fellow townsmen
Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Ramaswami, Rajiv / Sivarajan, Kumar, PUBLISHER: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, The authors have captured what is going on and what is going to be going on in this field in a completely up-to-date treatment unavailable elsewhere. I learned a lot from reading it expect that you will too. From the Foreword by Paul E. Green, Research Fellow, Tellabs, Inc. The tremendous growth of bandwidth-intensive services such as the World Wide Web demonstrates the increase in performance that applications will demand from future networks. To meet this demand, optical networks are being deployed and are emerging as the next generation of high-capacity, multi-protocol networks. Engineers in communications and fiber optics, networking professionals, and graduate students in networking courses will benefit from this book's unique coverage of the systems aspect of optical networks. Features: Provides a thorough presentation of the physical, architectural, and algorithmic issues of optimal network systems Covers both wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) and time-division multiplexed (TDM) networks as well as SONET Provides an in-depth treatment of the design of advanced optical fiber transmission systems Discusses management and control of optical networks Covers the important aspects of established and emerging standards
You Bet Your Tomatoes: Fun Facts, Tall Tales, and a Handful
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: McGrath, Mike, PUBLISHER: Rodale Press, "What great tomato-growing ideas I've been 'container gardening' my Big Boys in old abandoned refrigerators in the front yard for years now, but next season, I'll take Mike's advice and trellis them up the side of our double-wide "--Martha Slewart, "Martha Slewart's Lying" "Did I write this book? So many of the jokes just seem so...familiar."--Garrison Keelover, "A Prairie Home Tomato" "Aren't these things poisonous to eat?"--Thomas Jefferson, farmer and framer "Forget basketball I'm retiring again to grow heirloom tomatoes Now, what kind of shoes am I gonna need... ?"--Michael Jardin, tall guy "This is just the kind of 'hidden message' book I expect from you left-leaning, liberal-compost-applying, communal gardening, card-carrying organic types Well, you don't fool me one bit-- enticing the youth of America to experiment with PINK tomatoes RED fruits Arkansas TRAVELER-- or is that Arkansas FELLOW TRAVELERS??? I'm sticking with my red, white, and blue potatoes "--Rush ToJudgement, "The Rush ToJudgement Show"
No Good Deed: A Story of Medicine, Murder Accusations, and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Cohen, Lewis Mitchell, PUBLISHER: Harper Paperbacks, On a blustery night, detectives from the Massachusetts State Police knocked on Amy Gleason's door. Gleason, along with fellow nurse Kim Hoy, had helped a patient deal with pain and suffering at the end of her life. Now the patient was dead, and the two nurses were being investigated for murder. Both believed they had done the right thing, but they had no idea what it would cost them. In this captivating and powerful true story, Dr. Lewis M. Cohen uses the experiences of Gleason, Hoy, and the nursing assistant who accused them of murder to explore what happens when decisions about end-of-life care shift from the hospital to the courtroom and the church. Tracing this issue from the uproar over Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to the controversial figure of Jack Kevorkian, and to the legitimate threat of serial killer medical professionals, Cohen goes behind the scenes on both sides of this debate. He examines how advances in modern medicine have given us tremendous tools for prolonging life but have also forced us to address how we treat patients who are dying and suffering.
Urban Experiences of Gender Generations
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Mapetlam, Matseliso M. / Schyter, Ann, PUBLISHER: Institute of Southern African Studies, This study is situated in the changing socio-economic, political and intellectual realities of gender and generational inequalities within a rapidly urbanising world; and in relation to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and the Habitat Agenda. The issues are particularly pertinent in urban settings, where resource ownership issues are acute, and social structures are undergoing rapid change. Experiences are given of everyday urban living based on mainly primary sources. The twelve articles arise from an international conference closing the GRUPHEL research programme - Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. The articles cover gender and urban studies in different countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia; and the study is multidisciplinary with contributions from sociologists, lawyers, architects, public administrators, geographers and activities. Matseliso M. Maptela is a Senior Research Fellow, and Acting Director of the Institute of Southern African Studies, National University of Lesotho. She is a social scientist, and coordinator and scientific adviser to GRUPHEL. Ann Schlyter is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Globel Gender Studies at Goteborg University, Sweden. She has been a scientific adviser and participant in GRUPHEL. Basia Dennis Bless is an independent researcher, and a former administrator of part of the GRUPHEL programme.
