For any golf fan, the words evoke the immortal greats of the game and their quest for the most prized trophy of all -- the green jacket of Augusta National Golf Club. But behind the legendary links and timeless traditions is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood figures in the history of the Masters and Augusta National: Clifford Roberts, the club's chairman from its founding in 1931 until shortly before his death in 1977. Roberts' meticulous attention to detail, his firm authoritarian hand, and his refusal to settle -- even for perfection -- helped build the Masters into the tournament it is today, and Augusta National into every golfer's idea of heaven on earth. David Owen was granted unprecedented access to the archives and records of Augusta National Golf Club. He has produced an honest and affectionate chronicle of the Masters, from its conception to its modern greatness, and a fascinating portrayal of Clifford Roberts -- whose perseverance and pride forged the Augusta National we know today.

    The results are nothing less than an education in the ways literature grips its readers and, at times, transforms their lives. Imagining Characters is indispensable, a work of criticism that returns us to the books it discusses with renewed respect and wonder.

    Even when you probably should.

    It also involves a Japanese society that’s been called one of the most distinctive on Earth. If there were a Japanese version of Captain America, this would be his origin story.

    Now, in his first book of nonfiction, Percy challenges the notion that literary and genre fiction are somehow mutually exclusive. The title essay is an ode to the kinds of books that make many readers fall in love with fiction: science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, horror, from J.R.R. Tolkien to Anne Rice, Ursula K. Le Guin to Stephen King. Percy's own academic experience banished many of these writers in the name of what is "literary" and what is "genre." Then he discovered Michael Chabon, Aimee Bender, Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, and others who employ techniques of genre fiction while remaining literary writers. In fifteen essays on the craft of fiction, Percy looks to disparate sources such as Jaws, Blood Meridian, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to discover how contemporary writers engage issues of plot, suspense, momentum, and the speculative, as well as character, setting, and dialogue. An urgent and entertaining missive on craft, Thrill Me brims with Percy's distinctive blend of anecdotes, advice, and close reading, all in the service of one dictum: Thrill the reader.

    November '98 publication date.

    Alternating between personal anecdote, hilarious insight, and smart analysis, Luke Skywalker Can’t Read contends that Barbarella is good for you, that monster movies are just romantic comedies with commitment issues, that Dracula and Sherlock Holmes are total hipsters, and, most shockingly, shows how virtually everyone in the Star Wars universe is functionally illiterate. Romp through time and space, from the circus sideshows of 100 years ago to the Comic Cons of today, from darkest corners of the Galaxy to the comfort of your couch. For anyone who pretended their flashlight was a lightsaber, stood in line for a movie at midnight, or dreamed they were abducted by aliens, Luke Skywalker Can't Read is full of answers to questions you haven't thought to ask, and perfect for readers of Chuck Klosterman, Rob Sheffield, and Ernest Cline.

    Here, for the first time in one volume, are all three original Battlestar Galactica novels--based on the highly-lauded TV series that took the country by storm.In The Cylons' Secret, by Craig Shaw Gardner, a ship, scavenging the outer settlements for valuable Cylon technologies after the first human-Cylon war, stumbles on a super-secret scientific outpost beyond charted space. Mere hours later, Battlestar Galactica receives a one-word distress call from the scavenging ship: Cylons, causing the young Colonel William Adama to investigate.Sagittarius Is Bleeding, by Peter David, concerns President Laura Roslin, whose prophetic dreams have infused her people with hope that they will find Earth, humanity's cradle. But her new dreams of a galaxy overrun by the Cylons disturb her even as they energize an extremist political group. The threat of violent revolt puts Roslin at personal risk and endangers the fleet.In Unity by Steven Harper, Peter Attis, a rock star adored by all the fleet, including Starbuck, has recently been rescued from a Cylon prison ship. But after his first post-return concert, crewmembers are stricken by a strange malady that threatens to lay the fleet open to Cylon attack.

    As it is, the political problem remains unsolved. Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few. Democratic republics can no more dispense with national idols than monarchies with public functionaries. Government presents only one problem: the discovery of a trustworthy anthropometric method.

    After his death, the contents of his studio, including thousands of glass negatives, were sold off for five dollars. For years the fragile negatives sat forgotten and deteriorating in cardboard boxes in an open carport. How did it happen, then, that the most implausible of events took place? That Disfarmer’s haunting portraits were retrieved from oblivion, that today they sell for upwards of $12,000 each at posh New York art galleries; his photographs proclaimed works of art by prestigious critics and journals and exhibited around the world? The story of Disfarmer’s rise to fame is a colorful, improbable, and ultimately fascinating one that involves an unlikely assortment of individuals. Would any of this have happened if a young New York photographer hadn't been so in love with a pretty model that he was willing to give up his career for her; if a preacher’s son from Arkansas hadn't spent 30 years in the Army Corps of Engineers mapping the U.S. from an airplane; if a magazine editor hadn't felt a strange and powerful connection to the work? The cast of characters includes these, plus a restless and wealthy young Chicago aristocrat and even a grandson of FDR. It’s a compelling story which reveals how these diverse people were part of a chain of events whose far-reaching consequences none of them could have foreseen, least of all the strange and reclusive genius of Heber Springs. Until now, the whole story has not been told.

    Includes writing exercises and advice. A Hugo and Locus award winner.

