Yankee Doodle called his feathered cap "Macaroni."

    From Spenser's The Fairie Queene to Wells's The Time Machine to Murakami's 1Q84 it explores the timeless and captivating features of fiction's imagined worlds including the relevance of the writer's own life to the creation of the story, influential contemporary events and philosophies, and the meaning that can be extracted from the details of the work. With hundreds of pieces of original artwork, illustration and cartography, as well as a detailed overview of the plot and a "Dramatis Personae" for each work, Literary Wonderlands is a fascinating read for lovers of literature, fantasy, and science fiction.

    Ancient Angkor embodies the fruits of their collaboration and experience.

    What did they have in common? For a while they were crowned in gold, cosseted in silk, and flattered by courtiers. But in the end, they spent long nights in dark prison towers and were marched to the scaffold where they surrendered their heads to the executioner. And they are hardly alone in their undignified demises. Throughout history, royal women have had a distressing way of meeting bad ends—dying of starvation, being burned at the stake, or expiring in childbirth while trying desperately to produce an heir. They always had to be on their toes and all too often even devious plotting, miraculous pregnancies, and selling out their sisters was not enough to keep them from forcible consignment to religious orders. From Cleopatra (suicide by asp), to Princess Caroline (suspiciously poisoned on her coronation day), there's a gory downside to being blue-blooded when you lack a Y chromosome.Kris Waldherr's elegant little book is a chronicle of the trials and tribulations of queens across the ages, a quirky, funny, utterly macabre tribute to the dark side of female empowerment. Over the course of fifty irresistibly illustrated and too-brief lives, Doomed Queens charts centuries of regal backstabbing and intrigue. We meet well-known figures like Catherine of Aragon, whose happy marriage to Henry VIII ended prematurely when it became clear that she was a starter wife—the first of six. And we meet forgotten queens like Amalasuntha, the notoriously literate Ostrogoth princess who overreached politically and was strangled in her bath. While their ends were bleak, these queens did not die without purpose. Their unfortunate lives are colorful cautionary tales for today's would-be power brokers—a legacy of worldly and womanly wisdom gathered one spectacular regal ruin at a time.

    Amber orbs in formation. It was a massive triangular array of lights moving silently but in unison as though they were connected. Many people throughout Phoenix and across the state of Arizona saw them.Optical illusion? Unlikely. Military aircraft? That's what the U.S. government wanted her to think. UFOs? That's what her evidence and subsequent years of careful research, interviews, and documentation, including photographic proof, strongly suggest. The result is The Phoenix Lights, a sober, well-researched account, both personal and scientific, of the story behind the lights, of the theories and cover-ups, the facts and denials that surrounded this event.Kitei, a well-respected Phoenix physician, had always thought of herself as grounded and practical, not one to be taken up with new age interests. But her firsthand experience and the undeniable reality of the photographs she took changed all that. She found herself a key insider in a complex mystery that has baffled humanity for centuries. What are UFOs? Who are the beings presumed to fly them? What do they want? How does it change your life to see one?The answers to these questions and more are found in The Phoenix Lights. Over the years since the sightings, she's become an ardent, tireless researcher into the truth of the Phoenix Lights and an advocate for public disclosure by the government about the subject of unexplained phenomena.

    100 of the most spine-tingling ghost stories collected from USA WEEKEND readers across America.

    Vollmann, S.E. Hinton, Dave Eggers, Myla Goldberg, Rick Moody, and Alexander Payne.  Inspired by the Depression-era WPA guides and awarded an “A” grade by Entertainment Weekly, these delightful essays on the American character deliver “the full plumage of American life, in all its riotous glory” (The New Yorker).

    With comprehensive entries that outline each character’s name, roles, related symbols, and foundational myths, you can get to know the roots of these personas and better understand the stories they inspire today. With this character-focused, handy reference, you will never be confused about Ancient Greece!

    These rare King works are looked at in chronological order, beginning with some of the earliest works by King that are still extant, including the 1956 story "Jhonathan and the Witches", and the legendary 1960 typescript collection, People, Places, and Things. The Lost Work of Stephen King continues through his entire life, highlighting King's fascinating creations in addition to the many novels, short stories, and movies for which he is so well known.Looking at these uncommon works in chronological order allows a parallel look at King's life and times -- a comprehensive biographical thread that weaves its way through a forty-year span. Each section begins with an insightful biographical essay chronicling King's life at the time each "lost work" was written.In addition to comprehensive coverage of the nearly unknown Stephen King writings, the book includes a detailed bibliography and filmography focusing on King's readily available, mainstream work, thus providing the reader with one-stop shopping for all their grisly Stephen King needs!Written by one of the world's leading Stephen King experts, The Lost Work of Stephen King will enable fans to fill in the gaps between King's major writings and become experts themselves on the King ofHorror.