Requiem for a German Past: A Boyhood Among the Nazis
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Herbst, Jurgen, PUBLISHER: University of Wisconsin Press, Jurgen Herbst's account of growing up in Nazi Germany from to is a boy's experience of anti-Semitism and militarism from the inside. His father was a loving parent, a scholar, a man of principle -- and a German officer. Herbst was a middle-class boy in a Lutheran family that saw value in Prussian military ideals and a mythic German past. His is a compelling tale of moral awakening. He recalls his confusion as some of his classmates are no longer welcome at his school, and his consternation as he tries co reconcile what he learned from his favorite teachers and what was subsequently taught by their party replacements. His description of walking to school the morning after Kristallnacht is clear and chilling. A Hitler youth in the making, he joined the Jungvolk and slowly became aware of the real nature of the National Socialist regime. The story of that evolution -- a unique, insider's view of the Nazi youth movement -- is inspired by young Jurgen's deep friendships with his fellow students and their dedication to a military code of personal honor and loyalty. His devotion to those young men allowed him to endure scorn and deprivation and to risk personal well-being, even life, in the face of a brutal evil that demanded unquestioning allegiance.
The Court of the Air
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Hunt, Stephen, PUBLISHER: Voyager, When streetwise Molly Templar witnesses a brutal murder at the brothel she has recently been apprenticed to, her first instinct is to run back to the poorhouse where she grew up. But there she finds her fellow orphans butchered, and it slowly dawns on her that she was the real target of the attack. For Molly is a special little girl, and she carries a secret that marks her out for destruction by enemies of the state. Oliver Brooks has led a sheltered existence in the backwater home of his merchant uncle. But when he is framed for his only relative's murder he is forced to flee for his life, accompanied by an agent of the mysterious Court of the Air. Chased across the country, Oliver finds himself in the company of thieves, outlaws and spies, and gradually learns more about the secret that has blighted his life. Soon Molly and Oliver will find themselves battling a grave threat to civilization, an ancient power thought to have been quelled millennia ago. Their enemies are ruthless and myriad, but the two orphans are also aided by indomitable friends in this endlessly inventive tale full of drama, intrigue, and adventure. "The Court of the Air" is a rollicking adventure set in a fantastical Dickensian clockwork universe that will appeal to fans of Susanna Clarke and Philip Pullman.
Looking for a Hero: Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper and the
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Maslowski, Peter / Winslow, Don, PUBLISHER: University of Nebraska Press, Widely acclaimed as the Vietnam War's most highly decorated soldier, Joe Ronnie Hooper in many ways serves as a symbol for that conflict. His troubled, tempestuous life paralleled the upheavals in American society during the s and s, and his desperate quest to prove his manhood was uncomfortably akin to the macho image projected by three successive presidents in their "tough" policy in Southeast Asia. "Looking for a Hero" extracts the real Joe Hooper from the welter of lies and myths that swirl around his story; in doing so, the book uncovers not only the complicated truth about an American hero but also the story of how Hooper's war was lost in Vietnam, not at home. Extensive interviews with friends, fellow soldiers, and family members reveal Hooper as a complex, gifted, and disturbed man. They also expose the flaws in his most famous and treasured accomplishment: earning the Medal of Honor. In the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies that mar Hooper's medal of honor file, authors Peter Maslowski and Don Winslow find a painful reflection of the army's inability to be honest with itself and the American public, with all the dire consequences that this dishonesty ultimately entailed. In the inextricably linked stories of Hooper and the Vietnam War, the nature of that deceit, and of America's defeat, becomes clear.
