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The Windows of Heaven: A Novel of Galveston's Great Storm of 1900
by Ron RozelleSet in Galveston during the 1900 storm, the most devastating natural disaster in the history of the United States, this sweeping novel follows the fates of several richly drawn characters. It is the story of Sal, the little girl who is wise beyond her years and who holds out as much hope for the world as she does for her father, the ruined son of a respected father. It is the story of Sister Zilphia, the nun who helps run the St. Mary's Orphanage. The only thing separating the two long buildings of the orphanage is a fragile line of sand dunes; the only thing separating Zilphia from the world is the brittle faith that she has been sent there to consider. A faith that has never been truly tested. Until now. And it is the story of Galveston herself, the grand old lady of the Gulf Coast, with her harbor filled with ships from the world over; her Victorian homes and her brothels and her grand pavilions set in their own parks; and her stately mansions along Broadway, the highest ground on the island, at eight feet above sea level. All must face their darkest night now, as nature hurls the worst she can muster at the narrow strip of sand and saltgrass that is doomed to become, for a time, part of the ocean floor. This is the story of heroes and villains, of courage and sacrifice and, most of all, of people trying desperately to survive. And it is the story of an era now gone, of splendor and injustice, filled with the simple joy of living.
Taking My Life
by Jane RuleDiscovered in her papers as a handwritten manuscript in 2008, Jane Rule's autobiography is a rich and culturally significant document that follows the first twenty-one years of her life. In writing about her formative years, she is indeed "taking" the measure of her life, assessing its contours of pleasure and pain, and accounting precisely for how it evolved, with great discretion and consideration for those who might have been affected by being represented in her work. She appreciated the ambiguity of the title she chose, with all its implications of suicide: at the end of her writing life, she was submitting herself as a person, not only to the literary and cultural, but also the moral and ethical critique of her readers. At turns deeply moving and witty,Taking My Lifeprobes in emotional and intellectual terms the larger philosophical questions that were to preoccupy her throughout her literary career, and showcases the origins and contexts that gave shape to Rule's rich intellectual life. Her autobiography will appeal to avid followers of her work, delighted to discover another of her works that has, until now, remained unpublished.
Theme For Diverse Instruments
by Jane RuleBrilliant short stories, some first published in "The Ladder," from the acclaimed Jane Rule, author of Desert of the Heart and Memory Board. In the sensual and tender "Middle Children," two closeted young lesbians radiate the joy of their love into the tumultuous lives around them... In "A Television Drama," Carolee Mitchell witnesses the capture of a wounded fugitive -and the blurring of the boundaries between reality and unreality. Young Maly learns to contend with the games of her brother and his new friend by devising a game of her own... In "My Father's House." In "My Country Wrong," an American lesbian returns at Christmas time to Vietnam-era San Francisco. In the humorous story "House," an uninhibited, non-conformist family tries conventionality on for size... Ruth hires Anna -but the women's relationship encompasses far more complicated Issues than Anna being Ruth's "Housekeeper." In the unforgettable "In the Basement of the House" a young woman grapples with the forces that entwine her life with a conventional-appearing husband and wife... And in a story that ranks with the greatest ever written, lesbian Alice occupies... "The Attic of the House." ...And more, much more. This outstanding collection, from one of the most gifted writers of our generation, deserves a permanent place on your bookshelf.
And Chaos Died
by Joanna RussJoanna Russ, famous for her feminist sci-fi novel The Female Man (1975), weaves together a bizarre (and difficult) novel filled with strange images, peculiar characters, and a fragmented/layered/bewildering narrative structure. And Chaos Died (1970) is a startlingly original take on the staple sci-fi themes of telepathy and overpopulation.
On Strike Against God: A Lesbian Love Story
by Joanna RussJoanna Russ's On Strike Against God is remarkable for its deft intertwining of many themes: not only the overt one of coming out, but many intricately (and inevitably) interlaced stories of alienation, a search for community and rebellion against how our society defines women. Some editions are subtitled "A Lesbian Love Story," and it is, but even more, this is a manifesto of modern feminism and an astute, often funny, but also angry look at what it means to be a woman.
