Best of
Canon

1996

The Norton Anthology of African American Literature


Henry Louis Gates Jr. - 1996
    Now, the new Second Edition offers these highlights.This landmark anthology includes the work of 120 writers over two centuries, from the earliest known work by an African American, Lucy Terry's poem "Bars Fight, " to the fiction of the Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison and the poems of the U.S. Poet Laureate, Rita Dove.

Unintended Consequences


John Ross - 1996
    The story chronicles the history of the gun culture, gun rights, and gun control in the United States from the early 1900s through the late 1990s. Although clearly a work of fiction, the story is heavily laced with historical information, including real-life historical figures who play minor supporting roles. The novel also features unusually detailed and intricate facts, figures and explanations of many firearms-related topics. The cover has a picture of Lady Justice being assaulted by an ATF agent. The book was listed by The New York Times' Sunday Book Review as one of the most sought after out-of-print books of 2013.

Red Meat: A Collection of Red Meat Cartoons From the Secret Files of Max Cannon


Max Cannon - 1996
    The official "Red Meat" Web site averages 30,000 page views a week. This collection offers readers a peek at the strip that's caused all the commotion.

The Ultimate Medicine: Dialogues with a Realized Master


Nisargadatta Maharaj - 1996
    Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897-1981) lived and taught in a small apartment in the slums of Bombay. A realized master of the Tantric Nath lineage, he supported himself and his family by selling cheap goods in a small booth on the streets outside his tenement for many years. His life exemplified the concept of absolute nonduality of being. In this volume, Maharaj shares the highest truth of nonduality in his own unique way. His teaching style is abrupt, provocative, and immensely profound, cutting to the core and wasting little effort on inessentials. His terse but potent sayings are known for their ability to trigger shifts in consciousness, just by hearing or reading them."The point is that man freed from his fetters is morality personified. Such a man therefore does not need any moralistic injunctions in order to live righteously. Free a man from his bondage and thereafter everything else will take care of itself. On the other hand, man in his unredeemed state cannot possibly live morally, no matter what moral teaching he is given. It is an intrinsic impossibility, for his very foundation is immorality. That is, he lives a lie, a basic contradiction: functioning in all his relationships as the separate entity he believes himself to be, whereas in reality no such separation exists. His every action therefore does violence to other 'selves' and other 'creatures,' which are only manifestations of the unitary consciousness. So Society had to invent some restraints in order to protect itself from its own worst excesses and thereby maintain some kind of status quo. The resulting arbitrary rules, which vary with place and time and therefore are purely relative, it calls 'morality,' and by upholding this man-invented 'idea' as the highest good–oftentimes sanctioned by religious 'revelation' and scriptures–society has provided man with one more excuse to disregard the quest for liberation or relegate it to a fairly low priority in his scheme of things."

Betty Crocker's New Cookbook


Betty Crocker - 1996
    New in this edition: -- All new design, including two-color text-- Recipes with numbered steps for easy use-- Preparation and cooking times with each recipe-- Lighter versions of favorite recipes-- Timesaving tips to make recipes even quicker-- 200 all-new color photographs-- All-new line art to make learning techniques easy-- Complete nutrition information with each recipe, including percentage of calories from fat-- Back cover of the book shows sample pages of the interior, so you can see the design even though it is shrink-wrappedPeople really rely on Betty Crocker, and all the information they have come to expect is here, revised to be up-to-the-minute.-- Over 900 recipes, from how to make coffee to rolling a fajita-- Recipes that call for readily available ingredients-- Definitions of cooking terms-- Microwave basics and tips-- The best -- and easiest -- way to cook anything, from oysters to apple pie to spaghetti squash-- Photographs to help identify foods, such as types of mushrooms and pasta-- Step-by-step photographs illustrating cooking techniques-- Complete roasting, broiling and microwaving charts for meat and poultry-- Trouble-shooting guides for successful baking-- Food safety facts-- High altitude cooking informationTrust Betty Crocker to make cooking easy, fun, and up-to-the-minute!

The E.L. Konigsburg Collection


E.L. Konigsburg - 1996
    Basil E. Frankweiler: Having run away with her younger brother to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, twelve-year-old Claudia strives to keep things in order in their new home and to become a changed person and a heroine to herself.Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth:Two fifth-grade girls, one of whom is the first black child in a middle-income suburb, play at being apprentice witches.The View from Saturday:Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

The Upanishads


Sri Aurobindo - 1996
    Upanishads are the ancient treatises on spiritual truths as envisioned by the seers, sages and rishis of the civilization of India. Index.

