For more than thirty years Natalie Goldberg has been challenging and cheering on writers with her books and workshops. In her groundbreaking first book, she brings together Zen meditation and writing in a new way. Writing practice, as she calls it, is no different from other forms of Zen practice—"it is backed by two thousand years of studying the mind." This thirtieth-anniversary edition includes new forewords by Julia Cameron and Bill Addison. It also includes a new preface in which Goldberg reflects on the enduring quality of the teachings here. She writes, "What have I learned about writing over these thirty years? I’ve written fourteen books, and it’s the practice here in Bones that is the foundation, sustaining and building my writing voice, that keeps me honest, teaches me how to endure the hard times and how to drop below discursive thinking, to taste the real meat of our minds and the life around us."
Performance artist Linda Montano, curious about the influence childhood experience has on adult work, invited other performance artists to consider how early events associated with sex, food, money/fame, or death/ritual resurfaced in their later work. The result is an original and compelling talking performance that documents the production of art in an important and often misunderstood community. Among the more than 100 artists Montano interviewed from 1979 to 1989 were John Cage, Suzanne Lacy, Faith Ringgold, Dick Higgins, Annie Sprinkle, Allan Kaprow, Meredith Monk, Eric Bogosian, Adrian Piper, Karen Finley, and Kim Jones. Her discussions with them focused on the relationship between art and life, history and memory, the individual and society, and the potential for individual and social change. The interviews highlight complex issues in performance art, including the role of identity in performer-audience relationships and art as an exploration of everyday conventions rather than a demonstration of virtuosity.
A Life at Stake is the first serious biography of the legendary Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. Physically imposing, crude, a sexual adventurer and ex-convict, Mayakovsky rose to fame between 1912 and 1917 as a Futurist agitator and the author of radical poems and plays. He embraced the Russian Revolution and became one of its most passionate propagandists, then at the age of thirty-six took his own life, disappointed in the course of Soviet society and ravaged by private conflicts. Mayakovsky s poems are as exhilarating today as when he declaimed them for friends in smoky flats in Moscow, Berlin, Paris, and New York. In Bengt Jangfeldt s propulsive biography, Mayakovsky s life, too, is compelling: a story of constant, passionate upheaval against the background of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, Stalin s terror, and cycles of anti-Semitism. Mayakovsky emerges from this biography a highly vulnerable figure, more a dreamer than a revolutionary, more a political romantic than a hardened Communist."
David Frei’s heartwarming collection of stories about the therapy dogs in his life and the people whom they touch, Angel on a Leash celebrates the “ministry” that Frei shares with his wife, Chaplain Cherilyn Frei, the director of spiritual care at the Ronald McDonald House of New York.Frei may be the most recognizable face and name in the dog sport, as “the Voice of Westminster,” the famous New York kennel club for which he has worked for the past two decades, but his true passion in dogs is therapy work. In the book’s eighteen chapters, Frei retells the stories of the everyday miracles he’s witnessed his therapy dogs perform over hundreds of trips to their favorite places. Currently in his second generation of therapy dogs, Frei gives his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel “Angel” and Brittany “Grace” all the credit for the life-altering work they do cheering up ailing children at Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital, spending time with recovering patients at NewYork- Presbyterian Hospital, and placing a paw in the hand of world-weary veterans at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. Never sappy or sentimental, Frei’s writing style is straightforward and honest with a swiftness that keeps the reader turning pages (and wiping tears). Beyond the inspiring storytelling, the book also offers practical advice to potential therapy dog handlers about how to get a dog certified with a proper registry, the responsibilities that accompany therapy work, and the importance of community involvement. Frei’s association with Westminster yielded the formation of a nonprofit organization called Angel on a Leash (the book’s namesake), which Frei was the key founder. Although the organization is now a separate entity from its famous “parent,” Best in Show winners of Westminster have frequently retired from the show ring into the realm of therapy work, receiving Frei’s encouragement and guidance. Among the many exquisite moments captured in the book’s photography section are portraits of Rufus, the Colored Bull Terrier; James, the English Spring Spaniel; and Uno, the Beagle, all supreme victors of the famous show, spending time with children on therapy visits.
They were almost The Pendletones--after the Pendleton wool shirts favored on chilly nights at the beach--then The Surfers, before being named The Beach Boys. But what separated them from every other teenage garage band with no musical training? They had raw talent, persistence and a wellspring of creativity that launched them on a legendary career now in its sixth decade. Following the musical vision of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys blended ethereal vocal harmonies, searing electric guitars and lush arrangements into one of the most distinctive sounds in the history of popular music. Drawing on original interviews and newly uncovered documents, this book untangles the band's convoluted early history and tells the story of how five boys from California formed America's greatest rock 'n' roll band.
