belief
No, They Can't: Why Government Fails-But Individuals Succeed
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Stossel, John, PUBLISHER: Threshold Editions, "New York Times" bestselling journalist John Stossel shows how the expansion of government control is destructive for American society.Emmy Award-winning journalist John Stossel is a self-proclaimed skeptic, attacking society's sacred cows. Now, he dismantles the most sacred of them all: the notion that government action is the best way to solve a problem. From the myth that government can spend its way out of a crisis to the mistaken belief that labor unions protect workers, Stossel, a true libertarian, provides evidence that the reality is very different from what intuition tells us. His evidence leads to the taboo conclusions that: - Government "already" dominates health care--and that's the problem - The state keeps banning foods, but food bans don't make us healthier - Government-run schools and teachers' unions haven't made kids smarter Utilizing his three decades in journalism, Stossel combines sharp insights, common sense, and documented facts to debunk conventional wisdom and challenge popular opinion about the role of our nation's government.
Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Numbers, Ronald L., PUBLISHER: Harvard University Press, If we want nonscientists and opinion-makers in the press, the lab, and the pulpit to take a fresh look at the relationship between science and religion, Ronald Numbers suggests that we must first dispense with the hoary myths that have masqueraded too long as historical truths. Until about the s, the dominant narrative in the history of science had long been that of science triumphant, and science at war with religion. But a new generation of historians both of science and of the church began to examine episodes in the history of science and religion through the values and knowledge of the actors themselves. Now Ronald Numbers has recruited the leading scholars in this new history of science to -puncture the myths, from Galileo's incarceration to Darwin's deathbed conversion to Einstein's belief in a personal God who "didn't play dice with the universe." The picture of science and religion at each other's throats persists in mainstream media and scholarly journals, but each chapter in "Galileo Goes to Jail" shows how much we have to gain by seeing beyond the myths.
Big Nate from the Top
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Peirce, Lincoln, PUBLISHER: Andrews McMeel Publishing, "Big Nate," a.k.a. middle schooler Nate Wright, is eleven years old, four-and-a-half feet tall, and the wunderkind creation of cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. Nate is also the star of six novelized books to be published by HarperCollins, the first of which debuted on the "New York Times" children's best-seller list. This "Big Nate Collection" collects Peirce's "Big Nate" strips, originally published only in newspapers. For those not familiar with "Big Nate," think "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" meets "Calvin and Hobbes." Nate is a self-described genius and a sixth-grade Renaissance man equipped with only a #2 pencil and the unshakable belief that he is destined for greatness (a fortune cookie told him so). He fights a daily battle against overzealous teachers, undercooked cafeteria food, and all-around conventionality. He's the original rebel without a clue, alternately abrasive and endearing to classmates and teachers alike. Throughout Peirce's "Big Nate Collection," Nate blazes an unforgettable trail through the sixth grade at P.S. 38, earning straight As in laughs (and numerous detentions) along the way.
The Bodily Nature of Consciousness: Sartre and Contemporary
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Wider, Kathleen V., PUBLISHER: Cornell University Press, In this work, Kathleen V. Wider discusses Jean-Paul Sartre's analysis of consciousness in Being and Nothingness in light of recent work by analytic philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists. She brings together phenomenological and scientific understandings of the nature of consciousness and argues that the two approaches can strengthen and suppport each other. Work on consciousness from two very different philosophical traditions -- the continental and analytic -- contributes to her explanation of the deep-seated intuition that all consciousness is self-consciousness. Belief in the reflexivity of consciousness, which reaches back at least as far as Rene Descartes, has come under increasing attack. Those who would undermine it cite recent and ongoing findings of experimental psychologists and neuroscientists. Wider argues that the philosophical debate tends to proceed with little awareness of the extensive study of consciousness undertaken by continental philosophers during the first half of this century. With her clear explanations of both the Sartrean and contemporary Anglo-American contributions, Wider provides an invaluable map for scholars on both sides, and demonstrates how phenomenology and science both enhance current understanding and explanation of the nature of consciousness.