What Are We Fighting For?: Sex, Race, Class and the Future of Feminism
by Joanna RussA study of the future of feminism calls for a return to the radical roots of feminism's direct political struggle during the 1960s and early 1970s and a move away from the de-politicized focus on women's psychology and personal relations of today.
We Who Are About To...
by Joanna Russ Samuel R. DelanyFirst published in 1976. A multi-dimensional explosion hurls the starship's few passengers across the galaxies and onto an uncharted barren tundra. With no technical skills and scant supplies, the survivors face a bleak end in an alien world. One brave woman holds the daring answer, but it is the most desperate one possible. Elegant and electric, We Who Are About To... brings us face to face with our basic assumptions about our will to live. While most of the stranded tourists decide to defy the odds and insist on colonizing the planet and creating life, the narrator decides to practice the art of dying. When she is threatened with compulsory reproduction, she defends herself with lethal force. Originally published in 1977, this is one of the most subtle, complex, and exciting science fiction novels ever written about the attempt to survive a hostile alien environment. It is characteristic of Russ's genius that such a readable novel is also one of her most intellectually intricate.
Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
by Christopher Ryan Cacilda JetháSince Darwin's day, we've been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science--as well as religious and cultural institutions--has maintained that men and women evolved in families in which a man's possessions and protection were exchanged for a woman's fertility and fidelity. But this narrative is collapsing. Fewer and fewer couples are getting married, and divorce rates keep climbing as adultery and flagging libido drag down even seemingly solid marriages. How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can't be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethå. While debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book. Ryan and Jethå's central contention is that human beings evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors show how far from human nature monogamy really is. Human beings everywhere and in every era have confronted the same familiar, intimate situations in surprisingly different ways. The authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity. With intelligence, humor, and wonder, Ryan and Jethå show how our promiscuous past haunts our struggles over monogamy, sexual orientation, and family dynamics. They explore why long-term fidelity can be so difficult for so many; why sexual passion tends to fade even as love deepens; why many middle-aged men risk everything for transient affairs with younger women; why homosexuality persists in the face of standard evolutionary logic; and what the human body reveals about the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality. In the tradition of the best historical and scientific writing, Sex at Dawn unapologetically upends unwarranted assumptions and unfounded conclusions while offering a revolutionary understanding of why we live and love as we do.
The Bears' House
by Marilyn SachsFirst published in 1971. Everyone in Miss Thompsons fourth grade class loves The Bears’ House—Fran Ellen Smith most of all. When Fran Ellen goes into The Bears’ House, she can forget about how awful things are at home. At the end of the term Miss Thompson is giving the house away to someone in the class. Fran Ellen knows it won’t be her. How is she going to get along without a place to hide?
Marv
by Marilyn SachsMarv Green has a garden where no flowers grow. Lots of other things grow there though—a set of revolving doors that lead nowhere, a roofless dog palace without a dog, an igloo made of bricks—to name just a few. Marv’s problem is that he likes to build. And when he isn’t building, he’s dreaming about building. His teachers consider him hopelessly stupid, and his brilliant, older sister, Frances, whom he admires more than anybody else in the world, calls him a “failure.” “Everything you do is a useless, ugly mess,” says Frances. “Can’t you make something that will benefit somebody?” And Marv tries. Over and over again Marv tries—and fails. Exasperating, hopeless, funny and endearing, here is Marv—part dreamer, part nuisance, part fool, and perhaps, although you may be the only one who thinks so, part genius.
Peter and Veronica
by Marilyn SachsPeter Wedemeyer never thought when he became friends with Veronica Ganz that his whole world would change. Suddenly, his adoring mother turns fiercely disapproving, his good friend Bill Stover will have nothing to do with him, and Roslyn Gellert, the one girl he admires, gazes off into space when she sees him. Why? And why does Veronica's kid brother, Stanley, throw bananas at him? And why does that drip Reba Fleming giggle whenever she sees him and Veronica together? "I never thought," Veronica says, "that having a friend would hurt so much." But in between the problems, there are many funny, wonderfully happy roller skating adventures, as a boy and a girl struggle to maintain an unusual friendship and come to understand the meaning of prejudice. With Peter and Veronica, boys will join the many enthusiastic girls who welcome the humor and realism of Marilyn Sachs' books.
