Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless--unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem's sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who's been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.Jonathan Franzen's novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen's gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.

    He never wanted it and he has no family anyway. The decision to sell it quickly incites a family feud and all of the siblings can’t help but get involved.As each sibling finds their way home to South Port and the Stone Family Inn, they will deal with past hurts, let forgiveness into their hearts, and have a second chance at love.Trey Stone’s only goal was to get it sold and get back to doing what he’s always done; being a Navy SEAL.Ava Jamison hasn’t been back to South Port since her father passed, but her recent divorce and wanting stability for her sixteen-year-old son, has given her a longing for home. She’s prepared to buy the old Stone Mansion and she delights in turning it into an Inn where other families can have the same good memories she’s always had.When Trey puts a stop to the sell of the beach house and demands to know why she’s divorced, it starts a fire burning deep within her she hasn’t felt for a long, long time. Hopefully the man will get out of her way before she does something really, really stupid like kiss him. Whoops, too late.Eventually Trey concedes to a partnership of sorts and they find themselves working side by side to restore his family home.When all of Trey and Ava’s old beach friends start popping up in town, Trey discovers South Port just might be his home after all. And it doesn’t hurt that he might have a shot with the woman he’s never stopped loving.As these six siblings find a way back to each other, they must learn to let go of what doesn’t matter and cling to the things their parents always wanted for them--family, love, and fun memories on the beach.

    It kick-started Kareem’s interest in a rich history erased by white educators. It also sparked his activism. During these years, as Kareem struggled with racism, visibility, and justice, his father’s presence loomed large with purpose. He was a Black cop weathering a complicated conflict of loyalties during the most tumultuous civil rights upheaval the country had ever been through. Now, at a time when his powerful voice is needed the most, Kareem shares his unique perspective from the front lines of sixty years of social change, not just as an activist, but as a son, an athlete, a writer, and a Black man in America.

    

    When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till.The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in fast-paced style that ensures the reader can’t look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America’s pulse.

    Herbstreit will describe how a combination of hard work, perseverance, and a little luck landed him on the set of ESPN’s iconic College GameDay show, surrounded by tens of thousands of fans who treat their Saturdays like a football Mardi Gras.He’ll take you into the television production meetings, on to the GameDay set, and into the broadcast booth. You’ll live his life during a football season, see the things he sees, experience every chaotic twist and turn as the year unfolds. Not to mention the relationships he’s established and the insights he’s learned from the likes of coaches and players such as Nick Saban, Tim Tebow, Dabo Swinney, and Peyton Manning, as well as his colleagues, including Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, and his “second dad,” the beloved Coach Lee Corso.Yes, Kirk Herbstreit is the undeniable face and voice of college football—but he’s also a survivor. He’s the quiet kid who withstood the collapse of his parents’ marriage. The boy who endured too many overbearing stepdads and stepmoms. The painfully shy student who always chose the last desk in the last row of the classroom. The young man who persevered through a frustrating Ohio State playing career. The new college graduate who turned down a lucrative sales job after college to pursue a “no way you’ll make it” dream career in broadcasting.An inspiring, gripping, and eye-opening memoir, Out of the Pocket is the ultimate read for anyone who loves football and with a dream worth pursuing.

    

    But not in the case of the most famous dissenter on the Supreme Court. Almost a century after his death, John Marshall Harlan’s words helped end segregation and gave us our civil rights and our modern economic freedom. But his legacy would not have been possible without the courage of Robert Harlan, a slave who John’s father raised like a son in the same household. After the Civil War, Robert emerges as a political leader. With Black people holding power in the Republican Party, it is Robert who helps John land his appointment to the Supreme Court. At first, John is awed by his fellow justices, but the country is changing. Northern whites are prepared to take away black rights to appease the South. Giant trusts are monopolizing entire industries. Against this onslaught, the Supreme Court seemed all too willing to strip away civil rights and invalidate labor protections. So as case after case comes before the court, challenging his core values, John makes a fateful decision: He breaks with his colleagues in fundamental ways, becoming the nation’s prime defender of the rights of Black people, immigrant laborers, and people in distant lands occupied by the US. Harlan’s dissents, particularly in Plessy v. Ferguson, were widely read and a source of hope for decades. Thurgood Marshall called Harlan’s Plessy dissent his “Bible”—and his legal roadmap to overturning segregation. In the end, Harlan’s words built the foundations for the legal revolutions of the New Deal and Civil Rights eras. Spanning from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement and beyond, The Great Dissenter is a “magnificent” (Douglas Brinkley) and “thoroughly researched” (The New York Times) rendering of the American legal system’s most significant failures and most inspiring successes.

    Not since her gran-gran passed away a year ago. She’s completely skipping Christmas this year.Jack Meadows has always skipped Christmas. But his sister is a single mom going through cancer treatments this Christmas, and she wants Jack to make the season magical for her son.Jack can’t stand Christmas, but he’d do anything for his nephew. So he seeks help from Noelle, his employee and the woman he’s secretly been in love with for a year and a half. Spending time with her is risky, but it’ll be fine because he’d never let his feelings about her be known. He’s her boss, so a relationship is entirely off the table.No matter how desperate for help her good-looking but very Grinch-like boss seems, Christmas is too much for Noelle.But everything changes when a mysterious package shows up on Noelle’s doorstep with a postmark of North Pole, Alaska, that is somehow from her gran-gran, and she agrees to help Jack.As Noelle and Jack show his nephew all the Christmas magic a tight-knit community provides, along with the magic of Noelle’s large, loving, and very enthusiastic Christmas-celebrating family, sparks fly and they can’t deny their attraction for each other. Can they overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacle standing in the way of their relationship?

    Combined.26-year-old New Orleans native Elle Jones used to be the internet's most famous meme for rejection thanks to an embarrassing teenage TV appearance. But she's finally put that past behind her and now she’s killing it as a commercial real estate agent in the coolest neighborhoods in the city.When Miles Crowe—the former pop star who made her notorious—insists on hiring her to find a property for his jazz club, she’ll do everything she can to get herself fired before he realizes who she is.But Miles has grown up too, and Elle soon discovers that he is as passionate about the city as she is…and even sexier now than he was then. Will she risk exposing her humiliating past to claim a future with the guy who once nearly ruined her life?Whitney Award winner Melanie Jacobson returns with her trademark wit and warmth in this delightful story about taking a chance on love.

    Especially if he's psychic.She lost her job, her perfect house, and now Maggie Owens is sure she's losing her sanity. Her whole life feels like it's crumbling at her feet and there's no way her witchy powers can fix it.Rock-bottom is looming near until a fateful knock on her door. She's named the sole heir to her estranged grandfather's magical museum, and whisked off to sunny Fortune Point, California to start a new life.In addition to inheriting the museum, she also finds herself responsible for a talking cat named Winston, who comes with his own fan cult following thanks to his viral videos.Between learning the ropes of her new business, overseeing a weekly supernatural swap meet, and fulfilling Winston’s ever-growing demands, Maggie barely has a moment to herself. Oh, and that’s to say nothing of the mysterious and charming vampire next door.Just when she thinks she’s getting the hang of things, she uncovers an awful truth, one that could cost her everything – including her life.Time for some sun, sand, and sass! Stone of Spells is book one in the Charm Kitty Mysteries.

    But she’ll turn it around like every company she’s hired to fix. In fact, her own disastrous love life seems to be the only thing she can’t turn around. She’ll just leave love to everyone else. It’s scary and uncontrollable—and Liz likes to be in control. If only the people of Silver Leaf Falls would stop trying to set her up with every available man in town.Noah Knight is the beloved principal at Silver Leaf Falls Elementary. He loves living in his hometown, but something’s missing. He’s hoping a new job in another state will help fill the void. Other than leaving right after reconnecting with his friend Liz, the biggest downside is the PTA making it their mission to find him a wife before he moves away.Liz just needs to focus on work without being set up and Noah needs the PTA to leave him alone. Pretending to date for the summer is the perfect solution—and since neither of them wants to fall in love, nothing could possibly go wrong, right?Venture into Silver Leaf Falls, Vermont, and enjoy the friendships, love, and happily-ever-afters in this sweet, small-town romance.

    Fred Daniels, a black man, is picked up randomly by the police after a brutal murder in a Chicago neighborhood and taken to the local precinct where he is tortured until he confesses to a crime he didn't commit. After signing a confession, he escapes--or is permitted to escape--from the precinct and takes up residence in the sewers below the streets of Chicago.This is the simple, horrible premise of Richard Wright's scorching novel, The Man Who Lived Underground, a masterpiece written in the same period as his landmark books Native Son (1940) and Black Boy (1945) that he was unable to publish in his lifetime. Only small parts of it have appeared in print, and in a significantly redacted form it would eventually be included in the short story collection Eight Men (1961). Now, for the first time, this incendiary novel about race and violence in America, the work that meant more to Wright than any other ("I have never written anything in my life that stemmed more from sheer inspiration"), is published in full, in the form that he intended.

    Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim.Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice's body by the Hudson River.From this first, devastating encounter, the two women form an unbreakable bond. Alice is sure that Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her life - and death. And Ruby - struggling to forget what she saw that morning - finds herself unable to let Alice go. Not until she is given the ending she deserves.Before You Knew My Name doesn't ask whodunnit. Instead, this powerful, hopeful novel asks: Who was she? And what did she leave behind? The answers might surprise you.

    Her surprise soon gives way to panic when they figure out that an employee gave her car to the wrong person and it is now five hundred miles away. All the Christmas gifts that she’d carefully budgeted out for her children since July were in the trunk.Zayden Crile can’t believe his employee made such a huge mistake. And of all people it had to be his former sister-in-law. She’s still upset that his brother ran off with the nurse, leaving her with two small children. She has struggled, and to make things a little easier Zayden takes care of her car as a favor. He certainly never intended to make a mistake which could ruin Christmas for his niece and nephew.Forced to ride together to get her car, Blythe starts to see Zayden in a new light and realizes that maybe she married the wrong brother. Could one honest mistake patch a new family together?

    She doesn’t know how she ended up in this house. She doesn’t recognize any of these other dogs. She knows something terrible happened, but she just…can’t…recall...WAIT! Where’s her lady?A five-issue Don Bluth-style suspense thriller by My Little Pony comic artists TONY FLEECS and TRISH FORSTNER, STRAY DOGS is Lady and the Tramp meets Silence of the Lambs.“My favorite thing about comics is when someone shows you something you didn’t know you needed. The Secret Life of Pets meets Seven? Yes, please!! Welcome to STRAY DOGS. I was blown away!”—BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

    

    

    She has even booked the luxurious Wildwood Lodge for her "perfect Christmas" activities. At the last minute, though, she is forced to revise her guest list.It’s not all bad. In fact, one new lodger fits the Jayne’s first-snowfall wish for love. However, another guest turns out to be the hottest guy from her office--and her biggest critic.She catches one glimpse of him and thinks he’s there to ruin her week. He catches one glimpse of her and he’s ready to turn around and leave Wildwood Lodge.Jayne’s far too kitschy. He’s far too traditional. But can kitschy and traditional mix in the magic of Wildwood Lodge?Wildwood Lodge is book 1 in the Snowfall Wishes romance series by USA Today bestselling clean romance author Jennifer Griffith. The Snowfall Wishes series is three friends, one first-snowfall, and three wishes for true love.

    From the creator of Baby Sideburns and I Heart My Little A-Holes (and the creator of two kids who once were little a-holes but are slowly turning into awesome human beings), Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be A-Holes is a hilariously honest parenting guide written by a regular mom who doesn’t always know WTF she’s doing. Just like you. Featuring side-splittingly funny pictures, stories, and chapters like:You Are Not Your Kiddo's Servant​Picasso's Mom Didn't Tell Him to Draw the Eyes in the Right PlaceSticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Words Will Cost Thousands in TherapyIf They Say "I Hate You," Then You're Probably Doing It RightMamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be A-Holes will make you laugh, cry, laugh until you cry, and feel like you’re having coffee (and a little sumpin' in it) with a best friend who has some of the answers to THE hardest job on earth: parenting. And maybe, just maybe, it might help you get the a-hole out of your kids* *not a guarantee

    A new collection showcasing the best of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories including his well-known classics, as featured in 'Hemingway', the magnificent three-part, six-hour PBS documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

    Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom’s long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept’s complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.Drawing on a vast range of material, from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life, Maggie Nelson explores how we might think, experience, or talk about freedom in ways responsive to the conditions of our day. Her abiding interest lies in ongoing “practices of freedom” by which we negotiate our interrelation with—indeed, our inseparability from—others, with all the care and constraint that entails, while accepting difference and conflict as integral to our communion.For Nelson, thinking publicly through the knots in our culture—from recent art-world debates to the turbulent legacies of sexual liberation, from the painful paradoxes of addiction to the lure of despair in the face of the climate crisis—is itself a practice of freedom, a means of forging fortitude, courage, and company. On Freedom is an invigorating, essential book for challenging times.

    Want to go on an adventure? She’s your gal. Want a serious relationship? She can probably introduce you to someone who does, but it’s not her.Brock McMillan spends his time striving for perfection, being a good older brother, and enjoying his job helping students get college scholarships. Oh, and disagreeing with Summer on pretty much everything that goes on in the office.Not that it’s purposeful. Their ideas are just kind of like their office spaces—Brock’s is minimalist and logical (but Summer will tell you it’s where ideas go to die) and Summer’s is lively, fun, and creative (but Brock will tell you it’s chaotic).They’re unwillingly teamed up to run Aquamoose Tracks together—the big overnight event put on by the Welcome Center at the university where they both work. And even though the event is literally all fun and games (and, okay, a healthy dose of info), neither of them thinks they’ll survive working together so closely.And they definitely never expect to fall in love.

    All she wants now is to set up a stable life for herself and her son in the small town of Pine Hill, Kentucky. Andrew’s a firefighter who thrives on the rush of saving others. His secret dream is to become a smokejumper and fight raging wildfires across the country. But it’ll mean leaving his hometown and the people who rely on him. Morgan and Andrew are drawn together as they both volunteer to make quilts for veterans at the local quilt shop. Morgan’s son looks up to Andrew, and Morgan can’t help but notice how good Andrew is with him. Meanwhile, Andrew’s torn between his ambition and his growing attraction to Morgan. They both have choices to make about their future…and about each other.

    There are rappers who everyone loves and there are rappers who every rapper loves, and Corey Woods, a.k.a. Raekwon the Chef, is one of the few who is both. His versatile flow, natural storytelling, and evocative imagery have inspired legions of fans and a new generation of rappers. Raekwon is one of the founding members of Wu-Tang Clan, and his voice and cadence are synonymous with the sound that has made the group iconic since 1991. Now, for the first time, Raekwon tells his whole story, from struggling through poverty in order to make ends meet to turning a hobby into a legacy. The Wu-Tang tale is dense, complex, and full of drama, and here nothing is off-limits: the group’s origins, secrets behind songs like “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Protect Ya Neck,” and what it took to be one of the first hip-hop groups to go from the underground to the mainstream. Raekwon also delves deep into the making of his meticulous solo albums—particularly the classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx—and talks about how spirituality and fatherhood continue to inspire his unstoppable creative process. A celebration of perseverance and the power of music, From Staircase to Stage is a master storyteller’s lifelong journey to stay true to himself and his roots.

    Now she wants to save the library."The day I had my interview for my library position was the day I decided that I shouldn’t die."Allie Morgan is a woman in crisis. Having recently dropped out of her dream career due to mental illness, she’s decided that life is no longer worth living and is set to end it when she receives a phone call from the local library, offering her a job. There and then she decides to postpone suicide and give the role a try.What Allie doesn’t expect is for a simple part-time job to become a passionate battle for survival, both her own and for the library. As the year unfolds, she sees an attempted murder, becomes a target for a drugs gang and finds herself the last hope for people in desperate poverty. Hers is the story of how one person can go from rock bottom to becoming a crucial part of her local community. Recounted with immense wry humour and disarming charm, The Librarian is an eye-opening account of a strange but wonderful community hub and a library that changed a life.

    The result is an indelible portrait of an American master and of the postwar literary scene.Bailey shows how Roth emerged from a lower-middle-class Jewish milieu to achieve the heights of literary fame, how his career was nearly derailed by his catastrophic first marriage, and how he championed the work of dissident novelists behind the Iron Curtain. Bailey examines Roth’s rivalrous friendships with Saul Bellow, John Updike, and William Styron, and reveals the truths of his florid love life, culminating in his almost-twenty-year relationship with actress Claire Bloom, who pilloried Roth in her 1996 memoir, Leaving a Doll's House. Tracing Roth’s path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth’s engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.

    He has until Thanksgiving to decide if he should be the one to move to Marietta. But could he be happy living in such a small town?The Valentine QuestDustin Decker makes a strategic pact with the prim, bookish Nevada Parker for a multi-day race called The Valentine Quest. But with a kiss, their unlikely alliance turns into something more…and soon racing isn’t the only thing on their minds. As the finish line nears, they must decide if the grand prize is worth more than what they’ve found together…or if one of them will walk away empty handed—and broken hearted.The Chocolate TouchChocolate expert Chantelle Cummings arrives in Marietta, Montana with two goals—sign copies of her new book and research a quaint local chocolate shop. When she meets the gorgeous York Parker passing out chocolate samples, her visit turns sweeter than she ever imagined. But when York learns she’s moving abroad, will the truth harden his heart, or will love pave the way to a sweet future?

