The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever


Alan Sepinwall - 2012
    An experimental, violent prison unit. The death of an American city, as seen through a complex police investigation. A lawless frontier town trying to talk its way into the United States. A corrupt cop who rules his precinct like a warlord. The survivors of a plane crash trying to make sense of their disturbing new island home. A high school girl by day, monster fighter by night. A spy who never sleeps. A space odyssey inspired by 9/11. An embattled high school football coach. A polished ad exec with a secret. A chemistry teacher turned drug lord.These are the subjects of 12 shows that started a revolution in TV drama: The Sopranos. Oz. The Wire. Deadwood. The Shield. Lost. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 24. Battlestar Galactica. Friday Night Lights. Mad Men. Breaking Bad.These 12 shows, and the many more they made possible, ushered in a new golden age of television — one that made people take the medium more seriously than ever before. Alan Sepinwall became a TV critic right before this creative revolution began, was there to chronicle this incredible moment in pop culture history, and along the way “changed the nature of television criticism,” according to Slate. The Revolution Was Televised is the story of these 12 shows, as told by Sepinwall and the people who made them, including David Chase, David Simon, David Milch, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, Vince Gilligan and more.

Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments: A Stone Reader


Peter Catapano - 2017
    This new collection of essays from the series does for modern ethics what The Stone Reader did for modern philosophy. New York Times editor Peter Catapano and best-selling author and philosopher Simon Critchley have curated an unparalleled collection that illuminates just how imperative ethical thinking is in our day-to-day life.Like its predecessor, Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments explores long-standing ethical and moral issues in light of our most urgent dilemmas. Divided into twelve sections, the book opens with a series of broad arguments on existence, human nature and morality. Indeed, “big” questions of the human condition are explored by some of our best-known and most accomplished living philosophers: What is the meaning of our existence? Should we really “do what we love”? How should we respond to evil? Is pure altruism possible?Along with these examinations of timeless moral conundrums, readers will find arguments in the more contentious areas of religion and government: Can we have a moral life without God? Does it really matter if God exists? Is patriotism moral? Accessible and provocative, these pieces expose the persistence of the most basic themes and questions of moral and ethical life. Many of the essays stress the crucial importance of directly engaging the most pressing moral dilemmas in modern life. Should we be the last generation, knowing all the harm we’ve done to our planet? Should we embrace our inner carnivores, or swear off all animal products? From gun control and drone warfare to the morals of marriage and reproduction, readers will view familiar debates in new, surprising lights.The editors have meticulously arranged this book to reflect a wide range of perspectives, voices and rhetorical strategies. By directly addressing some of the most complex and troubling issues we face today—racial discrimination, economic inequality, immigration, citizenship and more—the volume reveals the profound power of ethics in shaping our perceptions of nearly every aspect of our lives.A jargon-free, insightful compendium, Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments offers a panoramic view of morality and is a critical addition to The Stone Reader that will energize and enliven the world of ethical thought in both the classroom and everyday American life.Including…The Meaningfulness of Lives by Todd May * A Life Beyond “Do What You Love” by Gordon Marino * Evolution and our Inner Conflict by Edward O. Wilson * Morals Without God? by Frans de Waal * Does It Matter Whether God Exists? by Gary Gutting * The Moral Hazard of Drones by John Kaag and Sarah Kreps * Can Refugees Have Human Rights? by Omri Boehm * Dear White America by George Yancy * Girlfriend, Mother, Professor? by Carol Hay * The End of “Marriage” by Laurie Shrage * When Vegans Won’t Compromise by Bob Fischer and James McWilliams * Should This Be the Last Generation? by Peter Singer

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018


Sam Kean - 2018
    “Things aren’t perfect by any means. But there are more scientists making more discoveries in more places about more things than ever before.” The twenty-six pieces assembled here chart the full spectrum of those discoveries. From the outer reaches of space, to the mysteries of the human mind, to the changing culture in labs and universities across the nation, we see time and again the sometimes rocky, sometimes revelatory road to understanding, and along the way catch a glimpse of all that’s left to learn.

First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK


Tao Le - 1999
    Written by medical students and reviewed by top faculty, this unique book provides practical, tested advice for acing the USMLE Step 2 CK.

Uncle John's Old Faithful 30th Anniversary Bathroom Reader (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader #30)


Bathroom Readers' Institute - 2017
    And now this extra-special 30th anniversary edition has everything you've come to expect from the BRI, and more! It's stuffed with 512 pages of all-new articles sure to please everyone, from our longtime readers to newbies alike. You'll get the scoop on the latest "scientific" studies, weird world news, surprising history, and obscure facts. Here's just a sampling of what's in store:From foe to friend: presidential rivals who are buddies now What you never thought to do with those old CDs you have lying around Saddam Hussein revealed…and it's not pretty James Bond author Ian Fleming and his most titillating book titles The creepiest murderabilia that no one would want…except these people The origins of Project Gutenberg and its free e-books All-new editions of our most popular series, including Terrible Typos, Phrase Origins, and You Call This Art? Myths and facts about our friends—nos amis—the French The most horrifying things ever lost or found And much, much more!

