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Darfur Allegory
by Rogaia Mustafa AbusarafThe Darfur conflict exploded in early 2003 when two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, struck national military installations in Darfur to send a hard-hitting message of resentment over the region’s political and economic marginalization. The conflict devastated the region’s economy, shredded its fragile social fabric, and drove millions of people from their homes. Darfur Allegory is a dispatch from the humanitarian crisis that explains the historical and ethnographic background to competing narratives that have informed international responses. At the heart of the book is Sudanese anthropologist Rogaia Abusharaf’s critique of the pseudoscientific notions of race and ethnicity that posit divisions between “Arab” northerners and “African” Darfuris. Elaborated in colonial times and enshrined in policy afterwards, such binary categories have been adopted by the media to explain the civil war in Darfur. The narratives that circulate internationally are thus highly fraught and cover over—to counterproductive effect—forms of Darfurian activism that have emerged in the conflict’s wake. Darfur Allegory marries the analytical precision of a committed anthropologist with an insider’s view of Sudanese politics at home and in the diaspora, laying bare the power of words to heal or perpetuate civil conflict.
The Damnation of Theron Ware: Or, Illumination (Belt Revivals)
by Harold FredericThis nineteenth-century classic about the fall of a Methodist minister is &“of great interest both as a novel and as a double-barrelled social document&” (Manchester Guardian).The Damnation of Theron Ware is the story of a young pastor who comes to a small town in the Adirondacks to spread the gospel. Once he gets there, his congregation slowly leads him down a path of secular enlightenment, encouraging him to question the very same scripture he has devoted his life to. Through new friends, he has encounters beautiful art and music and gains new insights into the world of Darwinian science. But when he finds himself carried away by these fresh new experiences, where they lead him is not at all what he expected. A forerunner of the classic naturalistic novels of the early twentieth century, Harold Frederic&’s work is considered one of the great American novels of his time. &“Containing the realism of Howells, the moral complexity of James, and the comic manner of Mark Twain, the novel—a finer book, incidentally, than Lewis&’s Elmer Gantry—warrants reading.&” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch &“The combination of delicate mannerliness and merciless savagery with which Frederic sets about abasing Theron is not easy to describe; but, if one could make the admittedly prodigious effort of imagining an Emma written from the point of view of Mr. Elton by an ebullient exile from Utica, New York . . . some idea of its shocking comprehensivity might be grasped.&” —Times Literary Supplement
Ambivalence, a Love Story: Portrait of a Marriage
by John DonatichAmbivalence, a Love Story is a deeply nuanced accounting in which two people come together to make a marriage work. Rarely has marriage and its compromises been so intimately portrayed, especially when tested by depression, unemployment, miscarriage and other realities of contemporary life. Whether inside the sterile out-placement offices for reengineered executives or traipsing through the suburban homes and competing lifestyles with perky realtors, Donatich muses on life's transitions with rare candor and insight. Ambivalence traces the inner life of a man coming into adulthood: on being first generation, on interfaith marriage, on playing the accordion and ultimately on the question of whether we are better off solitary or coupled. But at heart, it is a tender -- if circumspect -- love story. An astonishing middle-aged debut.
Eight Weeks in Washington, 1861: Abraham Lincoln and the Hazards of Transition
by Richard J. TofelA close look at the first eight weeks after Abraham Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861, reveals a time when the fate of the nation's capital, certainly of the Lincoln Administration, and perhaps of the nation itself, seemed very much in doubt.This is a story of a president uncertain and sometimes amateurish, of a man not yet fully recognized as a legitimate leader, of an executive anxious to the point of illness, of a beleaguered figure, occasionally despairing, but also starting to find his footing. Lincoln himself soon remembered it as the most troubled and anxious time of his life, one that might actually have threatened his physical survival. In a sense, it is a story of Abraham Lincoln the human being beginning to become the Abraham Lincoln we now recall.
