1st Edition
Play, Life and Imagination Essays on Gender, Sex, Games and Self
A Pioneer of Play: Homage for Bernie DeKoven (1941-2018)
Overture
Introduction: My Field of Dreams
Part I Festive Play and the Life Force
Chapter One: The Playful Self: Creativity and Cure
Chapter Two: Play and the Free Spirit: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Chapter Three: Play, Screw, Eat and Prey: The Carnival of Life
Interlude: Aesthetic Play: Cinema and Video Games
Chapter Four: You Play, I’ll Watch
In Memory of Roger Ebert (1942-2013)
Part II Gender Play and Sex Play: Identities Today
Chapter Five: The Poker Stud: Playing Masculinity in Modern Culture
Chapter Six: Playing the Black Widow: Poker Queen’s Take a Seat
Chapter Seven: Playing with Gender: Empowerment and Community in As You Like It and Paris is Burning
Chapter Eight: Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair: Fair Play, Justice, and Trans athletes
Chapter Nine: Playboy in the Wake of # MeToo
Part III Keep Playing
Chapter Ten: Superheroes and the Playful Imagination
In Memory of Stan Lee (1922-2018)
Conclusion: Roderick and Me: The Hope & Gratitude of Interspecies Play
Biography
David Seelow received his Ph. D in Comparative Studies from Stony Brook University and Master of Arts degree in English from Columbia University. He was founding Executive Director of the Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning at Excelsior University. He has authored two previous books, Radical Modernism and Sexuality: Freud/Reich/D.H. Lawrence & Beyond. and Games as Transformative Experiences for Critical Thinking, Cultural Awareness and Dep Learning while editing two others: Lessons Drawn: Essays on the Pedagogy of Comics and Graphic Novels and Teaching in the Game-Based Classroom: Practical Strategies for Grades 6-12. Dr. Seelow has taught in higher education for over 25 years. He loves tennis, reading, and the Irish countryside. Roderick, who made the author’s later life a joy of simple beauty passed in 2024.
