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Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Tracked Down and Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz
by Thomas HardingWINNER OF THE WINGATE PRIZE The "compelling," untold story of the man who brought one of Nazi Germany's most notorious war criminals to justice--"fascinates and shocks" (The Washington Post).May 1945. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. One of the lead investigators is Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a German Jew who is now serving in the British Army. Rudolf Höss is his most elusive target. As Kommandant of Auschwitz, Höss not only oversaw the murder of more than one million men, women, and children; he was the man who perfected Hitler's program of mass extermination. Höss is on the run across a continent in ruins, the one man whose testimony can ensure justice at Nuremberg. Hanns and Rudolf reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss's capture, an encounter with repercussions that echo to this day. Moving from the Middle Eastern campaigns of World War I to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, it tells the story of two German men--one Jewish, one Catholic--whose lives diverged, and intersected, in an astonishing way. This is "one of those true stories that illuminates a small justice in the aftermath of the Holocaust, an event so huge and heinous that there can be no ultimate justice" (New York Daily News).
Hanns and Rudolf: The True Story of the German Jew Who Caught the Kommandant of Auschwitz
by Thomas HardingShortlisted for the 2013 Costa Biography Award. Part history, part biography, part true crime, Hanns and Rudolf chronicles the untold story of the Jewish investigator who pursued and captured one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious war criminals.May 1945. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. One of the lead investigators is Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a German Jew now serving in the British Army. Rudolf Höss is his most elusive target. As Kommandant of Auschwitz, Höss not only oversaw the murder of more than one million men, women, and children, but he perfected Hitler’s programme of mass extermination. On the run across a continent in ruins, Höss is the one man whose testimony can ensure justice at Nuremberg. Hanns and Rudolf reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss’s capture, an encounter with repercussions that echo to this day. Moving from the Middle-Eastern campaigns of the First World War to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, it tells the story of two German men — one Jewish, one Catholic — whose lives diverged, and intersected, in an astonishing way.
Hanns and Rudolf
by Thomas HardingPart history, part biography, part true crime, Hanns and Rudolf chronicles the untold story of the Jewish investigator who pursued and captured one of Nazi Germany's most notorious war criminals.May 1945. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the first British War Crimes Investigation Team is assembled to hunt down the senior Nazi officials responsible for the greatest atrocities the world has ever seen. One of the lead investigators is Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a German Jew who is now serving in the British Army. Rudolf Höss is his most elusive target. As Kommandant of Auschwitz, Höss not only oversaw the murder of more than one million men, women, and children, but was the man who perfected Hitler's program of mass extermination. Höss is on the run across a continent in ruins, the one man whose testimony can ensure justice at Nuremberg. Hanns and Rudolf reveals for the very first time the full, exhilarating account of Höss's capture, an encounter with repercussions that echo to this day. Moving from the Middle-Eastern campaigns of the First World War to bohemian Berlin in the 1920s to the horror of the concentration camps and the trials in Belsen and Nuremberg, it tells the story of two German men--one Jewish, one Catholic--whose lives diverged, and intersected, in an astonishing way.d through the lives of two men who grew up in parallel and yet opposing German cultures.
Hans Christian Andersen: A New Life
by Jens Andersen Tiina NunnallyOn the 200th anniversary of his birth, a new biography of the much-loved children's author, Hans Christian Andersen. Hans Christian Andersen was a storyteller for children of all ages, but he was more than that. He was a critical journalist with great enthusiasm for science, an existential thinker, an observant travel book writer, a passionate novelist, a deft paper cut-out artist, a neurotic hypochondriac, and a man with intense but frustrated sexual desires. This startling and immensely readable, definitive new biography by Danish scholar Jens Andersen is essential to a full understanding of the man whose writing has influenced the lives of readers young and old for centuries. Jens Andersen sheds brilliant new light on Hans Christian Andersen's writings and on the writer whose own life had many aspects of the fairytale. Like some of the memorable characters he created, Andersen grew up in miserable and impoverished circumstances. He later propagated myths about his life and family, but this new biography uncovers much about this man that has never been revealed before.
