“Pekar has proven that comics can address the ambiguities ofdaily living, that like the finest fiction, they can hold a mirrorup to life.” –The New York Times For years Heather Roberson, a passionate peace activist, hasargued that war can always be avoided. But she has repeatedly facedcounterarguments that fighting is an inescapable consequence ofworld conflicts. Indeed, Heather finds proving her point to be alittle tricky without examples to bolster her case. So she doessomething a little crazy: She sets out for far-off Macedonia, alandlocked country north of Greece and west of Bulgaria, to explorea region that has edged–repeatedly–close to the brink of violence,only to refrain. In the process–and as vividly portrayed by the talented duo ofHarvey Pekar and Ed Piskor–Heather is tangled in red tape, rippedoff by cabdrivers and hotel clerks, hit on by creepy guys, secretlyphotographed, and mistaken for a spy. She also creates unlikelyfriendships, learns that getting lost m

One day in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a beautifuldiamond necklace in a jewelry store window and wondered: Why arepersonal luxuries so plentiful yet accessible to so few? What if weshared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, andone great leap of faith later, Jonell and twelve other women boughtthe necklace together–to be passed along among them all. The dazzling treasure weaves in and out of each woman’s life,reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for herfuture. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, thenecklace comes to mean something dramatically different to each ofthe thirteen women. With vastly dissimilar histories and lives,they transcend their individual personalities and politics to jointogether in an uncommon journey–and what started as a quirky socialexperiment becomes something far richer and deeper.

"Calm Birth is a sublime gift to all of us. It contains theblueprint for reconnecting with birth wisdom on all levels. Readingthough this book and doing the practices will transform the birthprocess and imprint a peaceful beginning on both mother and child.The positive impact of this on society can’t beoverestimated."-Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Mother-DaughterWisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause and Women’s Bodies, Women’sWisdom"Calm Birth: New Method of Conscious Childbirth successfullybridges ancient feminine healing wisdom and meditation tocontemporary birth practices…This book is a must for anyoneinterested in childbirth."- Barbara Findeisen, MFT, president ofthe Association fo Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health

The Ultimate Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Dorm Dorm life offers you a great chance to meet new people and trynew things. But leaving the comforts of home for the first time toenter the roommate-having, small-room-sharing,possibly-coed-bathroom-using world of the dorms can be overwhelmingand intimidating. The College Dorm Survival Guide offers expert advice and theinside scoop on: ? Choosing the right residence hall for you ? Getting along with your roommate (and handling conflict) ? Bathroom, laundry, and dining hall survival ? Dealing with stress, depression, and safety issues From avoiding the dreaded Freshman 15 to decorating your space,this informative and funny guide gives experts' advice oneverything you need to know to enjoy dorm living to thefullest.

In the 1950s, a series of dams was proposed along the BrazosRiver in north-central Texas. For John Graves, this project meantthat if the stream’s regimen was thus changed, the beautiful andsometimes brutal surrounding countryside would also change, aswould the lives of the people whose rugged ancestors had eked outan existence there. Graves therefore decided to visit that stretchof the river, which he had known intimately as a youth. Goodbye to a River is his account of that farewell canoevoyage. As he braves rapids and fatigue and the fickle autumnweather, he muses upon old blood feuds of the region and violentskirmishes with native tribes, and retells wild stories of courageand cowardice and deceit that shaped both the river’s people andthe land during frontier times and later. Nearly half a centuryafter its initial publication, Goodbye to a River is a trueAmerican classic, a vivid narrative about an exciting journey and apowerful tribute to a vanishing way of life and its ever-changingnatural env

This important book by one of our leading experts on disasterpreparedness offers a compelling narrative about our nation’sinability to properly plan for large-scale disasters and proposeschanges that can still be made to assure the safety of itscitizens. Five years after 9/11 and one year after Hurricane Katrina, it ispainfully clear that the government’s emergency response capacityis plagued by incompetence and a paralyzing bureaucracy. IrwinRedlener, who founded and directs the National Center for DisasterPreparedness, brings his years of experience with disasters andhealth care crises, national and international, to an incisiveanalysis of why our health care system, our infrastructure, and ouroverall approach to disaster readiness have left the nationvulnerable, virtually unable to respond effectively to catastrophicevents. He has had frank, and sometimes shocking, conversationsabout the failure of systems during and after disasters with abroad spectrum of people—from hospital workers an