For Love of Insects
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Eisner, Thomas / Wilson, Edward Osborne, PUBLISHER: Belknap Press, Imagine beetles ejecting defensive sprays as hot as boiling water; female moths holding their mates for ransom; caterpillars disguising themselves as flowers by fastening petals to their bodies; termites emitting a viscous glue to rally fellow soldiers--and you will have entered an insect world once beyond imagining, a world observed and described down to its tiniest astonishing detail by Thomas Eisner. The story of a lifetime of such minute explorations, "For Love of Insects" celebrates the small creatures that have emerged triumphant on the planet, the beneficiaries of extraordinary evolutionary inventiveness and unparalleled reproductive capacity. To understand the success of insects is to appreciate our own shortcomings, Eisner tells us, but never has a reckoning been such a pleasure. Recounting exploits and discoveries in his lab at Cornell and in the field in Uruguay, Australia, Panama, Europe, and North America, Eisner time and again demonstrates how inquiry into the survival strategies of an insect leads to clarifications beyond the expected; insects are revealed as masters of achievement, forms of life worthy of study and respect from even the most recalcitrant entomophobe. Filled with descriptions of his ingenious experiments and illustrated with photographs unmatched for their combination of scientific content and delicate beauty, Eisner's book makes readers participants in the grand adventure of discovery on a scale infinitesimally small, and infinitely surprising. Acquista Ora
The Sociology Project: Introducing the Sociological
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Arum, Richard / Haney, Lynne / Manza, Jeff / NYU Sociology Dept., PUBLISHER: Pearson Education (US), "Inspiring the Sociological Imagination" "The Sociology Project "conveys the power of the sociological imagination and engages us to interact with the questions, mysteries, and challenges of our world. Seeking to spark students' sociological imaginations, "The Sociology Project "provides an interactive approach for discovery. The passion and insight of the sociological perspective are revealed through a collaborative authorship. Teaching and Learning Experience This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience -- for you and your students. Here's how: "Personalize Learning" - Featuring the most immersive media program available, MySocLab delivers dynamic, engaging experiences that personalize, stimulate, and measure learning for every student."Improve Critical Thinking" - The Big Questions pedagogical framework is designed to foster intellectual curiosity."Engage Students" - The text provides links to a wider world of content, including interactive maps, videos, and activities. "Explore Theory "- Because each author is a specialist on the chapter's topic, students learn about the most current theory, research and debates in the field. "Support Instructors "- In addition to a robust support program, instructors can join the conversation with the authors and fellow teachers in our Facebook Group. Note: MySocLab does not come automatically packaged with this text. To purchase MySocLab, please visit www.mysoclab.com or you can purchase a ValuePack of the text + MySocLab (at no additional cost): ValuePack ISBN-10: / ValuePack ISBN-13: .
Free Range Christianity
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Hellier, Graham, PUBLISHER: Authorhouse, This book is for those who enjoy the freedom of the open country. It is for those who can feel the wind 'that blows where it wills'. It is for those who are glad to keep company with 'fellow travellers' of every kind. It is not for those fearful of doubt or embarrassed by faith. It is not for those who put their entire trust in Church and Bible rather than in the living God, who has gone before them.............................................................................................................. If there is a God, it's going to be a lot bigger and a whole lot more incomprehensible than any theologian of any religion has ever proposed." - attributed to Richard Dawkins, author of "The God Delusion." If he is unaware, then it is Christians who have failed. We have be-littled God, pinning him between the pages of a black book, confining him behind stone walls and reducing him in our sacraments. It is time to range free again..................................................................................................................................... For information. For reflection. For discussion. Something for everyone, except those who do not wish to be disturbed. The canvas is wide. There are far horizons with quotations drawn from a thousand voices......................................................................................... This is "The Thoughtful Guide to Christianity" fully revised. - "A marvellous compendium" - Dean of Hereford - "A wealth of things to mine here" - Progressive Christian Network - "Especially valuable to teachers" - Donald Hilton - "Makes one want to know more" - Stephen Wright - "Annoying... it is a very good book." - 'The Preacher' - see inside cover.
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Sutton, Robert I., PUBLISHER: Business Plus, The No Asshole Rule was awarded a Quill Award as the Best Business Book of . When Robert Sutton's "No Asshole Rule" appeared in the Harvard Business Review, readers of this staid publication were amazed at the outpouring of support for this landmark essay. The idea was based on the notion, as adapted in hugely successful companies like Google and SAS, that employees with malicious intents or negative attitudes destroyed any sort of productive and pleasant working environment, and would hinder the entire operation's success. Now using case studies from these and many more corporations that have had unquestioned success using variations of "The No Asshole Rule," Sutton's book aims to show managers that by hiring mean-spirited employees - regardless of talent - saps energy from everyone who must deal with said new hires. Such insights will come from: - Seattle law firm Perkins Coie, which instituted a "no jerks allowed" policy, helping them earn a spot on Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list. - United States Supreme Court Fellow Robert Clayman, who noticed that "assholes" in the highest branch of government turned a blind eye to initiatives that would curb abusive and violent behavior. - Testimony from a former American Airlines manager about how former CEO Bob Crandall's abusive "tough love" behavior actually caused psychological harm to those he was attempting to motivate.
