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My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer
by Steve GarveyOn the evening of March 28, 1956, Steve Garvey's father, a Greyhound bus driver in the Tampa Bay area, asked his young son if he'd like to accompany him as he drove the Brooklyn Dodgers to a spring-training game with the New York Yankees. For Garvey, a baseball card collector and an aspiring Little Leaguer, the opportunity stretched beyond his wildest imagination and marked the beginning of a legendary career and life in baseball. Garvey spent five years (1956-1961) as a bat boy, mostly for the Brooklyn Dodgers and briefly for the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. The fact that he would go on to become a first baseman with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and one of the most successful players of his era, is like something out of a Hollywood script. My Bat Boy Days is his moving collection of indelible memories, fascinating profiles, and lessons learned -- about the game and about life -- from heroes such as Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, and Mickey Mantle. My Bat Boy Days is for the generation of fans who remember the Boys of Summer and for the generation who grew up watching Steve Garvey play for the love of the game. Garvey's story is perfect for sharing with children and grandchildren who are just now getting to know and love the game.
American Nerd: The Story of My People
by Benjamin NugentMost people know a nerd when they see one but can't define just what a nerd is.American Nerd: The Story of My People gives us the history of the concept of nerdiness and of the subcultures we consider nerdy. What makes Dr. Frankenstein the archetypal nerd? Where did the modern jock come from? When and how did being a self-described nerd become trendy? As the nerd emerged, vaguely formed, in the nineteenth century, and popped up again and again in college humor journals and sketch comedy, our culture obsessed over the designation. Mixing research and reportage with autobiography, critically acclaimed writer Benjamin Nugent embarks on a fact-finding mission of the most entertaining variety. He seeks the best definition of nerd and illuminates the common ground between nerd subcultures that might seem unrelated: high-school debate team kids and ham radio enthusiasts, medieval reenactors and pro-circuit Halo players. Why do the same people who like to work with computers also enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons? How are those activities similar? This clever, enlightening book will appeal to the nerd (and antinerd) that lives inside all of us.
Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq
by Michael ScheuerWhen Michael Scheuer first questioned the goals of the Iraq War in his 2004 bestseller Imperial Hubris, policymakers and ordinary citizens alike stood up and took notice. Now, Scheuer offers a scathing and frightening look at how the Iraq War has been a huge setback to America's War on Terror, making our enemy stronger and altering the geopolitical landscape in ways that are profoundly harmful to U.S. interests and security concerns. Marching Toward Hell is not just another attack on the Bush administration. Rather, it sounds a critical alarm that must be heard in order to preserve the nation's security. Scheuer outlines the ways that America's foreign policy since the end of the Cold War has undermined the very goals for which we are fighting and played right into bin Laden's hands. The ongoing instability in Iraq, for example, has provided al Qaeda and its allies with the one thing they want most: a safe haven from which to launch operations across borders into countries that were previously difficult for them to reach. With U.S. forces and resources spread thinner every day, the war has depleted our strength and brought al Qaeda a kind of success that it could not have achieved on its own. A twenty-plus-year CIA veteran, Scheuer headed the agency's Osama bin Laden unit, managed its covert-action operations, and authored its rendition program. Scheuer spent his career developing strategies to keep America safe, by any means deemed necessary by the presidents he served. It was his job to take available intelligence and devise plans to protect Americans, without considering bias, position, or even existing alliances. In Marching Toward Hell, Scheuer takes on the questions of "What went wrong?" and "How can we fix this?" and proposes a plan to cauterize the damage that has already been done and get American strategy back on track. He lists a number of painful recommendations for how we must shift our ideological, military, and political views in order to survive, even if that means disagreeing with Israeli policy or launching more brutal campaigns against terrorists. America holds its destiny in its hands, Scheuer says, yet not nearly enough has been done to defend America and destroy its Islamist enemies. This is an eye- opening, alarming, contentious, and ultimately fascinating examination of how far off track the War on Terror has gone, and a critical read in understanding what we must do to save it.
