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The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization
by Martin PuchnerThe story of how literature shaped world history, in sixteen acts—from Alexander the Great and the Iliad to Don Quixote and Harry PotterIn this groundbreaking book, Martin Puchner leads us on a remarkable journey through time and around the globe to reveal the powerful role stories and literature have played in creating the world we have today. Puchner introduces us to numerous visionaries as he explores sixteen foundational texts selected from more than four thousand years of world literature and reveals how writing has inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, the spark of philosophical and political ideas, and the birth of religious beliefs. Indeed, literature has touched the lives of generations and changed the course of history. At the heart of this book are works, some long-lost and rediscovered, that have shaped civilization: the first written masterpiece, the Epic of Gilgamesh; Ezra’s Hebrew Bible, created as scripture; the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus; and the first great novel in world literature, The Tale of Genji, written by a Japanese woman known as Murasaki. Visiting Baghdad, Puchner tells of Scheherazade and the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, and in the Americas we watch the astonishing survival of the Maya epic Popol Vuh. Cervantes, who invented the modern novel, battles pirates both real (when he is taken prisoner) and literary (when a fake sequel to Don Quixote is published). We learn of Benjamin Franklin’s pioneering work as a media entrepreneur, watch Goethe discover world literature in Sicily, and follow the rise in influence of The Communist Manifesto. We visit Troy, Pergamum, and China, and we speak with Nobel laureates Derek Walcott in the Caribbean and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, as well as the wordsmiths of the oral epic Sunjata in West Africa. Throughout The Written World, Puchner’s delightful narrative also chronicles the inventions—writing technologies, the printing press, the book itself—that have shaped religion, politics, commerce, people, and history. In a book that Elaine Scarry has praised as “unique and spellbinding,” Puchner shows how literature turned our planet into a written world.“Well worth a read, to find out how come we read.”—Margaret Atwood, via Twitter “A gripping intellectual odyssey.”—Publishers Weekly“An expansive, exuberant survey of the central importance of literature in human culture but also a great adventure story.”—Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve
The Wrong Dog Dream: A True Romance
by Jane VandenburghThe author calls this "a true romance," saying, it's the part of her personal history she, being superstitious, was almost afraid to write. She'd grown up accustomed to bad luck, but had - by accident or miracle - survived her own circumstances: being orphaned, her own misspent youth, the chaos of a broken marriage. She'd more than survived, she'd even triumphed and had awakened into a kind of charmed splendor to find herself living in a white marble city with storybook castles, knowing famous people, being invited to the White House to listen to her husband discuss Yeats with the President of the United States, as Bill Clinton drinks Diet Coke from the can.And into this fabled chapter of the writer's life comes the perfect dog, an English Springer Spaniel named Whistler who arrives not only the family pet, but as her private symbol of triumph over all that age-old sadness. She wants to ignore it but can't help but see that their perfect pup is something of a neurotic mess, snarling at manhole covers, barking at children, growling at people in wheelchairs. The writer herself is not seemingly done with the anxieties born of all that early trauma and loss, and she begins to worry obsessively about losing this difficult dog, the one they so love. Wrrrrnnnggdgggg! she begins to dream. Wrrrrrnnnnng dgggg!
