The Revolution of Everyday Life


Raoul Vaneigem - 1967
    Published in early 1968, it both kindled and colored the May 1968 upheavals in France, which captured the attention of the world. Naming and defining the alienating features of everyday life in consumer society: survival rather than living in full, the call to sacrifice, the cultivation of false needs, the dictatorship of the commodity, subjection to social roles, and the replacement of God by the economy, the book argues that the countervailing impulses that exist within deep alienation - creativity, spontaneity, poetry present an authentic alternative to nilhilistic consumerism. This carefully edited new translation marks the first North American publication of this important work and includes a new preface by the author.

The Meaning of Marxism


Paul D'Amato - 2006
    It’s a knockout.”—Dave Zirin, author of What’s My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United StatesIn this lively and accessible introduction to the ideas of Karl Marx, with historical and contemporary examples, D’Amato argues that Marx’s ideas of globalization, oppression, and social change are more important than ever.Paul D’Amato is the associate editor of the International Socialist Review. His writing has appeared in CounterPunch, Socialist Worker, and SelvesandOthers.org. He is an activist based in Chicago.

Merrily Ever After


P. Jameson - 2019
    After nine long years of trying to grow their family into the perfect dream come true, fated mates, Ryan and Layna, are ready to give up. Not on each other but on their dreams. When they're given the chance to help an abandoned baby temporarily, they're faced with a pain harsher than what they've already been through. The pain of hope. But this little one isn't what any of them expected, and when the fiery truth comes out, hearts are bound to melt.A visit from a shadow of Christmas past, a lost child, and the reunion P. Jameson fans have been asking for, all wrapped up with a shiny bow as we revisit the Ouachitas in Merrily Ever After.

A Study Guide to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice


Jane Austen - 1994
    And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground. Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber

Marx's Das Kapital For Beginners


Michael Wayne - 2011
    Marx’s Das Kapital For Beginners is an introduction to the Marxist critique of capitalist production and its consequences for a whole range of social activities such as politics, media, education and religion. Das Kapital is not a critique of a particular capitalist system in a particular country at a particular time. Rather, Marx ‘s aim was to identify the essential features that define capitalism, in whatever country it develops and in whatever historical period. For this reason, Das Kapital is necessarily a fairly general, abstract analysis. As a result, it can be fairly difficult to read and comprehend. At the same time, understanding Das Kapital is crucial for mastering Marx’s insights to capitalism.  Marx’s Das Kapital For Beginners offers an accessible path through Marx’s arguments and his key questions: What is a commodity? Where does wealth come from? What is ‘value’? What happens to work under capitalism? Why is crisis part of capitalism’s DNA? And what happens to our consciousness, our very perceptions of reality and our ways of thinking and feeling under capitalism?  Understanding and learning from Marx’s work has taken on a fresh urgency as questions about the sustainability of the capitalist system in today’s global economy intensify.

Memoirs of the Blind: The Self-Portrait and Other Ruins


Jacques Derrida - 1990
    Selected by Derrida from the prints and drawings department of the Louvre, the works depict blindness—fictional, historical, and biblical. From Old and New Testament scenes to the myth of Perseus and the Gorgon and the blinding of Polyphemus, Derrida uncovers in these images rich, provocative layers of interpretation. For Derrida drawing is itself blind; as an act rooted in memory and anticipation, drawing necessarily replaces one kind of seeing (direct) with another (mediated). Ultimately, he explains, the very lines which compose any drawing are themselves never fully visible to the viewer since they exist only in a tenuous state of multiple identities: as marks on a page, as indicators of a contour. Lacking a "pure" identity, the lines of a drawing summon the supplement of the word, of verbal discourse, and, in doing so, obscure the visual experience. Consequently, Derrida demonstrates, the very act of depicting a blind person undertakes multiple enactments and statements of blindness and sight. Memoirs of the Blind is both a sophisticated philosophical argument and a series of detailed readings. Derrida provides compelling insights into famous and lesser known works, interweaving analyses of texts—including Diderot's Lettres sur les aveugles, the notion of mnemonic art in Baudelaire's The Painter of Modern Life, and Merleau-Ponty's The Visible and the Invisible. Along with engaging meditations on the history and philosophy of art, Derrida reveals the ways viewers approach philosophical ideas through art, and the ways art enriches philosophical reflection. An exploration of sight, representation, and art, Memoirs of the Blind extends and deepens the meditation on vision and painting presented in Truth and Painting. Readers of Derrida, both new and familiar, will profit from this powerful contribution to the study of the visual arts.

The Assignment - An Orlando Story


Brett Battles - 2013
     When Orlando receives her new assignment, she thinks she's in for an easy day. But the simple chauffeur job she assumes she is on, is not so simple, after all. THE ASSIGNMENT is a seven thousand word short story, featuring Orlando from the award winning Jonathan Quinn Thriller series. It first appeared in the digital anthology SHAKEN: Stories for Japan.