Was Roger Williams too pure for the Puritans, and what doesthat have to do with Rhode Island? Why did Augustine Herman taketen years to complete the map that established Delaware? How didRocky Mountain rogues help create the state of Colorado? All thisand more is explained in Mark Stein's new book. How the States Got Their Shapes Too follows How the States GotTheir Shapes looks at American history through the lens of itsborders, but, while How The States Got Their Shapes told us why,this book tells us who. This personal element in the boundarystories reveals how we today are like those who came before us, andhow we differ, and most significantly: how their collective storiesreveal not only an historical arc but, as importantly, the oftenoverlooked human dimension in that arc that leads to the nation weare today. The people featured in How the States Got Their Shapes Too livedfrom the colonial era right up to the present. They include AfricanAmericans, Native Americans, Hispanics, women, and

The Vegetarian Way is the vegetarian bible.It is an authoritative， comprehensive， single-source reference bookfor the growing number of people who are embracing a vegetariandiet， as well as for more than 12 million Americans who are alreadycommitted vegetarians.

A fascinating look at some fascinating people who show howdemocracy advances hand in hand with crime in Japan.--MarioPuzo In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., RobertWhiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspectiveon the economic miracle and near disaster that is modernJapan. Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former blackmarketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief whoturned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king ofRappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakesgame of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in whichhe thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers,who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist inTokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler whoalmost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose ownethnicity had to be kept secret. And here is the story of theintimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, itsf

“Parents will line up single file for [this] guide toManhattan’s private schools.”—The New York Observer “The information is on the mark and insightful. . . . Parentswill pass The Manhattan Family Guide to parents as gleefully asthey once passed notes in class.”—New York Magazine “A knowing look at those privileged places of learning.”—Town Country “Parents can turn to . . . objective and informative ManhattanFamily Guide to Private Schools, the first to cover subjects fromadmission to tuition, curriculum, and general atmosphere.”—AVENUEmagazine This guide, written by a parent for parents, is a perennialseller. Expanded and extensively revised in this sixth edition, itis the first, last, and only word for parents on choosing the bestprivate and selective public schools for children. Includinginformation on admissions procedures, programs, diversity, schoolsize, staff, tuition, and scholarships, this essential referenceguide lists over eighty elementary

Ludwig van Beethoven lay dying in 1827, a young musician namedFerdinand Hiller came to pay his respects to the great composer. Inthose days, it was customary to snip a lock of hair as a keepsake,and this Hiller did a day after Beethoven's death. By the time hewas buried, Beethoven's head had been nearly shorn by the manypeople who similarly had wanted a lasting memento of the great man.Such was his powerful effect on all those who had heard hismusic. For a century, the lock of hair was a treasured Hiller familyrelic, and perhaps was destined to end up sequestered in a bankvault, until it somehow found its way to the town of Gilleleje, inNazi-occupied Denmark, during the darkest days of the Second WorldWar. There, it was given to a local doctor, Kay Fremming, who wasdeeply involved in the effort to help save hundreds of hunted andfrightened Jews. Who gave him the hair, and why? And what was thefate of those refugees, holed up in the attic of Gilleleje'schurch? After Fremming's death, his d

Between 1850 and 1900, Boston underwent a stunningmetamorphosis from an insulated New England town into one of theworld’s great metropolises—one that achieved worldwide prominencein politics, medicine, education, science, social activism,literature, commerce, and transportation. In A City So Grand, Stephen Puleo chronicles this remarkableperiod in Boston’s history. He takes readers through the ferocityof the abolitionist movement of the 1850s, the thirty-five-yearengineering and city-planning feat of the Back Bay project,Boston’s explosion in size through immigration and annexation, thedevastating Great Fire of 1872, and the glorious opening ofAmerica’s first subway station in 1897. This lively journey paintsa portrait of a half century of progress, leadership, andinfluence.

Why is it that even though we might maintain our high schoolweight, few of us maintain our high school belt size? In your twenties and thirties, the layers of fat on top of yourabs were the problem–but once you reach middle-age, the enemyshifts. The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle is the firstbook to deal specifically with the issues we face in the next stageof life, providing a plan for eliminating the unhealthy fat thataccumulates around the organs–visceral fat–that is the true causeof the middle-aged bulge. The good news is that with the right diet, visceral fat can bequickly reduced and eliminated, enhancing both your looks and yourhealth. Even after twenty years researching and refining thescience of weight loss and management, bestselling authors Drs.Michael and Mary Dan Eades fell victim to the middle-aged middlethemselves. Although otherwise fit and healthy, both lost the flatbelly that signals youth. In The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-AgedMiddle, they share the simple d

Designed to help parents avoid the miseducation of youngchildren. Dr. Elkind shows us the very real difference between themind of a pre-school child and that of a school age child.

