-Titulo Original : A Week At The Airport-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the bestselling author of The Art of Travel comes a wittily intriguing exploration of the strange non-place that he believes is the imaginative center of our civilization. Given unprecedented access to one of the world’s busiest airports as a “writer-in-residence,” Alain de Botton found it to be a showcase for many of the major crosscurrents of the modern world-from our faith in technology to our destruction of nature, from our global interconnectedness to our romanticizing of the exotic. He met travelers from all over and spoke with everyone from baggage handlers to pilots to the airport chaplain. Weaving together these conversations and his own observations-of everything from the poetry of room service menus to the eerie silence in the middle of the runway at midnight-de Botton has produced an extraordinary meditation on a place that most of us never slow down enough to see clearly. Lavishly illustrated in color by renowned photographer Richard Baker, A Week at the Airport reveals the airport in all its turbulence and soullessness and-yes-even beauty. From Booklist Travel writer de Botton sees the airport as the nexus of all that plagues and fascinates us about modern life: environmental destruction, high technology, constant movement, glittering distractions, consumerist temptations, and social interaction and isolation. Having accepted an invitation from British Airways to spend a week at its home, Terminal 5 of Heathrow, he is given unprecedented access to all the parts of the airport that travelers don’t generally see. So, along with the shopping areas and arrival and departure and baggage-claim areas, he wanders into the huge stations for airplane repairs, the vast storage areas for rejected samples for cabin paraphernalia, the behind-the-scene offices, and the massive food-preparation areas. From a desk announcing his position as writer in residence, de Botton engages in conversations with business travelers, parting lovers, vacationing families, and the myriad workers-stationary and passing through-for whom the airport is workplace. Author of the best-selling The Art of Travel (2002), de Botton is amusing and lyrical in his observations of our modern comings and goings. Photographs add to the allure of this engaging look at air travel. --Vanessa Bush Review Simultaneously poignant and terribly funny . . . De Bottons most imaginative work yet. - Spectator Funny, charming, and slender enough to pack in your carry-on. - Daily Mail Surprising. . . . His observations on airport life are wry and thought-provoking. - Telegraph Shrewd, perceptive and gently ironic. - Independent About the Author Alain de Botton is the author of three works of fiction and eight works of nonfiction, including How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, and The Art of Travel. He lives in London, where he founded The School of Life ( theschooloflife ). Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1 While punctuality lies at the heart of what we typically understand by a good trip, I have often longed for my plane to be delayed-so that I might be forced to spend a bit more time at the airport. I have rarely shared this aspiration with other people, but in private I have hoped for a hydraulic leak from the undercarriage or a tempest off the Bay of Biscay, a bank of fog in Malpensa or a wildcat strike in the control tower in Malaga (famed in the industry as much for its hot- headed labour relations as for its even-handed command of much of western Mediterranean airspace). on occasion, I have even wished for a delay so severe that I would be offered a meal voucher or, more dramatically, a night at an airlines expense in a giant concrete kleenex box with unopenable windows, corridors decorated with nostalgic images of propeller planes and foam pillows infused with the distant smells of kerosene. In the su...

-Titulo Original : Ten Billion-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Deforestation. Desertification. Species extinction. Global warming. Growing threats to food and water. The driving issues of our times are the result of one huge problem: Us. As the population continues to grow, our problems will increase. And this means that every way we look at it, a planet of ten billion people is likely to be a nightmare. Stephen Emmott, a scientist whose lab is at the forefront of research into complex natural systems, sounds the alarm. TEN BILLION is a snapshot of our planet, and our species, approaching a crisis, and a stark analysis of where this leaves us. TEN BILLION is not another climate book. TEN BILLION is a book about us. From Publishers Weekly This muscular but anxious broadside by Emmott, a Cambridge scientist, predicts a bleak future of critical shortages, droughts, starvation, and natural disasters once the Earths population reaches the books eponymous number. Whether its water or food, population trends mean that present levels of consumption cant continue. The author is forceful, if frantic, in supplying the numbers. Forty percent of the planet is already devoted to agriculture, with governments and conglomerates in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia quickly gobbling up the remaining land. As the global population grows in number and wealth, the demand for food and resource-depleting consumer goods will rise. With a few hair-raising facts, Emmott deftly demonstrates that production is itself consumption: One liter of bottled water requires four liters to produce; a hamburger takes 800 gallons. Whereas technology helped forestall crises in the past, it now uses up the very resources its designed to preserve. Water desalination, for instance, requires energy intensive and releases many pollutants. Nuclear power would offer short-term hope but remains unpopular. The author sees only radical behavior change as a viable solution but does not say how this would work. Emmotts facts are enough to shake steely optimists, though the books Malthusian pathos could be a bit cloying even for like-minded pessimists. (Sept.) Review “A rallying call to arms. . . . Succinct and righteously pessimistic. . . . [with] an indispensible message to galvanize a world in potential crisis.” - Kirkus Reviews Praise from the U.K. for TEN BILLION “The cumulative effect of [Emmott’s] uncluttered, unadorned prose, buttressed with graphs and illustrations, is significant. . . . A spine-chilling warning of the environmental disaster that awaits the Earth.” - The Daily Telegraph (4 stars) “Powerful. . . . Compelling. . . . The shift in thinking that will be needed if we are to prepare ourselves for living in a different world begins with reading Emmotts indispensable book.” -- The Guardian A stark, simple and short warning about the coming catastrophe, which [Emmott] feels is inevitable, resulting from human overpopulation and over-exploitation of the world’s resources. . . . A valuable contribution to rekindling a discussion on global population that has waxed and waned in the two centuries since Thomas Robert Malthus first brought the issue to public attention. -- Financial Times Acclaim for the theater production of TEN BILLION, performed by Stephen Emmott at Londons Royal Court Theatre: This an hour of Matrix moments, of reminders of what underlies our daily lives. Its freeing to face the facts as well as alarming. . . . It informs, unsettles, provokes. Job done. -- The Times (London) Professor Emmott argues his case with an implacable logic. He is quiet, humane and deeply concerned and when he says . . . I think were fucked, you have to believe him. -- The Guardian (London) A new kind of talk . . . a daring one-man show in which Emmott desperately strives to pull together into one grand and devastating portrait the many ways we are impacting the planet. -- New Scientist About the Author Stephen Emmott...