The Angel's Key
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Little, Patricia M., PUBLISHER: iUniverse, "September "--Michael Northwood plunges into the Willamette River to the sound of horrifying screams from the luxury liner Morro Castle as it founders, ablaze in a raging sea. His one, all-consuming thought is of his beloved wife, who had been with him on the ill-fated ship. "Present Day"--It should have been a fatal accident, but Amanda Poole inexplicably vanishes from her car the instant before it crashes. She is shaken but untouched, except for certain strange and unwanted abilities that she now possesses. Her well-ordered life as curator of Pittock Mansion begins to crumble, as Amanda realizes that someone, or something, wants her dead. The heavenly thread that binds these two seemingly unrelated lives stretches back to Amanda's troubled childhood and to Michael's idyllic marriage. Clues to the pair's unfathomable bond point to a Norwood family heirloom known as the Ashkhanna suite, yet the connection remains unclear. As their nightmares become real and every belief is tested, they find that all paths lead to the Angel's Key and to lost legends of angels and demons.
Muscle and a Shovel
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Shank, Michael J. / Parker, Jamie, PUBLISHER: Michael Shank Ministries, Muscle and a Shovel is a raw, gritty, true story about a pair of young newly-weds who move to the city to chase the American dream. In the process they are befriended by a man who turns their belief about God, their church, and their faith upside down Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, the Community Churches - none are spared when Truth is at stake and their new friend Randall isn't about to "candy-coat" God's Word for the sake of "political correctness" or "religious tolerance." This story will grip you from opening to close and will stimulate your spirit on levels you didn't think possible Get ready to fight or flee, because Muscle and a Shovel is one of those rare books that will raise your heart-rate and your blood-pressure. You won't want to wait to share it with your friends, or you will want to soak it in gasoline and set on fire There'll be no 'middle ground.' This book may turn our current religious world upside-down
Wings of Destiny
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Lanigan, Catherine, PUBLISHER: Health Communications, This gripping saga invites readers to embark on the greatest adventure of all: self-discovery. Wings of Destiny is the story of Jefferson Duke, a man completely motivated by his indomitable belief in his ancestor's dream that his destiny is to build the golden city of San Francisco. However, in order to fulfill his ancestral destiny, Jefferson must sacrifice the most precious of life's gifts: his heart. From the moment he sets foot on the shore of the trading post Yuerba Buena, Jefferson creates and perpetuates the lie that leads to his own inevitable destruction. Here the personal and the historical coincide, as the author deftly interweaves Jefferson's downfall with the infamous San Francisco earthquake of . Jefferson's destruction reveals the evil, greed, lust and family revenge between the House of Duke and the House of Su. Only Jefferson's granddaughter Barbara, a journalist for The Call, can root out the facts about the city's graft and corruption, as well as the white slavery that still exists on the Barbary Coast. However, in order to expose these evils and eliminate them, Barbara must betray Jefferson and, ultimately, learn the truth about herself and her own secret past.
The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology,
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Brooke, John L., PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press, Mormon religious belief has long been a mystery to outsiders, either dismissed as anomalous to the American religious tradition or extolled as the most genuine creation of the American imagination. The Refiner's Fire presents a new and comprehensive understanding of the roots of Mormon religion, whose theology promises the faithful that they will become "gods" through the restoration of ancient mysteries and regain the divine powers of Adam lost in the fall from Paradise. Professor Brooke contends that the origins of Mormonism lie in the fusion of radical religion with occult ideas, and organizes his book around the two problems of demonstrating the survival of these ideas into the nineteenth century and explaining how they were manifested in Mormon doctrine. In the concluding chapter, the author provides an outline of how Mormonism since the s gradually moved toward traditional Protestant Christianity. As well as religion, the book explores magic, witchcraft, alchemy, Freemasonry, counterfeiting, and state-formation. John L. Brooke is professor of history at Tufts University and the acclaimed author of The Heart of the Commonwealth: Society and Political Culture in Worcester County, Massachusetts, (CUP, ), which has won, among other prizes, the Organization of American Historians' Merle Curti Award for Intellectual History and the National Historical Society Book Prize for American History.
