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The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria
by John W. KiserBack Cover: "In the spring of 1996 armed men broke into a Trappist monastery in war-torn Algeria and took seven monks hostage. pawns in a murky negotiation to free imprisoned terrorists. Two months later the monks' severed heads were found in a tree; their bodies were never recovered. The village of Tibhirine had sprung up around the monastery because it was a holy place protected by the Virgin Mary, revered by Christians and Muslims alike. But napalm. helicopters, and gunfire had become regular accompaniments to the monastic routine as the violence engulfing Algeria drew closer to the isolated cloister high in the Atlas Mountains." The author shows the different shades of Islam and how Christians and Moslems can live in harmony if they are given the correct set of conditions.
The Monsoon Diaries: A Doctor’s Journey of Hope and Healing from the ER Frontlines to the Far Reaches of the World
by Calvin D. Sun"There are heroes among us, and Dr. Calvin Sun is one of them. Read this book." -Lisa Ling, journalistThe Monsoon Diaries is the firsthand account of Dr. Calvin Sun, an emergency room doctor who worked tirelessly on the front lines in multiple hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.Drawing upon the lessons he learned from his adventures traveling to more than 190 countries in ten years, as well as from the grief he experienced as a teen when his father died, Dr. Sun shares his journey, from growing up as a young Asian American in New York to his calling first to medical school and then to the open road.He believes that the fight for a better world creates meaning when all feels meaningless, and he hopes that telling his story will help readers reframe this tragic moment in our lifetimes into possibility, with the goal of building a more empathetic society.
The Monster Loves His Labyrinth
by Charles Simic"Nabokovian in his caustic charm and sexy intelligence, Simic perceives the mythic in the mundane and pinpoints the perpetual suffering that infuses human life with both agony and bliss. . . . And he is the master of juxtaposition, lining up the unlikeliest of pairings and contrasts as he explores the nexuses of madness and prophecy, hell and paradise, lust and death."--Donna Seaman, Booklist"As one reads the pithy, wise, occasionally cranky epigrams and vignettes that fill this volume, there is the definite sense that we are getting a rare glimpse into several decades worth of private journals--and, by extension are privy to the tickings of an accomplished and introspective literary mind."--Rain TaxiWritten over many years, this book is a collection of notebook entries by our current Poet Laureate.Excerpts:Stupidity is the secret spice historians have difficulty identifying in this soup we keep slurping.Ars poetica: trying to make your jailers laugh.American identity is really about having many identities simultaneously. We came to America to escape our old identities, which the multiculturalists now wish to restore to us.Ambiguity is the world's condition. Poetry flirts with ambiguity. As a "picture of reality" it is truer than any other. This doesn't mean that you're supposed to write poems no one understands.The twelve girls in the gospel choir sang as if dogs were biting their asses.What an outrage! This very moment gone forever!
The Monster of Düsseldorf: The Life and Trial of Peter Kürten
by Margaret Seaton WagnerPeter Kürten was the worst serial murderer that Prussia/Germany had encountered. In 1915 to 1929 he wrecked havoc with pyromania, murder, assaults, and other crimes. His story and the trial are here. British spellings of the time (1933) are used
The Montana Frontier: One Woman's West
by Joyce LitzThis true story of a Victorian-era young woman who follows her husband to a small town with the improbable name of Gilt Edge, Montana, will remind readers of Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose, the classic novel of a woman's life in the Mountain West. As a young girl, Lillian Weston, the author's grandmother, aspired to be a concert pianist. However, as a young woman in turn-of-the-century New York, she became a newspaper columnist. Her marriage to Frank Hazen took her west in 1899, ending her career as a newspaperwoman. She turned her writing skills to journals, diaries, stories, and poems, which traced her family's life on a frontier that was no longer unspoiled. The Hazens endured brutal winters and dry summers and endeavored to raise cattle and chickens by trial and error. Lillian was an assiduous diarist who included details of her turbulent marriage challenged by Frank's bad business deals. The details of birth control and child rearing, gambling and prostitution, education and health care are all part of this story, offering glimpses into everyday life that often go unreported in the larger story of western expansion.