Daniel O'Connell
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Moley, Raymond, PUBLISHER: Fordham University Press, Daniel O'Connell, as we bring him into focus, after generations of bitter criticism, misrepresentation, and neglect, becomes a very modern man. The principles which he held with such consistency and expounded with such consummate eloquence are, by modern standards, enlightened, even prescient. They are wholly pertinent questions which are of deep concern to all of us. The reader of history will perceive that the span of O'Connell's life, , witnessed profound changes in political arrangements, in power structures, and in national boundaries in the Western world. One of the more important of these developments has been the growth of nationalism, not only here but throughout the world. As the national consciousness affected Ireland, it cannot be interpreted, even understood, except as it was awakened by O'Connell. He entered public life as an opponent of the Act of Union of , a measure which was to infect British relations with Ireland for a century and a quarter.O'Connell earned and held in the Western world high rank among the individuals who promoted religious liberty and separation of Church and State, cardinal principles in the American tradition. Since the first half of his public life was devoted to the restoration of Catholic rights, he realized that he could not rationally insist upon rights for his fellow communicants which he would deny to others. His concept of true religion was of something lived wholly apart from interference or support by civil authority. As we shall see, he carried his zeal for religious liberty to the support of the Jews in their struggle to life the disabilities imposed by English law.
Face to Face: My Quest to Perform the First Full Face
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Siemionow, Maria, PUBLISHER: Kaplan Publishing, In December , Maria Siemionow, M.D., made headlines by performing the world's first near-total face transplant. It was an extraordinary event in a thirty-year medical career marked by many astonishing milestones. Now she recalls her remarkable journey in "Face to Face," a unique memoir that traces the path from her childhood in Poland to her medical training there and in Finland. Her arrival in the United States in the s, as a fellow at the Christine Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky, confirmed her future as an award-winning researcher and world-class surgeon, leading ultimately to the controversial facial transplant procedure that revolutionized the field. Weaving fascinating medical science with a captivating life story, "Face to Face" explores the emotional, cultural, and moral implications of the twenty-first-century advances that have helped Dr. Siemionow's work thrive. She also provides details of the perseverance that led her to become the first U.S. physician to receive Institutional Review Board approval for facial transplantation surgery, followed by the poignant selection process as she was bombarded with compelling requests from prospective patients, and ultimately the successful completion of an operation that captured the world's attention. Both a chronicle of a groundbreaking surgery and a deeply moving story of personal courage, "Face to Face" also shares Dr. Siemionow's inspiring philosophy about the identities, physiological traits, and biological needs that combine to create our individual faces. Celebrating this triumph of form and function, she transforms the way we feel when we look in the mirror--and the way we think about those who dedicate their lives to healing and hope.
Broadband: Should We Regulate High-Speed Internet Access?
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Crandall, Robert W. / Alleman, James H. / Hahn, Robert W., PUBLISHER: American Enterprise Institute Press, There is widespread concern in the telecommunications industry that public policy may be impeding the continued development of the Internet into a high-speed communications network. In the absence of ubiquitous, high-speed broadband Internet connections for residential and small-business customers, the demand for IT equipment and new Internet service applications may stagnate. Broadband policy is controversial in large part because of the differences in the regulatory regimes faced by different types of carriers. Cable television companies face neither retail price regulation of their cable modem services nor any requirements to make their facilities available to competitors. Local telephone companies, on the other hand, face both retail price regulation for their DSL service and a requirement imposed by the Telecommunications Act that they unbundle their network facilities and lease them to rivals. Finally, new entrants are largely unregulated, but many rely on facilities leased from the incumbent telephone companies at regulated rates to connect to their customers. This asymmetric regulation is the focus of this volume, in which telecommunications scholars address the public policy issues that have arisen over the deployment of new high-speed telecommunications services. Robert W. Crandall is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. His previous books include (with Martin Cave) Telecommunications Liberalization on Two Sides of the Atlantic () and (with Leonard Waverman) Who Pays for Universal Service? (Brookings ). James H. Alleman is an associate professor in interdisciplinary telecommunications at the College of Engineering andApplied Science, University of Colorado, on leave at Columbia University.
Where Do We Go from Here?