The Wrong Dog: An Unlikely Tale of Unconditional Love
by David Elliot CohenA Heartwarming Dog Story of Unconditional Love“Part Marley and Me, part Bucket List, part travel memoir, Cohen’s book tells the story of Simba, a larger-than-life Labrador retriever whose physical size is matched only by his love of people.” ?Sara Hodon, Compulsive Reader2018 International Book Awards Winner#1 New Release in Southern US Travel GuidesFrom New York Times bestselling author David Elliot Cohen comes this unforgettable dog story of a cross-country road trip. The Wrong Dog is a heartwarming and hilarious memoir of a mischievous dog and the unconditional love he forges with the family who mistakenly adopts him.There are no bad dogs. Meet Simba II, a playful white Labrador puppy brought home by accident. As he grows into an enormous ninety-pound dog with a huge personality, Simba cements the bond between two families and enriches their lives in countless ways.A cross-country road trip to remember. When the family moves from San Francisco to New York, the author is charged with the ultimate animal rescue−bringing Simba to the family’s new home. He and his best friend, Erick, load Simba into the back of a station wagon and set out on a 3,300-mile once-in-a-lifetime road trip across America.An epic journey for dog lovers. With stops at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace; the Las Vegas Strip; Meteor Crater; the Painted Desert; Cadillac Ranch; Winslow, Arizona; Gallup, New Mexico; Graceland, and other all-American landmarks, this engaging and poignant volume chronicles an epic journey, the unconditional love between one dog and his family, and the vast and benevolent role dogs play in American family life. But most of all, The Wrong Dog shows us how the end of life can sometimes be the richest part of all.If you’re a dog lover who’s enjoyed books such as Arthur: The Dog who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home, A Dog Called Hope, or No Ordinary Dog, then you’ll love and laugh along with The Wrong Dog.
The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit in
by Ayser SalmanAn Immigrant Love-Hate Story of What it Means to Be American You know that feeling of being at the wrong end of the table? Like you’re at a party but all the good stuff is happening out of earshot (#FOMO)? That’s life—especially for an immigrant. What happens when a shy, awkward Arab girl with a weird name and an unfortunate propensity toward facial hair is uprooted from her comfortable (albeit fascist-regimed) homeland of Iraq and thrust into the cold, alien town of Columbus, Ohio—with its Egg McMuffins, Barbie dolls, and kids playing doctor everywhere you turned? This is Ayser Salman’s story. First comes Emigration, then Naturalization, and finally Assimilation—trying to fit in among her blonde-haired, blue-eyed counterparts, and always feeling left out. On her journey to Americanhood, Ayser sees more naked butts at pre-kindergarten daycare that she would like, breaks one of her parents’ rules (“Thou shalt not participate as an actor in the school musical where a male cast member rests his head in thy lap”), and other things good Muslim Arab girls are not supposed to do. And, after the 9/11 attacks, she experiences the isolation of being a Muslim in her own country. It takes hours of therapy, fifty-five rounds of electrolysis, and some ill-advised romantic dalliances for Ayser to grow into a modern Arab American woman who embraces her cultural differences. Part memoir and part how-not-to guide, The Wrong End of the Table is everything you wanted to know about Arabs but were afraid to ask, with chapters such as “Tattoos and Other National Security Risks,” “You Can’t Blame Everything on Your Period; Sometimes You’re Going to Be a Crazy Bitch: and Other Advice from Mom,” and even an open letter to Trump. This is the story of every American outsider on a path to find themselves in a country of beautiful diversity.
The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood
by Naomi McDougall JonesA brutally honest look at the systemic exclusion of women in film--an industry with massive cultural influence--and how, in response, women are making space in cinema for their voices to be heard.Generation after generation, women have faced the devastating reality that Hollywood is a system built to keep them out. The films created by that system influence everything from our worldviews to our brain chemistry. When women's voices are excluded from the medium, the impact on society is immense. Actor, screenwriter, and award-winning independent filmmaker Naomi McDougall Jones takes us inside the cutthroat, scandal-laden film industry, where only 5% of top studio films are directed by women and less than 20% of leading characters in mainstream films are female. Jones calls on all of us to act radically to build a different kind of future for cinema--not only for the women being actively hurt inside the industry but for those outside it, whose lives, purchasing decisions, and sense of selves are shaped by the stories told. Informed by the journey of her own career; by interviews with others throughout the film industry; and by cold, hard data, Jones deconstructs the casual, commonplace sexism rampant in Hollywood that has kept women out of key roles for decades. Next, she shows us the growing women-driven revolution in filmmaking--sparked by streaming services, crumbling distribution models, direct-to-audience access via innovative online platforms, and outside advocacy groups--which has enabled women to build careers outside the traditional studio system. Finally, she makes a business case for financing and producing films by female filmmakers.