-Titulo Original : Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A blisteringly good, urgent, essential read ZADIE SMITH Jaron Lanier, the world-famous Silicon Valley scientist-pioneer and high-tech genius (Sunday Times) who first alerted us to the dangers of social media, explains why its toxic effects are at the heart of its design, and explains in ten simple arguments why liberating yourself from its hold will transform your life and the world for the better. Social media is making us sadder, angrier, less empathetic, more fearful, more isolated and more tribal. In recent months it has become horribly clear that social media is not bringing us together - it is tearing us apart. In Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now Jaron Lanier draws on his insiders expertise to explain precisely how social media works - by deploying constant surveillance and subconscious manipulation of its users - and why its cruel and dangerous effects are at the heart of its current business model and design. As well as offering ten simple arguments for liberating yourself from its addictive hold, his witty and urgent manifesto outlines a vision for an alternative that provides all the benefits of social media without the harm. So, if you want a happier life, a more just and peaceful world, or merely the chance to think for yourself without being monitored and influenced by the richest corporations in history, then the best thing you can do, for now, is delete your social media accounts - right now. You will almost certainly become a calmer and possibly a nicer person in the process...

-Titulo Original : The Orchid And The Dandelion Why Sensitive Children Face Challenges And How All Can Thrive-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Based on groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children--and the adults who love them.--Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts.A book that offers hope and a pathway to success for parents, teachers, psychologists, and child development experts coping with difficult children. In Tom Boyces extraordinary new book, he explores the dandelion child (hardy, resilient, healthy), able to survive and flourish under most circumstances, and the orchid child (sensitive, susceptible, fragile), who, given the right support, can thrive as much as, if not more than, other children. Boyce writes of his pathfinding research as a developmental pediatrician working with troubled children in child-development research for almost four decades, and explores his major discovery that reveals how genetic make-up and environment shape behavior. He writes that certain variant genes can increase a persons susceptibility to depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and antisocial, sociopathic, or violent behaviors. But rather than seeing this risk gene as a liability, Boyce, through his daring research, has recast the way we think of human frailty, and has shown that while these bad genes can create problems, they can also, in the right setting and the right environment, result in producing children who not only do better than before but far exceed their peers. Orchid children, Boyce makes clear, are not failed dandelions; they are a different category of child, with special sensitivities and strengths, and need to be nurtured and taught in special ways. And in The Orchid and the Dandelion, Boyce shows us how to understand these children for their unique sensibilities, their considerable challenges, their remarkable gifts. Review Seriously good ... I read it with pencil in hand, underlining ideas I wanted to hold onto, or even memorize. [Boyce] is also a wonderfully fine writer. His humanity and warmth inform his evidence-based insights, and his clear strong prose and poetic sensitivity make his stories compelling. The Orchid and the Dandelion leaves me with much to think about, and meaningful encouragement in my own personal life as a parent and grandparent. --Dona Matthews, Psychology Today The Orchid and the Dandelion is based on groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children--and the adults who love them.--Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts This book fills an important need. Tom Boyces elegantly simple characterization of dandelion and orchid children belies the complexity and rigor of the research that informs it. His book shows parents why the same conditions that may be good for one of their children will not be best for the other.--Nancy Adler, professor of psychiatry and medical psychology at University of California, San Francisco Tom Boyce is the foremost scholar in the world in the area of child growth and development. I have no doubt that his book will have a profound impact on readers everywhere.--Leonard Syme, professor emeritus of epidemiology and community health, School of Public Health, University of California What is so timely about this book is that it brings a fresh perspective to individual differences. The authors clinical and academic expertise is unique; his prose is lucid and engaging; and he tackles a problem of enormous importance.--Charles A. Nelson III, professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Boyces stellar research on orchid and dandelion children will help parents and professionals develop greater sensitivity to the needs of orchid kids who are biologically challenged but surprisingly have much higher potential. A must read for all parents, teachers, and psychologists.--John M. Gottman, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child A book that mus...

-Titulo Original : The Secret Network Of Nature The Delicate Balance Of All Living Things-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: From the bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees Did you know that trees can influence the rotation of the earth? Or that wolves can alter the course of a river? Or that earthworms control wild boar populations? The natural world is a web of intricate connections, many of which go unnoticed by humans. But it is these connections that maintain nature’s finely balanced equilibrium. Drawing on the latest scientific discoveries and decades of experience as a forester, Peter Wohlleben shows us how different animals, plants, rivers, rocks and weather systems cooperate, and whats at stake when these delicate systems are unbalanced...

-Titulo Original : And The Show Went On Cultural Life In Nazi-occupied Paris-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: On June 14, 1940, German tanks rolled into a silent and deserted Paris. Eight days later, a humbled France accepted defeat along with foreign occupation. While the swastika now flew over Paris, the City of Light was undamaged, and soon a peculiar kind of normalcy returned as theaters, opera houses, movie theaters, and nightclubs reopened for business. Shedding light on this critical moment of twentieth-century European cultural history, And the Show Went On focuses anew on whether artists and writers have a special duty to show moral leadership in moments of national trauma. Review “Gripping. . . . We’ll always have Paris, but we may not feel quite the same about it after reading And the Show Went On.”-The New York Times Book Review“Riding paints a riveting portrait of how Paris’s glittering, politically diverse cultural elite . . . worked and played during the dark days of the Nazis’ occupation.”-Vanity Fair “Meticulously researched. . . . Riding’s book is an impressively comprehensive survey of the occupation years.”-The Economist “An arresting and detailed account. . . . A big story and insidiously troubling.”-Los Angeles Times “Evocative. . . . A carefully constructed and sympathetic account. . . . Riding is very good at pointing to the complexities and ambiguities of the situation.”-The Wall Street Journal “Fascinating.”-The New York Review of Books“Certainly one of the finest works of serious popular history since the heyday of Barbara Tuchman. . . . Riding’s triumph lies in refusing to affirm any simplistic answers. Instead, he plunges the reader into the French cultural scene of the 1930s and ‘40s and shows us how real men and real women dealt with the devil.”-The Washington Post “Lively. . . . Compelling and complex. . . . Most interesting are the complicated stories of artists who were neither heroes nor traitors, who made decisions about how to live and work during the occupation.”-The Boston Globe “The world of the arts in Nazi-occupied Paris is brought to life in this meticulous chronicle. . . . [Riding] provides vivid character sketches and narratives.”-The New Yorker “Broad-ranging. . . . Riding’s detailed and well-researched account is sure to appeal to Francophiles, admirers of French culture and readers seeking to heighten their understanding of an emotionally charged and morally complex aspect of World War II. More than that, it offers insights into the ethical dilemma that many of France’s luminaries faced during a critical time in their nation’s history and the different ways in which they chose to respond.”-The Associated Press “A book of transcendent relevance. . . . Splendidly informed.”-Fritz Stern, author of Gold and Iron “[A] monumentally researched, vividly written and troubling account of how the cultured citizens of Paris behaved while the Nazi swastika fluttered above the Eiffel Tower.”-Newark Star-Ledger “Full-blooded and meticulously researched.”-Financial Times “In this highly readable book, Alan Riding presents a thorough, balanced account of the ways French artists and writers responded to Nazi occupation, ranging from active resistance to enthusiastic collaboration. . . . Riding marshals details with the verve and care of a great reporter.”-Susan Suleiman, C. Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France and Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University “Riveting. . . . This fine book reminds the reader of the many shades of collaboration in an occupied country.”-The Washington Times “A tale of betrayal and resistance, patriotism, and bold opportunism-and in the end, vengeance and forgetfulness.”-The Jewish Exponent “A superb account of intellectuals under pressure. . . . Alan Riding, deeply versed in French politics and culture, is the ideal guide to Parisian life under the Nazis. He has written a wonderful book.”-Ward Just, author of An Unfinished Season and Echo House “A remarkable cultural history of the City of Lights at its da...

