Using personal research and observations, Houdini reveals the cunning techniques employed by fire-eaters, sword swallowers, and other masters of deception to mystify and amaze audiences around the world. This classic skeptical work explores and exposes the methods of such "wonders" as "The Incombustible Spaniard," "Defiers of Poisonous Reptiles," and many others. Originally published in the 1920s, Miracle Mongers and Their Methods scrupulously examines the direct predecessors of modern psychics and mentalists."My professional life has been a constant record of disillusion," writes Houdini in his preface, "and many things that seem wonderful to most men are the everyday commonplace in my business. But I have never been without some seeming marvel to pique my curiousity and challenge my investigation. In this book I have set down some of the stories of strange folk and unusual performers that I have gathered in many years of such research."The greatest magician of his time, Houdini baffled experts and amateurs alike with his sensational and dangerous feats. Houdini attained worldwide fame during his lifetime for his daring escapes from strait-jackets, jails, underwater chambers, and a variety of "escape-proof" devices. Throughout his career, Houdini insisted that all of his feats could be rationally explained and boldly exposed the methods of those claiming supernatural powers.The ever present fascination with psychics and miracle mongers makes this book as timely as when it was originally written.

    It's not about how much students do. It's about how they spend that time. A long overdue look inside the practice room - what works, what doesn't and why, from the founder of and chief writer for PracticeSpot.com, the world's largest website for music teachers and students.

    This definitive collection brings together the entire catalogue of lyrics by Bob Dylan, one of the most legendary songwriters in history. From his early protest songs, like "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a Changing" to his revolutionary "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Like a Rolling Stone," Dylan's music has entertained and inspired generations and influenced such artists as John Lennon, Paul Simon, and Neil Young. This is the ultimate volume for any Dylan fan, containing the entire Dylan canon, a wide array of original album art, and in-depth commentary and annotations from literary critic and acclaimed Dylan expert Christopher Ricks. "The Complete Annotated Lyrics" marks a major publishing event, perfect for Dylan devotees of course, but also a unique gift for anyone interested in poetry or visually stunning books.

    You'll find quintessential American favorites that taste every bit as good as the traditional "full-tilt" versions: macaroni and cheese, rosemary buttermilk biscuits, chocolate malted pudding. You'll find Italian polentas, risottos, focaccias, and pastas, all reinvented without the loss of a single drop of deliciousness. Asian flavors shine through in cold sesame noodles; mussels with lemongrass, ginger, and chiles; and curry-crusted shrimp. Even French food is no longer on the forbidden list, with country-style pâtés and cassoulet.Hundreds of techniques, radical in their ultimate simplicty, make all the difference in the world: using chestnut puree in place of cream, butter, and pork fat in a duck liver mousse; extending the richness of flavored oils by boiling them with a little broth to dress starchy beans and grains; casserole-roasting baby back ribs to render them of fat, then lacquering them with a pungent maple glaze.Scores of flavor catalysts—quickly made sauces, rubs, marinades, essences, and vinaigrettes—add instant hits of flavor with little effort. Leek broth dresses pasta; chive oil becomes an instant sauce for broiled salmon; a smoky tea essence imparts a sweet, grilled flavor to steak; balsamic vinegar turns into a luscious dessert sauce. Variations and improvisations offer infiinite flexibility. Once you learn a basic recipe, it's simple to devise your own version for any part of the meal. "Fried" artichockes with crispy garlic and sage can be an hors d-oeuvre topped with shaved cheeses, part of a composed salad, or as a main course when tossed iwth pasta. It's equally happy on top of pizza or stirred into risotto. And by building dishes from simple elements, turning out complex meals doesn't have to be a complex affair.A wealth of tips and practical information to make you a more accomplished and self-confident cook: how to rescue ordinary olive oil to give it more flavor, how to make soups creamy without cream, how to freshen less-than-perfect fish.So here it is, 756 glorious pages of all the deliciousness and joy that food is meant to convey.

