Juan is that rarest of rarities, a scholar with a sense of humor. He fearlessly tours the brain's mysterious corridors, discussing such wide-ranging topics as phobias, compulsive water drinking, serial killers, the secrets of hypnotism, and the man who thought he was a cat. You will find this book absolutely engrossing.Do kleptomaniacs have a legitimate excuse to steal? Can excessive TV watching physically "shape" a child's growing brain?These answers and scores more fill Dr. Stephen Juan's fascinating and endlessly entertaining book The Odd Brain. Following up his popular first book, The Odd Body, Dr. Juan takes us on an animated tour of the enigmatic organ that sits on top of them all.Equal parts scholarly professor--he teaches at the University of Sydney--cultural detective, and theater of oddities tour guide, Dr. Juan explores bizarre brain disorders and the normal-but-still-weird brain phenomena that we all occasionally experience (like deja vu). Through it all, Dr. Juan pulls off the nifty trick of making the clinical both clear and entertaining.Each chapter is packed with real-life anecdotes and case studies. These include the Criminal Brain, the Savant Brain, the Shy Brain, the Suicidal Brain, the Thrill-Seeking Brain, the Obsessive-Compulsive Brain, and more than 20 others.For anyone who's ever witnessed unusual behavior and thought, "Now, what would make a person do that?" The Odd Brain is sure to have an answer.

    With its wealth of exclusive photographs, this stunning book is a unique look into the world of the film.

    Includes area maps. Original.

    "It can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring, chilling. It is never viewed with indifference: beauty demands to be noticed; it speaks to us directly like the voice of an intimate friend." In a book that is itself beautifully written, renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores this timeless concept, asking what makes an object--either in art, in nature, or the human form--beautiful. This compact volume is filled with insight and Scruton has something interesting and original to say on almost every page. Can there be dangerous beauties, corrupting beauties, and immoral beauties? Perhaps so. The prose of Flaubert, the imagery of Baudelaire, the harmonies of Wagner, Scruton points out, have all been accused of immorality, by those who believe that they paint wickedness in alluring colors. Is it right to say there is more beauty in a classical temple than a concrete office block, more beauty in a Rembrandt than in an Andy Warhol Campbell Soup Can? Can we even say, of certain works of art, that they are too beautiful: that they ravish when they should disturb. But while we may argue about what is or is not beautiful, Scruton insists that beauty is a real and universal value, one anchored in our rational nature, and that the sense of beauty has an indispensable part to play in shaping the human world. Forthright and thought-provoking, and as accessible as it is stimulating, this fascinating meditation on beauty draws conclusions that some may find controversial, but, as Scruton shows, help us to find greater meaning in the beautiful objects that fill our lives.

    In this Penguin Classics edition, the letters are selected and edited by Ronald de Leeuw, and translated by Arnold Pomerans in Penguin Classics.Few artists' letters are as self-revelatory as Vincent van Gogh's, and this selection, spanning his artistic career, sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and tortured man. Engaging candidly and movingly with his religious struggles, his ill-fated search for love, his attacks of mental illness and his relation with his brother Theo, the letters contradict the popular myth of van Gogh as an anti-social madman and a martyr to art, showing instead a man of great emotional and spiritual depths. Above all, they stand as an intense personal narrative of artistic development and a unique account of the process of creation.The letters are linked by explanatory biographical passages, revealing van Gogh's inner journey as well as the outer facts of his life. This edition also includes the drawings that originally illustrated the letters.Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890) was born in Holland. In 1885 he painted his first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, a haunting scene of domestic poverty. A year later he began studying in Paris, where he met Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Seurat, who became very important influences on his work. In 1888 he left Paris for the Provencal landscape at Arles, the subject of many of his best works, including Sunflowers.If you enjoyed The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, you might also like 100 Artists Manifestos, available in Penguin Modern Classics.'If there was ever any doubt that Van Gogh's letters belong beside those great classics of artistic self-revelation, Cellini's autobiography and Delacroix's journal, this excellent new edition dispels it'The Times