The Wrong Knickers - A Decade of Chaos
by Bryony GordonBryony Gordon survived her adolescence by dreaming about the life she'd have in her twenties: the perfect job; the lovely flat; the amazing boyfriend. The reality was something of a shock. Her Telegraph column was a diary of her daily screw-ups; she lived in a series of squalid shoe boxes; and her most meaningful relationship of the entire decade was with a Marlboro Light. Here in the Sunday Times bestselling THE WRONG KNICKERS Bryony busts open the glamorized myth of what it means to be a young (perpetually) single girl about London town, and shares the horrible and hilarious truth. The truth about picking up a colleague at the STI clinic; sinking into debt to fund a varied diet of wine, crisps and vodka; and how it feels when your dream man turns out to be a one night stand who hands you someone else's knickers in the morning.Bryony's wonderfully ridiculous and ultimately redemptive story is essential reading for everyone whose 'best years' weren't quite what they were expecting...
The Wrong Knickers - A Decade of Chaos
by Bryony GordonBryony Gordon survived her adolescence by dreaming about the life she'd have in her twenties: the perfect job; the lovely flat; the amazing boyfriend. The reality was something of a shock. Her Telegraph column was a diary of her daily screw-ups; she lived in a series of squalid shoe boxes; and her most meaningful relationship of the entire decade was with a Marlboro Light. Here in the Sunday Times bestselling THE WRONG KNICKERS Bryony busts open the glamorized myth of what it means to be a young (perpetually) single girl about London town, and shares the horrible and hilarious truth. The truth about picking up a colleague at the STI clinic; sinking into debt to fund a varied diet of wine, crisps and vodka; and how it feels when your dream man turns out to be a one night stand who hands you someone else's knickers in the morning.Bryony's wonderfully ridiculous and ultimately redemptive story is essential reading for everyone whose 'best years' weren't quite what they were expecting...(P)2015 Headline Digital
The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case
by James NeffFinalist for the Edgar Award and one of Ann Rule's top five true-crime titles: The definitive account of the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder mystery"My God . . . I think they've killed Marilyn!" At 5:40 a.m. on July 4, 1954, the mayor of Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, received a frantic phone call from his neighbor Dr. Sam Sheppard. The news was too terrible to comprehend: Marilyn, Sam's lovely wife, was dead, her face and torso beaten beyond recognition by an unknown assailant who had knocked Sam unconscious and escaped just before dawn. In the adjacent bedroom, Chip, the Sheppards' seven-year-old son, had slept through the entire ordeal. Almost immediately, the police began to suspect Sam Sheppard. The local press rushed to cast judgment on the handsome, prosperous doctor. After a misguided investigation, Sheppard was arrested and charged with murder. Sentenced to life in prison, he served for nearly a decade before he was acquitted in a retrial. Until his death, he maintained his innocence. Culled from DNA evidence, testimony that was never heard in court, prison diaries, and interviews with the Sheppard family and other key players, The Wrong Man makes a convincing case for Sheppard's innocence and reveals the identity of the real killer. This ebook contains ten photographs not included in previous editions.
The Wrong Man: The Shooting of Steven Waldorf and the Hunt for David Martin
by Dick KirbyDavid Ralph Martin was a cross-dressing criminal who carried out a string of sophisticated offences in the 1970s and ’80s. A prolific burglar, car thief, fraudster and gunman, he possessed a deep loathing of anyone in authority. In addition, he was a master of disguise and a veritable Houdini when it came to escaping from prison. After shooting a policeman during a botched burglary, he escaped from court on Christmas Eve, 1982. When police believed him to be in a yellow Mini in the Earls Court area with his girlfriend, they opened fire, only to discover they had shot an entirely innocent man – a 26-year-old film editor named Steven Waldorf. The investigation became a cause célèbre at the time, and was subsequently taken over by Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad, of which the author was a member. One of the biggest manhunts in the history of the Metropolitan Police ensued, before Martin was finally arrested after dramatically fleeing down the tracks between two Underground stations. Author Dick Kirby reveals for the first time the inside story of the hunt for ‘the most dangerous man in London’, whose eventual arrest brought to an end one of the most contentious investigations in Met history.
