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Stephen Crane: A Critical Biography
by John BerrymanThis is the only biography by a leading American poet of the great American writer, Stephen Crane. John Berryman originally wrote this book in 1950 for the distinguished "American Men of Letters" series, and revised it twelve years later. This edition reproduces the later version.In Stephen Crane, Berryman assesses the writings and life of a man whose work has been one of the most powerful influences on modern writers. As Edmund Wilson said in The New Yorker, "Mr. Berryman's work is an important one, and not merely because at the moment it stands alone...We are not likely soon to get anything better on the critical and psychological sides." It is Berryman's special insight into Crane as a poet that makes this book unique.
The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence
by Michael D'Antonio Peter Eisner"It presents an entirely damning portrait of Pence. You've seen his colors before, but not so vividly and in this detail." —Frank Bruni, The New York Times"Producing a biography of a living, controversial politician is always difficult. D'Antonio and Eisner have succeeded in this well-documented, damning book. Cue the outrage from Sean Hannity et al."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)In this well-rounded, deeply-investigated biography, the first full look at the vice president, two award-winning journalists unmask the real Mike Pence. Little-known outside his home state until Donald Trump made him his running mate, Mike Pence—who proclaims himself a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third—has long worn a carefully-constructed mask of Midwestern nice. Behind his self-proclaimed humility and self-abasing deference, however, hides a man whose own presidential ambitions have blazed since high school. Pence’s drive for power, perhaps inspired by his belief that God might have big plans for him, explains why he shocked his allies by lending Christian credibility to a scandal-plagued candidate like Trump.In this landmark biography, Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael D’Antonio and Emmy-nominated journalist Peter Eisner follow the path Pence followed from Catholic Democrat to conservative evangelical Republican. They reveal how he used his time as rightwing radio star to build connections with powerful donors; how he was a lackluster lawmaker in Congress but a prodigious fundraiser from the GOP’s billionaire benefactors; and how, once he locked in his views on the issues—anti-gay, pro-gun, anti-abortion, pro big-business—he became laser-focused on his own pursuit of power.As THE SHADOW PRESIDENT reveals, Mike Pence is the most important and powerful Christian Right politician America has ever seen. Driven as much by theology as personal ambition, Pence is now positioned to seize the big prize—the presidency—and use it to fashion a nation more pleasing to his god and corporate sponsors.
The Goodbye Season
by Marian HaleA courageous young woman comes of age in the midst of an historical tragedy, from the author of Dark Water Rising.Mercy Kaplan doesn't want to be like her mother, saddled with crying kids and failing crops for the rest of her life. Mercy longs to be on her own—until her wish comes true in the worst possible way. It is 1918 and a deadly flu epidemic ravages the country, leaving her utterly alone and penniless. Mercy soon finds a job with Mrs. Wilder. But there's something unsettling about the woman, whose brother died under mysterious circumstances. And then there's Daniel, who could sweep a girl off her feet if she isn't careful.“The history—of the epidemic and of early feminism—creates a dramatic story, and Mercy’s personal struggle for independence is universal.” —Booklist“Mercy tells her story in a gentle, cadenced voice filled with youthful hope, simple wisdom and gritty endurance. Perfect similes capture the flavor of Mercy's bittersweet life during the epidemic of 1918.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Interpretation of Murder: A Novel
by Jed RubenfeldInternational Bestseller#1 U.K. BestsellerThe Wall Street Journal BestsellerLos Angeles Times BestsellerIn the summer of 1909, Sigmund Freud arrived by steamship in New York Harbor for a short visit to America. Though he would live another thirty years, he would never return to this country. Little is known about the week he spent in Manhattan, and Freud's biographers have long speculated as to why, in his later years, he referred to Americans as "savages" and "criminals."In The Interpretation of Murder, Jed Rubenfeld weaves the facts of Freud's visit into a riveting, atmospheric story of corruption and murder set all over turn-of-the-century New York. Drawing on case histories, Shakespeare's Hamlet, and the historical details of a city on the brink of modernity, The Interpretation of Murder introduces a brilliant new storyteller, a novelist who, in the words of The New York Times, "will be no ordinary pop-cultural sensation."
