Once More Around the Park: A Baseball Reader


Roger Angell - 1991
    Mr. Angell includes writing never previously collected as well as selections from The Summer Game, Five Seasons, Late Innings, and Season Ticket. He brings back the extraordinary games, innings and performances that he has witnessed and written about so astutely and gracefully--"The Interior Stadium," on the complex attractions of baseball; "In the Country," on a friendship that began with a fan letter and took him far from the big stadiums and big money; "The Arm Talks," on contemporary pitching strategy and the arrival of the split-finger delivery; and many others. Mr. Angell's conversations with past and present players and managers, scouts and coaches, rookies and Hall of Famers enhance his own expertise and critical appreciation, which define him as the game's most useful and ardent fan. "Angell resembles a pitcher with pinpoint control. As a chronicler of the game, he's in a class with Ring Lardner and Red Smith."--Newsweek. "Angell's perceptions are fresh, vivid, and uncannily accurate.... Only a fan who cares this much could observe so carefully and write so eloquently."--San Francisco Chronicle. "A triumph of art and grace."--Chicago Tribune Book World.

Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden


Diane Ackerman - 2001
    Whether she is deadheading flowers or glorying in the profusion of roses, offering sugar water to a hummingbird or studying the slug, she welcomes the unexpected drama and extravagance as well as the sanctuary her garden offers. She chronicles instances of violence in nature but also intuits loneliness and desire in the clamor of male crickets in the spring. And there is wonderment and marvel as she happens upon a tiny frog asleep inside the petals of a tulip. Visitors to her garden range from botanical explorers of earlier centuries to the nature mystic John Muir to the brilliant British garden writer Gertrude Jekyll.The author's garden nourishes its creator, who imaginatively returns the favor and seizes privileged moments to leap from science and metaphor to meditation on the human condition. Written in sensuous, lyrical prose, Cultivating Delight is a hymn to nature and to the pleasure we take in it.

Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the Book of Revelation


Ranko Stefanovic - 2002
    Appropriate for personal study and as a college and seminary text, this volume provides both in-depth notes and lay-oriented exposition for use by scholars, students, pastors, and laypeople. An ever-increasing interest in the prophecies of the Apocalypse has resulted in deeper understandings which are introduced in this updated edition.

The Day the Universe Changed: How Galileo's Telescope Changed the Truth


James Burke - 1986
    Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

The Sinking of the Bounty: The True Story of a Tragic Shipwreck and its Aftermath


Matthew Shaer - 2013
    It looked like something out of a movie--and, in a way, it was. The ship was the Bounty, a replica of a British merchant vessel of the same name whose crew famously mutinied in 1789. She had been built for a Marlon Brando film in the 1960s--and now she was sinking, her sixteen-person crew fleeing into the sea amid the splintered wood and torn canvas. Was the Bounty's sinking--which left her captain missing and one of her crew members dead--an unavoidable tragedy? Or was it the fault of a captain who was willing to risk everything to save the ship he loved? Drawing on exclusive interviews with Bounty survivors and Coast Guard rescuers, journalist Matthew Shaer reconstructs the ship's final voyage and the Coast Guard investigation into her sinking that followed, uncovering a riveting story of heroism and hubris in the eye of a hurricane. Praise for The Sinking of the Bounty:"Matthew Shaer masterfully recreates the last voyage and final doom of the Bounty, an iconic ship that collided with an historic storm off the Carolina coast. Shaer pulls you off the page and onto the Bounty itself--and then into the roiling sea--to relive a long night of terror, heroism and desperate quests for survival. The Sinking of the Bounty is a classic of the genre, beautifully told and riveting to read."—Sean Flynn, GQ correspondent and author of 3000 Degrees: The True Story of a Deadly Fire and the Men Who Fought It"Few images of Hurricane Sandy's destruction were as indelible, or as surreal, as the shattered wreck of the Bounty sinking beneath the waves of the 'Graveyard of the Atlantic.' Matthew Shaer's The Sinking of the Bounty is a powerful and riveting account of the disaster: the fateful decision to set sail before the storm, the crew's epic struggle to save the ship and then themselves, and the heroic rescue launched by the Coast Guard in the middle of the largest storm the Atlantic has ever seen. In the tradition of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, this is fast-paced and deeply reported storytelling."—Matthew Power, contributing editor, Harper's