Hans Christian Andersen
by Paul BindingRarely does an American or European child grow up without an introduction to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess and the Pea," or "Thumbelina." Andersen began publishing his fairy tales in 1835, and they brought him almost immediate acclaim among Danish and German readers, followed quickly by the French, Swedes, Swiss, Norwegians, British, and Americans. Ultimately he wrote more than 150 tales. And yet, Paul Binding contends in this incisive book, Andersen cannot be confined to the category of writings for children. His work stands at the very heart of mainstream European literature. The author considers the entire scope of Andersen's prose, from his juvenilia to his very last story. He shows that Andersen's numerous novels, travelogues, autobiographies, and even his fairy tales (notably addressed not to children but to adults) earned a vast audience because they distilled the satisfactions, tensions, hopes, and fears of Europeans as their continent emerged from the Napoleonic Wars. The book sheds new light on Andersen as an intellectual, his rise to international stardom, and his connections with other eminent European writers. It also pays tribute to Andersen's enlightened values-values that ensure the continuing appeal of his works.
Hans Hofmann
by Federick S. WightThis title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1957.
Hansi: The Girl Who Loved the Swastika
by Maria Anne HirschmannRaised by a Christian foster mother who loved her and a foster father who saw her as just another mouth to feed at a time when food was scarce, Maria grabbed the chance to go to Prague and get Hitler's promised education. Not only did she excel in every way, but also she felt loved and accepted. It was here that Hansi was born. Hansi became a successful leader in Hitler's Youth. She escaped Prague before it fell, but landed in a labor camp where women were overworked, starved, and raped by Russian soldiers and the overseer. She could not take the brutality and resolved to escape, or die trying. Her journey was hard but she made it to West Germany, where American soldiers and The Red Cross helped her. Repeated encounters of goodness reawakened her faith. Coming to America immersed her in a new kind of hardship, but she learned English, became a schoolteacher, and grew in Christian faith. She became an American citizen and helped others appreciate Americans' freedom. Hirschmann's autobiography is frank, instructive, inspirational, and beautifully written.
Hap Wilson's Wilderness 3-Book Bundle: The Cabin / Grey Owl and Me / Trails and Tribulations
by Hap WilsonNoted traveller and environmentalist Hap Wilson shares accounts of his lifelong involvement with wilderness living within the Canadian Shield. Wilson knows better than most how to live in the woods. As park ranger, canoe guide, outfitter, trail builder, and environmental activist, he learned from firsthand experience that nature can neither be beaten or tamed.This three-book bundle includes: The Cabin: A Search for Personal Sanctuary Noted environmentalist Hap Wilson takes us along a wilderness trail replete with snags and pitfalls, through mishaps, tears, and laughter. Grey Owl and Me: Stories From the Trail and Beyond Hap Wilson is back for another journey. Nurtured by the writings of Grey Owl, Wilson adopted a similar lifestyle to the 1930s conservationist but with his own twists and turns. Wilson recounts the early days of winter camping, takes readers to some of his favourite places, and shares intimate secrets of wilderness living. Trails and Tribulations:Confessions of a Wilderness Pathfinder Noted northern traveller Hap Wilson shares accounts of his lifelong involvement with wilderness living within the Canadian Shield. A park ranger, canoe guide, and environmental activist, Wilson takes the reader on a journey through natural settings ranging from austere to mysterious and breathtaking.
Hapa Girl: A Memoir
by Chai May-LeeIn the mid-1960s, Winberg Chai, a young academic and the son of Chinese immigrants, married an Irish-American artist. InHapa Girl("hapa" is Hawaiian for "mixed"), their daughter tells the story of this loving family as they moved from Southern California to New York to a South Dakota farm by the 1980s. In their new Midwestern home, the family finds itself the object of unwelcome attention, which swiftly escalates to violence.
Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story
by Isabel GilliesIsabel Gillies had a wonderful life -- a handsome, intelligent, loving husband; two glorious toddlers; a beautiful house; the time and place to express all her ebullience and affection and optimism. Suddenly, that life was over. Her husband, Josiah, announced that he was leaving her and their two young sons. When Josiah took a teaching job at a Midwestern college, Isabel and their sons moved with him from New York City to Ohio, where Isabel taught acting, threw herself into the college community, and delighted in the less-scheduled lives of toddlers raised away from the city. But within a few months, the marriage was over. The life Isabel had made crumbled. "Happens every day," said a friend. Far from a self-pitying diatribe, Happens Every Day reads like an intimate conversation between friends. Gillies has written a dizzyingly candid, compulsively readable, ultimately redemptive story about love, marriage, family, heartbreak, and the unexpected turns of a life. On the one hand, reading this book is like watching a train wreck. On the other hand, as Gillies herself says, it is about trying to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, and loving your life even if it has slipped away. Hers is a remarkable new voice -- instinctive, funny, and irresistible.
Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story
by Isabel GilliesIsabel Gillies had a wonderful life -- a handsome, intelligent, loving husband; two glorious toddlers; a beautiful house; the time and place to express all her ebullience and affection and optimism. Suddenly, that life was over. Her husband, Josiah, announced that he was leaving her and their two young sons. <p><p> When Josiah took a teaching job at a Midwestern college, Isabel and their sons moved with him from New York City to Ohio, where Isabel taught acting, threw herself into the college community, and delighted in the less-scheduled lives of toddlers raised away from the city. But within a few months, the marriage was over. The life Isabel had made crumbled. "Happens every day," said a friend. <p> Far from a self-pitying diatribe, Happens Every Day reads like an intimate conversation between friends. Gillies has written a dizzyingly candid, compulsively readable, ultimately redemptive story about love, marriage, family, heartbreak, and the unexpected turns of a life. <p. On the one hand, reading this book is like watching a train wreck. On the other hand, as Gillies herself says, it is about trying to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, and loving your life even if it has slipped away.
Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life
by Gretchen RubinIn the spirit of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin embarks on a new project to make home a happier place. In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family's treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster. And what does she want from her home? A place that calms her, and energises her. A place that, by making her feel safe, will free her to take risks. Also, while Rubin wants to be happier at home, she wants to appreciate how much happiness is there already. So, starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicates a school year - September through May - to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort and love. Each month, Rubin tackles a different theme as she experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions - and this time, she coaxes her family to try some resolutions, as well. With her signature blend of memoir, science, philosophy and experimentation, Rubin's passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire readers to find more happiness in their own lives.
Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life
by Gretchen RubinSocial media powerhouse and New York Times bestselling author of THE HAPPINESS PROJECT, Gretchen Rubin turns her attention homewards - an entertaining and thoughtful mix of literature, memoir and psychology sure to appeal to her huge fan base.In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family's treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster.And what does she want from her home? A place that calms her, and energises her. A place that, by making her feel safe, will free her to take risks. Also, while Rubin wants to be happier at home, she wants to appreciate how much happiness is there already.So, starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicates a school year - September through May - to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort and love. Each month, Rubin tackles a different theme as she experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions - and this time, she coaxes her family to try some resolutions, as well. With her signature blend of memoir, science, philosophy and experimentation, Rubin's passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire readers to find more happiness in their own lives. (P)2018 Penguin Random House LLC
Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-control, And My Other Experiments In Everyday Life
by Gretchen RubinTolstoy wrote, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This is the statement that inspired bestselling author Gretchen Rubin to wonder whether she could foster an even greater happiness in her home. During The Happiness Project, the same questions kept tugging at her. How can I raise happy children? How can I maintain a tender, romantic relationship with my spouse--after fifteen years of marriage? How do I keep my Blackberry from taking over my private life? How can I foster a well-ordered, light-hearted atmosphere in my house, when no one else will lift a finger to cooperate?This book is Gretchen's account of her second journey in pursuit of happiness. Prescriptive, easy-to-follow, and anecdotal, Happier at Home offers readers a way of thinking and being that is positive and life-affirming. With specific examples following the calendar year, an intimate voice, and drawing from science and pop culture, this book will resonate with anyone looking to strengthen the bonds of family.
