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Bookscout
by John DunningFor a rare book, a desperate buyer turns to violenceSix days a week, Joel Beer hunts for books in Denver. He stalks them in bookstores and thrift stores, at yard sales and estate sales, his eyes scanning spines quickly and ruthlessly, searching for the $0.25 gem that he can resell for $250. If he were the only scout in town, he might be able to make a living, but there are close to a dozen full-timers now—including his archrival, Popeye Lamonica—and Joel is having trouble paying his rent. Facing eviction, Joel and his partner—a slow-witted vagrant named Lacy—go on the hunt. They are about to give up when they find an estate sale offering a $0.50 copy of Walter Behr&’s Something for Nothing that is worth $500. But Popeye sees it, too. To make this treasure his, Joel will do whatever it takes—even if it means sacrificing his career.
Hologram: A Novel
by Padgett PowellA housewife revels in the secret world of her mind filled with historical characters and twisted love stories in this inventive sendup of Southern fiction. Mrs. Hollingsworth sits at her kitchen table, compiling her grocery list. The subject of the list is not foodstuffs, but memories that never happened, inventions of loves, and strange conspiracies peopled by men who appear in the lonely housewife&’s head—men infinitely more real to her than her own husband. Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest gallops into her story, courtesy of media giant Ted Turner and two shady criminal types named Bundy and Oswald who are engaged in a secret experiment to create &“the New Southerner.&” Her prying daughters believe Mrs. Hollingsworth is losing her mind. But in truth, their mother is simply looking for love via hand-to-hand combat on the surreal battlefield inside her head. Originally published as Mrs. Hollingsworth&’s Men, Padgett Powell&’s Hologram is a stunning literary achievement. Strikingly unique, it is a poignant, funny, and unconventional fever dream brought to lyrical life.
The Roles of Immigrants and Foreign Students in US Science, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report)
by Ina Ganguli, Shulamit Kahn, and Megan MacGarvieThe number of immigrants in the US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and among recipients of advanced STEM degrees at US universities has increased in recent decades. In light of the current public debate about immigration, there is a need for evidence on the economic impacts of immigrants on the STEM workforce and on innovation. Using new data and state-of-the-art empirical methods, this volume examines various aspects of the relationships between immigration, innovation, and entrepreneurship, including the effects of changes in the number of immigrants and their skill composition on the rate of innovation; the relationship between high-skilled immigration and entrepreneurship; and the differences between immigrant and native entrepreneurs. It presents new evidence on the postgraduation migration patterns of STEM doctoral recipients, in particular the likelihood these graduates will return to their home country. This volume also examines the role of the US higher education system and of US visa policy in attracting foreign students for graduate study and retaining them after graduation.
Enchanted Islands: Picturing the Allure of Conquest in Eighteenth-Century France
by Mary D. SheriffIn Enchanted Islands, renowned art historian Mary D. Sheriff explores the legendary, fictional, and real islands that filled the French imagination during the ancien regime as they appeared in royal ballets and festivals, epic literature, paintings, engravings, book illustrations, and other objects. Some of the islands were mythical and found in the most popular literary texts of the day—islands featured prominently, for instance, in Ariosto’s Orlando furioso,Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, and Fénelon’s, Telemachus. Other islands—real ones, such as Tahiti and St. Domingue—the French learned about from the writings of travelers and colonists. All of them were imagined to be the home of enchantresses who used magic to conquer heroes by promising sensual and sexual pleasure. As Sheriff shows, the theme of the enchanted island was put to many uses. Kings deployed enchanted-island mythology to strengthen monarchical authority, as Louis XIV did in his famous Versailles festival Les Plaisirs de l’île enchantée. Writers such as Fénelon used it to tell morality tales that taught virtue, duty, and the need for male strength to triumph over female weakness and seduction. Yet at the same time, artists like Boucher painted enchanted islands to portray art’s purpose as the giving of pleasure. In all these ways and more, Sheriff demonstrates for the first time the centrality of enchanted islands to ancient regime culture in a book that will enchant all readers interested in the art, literature, and history of the time.