Favre for the Record


Brett Favre - 1997
    Born the son of an indomitable high school football coach in hardscrabble Kiln, Mississippi, Favre has gone on to become the NFL's most valuable player two years running (a feat equaled only by the legendary Joe Montana) and, after twenty-nine years, has brought the Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Favre has also paid dearly for his devotion to the brutal game of professional football. Priding himself on his ability to withstand incredible levels of physical pain and to continue playing when most players would head to the sidelines, Favre admitted last year to a dependency on Vicodin pain killers. But he faced his problem like he faces opposing defensive linemen, head-on, and voluntarily admitted himself into the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas for drug counseling. In Favre, Brett shares portions of his daily journal written during treatment and will reveal just what it took to break a debilitating habit. In the end, readers will be inspired by this small town son's sacrifice and struggle to make it to the NFL, his unwavering commitment to honor his profession, and his perseverance to realize his dream on his own terms.

Walden and Other Writings


Henry David Thoreau - 1854
    B. White Naturalist, philosopher, champion of self-reliance and moral independence, Henry David Thoreau remains not only one of our most influential writers but also one of our most contemporary. This unique and comprehensive edition gathers all of Thoreau's most significant works, including his masterpiece, Walden (reproduced in its entirety); A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers; selections from Cape Cod and The Maine Woods; as well as "Walking," "Civil Disobedience," "Slavery in Massachusetts," "A Plea for Captain John Brown," and "Life Without Principle." Taken together, they reveal the astounding range, subtlety, artistry, and depth of thought of this true American original.Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide

Its Head Came Off by Accident: A Memoir


Muffy Mead-Ferro - 2012
    It describes a childhood that takes place on a vast Wyoming landscape--more than 6,000 acres near near Jackson Hole and adjacent to Grand Teton National Park--where the author grew up with adventure-crazed, raucous brothers and friends, and a colorful collection of Western characters, most particularly her own mother. Mead-Ferro's desire to move back to her childhood homeland from the city is weighed with how she felt when she did live on the cattle ranch, always unsure if she fit in.   When Mead-Ferro's mother is killed in a freak horse accident while herding cattle, Mead-Ferro faces the loss not only of this profoundly influential person but of the entire ranching operation: a century-old legacy. After she and her brothers sell the family ranch Mead-Ferro attempts to recreate the landscape of her childhood--particularly the privileges and responsibilities of land, animals, and real work--as a bequest to her own children.

The Fateful Years: Japan's Adventure in the Philippines, 1941-45 (Volume 2)


Teodoro A. Agoncillo - 1965
    

Travels in the Land of Hunger: A backpacker's earthbound journey from the East to the West


Domenico Italo Composto-Hart - 2019
    It is also a narrative of finding exotic beauty, inspiration, inner strength, and unexpected love.

NIV/The Message Parallel Bible


Anonymous - 2004
    Using only the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, The Message's creator, Eugene Peterson, began by setting the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs in contemporary English, free of distracting verse numbers and stiff, formal language. The result has been a warm, highly readable paraphrase that reveals the richly personal nature of God's Word. The Old Testament followed, and the complete Message Bible was released in 2002. Used in both public preaching and private devotions, The Message has captured the hearts of millions of readers, enriching their understanding of Scripture and deepening their faith. The New International Version (NIV) The New International Version (NIV) is today's most read, most trusted English Bible translation. Since its release in 1973, the NIV has sold over 160 million copies. The goal of the NIV translation team was to produce a contemporary translation whose accuracy, clarity and literary quality would make it ideal for public and private reading, teaching, preaching, memorizing and liturgical use. Today the NIV is accepted by more denominations than any other translation and is supported by a library of reference resources unmatched by any other translation. The most read, most trusted translation and bestselling paraphrase together in one volume * The NIV and The Message side by side * Instant comparison deepens your grasp of Scripture * Double-column format If your translation of choice is the New International Version (NIV) and if you appreciate The Message for the freshness and clarity it brings to your reading of the Bible then you'll love The Message/NIV Parallel Bible. Setting The Message and the NIV together for the first time ever, this Bible allows you to instantly compare Eugene Peterson's bestselling paraphrase and today's most read, most trusted modern translation. NIV/The Message Parallel Bible features: * The clarity, accuracy and trustworthiness of the NIV. A careful union of word-for-word and thought-for-thought translational approaches, the NIV is today's foremost modern translation, used by scholars, pastors, students and Bible readers across the world. * The story-like flow and penetrating insights of The Message. Emphasizing a narrative reading of the Bible, The Message is treasured by countless Christians for the way its contemporary language illuminates ageless truths. * Double-column format. * Ribbon marker (leather edition only).