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Desurne, Paul W., PUBLISHER: iUniverse.com, We all live hectic lives and spend so much of our time dealing with our own problems while searching for our own pursuit of happiness scattered within the daily grind. We live our lives hoping our government will act in our best interest. Roy Simpson was one of these people, no different than the rest of us. Until, one night he disappeared and when he returned something about him had changed. Initially, he accepted this change as a gift and looked for ways to profit from it. Roy soon realized money was not a motivating factor for him. He just wanted to help. He wanted make our country a better place, so he decided to contact Congress and plead his case knowing his fellow Americans at the capitol would only rally his cause. Finding only deaf ears and hands open only for contributions. Roy embarks on quest to be the first average citizen to be elected President of the United States and change the government within. As he traveled the country he would ask Where Do We Go From Here? Do we continue electing people from the same two political parties? The very people that have offered us nothing but double talk and detailed descriptions of our problems and then offer no solutions. It isn't long before the night he disappeared and its relevance crashes down on Roy. Is he really the person he thinks he is? Is he just a pawn in a master plan? Will he have the courage to resist taking the path with the least resistance? Can he find the answer to the question and what was behind his disappearance?
The George Gershwin Reader
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Wyatt, Robert / Johnson, John Andrew, PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, George Gershwin is one of the giants of American music, unique in that he was both a brilliant writer of popular songs ("Swanee," "I Got Rhythm," "They Can't Take That Away From Me") and of more serious music, including "Rhapsody in Blue," "An American in Paris," and "Porgy and Bess." Now, in The George Gershwin Reader, music lovers are treated to a spectacular celebration of this great American composer. The Reader offers a kaleidoscopic collection of writings by and about Gershwin, including more than eighty pieces of superb variety, color, and depth. There is a who's who of famous commentators: bandleader Paul Whiteman; critics Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and Brooks Atkinson; fellow musicians Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Alec Wilder (who analyzes the songs "That Certain Feeling" and "A Foggy Day"), Leonard Bernstein, and the formidable modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg (who was Gershwin's tennis partner in Hollywood). Some of the most fascinating and important writings here deal with the critical debate over Gershwin's concert pieces, especially "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris," and there is a complete section devoted to the controversies over "Porgy and Bess," including correspondence between Gershwin and DuBose Hayward, the opera's librettist (a series of excerpts which illuminate the creative process), plus unique interviews with the original Porgy and Bess--Todd Duncan and Anne Brown. Sprinkled throughout the book are excerpts from Gershwin's own letters, which offer unique insight into this fascinating and charming man. Along with a detailed chronology of the composer's life, the editors provide informative introductions to each entry. Here then is a book for anyone interested in American music. Scholars, performers, and Gershwin's legions of fans will find it an irresistible feast.
Think Big: My Life in Politics
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Manning / Manning, Preston, PUBLISHER: McClelland & Stewart, He built a party from nothing to become Leader of the Opposition in just 14 years Preston Manning grew up in a political household but his first career choice was as a business consultant. It was only years later, when he sensed a rising discontent among fellow Westerners, that he decided the time was right to establish a reform movement. In the fall of , he wrote a memo in Calgary. In the spring of he addressed a meeting in Vancouver. In the fall the Reform Party's founding assembly was held in Winnipeg. And from then on the movement's progress was unstoppable. This is a candid account by Reform's founder, and the father of the Canadian Alliance, of the most extraordinary story in contemporary Canadian politics. Manning describes Reform's first battles: the election of "Senator-in-Waiting" Stan Waters, the grassroots campaign against the Charlottetown accord, and the hard-fought federal election. He frankly acknowledges some of his party's early missteps in Ottawa. But he also recounts with vigour the cynicism - and worse - that was evident in the behaviour of the governing Liberal party. Manning denounces Mr. Chretien's mishandling of the Quebec referendum. And he recapitulates in devastating detail the full story of Shawinigate. Manning describes the birth of the Canadian Alliance. He follows the agonizing growing pains it experienced under Stockwell Day's inept leadership and he considers what might have been. He is candid in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the party's current leadership. Of his own career - post-politics - he is cheerfully forward-looking: there is challenging terrain ahead and Preston Manning proposes to serve as an advance scout. This is a thoughtful, informed, sometimes surprisingly funny memoir by a man who has attained, by dint of his own extraordinary achievements, stature as a contemporary statesman. "From the Hardcover edition."