Investing in Liquid Assets: Uncorking Profits in Today's Global Wine Market
by David Sokolin Alexandra BruceNow more than ever, the value of Investment-Grade Wines (IGWs) and opportunities to invest in wine as an asset class are soaring. With a little research and a little risk, wine enthusiasts on every level will find it possible to gain big rewards in wine investment -- and there's never been a better time to try. IGWs have dependably outperformed blue chip stocks over the past 150 years, and the upscale wine market is still an area in which independent investors can profit handsomely. A third-generation wine merchant, and CEO of one of the largest rare-wine companies in the world, David Sokolin knows how to turn fine wine into cold cash. And he knows how you can, too. In simple, practical terms, Investing in Liquid Assets provides all the information you need to understand the economic principles that govern the world of fine wine and take advantage of the resources currently available. Using his insider's expertise, Sokolin defines Investment-Grade Wine and identifies the most financially important wine regions and styles. Defining the key players in the field, Sokolin shows you how to navigate the world of wine critics and understand the impact of their scores, and he explains why it's perfectly fine that your own personal tastes really don't matter. He offers tips on where to find reputable sources for fine wine, how to manage storage and resale, as well as all-important buying and selling strategies. In the second half of the book, he gives overviews of the world's greatest wine regions and offers his predictions about which regions and which wines are likely to represent the greatest investment opportunities in the near future. Providing information and tactics previously known only to successful professionals, Investing in Liquid Assets turns your passion for fine wine into a valuable resource that will pay for itself.
The Greatest Game: The Yankees, The Red Sox, And The Playoff Of '78
by Richard BradleyIn this spellbinding book, Richard Bradley tells the story of what was surely the greatest major league game of our lifetime and perhaps in the history of professional baseball. That game, played at Fenway Park on the afternoon of October 4, 1978, was the culmination of one of the most tense, emotionally wrought seasons ever, between baseball's two most bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Both teams finished this tumultuous season with identical 99-64 records, forcing a one-game playoff. With a one-run lead and two outs, with the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the entire season came down to one at-bat and to one swing of the bat. It came down, as both men eerily predicted to themselves the night before, to the aging Red Sox legend, Carl Yastrzemski, and the Yankees' free-agent power reliever, Rich "Goose" Gossage. Anyone who calls himself a baseball fan knows the outcome of that confrontation. And yet such are the literary powers of the author that we are pulled back in time to that late-afternoon moment and become filled anew with all the taut sense of drama that sports has to offer, as if we don't know what happened. As if the thoughts swirling around in the heads of pitcher and hitter are still fresh, both still hopeful of controlling events. That climactic game occurred thirty seasons ago and yet it still captures our imagination. In this delightful work of sports literature, we watch the game unfold pitch by pitch, inning by inning, but Bradley is up to something more ambitious than just recounting this wonderful game. He also tells us the stories of the participants -- how they got to that moment in their lives and careers, what was at stake for them personally -- including the rivalries within the rivalry, such as catcher Carlton Fisk versus catcher Thurman Munson,and Billy Martin versus everyone. Using a narrative that alternates points of view between the teams, Bradley reacquaints us with a rich roster of characters -- Freddy Lynn, Ron Guidry, Catfish Hunter, Mike Torrez, Jerry Remy, Lou Piniella, George Scott, and Reggie Jackson. And, of course, Bucky Dent, who craved just such a moment in the sun -- a validation he had vainly sought from the father he barely knew. Not a book intended to celebrate a triumph or lament a loss, The Greatest Game will be embraced in both Boston and New York, with fans of both teams recalling again the talented young men they once gave their hearts to. And fans everywhere will be reminded how utterly gripping a single baseball game can be and that the rewards of being a fan lie not in victory but in caring beyond reason, even decades after the fact.
Dr. Z on Scoring: How to Pick Up, Seduce, and Hook Up with Hot Women
by Victoria ZdrokFor the first time ever, a book on how to pick up hot women by a hot woman! Penthouse columnist Dr. Z shows you how it's done. You're at a party, or just a coffee shop, when suddenly -- there she is. Across the room is the hottest woman you've ever seen, one who makes your palms sweat and your breath come faster. She's amazing, a real knockout. But you're just an average guy, with average looks and an average job. What chance would you ever have of scoring with a babe like that? In Dr. Z on Scoring, Dr. Victoria Zdrok shows you that it's possible to not only pick up your hottie but also charm and seduce her. A stunner herself, Victoria has the distinction of being the only woman who has been both a Playboy centerfold and a Penthouse Pet of the Year, and with a JD in law and a PhD in clinical psychology, she has both beauty and brains. She uses her personal and professional knowledge of how beautiful women think to give you the information you need to: Approach a hot womanEngage her in conversationAsk her out and entertain herGet her into bed and please her With research from psychology experts and insights from hot models who have posed in the pages of Playboy and Penthouse, you'll learn that beautiful women really do appreciate guys for more than just their looks or money. With the information in Dr. Z on Scoring, you can make your move on the woman of your dreams!
Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who Knows the Game
by Chris MatthewsHow politics is played by one who knows the game...Chris Matthews has spent a quarter century on the playing field of American politics—from right-hand man of Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill to host of NBC's highest rated cable talk show Hardball. In this revised and updated edition of his political classic, he offers fascinating new stories of raw ambition, brutal rivalry, and exquisite seduction and reveals the inside rules that govern the game of power.
