William A. Adams
Welcome to my bookshelf. Most of the books below are available from smashwords.com, formatted for any e-reader, mobile device or desktop. They can also be purchased from Amazon.com. Search by title, author, or ISBN. Print editions are at amazon.com. Feedback, comments, or suggestions are very much welcome.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Hunter And Hunted Revised Edition
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
250 Recent Movies You Will Like If You See Film as Art
Short reviews of 250 feature-length movies from 2011 to about 2004 are listed. All the films are available in the U.S., most of them on DVD or streaming. The reviews are five hundred words or less, just enough to give you a sense of what the movie is about and if you would like it. It seems this would be a better way to find good movies than browsing through unfiltered catalogs.The movies here are artistic and thoughtful, which does not necessarily mean “serious.” There are plenty of humor, horror, romance, animation, musicals, documentaries, and kids’ movies. When I select movies to watch and review, I look for these two qualities:
A: Is it artistic? Is it good looking, well-executed, well-acted, well-crafted, or innovative? Does it advance the art form of movie making in some way?
B: Is it thoughtful? A thoughtful movie has something to say, makes a comment on the world, offers insight into the human condition, challenges the status quo, puts a new twist on old idea, rethinks history, raises questions, highlights injustice, points out absurdity.
My reviews are opinionated, but evidence-based, which means I give reasons for my opinions, so you can estimate for yourself if I am being fair and reasonable. Many of these movies are not mainstream box office hits, but if you appreciate film as an art form, you will find a lot to like.
ISBN: 978-0-9837177-4-4 Price 0.99
Monday, November 21, 2011
Hunter and Hunted
Bridget Kemper, a Seattle businesswoman who hunts deer by archery for recreation, buys a prehistoric hunting artifact. But that does not establish her as a serious collector as she had hoped. Instead, she discovers the artifact is a forgery. She returns to the seller in Johannesburg only to find him murdered. Worse, somebody believes her artifact is genuine and wants it. She becomes the hunted. She could be the hunter if she knew who was after her, but her investigation is stymied when she is charged with the murder of the South African dealer. Can she beat extradition in time to find out who is trying to kill her and what happened to the real artifact?ISBN 978-0-9837177-5-1. Approx. pages: 93.
Available at www.smashwords.com as an e-book formatted for all e-readers, tablets, desktops and mobile devices. Search on title, author, or ISBN. $0.99.
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Purpose of the Body
Mental experience occurs in the context of the physical body and is severely constrained by the body. What is the relationship between the mind, introspectively understood, and its extremely intimate but uncommunicative partner, the body?This essay proposes that what is taken for granted as the self-existent, biological body is instead a concept, a projection of mentality. The physical body is a mistaken, or at least badly articulated conceptualization, by the linguistic and self-aware Social Self strand of consciousness, of the non-self-aware Sensorimotor Cycle strand of consciousness. From that confusion, the concept of the body is projected outward, away from subjectivity, and reified into a self-existent object.
But what then is the purpose of the body? Mentality needs its projection of embodiment to guarantee its psychological individuality, and thus its very survival. Is there any way this new thesis can be reconciled with the theory of evolution? Some suggestions are offered. Consequences of re-thinking the relationship of mind and body include a reconsideration of cognitive information processing, death, and metaphysics.
ISBN 978-0-9837177-3-7 Approx. pages: 65.
Order at www.smashwords.com for the Smashwords Edition, an e-book formatted for all e-readers, tablets, desktops and mobile devices. Search on title, author, or ISBN. $0.99.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Six Short Stories of Crime and Suspense
Stone Cross is about a bewildered couple who lose their foreclosed home and their dreams.
A local mechanic was reluctant to answer questions about how to sabotage a brake system, needed for Merely an Accident.
Warm Spots, set in Antarctica, explores a radical solution to global warming.
In Waved Through, immigrants are deported from Arizona, but their children are not.
ISBN 978-0-9837177-2-0 Approx. pages: 35.
Order at www.smashwords.com for the Smashwords Edition, an e-book formatted for all e-readers, tablets, desktops and mobile devices. Search on title, author, or ISBN. $0.99.