Happier Here and Now: The restorative power of life's simple pleasures
by Mary Jane Grant'A tale of loss and hope, of strength drawn from truly inhabiting the moment.' - Raynor Winn, bestselling author of The Salt PathAn inspiring memoir and simple guide that anyone can use to find a new kind of happiness in the small pleasures of everyday life.Mary Jane Grant takes us on her travels through London and the French countryside as she recovers from loss to find a richer experience of life, love and connection. As she immerses herself in the sights, smells, and small pleasures of each moment, the sadness starts to recede. From the bustling cafes of Camden and the pastel-coloured streets of Primrose Hill, to the sun-soaked vineyards of the south of France, her journey leads to new experiences that she could not have imagined in her old life. Real connections are made, she lets go of things she no longer needs, and takes pleasure in the good, generous and beautiful parts of life that she encounters every day. Beautifully and succinctly told, this is a story about what happens when you embrace life, whatever it may bring, with surprising - and joyful - results. Anyone can use the enjoyable techniques described in this book to create a more vivid life, one small pleasure at a time. As we grapple with how to live in a post-pandemic world, this book is a perfect match to the questions of our time. While the tea steeped, I split open the muffin and slathered butter across the warm, crumbly surface. I watched the butter melt. I took a bite. Memories of my grandmother's kitchen came back. I cradled the smooth white cup in my hand, ran my fingers over the uneven top of the time-worn wooden table. I looked around the place and watched people. Time passed. I realised that it was an hour since I first saw the sign telling me to smell the tea. And all this time I had experienced neither sad memories nor anxious worries. I was completely and simply here - with the tea, the place, the people, myself. I was present. And it felt wonderful.
Happier Here and Now: The restorative power of life's simple pleasures
by Mary Jane Grant'A tale of loss and hope, of strength drawn from truly inhabiting the moment.' - Raynor Winn, author of The Salt PathHeartwarming non fiction up lit about starting over and embracing life, one simple moment at a time.When her husband of twenty five years suddenly announces he's leaving her, writer Mary Jane Grant runs away to London to immerse herself in any reality but her own. Reeling from the shock and loss of her marriage and the life she's known, she begins to discover that if she can just focus on the moment she's in, take notice of the people, the sights and smells around her, that her pain and grief start to recede. From the bustling cafes of Camden and the pastel-coloured streets of Notting Hill, to the sun soaked vineyards of the south of France, her journey leads her to rich new experiences that she could never have imagined in her old life. Real connections are made, she lets go of the things she no longer needs, and takes pleasure in the good, generous and beautiful parts of life that she encounters every day. Beautifully and succinctly told, this is a story about what happens when you embrace life, whatever it may bring, with surprising - and joyful - results. While the tea steeped, I split open the muffin and slathered butter across the warm, crumbly surface. I watched the butter melt. I took a bite. Memories of my grandmother's kitchen came back. I cradled the smooth white cup in my hand, ran my fingers over the uneven top of the time-worn wooden table. I looked around the place and watched people. Time passed. I realised that it was an hour since I first saw the sign telling me to smell the tea. And, all this time I had been possessed of neither sad memories nor anxious worries. I was completely and simply here, with the tea, the place, the people, myself. I was present. And it felt wonderful.(P) 2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
The Happiest Man in the World
by Alec WilkinsonPoppa Neutrino has been a vagabond his whole life. He has improvised an existence far outside the boundaries of what most of us consider to be normality. He has been a successful street musician, a San Francisco beatnik, a raft man in the tradition of Thor Heyerdahl, and a football enthusiast who believes he has invented a foolproof offensive play. He may be right - we have to wait and see. Alec Wilkinson has spent the last few years of his life following the erratic trail and exploits of Poppa Neutr...
The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor
by Eddie JakuIn this uplifting memoir in the vein of The Last Lecture and Man’s Search for Meaning, a Holocaust survivor pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom, and living his best possible life. <P><P> Born in Leipzig, Germany, into a Jewish family, Eddie Jaku was a teenager when his world was turned upside-down. On November 9, 1938, during the terrifying violence of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, Eddie was beaten by SS thugs, arrested, and sent to a concentration camp with thousands of other Jews across Germany. Every day of the next seven years of his life, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors in Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and finally on a forced death march during the Third Reich’s final days. The Nazis took everything from Eddie—his family, his friends, and his country. But they did not break his spirit. <P><P> Against unbelievable odds, Eddie found the will to survive. Overwhelming grateful, he made a promise: he would smile every day in thanks for the precious gift he was given and to honor the six million Jews murdered by Hitler. Today, at 100 years of age, despite all he suffered, Eddie calls himself the “happiest man on earth.” In his remarkable memoir, this born storyteller shares his wisdom and reflects on how he has led his best possible life, talking warmly and openly about the power of gratitude, tolerance, and kindness. Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. With The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie shows us how. <P><P> Filled with his insights on friendship, family, health, ethics, love, and hatred, and the simple beliefs that have shaped him, The Happiest Man on Earth offers timeless lessons for readers of all ages, especially for young people today. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Happiest People on Earth: The Long-awaited Personal Story of Demos Shakarian
by Demos Shakarian John Sherrill Elizabeth SherrillThe story of Demos Shakarian and his family. Shakarian, a California dairy farmer, organized numerous Christian revivals near his home. Over time, his work grew into the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International.