The Company She Keeps: A Novel (Virago Modern Classics #538)
by Mary McCarthyThe celebrated author of The Group offers a &“clever, witty, polished&” portrait of the 1940s NYC literary bohemia she knew so well in this debut novel (The New York Times). Margaret Sargent is young and fearless, a deep thinker inspired by the bohemian energy that abounds in New York City in the years leading up to the Second World War. With careless abandon, she destroys her marriage and numerous love affairs as she moves through the social circles of artists and writers, playing at the fringes of political extremism. She is an enigma, often wanton and frivolous, but possessing intelligence and a razor-sharp wit, as well as a troubling core of inner darkness, self-doubt, and puzzling tendencies toward self-destruction. For Margaret, urban life in the 1930s is an ongoing adventure—ever-changing, always surprising, and deeply, profoundly unsatisfying. Mary McCarthy, author of the bestselling American classic The Group, burst boldly onto the literary scene with her provocative debut, The Company She Keeps. A brilliant, stylistically inventive novel, it offers a rich portrait of a truly fascinating protagonist in six revealing episodes. Love her, despise her, or fear for her, you will never forget Margaret Sargent.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Mary McCarthy including rare images from the author&’s estate.
The Reckoning
by David HalberstamNew York Times Bestseller: &“A historical overview of the auto industry in the United States and Japan [and] the gradual decline of U.S. manufacturing&” (Library Journal). After generations of creating high-quality automotive products, American industrialists began losing ground to the Japanese auto industry in the decades after World War II. David Halberstam, with his signature precision and absorbing narrative style, traces this power shift by delving into the boardrooms and onto the factory floors of the America&’s Ford Motor Company and Japan&’s Nissan. Different in every way—from their reactions to labor problems to their philosophies and leadership styles—the two companies stand as singular testaments to the challenges brought by the rise of the global economy. From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Fifties and The Coldest Winter, and filled with intriguing vignettes about Henry Ford, Lee Iacocca, and other visionary industrial leaders, The Reckoning remains a powerful and enlightening story about manufacturing in the modern age, and how America fell woefully behind. This ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.
The Seventh Enemy (The Brady Coyne Mysteries #13)
by William G. TapplyWhen a gun control dispute leads to murder, the Boston lawyer finds himself in the crosshairs in this mystery &“that resists simplifying the issues&” (Publishers Weekly). Over drinks one night at his Boston waterfront apartment, goodhearted lawyer Brady Coyne finds himself disagreeing with an old friend about a divisive subject: gun control. Wally Kinnick is no gun nut. But, an environmental activist and hunting expert, he believes so strongly in the right to bear arms that he has come to Boston to testify against an assault weapons ban. When he changes his position at the last minute, he finds himself with a bullet in the gut. Wally is public enemy number one on a recently released list of opponents to the second amendment; Brady is number seven. To keep himself from becoming another trophy on the wall, Brady must find the men who targeted his friend—before the right to bear arms deprives him of his right to live.
That Boston Man (The Americana Series #21)
by Janet DaileyIn this sexy romance, the legendary New York Times–bestselling author introduces a feminist beauty who challenges a Boston bachelor&’s ideals—and heart. After her uncensored comments about a certain Boston playboy make headlines, reporter Lexie Templeton knows there will be hell to pay. Rome Lockwood—even more irresistible in the flesh—shows up at her office to accuse her of starting a smear campaign. Appalled by her powerful attraction to the magnetic businessman, no one is more surprised than Lexie when she throws down the gauntlet. She challenges Rome to prove he isn&’t the macho, double standard–dealing male she believes he is by going on a date with her. To Lexie&’s shock and dismay, Rome gladly accepts the challenge. He&’s determined to prove he isn&’t the man she thinks he is. Much to the contrary—he&’s the perfect man for her. With over 300 million copies of her books in print, Janet Dailey has earned her place as America&’s First Lady of romance fiction. That Boston Man—the twenty-first book in her Americana series, each featuring a different US state—takes readers to Massachusetts for a witty and seductive battle of the sexes.
