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books tagged “twentieth century”
books tagged “twentieth century”
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1927: High Tide of the 1920sby Gerald LeinwandISBN 156858153X (1-56858-153-X)
Hardcover, Basic Books
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2001by Arthur C. ClarkeISBN 1568494173 (1-56849-417-3)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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About a Boyby Nick HornbyISBN 1573227331 (1-57322-733-1)
Softcover, Riverhead Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'About a Boy'Book summary:Will Lightman is a Peter Pan for the 1990s. At 36, the terminally hip North Londoner is unmarried, hyper-concerned with his coolness quotient and blithely living off his father's novelty song royalties. Will sees himself as entirely lacking in hidden depths--and he's proud of it! The only trouble is, his friends are succumbing to responsibilities and children and he's increasingly left out in the cold. How can someone brilliantly equipped for meaningless relationships ensure that he'll continue to meet beautiful Julie Christie-like women and ensure that they'll throw him over before things get too profound? A brief encounter with a single mother sets Will off on his new career, that of "serial nice guy." As far as he's concerned--and remember, concern isn't his strong suit--he's the perfect catch for the young mother on the go. After an interlude of sexual bliss, she'll realise that her child isn't ready for a man in their life and Will can ride off into the Highgate sunset, where more damsels apparently await. The only catch is that the best way to meet these women is at single-parent get-togethers. In one of Nick Hornby's many hilarious (and embarrassing) scenes, Will falls into some serious misrepresentation at SPAT ("Single Parents-- Alone Together"), passing himself off as a bereft single dad: "There was, he thought, an emotional truth here somewhere, and he could see now that his role-playing had a previously unsuspected artistic element to it. He was acting, yes, but in the noblest, most profound sense of the word."
What interferes with Will's career arc, of course, is reality--in the shape of a 12-year-old boy who is in many ways his polar opposite. For Marcus, cool isn't even a possibility, let alone an issue. For starters, he's a victim at his new school. Things at home are pretty awful, too, since his musical-therapist mother seems increasingly in need of therapy herself. All Marcus can do is cobble together information with a mixture of incomprehension, innocence, self-blame and unfettered clear sight. As fans of Fever Pitch and High Fidelity already know, Hornby's insight into laddishness magically combines the serious and the hilarious. About a Boy continues his singular examination of masculine wish-fulfilment and fear. This time, though, the author lets women and children onto the playing field, forcing his feckless hero to leap over an entirely new--and entirely welcome--set of emotional hurdles. [via]
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmesby Arthur Conan Doyle, Malvina G. Vogel, Brendan LynchISBN 1577656784 (1-57765-678-4)
Hardcover, Spotlight
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'Book summary:Includes three Sherlock Holmes mystery adventures: "The Red-headed League," "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," and "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches." [via]
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Affinityby Sarah WatersISBN 1573228737 (1-57322-873-7)
Softcover, Riverhead Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Affinity'Book summary:Affinity is a tale of power and possession that Henry James himself might admire. In her first novel, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters explored secrets and longing--capping off this lesbian romp with a utopian-socialist vision. Her intricate follow-up is just as sensual but infinitely darker, its moral more difficult to descry. Its stylistic and psychological rewards, however, are visible at every turn, the author's persuasive imagination matched by her gift for storytelling.
In late September 1874, Margaret Prior makes her way through the pentagons of London's Millbank Prison, a place of fearful symmetry and endless corridors. This plain woman on the verge of 30 has come to comfort those behind bars, several of whom Waters brings to instant, sad life. And our Lady Visitor plans to take her role dead seriously, having recovered from two years of nervous indolence in her family's Chelsea house. One person, however, makes her job a passion. Opening an inspection slit (or "eye" as these devices are known), Margaret hears "a perfect sigh, like a sigh in a story." Peering inward, she's confronted by the most erotic of visions--a woman turned toward the sun, caressing her cheek with a forbidden violet: "As I watched, she put the flower to her lips, and breathed upon it, and the purple of the petals gave a quiver and seemed to glow..."
Selina Dawes may indeed have the face of a Crivelli angel, but this medium is in for fraud and assault, her last session having gone very badly indeed. Suffice it to say that the first full encounter between these two very different women is enthralling. "You think spiritualism a kind of fancy," Selina riddles. "Doesn't it seem to you, now you are here, that anything might be real, since Millbank is?" And soon enough Margaret receives several viable signs of the supernatural: a locket disappears from her room, flowers mysteriously appear, and her dazzling friend knows everything about her. Strangest of all, Selina seems to love her.
As Margaret records her weekly prison forays, her own past comes into focus, notably her plans to travel to Italy with her first love (who is now her sister-in-law). But her current journal, she convinces herself, is to be very different from her last one, which "took as long to burn as human hearts, they say, do take." Meanwhile, Waters offers a narrative two-for-one, placing Margaret's diary cheek by jowl with Selina's chronicle of her pre-Millbank existence. This dispassionate, staccato record initially suggests that we can separate truth from desire. Or can we? What Waters's haunting creation leaves us with is a more painful reality--that knowledge and belief are entirely different things. --Kerry Fried [via]
The Agony and the Ecstasyby Irving StoneISBN 1568493401 (1-56849-340-1)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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America: A Concise History Since 1865by David Brody, James A. Henretta, Lynn DumenilISBN 1572594020 (1-57259-402-0)
Softcover, Bedford/st Martins
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America's History: Since 1865by W. Elliot Brownlee, David Brody, Susan Ware, James A. Henretta, Marilynn S. JohnsonISBN 1572592141 (1-57259-214-1)
Softcover, Bedford/st Martins
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Anne's House of Dreamsby Lucy Maud MontgomeryISBN 1576463141 (1-57646-314-1)
Softcover, Quiet Vision Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Anne's House of Dreams'Book summary:Gilbert has become a doctor and now Anne's wedding day has come, the first bride of Green Gables. Now has come the time for Anne to leave Green Gables and she does for her "House of Dreams."
