Book picks similar to
Love for Sale and Other Essays by Clifford Thompson
essays
personal-essays
non-fiction
oberlin-authors
This I Believe: On Love
Dan Gediman - 2010
Murrow's radio program, This I Believe, gave voice to the feelings and treasured beliefs of Americans around the country. Fifty years later, the popular update of the series, which now continues on Bob Edwards Weekend on public radio, explores the beliefs that people hold dear today. This book brings together essays on love from ordinary people far and wide whose sentiments and stories will surprise, inspire, and move you.Includes extraordinary essays written by ordinary Americans on love in its many manifestations-from romantic love and love of family to love of place and love of animals Paints a compelling portrait of the diverse range of beliefs and experiences related to what is perhaps the most powerful and complex of human emotions-love Based on the popular This I Believe radio series and thisibelieve.org Web site By turns funny and profound, yet always engaging, This I Believe: On Love is a perfect gift to give or to keep.
Exodus, Revisited: My Unorthodox Journey to Berlin
Deborah Feldman - 2021
She was determined to find a better life for herself, away from the oppression and isolation of her Satmar upbringing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And in Exodus, Revisited she delves into what happened next--taking the reader on a journey that starts with her beginning life anew as a single mother, a religious refugee, and an independent woman in search of a place and a community where she can belong. Originally published in 2014, Deborah has now revisited and significantly expanded her story, and the result is greater insight into her quest to discover herself and the true meaning of home. Travels that start with making her way in New York expand into an exploration of America and eventually lead to trips across Europe to retrace her grandmother's life during the Holocaust, before she finds a landing place in the unlikeliest of cities. Exodus, Revisited is a deeply moving examination of the nature of memory and generational trauma, and of reconciliation with both yourself and the world.
Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. - 2020
Glaude Jr., in a moment when the struggles of Black Lives Matter and the attempt to achieve a new America have been challenged by the election of Donald Trump, a president whose victory represents yet another failure of America to face the lies it tells itself about race. From Charlottesville to the policies of child separation at the border, his administration turned its back on the promise of Obama's presidency and refused to embrace a vision of the country shorn of the insidious belief that white people matter more than others.We have been here before: For James Baldwin, these after times came in the wake of the civil rights movement, when a similar attempt to compel a national confrontation with the truth was answered with the murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. In these years, spanning from the publication of The Fire Next Time in 1963 to that of No Name in the Street in 1972, Baldwin transformed into a more overtly political writer, a change that came at great professional and personal cost. But from that journey, Baldwin emerged with a sense of renewed purpose about the necessity of pushing forward in the face of disillusionment and despair.In the story of Baldwin's crucible, Glaude suggests, we can find hope and guidance through our own after times, this Trumpian era of shattered promises and white retrenchment. Mixing biography--drawn partially from newly uncovered interviews--with history, memoir, and trenchant analysis of our current moment, Begin Again is Glaude's endeavor, following Baldwin, to bear witness to the difficult truth of race in America today. It is at once a searing exploration that lays bare the tangled web of race, trauma, and memory, and a powerful interrogation of what we all must ask of ourselves in order to call forth a new America.
Eating Chocolates and Dancing in the Kitchen: Sketches of Marriage and Family
Tom Plummer - 1997
Certain to keep readers laughing even as they are nodding over the truth of the portrayals, there are glimpses of oneself or someone you know around every turn.
this is how i knew
Kiana Azizian - 2018
Everything you need to hear, but already know.
Wait Till Next Year: The Story of a Season When What Should've Happened Didn't, and What Could've Gone Wrong Did
William Goldman - 1988
Readers relive a year in sports--from locker rooms to hotel rooms to newsrooms and even hospital rooms--alternating chapters and pooling their extensive wit and wisdom.
Dinosaurs: 101 Super Fun Facts And Amazing Pictures (Featuring The World's Top 16 Dinosaurs)
Janet Evans - 2013
Children are given a well-rounded understanding of this fascinating creature: its anatomy, feeding habits and behavior. The following dinosaurs and pre-historic creatures are featured: Allosaurus Brachiosaurus Deinonychus Diplodocus Elasmosaurus Kentrosaurus Peteinosaurus Plateosaurus Pteranodon Stegosaurus Tylosaurus Tyrannosaurus Triceratops Velociraptor Spinosaurus Archaeopteryx The description in the large text is simple enough for early readers or for a parent to guide a child through. There is also a picture caption, which provides more information to talk about with your child. Alternatively, a child of any age (even the child in you) can just look at the images and appreciate its beauty. Do enjoy!