F*ck Yes or No: A Counterintuitive Approach to Your Relationships and Maybe Your Life


Mark Manson - 2019
    

Collectors Edition 2008: Elected President Barack Obama: The Victory Speech


Barack Obama - 2008
    Indeed, many view this historic win as a culmination of the sacrifice and courage of the Civil Rights movement - and even more people view President-Elect Barack Obama's win as a signal that America is indeed ready for a new direction and a new era. In Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, President-Elect Barack Obama gave his victory speech to an estimated crowd of 65,000 people - and tens of millions of people around the world watched the moment unfold on their television and computer screens, or listened to this monumental moment on the radio. This is the entire speech, including the interjections of the crowd screaming "Yes we can!". This speech is already in the history books, and you can read this anytime you need a stroke of hope or inspiration. This will make a great addition to any book collection.

Hope Falls Series Bundle: Vol. 3 Books 9-12.5


Melanie Shawn - 2016
    The private, sexy bar owner was content in his life and excited to move forward with his new business project. There was just one problem--he'd never been able to forget about that kiss...or about her. For her, everything had fallen apart...Shelby Kellan was once confident in knowing who she was and what she wanted. But recent events caused the gorgeous, blue-eyed beauty to barely recognize the woman she saw when she looked in the mirror. She knew she needed a fresh start. Could she do it with his kiss still lingering on her lips?Eighteen months ago, Levi and Shelby shared the perfect kiss. Now, he wanted more, but would she be able to give that to him after already losing so much?Secret KissAdam Dorsey was used to living a life of deceit and falsehood both professionally and personally. The former CIA operative—with an extremely high IQ—was ready for a quieter, more authentic life. Enter Jane, a gorgeous and adorable hazel eyed beauty that complicated his plan. No matter what she made him feel, he knew that he had to stay away from her for fear of damaging more than just her innocence…Jane Marshall always believed in the power of positive thinking and all that could create. She felt accomplished in her career, and was blessed with great friends and family. And yet, she questioned whether or not there existed a man that would be able to unleash and explore her inexperienced heart…until she laid eyes on Adam.Will Adam be able to let go of his past and accept Jane for the genuine soul she truly is? Will Jane be able to navigate through never before had feelings? Are there some things that are even beyond the control of two highly intelligent people? Discover the truth in …Secret KissMagic KissHe’d lost his best friend…Logan Dorsey left the military and his job as an undercover detective, but he still couldn’t shake the nightmares that haunted him. The only thing that had ever silenced the horrors for the chiseled former Marine was the one woman that was untouchable for so many reason…She’d lost her husband…Emma Locke wrote romantic stories for a living despite the fact that her happily-ever-after had been taken away years ago. The gorgeous, blue-eyed, twenty-six year old widow and single mom had nothing in her life to connect her with the love and heat she needed to write about. Nothing to inspire that kind of passion...except the one man that was off limits.They say time heals all wounds, but can it also be enough to grow new love?Lucky KissLucas “Lucky” Dorsey was at the top of his game in the world of MMA, and his nickname…well, let’s just say the ladies couldn’t get enough of the tattooed bad boy. But then…he met her…As the first female firefighter in the Hope Falls Fire Department, Deanna Bishop was focused on making a fresh start in her new town. She was ready to put out fires with the rest of the boys, but the beauty with emerald eyes was never ready for the fire he’d started in her heart… She brought him back to life, and he wanted more. He filled her with passion, and she wanted to run. Will Deanna be able to open her heart and let someone fight for her? Will Lucky be able to prove that a Lucky Kiss could lead to more than just that…Christmas Wish - NovellaBright lights…Fame…Wealth…Kyle Austen Reed had it all, and his devilishly handsome good looks were known to steal hearts on and off the screen…Fired…Evicted…Caring for a special needs child…Aurora Rose&rsq

The Production of Space


Henri Lefebvre - 1991
    His work spans some sixty years and includes original work on a diverse range of subjects, from dialectical materialism to architecture, urbanism and the experience of everyday life. The Production of Space is his major philosophical work and its translation has been long awaited by scholars in many different fields. The book is a search for a reconciliation between mental space (the space of the philosophers) and real space (the physical and social spheres in which we all live). In the course of his exploration, Henri Lefebvre moves from metaphysical and ideological considerations of the meaning of space to its experience in the everyday life of home and city. He seeks, in other words, to bridge the gap between the realms of theory and practice, between the mental and the social, and between philosophy and reality. In doing so, he ranges through art, literature, architecture and economics, and further provides a powerful antidote to the sterile and obfuscatory methods and theories characteristic of much recent continental philosophy. This is a work of great vision and incisiveness. It is also characterized by its author's wit and by anecdote, as well as by a deftness of style which Donald Nicholson-Smith's sensitive translation precisely captures.