Once again there are new friends. One new friend Captain Jim is full of tales including the moving "Lost Margaret".
Joy comes to Anne and in one day leaves again in the form of little Joyce. But time and James Mathew cure Anne of her sadness, but the memory of little Joyce never leaves.
Mark Twain described Anne as "the most moving and delightful child of fiction since the immortal Alice." The "Anne" books have been best sellers since 1908. [via]
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BAMN: by Any Means Necessary : Outlaw Manifestos and Ephemera 1965-70by Peter Stansill, David Zane MairowitzISBN 1570270287 (1-57027-028-7)
Softcover, Pluto Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'BAMN: by Any Means Necessary : Outlaw Manifestos and Ephemera 1965-70'Book summary:Cultural Writing. This historic anthology--first published in 1971--presents many of the radical and visionary movements, groups, and cells of protest and propaganda of the late 1960's. It includes such now-well-known groups as the Dutch 'Provos,' the Black Panthers, the Yippies and the Situationists, among others. It also documents the early years of the women's liberation movement, the birth of the drug culture and the free religions movement, the world-wide communal movement, and the global protest against ecological destruction. Here are many of the essential documents of the underground, as well as samples of its ephemera, including flyers, posters and leaflets. This book is essential for understanding the depth and range of the Sixties protests: calls to action "By Any Means Necessary." Edited by Peter Stansill and David Zane Mairowitz. [via]
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Behind the Scenes at the Museumby Kate AtkinsonISBN 1568953739 (1-56895-373-9)
Softcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum'Book summary:"I exist!" exclaims Ruby Lennox upon her conception in 1951, setting the tone for this humorous and poignant first novel in which Ruby at once celebrates and mercilessly skewers her middle-class English family. Peppered with tales of flawed family traits passed on from previous generations, Ruby's narrative examines the lives in her disjointed clan, which revolve around the family pet shop. But beneath the antics of her philandering father, her intensely irritable mother, her overly emotional sisters, and a gaggle of eccentric relatives are darker secrets--including an odd "feeling of something long forgotten"--that will haunt Ruby for the rest of her life. Kate Atkinson earned a Whitbread Prize in 1995 for this fine first effort. [via]
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Better Than Lifeby David Homel, Daniel PennacISBN 1571103171 (1-57110-317-1)
Softcover, Stenhouse Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Better Than Life'Book summary:[via]Anyone who loves to read and wants our young people to develop a similar passion will savor Better than Life - an enchanting, beautifully written, and wise book.--Regie Routman
An essential guide to helping children discover the pleasures of reading!
In Better than Life, Daniel Pennac shares the secrets that all book lovers treasure. Delving into his experiences as a parent, a writer and a teacher, he asks, how does the love of reading begin? How is it lost? And how can it be regained? This remarkable book explores simple ways to create a life-long devotion to reading:
- how reading aloud can ensure that a love of books begins
- why it is important that children develop a private relationship with books
- what "The Reader's Bill of Rights" can do to guarantee children value reading
This book reads like a novel with gripping anecdotes from literature and fresh insights into creating and nurturing enthusiastic readers.
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Black Boyby Richard WrightISBN 1568490674 (1-56849-067-4)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Black Boy'Book summary:Richard Wright's devastating autobiography of his childhood and youth in the Jim Crow South
His training by his elders was strict and harsh to prepare him for the "white world" which would be cruel. Their resentment of those trying to escape the common misery made his future seem hopeless. It was necessary to grow up restrained and submissive in southern white society and to endure torment and abuse.
Wright tells of his mental and emotional struggle to educate himself, which gave him a glimpse of life's possibilities and which led him to his triumphant decision to leave the South behind while still a teenager to live in Chicago and fulfill himself by becoming a writer.
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The Blue Flowerby Penelope FitzgeraldISBN 1568956703 (1-56895-670-3)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Blue Flower'Book summary:Penelope Fitzgerald wrote her first novel 20 years ago, at the age of 59. Since then, she's written eight more, three of which have been short-listed for England's prestigious Booker Prize, and one of which, Offshore, won. Now she's back with her tenth and best book so far, The Blue Flower. This is the story of Friedrich von Hardenberg--Fritz, to his intimates--a young man of the late 18th century who is destined to become one of Germany's great romantic poets. In just over 200 pages, Fitzgerald creates a complete world of family, friends and lovers, but also an exhilarating evocation of the romantic era in all its political turmoil, intellectual voracity, and moral ambiguity. A profound exploration of genius, The Blue Flower is also a charming, wry, and witty look at domestic life. Fritz's family--his eccentric father and high-strung mother; his loving sister, Sidonie; and brothers Erasmus, Karl, and the preternaturally intelligent baby of the family, referred to always as the Bernhard--are limned in deft, sure strokes, and it is in his interactions with them that the ephemeral quality of genius becomes most tangible. Even his unlikely love affair with young Sophie von Kühn makes perfect sense as Penelope Fitzgerald imagines it.
The Blue Flower is a magical book--funny, sad, and deeply moving. In Fritz Fitzgerald has discovered a perfect character through whom to explore the meaning of love, poetry, life, and loss. In The Blue Flower readers will find a work of fine prose, fierce intelligence, and perceptive characterization. [via]
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The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes IIby Arthur Conan DoyleISBN 157646945X (1-57646-945-X)
Softcover, Quiet Vision Pub
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A Clockwork Orangeby Anthony BurgessISBN 1568495110 (1-56849-511-0)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Clockwork Orange'Book summary:The only American edition of the cult classic novel.
