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The Death List: Narc, Death Of A Courier, And The Death List (The Narc Series #3)
by Marc OldenA kingpin loses his little black book, and every pusher in the city will kill to find itHis name is Mr. Church. He is a drug kingpin whose empire stretches across six cities in the Northeast. And he is about to die. A rival dealer hires a gang of corrupt cops to end Church&’s reign—not just to get him out of the way, but to get ahold of his list. This small notebook holds the names of the couriers, suppliers, and crooked politicians who make the international drug trade run smoothly. The hit comes off, but the list vanishes. Whoever finds it will become one of the richest criminals in the country—assuming he lives to collect his first payment.Refereeing the melee is John Bolt, a narcotics agent with a hair trigger and a moral compass that&’s pointing him right at the heart of this war. Finding the list could mean the biggest bust of his career, and he doesn&’t mind killing to get his hands on it.
The Pre-Raphaelites and Their Circle
by Cecil Y. LangThis useful volume presents the major works of the five leading Pre-Raphaelite poets. Foremost in the collection, and included in their entirety are D. G. Rossetti's The House of Life, C. G. Rossetti's "Monna Innominata," William Morris's "Defence of Guenevere," Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon, and Meredith's "Modern Love." Complementing these major poems is a fine, generous selection of the poets' shorter pieces that are typical of their work as a whole. For this second edition, Cecil Lang has substituted two early Swinburne poems, "The Leper" and "Anactoria," for Fitzgerald's The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. These poems, which the editor describes as "shocking," show a new aspect of Swinburne not discussed previously. Lang's Introduction describes briefly the founding of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, discusses each of the Pre-Raphaelite poets, both individually and in relation to the others, and grapples with the questions of definition of Pre-Raphaelitism and the similarities between its painting and poetry. The book is appropriately illustrated with thirty-two works by D. G. Rossetti, John Ruskin, William H. Hunt, and other Pre-Raphaelite artists. This is the only anthology available that provides a representative selection of the work of these important poets. It will be indispensable to students of Victorian poetry and appreciated by readers interested in the Pre-Raphaelites.
5 Minutes and 42 Seconds
by Timothy WilliamsCameisha Douglass has it all -- a sprawling home in a posh neighborhood, a fancy car, three healthy children, and a husband, Fashad, who is devoted to her. Her biggest worry is catching her daytime soap operas before the kids come home from school and her husband returns from work, "businesses" that everyone knows are mere fronts through which he launders his drug-dealing money. But as the emotional and sexual secrets of her family come to the surface, she can no longer deny that her life is not all that it seems. While family members point fingers at one another, the real threat may come from the outside, specifically from Smokey, a mixed-race twenty-year-old high school dropout and would-be rapper whose issues with sexual and racial identity fuel his inner rage.Written by a daring young author with a compelling voice, 5 Minutes and 42 Seconds is a fast-paced and edgy thriller that explores the questions of identity and sexuality with refreshing vigor.
Hollywood Jock: 365 Days, Four Screenplays, Three TV Pitches, Two Kids, and One Wife Who's Ready to Pull the Plug
by Rob RyderRob Ryder made that pledge to his wife, and he was determined to stick to it. As technical consultant on blockbuster sports films, he had seen up close how the film business works and what kind of chaos can, and usually does, ensue. And now he was ready to take it on!Hollywood Jock is the suspenseful, dramatic, outrageous, and honest true story of the year when Rob Ryder, screenwriter, laid it all on the line -- and kicked, scratched, wheeled, dealed, and fought like hell to hit the Tinseltown big time. It is a chronicle of schmoozing producers, shopping screenplays, corralling sports legends, and dodging irate actors -- a fascinating perspective on the highs, the very lows, and the behind-the-scenes madness that makes the world of Hollywood so endlessly compelling . . . and infamously brutal.
The Seventh Telling: A Novel
by Mitchell ChefitzThe Seventh Telling is a journey into the Kabbalah, a spiritual discipline hidden within the folds of Jewish history. Stephanie and Sidney have been studying with Moshe Katan, a kabbalist who shared his learning only when he perceived that a kabbalistic intervention might be necessary to save the life of Rivkah, his wife. What has happened to Moshe and Rivkah we do not know, only that their house is now being used for an extraordinary storytelling, a spiritual discipline to share with those willing to risk examining the very core of their beliefs.