3 Fat Chicks on a Diet: Because We're All In It Together
by Suzanne Barnett Jennifer Barnett Amy Barnett Bev WestFilled with the sassy attitude and sage advice of three lovable sisters from the South who have been fighting the battle of the bulge for most of their lives, 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet tells everyone who has ever wanted to lose a few pounds how to find dieting success. Because every dieter will try most of the popular diets at some point in a weight-loss struggle, the sisters give you the real scoop—as well as anecdotes and wisdom from scores of their online community of women—on the favorites, from South Beach to the Mediterranean Diet, Atkins to the Zone, and celebrity-driven weight-loss programs to Ediets. You'll get so much more than just coffee-klatch gossip:* The pros and cons of each diet* Guilt-free ways to snack and still stay with the program* Straight talk for making the diets work for every meal of the day* Menu suggestions when dining out* Delicious recipes to try at home* And much more!Best of all, the book offers a fool-proof support system of love and encouragement from women just like you who are trying to win the war with their waistlines.Just when you think you're bogged down by calorie counting, the 3 Fat Chicks diet community takes you on a humorous romp through their battles with everything from slimming slippers and fat-away soap to cabbage soup and grapefruit diets. Get the real-world facts that you need to embark on your personal journey to change your weight and your life.
Girls in the Grass: Stories
by Melanie Rae ThonWinner of a 1997 Whiting Writers' Award One of Granta's "Best Young American Novelists"Ranging across a uniquely American landscape, from rural Idaho and suburban Arizona to downtown Boston, the eleven stories in Melanie Rae Thon's eagerly awaited reissued collection, Girls in the Grass, explore with painful lyricism the harsh awakenings of adolescence: eroticism and hypocrisy, love and violence, responsibility and guilt, adult inconstancy and the random cruelty of life and death.
Indiana Winter
by Susan Neville"Neville's observations on inner and outer worlds deserve a large readership." —Studies in Short Fiction"Blending fictional and reportorial technique, Ms. Neville unwinds a tapestry of the Indiana seasons . . . in scene after remarkable scene she succeeds in disturbing and undermining one's calm. . . . moving . . . " —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times" . . . shrewedly perceptive studies of the poetics of place . . . Neville pierces the heart of this 'heart of the country,' unloosing disquieting images and poignant scenes that cling to your memory." —Belles Lettres"If there is darkness in this vision there is also compassion, a lucid and inclusive civility born of remembering how fragile are the houses of our lives." —Arts Indiana"A collection of essays, works of fiction and blends of those two genres, Indiana Winter is a poetic and disturbing interpretation of phenomena familiar to most of Neville's fellow Hoosiers—so familiar, in fact, that we may not really see them. . . . As a plunge into the blackness and glare of the examined life, Indiana Winter is a testament to courage." —Dan Carpenter, Indianapolis Star"These stories and essays are filled with great emotion and affection for the people and the land we've come to know as the Hoosier state." —Minneapolis Star Tribune" . . . a book that is firmly and honestly rooted in region, yet finds in its careful and lyrical examination of Indiana's people and places truths that move the prose pieces away from simple regionalism." —Sycamore ReviewA sensitive writer's imaginative essay-stories about spiritual boundaries and values in the state of Indiana and everywhere.
The Saberdene Variations
by Thomas GiffordA powerful lawyer&’s most famous opponent comes back to kill himOn his first day at Harvard, working-class student Charlie Nichols is instantly charmed by the debonair rake Victor Saberdene. While Nichols earns tuition playing football, Saberdene&’s wealth and charm rocket him to the top of Harvard&’s impenetrable social pyramid and beyond—to become the most feared defense lawyer in the country, a man who uses his charisma to manipulate juries. Nichols becomes an international crime reporter. He hasn&’t thought of his old friend Saberdene in years when he reads of the Anna Thorne killing. A beautiful young Massachusetts stagehand disappears after a fling with the handsome, dangerous Carl Varada—who might have escaped had Anna not been Saberdene&’s sister-in-law. Saberdene puts Varada behind bars, but years later the killer earns early release. When Varada sets his sights on the great lawyer&’s family, no amount of charisma can stop him.
