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Dream a Little Dream: A Tale Of Myth And Moonshine
by Piers Anthony Julie Brady&“[A] fantasy adventure that uses the quixotic nature of dreams as a background for a modern-day pilgrimage of hope.&” —Library Journal Nola and Tina are both girls with problems. They don&’t know each other yet, but they will, because each is a Creator, with the magical ability to turn dreams into reality. It would be a great gift and a great power—if either knew she had it. But this world is hard on dreamers, whether they dream true or not. Nola is trapped in a terrible, abusive relationship with a man she once loved; Tina is an orphan who makes her living on the street. All their dreams are slowly being ground into dust. It&’s a common enough tragedy, a sorrow and a grief and a shame upon the world, no matter whom it happens to. But when dreams themselves die, when the great dreamers stop dreaming, whole universes of imagination are lost. And the land of Nola and Tina&’s dreams is fighting back. Into their miserable everyday world soars Esprit, a winged unicorn dark as the space between the stars. He is the vessel of Nola&’s dreams, come to aid her in her battle with sordid reality. Following after him comes Prince Michael, whose quest it is to find the human dreamers who can save his land from ruin.
Art and Truth after Plato
by Tom RockmoreDespite its foundational role in the history of philosophy, Plato’s famous argument that art does not have access to truth or knowledge is now rarely examined, in part because recent philosophers have assumed that Plato’s challenge was resolved long ago. In Art and Truth after Plato, Tom Rockmore argues that Plato has in fact never been satisfactorily answered—and to demonstrate that, he offers a comprehensive account of Plato’s influence through nearly the whole history of Western aesthetics. Rockmore offers a cogent reading of the post-Platonic aesthetic tradition as a series of responses to Plato’s position, examining a stunning diversity of thinkers and ideas. He visits Aristotle’s Poetics, the medieval Christians, Kant’s Critique of Judgment, Hegel’s phenomenology, Marxism, social realism, Heidegger, and many other works and thinkers, ending with a powerful synthesis that lands on four central aesthetic arguments that philosophers have debated. More than a mere history of aesthetics, Art and Truth after Plato presents a fresh look at an ancient question, bringing it into contemporary relief.
You Must Go and Win: Essays
by Alina SimoneIn the wickedly bittersweet and hilarious You Must Go and Win, the Ukrainian-born musician Alina Simone traces her bizarre journey through the indie rock world, from disastrous Craigslist auditions with sketchy producers to catching fleas in a Williamsburg sublet. But Simone offers more than down-and-out tales of her time as a struggling musician: she has a rapier wit, slashing and burning her way through the absurdities of life, while offering surprising and poignant insights into the burdens of family expectations and the nature of ambition, the temptations of religion and the lure of a mythical Russian home. Wavering between embracing and fleeing her outsized and nebulous dreams of stardom, Simone confronts her Russian past when she falls in love with the music of Yanka Dyagileva, a Soviet singer who tragically died young; hits the road with her childhood friend who is dead set on becoming an "icon"; and battles male strippers in Siberia. Hailed as "the perfect storm of creative talent" (USA Today, Pop Candy), Simone is poised to win over readers of David Rakoff and Sarah Vowell with her irresistibly funny and charming literary debut.