    The Great Book of Crazy President Trivia is filled with many lesser-known facts about the American Presidents. It is filled with great stories of the US Presidents that you will not find in any US history books. This President Trivia book is going to let you see the Presidents of the past in a whole new light. Learn about their personal lives, the challenges they faced, and their great accomplishments. When you read this trivia book, you are going to learn not only about the Presidents of the US but about the history of the US as well. When we learn about the Presidents, most often we learn about a few of their accomplishments that they had while in office, however, this book is going to show you the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the lives of these men. At the end of each chapter you will find trivia questions and answers that are going to allow you to learn even more about the men that have been in charge of The United States of America. You are going to learn how war not only challenged these men but how it affected who they were. You will see how great decisions were made as well as some that were not so great. In the end, you are going to find that these men were in fact just men who took on a huge responsibility. Some of them were successful some of them failed miserably but each of them with their own hands, molded the US into what it is today.

    Savage brings to life the sensational story of the meteoric rise and rapid implosion of the Pistols through layers of rich detail, exclusive interviews, and rare photographs. This fully revised and updated edition of the book covers the legacy of punk twenty-five years later and provides an account of the Pistols' 1996 reunion as well as a freshly updated discography and a completely new introduction.

    But one particular string of bad news stories – and a terrifying brush with her own mortality – sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next?In this wise and layered book, Leigh talks intimately with people who’ve faced the unimaginable, from terrorism to natural disaster to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Expecting broken lives, she instead finds strength, hope, even humour. Leigh brilliantly condenses the cutting-edge research on the way the human brain processes fear and grief, and poses the questions we too often ignore out of awkwardness. Along the way, she offers an unguarded account of her own challenges and what she’s learned about coping with life’s unexpected blows.Warm, candid and empathetic, this book is about what happens when ordinary people, on ordinary days, are forced to suddenly find the resilience most of us don’t know we have.

    Watson, it is only now that, owing to his recent death, the full biography and facts of his life can be brought before the public. This volume brings together for the first time every known fact that can be fully authenticated about the life of one of the world's most extraordinary men, and reveals much more about him that has not been heretofore generally known. From twenty years' research into every possible source, the author has written as definitive an account as could ever be assembled. Sherlock Holmes was born on January 6th, 1854, the third and last son of Siger and Violet Holmes, of North Riding, Yorkshire. He traveled widely on the continent as a boy, where he learned six languages. Displaying most unusual talents at an early age, he attended an English boarding school, and in 1872 entered Oxford. He soon decided to train himself to become a consulting detective, and before long he was starting to take cases. Except for a period when he was an actor, he pursued his chosen career thereafter and of course became famous after Dr. Watson started to write about him. This book reveals far more than Watson ever could, including the whole story of his running battle with the infamous Professor Moriarty, his dangerous brush with Jack with Ripper, his long association and love for Irene Adler, the question of his own son, and the story of his retirement, the writing of his great book, and the circumstances of his death. In short, this book contains everything that can be told about Holmes. It is a marvelous reconstruction from very scattered sources, and the amazing but always scrupulously accurate story of a great man.Contents:1: Genteel gypsies: 1854-64 --2: Old Sherman, Winwood Reade, Maitre Bencin, and Professor Moriarty: 1864-72 --3: Oxford and Cambridge: 1872-77 --4: Montague Street: 1877-79 --5: On stage and off in England and America: 1879-81 --6: Early days on Baker Street: 1881-83 --7: First Mrs Watson: 1883-86 --8: Woman: November 1886-May 1887 --9: Orange Pips, red-headed men, and a blue carbuncle: May-December 1887 --10: Back to Baker Street: January 1888 --Interruption: Three stories from the London Times: August 10, September 1, September 10, 1888 --11: To meet Mr Mycroft Holmes: Wednesday, September 12, 1888 --12: Sign of the four: Tuesday, September 18-Friday, September 21, 1888 --13: Dr James Mortimer and Sir Henry Baskerville: Tuesday, September 25-Saturday, September 29, 1888 --Interruption: Two stories from the London Times: October 1 and 2, 1888 --14: Horror Hound: Sunday, September 30-Saturday, October 20, 1888 --15: Jack the Harlot Killer: Friday, November 9-Sunday, November 11, 1888 --16: Second Mrs Watson: 1819-90 --17: Final problem? Friday, April 24-Monday, May 4, 1891 --Entr'acte: Dr Watson, writer --18: Meeting in Montenegro: June 1891 --19: Venture into the unknown: 1891-93 --20: Return of Sherlock Holmes: Thursday, April 5, 1894 --21: Game's afoot again: 1894-95 --22: Crowded years: 1896-1902 --23: Third Mrs Watson: July 1902-October 1903 --24: Sussex Downs: 1909 --25: His last bow: Sunday, August 2, 1914 --Epilogue: Sherlock Holmes walks at sunset: Sunday, January 6, 1957 --Appendix 1: Chronological Holmes --Appendix 2: Bibliographical Holmes: a selective compilation.