The Sex Education Debates
by Nancy KendallEducating children and adolescents in public schools about sex is a deeply inflammatory act in the United States. Since the 1980s, intense political and cultural battles have been waged between believers in abstinence until marriage and advocates for comprehensive sex education. In The Sex Education Debates, Nancy Kendall upends conventional thinking about these battles by bringing the school and community realities of sex education to life through the diverse voices of students, teachers, administrators, and activists. Drawing on ethnographic research in five states, Kendall reveals important differences and surprising commonalities shared by purported antagonists in the sex education wars, and she illuminates the unintended consequences these protracted battles have, especially on teachers and students. Showing that the lessons that most students, teachers, and parents take away from these battles are antithetical to the long-term health of American democracy, she argues for shifting the measure of sex education success away from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates. Instead, she argues, the debates should focus on a broader set of social and democratic consequences, such as what students learn about themselves as sexual beings and civic actors, and how sex education programming affects school-community relations.
The Improbability of Othello: Rhetorical Anthropology and Shakespearean Selfhood
by Joel B. AltmanShakespeare’s dramatis personae exist in a world of supposition, struggling to connect knowledge that cannot be had, judgments that must be made, and actions that need to be taken. For them, probability—what they and others might be persuaded to believe—governs human affairs, not certainty. Yet negotiating the space of probability is fraught with difficulty. Here, Joel B. Altman explores the problematics of probability and the psychology of persuasion in Renaissance rhetoric and Shakespeare’s theater.Focusing on the Tragedy of Othello, Altman investigates Shakespeare’s representation of the self as a specific realization of tensions pervading the rhetorical culture in which he was educated and practiced his craft. In Altman’s account, Shakespeare also restrains and energizes his audiences’ probabilizing capacities, alternately playing the skeptical critic and dramaturgic trickster. A monumental work of scholarship by one of America’s most respected scholars of Renaissance literature, The Improbability of Othello contributes fresh ideas to our understanding of Shakespeare’s conception of the self, his shaping of audience response, and the relationship of actors to his texts.
Life at These Speeds: A Novel
by Jeremy JacksonThe Sweet Hereafter meets Chariots of Fire in Life at These Speeds, the touching first novel from Jeremy Jackson about tragedy and healing. The basis for the major motion picture 1 Mile to You. "Refreshing...Reminds us that whether we run, play football, sing or write, we need to find the joy in what we do."—Chicago Sun-Times In eighth grade Kevin Schuler is a popular kid with a decent, if not stellar, record on the track. Yet after fate takes him off a bus that crashes and kills his fellow students, including his girlfriend, Kevin inexplicably becomes a track phenomenon. Separated from his memory and distanced from his own life, he effortlessly smashes records and gains national attention, until he finds that he can no more remain apart from himself than he can from the ground beneath his feet.
Germans against Germans: The Fate of the Jews, 1938–1945 (Olamot Series in Humanities and Social Sciences)
by Moshe ZimmermannAmong the many narratives about the atrocities committed against Jews in the Holocaust, the story about the Jews who lived in the eye of the storm—the German Jews—has received little attention. Germans against Germans: The Fate of the Jews, 1938–1945, tells this story—how Germans declared war against other Germans, that is, against German Jews. Author Moshe Zimmermann explores questions of what made such a war possible? How could such a radical process of exclusion take place in a highly civilized, modern society? What were the societal mechanisms that paved the way for legal discrimination, isolation, deportation, and eventual extermination of the individuals who were previously part and parcel of German society? Germans against Germans demonstrates how the combination of antisemitism, racism, bureaucracy, cynicism, and imposed collaboration culminated in "the final solution."
Heart of Deception: A Novel
by M.L. MalcolmFrom M. L. Malcolm, the acclaimed author of Heart of Lies, comes a powerful sequel that spans the years from World War II to the turbulent 1960s—the riveting story of a family struggling with choices forced upon them by war . . . and the consequences that will take a generation to unfold.Aman of many contradictions, Leo Hoffman is a Hungarian national with a French passport, a wealthy businessman with no visible means of support, and a devoted father who hasn't seen his daughter in years. He is also a spy.Recruited by the Allies to help lay the groundwork for their invasion of North Africa, Leo intends to engage in as little espionage as possible—just enough to earn his American citizenship so he can get to New York and reunite with his daughter, Maddy. But while Leo dodges death in France and Morocco, Maddy is learning shocking truths about her father's mysterious past—haunting knowledge that will compel her down her own dangerous path of deception and discovery.
