Popular Culture Review Vol. 24, No. 1, Winter 2013 | Page 7

From the Editor’s Desk As I write this, we are preparing for the 25th Annual Meeting of our parent, FWPCA/ACA, February 22 to 24, 2013 at the Palace Station in Las Vegas. Little did we think as we launched the Organization in 1988 and the joumal you are now holding in 1989, that we would be thriving a quarter of a Century later. Of course, it rather amazes me that I am reasonably thriving, completing my 50thyear at UNLV. This issue of PCR fairly crackles with ideas, lucidly written to delight and expand the consciousness of the reader, articles begging to be discussed. Frequent contributors H. Peter Steeves and Daniel Ferreras Savoye have outdone themselves with fresh looks at art and literature. Steeves’ article illuminates the phenomenological interactions between artist and viewer and the art itself in “The Concept of Conceptual Art”, while Ferreras invites us to look at fiction as a parallel dimension, an idea you can expect to hear much more about in the future. Remember, you saw it here first. Kenneth Payne introduces us to William Le Queux, whose many novels are an early twentieth Century influence on later mysteries and thrillers, defining the Edwardian Englishman and male hegemony and expressing the unsettled nature of their time period. While Stephen King is no stranger to any of us, Alexandra Reuber makes a compelling case that the psychological Gothicism in his Secret Window, Secret Garden creates his most terrifying landscape. David Chaplin convincingly argues Montgomery Clift’s role as “the first rebel male” in cinema, while sociologists Ellis Godard and David Lopez argue that Contemporary Nazi role playing and fetishism are just that—role playing. Srijani Ghosh examines the destructive role of several postfeminist “chick lit” novels in the creation of body dismorphia. Finally Ji Hoon Lee has a positive take on Rock’s Philanthropie efforts. Look for Ross Talarico’s novel Sied Run reviewed in this issue. I couldn’t put it down. Eminent biographer Carl Rollyson, luncheon Speaker at this year’s Conference, is receiving well deserved accolades for his recent biographies of Dana Andrews and Sylvia Plath. Once you have read them, you may find yourself bingeing on his many earlier biographies. Daniel Ferreras Savoye’s new book on James Bond is in press. Watch for it later this year. You will be pleased to know that PCR will soon appear on line as well as in print. More on that later. You will also note that we no longer have the old BlogSpot website which was hijacked. We have nothing to do with Lazarus LLC and do not endorse it. Foliow us now at www.fwpca.org. petetia, Felicia F. Campbell Professor of English Editor, Populär Culture Review [email protected] http://www.fwpca.org