Mute Witness (Anne Cartier Mysteries)
by Charles O'BrienA London vaudeville actress travels to Paris to investigate her stepfather&’s involvement in an alleged murder suicide in historical mystery series debut. The years just prior to the French Revolution were filled with conflict, although many chose to ignore the signals of the coming storm. The Palais-Royal was the scene of much gaiety and a constant round of pleasures—perfect cover for darker activities such as the murder of a Parisian actress. That same evening, her lover, Antoine Dubois, died in a fatal fall. Was his death a guilt-induced suicide? Soon word of Antoine&’s death reaches his stepdaughter, Anne Cartier, a young vaudeville actress with the Sadler&’s Wells company in London. She enlists the aid of the messenger, Colonel Paul de Saint-Martin, and his adjutant, Georges Charpentier, to cross with her to France to investigate. While in Paris, Anne, who is skilled in signing for the deaf, befriends Michou, a deaf, illiterate seamstress with a talent for puppetry. Michou gives Anne an entrée into the Palais-Royal, where her quest broadens to include an amateur theatrical society of dissolute young noblemen and several suspicious officials. Hoping to learn more, Anne agrees to appear at a chateau to act the part of an exotic queen in Indian costume. But when priceless jewelry disappears and its owner, an aged count, is murdered, a venal police inspector threatens to derail Anne&’s whole project. . . . Praise for Mute Witness &“The bar for historical mysteries has just been raised, thanks to this masterly debut novel. . . . This is a truly wonderful first novel elegantly written, complex in both its characters and its plotting, and wearing the author&’s scholarship and erudition lightly. . . . This is great stuff; please, may we have more?&” —Publishers Weekly&“The plot is as circuitous as the streets of Paris, with something interesting lurking around every corner. The bold actress/teacher makes an intriguing heroine, and the pre-revolution period proves particularly hospitable as the backdrop for a mystery series. An auspicious debut.&” —Booklist
Loving Faster than Light: Romance and Readers in Einstein's Universe
by Katy PriceIn November 1919, newspapers around the world alerted readers to a sensational new theory of the universe: Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. Coming at a time of social, political, and economic upheaval, Einstein’s theory quickly became a rich cultural resource with many uses beyond physical theory. Media coverage of relativity in Britain took on qualities of pastiche and parody, as serious attempts to evaluate Einstein’s theory jostled with jokes and satires linking relativity to everything from railway budgets to religion. The image of a befuddled newspaper reader attempting to explain Einstein’s theory to his companions became a set piece in the popular press. Loving Faster than Light focuses on the popular reception of relativity in Britain, demonstrating how abstract science came to be entangled with class politics, new media technology, changing sex relations, crime, cricket, and cinematography in the British imagination during the 1920s. Blending literary analysis with insights from the history of science, Katy Price reveals how cultural meanings for Einstein’s relativity were negotiated in newspapers with differing political agendas, popular science magazines, pulp fiction adventure and romance stories, detective plots, and esoteric love poetry. Loving Faster than Light is an essential read for anyone interested in popular science, the intersection of science and literature, and the social and cultural history of physics.
Barrier: The Seam of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
by Isabel KershnerIn this moving account of the barriers between Israelis and Palestinians, leading Israeli journalist Isabel Kershner traces the route of the wall Israel is building and reports its profound effects on people living on both sides.Kershner provides rich and insightful portraits of Israeli settlers feeling abandoned on the wrong side of the fence; Palestinian farmers angry at being cut off from their lands and groves; Arab families split up in a town now divided by the barrier; and Israelis protesting that it is an obstacle to peace. Exploring the reasons for the barrier and its political and moral implications, Kershner focuses on the people committed to their causes. As the future relationship between Israelis and Palestinians is being determined, Barrier: The Seam of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is an important book that addresses one of the most controversial solutions.
The Kennedy Trilogy: The Kennedy Imperative, The Kennedy Momentum, and The Kennedy Revelation (The Kennedy Trilogy #2)
by Leon BergerThree political thrillers from an &“immensely engaging&” author, inspired by the most dramatic events of the JFK years (Time). The Kennedy Trilogy is a political thriller series based on the three major crises of the Kennedy era—Berlin, 1961; Cuba, 1962; and Dallas, 1963—as witnessed factually in the Oval Office and fictionally by a young CIA agent. The complete edition contains all three books: The Kennedy Imperative (Berlin, 1961): In this exciting political thriller, factual events are interwoven in an exciting fictional plot. While the construction of the Berlin Wall challenges JFK with the first major crisis of his presidency, young CIA agent Philip Marsden is sent into East Berlin on his first mission. While the tanks face off at Checkpoint Charlie, he uncovers the difficult truth about his Russian-born mother. The Kennedy Momentum (Cuba, 1962): The Cold War reaches its zenith with the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba threatening the United States. While JFK and his brother face deep divisions in trying to defuse the apocalyptic crisis, young CIA agent Philip Marsden is sent on a mission to the island where he is betrayed by a joint CIA-Mafia operation. The Kennedy Revelation (Dallas, 1963): In the immediate aftermath of the JFK assassination, the shock is multiplied for young CIA agent Philip Marsden when he learns of the death of his Cuban American wife. As evidence builds and the threats begin to mount, he discovers that the two tragedies might not be unrelated.
