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A Country Between: Making a Home Where Both Sides of Jerusalem Collide
by Stephanie Saldaña"Behind every dark moment, there is another hidden world. The trick is to hold out long enough to make it there."When American writer Stephanie Saldaña finds herself in an empty house at the beginning of Nablus Road, the dividing line between East and West Jerusalem, she is a new wife trying to navigate a fragile terrain, both within her marriage and throughout the country in which she has chosen to live.Pregnant with her first child, Stephanie struggles to protect her family, their faith, and herself from the cracks of Middle Eastern conflict that threaten to shatter the world around her. But as her due date approaches, she must reconcile herself with her choice to bring a child into a dangerous world. Determined to piece together life from the brokenness, she sets out to uncover small instances of beauty to balance the delicate coexistence between love, motherhood, and a country so often at war.In an urban valley in Jerusalem, A Country Between captures the fragile ecosystem of the Middle East and the difficult first years of motherhood in the midst of a conflict-torn city. What unfolds is a celebration of faith, language, family, and love that fills the space between what was shattered, leaving us whole once more.
A Countryman's Lot: Tales From The Dales
by Max HardcastleMax and Vicky Hardcastle have a daydream . . .One day, they'll sell their cramped city-centre antiques shop and the overflowing upstairs flat and relocate to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. If they could only find the perfect place to house both family and business, then that fantasy might become a reality. . . When a smallholding in a remote Dales village comes on the market, it seems like the answer to their prayers. Bullpen Farm might need 'some renovation', but it has an orchard, outbuildings and all the charm they've dreamt of. Before long, the Hardcastles find themselves the proud owners of a collection of ramshackle buildings and the newest members of a close-knit community which seems to have more than its fair share of eccentrics.From the antics of the antiques trade to the uproarious incidents of village life, it turns out that rural living isn't quite as tranquil as they'd imagined!'A happy, satisfying and very funny book' James Herriot
A Countryman's Lot: Tales From The Dales
by Max HardcastleMax and Vicky Hardcastle have a daydream . . .One day, they'll sell their cramped city-centre antiques shop and the overflowing upstairs flat and relocate to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. If they could only find the perfect place to house both family and business, then that fantasy might become a reality. . . When a smallholding in a remote Dales village comes on the market, it seems like the answer to their prayers. Bullpen Farm might need 'some renovation', but it has an orchard, outbuildings and all the charm they've dreamt of. Before long, the Hardcastles find themselves the proud owners of a collection of ramshackle buildings and the newest members of a close-knit community which seems to have more than its fair share of eccentrics.From the antics of the antiques trade to the uproarious incidents of village life, it turns out that rural living isn't quite as tranquil as they'd imagined!'A happy, satisfying and very funny book' James Herriot
A Coup in Turkey: A Tale of Democracy, Despotism and Vengeance in a Divided Land
by Jeremy SealThe most dramatic, revealing and little-known story in Turkey's history - which illuminates the nation'Through the spellbinding career of a single, ill-fated leader, Jeremy Seal illuminates a bitterly divided country' Colin Thubron'Read this book if you're interested in Turkey. Read it if you're interested in power, hubris and redemption. Read it' Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic EnlightenmentIn the spring of 2016 travel writer Jeremy Seal went to Turkey to investigate perhaps the most dramatic, revealing and little-known episode in the country's history - the 'original' coup of 1960, which deposed the traditionalist Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. The story of Menderes - to his adoring supporters the country's founding democrat; to his sworn enemies its most infamous traitor - goes to the heart of the feud that continues to rage between the Western and secular ambitions of a minority elite and the religious and conservative instincts of the small-town majority. A Coup in Turkey is a thrilling account of the events leading up to the coup and the trials and executions that followed, a story of political subterfuge and score-settling, courtroom drama, state execution, authoritarian intolerance and ideological division. Seal travels through President Erdogan's Turkey, tracking down eye-witness accounts from survivors of the Menderes era in Istanbul, the historic metropolis, and the new capital at Ankara. As he expertly guides us through this extraordinary story, so the compelling parallels between past and present become strikingly clear, and he illuminates this troubled nation with a deep sympathy and love for the people and places he writes about. By focussing on one key event - one which many Turks regard with shame - this evocative, gripping portrait of Turkey recentres our understanding of the past and makes sense of one of Europe's most bewildering yet intriguing neighbours.'A wonderful writer' Robert Macfarlane
A Course Called America: Fifty States, Five Thousand Fairways, and the Search for the Great American Golf Course