The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness
by Gary Zukav Linda FrancisNew York Times mega-bestselling author of The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav takes a giant leap forward in his message, with this guide to the next level of spiritual growth."THE LONGEST JOURNEY YOU WILL MAKE IN YOUR LIFE IS FROM YOUR HEAD TO YOUR HEART." With the rare combination of profound psychological insight and deep spirituality that has already drawn millions of readers to his two great national bestsellers, The Seat of the Soul and Soul Stories, prizewinning author Gary Zukav now joins with his spiritual partner Linda Francis to help us develop a new emotional awareness that is central to our spiritual development. In The Seat of the Soul, Zukav brilliantly set forth his fundamental concepts, explaining how the expansion of human perception beyond the five senses leads to a new understanding of power as the alignment of the personality with the soul -- "authentic power." In Soul Stories, he showed how such concepts as harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for Life express themselves in other people's lives. Now, in The Heart of the Soul, he and Francis take the next major step forward in showing us the importance of emotional awareness in applying these concepts to our own daily lives.
Eric Bischoff: Controversy Creates Cash
by Eric Bischoff Jeremy RobertsEric Bischoff has been called pro wrestling's most hated man. He's been booed, reviled, and burned in effigy. Fans have hurled everything from beer bottles to fists at him. Industry critics have spewed a tremendous amount of venom about his spectacular rise and stupendous crash at World Championship Wrestling. But even today, Eric Bischoff's revolutionary influence on the pro wrestling industry can be seen on every television show and at every live event. Bischoff has kept quiet while industry "pundits" and other know-it-alls pontificated about what happened during the infamous Monday Night Wars. Basing their accounts on third- and fourth-hand rumors and innuendo, the so-called experts got many more things wrong than right. Now, in Controversy Creates Cash, Bischoff tells what really happened. Beginning with his days as a salesman for Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association, Bischoff takes readers behind the scenes of wrestling, writing about the inner workings of the business in a way never before revealed. He demonstrates how controversy helped both WCW and WWE. Eric gives the real numbers behind WCW's red ink -- far lower than reported -- and talks about how Turner Broadcasting's merger with Time Warner, and then Time Warner's merger with AOL, devastated not only WCW but many creative and entrepreneurial businesses within the conglomerate. Bischoff has surprisingly kind words for old rivals like Vince McMahon, but pulls no punches with friends and enemies alike. Among his revelations: How teaming with Mickey Mouse turned WCW into a national brand. Why Hulk Hogan came to WCW. Why he fired Jesse Ventura for sleeping on the job. Why Steve Austin didn't deserve another contract at WCW, and how Bischoff's canning him was the best thing that ever happened to Austin. How Ted Turner decided WCW should go head-to-head against Raw on Monday nights. How Nitro revolutionized wrestling. Where the New World Order really began. How corporate politics killed WCW. And how he found his inner heel and learned to love being the guy everyone loves to despise. Bischoff brings a surprisingly personal touch to the story, detailing his rough-and-tumble childhood in Detroit, talking about his family and the things he did to cope with the stress of the high-octane media business. Now a successful entertainment producer as well as a wrestling personality, Bischoff tells how he found contentment after being unceremoniously "sent home" from WCW. Love him or hate him, readers will never look at a pro wrestling show quite the same way after reading Bischoff's story in Controversy Creates Cash.