I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both: A Novel
by Mariah StovallSusan Choi&’s Trust Exercise meets Nick Hornby&’s High Fidelity in a Black woman&’s coming-of-age story, chronicling a life-changing friendship, the interplay between music fandom and identity, and the slipperiness of sanitySet in the suburbs of Los Angeles and New York City, I Love You So Much It&’s Killing Us Both is an immersive journey into the life and mind of Khaki Oliver, who&’s perennially trying to disappear into something: a codependent friendship, an ill-advised boyfriend, the punk scene, or simply, the ether. These days it&’s a meaningless job and a comfortingly empty apartment. Then, after a decade of estrangement, she receives a letter from her former best friend. Fiona&’s throwing a party for her newly adopted daughter and wants Khaki to join the celebration.Khaki is equal parts terrified and tempted to reconnect. Their platonic love was confusing, all-consuming, and encouraged their worst impulses. While stalling her RSVP, Khaki starts crafting the perfect mixtape—revisiting memories of formative shows, failed romances, and the ups and downs of desire and denial—while weighing the risks and rewards of saying yes to Fiona again.One song at a time, from 1980s hardcore to 2010s emo, the shared and separate contours of each woman&’s mind come into focus. Will listening to the same old songs on repeat doom Khaki to a lonely life of arrested development? Or will hindsight help her regain her sense of self and pave a healthy path for the future, with or without Fiona?
Bruno's Challenge: And Other Stories of the French Countryside (Bruno, Chief of Police Series)
by Martin WalkerMartin Walker's first collection of stories featuring all the familiar characters from his Bruno novels and the glories of the Périgord region of France, with ample helpings of food and wine."Whether preparing nettle soup, liaising with the Police Nationale or reading boar scat, Bruno remains focused and efficient.... Turn immediately to Martin Walker&’s new platter of delicious morsels.&”—The Washington PostAfter a prisoner breaks parole to see his son on Christmas, Bruno must track him down before he throws away his chance at eventual freedom. When a Senegalese man&’s coffee sells superbly at the market, some café owners become incensed by the new competition and take matters into their own hands. As a Swiss tourist and a St. Denis native fall in love over the fruit-and-veggie stall, one of their family members takes drastic steps to break them up. A fledgling tour bus business is sabotaged, leading Bruno to take a closer look at a town love triangle. Called in to investigate a case of stolen oysters, our beloved policeman reunites with an old flame to catch the shellfish thieves. In story after story, Bruno settles town disputes, mediates family quarrels, and tracks down lawbreakers in his adored village of St. Denis and its environs. Featured meals in the collection include a fatty Christmas goose, a savory nettle soup with crème fraîche, and a fluffy quiche Lorraine.
Carrie Soto Is Back: A Novel
by Taylor Jenkins Reid#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • &“An epic adventure about a female athlete perhaps past her prime, brought back to the tennis court for one last grand slam&” (Elle), from the author of Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo&“A heart-filled novel about an iconic and persevering father and daughter.&”—Time&“Gorgeous. The kind of sharp, smart, potent book you have to set aside every few pages just to catch your breath. I&’ll take a piece of Carrie Soto forward with me in life and be a little better for it.&”—Emily Henry, author of Book Lovers and Beach ReadONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, PopSugar, Glamour, Reader&’s DigestCarrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked &“the Battle-Axe&” anyway. Even if her body doesn&’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.
Malibu Rising: A Novel
by Taylor Jenkins ReidNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From the author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . . . &“Irresistible . . . High drama at the beach, starring four sexy, surfing siblings and their deadbeat, famous-crooner dad.&”—PeopleONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Time, Marie Claire, PopSugar, Parade, Teen Vogue, Self, She Reads Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives forever.Malibu: August 1983. It&’s the day of Nina Riva&’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he&’s been inseparable since birth.Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can&’t stop thinking about promised she&’ll be there.And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family&’s generations will all come rising to the surface.Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.