by Tom CoyneGlobe-trotting golfer Tom Coyne has finally come home. And he’s ready to play all of it. After playing hundreds of courses overseas in the birthplace of golf, Coyne, the New York Times bestselling author of A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called Scotland, returns to his own birthplace and delivers a rollicking love letter to golf in the United States. <P><P>In the span of one unforgettable year, Coyne crisscrosses the country in search of its greatest golf experience, playing every course to ever host a US Open, along with more than two hundred hidden gems and heavyweights, visiting all fifty states to find a better understanding of his home country and countrymen. Coyne’s journey begins where the US Open and US Amateur got their start, historic Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. As he travels from the oldest and most elite of links to the newest and most democratic, Coyne finagles his way onto coveted first tees (Shinnecock, Oakmont, Chicago GC) between rounds at off-the-map revelations, like ranch golf in Eastern Oregon and homemade golf in the Navajo Nation. He marvels at the golf miracle hidden in the sand hills of Nebraska, and plays an unforgettable midnight game under bright sunshine on the summer solstice in Fairbanks, Alaska. <P><P>More than just a tour of the best golf the United States has to offer, Coyne’s quest connects him with hundreds of American golfers, each from a different background but all with one thing in common: pride in welcoming Coyne to their course. Trading stories and swing tips with caddies, pros, and golf buddies for the day, Coyne adopts the wisdom of one of his hosts in Minnesota: the best courses are the ones you play with the best people. But, in the end, only one stop on Coyne’s journey can be ranked the Great American Golf Course. <P><P>Throughout his travels, he invites golfers to debate and help shape his criteria for judging the quintessential American course. Should it be charmingly traditional or daringly experimental? An architectural showpiece or a natural wonder? Countless conversations and gut instinct lead him to seek out a course that feels bold and idealistic, welcoming yet imperfect, with a little revolutionary spirit and a damn good hot dog at the turn. He discovers his long-awaited answer in the most unlikely of places. Packed with fascinating tales from American golf history, comic road misadventures, illuminating insights into course design, and many a memorable round with local golfers and celebrity guests alike, A Course Called America is an epic narrative travelogue brimming with heart and soul. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
A Course Called Ireland
by Tom CoyneAn epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world?s greatest round of golf In his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn?t take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way. A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon. Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family?s roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world?s greatest game. .
A Course Called Ireland
by Tom CoyneAn epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world's greatest round of golf. In his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn't take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way. A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon. Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family's roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world's greatest game.
A Course Called Ireland
by Tom CoyneAn epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world?s greatest round of golfIn his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn?t take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way. A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon. Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family?s roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world?s greatest game.
A Crack in the Earth
by Haim WatzmanThe Jordan Rift Valley, stretching from the Red Sea to Lebanon, was ripped open millions of years ago by vast forces within the earth. This geological object has also been a part of human history ever since early humans used it as a path in their journey out of Africa. And for a quarter of a century it has been part of the biography of Israeli writer Haim Watzman.In the autumn of 2004, as his country was riven by a fierce debate over its borders, Watzman took a two-week journey up the valley. Along the way he met scientists who try to understand the rift through the evidence lying on its surface-an archaeologist who reconstructs the fallen altars of a long-forgotten people, a zoologist whose study of bird societies has produced a theory of why organisms cooperate, and a geologist who thinks that the valley will some day be an ocean. He encountered people whose life and work on the shores of the Dead Sea and Jordan River have led them to dream of paradise and to seem to build Gardens of Eden on earth-a booster for a chemical factory, the director of a tourist site, and an aging socialist farmer who curates a museum of idols. And he discovered that the geography's instability is mirrored in the volatility of the tales that people tell about the Sea of Galilee.As an observant Jew who has written extensively about science and scholarship, Watzman tries to understand the valley in all its complexity-its physical facts, its role in human history and his own life, and the myths it has engendered. He realizes that human beings can never see the rift in isolation. "It is the stories that men and women have told to explain what they see and what they do as a result that create the rift as we see it," he writes. "As hard as we try to comprehend the landscape itself, it is humanity that we find.Watzman's poetic evocation of the scientific and the human is a unique chronicle of a quest for knowledge.Finalist, Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, 2008.