Happily: A Personal History-with Fairy Tales
by Sabrina Orah MarkA beautifully written memoir-in-essays on fairy tales and their surprising relevance to modern life, from a Jewish woman raising Black children in the American South—based on her acclaimed Paris Review column &“Happily&”&“One of the most inventive, phenomenally executed books I&’ve read in decades.&”—Kiese Laymon, author of HeavyThe literary tradition of the fairy tale has long endured as the vehicle by which we interrogate the laws of reality. These fantastical stories, populated with wolves, kings, and wicked witches, have throughout history served as a template for understanding culture, society, and that muddy terrain we call our collective human psyche. In Happily, Sabrina Orah Mark reimagines the modern fairy tale, turning it inside out and searching it for the wisdom to better understand our contemporary moment in what Mark so incisively calls &“this strange American weather.&”Set against the backdrop of political upheaval, viral plague, social protest, and climate change, Mark locates the magic in the mundane and illuminates the surreality of life as we know it today. She grapples with a loss of innocence in &“Sorry, Peter Pan, We&’re Over You,&” when her son decides he would rather dress up as Martin Luther King, Jr., than Peter Pan for Halloween. In &“The Evil Stepmother,&” Mark finds unlikely communion with wicked wives and examines the roots of their bad reputation. And in &“Rapunzel, Draft One Thousand,&” the hunt for a wigmaker in a time of unprecedented civil unrest forces Mark to finally confront her sister&’s cancer diagnosis and the stories we tell ourselves to get by.Revelatory, whimsical, and utterly inspired, Happily is a testament to the singularity of Sabrina Orah Mark&’s voice and the power of the fantastical to reveal essential truths about life, love, and the meaning of family.
Happily Ali After: An Other Fairly True Tales
by Ali Wentworth"Hilarious. . . . Her glass isn't half full--it's 'empty and cracked.'"--Entertainment Weekly (the Must List)Moved by a particularly inspirational tweet one day, Ali Wentworth resolves to live by the pithy maxims she discovers in her feeds. What begins as a sort of self-help project quickly turns into something far grander--and increasingly funnier--as the tweets she once viewed with irony become filled with growing metaphysical importance. And thus begins her "Unhappiness Project."It's not all that long before Ali expands her self-improvement quest to include parenting, relationships, fitness (or lack thereof), and dieting advice. The results are painfully (at times literally) clear: when it comes to self-help, sometimes you should leave it to the professionals."Razor-sharp."--Cosmopolitan"Irresistible. . . . Sharply observant and incisively funny."--Library Journal
Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
by Susannah Fullerton“An intelligent and generous companion to Pride and Prejudice: its author and her era, characters, language, reception, [and] adaptations.” —Sydney Morning HeraldPride and Prejudice has a fair claim to being the world’s favorite novel. Read and studied from Cheltenham to China, it’s been translated into many languages and made into countless films. This book, from longtime Jane Austen Society of Australia president Susannah Fullerton, describes how Austen wrote her masterpiece, its lukewarm initial reception, and its evolving popularity. As well as discussing sex-symbol Mr. Darcy, charming heroine Elizabeth Bennet, and the superb range of comic characters, she discusses the novel’s style: its wicked irony, brilliant structuring, and revolutionary use of the technique known as “free indirect speech.”Readers through the years have both loved the book and hated it, and the reactions of writers, politicians, artists, and explorers can tell us as much about the reader as they do about the book itself. Pride and Prejudice has morphed into many strange and interesting forms: screen adaptations, sequels, prequels, and updates. Happily Ever After explores these—and the wilder shores of zombies, porn, dating manuals, T-shirts, tourism, and therapy.“[The illustrations are] as much fun as the text.” —Star-Tribune“An enjoyable and loyally enthusiastic tribute . . . contains thoughtful plot and character summaries useful for orienting the school student, and is full of trivia for Austen enthusiasts (the term ‘Janeites’ was coined in 1884).” —Times Literary Supplement
Happily Ever After: The Drew Barrymore Story