-Titulo Original : A Users Guide To The Brain Perception, Attention, And The Four Theaters Of The Brain-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives. In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential. Review “[A]n introduction to neuroscience which sticks to a man-on-the-street vocabulary.” -- The New Yorker “Will explain that mysterious space between your ears . . . in an accessible way.” -- Psychology Today “Excellent. . . . Ratey takes the reader on a wondrous journey.” -- The Providence Sunday Journal From the Inside Flap John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brains workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives. In A Users Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential. From the Back Cover bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives. In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that th About the Author Best selling author, John J. Ratey, MD, is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in Neuropsychiatry. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and 11 books published in 15 languages, including the groundbreaking ADD-ADHD Driven to Distraction series with Ned Hallowell, MD. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permissio...

-Titulo Original : Why They Kill The Discoveries Of A Maverick Criminologist-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, brings his inimitable vision, exhaustive research, and mesmerizing prose to this timely book that dissects violence and offers new solutions to the age old problem of why people kill. Lonnie Athens was raised by a brutally domineering father. Defying all odds, Athens became a groundbreaking criminologist who turned his scholars eye to the problem of why people become violent. After a decade of interviewing several hundred violent convicts--men and women of varied background and ethnicity, he discovered violentization, the four-stage process by which almost any human being can evolve into someone who will assault, rape, or murder another human being. Why They Kill is a riveting biography of Athens and a judicious critique of his seminal work, as well as an unflinching investigation into the history of violence. Review Irresistible. . . . You find yourself both surprised by some of its conclusions and mesmerized by its narrative. -- The New York Times Unsettling, challenging, but never less than fascinating. -- The Seattle Times Rhodes should be commended . . . not only for writing another wonderful book, but also for bringing to light the provocative scholarship of Lonnie Athens. - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Certain to be controversial, Why They Kill is an engrossing book on a crucial issue. -- The Kansas City Star From the Back Cover Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, brings his inimitable vision, exhaustive research, and mesmerizing prose to this timely book that dissects violence and offers new solutions to the age old problem of why people kill. Lonnie Athens was raised by a brutally domineering father. Defying all odds, Athens became a groundbreaking criminologist who turned his scholars eye to the problem of why people become violent. After a decade of interviewing several hundred violent convicts--men and women of varied background and ethnicity, he discovered violentization, the four-stage process by which almost any human being can evolve into someone who will assault, rape, or murder another human being. Why They Kill is a riveting biography of Athens and a judicious critique of his seminal work, as well as an unflinching investigation into the history of violence. About the Author Richard Rhodes lives in rural Connecticut. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The James River flows through Richmond, Virginia, like human time. Turbulent above, where the fresh Appalachian water breaks white across the rocky shoals of the fall line, it rushes purposefully past the old Confederate stronghold only to stall and forget itself and slacken to tidal meanders below. Life is contention, and violent homicide has troubled the passage of the river since aboriginal days. It pushed up from Jamestown in 1607 with English adventurers hunting for gold, darkened the bloody ground of civil war, spills through the drug-divided city today and always aggrieves with private murder. If murder is madness, why does its run reach so far? Why has violent death undone so many? In Jamestown days homicide rates in the West were already declining. Contending human beings had murdered one another in medieval Europe at rates comparable to those in the most murderous American cities today. Urban and rural patterns reversed in that ungoverned age: Medieval cities were safer than the violent peasant countryside. In the seventeenth century new monopolies of state began sequestering violence in police forces and armies. A civilizing process displaced murderous disputes from the street to the courtroom; homicides declined dramatically to historic lows early in the twentieth century before the modern urban rise after the Second World War. When Lonnie Athens remembers the river running through Richmond, he rem...

-Titulo Original : The Goodness Paradox The Strange Relationship Between Virtue And Violence In Human Evolution-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: “A fascinating new analysis of human violence, filled with fresh ideas and gripping evidence from our primate cousins, historical forebears, and contemporary neighbors.” -Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature We Homo sapiens can be the nicest of species and also the nastiest. What occurred during human evolution to account for this paradox? What are the two kinds of aggression that primates are prone to, and why did each evolve separately? How does the intensity of violence among humans compare with the aggressive behavior of other primates? How did humans domesticate themselves? And how were the acquisition of language and the practice of capital punishment determining factors in the rise of culture and civilization? Authoritative, provocative, and engaging, The Goodness Paradox offers a startlingly original theory of how, in the last 250 million years, humankind became an increasingly peaceful species in daily interactions even as its capacity for coolly planned and devastating violence remains undiminished. In tracing the evolutionary histories of reactive and proactive aggression, biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham forcefully and persuasively argues for the necessity of social tolerance and the control of savage divisiveness still haunting us today. Review “Highly original . . . complex and ambitious . . . A story about the origins of morality that begins” hundreds of thousands of years before any creature had a sense of right and wrong, or even a sense of self . . . There is something impressive, even moving, about the book’s sifting, weighing, and fitting together of evidence from a half-dozen continents, a dozen disciplines, several dozen species, and two million years into a large and intricate structure. There is also a lesson: evolution is much less relevant to our growth than moral imagination. -George Scialabba, The New Yorker“Wrangham probes the deep evolutionary history of human aggression . . . this book [is] essential reading as geneticists start to unwrap the package of genes that responded to domestication, which may give hints about our own evolutionary history.” -The Wall Street Journal“Fascinating . . . The Goodness Paradox pieces together findings from anthropology, history, and biology to reconstruct a vivid and comprehensive history of how humans evolved into domesticated creatures . . . presents a complex but convincing perspective on how good and evil may have come to co-exist in our unique species.” -The Washington Post“[Wrangham] deploys fascinating facts of natural history and genetics as he enters a debate staked out centuries ago by Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (among other philosophers), and still very much alive today: how to understand the conjunction of fierce aggression and cooperative behavior in humans . . . This latest version[of human evolution] is bound to provoke controversy, but that’s what bold theorizing is supposed to do. And Wrangham is nothing if not bold as he puts the paradox in his title to use. In his telling, the dark side of protohuman nature was enlisted in the evolution of communal harmony . . . Wrangham has highlighted a puzzle at the core of human evolution, and delivered a reminder of the double-edged nature of our virtues and vices.” -The Atlantic “A work accessible to those outside the scientific field, offering a great deal of information.” -Library Journal “Based on Richard Wrangham’s path-breaking work and on many riveting examples, this magnificent and profound book shows how our violent, even murderous, impulses actually shaped our species to be kind and cooperative, progressively shaping our evolutionary trajectory, our moral expectations, and our genes.” -Nicholas A. Christakis, Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, Yale University “A brilliant analysis of the role of aggression in our evolutionary history.” -Jane Goodall, author of In the Shadow of Man “Ri...