A Crack in the Wall
by Miranda France Claudia PiñeiroPablo Borla's marriage is reduced to confrontations with his wife over their daughter's rebellious ways and his firm builds only repellent office blocks destroying the fabric of old Buenos Aires. It all changes with the arrival of a young woman who brings to light a murder committed decades ago by those in his office. A murder everyone assumed was forgotten.Claudia Piñeiro, after working as a professional accountant, became a journalist, playwright and television scriptwriter and in 1992 won the prestigious Pléyade journalism award. She has more recently turned to fiction; All Yours (finalist for the 2003 Planeta Prize) and Thursday Night Widows.
A Critical Ethnography of 'Westerners' Teaching English in China: Shanghaied in Shanghai (Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education)
by Phiona StanleyTens of thousands of Western ‘teachers’, many of whom would not be considered teachers elsewhere, are employed to teach English in public and private education in China. Little has previously been known, except anecdotally, about their experiences, about the effect they have on education in the context, or on students’ perceptions of ‘the West’ that result from this contact. This book is an ethnographic study of Westerners’ lived experiences teaching English in Shanghai, China. It is based on three years of groundbreaking research into the pre-service training, classroom practices, personal identities and motives, and local socially constructed roles of a group of ‘backpacker teachers’ from the UK, the USA and Canada. It is a study that goes beyond the classroom, addressing broader questions about the sociology, and politics, of transnational education and China’s evolving relationship with the outside world.
A Crown of Fire: The Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola
by Pierre Van PaassenThe life of Savonarola and its place in the history of Italy and the Church has been subject to many interpretations. In this book Pierre van Paassen gives it the most balanced, entertaining, and factual treatment yet. Savonarola and Firenze (Florence) however are so inextricably bound together that the two must be discussed at one and the same time. Florence was at the height of her glory in the most brilliant phase of the Renaissance and herein the splendor and picturesqueness of that whole epoch is brought vividly to life. Mr. van Paassen traces Savonarola's youth and his teenage love for a girl in Ferrara, his hometown, and then his sudden decision (quite like Loyola's) to enter the Church. Following his novitiate Savonarola was called to Florence and immortality by Lorenzo the Magnificent. In this most exciting period of history the author traces his contacts with Lorenzo and the opposition, with the artists, Botticelli and Michelangelo, with Machiavelli, with the great Pope, Alexander VI, with Lucrezia, Cesare and the Sforza family. There is Savonarola's conversion of the whole city of Florence with the entire population walking in a procession of penitence. When the king of France invaded Italy Savonarola went out to meet him and thus saved the city while the rest of the country was ravaged by war.Mr. van Paassen examines Savonarola's ideas on democracy and freedom, on everyday questions, and his strange predictions and prophesies which came to be fulfilled. And finally, the accusation of heresy, the trial and torture, and the burning at the stake.Most books on Savonarola used the monk's career and death to belabor Pope Alexander VI and the Borgia family. Not so here: rather Mr. van Paassen's theme is that had Savonarola's counsel been heeded the Reformation would have taken place within, rather than outside, the Church.
A Culinary History of Myrtle Beach & the Grand Strand: Fish & Grits, Oyster Roasts and Boiled Peanuts (American Palate)
by Becky BillingsleyThe culinary history of Georgetown and Horry Counties reflects a unique merging of Native American, European, African and Caribbean cuisines. Learn how slaves taught their masters to create vast wealth on rice plantations, what George Washington likely ate when visiting South Carolina in 1791, how the turpentine industry gave rise to a sticky sweet potato cooking method and why locals eagerly anticipate one special time of year when boiled peanuts are at their best. Author Becky Billingsley, a longtime Myrtle Beach-area restaurant journalist, digs deep into historic records, serves up tantalizing personal interviews and dishes on the best local restaurants, where many delicious farm-to-table heritage foods can still be enjoyed.
