Severance (novel)
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Severance (novel)
''Severance'' is a 2018 science fiction novel by Chinese-American author Ling Ma. It follows Candace Chen, an unfulfilled Bible product coordinator, before and after an incurable infection slowly obliterates global civilization. ''Severance'' explores themes of nostalgia, modern office culture, monotony, and intimate relationships. The novel, Ma's debut, won the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction and was included on many prominent Best Books of 2018 lists. Setting ''Severance'' takes place in an alternate history of the United States up to the end of 2011, before and during a pandemic of the fictional Shen Fever, a fictional fungal infection caused by ''Sheniodioides'' originating in Shenzhen, China. Real world events such as Occupy Wall Street unfold differently due to the Shen Fever pandemic. People infected with Shen Fever repeat old routines compulsively, without consciousness and until death. There is no cure for the fever, and its spread eventually leads to total societal c ...
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Ling Ma
Ling Ma is a Chinese American novelist and assistant professor of practice in the Arts at the University of Chicago. Her first book, ''Severance'', won a 2018 Kirkus Prize and was listed as a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of 2018 and shortlisted for the 2019 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. Her second book, '' Bliss Montage'', won The Story Prize. Early life Ma was born in Sanming, Fujian, China, initially an only child because of China's "one-child policy." She grew up in Utah, Nebraska, and Kansas. She has an AB from the University of Chicago and received an MFA from Cornell University. Career Ma's debut novel, ''Severance,'' is described as "a biting indictment of late-stage capitalism and a chilling vision of what comes after, but that doesn’t mean it’s a Marxist screed or a dry Hobbesian thought experiment." ''Severance'' is a novel that is partially post-apocalyptic horror, and partially office satire. It follows the novel's narrator in the aftermath of the outbreak ...
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Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. Known for its centerfolds of nude and semi-nude models (Playmates), ''Playboy'' played an important role in the sexual revolution and remains one of the world's best-known brands, having grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (PEI), with a presence in nearly every medium. In addition to the flagship magazine in the United States, special nation-specific versions of ''Playboy'' are published worldwide, including those by licensees, such as Dirk Steenekamp's DHS Media Group. The magazine has a long history of publishing short stories by novelists such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Vladimir Nabokov, Saul Bellow, Chuck Palahniuk, P. G. Wodehouse, Roald Dahl, Haruki Murakami, and Margaret Atwood. With a regular display of full-page c ...
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The A
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a ...
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HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy, healthy living, women's interests, and local news featuring columnists. It was created to provide a progressive alternative to the conservative news websites such as the Drudge Report. The site offers content posted directly on the site as well as user-generated content via video blogging, audio, and photo. In 2012, the website became the first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize. Founded by Andrew Breitbart, Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, the site was launched on May 9, 2005 as a counterpart to the Drudge Report. In March 2011, it was acquired by AOL for ...
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Mental Floss
''Mental Floss'' (stylized as ''mental_floss'') is an online magazine and its related American digital, print, and e-commerce media company focused on millennials. It is owned by Minute Media and based in New York City, United States. mentalfloss.com, which presents facts, puzzles, and trivia with a humorous tone, draws 20.5 million unique users a month. Its YouTube channel produces three weekly series and has 1.3 million subscribers. In October 2015, ''Mental Floss'' teamed with the National Geographic Channel for its first televised special, ''Brain Surgery Live with'' mental_floss, the first brain surgery ever broadcast live. Launched in Birmingham, Alabama in 2001, the company has additional offices in Midtown Manhattan. The publication was included in ''Inc.'' magazine's list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies. Before it became a web-only publication in 2017, the magazine ''mental_floss'' had a circulation of 160,000 and published six issues a year. The magazine ...
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Bookish
Bookish.com is a content discovery and ecommerce website, which launched in February 2013, devoted to books. The site allows users to browse an extensive database of books and authors, add books to user-created digital "shelves", get custom book recommendations, read editorial content and purchase physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. History Bookish was founded in 2011 in a joint venture backed by three of the ''big six'' publishing companies – Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group (USA), and Simon & Schuster – with the goal of increasing the presence of book publishers in the book-buying industry (which was becoming increasingly dominated by Amazon.com due to the increased popularity of online bookstores), as well as to expand the overall book-buying market. The site was expected to launch in the summer of 2011, but the launch was delayed due to technical issues relating to data compilation, as well as a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice in 2012 again ...