-Titulo Original : Violence Reflections On A National Epidemic-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Drawing on firsthand experience as a prison psychiatrist, his own family history, and literature, Gilligan unveils the motives of men who commit horrifying crimes, men who will not only kill others but destroy themselves rather than suffer a loss of self-respect. With devastating clarity, Gilligan traces the role that shame plays in the etiology of murder and explains why our present penal system only exacerbates it. Brilliantly argued, harrowing in its portraits of the walking dead, Violence should be read by anyone concerned with this national epidemic and its widespread consequences. Extraordinary. Gilligans recommendations concerning what does work to prevent violence...are extremely convincing...A wise and careful, enormously instructive book.--Owen Renik, M.D., editor, Psychoanalytic Quarterly From the Inside Flap Drawing on firsthand experience as a prison psychiatrist, his own family history, and literature, Gilligan unveils the motives of men who commit horrifying crimes, men who will not only kill others but destroy themselves rather than suffer a loss of self-respect. With devastating clarity, Gilligan traces the role that shame plays in the etiology of murder and explains why our present penal system only exacerbates it. Brilliantly argued, harrowing in its portraits of the walking dead, Violence should be read by anyone concerned with this national epidemic and its widespread consequences. Extraordinary. Gilligans recommendations concerning what does work to prevent violence...are extremely convincing...A wise and careful, enormously instructive book.--Owen Renik, M.D., editor, Psychoanalytic Quarterly From the Back Cover Drawing on firsthand experience as a prison psychiatrist, his own family history, and literature, Gilligan unveils the motives of men who commit horrifying crimes, men who will not only kill others but destroy themselves rather than suffer a loss of self-respect. With devastating clarity, Gilligan traces the role that shame plays in the etiology of murder and explains why our present penal system only exacerbates it. Brilliantly argued, harrowing in its portraits of the walking dead, Violence should be read by anyone concerned with this national epidemic and its widespread consequences. Extraordinary. Gilligans recommendations concerning what does work to prevent violence...are extremely convincing...A wise and careful, enormously instructive book.--Owen Renik, M.D., editor, Psychoanalytic Quarterly About the Author James Gilligan, M.D., directed the Center for the Study of Violence at Harvard Medical School. He is the former medical director of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the Massachusetts prison system...

-Titulo Original : The Patients Playbook Find The No-mistake Zone-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: The Patients Playbook is a call to action-to change the way you manage your health and the health of your family. Too many Americans die each year as a result of preventable medical error-mistakes, complications, and misdiagnoses. And many more of us are not receiving the best care possible, because we dont know how to get it.Leslie D. Michelson, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Private Health Management, and former CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, has devoted his lifes work to helping people achieve superior medical outcomes at every stage of their lives. His real-life stories impart lessons and illuminate easy-to-follow strategies that will enable you to become a smarter, better health care consumer-and to replace anxiety with confidence. EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU:* Choose the Best Doctors* Select the Right Treatment Plans* Do Better Online Research* Organize Your Support Team* Prevent Medical Errors Review A Word from the Doctors: The decisions you make about your medical care will have a profound impact on you and your familys life.... Successfully steering through the medical system can be a challenge. In The Patients Playbook, Michelson gives away secrets of the trade-lessons hes learned from more than thirty years of helping people get better outcomes.... He levels the playing field by providing average patients who have ordinary health insurance with the resources, advice, and tools they need to make better medical decisions.... As a patient, you have more power than you think. This book will help you find that power and use it to maximum advantage. -From the Foreword by Peter T. Scardino, M.D., Chair, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterWhat a tour de force! Every health care consumer (and caregiver) can greatly benefit from this practical guide to achieving better health outcomes. Simple, actionable advice abounds, and each recommendation for how to best navigate the complex health care system is enriched with Leslie Michelsons recounting of poignant stories from his extensive experience. With this playbook, all of us can better protect our most valuable asset--our health. -Jonathan E. Fielding, M.D., Distinguished Professor, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Geffen School of Medicine, and former director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Reviews: Trust me-you need this guide because everyone at some point faces a health crisis. Michelson details, step by crucial step, how to navigate the terrifying world of doctors, hospitals, second opinions, drug trials, and insurance so you get lifesaving results. - AARP Best Books of 2015Michelson implores patients to be intensely involved in their own care.... He urges patients...to bring their A-game to the doctors office...advocat[ing] smart care, not more care. - The Wall Street Journal In this unique and useful book, [Michelson] maps out a plan to organize competent medical care when needed.... He provides advice and resources that help individuals become medically prepared, make sound health-care decisions, and more likely achieve favorable results.... An invaluable resource, The Patient’s Playbook can effectively assist individuals in navigating the complex and often overwhelming world of illness. - Booklist (Starred Review) Unlike most how-to books, this one is thick with advice and instructions....whats at stake: Your need to obtain the best possible diagnosis and treatment from an expensive but fractured netowrk of health care providers....The steps Michelson offers for negotiating the system mirror what his company does for patients-finding top experts and coordinating care....his insights about the importance of getting your caregivers to notice and talk to you is invaluable. - Sarasota Herald-Tribune A primer on making the right moves as an active participant in your health care.... Michelson is the CEO of a company that works with...

