggressive, rebellious or immoral. This has led some scholars to conclude statements made by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly mental issues. Sometimes a psychiatrist works within a multi-disciplinary team, which may comprise Clinical psychology, clinical psychologists, Social work, social workers, Occupational therapist, occupational therapists, and Nursing, nursing staff. Psychiatrists have broad training in a Biopsychosocial model, biopsychosocial approach to the assessment and management of mental illness. As part of the clinical assessment process, psychiatrists may employ a mental status examination; a physical examination; brain imaging such as a computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or positron emission tomography scan; and blood testing. P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