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BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Kenneth Lerer, co-founder and chairman of ''The Huffington Post'', started as a co-founder and investor in BuzzFeed and is now the executive chairman. Originally known for online quizzes, "listicles", and pop culture articles, the company has grown into a global media and technology company, providing coverage on a variety of topics including politics, DIY, animals, and business. In late 2011, BuzzFeed hired Ben Smith of ''Politico'' as editor-in-chief, to expand the site into long-form journalism and reportage. After years of investment in investigative journalism, by 2021 '' BuzzFeed News'' had won the National Magazine Award, the George Polk Award, and the Pulitzer Prize, and was nominated for the Michael Kelly Award. BuzzFeed generates ...
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Refinery29
Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 in 2005 as a city guide, emphasizing fashion local to New York City. The name of the website alludes to the website distilling information into its essence. The company headquarters is located in the Financial District, Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Refinery29 has over 450 employees globally with offices in Los Angeles, London, and Berlin. In 2015, the company launched a UK edition at www.refinery29.uk and the following year in 2016, a German edition at www.refinery29.de. In 2016, Refinery29 announced it had raised $45 million in funding led by Turner. As of 2017, Refinery29 reaches an audience of over 500 million globally. On October 2, 2019, Vice Media (owned by Shane Smith (20%), The Walt Disney Company (16%), A&E Networks ( ...
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Marie Claire
''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women around the world and global issues. ''Marie Claire'' magazine also covers health, beauty, fashion, politics, finance, and career topics. History ''Marie Claire'' was founded by Jean Prouvost and Marcelle Auclair."Avec Jean Prouvost, Marcelle Auclair fonda « Marie-Claire » magazine féminin inspiré des magazines américains" (p. 319). In: (351 pages). Its first issue appeared in 1937, and it was distributed each Wednesday until 1941 when it handed out its shares to open in London, going international for the first time. In 1976, Prouvost retired and his daughter Évelyne took over the magazine and added L'Oréal Group to the company. Worldwide ''Marie Claire'' publishes editions in more than 35 countries on five continents. Uni ...
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Elle (magazine)
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the world's largest fashion magazine, with 45 editions around the world and 46 local websites. It now counts 21 million readers and 100 million unique visitors per month, with an audience of mostly women. It was founded in Paris in 1945 by Hélène Gordon-Lazareff and her husband, the writer Pierre Lazareff. The magazine's readership has continuously grown since its founding, increasing to 800,000 across France by the 1960s. ''Elle'' editions have since multiplied, creating a global network of publications and readers. ''Elles Japanese publication was launched in 1969, beginning an international expansion. Its first issues in English (US and UK) were launched in 1985. Previous editors of the magazine include Jean-Dominique Bauby, well known for ...
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Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the sixth-highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017. In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill, the ''Chicago Tribune'' became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln, and the Republican Party's progressive wing. In the 20th century under Medill's grandson, Robert R. McCormick, it achieved a reputation as a crusading paper with a decidedly more American-conservative anti-New Deal outlook, and its writing reached other markets through family and corporate relationships at the ''New York Daily News'' and the ''Washington Times-Herald.'' The 1960s saw its corporate parent owner, Tribune Company, rea ...
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Immigration Novel
An American immigrant novel is a genre of American novel which explores the process of assimilation and the relationship of American immigrants toward American identity and ideas. The novels often show and explore generational differences in immigrant families, especially the first and second generations. The extraordinary ethnic diversity of America allows for a type of immigrant novel which differs from other countries. America, often seen as a country of immigrants, opens up a unique canvas for expression and a better understanding of the American immigrant experience through literature. The narrative styles are diverse and can include memoirs, third-person, first-person, and biographies. The past twenty-five years alone have witnessed a major scholarly emphasis on multiculturalism in American studies, and a flood of new immigrant novels, reflecting the shifting demographics of United States immigration patterns. Generational changes in attitude, identity, experience, and demograp ...
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