The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)
by Thom LoverroIndependent wrestling promotions were once the norm all across the country. However, with the rise of World Wrestling Entertainment and the creation of World Championship Wrestling -- out of three Southern promotions -- the possibility of an independent succeeding grew fainter and fainter. As the nineties began, independents were looking for creative ways to survive. In the East, several banded together to share cost and talent; they were known as Eastern Championship Wrestling. Based out of a warehouse in Philadelphia that stored parade floats and hosted bingo, this promotion seemed doomed to be just one more ninety-day wonder. When they hired a brash New Yorker, Paul Heyman, he warned Eastern Championship Wrestling that the job was just temporary. He would come in, shake up a lot of the wrestlers, and then leave. But what Heyman did redefined professional wrestling in the nineties. What he created was a company that dared to push the boundaries of sports entertainment. What he created became Extreme Championship Wrestling. As the person responsible for booking -- who was going to wrestle and who was going to win -- Heyman dared to break with tradition. Rather than relying on local talent and down-and-out veterans to draw in crowds, he created new characters and story lines that would appeal to the core wrestling fans: eighteen- to twenty-four- year-old men. Paul also realized that to persuade them to come, you had to get their interest and keep it. You had to offer the fans more than just the match. ECW became known for the interview, the shoot. Heyman got to know each wrestler's style, and in their interviews he would encourage them to speak from their hearts. When it came to the matches, ECW broke even farther from the mainstream. Tables, ladders, chairs, barbed wire, and even frying pans were used with abandon. Wrestlers not wanting to be topped put their bodies on the line, taking ever greater risks, daring to jump, leap, and fall from places never tried before. ECW matches became the stuff of legend. Word spread as savvy wrestling fans began talking about the promotion and exchanging tapes. To keep the buzz building, wrestlers used the age-old trick of taunting the fans, and ECW fans responded in kind. By including the fans in the shows, ECW attracted a rabid, cult-like following that is still going strong today. For nearly a decade, ECW redefined professional wrestling with a reckless, brutal, death-defying, and often bloody style that became synonymous with "hardcore." Through extensive interviews with former ECW talent and management -- Paul Heyman, Mick Foley, Tazz, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, and many more -- The Rise & Fall of ECW reveals what made this upstart company from Philadelphia great -- and what ultimately led to its demise.
The Hardcore Diaries (Wwe Ser.)
by Mick FoleyThe New York Times bestselling author Mick Foley returns to his fans favorite subject: Mick Foley and wrestling!What was I thinking? Another autobiography? A third? Who did I think I was, Winston Churchill? Why would I want to set my pen loose on hundreds of sheets of notebook paper unless I really felt I had something worth writing about? Besides, I had a wrestling comeback to prepare for, mentally and physically, provided I could get Vince McMahon and the WWE creative staff to embrace what I was sure was the single greatest storyline of my career. Then it hit me: the storyline. I would give WWE fans unprecedented access to World Wrestling Entertainment, covering everything from conception to completion. I would recount how I felt about specific interviews and matches, whether they helped or hurt. I would expose the backstage politics, shed some light on my rocky relationship with Vince McMahon, offer insights into my personal dealings with WWE Superstars, and tell stories about my favorite Divas. But I wasn't interested in writing just a wrestling book. I wanted to share moments from my personal life as well, from a humorous look at my unlikely dinner with polarizing neocon Paul Wolfowitz, to my haunting meeting with a severely burned boy in Afghanistan, to my peculiar obsession with a certain jolly old elf. I knew I could make the fans care about this storyline, provided I could once again find the passion to make the story come to life in arenas around the country and on television sets around the world. Most importantly, I had to ask myself a vital question, one upon which this whole idea, and therefore the book you hold, hinges: Was I willing to become the first voluntary member of the Vince McMahon "Kiss My Ass Club"? I sat on the idea for a few days, to let the idea ripen and mature in my mind, like a fine vintage wine, and to figure out if I was really willing to kiss his ass. I mean, literally kiss a man's ass. Sure, I'd been kissing the same guy's ass figuratively for a decade. But this was different. Did I really have the testicular fortitude required for such a task? In front of millions? Including my wife and kids? I made the call.
Notes from the Universe: New Perspectives from an Old Friend
by Mike DooleyWhat if the Universe were to send you frequent reminders of the absolute power you have over your life? Author Mike Dooley, an interpreter for the Universe, has done exactly that in Notes from the Universe—a collection of empowering, invaluable truths that can be read front to back or opened at random.This first book in the Notes from the Universe trilogy teaches its readers to live a life far richer than they had previously thought imaginable.The Universe is here to remind us that we are in control. To have the life you desire, all you have to do is ask. The secret to manifesting change is not focusing on the how but instead, the end result of what you’re after—the kind of life you want. Then, once you are truly focused, the Universe will conspire on your behalf. Author Mike Dooley has turned over every stone, knocked on every door, and followed every impulse. He has immersed himself in the truths he needed to hear most; these were the kind of lessons he wrote about in his weekly emails. What started in 1998 as a little poem sent out once a week to 38 email addresses has evolved into an inspiring anecdote delivered to over 300,000 subscribers from 169 countries, each receiving a new note from the Universefive days a week. Mike Dooley serves as an interpreter for the Universe.Notes from the Universe begins a three-volume set that is brimful with powerful affirmations that will have you thinking positively, feeling confident, and walking the path to personal success. When readers discover the truths the Universe is unveiling in Notes from the Universe,they will begin living happier, more fulfilling lives.
Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde
by Jeff GuinnPrevious books and films have emphasized the supposed glamour of America's most notorious criminal couple, thus contributing to ongoing mythology. The real story is completely different—and far more fascinating.With newly discovered material, bestselling author Jeff Guin tells the real tale of two kids from a filthy Dallas slum who fell in love and then willingly traded their lives for a brief interlude of excitement and, more importantly, fame. The timing for their first heist could not have been better, when most Americans, reeling from the Great Depression, were desperate for escapist entertainment. Thanks to newsreels, true crime magazines, and new-fangled wire services that transmitted scandalous photos of Bonnie smoking a cigar to every newspaper in the nation, the Barrow Gang members almost instantly became household names. In the minds of the public, they were cool, calculating bandits who robbed banks and killed cops with equal impunity. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Clyde and Bonnie were perhaps the most inept crooks ever, and their two-year crime spree was as much a reign of error as it was of terror. Lacking the sophistication to plot robberies of big-city banks, the Barrow Gang preyed mostly on small mom-and-pop groceries and service stations. Even at that, they often came up empty-handed and were reduced to breaking into gum machines for meal money. Both were crippled, Clyde from cutting off two of his toes while in prison and Bonnie from a terrible car crash caused by Clyde's reckless driving. Constantly on the run from the law, they lived like animals, camping out in their latest stolen car, bathing in creeks, and dining on cans of cold beans and Vienna sausages. Yet theirs was a genuine love story. Their devotion to each other was as real as their overblown reputation as criminal masterminds was not. Now, thanks in great part to surviving Barrow and Parker family members and collectors of criminal memorabilia who provided Jeff Guinn with access to never-before-published material, we finally have the real story of Bonnie and Clyde and their troubled times, delivered with cinematic sweep and unprecedented insight by a masterful storyteller.
Gimme Shelter
by Mary Elizabeth Williams"Of course I want a home," writes Mary Elizabeth Williams, "I'm American." Gimme Shelter is the first book to reveal how this primal desire, "encoded into our cultural DNA," drove our nation to extremes, from the heights of an unprecedented housing boom to the depths of an unparalleled crash. As a writer and parent in New York City, Williams is careful to ground her real-estate dreams in the reality of her middle-class bank account. Yet as a person who knows no other way to fall in love than at first sight, her relationship with the nation's most daunting housing market is a passionate one. Williams's house-hunting fantasy quickly morphs into a test of endurance, as her search for a place to live and a mortgage she can afford stretches into a three-year odyssey that takes her to the farthest reaches of the boroughs and the limits of her own patience. "Welcome to the tracks," she declares at the outset of yet another weekend tour of blindingly bad, wildly overpriced properties. "Let's go to the wrong side of them, shall we?" As her own quest unfolds, Williams simultaneously reports on the housing markets nationwide. Friends and family members grapple with real estate agents and lenders, neighborhood and quality-of-life issues, all the while voicing common concerns, as expressed by this Maryland working parent of three: "The market was so hot, there were no houses. We looked for years at places the owners wouldn't even clean, let alone fix up." How frustrating is the process? Williams likens it to hearing "the opening bars of a song you think is 'Super Freak.' And then it turns out to be 'U Can't Touch This.'" Told in an engaging blend of factfinding and memoir, Gimme Shelter charts the course of the real estate bubble as it floated ever upward, not with faceless numbers and documents but with the details of countless personal stories -- about the undeniable urge to put down roots and the lengths to which we'll go to find our way home.
10 Minutes, 10 Years: Your Definitive Guide to a Beautiful and Youthful Appearance
by Frederic BrandtIf you find yourself lost and alone in the skin-care aisle; if you're thinking of going under the knife, but hoping you won't have to; if you need specific, detailed information about how to get rid of the bags under your eyes or those ever-deepening furrows in your brow; if you've gone to your girlfriends, women's magazines, cosmetics counters, facialists, and plastic surgeons and gotten lots of conflicting answers; then Dr. Fredric Brandt's simple, streamlined system is for you. With 10 Minutes/10 Years, one of the world's most famous cosmetic dermatologists offers a breakthrough skin-care program that will take you only ten minutes a day -- and will reverse your skin's aging process by ten years. There is a skin-care revolution taking place; the days of washing your face with soap and water and slapping on some cream are long gone. But this means that skin care isn't simple anymore. As new products appear, seemingly overnight, it becomes harder to know what's right for your skin. With warmth and humor, Dr. Brandt cuts through the information overload to provide concrete information and advice for women of all ages and of every skin type. He helps you determine who to go to and who not to go to as well as what to ask. 10 Minutes/10 Years is a uniquely formatted, problem/solution-driven guidebook that reveals many unknown threats to the skin which age it before its time, such as sugar and diet (Chapter 3). Need to know about the brown spots on your cheeks? Turn to Chapter 6. Sick of your drooping chin? Read Chapter 14. Driven to despair by your thinning hair? Look at Chapter 19. But before you decide what system you need, consult Chapter 4 for a comprehensive list of the best products, treatments, and procedures available. Dr. Brandt explains what they are and how they work -- from the least invasive, over-the-counter creams to the most cutting-edge injectibles. Once you understand the basics, you can move on to your specific area of concern in the book's final section, which offers precise information for every skin type. There is no one-shot solution -- we are constantly aging, and we have to keep maintaining ourselves. 10 Minutes/10 Years is Dr. Brandt's targeted approach to this maintenance. His system has already helped thousands of people look younger, and now readers will have their own one-way ticket back to a youthful appearance.
