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American Rose
by Julia MarkusA moving epic novel about the Addis family follows the lives of a butcher, Charles, and his wife Etta, their two children, and Rose, the grandchild who must face the demands of their past.ROSE WAS BORN TO A FAMILY OF EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN.Her immigrant great-grandmother, the first Rose, a shrewd and beautiful fortune-teller, who gave abortions to make "a little extra"...Proud Etta, matriarch, lover of costly things, who kept a fine home with a firm hand...Delicate Helen, musical prodigy, who soared on her talent into madness.Now Rose-American Rose-must face up to all their lives in order to claim her own.Julia Markus, an English professor at Hofstra University, received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award for her first novel, Uncle, which was followed by three well-received novels, American Rose, Friends Along the Way and A Change of Luck, as well as her critically acclaimed biographies, Dared and Done: The Marriage of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning and Across An Untried Sea: Discovering Lives Hidden in the Shadow of Convention and Time. She has won a National Endowment for the Arts grant and two National Endowment for the Humanities grants. Her most recent book is J. Anthony Froude: The Last Undiscovered Great Victorian."Bickering, weeping, sulking, giggling-the Addises are vibrantly alive. Their struggles both distress and amuse us; their disappointments touch us..."--Anne Tyler, The New York Times"Moving and masterful...a novel of tremendous power and originality by one of the most gifted novelists of her generation."--Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides"A story told by a writer who knows her people from the heart out...I loved it!"--Belva Plain, author of Evergreen and Random Winds
American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee
by Karen AbbottWith the critically acclaimed Sin in the Second City, bestselling author Karen Abbott "pioneered sizzle history" (USA Today). Now she returns with the gripping and expansive story of America's coming-of-age--told through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered. America in the Roaring Twenties. Vaudeville was king. Talking pictures were only a distant flicker. Speakeasies beckoned beyond dimly lit doorways; money flowed fast and free. But then, almost overnight, the Great Depression leveled everything. When the dust settled, Americans were primed for a star who could distract them from grim reality and excite them in new, unexpected ways. Enter Gypsy Rose Lee, a strutting, bawdy, erudite stripper who possessed a preternatural gift for delivering exactly what America needed. With her superb narrative skills and eye for compelling detail, Karen Abbott brings to vivid life an era of ambition, glamour, struggle, and survival. Using exclusive interviews and never-before-published material, she vividly delves into Gypsy's world, including her intensely dramatic triangle relationship with her sister, actress June Havoc, and their formidable mother, Rose, a petite but ferocious woman who seduced men and women alike and literally killed to get her daughters on the stage. American Rose chronicles their story, as well as the story of the four scrappy and savvy showbiz brothers from New York City who would pave the way for Gypsy Rose Lee's brand of burlesque. Modeling their shows after the glitzy, daring reviews staged in the theaters of Paris, the Minsky brothers relied on grit, determination, and a few tricks that fell just outside the law--and they would shape, and ultimately transform, the landscape of American entertainment. With a supporting cast of such Jazz- and Depression-era heavyweights as Lucky Luciano, Harry Houdini, FDR, and Fanny Brice, Karen Abbott weaves a rich narrative of a woman who defied all odds to become a legend--and whose sensational tale of tragedy and triumph embodies the American Dream.From the Hardcover edition.
American Roulette
by Richard MarcusRichard Marcus tells his never-before-heard story of a lifetime of ripping off casinos. as he travels through the fascinating gambling culture of Las Vegas and on to London and Monte Carlo.
American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down—My Wild Twenty-Five-Year Ride Ripping Off the World's Casinos
by Richard MarcusIn American Roulette, Richard Marcus tells his never-before-heard story, of ripping off casinos. The book follows Marcus, along with several of the world's great professional casino cheaters, as he travels from Las Vegas to London and Monte Carlo, pilfering large sums of money from casinos by performing sleight of hand magic tricks with gaming chips. As skilled cheaters, they back up their moves with psychological setups to convince pit bosses that they're watching legitimate high rollers getting lucky, while in fact they're being ripped off blind. With the exploding growth of casino gambling, heightened by Indian reservation and riverboat expansion, more and more elaborate casino cheaters are illegally assaulting the green-felt, getting rich off of novice casino personnel. Richard Marcus's insider story is a window into the hidden world of intriguing personalities and tense situations he encounters as a member of expert casino-cheating teams who use their wits to turn the odds upside down and "earn" millions. American Roulette is a fascinating story not only for those who occasionally casino-gamble, but for everyone with a little larceny in their heart.
