Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World


David Denby - 1996
    He chronicles his journey in the New York Times bestseller Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World. What brought Denby back to his alma mater was not a sense of nostalgia, but the current academic debate surrounding Western literature. This culture war centers on the left's denunciation of "dead white European males" as oppressive and exclusionary and the right's reverence of the Western canon as the foundation of traditional values and patriotism. Like many of the extremists engaged in the debate, Denby found his memories of these works faded and forgotten. "I possessed information without knowledge, opinions without principles, instincts without beliefs.... And I wanted to add my words to the debate from the ground up, beginning and ending in literature, never leaving the books themselves." Thus Denby returns to Columbia for the two "great books" courses: Literature Humanities and Contemporary Civilization. During his yearlong education he explores the difficulties of going back to reading seriously; analyzes today's college students; observes the teaching styles of four professors; and enters into a period of self-discovery as he learns to deal with life as a middle-aged student, father, and husband. Along the way he gains a new appreciation of writers such as Homer, Boccaccio, Austen, Nietzsche, Conrad, Machiavelli, Marx, and Woolf. He walks away from his experiences believing deeply that students today, more than ever, need this type of humanistic education and that both sides of the culture war are simplifying the Western tradition.

Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day: A Reader's Guide


Adam Parkes - 2001
    A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. The books in the series will all follow the same structure:a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

Managerial Economics: A Problem Solving Approach


Luke M. Froeb - 2007
    Froeb/McCann's MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS: A PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH, 2E covers traditional material using a problem-based pedagogy built around common business mistakes. Models are used sparingly, and then only to the extent that they help students figure out why mistakes are made, and how to fix them. This edition's succinct, fast-paced presentation and challenging, interactive applications place students in the role of a decision maker who has to identify mistakes that reduce profits, and propose solutions to bring profits back up. The lively book provides an excellent ongoing reference for students pursuing business careers. New chapters and updates highlight mistakes that precipitated the financial crisis. With MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS, 2E your students are taught to use economics to not only identify profitable decisions, but also how to implement them within an organization.

Aspects of the Novel


E.M. Forster - 1927
    Forster's Aspects of the Novel is an innovative and effusive treatise on a literary form that, at the time of publication, had only recently begun to enjoy serious academic consideration. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Oliver Stallybrass, and features a new preface by Frank Kermode.First given as a series of lectures at Cambridge University, Aspects of the Novel is Forster's analysis of this great literary form. Here he rejects the 'pseudoscholarship' of historical criticism - 'that great demon of chronology' - that considers writers in terms of the period in which they wrote and instead asks us to imagine the great novelists working together in a single room. He discusses aspects of people, plot, fantasy and rhythm, making illuminating comparisons between novelists such as Proust and James, Dickens and Thackeray, Eliot and Dostoyevsky - the features shared by their books and the ways in which they differ. Written in a wonderfully engaging and conversational manner, this penetrating work of criticism is full of Forster's habitual irreverence, wit and wisdom.In his new introduction, Frank Kermode discusses the ways in which Forster's perspective as a novelist inspired his lectures. This edition also includes the original introduction by Oliver Stallybrass, a chronology, further reading and appendices.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) was a noted English author and critic and a member of the Bloomsbury group. His first novel, Where Angels Fear To Tread appeared in 1905. The Longest Journey appeared in 1907, followed by A Room With A View (1908), based partly on the material from extended holidays in Italy with his mother. Howards End (1910) was a story that centered on an English country house and dealt with the clash between two families, one interested in art and literature, the other only in business. Maurice was revised several times during his life, and finally published posthumously in 1971.If you enjoyed Aspects of the Novel, you might like Forster's A Room with a View, also available in Penguin Classics.