Batista Unleashed (Wwe Ser.)
by Dave Batista Jeremy RobertsPeople around the world know Dave Batista as World Wrestling Entertainment's "the Animal," the rope-shaking, spine-busting World Heavyweight Champion, one of the most popular Superstars in recent years.The crowd turned Batista from heel to babyface after they were electrified by his awesome physique and physical wrestling style. Few fans, however, know that Batista didn't join the profession until he was thirty years old -- an age at which many wrestlers are thinking about hanging up their boots. Nor do most fans know the tremendous toll the climb to the top has taken on Batista's personal life. While successfully staying away from hard drugs and -- usually -- liquor, he found sex too tempting to resist. "Women were my drug of choice," the Animal confesses. That addiction cost him his marriage, destroying a relationship that had helped him climb from poverty to the pinnacle of sports entertainment in less than two years. Now, in Batista Unleashed, the WWE Superstar comes clean about the choices he made and the devastating effects they had on his family. He talks about the injury that stripped him of his title -- an injury he blames on Mark Henry's carelessness. While being sidelined cost Batista untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income, it also set the stage for a tremendous comeback that cemented the Animal's reputation as a true champion. Batista talks about growing up in the worst part of Washington, D.C., where three murders occurred in his front yard before he was nine. He speaks lovingly about his mother -- a lesbian -- and how hard she worked to keep the family not just together but alive. He talks candidly about his own criminal past: a conviction on a drug charge and another, since overturned, on assault. He speaks of his days as a bouncer and a lifeguard, and tells how bodybuilding may have saved his life. Once he made it to the WWE, Batista realized he wasn't really ready for the big time. His career seemed headed for a fall until Fit Finlay took him under his wing. But his real education came when he joined Evolution and rode with Triple H and Ric Flair, two of sports entertainment's all-time greats. Batista talks about what they taught him, and details some of their wild times on the road. But the champ also reveals a kinder, gentler side. While his soft-spoken manner in the locker room has sometimes been misinterpreted as arrogance, in truth Batista's always been somewhat shy and quiet. Emotional by nature, he reveals for the first time that the tears fans saw at WrestleMania 21, when he won the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, were very real. And he speaks movingly about his problems with his ex-wives and teenage daughters, and how it felt to become a grandfather. While his straight-shooting mouth has occasionally gotten him into trouble -- most notably in a backstage confrontation with Undertaker after some remarks about SmackDown! -- Batista is his own harshest critic. He explains his early limitations as a wrestler and the work he has done to overcome them. Interspersing his memoir with accounts from life on the road, Batista lightens the narrative with a surprising sense of humor. An Animal in the ring, he reveals himself as an honest and even humble man in everyday life.
Her Last Death: A Memoir
by Susanna SonnenbergHer Last Death begins as the phone rings early one morning in the Montana house where Susanna Sonnenberg lives with her husband and two young sons. Her aunt is calling to tell Susanna her mother is in a coma after a car accident. She might not live. Any daughter would rush the thousands of miles to her mother's bedside. But Susanna cannot bring herself to go. Her courageous memoir explains why. Glamorous, charismatic and a compulsive liar, Susanna's mother seduced everyone who entered her orbit. With outrageous behavior and judgment tinged by drug use, she taught her child the art of sex and the benefits of lying. Susanna struggled to break out of this compelling world, determined, as many daughters are, not to become her mother. Sonnenberg mines tender and startling memories as she writes of her fierce resolve to forge her independence, to become a woman capable of trust and to be a good mother to her own children. Her Last Death is riveting, disarming and searingly beautiful.