The Moon (New True Books: Space)
by Christine Taylor-ButlerHuman beings first set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969, marking one of the most important events in the history of space exploration. <P><P>A True Book: Space series dives into the many components that make each planet distinctive and exceptional, as well as explore many of the other components that make up Space. This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study. <P><P>Since the first moon landing, scientists have continued to learn more about Earth's sole natural satellite. Readers will learn what it is like to walk on the surface of the Moon and what role the satellite plays in the solar system. They will also find out how scientists first began studying the Moon and how they are continuing their exploration today. Lexile Measure: 820
The Moon Is Broken: A Mother's Story
by Eleanor CraigAnn Craig was the perfect daughter-bright, beautiful, loving, giving. At home and in school, with family and with friends, she was a child that any mother could be proud of. Then, as she was about to graduate with honors from an Ivy League university, Ann suffered a mental breakdown. After months at a prestigious psychiatric hospital, she recovered and seemed ready to resume a life destined for success and fulfillment. But instead, she suffered a relapse-only the first of many illusions shattered as Ann's life became a downward spiral of anorexia and drug addiction, ending ultimately in her death. For any mother-helpless and frantically attempting to do something, anything, to help-this would be a nightmare. But for Eleanor Craig, Ann's mother and a famed therapist-teacher who specializes in working with emotionally impaired young people, Ann's troubled life was a heartbreaking irony.
The Moon and I
by Betsy ByarsWhile describing her humorous adventures with a blacksnake, Betsy Byars recounts childhood anecdotes and explains how she writes a book.
The Moon's Our Nearest Neighbour
by Ghillie BasanChasing dreams of their own photographic business, Ghillie Basan and her husband Jonathan swap the comfort of their Edinburgh home for Corrunich - a remote cottage at the foot of the Cairngorms. With jumping cows for company, the Basans begin their new life with no electricity and heavy snowstorms. Generators break down and roads quickly become blocked, but the couple have a series of adventures with a fascinating mix of local farmers, terrified tourists, an African president, and their two babies, Yasmin and Zeki. The Moon's our Nearest Neighbour is a heart-warming, amusing account of a life lived in the picturesque beauty of highland Scotland; of the ferocious weather and the spectacularly starry skies; and, most of all, of the tremendous strength of spirit in coming to terms with the hardships and isolation of a new lifestyle.
The Moon's Our Nearest Neighbour
by Ghillie BasanChasing dreams of their own photographic business, Ghillie Basan and her husband Jonathan swap the comfort of their Edinburgh home for Corrunich - a remote cottage at the foot of the Cairngorms. With jumping cows for company, the Basans begin their new life with no electricity and heavy snowstorms. Generators break down and roads quickly become blocked, but the couple have a series of adventures with a fascinating mix of local farmers, terrified tourists, an African president, and their two babies, Yasmin and Zeki. The Moon's our Nearest Neighbour is a heart-warming, amusing account of a life lived in the picturesque beauty of highland Scotland; of the ferocious weather and the spectacularly starry skies; and, most of all, of the tremendous strength of spirit in coming to terms with the hardships and isolation of a new lifestyle.
The Moon's a Balloon
by David NivenDavid Niven is remembered as one of Britain's best-loved actors. The archetypal English gentleman, he starred in over ninety films. He is equally remembered as the author of this classic autobiography.In his first volume, he remembers his childhood and school days, his time at Sandhurst and his early army service. He recalls America during the prohibition era and days in Hollywood before the Second World War. Of the war itself, he tells of family life back in Britain and his time on the front line in France and Germany.THE MOON'S A BALLOON is a wonderful record of a truly remarkable and warm-hearted man, told in his inimitable style.(P)2005 Headline Digital
The Moon, Come to Earth: Dispatches from Lisbon
by Philip GrahamThe author offers an expanded edition of a popular series of dispatches originally published on McSweeneys, an exuberant yet introspective account of a year's sojourn in Lisbon with his wife and daughter.
