A 1999 odyssey to Sturgis, South Dakota, and its famed motorcycle rally becomes a metaphor for life as the author embarks on a trip on his prized, custom-made Big Dog motorcycle.
Richard La Plante began his Harley career with a single small motorcycle. Before long, he had obtained the ultimate machine--a Harley customized to his exact specifications--and was spending hours lovingly polishing its chrome. From his misadventure-filled trip to Spain to his cross-country America ride that ends in tragedy, La Plante shows how a simple hobby can become a life-altering obsession.
Incarcerated cult leader Justin Gabriel, convicted of ordering his followers to kill, has spent ten years honing his mind control abilities. His parole hearing is approaching—his one and only shot at freedom—and he is determined to silence anyone who might speak against him. Taking the form of a giant predatory bird, Gabriel terrorizes his enemies—those who got him convicted—through their dreams, causing heart attacks or insanity.The last survivor is ex-cop Bill Fogarty, now retired and enjoying a new life and love. Gabriel invades Fogarty's dreams with terrifying visions, eventually causing a mental breakdown and institutionalization. Fogarty's longtime friend and former colleague, Philadelphia medical examiner Josef Tanaka, desperately tries to put the pieces together in time to save his friend. But will these two men, accustomed to the clinical realities of autopsy tables and precinct desks, be able to fight for their lives in the realm of the Dreamtime?
Combining the Eastern exoticism of Rising Sun with the gripping serial-killer intensity of The Silence of the Lambs, Leopard is the terrifying sequel to Richard La Plante's acclaimed first thriller Mantis. Medical examiner Josef Tanaka returns to his native Japan for the first time in fifteen years to learn that his brother has been savagely murdered. To find the killer, he must rediscover his Japanese heritage—and plunge into the mysterious world of ritual tattooing, sumo wrestling, and the Yakuza. But Tanaka faces something even more deadly than gangsters: The Leopard, a remorseless human killing machine, swift, cunning, and unstoppable. His pursuit of the Leopard leaves Tanaka's relationship with cosmetic surgeon Rachel Saunders in tatters. Yet as Tanaka is drawn within a web of deceit it is only Rachel who intuitively understands the truth.
Never Again," Richard La Plante promised after he and his new wife completed building their family home in East Hampton, New York. But he did not keep his promise. Instead, he bought twenty acres of raw land on a mountaintop located three and half thousand miles away, in a small town that he had only visited by internet... And the nightmare began. A house in New York to sell, a massive loan to pay off for the newly purchased land, dishonest builders, some of the most stringent building codes in America, and the economic collapse of 2008. With no general contractor, because they had decided to save money by doing it themselves, La Plante and his wife face an empty bank account, a black widow spider infestation and a large wooden frame with no windows. With two young sons to raise, a stony silence between them and a marriage counselor who says in sagely fashion, "There's only one answer. Finish the house," the La Plantes stumble from disaster to disaster. Never Again is a seven year chronicle of trial and triumph, both a warning and inspiration to anyone trying to build a dream.
Mastery of the martial arts is a hallmark of the works of Richard La Plante. His heroes have carried readers into the heart of the warrior's craft—but never more so than in Tegné: Soul Warrior. As the boy grows to manhood, he becomes a fighting machine, but though he can defeat his teachers in battle, his greatest tests are yet to come. His father hunts him still; worse, the essence of Evil, in the form of a beautiful temptress, seeks to seduce him from the side of good—or, failing that, to destroy him. A colorful, adventurous fantasy, Tegné: Soul Warrior is the epic story of a man's struggle with destiny, his quest for spiritual and physical perfection, and his development from an emotionless killing machine to a wise and caring leader of men.
John Winston Flint, prominent Philadelphia physician, has been systematically tortured to death. Every bone in his body has been shattered—even the joints of his fingers and toes reduced to powder. The doctor's hidden side is revealed when a police search turns up a collection of sadomasochistic videos in which Flint himself was the star performer—and horrifyingly, one shows a brutal rape and apparent murder. Fogarty and his friend and colleague, medical examiner Josef Tanaka, also discover that Flint was selling massive quantities of illegal steroids to hardcore bodybuilders. In a world where total physical prowess is the ultimate goal, and strength truly equals power, performance-enhancing chemicals are more than worth their weight in gold. Nothing in Fogarty's experience has prepared him for this case, where each secret he uncovers seems to lead him farther from the truth, and where the darkest secret of all is written in the blood of two drug-enhanced, steroid supermen.