Cool for You: A Novel
by Eileen MylesGrainy and stripped down, this gritty novel traces the downbeat progress of a tough, queer girl growing up in working-class Boston by "a cult figure to a generation of post-punk females forming their own literary avant-garde” (The New York Times).Why can’t I live right now. Because I am not rich, I am not a saint. But I do know this: not all of us were sent here to work.The first published novel of legendary poet and performer Eileen Myles follows a queer female growing up in working-class Boston, straining against the institutions that hold her: family, Catholic school, jobs at a camp, at a nursing home, at a school for developmentally disabled adult males.She wants to be an astronaut. Instead, she becomes a poet and journeys through a series of low-end schools, pathetic jobs, and unmade beds. Schooled by mean and memorable Catholic nuns, this tomboy heroine stumbles and dreams her way through the painful corridors of family, early sexual encounters, and an eye-opening series of jobs caring for the sick and insane--the abandoned wards of the state. This is a book hell-bent on telling the truth about poor women, and how they do (and do not) get out of the hands of their families and the state. Without artifice or pseudonym, protagonist Eileen Myles boldly sets down a rich and graphic account of female experience in this world.Free-ranging and deadpan, tragic and joyful, this is a book about women, gender, class, bodies, escape, and what it means to be “inside.” Never more relevant, and now with an introduction by Chris Kraus."Eileen Myles is a genius!"--Dorothy Allison
Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel
by Taylor Jenkins Reid#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD! A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup—from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is BackREESE&’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NOW AN EMMY AWARD–NOMINATED ORIGINAL STREAMING SERIES EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY REESE WITHERSPOON &“An explosive, dynamite, down-and-dirty look at a fictional rock band told in an interview style that gives it irresistible surface energy.&”—Elin HilderbrandONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Esquire, Glamour, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Parade, Paste, Shelf Awareness, BookRiot Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it&’s the rock &’n&’ roll she loves most. By the time she&’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she&’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
With Every Great Breath: New and Selected Essays, 1995-2023
by Rick BassWinner of the National Outdoor Book Award"Master craftsman" (Los Angeles Times) and beloved author Rick Bass explores ecological, social, and personal landscapes through this collection that brings together his best-loved essays and brand-new piecesFor acclaimed writer and environmental activist Rick Bass, it can be wearying to dwell relentlessly upon the broken, the fragmented, the dead and dying and doomed to extinction. Activism is a necessary part of the environmental movement, but so is the time-honored celebration of the beauty that inspires us.Spanning his storied career, these new and selected essays attempt to take a brief step to the side, away from lamentation and prescription, to inhabit, as deeply as possible, the greater depths of the beauty in each moment. With Every Great Breath ranges from the extremely local—a long-form essay about the community affected by the largest Superfund site in U.S. history, in Libby, Montana—to the far-flung: the Galápagos, Namibia, and Alaska. Throughout, Bass offers a portrait of our planet that is always alert to its wonders, even in the face of environmental crisis.
Homeseeking: A GMA Book Club Pick
by Karissa ChenA GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK&“Sweeping and epic…An impactful love story, told against the backdrop of historical events…One of the best debut novels of this century.&”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette &“Like any tried-and-true epic (think &“Pachinko&” or &“The Joy Luck Club&”… Homeseeking is just a genuine pleasure to read.&”—San Francisco ChronicleA single choice can define an entire life.Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in sixty years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back.Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me.Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history as war, famine, and opportunity take them separately to the song halls of Hong Kong, the military encampments of Taiwan, the bustling streets of New York, and sunny California, telling Haiwen&’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi&’s from her childhood to the present, meeting in the crucible of their lives. Throughout, Haiwen holds his memories close while Suchi forces herself to look only forward, neither losing sight of the home they hold in their hearts.At once epic and intimate, Homeseeking is a story of family, sacrifice, and loyalty, and of the power of love to endure beyond distance, beyond time.
The One We Fell in Love With
by Paige ToonIn the spirit of Colleen Hoover, a sweeping, poignant coming-of-age story about three identical sisters who each fall in love with the same boy next door, calling into question everything they know about themselves and their sisterhood.Three sisters. Three love stories. A secret that changes everything. Phoebe, Eliza, and Rose are three identical sisters who couldn&’t be more different. When they&’re seventeen, a beautiful boy moves in next door and nobody is surprised when Angus and Phoebe fall in love. Everybody loves Phoebe. But is she the sister he&’s meant to be with? When Phoebe spends a summer in the French Alps, she meets a man who makes her wonder the same question. Ten years later, it&’s two weeks until Phoebe&’s wedding when something unexpected changes all of their lives. Eliza will have to face a love from her past, one that could unmoor her or finally mend her broken heart. Meanwhile Rose, who has always been the responsible one, is ready for change—but is she ready for the man fate will bring? Angus will always be the boy next door in each of their hearts, but who is each sister meant to fall in love with?
Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together
by Gaby Dunn&“Humorous and forthright...[Gaby] Dunn makes facing money issues seem not only palatable but possibly even fun....Dunn&’s book delivers.&” —Publishers Weekly The beloved writer-comedian expands on his popular podcast with an engaging and empowering financial literacy book for Millennials and Gen Z. In the first episode of his Bad With Money podcast, Gaby Dunn asked patrons at a coffee shop two questions: First, what&’s your favorite sex position? Everyone was game to answer, even the barista. Then, she asked how much money was in their bank accounts. People were aghast. &“That&’s a very personal question,&” they insisted. And therein lies the problem. Dunn argues that our inability to speak honestly about money is our #1 barrier to understanding it, leading us to feel alone, ashamed, and anxious, which in turns makes us feel even more overwhelmed by it. In Bad With Money, he reveals the legitimate, systemic reasons behind our feeling of helplessness when it comes to personal finance, demystifying the many signposts on the road to getting our financial sh*t together, like how to choose an insurance plan or buy a car, sign up for a credit card or take out student loans. He speaks directly to her audience, offering advice on how to make that #freelancelyfe work for you, navigate money while you date, and budget without becoming a Nobel-winning economist overnight. Even a topic as notoriously dry as money becomes hilarious and engaging in the hands of Dunn, who weaves his own stories with the perspectives of various comedians, artists, students, and more, arguing that—even without selling our bodies to science or suffering the indignity of snobby thrift shop buyers—we can all start taking control of our financial futures.
The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy
by Richard DrakeWhat drives terrorists to glorify violence? In The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy, Richard Drake seeks to explain the origins of Italian terrorism and the role that intellectuals played in valorizing the use of violence for political or social ends. Drake argues that a combination of socioeconomic factors and the influence of intellectual elites led to a sanctioning of violence by revolutionary political groups in Italy between 1969 and 1988. Drake explores what motivated Italian terrorists on both the Left and the Right during some of the most violent decades in modern Italian history and how these terrorists perceived the modern world as something to be destroyed rather than reformed. In 1989, The Revolutionary Mystique and Terrorism in Contemporary Italy received the Howard R. Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies. It was awarded for the best book that year on Italian history. The book is reissued now with a new introduction for the light it might shed on current terrorist challenges. The Italians had success in combating terrorism. We might learn something from their example. The section of the book dealing with the Italian "superfascist" philosopher, Julius Evola, holds special interest today. Drake's original work takes on new significance in the light of Evola's recent surge of popularity for members of America's alt-right movement.
Bertha Venation: And Hundreds of Other Funny Names of Real People
by Larry Ashmead“Expectant parents are always looking for inspiration about names, and might be glad of a warning.” —Financial TimesAn ideal gift book with personality and charm, Bertha Venation is a legendary editor’s lifetime collection of the amazing names of actual people, with his own inimitable wit, commentary, and stories.Roger Gotobed . . . Ida Slaptor . . . Formica Dinette . . . Honeysuckle Weeks . . . Gay Beach . . . Sappho Clissit . . . Dimple MysteryThis colorful collection of extraordinary names, sure to please every lover of miscellany, features: Celebrity Children, Weirdest Names in Sports, Aptly Named Professionals, Literary Highlights, Funny Name Marriages, Places and Houses with Strange Names, Long and Meaningless Names, and Pets.Barbara Fatt Heine . . . P. Enis . . . Razzle and Dazzle . . . Moondog . . . Casa Enima . . . Phydeaux . . . Phat Ho . . . Fitz Funfrock . . . Mone’t Elysea Ann . . . and Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
Give + Take: A Novel
by Stona Fitch"A smart and original novel that flies from beginning to end...part noir, part anti-capitalist creed—its voice is both seductive and addictive." —Richard Price, author of Lush Life An unholy marriage of the classic American road narrative combined with the slyest moments of Thomas Pynchon, Give + Take is one part caper, one part social satire. Disillusioned after years of conspicuous consumption, jazz pianist Ross Clifton has become a talented thief, robbing from the rich to give to the poor. But when his teenage nephew, Cray, turns up to join him, his life on the road is turned upside down. Between his nephew's criminal aspirations and Ross' romance with an enigmatic singer, his grifter lifestyle is about to be in serious jeopardy. Fast, furious, and felonious, Give + Take races along to a thrilling climax.