Metes and Bounds: A Novel (Southern Tier Ser.)
by Jay QuinnIn Metes and Bounds, surf, sand, and sex meet in the macho world of construction workers. For narrator Matt, &“the greatest comfort of surfing comes in the sureness and instinct.&” Matt is not just coming of age, he&’s coming out, and in the sun-bleached world of the North Carolina beaches his burgeoning sexuality can toss as many curves as a wave. Through his longings and self-discovery, Matt knows he cannot let others triumph over being the man he knows to be. As he says, &“Being a surfer meant you got out, faced your own fears, and did it.&” So too does Matt, in this stirring, memorable novel. Jay Quinn&’s Lambda-nominated books transcend the traditional gay novel, exploring universal issues of marriage, aging parents, addiction, and attraction, all while presenting unique characters and page-turning drama.
Flashback (The Reid Bennett Mysteries #9)
by Ted WoodChief Reid Bennett and his &“super-sleuth&” dog tackle the crimes of Murphy&’s Harbor in this &“fairly sturdy, small-town tale, with quiet appeal&” (Kirkus Reviews). In tiny Murphy&’s Harbour, where Reid Bennett serves as the one‑man police force, questions and dead bodies tend to pile up all at once. The morning starts with Reid chasing off a gang of threatening teens with a baseball bat. Minutes later, Reid learns that a bank robber might be headed his way looking for vengeance. But the day does not really start rolling until Reid finds a dead woman in the trunk of a waterlogged car. What follows is a fast‑paced thriller involving rich lawyers, a questionable movie producer, and quite a few shifting identities. Everyone seems to be circling everyone else in a complicated orbit of sex and money. Can all these events be tied together?
Queensblade (Heirs to Byzantium #3)
by Susan ShwartzThe time for the transfer of power from one generation to the next has come. The rites require Queen Olwen to kill herself with the Queensblade in order to ensure the bounty of the kingdom. First, the Princess, Olwen's daughter Gwenlliant, must discover the powers in order to inherit the crown and the kingdom, for only in Gwenlliant rests the power to bring back the bounty of the land and the kingdom of the ages. Gwenlliant must go forth from the Isles of Mist to the shores of Byzantium in order to discover her ancient birthright. Attacked along the way by the assassins of the spirit of darkness and nearly becoming a sacrifice in the dark and bloody vaults of the Stone King, Gwenlliant must overcome hardship and steal her way to succession for only then will her kingdom survive.
Adjusted to Death (The Kate Jasper Mysteries #1)
by Jaqueline GirdnerMeet Kate Jasper, Marin County, California&’s own organically grown amateur sleuth. (&“She&’s smart, funny, vulnerable, and unpretentious,&” says Marilyn Wallace, editor of the Sisters in Crime series.) In this first Kate Jasper mystery, Kate visits her chiropractor for a simple spinal adjustment, but instead finds a dead man on one of the tables . . . dead of a broken neck. And it seems everyone in the chiropractor&’s office knew the victim, Scott Younger, in one way or another, except for Kate herself. Maggie, Kate&’s friend and chiropractor, has known Scott for years, as has her staff. Her receptionist, Renee, even dated him. Devi knew Scott from college. Guru‑follower Valerie accuses Scott of being a drug pusher! And Wayne, Scott's now unnecessary bodyguard, a shy, homely man who almost makes Kate forget her husband has left her, knew him the best of all. But Kate can't forget murder, especially since Wayne is the main suspect. And there is the pesky matter of Kate's fingerprints on the metal bar that broke Scott Younger's neck. Kate Jasper&’s in for a spine‑tingling, bone‑chilling adventure.