A Culinary History of Southern Delaware: Scrapple, Beach Plums and Muskrat (American Palate)
by Denise ClemonsHistoric farms and waterways crisscross Southern Delaware, connecting its residents to a set of rich culinary traditions. The original Nanticoke inhabitants baked hearty johnnycakes and hunted wild game. Hungry for a taste of home, German settlers developed scrapple from local ingredients. Today's home cooks and chefs draw their bounty from the land and sea for a distinct, seasonal cuisine. Summer strawberries and peaches from local farms and orchards become delectable preserves thanks to treasured family recipes. Come springtime, succulent blue crab reigns supreme. With recipes for regional favorites like beach plum jelly and chicken with slippery dumplings, author Denise Clemons explores the history behind the ingredients and savors the story in every dish.
A Culinary History of the Nebraska Sand Hills: Recipes & Recollections from Prairie Kitchens (American Palate)
by Christianna ReinhardtSpanning nineteen thousand square miles of central Nebraska, the Sand Hills--North America's largest sand dune--is held in place by only a thin, sturdy layer of native prairie grasses and continuing faith that the land can be made prosperous by its residents. Settlers in the area had to be hardy and resourceful, making use of what the land provided and holding fast when their hard work blew away with the prairie winds. From foraging to ranching, food meant survival, but it also meant community. Staples like fried chicken, biscuits, fruit pies, preserves and cakes all play a role in the fascinating story of the region. Join food writer Christianna Reinhardt as she dishes up the unique and tasty history of this exceptional part of the world.
A Curious Absence of Chickens: A journal of life, food and recipes from Puglia
by Sophie Grigson'My first thought on reading A Curious Absence of Chickens is that Jane Grigson, the best cookery writer in my lifetime, would have been so proud of her daughter. Sophie Grigson has written twenty odd excellent cookbooks, but I think this is the best of them. It is her first book for a decade and was obviously driven by a real love of her subjects, which are Puglia, people and food. It is witty, informative, fascinating and stuffed full of recipes you want to cook.' Prue Leith'Puglia is a region I wanted to get to know intimately, to understand culture, life, history and geography, reflecting through the prism of the food that's put on the tables of locals and tourists, too. I'm reminded of my 20-year old self, scribbling in notebooks as I first travelled through Italy's south, only this time I'm back to stay.'After her children grew up and left home, Sophie Grigson found herself living alone. About to turn 60, she took the decision to sell or give away most of her belongings, to pack up her car and to drive to Puglia on her own to start a new life. In a part of Italy where she didn't know anyone, having last visited the region 40 years ago, this narrative book of food writing, stories and recipes brings to life the region, its food and the local characters that she meets along the way. This is a book about courage, hope, new horizons and, above all, delicious food.
A Curious Absence of Chickens: A journal of life, food and recipes from Puglia
by Sophie Grigson'Sophie Grigson has written twenty odd excellent cookbooks, but I think this is the best of them. It is her first book for a decade and was obviously driven by a real love of her subjects, which are Puglia, people and food. It is witty, informative, fascinating and stuffed full of recipes you want to cook.' Prue Leith'Puglia is a region I wanted to get to know intimately, to understand culture, life, history and geography, reflecting through the prism of the food that's put on the tables of locals and tourists, too. I'm reminded of my 20-year old self, scribbling in notebooks as I first travelled through Italy's south, only this time I'm back to stay.'After her children grew up and left home, Sophie Grigson found herself living alone. About to turn 60, she took the decision to sell or give away most of her belongings, to pack up her car and to drive to Puglia on her own to start a new life. In a part of Italy where she didn't know anyone, having last visited the region 40 years ago, this narrative book of food writing, stories and recipes brings to life the region, its food and the local characters that she meets along the way. This is a book about courage, hope, new horizons and, above all, delicious food.'Vivid, humorous and unsentimental, Sophie's portrait of modern Puglia, still seeped in old ways, is a delicious treat' Xanthe Clay'OMFG! This beautiful book is transporting me there. I can't put it down. And the lack of chickens...I never bloody noticed!' Matt Tebbutt
A Curious Guide to London
by Simon LeylandFrom petticoat duels and lucky cats to the Stiffs Express, Lord Nelson's spare nose, the Piccadilly earthquake and the Great Beer Flood of 1814, A Curious Guide to London takes you on a captivating, wildly entertaining tour of the city you think you know, unearthing the capital's secrets and commemorating its rich, colourful and unusual history. Brimming with tales of London's forgotten past, its strangest traditions and its most eccentric inhabitants, this book celebrates the unique, the unusual and the unknown. Perfect for tourists, day-trippers, commuters and the millions of people who call London home, this alternative guidebook will make you look at the city in a whole new light.