    He wanted to be a person, unlike his father, who knew how to work and get things done. He found himself in the oil fields of North Dakota during the Bakken fracking boom of 2013, where he spent a year as a swamper, assisting the truck drivers who hauled oil rigs from one site to another.The Good Hand is a saga of fear, danger, exhaustion, suffering, loneliness, and grit that explores the struggles and rewards of one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. In doing so, the story delves into the internal struggles of people who seem naturally drawn to hard work and hard luck--the rough-hewn, castoff, disposable men who populate boomtowns. As an oil field greenhorn, Smith finds the job is a continual battle; men are mocked and clobbered by equipment. But he comes to love the intensity and camaraderie, forming close bonds with a number of fellow workers, including Huck, an aw-shucks friendly young giant of a man who is constantly getting into trouble with the law, and "The Wildebeest," a truck driver in his fifties who initially torments Smith but later becomes instrumental in helping him to become "a good hand." Smith also examines his troubled relationship with his father--a trait that most of his coworkers seem to share--and draws fascinating parallels between his labor as an oil field hand and his previous careers in theatre and folk music.The Good Hand is ultimately a book about transformation--a classic American story about submitting to something elemental and larger than oneself. Smith discovers that the communities forged by hard work can awaken both the heart and the hands.

    An exiled Alpha who just wants to be left alone. Fate brings two broken souls together to make them whole.Caden Hill’s life is in tatters. Thanks to his ex-boyfriend, he lost his high-paying job, and he’s now living in his car. When his warlock best friend invites him to a sanctuary for lost paranormals, it’s a new start for Caden. He’s sworn off romance… until a gorgeous Alpha saves him from a fate worse than death. Lee’s sexy, protective and thoughtful, but he’s broken, just like Caden is. Caden’s taste in men is awful, but maybe he can make an exception for Lee.Branded as a murderer by his old pack for killing his father, all Lee Marshall wants to do is forget his past. He runs an animal shelter with three other misfit Alphas like him. Lee thinks he’s finally found peace, but something is missing in his life. The answer lies in Caden. Caden is his bright ray of sunshine, but Lee doesn’t believe a former killer like him deserves a shot at happiness. When a former pack mate begs Lee for help, Lee finds himself at a crossroads. Will he choose redemption or his fated mate?Moon River Rogue is a mpreg shifter romance that features a reluctant Alpha with a dark past, a broken Omega keen on pursuing him and plenty of adorable rescue animals. It is the first book in the Exiled Pack series. There are no cliff-hangers or cheating, and a HEA is guaranteed.

    I’m nice like that.The plan: Meet the rich client. Take notes of their measurements and fashion tastes. Then hand over to Josie. Job done.But Josie didn’t tell me the client is six-foot-four Hollywood hunk, Blaze Hopkins. My ultimate onscreen crush.I can’t stop my face glowing red as I wrap the tape measure around his hot body.When he asks me questions, I reply with squeaks and giggles. Total fangirl move.But Blaze doesn’t know what a personal shopper does––or does NOT do––and he makes me an offer that makes my jaw drop and toes curl.Join him on his latest press tour. How can I pass up the opportunity to travel the world with this heartthrob?All I have to do is pretend I totally know what I’m doing––I don’t.Play it cool–I’m gonna fail that too.And most-importantly, do NOT fall for Blaze Hopkins.Let’s just face it. I’m doomed.The Terrible Personal Shopper is an opposites-attract, romantic comedy with witty humor and heart-fluttering romance.Author note: This is a steamy clean read. All of the sizzle with steamy kisses, but no sex or swearing.

    A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.In 2014, a novelist named Li leaves Manhattan to visit his parents in Taipei for ten weeks. He doesn't know it yet, but his life will begin to deepen and complexify on this trip. As he flies between these two worlds—year by year, over four years—he will flit in and out of optimism, despair, loneliness, sanity, bouts of chronic pain, and drafts of a new book. He will incite and temper arguments, uncover secrets about nature and history, and try to understand how to live a meaningful life as an artist and a son. But how to fit these pieces of his life together? Where to begin? Or should he leave society altogether?In his most recent work, Tao Lin delivers an engrossing and hopeful novel about life, fiction, and where the two blur together that builds toward a stunning, if unexpected, romance. Exploring everyday events and scenes—waiting rooms, dog walks, family meals—while investigatively venturing to the edges of society, where culture dissolves into mystery, Lin spins the ordinary into something monumental, and shows what it is to write a novel in real time. Illuminating and deeply felt, Leave Society is a masterly story about life and art at the end of history.

    She found men eager to take advantage of her innocence and beauty but was determined to find success and love. Her inspired design and portrayal of a vampire won a costume contest that lead to a small role on the Red Skelton show which grew into a persona that brought her the notoriety she desired yet trapped her in a character she could never truly escape.This is Malia's story. Her diaries, notes, and ephemera and family stories bring new insights to her relationships with Orson Welles, James Dean, and Marlon Brando. Sandra Niemi--Malia's niece--fills in the nuances of her life prior to fame and her struggles after the limelight faded and she found a new community within the burgeoning Los Angeles punk scene who embraced her as their own.,Includes rare photographs.

    He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his sixties. Now, author Nathan Gorenstein brings firearms inventor John Moses Browning to vivid life in this riveting and revealing biography. Embodying the tradition of self-made, self-educated geniuses (like Lincoln and Edison), Browning was able to think in three dimensions (he never used blueprints) and his gifted mind produced everything from the famous Winchester “30-30” hunting rifle to the awesomely effective machine guns used by every American aircraft and infantry unit in World War II. The British credited Browning’s guns with helping to win the Battle of Britain. His inventions illustrate both the good and bad of weapons. Sweeping, lively, and brilliantly told, this fascinating book that “gun collectors and historians of armaments will cherish” (Kirkus Reviews) introduces a little-known legend whose impact on history ranks with that of the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.

    When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family unexpectedly in tow, Blum plays the reluctant host, to guests who proceed to lay waste to his American complacencies. Mixing fiction with non-fiction, the campus novel with the lecture, THE NETANYAHUS is a wildly inventive, genre-bending comedy of blending, identity, and politics - 'An Account of A Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Incident in the History of a Very Famous Family' that finds Joshua Cohen at the height of his powers.

    A record storm. A best man and maid of honor who can’t stand each other—what could go wrong?Garrett Davis is looking forward to his brother’s upcoming wedding. He fully approves of his soon-to-be sister-in-law and is excited for her to join the family. The only problem? Her bossy, know-it-all best friend, Sage. Things were going just fine until she showed up at the guest ranch and took charge as if she owned the place. Worst of all, Garrett is intensely attracted to her … a fact he intends to keep to himself.Sage Elliott is determined for her friend to have the wedding of her dreams, and she’s not about to let some backwoods best man interfere with that goal. Garrett may be handsome, but he’s entirely too opinionated for her taste. Besides, Sage has recently come out of a relationship and isn’t looking for a romantic connection … even if her gaze does drop to his all-too-kissable mouth more times than she cares to admit.Complications arise when a record storm closes in before the wedding day and Garrett and Sage are forced to work together to improvise. Will the chemistry building between them heat up the frigid Montana winter, or will their friction lead to disaster?Cozy up to this sweet, feel-good romance today! All books in this series can be read alone, but this book was written as a follow-up to Snowed In at the Ranch. Enjoy!

    

    In his first novel in ten years, Dennis Cooper writes about George Miles, love, loss, addiction, suicide, and how fiction can capture these things, and how it fails to capture them. Candid and powerful, I Wished is a radical work of shifting forms. It includes appearances by Santa Claus, land artist James Turrell, sentient prairie dogs, John Wayne Gacy, Nick Drake, and George, the muse for Cooper’s acclaimed novels Closer, Frisk, Try, Guide, and Period, collectively known as “The George Miles Cycle.” In revisiting the inspiration for the Cycle, Dennis has written a masterwork: the most raw, personal, and haunted book of his career.

    Eastern European immigrants Janos and Karina Kovac should be prospering, but their American dream is fading faster than the colors on the sun-drenched flag of their adopted country. Janos is exhausted from a decade of twelve-hour shifts, seven days per week, at the local mill. Karina, meanwhile, thinks she has found an escape from their run-down ethnic neighborhood in the modern home of a mill manager—until she discovers she is expected to perform the duties of both housekeeper and mistress. Though she resents her employer’s advances, they are more tolerable than being groped by drunks at the town’s boarding house.When Janos witnesses a gruesome accident at his furnace on the same day Karina learns she will lose her job, the Kovac family begins to unravel. Janos learns there are people at the mill who pose a greater risk to his life than the work itself, while Karina—panicked by the thought of returning to work at the boarding house—becomes unhinged and wreaks a path of destruction so wide that her children are swept up in the storm. In the aftermath, Janos must rebuild his shattered family with the help of an unlikely ally.Impeccably researched and deeply human, Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash delivers a timeless message about mental illness while paying tribute to the sacrifices America’s immigrant ancestors made.

    The rulers of Krakoa have been playing a dangerous game with a dangerous woman, and they are about to see how badly that can burn them. Mastermind of the X-Men JONATHAN HICKMAN brings his plans to a head, joined by an incredible lineup of artists beginning with VALERIO SCHITI… as one woman follows through on her promise to burn the nation of Krakoa to the ground.