by Leah Furman Elina FurmanDrew Barrymore was a star by the time she was seven years old, a drug addict by twelve, and a has - been before her sixteenth birthday. But with the resounding success of such recent films as Ever After: A Cinderella Story, The Wedding Singer, Never Been Kissed (produced by Drew's production company, Flower Films) and Charlie's Angels, Drew Barrymore has reclaimed her place as one of Hollywood's hottest young actors. Her inspirational comeback from a highly publicized battle with drug and alcohol addiction has left this former child star wiser, happier, and more triumphant then ever.From her struggle to reenter Hollywood to her many acclaimed movies, from a strained relationship with her mother and a failed marriage to a newfound sense of peace and enduring love, HAPPILY EVER AFTER offers a fascinating look at the troubled Little Girl Lost and the beautiful woman she grew up to be!An unauthorized biographyFrom the Paperback edition.
The Happily Ever After: A Memoir of an Unlikely Romance Novelist
by Avi SteinbergA journalist's journey through the lands of popular romance lit and a soulful and hilarious memoir about writing a novel about searching for loveIs romance dead? Is that why there are so many vampires in today's romance novels? When Avi Steinberg's love life took a grim turn, he did what he always does: He consulted his old books, the usual cast of Great (Very Serious, Usually Male) Authors. And he immediately realized that these books were part of the problem. Instead, he began to read romances, the books he--like so many of us--have been conditioned to dismiss as "trashy." What he discovered was a genre that was tremendously diverse and daring, along with a vast network of innovative writers who were keeping the novel as alive as ever. His own relationship problems, he realized, came down to a failure of his imagination. And so he set out on a quest to write and publish a romance novel and to find real-life love.A hybrid of memoir, travelogue, and critical essay, The Happily Ever After chronicles an adventure in a brave new world of literature. Steinberg offers a report from the trenches of romance, moving between major industry conferences and writing groups at the local bar as he works and reworks his romance novel idea. He reveals the inside scoop from a major romance publishing house, crisscrosses the country meeting mysterious ghostwriters and Fabio's great unsung rival, and offers a running take on the fascinating history of romance writing, the genre that invented, and continues to reinvent, the modern novel. Along the way he meets many readers, each of whom sheds light on why we are so fascinated by--and phobic of--romance fiction and what the vitality and fractiousness of our biggest genre says about us.With quirky wit and disarming honesty, Steinberg captures an often misunderstood literary culture and learns, from its devoted practitioners, how to take the Happily Ever After seriously in his own life.
Happily Ever Esther: Two Men, a Wonder Pig, and Their Life-Changing Mission to Give Animals a Home
by Steve Jenkins Derek WalterSteve Jenkins and Derek Walter, had their lives turned upside down when they adopted their pig-daughter Esther--the so-called micro pig who turned out to be a full-sized commercial pig growing to a whopping 600 pounds--as they describe in their bestselling memoir Esther the Wonder Pig. The book ends with them moving to a new farm, and starting a new wonderful life where they will live on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary to care for other animals and just live happily ever after... Or so they thought. People often think about giving it all up and just moving to a farm. In theory it sure does sound great. But as Derek and Steve quickly realized, the realities of being a farmer--especially when you have never lived on a farm let alone outside of the city--can be frantic, crazy, and even insane. Not only are they adjusting to farm life and dutifully taking care of their pig-daughter Esther (who by the way lives in the master bedroom of their house), but before they knew it their sanctuary grew to as many as 42 animals, including: pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, cows, roosters, a peacock, a duck, a horse, a donkey, and a barn cat named Willma Ferrell. Written with joy and humor, and filled with delicious Esther-approved recipes dispersed throughout the book, this charming memoir captures an emotional journey of one little family advocating for animals everywhere.