Wake Up Dead: A Cape Town Thriller (Cape Town Thrillers #2)
by Roger SmithAn amphetamine-fueled thriller about a bombshell American widow on the run in Cape Town's violent badlands—from a writer being compared to George Pelecanos and Richard PriceA split-second decision with no second chance: get it wrong and you wake up dead.On a blowtorch-hot night in Cape Town, American ex-model Roxy Palmer and her gunrunner husband, Joe, are carjacked, leaving Joe lying in a pool of blood. As the carjackers make their getaway, Roxy makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever. Disco and Godwynn, the ghetto gangbangers who sped away in Joe's convertible, will stop at nothing to track her down. Billy Afrika, a mixed-race ex-cop turned mercenary, won't let her out of his sight because Joe owed him a chunk of money. And remorselessly hunting them all is Piper, a love-crazed psychopath determined to renew his vows with his jailhouse "wife," Disco.As these desperate lives collide and old debts are settled in blood, Roxy is caught in a wave of escalating violence in the beautiful and brutal African seaport. With savage plotting and breakneck suspense that ends in a shattering cataclysm of violence, Wake Up Dead confirms Roger Smith as one of the world's best new thriller writers.
Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor
by Bruce Campbell Craig SanbornNew York Times bestsellerIntroduction by New York Times bestselling author and famous minor television personality John HodgmanOne of my dad’s favorite jokes about getting older was: “I went out for coffee when I was twenty-one and when I got back I was fifty-eight!”I get what he meant now. Time flies. My first book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a "B" Movie Actor, was published back in 2001 and it chronicles the adventures of a “mid-grade, kind of hammy actor" (my words), cutting his teeth on exploitation movies far removed from mainstream Hollywood. This next book, an “Act II” if you will, could be considered my “maturing years” in show business, when I began to say “no” more often and gravitated toward self-generated material. Taking stock in the overall quality of my life, I fled Los Angeles and moved to a remote part of Oregon to renew, regroup and reload. If that sounds tame, the journey from Evil Dead to Spider-Man to Burn Notice was long, with plenty of adventures/mishaps along the way. I never pictured myself hovering above Baghdad in a Blackhawk helicopter, facing a pack of wild dogs in Bulgaria, or playing an aging Elvis Presley with cancer on his penis - how can you predict this stuff? The sheer lunacy of show business is part of the fun for me and I hope you'll come along for the ride.– Bruce “Don’t Call Me Ash” Campbell
A House in Corfu: A Family's Sojourn in Greece
by Emma TennantThe story of an unspoiled island and an English family making a home by the Aegean Sea.In the early 1960s Emma Tennant's parents, on a cruise, spotted a magical bay and decided to build a house there.This book is the story of that house, Rovinia, set above the bay in Corfu where legend has it Ulysses was shipwrecked and found by Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous. It is also the story of the couple who have been at Rovinia since the feast in the grove that followed the roof-raising-Maria, a miraculous cook and the presiding spirit of the house, and her husband, Thodoros-and of the inhabitants of the local village, high on the hill above the bay.Tennant offers us the delights of quotidian adventures-salt water in the well, roads to nowhere, collapsing walls-all hilariously presented. That the house is still lived in and loved, with new generations coming to understand the delights of Corfu, is a tribute to the people and a special landscape which is distinctly Greek. Full of color and contrast, A House in Corfu shows the huge changes in island life since the time of the Tennants' arrival, and celebrates, equally, the joy of belonging to a timeless world: the world of vine, olive, and sea.