    . . . To fully understand Satmar, of course, one has to be born into it. But to understand how political prowess and real-estate know-how shaped the group’s current iteration in Brooklyn, it would be wise to start with this outstanding book."—Laura E. Adkins, LA Review of Books The Hasidic community in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is famously one of the most separatist, intensely religious, and politically savvy groups of people in the entire United States. Less known is how the community survived in one of the toughest parts of New York City during an era of steep decline, only to later resist and also participate in the unprecedented gentrification of the neighborhood. Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper unravel the fascinating history of how a group of determined Holocaust survivors encountered, shaped, and sometimes fiercely opposed the urban processes that transformed their gritty neighborhood, from white flight and the construction of public housing to rising crime, divestment of city services, and, ultimately, extreme gentrification. By showing how Williamsburg’s Hasidim rejected assimilation while still undergoing distinctive forms of Americanization and racialization, Deutsch and Casper present both a provocative counter-history of American Jewry and a novel look at how race, real estate, and religion intersected in the creation of a quintessential, and yet deeply misunderstood, New York neighborhood.

    Garfield Logan still can't believe he has powers that allow him to change into different animals, but the price of knowing that his parents kept this secret hidden from him just feels too high. Both are seeking answers from the one person who seems to have them all figured out: Slade Wilson. When their paths converge in Nashville, Raven and Gar can't help but feel a connection, despite the secrets they both try to hide. It will take a great amount of trust and courage to overcome the wounds of their pasts. But can they find acceptance for the darkest parts of themselves? Or maybe even love? This special edition features a chapter from the upcoming original graphic novel.

    Supreme Court ruled that state bans on gay marriage were unconstitutional, making same-sex unions legal across the United States. But the road to that momentous decision was much longer than many know. In this definitive account, Sasha Issenberg vividly guides us through same-sex marriage's unexpected path from the unimaginable to the inevitable.It is a story that begins in Hawaii in 1990, when a rivalry among local activists triggered a sequence of events that forced the state to justify excluding gay couples from marriage. In the White House, one president signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which elevated the matter to a national issue, and his successor tried to write it into the Constitution. Over twenty-five years, the debate played out across the country, from the first legal same-sex weddings in Massachusetts to the epic face-off over California's Proposition 8 and, finally, to the landmark Supreme Court decisions of United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges. From churches to hedge funds, no corner of American life went untouched.This richly detailed narrative follows the coast-to-coast conflict through courtrooms and war rooms, bedrooms and boardrooms, to shed light on every aspect of a political and legal controversy that divided Americans like no other. Following a cast of characters that includes those who sought their own right to wed, those who fought to protect the traditional definition of marriage, and those who changed their minds about it, The Engagement is certain to become a seminal book on the modern culture wars.

    And it made me come out as a boy instead of a girl. When Marlo Mack’s three-year-old utters these words, her world splits wide open. Friends and family, experts, and Marlo herself had long downplayed her “son’s” requests for pretty dresses and long hair as experimentation—as a phase—but that time is over. When little “M” begs, weeping, to be reborn, Marlo knows she has to start listening to her kid.How to Be a Girl is Mack’s unflinching memoir of M’s coming out—to her father, grandparents, classmates, and the world. Fearful of the prejudice that menaces M’s future, Mack finds her liberal values surprisingly challenged: Why can’t M just be a boy who wears skirts and loves fairies? But M doesn’t give up: She’s a girl! As mother and daughter teach one another How to Be a Girl, Mack realizes it’s really the world that has a lot to learn—from her sparkly, spectacular M.

    But while their friendship has been the subject of both scrutiny and admiration, few know the full story.Taking office at the height of the 2008 global recession, Obama was keenly aware of the fractured relationship between the US and Europe. And for her part, Merkel was suspicious of the charismatic newcomer who had captivated her country.Faced with the challenges of globalization, the two often clashed over policy, but—as the first Black president and first female chancellor—they shared a belief that democracy could uplift the world. United by this conviction, they would forge a complicated but inspiring partnership.Dear Barack is a thoroughly researched document of the parallel trajectories that led to Obama and Merkel meeting on the world stage and the trials, both personal and political, that they confronted in office. At times in the leaders’ own words, the book details such events as Merkel’s historic acceptance of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the 2013 NSA spying scandal, demonstrating the highs and lows of this extraordinary alliance.A story of camaraderie at a global scale, Dear Barack shows that it is possible for political adversaries to establish bonds of respect—and even friendship—in the service of the free world.

    He was prepared for life in the Wild West, but he hadn't counted on Grace Legend...Grace has always fought hard for what she believes in, and after her best friend is killed at the hands of her drunk and angry husband, that includes keeping alcohol out of her town. When the owner of the new saloon turns out to be a kind and considerate man, she can't help but wonder if they could have a future together...if they weren't on opposite sides of every issue."Resonate[s] with honesty and love...Linda Broday's best."--Fresh Fiction for The Cowboy Who Came Calling

    

    Place is a palpable presence: Boston in winter, Maine in summer, Virginia’s lush hillsides, the open New Mexico sky. Along the way, we meet Kate’s difficult bohemian mother and younger sister, her privileged college roommate, and the various men Kate dates as she struggles to define what she wants from the world on her own terms. Wryly funny and shot through with surprising flashes of anger, these smart, dreamy, searching stories show us a young woman grappling with social class, gender, ambition, violence, and the distance between longing and having.

    In this diaristic, transgressive work, the first in a cycle written in the years preceding his death, Guibert documents with speed and intensity his diagnosis and disintegration from AIDS and elegizes a character based on Michel Foucault.The first half of To Write As If Already Dead is a novella in the mode of a detective story, searching after the mysterious disappearance of an online friendship after an intense dialogue on anonymity, names, language, and connection. The second half, a notebook documenting the doubled history of two bodies amid another historical plague, continues the meditation on friendship, solitude, time, mortality, precarity, art, and literature.Throughout this rigorous, mischievous, thrilling not-quite study, Guibert lingers as a ghost companion. Zambreno, who has been pushing the boundaries of literary form for a decade, investigates his methods by adopting them, offering a keen sense of the energy and confessional force of Guibert's work, an ode to his slippery, scarcely classifiable genre. The book asks, as Foucault once did, "What is an author?" Zambreno infuses this question with new urgency, exploring it through the anxieties of the internet age, the ethics of friendship, and "the facts of the body" illness, pregnancy, and death.

    Haunted by the hazy circumstances around her classmate’s death, Candace Jane Opper takes a kaleidoscopic lens to the cultural history of suicide in America, unearthing an invisible network and revealing the ways that no individual suicide—well-known or hardly documented—exists in a vacuum. Fusing personal narrative with history and science, Opper interrogates the ways suicide is handed down to us—from literature to YouTube, from middle school health class to sociological study, from the immutability of objects to the fluidity of oral history. In this candid and unsentimental epistolary essay, Opper invites us into her decades-long obsession with a boy she barely knew, creating space for herself and her readers to embrace a radical kind of unforgetting.

    Drawing on decades of experience in the classroom and on college campuses throughout the South, as well as on his own personal history, Moore illustrates how an understanding of Black history is necessary for everyone.With Teaching Black History to White People, which is “part memoir, part Black history, part pedagogy, and part how-to guide,” Moore delivers an accessible and engaging primer on the Black experience in America. He poses provocative questions, such as “Why is the teaching of Black history so controversial?” and “What came first: slavery or racism?” These questions don’t have easy answers, and Moore insists that embracing discomfort is necessary for engaging in open and honest conversations about race. Moore includes a syllabus and other tools for actionable steps that white people can take to move beyond performative justice and toward racial reparations, healing, and reconciliation.

    In this diaristic, transgressive work, the first in a cycle written in the years preceding his death, Guibert documents with speed and intensity his diagnosis and disintegration from AIDS and elegizes a character based on Michel Foucault.The first half of To Write as if Already Dead is a novella in the mode of a detective story, searching after the mysterious disappearance of an online friendship after an intense dialogue on anonymity, names, language, and connection. The second half, a notebook documenting the doubled history of two bodies amid another historical plague, continues the meditation on friendship, solitude, time, mortality, precarity, art, and literature.Throughout this rigorous, mischievous, thrilling not-quite study, Guibert lingers as a ghost companion. Zambreno, who has been pushing the boundaries of literary form for a decade, investigates his methods by adopting them, offering a keen sense of the energy and confessional force of Guibert's work, an ode to his slippery, scarcely classifiable genre. The book asks, as Foucault once did, "What is an author?" Zambreno infuses this question with new urgency, exploring it through the anxieties of the internet age, the ethics of friendship, and "the facts of the body" illness, pregnancy, and death.