American Roulette: The Social Logic of Death Penalty Sentencing Trials
by Sarah Beth KaufmanAs the death penalty clings to life in many states and dies off in others, this first-of-its-kind ethnography takes readers inside capital trials across the United States. Sarah Beth Kaufman draws on years of ethnographic and documentary research, including hundreds of hours of courtroom observation in seven states, interviews with participants, and analyses of newspaper coverage to reveal how the American justice system decides who deserves the most extreme punishment. The "super due process" accorded capital sentencing by the United States Supreme Court is the system’s best attempt at individuated sentencing. Resources not seen in most other parts of the criminal justice system, such as jurors and psychological experts, are required in capital trials, yet even these cannot create the conditions of morality or justice. Kaufman demonstrates that capital trials ultimately depend on performance and politics, resulting in the enactment of deep biases and utter capriciousness. American Roulette contends that the liberal, democratic ideals of criminal punishment cannot be enacted in the current criminal justice system, even under the most controlled circumstances.
American Royals (American Royals #1)
by Katharine McGeeNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • What if America had a royal family? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Royal We!Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown.Two girls vying for the prince's heart.This is the story of the American royals.When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American.As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history."The lives of the American royal family will hook you in the very first pages and never let go. Relatable, believable, fantastical, aspirational, and completely addictive." --Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars and Perfectionists series
American Royals II: Majesty (American Royals #2)
by Katharine McGeeNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • Is America ready for its first queen? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan and Will and Kate, you'll love this sequel to the New York Times bestseller that imagines America's own royal family--and all the drama and heartbreak that entails. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Royal We.Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we're looking at you Daphne Deighton. As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her "party princess" persona...and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace--and Prince Jefferson--at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne's carefully laid "marry Prince Jefferson" plans. A new reign has begun.... "Inventive, fresh, and deliciously romantic--American Royals is an absolute delight!" --Sarah J. Maas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series and Court of Thorns and Roses series
American Royals III: Rivals (American Royals #3)
by Katharine McGeeThe third book in the New York Times bestselling American Royals series is here, and a meeting of monarchs will test everyone's loyalty to the crown…and their own hearts.Beatrice is queen, and for the American royal family, everything is about to change. Relationships will be tested.Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis—but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own? Strangers will become friends.Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost? And rivals will become allies.Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?
American Royals IV: Reign (American Royals #4)
by Katharine McGeeA queen's life hangs in the balance, and her siblings&’ decisions—about what to do, and most of all, who to love—could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power...only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.America's royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it's exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it's the ultimate dream come true. Surely this is all just temporary. Won&’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can't really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don&’t destroy everything first.
American Royals: Inheritance (American Royals)
by Katharine McGeeThe New York Times bestselling series returns in this heart-stopping prequel novella. Ever wonder how our future queen fell for her bodyguard? Or how Prince Jefferson and his sister&’s best friend got caught in a love triangle for the ages? Grab your royal invitation and we&’ll show you the night that started it all.Princess Beatrice realizes what&’s expected of her as heir apparent—and it is not riding in cars, alone, with her Revere Guard. But what the Crown doesn&’t know won&’t hurt it…right? Princess Samantha is already bored of her own graduation party. She swears she isn&’t looking for trouble, but when the king and queen are away, the spare will play…. Nina never dreamed of acting on her feelings for Prince Jefferson. Tonight, though, anything seems possible: even a prince and a commoner. Meanwhile, Daphne is hiding more than one secret beneath her perfect exterior. A royal party might just be the window of opportunity she needs—until everything comes crashing down.Will this be an evening of new beginnings, or will it mark the end of an era? Set before the events of New York Times bestseller American Royals, this brand-new story offers a glimpse of your favorite royal family as you've never seen them before, just in time for the release of American Royals III: Rivals in May 2022.