-Titulo Original : The History Of Sexuality, Vol. 3 The Care Of The Self-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Michel Foucault takes us into the first two centuries of our own era, into the Golden Age of Rome, to reveal a subtle but decisive break from the classical Greek vision of sexual pleasure. He skillfully explores the whole corpus of moral reflection among philosophers (Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca) and physicians of the era, and uncovers an increasing mistrust of pleasure and growing anxiety over sexual activity and its consequences. Review The Care of the Self shares with the writings on which it draws the characteristic of being carefully constructed, exquisitely reasoned and internally cogent. -- The New York Times Book Review Foucault is a thinker from whose writing one can infer lessons for our modern lives and dilemmas.-- Boston Globe From the Inside Flap the Self is the third and possibly final volume of Michel Foucaults widely acclaimed examination of the experience of sexuality in Western society. Foucault takes us into the first two centuries of our own era, into the Golden Age of Rome, to reveal a subtle but decisive break from the classical Greek vision of sexual pleasure. He skillfully explores the whole corpus of moral reflection among philosophers (Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca) and physicians of the era, and uncovers an increasing mistrust of pleasure and growing anxiety over sexual activity and its consequences. From the Back Cover The Care of the Self is the third and possibly final volume of Michel Foucaults widely acclaimed examination of the experience of sexuality in Western society. Foucault takes us into the first two centuries of our own era, into the Golden Age of Rome, to reveal a subtle but decisive break from the classical Greek vision of sexual pleasure. He skillfully explores the whole corpus of moral reflection among philosophers (Plutarch, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca) and physicians of the era, and uncovers an increasing mistrust of pleasure and growing anxiety over sexual activity and its consequences. About the Author Michel Foucault was born in Poitiers, France, in 1926. He lecturerd in universities throughout the world; served as director at the Institut Francais in Hamburg, Germany and at the Institut de Philosophi at the Faculte des Lettres in the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France; and wrote frequently for French newspapers and reviews. At the time of his death in 1984, he held a chair at Frances most prestigious institutions, the College de France...

-Titulo Original : A Bittersweet Season Caring For Our Aging Parents--and Ourselves-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: When Jane Gross found herself suddenly thrust into a caretaker role for her eighty-five year-old mother, she was forced to face challenges that she had never imagined. As she and her younger brother struggled to move her mother into an assisted living facility, deal with seemingly never-ending costs, and adapt to the demands on her time and psyche, she learned valuable and important lessons. Here, the longtime New York Times expert on the subject of elderly care and the founder of the New Old Age blog shares her frustrating, heartbreaking, enlightening, and ultimately redemptive journey, providing us along the way with valuable information that she wishes she had known earlier. We learn why finding a general practitioner with a specialty in geriatrics should be your first move when relocating a parent; how to deal with Medicaid and Medicare; how to understand and provide for your own needs as a caretaker; and much more. Wise, smart, and ever-helpful, A Bittersweet Season is an essential guide to caring for aging parents.Includes chapters on the following subjects:Finding Our Better SelvesThe Myth of Assisted LivingThe Vestiges of Family MedicineThe Best Doctors Money Can BuyThe Biology, Sociology, and Psychology of AgingTherapeutic Fibs Review “Unique and lovely. . . . How wonderful to have [Gross’s] mix of sage advice, pithy insights and practical discoveries at hand.” -Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone “Nothing can fully prepare you for the overwhelming experience of caring for your elderly parents, but Jane Gross’s new book, A Bittersweet Season, comes awfully close . . . Gross is an incisive critic of our systems and institutions.” -The Seattle Times“A forthright story and trenchant advice. . . . Intimate and affecting.” -The New York Times Book Review “A smart and highly detailed book about navigating the complex eldercare system as it related to healthcare, insurance and end of life. . . . The kind of book social workers might suggest to the family who craves more perspective about the logistical issues mentioned above. . . . Readers will find they are engaged by how much they learn in reading Gross’s account.” -Psychology TodayHugely informative, and a gripping read. -Betty Rollin, author of Last Wish “A Bittersweet Season is sure to become required reading for anyone with an elderly parent who depends on long-term care. Its also a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in Americas health care system as it braces for the demands posed by demographic changes that include a sharp rise in the group now termed the old old. -The Huffington Post “An invaluable guide. . . . Excellent. . . . . Jane Gross has taken her own painful experiences and worked hard to give needed help to us all.” -Commonweal Magazine With great insight and empathy, Jane Gross guides us through one of the most difficult of all life transitions-the decline and death of our parents. Not only does she provide a wonderfully helpful guide for how and what to do, and when. She also enables us to understand what our parents need, and what we ourselves need, during this passage.” -Robert B. Reich, author of Aftershock “This is tough stuff, and Gross writes movingly about the toll it takes on her and other caregivers. . . . She’s serious about documenting the often hidden workload borne by middle-aged daughters and sons.” -The Boston Globe “A Bittersweet Season deals with a sobering topic. But the narrative is so lively and informative that readers will come away feeling more prepared than pessimistic . . . An intelligent guide to handling the onset of old age with sagacity and sensitivity.” -BookPage “This book is an invaluable and comprehensive primer on what most Americans will face soon. Its honest and loving message is to prepare yourself now.” -Jeff Madrick, author of Age of Greed “Readers may pick up this very well-written book to learn about taking care of their own ailing parents, but wil...

-Titulo Original : The Man Who Walked Through Time The Story Of The First Trip Afoot Through The Grand Canyon-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: The remarkable classic of nature writing by the first man ever to have walked the entire length of the Grand Canyon. Review Colin Fletcher is a self-described compulsive walker. It is not unusual for him to pick up a map, drive to an area that intrigues him, and then start walking. It should come as no surprise then that a detour from U.S. 66 to visit the Grand Canyon on a June morning in 1963 inspired Fletcher to walk the length of the Canyon below the rim. In The Man Who Walked Through Time Fletcher recounts his amazing journey. For two months Fletcher struggled against heat and cold, lack of water and dwindling supplies. The terrain was, at times, nearly impassible, yet despite the physical hardships, Fletcher came away from his experience with a new awareness of how humans fit into the vast scheme of things. He writes, for example, of meeting a rattlesnake on Beaver Sand Bar: Now I am no rattlesnake aficionado. The first rattler I met scared me purple, and killing it seemed a human duty.... Yet by the end of that California summer I no longer felt an unreasoning fear of rattlers.... Instead, I accepted them as organisms with a niche in the web of life. Accepted them, that is, as fellow creatures. The Man Who Walked Through Time is a remarkable account of a journey both physical and spiritual. It is also a record of the Grand Canyon as it was before the massive influx of tourism. Fletchers descriptions of the spectacular geography, the wildlife, and the remnants of much older cultures serve to remind us that the Grand Canyon has been around longer than humankind and may well outlast us. From the Inside Flap The remarkable classic of nature writing by the first man ever to have walked the entire length of the Grand Canyon. From the Back Cover In 1963 Colin Fletcher became the first man to walk the length of Grand canyon, below the Rim. It began with a dream, when he and a friend detoured from a cross-country trip to take a hurried look at the great natural wonder. Standing on the Rim, surrounded by the profound and almost mystical silence, Fletcher knew that something had happened to the way he looked at things. He also knew that the Canyon, with its depths and distances, cliffs, buttes, and hanging terraces, beckoned to him, calling him on a journey that would challenge both his body and his mind. About the Author Colin Fletcher (1922-2007) was born in Wales and educated in England. He moved to California in 1956 after serving in the Royal Marines, farming in Kenya, surveying in Zimbabwe, and prospecting in northern and western Canada. He is the first man to have walked the length of Grand Canyon National Park within the canyon’s rim. He is the author of numerous books on walking and the outdoors, including The Thousand-Mile Summer, The Man Who Walked Through Time, River, The Secret Worlds of Colin Fletcher, and three previous editions of The Complete Walker...