A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him the novel asks, "At what cost?" This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked." [via]More editions of A Clockwork Orange:
Collected Poems 1947-1980by Allen GinsbergISBN 1568497059 (1-56849-705-9)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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The Complete Plays, Poems, Novels and Stories of Oscar Wildeby Oscar WildeISBN 1572151323 (1-57215-132-3)
Softcover, World Pubns
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Cracking Indiaby Bapsi SidhwaISBN 1571310487 (1-57131-048-7)
Softcover, Milkweed Editions
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Cracking India'Book summary:The 1947 Partition of India is the backdrop for this powerful novel, narrated by a precocious child who describes the brutal transition with chilling veracity. Young Lenny Sethi is kept out of school because she suffers from polio. She spends her days with Ayah, her beautiful nanny, visiting with the large group of admirers that Ayah draws. It is in the company of these working class characters that Lenny learns about religious differences, religious intolerance, and the blossoming genocidal strife on the eve of Partition. As she matures, Lenny begins to identify the differences between the Hindus, Moslems, and Sikhs engaging in political arguments all around her. Lenny enjoys a happy, privileged life in Lahore, but the kidnapping of her beloved Ayah signals a dramatic change. Soon Lennys world erupts in religious, ethnic, and racial violence. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, the domestic drama serves as a microcosm for a profound political upheaval.[via]More editions of Cracking India:
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Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Andrew Jay Hoffman, Rudolph PalaisISBN 1578400090 (1-57840-009-0)
Softcover, Acclaim Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Crime and Punishment'Book summary:For 50 years Classic Illustrated books have provided an introduction to the world's greatest works of literature. Brilliantly recolored and reprinted as lively study guides for high school and college students, these books feature essays on the author, background, theme, characters and significance of the work. What does it take to drive a man to madness? How much pressure, poverty, and misery can a young man endure before he commits an unspeakable crime? Once the Russian student Raskolnikov looks into the face of terror, can he ever find redemption? And if he does, will he deserve it? (Digest) [via]
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Death on the Nileby Agatha ChristieISBN 1579126898 (1-57912-689-8)
Hardcover, Black Dog & Leventhal Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Death on the Nile'Book summary:Hercule Poirot is perhaps Agatha Christie's most interesting and endearing character; short, round, and slightly comical, Poirot has a razor-sharp mind and puts unlimited trust in his "little grey cells." Those little cells come through for him every time, enabling Poirot to solve some of the most baffling mysteries ever conceived. In Death on the Nile, Poirot, on vacation in Africa, meets the rich, beautiful Linnet Doyle and her new husband, Simon. As usual, all is not as it seems between the newlyweds, and when Linnet is found murdered, Poirot must sort through a boatload of suspects to find the killer before he (or she) strikes again. [via]
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A Diary of the Century: Tales from America's Greatest Diaristby Edward Robb Ellis, Pete HamillISBN 1568361653 (1-56836-165-3)
Softcover, Kodansha Amer Inc
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Dinotopia : The World Beneathby James GurneyISBN 1570361649 (1-57036-164-9)
Hardcover, Turner Publishing, Incorporated
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dinotopia : The World Beneath'Book summary:A sequel to Dinotopia continues the saga with an adventure in the World Beneath, as Professor Arthur Denison embarks on a dangerous expedition while Skybax Corps pilot Will Denison flies reconnaissance overhead. Lit Guild & Doubleday. First serial, Smithsonian. Tour. [via]
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Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood: A Novelby Rebecca WellsISBN 156895199X (1-56895-199-X)
Softcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood: A Novel'Book summary:Wells is a Louisiana-born Seattle actress and playwright; her loopy saga of a 40-year-old player in Seattle's hot theater scene who must come to terms with her mama's past in steamy Thornton City, Louisiana, reads like a lengthy episode of Designing Women written under the influence of mint juleps and Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. The Ya-Yas are the wild circle of girls who swirl around the narrator Siddalee's mama, Vivi, whose vivid voice is "part Scarlett, part Katharine Hepburn, part Tallulah." The Ya-Yas broke the no-booze rule at the cotillion, skinny-dipped their way to jail in the town water tower, disrupted the Shirley Temple look-alike contest, and bonded for life because, as one says, "It's so much fun being a bad girl!"
Siddalee must repair her busted relationship with Vivi by reading a half-century's worth of letters and clippings contained in the Ya-Ya Sisterhood's packet of "Divine Secrets." It's a contrived premise, but the secrets are really fun to learn. [via]
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Echoes of Distant Thunder: Life in the United States, 1914-1918by Edward Robb EllisISBN 1568361491 (1-56836-149-1)
Softcover, Kodansha Amer Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Echoes of Distant Thunder: Life in the United States, 1914-1918'Book summary:International in scope, this series of non-fiction trade paperbacks offers books that explore the lives, customs and thoughts of peoples and cultures around the world. This work looks at life in the United States between 1914 and 1918. [via]
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Ethan Fromeby Edith WhartonISBN 1568496362 (1-56849-636-2)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Ethan Frome'Book summary:Ethan works his unproductive farm, and struggles to maintain an existence with his suspicious and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena's cousin enters their household as a "hired girl", Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent. [via]
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The Everlasting Manby Gilbert Keith ChestertonISBN 1573832979 (1-57383-297-9)
Softcover, Regent College Pub
