- Table View
- List View
Beautiful Redemption (The Maddox Brothers #2)
by Jamie McGuireNo-nonsense Liis Lindy is an agent of the FBI. Deciding she is married only to her job, she breaks off her engagement and transfers from Chicago to the field office in San Diego. She loves her desk. She is committed to her laptop. She dreams of promotions and shaking hands with the director after cracking an impossible case. <p><p> Special Agent in Charge Thomas Maddox is arrogant, unforgiving, and ruthless. He is tasked with putting away some of the world’s toughest criminals, and he is one of the best the Bureau has to offer. Though, as many lives as he’s saved, there is one that is beyond his reach. Younger brother Travis is faced with prison time for his involvement in a basement fire that killed dozens of college students, and the media want a conviction. Travis’s only savior is his unusual tie to the mob. In a deal that will spare his brother, Thomas has agreed to recruit Travis into the FBI. <p> Liis is stubborn, defiant, and yet somehow softens Thomas’s rough edges, making her the perfect agent to accompany him to the ceremony. Posing as a couple, they must travel to Travis & Abby’s beach vow renewal and give him the news, but when the pretending ends, she finds herself wondering if they were pretending at all. <p> In the second installment of the Maddox Brothers books, experience firsthand the mysterious world of the elusive Thomas Maddox, and how good love can be when you’re not the first, but the last.
Beautiful Resistance: The Joy of Conviction in a Culture of Compromise
by Jon TysonIn a time of compromise and disillusionment, God is calling his people to a movement of beautiful resistance. We live in a time when our culture is becoming increasingly shallow, coarse, and empty. Radical shifts in the areas of sexuality, ethics, technology, secular ideologies, and religion have caused the once-familiar landscape of a generation ago to be virtually unrecognizable. Yet rather than shine as a beacon of light, the church often is silent or accommodating. This isn&’t a new phenomenon. During World War II, pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was deeply troubled by the compromise in the German church. Their capitulation to the Nazi party brought shame and dishonor to the gospel. In response, he helped create an underground movement of churches that trained disciples and ultimately sought to renew the church and culture of the day. In our compromised church, we need new underground movements of discipleship and resistance. Widely respected New York pastor Jon Tyson unveils a revived vision for faithful discipleship—one that dares to renew culture, restore credibility, and replace compromise with conviction. For all who have felt this conflict in the soul between who we are and who God calls us to be, Beautiful Resistance is a bold invitation to reclaim what&’s been lost—regardless of the cost.Praise for Beautiful Resistance&“Beautiful Resistance is one of the most compelling and defiant books I&’ve read in a long time. I love Jon&’s radical, no-messing vision of the church as a prophetic community. This is a wake-up call for us all from the heart of a man who lives his message, loves his city, and serves his Lord with a passion and intelligence destined to become less rare.&”—Pete Greig, founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement
Beautiful Risk of Education (Interventions: Education, Philosophy, And Culture Ser.)
by Gert J. BiestaThis is a book about what many teachers know but are increasingly being prevented from talking about: that real education always involves a risk. The risk is there because, as W. B. Yeats has put it, education is not about filling a bucket but about lighting a fire. It is there because students are not to be seen as objects to be moulded and disciplined, but as subjects of action and responsibility. The Beautiful Risk of Education is organised around a critical discussion of seven key educational concepts: creativity, communication, teaching, learning, emancipation, democracy, and virtuosity. By opposing the risk aversion that characterises many contemporary educational policies and practices, Gert J.J. Biesta makes a strong argument for giving risk a central place in our educational endeavours and brings risk taking to the forefront of a critical pedagogical practice.