    The 24 page full-colour introduction includes stunning photography of the country''s many highlights. The guide has comprehensive accounts of every attraction, from fast-paced Delhi and the sacred sites of the Ganges plain to the Moghul splendour of Agra and the shell-sand beaches of the south. There is also practical advice on activities as diverse as boating through the Keralan backwaters, hiking through the high-altitude deserts of Ladakh or treatments at an ayurvedic spa. The listings sections provide hundreds of insider reviews of the best hotels, hostels, restaurants, bars, shops and museums in every city and village. The authors also give an informed insight into India''s history, politics, religion, music and cinema, providing a valuable context to the reader''s trip.

    It is at once the voicing of her exacting standards for herself and those she teaches, and an explanation of the means to the end. For those unable to avail themselves of her personal tutelage, her book is the best substitute." --Publishers Weekly "Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting is not only pitched on a high artistic level but it is full of homely, practical information by a superb craftswoman. crafts-woman. An illuminating discussion of the standards and techniques of enlightened stage acting." --Brooks Atkinson"Hagen adds to the large corpus of titles on acting with vivid dicta drawn from experience, skill, and a sense of personal and professional worth. Her principal asset in this treatment is her truly significant imagination. Her 'object exercises' display a wealth of detail with which to stimulate the student preparing a scene for presentation." --Library Journal"Respect for Acting is a simple, lucid and sympathetic statement of actors' problems in the theatre and basic tenets for their training wrought from the personal experience of a fine actress and teacher of acting." --Harold Clurman"Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting...is a relatively small book. But within it Miss Hagen tells the young actor about as much as can be conveyed in print of his craft." --Los Angeles Times"Uta Hagen is our greatest living actor; she is, moreover, interested and mystified by the presence of talent and its workings; her third gift is a passion to communicate the mysteries of the craft to which she has given her life. There are almost no American actors uninfluenced by her." --Fritz Weaver"This is a textbook for aspiring actors, but working thespians can profit much by it. Anyone with just a casual interest in the theater should also enjoy its behind-the-scenes flavor. Respect for Acting is certainly a special book, perhaps for a limited readership, but of its "How-To" kind I'd give it four curtain calls, and two hollers of "Author, Author --King Features Syndicate

    Nor will it tell you how to market your stories. But it will take you through the problems facing any fiction writer and how some of the best writers in English have solved them. The chapters are clear and comprehensive: Finding Your Own Stories; One Good Sentence After Another; Setting; Character; Plot; The Architecture of Story; Point of View and Voice; Metaphors, Symbols and Allusions; Revising.As an award-winning novelist and short-story writer Jack Hodgins is uniquely qualified to preach what he practices. As a trained teacher, he has been giving creating writing lessons for more than forty years, at high schools and universities and to writers' summer schools. With its scores of examples of first-class writing this lively, truly fascinating book will almost certainly make you a better writer; it is guaranteed to make you a better reader.

    Originally, the role of the Ninja was to gain information about the enemy and to sabotage his operations. Over the centuries the sect (which might be called the original Fifth Column) perfected the art of boring from within. The Ninja long ago perfected the art and techniques of covert entry, especially designed to infiltrate enemy territory in wartime.

    After a year of courtship, Katie is ready to settle down and start her life as an Amish wife, but Zach finds himself longing for a wider world than his childhood home of Faith's Landing. Caught between love and possibility, societal expectations and the temptations of the flesh, will Zach and Katie's love be strong enough to survive the oncoming storm? This is Book 3 of 3 of the A Lancaster Amish Storm (Amish Faith Through Fire) serial. IF YOU LOVE CHRISTIAN BOOKS, SCROLL UP AND GRAB YOUR COPY NOW!

    Such background knowledge will help you understand why couponing works for not only couponers but also the stores that accept them. You'll feel confident going into the store for your first real deal because of the well-rounded knowledge, couponing advice as well as the online coupon tips you will receive from Couponing for the Beginner: A Guide to Couponing for the Uninitiated. The sensible approach in Couponing for the Beginner: A Guide to Couponing for the Uninitiated will help you shop for free for some of your favorite items at some of your favorite stores like CVS, Rite Aid, Target, and Walgreens. You'll also learn how to find the best savings on items you use every day in your home - learn how to combine them with store sales and promotions, store rewards/loyalty programs, rebates and more.All you have to do is follow Dean's step-by-step guide that teaches you how to get stuff for free and you'll be shopping for free in no time. In fact, you'll be wondering why you didn't shop like this sooner!