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The Evidence of Things Not Seenby James BaldwinISBN 1568495757 (1-56849-575-7)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Evidence of Things Not Seen'Book summary:This edition of a classic work by one of America s premier writers offers a new Foreword by Derrick Bell (with Janet Dewart Bell) to the 1995 paperback edition, and is as meaningful today as it was when it was first published in 1985. In his searing and moving essay, James Baldwin explores the Atlanta child murders that took place over a period of twenty-two months in 1979 and 1980. Examining this incident with a reporter s skill and an essayist s insight, he notes the significance of Atlanta as the site of these brutal killings a city that claimed to be too busy to hate and the permeation of race throughout the case: the black administration in Atlanta; the murdered black children; and Wayne Williams, the black man tried for the crimes. Rummaging through the ruins of American race relations, Baldwin addresses all the hard-to-face issues that have brought us a moment in history where it is terrifying to to be a black child in white America, and where, too often, public officials fail to ask real questions about justice for all. Baldwin takes a time-specific event and makes it timeless: The Evidence of Things Not Seen offers an incisive look at race in America through a lens at once disturbing and profoundly revealing.[via]More editions of The Evidence of Things Not Seen:
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Evil Under the Sun: A Hercule Poirot Mysteryby Agatha ChristieISBN 1579126286 (1-57912-628-6)
Hardcover, Black Dog & Leventhal Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Evil Under the Sun: A Hercule Poirot Mystery'Book summary:Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England, Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christies most intriguing mysteries. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea. [via]
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The Eye in the Doorby Pat BarkerISBN 156895350X (1-56895-350-X)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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The Great Taste of Straight Peopleby Lily JamesISBN 1573660345 (1-57366-034-5)
Softcover, Univ of Alabama Pr
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Guide to Tolkien's Worldby David DayISBN 1571458786 (1-57145-878-6)
Softcover, Advantage Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Guide to Tolkien's World'Book summary:Guide to Tolkien's World is a scholarly, definitive, and enchantingly beautiful reference to all the living creatures -- both flora and fauna -- that inhabit J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and Undying Lands. It is complete with descriptive text, both black and white and color illustrations, maps, a chronology, and a special index referring readers back to Tolkien's original works. All 129 races identified are clearly explained in terms of their physical appearance, language, behavior, and culture. [via]
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanby J. K. RowlingISBN 1581306571 (1-58130-657-1)
Softcover, Novel Units
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'Book summary:This student packet features multiple-level reproducibles that offer solutions based on the latest reading strategies. The packet includes content-rich activity sheets, quizzes, and a final exam for direct student use. [via]
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Have Space Suit, Will Travel: Library Editionby Robert HeinleinISBN 156849288X (1-56849-288-X)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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The Heart Seeks a Homeby Linda Ford, Copyright Paperback Collection (Library of Congress)ISBN 1577487540 (1-57748-754-0)
Softcover, Heartsong Presents
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Geniusby Dave EggersISBN 1568959095 (1-56895-909-5)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'Book summary:Dave Eggers is a terrifically talented writer; don't hold his cleverness against him. What to make of a book called A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Based on a True Story? For starters, there's a good bit of staggering genius before you even get to the true story, including a preface, a list of "Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of This Book," and a 20-page acknowledgements section complete with special mail-in offer, flow chart of the book's themes, and a lovely pen-and-ink drawing of a stapler (helpfully labeled "Here is a drawing of a stapler:").
But on to the true story. At the age of 22, Eggers became both an orphan and a "single mother" when his parents died within five months of one another of unrelated cancers. In the ensuing sibling division of labor, Dave is appointed unofficial guardian of his 8-year-old brother, Christopher. The two live together in semi-squalor, decaying food and sports equipment scattered about, while Eggers worries obsessively about child-welfare authorities, molesting babysitters, and his own health. His child-rearing strategy swings between making his brother's upbringing manically fun and performing bizarre developmental experiments on him. (Case in point: his idea of suitable bedtime reading is John Hersey's Hiroshima.)
The book is also, perhaps less successfully, about being young and hip and out to conquer the world (in an ironic, media-savvy, Gen-X way, naturally). In the early '90s, Eggers was one of the founders of the very funny Might Magazine, and he spends a fair amount of time here on Might, the hipster culture of San Francisco's South Park, and his own efforts to get on to MTV's Real World. This sort of thing doesn't age very well--but then, Eggers knows that. There's no criticism you can come up with that he hasn't put into A.H.W.O.S.G. already. "The book thereafter is kind of uneven," he tells us regarding the contents after page 109, and while that's true, it's still uneven in a way that is funny and heartfelt and interesting.
All this self-consciousness could have become unbearably arch. It's a testament to Eggers's skill as a writer--and to the heartbreaking particulars of his story--that it doesn't. Currently the editor of the footnote-and-marginalia-intensive journal McSweeney's (the last issue featured an entire story by David Foster Wallace printed tinily on its spine), Eggers comes from the most media-saturated generation in history--so much so that he can't feel an emotion without the sense that it's already been felt for him. What may seem like postmodern noodling is really just Eggers writing about pain in the only honest way available to him. Oddly enough, the effect is one of complete sincerity, and--especially in its concluding pages--this memoir as metafiction is affecting beyond all rational explanation. --Mary Park [via]
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Home Townby Tracy KidderISBN 1568957637 (1-56895-763-7)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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Horry County, South Carolina, 1730-1993by Catherine Heniford LewisISBN 1570032076 (1-57003-207-6)
Hardcover, Univ of South Carolina Pr
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The Hot Zoneby Richard PrestonISBN 1568952058 (1-56895-205-8)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Hot Zone'Book summary:A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the
appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.