    Standing against the Neo-Passéist tide, Neo-Decadence presents a total reformulation of everyday life. What is the vertical table? Why is a sex helmet indispensable for all assignations? What is the proper spirit of electronic gaming? Covering fashion, cooking, architecture, occultism, poetry, gardening, and other areas of concern to all young people, the present volume is the ONLY resource for those wishing to shrug off the cerements of late capitalist literature and art. If you’ve ever wanted to proudly commit commercial suicide while serving your own head on a plate as an offering to your inner daemon, consult this collection of manifestos—as much a personal style guide as it is a declaration of uncompromising aesthetic war.edited by Justin Isis1. Neo-Decadence (I) - Brendan Connell2. Neo-Decadence (II) - Justin Isis3. Women’s Fashion - Justin Isis4. Men’s Fashion - Gaurav Monga and Justin Isis5. Cooking - Brendan Connell and Justin Isis6. Music - Ramon Alanis7. Architecture - Damian Murphy, Gaurav Monga and LC von Hessen8. Immaterialism - Quentin S. Crisp9. Occultism - Damian Murphy10. Electronic Gaming Arturo Calderon, Colby Smith and Hadrian Flyte11. Interpersonal Relationships - Justin Isis12. English Poetry - Jeremy Reed13. American Poetry- Paul Cunningham14. Nature - Sailor Stephens15. Against Neo-Passéism - Justin Isis, Damian Murphy, Gaurav Monga, Quentin S. Crisp, and LC von Hessen

    Mayhem. Millennials.What was supposed to be a night of hope and change unwittingly launches an adventure into chaos as five friends uncover a dark past, a secret society, and a sinister plan. Leo, Joy, Shane, Clementine, and Nick have known each other since high school, but life has taken each of them in vastly different directions. Our story begins as they all gather together to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama.In Nathan Monk's latest novel he weaves together a story that spans decades set against the backdrop of friendships built around a neighborhood bar. Using his powerful storytelling and immersive characters he transports us through the troubles of the millennial dilemma.The All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge is a stunning story of collective trauma. The book travels through time looking at major events from 9/11 and the Columbine Massacre to the technology boom through the lens of an unsuspecting cast of characters who are simply attempting to survive a world that doesn't seem built for them.This Southern Gothic tale confronts some of the darkest parts of our modern history and takes the reader on a journey through the perils of the Great Recession, the Occupation of Wall Street, and right up the edge of a global pandemic that will transform the world as we know it. Who will survive the unprecedented events that unfold?Not even student debt is as perilous as the adventure you are about to embark on. No amount of cutting back on avocado toast and caramel lattes can save you from the dangers ahead.In his unique style, Nathan creates characters that are at times hard to like but impossible not to love. This tale is full of betrayal, romance, and kitchen grease as this rag-tag group of friends attempt to make the world a better place and are confronted with the question, "Do we even have the power to make any meaningful change at all and if not, is there even hope?"Pull up a barstool, light 'em if you got 'em, and pour yourself a tall glass of suspense and romance masquerading as casual sex as you journey into the seedy halls of the All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge.

    He has been praised as "one of America’s preeminent novelists, our prime conductor of electric sentences" (William Giraldi). Above all, Allan Gurganus is a seriously funny writer, an expert at evoking humor, especially in our troubled times.Now he offers nine classic tales—never before between covers. They attest to his mastery of the short story and the growing depth of his genius. Offering characters antic and tragic, Gurganus charts the human condition—masked and unmasked—as we live it now. “Once upon a time” collides with the everyday. We meet a mortician whose dedication to his departed clients exceeds all legal limits. We encounter a seaside couple fighting to save their family dog from Maine’s fierce undertow. A virginal seventy-eight-year-old grammar school librarian has her sole erotic experience with a polyamorous snake farmer. A vicious tornado sends twin boys aloft, leaving only one of them alive. And, in an eerily prescient story, cholera strikes a rural village in 1849 and citizens come to blame their doomed young doctor who saved hundreds.These meticulously crafted parables recall William Faulkner’s scope and Flannery O’Connor’s corrosive wit. Imbuing each story with charged drama, Gurganus, a sublime ventriloquist, again proves himself among our funniest writers and our wisest.

    Spilt Milk is an intimate, bracing, and beautiful exploration of vulnerability and culpability. Zoffness relives her childhood anxiety disorder as she witnesses it manifest in her firstborn; endures brazen sexual advances by a student in her class; grapples with the implications of her young son’s cop obsession; and challenges her Jewish faith. Where is the line between privacy and secrecy? How do the stories we tell inform who we become?

    Traveling to the shadowy woodland where that fateful day occurred, nothing could have prepared them for what old forces they were about to stumble into.Shrouded in mystery, the forest hides many dangers and has swallowed many souls. Determined to investigate the cause of their parents’ disappearance, Damian and Liam must sift through the stories and decide who they can trust… and who might be hiding something.And after the pair attract the attention of an elusive enemy who haunts the dark and ominous woods, the brothers will need to use all of their wits if they want to uncover the truth and make it out alive…Can Damian and Liam find out what happened to their parents all those years ago? Or will they become the forest’s next victims?Perfect for fans of spine-chilling paranormal mysteries with suspense that will have you hanging from every page, The Hidden Graveyard is a riveting short read that will delight fans of classic and creepy ghost stories.

    But one car crash and broken cattle fence later, CC ends up at the home of ruggedly handsome rancher Reese Brockbank.Reese doesn’t hesitate to rescue the reckless woman who has crashed into his life, but when circumstances require him to put CC up in his house for a few days, he vows to remain aloof—a woman already derailed his life once. As CC’s warmth and childlike love of Christmas turn his beautiful but sterile house into a home, however, she wears down his defenses. Still, something in her story doesn’t quite add up, and Reese’s questions soon cause CC to retreat.The pain of their pasts has brought them to this moment, but will they seize it or put the possibility of love in jeopardy?

    A shocking revelation. A trial that will divide the new mutant nation. Leah Williams and Valerio Schiti bring you a new epic that threatens the Reign of X and will upend the world of mutants. The truth is hidden, the danger is far from over, and the trial has begun

    But offstage, Tovah struggled to fulfill the one role she never auditioned for: Lily Feldshuh's only daughter.Growing up in Scarsdale, NY in the 1950s, Tovah—known then by her given name Terri Sue—lived a life of piano lessons, dance lessons, shopping trips, and white-gloved cultural trips into Manhattan. In awe of her mother's meticulous appearance and perfect manners, Tovah spent her childhood striving for Lily's approval, only to feel as though she always fell short. Lily's own dreams were beside the point; instead, she devoted herself to Tovah's father Sidney and her two children. Tovah watched Lily retreat into the roles of the perfect housewife and mother and swore to herself, I will never do this.When Tovah shot to stardom with the Broadway hit Yentl, winning five awards for her performance, she still did not garner her mother's approval. But, it was her success in another sphere that finally gained Lily's attention. After falling in love with a Harvard-educated lawyer and having children, Tovah found it was easier to understand her mother and the sacrifices she had made during the era of the women's movement, the sexual revolution, and the subsequent mandate for women to "have it all."Beloved as he had been by both women, Sidney's passing made room for the love that had failed to take root during his life. In her new independence, Lily became outspoken, witty, and profane. "Don't tell Daddy this," Lily whispered to Tovah, "but these are the best years of my life." She lived until 103. In this insightful, compelling, often hilarious and always illuminating memoir, Tovah shares the highs and lows of a remarkable career that has spanned five decades, and shares the lessons that she has learned, often the hard way, about how to live a life in the spotlight, strive for excellence, and still get along with your mother. Through their evolving relationship we see how expectations for women changed, with a daughter performing her heart out to gain her mother's approval and a mother becoming liberated from her confining roles of wife and mother to become her full self.

    When we placed the ad in the newspaper, we never thought anyone would actually answer it. We also didn’t think that Laurel would be so brainless as to put Lizzy’s actual phone number in the ad… Beautiful, successful single woman, 40, seeks attractive male billionaire to impregnate her the old fashioned way. No strings. NOT seeking sugar daddy. Validation required. Serious inquiries only, please.What could possibly go wrong?  Everything.

    Wood elucidates the debates over the founding documents of the United States.The half century extending from the imperial crisis between Britain and its colonies in the 1760s to the early decades of the new republic of the United States was the greatest and most creative era of constitutionalism in American history, and perhaps in the world. During these decades, Americans explored and debated all aspects of politics and constitutionalism--the nature of power, liberty, representation, rights, the division of authority between different spheres of government, sovereignty, judicial authority, and written constitutions. The results of these issues produced institutions that have lasted for over two centuries.In this new book, eminent historian Gordon S. Wood distills a lifetime of work on constitutional innovations during the Revolutionary era. In concise form, he illuminates critical events in the nation's founding, ranging from the imperial debate that led to the Declaration of Independence to the revolutionary state constitution making in 1776 and the creation of the Federal Constitution in 1787. Among other topics, he discusses slavery and constitutionalism, the emergence of the judiciary as one of the major tripartite institutions of government, the demarcation between public and private, and the formation of states' rights.Here is an immensely readable synthesis of the key era in the making of the history of the United States, presenting timely insights on the Constitution and the nation's foundational legal and political documents.