Ring of Ice: True Tales of Adventure, Exploration, and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Stark, Peter, PUBLISHER: Lyons Press, Well into the nineteenth century, Arctic explorers believed that they need only their ships through a ring of ice circling the top of the globe, and from there they would tack easily on soft breezes to the North Pole. Instead, hundreds of adventurers were crushed by ice, wasted away by scurvy, and frozen to death on the ice floes in pursuit of their misguided belief. This European notion of the Arctic -- a ring with a hole in the middle -- also represents a void in which native voices have drowned. Now, this vibrant collection celebrates both the unheard voices of the Inuit and the trail of words left by the Europeans as they pushed northward to fill the hole in their knowledge. "Ring of Ice" begins with the adventures of European explorers such as Captain Tyson and his crew, marooned by their own shipmates and forced to float precariously on a tiny iceberg for five months before being rescued. Later, twentieth-century explorers are confronted with other obstacles: Duncan Pryde, a fur-trade bachelor, finds himself unwittingly caught up in the Eskimo tradition of wife exchange and faces a difficult dilemma. Juxtaposed with these adventures are native stories and legends that add another, much needed dimension to Western understanding of polar acquisition.
The Pursuit of Unhappiness: The Elusive Psychology of
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Haybron, Daniel M., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, USA, The pursuit of happiness is a defining theme of the modern era. But what if people aren't very good at it? That is the question posed by this book, the first comprehensive philosophical treatment of happiness, understood here as a psychological phenomenon. Engaging heavily with the scientific literature, Dan Haybron argues that people probably know less about their own welfare, and may be less effective at securing it, than common belief has it. This is largely because human nature is surprisingly ill-suited to the pursuit of happiness. For the happiness that counts for well-being is not a matter of what we think about our lives, but of the quality of our emotional conditions. Yet our emotional lives are remarkably difficult to grasp. Moreover, we make a variety of systematic errors in the pursuit of happiness. These considerations suggest that we should rethink traditional assumptions about the good life and the good society. For instance, the pursuit of happiness may be primarily a matter of social context rather than personal choice. This book offers an extensive guide to philosophical thinking about happiness and well-being, correcting serious misconceptions that have beset the literature. It will be a definitive resource for philosophers, social scientists, policymakers, and other students of well-being.
Deception Well
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Nagata, Linda, PUBLISHER: Mythic Island Press LLC, In a war of belief, faith is a virus, and it's spreading fast.Remnants of an alien nanotechnology infest the surface of the planet, Deception Well, giving rise to deadly plagues that make the Well uninhabitable-or so most believe. Jupiter Apolinario saw it differently. He believed the planet was host to an ancient, alien mechanism of transformation meant to embrace all life forms in an ecstatic communion. Jupiter disappeared on the planet along with a handful of followers, though whether they were taken by death or transcendence, no one could say.Ten years later, Jupiter's son, Lot, stands at the center of conflict. Like his father, Lot has a seductive presence, and a charismatic nature that seems more-than-human. People are helplessly drawn to him. Their faith in him is strong and their numbers are growing, but Lot is beset with doubts about his father's teachings. So he sets out to learn the truth about Jupiter, about his own powerful calling as a prophet, and about the real nature of Deception Well, where a razor-thin line divides bliss from damnation.Enjoy all four books of the Nanotech Succession, a collection of stand-alone novels exploring the rise of nanotechnology and the strange and fascinating future that follows.
A Practical Guide to ETF Trading Systems
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Garner, Anthony, PUBLISHER: Harriman House, 'A Practical Guide to ETF Trading Systems' is about simple, rule-based trading systems of a trend following nature. This book reflects the author's belief that successful investing is not complex, that market timing works and that investors should spurn traditional actively-managed products in favour of managing their own investments using index-tracking funds. Providing a comprehensive introduction to rule-based trading, this book sets out in detail two specific systems which may be applied to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded commodities (ETCs). Sceptics will maintain that mechanical systems do not work and that you cannot ignore the fundamentals. They are wrong. Sophisticated investors have profited handsomely over the years by following price trends on a purely mechanical basis and they will continue to do so. This guide will show you that systematic trading is likely to provide far better risk-adjusted returns than any conventional approach currently on offer from professional fund managers. There has never been a better time to benefit from the advantages of systematic investing. At a time when long-only traditionalists are fully invested in stocks and nursing huge losses, the systematic investor has exited the markets entirely and waits patiently for a signal to re-enter.