-Titulo Original : The Optimism Bias A Tour Of The Irrationally Positive Brain-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Psychologists have long been aware that most people maintain an irrationally positive outlook on life-but why? Turns out, we might be hardwired that way. In this absorbing exploration, Tali Sharot-one of the most innovative neuroscientists at work today-demonstrates that optimism may be crucial to human existence. The Optimism Bias explores how the brain generates hope and what happens when it fails; how the brains of optimists and pessimists differ; why we are terrible at predicting what will make us happy; how emotions strengthen our ability to recollect; how anticipation and dread affect us; how our optimistic illusions affect our financial, professional, and emotional decisions; and more. Drawing on cutting-edge science, The Optimism Bias provides us with startling new insight into the workings of the brain and the major role that optimism plays in determining how we live our lives. Review “Fascinating. . . . Even if you’re a dedicated cynic, you might be surprised to learn that your brain is wearing rose-colored glasses, whether you like it or not.”-NPR“What a treat. A charming, engaging and accessible book written by a scientist who knows how to tell a story.”-Richard Thaler, author of Nudge“An insightful, Oliver Sacks-y first book.”-The Village Voice“Very enjoyable, highly original and packed with eye-opening insight, this is a beautifully written book that really brings psychology alive.”-Simon Baron-Cohen, author of The Science of Evil “Offers evolutionary, neurological, and even slightly philosophical reasons for optimism. . . . A book I’d suggest to anyone.”-Terry Waghorn, Forbes “If you read her story, you’ll get a better grip on how we function in it. I’m optimistic about that.”-Richard Stengel, Time “Once I started reading The Optimism Bias, I could not put it down.”-Louisa Jewell, Positive Psychology News Daily “An intelligently written look into why most people take an optimistic view of life. . . . [A] fascinating trip into why we prefer to remain hopeful about our future and ourselves.”-New York Journal of Books “With rare talent Sharot takes us on an unforgettable tour of the hopes, traps and tricks of our brains. . . . A must-read.”-David Eagleman, author of Incognito “A fascinating yet accessible exploration of how and why our brains construct a positive outlook on life.”-BrainPickings “Lively, conversational. . . . A well-told, heartening report from neuroscience’s front lines.”-Kirkus Reviews “Most readers will turn to the last page not only buoyed by hope but also aware of the sources and benefits of that hope.”-Booklist “Fascinating and fun to read. . . . Provides lucid accounts of [Sharot’s] often ingenious experiments.”-BBC Focus Magazine About the Author Tali Sharot’s research on optimism, memory, and emotion has been the subject of features in Newsweek, The Boston Globe, Time, The Wall Street Journal, New Scientist, and The Washington Post, as well as on the BBC. She has a Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience from New York University and is the director of the Affective Brain Lab and an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the department of Experimental Psychology at University College London. She lives in London. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Table of ContentsPrologue: A Glass Forever Half Full? 1. Which Way Is Up? Illusions of the Human Brain 2. Are Animals Stuck in Time? The Evolution of Prospection 3. Is Optimism a Self- Fulfi lling Prophecy? How the Mind Transforms Predictions into Reality 4. What Do Barack Obama and Shirley Temple Have in Common? When Private Optimism Meets Public Despair 5. Can You Predict What Will Make You Happy? The Unexpected Ingredient for Well- being 6. Crocuses Popping Up Through the Snow? When Things Go Wrong: Depression, Interpretation,and Genes 7. Why Is Friday Better Than Sunday? The Value of Anticipation and the Cost of Dread 8. Why Do Things Seem Better ...

-Titulo Original : The Doctor And The Soul From Psychotherapy To Logotherapy-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Newly reissued in trade paperback, from the author of the bestselling Mans Search for Meaning--the classic book in which he first laid out his revolutionary theory of logotherapy. Dr. Viktor E. Frankl is celebrated as the founder of logotherapy, a revolutionary mode of psychotherapy based on the essential human need to search for meaning in life. Even while suffering the degradation and misery of Nazi concentration camps--an experience he described in his bestselling memoir, Mans Search for Meaning--Frankl retained his belief that the most important freedom is the ability to determine ones spiritual well-being. After his liberation, he published The Doctor and the Soul, the first book in which he explained his method and his conviction that the fundamental human motivation is neither sex (as in Freud) nor the need to be appreciated by society (as in Adler), but the desire to live a purposeful life. Frankls work represented a major contribution to the field of psychotherapy, and The Doctor and the Soul is essential to understanding it. Review “Perhaps the most significant thinking since Freud and Adler.” - American Journal of Psychiatry “His most important book. . . . It gives an existential and spiritual dimension to the work of psychotherapy.” - Positive Health “[Frankl] subject[s] the great phenomenon of life to a new evaluation. . . . Well written and backed by powerful personal conviction.” - American Journal of Psychotherapy About the Author VIKTOR E. FRANKL (1905-1997) was Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna. During World War II, he spent three years in Auschwitz, Dachau, and other concentration camps. He was the founder of the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy--the school of logotherapy--and President of the Austrian Medical Society of Psychotherapy. His forty books, which include Man’s Search for Meaning, Psychotherapy and Existentialism, and The Will to Meaning, have been translated into fifty languages. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Preface to the Third Edition (1985) This third-revised and enlarged-edition of The Doctor and the Soul is the fifty-seventh that has been published in nine languages (in addition to the German original and the English edition, there are Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Finnish, Dutch, Danish ,and Portuguese versions). Let me, therefore, say a few words regarding the story behind the book-a story that has often been obscured by the misconceptions of the mass media whose representatives never weary of proclaiming that Viktor Frankl came out of Auschwitz with a brand-new psychotherapeutic system he had developed in the concentration camp. The very opposite is true: I entered the camp with a full-length book manuscript (hidden under the lining of my overcoat) which was indeed an outline of the basic concepts of logotherapy. I had worked on it up to the last moment and hoped to save it during the period of imprisonment. I could not anticipate that it would be taken away from me immediately and, of course, destroyed. Under the circumstances, I felt like a father who was not spared watching his children murdered before his eyes. The book was, in fact, my spiritual child who I’d hoped would survive even if I did not do so myself. To be sure, the concentration camps I went through did in fact serve as a testing ground that confirmed one of the main tenets of logotherapy, the theory that the basic meaning orientation of an individual-or, as I am used to calling it, the “will to meaning”-has actual survival value. Under comparable circumstances, those inmates who were oriented toward the future, whether it was a task to complete in the future, or a beloved person to be reunited with, were most likely to survive the horrors of the camps (I say “camps” because the same lessons can be learned from the psychiatric literature on American soldiers kept in Japanese, North...