A Cut-Like Wound
by Anita Nair"Nair writes big, brave descriptions of one brutal murder after the next, relentlessly describing each death even as sub-inspector Santosh loses his breakfast over them."--Time OutIt's the first day of Ramadan in heat-soaked Bangalore. A young man begins to dress: makeup, a sari, and expensive pearl earrings. Before the mirror he is transformed into Bhuvana. She is a hijra, a transgender seeking love in the bazaars of the city.What Bhuvana wants, she nearly gets: a passing man is attracted to this elusive young woman--but someone points out that Bhuvana is no woman. For that, the interloper's throat is cut. A case for Inspector Borei Gowda, going to seed, and at odds with those around him including his wife, his colleagues, even the informers he must deal with. More corpses and Urmila, Gowda's ex-flame, are added to this spicy concoction of a mystery novel.Most intriguing is the grim world of Bhuvana. Her hijra fantasies, emotions, and hopes are etched in a way that is chilling yet oddly touching. Some mysteries remain till almost the end, for instance Bhuvana's connection with the wealthy, corrupt Corporator Ravikumar, who lives in a mansion as grand as the Mysore Palace and controls whole districts of Bangalore.Anita Nair lives in Bangalore and is a prize-winning author. Her novel Ladies Coupe, published in the United States by St. Martin's Press, is a feminist classic which has been translated in thirty languages all over the world. This is her first crime novel.
A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT: Behind the Scenes in the World's Richest City
by Jo TatchellBarely forty years ago, Abu Dhabi was a fishing village on the Arabian Gulf. Now the capital of the United Arab Emirates, its citizens are each worth $17 million, it holds major stakes in Western economies, and has money to burn. In this timely, revealing and evocative portrait of a global player, Jo Tatchell traces the emirate's dramatic development and the sometimes ruinous effect of extreme wealth on its people and their desert culture. And as its rulers fund another giant leap forward, she probes behind the official facade to examine whether this secretive and controlled society can realise its breathtaking plans to transform relations between East and West.
A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT: Behind the Scenes in the World's Richest City
by Jo TatchellBarely forty years ago, Abu Dhabi was a fishing village on the Arabian Gulf. Now the capital of the United Arab Emirates, its citizens are each worth $17 million, it holds major stakes in Western economies, and has money to burn. In this timely, revealing and evocative portrait of a global player, Jo Tatchell traces the emirate's dramatic development and the sometimes ruinous effect of extreme wealth on its people and their desert culture. And as its rulers fund another giant leap forward, she probes behind the official facade to examine whether this secretive and controlled society can realise its breathtaking plans to transform relations between East and West.
A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City: Murder, Secrets, and Scandal in Old Louisville
by David DominéThis true crime saga—with an eccentric Southern backdrop—introduces the reader to the story of a murder in a crumbling Louisville mansion and the decades of secrets and corruption that live within the old house&’s walls.On June 18, 2010, police discover a body buried in the wine cellar of a Victorian mansion in Old Louisville. James Carroll, shot and stabbed the year before, has lain for 7 months in a plastic storage bin—his temporary coffin. Homeowner Jeffrey Mundt and his boyfriend, Joseph Banis, point the finger at each other in what locals dub The Pink Triangle Murder. On the surface, this killing appears to be a crime of passion, a sordid love tryst gone wrong in a creepy old house. But as author David Dominé sits in on the trials, a deeper story emerges: the struggle between hope for a better future on the one hand and the privilege and power of the status quo on the other. As the court testimony devolves into he-said/he-said contradictions, David draws on the confidences of neighbors, drag queens, and other acquaintances within the city's vibrant LGBTQ community to piece together the details of the case. While uncovering the many past lives of the mansion itself, he enters a murky underworld of gossip, neighborhood scandal, and intrigue.