American Royalty: A Novel
by Tracey LivesayIn this dangerously sexy rom-com that evokes the real-life romance between Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle, a prince who wants to live out of the spotlight falls for a daring American rapper who turns his life, and the palace, upside down.Sexy, driven rapper Danielle “Duchess” Nelson is on the verge of signing a deal that’ll make her one of the richest women in hip hop. More importantly, it’ll grant her control over her life, something she’s craved for years. But an incident with a rising pop star has gone viral, unfairly putting her deal in jeopardy. Concerned about her image, she’s instructed to work on generating some positive publicity… or else.A brilliant professor and reclusive royal, Prince Jameson prefers life out of the spotlight, only leaving his ivory tower to attend weddings or funerals. But with the Queen’s children involved in one scandal after another, and Parliament questioning the viability of the monarchy, the Queen is desperate. In a quest for good press, she puts Jameson in charge of a tribute concert in her late husband’s honor. Out of his depth, and resentful of being called to service, he takes the advice of a student. After all, what’s more appropriate for a royal concert than a performer named “Duchess”?Too late, Jameson discovers the American rapper is popular, sexy, raunchy and not what the Queen wanted, although he’s having an entirely different reaction. Dani knows this is the good exposure she needs to cement her deal and it doesn't hurt that the royal running things is fine as hell. Thrown together, they give in to the explosive attraction flaring between them. But as the glare of the limelight intensifies and outside forces try to interfere, will the Prince and Duchess be a fairy tale romance for the ages or a disaster of palatial proportions?
American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People
by Jared Yates SextonFrom writer and political analyst Jared Yates Sexton comes a journey through the history of the United States, from the nation&’s founding to the twenty-first century, which examines and debunks the American myths we've always told ourselves. In recent years, Americans have faced a deluge of horrifying developments in politics and culture: stolen elections, fascist rallies, families torn apart and locked away. A common refrain erupts at each new atrocity: This isn't who we are. In American Rule, Jared Yates Sexton upends those convenient fictions by laying bare the foundational myths at the heart of our collective American imagination. From the very origins of this nation, Americans in power have abused and subjugated others; enabling that corruption are the many myths of American exceptionalism and steadfast values, which are fed to the public and repeated across generations. Working through each era of American growth and change, Sexton weaves together the origins and perpetuation of these narratives still in the public memory, and the acts we have chosen to forget. Stirring, deeply researched, and disturbingly familiar, American Rule is a call to examine our own misconceptions of what it means, and has always meant, to be an American.
American Rural Communities
by A. E. Luloff Louis E. SwansonThis book is dedicated to the people of rural America whose struggle to make community meaningful provides important lessons. It includes the contributors' prescription for the 1990s that calls for a renewal of action, development, and leadership on the part of local citizens and civic leaders.
American Rust
by Philipp MeyerSet in a beautiful but dying Pennsylvania steel town, American Rustis a novel of the lost American dream and the desperation that arises from its loss.It is the story of two young men bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia and the beauty around them who dream of a future beyond the factories, abandoned homes, and the polluted river. Isaac is the smartest kid in town, left behind to care for his sick father after his mothercommitssuicide and his sisterLee moves away. Now Isaac wants out too. Not even his best friend, Billy Poe, can stand in his way: broad-shouldered Billy, always ready for a fight, still living in his mother's trailer. Then, on the very day of Isaac's leaving, something happens that changes the friends' fates and tests the loyalties of their friendship and those of their lovers, families, and the town itself. Evoking John Steinbeck's novels of restless lives during the Great Depression, American Rustis an extraordinarilymoving novel about the bleak realities that battle our desire for transcendance, and the power of love and friendship to redeem us.