From the Paperback edition. [via]More editions of The Hot Zone:
In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Centuryby Andrew Carroll, Robert G. TorricelliISBN 1568362919 (1-56836-291-9)
Hardcover, Kodansha Amer Inc
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The Innocence of Father Brownby G. K. ChestertonISBN 1576465748 (1-57646-574-8)
Softcover, Quiet Vision Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Innocence of Father Brown'Book summary:Join us in celebrating the 100th birthday of the world's favorite amateur sleuth, Father Brown! This is a handsome new edition of the very first collection of G. K. Chesterton's masterful mysteries, "The Innocence of Father Brown." Contains twelve thrilling tales, including "The Blue Cross," "The Invisible Man," and "The Sins of Prince Saradine." Visit www.TorodeDesign.com to see other books in this G. K. Chesterton series. [via]
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Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desireby Merri Lisa JohnsonISBN 1568581807 (1-56858-180-7)
Softcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr
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The Jewel of Seven Starsby Bram StokerISBN 1576469352 (1-57646-935-2)
Softcover, Quiet Vision Pub
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Joseph Brodsky: Conversationsby Joseph Brodsky, Cynthia L. HavenISBN 1578065283 (1-57806-528-3)
Softcover, Univ Pr of Mississippi
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Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's Trek Across the Rooftop of the Worldby Sorrel Wilby, Dalai Lama XIVISBN 1580050530 (1-58005-053-0)
Softcover, Seal Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's Trek Across the Rooftop of the World'Book summary:In this inspiring story by a woman "who has few equals, on the trail or on the printed page" (National Geographic), Sorrel Wilby hikes 1,900 miles across Tibet alone. When she befriends some Tibetan nomads, her trek quickly evolves from a daredevil adventure to a journey of self-discovery and personal revelation.[via]More editions of Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's Trek Across the Rooftop of the World:
A Lawyer's Journey: The Morris Dees Storyby Morris DeesISBN 1570739943 (1-57073-994-3)
Hardcover, American Bar Association
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Letters to a Young Poetby Rainer Maria Rilke, Joan M. Burnham, Franz Xaver Kappus, Kent NerburnISBN 1577311558 (1-57731-155-8)
Hardcover, New World Library
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Letters to a Young Poet'Book summary:These have been called the most famous and beloved letters of the 20th century. Rainer Maria Rilke himself said that much of his creative expression went into his correspondence, and here he touches upon subjects that will interest writers, artists, and thinkers. Letters to a Young Poet is a classic that should be read by everyone who dreams of expressing themselves creatively. This luminous translation offers inspiration to all people who seek to know and express their inner truth. This edition features a new foreword by Kent Nerburn, author of Small Graces and Letters to My Son.[via]More editions of Letters to a Young Poet:
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The Liar's Clubby Mary KarrISBN 1568952732 (1-56895-273-2)
Softcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Liar's Club'Book summary:In this funny, razor-edged memoir, Mary Karr, a prize-winning poet and critic, looks back at her upbringing in a swampy East Texas refinery town with a volatile, defiantly loving family. She recalls her painter mother, seven times married, whose outlaw spirit could tip into psychosis; a fist-swinging father who spun tales with his cronies--dubbed the Liars' Club; and a neighborhood rape when she was eight. An inheritance was squandered, endless bottles emptied, and guns leveled at the deserving and undeserving. With a raw authenticity stripped of self-pity and a poet's eye for the lyrical detail, Karr shows us a "terrific family of liars and drunks ... redeemed by a slow unearthing of truth." [via]
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A Little Princessby Dalmatian Press StaffISBN 1577595599 (1-57759-559-9)
Hardcover, Dalmatian Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Little Princess'Book summary:Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett, Louise Colln, Jon Sayer, Publisher: Dalmatian Pr Keywords: children, classics, press, dalmatian, princess, little Pages: 182 Published: 2003-01 Language: English Category: Short Stories, Literature & Fiction, ISBN-10: 1577595599 ISBN-13: 9781577595595 Binding: Hardcover [via]
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The Loved Oneby Evelyn WaughISBN 1568493584 (1-56849-358-4)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books, Incorporated
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Making of the President 1960by Theodore H. WhiteISBN 1568491433 (1-56849-143-3)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Making of the President 1960'Book summary:Students of politics and political reporting should cheer: This too- long-out-of-print classic is coming back. The book and the campaign it covered are throwbacks to an era more and more citizens, increasingly mired in sound-bites and tabloidism, are at least subconsciously desperate to resuscitate. You'll be amazed at how knowledgeable (and sometimes even wise) both White and the candidates he covers--Kennedy and Nixon--seem. Yes, it was too good to be true, but what a nice idea. [via]
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A Man in Fullby Tom WolfeISBN 1568956940 (1-56895-694-0)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Man in Full'Book summary:Ever since he published his classic 1972 essay "Why They Aren't Writing the Great American Novel Anymore," Tom Wolfe has made his fictional preferences loud and clear. For New Journalism's poster boy, minimalism is a wash, not to mention a failure of nerve. The real mission of the American writer is to produce fat novels of social observation--the sort of thing Balzac would be dishing up if he had made it into the Viagra era. Wolfe's manifesto would have had a hubristic ring if he hadn't actually delivered the goods in 1987 with The Bonfire of the Vanities. Now, more than a decade later, he's back with a second novel. Has the Man in White lived up to his own mission?
On many counts, the answer would have to be yes. Like its predecessor, A Man in Full is a big-canvas work, in which a multitude of characters seems to be ascending or (rapidly) descending the greasy pole of social life: "In an era like this one," a character reminds us, "the twentieth century's fin de siècle, position was everything, and it was the hardest thing to get." Wolfe has changed terrain on us, to be sure. Instead of New York, the focus here is Atlanta, Georgia, where the struggle for turf and power is at least slightly patinated with Deep South gentility. The plot revolves around Charlie Croker, an egomaniacal good ol' boy with a crumbling real-estate empire on his hands. But Wolfe is no less attentive to a pair of supporting players: a downwardly mobile family man, Conrad Hensley, and Roger White II, an African American attorney at a white-shoe firm. What ultimately causes these subplots to converge--and threatens to ignite a racial firestorm in Atlanta--is the alleged rape of a society deb by Georgia Tech football star Fareek "The Cannon" Fanon.
Of course, a detailed plot summary would be about as long as your average minimalist novel. Suffice it to say that A Man in Full is packed with the sort of splendid set pieces we've come to expect from Wolfe. A quail hunt on Charlie's 29,000-acre plantation, a stuffed-shirt evening at the symphony, a politically loaded press conference--the author assembles these scenes with contagious delight. The book is also very, very funny. The law firms, like upper-crust powerhouse Fogg Nackers Rendering & Lean, are straight out of Dickens, and Wolfe brings even his minor characters, like professional hick Opey McCorkle, to vivid life:
In true Opey McCorkle fashion he had turned up for dinner wearing a plaid shirt, a plaid necktie, red felt suspenders, and a big old leather belt that went around his potbelly like something could hitch up a mule with, but for now he had cut off his usual torrent of orotund rhetoric mixed with Baker Countyisms.
