A lyricist at heart, McGriff is a masterful maker of metaphor."—Third Coast "There is majestic beauty in these descriptions, and it is clear that McGriff honors this place as a place—not as mere setting, but as a distinct element of his verse."—Gently Read Literature Michael McGriff's second full-length collection explores interior landscapes and illustrates life in a rural community in the Pacific Northwest. Whether tender or hard-hitting, McGriff juxtaposes natural images of deep forests, creeks, coyotes, and crows against the harsher oil-grease realities of blue-collar life, creating poems that read like folk tales about the people working in grain mills, forests, and factories. "New Civilian" The new law says you can abandon your child in an emergency room, no questions asked. The young father carries the sleeping boy through the hospital doors. Later, alone, parked at the boat basin, he takes a knife from his pocket, cuts an unfiltered cigarette in two, lights the longer half in his mouth. He was a medic in the war. In his basement are five bronze eagles that once adorned the walls of a dictator's palace. Michael McGriff attended the University of Oregon; the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a Michener Fellow in creative writing; and Stanford University, where he was a Stegner Fellow. He is the co-founding editor and publisher of Tavern Books and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Eternal Sentences, winner of the 2021 Miller Williams Poetry Prize, bears witness to the unseen worlds of gravel roads, working-class families, and geographic isolation"--
A whip-smart fiction debut, Our Secret Life in the Movies riffs on classic and cult cinema. Inspired by films from silent-era documentaries to music videos, the authors unfold a dual narrative about two boys growing up in the 1980s. Coming of age during the last days of the Cold War, these boys dream of space exploration and nuclear winter, Reaganomics and Dungeons & Dragons, Blade Runner and Red Dawn. Haunting, cinematic, and full of life, Our Secret Life makes it clear that we are in the movies and the movies are in us.
In the City of Brotherly Love, a buxom redhead puts alcoholic sleuth Peanut McGriff on the trail of a smuggled diamond, a missing cop, a group of Russian mobsters, and an insane fishmonger. With a new partner and an embattled Chief of Detectives behind him, McGriff takes on midgets with grenade launchers, a hotel fire, and his own sobriety to solve the case.
Winner, 2021 Miller Williams Poetry Prize Michael McGriff’s Eternal Sentences bears witness to the world of gravel roads, working-class families, and geographic isolation in poems that illuminate both common occurrence and the territories of the surreal. Here, in rendering every line as a single sentence, McGriff depicts a world seen through fragments, quick leaps, and wild associations. Haunted as much by place and people as by the possibilities of image-making itself, Eternal Sentences is a song for the hidden depots of rural America.
When it was formed, Trojan Records epitomised the punk DIY ethic over a decade before 1976. With a blizzard of individual labels and a marketing strategy that involved selling product out of the backs of vans, the company spearheaded the injection of reggae and ska into the vein of British youth consciousness. In its first brief six-year incarnation, Trojan produced nearly 30 hit singles, created the legendary compilation series Tighten Up and launched new acts like Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Ken Boothe, The Pioneers, Bob And Marcia, Greyhound and Dave And Ansell Collins, all against a background of cut-throat politics, cultural division and prejudice. Featuring a comprehensive discography, Young, Gifted And Black is the official story of Trojan Records, lifting the lid on the scheming, backbiting and sheer seat-of-the-pants inspiration that made the label such a powerful force for black UK music.
Tony Gwynn is the greatest hitter in the history of baseball. That's the conclusion of this engaging and provocative analysis of baseball's all-time best hitters. Michael Schell challenges the traditional list of all-time hitters, which places Ty Cobb first, Gwynn 16th, and includes just 8 players whose prime came after 1960. Schell argues that the raw batting averages used as the list's basis should be adjusted to take into account that hitters played in different eras, with different rules, and in different ballparks. He makes those adjustments and produces a new list of the best 100 hitters that will spark debate among baseball fans and statisticians everywhere. Schell combines the two qualifications essential for a book like this. He is a professional statistician--applying his skills to cancer research--and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball. He has wondered how to rank hitters since he was a boy growing up as a passionate Cincinnati Reds fan. Over the years, he has analyzed the most important factors, including the relative difficulty of hitting in different ballparks, the length of hitters' careers, the talent pool that players are drawn from, and changes in the game that raised or lowered major-league batting averages (the introduction of the designated hitter and changes in the height and location of the pitcher's mound, for example). Schell's study finally levels the playing field, giving new credit to hitters who played in adverse conditions and downgrading others who faced fewer obstacles. His final ranking of players differs dramatically from the traditional list. Gwynn, for example, bumps Cobb to 2nd place, Rod Carew rises from 28th to 3rd, Babe Ruth drops from 9th to 16th, and Willie Mays comes from off the list to rank 13th. Schell's list also gives relatively more credit to modern players, containing 39 whose best days were after 1960. Using a fun, conversational style, the book presents a feast of stories and statistics about players, ballparks, and teams--all arranged so that calculations can be skipped by general readers but consulted by statisticians eager to follow Schell's methods or introduce their students to such basic concepts as mean, histogram, standard deviation, p-value, and regression. Baseball's All-Time Best Hitters will shake up how baseball fans view the greatest heroes of America's national pastime.