Liberalism's Crooked Circle: Letters to Adam Michnik
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Katznelson, Ira, PUBLISHER: Princeton University Press, This book is a profoundly moving and analytically incisive attempt to shift the terms of discussion in American politics. It speaks to the intellectual and political weaknesses within the liberal tradition that have put the United States at the mercy of libertarian, authoritarian populist, nakedly racist, and traditionalist elitist versions of the right-wing; and it seeks to identify resources that can move the left away from the stunned intellectual incoherence with which it has met the death of Bolshevism. In Ira Katznelson's view, Americans are squandering a tremendous ethical and political opportunity to redefine and reorient the liberal tradition. In an opening essay and two remarkable letters addressed to Adam Michnik, who is arguably East Europe's emblematic democratic intellectual, Katznelson seeks to recover this possibility. By examining issues that once occupied Michnik's fellow dissidents in the Warsaw group known as the Crooked Circle, Katznelson brings a fresh realism to old ideals and posits a liberalism that "stares hard" at cruelty, suffering, coercion, and tyrannical abuses of state power. Like the members of Michnik's club, he recognizes that the circumference of liberalism's circle never runs smooth and that tolerance requires extremely difficult judgments. Katznelson's first letter explores how the virtues of socialism, including its moral stand on social justice, can be related to liberalism while overcoming debilitating aspects of the socialist inheritance. The second asks whether liberalism can recognize, appreciate, and manage human difference. Situated in the lineage of efforts by Richard Hofstadter, C. Wright Mills, and Lionel Trilling to "thicken"liberalism, these letters also draw on personal experience in the radical politics of the s and in the dissident culture of East and Central Europe in the years immediately preceding communism's demise. "Liberalism's Crooked Circle could help foster a substantive debate in the American elections of and determine the contents of that desperately needed discussion.
Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Shepard, Adam, PUBLISHER: Harper Paperbacks, Adam Shepard graduated from college in the summer of feeling disillusioned by the apathy he saw around him and incensed after reading Barbara Ehrenreich's famous works "Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch"--books that gave him a feeling of hopelessness over the state of the working class in America. Eager to see if he could make something out of nothing, he set out to prove wrong Ehrenreich's theory that those who start at the bottom stay at the bottom, and to see if the American Dream can still be a reality. Shepard's plan was simple. Carrying only a sleeping bag, the clothes on his back, and $25 in cash, and restricted from using previous contacts or relying on his college education, he set out for a randomly selected city with one objective: work his way out of homelessness and into a life that would give him the opportunity for success. His goal was to have, after one year, $, a working automobile, and a furnished apartment. But from the start, things didn't go as smoothly as Shepard had planned. Working his way up from a Charleston, South Carolina homeless shelter proved to be more difficult than he anticipated, with pressure to take low-paying, exploitive jobs from labor companies, and a job market that didn't respond with enthusiasm to homeless applicants. Shepard even began donating plasma to make fast cash. To his surprise, he found himself depending most on fellow shelter residents for inspiration and advice. Earnest, passionate, and hard to put down, "Scratch Beginnings" is a story that will not only inspire readers, but will also remind them that success can come to anyone who is willing to work hard--and that America is still one of the most hopeful and inspiring countries in the world.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Sedaris, David, PUBLISHER: Back Bay Books, "David Sedaris's ability to transform the mortification of everyday life into wildly entertaining art," ("The Christian Science Monitor") is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this remarkable new book. Trying to make coffee when the water is shut off, David considers using the water in a vase of flowers and his chain of associations takes him from the French countryside to a hilariously uncomfortable memory of buying drugs in a mobile home in rural North Carolina. In essay after essay, Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life-having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger on a plane or armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds-to the most deeply resonant human truths. Culminating in a brilliant account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, David Sedaris's sixth essay collection is a new masterpiece of comic writing from "a writer worth treasuring" ("Seattle Times"). Praise for When You Are Engulfed in Flames: "Older, wiser, smarter and meaner, Sedaris...defies the odds once again by delivering an intelligent take on the banalities of an absurd life." --"Kirkus Reviews" This latest collection proves that not only does Sedaris still have it, but he's also getting better....Sedaris's best stuff will still--after all this time--move, surprise, and entertain." --"Booklist" Table of Contents: It's Catching Keeping Up The Understudy This Old House Buddy, Can You Spare a Tie? Road Trips What I Learned That's Amore The Monster Mash In the Waiting Room Solutions to Saturday's Puzzle Adult Figures Charging Toward a Concrete Toadstool Memento Mori All the Beauty You Will Ever Need Town and Country Aerial The Man in the Hut Of Mice and Men April in Paris Crybaby Old Faithful The Smoking Section
How Did You Get This Number
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Crosley, Sloane, PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books, A brand-new book of hilarious and insightful personal essays by the iconic, irresistible Sloane Crosley. From the author of the sensational bestseller "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" comes a new book of personal essays brimming with all the charm and wit that have earned Sloane Crosley widespread acclaim, award nominations, and an ever-growing cadre of loyal fans. In "Cake" readers were introduced to the foibles of Crosley's life in New York City-always teetering between the glamour of Manhattan parties, the indignity of entry-level work, and the special joy of suburban nostalgia-and to a literary voice that mixed Dorothy Parker with David Sedaris and became something all its own. Crosley still lives and works in New York City, but she's no longer the newcomer for whom a trip beyond the Upper West Side is a big adventure. She can pack up her sensibility and takes us with her to Paris, to Portugal (having picked it by spinning a globe and putting down her finger, and finally falling in with a group of Portuguese clowns), and even to Alaska, where the "bear bells" on her fellow bridesmaids' ponytails seemed silly until a grizzly cub dramatically intrudes. Meanwhile, back in New York, where new apartments beckon and taxi rides go awry, her sense of the city has become more layered, her relationships with friends and family more complicated. As always, Crosley's voice is fueled by the perfect witticism, buoyant optimism, flair for drama, and easy charm in the face of minor suffering or potential drudgery. But in "How Did You Get This Number" it has also become increasingly sophisticated, quicker and sharper to the point, more complex and lasting in the emotions it explores. And yet, Crosley remains the unfailingly hilarious young Everywoman, healthily equipped with intelligence and poise to fend off any potential mundanity in maturity.