William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life: Bookmarked


Steve Almond - 2019
    It tells the story of William Stoner, who attends the state university to study agronomy, but instead falls in love with English literature and becomes an academic. The novel narrates the many disappointments and struggles in Stoner's academic and personal life, including his estrangement from his wife and daughter, set against the backdrop of the first half of the twentieth century.In his entry in the Bookmarked series, author Steve Almond writes about why Stoner has endured, and the manner in which it speaks to the impoverishment of the inner life in America. Almond will also use the book as a launching pad for an investigation of America’s soul, in the process, writing about his own struggles as a student of writing, as a father and husband, and as a man grappling with his own mortality.

Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship


Bernie Schein - 2019
    Bernie Schein was his best friend from the time they met in a high-school pickup basketball game in Beaufort, South Carolina, until Conroy’s death in 2016. Both were popular athletes but also outsiders as a Jew and a Catholic military brat in the small-town Bible-Belt South, and they bonded. Wise ass and smart aleck, loudmouths both, they shared an ebullient sense of humor and romanticism, were mesmerized by the highbrow and reveled in the low, and would sacrifice entire evenings and afternoons to endless conversation. As young teachers in the Beaufort area and later in Atlanta, they were activists in the civil rights struggle and against institutional racism and bigotry. Bernie knew intimately the private family story of the Conroys and his friend’s difficult relationship with his Marine Corps colonel father that Pat would draw on repeatedly in his fiction. A love letter and homage, and a way to share the Pat he knew, this book collects Bernie’s cherished memories about the gregarious, welcoming, larger-than-life man who remained his best friend, even during the years they didn’t speak. It offers a trove of insights and anecdotes that will be treasured by Pat Conroy’s many devoted fans.

A Reader's Guide to Caspian: A Journey Into C. S. Lewis's Narnia


Leland Ryken - 2008
    S. Lewis's Prince Caspian and the children's second remarkable escapade into Narnia--a Narnia known but unknown, looking much different than it did in their first adventure. C. S. Lewis scholar Marjorie Lamp Mead and literary specialist Leland Ryken work their own magic to take you deep into Narnia once again, providing a guided tour of Prince Caspian that highlights characters, setting and framework, with rich background details to enhance your reading of the story. The authors also shed light on Lewis's imagination and literary forms, and include a brief biography of Lewis himself. Added questions for discussion and reflection make this the perfect companion to Prince Caspian for book discussion groups. Following the pattern set in theirReader's Guide Through the Wardrobe, Mead and Ryken help you, like the Pevensie children, enter Narnia again in a new way and find it to be an even more surprising place than you ever imagined.

The Justification of Johann Gutenberg: A Novel


Blake Morrison - 2000
    Through the eyes of the aging narrator, we see the Middle Ages in a strange new light and witness a moment of cultural transition as dramatic as the communications revolution of today.

ABC of Reading


Ezra Pound - 1934
    With characteristic vigor and iconoclasm, Pound illustrates his precepts with exhibits meticulously chosen from the classics, and the concluding “Treatise on Meter” provides an illuminating essay for anyone aspiring to read and write poetry. The ABC of Reading emphasizes Pound's ability to discover neglected and unknown genius, distinguish originals from imitations, and open new avenues in literature for our time.

Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System


Leiyu Shi - 2004
    Health System, This Condensed Distillation Of The Important Topics Covered In Delivering Health Care In America Is The Perfect Resource For Courses In Health Policy, Allied Health, Health Administration And More. It Clarifies The Complexities Of Health Care Organization And Finance And Presents A Solid Overview Of How The Various Components Fit Together. The Second Edition Of Essentials Of The US Health Care System Has Been Updated To Include New Data, Charts, Tables And Accompanying Information Throughout The Book. Use As A Stand-Alone Text, Or A Supplement In Various Courses. New Content Includes: Medicare, Medicaid And SCHIP. Ongoing Evolution In U.S. Health Care As A Result Of Corporatization And Globalization. The Role Of Hospitalists. Updated Content On Parts C And D Of Medicare. Including Information On High-Deductible Health Plans/Health Savings Accounts As An Insurance Option. Updated Content On Primary Care And Community Oriented Health Care Development Current Development On Hospital Extensions To The Community. Current Development On Nano Technology. Current Health Policy Issues. Current Discussion On Healthcare Reforms, Including Future Challenges Posed By The Increased Need For Long-Term Care. New Third Edition Now Available!