Saving Stacy: The Untold Story of the Moody Massacre
Rob St. Clair - 2019
The first time the killer thought he had succeeded, and he left Stacy bleeding in her bed. But a few minutes later he must have heard her moaning and returned to her upstairs bedroom. This time he approached the bed, pointed a .22 caliber rifle at her young face, and pulled the trigger again. Then he left.Later that morning, Memorial Day, May 25, 2005, the Logan County Sheriff would declare it a rampage. According to Sheriff Henry, 18-year-old Scott Moody lived on a family farm with his mother and sister; his grandparents lived nearby. The night before his high school graduation something snapped, and Scott went on a shooting spree. He murdered his two grandparents, his mother, a high school classmate who had spent the night after a graduation party, his girlfriend, and then he turned the rifle on himself, committing suicide. He thought he had killed his 15-year-old sister, but she was life-flighted to a hospital in Columbus where she remained in critical condition. Sheriff Henry declared the mystery solved: “It was horribly tragic, a murder/suicide case.”Three days later, Stacy woke up in intensive care. When asked by the county coroner to explain what happened – clearly expecting her to say that her brother, Scott, had shot her – Stacy, in a weak, distressed voice said something else. It was an older man with gray hair, wearing a blue shirt, someone she had never seen before. And then, once again – what everyone suspected but were afraid to publicly talk about – was the Logan County Sheriff’s Office really corrupt?After Stacy was released from the hospital, Detective Jon Stout wanted to interview her in private, away from the influence of her father and stepmother. On a Sunday afternoon he took 15-year-old Stacy in his unmarked cruiser to a shaded parking lot behind the county children services building. It was there he coerced her into taking off her clothes, playfully handcuffing her to the steering wheel, and then forcibly having sex with her. It was only a matter of time before wrongful death actions were filed against Scott’s estate. That’s when Scott’s father, wanting to remove the stigma of his son’s reputation, hired outside experts, who easily refuted the idea that Scott had been the shooter. People in the community knew all along what had happened. The sheriff’s office was corrupt. Underage sex and illicit drugs had finally raised their ugly heads.
Dear White People
Justin Simien - 2014
The film, Dear White People, garnered a Sundance Award for Breakthrough Talent and has been hailed by critics everywhere. Channeling the sensibility of the film into this book, Simien will keep you laughing with his humorous observations, even if you haven't seen the satiric film.News Flash: the minimum number of black friends needed to not seem racist has just been raised to two. Rather than panic, readers are advised to purchase a copy of Dear White People. Whether you are a white person wondering why your black office mate is avoiding eye contact with you after you ran your fingers through her hair or you're a black nerd who has to break it to your white friends that you've never seen The Wire, this myth-busting, stereotype-diffusing guide to a post-Obama world has something for you!With decision-making trees to help you decide when it's the right time to wear Blackface (hint: probably never) and quizzes to determine whether you've become the Token Black Friend, Dear White People is the ultimate silly-yet-authoritative handbook to help the curious and confused navigate racial microaggressions in their daily lives. Based on the eponymous award-winning film, which has been lauded as a smart, hilarious satire, this tongue-in-cheek guide is a must-have that anybody who is in semi-regular contact with black people can't afford to miss!
White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue ... and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation
Lauren Michele Jackson - 2019
From music and fashion to activism and language, black culture constantly achieves worldwide influence. Yet, when it comes to who is allowed to thrive from black hipness, the pioneers are usually left behind as black aesthetics are converted into mainstream success—and white profit. Weaving together narrative, scholarship, and critique, Lauren Michele Jackson reveals why cultural appropriation—something that’s become embedded in our daily lives—deserves serious attention. It is a blueprint for taking wealth and power, and ultimately exacerbates the economic, political, and social inequity that persists in America. She unravels the racial contradictions lurking behind American culture as we know it—from shapeshifting celebrities and memes gone viral to brazen poets, loveable potheads, and faulty political leaders.An audacious debut, White Negroes brilliantly summons a re-interrogation of Norman Mailer’s infamous 1957 essay of a similar name. It also introduces a bold new voice in Jackson. Piercing, curious, and bursting with pop cultural touchstones, White Negroes is a dispatch in awe of black creativity everywhere and an urgent call for our thoughtful consumption.
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
Brittney Cooper - 2018
But Cooper shows us that there is more to the story than that. Black women’s eloquent rage is what makes Serena Williams such a powerful tennis player. It’s what makes Beyoncé’s girl power anthems resonate so hard. It’s what makes Michelle Obama an icon.Eloquent rage keeps us all honest and accountable. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed. And it took another intervention, this time staged by one of her homegirls, to turn Brittney into the fierce feminist she is today. In Brittney Cooper’s world, neither mean girls nor fuckboys ever win. But homegirls emerge as heroes. This book argues that ultimately feminism, friendship, and faith in one's own superpowers are all we really need to turn things right side up again.
