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Description
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Our ability to make a fist is what distinguishes humans from every other species, including primates. The fist has played a crucial role in the birth of language and appears in nearly every form of nonverbal communication. We use our fist to protest oppression, give pleasure, knock on doors, give daps, and (inaccurately) measure our heart. Yet the fist is also a sign of someone on the edge.
This book asks what happens when we lean over the edge of what a fist can do and symbolize. Fist uses historical moments and artifacts, interviews, and personal narratives to explore the fist's ambiguous and divisive nature. From boxing matches, the Black Power salute, Obama's fist bumps, and fisting, the last sexual taboo, nelle mills uncovers what flexing our knuckles says, not just about us, but the world in which we live.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- PDF/UA-2, 1.4
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
Has alternative text descriptions for images
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
Table of Contents
1. Clench
2. Speak
3. Salute
4. Point
5. Control
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | Nov 26 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 160 |
| ISBN | 9781501376658 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Series | Object Lessons |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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