Over baseball history, which park has been the best for run scoring? (1) Which player would lose the most home runs after adjustments for ballpark effect? (2) Which player claims four of the top five places for best individual seasons ever played, based on all-around offensive performance? (3) (See answers, below). These are only three of the intriguing questions Michael Schell addresses in Baseball's All-Time Best Sluggers, a lively examination of the game of baseball using the most sophisticated statistical tools available. The book provides an in-depth evaluation of every major offensive event in baseball history, and identifies the players with the 100 best seasons and most productive careers. For the first time ever, ballpark effects across baseball history are presented for doubles, triples, right- and left-handed home-run hitting, and strikeouts. The book culminates with a ranking of the game's best all-around batters. Using a brisk conversational style, Schell brings to the plate the two most important credentials essential to producing a book of this kind: an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball and a professional background in statistics. Building on the traditions of renowned baseball historians Pete Palmer and Bill James, he has analyzed the most important factors impacting the sport, including the relative difficulty of hitting in different ballparks, the length of hitters' careers, the talent pool from which players are drawn, player aging, and changes in the game that have raised or lowered major-league batting averages. Schell's book finally levels the playing field, giving new credit to hitters who played in adverse conditions, and downgrading others who faced fewer obstacles. It also provides rankings based on players' positions. For example, Derek Jeter ranks 295th out of 1,140 on the best batters list, but jumps to 103rd in the position-adjusted list, reflecting his offensive prowess among shortstops. Replete with dozens of never-before reported stories and statistics, Baseball's All-Time Best Sluggers will forever shape the way baseball fans view the greatest heroes of America's national pastime. Answers: 1. Coors Field 2. Mel Ott 3. Barry Bonds, 2001–2004 seasons
Sabermetrics, the specialized analysis of baseball through empirical evidence, provides an impartial perspective from which to explore the game. In this work, the third in a series, three mathematicians employ statistical science in an attempt to answer some of baseball's toughest questions. For instance, how good were the 1961 New York Yankees? How bad were the 1962 Mets? Which team was the best of the Deadball Era? They also strive to determine baseball's greatest player at various positions. Throughout, the objective evidence allows for debate devoid of emotion and personal biases, providing a fresh, balanced evaluation of these and many other challenging questions. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
Baseball fans can enjoy fascinating stories about great plays and controversial calls on the diamond, all while testing their own knowledge of the game. Is there a limit to a bat’s length and weight? If a batter swings for his third strike and misses, but the ball gets away from the catcher, can he still run to first? Or is he out? And what happens if the wrong batter comes up to hit—and the right player suddenly realizes that they’re out of order? Through a series of true tales, find out about little-known rules of pitching, batting, and fielding, as well as weird situations that have occurred, smart strategies for winning, and funny things have taken place over the years.
In this enlightening study, the authors implement a unique research approach to offer a greater understanding of policy reform of pretrial release and detention practices in the criminal courts in Boston, Miami, and Phoenix.
The Red Sox Hall of Famer and World Series MVP tells the story of his life and career in a sports memoir that “lives up to its ‘no-holds-barred’ billing” (Washington Post). David “Big Papi” Ortiz is a baseball icon and one of the most popular figures ever to play the game. A star player with the Boston Red Sox for fifteen years, Ortiz helped to win three World Series, bringing back a storied franchise from “never wins” to “always wins.” As he launched balls into the stands again and again, he helped silence the naysayers while capturing the imaginations of millions of fans. Ortiz made Boston and the Red Sox his home, his place of work, and his legacy. In Papi, Ortiz tells his story in his own words, opening up as never before. The result is a revelatory tale of a storied career—all told by a legendary player with a lot to say at the end of his time in the game. This edition of Papi includes a new afterword. “Baseball fans of all loyalties will enjoy learning about [Ortiz’s] unique experiences in and out of the game.” —Library Journal “The rise of Ortiz from scrap-heap bench player to Hall of Famer is an unlikely and entertaining story, and engagingly told.” —Washington Post
Designed to help both professional and student scientists and engineers write clearly and effectively, this text approaches the subject in a fresh way. Using scores of examples from a wide variety of authors and disciplines, the author - himself a writer and physicist -- demonstrates the difference between strong and weak scientific writing, and how to convey ideas to the intended audience. In addition, he gives advice on how to start writing, and how to revise drafts, including many suggestions about approaching a wide variety of tasks - from laboratory reports to grant proposals, from internal communications to press releases - as well as a concise guide to appropriate style and usage.
With its fiery crosses and nightriders in pointed hoods and flowing robes, the Ku Klux Klan remains a recurring nightmare in American life. What began in the earliest post-Civil War days as a social group engaging in drunken hijinks at the expense of perceived inferiors soon turned into a murderous paramilitary organization determined to resist the "evils" of radical Reconstruction. For six generations and counting, the Klan has inflicted misery and death on countless victims nationwide and since the early 1920s, has expanded into distant corners of the globe. From the Klan's post-Civil War lynchings in support of Jim Crow laws, to its bloody stand against desegregation during the 1960s, to its continued violence in the militia movement at the turn of the 21st century, this revealing volume chronicles the complete history of the world's oldest surviving terrorist organization from 1866 to the present. The story is told without embellishment because, as this work demonstrates, the truth about the Ku Klux Klan is grim enough.
From Malcom X to the Wu Tang Clan, the first in-depth account of this fascinating black power movement With a cast of characters ranging from Malcolm X to 50 Cent, Knight’s compelling work is the first detailed account of the movement inextricably linked with black empowerment, Islam, New York, and hip-hop. Whether discussing the stars of Five Percenter rap or 1980s crack empires, this fast-paced investigation uncovers the community’s icons and heritage, and examines its growing influence in urban American youth culture.
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