Glaring Through Oblivion
Serj Tankian - 2011
For fans stirred by the cerebral lyrics of SOAD albums Hypnotize, Mesmerize, Steal This Album!, Toxicity, and their first, self-titled breakthrough—and for everyone enthusiastic about Serj’s solo album, Imperfect Harmonies—this essential, one-of-a-kind collection of Tankian’s innermost thoughts and feelings is a must-read. Unique illustrations punctuate nearly 70 poems—almost none of which have ever been published before. Glaring through Oblivion is an indispensable find for any true fan.
Girl in Hyacinth Blue
Susan Vreeland - 1999
The professor swears it's a Vermeer -- but why exactly has he kept it hidden so long? The reasons unfold in a gripping sequence of stories that trace ownership of the work back to Amsterdam during World War II and still further to the moment of the painting's inception.
Beyond Tonight Vol. 5 (Hollywood Dreams)
C.J. Thomas - 2016
Wes stretched me beyond what I thought possible. One second I was breathing a sigh of relief and the next moment I was gasping for air. It was all too much. The way our lives delicately balanced pleasure and pain was like walking a slippery slope. We had our sights set on turning professional poker player, Vance Cruz, into a superstar, but the media had other plans to distract us from our daily affairs. The walls around me were closing in. And fast. I wanted to run. Wes kept his grip firm, not letting me get too far. Despite his brute strength, they were after me, and they were after Wes. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the walls were breached. My nerves were raw and I was fatigued. I needed a break. A way out of the chaos surrounding my life. Sheila had her ideas of what I should do, and so did Julia Mabel. And when I flew home to Minnesota thinking that Wes and I were done for good, I learned something that might just save me from losing the love of my life forever. Mature audience only. 18+ This story is planned to unfold over several stories and Vol. 5 ends on a cliffhanger.
Shopping in Jail: Ideas, Essays and Stories for an Increasingly Real Twenty-First Century
Douglas Coupland - 2013
Nine short non-fiction pieces with a forward by Shumon Basar.
But Beautiful: A Book about Jazz
Geoff Dyer - 1992
Drawing on photos, anecdotes, and, most important, the way he hears the music, Dyer imaginatively reconstructs scenes from the embattled lives of some of the world's greats: Lester Young fading away in a hotel room; Charles Mingus storming down the streets of New York on a too-small bicycle; Thelonius Monk creating his own private language on the piano. However, music is the driving force of But Beautiful, and Dyer brings it to life in luminescent and wildly metaphoric prose that mirrors the quirks, eccentricity, and brilliance of each musician’s style.
Hamilton: Vocal Selections
Lin-Manuel Miranda - 2016
17 selections from the critically acclaimed musical about Alexander Hamilton which debuted on Broadway in August 2015 to unprecedented advanced box office sales. Our collection features 17 selections in piano/vocal format from the music penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda, including: Alexander Hamilton * Burn * Dear Theodosia * Hurricane * It's Quiet Uptown * My Shot * One Last Time * Satisfied * That Would Be Enough * Washington on Your Side * You'll Be Back * and more. Also includes a biography of Miranda.
Lorca: A Dream of Life
Leslie Stainton - 1998
Drawing on fourteen years of research; more than a hundred letters unknown to prior biographers; exclusive interviews with Lorca's friends, family, and acquaintances; and dozens of newly discovered archival material, Stainton has brought her subject to Life as few writers can. She describes his carefree childhood in rural Andalusia; his residencies in Madrid and Granada, then in New York, Havana, and Buenos Aires; his potent interaction with other Spanish artists, such as Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel, and the composer Manuel de Falla; and, finally, Stainton shows how Lorca's marginal political activity during the Spanish Civil War still cost him his life.Throughout, Stainton meticulously but unobtrusively relates the oeuvre to the life. Her biography is quickly becoming the standard one-volume work on the poet.
Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey
Lori PerkinsD.L. King - 2012
The perfect panel of insiders—from the editor who first "discovered" Fifty Shades of Grey, to BDSM experts, to erotic fiction authors, romance authors, and a whole lot more—takes you deeper into the trilogy that has captured the imaginations of so many.From the books' sexual politics and its fanfiction origins to what sets it apart from other erotic fiction and romance (and what doesn’t), everything you ever wanted to know about Fifty Shades of Grey is right here.Whether you loved Fifty Shades of Grey, or just want to know why everyone else does, Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey is the book for you!Contributors:Heather GrahamSylvia DayAndrew ShafferM.J. RoseSinnamon LoveJudith ReganStacy AgdernLaura AntoniouJennifer ArmintroutTish BeatyMala BhattacharjeeRachel Kramer BusselM. ChristianSuzan ColónJoy DanielsSherri DonovanAngela EdwardsMelissa FebosLucy FelthouseRyan FieldSelina FireMegan FramptonSarah FrantzLouise FuryLois GreshCatherine HillerMarci HirschDr. Hilda HutchersonDebra HydeAnne JamisonD.L. KingDr. Logan LevkoffArielle LorenSassafras LowryRachel KenleyPamela MadsenChrisMarks and Lia LetoMidoriMaster RDr. Katherine RamslandTiffany ReiszKatharine SandsJennifer SanzoRakesh SatyalMarc ShapiroLyss SternCecilia TanHope TarrSusan WrightEditor X
The Decameron
Giovanni Boccaccio
The stories are told in a country villa outside the city of Florence by ten young noble men and women who are seeking to escape the ravages of the plague. Boccaccio's skill as a dramatist is masterfully displayed in these vivid portraits of people from all stations in life, with plots that revel in a bewildering variety of human reactions.Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam
William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever
John Higgs - 2019
Although he died nearly 200 years ago, something about his work continues to haunt the twenty-first century. What is it about Blake that has so endured? In this illuminating essay, John Higgs takes us on a whirlwind tour to prove that far from being the mere New Age counterculture figure that many assume him to be, Blake is now more relevant than ever.
Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism
Philip Miller - 1988
We made it light-hearted and fun to read because SM is fun to do. That's why we do it. But fun is only SM's overture; for those who grasp its message, SM is sexual magic. The right blend of trust, fantasy, and sensuality creates an intensely erotic and deeply intimate stew. We take away our lovers' freedom and lead them to profound liberty. We peer into the dark together, transforming it to light. In these pages you will find clear explanations for the curious, and solid advice, safety measures and steamy suggestions for the adventurous. Allow us to guide you through the captivating realms of sensuality, dreamed of by millions, realized by few, and understood by fewer still.
The Clerk's Prologue and Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer - 1966
Texts are in the original Middle English, and each has an introduction, detailed notes and a glossary. Selected titles are also available as CD recordings.
Theory of Colours
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - 1810
To Goethe, the theory was the result of mistaking an incidental result for an elemental principle. Far from pretending to a knowledge of physics, he insisted that such knowledge was an actual hindrance to understanding. He based his conclusions exclusively upon exhaustive personal observation of the phenomena of color.Of his own theory, Goethe was supremely confident: "From the philosopher, we believe we merit thanks for having traced the phenomena of colours to their first sources, to the circumstances under which they appear and are, and beyond which no further explanation respecting them is possible."Goethe's scientific conclusions have, of course, long since been thoroughly demolished, but the intelligent reader of today may enjoy this work on quite different grounds: for the beauty and sweep of his conjectures regarding the connection between color and philosophical ideas; for an insight into early nineteenth-century beliefs and modes of thought; and for the flavor of life in Europe just after the American and French Revolutions.The work may also be read as an accurate guide to the study of color phenomena. Goethe's conclusions have been repudiated, but no one quarrels with his reporting of the facts to be observed. With simple objects -- vessels, prisms, lenses, and the like -- the reader will be led through a demonstration course not only in subjectively produced colors, but also in the observable physical phenomena of color. By closely following Goethe's explanations of the color phenomena, the reader may become so divorced from the wavelength theory -- Goethe never even mentions it -- that he may begin to think about color theory relatively unhampered by prejudice, ancient or modern.
Avedon: Something Personal
Norma Stevens - 2017
L. Aronson.Richard Avedon was arguably the world's most famous photographer--as artistically influential as he was commercially successful. Over six richly productive decades, he created landmark advertising campaigns, iconic fashion photographs (as the star photographer for Harper's Bazaar and then Vogue), groundbreaking books, and unforgettable portraits of everyone who was anyone. He also went on the road to find and photograph remarkable uncelebrated faces, with an eye toward constructing a grand composite picture of America.Avedon dazzled even his most dazzling subjects. He possessed a mystique so unique it was itself a kind of genius--everyone fell under his spell. But the Richard Avedon the world saw was perhaps his greatest creation: he relentlessly curated his reputation and controlled his image, managing to remain, for all his exposure, among the most private of celebrities.No one knew him better than did Norma Stevens, who for thirty years was his business partner and closest confidant. In Avedon: Something Personal--equal parts memoir, biography, and oral history, including an intimate portrait of the legendary Avedon studio--Stevens and co-author Steven M. L. Aronson masterfully trace Avedon's life from his birth to his death, in 2004, at the age of eighty-one, while at work in Texas for The New Yorker (whose first-ever staff photographer he had become in 1992).The book contains startlingly candid reminiscences by Mike Nichols, Calvin Klein, Claude Picasso, Renata Adler, Brooke Shields, David Remnick, Naomi Campbell, Twyla Tharp, Jerry Hall, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bruce Weber, Cindy Crawford, Donatella Versace, Jann Wenner, and Isabella Rossellini, among dozens of others.Avedon: Something Personal is the confiding, compelling full story of a man who for half a century was an enormous influence on both high and popular culture, on both fashion and art--to this day he remains the only artist to have had not one but two retrospectives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art during his lifetime. Not unlike Richard Avedon's own defining portraits, the book delivers the person beneath the surface, with all his contradictions and complexities, and in all his touching humanity.
Drift
Caroline Bergvall - 2014
Its centerpiece is the song cycle, "Drift," which takes the anonymous 10th century Anglo-Saxon quest poem The Seafarer as its inspiration. Both ancient and contemporary tales of travel and exile shadow the plight and losses of wanderers across the waters in this haunting new book. Drift is the second of Bergvall's explorations of historical English language.