The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate (Calpurnia Tate Ser. #2)
by Jacqueline KellyWhether wrangling a rogue armadillo or stray dog, a guileless younger brother or standoffish cousin, Callie Vee and her escapades will have readers laughing and crying in this return to Fentress, Texas. Travis keeps bringing home strays. And Callie has her hands full keeping the animals—her brother included—away from her mother's critical eye. Will she succeed?This title has Common Core connections.
The American Revolution: Revised Edition
by Edward CountrymanA newly revised version of a classic in American historyWhen The American Revolution was first published in 1985, it was praised as the first synthesis of the Revolutionary War to use the new social history. Edward Countryman offered a balanced view of how the Revolution was made by a variety of groups-ordinary farmers as well as lawyers, women as well as men, blacks as well as whites-who transformed the character of American life and culture. In this newly revised edition, Countryman stresses the painful destruction of British identity and the construction of a new American one. He expands his geographical scope of the Revolution to include areas west of the Alleghenies, Europe, and Africa, and he draws fresh links between the politics and culture of the independence period and the creation of a new and dynamic capitalist economy. This innovative interpretation of the American Revolution creates an even richer, more comprehensive portrait of a critical period in America's history.
Breathing Room
by Marsha HaylesEvvy Hoffmeister is thirteen years old when her family brings her to Loon Lake Sanatorium to get cured of tuberculosis (TB). Evvy is frightened by her new surroundings; the rules to abide are harsh and the nurses equally rigid. But Evvy soon falls into step with the other girls in her ward. There's Sarah, quiet but thoughtful; Pearl, who adores Hollywood glamour; and Dina, whose harshness conceals a deep strength. Together, the girls brave the difficult daily routines. Set in 1940 at a time of political unrest throughout the U.S. and Europe, this thought-provoking novel sheds light on a much-feared worldwide illness. Hundreds of thousands of people died each year of TB, and many ill children were sent away to sanatoriums to hopefully recover.This is a masterful novel—both eloquent and moving—that gives voice to those who fought hard to overcome the illness.
The Culture of Defeat: On National Trauma, Mourning, and Recovery
by Wolfgang SchivelbuschA fascinating look at history's losers-the myths they create to cope with defeat and the steps they take never to be vanquished againHistory may be written by the victors, Wolfgang Schivelbusch argues in his brilliant and provocative book, but the losers often have the final word. Focusing on three seminal cases of modern warfare-the South after the Civil War, France in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, and Germany following World War I-Schivelbusch reveals the complex psychological and cultural reactions of vanquished nations to the experience of military defeat.Drawing on responses from every level of society, Schivelbusch shows how conquered societies question the foundations of their identities and strive to emulate the victors: the South to become a "better North," the French to militarize their schools on the Prussian model, the Germans to adopt all things American. He charts the losers' paradoxical equation of military failure with cultural superiority as they generate myths to glorify their pasts and explain their losses: the nostalgic "plantation legend" after the fall of the Confederacy; the cult of Joan of Arc in vanquished France; the fiction of the stab in the back by "foreign" elements in postwar Germany. From cathartic epidemics of "dance madness" to the revolutions that so often follow battlefield humiliation, Schivelbusch finds remarkable similarities across cultures.Eloquently and vibrantly told, The Culture of Defeat is a tour de force that opens new territory for historical inquiry.
After the End of the World (Carter & Lovecraft #2)
by Jonathan L. HowardAfter the End of the World by Jonathan L. Howard brings the H.P. Lovecraft mythos into the twenty-first century.The Unfolded World is a bitter and unfriendly place for Daniel Carter and Emily Lovecraft. In this world, the Cold War never happened because the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1941. In this world the Nazi Großdeutschland is the premier superpower, and is not merely tolerated but indulged because, in this world, the Holocaust happened behind the ruins of the Iron Curtain and consumed only Bolsheviks, Communists, and others the West was glad to see gone. In this world, there are monsters, and not all of them are human. But even in the Unfolded World, there are still bills to pay and jobs to do. Carter finds himself working for the German secret security service to uncover the truth behind a major scientific joint project that is going suspiciously well. The trail takes Lovecraft and him to a distant, abandoned island, and a conspiracy that threatens everything. To fight it, Lovecraft must walk a perilously narrow path between forbidden knowledge and soul-destroying insanity.Fortunately, she also has a shotgun.