Homelessness Amid Affluence: Structure and Paradox in the
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Lang, Michael H., PUBLISHER: Praeger Publishers, Approaching the problem of homelessness from a broad public policy perspective, Lang focuses on the American political economy and how it permits community development patterns based on racism and self-interest. This interdisciplinary study challenges the belief that homelessness is entirely due to the Reagan administration's cutbacks. Instead, it suggests the need for reform in our housing and employment policies. The book reviews competing socioeconomic paradigms that can explain why meaningful and effective programs are difficult to enact. Homelessness Amid Affluence discusses housing, community development patterns, economic segregation, and problems of the urban underclass, as well as proposed solutions. The interdisciplinary nature and historical perspective of this volume make it informative reading for sociologists, social workers, policymakers, and researchers. This volume is divided into five sections. The first section provides a conceptual overview. Section Two deals with the urban policy context from which a solution to homelessness must emerge. Section Three covers low-cost housing while Section Four deals with specific policies and programs developed in response to the needs of the homeless. A case study based on the author's experience with the efforts of Camden County, New Jersey is included. The last section analyzes some new policy approaches and ends with an assessment of the likely policy outcomes to emerge from this continuing debate.
Gangsters: 50 Years of Madness, Drugs, and Death on the
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Yablonsky, Lewis / Yablonsky / Golinger, Eva, PUBLISHER: New York University Press, The effects of gang violence are witnessed every day on the streets, in the news, and on the movie screen. In all these forums, gangs of young adults are associated with drugs and violence. Yet what is it that prompts young people to participate in violent behavior? And what can be done to extract adolescents from the gangster world of crime, death, and incarceration once they have become involved? In Gangsters: 50 Years of Madness, Drugs, and Death on the Streets of America, Lewis Yablonsky provides answers to the most baffling and crucial questions regarding gangs. Using information gathered from over forty years of experience working with gang members and based on hundreds of personal interviews, many conducted in prisons and in gang neighborhoods, Yablonsky explores the pathology of the gangsters' apparent addiction to incarceration and death. Gangsters is divided into four parts, including a brief history of gangs, the characteristics of gangs, successful approaches for treating gangsters in prison and the community, and concluding with a review and analysis of notable behavioral and social scientific theories of gangs. While condemning their violent behavior in no uncertain terms, Yablonsky offers hope through his belief that, given a chance in an effective treatment program, youths trapped in violent behavior can change their lives in positive ways and, in turn, facilitate positive change in their communities and society at large.
The Summerhouse
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Deveraux, Jude, PUBLISHER: Pocket Books, "Have you ever wanted to rewrite your past?" Three best friends, all with the same birthday, are about to turn forty. Celebrating at a summerhouse in Maine, Leslie Headrick, Madison Appleby, and Ellie Abbott are taking stock of their lives and loves, their wishes and choices. But none of them expect the gift that awaits them at the summerhouse: the chance for each of them to turn their "what-might-have-beens" into reality... Leslie, a suburban wife and mother, follows the career of a boy who pursued her in college wonders: what if she had chosen differently? Madison dropped a modeling career to help her high school boyfriend recover from an accident, even though he'd jilted her. But what if she had said "no" when her old boyfriend had called? Ellie became a famous novelist, but a bitter divorce wiped out her earnings -- and shattered her belief in herself. Why had the "justice" system failed her? And could she prevent its happening the second time around? Now, a mysterious "Madame Zoya," offers each of them a chance to relive any three weeks from the past. Will the road not taken prove a better path? Each woman will have to decide for herself as she follows the dream that got away...and each must choose the life that will truly satisfy the heart's deepest longings.
Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Orsi, Robert A., PUBLISHER: Princeton University Press, "Between Heaven and Earth" explores the relationships men, women, and children have formed with the Virgin Mary and the saints in twentieth-century American Catholic history, and reflects, more broadly, on how people live in the company of sacred figures and how these relationships shape the ties between people on earth. In this boldly argued and beautifully written book, Robert Orsi also considers how scholars of religion occupy the ground in between belief and analysis, faith and scholarship. Orsi infuses his analysis with an autobiographical voice steeped in his own Italian-American Catholic background--from the devotion of his uncle Sal, who had cerebral palsy, to a "crippled saint," Margaret of Castello; to the bond of his Tuscan grandmother with Saint Gemma Galgani. Religion exists not as a medium of making meanings, Orsi maintains, but as a network of relationships between heaven and earth involving people of all ages as well as the many sacred figures they hold dear. Orsi argues that modern academic theorizing about religion has long sanctioned dubious distinctions between "good" or "real" religious expression on the one hand and "bad" or "bogus" religion on the other, which marginalize these everyday relationships with sacred figures. This book is a brilliant critical inquiry into the lives that people make, for better or worse, between heaven and earth, and into the ways scholars of religion could better study of these worlds.
