Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 Newsweek Favorite Books of 2007 A Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2007 In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties; from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies up to the present. Taking readers into the labyrinth of modern style, Ross draws revelatory connections between the century's most influential composers and the wider culture. The Rest Is Noise is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music.
Intrepid treasure hunters believe they have discovered the final resting place of Fantome, a legendary warship that wrecked off Nova Scotia almost two hundred years ago. She was rumored to have gone down with an extraordinary treasure. But circling beneath the ocean's surface waits something unbelievable… and terrifying. Some unfortunate divers have encountered a massive, thought-to-be-extinct shark known as the megalodon. Archaeologist Annja Creed has always had a healthy respect for sharks. But when a researcher friend asks for her help, Annja braves the deep, cold waters of the Atlantic, determined to discover the truth. Instead she finds herself hunting an unknown traitor on a sabotaged ship. With death waiting both above and below the ocean's surface, Annja must battle her most dangerous enemy yet.
Most of us have been to a pet store looking at the kittens and puppies up for adoption. We've watched whole litters of puppies and kittens at play. These tiny balls of fur and fluff briefly stop their antics to stare at us, as we stare lovingly at them. Deep down we wish we could take them all home with us. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to adopt a whole litter of kittens at once? Have you ever wondered what they were thinking? Most of us have a pet cat or dog, maybe two. These pets become a part of our family; we love them, nurture them, put up with them, and cry for them. This book tells the story of our adventures as we adopt a litter of four kittens right from our front porch. The story is told from both my point of view and that of Patches, one of our four kittens. There is a different dynamic raising a whole litter in the house. It's like having a family within a family! These little bundles of high spirited joy lifted our hearts in ways we did not expect, right when we needed it most. Truly little miracles!
A wrecked German bomber…key to the secrets of the Third Reich? All it took was one phone call and TV show host and archaeologist Annja Creed is in mortal danger. Her producer Doug Morrell has been abducted by a greedy treasure hunter who's seeking the lost raubgold, or looted gold of Nazi Germany. The terms are simple: retrieve the bounty and Doug lives. Fail, and he dies… Now Annja and her friends must find a missing German fighter plane that was shot down over the Alps in 1945. According to legend, the aircraft not only holds a shipment of gold the Nazis had stolen, but also carried the last letters of the führer himself. Letters that point to a more startling treasure buried underwater halfway around the world. But Annja isn't interested in treasure, or even unearthing historic relics. Annja has one agenda: get Doug out alive…even if it means drawing her sword from its otherworldly sheath. Even if it means death. Because once greed drives a man to violence, nothing will stop him…
The son of an archaeologist finds the lost medallion his father had been seeking and is transported back in time with his best friend for an adventure that will change his life forever.
Steely Dan was a somewhat unusual band that still inspires unusually strong devotion in its fans. Formed in the late '60s in New York, they released seven albums between 1971 and 1981, two of which were nominated for a Grammy. Part of what's unusual about them is that each of those albums was made by a different group of musicians--founding members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had no issues swapping players from record to record in order to get the sound they wanted. The band stopped touring in 1974, so the recording studio was the only place they needed their collaborators. Those recordings are legendary, especially among vinyl enthusiasts, for their exquisite production. The precision was necessary, in part, because Steely Dan played with form more than most bands, mixing elements of other genres--especially jazz--with pop and rock. And the lyrics are also distinctive. As the authors put it in their proposal, Steely Dan's songs are "exercises in fictional world-building. Each song features its own cast of rogues and heroes and creeps and schmucks, lovers and dreamers and cold-blooded operators, all tempest-tossed by the ill winds of the '70s." This book consists of sixty-some essays, each devoted to one character, and each essay is accompanied by a painting of the particular character that serves as a jumping-off point for the piece, with additional spot illustrations scattered throughout"--
In a magical realm filled with creatures of every possible shape and size, war is brought upon the peaceful kingdom of Sonnencrest by evil goblin King Malmut. Princess Babette, the only surviving member of the royal family, manages to escape and seeks refuge with Asterux, a powerful wizard who agrees to teach Babette magic, and who disguises her as an ugly gypsy girl to protect her from King Malmut's thugs. Ten years later, Babette must use the magic she has learned to help aid the kingdom's only hope at defeating the goblins' horrible reign: Darrow, a lame boy who can barely pick up a sword but has a great gift for inspiring others. With Babette's unseen help, Darrow begins a journey to free his country once and for all and bring peace back to Sonnencrest. Written by a father and his then eight- year-old son who struggled with a learning disability at the time, "The Sword of Darrow" is an enjoyable adventure that shows how even the unlikeliest of heroes can rise up against injustice.