When Lightning Strikes
by Rexanne BecnelKidnapped from her Oregon-bound wagon train, a schoolteacher falls into the hands of a handsome bounty hunter and finds herself swept up in an entirely different kind of adventure Abigail Bliss can&’t tell anyone her real name. Her father insists on using an alias for their sudden move to Oregon—a turn of events that signals trouble. When bounty hunter Tanner McKnight kidnaps her, determined to take her to her wealthy grandfather in Chicago, Abby vows not to go quietly. This lawless, untamed man is everything her father warned her against, yet as they traverse the perilous plains, Abby comes to view her abductor as her protector. What will happen to the unexpected passion that burns between them when they reach their destination and Abby must face a surprising legacy that could keep her and Tanner forever apart?
Naked Came the Stranger
by Penelope Ashe Mike McGradyThe hilarious New York Times–bestselling cult classic &“of such perfectly realized awfulness that it will suck your soul right out of your brainpan&” (The Village Voice). For talk show host Gillian Blake, the suburbs have long been a paradise. On the radio, she and her husband are Gilly and Billy, local media stars and &“New York&’s Sweethearts of the Air.&” At home they&’re the envy of their neighbors. Only in the bedroom is their life less than perfect. When Gillian learns that her husband has a mistress, she takes revenge the only way she can. With each lover she takes, her lust multiplies, until this demure housewife becomes a creature of pure passion. No man on Long Island—be he hippie, mobster, or rabbi—is safe when Gillian goes on the prowl. Written by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady and a couple dozen of his reporter colleagues under the pseudonym Penelope Ashe, Naked Came the Stranger was one of the great literary hoaxes—an attempt to produce the steamiest and most over-the-top novel of all time, good writing be damned. A sensation upon its first release, this tale of Long Island lust remains a wildly amusing parody potboiler.
A World Full of Strangers: A Saga of Love & Retribution
by Cynthia FreemanA multigenerational saga of an immigrant Jewish family in America—from Hester Street to San Francisco—by a New York Times–bestselling author. Katie Kovitz is seventeen years old when her mother dies. Leaving London for New York Harbor during the bitter winter of 1932, the anxious and uncertain young girl relies on the kindness of strangers for refuge. Welcomed into the home of her Polish mother&’s closest childhood friend, Katie is embraced by her new family in a country warm with hope and opportunity. There, on Hester Street in the Jewish ghetto of the city&’s Lower East Side, Katie finally establishes the roots that will come to define her. In New York, Katie also finds her future in three people who will change her life in ways she never anticipated: David, the man she marries, a ruthless achiever willing to abandon his heritage to secure power and prosperity under a new name; Mark, their resolute and devout son, and the embodiment of everything his father hates and rejects; and Maggie, a San Francisco beauty who helps to mold David into the man he&’s always wanted to be, whatever the cost. As dreams and desires collide, and as Katie strives to reclaim her own lost identity, a series of events will forever affect the ambitions, promises, and legacies of an American family. From the prewar ghettos of Manhattan to the glittering hills of postwar San Francisco, author Cynthia Freeman follows the destinies of three generations of a resilient family, their intimate struggles, and personal triumphs, and brings to vivid life the soul and spirit of the extraordinary Jewish immigrant experience in America.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: A Novel (P. S. Ser.)
by Ron HansenA powerful novel of the infamous Western outlaw and his killer: &“The best blend of fiction and history I&’ve read in a long while&” (John Irving). By age thirty-four, Jesse James was already one of the most notorious and admired men in America. Bank robber, train bandit, gang leader, killer, and beloved son of Missouri— James&’s many epithets live on in newspapers and novels alike. As his celebrity was reaching its apex, James met Robert Ford, the brother of a James gang member—an awkward, antihero-worshipping twenty-year-old with stars in his eyes. The young man&’s fascination with the legend borders on jealous obsession: While Ford wants to ride alongside James as his most-trusted confidant, sharing his spotlight is not enough. As a bond forms between the two men, Ford realizes that the only way he&’ll ever be as powerful as his idol is to become him; he must kill James and take his mantle. In the striking novel that inspired the film of the same name starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, bestselling author Ron Hansen retells a classic Wild West story that has long captured the nation&’s imagination, and breathes new life into the final days and ignoble death of an iconic American man.
