Poet Be Like God


Lewis Ellingham - 1998
    He died in 1965 virtually unrecognized, yet in the following years his work and thought have attracted and intrigued an international audience. Now this comprehensive biography gives a pivotal poet his due. Based on interviews with scores of Spicer's contemporaries, Poet Be Like God details the most intimate aspects of Spicer's life-his family, his friends, his lovers-illuminating not only the man but also many of his poems. Such illumination extends also to the works of others whom Spicer came to know, including the writers Frank O'Hara, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Helen Adam, Robin Blaser, Charles Olson, Philip K. Dick, Richard Brautigan, and Marianne Moore and the painters Jess, Fran Herndon, and Jay DeFeo. The resulting narrative, an engaging chronicle of the San Francisco Renaissance and the emergence of the North Beach gay scene during the 50s and 60s, will be indispensable reading for students of American literature and gay studies.

Emily Dickinson: Poems and Letters


Emily Dickinson - 1961
    Except for a few journeys when she was young, Emily lived the life of a recluse in her father’s house, spending her days writing poems and letters.In 1862, she sent a few of her poems to a publisher. He replied that her work was too unusual, too different. This was her first and last attempt to reach the public ear. From then on, she bound her work in small hand-stitched collections that she kept in her bureau drawer. After Emily’s death in 1885, her sister discovered over a thousand poems hidden away in drawers and boxes.Although Emily’s experiences were limited, her poems are profound, often playful, contemplations of life, love, nature, time, and eternity. Each exhibits her extraordinary talent for combining startling imagery and unexpected rhymes. In addition to commentary and a selection of Dickinson’s letters, this audioproduction includes 75 of her most treasured poems.

Notes to Each Other


Hugh Prather - 1990
    Prather subtitled the book, "My struggle to become a person." It was the deeply felt record of his journey to a state of heightened self-knowledge and spiritual flowering. It became a perennial best-seller, and continues to enlighten, comfort, and amuse to this day.Notes to Each Other bravely explores the heart of a relationship that has lasted for 35 years—the relationship between Hugh and Gayle Prather. With remarkable candor, one couple traces the emotional route traveled to reach the coveted place where genuine communication, cooperation, and compassion dwell. First published 10 years ago, the book has here been updated and enlarged by the greater wisdom that comes with the experience of raising children and growing older together.Although drawn from two hearts, the book speaks with one voice, asking the questions all couples ask, from "Did I choose the right person?" to "How can you stand me?" Let it speak to you.

Dear Woman


Michael Reid - 2015
    If you were waiting on someone to give it to you, Dear Woman is here to inform you that you can give it to yourself. Every woman is a queen, especially you. Put your crown on and get ready to rule.Take a journey: No one has just one page in their life story. That's why Dear Woman has everything--quotes, letters, short stories, and poems to educate, motivate, encourage, and provide a little tough love. This open letter is just as multi-faceted and inspirational as you are.Want the best for yourself: Michael E. Read wrote this book because he wants nothing more than for you to be the best woman possible, regardless of circumstance. In Dear Woman, he encourages you to feel the same way. This is more than a self-help book, more than just relationship advice for women--though it does include both of those things. No, this inspirational open letter, full of poetry and wisdom, is life advice just for you.Do it for you: You are an amazing woman. Deep down, you know that. Dear Woman isn't here to tell you that you need to improve. Rather, it's here to tell you that you can be your true self--for yourself. This is the life advice you need, because you deserve to thrive for no other reason than the fact that you are a woman. Dear Woman was written in hopes of shedding a little light and love. Let it add some brightness to your life. After reading this book, you will:Love yourself whole-heartedlyKnow that you deserve the bestBe confident regardless of what life throws at you

John Prine Beyond Words


John Prine - 2017
    In this book, John Prine curates a selection of his best loved songs. Included are lyrics, guitar chords, commentary from John and over 100 photographs - may never before published - from his personal collection. John Prine has written songs that have become central to the American musical heritage. This former Maywood, Illinois mailman came to prominence with his debut record, 'John Prine' in 1971, which includes classics like, "Angel from Montgomery," "Sam Stone," "Paradise," and "Hello in There." His lyrics speak to the everyday experience of ordinary people, with a simple honesty and an extraordinary ability to connect with the heart.

3 Star Chef


Gordon Ramsay - 1988
    And the book itself, rather like its controversial author, represents something new in cookery books. Ramsay has, of course, made a reputation for himself not just for his considerable abilities as a chef, but as a short tempered martinet, tearing into his luckless students with expletive-filled rage. But that spleen is crucial to the man's philosophy (born out of a desire for perfection), and it is conveyed between the delicious-looking recipes presented here (cooking, as Ramsay forcibly reminds us, can't be made up as you go along -- you've got to work, work, work). The recipes themselves look absolutely amazing, such as pan-roasted fillet of John Dory with Cromer Crab, crushed new potatoes and a basil vinaigrette (and it should be noted that Quentin Bacon's beautiful photographs are a massive asset to the book, doing full justice to the visual appeal of the food). In deserts, too, the aspirational appeal here is impressive -- perhaps most of us would not be able to turn out (without trial and error) a raspberry, lemon and basil millefeuille with milk ice cream that looks quite as breathtaking as it does here, but Ramsay's book is calculated to inspire us. Perhaps reading Chef is the perfect way to help us try to cook like Gordon Ramsay; for most of us, a spell in his restaurant kitchen would mean blood on the floor -- here we can learn from his cookery genius without having to put up with the tirades. What more could any aspiring chef want? --Barry Forshaw

The Major Works


Percy Bysshe Shelley - 1822
    His tempestuous life and friendship with Byron, and his tragically early death, at times threatened to overwhelm his legacy as a poet, but today his standing as one of the foremost English authors is assured. This freshly edited collection - the fullest one-volume selection in English - includes all but one of the longer poems, from Queen Mab onwards, in their entirety. Only Laon and Cythna is excerpted, in a generous selection. As well as works such as Prometheus Unbound, The Mask of Anarchy, and Adonais, the volume includes a wide range of Shelley's shorter poems and much of his major prose, including A Defence of Poetry and almost all of A Philosophical View of Reform. Shelley emerges from these pages as a passionate and eloquent opponent of tyranny and a champion of human possibility.