Married twice, each time for 18 years, Richard began online dating at the age of 64, after the end of his second marriage. Lost in the cyberspace of strange faces and distant places, he chronicled his journey to discover a true soul connection. Many years, many encounters, and countless lonely nights later he produced Lonely Heart, Will Travel in a cathartic effort to heal his own wounds while helping others to navigate the quagmire of finding real love.
A 1999 odyssey to Sturgis, South Dakota, and its famed motorcycle rally becomes a metaphor for life as the author embarks on a trip on his prized, custom-made Big Dog motorcycle.
What is the je-ne-sais-quoi? How - if at all - can it be put into words? In addressing these questions, Richard Scholar offers the first full-length study of the je-ne-sais-quoi and its fortunes in early modern Europe. He describes the rise and fall of the expression as a noun and as a topic of debate, examines its cluster of meanings, and uncovers the scattered traces of its 'pre-history'. The je-ne-sais-quoi is often assumed to belong purely to the realmof the literary, but in the early modern period it serves to articulate problems of knowledge in natural philosophy, the passions, and culture, and for that reason it is approached here from an interdisciplinary perspective. Placing major figures of the period such as Montaigne, Shakespeare, Descartes, Corneille, and Pascalalongside some of their lesser-known contemporaries, Scholar argues that the je-ne-sais-quoi serves above all to capture first-person encounters with a 'certain something' that is as difficult to explain as its effects are intense. When early modern writers use the expression in this way, he suggests, they give literary form to an experience that twenty-first-century readers may recognize as something like their own.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1977.
If the machine gun changed the course of ground combat in the First World War, it was the tank that shaped ground combat in World War II. The tank was introduced in World War I in an effort to end the stalemate of the machine gun versus barbed-wire trenches, and by World War II, the tank’s mobility and firepower became a rolling, thundering difference-maker on the battlefield. In this detailed, deeply researched, and heavily illustrated book, tank expert Richard Anderson tells the story of how the United States developed its armored force, turning it into a war-winning weapon in World War II that powered American ground forces and supplied armies around the world, including the British and Soviets. For decades, American tanks of World War II have been undervalued in comparisons with German and Soviet tanks—and it’s true that the best of American armor tended to underperform the best of German and Soviet armor during the war. That’s because the U.S. had a different goal: not only to create battleworthy tanks like the Sherman, and to develop other tanks, but also to supply American allies with serviceable, combat-ready tanks. The United States did all this, but until now the complete story of American tanks in World War II has yet to be told. Anderson’s book is deeper and more thorough a chronicle of American tanks in World War II than has ever been done. This book is colorful, vivid, and thought-provokingly insightful on how the U.S. produced a tank force capable of conducting its own battlefield efforts and sustaining key allies around the world. This will be the go-to volume on American tanks for years to come.
You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say. F. Scott Fitzgerald (1945) It's with Fitzgerald's words kept as a guiding light, Richard J. "SARGE" Garwood writes his award winning commentary for the Westside Journal in Port Allen, LA. Taking on the mantle of the common citizen, Garwood's not afraid to tackle the tough issues of the day whether they're on the national, regional or local level. His honest and sometimes controversial approach to analyzing issues is garnered from years of practical street experience as a Deputy Sheriff and as a man willing to step to the frontlines to better assess and confront the problem. Displaying "strong, solid writing" (Louisiana Press Association) and occasionally showing poignancy and irreverence; he expresses the depth of his, and his reader's, life experiences, Garwood goes straight to the point.
Richard La Plante began his Harley career with a single small motorcycle. Before long, he had obtained the ultimate machine--a Harley customized to his exact specifications--and was spending hours lovingly polishing its chrome. From his misadventure-filled trip to Spain to his cross-country America ride that ends in tragedy, La Plante shows how a simple hobby can become a life-altering obsession.