The Akron Anthology (Belt City Anthologies)
by Jason Segedy Joanna Richards David GiffelsAn evocative collection of essays, poetry, photography and more from some of Akron, Ohio&’s best authors, artists, and activists. Between 1910 and 1920, Akron, Ohio, tripled in size, making it the fastest growing city in the United States. Its period of rapid growth coincided with the expansion of the rubber and tire industry, which in turn corresponded with the automobile boom. But since the mid-1970s, industry has abandoned Akron, and the city has lost thirty-one percent of its population. Once-opulent neighborhoods are now swaths of abandoned homes, and the factories that made Akron the Rubber Capital of the World lie dormant. Edited by Jason Segedy, and bringing together established writers like Rita Dove and David Giffels with the work of emerging voices, The Akron Anthology collects essays, poems, and photographs from the writers, artists, and activists who call Akron home. Here you&’ll find stories that include: The diaries of a doorman The trials and triumphs of refugees who have relocated to the city A portrait of Jamie Stillman, world-renowned effects pedal manufacturer Archie the talking snowman.
The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne, Volume 4.2: The Songs and Sonets (The\variorum Edition Of The Poetry Of John Donne Ser.)
by John DonneThis volume, the ninth in the series of The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne, presents newly edited critical texts of 25 love lyrics. Based on an exhaustive study of the manuscripts and printed editions in which these poems have appeared, Volume 4.2 details the genealogical history of each poem, accompanied by a thorough prose discussion, as well as a General Textual Introduction of the Songs and Sonets collectively. The volume also presents a comprehensive digest of the commentary on these Songs and Sonets from Donne's time through 1999. Arranged chronologically within sections, the material for each poem is organized under various headings that complement the volume's companions, Volume 4.1 and Volume 4.3.
Urban Blues
by Charles KeilCharles Keil examines the expressive role of blues bands and performers and stresses the intense interaction between performer and audience. Profiling bluesmen Bobby Bland and B. B. King, Keil argues that they are symbols for the black community, embodying important attitudes and roles—success, strong egos, and close ties to the community. While writing Urban Blues in the mid-1960s, Keil optimistically saw this cultural expression as contributing to the rising tide of raised political consciousness in Afro-America. His new Afterword examines black music in the context of capitalism and black culture in the context of worldwide trends toward diversification. "Enlightening. . . . [Keil] has given a provocative indication of the role of the blues singer as a focal point of ghetto community expression."—John S. Wilson, New York Times Book Review"A terribly valuable book and a powerful one. . . . Keil is an original thinker and . . . has offered us a major breakthrough."—Studs Terkel, Chicago Tribune "[Urban Blues] expresses authentic concern for people who are coming to realize that their past was . . . the source of meaningful cultural values."—Atlantic "An achievement of the first magnitude. . . . He opens our eyes and introduces a world of amazingly complex musical happening."—Robert Farris Thompson, Ethnomusicology "[Keil's] vigorous, aggressive scholarship, lucid style and sparkling analysis stimulate the challenge. Valuable insights come from treating urban blues as artistic communication."—James A. Bonar, Boston Herald
The Origin of Higher Taxa: Palaeobiological, Developmental, and Ecological Perspectives
by T.S. KempIn the grand sweep of evolution, the origin of radically new kinds of organisms in the fossil record is the result of a relatively simple process: natural selection marching through the ages. Or is it? Does Darwinian evolution acting over a sufficiently long period of time really offer a complete explanation, or are unusual genetic events and particular environmental and ecological circumstances also involved? With The Origin of Higher Taxa, Tom Kemp sifts through the layers of paleobiological, genetic, and ecological evidence on a quest to answer this essential, game-changing question of biology. Looking beyond the microevolutionary force of Darwinian natural selection, Kemp enters the realm of macroevolution, or evolution above the species level. From the origin of mammals to the radiation of flowering plants, these large-scale patterns—such as the rise of novel organismal design, adaptive radiations, and lineage extinctions—encompass the most significant trends and transformations in evolution. As macroevolution cannot be studied by direct observation and experiment, scientists have to rely on the outcome of evolution as evidence for the processes at work, in the form of patterns of species appearances and extinctions in a spotty fossil record, and through the nature of species extant today. Marshalling a wealth of new fossil and molecular evidence and increasingly sophisticated techniques for their study, Kemp here offers a timely and original reinterpretation of how higher taxa such as arthropods, mollusks, mammals, birds, and whales evolved—a bold new take on the history of life.