Readers in search of a kinder, gentler Wolfe may well be disappointed. Retaining the satirist's (necessary) superiority to his subject, he tends to lose his edge precisely when he's trying to move us. Still, when it comes to maximalist portraiture of the American scene--and to sheer, sentence-by-sentence amusement--1998 looks to be the year of the Wolfe, indeed. --James Marcus [via]More editions of A Man in Full:
Morality Playby Barry UnsworthISBN 156895297X (1-56895-297-X)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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Murder in Mesopotamiaby Agatha ChristieISBN 157912691X (1-57912-691-X)
Hardcover, Black Dog & Leventhal Pub
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The Murder of Roger Ackroydby Agatha ChristieISBN 1579126278 (1-57912-627-8)
Hardcover, Black Dog & Leventhal Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'Book summary:Considered to be one of Agatha Christies most controversial mysteries, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd breaks all the rules of traditional mystery writing. A widows suicide has stirred rumors of blackmail, and of a secret lover named Roger Ackroyd, who was found stabbed to death in his study. The case is so unconventional that not even crack detective Hercule Poirot has a clue as to how to solve it. [via]
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Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Geniusby Kurt Johnson, Steven L. CoatesISBN 1581950098 (1-58195-009-8)
Hardcover, Zoland Books
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Nakedby David SedarisISBN 1568954867 (1-56895-486-7)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Naked'Book summary:Hip radio comedy fans and theater folks who belong to the cult of Obie-winning playwright/performer David Sedaris must kill to get this book. These would be fans of the scaldingly snide Sedaris's hilariously described personal misadventures like The Santaland Diaries (a monologue about his work as an elf to a department store Santa) seen off-Broadway in 1997. In a series of similarly textured essays, Sedaris takes us along on his catastrophic detours through a nudist colony, a fruit-packing plant, his own childhood, and a dozen more of the world's little purgatories. [via]
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Native Tongueby Carl HiaasenISBN 1568953445 (1-56895-344-5)
Softcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Native Tongue'Book summary:Now reissued--one of the most beloved novels by the "New York Times" bestselling author in which dedicated, if somewhat demented, environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys. [via]
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Nine & A Half Weeksby Elizabeth McNeillISBN 1568491719 (1-56849-171-9)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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Orthodoxyby G. K. ChestertonISBN 1573832855 (1-57383-285-5)
Softcover, Regent College Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Orthodoxy'Book summary:If G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith is, as he called it, a "slovenly autobiography," then we need more slobs in the world. This quirky, slender book describes how Chesterton came to view orthodox Catholic Christianity as the way to satisfy his personal emotional needs, in a way that would also allow him to live happily in society. Chesterton argues that people in western society need a life of "practical romance, the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome." Drawing on such figures as Fra Angelico, George Bernard Shaw, and St. Paul to make his points, Chesterton argues that submission to ecclesiastical authority is the way to achieve a good and balanced life. The whole book is written in a style that is as majestic and down-to-earth as C.S. Lewis at his best. The final chapter, called "Authority and the Adventurer," is especially persuasive. It's hard to imagine a reader who will not close the book believing, at least for the moment, that the Church will make you free. --Michael Joseph Gross [via]
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Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faithby G. K. ChestertonISBN 1576466671 (1-57646-667-1)
Softcover, Quiet Vision Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith'Book summary:If G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith is, as he called it, a "slovenly autobiography," then we need more slobs in the world. This quirky, slender book describes how Chesterton came to view orthodox Catholic Christianity as the way to satisfy his personal emotional needs, in a way that would also allow him to live happily in society. Chesterton argues that people in western society need a life of "practical romance, the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome." Drawing on such figures as Fra Angelico, George Bernard Shaw, and St. Paul to make his points, Chesterton argues that submission to ecclesiastical authority is the way to achieve a good and balanced life. The whole book is written in a style that is as majestic and down-to-earth as C.S. Lewis at his best. The final chapter, called "Authority and the Adventurer," is especially persuasive. It's hard to imagine a reader who will not close the book believing, at least for the moment, that the Church will make you free. --Michael Joseph Gross [via]
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The Persecution and Assassination of J-P Marat As Performed by the Inmates O.T.A. O.C.U.T. Direction of the Marquis De Sadeby Peter WeissISBN 1577662318 (1-57766-231-8)
Softcover, Waveland Pr Inc
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Peter Panby J. M. BarrieISBN 1577595483 (1-57759-548-3)
Hardcover, Dalmatian Press
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Peter Pan'Book summary:The adventures of the three Darling children in Never-Never Land with Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up. [via]
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The Picture of Dorian Grayby Oscar WildeISBN 1580493939 (1-58049-393-9)
Softcover, Prestwick House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'Book summary:A lush, cautionary tale of a life of vileness and deception or a loving portrait of the aesthetic impulse run rampant? Why not both? After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful, young man's portrait, his subject's frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Gray's picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman, "as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife," Dorian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. "The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden."
As Hallward tries to make sense of his creation, his epigram-happy friend Lord Henry Wotton encourages Dorian in his sensual quest with any number of Wildean paradoxes, including the delightful "When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." But despite its many languorous pleasures, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an imperfect work. Compared to the two (voyeuristic) older men, Dorian is a bore, and his search for ever new sensations far less fun than the novel's drawing-room discussions. Even more oddly, the moral message of the novel contradicts many of Wilde's supposed aims, not least "no artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." Nonetheless, the glamour boy gets his just deserts. And Wilde, defending Dorian Gray, had it both ways: "All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment." [via]
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The Pilot's Wifeby Anita ShreveISBN 1568951469 (1-56895-146-9)
Softcover, Gale / Cengage Learning
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Pilot's Wife'Book summary:With five novels to her credit, including the acclaimed The Weight of Water, Anita Shreve now offers a skillfully crafted exploration of the long reach of tragedy in The Pilot's Wife. News of Jack Lyons's fatal crash sends his wife into shock and emotional numbness:
Kathryn wished she could manage a coma. Instead, it seemed that quite the opposite had happened: She felt herself to be inside of a private weather system, one in which she was continuously tossed and buffeted by bits of news and information, sometimes chilled by thoughts of what lay immediately ahead, thawed by the kindness of others ... frequently drenched by memories that seemed to have no regard for circumstance or place, and then subjected to the nearly intolerable heat of reporters, photographers and curious on-lookers. It was a weather system with no logic, she had decided, no pattern, no progression, no form.