Leadership Succession
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Friedman, Stewart D., PUBLISHER: Transaction Publishers, This volume focuses on the most critical strategic activity in any organization, namely, who gets chosen to sit in the top echelon of the pyramid. Friedman argues that it is the quality of corporate leadership that will determine corporate winners and losers in the global competitive game. The stakes in leadership succession are high. The selection of key figures is the one human resource activity that no one belittles for being of secondary importance. Indeed, leadership succession is so important and central in many executive minds that it crowds out any other work. The succession process is often fraught with political intrigue, it lacks discipline, and excludes meaningful involvement of senior human resource executives. The contributors to this imaginative volume reveal a succession planning process that is frequently sloppy, superficial, and regularly sabotaged by senior management when they give it short shrift in terms of quality time. In addition, senior management often overrides sound decisions when it comes to filling key positions. The result is a lack of integrity throughout the human resource systems that eventually leads to a collapse of belief in the system and its governance. Noel M. Tichy, a leading figure in the studies of human resource management, has said, "Stewart Friedman is to be congratulated for a successful effort in providing a state of the art look at leadership succession. He] provides us with an empirical database of what is happening in U.S. corporations, helpful prescriptions for future improvement of leadership succession, and a realistic assessment of the human resource executive challenges in this area."
Daughters, Wives and Widows After the Black Death: Women in
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Mate, Mavis, PUBLISHER: Boydell Press, It has long been thought that the post Black Death period offered unparallelled opportunities for women. However, through a careful consideration of economic and legal changes affecting women of all social classes and conditions, the author shows that this was not the case, taking issue with orthodox opinion. She argues that marriage at a late age was not customary for women, and that the ability of wives to supplement their income with intermittent paid labour (at harvest time, for example) was not so great as has been supposed: rather, most married women spent more time on unpaid agricultural labour on their own land than their peers had done in the pre-plague economy. Professor Mate also demonstrates that there is little evidence to support the current belief that widowhood was the period in a woman's life when she enjoyed most power, freedom, and independence; moreover, legal changes were a mixed blessing for women, leaving some widows with a larger portion and a more secure title to land, but totally depriving others. Throughout, the book pays much attention to class as well as gender, showing how many things were determined by it, from what a woman wore or ate to the age at which she married, her power within the household, and even her vulnerability to rape.Professor MAVIS E. MATEteaches in the Department of History at the University of Oregon.
The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Zimring, Franklin E., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, Why does the United States continue to employ the death penalty when fifty other developed democracies have abolished it? Why does capital punishment become more problematic each year? How can the death penalty conflict be resolved? In The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment, Frank Zimring reveals that the seemingly insoluble turmoil surrounding the death penalty reflects a deep and long-standing division in American values, a division that he predicts will soon bring about the end of capital punishment in our country. On the one hand, execution would seem to violate our nation's highest legal principles of fairness and due process. It sets us increasingly apart from our allies and indeed is regarded by European nations as a barbaric and particularly egregious form of American exceptionalism. On the other hand, the death penalty represents a deeply held American belief in violent social justice that sees the hangman as an agent of local control and safeguard of community values. Zimring uncovers the most troubling symptom of this attraction to vigilante justice in the lynch mob. He shows that the great majority of executions in recent decades have occurred in precisely those Southern states where lynchings were most common a hundred years ago. It is this legacy, Zimring suggests, that constitutes both the distinctive appeal of the death penalty in the United States and one of the most compelling reasons for abolishing it. Impeccably researched and engagingly written, Contradictions in American Capital Punishment casts a clear new light on America's long and troubled embrace of the death penalty.