    If she wasn't being bossed around by Biggie, then the task fell to her best friend Win...who did win. At everything. Bit never seemed to share Win's lifetime supply of “lucky dust.” Perhaps the only thing Bit has ever chosen for herself is her friendship with Avery, the out-of-towner who showed up on the saddest day of her life―unpretentious and decidedly un-Southern―with a funeral casserole in hand.Bit believes she can escape her grandmother’s controlling grip once and for all by moving somewhere where she is the only Nina Enloe listed: New York. Yet her world is turned upside down when an unexpected loss forces her to leave her new life in the city and return to Erob, where she must face everything―and everyone―she left behind. In the process, Bit discovers her true identity, learns the hard lessons of acceptance and forgiveness, finds herself falling in love in unexpected places, and finds comfort in the secrets of rainy days.Leslie Hooton, author of Before Anyone Else, brings her signature wit and Southern charm to the page again in this triumphant coming-of-age story.

    Lots of it! Oh, and a Netflix binge session might help too.If you like sassy heroines, swoon-worthy hunks, and heartwarming romance that will have you laughing out loud, you’ll adore this small-town romp by USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Youngblood.

    What could be more romantic?As it turns out, pretty much anything.When Seattle’s hit with Snowmageddon, Rylee's unexpected rescuer is Brock, her childhood crush. Rylee dreams that their moment to connect has finally arrived, but Brock is missing Christmas with his daughter, and heaven help anyone who tries to convince him that something good could come from this Snowpocalypse.Will a chance at love heal his hurting heart, and grant her most fervent Christmas wish?You'll have visions of sugar plumbs dancing in your head with this sweet romantic Christmas comedy by Amberlee Day!All books in the series are standalones.

    Kweli's was the first generation to grow up with hip-hop as established culture--a genre of music that has expanded to include its own pantheon of heroes, rich history and politics, and distinct worldview.Eventually, childhood friendships turned into collaborations, and Kweli gained notoriety as a rapper in his own right. From collaborating with some of hip-hop's greatest--including Mos Def, Common, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Kendrick Lamar--to selling books out of the oldest African-American bookstore in Brooklyn, ultimately leaving his record label, and taking control of his own recording career, Kweli tells the winding, always compelling story of the people and events that shaped his own life as well as the culture of hip-hop that informs American culture at large.Vibrate Higher illuminates Talib Kweli's upbringing and artistic success, but so too does it give life to hip-hop as a political force--one that galvanized the Movement for Black Lives and serves a continual channel for resistance against the rising tide of white nationalism.

    Valente, Dominica Phetteplace, Caroline M. Yoachim, Carrie Vaughn, Rati Mehrotra, and Sarah Pinsker. Reprint fiction by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Essays by Tansy Rayner Roberts, Sid Jain, Marieke Nijkamp, and Jay Edidin, poetry by Tamara Jerée, Brandon O'Brien, Terese Mason Pierre, and Ali Trotta, interviews with Caroline M. Yoachim by Tina Connolly, and Sarah Pinsker by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Paul Lewin, and editorials by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.Contents:The Uncanny Valley / Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian ThomasThe Sin of America / Catherynne M. ValenteThe Perils of a Hologram Heart / Dominica PhetteoplaceColors of the Immortal Palette / Caroline M. YoachimThe Book of the Kraken / Carrie VaughnEighteen Days of Barbereek / Rati MehrotraWhere Oaken Hearts Do Gather / Sarah PinkserThey Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass / Alaya Dawn JohnsonDeadly Frocks and Other Tales of Murder Clothes / Tansy Rayner RobertsSeduced by the Ruler's Gaze: An Indian Perspective on Seth Dickinson's Masquerade / Sid JainProtector of Small Steps / Marieke NijkampPlease Be Kind to the Singularity / Jay EddinThe Most Humane Methods Could Involve a Knife / Tamara JeréeLagahoo Culture (Part II) / Brandon O'BrienFuture Saints / Terese Mason PierreOf Monsters I Loved / Ali Trotta

    Amid renewed interest in Black anarchism among the left, Anderson offers a principled rejection of reformism, nation building, and citizenship in the ongoing fight against capitalism and white supremacism. As a viable alternative amidst worsening social conditions, he calls for the urgent prioritization of community-based growth, arguing that in order to overcome oppression, people must build capacity beyond the state. It interrogates how history and myth and leadership are used to rehabilitate governance instead of achieving a revolutionary abolition. By complicating our understanding of the predicaments we face, The Nation on No Map hopes to encourage readers to utilize a Black anarchic lens in favor of total transformation, no matter what it’s called. Anderson’s text examines reformism, orthodoxy, and the idea of the nation-state itself as problems that must be transcended and key sites for a liberatory re-envisioning of struggle.

    But as Jessie Singer argues convincingly: There are no such things as accidents. The vast majority of mishaps are not random but predictable and preventable. Singer uncovers just how the term “accident” itself protects those in power and leaves the most vulnerable in harm’s way, preventing investigations, pushing off debts, blaming the victims, diluting anger, and even sparking empathy for the perpetrators.As the rate of accidental death skyrockets in America, the poor and people of color end up bearing the brunt of the violence and blame, while the powerful use the excuse of the “accident” to avoid consequences for their actions. Born of the death of her best friend, and the killer who insisted it was an accident, this book is a moving investigation of the sort of tragedies that are all too common, and all too commonly ignored.In this revelatory book, Singer tracks accidental death in America from turn of the century factories and coal mines to today’s urban highways, rural hospitals, and Superfund sites. Drawing connections between traffic accidents, accidental opioid overdoses, and accidental oil spills, Singer proves that what we call accidents are hardly random. Rather, who lives and dies by an accident in America is defined by money and power. She also presents a variety of actions we can take as individuals and as a society to stem the tide of “accidents”—saving lives and holding the guilty to account.

    As an orphan, she’s lived off other’s second skimmings most of her life. Her perfect grades have earned her the perfect job, and no one is going to stand in her way, especially a scruffy sheriff.TJ Morgan has one job, to keep the residents of Hiramsville safe. When a soiled dove dies under mysterious circumstances, TJ vows to find her killers. When Emily arrives in town, he must take drastic measures to keep her out of harm’s way.Saving Emily against her will isn’t enough when a coded journal sheds light on the depth of corruption in the western town. What Emily learns decoding the tale puts both their lives in danger. Working together, they find their hearts entwined even as outlaws try to tear them apart. Can Emily find what she has needed her entire life? Can TJ save his heart?Rescuing the Sheriff’s Heart is the first book in the Bradford Brides historical western romance novels. If you like heroes in cowboy hats and heroines willing to take on the west finding happily ever afters, these sweet old-fashioned romances are for you.

    Run the family’s bed-and-breakfast, marry her best friend (or a prince who knocks her off her feet,) and keep every Hawthorne tradition alive. Unfortunately, none of her plans are working out. Her grandfather refuses to see she is the best person to inherit Covington House. Her best friend loves someone else. People don’t see the importance of tradition. And for the first time in her life, Liberty has a cold.Focused on making amends for the biggest mistake of his career, Oliver Bradford doesn’t notice when he slips into old habits—like driving on the left side of the road—and hits Liberty. Unfortunately, she is not impressed with his British accent or his money. Oliver tries to make up for the accident, but Liberty rebuffs his every friendly overture.Frustrated at not being able to do everything herself, Liberty finally accepts Oliver’s help only to discover that not every prince needs to be of royal blood.

    In 1994, an aspiring young cold case investigator in California’s East Bay, Paul Holes, puts aside trying to solve the Golden State Killer case as he waits for science to catch up. Paul returns to an old file cabinet at the back of the forensic lab to look for another cold case he can work - something with DNA. He finds one. The 1978 murder of a married mother who went for a morning jog in a nearby park. The original investigators believed that a serial killer named Phillip Hughes was responsible; they just couldn’t prove it. But Hughes was headed to prison for three other local homicides, all because of an unexpected break in those cases. Without it, Hughes might have gotten away with everything. In the years since though, as Hughes sat in prison, so did his secrets. And now he’s coming up for parole. In a race against time, Paul commits to solving the 1978 cold case before Hughes is let out. The victim’s family needs an answer. And, if Paul can prove that Hughes is the killer, he’ll use it as leverage to force Hughes to confess to everything else he may have done. Little does Paul know, however, that the 1978 cold case he opens will take an unexpected turn, lead to other cases and killers he never knew about and haunt him for his entire career. It turns out that the small towns of Contra Costa County were home to a more sinister history than anyone had imagined. But the clues didn’t disappear. They just needed the right person, at the right time, to see them.

    Some of them—“Ode to a Nightingale,” “To Autumn”—are among the most celebrated poems in the English language. Anahid Nersessian here collects and elucidates each of the odes and offers a meditative, personal essay in response to each, revealing why these poems still have so much to say to us, especially in a time of ongoing political crisis. Her Keats is an unflinching antagonist of modern life—of capitalism, of the British Empire, of the destruction of the planet—as well as a passionate idealist for whom every poem is a love poem. The book emerges from Nersessian’s lifelong attachment to Keats’s poetry; but more, it “is a love story: between me and Keats, and not just Keats.”  Drawing on experiences from her own life, Nersessian celebrates Keats even as she grieves him and counts her own losses—and Nersessian, like Keats, has a passionate awareness of the reality of human suffering, but also a willingness to explore the possibility that the world, at least, could still be saved. Intimate and speculative, this brilliant mix of the poetic and the personal will find its home among the numerous fans of Keats’s enduring work.