A Beautiful Rival: A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden
by Gill PaulIn this stunning new novel, bestselling author Gill Paul reveals the unknown history of cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein and their infamous rivalry that spanned not only decades, but also broken marriages, personal tragedies, and a world that was changing dramatically for women—perfect for fans of Fiona Davis, Marie Benedict, and Beatriz Williams.Who would have guessed that the business of making women beautiful was so cutthroat?They could have been allies: two self-made millionaires who invented a global industry, in an era when wife and mother were supposed to be the highest goals for their sex. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein each founded empires built on grit and determination…and yet they became locked in a feud spanning three continents, two world wars, and the Great Depression.Brought up in poverty, Canadian-born Elizabeth Arden changed popular opinion, persuading women from all walks of life to buy skincare products that promised them youth and beauty. Helena Rubinstein left her native Poland, and launched her company with scientific claims about her miracle creams made with anti-ageing herbs.And when it came to business, nothing was off-limits: poaching each other’s employees, copying each other’s products, planting spies, hiring ex-husbands, and one-upping each other every chance they had. This was a rivalry from which there was no surrender! And through it all were two women, bold, brazen, and determined to succeed—no matter the personal cost.In this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of Jackie and Maria and The Manhattan Girls, two larger-than life fashion icons come alive with all their passion, bitterness, and ambition as they each try to live the American dream.
Beautiful Rocks and How to Find Them: A Modern Rockhound's Guide
by Alison Jean ColeNew to rockhounding or ready to ramp up your skills? This contemporary guide to rock collecting goes beyond the "where and how" to include info on environmental impact, land stewardship, and building a truly meaningful collection.Do you love rocks and gems? Are you a geology enthusiast? This informative guidebook by professional lapidary artist and outdoor recreation guide Alison Jean Cole shows you that beautiful rocks can be found anywhere. You’ll be expertly guided through the practice of rockhounding (looking for rocks) while learning how to be gentle on the earth.Unlike traditional rock guides, which take readers to well-trodden locations in each state, this book can be used anywhere in the United States or Canada. You'll be guided through the process of becoming an adept rockhound, including:How to read geologic maps and way-findHow to consider the ethics of rock collectingDeveloping your personal tastes in rocks and building a collectionPacked with information and fifty-eight accompanying full-color photos, Beautiful Rocks and How to Find Them is perfect for seasoned collectors and beginner rockhounds alike. It also makes a wonderful gift or self-purchase for nature lovers and rock, mineral, and fossil enthusiasts who love looking for and identifying cool rocks in the wild but could use some expertise and guidance.
The Beautiful Room Is Empty
by Edmund WhiteWhen the narrator of White's poised yet scalding autobiographical novel first embarks on his sexual odyssey, it is the 1950s, and America is "a big gray country of families on drowsy holiday." That country has no room for a scholarly teenager with guilty but insatiable stirrings toward other men. Moving from a Midwestern college to the Stonewall Tavern on the night of the first gay uprising--and populated by eloquent queens, butch poseurs, and a fearfully incompetent shrink--The Beautiful Room is Empty conflates the acts of coming out and coming of age."With intelligence, candor, humor--and anger--White explores the most insidious aspects of oppression.... An impressive novel."--Washington Post book World
Beautiful Ruins: A Novel (Penguin Essentials Ser. #113)
by Jess WalterThe story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot-searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier. What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning fifty years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion-along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow. Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 2 (Volume 2 #2)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 3 (Volume 3 #3)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 4 (Volume 4 #4)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 5 (Volume 5 #5)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 6 (Volume 6 #6)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 7 (Volume 7 #7)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Rural Cook Girl: Volume 8 (Volume 8 #8)
by Shen KuanKuanThe top chef, Mei Jing, opened his eyes to discover that he had crossed over.When he looked again, it was a good fellow! She was forced to marry an old man and Steamed Bun Dad were hiding at the side laughing?She had the heart of a buddha, the body of a wicked blood relative, the family of a Taoist uncle and aunt, as well as all the advantages of an uncle and aunt!Facing a shabby thatched cottage that was still surrounded by a pack of wolves, Mei Jingtian looked up to the sky and picked up his food. He set up his stall, cooked, opened his restaurant, and brewed wine! The gold and silver that were rolling everywhere came in waves. The trouble of top-grade relatives also came one after another.Mei Jing rolled up his sleeves as he took his mother to the peak of life.As soon as the clinker changes, the matchmaker tramples on the door, and the letter of engagement is like a snowflake.Although it seemed like a congratulatory gift to a general, he was actually planning to marry her!