The Wrong Stuff
by Bill Lee Richard LallyThe return of a sports classic with a new foreword by the author Finally back in print after many years, here is Bill Lee's classic tale of his renegade life on and off the mound. Whether walking out on the Montreal Expos to protest the release of a valued teammate or telling sportswriters eager for candid and offbeat comments more about the game than his bosses wanted anyone to know, pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee became celebrated as much for his rebellious personality as for his remarkable talent. Add to the mix his affinity for Eastern religions and controversial causes, and you can see why Lee infuriated the establishment while entertaining his legion of fans. In this wildly funny memoir that became a massive bestseller in the United States and Canada when it was first published, Lee recounts the colorful story of his life--from the drugged-out antics of his college days at USC (where he learned that "marijuana never hammered me like a good Camel") to his post-World Series travels with a group of liberal long-distance runners through Red China (where he discovered that conservatives don't like marathons because "it's much easier to climb into a Rolls-Royce"). Lee also describes his minor league days, joining the Reserves during the Vietnam War, his time with the Red Sox, and the 1975 World Series. He spares no detail while recalling his infamous falling-out with Red Sox management that led to his trade to Montreal. Full of irreverent wit, and an inherent love of the game, The Wrong Stuff is a sports classic for a new generation. From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Wrong Way to Save Your Life: Essays
by Megan StielstraPowerful, personal observations on fear and courage—that touch on art, faith, academia, the internet, and more—from &“a masterful essayist&” (Roxane Gay, New York Times–bestselling author of Hunger). In this poignant and thoughtful collection of literary essays, Megan Stielstra tells stories to ward off fears both personal and universal as she grapples toward a better way to live. In &“The Wrong Way to Save Your Life,&” she answers the question of what has value in our lives—a question no longer rhetorical when the apartment above her family&’s goes up in flames. &“Here is My Heart&” sheds light on Megan&’s close relationship with her father, whose continued insistence on climbing mountains despite a series of heart attacks leads the author to dissect deer hearts in a poetic attempt to interrogate her own feelings about mortality. Whether she&’s imagining the implications of open-carry laws on college campuses, recounting the story of going underwater on the mortgage of her first home, or revealing the unexpected pains and joys of marriage and motherhood, Stielstra&’s work informs, impels, enlightens, and embraces us all. The result is something beautiful—this story, her courage, and, potentially, our own. &“Sensitive and funny . . . She has a flair for nostalgia and for cultural criticism that is never pretentious.&” —Publishers Weekly &“When Megan Stielstra writes you can actually feel her beautiful heart pumping blood through every sentence.&” —Samantha Irby, New York Times–bestselling author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life &“A life-enriching collection of essays.&” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) &“Reading this book is like listening to stories from a wise, compassionate, and irrepressibly funny friend.&” —Esme Weijun Wang, award-winning author of The Border of Paradise
The Wrongly Executed Airman: The RAF's Darkest Hour
by Alan StrachanUtilizing forensic evidence that was ignored by the police, and documents that have never before been released to the public, Alan Strachan has produced the horrific account of a man who was wrongfully executed for rape and murder -- even though it is quite possible that there was neither a rape nor a murder. Both were capital crimes in Canada in 1942 and the accused was British -- a 21-year-old Royal Air Force sergeant whose wife and one-year-old daughter remained in Peterborough when he was sent to New Brunswick to help train Canadians for the war effort. As soon as the trial ended, records were sealed, and anyone interested in documenting the proceedings was told that the transcript would not become available until 2042. But Strachan pursued the matter in 2015 and became the first in more than fifty years to be given full access to that transcript. He then acquired an original copy of the preliminary-hearing transcript, believed to be the only one in existence. Because freedom-of-information laws have been revised since 1942, he was also able to access the original Royal Canadian Mounted Police internal correspondence as well as the diplomatic communications between Canadian and English bureaucrats. Those letters and telegrams document the dereliction of duty by those in power: a Canadian justice minister who went on to become the nation’s prime minister; an ambassador who became governor-general; a member of the British royal family; and, of course, high-ranking RCMP officers. The only truly innocent person in this saga is the one who was executed.