Who's on First?: New and Selected Poems (Phoenix Poets)
by Lloyd SchwartzNew and selected poems by renowned poet Lloyd Schwartz. For more than four decades, readers and critics have found Lloyd Schwartz’s poems unlike anyone else’s—a rare combination of the heartbreaking and the hilarious. With his ear for the poetry of the vernacular, Schwartz offers us a memorable cast of characters—both real and imagined, foolish and oracular. Readers experience his mother’s piercing flashes of memory, the perverse comic wisdom of Gracie Allen, the uninhibited yet loving exhibitionists of antique pornography, and eager travelers crossing America in a club-car or waiting in a Brazilian airport. Schwartz listens to these people without judging—understanding that they are all trying to live their lives, whenever possible, with tenderness, humor, and grace.Who’s on First? brings together a selection of poems from all of Schwartz’s previous collections along with eagerly awaited new poems, highlighting his formal inventiveness in tangling and untangling the yarn of comedy and pathos. Underlying all of these poems is the question of what it takes and what it costs to make art.
It Takes a School: The Extraordinary Story That Is Changing a Nation
by Jonathan StarrA story of David and Goliath proportions, how an American hedge fund manager created a unique school in Somaliland whose students, against all odds, have come to achieve success beyond anyone’s wildest dreamsJonathan Starr, once a cutthroat hedge fund manager, is not your traditional do-gooder, and in 2009, when he decided to found Abaarso, a secondary school in Somaliland, the choice seemed crazy to even his closest friends. “Why,” they wondered, “would he turn down a life of relative luxury to relocate to an armed compound in a breakaway region of the world’s #1 failed state?” To achieve his mission, Starr would have to overcome profound cultural differences, broken promises, and threats to his safety and that of his staff. It Takes a School is the story of how an abstract vision became a transformative reality, as Starr set out to build a school in a place forgotten by the world. It is the story of a skeptical and clan-based society learning to give way to trust. And it’s the story of the students themselves, including a boy from a family of nomads who took off on his own in search of an education and a girl who waged a hunger strike in order to convince her strict parents to send her to Abaarso. Abaarso has placed forty graduates and counting in American universities, from Harvard to MIT, and sends Somaliland a clear message: its children can compete with anyone in the world. Now the initial question Starr was asked demands another: “If such a success can happen in an unrecognized breakaway region of Somalia, can it not happen anywhere?”
The Ladies of Managua: A Novel
by Eleni N. GageLushly evocative of Nicaragua, its tumultuous history, and vibrant present, Eleni N. Gage's The Ladies of Managua brings you into the lives of three strong and magnetic women, as they uncover the ramifications of the choices they made in their pasts and begin to understand the ways in which love can shape their futures.When Maria Vazquez returns to Nicaragua for her beloved grandfather's funeral, she brings with her a mysterious package from her grandmother's past—and a secret of her own. And she also carries the burden of her tense relationship with her mother Ninexin, once a storied revolutionary, now a tireless government employee. Between Maria and Ninexin lies a chasm created by the death of Maria's father, who was killed during the revolution when Maria was an infant, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother Isabela as Ninexin worked to build the new Nicaragua. As Ninexin tries to reach her daughter, and Maria wrestles with her expectations for her romance with an older man, Isabela, the mourning widow, is lost in memories of attending boarding school in 1950's New Orleans, where she loved and lost almost sixty years ago. When the three women come together to bid farewell to the man who anchored their family, they are forced to confront their complicated, passionate relationships with each other and with their country—and to reveal the secrets that each of them have worked to conceal.
When Reason Sleeps
by Rex BurnsA forcibly retired marine investigates the disappearance of a young girlLieutenant-Colonel Jack Steele is too honest for Washington. If any other Marine Corps investigator had noticed a congressman&’s corruption, he might have kept his mouth shut. But Steele knows his ultimate duty and blows the whistle on a treasonous lawmaker, earning himself a pat on the back and a swift kick out the door. Steele returns to his hometown of San Diego, hoping for a quiet retirement. Instead he finds a chilling mystery that will make him question everything about the country he spent so long trying to protect. While helping a friend search for his missing granddaughter, Steele makes his way to Colorado. There he uncovers a sinister satanic cult, whose acolytes relish sacrificial death, and who won&’t think twice about trying to take out an honorable ex-marine.