Thug Holiday Box Set
Twyla T. - 2019
Their parents expected them to have outstanding careers, a good man that leads the family, and lots of babies. However, life steps right on in and does its job by throwing curve balls that sends the sisters in many directions. Follow the Holiday sisters to see what lies ahead for them. Andrea Holiday is still living in Mississippi, working as a family attorney at law. She is very proud of the career she has always wanted, but she is very unhappy living a mundane life. At every turn, love is finding her sisters and friends, but seems to escape finding Andrea. While attending a conference in NYC, Andrea steps out of her comfort zone and gives a handsome thug the time of the day, and he gives her more than she bargains for. Will love finally find Andrea? To the outside eye, Anastasia Holiday is living the life. She has her own business, along with a great marriage. However, everything is not what it seems. Anastasia is tired of the façade and set out to do things her own way by finding solace in the arms and bed of another man. Will Anastasia find a way to combat the ill-feelings of her life and find a way to make her marriage work? Or will she succumb to finding love and a happy life with the thug she has fallen for? Alyssa Holiday has finally graduated college and was excited about finding a career in the communication field. However, she discovered those jobs are not what she thought they would be. So, Alyssa decided to change course and joined the FBI without informing her family of her new life choices. She has set a goal to become the best agent she can be. But when her first big case hits close to home, how will she balance the personal from the professional? Will she compromise her new career for family? Alexis Holiday moved to Georgia to attend Clark-Atlanta University. While there, she finds herself slipping into the fast life, so she ends up doing something that she had vowed to never to do. However, she must keep her family from finding out about her new gig. In the midst of this, she finds herself intrigued by two different people that she is very much attracted to, but she is confused about what to do. Will the chemistry Alexis experiences pull her towards the thuggish man that she craves, or in the opposite direction? Award-winning authors, Twyla T, Patrice Balark, Dani Littlepage, and J. Dominique, tagged teamed to bring the first book of their hot new, high octane urban fiction series, Thug Holiday. This story is filled with unlimited drama wrapped in luscious lies, undisclosed lust, secret rendezvous, and titillating secrets. Find out what happens when the sisters all meet up for the first time in years and enjoy the entire series!
Vintage True Crime Stories Vol 2: An Illustrated Anthology of Forgotten Tales of Murder & Mayhem
Robert Patterson - 2019
Let me test my presumption with a preview of four these ‘old’ stories. If I told you there was once a west coast sex cult with dozens of young girls, single ladies, and married women, who all fornicated with one well-endowed “prophet,” and he occasionally found it necessary to carry-out bondage S&M sessions here and there, you may not be surprised at all. But what if that sex cult began in 1903 and ended in 1906 with a couple of murders and suicides, does that sound like anything you have read about before? Or, how about a cheater who murders his inconvenient wife, disassembles her over a fifteen hour period, then puts her bones in the same stove he cooks breakfast for his sons before sending them off to school? If that doesn’t surprise you, perhaps the ending will–but you’ll have to find out for yourself. In ‘The Dandy and the Squire,’ a smooth-talking peacock from Kentucky visits his northern ‘cousins,’ and charms three of the women into his bed. He’s a big time operator who talks fancy, dresses fancy, and tells great stories of his days as an adventurer, riverboat gambler, and sharp-minded deal maker. He’s so smooth, he’s able to murder the patriarch’s son, make him look like the bad guy, and marry the boy’s tender-hearted sister before the Yankees get wise to his lies. Good thing, too, because he had also talked the father into giving him the family farm. Chapter Five is the stranger-than-fiction story of ‘Shoebox Annie.’ During the early 20th Century, this trollish-looking woman introduced her freakish-looking son to a life of crime. Their decade’s long spree of lyin’, cheatin’, and stealin’ led them to become America’s first mother and son team of serial killers. They were so good at disposing of bodies, none of their four victims have ever been found. If ‘old’ stories sound boring to readers of contemporary true crime, I hope this book will change minds, and fully reveal just how wicked and decadent our ancestors were. And deadly. Volume II in the Vintage True Crime Stories series is a wrecking ball that smashes to pieces that phrase, “The Good Old Days.” Maybe you will believe me when you get to the last page.
The Lines That Make Us: Stories from Nathan's Bus
Nathan Vass - 2018
The Lines that Make Us is a collection of thirty stories and thirty photographs by Seattle bus driver Nathan Vass (The View from Nathan’s Bus).“Read this beautiful book about junkies and hookers and bankers and lawyers in the last place in America they can’t avoid each other.”—Paul Currington, Fresh Ground StoriesNathan “...describes the riders—often poor, often not white, often going to bad news, often just being in the world—with a prose that’s at once elegant, rhythmical, and clear.”—Charles Tonderai Mudede, writer, editor, filmmaker, cultural criticWith an introduction by Paul Constant
WE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN: Encounters with Val Thor and journeys beyond Earth
Elena Danaan - 2021