The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism
by Matt MasonIt started with punk. Hip-hop, rave, graffiti, and gaming took it to another level, and now modern technology has made the ideas and innovations of youth culture increasingly intimate and increasingly global at the same time. In The Pirate's Dilemma, VICE magazine's Matt Mason -- poised to become the Malcolm Gladwell of the iPod Generation -- brings the exuberance of a passionate music fan and the technological savvy of an IT wizard to the task of sorting through the changes brought about by the interface of pop culture and innovation. He charts the rise of various youth movements -- from pirate radio to remix culture -- and tracks their ripple effect throughout larger society. Mason brings a passion and a breadth of intelligence to questions such as the following: How did a male model who messed with disco records in the 1970s influence the way Boeing designs airplanes? Who was the nun who invented dance music, and how is her influence undermining capitalism as we know it? Did three high school kids who remixed Nazis into Smurfs in the 1980s change the future of the video game industry? Can hip-hop really bring about world peace? Each chapter crystallizes the idea behind one of these fringe movements and shows how it combined with technology to subvert old hierarchies and empower the individual. With great wit and insight -- and a cast of characters that includes such icons as the Ramones, Andy Warhol, Madonna, Russell Simmons, and 50 Cent -- Mason uncovers the trends that have transformed countercultural scenes into burgeoning global industries and movements, ultimately changing our way of life.
The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit
by Jill Conner BrowneWhen does 1 + 1 = 3 (or more)? When you've got a baby on the way. Part of that new math, says #1 New York Times bestselling author Jill Conner Browne -- whom USA Today calls "just plain funny" -- includes the addition of an outsize sense of humor to balance the equation of your growing family. The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit is a hilarious (though not scientifically tested) wink at the time-honored mysteries of parenting, because anybody who has ever had a kid or has ever known one knows that the experience is neither fun nor profitable -- so you might as well laugh! As each generation begins its hopeful, happy, and, yes, sometimes harrowing journey as Parent and Child, together they spawn a new body of "knowledge," the nuances of which will elude the Experts every time. Here are stories of the things we do for Mother Love -- or, the most incredibly full-time volunteer job ever -- and tips guaranteed not to be found in any other parenting guide. How to talk to a pregnant womanHow the diamonds on delivery policy can speed up the labor nature intendedWhy a good mother is always adept at subterfugeThe list of things you wouldn't think you would have to tell kids not to doWhy mothers of sons can never retireWhy, for parents, it's just a short drive to the poorhouse The Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit will have everyone who's ever been a parent -- or has ever thought of becoming one -- or has ever been a child -- or is still one -- giggling and grinning (no small feat) through those childbearing years...and beyond.
The RVer's Bible: Everything You Need to Know About Choosing, Using, & Enjoying Your RV
by Kim Baker Sunny BakerThe Rver's Bible is the ultimate guide to living and traveling in a recreational vehicle. From purchasing, maintaining, and driving the rig to navigating the emotional pitfalls of life on the road, this handbook covers all the bases. Now revised and updated, the RVer's Bible keeps you up-to-date with all the new technologies and systems of the 21st century RV.
Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance
by Marcus BuckinghamMarcus Buckingham&’s books have guided millions to become top performers in everything they do by focusing on their strengths. In Go Put Your Strengths to Work, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, Buckingham will show you how to hone and apply your strengths for maximum success in your career.Research data show that most people do not come close to making full use of their assets at work—in fact, only seventeen percent of the workforce believe they use all of their strengths on the job. Go Put Your Strengths to Work aims to change that through a six-step, six-week experience that will reveal the hidden dimensions of your strengths. Buckingham shows you how to seize control of your assets and rewrite your job description under the nose of your boss. You will learn:-Why your strengths aren't “what you are good at” and your weaknesses aren’t “what you are bad at.” -How to use the four telltale signs to identify your strengths. -The simple steps you can take each week to push your time at work toward those activities that strengthen you and away from those that don’t. -How to talk to your boss and your colleagues about your strengths without sounding like you’re bragging and about your weaknesses without sounding like you’re whining. -The fifteen-minute weekly ritual that will keep you on your strengths path your entire career.With structured exercises that will become part of your regular workweek and proven tactics from people who have successfully applied the book's lessons, Go Put Your Strengths to Work will arm you with a radically different approach to your work life. As part of the book's program you'll take an online Strengths Engagement Track, a focused and powerful gauge that has proven to be the best way to measure the level of engagement of your strengths or your team's strengths. You can also download the first two segments of the renowned companion film series Trombone Player Wanted.Go Put Your Strengths to Work will open up exciting uncharted territory for you and your organization. Join the strengths movement and thrive.