The Fate of Katherine Carr: A Novel
by Thomas H. CookA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year: After years of grief and rage, a man finds new purpose in investigating a woman’s unsolved disappearance. George Gates’s little boy was killed seven years ago and he has yet to find the cold comfort of seeing someone pay for the crime. Once a world-traveling writer, he now toils away at a local newspaper, quietly seething and plotting imaginary vengeance against the unknown murderer.Then, during a conversation with the now-retired detective who worked his son’s case, he learns about a poet named Katherine Carr who disappeared twenty years earlier, leaving writings behind that may or may not contain useful clues. As he grows obsessed with the mystery, he’s assigned to interview an orphan with a rare fatal disease, and the two become an unlikely team in their quest to learn the fate of Katherine Carr, in this emotionally compelling novel by a “master” and winner of the prestigious Edgar Award (Chicago Tribune). “[An] eerily poignant novel.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Every Thomas H. Cook novel is a subtle mind game, but The Fate of Katherine Carr is positively haunting.” —The New York Times Book Review“As much an investigation into character as it is a cold-case mystery.” —Booklist“Disturbing, psychologically complex . . . At each level, the novel ponders questions of good and evil, of guilt and retribution, and the power of storytelling itself.” —Associated Press
House Held Together by Winds (National Poetry Series)
by Sabra Loomis"These are my songlines; they helped me to re-connect with the landscape, and with my own life," says Sabra Loomis of the poems which appear in House Held Together by Winds. Winner of the 2007 National Poetry Series Open Competition as selected by James Tate (winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award), Sabra's work perpetuates NPS's tradition of promoting exceptional poetry from lesser known poets.For over twenty years, the National Poetry Series has discovered many new and emerging voices and has been instrumental in launching the careers of poets and writers such as Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Denis Johnson, Cole Swensen, Thylias Moss, Mark Levine, and Dionisio Martinez.
Long Shot: My Bipolar Life and the Horses Who Saved Me
by Sylvia HarrisCombine Seabiscuit with Manic—throw in a touch of HBO’s “Temple Grandin”—and you get Long Shot, a truly remarkable memoir by Sylvia Harris. A single mother of three, Harris was crippled by bipolar depression, until she discovered the miraculous healing and calming effect of horses—a revelation that ultimately enabled her to manage her illness, conquer the sexism of her field, and triumph as a champion jockey in the male-dominated world of horse racing. A fascinating, courageous, and ultimately redemptive true story, Long Shot has won high praise from Phyllis Chesler Ph.D., author of Women and Madness, who says, “[Harris’s] attempt to find balance, joy, connectedness, and purpose in life constitutes a great adventure story.”
The Indianapolis Anthology (Belt City Anthologies)
by Norman MinnickAn anthology of essays & poetry offering a reconsideration of one of America&’s most misunderstood cities. Is Indianapolis just another midwestern city to fly over on the way to bigger and better destinations? Or is it, as locals know, a place where different peoples and ideals converge to create a rich cultural center? The Indianapolis Anthology showcases Naptown&’s vibrancy and diversity with pieces from journalists, poets, historians, established community voices, and first-time writers. The Circle City is more than the home of the Indianapolis 500, John Dillinger, Kenneth &“Babyface&” Edmonds, Kurt Vonnegut, Prozac, and Wonder Bread. In these pages, you&’ll find: · lawn chairs in the beds of pick-ups · Punk rock in Naptown · suffragists and entrepreneurs · cement pietàs · dog bakeries and yoga studios · red brick bungalows and war memorials · steakburgers and Mexican seafood; pho and sauerbraten · and more In other words, you'll find images from a city that is truly a cross section of today&’s America. Edited by Norman &“Buzz&” Minnick and with contributions from Etheridge Knight, Terrance Hayes, Michael Martone, and Karen Kovacik. An insiders&’ look that will make you see a great midwestern city in a brand-new light.