Carluccio's Complete Italian Food
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Carluccio, Antonio / Carluccio, Priscilla, PUBLISHER: Rizzoli International Publications, From one of the greatest authorities on the culinary products of Italy comes this definitive guide for the Italian food devotee. Illustrated with more than 300 color photographs and supplemented with 200 classic recipes, "Carluccio's Complete Italian Food" provides detailed descriptions of nearly every natural ingredient or prepared product made or used it Italy. Each of 11 main food types is traced to its origins in an introduction that describes the product's history, techniques of agriculture and production, varieties and specialties, and regional differences. Each introduction is followed by an A-Z dictionary to that category of food. The Pasta section reveals the exact differences between "fettuccine" and "tagliatelle"; Dairy Products distinguishes between "pecorino romano" and "pecorino sardo" (from Sardinia); and Vegetables and Legumes describes the many ways in which the essential tomato is preserved. Finally, every section offers a selection of authentic recipes for soups, appetizers, sauces, main courses, pastas, breads, or desserts--each using the particular ingredients and terms presented in the chapter. An appendix of Italian wines and other drinks, especially those used in cooking, completes the book. With infectious enthusiasm, Antonio Carluccio reveals a lifetime of knowledge about Italian food and his passionate belief that Italy has one of the richest cuisines in the world. His message is that a meal, however humble or extravagant, starts with the land or sea in which its ingredients originate. "Carluccio's Complete Italian Food" is a resource, food dictionary, and cookbook that will be used time and again by anyone interested in the unequaled Italianculinary tradition.
Story Writing in a Nursing Home
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: John, Martha Tyler / John Edd, Martha A., PUBLISHER: Routledge, Based on the belief that older people have good stories to tell, Story Writing in a Nursing Home was developed as part of a volunteer teaching service to a nursing home. Graduate students who were learning to teach this special population conducted story writing activities with older adults and found that even the frail elderly who are confined to nursing centers provided a unique perspective about events that emphasize the lasting verities in life. The idea of a patchwork was derived from one of the lessons taught and was suggested by one of the older participants who said, "We're sort of like a patchwork quilt." The information, memories, and humor the elderly see in situations is worth recording. In addition, Story Writing in a Nursing Home emphasizes the way to develop the mental stimulation that is so important for physical well being. This sensitive and insightful book provides a lesson plan outline and the type of content that was used as an example. It also provides a running commentary in the form of a diary that tells how to begin a teaching program for nursing center residents. Students and professionals interested in implementing a similar program can use these ideas for planning and for organizing the use of student help to better serve the population.Fascinating reading, this book includes stories by frail elderly people, lesson plans, tips on working with administrators in a nursing center, and reasons for providing instruction. Teachers, volunteers, librarians, gerontology/sociology students, and others concerned with the well-being of the elderly will refer often to this instructive volume.
Salvation City
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Nunez, Sigrid, PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books, From the critically acclaimed author of "The Last of Her Kind," a breakout novel that imagines the aftermath of pandemic flu, as seen through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy uncertain of his destiny. His family's sole survivor after a flu pandemic has killed large numbers of people worldwide, Cole Vining is lucky to have found refuge with the evangelical Pastor Wyatt and his wife in a small town in southern Indiana. As the world outside has grown increasingly anarchic, Salvation City has been spared much of the devastation, and its residents have renewed their preparations for the Rapture. Grateful for the shelter and love of his foster family (and relieved to have been saved from the horrid, overrun orphanages that have sprung up around the country), Cole begins to form relationships within the larger community. But despite his affection for this place, he struggles with memories of the very different world in which he was reared. Is there room to love both Wyatt and his parents? Are they still his parents if they are no longer there? As others around him grow increasingly fixated on the hope of salvation and the new life to come through the imminent Rapture, Cole begins to conceive of a different future for himself, one in which his own dreams of heroism seem within reach. Written in Sigrid Nunez's deceptively simple style, "Salvation City" is a story of love, betrayal, and forgiveness, weaving the deeply affecting story of a young boy's transformation with a profound meditation on the meaning of belief and heroism.
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Fuller, Alexandra, PUBLISHER: Random House Canada, In this tour-de-force sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller returns to Africa with the story of her unforgettable family. In Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness Alexandra Fuller braids a multi-layered narrative around the Happy Valley-era Africa of her mother's childhood; the grimness of her father's English childhood; and the darker, civil war-torn Africa of her own childhood. Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye and raised in Kenya, Nicola Fuller holds dear the kinds of values most likely to get you hurt or killed in Africa: loyalty to blood, passion for land and a holy belief in the restorative power of all animals. Fuller captures her mother's distinctive voice with remarkable precision, rendering a life story that is as funny, terrifying, exotic and unselfconscious as Nicola herself. We see Nicola and Tim Fuller in their honeymoon period, when East Africa lies before them with all the promise of its liquid equatorial light, even as the British Empire wanes. But in short order, an accumulation of mishaps and tragedies bump up against history until the couple find themselves in a world they hardly recognize. We follow the Fullers as they run from war and unspeakable heartbreak, from Kenya to Rhodesia to Zambia, even returning to England briefly. But just when it seems that Nicola has been broken entirely by Africa, it is the African earth itself that revives her. In the end we find Nicola and Tim at a coffee table under their Tree of Forgetfulness on the banana and fish farm where they plan to spend their final days. In local custom, the Tree is where villagers meet to resolve disputes--and it is here that the Fullers at last find an African kind of peace. Following the ghosts and dreams of memory, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is Alexandra Fuller at her very best.
