Many of the prices we pay seem to make little sense. We shell out $2.29 for a coffee at Starbucks when a nearly identical brew can be had at the corner deli for less than a dollar. We may be less willing to give blood for $25 than to donate it for free. Americans hire cheap illegal immigrants to fix the roof or mow the lawn, and vote for politicians who promise to spend billions to keep them out of the country. And citizens of the industrialized West pay hundreds of dollars a year in taxes or cash for someone to cart away trash that would be a valuable commodity in poorer parts of the world. The Price of Everything starts with a simple premise: there is a price behind each choice that we make, whether we're deciding to have a baby, drive a car, or buy a book. We often fail to appreciate just how critical prices are as a motivating force shaping our lives. But their power becomes clear when distorted prices steer our decisions the wrong way. Eduardo Porter uncovers the true story behind the prices we pay and reveals what those prices are actually telling us. He takes us on a global economic adventure, from comparing the relative price of a vote in corrupt São Tomé and in the ostensibly uncorrupt United States, to assessing the cost of happiness in Bhutan, to deducing the dollar value we assign to human life. His unique approach helps explain: * Why polygamous societies actually place a higher value on women than monogamous ones. * Why someone may find more value in a $14 million license plate than the standard issue, $95 one. * Why some government agencies believe one year of life for a senior citizen is four times more valuable than that of a younger person. Porter weaves together the constant-and often unconscious-cost and value assessments we all make every day. While exploring the fascinating story behind the price of everything from marriage and death to mattresses and horsemeat, Porter draws unexpected connections that bridge a wide range of disciplines and cultures. The result is a cogent and insightful narrative about how the world really works.Watch a Video

    It includes a dozen rare images, most never before seen.

    In a slightly different version, it also appeared in the New York Review of Books, May 21, 1970.

    Did you know that the Pilgrims ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving? Or that Maine is the toothpick capital of the world, or that frogs have teeth? Do you want to know what a cockroach’s favorite food is, or how long it would take to drive to the sun? Amaze your friends and family by telling them that a baby giraffe is six feet long when it is born, or that tigers have striped skin! From the creators of The Book of Useless Information, this is an amazing collection of the wildest, oddest, funniest facts about history, science, food, animals, and more!

    The essays, lectures, and interviews of this volume, written between 1979 and 2001, are the product of these journeys. They investigate an astonishing range of subjects among them Japan s founding myths, Noh and Kabuki theater, the distinctiveness of the Japanese musical scale, the artisanship of Jomon pottery, and the relationship between Japanese graphic arts and cuisine. For Levi-Strauss, Japan occupied a unique place among world cultures. Molded in the ancient past by Chinese influences, it had more recently incorporated much from Europe and the United States. But the substance of these borrowings was so carefully assimilated that Japanese culture never lost its specificity. As though viewed from the hidden side of the moon, Asia, Europe, and America all find, in Japan, images of themselves profoundly transformed.As in Levi-Strauss s classic ethnography "Tristes Tropiques, " this new English translation presents the voice of one of France s most public intellectuals at its most personal.

    It was a fantastic holiday hit that continued to sell well through Valentine’s Day. The demand was fueled by the fictional book’s presence in the hit film Sex and the City. As a companion to Love Letters of Great Men, this anthology gives the other side of the story: the secret hopes and lives of some of the greatest women in history, from writers and artists to politicians and queens. From the private papers of Anne Boleyn and Jane Austen to those of Emily Dickinson and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, Love Letters of Great Women collects together some of the most romantic letters in history.In an age of cellphones, texts, and twitters, this timeless and unique collection reminds us that none of our new modes of communication can compare to the simple joy of sitting down to read a letter from the person they love most, making this a keepsake both men and women everywhere will want to give and receive.

    Combining humor, wit, poignancy, and affection, these columns provide insight into the intriguing and wonderful world we live in. Whether it be writing about animals (from dogs to elephants to geese!), powerful and moving comments about his own and other families, trenchant comments on life s foibles and farces, or his interviews and interactions with people who are memorable and unusual in their own right, John Grogan makes us laugh-he makes us cry-he makes us think.Visit www.baddogshavemorefun.comA percentage of the profits from the sale of this book will go to THE GOOD DOG FOUNDATION, where dogs help humans heal.To learn more, visit www.thegooddogfoundation.org"

    Rich with extraordinary tales and anecdotes, What Are You Looking At? entertains as it arms readers with the knowledge to truly understand and enjoy what it is they’re looking at.