    In order to live through the grief of the Ghostship Fire & the Muslim Ban, Villainy foments political action in public spaces, and indexes the various emotional states, such as rage, revelry, fear, grief, and desire to which queers must tend during protest. In scenes loaded with glitter, broken glass, and cum, Abi-Karam insists that in order to shatter the rising influence of new fascism we must embrace the collective work of antifascists, street medics, and queer exhibitionists and that the safety that we risk is reckless and necessary. Disruptive and demanding, these punk poems embody direct action and invite the audience into the desire-filled slippage between public sex and demonstration. At heart, Villainy aims to destroy all levels of hierarchy to establish a participatory, temporary autonomous zone in which the targeted other can thrive.

    The only upside is he was a stranger. We'll never cross paths again, what a relief… is what I WOULD say if Mr. Mystery Tight Pants weren't staying in the same AirBnB as me. Crap. This was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime in London with my closest friends. Instead it's turning into a bad romantic comedy where I can't stop blushing around my unwanted roomie. And worse? I'm crazy attracted to him. But I've never been with anyone. Like, ever ever. Can sparks fly with a stranger? Or am I about to embarrass myself all over again?

    

    After five whole years of “drinking from Mommy’s boobies,” he suddenly has to step aside for his new baby sister, Beatrice, who may or may not be human. Mommy says he has to “support her appearance no matter how humiliating it is for us as family,” but that’s hard to do when your sister has branches for arms and legs. Plus, he just found out that Daddy is having “the sex” with his new kindergarten teacher and he’s not sure how to tell Mommy. As a five-year-old entrepreneur, Ben prides himself on always staying cool under pressure, but this time… he may just burst.Cast Size: 3 Females, 1 Male, 1 Freaky Creation

    His behavior isn’t unusual; he has ridiculed her for years, and Laurel doesn’t understand why. All she knows is that his vitriol has something to do with her grandmother, a woman shrouded in mystery. Laurel goes on a harrowing journey from her home in Philadelphia to Maryland only to discover that her grandmother is on death’s door. She is welcomed with open arms by her extended family but receives a chilly reception from her grandmother who seems suspicious of Laurel’s arrival. Over the next few weeks, her grandmother recovers and her distrust begins to thaw as she tells Laurel stories of her abusive first husband, the young immigrant whom she came to love, and the birth of her two illegitimate children. Laurel learns the secrets of her family’s fractured past, a story of resilience, deception, and forbidden passion that forces Laurel to confront the truths in her own heart. But will unearthing long-buried secrets heal the rift between Laurel and her father, or will the past haunt the present and the future forever?

    On one side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings – at least two from across the sea – who'd come together to destroy them once and for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that would become England. The armies were massive. The violence, when it began, was enough to shock a violent age. Brunanburh may not today have the fame of Hastings, Crécy or Agincourt, but those later battles, fought for England, would not exist were it not for the blood spilled this day. Generations later it was still called, quite simply, the 'great battle'. But for centuries, its location has been lost. Today, an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers – amateurs and professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike – may well have found the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years after its bloodied fields witnessed history. This groundbreaking new book tells the story of this remarkable discovery and delves into why and how the battle happened. Most importantly, though, it is about the men who fought and died at Brunanburh, and how much this forgotten struggle can tell us about who we are and how we relate to our past.

    In the cramped car, Minister finds himself in close quarters with three passengers also joining the exodus from the South—people seeking a new life, whose motives, declared or otherwise, will change Minister's life with devastating consequences.

    Can he admit he loves her for herself?Can she surrender to a man who fears the high price of love?Lily Hanniford is an American heiress with beauty, wits–and the unique desire to wed for more than a drafty castle and a loveless marriage.The Marquess of Chelton needs money. A lot of it. Not an affair. Especially not with the delightful American who believes wedded bliss should include such ridiculous ideas as laughter—and love.But they both desire what they should not want—each other. Too bad, passion has prices. And both Lily and Chelton are caught.Is the cost of love too high a price to pay for Chelton?And is the cost of surrender too dear a price to pay for Lily?If you love swoon-worthy historical romance, starring endearing heroes, sassy heroines and a family of irresistible charmers, this book is for you! Buy WILD LILY to begin your journey!

    

    Humanity doesn't have race, creed, or color--not when you look into the very souls of people." --Christopher Braman, Army Sgt. 1st Class (ret.)The terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, were intended to tear apart the fabric of our country and our democracy. Instead, this brazen act served to show the world the heart of a nation and the true meaning of "united we stand." The heroes at the Pentagon were extraordinary civilians and soldiers who made decisions to sacrifice their own safety to render aid to complete strangers. Twenty years later, these stories serve as a reminder of what it truly means to be American. Meticulously researched and told with respect and reverence, American Phoenix sheds light on the remarkable individuals and events of that day, revealing stories never before told. Starting from the date the builders of the Pentagon broke ground on September 11, 1941, and culminating in the national Pentagon Memorial dedication in 2008, this is a tribute to those who sacrificed everything so that others might live.

    After his momma urged him “to do one thing in life that made a difference”, he flew to Alabama, put on his running shoes, and sped off into the wilderness.His remarkable journey covered 15,600 miles, the distance from the North to the South Pole and a third of the way back. Over a grueling 18 months, braving injuries, blizzards, forest fires and deadly wildlife, he crossed the United States five times. During one of the most turbulent periods in recent American history, Rob immersed himself in American life. His time on the open road saw him forever changed, trying to make that difference, in the process of Becoming Forrest.This is a tale of one man who just wanted to make a difference.

    The run-down house and its eerie, ominous-looking lake gave her the creeps – no matter how much her parents tried to convince her it only needed repairs and a fresh coat of paint.As Rachel struggles to recover after her coma and rekindle her bond with her family, she begins to befriend their distrustful neighbors… and she discovers the harrowing story behind the manor and its lake. A ghost haunts these cold waters – one that wants her dead.Entangled in a web of malicious spirits and horrifying happenings, Rachel must use all of her wits and bravery to rescue herself, her brother, and her parents before they fall prey to the spirits haunting the lake.Can Rachel manage to convince her family that the stories behind Bridge Manor are true? Or will the Lady of the Lake claim her next victims?Artfully blending a ghost story with a dash of horror and suspense, The Lake Has Eyes is a chilling and memorable tale that is perfect for fans of all things paranormal.

    'Drifter: Stories' is a massive collection that contains a decade's worth of short fiction by visionary writer David Leo Rice, with work first published in 'The Fanzine', 'The Rumpus', 'Black Clock', 'DIAGRAM' and elsewhere.'Drifter: Stories' contains:'The Brothers Squimbop' (First published in 'The Fanzine')'Egon's Parents' (First published in 'The Last Magazine')'The Meadows' (First published in 'The Collagist)'Circus Sickness' (First published in 'Cosmonauts Avenue')'Housesitter' (First published in 'Birkensnake')'Living Boy' (First published in 'Black Clock')'Out on the Coast' (First published in 'The Rumpus')'In the Cabin up on Stilts' (First published in 'Black Clock')'The Hate Room' (First published in 'New Haven Review')'Gmunden' (First published in 'The Collagist')'The Painless Euthanasia Roller Coaster' (First published in 'Catapult')'The Brothers Squimbop in Europe''ULTRA MAX''Jell-O' (First published in 'DIAGRAM')'Sandman Crescent' (First published in 'The Collagist')'The Right Town'

    Compelling modern reflections on ancient wisdom.”—Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review) In this long-awaited follow-up to his 2003 book on Genesis, humanist scholar Leon Kass explores how Exodus raises and then answers the central political questions of what defines a nation and how a nation should govern itself. Considered by some the most important book in the Hebrew Bible, Exodus tells the story of the Jewish people from their enslavement in Egypt, through their liberation under Moses’s leadership, to the covenantal founding at Sinai and the building of the Tabernacle. In Kass’s analysis, these events began the slow process of learning how to stop thinking like slaves and become an independent people. The Israelites ultimately founded their nation on three elements: a shared narrative that instills empathy for the poor and the suffering, the uplifting rule of a moral law, and devotion to a higher common purpose. These elements, Kass argues, remain the essential principles for any freedom-loving nation today.

    But he’s unlike any other coach you know--in fact, he’s probably unlike any other person you know.Born with an extraordinarily rare condition called tetra-Amelia syndrome, Rob has no arms or legs. He moves with the assistance of a custom-made, motorized wheelchair that he operates with his back and shoulders.Many people look at Rob and see limitation, yet Rob sees opportunity: Opportunity to pursue his passion for football. Opportunity to change the way people perceive physical disability. Opportunity to serve as a role model for the hundreds of kids he’s coached over the years.Told with both humor and frankness, Who Says I Can’t? takes readers on Rob’s incredible journey, from his birth to loving parents who wanted to afford him every chance for happiness, to the emotional and physical hurdles he faced while seeking independence, to receiving the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPY Awards in 2019.Each day, Coach Rob rolls onto the field and shows his players that dreams are achievable when you show up, do the work, and believe in yourself. And after reading this book you, too, will believe that anything is possible.