Deadly Aim: The Civil War Story of Michigan's Anishinaabe Sharpshooters
by Sally M. Walker"Hits the mark."—KirkusAn engaging middle-grade nonfiction narrative of the American Indian soldiers who bravely fought in the Civil War from Sibert Award-winning author Sally M. Walker.More than 20,000 American Indians served in the Civil War, yet their stories have often been left out of the history books. In Deadly Aim, Sally M. Walker explores the extraordinary lives of Michigan’s Anishinaabe sharpshooters. These brave soldiers served with honor and heroism in the line of duty, despite enduring broken treaties, loss of tribal lands, and racism.Filled with fascinating archival photographs, maps, and diagrams, this book offers gripping firsthand accounts from the frontlines. You’ll learn about Company K, the elite band of sharpshooters, and Daniel Mwakewenah, the chief who killed more than 32 rebels in a single battle despite being gravely wounded.Walker celebrates the lives of the soldiers whose stories have been left in the margins of history for too long with extensive research and consultation with the Repatriation Department for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the Eyaawing Museum and Cultural Center, and the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture and Lifeways.
Star on Stormy Mountain (Puppy Academy #2)
by Gill LewisMeet the students at Puppy Academy—a team of plucky puppies learning to be working dogs. Everyone says Star is much too fast to be a sheepdog—but when your mom is a sheepdog champion, what else can you be? When a lamb goes missing on a field trip to Stormy Mountain, Star races up to find it. But she soon discovers that the lamb isn't the only one who needs her help.
Loving Amy: A Mother's Story
by Janis Winehouse“Amy was one of those rare people who made an impact . . . She was a bundle of emotions, at times adorable and at times unbearable. . . . Amy’s passing did not follow a clear line. It was jumbled, and her life was unfinished—not life’s natural order at all. She left no answers, only questions, and in the years since her death I’ve found myself trying to make sense of the frayed ends of her extraordinary existence.” Arguably the most gifted artist of her generation, Amy Winehouse died tragically young, aged just twenty-seven. With a worldwide fan base and millions of record sales to her name, she should have had the world at her feet. Yet in the years prior to her death, she battled with addiction and was frequently the subject of lurid tabloid headlines.Amy’s mother, Janis, knew her in a way that no one else did. In this warm, poignant, and at times heartbreaking memoir, she tells the full story of the daughter she loved so much. As the world watched the rise of a superstar, then the free fall of an addict to her tragic death, Janis simply saw her Amy: the daughter she’d given birth to, the girl she’d raised and stood by despite her unruly behavior, the girl whose body she was forced to identify two days after her death—and the girl she’s grieved for every day since. Including rare photographs and extracts from Amy’s childhood journals, Loving Amy offers a new and intimate perspective on the life and untimely death of a musical icon.
The Beast of Blackslope (The Sherlock Files #2)
by Tracy BarrettXena and Xander have been looking forward to their vacation in the peaceful country village of Blackslope. But when a huge monster begins to terrorize the town, the young detectives are faced with a mystery that seems impossible to solve. Sherlock Holmes, Xena and Xander's famous ancestor, investigated the case of a horrible beast in Blackslope, but that was nearly a hundred years ago. It couldn't be the same creature after all this time—could it?