Introduction: Orwell's formalism, or A theory of socialist writing -- "Quite bare" ("A Hanging") -- "Getting to work" (The Road to Wigan Pier) -- "Semi-sociological" (Inside the Whale) -- The column as form -- Writing's outside -- First-person socialism -- Conclusion: Happy Orwell
I doubt that one person would claim to have written a book without help. I certainly wouldnt. Mary, my wonderful wife of 52 years, along with my family have encouraged me through thick and thin. Friends have helped in many ways. Then there are those Ive met through life whove provided the rich material. When asked, Where do you get your ideas for a story? I laugh because theyre all around. In my search for an illustrator, I contacted the art teacher at our local High School. One student, Arianna Palmer was thrilled at the opportunity of being published. When I saw her work, I too was excited. Thank you, Arianna, for your wonderful work. I know Rand Darrow from Books Etc., our Macedon, NY, local writers group. Rand is both author and illustrator of, Witches, Wolves and Water Spirits. He illustrated my story, Purple Man. Thanks Rand. Thank you, Paul Bagdon, my mentor, advisor and editor of my stories for sixteen years. Your encouragement has been invaluable. Paul has authored thirty-four books including, Deserter, Bad Medicine and The Busted Thumb Horse Ranch. Since a small boy growing up in England, writing short stories has been my passion. They remained hidden away until I retired and enjoyed the time to prepare them for publication. My experiences in Britain and America provided the material for these stories. The incidents, and adventures, both real and imagined are the paint for these, my pictures, illustrating my love of colorful people and of life. Some are funny, some sad, a few are strange, but all are interesting, and reflect life with its many unexpected twists and turns.
Using Unreal Engine 3, the authors teach aspiring game makers the fundamentals of designing a computer game. The only prerequisite is a basic working knowledge of computers and a desire to build an original game.This book mirrors the curriculum used at CampGame, a six week summer program organized for high school students at The New York University and Arizona State University. Students enter with no prior knowledge of game making, and through the course of six intensive weeks, they finish as teams of budding game developers.
Alex Bledsoe introduced the world to Eddie LaCrosse, the hard-boiled but soft-hearted detective known as a "sword jockey" who, for twenty-five gold pieces a day, plus expenses, will take on any case short of murder for hire. Like Philip Marlowe in shining armor or Sam Spade with a sword, Eddie goes down his mean medieval streets trying to walk the straight and narrow in a crooked, twisting fantasy world. Over the course of four novels, LaCrosse has encountered dragons, pirates, sea monsters, goddesses, ghosts, and magic, all the while keeping his cool and doing what's right. In this collection you'll receive the complete text of the first four Eddie LaCrosse novels. The Sword-Edged Blonde When a childhood friend, now a king, asks Eddie's help in clearing his queen of a murder charge, Eddie's long-buried past refuses to stay hidden. Burn Me Deadly Someone will go to any lengths, including torture and murder, to locate the last remaining dragon eggs. But dragons aren't real, are they? Dark Jenny A poisoned apple sets off political turmoil that threatens to destroy an entire Camelot-like kingdom, and take Eddie with it. Wake of the Bloody Angel Eddie searches for the vanished pirate Black Edward Tew and his legendary treasure, but even the help of a tough former pirate queen may not be enough to save him from what he finds. Swords Are My Business also includes a sample of the fifth Eddie LaCrosse novel, He Drank, and Saw the Spider. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Bringing together philosophy and science with hands-on exercises, journaling, and charts, this practical workbook by psychologists and best-selling authors C. Alexander Simpkins, Ph.D., and Annellen M. Simpkins, Ph.D., is organized to include: The tools to get you started: preliminaries, quick tips, neuroscience and efficacy research Clear instructions to guide you in the practices of yoga and mindfulness Application of the practice to anxiety, stress, depression, trauma and substance abuse An appendix created especially for the clinician answers questions about how and when to introduce the techniques, ways to adapt to your office, and special ways to address children and seniors “The Simpkins have unified three areas that have rarely, if ever, been pulled together: yoga (not just the body moves, but the deeper psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects as well), mindfulness practices and therapeutic methods…filled with exercises, tips and inspiring stories.” - Bill O’Hanlon, featured Oprah guest and author of Out of the Blue: Six Non-Medication Ways to Relieve Depression
Everybody has their light side and their dark side. The light side is full of happiness and hope. While the dark side is full of sadness and lost hope. They are complete opposites, but I'm going to show you how they can come together and show you the light in the darkness.