Political Theology & Early Modernity
by Étienne BalibarPolitical theology is a distinctly modern problem, one that takes shape in some of the most important theoretical writings of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But its origins stem from the early modern period, in medieval iconographies of sacred kinship and the critique of traditional sovereignty mounted by Hobbes and Spinoza. In this book, Graham Hammill and Julia Reinhard Lupton assemble established and emerging scholars in early modern studies to examine the role played by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature and thought in modern conceptions of political theology. Political Theology and Early Modernity explores texts by Shakespeare, Machiavelli, Milton, and others that have served as points of departure for such thinkers as Schmitt, Strauss, Benjamin, and Arendt. Written from a spectrum of positions ranging from renewed defenses of secularism to attempts to reconceive the religious character of collective life and literary experience, these essays probe moments of productive conflict, disavowal, and entanglement in politics and religion as they pass between early modern and modern scenes of thought. This stimulating collection is the first to answer not only how Renaissance and baroque literature help explain the persistence of political theology in modernity and postmodernity, but also how the reemergence of political theology as an intellectual and political problem deepens our understanding of the early modern period.
Quantico (Quantico #1)
by Greg BearThe Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem has been blown to bits by extremists, and, in retaliation, thousands have died in another major attack on the United States. Now the FBI has been dispatched to deal with a new menace. A plague targeted to ethnic groups--Jews or Muslims or both--has the potential to wipe out entire populations. But the FBI itself is under political assault. There's a good chance agents William Griffin, Fouad Al-Husam, and Jane Rowland will be part of the last class at Quantico. As the young agents hunt a brilliant homegrown terrorist, they join forces with veteran bio-terror expert Rebecca Rose. But the plot they uncover--and the man they chase--prove to be far more complex than anyone expects.
The Freedom of Speech: Talk and Slavery in the Anglo-Caribbean World
by Miles OgbornThe institution of slavery has always depended on enforcing the boundaries between slaveholders and the enslaved. As historical geographer Miles Ogborn reveals in The Freedom of Speech, across the Anglo-Caribbean world the fundamental distinction between freedom and bondage relied upon the violent policing of the spoken word. Offering a compelling new lens on transatlantic slavery, this book gathers rich historical data from Barbados, Jamaica, and Britain to delve into the complex relationships between voice, slavery, and empire. From the most quotidian encounters to formal rules of what counted as evidence in court, the battleground of slavery lay in who could speak and under what conditions. But, as Ogborn shows through keen attention to both the traces of talk and the silences in the archives, if enslavement as a legal status could be made by words, it could be unmade by them as well. A deft interrogation of the duality of domination, The Freedom of Speech offers a rich interpretation of oral cultures that both supported and constantly threatened to undermine the slave system.
The Curse of the Giant Hogweed (The Peter Shandy Mysteries #5)
by Charlotte MacLeodChasing a vile English plant, Professor Peter Shandy and his friends go on a most peculiar tripThe giant hogweed, a creeping menace known for crushing the life out of any plant foolish enough to get in its way, has put the hedgerows and pastures of the English countryside in jeopardy. Fishermen find their streams clogged, young lovers are caught with rashes in embarrassing places, and the English nudist colony has been all but exterminated. Only Peter Shandy, the famed horticulturalist responsible for the world&’s finest rutabaga, can save the day. But when Shandy and his colleagues set out to find hogweed samples, they stumble into an unusually mystical adventure. Quite by accident, Shandy trips through a publican&’s portal, and finds himself conversing with a giant. Trapped in a land of castles, wizards, and knights, Shandy must use every scrap of his horticultural genius to get back home—lest the hogweed triumph in his absence.