    This beautifully photographed collection features 160 recipes for everything from coffee, hot chocolate, and tea to Kir and regional apéritifs, classic and modern cocktails from the hottest Paris bars, and creative infusions using fresh fruit and French liqueurs. And because the French can't imagine drinking without having something to eat alongside, David includes crispy, salty snacks to serve with your concoctions. Each recipe is accompanied by David's witty and informative stories about the ins and outs of life in France, as well as photographs taken on location in Paris and beyond.Whether you have a trip to France booked and want to know what and where to drink, or just want to infuse your next get-together with a little French flair, this rich and revealing guide will make you the toast of the town.

    Priestley first made his reputation in the literary world by virtue of his essays, especially short essays that captured the essence of a moment or a taste of magic; and his talents were never better displayed than in the collection entitled Delight. For here are more than 100 brief pieces that capture and record the moments of wonder and beauty that are found beneath the surface of everyday experience. Every essay bears that unique stamp of J.B. Priestley as he refers to the pleasures of music, theatre, travel, sport, playing games, childhood, etc. Delights like Reading Detective Stories in Bed, Trying New Blends of Tobacco, The Sound of a Football, Long Trousers… and even the delight of Not Going! Terrific stuff!Great Northern Books did fans of Priestley a great favor when they brought out a 60th anniversary edition in 2009, for the book had long been unavailable. The anniversary edition contains, too, an introduction by Priestley's son, Tom.

    

    John Lennon was one of the greatest songwriters the world has ever known, creator of "Help!", "Come Together", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Imagine", and dozens more. But it was in his correspondences that he let his personality and poetry flow unguarded. Now, gathered for the first time in book form, are his letters to family, friends, strangers, and lovers from every point in his life. Funny, informative, wise, poetic, and sometimes heartbreaking, his letters illuminate a never-before-seen intimate side of the private genius. This groundbreaking collection of almost 300 letters and postcards has been edited and annotated by Hunter Davies, whose authorized biography The Beatles (1968) was published to great acclaim. With unparalleled knowledge of Lennon and his contemporaries, Davies reads between the lines of the artist's words, contextualizing them in Lennon's life and using them to reveal the man himself.

    We face mounting inequality, escalating political violence, warring fundamentalisms and an environmental crisis of planetary proportions. How can we fashion a world that has room for everyone, for generations to come? What are the possibilities, in such a world, of collective human life? These are urgent questions, and no discipline is better placed to address them than anthropology. It does so by bringing to bear the wisdom and experience of people everywhere, whatever their backgrounds and walks of life.In this passionately argued book, Tim Ingold relates how a field of study once committed to ideals of progress collapsed amidst the ruins of war and colonialism, only to be reborn as a discipline of hope, destined to take centre stage in debating the most pressing intellectual, ethical and political issues of our time. He shows why anthropology matters to us all.Introducing Polity's Why It Matters series: In these short and lively books, world-leading thinkers make the case for the importance of their subjects and aim to inspire a new generation of students.

    Then Donald Trump was elected, and something shifted into place. American women who were furious and frustrated were looking for a way to channel their outrage into action, united in proclaiming, "If that guy can get elected, why not me?"The day after the 2016 election, dozens of women searched out an old sign-up link buried on the Emily's List website. By Thanksgiving, those dozens had grown to a few thousand. And that was only the beginning. By the end of 2018, there were nearly fifty thousand women signed up to run for office, with scores more signing up each day.Run to Win is for all women who are looking to lead. Organized around the steps that Emily's List coaches its candidates through (from deciding to run through celebrating victory), this book is full of essential lessons for any woman trying to succeed in a male-dominated field. Their arena is politics but their message is universal.And Stephanie Schriock is the most qualified person to share these lessons. Not only is she a powerful figure in politics but she's also a woman who commands respect for her astounding success as president of Emily's List and a longtime Democratic operative. Her message is uplifting and actionable, her voice is that of your best girlfriend walking you through what you need to consider as you make your plan, and her experience coaching the biggest female candidates in recent elections (including all of the female 2020 Democratic presidential candidates) makes her the de facto authority on the strategies women can employ to run, fight, and win, whatever their field or goal.