Based on part of the material from the author's best-selling book 'A Complete O-level Mathematics', this book provides the most effective examination revision guide for the modern 'O' level, GCSE.
Acclaimed author Alex Espinoza, whose writing Lisa See has called “fresh, magical, beautiful, and evocative,” returns with a captivating, unforgettable novel set in Hollywood’s Golden Age, as a gifted and determined young man leaves Mexico—and everything he’s ever known—to follow his dreams. Growing up in a rural village at the height of the Mexican Revolution, Diego León has many first loves: singing, dancing, and hearing the stories of his ancestors, the P’urhépecha. But when tragedy strikes, young Diego is sent to the city to live with his aristocratic grandparents, who insist he forget his roots and groom him to take over the family business. Under pressure to enter a profession—and a life—he cares nothing for, and haunted by the violence once again erupting all around him, Diego flees his war-torn country to forge his own destiny. Diego arrives in Hollywood in 1927, when silent films are giving way to talkies, Prohibition is in full swing, and “Latin lover” types are sought out even as they are looked down upon. Working his way up in the movie business with talent and ingenuity, Diego soon figures out that getting one’s face on the silver screen has as much to do with what goes on behind the camera as what goes on in front of it. But the closer Diego comes to stardom, the more he finds that the past is not so easily escaped, as he is drawn again and again to the painful legacy of history and the wounds of his homeland. A sweeping, sensual novel of love, ambition, and identity, The Five Acts of Diego León bears all the marks of a classic Hollywood story: romance, betrayal, glamour, and an underdog hero to root for till the end. “An elegant, startling vision of a Mexican in America, The Five Acts of Diego León proclaims the ascendance of a unique new talent, Alex Espinoza—a Chicano in America certain to surpass the fame of his novel’s silent Hollywood hero. Espinoza takes our literature from a mute, black-and-white era to a national stage with full-spectrum color, in high-tech surround sound.”—Dagoberto Gilb, author of Before the End, After the Beginning
The first major biography of the pathbreaking, perpetually influential surrealist artist and iconoclast whose inspiration can be seen in everyone from Jasper Johns to Beyoncé—by the celebrated biographer of Cézanne and Braque In this thought-provoking life of René Magritte (1898-1967), Alex Danchev makes a compelling case for Magritte as the single most significant purveyor of images to the modern world. Magritte’s surreal sensibility, deadpan melodrama, and fine-tuned outrageousness have become an inescapable part of our visual landscape, through such legendary works as The Treachery of Images (Ceci n’est pas une pipe) and his celebrated iterations of Man in a Bowler Hat. Danchev explores the path of this highly unconventional artist from his middle-class Belgian beginnings to the years during which he led a small, brilliant band of surrealists (and famously clashed with André Breton) to his first major retrospective, which traveled to the United States in 1965 and gave rise to his international reputation. Using 50 color images and more than 160 black-and-white illustrations, Danchev delves deeply into Magritte’s artistic development and the profound questions he raised in his work about the very nature of authenticity. This is a vital biography for our time that plumbs the mystery of an iconoclast whose influence can be seen in everyone from Jasper Johns to Beyoncé.