    Sandra brings her Semi-Homemade cooking approach of 70 percent store-bought, 30 percent homemade to create super-quick meals in 20-minutes or less--from start to finish. Irresistible recipes for main dishes, sides, appetizers, desserts and more are included along with a foolproof list of at-the-ready convenience foods to make dinners in a dash.

    Designed as a field textbook for the NOLS wilderness first aid curriculum, it helps train outdoor leaders to prevent, recognize, and treat common medical problems and to stabilize a severely ill or injured patient for evacuation. A vital resource for outdoor enthusiasts, this book covers fundamental topics in first aid--patient assessment, shock, soft tissue injury, burns, fractures and dislocations, and chest, head, and abdominal injury. It explains how to handle environmental problems posed by heat, cold, water, altitude, and poisonous plants and animals. Also discussed are issues related to expedition medicine as well as leadership, teamwork, and communication for rescue groups. While risk can be minimized through good judgment, skills, and experience, being prepared for emergencies in the wild is an essential component of good outdoor leadership.

    The Hal Leonard Guitar Method is designed for anyone just learning to play acoustic or electric guitar. It is based on years of teaching guitar students of all ages, and it also reflects some of the best guitar teaching ideas from around the world. Book 1 includes tuning; playing position; musical symbols; notes in first position; C, G, G7, D, D7, A7, and Em chords; rhythms through eighth notes; strumming and picking; over 80 great songs, riffs, and examples.

    The sense of private mystery that fills these photographs--mostly taken during Koudelka's many years of wandering through Europe and Great Britain since leaving his native Czechoslovakia in 1968--speaks of passion and reserve, of his rage to see. Solitary, moving, deeply felt and strangely disturbing, the images in Exiles suggest alienation, disconnection and love. Exiles evokes some of the most compelling and troubling themes of the twentieth century, while resonating with equal force in this current moment of profound migrations and transience.Josef Koudelka (born 1938) has published ten books of photographs, many of which focus on the relationship between man and the landscape, including Gypsies (1975; revised and enlarged edition in 2011), Exiles (1988), Black Triangle (1994), Invasion 68: Prague (2008) and Wall (2013). Significant exhibitions of his work have been held at The Museum of Modern Art and the International Center of Photography, both in New York; Hayward Gallery, London; and Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Koudelka is the recipient of the Medal of Merit awarded by the Czech Republic (2002) and numerous other awards. In 2012, he was named Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. He is based in Paris and Prague.

    He was an authority on rock & roll, blues, jazz, punk, avant-garde, and world music -- often discovering new artists and trends years (even decades) before they hit the mainstream. Now, noted music writer Anthony DeCurtis has compiled the best pieces from Palmer's oeuvre and presents them here, in one compelling volume.A member of the elite group of the defining rock critics who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, Palmer possessed a vision so complete that, as DeCurtis writes, "it's almost as if, if you read Bob, you didn't need to read anyone else." Blues & Chaos features some of his most memorable pieces, including gripping stories about John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Moroccan trance music, Miles Davis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Philip Glass, and Muddy Waters.Wonderfully entertaining, infused with passion, and deeply inspiring, Blues & Chaos is a must for music fans everywhere.Flirtations with chaos / by Anthony DeCurtis --The big picture : "The opinions expressed are dangerously subjective." --The blues : "A post-Heisenberg-uncertainty-principle mojo hand" --Jazz : "A kinetic kaleidoscope" --The originators : "Where the hell did this man come from?" --Soul and R&B : "It had to come from somewhere, and the church is where it all came from" --Classic rock : "Musically, we weren't afraid to go in any direction whatsoever" --John Lennon and Yoko Ono : "Now the music's coming through me again" --Punk rock and beyond : "Fear and nothing" --World music : "The world is changing and so is our music" --Morocco : "We fell through each other, weightless, into the sky" --On the edge : "Listen, as if a new world had suddenly opened up" --Sonic guitar maelstrom : "All hail the overdriven amp."