The Great Alone
by Janet DaileyA sweeping multigenerational saga of the founding of the state of Alaska by an iconic author with more than three hundred million copies of her books in print. Spanning two hundred years, this saga of romance and adventure in the untamed Alaska wilderness begins with Tasha Tarakanov, a beautiful Aleut woman, and her beloved Andrei, a noble and ambitious Cossack hunter. From their union come seven generations of proud Alaskans, including the beautiful Marisha, who finds her fortune as a legendary madam, and Wylie Cole, who bravely defends his homeland during World War II. Glorious and grand, The Great Alone is a story of brave young men and women, whose dreams, heritage, betrayals, loves, and fortitude are as vast and wild as the land from which they sprang.
Chinese Whispers: Toward a Transpacific Poetics (Thinking Literature)
by Yunte HuangChinese Whispers examines multiple contact zones between the Anglophone and Sinophone worlds, investigating how poetry both enables and complicates the transpacific production of meaning. In this new book, the noted critic and best-selling author Yunte Huang explores the dynamics of poetry and poetics in the age of globalization, particularly questions of translatability, universality, and risk in the transpacific context. “Chinese whispers” refers to an American children’s game dating to the years of the Cold War, a period in which everything Chinese, or even Chinese sounding, was suspect. Taking up various manifestations of the phrase in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Huang investigates how poetry, always to a significant degree untranslatable, complicates the transpacific production of meanings and values. The book opens with the efforts of I. A. Richards, arguably the founder of Anglo-American academic literary criticism, to promote Basic English in China in the early twentieth century. It culminates by resituating Ernest Fenollosa’s famous essay “The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry,” exploring the ways in which Chinese has historically enriched but also entrapped the Western conception of language.
The Color of Love: The Color Of Love, Close Encounters, And Between Friends
by Sandra KittAcclaimed for her moving depictions of interracial love, bestselling author Sandra Kitt delivers a passionate and provocative tale of modern romanceAn artist trapped in an unfulfilling relationship, Leah Downey wants more out of life. But she plays it safe, never venturing too far from her comfort zone . . . not since the night she was mugged at knifepoint.Beginning a relationship with a perfect stranger is completely out of character for Leah. But something about Jason Horn strikes a chord deep within her. They couldn&’t be more different. Jason is white, a streetwise New York cop haunted by his own demons. He&’s stunned by his instant attraction to this vibrant black woman who arouses both desire and his fiercest protective instincts.
I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist
by Kirk DouglasA &“lively&” memoir by the Hollywood legend about the making of Spartacus, with a foreword by George Clooney (Los Angeles Times). One of the world&’s most iconic movie stars, Kirk Douglas has distinguished himself as a producer, philanthropist, and author of ten works of fiction and memoir. Now, more than fifty years after the release of his enduring epic Spartacus, Douglas reveals the riveting drama behind the making of the legendary gladiator film. Douglas began producing the movie in the midst of the politically charged era when Hollywood&’s moguls refused to hire anyone accused of Communist sympathies. In a risky move, Douglas chose Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted screenwriter, to write Spartacus. Trumbo was one of the &“Unfriendly Ten,&” men who had gone to prison rather than testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about their political affiliations. Douglas&’s source material was already a hot property, as the novel Spartacus was written by Howard Fast while he was in jail for defying HUAC. With the financial future of his young family at stake, Douglas plunged into a tumultuous production both on- and off-screen. As both producer and star of the film, he faced explosive moments with young director Stanley Kubrick, struggles with a leading lady, and negotiations with giant personalities, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and Lew Wasserman. Writing from his heart and from his own meticulously researched archives, Kirk Douglas, at ninety-five, looks back at his audacious decisions. He made the most expensive film of its era—but more importantly, his moral courage in giving public credit to Trumbo effectively ended the notorious Hollywood blacklist. A master storyteller, Douglas paints a vivid and often humorous portrait in I Am Spartacus! The book is enhanced by newly discovered period photography of the stars and filmmakers both on and off the set.