The situation becomes even more dire when the plane's black box is recovered, pinning responsibility for the crash on Jack. In an attempt to clear his name, Kathryn searches for any and all clues to the hours before the flight. Yet each discovery forces her to realize that she didn't know her husband of 16 years at all. Shreve's complex and highly convincing treatment of Kathryn's dilemma, coupled with intriguing minor characters and an expertly paced plot, makes The Pilot's Wife really take off. [via] 
Possessing the Secret of Joyby Alice WalkerISBN 1568953518 (1-56895-351-8)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: Library Editionby Muriel SparkISBN 1568496982 (1-56849-698-2)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: Library Edition'Book summary:The classic bestselling book--the subject of a play, movie, and a song--that tells the darkly fascinating story of a young, unorthodox teacher and her special, and ultimately dangerous, relationship with six of her students. [via]
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Quest for Revival: Experiencing Great Revivals of the Past Empowering You for God's Move Today!by Ron MeintoshISBN 1577940539 (1-57794-053-9)
Hardcover, Harrison House, Incorporated
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Quo Vadisby Henryk SienkiewiczISBN 157748777X (1-57748-777-X)
Softcover, Barbour Pub Inc
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Red Tentby Anita DiamantISBN 1568958978 (1-56895-897-8)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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Riding the Railsby Errol Lincoln UysISBN 1575000377 (1-57500-037-7)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster
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Riding the Wind of God: A Personal History of the Youth Revival Movementby Bruce McIver, Bruce McLuerISBN 1573123730 (1-57312-373-0)
Hardcover, Smyth & Helwys Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Riding the Wind of God: A Personal History of the Youth Revival Movement'Book summary:During the 1940s, in the wake of the Depression and in the midst of WWII, a small group of students at Baylor University began to pray for spiritual revival. They were not evangelists with a program, but ordinary students with a heartfelt concern for renewal in America. Beginning with a single miraculous revival in Waco, Texas, a movement began among students from other campuses and in other cities -- Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, even Honolulu. Riding the Wind of God tells the remarkable story of the Youth Revival Movement. These stories, written for the first time, reflect Gods power at work in surprising places in an extraordinary time. [via]
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The Road to Serfdomby F. A. HayekISBN 1568493762 (1-56849-376-2)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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The Savage My Kinsmanby ElliotISBN 1569550034 (1-56955-003-4)
Softcover, Gospel Light Pubns
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The Scarlet Pimpernelby OrczyISBN 1576469239 (1-57646-923-9)
Softcover, Quiet Vision Pub
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Sick Puppyby Carl HiaasenISBN 1568958692 (1-56895-869-2)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945by Barbara TuchmanISBN 1568496044 (1-56849-604-4)
Hardcover, Buccaneer Books
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Stormy Weatherby Carl HiaasenISBN 1568952767 (1-56895-276-7)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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The Tale of Flopsy Bunniesby Beatrix PotterISBN 1577191625 (1-57719-162-5)
Softcover, G T Publishing Corporation
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The Tale of Jemina Pubble-Duckby Beatrix PotterISBN 1577191595 (1-57719-159-5)
Hardcover, G T Publishing Corporation
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The Tale of Timmy Tiptoesby Beatrix PotterISBN 1577191617 (1-57719-161-7)
Softcover, G T Publishing Corporation
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Tipping the Velvetby Sarah WatersISBN 1573221368 (1-57322-136-8)
Softcover, Tarcher/Putnam
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tipping the Velvet: A Novel'Book summary:The heroine of Sarah Waters's audacious first novel knows her destiny, and seems content with it. Her place is in her father's seaside restaurant, shucking shellfish and stirring soup, singing all the while. "Although I didn't long believe the story told to me by Mother--that they had found me as a baby in an oyster-shell, and a greedy customer had almost eaten me for lunch--for eighteen years I never doubted my own oysterish sympathies, never looked far beyond my father's kitchen for occupation, or for love." At night Nancy Astley often ventures to the nearby music hall, not that she has illusions of being more than an audience member. But the moment she spies a new male impersonator--still something of a curiosity in England circa 1888--her years of innocence come to an end and a life of transformations begins.
Tipping the Velvet, all 472 pages of it, is as saucy, as tantalizing, and as touching as the narrator's first encounter with the seductive but shame-ridden Miss Kitty Butler. And at first even Nancy's family is thrilled with her gender-bending pal, all but her sister, best friend, and bedmate, Alice, "her eyes shining cold and dull, with starlight and suspicion." Not to worry. Soon Nancy and Kitty are off to London, their relationship close though (alas for our heroine) sisterly. We know that bliss will come, and it does, in an exceptionally charged moment. A lesser author would have been content to stop her story there, but Waters has much more in mind for her buttonholing heroine, and for us. In brief, her Everywoman with a sexual difference goes from success onstage to heartbreak to a stint as a male prostitute (necessity truly is the mother of invention) to keeping house for a brother and sister in the Labour movement. And did I mention her long stint as a plaything in the pleasure palace of a rich Sapphist extraordinaire? Diana Lethaby is as cruel as she is carnal, and even the well-concealed Cavendish Ladies' Club isn't outré enough for her. Kitting Nancy out in full, elegant drag, she dares the front desk to turn them away. "We are here," she mocks, "for the sake of the irregular."
Only after some seven years of hard twists and sensual turns does Nancy conclude that a life of sensation is not enough. Still, Tipping the Velvet is so entertaining that readers will wish her sentimental--and hedonistic--education had taken twice as long. --Kerry Fried [via]
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Totem and Tabooby Sigmund Freud, A.A. BrillISBN 1573927899 (1-57392-789-9)
Softcover, Prometheus Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Totem and Taboo'Book summary:In this controversial study Freud applies the theories and evidence of his psychoanalytic investigations to the study of aboriginal peoples and, by extension, to the earliest cultural stages of the human race before the rise of large-scale civilizations. Relying on the reports of ethnographers such as J. G. Frazer, E. B. Tylor, and others, Freud points out the striking parallels between the cultural practices of native tribal groups and the behavior patterns of neurotics. His ultimate aim is to shed light on the psychological factors involved in the development of culture in the same way as he analyzed the unconscious motivations of neurotic individuals.