Emmy and the Rats in the Belfry (Emmy and the Rat #3)
by Lynne JonellEmmy was not an ordinary girl. She could talk to rodents. She could shrink to the size of a rodent. And just a few weeks ago, she had even become a rodent to defeat her evil former nanny, Miss Barmy.Emmy's parents, unaware of their daughter's other life, ship her off to visit two elderly aunts in Schenectady. Emmy figures her life will be ordinary at last, if rather boring. But she didn't count on her friend Ratty, whose search for his long-lost Ratmom brings him more than he bargained for. Here is the third book in the acclaimed Emmy series, complete with a flip book feature (bats!).
On Etruscan Time
by Tracy BarrettA shadow moved in the doorway of the building. It was a boy. As he hesitated, someone must have pushes him from behind. He stumbled down the short stairway and fell heavily to his knees.He couldn't break his fall, Hector realized, because his arms were tied behind him.A mysterious talisman transports a boy back to ancient ItalyNo one ever listens to Hector. He wanted to hang out with his friends this summer, but instead he's stuck in Italy at an archaeological dig with his mom. The ancient Etruscan artifacts are interesting, but no one has time for him. Then he makes a discovery of his own-a strange, unsettling stone that looks like an eye. The stone brings nightmares about Arath, an Etruscan boy who died thousands of years ago but now begs for Hector's help. Are these just dreams, or is Arath really in danger? As Hector unearths the truth, he realizes that he can make himself heard when it counts.
Lost & Found: Witherwood Reform School (Witherwood Reform School Ser. #2)
by Obert SkyeTobias and Charlotte Eggers are not on vacation. Well, I suppose they are on a vacation from everything they once knew. Locked within the walls of Witherwood, high upon a mysterious mesa, they are still looking for a way out. There are distractions, however. The very ground is shaking, and the creatures that protect the school are revolting. When one of their only friends goes missing it leads to a devastating secret. But there is hope. There are other students who have clear minds and are also fighting to get out. Luckily for everyone, Tobias has a plan. It's a dangerous one, but if it works, it could forever change their fate and Witherwood's future.
The Boy Who Went to War: The Story of a Reluctant German Soldier in WWII
by Giles MiltonA powerful and true story of warfare and human survival that exposes a side of World War II that is unknown by many— this is the story of Wolfram Aïchele, a boy whose childhood was stolen by a war in which he had no choice but to fight.Giles Milton has been a writer and historian for many years, writing about people and places that history has forgotten. But it took his young daughter's depiction of a swastika on an imaginary family shield - the swastika representing Germany - for Giles to uncover the incredible, dark story of his own family and his father-in-law's life under Hitler's regime.As German citizens during World War II, Wolfram and his Bohemian, artist parents survived one of the most brutal eras of history. Wolfram, who was only nine years old when Hitler came to power, lived through the rise and fall of the Third Reich, from the earliest street marches to the final defeat of the Nazi regime. Conscripted into Hitler's army, he witnessed the brutality of war - first on the Russian front and then on the Normandy beaches. Seen through German eyes and written with remarkable sensitivity, The Boy Who Went to War is a powerful story of warfare and human survival and a reminder to us all that civilians on both sides suffered the consequences of Hitler's war.
Spy Schools: How the CIA, FBI, and Foreign Intelligence Secretly Exploit America's Universities
by Daniel GoldenPulitzer Prize-winning journalist Daniel Golden exposes how academia has become the center of foreign and domestic espionage—and why that is troubling news for our nation's security.Grounded in extensive research and reporting, Spy Schools reveals how academia has emerged as a frontline in the global spy game. In a knowledge-based economy, universities are repositories of valuable information and research, where brilliant minds of all nationalities mingle freely with few questions asked. Intelligence agencies have always recruited bright undergraduates, but now, in an era when espionage increasingly requires specialized scientific or technological expertise, they’re wooing higher-level academics—not just as analysts, but also for clandestine operations.Golden uncovers unbelievable campus activity—from the CIA placing agents undercover in Harvard Kennedy School classes and staging academic conferences to persuade Iranian nuclear scientists to defect, to a Chinese graduate student at Duke University stealing research for an invisibility cloak, and a tiny liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, exchanging faculty with China’s most notorious spy school. He shows how relentlessly and ruthlessly this practice has permeated our culture, not just inside the US, but internationally as well. Golden, acclaimed author of The Price of Admission, blows the lid off this secret culture of espionage and its consequences at home and abroad.