-Titulo Original : Arrival (stories Of Your Life Mti)-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Previously published as Stories of Your Life and Others. Includes Story Of Your Life, the basis for the major motion picture Arrival, starring Amy Adams, Forest Whitaker, Jeremy Renner, and directed by Denis Villeneuve. “A swell movie adaptation always sends me to the source material, so Arrival had me pick up Ted Chiangs Stories of Your Life and Others: lean, relentless, and incandescent.” -Colson Whitehead, GQ Ted Chiang has long been known as one of the most powerful science fiction writers working today. Offering readers the dual delights of the very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar, Arrival presents characters who must confront sudden change. In Story of Your Life, which provides the basis for the film Arrival, alien lifeforms suddenly appear on Earth. When a linguist is brought in to help communicate with them and discern their intentions, her new knowledge of their language and its nonlinear structure allows her to see future events and all the joy and pain they may bring. In each story of this incredible collection, with sharp intelligence and humor, Ted Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty, but also by wonder. Review “A swell movie adaptation always sends me to the source material, so Arrival had me pick up Ted Chiangs Stories of Your Life and Others: lean, relentless, and incandescent.” -Colson Whitehead, GQ “Chiang writes with a gruff and ready heart that brings to mind George Saunders and Steven Millhauser, but he’s uncompromisingly cerebral.” - The New Yorker “Blend[s] absorbing storytelling with meditations on the universe, being, time and space. . . . raises questions about the nature of reality and what it is to be human.” - The New York Times “Shines with a brutal, minimalist elegance. Every sentence is the perfect incision in the dissection of the idea at hand.” - The Guardian “Shining, haunting, mind-blowing tales . . . this collection is a pure marvel. Chiang is so exhilarating so original so stylish he just leaves you speechless. I always suggest a person read at least 52 books a year for proper mental functioning but if you only have time for one, be at peace: you found it.” -Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao “Meticulously pieced together, utterly thought through, Chiang’s stories emerge slowly . . . but with the perfection of slow-growing crystal.” -Lev Grossman, Best of the Decade: Science Fiction and Fantasy, Techland Ted Chiang is one of the best and smartest writers working today. If you dont know his name, lets fix that. Now. -Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Ted Chiang astonishes. You must read him. -Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble “United by a humane intelligence that speaks very directly to the reader, and makes us experience each story with immediacy and Chiang’s calm passion.” -China Mieville, The Guardian “Ted is a national treasure . . . each of those stories is a goddamned jewel.” -Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing “Confirms that blending science and fine art at this length can produce touching works, tales as intimate as our own blood cells, with the structural strength of just-discovered industrial alloys.” - Seattle Times “Chiang derides lazy thinking, weasels it out of its hiding place, and leaves it cowering.” - Washington Post “Essential. You won’t know SF if you don’t read Ted Chiang.” -Greg Bear “Chiang writes seldom, but his almost unfathomably wonderful stories tick away with the precision of a Swiss watch-and explode in your awareness with shocking, devastating force.” - Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) “The first must-read SF book of the year.” - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) “He puts the science back in science fiction-brilliantly.” - Booklist (Starred Review) About the Author Ted Chiang was born in Port Jefferson, New York, and holds a degree in computer science. In 1989 ...

-Titulo Original : The Complete Tales And Poems Of Edgar Allan Poe-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: One of the most original American writers, Edgar Allan Poe shaped the development of both the detectvie story and the science-fiction story. Some of his poems-The Raven, The Bells, Annabel Lee-remain among the most popular in American literature. Poes tales of the macabre still thrill readers of all ages. Here are familiar favorites like The Purloined Letter, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Murders in the Rue Morgue, together with less-known masterpieces like The Imp of the Perverse, The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym, and Ligeia, which is now recognized as one of the first science-fiction stories, a total of seventy-three tales in all, plus fifty-three poems and a generous sampling of Poes essays, criticism and journalistic writings. From the Inside Flap All of the tales by the master of the detective and the macabre story. 53 of his best-known poems plus essays and criticisms. From the Back Cover All of the tales by the master of the detective and the macabre story. 53 of his best-known poems plus essays and criticisms. About the Author Edgar Allan Poe was a poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic. He was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. Born Edgar Poe in Boston in 1809, he was raised in Virginia by foster parents named Allan who gave him his middle name. Poe died of unknown causes in Baltimore in 1849...

-Titulo Original : Great Expectations (vintage Classics)-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: One of Charles Dickens’s most fascinating novels, Great Expectations follows the orphan Pip as he leaves behind a childhood of misery and poverty after an anonymous benefactor offers him a chance at the life of a gentleman. From young Pip’s first terrifying encounter with the convict Magwitch in the gloom of a graveyard to the splendidly morbid set pieces in Miss Havisham’s mansion to the magnificently realized boat chase down the Thames, the novel is filled with the transcendent excitement that Dickens could so abundantly provide. Written in 1860 at the height of his maturity, it also reveals the novelist’s bittersweet understanding of the extent to which our deepest moral dilemmas are born of our own obsessions and illusions. Review No story in the first person was ever better told. About the Author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was born in Portsmouth, England, and spent most of his life in London. When he was twelve, his father was sent to debtor’s prison and he was forced to work in a boot polish factory, an experience that marked him for life. He became a passionate advocate of social reform and the most popular writer of the Victorian era. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter I. My fathers family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. I give Pirrip as my fathers family name, on the authority of his tombstone and my sister - Mrs. Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith. As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones. The shape of the letters on my fathers, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription, Also Georgiana Wife of the Above, I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly. To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine - who gave up trying to get a living exceedingly early in that universal struggle - I am indebted for a belief I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of existence. Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip. Hold your noise! cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. Keep still, you little devil, or Ill cut your throat! A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, a...

