Bøger af Jonathan Reynolds

"Quake Chronicles: California's Seismic Story" takes readers on a captivating journey through the heart of one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world. This accessible and engaging non-fiction book offers a unique blend of storytelling and factual exploration, presenting an intimate portrait of California's seismic history, challenges, and triumphs.From the iconic San Andreas Fault to the profound impacts of historical earthquakes, each chapter unveils a new layer of California's seismic narrative. Using a style reminiscent of a National Geographic documentary, the book combines descriptive storytelling, historical insights, and expert analysis to bring earthquakes to life on the page.This book transports readers to the aftermath of seismic events, revealing the resilience of communities as they rebuild and adapt to the ever-shifting ground beneath them. Beyond history, it delves into cutting-edge research and technologies that aid in monitoring, prediction, and preparedness, ensuring that readers gain a comprehensive understanding of the seismic forces at play.Throughout the narrative, the importance of public awareness, preparedness, and community collaboration shines through. "Quake Chronicles" paints a vision of unity as communities work together to enhance earthquake resilience through education, training, and innovative strategies.With its compelling narrative, expert insights, and relatable anecdotes, "Quake Chronicles: California's Seismic Story" is an essential read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between geological forces and human determination. This book serves as a tribute to the spirit of Californians as they navigate the seismic symphony that shapes their lives and their land.

GIRLS IN TROUBLE is a striking and ferocious play which dares to explore the controversial history of abortion, through its life-changing affect on women across several generations. This darkly humorous, shocking work is sure to inspire spirited debate. "GIRLS IN TROUBLE is the most thought-provoking (and also the funniest) play I've seen in New York since - well, since May 1997, when I saw (twice) STONEWALL JACKSON'S HOUSE, Reynolds's razor-sharp play about race and political correctness ... In GIRLS IN TROUBLE, Reynolds tackles another impossible subject: abortion ... The adjective "Shavian" occurs frequently in discussions of Jonathan Reynolds's work. Old Bernard was in many ways a crackpot; he was certainly a political ignoramus of the first water. But he was an effective playwright because he excelled in dramatizing difficult ideas - ideas, that is, that were difficult because they were at odds with his audience's prejudices and preconceptions. Reynolds is indeed Shavian in this sense. In articles and interviews, he is invariably described as "conservative" or listing rightwards. I have no idea about the nature of his personal political convictions. But GIRLS IN TROUBLE is not a conservative play ..." -Roger Kimball, The Weekly Standard "... GIRLS IN TROUBLE, Jonathan Reynolds's bracing assault on assumptions about the right to choose abortion ... he also goes places intellectually and dramatically that no left-wing dramatist would dare. At times that's thrilling. In a Shavian provocation for the age of Fox News, this play tells three disturbing and loosely connected stories - from the 1960s, the 1980s and the present - about the conflicts surrounding abortion ..." -Jason Zinoman, The New York Times

Jonathan Reynolds whips up an entire meal onstage while spinning funny and touching anecdotes about his parents, his jet-setting uncle, and his famous movie star cousin. The play explores everything from the role of food at the family dinner table to the eternal connection between food and seduction - a piquant mélange of performance, cookery and storytelling that can literally be described as "mouthwatering." "A spectacular, delicious, and perfect experience. DINNER WITH DEMONS is the best thing I have seen all year, and it is late in December. It was perfect. I want to get a pair of tickets for my mother-in-law. It was a perfect evening of theater. It was perfectly performed, the set was gorgeous, everything about it was magical." -Mario Batali "The recipe for a cooking show seems to be personal reminiscences induced by cooking, and philosophy induced by autobiography. So we have Jonathan Reynolds, playwright and culinary columnist, combining his two skills into DINNER WITH DEMONS, a dazzling display of cookery with polished palaver that is mostly witty or, at the very least, cute. For me, as a kitchen-illiterate, the array of fancy dishes dexterously prepared is breathtaking, and the reminiscing no less savory: dusted with the surreal, spiced with the apocryphal, but crisp or bittersweet or mellow to match the food it garnishes. The main characters are a domineering and resented mother, nicknamed the Warden; a divorced, remote, superrich, Don Juan-esque father; and dapper, civilized, always helpful Uncle Bus. Also a rogue's gallery of Mother's satanic associates, and Bus's angelically irresistible daughter, Lee Remick: 'I fell in love with her the way most people who met her did - at first sight, passionately, and like a sheepdog.' This when Jonathan was three, and Lee nine. The reason for the show's title is that 'if you can't exorcise your demons, you might as well have 'em over for dinner.' Some of these demons are long dead, some of them malevolent, but all coming to the scrumptious and memorious meal Jonathan is cooking up as he talks smoothly, manipulates food like a prestidigitator, and exudes the Reynolds charm." -John Simon, New York Magazine

While leading a tour of the haphazardly restored home of the Confederate general, a young African American docent suddenly has a revelation. An uproar ensues as she abruptly stops the tour and asks an affluent white couple if she can come home with them - as their slave! But the most astonishing moments are still to come ... A sophisticated, yet unrestrained rampage through the well-intentioned, but agenda-laden forces of the politically correct. "The gloves come off early in STONEWALL JACKSON'S HOUSE, Jonathan Reynolds's caustic comic tirade against political orthodoxy. A woebegone black guide leading a group through the haphazardly restored home of the Confederate general suddenly stops the tour to ask a well-to-do white couple from Ohio if she can come home with them, as their slave. It's a provocative moment: where is this playwright, who so deliciously savaged film making fifteen years ago in GENIUSES, headed with this tasteless conceit? Mercifully, not to a scene depicting modern slavery. The revolving panels of the play's simple set are eventually pushed aside to reveal the rehearsal room of a small theater company whose self-righteous administrators, interviewing playwrights for the new season, denounce the play the audience has just sampled. With that, Mr Reynolds climbs on his soapbox for a ambling, funny, cranky and highly entertaining diatribe against all the agenda-laden forces and high-minded programs (especially of the liberal stripe) that he believes have conspired to wring common sense out of American political and cultural life. Affirmative action, political correctness, nontraditional casting, the welfare state, black studies, ethnocentrism, multiculturalism: Mr Reynolds pushes so many buttons he could have staged the play in an elevator ... You don't have to agree with Mr Reynolds's inexhaustible supply of opinions to get a kick out of this ... The plot of STONEWALL JACKSON'S HOUSE takes several outrageous turns, culminating in a hilariously radical restaging of the tour-guide scene along lines more politically palatable to the theater company's old guard ... But maybe a little more unvarnished spleen-venting is just what the theater needs." -Peter Marks, The New York Times "In STONEWALL JACKSON'S HOUSE, Jonathan Reynolds has created an American play of ideas much in the manner of Paddy Chayefsky, with intelligent characters expressing their philosophies with a wit that sparkles and stabs at the same time." -Howard Waxman, Variety "... the funniest and most outrageous play of the season, a withering fusillade of satire aimed at our comfortably congealed political orthodoxies. He's brought brainy cantankerousness back with a vengeance." -Jack Kroll, Newsweek

Obesity levels continue to rise across the world, whilst physical activity levels remain lower than ever before, resulting in many health problems. With difficulty removing the individual from the popular gaming environment, research has found the exergame to offer a viable solution, but has failed to identify which age it could benefit most. This research explores the benefits of one exergame for different aged populations. Eighteen participants volunteered for the study, which involved the measurement of various physiological and social parameters. The text provides a full analysis of the results and a discussion that aims to answer some of the contemporary questions, such as "Can I exercise indoors?", "Can I really lose weight whilst playing computer games?" and "Could I even increase my life- expectancy?".