The Mummy Case
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Peters, Elizabeth, PUBLISHER: G. K. Hall & Company, Radcliffe Emerson, the irascible husband of fellow archaeologist Amelia Peabody, has earned the nickname "Father of Curses"--and in Mazghunah he demonstrates why. Denied permission to dig at the pyramids of Dahshoor, he and Amelia are resigned to excavating mounds of rubble in the middle of nowhere. But before long Amelia, Emerson, and their precocious son, Ramses, find themselves entangled in The Mummy Case In Cairo, before setting out to the site, Amelia visits an antiquities dealer to inquire about some papyri for her brother-in-law, Walter. At the dealer's shop she interrupts a mysterious-sounding conversation. And then, even more alarmingly, the dealer attempts to refuse to sell her a scrap of papyrus Ramses discovers in the back room. When the dealer is found dead in his shop just a day later, Amelia becomes convinced that foul play is at hand, a suspicion that is further confirmed when she catches sight of the sinister stranger from the crime scene at her own excavation site. But it takes more than Amelia's keen instincts to convince Emerson of dastardly deeds. When Ramses's scrap of papyrus is stolen from their camp, and a neighboring tourist is relieved of an entire mummy, Emerson concedes that they may be facing something more ominous than a simple grave robber. Aided (to their dismay) by Ramses and his preternaturally intelligent cat, Bastet, Amelia and Emerson turn their detective skills to investigating the neighboring suspects, including a trio of missionaries, a widowed German baroness, and even the head of the Department of Antiquities. But when the Emersons start digging for answers in an ancient tomb, events take a darker and deadlier turn--and there may beno surviving the very modern terrors their efforts reveal. Filled with spine-tingling suspense, precise archaeological and historical detail, and Amelia Peabody's trademark witty, wry voice, Elizabeth Peters's "The Mummy Case" is a classic installment in the beloved Amelia Peabody series.
Biographical Supplement and Index
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Oxford University Press / Freund, David M., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, To fully appreciate our country's history and the problems and possibilities we face as a nation on the eve of a new century, Americans--young and old--need to know that the fascinating heritage of African Americans begins not with the slave ships of Portugal and Spain, but with the richly diverse tribes, cultures, and ancient civilizations of the African continent. We need to understand that the long journey for freedom and equality for all Americans began well before the Civil War, or even the Revolutionary War, and that the journey continues to this day. Now history's missing pages at last come to life with the publication of The Young Oxford History of African Americans. Spanning five centuries, this extraordinary 11-volume series paints a vibrant and compelling portrait of the lives of African Americans. Written by distinguished American historians, the series sets a new standard for accuracy, balance, and breadth of scholarship in a reference aimed at the general reader. The lively narrative is rich in gripping first person accounts and short character sketches that invite readers to relive history as African Americans experienced it. From the first black Africans brought as slaves into the Caribbean islands and the colonies of Central and South America to today's black filmmakers and politicians, the stories of remarkable individuals of great courage and ability are told, but also those of ordinary men and women whose struggles and accomplishments continue to shape history. Whatever their race or background, readers come away with a deeper appreciation of African Americans as a people who have long shared in the aspiration and expectations of their fellow citizens, but who have done so with a unique history and a unique set of barriers to overcome. Unrivaled in breadth or depth, The Young Oxford History of African Americans is an unforgettable portrait of a people. It is an essential reference not only for students of African-American history, but also for libraries, teachers, parents, and all of us who strive to understand the struggles and sacrifices of the American past, the formidable challenges of our present, and our brightest hopes for the future.