The composition, which the editors entitle the "Book of Thoth", is preserved on over forty Graeco-Roman Period papyri from collections in Berlin, Copenhagen, Florence, New Haven, Paris, and Vienna. The central witness is a papyrus of fifteen columns in the Berlin Museum. Written almost entirely in the Demotic script, the Book of Thoth is probably the product of scribes of the "House of Life", the temple scriptorium. It comprises largely a dialogue between a deity, usually called "He-who-praises-knowledge" (presumably Thoth himself) and a mortal, "He-who-loves-knowledge". The work covers such topics as the scribal craft, sacred geography, the underworld, wisdom, prophecy, animal knowledge, and temple ritual. Particularly remarkable is one section (the "Vulture Text") in which each of the 42 nomes of Egypt is identified with a vulture. The language is poetic; the lines are often clearly organized into verses. The subject-matter, dialogue structure, and striking phraseology raise many issues of scholarly interest; especially intriguing are the possible connections between this Egyptian work, in which Thoth is called "thrice-great", and the classical Hermetic Corpus, in which Hermes Trismegistos plays the key role. The first volume comprises interpretative essays, discussion of specific points such as the manuscript tradition, script, and language. The core of the publication is the transliteration of the Demotic text, translation, and commentary. A consecutive translation, glossary, bibliography, and indices conclude the first volume. The second volume contains photographs of the papyri, almost all of which reproduce their original size.
This is the first single-author study of the genres and roots of popular literature in its relation to film and television, exploring the effects of academic snobbery on the teaching of popular literature. Designed for classroom use by students of literature and film (and their teachers), it offers case studies in quest literature, detective fiction, the status of the outlaw and outsider, and the interdependence of self, other and the uncanny. It challenges perceived notions of, and prejudices against, popular literature, and affirms its connection with the deepest human experiences.
Grasslands are an important element of European nature. About half of Europe's endemic species depend on grasslands, whether in mountains, lowlands, river plains or coastal areas. Many grasslands originate in traditional agricultural landscapes. Modern intensification, however, brings many of these ecosystems under threat. 'Grasslands in Europe' is a tribute to these important ecosystems. It was written by an international team of grassland experts, who describe twenty-four case studies from countries in all of Europe - ranging from the grasslands of Gotland and #land (Sweden) to the Spanish Dehesa, and from the hay meadows of the British Pennine Dales to the steppes of Turkish Anatolia. Together, these case studies provide a fascinating glimpse into the various European grasslands, their value for nature, culture and agriculture, and the threats they are facing today. The accessible text as well as the rich illustrations will appeal to a wide audience. Grasslands in Europe contains a large number of stunning full-colour photographs of grassland landscapes, species and cultural history. It also contains many maps and infographics. Thematic chapters provide essential background information on topics such as grassland fauna, the history of agriculture, grassland communities, and the connection between grasslands and climate. The book also analyses the opportunities and risks of EU policy to conserve these grasslands. It offers a farmer-centred outlook to manage and to maintain the European grasslands of high nature value.
Reflecting the range of their honorand's interests, the essays in Ritual, Text and Law provide a stimulating and panoramic exploration of the interrelated fields of liturgy and canon law in the Middle Ages, chiefly through the scrutiny of texts and their transmission. Roger Reynolds' scholarly work has not only considered the relations between law and liturgy, but has also focused on liturgical practice and the evolution of rituals, paleography and the often complicated relationships between canonical collections, in particular the southern Italian Collection in Five Books. Due in large part to Reynolds' research, the fields of medieval canon law and liturgy are now recognized as fundamental elements of medieval religious and intellectual history that shed light on medieval Christian belief and practice. The studies are grouped thematically under the headings of 'Ritual' and 'Text and Law'. Each section has an introduction by the editors, in which they survey recent developments in the study of medieval canon law and liturgy with reference to Reynolds's own research, provide historical context for the individual studies, and draw attention to the ways in which the studies reflect current concerns. Individually, the contributors offer new viewpoints on key issues and questions relating to medieval religious, cultural and intellectual history, particularly of the period c.900-1200, and especially the Italian peninsula. Collectively they illuminate the interaction of medieval Christianity and its rituals, as well as the relationship of the secular and the sacred as transmitted in liturgico-canonical texts from the time of the early church to the 14th century.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.