    Described as a large, hairy man-like creature, it’s said to haunt the vast Sulphur River Bottoms as it travels the secluded waterway known as Boggy Creek.Over the years, the creature has been seen by numerous witnesses including respected citizens, experienced hunters, famous musicians, and even a police officer. The encounters were often so shocking, they served as inspiration for the classic horror film, The Legend of Boggy Creek, by Charles B. Pierce.Tales of the creature have long existed in scattered pieces across news clippings, memoirs, police reports, and movies, but it is only now that the complete history of the Fouke Monster has been assembled in one place. This book collects all the facts, theories, and amazing sighting reports, and weaves them into a fascinating tale about this undeniable southern mystery, one that lives on, as frightening encounters with the Beast of Boggy Creek are still being reported today!

    Their narratives, themes, and characters address and provide answers to eternal questions: where do we come from, how do we live, what do we believe in? This fascinating book explores the major myths and legends across the world, from Classical mythology to Eastern beliefs, and from American legends to African folk tales. The stories are retold in compelling detail, while key aspects of each myth are considered: their meaning, purpose, and power; the main characters; and their importance to modern culture.Special illustrations and photographs combine with informative text, family trees, and a focus on themes such as creation, death, and the afterlife. From Gilgamesh to Quetzalcoatl, Heracles to Pan Gu, Myths and Legends provides a full and captivating reference guide to the worlds of mythical beings, mortal heroes, and immortal gods.

    It includes plenty of tips on bridging the cultural gap. It covers various Ethiopia's national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

    Spanning decades and continents, subjects range from the opulent Hope Diamond to the humble Busy Stoop chair.They're lurking in museums, graveyards, and private homes around the world. Their stories have inspired countless horror movies, reality TV shows, campfire tales, books, and even chain emails. They're cursed objects, and in order to unleash a wave of misfortune, all they need...is you. As a culture, we can't seem to get enough of cursed objects. But never before have the true stories of these infamous real-life items been compiled into a fascinating and chilling volume.Entries include: • Annabelle the Doll, a Raggedy Ann doll which inspired the acclaimed horror franchise The Conjuring • The Tomb of Tutankhamen, the discovery of which kicked-started media hysteria over a rumored "Curse of the Pharaohs" • The Ring of Silvianus, a Roman artifact believed to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit • The Hope Diamond, which was owned by kings and inspired the Heart of the Ocean in James Cameron's Titanic • The Dybbuk Box, which was sold on eBay and inspired the horror film The PossessionWhether you believe in curses or not, the often tragic and always bizarre stories behind these objects will fascinate you. Many of them have intersected with some of the most notable events and people in history. But beyond Hollywood and beyond the hysteria, author J. W. Ocker suggests that cursed objects are simply objects which have been witness to great human tragedy, and thereafter operate as mechanisms for remembering and retelling those stories. Cursed Objects will be equally appealing to true believers as well as history buffs, horror fans, and anyone who loves a good spine-tingling tale.

    Michener’s monumental saga chronicles the epic history of Texas, from its Spanish roots in the age of the conquistadors to its current reputation as one of America’s most affluent, diverse, and provocative states. Among his finely drawn cast of characters, emotional and political alliances are made and broken, as the loyalties established over the course of each turbulent age inevitably collapse under the weight of wealth and industry. With Michener as our guide, Texas is a tale of patriotism and statesmanship, growth and development, violence and betrayal—a stunning achievement by a literary master.  Praise for Texas   “Fascinating.”—Time   “A book about oil and water, rangers and outlaws, frontier and settlement, money and power . . . [James A. Michener] manages to make history vivid.”—The Boston Globe   “A sweeping panorama . . . [Michener] grapples earnestly with the Texas character in a way that Texas’s own writers often don’t.”—The Washington Post Book World  “Vast, sprawling, and eclectic in population and geography, the state has just the sort of larger-than-life history that lends itself to Mr. Michener’s taste for multigenerational epics.”—The New York Times

    The book provides not only amusement, but a commentary on how America has changed, and a celebration of those places that have been forgotten by conventional history.