Beginning with a discussion of the incest taboo, which is one of the main features of the totemic tribal structure, he compares the taboo to the infantile stage of individual psychological development, in which the male child experiences incestuous sexual feelings for his mother (and the girl for her father). He draws parallels between some of the elaborate taboo restrictions seen in these early cultures and the scrupulous rituals of compulsion neurotics, who in a similar fashion are wrestling with the ambivalent emotions aroused by the incest taboo. The implication is that many of the ceremonies and
rituals of culture develop as a psychological reaction to the incest taboo, which prohibits the acting out of an infantile impulse that would be socially destructive.
Freud contends that cultures evolve through three main stages: the animistic, the religious, and the scientific. The earliest stage of animism corresponds to the narcissistic phase of individual development, when the child overvalues the importance and influence of his inner psychic life on the outer world. In the religious stage of culture, humanity realizes that its own conceptions do not have full power to control outer reality and attributes this power to deities, who nonetheless can be manipulated through religious ceremony. This stage of culture corresponds to the individual growth phase of dependence on the parents. The scientific stage is tantamount to the mature phase of individual development, in which the individual recognizes his very limited power to control the universe and accepts the reality of his own death as well as all other natural realities.
Freud concludes by invoking his famous Oedipus complex as the key to the development of culture, just as it is the main conflict underlying all neurotic illness in his theory. The repressed psychological urge to kill the father as the rival for the mother's affections is the underlying motive for the symbols and ceremonies of religion with all its many sacrificial rituals of expiation and its notions of angry gods, original sin, and humankind's guilt and need for atonement.
Although Freud's theories and life are controversial today, this masterful synthesis and its undeniable influence on later scholars of religion, anthropology, and psychology make it an indispensable work. [via]More editions of Totem and Taboo:
Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historicalby Anthony Bourdain, Breaulove Swells WhimsyISBN 1582341338 (1-58234-133-8)
Hardcover, Bloomsbury Publishing
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The Washington Story: A Novel in Five Spheresby Adam LangerISBN 1573223247 (1-57322-324-7)
Hardcover, Riverhead Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Washington Story: A Novel in Five Spheres'Book summary:For those of us who woefully turned the last page of Crossing California, Adam Langer's masterful debut, The Washington Story offers a gratifying, if not lengthy, reunion with the people and places whose stories so engaged readers the first time around. In this tightly packed sequel, Langer revisits the same West Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago where we first met a fascinating cast of characters, from high schoolers Muley Scott Wills, Jill and Michelle Wasserstrom, and Hillel Levy to movie producers Mel Coleman and Carl "Slappit" Silverman, whose lives continue to intertwine in ways that make this expansive novel both a delight and a challenge to fully absorb.
Like in Crossing California, time and place are as central to the story as the characters themselves. The Washington Story takes place between 1982 and 1987, and follows the political career of Chicago mayor Harold Washington, the Challenger space shuttle disaster, and the changing landscape of both an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Chicago and the world beyond its borders. From a dorm room at Vassar to a hostel in West Berlin, Langer follows his characters across the street and around the globe, observing their behavior with a sharp eye for detail and an understated yet inspired sense of humor that can be unbelievably rewarding at times. ("He would sit alone at Ponderosa, where he would eat chili and pretend to read Jack Kerouac ... though when he would return alone to his hotel room, he would put down The Dharma Bums and pick up the GMAT study guide.") At one point in Jill's college career, she wonders if she could ever be considered prettier than her starlet sister Michelle. Yet according to Langer, it's "Not that she really cared about being pretty; she mostly cared about not being ugly."
Observations like these are what make The Washington Story so much more than a simple coming-of-age tale. Rather, Langer's unpretentious style, coupled with his immense talent for storytelling, rewards readers with a sequel worthy of its predecessor. --Gisele Toueg [via]
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The Way I Found Herby Rose TremainISBN 1574901656 (1-57490-165-6)
Hardcover, Thomas t Beeler
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White Fangby Jack London, Malvina G. Vogel, Ross VeraISBN 1577658108 (1-57765-810-8)
Hardcover, Spotlight
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› Find signed collectible books: 'White Fang'Book summary:Part wolf and part dog, orphaned White Fang relies on his instincts as well as his inborn strength and courage to survive in the Yukon wilderness despite both animal and human predators but eventually comes to make his peace with man. [via]
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The Wizard of Ozby L. Frank BaumISBN 1568522258 (1-56852-225-8)
Hardcover, William s Konecky Assoc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Wizard of Oz'Book summary:In spite of the fact that L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) is one of the most popular stories in America, relatively few people have actually read the book. It's well worth the effort! Young readers expecting rainbows, Munchkin songs, and wicked witches with burning brooms will instead find a complex country populated with mocking Hammerhead men, dainty people made out of china, and fierce monsters with heads of tigers and bodies of bears. Through the fantastic land of Oz ramble Dorothy and her trusty companions--Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion--each seeking his or her heart's desire. Although the premise of the book and the 1939 movie is the same, the book--as so often is the case--delivers a far more subtle and intricate plot. A child's imagination will run rampant in these pages as one extraordinary creature after another leads the motley crew into strange and magical adventures. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter [via]
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The Wonderful Wizard of Ozby L. Frank BaumISBN 1577595513 (1-57759-551-3)
Hardcover, Dalmatian Press
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![[???]: You Mean a Woman Can Open It ?: The Woman's Place in the Classic Age of Advertising](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/1580623778.01._SL160_SCLZZZZZZZ__.jpg "[???]: You Mean a Woman Can Open It ?: The Woman's Place in the Classic Age of Advertising")
You Mean a Woman Can Open It ?: The Woman's Place in the Classic Age of AdvertisingISBN 1580623778 (1-58062-377-8)
Softcover, Adams Media Corp
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