The Numerology Guidebook: Uncover Your Destiny and the Blueprint of Your Life


Michelle Buchanan - 2013
    The Numerology Guidebook will uncover your destiny and life purpose, along with your future potential, in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Whether you’re looking to choose your ideal partner or career, a business or baby name, or your wedding day, numerologist Michelle Buchanan will show you how.      Numerology is the ultimate tool for self-love and understanding that will help you improve your relationships with others and yourself. If you’re interested in parenting or manifesting “by the numbers”—or you simply need help deciding whether to use your maiden or married name after marriage or divorce—this is the perfect book for you. It will teach you everything you need to know about forecasting major life events, such as when to get married (or end a relationship), have children, change jobs, move, focus on your finances, travel, study, or work on your personal and spiritual development. If you’re searching for a life of happiness and meaning, the ancient science of numbers will assist you on your journey!

Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes


Janiss GarzaLiz Mugavero - 2015
    once homeless cast-offs that were living on the streets or in the wild. Cats that people ignored, or worse, abused. But at some point, fate stepped in and changed the lives of these three cats and nine others. Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes contains the true-life stories of these cats—but each one is told through the feline’s own point of view. Human authors might have made these stories too saccharine and sentimental, but when they are viewed through the cats’ own eyes, they become funny, tragic, earthy and inspiring. This collection was carefully compiled and edited by Janiss Garza, renowned author and columnist for CatChannel.com.

The Royal Nanny


Karen Harper - 2016
    She is excited, exhausted—and about to meet royalty. . . .So begins the unforgettable story of Charlotte Bill, who would care for a generation of royals as their parents never could. Neither Charlotte—LaLa, as her charges dub her—nor anyone else can predict that eldest sons David and Bertie will each one day be king. LaLa knows only that these children, and the four who swiftly follow, need her steadfast loyalty and unconditional affection.But the greatest impact on Charlotte’s life is made by a mere bud on the family tree: a misunderstood soul who will one day be known as the Lost Prince. Young Prince John needs all of Lala’s love—the kind of love his parents won’t…or can’t…show him.From Britain’s old wealth to the glittering excesses of Tsarist Russia; from country cottages to royal yachts, and from nursery to ballroom, Charlotte Bill witnesses history. The Royal Nanny is a seamless blend of fact and fiction—an intensely intimate, yet epic tale spanning decades, continents, and divides that only love can cross.

A Book Of Bits Or A Bit Of A Book


Spike Milligan - 1965
    Poems, sketches, cartoons, short prose pieces and doctored photos.

Young Romantics: The Tangled Lives of English Poetry's Greatest Generation


Daisy Hay - 2010
    They included Lord Byron, John Keats, and Mary Shelley, as well as a host of fascinating lesser-known figures: Mary Shelley’s stepsister and Byron’s mistress, Claire Clairmont; Hunt’s botanist sister-in-law, Elizabeth Kent; the musician Vincent Novello; the painters Benjamin Haydon and Joseph Severn; and writers such as Charles and Mary Lamb, Thomas Love Peacock, and William Hazlitt. They were characterized by talent, idealism, and youthful ardor, and these qualities shaped and informed their politically oppositional stances—as did their chaotic family arrangements, which often left the young women, despite their talents, facing the consequences of the men’s philosophies.In Young Romantics, Daisy Hay follows the group’s exploits, from its inception in Hunt’s prison cell in 1813 to its disintegration after Shelley’s premature death in 1822. It is an enthralling tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and friendship, all of which were played out against a background of political turbulence and intense literary creativity.

The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem: From Baudelaire to Anne Carson


Jeremy Noel-Tod - 2018
    More and more writers are turning to this peculiarly rich and flexible form; it defines Claudia Rankine's Citizen, one of the most talked-about books of recent years, and many others, such as Sarah Howe's Loop of Jade and Vahni Capildeo's Measures of Expatriation, make extensive use of it. Yet this fertile mode which in its time has drawn the likes of Charles Baudelaire, Oscar Wilde, T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein and Seamus Heaney remains, for many contemporary readers, something of a mystery.The history of the prose poem is a long and fascinating one. Here, Jeremy Noel-Tod reconstructs it for us by selecting the essential pieces of writing - by turns luminous, brooding, lamentatory and comic - which have defined and developed the form at each stage, from its beginnings in nineteenth-century France, through the twentieth-century traditions of Britain and America and beyond the English language, to the great wealth of material written internationally since 2000. Comprehensively told, it yields one of the most original and genre-changing anthologies to be published for some years, and offers readers the chance to discover a diverse range of new poets and new kinds of poem, while also meeting famous names in an unfamiliar guise.

Sonnets from the Portuguese and Other Poems


Elizabeth Barrett Browning - 1954
    The marriage of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett has been well named "the most perfect example of wedded happiness in the history of literature - perfect in the inner life and perfect in its poetical expression."