The Wu-Tang Manual
by The RZA Chris NorrisThe Wu-Tang Manual is The RZA&’s first written introduction to the philosophy and history of Hip-Hop&’s original Dynasty, the Wu-Tang Clan.Written in a style that is at once personal and philosophical, The Wu-Tang Manual unravels the intricate web of personalities (and alter egos), warrior codes, numerological systems, and Eastern spiritual ethics that define the Wu-Tang dynasty. Packed with information that reflects the breadth and depth of the RZA&’s — and rest of the Clan&’s — intellectual interests and passions, The Wu-Tang Manual is divided into four books of nine chambers each, for a total of 36 chambers. All together, the book provides the breakdown of essential Wu-Tang components, from basic information about each of the nine core members of Wu-Tang Clan to deeper explorations of the key themes of the Wu-Tang universe, a dictionary-like Wu-Slang lexicon, and an entire section of Wu-Tang lyrics with densely annotated explanations of what they mean. For the hardcore Wu-Tang disciple and the recent initiate alike, The Wu-Tang Manual is the definitive guide to the essence of Wu, one of the most innovative hip-hop groups of all time.The RZA's most recent book, The Tao of Wu, is also available from Riverhead Books.
The X Club: Power and Authority in Victorian Science
by Ruth BartonIn 1864, amid headline-grabbing heresy trials, members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science were asked to sign a declaration affirming that science and scripture were in agreement. Many criticized the new test of orthodoxy; nine decided that collaborative action was required. The X Club tells their story. These six ambitious professionals and three wealthy amateurs—J. D. Hooker, T. H. Huxley, John Tyndall, John Lubbock, William Spottiswoode, Edward Frankland, George Busk, T. A. Hirst, and Herbert Spencer—wanted to guide the development of science and public opinion on issues where science impinged on daily life, religious belief, and politics. They formed a private dining club, which they named the X Club, to discuss and further their plans. As Ruth Barton shows, they had a clear objective: they wanted to promote “scientific habits of mind,” which they sought to do through lectures, journalism, and science education. They devoted enormous effort to the expansion of science education, with real, but mixed, success. For twenty years, the X Club was the most powerful network in Victorian science—the men succeeded each other in the presidency of the Royal Society for a dozen years. Barton’s group biography traces the roots of their success and the lasting effects of their championing of science against those who attempted to limit or control it, along the way shedding light on the social organization of science, the interactions of science and the state, and the places of science and scientific men in elite culture in the Victorian era.
The Xanue: Befriending the Bigfoot Forrest People
by Matthew JohnsonIn his first book, Bigfoot: A Fifty-Year Journey Come Full Circle, Dr. Matthew A. Johnson shared how he was able to learn how to interact with the Bigfoot Forest People (AKA, the Xanue). He also shared how he helped them, with the assistance of his wife, Cynthia, and also Mike Kincaid, Steve Bachmann, and Grady Johnson, to bring their remaining family and friends through the portal from their dying home world to the Earth via the EXODUS. In this book, The Xanue: Befriending The Bigfoot Forest People, Dr. Johnson shares about who the Xanue are, where they're from, and why they're here. He discusses their history and how and why the Xanue Council of Twelve selected him as their Ambassador (“The 13”). Then Zorth, the head of the Xanue Council of 12, answers 400 questions submitted to him via 125 people. Finally, all of the above is corroborated by 30 mind-blowing eyewitnes's testimonials from people from all walks of life who live in the USA, Canada, and England. Dr. Matthew and Cynthia Johnson have helped hundreds of people connect with the Xanue via their books, seminars, videos, conferences, and summer camps. In addition to learning more about the Xanue via reading this book, you may also be interested in attending Dr. Matthew and Cynthia Johnson's annual Xanue University Conference which is hosted in Centrailia, Washington. You may also be interested in attending their summer Camp Xanue “Night Sit and Sleep Over” weekend events hosted at their home during the months of June, July, and/or August. Finally, to learn more about the Xanue, simply go to their website: Xanue.Com.