Amid music festivals and moon landings, the tumultuous year of 1969 included an infamous case in the annals of criminal justice and Black liberation: the New York City Black Panther 21. Though some among the group had hardly even met one another, the 21 were rounded up by the FBI and New York Police Department in an attempt to disrupt and destroy the organization that was attracting young people around the world. Involving charges of conspiracy to commit violent acts, the Panther 21 trial—the longest and most expensive in New York history—revealed the illegal government activities which led to exile, imprisonment on false charges, and assassination of Black liberation leaders. Solidarity for the 21 also extended well beyond “movement” circles and included mainstream publication of their collective autobiography, Look for Me in the Whirlwind, which is reprinted here for the first time. Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions contains the entire original manuscript, and includes new commentary from surviving members of the 21: Sekou Odinga, Dhoruba Bin Wahad, Jamal Joseph, and Shaba Om. Still-imprisoned Sundiata Acoli, Imam Jamil Al-Amin, and Mumia Abu-Jamal contribute new essays. Never or rarely seen poetry and prose from Afeni Shakur, Kuwasi Balagoon, Ali Bey Hassan, and Michael “Cetewayo” Tabor is included. Early Panther leader and jazz master Bilal Sunni-Ali adds a historical essay and lyrics from his composition “Look for Me in the Whirlwind,” and coeditors kioni-sadiki, Meyer, and Panther rank-and-file member Cyril “Bullwhip” Innis Jr. help bring the story up to date. At a moment when the Movement for Black Lives recites the affirmation that “it is our duty to win,” penned by Black Liberation Army (BLA) militant Assata Shakur, those who made up the BLA and worked alongside of Assata are largely unknown. This book—with archival photos from David Fenton, Stephen Shames, and the private collections of the authors— provides essential parts of a hidden and missing-in-action history. Going well beyond the familiar and mythologized nostalgic Panther narrative, From the Panther 21 to 21st-Century Revolutions explains how and why the Panther legacy is still relevant and vital today.
Entrepreneurial dreams do come true! Starting with nothing more than a home brewing kit, Sam Calagione founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and made it America's fastest growing independent beer. This unconventional business story reveals how Calagione found success by dreaming big, working hard, and thinking differently-and how you can do it too. "Rarely is a book as good as a beer but this one is. It's written with humor, humility, and passion, essential ingredients for any entrepreneur." -Bob Guccione Jr. founder of Spin magazine and Gear magazine "Brewing Up a Business will inspire both entrepreneurs and aspiring small business people to have the confidence in following their dreams." -Jim Davis Chairman and CEO of New Balance "Sam Calagione embodies the spirit of a true Delaware entrepreneur. Starting out as the smallest brewery in the nation, Sam's ambition, acute business sense, and vision have allowed Dogfish Head Craft Brewery to successfully enter an extremely competitive market as Dogfish Head continues to leave an indelible mark on the beer industry." -Ruth Ann Minner Governor of Delaware "Everything you want to know about succeeding in business you can learn from beer. At least you can if it's the remarkable story of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Brewing Up a Business is like a 'how-to' manual for entrepreneurs. With humor, creativity, and wisdom, Sam Calagione has crafted a new kind of business book that's as unique as his great beer!" -Joe Calloway author of Becoming a Category of One and Indispensable
A must-have vocabulary builder for test takers and lifelong learners For the more than 3 million SAT and GRE test takers every year, as well as the millions of non-native English speakers who want to enhance their English vocabulary, Websters New World Essential Vocabulary will be an invaluable resource.
When her husband was murdered on the orders of Chicago mobster Frank Nitti, Georgette Winkeler—wife of one of Al Capone's "American Boys"—set out to expose the Chicago Syndicate. After an attempt to publish her story was squelched by the mob, she offered it to the FBI in the mistaken belief that they had the authority to strike at the racketeers who had killed her husband Gus. Discovered 60 years later in FBI files, the manuscript describes the couple's life on the run, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Gus was one of the shooters), and other headline crimes of that period. Prepared for publication by mob expert William J. Helmer, Al Capone and His American Boys is a compelling contemporary account of the heyday of Chicago crime by a woman who found herself married to the mob.