The Norman Maclean Reader


Norman Maclean - 2008
    But it was a role he took up late in life, that of writer, that won him enduring fame and critical acclaim—as well as the devotion of readers worldwide. Though the 1976 collection A River Runs Through It and Other Stories was the only book Maclean published in his lifetime, it was an unexpected success, and the moving family tragedy of the title novella—based largely on Maclean’s memories of his childhood home in Montana—has proved to be one of the most enduring American stories ever written.The Norman Maclean Reader is a wonderful addition to Maclean’s celebrated oeuvre. Bringing together previously unpublished materials with incidental writings and selections from his more famous works, the Reader will serve as the perfect introduction for readers new to Maclean, while offering longtime fans new insight into his life and career. In this evocative collection, Maclean as both a writer and a man becomes evident. Perceptive, intimate essays deal with his career as a teacher and a literary scholar, as well as the wealth of family stories for which Maclean is famous. Complete with a generous selection of letters, as well as excerpts from a 1986 interview, The Norman Maclean Reader provides a fully fleshed-out portrait of this much admired author, showing us a writer fully aware of the nuances of his craft, and a man as at home in the academic environment of the University of Chicago as in the quiet mountains of his beloved Montana.Multifarious and moving, the works collected in The Norman Maclean Reader serve as both a summation and a celebration, giving readers a chance once again to hear one of American literature’s most distinctive voices.

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers


Kwame Anthony Appiah - 2006
    Drawing on a broad range of disciplines, including history, literature, and philosophy—as well as the author's own experience of life on three continents—Cosmopolitanism is a moral manifesto for a planet we share with more than six billion strangers.

Becoming Jefferson's People: Re-Inventing the American Republic in the Twenty-First Century


Clay S. Jenkinson - 2005
    Pragmatic utopian and practical visionary, Jefferson was one of the most creative men who ever lived. He penned the thirty-five most revolutionary words in the history of the English language: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson has written a bold call for a Jeffersonian renewal in America. "We need the Sage of Monticello's vision as we begin what is the most difficult periods of American history." The Jeffersonian consists of self-reliance, an uncompromising dedication to liberty (over security, profit, comfort, and tradition), an unambiguous wall of seperation between church and state, first-rate public education, thoughtfulness and diffidence about America's place in the world, and a commitment to civility. Jefferson brought genius (not to mention reason, good sense, and idealism) to whatever he undertook, and he believed that the purpose of America was not to seek glory and profit in the world's arena, but to build a nation of equality, justice, and cultural achievement. Becoming Jefferson's People is part manifesto, part call for a new political persuasion in the United States, part self-help book, and part critique of the consumerist world empire that the United States has become at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

How to Be Idle


Tom Hodgkinson - 2004
    In How to Be Idle, Hodgkinson presents his learned yet whimsical argument for a new, universal standard of living: being happy doing nothing. He covers a whole spectrum of issues affecting the modern idler—sleep, work, pleasure, relationships—bemoaning the cultural skepticism of idleness while reflecting on the writing of such famous apologists for it as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Johnson, and Nietzsche—all of whom have admitted to doing their very best work in bed.It’s a well-known fact that Europeans spend fewer hours at work a week than Americans. So it’s only befitting that one of them—the very clever, extremely engaging, and quite hilarious Tom Hodgkinson—should have the wittiest and most useful insights into the fun and nature of being idle. Following on the quirky, call-to-arms heels of the bestselling Eat, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss, How to Be Idle rallies us to an equally just and no less worthy cause: reclaiming our right to be idle.