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: DeFede, Jim, PUBLISHER: William Morrow & Company, "For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed." When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September , due to the closing of United States airspace, the citizens of this small community were called upon to come to the aid of more than six thousand displaced travelers. Roxanne and Clarke Loper were excited to be on their way home from a lengthy and exhausting trip to Kazakhstan, where they had adopted a daughter, when their plane suddenly changed course and they found themselves in Newfoundland. Hannah and Dennis O'Rourke, who had been on vacation in Ireland, were forced to receive updates by telephone on the search for their son Kevin, who was among the firefighters missing at the World Trade Center. George Vitale, a New York state trooper and head of the governor's security detail in New York City who was returning from a trip to Dublin, struggled to locate his sister Patty, who worked in the Twin Towers. A family of Russian immigrants, on their way to the Seattle area to begin a new life, dealt with the uncertainty of conditions in their future home. The people of Gander were asked to aid and care for these distraught travelers, as well as for thousands more, and their response was truly extraordinary. Oz Fudge, the town constable, searched all over Gander for a flight-crew member so that he could give her a hug as a favor to her sister, a fellow law enforcement officer who managed to reach him by phone. Eithne Smith, an elementary-school teacher, helped the passengers staying at her school put together letters to family members all over the world, which she then faxed. Bonnie Harris, Vi Tucker, and Linda Humby, members of a local animal protection agency, crawled into the jets' cargo holds to feed and care for all of the animals on the flights. Hundreds of people put their names on a list to take passengers into their homes and give them a chance to get cleaned up and relax. "The Day the World Came to Town" is a positively heartwarming account of the citizens of Gander and its surrounding communities and the unexpected guests who were welcomed with exemplary kindness.
When God Stood Up: A Christian Response to AIDS in Africa
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Cantelon, James, PUBLISHER: John Wiley & Sons, THE VICTIMS OF THE AIDS PANDEMIC IN AFRICA ARE FAR MORE NUMEROUS THAN THE DEAD AND DYING. MILLIONS OF ORPHANS AND WIDOWS ARE TRYING TO SURVIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY AND SOCIAL OPRESSION. JAMES CANTELON, A CANADIAN PASTOR, HAS CHALLENGED CHURCHES IN AFRICA-AND IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES-TO UNITE IN A COMMON CAUSE TO BRING RELIEF TO SUFFERING OF INTOLERABLE MAGNITUDE. When God Stood Up is the story of a remarkable journey that affirms God's presence in the most ravaged places on Earth. Millions of our fellow human beings are depending on just to be "God's hand extended." Read about their stories and be humbled. "The book puts HIV/AIDS into terrifying perspective. Jim and Kathy Cantelon are the face of God's love to so many who are so desperate." --Deborah Grey, MP (ret'd). "As Jim narrates his accelerated response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it reminds one of the image G.K. Chesterton captured of St. Francis: always running.' Within a matter of weeks, the author catapults out of Vancouver to the Durban colloquium, to hospitals and church events across the sub-Sahara-you sometimes look for a page to catch your breath Come to think of it, with the awesome destruction of human life described here, what could be mode appropriate? When God Stood Up carries a sense of that which it issues a call for: breathless haste." --John & Ruth Kerr, Trans-Africa Theological College, Kitwe, Zambia "Posturing God as standing up sends readers a signal: beware. Coddled for years by an image of a benign and permissive deity, Cantelon gives a yank on our leash of grace. Human tragedy, he reminds us, isn't just unfortunate-it's the stuff of life that strikes at the very heart of faith, a fait he asserts that should neither be smug nor comfortable. This God of justice makes it clear that those who call themselves by his name are to do no less than embrace justice." --Brian Stiller, President, Tyndale University & Seminary, Toronto "This is more than the story of the calling of a man to a god-sized mission. It is an informative, unfolding drama of perhaps the most critical issue of our time-AIDS in Africa. As Jim has cast and recast his vision, people all over the world have been caught and reeled in to unexpected roles, in response to the pandemic. My husband and I are in that number. Be warned as you read, you too may be stirred to action " --Moira Brown, Co-host, 100 Huntley Street, CTS-TV