52 McGs.: The Best Obituaries from Legendary New York Times Reporter Robert McG. Thomas Jr.


Robert McG. Thomas Jr. - 2001
    With a "genius for illuminating that sometimes ephemeral apogee in people's lives when they prove capable of generating a brightly burning spark" "(Columbia Journalism Review), " Robert McG. Thomas Jr. commemorated fascinating, unconventional lives with signature style and wit."The New York Times" received countless letters over the years from readers moved to tears or laughter by a McG. Eschewing traditionally famous subjects, Thomas favored unsung heroes, eccentrics, and underachievers, including: Edward Lowe, the inventor of Kitty Litter ("Cat Owner's Best Friend"); Angelo Zuccotti, the bouncer at El Morocco ("Artist of the Velvet Rope"); and Kay Halle, a glamorous Cleveland department store heiress who received sixty-four marriage proposals ("An Intimate of Century's Giants"). In one of his classic obituaries, Thomas described Anton Rosenberg as a "storied sometime artist and occasional musician who embodied the Greenwich Village hipster ideal of 1950's cool to such a laid-back degree and with such determined detachment that he never amounted to much of anything." Thomas captured life's ironies and defining moments with elegance and a gift for making a sentence sing. He had an uncanny sense of the passion and personality that make each life unique, and the ability, as Joseph Epstein wrote, to "look beyond the facts and the rigid formula of the obit to touch on a deeper truth."Compiled by Chris Calhoun, one of Thomas's most dedicated readers, and with a fittingly sharp introduction from acclaimed novelist and critic Thomas Mallon, "52 McGs." will win legions of new fans to the masterful writer who transformed the obituary into an art form.

A Basic History of Art


H.W. Janson - 1981
    Focusing on art before 1520, this edition organizes the material chronologically. It now incorporates considerable new material on the history of music and theatre, and updates scholarship on ancient art.

The 40s: The Story of a Decade


The New Yorker - 2014
    This is the era of Fat Man and Little Boy, of FDR and Stalin, but also of Casablanca and Citizen Kane, zoot suits and Christian Dior, Duke Ellington and Edith Piaf. The 1940s were when The New Yorker came of age. A magazine that was best known for its humor and wry social observation would extend itself, offering the first in-depth reporting from Hiroshima and introducing American readers to the fiction of Vladimir Nabokov and the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop. In this enthralling book, masterly contributions from the pantheon of great writers who graced The New Yorker’s pages throughout the decade are placed in history by the magazine’s current writers. Included in this volume are seminal profiles of the decade’s most fascinating figures: Albert Einstein, Marshal Pétain, Thomas Mann, Le Corbusier, Walt Disney, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Here are classics in reporting: John Hersey’s account of the heroism of a young naval lieutenant named John F. Kennedy; A. J. Liebling’s unforgettable depictions of the Fall of France and D Day; Rebecca West’s harrowing visit to a lynching trial in South Carolina; Lillian Ross’s sly, funny dispatch on the Miss America Pageant; and Joseph Mitchell’s imperishable portrait of New York’s foremost dive bar, McSorley’s. This volume also provides vital, seldom-reprinted criticism. Once again, we are able to witness the era’s major figures wrestling with one another’s work as it appeared—George Orwell on Graham Greene, W. H. Auden on T. S. Eliot, Lionel Trilling on Orwell. Here are The New Yorker’s original takes on The Great Dictator and The Grapes of Wrath, and opening-night reviews of Death of a Salesman and South Pacific. Perhaps no contribution the magazine made to 1940s American culture was more lasting than its fiction and poetry. Included here is an extraordinary selection of short stories by such writers as Shirley Jackson (whose masterpiece “The Lottery” stirred outrage when it appeared in the magazine in 1948) and John Cheever (of whose now-classic story “The Enormous Radio” New Yorker editor Harold Ross said: “It will turn out to be a memorable one, or I am a fish.”) Also represented are the great poets of the decade, from Louise Bogan and William Carlos Williams to Theodore Roethke and Langston Hughes. To complete the panorama, today’s New Yorker staff, including David Remnick, George Packer, and Alex Ross, look back on the decade through contemporary eyes. Whether it’s Louis Menand on postwar cosmopolitanism or Zadie Smith on the decade’s breakthroughs in fiction, these new contributions are illuminating, learned, and, above all, entertaining.Including contributions by W. H. Auden • Elizabeth Bishop • John Cheever • Janet Flanner • John Hersey • Langston Hughes • Shirley Jackson • A. J. Liebling • William Maxwell • Carson McCullers • Joseph Mitchell • Vladimir Nabokov • Ogden Nash • John O’Hara • George Orwell • V. S. Pritchett • Lillian Ross • Stephen Spender • Lionel Trilling • Rebecca West • E. B. White • Williams Carlos Williams • Edmund Wilson And featuring new perspectives by Joan Acocella • Hilton Als • Dan Chiasson • David Denby • Jill Lepore • Louis Menand • Susan Orlean • George Packer • David Remnick • Alex Ross • Peter Schjeldahl • Zadie Smith • Judith Thurman