    They chart her transformation from a young girl with a love of animals and fairy tales into a bestselling author and canny businesswoman, so deeply unusual for the Victorian era in which she grew up. Embellished with photographs of Potter's life and her own illustrations, this biography will delight anyone who has been touched by Beatrix Potter's work.For the fans of her children’s literature who want to know the real-life animals behind Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, Jemima Puddle duck, and of course, Peter Rabbit.

    The book traces his immense impact on the portrayal of the leading stars year by year, from his arrival in California in 1925 until his departure in 1943. During that time he photographed all of the greatest personalities, at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and Columbia as well as independently. The prints come from the Chapman Collection, one of the most extensive archives of original Hurrell photographs in the world, and they include a number of rarities and surprises. Although some photos by Hurrell are familiar and frequently reproduced, most of the images in this book will come as a revelation, since they have not been published in over half a century. The genesis of the pictures is examined in a remarkable text by Mark A. Vieira, himself a highly regarded portrait photographer, who came to know Hurrell well during the photographer's later years. Vieira explains in detail Hurrell's technical feats of lighting and retouching. And drawing on firsthand accounts, he vividly re-creates the lively interplay between the photographer and his subjects at the shooting sessions in which these portraits were taken.

     Over the past year, much of what I have written has turned into letters: letters to people, their stories, and the seasons they are in. Even though I suppose, technically, what you will find in this book is considered poetry, I hope they read as letters: letters for people, places, things, seasons, years–letters for the story and for the storyteller. There are one hundred poem letters in this book. I share them with you because I believe you have a story to tell, and I hope these poem letters encourage you to keep telling it. ––Morgan Harper Nichols Writer, Artist, Musician

    Decade by decade, generation to generation, history unfolds in the famous and infamous expressions of Americans from all walks of life: poets and politicians, artists and astronauts, soldiers and sports legends, preachers and pacifists, humorists and hell-raisers. In Our Own Words bears witness to the forces that swept our nation -- two World Wars, Prohibition, the Depression, the Cold War, the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, the Reagan era, and beyond -- and features the voices of Theodore Roosevelt * Booker T. Washington * Mark Twain * Emma Goldman * Woodrow Wilson * Marcus Garvey * Oliver Wendell Holmes * George S. Patton * Pearl Buck * Orson Welles * Jackie Robinson * Joseph McCarthy * Rachel Carson * Vince Lombardi * Barry Goldwater * John F. Kennedy * J. Edgar Hoover * Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. * Malcolm X * Richard M. Nixon * Frank Zappa * Elie Wiesel * Charlton Heston * Ryan White * Duke Ellington * Billy Graham * Barbara Jordan * Bill Clinton * Cesar Chavez * Helen Keller...and dozens of others who tell the story of their age from their podiums and soapboxes, courtrooms and convention halls.

    But the law touches every area of our lives: from intimate family matters to the biggest issues in our society.Our unfamiliarity is dangerous because it makes us vulnerable to media spin, political lies and the kind of misinformation that frequently comes from other loud-mouthed amateurs and those with vested interests. This 'fake law' allows the powerful and the ignorant to corrupt justice without our knowledge - worse, we risk letting them make us complicit.Thankfully, the Secret Barrister is back to reveal the stupidity, malice and incompetence behind many of the biggest legal stories of recent years. In Fake Law, the Secret Barrister debunks the lies and builds an hilarious, alarming and eye-opening defence against the abuse of our law, our rights and our democracy.

    This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, friends and relations - all painted with a gaiety and freshness of observation that make this trilogy an evocative and sensitive memorial to Victorian rural England.With a new introduction by Richard Mabey