A Delicious Country: Rediscovering the Carolinas along the Route of John Lawson's 1700 Expedition
by Scott HulerIn 1700, a young man named John Lawson left London and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, hoping to make a name for himself. For reasons unknown, he soon undertook a two-month journey through the still-mysterious Carolina backcountry. His travels yielded A New Voyage to Carolina in 1709, one of the most significant early American travel narratives, rich with observations about the region's environment and Indigenous people. Lawson later helped found North Carolina's first two cities, Bath and New Bern; became the colonial surveyor general; contributed specimens to what is now the British Museum; and was killed as the first casualty of the Tuscarora War. Yet despite his great contributions and remarkable history, Lawson is little remembered, even in the Carolinas he documented. In 2014, Scott Huler made a surprising decision: to leave home and family for his own journey by foot and canoe, faithfully retracing Lawson's route through the Carolinas. This is the chronicle of that unlikely voyage, revealing what it's like to rediscover your own home. Combining a traveler's curiosity, a naturalist's keen observation, and a writer's wit, Huler draws our attention to people and places we might pass regularly but never really see. What he finds are surprising parallels between Lawson's time and our own, with the locals and their world poised along a knife-edge of change between a past they can't forget and a future they can't quite envision.
A Detroit Anthology (Belt City Anthologies)
by Anna Clark&“This anthology of prose, poetry, and essays is written by . . . [a] wide ethnic array of voices that truly shows the facets of Detroit life.&” —Ebony Magazine A unique perspective of the Motor City, this anthology combines stories told by both longtime residents and newcomers from activists to teachers to artists to students. While Detroit has always been rich in stories, too often those stories are told back to the city by outsiders looking in, believing they can explain Detroit back to itself. As editor, Anna Clark writes in the introduction, &“These are the stories we tell each other over late nights at the pub and long afternoons on the porch. We share them in coffee shops, at church social hours, in living rooms, and while waiting for the bus. These are stories full of nodding asides and knowing laughs. These are stories addressed to the rhetorical &‘you&’—with the ratcheted-up language that comes with it—and these are stories that took real legwork to investigate . . . You will not find &‘positive&’ stories about Detroit in this collection, or &‘negative&’ ones. But you will find true stories.&” Featuring essays, photographs, art, and poetry by Grace Lee Boggs, John Carlisle, Desiree Cooper, Dream Hampton, Steve Hughes, Jamaal May, Tracie McMillan, Marsha Music, Shaka Senghor, Thomas J. Sugrue, and many others. &“Offers from-the-heart and on-the-ground views of life in America&’s Motor City.&” —The Boston Globe &“A thrilling success. It gives voice to people who now live or once lived in this fascinating, tortured place, the survivors, good people who know what pain is, people who understand that the city exerts an undying pull on them.&” —The Millions
A Diamond in the Desert: Behind the Scenes in Abu Dhabi, the World's Richest City
by Jo TatchellGet a closer look at this glittering, oil-rich city in a “revealing travelogue through the capital of the United Arab Emirates” (Publishers Weekly). Jo Tatchell first arrived in the city of Abu Dhabi as a child in 1974, when the discovery of oil was quickly turning a small fishing town into a growing international community. Decades later, this Middle Eastern capital is a dizzying metropolis of ten-lane highways and overlapping languages, and its riches and emphasis on cultural development have thrust it into the international spotlight. Here, Tatchell returns to Abu Dhabi and explores the city and its contradictions: It is a tolerant melting-pot of cultures and faiths, but only a tiny percentage of its native residents are deemed eligible to vote by the ruling class, and the nation’s president holds absolute veto power over his advisory boards and councils. The Emirates boast one of the world’s highest GDP per capita, but the wealth inequality in its cities is staggering. Abu Dhabi’s royal family, worth an estimated $500 billion, lives off the sweat of the city’s migrant workers, who subject themselves to danger and poverty under barely observed labor laws. But now, the city is making an international splash with a showy investment in tourism, arts, and culture—perhaps signaling a change to a more open, tolerant state. As this sparkling city surges into the future, it devotes just as much energy to concealing its past. Tatchell looks not only at history and social issues—the ancient system of tribal organization, the condition of the city’s million foreign workers, the emergence of women in Emirati society, but also her own experiences as both a child and adult in this fascinating city that has radically changed—and in other ways, stayed the same.