Mr. Darcy's Daughters: A Novel
by Elizabeth AstonFor fans of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen devotees everywhere, a charming and delightful novel for anyone who has ever wondered what the Darcy children might be like.Picking up twenty years after Pride and Prejudice left off, Mr. Darcy's Daughters begins in the year 1818. Elizabeth and Darcy have gone to Constantinople, giving us an opportunity to get to know their five daughters, who have left the sheltered surroundings of Pemberley for a few months in London. While the eldest, Letitia, frets and the youngest, Alethea, practices her music, twins Georgina and Belle flirt and frolic their way through parties and balls, while Camilla—levelheaded and independent—discovers what joys and sorrows the city has to offer an intelligent young woman. Readers will delight in the return of such beloved Austen creations as Elizabeth's old nemesis Caroline Bingley (now Lady Warren), the ever-reliable Gardiners, and wayward Aunt Lydia. Charming, beautifully written, and full of societal intrigue and romantic high jinks, Mr. Darcy's Daughters is a tale that would please Austen herself.
The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq
by Fouad AjamiThe fall of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime brought the first glimpse of freedom for Iraq and unleashed elation, resentment, and chaos. On the one hand, there is hope: the Iraqi people have their first chance at independence. On the other hand, there is despair: the country is exploding with violent sectarian and political power struggles. Through it all, Iraq has remained an enigma to much of the world. What is it about this country that makes for such a seemingly intractable situation? How did Iraq's particular history lead to its present circumstances? And what can we fear or hope for in the coming years? Fouad Ajami, one of the world's foremost authorities on Middle Eastern politics, offers a brilliant, illuminating, and lyrical portrait of the ongoing struggle for Iraq and of the American encounter with that volatile Arab land. Ajami situates the current unrest within the context of Iraq's recent history of dictatorship and its rich, diverse cultural heritage. He applies his incisive political commentary, his broad and deep historical view, his mastery of the Arabic language and Arabic sources, and his lustrous prose to every aspect of his subject, wresting a coherent, fascinating, and textured picture from the media storm of fragmented information. In the few years after the Iraq war began, Ajami made many trips to that country and met Iraqis of all ethnicities, religions, politics, and regions. Looking beneath the familiar media images of Iraq and the war, Ajami visits with individuals representing the breadth of Iraq's populace, from Sunni leaders and Shia clerics to Kurdish politicians and poets, Iraqi policemen, and ordinary people voting for the first time in their lives. He also hears from American soldiers on the ground, and the result of all his encounters is an astonishing portrayal of a land that has emerged as a crucial battleground between American power and the wider forces of Arab religious and political extremism. With his unrivaled access -- he has been granted an audience with the great, reclusive Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and been admitted into the sacred shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf for a discussion with its religious scholars -- Ajami provides an intimate portrait that draws on both his learning and his lifelong interest in the traditions and the history of Iraq. With his commentator's eye, his scholarly depth of understanding, his poetic ear, and his abiding love for the Middle East, Fouad Ajami is an essential voice for our times. The Foreigner's Gift is the book we all need to read in order to understand what is happening in Iraq today and what the future might hold for all of us.
Body Clutter: Love Your Body, Love Yourself
by Marla Cilley Leanne ElyIn Sink Reflections, Marla Cilley -- the FlyLady -- helped hundreds of thousands of her fans combat overwhelming household C.H.A.O.S. (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). Taking a "baby-steps" approach, she offered little chores to do every day, to wipe out clutter and feelings of inadequacy. Now, in Body Clutter, the FlyLady and Leanne Ely, the Dinner Diva and creator of the Saving Dinner series, team up to teach readers how to handle and erase the clutter they carry on their bodies and minds when it comes to body image. The FlyLady and Leanne say that it's not about finding the perfect diet, it's about the way you feel about food and your body and understanding sound nutrition. With warm voices, unique lingo, and no preaching, they apply a step-by-step technique, coaching the readers from beginning to end and sharing their own success stories along the way.
Before You Plan Your Wedding . . . Plan Your Marriage
by Greg Smalley Erin Smalley Steve HallidayBuilding a Marriage That Will Last a Lifetime Authors Greg and Erin Smalley open their hearts and share their lives in Before You Plan Your Wedding...Plan Your Marriage so that you can know not only how to build a marriage that will last, but also how to have the kind of marriage where you and your spouse feel safe and honored and valued. When you feel safe, your heart will be open -- and open hearts make for fulfilling, powerful relationships. Find out about the "fear dance" and how to stop dancing it. Discover the two biggest issues that threaten every marriage and how to stop them before they start. Learn what's more important than finding your soul mate and the significance of happiness in your union. As wonderful as a wedding is, it lasts only for a brief time -- yet marriage is meant to last a lifetime. This important book will show you how to plan your marriage before you plan your wedding.