Dear Hank Williams (Penworthy Picks Middle School Ser.)
by Kimberly Willis HoltIt's 1948 in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, and Tate P. Ellerbee's new teacher has just given her class an assignment—learning the art of letter-writing. Luckily, Tate has the perfect pen pal in mind: Hank Williams, a country music singer whose star has just begun to rise. Tate and her great-aunt and -uncle listen to him on the radio every Saturday night, and Tate just knows that she and Hank are kindred spirits.Told entirely through Tate's hopeful letters, this beautifully drawn novel from National Book Award–winning author Kimberly Willis Holt gradually unfolds a story of family love, overcoming tragedy, and an insightful girl learning to find her voice.This title has Common Core connections.
The End of Doom: Environmental Renewal in the Twenty-first Century
by Ronald BaileyIn the past five decades there have been many, many forecasts of impending environmental doom. They have universally been proven wrong. Meanwhile, those who have bet on human resourcefulness have almost always been correct. In his widely praised book Ecoscam, Ronald Bailey strongly countered environmentalist alarmism, using facts to demonstrate just how wildly overstated many claims of impending ecological doom really were. Now, twenty years later, the Reason Magazine science correspondent is back to assess the future of humanity and the global biosphere. Bailey finds, contrary to popular belief, that many present ecological trends are quite positive. Including: Falling cancer incidence rates in the United States. The likelihood of a declining world population by mid-century. The abundant return of agricultural land to nature as the world reaches peak farmland. A proven link between increases in national wealth and reductions in air and water pollution Global warming is a problem, but the cost of clean energy could soon fall below that of fossil fuels.In The End of Doom, Bailey avoids polemics and offers a balanced, fact-based and ultimately hopeful perspective on our current environmental situation. Now isn't that a breath of fresh air?
Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette & Modern Manners: The Indispensable Handbook
by John MorganThe refinement of the past meets the pragmatism of the present in this sparkling portrayal of modern etiquette.In an era where traditional norms are often sidelined, Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette and Modern Manners emerges as a beacon of hope, tactfully intertwining the timeless elegance of decorum with a modern twist to fit the intricacies of the twenty-first century.From the simplicity of basic table manners to the sophisticated protocols required at high-profile diplomatic gatherings, the expertly curated advice is both practical and easy to implement.Celebrating the charm, allure, and perpetual importance of traditional courtesy, this guide is more than a manual; it's an ode to the civility of a bygone era and a definitive guide on carrying forth its spirit into the contemporary world.
The Woman Next Door: A Novel
by Yewande OmotosoThe U.S. debut of award-winning writer Yewande Omotoso, in which an unexpected friendship blossoms in contemporary Cape Town—and in a community where loving thy neighbor is easier said than done.Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbors. One is black, the other white. Both are successful women with impressive careers. Both have recently been widowed, and are living with questions, disappointments, and secrets that have brought them shame. And each has something that the woman next door deeply desires.Sworn enemies, the two share a hedge and a deliberate hostility, which they maintain with a zeal that belies their age. But, one day, an unexpected event forces Hortensia and Marion together. As the physical barriers between them collapse, their bickering gradually softens into conversation and, gradually, the two discover common ground. But are these sparks of connection enough to ignite a friendship, or is it too late to expect these women to change?A finalist for: International DUBLIN Literary Award • Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Fiction •Barry Ronge Fiction Prize• Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize • University of Johannesburg Main Prize for South African WritingLonglisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction •One of the Best Black Heritage Reads (Essence Magazine) • One of NPR's Best Books of the Year • One of Publishers Weekly's Writers to Watch