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development


Brooks D. Kubik - 1996
    

Fushigi Yugi: Animation World, Part 2


Yuu Watase - 1996
    Art book of character illustrations and a foldout poster

Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre #1


Wing Shing Ma - 1996
    Walking a fine line between good and supposed evil, Wuji must defeat the enemy but not injure anyone.

Rapid Eye 1


Simon DwyerKathy Acker - 1996
    Hacking into the new virtual geography, where time & space do not exist, but where thought survives, as in art. In this age of transition & sensory overload, new ideas & organisations of perception form to be marginalised, misunderstood, ignored, reviled. But melancholy can fuel creation. Imagination can replace fantasy. Hope can overcome fear. Different interpretations of the past & fresh approaches to art & technology can ensure the evolution & refinement of the perception of everyday life. In the virtual universe, there is no death.

High Lonesome


Barry Hannah - 1996
    This collection by the author of Airships and Bats Out of Hell explores lost moments in time with intensity, emotion, and an eye to the past. In "Uncle High Lonesome," a young man recalls his Uncle Peter, whose even temper was marred only by his drinking binges, which would unleash moments of rage hinting at his much deeper distress. Fishing is transformed into a life-altering, almost mystical event in "A Creature in the Bay of St. Louis," when a huge fish caught on a line threatens to pull a young boy, and his entire world with him, underwater and out to sea. And in "Snerd and Niggero," a deep friendship between two men is inspired by the loss of a woman they both loved, a woman who was mistress to one and wife to the other. Viewed through memory and time's distance, Hannah's characters are brightly illuminated figures from a lost time, whose occassionally bleak lives are still uncommonly true.

Complete Stories 1898–1910


Henry James - 1996
    The rest is the madness of art.” These words, spoken by a dying novelist in “The Middle Years,” sum up Henry James’s credo as a writer. In more than one hundred stories, ranging from brief anecdotes to richly developed novellas, James displayed the unwavering intensity of his aesthetic vision—and he did so with an astonishing variety of invention. The Library of America makes this body of writing available in its entirety in a new, authoritative edition of James’s world-famous stories, complete in five volumes.The thirty-one stories presented here are the culmination of James’s glorious final period. Among them are the extraordinary fantasies “The Great Good Place” and “The Jolly Corner,” in which supernatural motifs are used hauntingly to express undercurrents of yearning and dislocation; “Julia Bride,” a character portrait akin to “Daisy Miller,” in which a young American woman experiences the social pleasures and vicissitudes of the marriage market; “Crapy Cornelia,” a story whose sense of the compelling power of nostalgic memory owes much to James’s 1904 return visit to New York City; “The Birthplace,” a comic tale about the commercialization of genius that has lost none of its satiric edge; “The Tree of Knowledge,” a sly dissection of the family life of a pampered sculptor; “The Beast in the Jungle,” one of James’s masterpieces, the harrowing account of a man’s confrontation with his own lost opportunities that has been seen as foreshadowing many of the dominant themes of 20th-century literature; and “A Round of Visits,” James’s last story, about the need to confide and the limits of sympathy.

Not Her Real Name and Other Stories


Emily Perkins - 1996
    There's "Let's Go," the story of a young couple's apathetic wanderings on a trip to discover the real Prague; "You Can Hear the Boats Go By," the story of ex-lovers who cope with their chance meeting in a supermarket in the most childish way; and "Barking," the mad rant of a drama student pissed off by Clown class. Not Her Real Name presents an essential guide to postmodern romance, to the vagaries of city life, and to a chronically self-absorbed generation whose love affairs are never as good as the last movies they've seen.

Tai Chi Theory and Martial Power: Advanced Yang Style Tai Chi Chaun


Yang Jwing-Ming - 1996
    This book is written especially for those who have learned the form, begun Pushing Hands, and now want to develop and refine their Tai Chi skills.Tai Chi Theory & Martial Power focuses on the martial essence of Tai Chi Chuan, an aspect many other books ignore. This book explores in depth the subject of Jing (internal martial power), general Tai Chi theory, and the application of Chi in the Tai Chi form. Because Jing training is essential to martial Tai Chi, this work is a valuable reference that no serious practitioner should be without.A comprehensive training plan for Jing (power) development.Understand the difference between true Jing (internal power) and Li (muscular power).Learn how to accumulate Chi and Jing in the Tai Chi postures.Discover the essential role your mind plays in Tai Chi and Jing practice.Includes a special selection of Tai Chi poems (the place the ancient masters hid their theory), translated and with commentary by Dr. Yang.

Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications: Advanced Yang Style


Yang Jwing-Ming - 1996
    When you study the martial side of tai chi, you can become proficient in a variety of high-level skills, including sensing, neutralizing, yielding, striking, chin na, and even throwing.If you know a tai chi form, you are going to discover the essence of your movements by becoming aware of their martial applications.If you are practicing tai chi pushing hands, you will greatly improve your skills with this understanding of martial applications.If you are ready, you are going to love the amazing tai chi fighting set. This fully choreographed set (requires a partner) will combine all your tai chi skills into one 5-minute routine.This book includes • Martial applications for the Yang-style long form • Martial applications for Yang-style tai chi pushing hands • The complete Yang-style tai chi fighting setFor any style of tai chi chuan, this book will be important for practitioners who wish to develop a deeper understanding and advanced skills. • Learn how to analyze the forms and defense applications in your tai chi, gaining higher-level knowledge of your style. • Discover the martial applications of Yang style. These insights will give you greater understanding of your own art. • Find inspiration. Master Yang, Jwing-Ming's writing will inspire you to investigate the martial applications of your tai chi style.

Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain


Penelope Casas - 1996
    Over 400 recipes. of color photos.

The Crisis of Western Philosophy: Against Positivism


Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov - 1996
    In it, he undertakes a stunning critique of positivism, by which he understands the entire philosophy of Western rationalism, which he sees as setting up a conflict between reason and faith, and reason and nature. In the modern period, he finds abundant evidence for reason's war against nature in Western philosophy from Descartes to Hegel. "Positivism," the leading philosophy in his time, Solovyov also finds repugnant. In its place, he proposes his great theme of total unity--which was to become the dominant theme in Russian philosophy. This is the work that launched Russian religious philosophy and is a must for anyone interested in the subject. From the Esalen-Lindisfarne Library of Russian Philosophy.

Michael Collins: Screenplay and Film Diary


Neil Jordan - 1996
    In addition to Neil Jordan's complete screenplay for Michael Collins, this book includes the writer-director's personal journal of the making of the movie from its initial conception through its development, on-the-set-shooting and first triumphal screening.

Command or Control?: Command, Training and Tactics in the British and German Armies, 1888-1918


Mart Samuels - 1996
    Taking issue with revisionist historians, Samuels argues that German success in battle can be explained by their superior tactical philosophy. The book provides a fascinating insight into the development of infantry tactics at a seminal point in the history of warfare.

A Guide to Weather


William James Burroughs - 1996
    What caused that beautiful cloud formation? What triggered that late-evening storm? Whatever your interests - nature, aviation, sailing, hiking - Weather will help you recognize and interpret weather signs each day, and enhance your knowledge of the natural world. When the wind blows, that is my medicine When it rains, that is my medicine When it hails, that is my medicine When it becomes clear after a storm, that is my medicine.

New Stories from the South 1996: The Year's Best


Shannon Ravenel - 1996
    D. Dolan, Ellen Douglas, Kathy Flann, Tim Gautreaux, David Gilbert, Marica Guthridge, Jill McCorkle, Robert Morgan, Tom Paine, Susan Perabo, Annette Sanford, and Lee Smith.

Africa: The Art of a Continent


Tom Philips - 1996
    Ranging from the oldest known human artifact, circa 1.6 million BC, to pieces made within living memory, the objects collected in this extraordinary volume reflect a continent of enormous cultural and historical scope. Arranged chronologically within seven geographical sections, it offers an astonishing array of sculptures in wood, bronze, stone, and gold, as well as rock paintings, ceremonial pieces, ceramics, jewelry, and textiles culled from private and public collections around the world. Commentary by renowned scholars illuminates the cultural and historical significance of these pieces, and in-depth authoritative texts highlight critical aspects of each region. Together these words and images take readers on an artistic grand tour through a continent of unparalleled diversity, and towards the thrilling discovery of not one Africa, but many.

Flickers of the Dream Machine: The Definitive Headbook


Paul CecilIan Sommerville - 1996
    I was invited by Simon Strong of Codex to gather together a series of articles, poetry, extracts and photos related to the design, influence and use of the Dreamachine. Contributors included long-time Gysin collaborators such as Ira Cohen, Anne Nordmann, Terry Wilson and Genesis P-Orridge, alongside a new generation of writers: Ian MacFadyen, Joe Ambrose, Simon Strong and Chris Riding. I contributed two pieces. To complete the book we included Gysin's original essay on the Dreamachine alongside Ian Sommerville's piece on flicker, plus lengthy extracts from W Grey Walter's The Living Brain (the book that inspired Gysin and Sommerville to build a dreamachine in the first place).

Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss


Richard Ellis - 1996
    Subsequent expeditions have unveiled a mind-boggling menagerie of deep-sea fauna with which we are still only marginally acquainted. Richard Ellis recounts the stories of the exploration of the deep sea and brings us face-to-face with these unexpected efflorescences of evolution.