    

    Maybe claiming the top prize will be her ticket to earning a livable income without holding down three jobs, including the pleasant but stagnant job of overseeing the kitchen staff at Blueberry Point Lodge. Her only problem is paying that hefty entry fee.As interim editor of the Lakeshore Weekly, Cam Beckett is sticking around long enough for his publisher to find someone else to fill the role. He has four weeks to plan a special supplement for the local food festival. His first task—interviewing Mila Warner who has charmed the local food scene—and him—with her custom picnics and sought-after pastries.When a mysterious benefactor steps forward to sponsor Mila, her dream is within reach. But the gift comes with a condition, one Mila isn’t sure she’s willing to meet, especially if the strings are attached to someone’s heart.

    She never heard from him again. Thirty-five years later and a famed actor at a crossroads in his career, he’s back in Huckleberry Falls, hoping to heal and make amends. Though a widow now, he learns that Linda moved on long ago and found love again. Walt never did. Seeing Linda makes him want to do more than be friends, but why would she trust a man who ditched her and disappeared without a word?Linda Jackson has everything she needs—great children and grandchildren who light up her life, and wonderful memories of over three decades with her late husband. But an old photograph of the lost love of her youth keeps popping up, reminding her of a time which nearly destroyed her.Then the man himself shows up as a guest at her married daughter’s home. Seeing Walt and learning the truth stirs something in Linda that she thought she’d never feel again. Does she dare give him a chance to break her heart a second time?A Huckleberry Falls Holiday RomanceHUCKLEBERRY FALLS ROMANCES* Merry and the Gentleman by Donna K. Weaver* Sleigh Ride with the Cowboy by Jen Peters* 12 Days of Christmas Chaos by Wendy Knight* Deck the Halls by Leah Sanders* Pinecones and Huckleberries by Emily Dashmore* A Christmas Waltz for Linda by Donna K. Weaver

    New friends and enemies. And a destiny that was exquisitely divine.If you were me, who would you choose?A beautiful Greek God who can only kiss you in the dark...or a cruel professor who shamelessly desires you?Murder and immortal secret societies. Greek gods and monsters in the dark. SMUT.Immerse yourself in a lush world of dark magic, Gothic manors, supernatural mysteries, and the sensual allure of Greek pantheons.MY EROS is the first book in the series. No cliffhangers.Theme: love triangle, bully romance, high school romance, steamy romance, professor student romance, Greek god romance, enemies to lovers romance, urban fantasy, paranormal mystery, paranormal romantic suspense

    Though forensic in detail, the novel eludes the trap of a single narrative—as important as this one is. Instead, Dina Greenberg performs the job of a skilled fiction writer, wielding her imagination to bring to life one woman’s healing journey with empathy and humanity. Zrinka Bralo, CEO, Migrants Organise

    A LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALISTA BOSTON GLOBE BEST BOOK OF 2021Booker Prize-shortlisted and New York Times bestselling author Paul Auster's comprehensive, landmark biography of the great American writer Stephen Crane.With Burning Boy, celebrated novelist Paul Auster tells the extraordinary story of Stephen Crane, best known as the author of The Red Badge of Courage, who transformed American literature through an avalanche of original short stories, novellas, poems, journalism, and war reportage before his life was cut short by tuberculosis at age twenty-eight.Auster’s probing account of this singular life tracks Crane as he rebounds from one perilous situation to the next: A controversial article written at twenty disrupts the course of the 1892 presidential campaign, a public battle with the New York police department over the false arrest of a prostitute effectively exiles him from the city, a star-crossed love affair with an unhappily married uptown girl tortures him, a common-law marriage to the proprietress of Jacksonville’s most elegant bawdyhouse endures, a shipwreck results in his near drowning, he withstands enemy fire to send dispatches from the Spanish-American War, and then he relocates to England, where Joseph Conrad becomes his closest friend and Henry James weeps over his tragic, early death.In Burning Boy, Auster not only puts forth an immersive read about an unforgettable life but also, casting a dazzled eye on Crane’s astonishing originality and productivity, provides uniquely knowing insight into Crane’s creative processes to produce the rarest of reading experiences—the dramatic biography of a brilliant writer as only another literary master could tell it.

    Now, Davis continues her non-fiction project with Essays Two.This edition will, for the first time, collect Lydia Davis's essays and talks on the art of translation, the experience of translating Proust, Flaubert and Michel Leiris, learning a foreign language through reading, and an extended immersion in the city of Arles.Davis, winner of the Man Booker International Prize for her fiction and finalist for the National Book Award, showcases her sharp literary mind and invaluable insight in this new collection of her nonfiction works.

    Where was Dr. Spock for the silver-haired set? In The Bubbe Diaries, Span picks up where Spock left off. She passes along the latest research on sleep, safety, and bonding; explores why mothers-in-law may have tension with daughters-in-law; and shows how baby boomers are finding their own way through grandparenting. Along the way she shares sweet (and funny) stories about helping to raise her own young granddaughter."Listening to The Bubbe Diaries is like sitting down with a friend and fellow grandmother, chatting candidly about what it means to be a grandparent, how the role evolves in each family (and why it's important to talk to the parents about everyone's expectations for that), trips to the playground, long child care days, playtime and virtual grandparenting, alongside more weighty matters like family estrangement and even death." –Julie Pfitzinger, Nextavenue.org

    But when Holly learns that the free clinic has lost official funding, she's determined to think creatively, even if it means turning to the Scroogiest doctor on staff, Jack Shay.The last thing Jack wants is to let Holly play online matchmaker for him as a fundraiser. Have the woman he's been in love with since medical school set him up with someone else? Hard pass.Except, he never has been able to tell her no.When Holly's fundraising and matchmaking plans go awry, she scrambles to fix it before she loses everything, but it seems her heart has plans of its own.Take My Heart is a heartwarming, swoony, holiday romance.**Previously titled One Great Christmas Love Story**

    but what's the point?Julie Riley is two years too young to get out from under her mother's thumb, and what does it matter? She's over-educated, under-employed, and kept mostly numb by her pharma emplant. Her best friend, who she's mostly been interacting with via virtual reality for the past decade, is part of the colony mission to Proxima Centauri. Plus, the world is coming to an end. So, there's that.When Julie's mother decides it's time to let go of the family home in a failing suburb and move to the city to be closer to work and her new beau, Julie decides to take matters into her own hands. She runs, illegally, hoping to find and hide with the Volksgeist, a loose-knit culture of tramps, hoboes, senior citizens, artists, and never-do-wells who have elected to ride out the end of the world in their campers and converted vans, constantly on the move over the back roads of America.

     Whether you want to make a weeknight meal more interesting or wow guests at your next get-together, Fabulous Food Boards! delivers with incredible presentation ideas that go beyond the classic charcuterie board. This over 200-page cookbook explores different themes and taste palettes on every spread. Food boards are amazingly versatile and are sure to have a little something for everyone at your table, even the most selective eaters. Through beautiful, full-color photographs and step-by-step assembly instructions, you'll be able to recreate the artful and unique arrangements of each food board.Fabulous Food Boards! offers arrangements for every occasion, including:Major holidaysEngagements and weddingsBirthdaysBaby showersSports gamesAnd more! Discover today’s top trending health and wellness topics with the Everyday Wellbeing series from Chartwell Books. From smart eating habits to personal growth advice, these engaging lifestyle guides give you the expert tips and life hacks you need to help you make good choices while practicing mindfulness and self-love. Whether you want to explore cooking with new ingredients like adaptogens and CBD, or make it a priority to incorporate self-care into your daily routine, these brightly colored take-along handbooks have the tools you need to succeed. Other titles in the series include: Adaptogens, The Celery Juice Cookbook, The CBD Handbook, The Complete Guide to Self-Care, The Air Fryer and Instant Pot Cookbook, The Witch's Complete Guide to Self Care, The Quick & Easy Air Fryer Cookbook, The Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammatory Foods, and The Plant-Based Cookbook.

    The interplanetary year is 2193. With the help of a massive inheritance, Cletus II of Luna, aspiring kapellmeister, has taken a job as a janitor in an infamous brain health clinic on Europa, ice world of entheogens and polysexual cyborgs, seeking inspiration and artistic actualization in the abjection to be gained from proximity to end-of-life patients. Cletus soon befriends Oskar, an aged paper architect who suffers from an endemic neurological disease, aka "french maids," which is contracted by those exposed to the bioluminescent blue-green algae native to the subsurface ocean. In a series of increasingly-disorienting psychotic episodes, Cletus attempts to ethically navigate the Zoroastrian sex politics of this kinky new world and learn to love more perfectly before going insane, not understanding that love is the madness madder than the rest.