-Titulo Original : The Kingdom The Thrilling Sunday Times Bestseller And Richard & Judy Book Club Pick-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: Suspenseful, original...special in every way Stephen KingTWO BROTHERS. BOUND BY BLOOD...AND A LIFETIME OF SECRETS. When Roy and Carls parents die suddenly, sixteen-year-old Roy is left as protector to his impulsive younger brother. But when Carl decides to travel the world in search of his fortune, Roy stays behind in their sleepy village, satisfied with his peaceful life as a mechanic.Some years later, Carl returns with his charismatic new wife, Shannon - an architect. They are full of exciting plans to build a spa hotel on their family land. Carl wants not only to make the brothers rich but the rest of the village, too.Its only a matter of time before what begins as a jubilant homecoming sparks off a series of events that threaten to derail everything Roy holds dear, as long-buried family secrets begin to rise to the surface..._________________________PRAISE FOR THE KINGDOM:The Kingdom is a stunning novel from a storyteller with few equals Daily Express Jo Nesbo remains the king of Scandicrime Financial TimesA stunning novel Daily MirrorA sombre delight. There are shades of a Nordic Ripley, or maybe Virginia Andrews on aquavit. Choose your poison The TimesThe latest stand-alone from the chronicler of Inspector Harry Hole puts all the murky, violent twists on brotherly love that youd expect from this leading exponent of Nordic noir... Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)________________________READERS LOVE THE KINGDOM:***** Intriguing, mysterious, full of suspense and as twisty as one of the roads up to The Kingdom Netgalley reader***** A gripping read... once it all starts to fall into place you cant put the book down! Netgalley reader***** To say I couldnt put it down is an understatement... One of my favourite books this year Netgalley reader***** A great read with plenty of twists and surprises...my book of the year so far Netgalley reade...

-Titulo Original : In The Unlikely Event-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: In this brilliant new novel-her first for adults since Summer Sisters-Judy Blume takes us back to the 1950s and introduces us to the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she herself grew up. Here she imagines and weaves together a vivid portrait of three generations of families, friends, and strangers, whose lives are profoundly changed during one winter. At the center of an extraordinary cast of characters are fifteen-year-old Miri Ammerman and her spirited single mother, Rusty. Their warm and resonant stories are set against the backdrop of a real-life tragedy that struck the town when a series of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving the community reeling. Gripping, authentic, and unforgettable, In the Unlikely Event has all the hallmarks of this renowned author’s deft narrative magic. Review “Makes us feel the pure shock and wonder of living. . . . Judy Blume isn’t just revered, she’s revolutionary.” -The New York Times Book Review “[A] page-turner, emotionally resonant and down-to-earth. . . . Reading In the Unlikely Event is like reconnecting with a long-lost friend.” -The New Yorker“Gives us everything that Blume is known (and beloved) for. . . . This novel is her most ambitious to date, and she lives up to its reach with her characteristic frankness, compassion, and charm.” -San Francisco Chronicle “Judy Blume is back-and on her game! . . . You won’t want to turn the last page.” -People“A page-turner with cross-generational appeal. . . . Will appeal to loyal fans as well as new readers.” -Minneapolis Star Tribune“A fascinating novel. . . . Blume, in clear and forthright storytelling, creates realistic characters searching for happiness. . . . Just as dramatic as the devastation and panic caused by the crashes are Blumes ruminations on the mysteries of the human heart. ” -Chicago Tribune “Judy Blume is still here, opening our eyes to the daily astonishments of life all these years later.” -USA Today “Quite simply, extraordinary. . . . Utterly brilliant.” -The Observer (London) “Blume succeeds in capturing the condition of an entire community. . . . No one captures coming-of-age milestones and stomach butterflies like Blume, and those scenes are worth waiting for.” -The Boston Globe “Judy Blume’s writing is simply a delight. . . . Blume is a master at presenting the complexities of life. This novel is entertaining, heartbreaking, and redeeming.” -The Missourian “Heartwarming.” -New York Daily News“Satisfying, heartfelt. . . Delivers on the warm nostalgia that we remember from Blume’s earlier books and will appeal to her admirers-of which I am absolutely one-who regard any new book by this trailblazing literary and cultural icon as a celebratory event.” -Melissa M. Firman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Blume creates characters who are real and sympathetic.” -St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Excellent and satisfying. . . Has all the elements of Blume’s best books: the complex relationships between friends and family members, the straight talk and lack of shame about sex, and, most of all, the compassionate insight into the pleasures and pains of growing up.” -Chicago Reader “Has [Blume’s] signature warm, personal touch.” -Vogue “Vividly rendered. . . Blume deftly demonstrates just how different the personal fallout from tragedy can turn out to be. . . . As Blume proves over and over again not just in In the Unlikely Event but in all of her fiction, life does go on in spite of hardship. We love. We lose. We fail. We may fall. But the lucky ones, we try our best to endure.” -The Oregonian “Soars. . . . It’s Judy Blume and, therefore, it’s gold.” -Newark Star Ledger “Judy Blume is revered. She is claimed, and cherished, and clutched close to the hearts of American adolescents and former adolescents, everywhere that books are read. . . . Blume’s great gift is [her] personal touch; her unflinching but reassuring voice-that of a no-nonsense big sister who gives it to you straight, then ...

-Titulo Original : Homegoing-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering...

-Titulo Original : The Time Machine (vintage Classics)-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: The first great novel to imagine time travel, H. G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1895) follows its narrator on an incredible journey that takes him eventually to the earth’s last moments. When a Victorian scientist invents a machine that allows him to travel to the year A.D. 802,701, he encounters a highly evolved society of people called Eloi, for whom suffering has apparently been replaced by refinement and harmony. First impressions are misleading, however, and his discovery of the Eloi’s true relationship to the brutish Morlocks who lurk in tunnels beneath them leads him to a horrifying insight into the fate of mankind and its roots in his own time. Review “[Wells] contrives to give over humanity into the clutches of the Impossible and yet manages to keep it down (or up) to its humanity, to its flesh, blood, sorrow, folly.” - Joseph Conrad About the Author H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was a prominent English socialist and pacifist, and a prolific writer in many genres. As the author of The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Time Machine, he is considered a pioneer of science fiction. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1 The time traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought runs gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way - marking the points with a lean forefinger - as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity. ‘You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.’ ‘Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?’ said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair. ‘I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence. They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions.’ ‘That is all right,’ said the Psychologist. ‘Nor, having only length, breadth and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.’ ‘There I object,’ said Filby. ‘Of course a solid body may exist. All real things-’ ‘So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?’ ‘Don’t follow you,’ said Filby. ‘Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?’ Filby became pensive. ‘Clearly,’ the Time Traveller proceeded, ‘any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness and - Duration. But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives.’ ‘That,’ said a very young man, making spasmodic efforts to relight his cigar over the lamp; ‘that . . . very clear indeed.’ ‘Now, it is very remarkable that this is so extensively overlooked,’ continued the Time Traveller, with a slight accession of cheerfulness. ‘Really this is what is meant ...

-Titulo Original : The Children Act-Fabricante : Vintage-Descripcion Original: A brilliant, emotionally wrenching new novel from the author of Atonement and Amsterdam. Fiona Maye, a leading High Court judge, renowned for her fierce intelligence and sensitivity is called on to try an urgent case. For religious reasons, a seventeen-year-old boy is refusing the medical treatment that could save his life. Time is running out. She visits the boy in hospital - an encounter which stirs long-buried feelings in her and powerful new emotions in the boy. But it is Fiona who must ultimately decide whether he lives or dies and her judgement will have momentous consequences for them both...