The Yale Indian: The Education of Henry Roe Cloud
by Joel PfisterHonored in his own time as one of the most prominent Indian public intellectuals, Henry Roe Cloud (c. 1884-1950) fought to open higher education to Indians. Joel Pfister's extensive archival research establishes the historical significance of key chapters in the Winnebago's remarkable life. Roe Cloud was the first Indian to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees from Yale University, where he was elected to the prestigious and intellectual Elihu Club. Pfister compares Roe Cloud's experience to that of other "college Indians" and also to African Americans such as W. E. B. Du Bois. Roe Cloud helped launch the Society of American Indians, graduated from Auburn seminary, founded a preparatory school for Indians, and served as the first Indian superintendent of the Haskell Institute (forerunner of Haskell Indian Nations University). He also worked under John Collier at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where he was a catalyst for the Indian New Deal. Roe Cloud's white-collar activism was entwined with the Progressive Era formation of an Indian professional and managerial class, a Native "talented tenth," whose members strategically used their contingent entry into arenas of white social, intellectual, and political power on behalf of Indians without such access. His Yale training provided a cross-cultural education in class-structured emotions and individuality. While at Yale, Roe Cloud was informally adopted by a white missionary couple. Through them he was schooled in upper-middle-class sentimentality and incentives. He also learned how interracial romance could jeopardize Indian acceptance into their class. Roe Cloud expanded the range of what modern Indians could aspire to and achieve.
The Yangtze Valley and Beyond: An Account of Journeys in China, Chiefly in the Province of Sze Chuan and Among the Man-Tze of the Somo Territory
by Isabella Lucy BirdIsabella Bird was one of the greatest travelers and travel writers of all time, and this is her last major book, a sympathetic look at inland China and beyond into Tibet at the end of the 19th century. In describing the journey, Isabella provides a rich mix of observations and describes two occasions when she is almost killed by anti-foreign mobs. It many ways, Isabella created the model for travel writing today, and this one of her greatest works.
The Yankee Way: Playing, Coaching, and My Life in Baseball
by Willie RandolphLegendary New York Yankee Willie Randolph tells the story of his life playing and coaching for the most storied professional sports franchise in the world, detailing his career on and off the field with some of baseball biggest stars.In his long-awaited memoir, Willie Randolph shares stories from life in New York Yankee pinstripes, opening up about the team that raised him and the city that molded him.For over thirty years, Randolph has been a part of Yankee lore and mythology. From the best seat in the stadium he has witnessed the greats, from Reggie Jackson to Don Mattingly to Derek Jeter; larger-than-life managers, including Billy Martin and Joe Torre; and of course The Boss himself. Randolph offers truly unique, firsthand insight into some of the greatest players to ever play the game and the greatest teams ever to call the Bronx their home.But though Randolph is a Yankee, he is first and foremost a quintessential New Yorker. Brooklyn born and raised, he shares memories of his rise from the projects to the house that Ruth built. Along the way he discusses, his triumphs and struggles on the field and in the dugout, as well as his time spent as manager of the Yankees’ crosstown rivals, the Mets.As fascinating and thoughtful as Randolph himself, filled with sixteen pages of black-and-white photos, The Yankee Way is a moving portrait of a legendary team, a unique city, and a remarkable man. With 16 pages of black & white photos.