The Simple & Savvy Wine Guide: Buying, Pairing, and Sharing for All
by Leslie SbroccoWhen Leslie asks her audiences what types of information they want in a new book, the overwhelming response is a portable compilation of top picks. Leslie Sbrocco's Simple and Savy Wine Guide is packed with all kinds of glance-and-go lists for everything from what wine to drink with Thai take-out, to wines perfect for drinking in a bubble bath. Leslie also offers up an entire section based on her popular concept of wine makeovers, in which she takes an expensive wine and offers a similar tasting, less expensive version.
The Man Who Walked Like a Bear (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov Mysteries #6)
by Stuart M. KaminskyThis &“superb mystery-thriller&” featuring a Moscow cop reminiscent of Arkady Renko delivers &“riveting suspense&” (Publishers Weekly). Porfiry Rostnikov and his wife Sarah have been in love for decades, since the end of World War II. Now the police inspector is by his wife&’s bedside as she recuperates from a brain operation, when a massive naked man staggers into her hospital room, scared out of his mind, and tries to jump out the window. Rostnikov restrains the bearlike man, trying to calm him. As orderlies arrive to return the escapee to the mental ward, he cries out: &“The devil came to devour the factory.&” Rostnikov has far more important things on his mind than deciphering the ravings of a lunatic, first among them Sarah&’s recovery. And of course crime has not stopped while he cares for his wife. Rebels are planting bombs, teenagers are plotting assassinations, and the KGB lurks in every shadow. But despite all these clamors, the man&’s strange words continue to haunt Rostnikov—and compel him to investigate. With his Edgar Award–winning Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov mysteries, &“Kaminsky has staked a claim to a piece of Russian turf . . . He captures the Russian scene and character in rich detail&” (The Washington Post Book World).
Desert Storm
by Nan RyanMarried off to a Texas landowner, a young woman fights temptation when her husband&’s son moves homeHer whole life, Angie Webster has been raised to heed her father. Since her mother died—a fallen woman, and a disgrace to the family name—Jeremiah has kept Angie away from friends, from society, and, most of all, from boys. But as Jeremiah nears death, he realizes it is time for her to settle down. He chooses Barrett McClain, a wealthy rancher whose isolated mansion might provide Angie with a haven from the temptations of the world. But for this frightened young bride, temptation is just the beginning. Although her new husband seems to be a kindly old widower, his smile hides inconceivable viciousness. And then there is his son, Pecos, who appears to hate his father&’s new bride, but secretly lusts for her. Alone on the ranch, Angie will learn that to become a woman, she must learn to fight like a man.
Death in the Castle: A Novel
by Pearl S. BuckA &“thrilling&” historical mystery about impoverished British aristocrats from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Good Earth (Boston Herald). Sir Richard Sedgeley and Lady Mary are broke and without an heir to the castle that&’s been in their family for centuries. Tourists are infrequent, and the offers they&’ve received are not ones they can live with: a state-run prison or a museum in America. What is the remedy, and is it true that there&’s treasure hidden somewhere under their noses? Featuring a cast of outsize characters—timid Mary, her possibly mad husband, Wells the Butler, and his mysterious daughter Kate—Death in the Castle is a suspenseful delight by the author of The Good Earth. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author&’s estate.
Last Summer at Mars Hill: And Other Short Stories
by Elizabeth HandShort fiction that&’s &“poignant and terrifying by turns&”—including a Nebula and World Fantasy Award–winning novella (Publishers Weekly). Twelve exceptional stories by the multiple award–winning author of Waking the Moon and Black Light prove that Elizabeth Hand is just as adept with short fiction as she is in the novel form. The title story traces a world-changing summer at a New England artists&’ colony for young Shadowmoon Starlight Rising, who comes to know life, death, and an unbelievable secret about the strange apparitions that dwell in her community. Other stories include &“Snow on Sugar Mountain,&” which features a young boy who has the power to shapeshift into any form with the help of a Native American artifact; &“The Bacchae,&” in which womankind rules a savage futuristic version of our world; and &“The Erl-King,&” where a fairy tale horrifyingly comes true. Each story includes an afterword by the author. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Elizabeth Hand including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s personal collection.