Introducing Public Administration


Jay M. Shafritz - 1996
    This approach will captivate students and encourage them to think critically about the nature of public administration today. Introducing Public Administration provides students with a solid, conceptual foundation in public administration, and contains the latest information on important trends in the discipline. To further engage students and deepen interest in its narrative, the text uses unique chapter-opening vignettes called Keynotes, chapter ending case studies, and a series of boxes throughout that offer real-life excerpts and alternative theories.

The Best American Essays 2013


Cheryl StrayedMako Yoshikawa - 2013
    Selected and introduced by Cheryl Strayed, the New York Times best-selling author of Wild and the writer of the celebrated column “Dear Sugar,” this collection is a treasure trove of fine writing and thought-provoking essays.

Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others


Steven A. Beebe - 1996
    Fueled by the authors' conviction that skills inform principles; principles inform skills, Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others maintains a careful balance between theoretical and skills-oriented material. This book integrates a key emphasis on diversity with examples drawn from a variety of age and ethnic groups and special boxes that focus on gender and diversity issues. A chapter on intercultural communication supplements this integral material by relating it to the other-oriented approach

Garcia: A Signpost To New Space


Jerry Garcia - 1972
    The guitarist and de facto leader of the Grateful Dead was a gregarious talker, keenly engaged with the new world exploding around him. In 1972, Garcia was visited by Charles Reich, a Yale law professor, and Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone. Garcia was just thirty-one years old but already viewed--to his lasting dismay--as a social avatar for the new sensibility sweeping the land, an anarchist streak with a populist undercurrent that had roots in Ken Kesey's pranksters, the writers of the Beat Generation, and the libertine tradition of the American transcendentalists. In this interview, Garcia reveals how he is a combination of these and other influences, a high-school dropout and autodidact blessed with a gift for eloquent turns of phrase and a refreshing directness. He speaks of the saga of the Grateful Dead and his hoodlum youth growing up in San Francisco's Mission district. He delves into fascinating discourses on the music that shaped his own playing and writing, and freely discusses his use of drugs and explains why he felt it was important to stay high. Like the Grateful Dead's best music, Garcia: A Signpost to New Space is familiar, friendly, and inviting.

Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students


Thomas G. Gunning - 1999
    The Sixth Edition of Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students continues to be one of the most comprehensive, practical texts on the market, and includes a new focus on higher-level literacy practices. Written by distinguished author Tom Gunning, Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students provides readers with step-by-step guidance for teaching reading and writing, including sample lessons for virtually every major literacy skill/strategy. Reflecting the author's ongoing extensive hands-on work with schools coping with the demands of No Child Left Behind, the Sixth edition includes teaching tips and materials that are more practical, more realistic, more effective, and more extensive than ever. With its careful balance between the theory and the practice, the book always gives readers the theories behind the methods, encouraging them to choose, adapt, and construct their own approaches as they create a balanced program of literacy instruction. learners, struggling readers and writers, and special needs students, Creating Literacy for All Students, Sixth Edition, looks at developing higher-level literacy requirements for reading and writing, including those stemming from No Child Left Behind regulations and high-stakes tests. The new edition stresses effective steps for closing the gap between the reading, writing, discussion, and thinking skills as mandated by No Child Left Behind and Reading First

Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love


Anne Fadiman - 2005
    Her chosen authors include Sven Birkerts, Allegra Goodman, Vivian Gornick, Patricia Hampl, Phillip Lopate, and Luc Sante; the objects of their literary affections range from Pride and Prejudice to Sue Barton, Student Nurse.These essays are not conventional literary criticism; they are about relationships. Rereadings reveals at least as much about the reader as about the book: each is a miniature memoir that focuses on that most interesting of topics, the protean nature of love. And as every bibliophile knows, no love is more life-changing than the love of a book.

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008


Dave EggersLaurie Weeks - 2008
    Compiled by Dave Eggers and students of his San Francisco writing center, it is thoroughly "entertaining and thought-provoking reading" (Library Journal).