Progress: Fact or Illusion?
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Marx, Leo / Mazlish, Bruce, PUBLISHER: University of Michigan Press, Progress, perhaps the fundamental secular belief of modern Western society, has come under heavy fire recently because, after three centuries, advances in science and technology seem increasingly to bring problems in their wake: alienation, environmental degradation, the threat of nuclear destruction. The idea of progress is brought into question by postmodern critique, attacking the notion of science as truth. Yet no other meaningful organization of humankind's sense of time looms on the horizon. This volume seeks to reassess the meaning and prospects of the idea of progress. Looking toward the millennium, the volume seeks to evaluate the idea's worth both in theory--is it intellectually viable and defensible today?--and practice--even if theoretically defensible, is the idea undermined in actual life? Approaching these questions from the perspectives of science, anthropology, economics, religion, political philosophy, feminism, medicine, environmental studies, and the Third World, the contributors, all distinguished scholars, provide a unique and critical balance. Ultimately, the contributors find that progress is both a fact and an illusion: it does occur in certain areas, but it does not sweep all before it as its Enlightenment votaries thought it would. This foundational idea permeates discourse in the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities and will engage historians, students of the history of science and technology, sociologists, political scientists, philosophers, literary scholars, and art critics, as well as those interested in civilization in general. Contributors include: Jill Ker Conway, Zhiyuan Cui, Leon Eisenberg, Robert Heilbroner, Gerald Holton, Leo Marx, Bruce Mazlish, Ali A. Mazrui, Alan Ryan, John M. Staudenmaier, George W. Stocking, Jr., and Richard White. "A discerning reconsideration of the idea of 'progress' in a variety of carefully defined theoretical and empirical-historical contexts." --David Hollinger, University of California, Berkeley Leo Marx is Professor of American Cultural History, Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bruce Mazlish is Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Prehistoric and Egyptian Medicine
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Dawson, Ian, PUBLISHER: Enchanted Lion Books, What is as fundamental to a society and just as revealing as its habits of food preparation, work, dress, religious belief, and artistic production? Just as essential are its ideas about the body, health and illness. Offering insights, both broad and deep, into the cultures it explores, The History of Medicine series describes medical knowledge, practices, instruments and discoveries from prehistoric times to the present. Each of its 6 volumes presents the social and economic characteristics of the period under discussion, the prevailing state of medical knowledge, and the key figures in medicine. The books are divided into chapters focusing on questions, such as: what caused people to be healthy or unhealthy? What ideas did people have about the causes of illnesses and their treatments? Who provided medical care? How efficacious were the treatments used? Allowing the facts to speak for themselves, these volumes present a lively and informative account of medical beliefs and practices and the many causes behind their change over time. Photographs and illustrations, as well as biography panels, quotation panels and "interesting fact" panels appear throughout each book, further engaging the young reader. What was known about the body by early peoples? What understanding of disease and treatments did people have? What can we learn about prehistoric health and medicine from archaeology? Why did the Egyptians use honey as often as they did? Why did medicine men suck the body of the ill person? Prehistoric and Egyptian Medicine explores these questions and many more. How healthy were prehistoric people? Using evidence from Orkney in the British Isles, the author shows how archaeology can helpus to understand something about life expectancy, fitness and the causes of pain among prehistoric people. The book also reveals what Native Americans and Australian aboriginals can teach us prehistoric medicine. The medical ideas of ancient Egypt also are explored. We learn about written records, specialized doctors, charms, embalming and more. Well-illustrated and rich with detail, Prehistoric and Egyptian Medicine is informative and at times, surprising.