How We Met: Real-Life Tales of How Happily Married Couples Found Each Other
by Michelle Bowers Melissa Steinfeld GalettFor everyone who loves a real-life happy ending, here are forty-five funny, romantic, and above all true tales of modern coupling. In their own words, men and women recount the surprising and serendipitous ways they came together, from jury duty encounters and sidewalk pickup lines to dramatic stories of dogged determination that paid off big in the end. For anyone who's carried a torch for a colleague or friend, looked for love on-line, or wondered if it's really true that love comes when you least expect it, How We Met offers insights into that mysterious process of finding The One. For those who've already said "I do," the book offers a rare peek into the lives of other married couples, and how they found each other.
How to Be an Effective Group Leader
by Bill D. SchulArmed with Bill Schul&’s guidance, even the shyest person can become a powerful and effective leader. Learn goal-setting methods, keys for maximizing group participation, and the do's and don&’ts of leadership. This how-to also covers the best ways to establish your group&’s atmosphere and tips for holding productive meetings. Whether you&’re in a leadership role now or expect to attain one, this straightforward text will help you achieve your ambitions. Plus, the information is equally valid for social, civic, government and business organizations.
A Glancing Light: Book Two) (The Chris Norgren Mysteries #2)
by Aaron ElkinsA museum curator travels to Italy and looks into a murder in this &“fresh, funny [and] thoroughly enjoyable mystery&” by the author of the Gideon Oliver series (Publishers Weekly). Mild‑mannered and law‑abiding, Chris Norgren, curator of Renaissance and Baroque art at the Seattle Art Museum, is an unlikely undercover investigator, but when a priceless Rubens portrait is discovered in a shipment of &“authentic reproductions&” in a local warehouse, Chris is pressed into service to find out how it got there. The quest leads him to the medieval city of Bologna, one of his favorite places, but all too soon what might have been a welcome Italian interlude turns into a bizarre journey into shady art world doings and murderous secrets . . .
The Right to Try: How the Federal Government Prevents Americans from Getting the Lifesaving Treatments They Need
by Darcy OlsenWhy should you need the government’s permission to save your own life?Jenn McNary’s two sons, Max and Austin, were diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy—a fatal disorder that leads to muscle degeneration and eventually death. In a cruel and unnecessary twist, Max received access to a clinical trial; Austin didn’t. As a result, Max was able to get out of his wheelchair and play on his school soccer team while Austin continued to deteriorate until he could not even feed himself.The FDA takes as long as fifteen years to approve a new drug, demanding near-absolute proof of effectiveness before allowing commercial distribution. But this ignores the urgent plight of millions of terminally ill Americans who have run out of approved options—and are running out of time. These patients are not looking for a 100 percent guarantee that a treatment will work for them. They are looking for a fighting chance.Why can’t they have that chance? Why don’t they have the right to try . . . the right to save their own lives?Author and activist Darcy Olsen, president of the Goldwater Institute, tells the remarkable story behind the Right to Try movement, the national campaign to give dying Americans access to cutting-edge treatments that are under study but still years away from receiving the FDA’s green light. The men, women, and children featured in these pages are our own family members, friends, and neighbors. Their heartbreaking, triumphant, and inspirational stories prove the necessity for Right to Try laws. Because everyone deserves the Right to Try.
The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English
by Henry HitchingsWords are essential to our everyday lives. An average person spends his or her day enveloped in conversations, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, directions, headlines, and more. But how often do we stop to think about the origins of the words we use? Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, Dutch, or Portuguese? Try admiral, landscape, and marmalade, just for starters. The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English language and vocabulary, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change, and remind us of our past. Henry Hitchings delves into the insatiable, ever-changing English language and reveals how and why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages—many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi and kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as a living archive of our human experience. He uncovers the secrets behind everyday words and explores the surprising origins of our most commonplace expressions. The Secret Life of Words is a rich, lively celebration of the language and vocabulary that we too often take for granted.