Beautiful Sacrifice
by Elizabeth LowellA strait-laced academic and a sexy security expert search for missing artifacts as apocalyptic danger looms in this romance by a New York Times bestseller.Archaeologist Lina Taylor has devoted her life to studying ancient Mayan artifacts, splitting her time between digs in South America and the classroom teaching college students. But the professor’s structured academic life is about to spin out of control. Some extremely valuable and important Maya artifacts have gone missing. Are the culprits fanatics determined to create chaos and usher in annihilation?Helping out a friend, former immigration and customs enforcement officer Hunter Johnston is determined to recover the missing pieces and he needs Lina’s help. A man used to calling the shots and working alone, he isn’t comfortable letting anyone get close, especially a beautiful and brainy woman like Lina. His gift for reading people tells him there’s a lot going on below that professional exterior, and he’s more than a little curious to probe her depths.Burying herself in her work, Lina’s had little experience handling men, especially one as fascinating and exasperating as the secretive, headstrong Hunter. A devoted archaeologist, she has the skill to excavate those protective layers all the way to his core. But finding the missing artifacts is only the beginning of a mystery that will plunge these unlikely partners into adventure, romance, and danger more thrilling, sensual, and deadly than either of them knows . . . Praise for Beautiful Sacrifice“A twisting plot . . . sizzling romance.” —Kirkus Reviews“The storyline is captivating and filled with steamy and sensual scenes. . . . The dialogue is witty and credible.” —Fresh Fiction
Beautiful Sacrifice (Maddox Brothers #3)
by Jamie McGuireFalyn Fairchild can walk away from anything. Already leaving behind her car, her education, and even her parents, the daughter of the next governor of Colorado is back in her hometown, broke and waiting tables for the Bucksaw Café. After every shift, Falyn adds to her shoebox of cash, hoping to one day save enough to buy her a plane ticket to the only place she can find forgiveness: Eakins, Illinois.
Beautiful Scars: A Life Redefined
by Kilee Brookbank Lori Highlander Jessica Noll"Kilee’s spirit shines through her every word. Beautiful Scars is a down-to-earth primer on how to let our hearts define us, not our scars."- J.R. Martinez, Actor, U.S. Army veteran, bestselling author, and burn survivorA moment can change everything…Kilee Brookbank was a typical sixteen-year-old, but her last ordinary day erupted in an explosion that consumed her house, burning forty-five percent of her body and sending her to the brink of death. After thirty-eight days of surgeries, skin grafts, physical therapy, and excruciating pain, Kilee had to discover how to live again. With unwavering support from her mom, Lori, and the rest of her family, Kilee faced her journey with determination, strength, and a positive attitude that inspired not only her community, but people around the world.Told together by Kilee and Lori, Beautiful Scars is a story of recovery, healing, and hope, reminding us all that we’re never powerless, never alone, and that each challenge we face helps make us the people we are meant to be.Now a thriving college student, Kilee has become an author, advocate, and philanthropist focused on helping other young burn survivors and their families. She has met with individual survivors and their parents and spoken to school groups, burn camps and civic organizations across the country. Her charity, the Kilee Gives Back Foundation, has raised more than $170,000 for Shriners Hospitals for Children-Cincinnati, and Kilee has partnered with Shriners Hospitals to promote its national Be Burn Aware campaign.… It’s what you do with each moment that defines you."Beautiful Scars is a reminder that we don’t always get to choose the path we walk in life, but we can always choose the manner in which we walk it."- John O’Leary, bestselling author of ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life and inspirational speakerA portion of the proceeds from sales of Beautiful Scars: A Life Redefined will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children-Cincinnati.
Beautiful Scars
by D. S. Talon E. G. ThompsonScars are the signs of a life well lived. Ridley Bourne is in the twilight of his life. Born before 1900, he has lived through some extraordinary times in human history, and witnessed some of man’s greatest and worst moments, from the birth of the automobile to the horrors of WWI. And his long life has left him with scars, each of them a testament to these moments. In his English garden, Ridley sits down with his granddaughter, Maddie, and starts to tell her the stories of this scars, and those stories become the basis of a journey into both her grandfather’s past and the soaring heights of imagination, as she learns that scars are just one more way to hold on to a memory.
Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home
by Tom Wilson"I'm scared and scarred but I’ve survived" Tom Wilson was raised in the rough-and-tumble world of Hamilton—Steeltown— in the company of World War II vets, factory workers, fall-guy wrestlers and the deeply guarded secrets kept by his parents, Bunny and George. For decades Tom carved out a life for himself in shadows. He built an international music career and became a father, he battled demons and addiction, and he waited, hoping for the lies to cease and the truth to emerge. It would. And when it did, it would sweep up the St. Lawrence River to the Mohawk reserves of Quebec, on to the heights of the Manhattan skyline. With a rare gift for storytelling and an astonishing story to tell, Tom writes with unflinching honesty and extraordinary compassion about his search for the truth. It's a story about scars, about the ones that hurt us, and the ones that make us who we are. From Beautiful Scars: Even as a kid my existence as the son of Bunny and George Wilson seemed far-fetched to me. When I went over it in my head, none of it added up. The other kids on East 36th Street in Hamilton used to tell me stories of their mothers being pregnant and their newborn siblings coming home from the hospital. Nobody ever talked about Bunny's and my return from the hospital. In my mind my birth was like the nativity, only with gnarly dogs and dirty snow and a chipped picket fence and old blind people with short tempers and dim lights, ashtrays full of Export Plain cigarette butts and bottles of rum. Once, when I was about four, I asked Bunny, "How come I don't look anything like you and George? How come you are old and the other moms are young?" "There are secrets I know about you that I’ll take to my grave," she responded. And that pretty well finished that. Bunny built up a wall to protect her secrets, and as a result I built a wall to protect myself.
Beautiful Scenery of Rural Village: Volume 1 (Volume 1 #1)
by Bao ZhaliulianWith unusual mind zhi-jun fang graduated from the university back to the countryside to show a revenge really didn t expect the spate of strikes let his depression not only in the distant cousin s wedding day walk off the bridal chamber also make a big joke in order for the villagers to respect him but also to his beloved woman his encouragement in hall sister-in-law took to the road of the counter attack
Beautiful SCENT: The Magical Effect of Perfume on Well-Being
by Joachim MensingThis book will make you a perfume insider. Discover the effects, trends and future of perfume. Perfumery is on the verge of its third revolution, neuroperfumery, due to new methods of brain research and current findings in fragrance psychology.With this exciting and well-written book, you will gain a comprehensive insight into the creation, world and practice of modern perfumery, as well as interesting insider information. Current findings in psychology, aromatherapy, brain research and neuroperfumery on the effects of fragrances make Beautiful SCENT a treasure trove of new insights. As a non-fiction book with an advice component, it is easy to read without prior knowledge and provides many practical tips. Among other things, you will learn that some perfumes can do much more than just smell good, how perfumers and marketers create their perfumes, which scent preferences prevail and how the effect of scent can specifically influence one's own experience and enjoyment of life. Target groupsAll those who love perfumes and fragrances and would like to learn more about the magical effect of perfumes on well-being and perhaps play with the idea of creating their own perfume one day. It is also ideal for those who work in the fragrance, cosmetics and beauty industry and would like to refresh their knowledge of perfumes. About the authorDr. Joachim Mensing is a qualified psychologist, sociologist and trained nose with over 30 years of professional experience in perfumery and fragrance therapy. At one of the largest fragrance manufacturers, he became a trend coach for perfumers and developed methods of perfume development and marketing. Many of the perfumes he worked on received coveted awards such as the Fifi Award, the Oscar for perfumes. He himself received the honorary award of the FRAGRANCE FOUNDATION for the development and marketing of the perfumes Cool Water by Davidoff, Joop! and Jil Sander, and he was also recognized for studies in neuroperfumery and neuropsychology.
The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs: Author Of The 2021 Booker Prize-winning Novel The Promise
by Damon GalgutA year ago Patrick Winter was in Namibia completing his military service. Now, during the its first free elections, Patrick has returned to the country he defended, the place where he fell in love for the first and only time. With the country poised to change forever, Patrick is forced to revisit his past and scale the wall that he has built around his painful memories of love and war, and loss.