Ben Bova's Grand Tour SciFi Series: Mars, Moonrise, Moonwar, Return to Mars


Ben Bova
    Mars and Return to Mars follow the struggle of settling on Mars, and Moonrise and Moonwar follow the events of colonizing the Moon – all struggling against the limitations Earth would set on these bold innovators. Mars: A team of astronauts face many challenges on a mission to Mars—including subzero temperatures, violent meteor showers, and a deadly virus. Native American geologist Jamie Waterman must navigate political intrigue at home, team conflict on the base, and a harsh and unforgiving environment to protect his own life and those of his crewmembers.Moonrise: A private company has established the first permanent human settlement on the Moon. But all is not as it seems there. Facing internal conflict and external protest, the company threatens closure—and former astronaut Doug Stavenger must protect the base and its inhabitants from the Moon’s harsh environment and the threat of murder.Moonwar: The second of Ben Bova’s Moonbase Saga, Moonwar picks up seven years after the events of Moonrise—when Doug Stavenger succeeded in protecting his beloved lunar colony. But the nanotechnology that keeps the colony functioning is now illegal on Earth—and the settlers must defend themselves against new threats from Earth.Return to Mars: Six years after the first manned expedition to Mars, a second is being planned, and Native American geologist Jamie Waterman is assigned as commander. He must face deadly internal rivalries, dangerous "accidents" that look like sabotage, and an intense new attraction to one of the crew members—and keep his crew safe while exploring the secrets of the Red Planet.

The Time of the Warlock


Larry Niven - 1984
    Contains:Not Long Before the EndWhat Good is a Glass Dagger?The Magic Goes AwayUnfinished Story #1and:The Magic May ReturnNotes for a Series of Stories to be Set in the Fantasy World of The Magic Goes Away

Visions of Distant Shores: An Andre Norton Collection


Andre Norton - 2010
    In most of Norton's works, alienated outsiders undertake a journey through which they realize their full potential. Many planets in the books are Earth-like places, where humans can live without special protection, and have extensive flora and fauna which are described in considerable detail and often have substantial bearing on the plot.On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Nobody today is telling better stories of straight-forward interstellar adventure.Included in this volume:Book One: Storm Over Warlock - Stranded on the alien world of Warlock, Shann Lantree's expedition camp has been wiped out by the Throgs, beings so alien that humans have yet to communicate with them. Lantree must quickly learn how to survive under harsh conditions while being chased by the Throgs -- and how to distinguish the real from the dreamed when he meets the mysterious Wyverns. A satisfying and mature novel which readers will seize upon if they want to enjoy a good adventure story...Book Two: Star Born - When the oppressive global dictatorship of Pax took over Earth they put a stop to space exploration. Still, a few rebels escaped in the sleeper ships to found free new colonies -- or perish in the attempt. Those few colonists that reached inhabitable worlds were cut off for centuries, and in that isolation and freedom they developed the mysterious mental powers that "civilization" had all but destroyed...Book Three: Star Hunter - Somewhere on the jungle world of Jumala, there was a man in hiding--a man whose mind had been reconditioned with another's brain pattern and for whom there was a fabulous reward. Star Hunter is a thrill-packed account of that other-worldly game of hide-and-seek between a man who did not know all his own powers and an interstellar safari that sought something no man had a right to find...Book Four: Plague Ship - A fast-moving suspense tale, full of unusual detail and unexpected turns. Several highlights make the book really shine: the sunset gorp hunt on the reefs of an oily sea; a raid on an asteroid's emergency station; and a landing in the Big Burn, resulting in an encounter with the mutant life-forms that reside there...Book Five: Voodoo Planet - Dane Thorson of the space-trader 'Solar Queen' found himself embroiled in a desperate battle of minds between the rational science of the spaceways and the hypnotic witchcraft of the mental wizard that ruled the Voodoo Planet...Book Six: The Gifts of Asti - Varta, the last priestess of Asti, lives alone with Lur, a telepath of the lizardfolk, in Asti's isolated mountain retreat. Decadent Memphir has long since drifted away from the austere paths of Asti, and now the barbarians of Klem are sacking the city, and the smoke of its burning drifts up to the temple...Book Seven: The People of the Crater - "Send the Black Throne to dust; conquer the Black Ones, and bring the Daughter from the Caves of Darkness." These were the tasks Garin must perform to fulfill the prophecy of the Ancient Ones--and establish his own destiny in this hidden land!This are the original and unabridged versions of these tales.

Gurdjieff


John Shirley - 2004
    I. Gurdjieff is a man who would continually straddle borders-between East and West, between man and something higher than man, between the ancient teachings of esoteric schools and the modern application of those ideas in contemporary life.In many respects-from the concept of group meetings to the mysterious workings of the enneagram to his critique of humanity as existing in a state of sleep-Gurdjieff pioneered the culture of spiritual search that has taken root in the West today. While many of Gurdjieff's students-including Frank Lloyd Wright, Katharine Mansfield, and P. D. Ouspensky-are well known, few understand this figure possessed of complex writings and sometimes confounding methods. In Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas, the acclaimed novelist John Shirley-one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre-presents a lively, reliable explanation of how to approach the sage and his ideas. In accessible, dramatic prose Shirley retells that which we know of Gurdjieff's life; he surveys the teacher's methods and the lives of his key students; and he helps readers to enter the unparalleled originality of this remarkable teacher.