What Philosophy Is For
by Michael HampeWhat is the state of philosophy today, and what might it be tomorrow? With What Philosophy Is For, Michael Hampe answers these questions by exploring the relationships among philosophy, education, science, and narrative, developing a Socratic critique of philosophical doctrines. Philosophers generally develop systematic theories that lay out the basic structures of human experience, in order to teach the rest of humanity how to rightly understand our place in the world. This “scientific” approach to philosophy, Hampe argues, is too one-sided. In this magnum opus of an essay, Hampe aims to rescue philosophy from its current narrow claims of doctrine and to remind us what it is really for—to productively disillusion us into clearer thinking. Hampe takes us through twenty-five hundred years of intellectual history, starting with Socrates. That archetype of the philosophical teacher did not develop strict doctrines and rules, but rather criticized and refuted doctrines. With the Socratic method, we see the power of narration at work. Narrative and analytical disillusionment, Hampe argues, are the most helpful long-term enterprises of thought, the ones most worth preserving and developing again.What Philosophy Is For is simultaneously an introduction, a critique, and a call to action. Hampe shows how and why philosophy became what it is today, and, crucially, shows what it could be once more, if it would only turn its back on its pretensions to dogma: a privileged space for reflecting on the human condition.
Swords and Deviltry: The Adventures Of Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser (The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser #1)
by Fritz LeiberThe award-winning sword and sorcery classic that introduced Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, from a Grand Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy. First in the influential fan-favorite series, Swords and Deviltry collects four fantastical adventure stories from Fritz Leiber, the author who coined the phrase &“sword and sorcery&” and helped birth an entire genre. In &“Induction,&” in the realm of Nehwon, fate brings young prince Fafhrd and apprentice magician the Gray Mouser together to mark the beginning of a loyal and lifelong friendship. Consumed by his wicked mother&’s enchantments, Fafhrd finds freedom by pursuing the love of a beautiful actress in the Nebula and Hugo Award–nominated &“The Snow Women.&” Studying sorcery under a great wizard in a land where it is forbidden, Mouse crosses the thin line between white and black magic to avenge a great wrong in &“The Unholy Grail.&” And in the Nebula and Hugo Award–winning novella &“Ill Met in Lankhmar,&” Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser disguise themselves as beggars to infiltrate the Thieves&’ Guild—only to pay a horrible price for their greed when they come face-to-face with a monstrous evil.
Tower of Glass (Gateway Essentials)
by Robert SilverbergFrom the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author: &“High adventure, considerable tension, and—most important—social consciousness&” (Harlan Ellison). Simeon Krug is the king of the universe. A self-made man, he is the Bill Gates of the era, having built a megacommercial empire on the backs of his products: androids, genetically engineered human slaves. Having amassed incredible wealth, his next major goal is to communicate with aliens living in an uninhabitable world, sending a mysterious signal. This requires building a mile high tower in the arctic tundra. The androids want civil equality with humans, but are divided on the best means to the goal—political agitation or religious devotion to Krug, their creator. And Krug&’s son, Manuel, is reluctant to step into his role as heir to his father&’s empire.
The Subject of Holocaust Fiction (Jewish Literature And Culture Ser.)
by Emily Miller BudickFictional representations of horrific events run the risk of undercutting efforts to verify historical knowledge and may heighten our ability to respond intellectually and ethically to human experiences of devastation. In this captivating study of the epistemological, psychological, and ethical issues underlying Holocaust fiction, Emily Miller Budick examines the subjective experiences of fantasy, projection, and repression manifested in Holocaust fiction and in the reader's encounter with it. Considering works by Cynthia Ozick, Art Spiegelman, Aharon Appelfeld, Michael Chabon, and others, Budick investigates how the reading subject makes sense of these fictionalized presentations of memory and trauma, victims and victimizers.