American Rust: A Novel
by Philipp MeyerAn American voice reminiscent of Steinbeck - a debut novel on friendship, loyalty, and love, centering on a murder in a dying Pennsylvania steel town
American Sage: The Spiritual Teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
by Barry M. Andrews&“Succeeds in making Emerson&’s ideas and recommended spiritual practices accessible. . . . [For] those interested in nineteenth-century American spiritualism.&” —Publishers Weekly Even during his lifetime, Ralph Waldo Emerson was called the Sage of Concord, a fitting title for this leader of the American Transcendentalist movement. Everything that Emerson said and wrote directly addressed the conduct of life, and in his view, spiritual truth and understanding were the essence of religion. Unsurprisingly, he sought to rescue spirituality from decay, eschewing dry preaching and rote rituals. Unitarian minister Barry M. Andrews has spent years studying Emerson, finding wisdom and guidance in his teachings and practices, and witnessing how the spiritual lives of others are enriched when they grasp the many meanings in his work. In American Sage, Andrews explores Emerson's writings, including his journals and letters, and makes them accessible to today's spiritual seekers. Written in everyday language and based on scholarship grounded in historical detail, this enlightening book considers the nineteenth-century religious and intellectual crosscurrents that shaped Emerson's worldview to reveal how his spiritual teachings remain timeless and modern, universal and uniquely American. &“An ideal companion for readers working through Emerson's essays, a reading group on spirituality, and any number of classroom situations.&” —David M. Robinson, author of Emerson and the Conduct of Life: Pragmatism and Ethical Purpose in the Later Work &“In a style that is both scholarly and highly readable, Andrews offers an insightful account of Emerson's teachings. . . . demonstrating how his ideas are relevant to readers of today who are poised between faith and unbelief.&” —Phyllis Cole, author of Mary Moody Emerson and the Origins of Transcendentalism: A Family History
American Sahib
by John MuehlAN AMERICAN MEDIC ATTACHED TO THE BRITISH INDIAN ARMY DURING WORLD WAR TWO RECOUNTS HIS EXPERIENCES.John Muehl saw India as few Americans, few Britons, and few Indians ever have the chance to see it. He was with the American Field Service, attached to the British Indian Army, and wore British uniform. "I could travel the length and breadth of the country, with the blessing of the Raj but without its stigma. I was a 'pukah sahib' in the Poona Club, a tommy in the Lady Lumley Canteen, an American tourist in Gorpuri Bazaar, and simply a friend to Raman and Singh." He mingled with the Sikhs and Gurkhas and other Indians who fought under the British not for love of empire or for hate of Japan but for their board and keep. "Nay British sahib-American sahib," he would say when Indians showed reluctance to talk with him. Admiration for America was great enough-though it turned to suspicion by the end of this war in which America seemed to make common cause with the Raj-so that this phrase usually broke down the barrier. And AMERICAN SAHIB is John Muehl's journal of a year. It is an inside story of appalling poverty, famine, and political ferment among the Indians, and of bungling, brutality, and hypocrisy on the part of the British rulers. Fortunately for the reader, the dark picture is lightened with humor and with a sense of the patient philosophy that sustains India. This young American's first shock came when he learned through personal conversations in exclusive officer's clubs that the Briton in India does not conceive himself as graciously bearing the white man's burden, as the propaganda would have us believe. In private, the Briton admits almost boastfully that India's function is to serve as a source of raw materials for England and a market for her products, and if she is ground down in the process that is her worry...Through John Muehl's eyes and ears, we too can see India and hear its people.