The Yankee Way: The Untold Inside Story of the Brian Cashman Era
by Andy MartinoWith rare access to the inner sanctum of the New York Yankees, SNY analyst Andy Martino weaves two years of exclusive interviews with general manager Brian Cashman into a revelatory account of never-before-told stories about Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge, Alex Rodriguez, the complex front office, team ownership, and insights into the World Series wins and day-to-day running of the team that fans never get to see.When Brian Cashman arrived in the Bronx as an intern in 1986, he discovered a team in chaos, run on impulse and emotion and lacking the sheen that had defined the Yankees in earlier eras. Decades later, Cashman had risen through the ranks of the front office, earned the trust of the Steinbrenner family, and become the longest-serving GM in the Yankees&’ storied history, helping to transform the Yankees to glory with a string of World Series championships and an unmatched streak of winning seasons. With unprecedented inside access and featuring exclusive interviews with Cashman, owner Hal Steinbrenner, top front-office executives, current Yankee stars and coaches, award-winning baseball journalist Andy Martino gives fans a view from the GM&’s seat that we would never normally see. From Cashman&’s battles with inscrutable team captain Derek Jeter, to tensions between Jeter and A-Rod, to Cashman&’s struggles with beloved manager Joe Torre. This book explores the management of egos on the field and in the front office, as well as the evolution of the manager position over generations and into the analytics era. Packed with drama and intrigue, this is the definitive inside account of the most intriguing and storied franchise in Major League Baseball.
The Yankee Years
by Joe Torre Tom VerducciWritten as a third-person narrative with "Sports Illustrated" senior baseball writer Tom Verducci, "The Yankee Years" is a thoughtful, utterly honest, and gripping behind-the-scenes look at the Yankees' organization from Joe Torre, the most successful--and most respected--baseball manager of the modern era.
The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Football
by R. K. RussellIn 2019, Russell, or "Russ," as his friends and family call him, broke the mold when he came out as bisexual and reclaimed his life and his identity as an athlete in an essay and exclusive interview for ESPN. Now, in his powerful memoir, The Yards Between Us, he shares his full story and explores his love of football, his attraction to both men and women, the devastating challenge of keeping his sexuality secret, the tension between his private and public lives, and the importance of crashing through barriers. Russell dips back in time to Buffalo, New York, the tragic loss of his stepfather, his early life as a shy kid struggling with the expectations on a Black boy, his move to conservative Dallas, the pull between his quiet nature and his athletic ability, and an uncertain adolescence in which his love for the game meant he had to hide things about himself. From being bullied to fighting back, his first kiss and middle school love, his first moment understanding his own physical talent, the moment he truly fell in love with football after his mom brought him to his first NFL game, college at Purdue, being drafted by his hometown team, and then on to seasons with he Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, The Yards Between Us traces the highs and lows of Russell's life and career. Over time, the secret of his sexuality weighed heavier and heavier. Finally, he had a deep understanding that it was time to make a change. In Los Angeles, Russell fell in love, and it was the final push he needed to stand up for all the different parts of who he is--a professional athlete, a writer, a son, a friend, a lover, a bisexual Black man. In the years since his coming out, Russell has become an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights by working with the NFL, HRC (Human Rights Campaign), and GLAAD. R. K. Russell's memoir shows us the power, the love, and the life-changing force of embracing who you are--and fighting to make space so others can do the same. R. K. RUSSELL is a former professional football player in the NFL, a social justice advocate, a published poet, an essayist, and an artist. A decorated defensive end who has played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has sacked Hall of Famers and gone up against the fiercest competitors at the height of their game. Since coming out, he has written about his experience as a Black queer man in sports for the New York Times, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times, and Out magazine, among others. He was included in the prestigious Out100 List in 2019. He lives in Los Angeles.