American Smoke: Journeys to the End of the Light
by Iain SinclairThe visionary writer Iain Sinclair turns his sights to the Beat Generation in America in his most epic journey yet"How best to describe Iain Sinclair?" asks Robert Macfarlane in The Guardian. "A literary mud-larker and tip-picker? A Travelodge tramp (his phrase)? A middle-class dropout with a gift for bullshit (also his phrase)? A toxicologist of the twenty-first-century landscape? A historian of countercultures and occulted pasts? An intemperate WALL-E, compulsively collecting and compacting the city's textual waste? A psycho-geographer (from which term Sinclair has been rowing away ever since he helped launch it into the mainstream)? He's all of these, and more." Now, for the first time, the enigma that is Iain Sinclair lands on American shores for his long-awaited engagement with the memory-filled landscapes of the American Beats and their fellow travelers. A book filled with bad journeys and fated decisions, American Smoke is an epic walk in the footsteps of Malcolm Lowry, Charles Olson, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Gary Snyder, and others, heated by obsession (the Old West, volcanoes, Mexico) and enlivened by false memories, broken reports, and strange adventures. With American Smoke, Sinclair confirms his place as the most innovative of our chroniclers of the contemporary.
Widows' Watch
by Nancy HerndonA West Texas police detective has her work cut out for her when a bad marriage ends in murder . . . Elena Jarvis is a committed officer in the Los Santos, Texas, department of Crimes Against Persons. It isn&’t always an easy job when her ex-husband is in the next room, her boss treats her like a little girl, and her partner thinks she belongs in the kitchen. Elena always knew there would be obstacles—she just figured they would come from the criminals . . . The victim in her latest case is Boris Potemkin. His not-so-grieving widow declares that his death was a punishment from God, but it was a bullet that cut Boris down, not a thunderbolt from on high. As the investigation intensifies, Elena discovers there have been several recent deaths in the same neighborhood. Someone is having just a bit too much fun making widows. But the suspects are not your typical thugs—they are women in black . . .
The Two in Hiding (Night-Threads #2)
by Ru EmersonJennifer, Chris, and Robin return for the second fantastical journey of Ru Emerson&’s Night-Threads trilogy. The trio is met by two runaways, Aletto and Lialla, brother and sister from the mystical kingdom of Rhadaz. They have escaped from the estate of their uncle Jadek, who has ruled for years since the mysterious death of their father. Chris has taught Aletto how to fight like a warrior, while Lialla has begun to teach Jennifer the secret magic of the Night‑Threads. Together the group must strategize and navigate their way through a richly imagined fantasy world of deceit, intrigue, illusion, and shape‑shifting.Do not miss the entire Night‑Threads series: The Calling of the Three, The Two in Hiding, One Land, One Duke, The Craft of Light, The Art of the Sword, and The Science of Power.
Twisting the Rope (Black Dragon #2)
by R. A. MacAvoyThe Campbell Award–winning author&’s follow-up to Tea with the Black Dragon: &“Wow! MacAvoy&’s done it again&” (Anne McCaffrey, New York Times–bestselling author). Mayland Long, aka the Black Dragon, has been enjoying a peaceful relationship with Martha Macnamara—but suddenly they face threats from seemingly every side. A wild psychic force is loose in the world; Martha&’s three-year-old granddaughter has been kidnapped; and one of her Celtic musician friends has been found dead, hanging by a rope of twisted grass. Now the Black Dragon must use his wits to rescue the little girl and hunt for a killer . . . even if it brings him to a horrifying realization. In this novel, the author of The Book of Kells returns to the modern-day California of Tea with the Black Dragon, blending fantasy, mystery, Chinese lore, and a timeless love story as she so masterfully did in her debut, which earned nominations for Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and Philip K. Dick Awards. &“MacAvoy supports her tale with a superbly drawn cast of characters . . . and her usual superior command of language&” (Booklist).
Dangerous Waters
by Bill EidsonRiley Burke has it all: a successful advertising agency, a beautiful house, a trim sailboat, and a gorgeous wife. But no longer sure of his wife&’s love, he begins an affair, the first in their ten-year marriage. As Riley and his would-be lover wait on the dock in Newport Harbor for the launch to his boat, a young man nearby is attacked by a brutal thug. When Riley intervenes, he finds himself inextricably drawn into a chain of events that will change his life forever; he finds himself, suddenly, in dangerous waters. Following a chilling, bewildering trail of deception and murder, he confronts the devastation brought about by his own betrayal and forms a terrible plan for justice. If only he can just stay one step ahead of the police and the killer. If only he can stay one step ahead of his friends. But he soon learns the price to save the tattered remains of all that he loves may cost him everything—including his life.