The Moonlight Chronicles: A Wandering Artist's Journal
by Dan PriceOur favorite freewheelin' scribe Dan Price's inaugural collection of vagabond musings, HOW TO MAKE A JOURNAL OF YOUR LIFE, was such a hit that we could hardly wait to bring out THE MOONLIGHT CHRONICLES. Dan's Moonlight Chronicles zines have long been a cult favorite of art, travel writing, and outdoor enthusiasts. This full-color book version picks up where the zines left off, following Dan as he ambles through the cafes, alleyways, and skyscrapers of New York City; hits the trail for a five-day hike in Hell's Canyon; and wanders through the Sierras, in the footsteps of kindred soul John Muir. Dan's spirited language and charming pictures remind you of the small joys of life and the fact that happiness abounds, just waiting to be discovered along the highways and byways of America.
The Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic
by Nora GallagherThis taut yet lyrical memoir tells of the author's experience with a baffling illness poised to take her sight, and gives a deeply felt meditation on vulnerability and on what it means to lose the faith you had and find something better. One day at the end of 2009, during a routine eye exam that Nora Gallagher nearly skipped, her doctor said, "Darn." Her right optic nerve was inflamed, the cause unknown, a condition that if left untreated would cause her to lose her sight. And so began her departure from ordinary life and her travels in what she calls Oz, the land of the sick. It looks like the world most of us inhabit, she tells us, except that "the furniture is slightly rearranged": her friends can't help her, her trusted doctors don't know what's wrong, and what faith she has left just won't cover it. After a year of searching for a diagnosis and treatment, she arrives at the Mayo Clinic and finds a whole town built around Oz.In the course of her journey, Gallagher encounters inhuman doctors, the modern medical system--in which knowledge takes fifteen years to trickle down--and the strange world that is the famous Mayo Clinic, complete with its grand piano. With unerring candor, and no sentimentality whatsoever, Gallagher describes the unexpected twists and turns of the path she took through a medical mystery and an unfathomably changing life. In doing so, she gives us a singular, luminous map of vulnerability and dark landscapes. "It's the nature of things to be vulnerable," Gallagher says. "The disorder is imagining we are not."
The Moonlight Stallion: And Other Yarns from the Australian Outback
by Brian TaylorThis book of bush tales vividly evokes an era now gone, when people struggled in isolation to tame the land and when camaraderie and mateship were everything.Young Brian Taylor was a ringer on Queensland cattle stations some fifty-five years ago. He worked on huge properties where the big mobs used to run and many of the people he met there had a larger-than-life quality. There was Dangerous Dan Smith, a hard, self-reliant man who wrote bush poetry; Father Peter, a gentle parish priest and occasional hero; and Charlie Gibson, an aboriginal stockman utterly at home in his own country. And then there was the landscape ? the plains and rivers and mountains ? that shaped the lives of them all.The Moonlight Stallion is Brian Taylor's second collection of reminiscences about a vanishing way of life in outback Australia ? about people, wild and working animals, and country. Readers of The Brumby Mare have been clamouring for more and new readers, whether from the bush or the city, will be moved to laughter and to tears by these heartfelt stories. A quintessential Australian bushman, Brian Taylor has spent most of his life on the land. Working as a drover, a stockman, a fencer, a shearer and a saddler, he has gathered a lifetime of stories over the years as he travelled way out past the Barcoo, along dusty plains and beside dry creek beds under the endless southern sky.Also available, together with The Brumby Mare, as the single volume A Swag Of Memories: Australian Bush Stories.
The Moral Lives of Israelis
by David BerlinThe Moral Lives of Israelis explores the last ten years of life in Israel, a sixty-one-year-old country that has never not been in a state of war. It began in David Berlin's head as he sat vigil over his father's deathbed in a falling-down hospital in Tel Aviv. The last words given to him by his father were not words of love for his son and his grandchildren, but this command: "Look after my little country." That note set off a huge voyage of exploration and remembrance for Berlin, who has spent much of the last six years living and reporting in Israel, interviewing his own generation and the new crop of politicians and leaders, and witnessing the Second Lebanon War, the removal of the settlers from Gaza, and other defining events.The result is a thrilling blend of memoir, reportage and original thinking on the place of Israel in the world. The fundamental question that floats over every page of this passionate book is, with so many missteps and in a region deeply fraught with antagonism, racism and misunderstanding, how can Israel move forward? After many dead ends and twists and turns, it is the nineteenth-century visionary father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, who ultimately sparks Berlin's dream for Israel in the twenty-first century- it is Herzl's insistence on a secular and cosmopolitan state that Berlin sees as a way to move beyond.Berlin's brave inquiry will be a must-read for anyone concerned with the fate of the Middle East- it engages on every level from the deeply emotional to the philosophical, and brings new perspective to a question that resonates well beyond the borders of Israel.