Veronica Ganz
by Marilyn SachsFirst published in 1968. One of the most famous bullies in children's books, Veronica Ganz has never met her match. She has systematically beaten up everybody in all of the classes, and has never been challenged until ... until little Peter Wedemeyer moves into the neighborhood. Taunting, teasing and always one step ahead of her mighty fists, Veronica must find a way to teach him who is boss.
The Truth About Mary Rose
by Marilyn Sachs Louis S. GlanzmanMary Rose Ramirez is a happy girl. She is pretty, has a wonderful, adoring family, and is named after a heroine. Thirty years before, her aunt, Mary Rose, had died in a fire, but not before saving the lives of everybody else in the building. Unfortunately all snapshots of her were burned in the fire, along with everything else that belonged to her. But Mary Rose thinks she knows just what her aunt looked like and what kind of a person she was. When she finds a shoebox in her grandmother’s attic, filled with cutout, paper jewelry the first Mary Rose used to play with, she is overcome with joy. But the box turns into a regular Pandora’s Box as Mary Rose begins to discover the truth about not only the first Mary Rose but perhaps the second as well.
With You Or Without You
by Lauren SandersA high schooler in jail because she murdered a soap star; the mother of the soap star also has a story.
The Portable Radio in American Life
by Michael Brian SchifferHistory of the development of the portable radio over the years.
Taking Charge: The Electric Automobile In America
by Michael Brian SchifferA history of electric cars.
Girls, Visions, and Everything
by Sarah SchulmanLila Futuransky is a lesbian living on the East Side of New York who admires Jack Kerouac and is determined to emulate her hero.She wanders around the city, takes many lovers, but then she meets Emily. They fall for each other, and soon Lila must choose between her love for Emily and her desire to continue living out her fantasy from On the Road.
The Sophie Horowitz Story
by Sarah SchulmanSometimes intrepid Jewish reporter for the Feminist News searches for captured radical feminist leaders.
Wendy Carlos: A Biography (Cultural Biographies Ser.)
by Amanda SewellWith her debut album Switched-On Bach, composer and electronic musician Wendy Carlos (b. 1939) brought the sound of the Moog synthesizer to a generation of listeners, helping to effect arguably one of the most substantial changes in popular music’s sound since musicians began using amplifiers. Her story is not only one of a person who blazed new trails in electronic music for decades but is also the story of a person who intersected in many ways with American popular culture, medicine, and social trends during the second half of the 20th century and well into the 21st. This biography tells the full story of her life and work and about the ways in which they reflect many dimensions of American culture. Author Amanda Sewell traces how Carlos's identity as a transgender woman has shaped many aspects of her life, her career, how she relates to the public, and how the public has received her and her music. She shows how cultural factors surrounding the treatment of transgender people affected many of the decisions that Carlos has made over the decades. Additionally, the book describes how cultural reception and perception of transgender people has colored how journalists, scholars, and fans have written about Carlos and her music for decades. Wendy Carlos: A Biography is essential reading for all who are interested in contemporary music and culture.
Maud Powell, Pioneer American Violinist
by Karen A. Shaffer Neva G. GreenwoodBiography of the first American violinist to gain international rank.
The Addendum
by Sarah Sheppard Sandra MoranWhen advertising executive Sarah Sheppard was commissioned by God, also known as Infinity, to write and market a universal addendum to the world's religious texts, she was convinced the entire plan was an elaborate hoax. But as anyone who has read Sandra Moran's novel, Nudge, knows, the real story is much more complicated. Now for the first time, the actual text of The Addendum is available for anyone to read. And what exactly is The Addendum? It's a universal document that ties together history, religion, and the commonality of the human experience through stories of famous figures who, regardless of their belief systems, stand as testament to the ideals of living one's faith and making the world a better place. Its purpose is to help humanity celebrate and accept our differences, even as we embrace that which is common to all.