    With more than 250 blueprints, 500 photographs and illustrations, and ten stunning gatefolds, Star Wars: The Blueprints is a deluxe volume that reveals the work of the engineers, designers, and artists who dreamed up the look and feel of the Star Wars universe. Best-selling author J. W. Rinzler explores the complex process of envisioning and creating the Star Wars films throughout this collection. Witness first-hand the technical expertise and jaw-dropping detail involved in every part of the process, from concept sketches to final scenes. Star Wars: The Blueprints showcases the transformation of careful technical drawings to now-iconic sets--the rebel blockade runner, the Millennium Falcon , the bridge of General Grievous’s flagship, Jabba the Hutt’s throne room, and many others. Meticulously researched and packed with gorgeous artwork and little-known details, Star Wars: The Blueprints tells the story of the brilliant minds and technical prowess that brought this extraordinary epic to life.

    Using an array of examples from Melville and Dostoyevsky to contemporary writers Paula Fox, Edward P. Jones, and Lorrie Moore, Baxter explains how fiction writers create those visible and invisible details, how what is displayed evokes what is not displayed.The Art of Subtext is part of The Art of series, a new line of books by important authors on the craft of writing, edited by Charles Baxter. Each book examines a singular, but often assumed or neglected, issue facing the contemporary writer of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. The Art of series means to restore the art of criticism while illuminating the art of writing.

    s/t: Plato's original story of the lost city, continent, empire

    Standouts include "Kirinyaga" and "For I Have Touched the Sky," two installments from Resnick's well-regarded Kirinyaga series, set on an orbital space habitat modeled on a pre-colonial African culture. Contentsxi • Foreword: The Man Who Hated Short Stories • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick1 • Introduction: Will the Last Person to Leave the Planet Please Shut off the Sun? • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick3 • Will the Last Person to Leave the Planet Please Shut off the Sun? • (1992) • shortstory by Mike Resnick7 • Introduction: Kirinyaga • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick8 • Kirinyaga • [Kirinyaga • 2] • (1988) • novelette by Mike Resnick31 • Introduction: Me and My Shadow • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick32 • Me and My Shadow • (1984) • shortstory by Mike Resnick51 • Introduction: Mrs. Hood Unloads • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick52 • Mrs. Hood Unloads • (1991) • shortfiction by Mike Resnick57 • Introduction: Over There • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick58 • Over There • [Teddy Roosevelt] • (1991) • novelette by Mike Resnick85 • Introduction: The Last Dog • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick86 • The Last Dog • (1977) • shortstory by Mike Resnick95 • Introduction: King of the Blue Planet • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick96 • King of the Blue Planet • (1988) • shortstory by Mike Resnick111 • Introduction: Watching Marcia • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick112 • Watching Marcia • (1981) • shortstory by Mike Resnick125 • Introduction: Death Is an Acquired Trait • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick126 • Death Is an Acquired Trait • (1988) • shortstory by Mike Resnick133 • Introduction: The Crack in the Cosmic Egg • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick134 • The Crack in the Cosmic Egg • (1988) • shortstory by Mike Resnick137 • Introduction: Revolt of the Sugar Plum Fairies • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick138 • Revolt of the Sugar Plum Fairies • (1992) • shortstory by Mike Resnick151 • Introduction: For I Have Touched the Sky • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick152 • For I Have Touched the Sky • [Kirinyaga • 3] • (1989) • novelette by Mike Resnick183 • Introduction: Frankie the Spook • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick184 • Frankie the Spook • (1990) • shortstory by Mike Resnick203 • Introduction: Beibermann's Soul • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick204 • Beibermann's Soul • (1988) • shortstory by Mike Resnick209 • Introduction: Balance • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick210 • Balance • [Susan Calvin (Robot)] • (1989) • shortstory by Mike Resnick217 • Introduction: Posttime in Pink • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick218 • Posttime in Pink • (1991) • novelette by Mike Resnick249 • Introduction: Beachcomber • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick250 • Beachcomber • (1980) • shortstory by Mike Resnick255 • Introduction: Blue • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick256 • Blue • (1979) • shortstory by Mike Resnick261 • Introduction: Stalking the Unicorn with Gun and Camera • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick262 • Stalking the Unicorn with Gun and Camera • (1986) • shortstory by Mike Resnick271 • Introduction: Monsters of the Midway • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick272 • Monsters of the Midway • (1991) • shortstory by Mike Resnick279 • Introduction: Malish • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick280 • Malish • (1991) • shortstory by Mike Resnick285 • Introduction: The Light that Blinds, the Claws that Catch • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick286 • The Light that Blinds, the Claws that Catch • [Teddy Roosevelt] • (1992) • shortstory by Mike Resnick295 • Introduction: His Award-Winning Science Fiction Story • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick296 • His Award-Winning Science Fiction Story • (1988) • shortstory by Mike Resnick309 • Introduction: Was It Good For You, Too? • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick310 • Was It Good For You, Too? • (1989) • shortstory by Mike Resnick317 • Introduction: God and Mr. Slatterman • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick318 • God and Mr. Slatterman • (1984) • shortstory by Mike Resnick327 • Introduction: The Fallen Angel • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick328 • The Fallen Angel • (1984) • shortfiction by Mike Resnick331 • Introduction: How I Wrote the New Testament, Ushered in the Renaissance, and Birdied the 17th Hole at Pebble Beach • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick332 • How I Wrote the New Testament, Ushered in the Renaissance, and Birdied the 17th Hole at Pebble Beach • (1990) • shortstory by Mike Resnick339 • Introduction: Winter Solstice • (1992) • essay by Mike Resnick340 • Winter Solstice • (1991) • shortstory by Mike Resnick