The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made
by Patricia O'Toole“O’Toole does full justice to Wilson’s complexities, but it is with the coming of the war that her narrative takes on something close to Shakespearean dimensions...scrupulously balanced...elegantly crafted.”—The Wall Street Journal “Enlightening...O’Toole has done students of American history a great service.”—National Review By the author of acclaimed biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Adams, a penetrating biography of one of the most high-minded, consequential, and controversial US presidents, Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). The Moralist is a cautionary tale about the perils of moral vanity and American overreach in foreign affairs.In domestic affairs, Wilson was a progressive who enjoyed unprecedented success in leveling the economic playing field, but he was behind the times on racial equality and women’s suffrage. As a Southern boy during the Civil War, he knew the ravages of war, and as president he refused to lead the country into World War I until he was convinced that Germany posed a direct threat to the United States. Once committed, he was an admirable commander-in-chief, yet he also presided over the harshest suppression of political dissent in American history. After the war Wilson became the world’s most ardent champion of liberal internationalism—a democratic new world order committed to peace, collective security, and free trade. With Wilson’s leadership, the governments at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 founded the League of Nations, a federation of the world’s democracies. The creation of the League, Wilson’s last great triumph, was quickly followed by two crushing blows: a paralyzing stroke and the rejection of the treaty that would have allowed the United States to join the League. After a backlash against internationalism in the 1920s and 1930s, Wilson’s liberal internationalism was revived by Franklin D. Roosevelt and it has shaped American foreign relations—for better and worse—ever since.
The More I Owe You
by Michael SledgeIn this mesmerizing debut novel, Michael Sledge creates an intimate portrait of the beloved poet Elizabeth Bishop -- of her life in Brazil and her relationship with her lover, the dazzling, aristocratic Lota de Macedo Soares. Sledge artfully draws from Bishop's lifelong correspondences and biography to imagine the poet's intensely private world, revealing the literary genius who lived in conflict with herself both as a writer and as a woman. A seemingly idyllic existence in Soares's glass house in the jungle gives way to the truth of Bishop's lifelong battle with alcoholism, as well as her eventual status as one of modernism's most prominent writers. Though connected to many of the most famous cultural and political figures of the era, Soares too is haunted by her own demons. As their secrets unfold, the sensuous landscape of Rio de Janeiro, the rhythms of the samba and the bossa nova, and the political turmoil of 1950s Brazil envelop Bishop in a world she never expected to inhabit. The More I Owe You is a vivid portrait of two brilliant women whose love for one another pushes them to accomplish enduring works of art.
The Morganza, 1967: Life in a Legendary Reform School
by David E. StuartFresh out of college, David Stuart put off graduate school to take a job close to his West Virginia home as a counselor at the Youth Development Center at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Known locally as the Morganza, the facility was founded in the nineteenth century as a farm for orphaned boys. By the 1960s, the Morganza had long been burdened with a sinister reputation when it was converted into a detention center for Allegheny County youth convicted of crimes ranging from petty theft to armed robbery, rape, and murder. Reporting for duty during the racially turbulent and riot-torn summer of 1967, Stuart describes the life of students and staff in what was, in reality, a youth prison camp. Confronted with the glaring shortcomings of the reform school's methods of rehabilitation, Stuart irritated the bureaucracy, advocating for detainees whose only crimes were a lack of education and belonging to the wrong race or economic class. He confronted an establishment that refused to distinguish between hardened criminals and those who would benefit from actual reform. In The Morganza, 1967 Stuart offers a brutally honest--at times touching--insider's view of a juvenile justice system that was badly in need of fixing.