The Ambitious Elementary School: Its Conception, Design, and Implications for Educational Equality
by Lisa Rosen Stephen W. Raudenbush Elizabeth McGhee HassrickThe challenge of overcoming educational inequality in the United States can sometimes appear overwhelming, and great controversy exists as to whether or not elementary schools are up to the task, whether they can ameliorate existing social inequalities and initiate opportunities for economic and civic flourishing for all children. This book shows what can happen when you rethink schools from the ground up with precisely these goals in mind, approaching educational inequality and its entrenched causes head on, student by student. Drawing on an in-depth study of real schools on the South Side of Chicago, Elizabeth McGhee Hassrick, Stephen W. Raudenbush, and Lisa Rosen argue that effectively meeting the challenge of educational inequality requires a complete reorganization of institutional structures as well as wholly new norms, values, and practices that are animated by a relentless commitment to student learning. They examine a model that pulls teachers out of their isolated classrooms and places them into collaborative environments where they can share their curricula, teaching methods, and assessments of student progress with a school-based network of peers, parents, and other professionals. Within this structure, teachers, school leaders, social workers, and parents collaborate to ensure that every child receives instruction tailored to his or her developing skills. Cooperating schools share new tools for assessment and instruction and become sites for the training of new teachers. Parents become respected partners, and expert practitioners work with researchers to evaluate their work and refine their models for educational organization and practice. The authors show not only what such a model looks like but the dramatic results it produces for student learning and achievement. The result is a fresh, deeply informed, and remarkably clear portrait of school reform that directly addresses the real problems of educational inequality.
The Girls (Belt Revivals)
by Edna FerberWith &“much humor&” and &“awareness of family dynamics&” this classic novel &“stands as an enduring portrait of women torn between duty and self-fulfillment&”(Publishers Weekly). First published in 1921, Edna Ferber&’s The Girls revolves around the &“three Charlottes&” of the Thrift family—Great-Aunt Charlotte, her niece Lottie, and Lottie&’s niece Charley. All single &“old maids,&” as the narrator describes them, their lives weave together as they deal with issues involving money, work, friendship, family, and love as they strive to join Chicago&’s growing middle class in the early twentieth century. With a historic span that travels from the Civil War to World War I, Ferber highlights how the three generations of Charlottes lead very different lives. But we also see the ways their experiences rhyme with one another and how, despite the social advances in America, as Kathleen Rooney writes in her introduction, all three have to confront &“a sexist and claustrophobic societal atmosphere in which any little act of self-assertion can feel like a leap from a precipice.&” Told through Ferber&’s assured and generous style, and full of her signature strong female characters, The Girls is an American classic. &“This is one of those books that nails setting and character so well that plot is mostly beside the point. . . . Ferber splits the difference with clearer prose and keener insight than [Sister Carrie author Theodore] Dreiser managed, while incorporating some of the same dry humor that [Babbitt author Sinclair] Lewis used to describe midwestern strivers.&” —Dmitry Samarov, Chicago Reader &“Written with such verve and insight that it could be a piece of historical fiction produced last week.&” —Patrick T. Reardon, Third Coast Review
The Courage to Be a Single Mother: Becoming Whole Again After Divorce
by Sheila EllisonPutting the Pieces Back TogetherStep One: I Do Love MyselfStep Two: I Know What I WantStep Three: My Family Is Still WholeStep Four: I Can Choose Who I AmFour simple steps. A world of truth. At last, a source of compassion and support for divorced mothers facing the realities of raising children when their lives are at their most vulnerable and their self-images at their most fragile. Filled with more than a book on coping -- it is a source of understanding, encouragement, and strength that will help single women to nurture their children, resurrect their spirits, and create the life they want.