They didn't start out as environmental warriors. ClairPatterson was a geochemist focused on determining the age of theEarth. Herbert Needleman was a pediatrician treating inner-citychildren. But in the chemistry lab and the hospital ward, they meta common enemy: lead. It was literally everywhere-in gasoline andpaint, of course, but also in water pipes and food cans, toothpastetubes and toys, ceramics and cosmetics, jewelry and batteries.Though few people worried about it at the time, lead was alsotoxic. In Toxic Truth, journalist Lydia Denworth tells the little-knownstories of these two men who were among the first to question thewisdom of filling the world with such a harmful metal. Denworthfollows them from the ice and snow of Antarctica to the schoolyardsof Philadelphia and Boston as they uncovered the enormity of theproblem and demonstrated the irreparable harm lead was doing tochildren. In heated conferences and courtrooms, the halls ofCongress and at the Environmental Protection Agency, the

The story of the race to the North Pole is told throughmemoirs, letters, ships' logs, and diaries of Arctic explorers,documenting the motives, modes of travel, and remarkable men whoendured the extremes of physical hardship and grim competition,including Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, Fridtjof Nans

"Dr. Gundry has crafted a wise program with a powerful trackrecord.” –Mehmet Oz, M.D., professor and vice chair of surgery, NYPresbyterian/Columbia Medical Center Does losing weight and staying healthy feel like a battle? Well,it’s really a war. Your enemies are your own genes, backed bymillions of years of evolution, and the only way to win is tooutsmart them. Dr. Steven Gundry’s revolutionary book shares thehealth secrets other doctors won’t tell you: ? Why plants are “good” for you because they’re “bad” for you,and meat is “bad” because it’s “good” for you ? Why plateauing on this diet is actually a sign that you’re onthe right track ? Why artificial sweeteners have the same effects as sugar onyour health and your waistline ? Why taking antacids, statins, and drugs for high blood pressureand arthritis masks health issues instead of addressing them Along with the meal planner, 70 delicious recipes, andinspirational stories, Dr.

Mustang Designer tells the story of American wartime fighterdevelopment, including engines and armaments, as part of anationwide program of aircraft builders and fliers, focusing onEdgar Schmued, the designer of the Mustang. The P-51 Mustang iswidely regarded as the best propeller-driven fighter that everflew. What many might not realize is that the plane's developer wasa German migrant. This book tells of how Schmued created a weaponthat would ultimately prove lethal to the aspirations of those whohad seized control over his native land.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The three Great Premises of Idiot America: · Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, orotherwise moves units · Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough · Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determinedby how fervently they believe it With his trademark wit and insight, veteran journalist CharlesPierce delivers a gut-wrenching, side-splitting lament about theglorification of ignorance in the United States. Pierce asks how a country founded on intellectual curiosity hassomehow deteriorated into a nation of simpletons more apt to votefor an American Idol contestant than a presidential candidate. Buthis thunderous denunciation is also a secret call to action, as hehopes that somehow, being intelligent will stop being a stigma, andthat pinheads will once again be pitied, not celebrated. Eruditeand razor-sharp, Idiot America is at once an invigorating historylesson, a cutting cultural critique, and a bullis

Juliet Schor breaks a taboo by exposing Americans' shoppinghabits to moral society. Schor disapproves of unfettered privateconsumption, not only because we already use up so much, but alsobecause overspending to bolster a sense of self does not lead tohappiness. Along with her critique, Schor suggests intriguing ideasfor making 'status' goods accessible for all--for example, imposinghigh taxes on expensive items to subsidize lines of affordable'luxury' goods. A firestorm of responses follow from economistRobert Frank and others. The New Democracy Forum is a series of short paperback originalsexploring creative solutions to our most urgent nationalconcerns. "A civic treasure. . . . A truly good idea, carried out withintelligence and panache." --Robert Pinsky

Book De*ion The "unwritten" final chapter of Anne Frank: The Diary of a YoungGirl tells the story of the time between Anne Frank's arrest andher death through the testimony of six Jewish women who survivedthe hell from which Anne Frank never retumed. From Publishers Weekly With approximately 30% more material than the original 1947edition, revealing a more rebellious and complex narrator, the newedition of Frank's classic diary spent five weeks on PW'sbestseller list. From School Library Journal Lindwer presents the tran*s of six in-depth interviewsconducted in preparation for his film documentary, The Last SevenMonths of Anne Frank . Although "Lies Goosens," real name HannahElisabeth Pick-Goslar, will be the most familiar to readers of AnneFrank: The Diary of a Young Girl , each of these women'sfirst-person accounts is compelling. They relate their backgrounds,their capture, details of the concentration camp experience, andde*ions of the time immediately following liberation. Eachincludes her relationship