American Saint: The Life of Elizabeth Seton
by Joan Barthel“A fascinating biography” of Elizabeth Seton, who shocked high society by converting to Catholicism—a faith that was illegal in New York when she was born (Booklist).In this riveting biography of the first American saint, Joan Barthel tells the mesmerizing story of a woman whose life encompassed wealth and poverty, passion and sorrow, love and loss. Elizabeth was born into a prominent New York City family in 1774—when Catholicism was illegal and priests in the city were arrested, and sometimes hanged. Her father was the chief health officer for the Port of New York, and she lived down the block from Alexander Hamilton. She danced at George Washington’s sixty-fifth Birthday Ball in cream slippers, monogrammed. When Elizabeth and her husband sailed to Italy in a doomed attempt to cure his tuberculosis, she and her family were quarantined in a damp dungeon. And when, after she was widowed, Elizabeth became a Catholic, she was so scorned that people talked of burning down her house. American Saint is the inspiring story of a brave woman who forged the way for other women who followed and who made a name for herself in a world entirely ruled by men. Founder of the Sisters of Charity, she resisted male clerical control of her religious order—and she also started America’s first Catholic school, laying the foundation of an educational system that would help countless children thrive in a new nation.“Compelling . . . an exquisite story of Seton’s inspiring life. . . . Readers interested in Catholic history and U.S. history should not overlook this important biography.” —Publishers Weekly“Barthel is a fine and insightful observer of this larger-than-life woman who was so far ahead two hundred years ago that we’re still catching up with her.” —Gloria SteinemIncludes a foreword by Maya Angelou
American Salvage: American Salvage (Made in Michigan Writers Series)
by Bonnie Jo CampbellNew from award-winning Michigan writer Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage is rich with local color and peopled with rural characters who love and hate extravagantly. They know how to fix cars and washing machines, how to shoot and clean game, and how to cook up methamphetamine, but they have not figured out how to prosper in the twenty-first century. Through the complex inner lives of working-class characters, Campbell illustrates the desperation of post-industrial America, where wildlife, jobs, and whole ways of life go extinct and the people have no choice but to live off what is left behind.The harsh Michigan winter is the backdrop for many of the tales, which are at turns sad, brutal, and oddly funny. One man prepares for the end of the world-scheduled for midnight December 31, 1999-in a pole barn with chickens and survival manuals. An excruciating burn causes a man to transcend his racist and sexist worldview. Another must decide what to do about his meth-addicted wife, who is shooting up on the other side of the bathroom door. A teenaged sharpshooter must devise a revenge that will make her feel whole again. Though her characters are vulnerable, confused, and sometimes angry, they are also resolute. Campbell follows them as they rebuild their lives, continue to hope and dream, and love in the face of loneliness.Fellow Michiganders, fans of short fiction, and general readers will enjoy this poignant and affecting collection of tales.
American Samurai: Myth and Imagination in the Conduct of Battle in the First Marine Division 1941-1951
by Craig CameronA study of the cultural myths and imagination concerning the Marine Corps before, during and after World War Two and the influence these had on the war.
American Sanctions in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge Security in Asia Pacific Series #Vol. 14)
by Brendan TaylorSanctions are a persistent – many would argue increasingly central – component of American efforts to shape foreign policy outcomes in the Asia-Pacific. The use of sanctions in the context of two of the most pressing regional security issues currently on Washington’s radar – the ongoing North Korean nuclear crisis and the management of China’s emergence – clearly reaffirms this pattern. This book provides the first comprehensive treatment of US sanctions policy in the Asia-Pacific. Using the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies as a basis for comparison, it examines nine prominent episodes involving the US use of sanctions toward countries in this economically and strategically vital part of the world. In each case it addresses the reasons why sanctions were employed in the first place, the precise nature of sanctions and how they operated in practice, before evaluating their effectiveness. Finally, it identifies common trends that emerge from this analysis and draws out practical implications for US sanctions policy, in particular when and how the US can – and cannot – optimally use sanctions in an Asia-Pacific context.
American Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and National Identity in the Age of Revolution
by A. Roger EkirchFrom “one of the most wide-ranging and imaginative historians in America today; there is no one else quite like him in the profession” (Gordon S. Wood)—a dazzling and original work of history. A. Roger Ekirch’s American Sanctuary begins in 1797 with the bloodiest mutiny ever suffered by the Royal Navy—on the British frigate HMS Hermione, four thousand miles from England’s shores, off the western coast of Puerto Rico. In the midst of the most storied epoch in British seafaring history, the mutiny struck at the very heart of military authority and at Britain’s hierarchical social order. Revolution was in the air: America had won its War of Independence, the French Revolution was still unfolding, and a ferocious rebellion loomed in Ireland, with countless dissidents already arrested. Most of the Hermione mutineers had scattered throughout the North Atlantic; one of them, Jonathan Robbins, had made his way to American shores, and the British were asking for his extradition. Robbins let it be known that he was an American citizen from Danbury, Connecticut, and that he had been impressed into service by the British. John Adams, the Federalist successor to Washington as president, in one of the most catastrophic blunders of his administration, sanctioned Robbins’s extradition, according to the terms of the Jay Treaty of 1794. Convicted of murder and piracy by a court-martial in Jamaica, Robbins was sentenced by the British to death, hauled up on the fore yardarm of the frigate Acasta, blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back, and hanged. Adams’s miscalculation ignited a political firestorm, only to be fanned by news of Robbins’s execution without his constitutional rights of due process and trial by jury. Thomas Jefferson, then vice president and leader of the emergent Republican Party, said, “No one circumstance since the establishment of our government has affected the popular mind more.” Congressional Republicans tried to censure Adams, and the Federalist majority, in a bitter blow to the president, were unable to muster a vote of confidence condoning Robbins’s surrender. American Sanctuary brilliantly lays out in full detail the story of how the Robbins affair and the presidential campaign of 1800 inflamed the new nation and set in motion a constitutional crisis, resulting in Adams’s defeat and Jefferson’s election as the third president of the United States. Ekirch writes that the aftershocks of Robbins’s martyrdom helped to shape the infant republic’s identity in the way Americans envisioned themselves. We see how the Hermione crisis led directly to the country’s historic decision to grant political asylum to refugees from foreign governments—a major achievement in fulfilling the resonant promise of American independence, as voiced by Tom Paine, to provide “an asylum for mankind
American Satire: An Anthology of Writings from Colonial Times to the Present
by Nicholas BakalarThis entertaining, informative collection covers the best of American satire—from Ben Franklin's cutting satiric attacks to Nathaniel Hawthorne's Celestial Railroad, Calvin Trillin's Old Marrieds, Mark Twain's American Abroad to P.J. O'Rourke's The Innocents Abroad—Updated, a late 20th-century take on Twain's classic piece. "Entertaining and satisfying...An excellent introduction."—Amazon.com.
American Saturday
by Clark HowardA &“vividly written&” account of the bloody 1971 San Quentin riot by the Edgar Award–winning author of Zebra and Six Against the Rock (Kirkus Reviews). American Saturday traces one man&’s path from the slums of Chicago to the California state prison where he embraced radicalism, was charged for the murder of a corrections officer, and eventually, was gunned down during the violent chaos following a failed escape attempt. This chilling account of an infamous prison riot comes from a writer who has been called &“a superlative storyteller&” (Publishers Weekly). &“The Saturday was August 21, 1971 and the headline read &‘George Jackson, 5 Others Slain in San Quentin.&’ Howard&’s account traces the careers of the inmates and guards whose lives converged and ended that day, but focuses on the pivotal figure of Jackson himself, whose botched escape attempt—just before his scheduled trial in the &‘Soledad Brothers&’ murder case—led to a gory riot in which three guards, two other inmates, and Jackson himself were killed. . . . Extensively researched and vividly written.&” —Kirkus Reviews
American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics
by Dan SavageOn the heels of his Emmy-winning It Gets Better campaign, columnist and provocateur Dan Savage weighs in on such diverse issues as healthcare, gun control, and marriage equality with characteristic straight talk and humor. <P> Dan Savage has always had a loyal audience, thanks to his syndicated sex-advice column "Savage Love," but since the incredible global success of his It Gets Better project-his book of the same name was a New York Times bestseller-his profile has skyrocketed. In addition, he's written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Onion, GQ, The Guardian, Salon. com, and countless other widely read publications. Savage is recognized as someone whose opinions about our culture, politics, and society should not only be listened to but taken seriously. <P> Now, in American Savage, he writes on topics ranging from marriage, parenting, and the gay agenda to the Catholic Church and sex education. .