The Yarn Whisperer: My Unexpected Life in Knitting
by Clara Parkes“In this charming series of linked essays,” the renowned knitter and author explores the meaning and importance of knitting in her life (Vogue Knitting).In The Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parkes offers reflections and stories from a lifetime of knitting through twenty-two captivating, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny essays. Recounting tales of childhood and adulthood, family, friends, adventure, privacy, disappointment, love, and celebration, Parkes hits upon the universal truths that drive knitters to create. With surprising insight and wry humor, she draws clever parallels between life’s twists and turns what knitters see on their needles. Stockinette, ribbing, cables, even the humble yarn over can instantly evoke places, times, people, conversations, all those poignant moments that we’ve tucked away in our memory banks. Over time, those stitches form a map of our lives (From the preface).
The Year Before the Flood: A Story of New Orleans
by Ned SubletteWith a style the Los Angeles Times calls as "vivid and fast-moving as the music he loves," Ned Sublette's powerful new book drives the reader through the potholed, sinking streets of the United States's least-typical city.In this eagerly awaited follow-up to The World That Made New Orleans, Sublette's award-winning history of the Crescent City's colonial years, he traces an arc of his own experience, from the white supremacy of segregated 1950s Louisiana through the funky year of 2004–2005--the last year New Orleans was whole. By turns irreverent, joyous, darkly comic, passionate, and polemical, The Year Before the Flood juxtaposes the city's crowded calendar of parties, festivals, and parades with the murderousness of its poverty and its legacy of racism. Along the way, Sublette opens up windows of American history that illuminate the present: the trajectory of Mardi Gras from pre–Civil War days, the falsification of Southern history in movies, the city's importance to early rock and roll, the complicated story of its housing projects, the uniqueness of its hip-hop scene, and the celebratory magnificence of the participatory parades known as second lines. With a grand, unforgettable cast of musicians and barkeeps, scholars and thugs, vibrating with the sheer excitement of New Orleans, The Year Before the Flood is an affirmation of the power of the city's culture and a heartbreaking tale of loss that definitively establishes Ned Sublette as a great American writer for the 21st century.
The Year Is a Circle: A Celebration of Henry David Thoreau
by Victor Carl FriesenHenry David Thoreau is remembered as a foremost nature writer. He was an ecologist before the term was invented. A man of many parts, including social critic, he is known to have had an influence on such internationally recognized leaders as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. "Victor Carl Friesen, author of The Spirit of the Huckleberry, an astute analysis of Henry David Thoreau’s prose, again demonstrates his affinity for the Walden sage with this unique volume of poems and photographs. Taking a series of quotations demonstrating Thoreau’s sensuousness, he writes a poem for each and then illustrates them with outstanding colour photographs. The poems, mostly written in the blank verse form, have sturdy strength and remarkable insight into both Thoreau and nature."- Walter Harding, Founding Secretary, The Thoreau Society Inc., State University of New York, Genesco "Friesen is particularly qualified as a Thoreau scholar, for his personal interests extend well beyond literature to include natural history, a subject very much at the centre of Thoreau’s writings."- Canadian Book Review Annual
The Year My Family Unravelled
by Cynthia DearbornCynthia Dearborn is struggling to convince her father, who has vascular dementia, to move into an aged care facility. He won't budge. Further complicating matters is the fact that Cynthia lives in Sydney, and her father in Seattle. Truth be told, it suits her to live halfway around the world from her family.Cynthia's attempts to get her father and stepmother into care, and to protect them from themselves and each other, drive this compelling memoir. But braided in is a deeply moving and surprising backstory about Cynthia's tumultuous childhood and the difficult relationships she had with both parents.The Year My Family Unravelled continues to surprise right to the last page. Despite heavy subject matter - mental decline, illness, abuse, death - this is a memoir of buoyancy and hope. Ultimately, it is a story about redemption, self-worth, and the tangled and often contradictory impulses of love.