Beautiful Secret (The Beautiful Series #8)
by Christina LaurenAN UPTIGHT BRITISH EXECUTIVE. AN ADVENTUROUS AMERICAN NEWBIE. A SEXY INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL IN THE MAKING. New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author Christina Lauren's Beautiful and Wild Seasons series hook up in Beautiful Secret for an erotic intercontinental romp that celebrates the best of both worlds!When Ruby Miller's boss announces he's sending her on an extended business trip to New York City, she's shocked. As one of the best and brightest young engineers in London, she knows she's professionally up to the task. The part that's throwing her is where she'll be spending a month up close and personal working alongside--and staying in a hotel with--Niall Stella, her firm's top urban planning executive and The Hottest Man Alive. Despite her ongoing crush, Ruby is certain Niall barely knows she's alive...until their flirty overnight flight makes him sit up and take notice.Not one for letting loose and breaking rules, recently divorced Niall would describe himself as hopeless when it comes to women. But even he knows outgoing California-girl Ruby is a breath of fresh air. Once she makes it her mission to help the sexy Brit loosen his tie, there's no turning back. Thousands of miles from London, it's easy for the lovers to play pretend. But when the trip is over, will the relationship they've built up fall down?
Beautiful Security: Leading Security Experts Explain How They Think
by Andy Oram John ViegaAlthough most people don't give security much attention until their personal or business systems are attacked, this thought-provoking anthology demonstrates that digital security is not only worth thinking about, it's also a fascinating topic. Criminals succeed by exercising enormous creativity, and those defending against them must do the same. Beautiful Security explores this challenging subject with insightful essays and analysis on topics that include:The underground economy for personal information: how it works, the relationships among criminals, and some of the new ways they pounce on their preyHow social networking, cloud computing, and other popular trends help or hurt our online securityHow metrics, requirements gathering, design, and law can take security to a higher levelThe real, little-publicized history of PGPThis book includes contributions from:Peiter "Mudge" ZatkoJim StickleyElizabeth NicholsChenxi WangEd BellisBen EdelmanPhil Zimmermann and Jon CallasKathy WangMark CurpheyJohn McManusJames RouthRandy V. SabettAnton ChuvakinGrant Geyer and Brian DunphyPeter WaynerMichael Wood and Fernando FranciscoAll royalties will be donated to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith
by Andrew WilsonThe first and highly anticipated biography of the author of such classics of suspense as Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley. The life of Patricia Highsmith was as secretive and unusual as that of many of the best-known characters who people her "peerlessly disturbing" writing. Yet even as her work - her thrillers, short stories, and the pseudonymous lesbian novel The Price of Salt- have found new popularity in the last few years, the life of this famously elusive writer has remained a mystery. For Beautiful Shadow, the first biography of Highsmith, journalist Andrew Wilson mined the vast archive of diaries, notebooks, and letters that Patricia Highsmith left behind, astonishing in their candor and detail. He interviewed her closest friends and colleagues as well as some of her many lovers. But Wilson also traces Highsmith's literary roots in the work of Poe, noir, and existentialism, locating the influences that helped distinguish Highsmith's writing so startlingly from more ordinary thrillers. The result is both a serious critical biography and one that reveals much about a brilliant and contradictory woman, one who despite her acclaim and affairs always maintained her solitude. Andrew Wilson is a journalist who has written for most of Britain's national newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday, and the Daily Mail. This is his first book. Whitbread Prize Nominee Patricia Highsmith, the celebrated author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, was renowned as a suspense writer during her lifetime, and in recent years a revival of her chilling and highly original body of work has brought her even wider recognition. She was notoriously evasive about both the sources of her fiction and her private life. But with her death in February 1995, Highsmith left behind a vast archive of diaries, notebooks, and letters extraordinary in their candor and detail. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, into an unhappy marriage, Highsmith saw herself as an outsider even as a child. She was fascinated by Edgar Allan Poe and the case histories in Dr. Karl Menninger's The Human Mind, and by her teenage years she was exploring similar dark psychological themes in her own writing. As a college student in New York City and throughout her life, she conducted a series of passionate affairs with women who often also served as mentors or muses--many of whom speak here about Highsmith for the first time. Yet these romances were always more alluring in the ideal than in reality, and Highsmith found her greatest lasting happiness in her work. Using Highsmith's intimate papers, together with material gleaned from her closest friends and lovers, Andrew Wilson has written the first biography of this veiled figure, an author described by Graham Greene as "the poet of apprehension" and by Gore Vidal as "one of our greatest modernist writers." From Texas, Wilson follows Highsmith's trail to New York, Italy, England, France, Germany, and her final resting place in Tegna, Switzerland. With this remarkable book, he illuminates Highsmith's creative process and reveals the secrets that the writer chose to keep hidden until after her death, finally allowing the full portrait of this compelling, contradictory woman to emerge.