The Morning Breaks
by Bettina ApthekerOn August 7, 1970, a revolt by Black prisoners in a Marin County courthouse stunned the nation. In its aftermath, Angela Davis, an African American activist-scholar who had campaigned vigorously for prisoners' rights, was placed on the FBI's "ten most wanted list. " Captured in New York City two months later, she was charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. Her trial, chronicled in this "compelling tale" (Publishers Weekly), brought strong public indictment. The Morning Breaks is a riveting firsthand account of Davis's ordeal and her ultimate triumph, written by an activist in the student, civil rights, and antiwar movements who was intimately involved in the struggle for her release. First published in 1975, and praised by The Nation for its "graphic narrative of [Davis's] legal and public fight," The Morning Breaks remains relevant today as the nation contends with the political fallout of the Sixties and the grim consequences of institutional racism. For this edition, Bettina Aptheker has provided an introduction that revisits crucial events of the late 1960s and early 1970s and puts Davis's case into the context of that time and our own--from the killings at Kent State and Jackson State to the politics of the prison system today. This book gives a first-hand account of the worldwide movement for Angela Davis's freedom and of her trial. It offers a unique historical perspective on the case and its continuing significance in the contemporary political landscape.
The Morse Code: Decoding the Career of Iconic Lighting Designer Peter Morse
by Vickie Claiborne Peter MorseThe Morse Code: Decoding the Career of Iconic Lighting Designer Peter Morse explores key developments and evolving techniques, processes, and technology within contemporary theatrical lighting design through the career and impact of US lighting designer Peter Morse.Peter Morse’s career as a lighting designer spans over 50 years. He has worked with most of entertainment’s biggest artists, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Prince, and many more. This book documents his firsthand perspective of how the entertainment industry has changed, and it features his unique perspective on how the evolution of the lighting industry resulted in an evolution of his design and practice. More than a simple biography, this book explores the history of contemporary lighting design through Peter’s eyes and experience, tracing the evolution of technology and trends, and how one designer’s creativity impacted an industry. Each chapter explores the work of a decade and is illustrated with personal interest stories from his collaborations with iconic artists and production photography.The Morse Code is a valuable resource for new and experienced lighting designers, students of lighting design, and those interested in the history of technical theatre.
The Mosby Myth: A Confederate Hero In Life And Legend
by Paul Ashdown Edward CaudillScholarly analysis of the life and legend of John S. Mosby, the Gray Ghost.
The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II
by Buzz BissingerAn extraordinary, untold story of the Second World War in the vein of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat, from the author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August. <p><p>When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for total war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve of 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war—the invasion of Okinawa—their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: Former All Americans, captains from Wisconsin and Brown and Notre Dame, and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL. <p><p>When the trash-talking between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided: The two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal. The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as “The Mosquito Bowl.” Within a matter of months, 15 of the 65 players in “The Mosquito Bowl” would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. <p><p>The Mosquito Bowl is the story of these brave and beautiful young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country, and of the loss of that innocence. <p><p>Writing with the style and rigor that won him a Pulitzer Prize and have made several of his books modern classics, Buzz Bissinger takes us from the playing fields of America’s campuses where boys played at being Marines, to the final time they were allowed to still be boys on that field of dirt and coral, to the darkest and deadliest days that followed at Okinawa. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Most Amazing Harvest: The Man Behind the Story
by Pam Bates Paula PattyThe heartwarming true story of a farmer’s unwavering faith in the face of a tragic prognosis—and how a community came together to help a neighbor in need.In the summer of 2015, Carl Bates and his wife Pam received the devastating news that he had metastatic cancer. The doctors have him just three months to live. As farmers in Galva, Illinois, they were dealing not only with the profound grief of Carl’s illness, but a serious practical concern: who would harvest the crops?Despite the crisis he faced, Carl never lost his faith in God. When word of his situation got out, a group of fellow farmers gathered organized to harvest Carl’s crops themselves. Someone observed that “a farmer can ask for no better crop than a bountiful harvest of friends.”The event was covered by the news and became a viral phenomenon. Now, in The Most Amazing Harvest, Pam Bates and Paula Patty tell the full story of the remarkable farmer who kept his faith, and the small town community whose selfless act of kindness was nothing short of a miracle.