Between the Covers: The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures


Margo Hammond - 2008
    Between the Covers is organized around their wide-ranging curiosity—about themselves, friends and family, the larger world—and their concerns, from health to sex to managing their finances. With such sections as “Babes We Love” (Role Models Real and Imagined), “The Babe Inside” (Focusing on Body and Soul), and “Love, Sex & Second Chances,” this unique collection of fiction and nonfiction reflects how women really read.

The Wright Brothers: by David McCullough | Summary & Analysis


aBookaDay - 2015
    The Wright Brothers is an historical narrative that draws on extensive archival materials, personal journals, and public records to tell the story of the Wright brothers as men of incredible character and determination along the road towards their significant contributions to aviation history. The summary parallels the structure of the book which is divided into three parts. The first part explores the period of the boys’ childhood through their work on flight testing various models of gliders. The second part picks up with the addition of the engine to the Wright planes and traces the brother’s work through the early stages of powered flight, roughly 1903 to 1908. Part three follows the brothers, now globally famous, through the years when they captured the most attention for their accomplishments. A central aspect of this historical account is the development of Orville and Wilbur Wright as individuals who showed fierce determination in the face of relentless setbacks. It also sheds light on their private nature and their deep bond as brothers. McCullough is a two time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for other historical works, Truman and John Adams. He also won the National Book Award twice and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His educational background includes a degree in English Literature from Yale University. He is also a well-known narrator, as well as previous host of American Experience. Read more....

Happier Than A Billionaire: An Acre in Paradise


Nadine Hays Pisani - 2017
     A celebration of one couple's decision to dig deeper roots in one of the happiest places on earth. In her best work to date, Nadine Hays Pisani shares what it's like to follow her dream of starting a new business on a strict budget in Costa Rica. Along the way, she shares the ups and downs of renting, buying, and building her new home in this country known for red tape, taking its time, and the Pura Vida lifestyle. She struggles to live alongside construction crews, invading critters, and a delusional husband who insists everything will work out fine. Nadine introduces a variety of zany characters, makes new friends, and wrestles with unending challenges all while celebrating this beautiful country. This is a stand-alone story, so if you are new to the Happier Than A Billionaire series, it's fine to start right here. But be warned, your friends will wonder why you are wearing a silly grin for the weeks that follow.

Live While You Can: A Memoir of Faith, Hope and the Power of Acceptance


Tony Coote - 2019
    Just a few short months later, he found himself confined to a wheelchair. But rather than succumbing to the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him in the days after his diagnosis, he drew on his powerful faith and unwavering belief in life and found a way to light, hope and acceptance.From growing up in Fairview, to serving in the dioceses in Ballymun and later Mount Merrion and Kilmacud, and his charity work while in UCD, Fr Tony takes us on the journey of his life and shows us how, through this devastating illness, he came to know the true meaning and nature of God's love.Sadly, Tony passed away on the 28 August 2019 but his memoir and his message of hope, strength and unwavering faith live on.'Our lives will never be measured in words spoken or success achieved but rather how we live and how our life has affected those around us.' Fr Tony Coote

EndEx


Clive Ward - 2017
    Your clearance chit is all signed off. You’ve received your last train warrant, they’ve taken your ID card off you at the guard room, and you walk out through the gate for the last time, it’s Endex. It doesn’t matter how many years you served in the military, it will always have a lasting effect on the way you live the rest of your life. Marine, soldier, sailor or airman, whichever you may be, there are some qualities and experiences that most, if not all veterans, share. There are 3 types of people, Civilian, Military and Veteran. Once you join the military, you can never go back to being a civilian again. When you’ve left the military, you might think you are doing a great job trying to blend in to your civilian surroundings, but the signs are there, that you once served your country, sometimes without you even realising it. What you will realise is you’ll never be normal again.