Saints: Faith without Borders (A\critical Inquiry Book Ser.)
by Francoise Meltzer and Jas ElsnerWhile the modern world has largely dismissed the figure of the saint as a throwback, we remain fascinated by excess, marginality, transgression, and porous subjectivity—categories that define the saint. In this collection, Françoise Meltzer and Jas Elsner bring together top scholars from across the humanities to reconsider our denial of saintliness and examine how modernity returns to the lure of saintly grace, energy, and charisma.Addressing such problems as how saints are made, the use of saints by political and secular orders, and how holiness is personified, Saints takes us on a photo tour of Graceland and the cult of Elvis and explores the changing political takes on Joan of Arc in France. It shows us the self-fashioning of culture through the reevaluation of saints in late-antique Judaism and Counter-Reformation Rome, and it questions the political intent of underlying claims to spiritual attainment of a Muslim sheikh in Morocco and of Sephardism in Israel. Populated with the likes of Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and Padre Pio, this book is a fascinating inquiry into the status of saints in the modern world.
Automatic Religion: Nearhuman Agents of Brazil and France
by Paul Christopher JohnsonWhat distinguishes humans from nonhumans? Two common answers—free will and religion—are in some ways fundamentally opposed. Whereas free will enjoys a central place in our ideas of spontaneity, authorship, and deliberation, religious practices seem to involve a suspension of or relief from the exercise of our will. What, then, is agency, and why has it occupied such a central place in theories of the human?Automatic Religion explores an unlikely series of episodes from the end of the nineteenth century, when crucial ideas related to automatism and, in a different realm, the study of religion were both being born. Paul Christopher Johnson draws on years of archival and ethnographic research in Brazil and France to explore the crucial boundaries being drawn at the time between humans, “nearhumans,” and automata. As agency came to take on a more central place in the philosophical, moral, and legal traditions of the West, certain classes of people were excluded as less-than-human. Tracking the circulation of ideas across the Atlantic, Johnson tests those boundaries, revealing how they were constructed on largely gendered and racial foundations. In the process, he reanimates one of the most mysterious and yet foundational questions in trans-Atlantic thought: what is agency?
Imagining Deliberative Democracy in the Early American Republic
by Sandra M. GustafsonDeliberation, in recent years, has emerged as a form of civic engagement worth reclaiming. In this persuasive book, Sandra M. Gustafson combines historical literary analysis and political theory in order to demonstrate that current democratic practices of deliberation are rooted in the civic rhetoric that flourished in the early American republic.Though the U.S. Constitution made deliberation central to republican self-governance, the ethical emphasis on group deliberation often conflicted with the rhetorical focus on persuasive speech. From Alexis de Tocqueville’s ideas about the deliberative basis of American democracy through the works of Walt Whitman, John Dewey, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., Gustafson shows how writers and speakers have made the aesthetic and political possibilities of deliberation central to their autobiographies, manifestos, novels, and orations. Examining seven key writers from the early American republic—including James Fenimore Cooper, David Crockett, and Daniel Webster—whose works of deliberative imagination explored the intersections of style and democratic substance, Gustafson offers a mode of historical and textual analysis that displays the wide range of resources imaginative language can contribute to political life.
The End of East: A Novel
by Jen Sookfong LeeIn the tradition of Amy Tan and Jhumpa Lahiri, a moving portrait of three generations of family living in Vancouver's ChinatownFrom Knopf Canada's New Face of Fiction program--launching grounds for Yann Martel's Life of Pi and Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees--comes this powerfully evocative novel.At age eighteen, Seid Quan is the first in the Chan family to emigrate from China to Vancover in 1913. Paving the way for a wife and son, he is profoundly lonely, even as he joins the Chinatown community.Weaving in and out of the past and the present, The End of East pieces together the spellbinding tale of Seid Quan's family: his wife Shew Lin, whose hope for her family are threatened by her own misguided actions; his son Pon Man, who struggles with obligation and desire; his daughter-in-law Siu Sang, who tries to be the caregiver everyone expects, even as she feels herself unraveling; and his granddaughter Sammy, who finds herself embroiled in a volatile mixture of seduction, grief, and duty.An exquisite debut of isolation, immigration, romance, and insanity, The End of East sets family conflicts against the backdrop of Vancouver's Chinatown--a city within a city where dreams are shattered as quickly as they're built, and where history repeats itself through the generations. It is a bold and accomplished debut from one of Canada's brightest new literary stars.