Enslaved by a mute-race of cruel dictators, Razvan learns their touch-language and works as a translator in order to survive. But war is on the horizon and his quiet life is about to get noisy… When he was a boy, Razvan trained as a translator for the hated Keda, the mute enslavers of his city, Val Kedić. They are a cruel race who are quick to anger. They keep a tight hold on the citizens of Val Kedić by forcing their children to be sent to work in the dangerous mines of the city from the age of eleven until eighteen. By learning fingerspeak – the Keda's touch language – Razvan was able to avoid such a punishment for himself and live a life outside the harsh climate of the slums. But the same could not be said for his son... Now a man, Razvan has etched out a quiet life for himself as an interpreter for the Keda court. He does not enjoy his work, but keeps his head down to protect his son, held hostage in the Keda’s mines. The Keda reward any parental misdemeanors with extra lashings for their children. Now the city is under siege by a new army who are perhaps even more cruel than their current enslavers. At the same time, a mysterious rebellion force has reached out to Razvan with a plan to utilize the incoming attack to defeat the Keda once and for all. Razvan must decide which side to fight on, who can be trusted, and what truly deserves to be saved. File Under: Fantasy [ Linguistical Nightmare | Camun Willing | Knuckle Up | Silence isn’t Golden ]
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) is best known as a media theorist—many consider him the founder of media studies—but he was also an important theorist of art. Though a near-household name for decades due to magazine interviews and TV specials, McLuhan remains an underappreciated yet fascinating figure in art history. His connections with the art of his own time were largely unexplored, until now. In Distant Early Warning, art historian Alex Kitnick delves into these rich connections and argues both that McLuhan was influenced by art and artists and, more surprisingly, that McLuhan’s work directly influenced the art and artists of his time. Kitnick builds the story of McLuhan’s entanglement with artists by carefully drawing out the connections among McLuhan, his theories, and the artists themselves. The story is packed with big names: Marcel Duchamp, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik, and others. Kitnick masterfully weaves this history with McLuhan’s own words and his provocative ideas about what art is and what artists should do, revealing McLuhan’s influence on the avant-garde through the confluence of art and theory. The illuminating result sheds light on new aspects of McLuhan, showing him not just as a theorist, or an influencer, but as a richly multifaceted figure who, among his many other accolades, affected multiple generations of artists and their works. The book finishes with Kitnick overlaying McLuhan’s ethos onto the state of contemporary and post-internet art. This final channeling of McLuhan is a swift and beautiful analysis, with a personal touch, of art’s recent transgressions and what its future may hold.
Thousands of years ago, a tragic love story brought about the dreaded Darkness. Alex was one of the first of two shamans, and it was his love that allowed an ancient being into the world, causing a curse that would last hundreds of lifetimes. Now, in the present day, Alex has learned that the Darkness has been awakened once again, and he is the one to stop it. The return of the Darkness marks the last of Alex’s lives and possibly the end of the whole spirit world. With the help of his spirit guides, Alex must learn the secrets that connect our world to the other side in order to rally much needed support and end the age-old battle between good and evil. However, to succeed, Alex must make a terrible choice. He has to choose between a love that has lasted since the beginning of time and the salvation of creation and beyond. Tragically, he will learn that it can be easier to embrace darkness rather than light, which will destroy all the good he has created. Alex has history, and he wishes to honor that history—and that love—but at what cost? As he fights to hang on, he might lose everything.
I am at home with camels. Where others see a dirty, filthy, smelling, kicking beast, I see a thing of pure anatomical beauty, an intelligent and graceful creature...Because of camels I have built a life I never imagined possible. And all this happened because I decided to say yes to adventure whenever it came my way.' When Sydney-born vet Alex Tinson was literally plucked from the Australian outback to become chief vet in charge of the United Arab Emirates President's racing camels, he was given one mission: to make the President's camels the best in the UAE and, indeed, all of Arabia. Thirty years later he is still there, having become the world's leading camel vet while caring for a menagerie of unusual animals along the way. But this is more than a story about camels and monkeys, spiders and snakes, and all sorts of other exotic creatures. It is also about crossing boundaries of race and religion to create a life full of possibility, of being introduced to the reclusive world of the Gulf Royal families and of sharing the rich lives of Alex's Bedouin family and friends. Warm and generous, intriguing and compelling, The Desert Vet takes us to a place few have entered before.
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