A cultural history of the sublime first image of a black hole, in photographs and documents "Peering into Light's Graveyard: The First Image of the Black Hole," read the New York Times' April 11 cover story. The headline, like many others that day, was accompanied by an image of a glowing celestial ring framed by infinite blackness: the first image of a black hole. In his first book, New York photographer Matthew Beck (born 1986) focuses on the unveiling of this previously unseeable image by following it into the depths of the New York City subway. The book suggests the notion that the cosmos is not something to simply be observed from our vantage point as humans, but more a system that we are intrinsically a part of; and the true nature of the black hole seems to be as elusive as the answer to humanity's most pressing question of "why."
“Methamphetamine was a huge part of this case . . . It was a horrible murder driven by drugs.” — Prosecutor Cal Rerucha, who convicted Matthew Shepard's killers On the night of October 6, 1998, twenty-one-year-old Matthew Shepard left a bar with two alleged “strangers,” Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. Eighteen hours later, Matthew was found tied to a log fence on the outskirts of town, unconscious and barely alive. Overnight, a politically expedient myth took the place of important facts. By the time Matthew died a few days later, his name was synonymous with anti-gay hate. The Book of Matt, first published in 2013, demonstrated that the truth was in fact far more complicated – and daunting. Stephen Jimenez’s account revealed primary documents that had been under seal, and gave voice to many with firsthand knowledge of the case who had not been heard from, including members of law enforcement. In his Introduction to this updated edition, journalist Andrew Sullivan writes: “No one wanted Steve Jimenez to report this story, let alone go back and back to Laramie, Wyoming, asking awkward questions, puzzling over strange discrepancies, re-interviewing sources, seeking a deeper, more complex truth about the ghastly killing than America, it turned out, was prepared to hear. It was worse than that, actually. Not only did no one want to hear more about it, but many were incensed that the case was being re-examined at all.” As a gay man Jimenez felt an added moral imperative to tell the story of Matthew’s murder honestly, and his reporting has been thoroughly corroborated. “I urge you to read [The Book of Matt] carefully and skeptically,” Sullivan writes, “and to see better how life rarely fits into the neat boxes we want it to inhabit. That Matthew Shepard was a meth dealer and meth user says nothing that bad about him, and in no way mitigates the hideous brutality of the crime that killed him; instead it shows how vulnerable so many are to the drug’s escapist lure and its astonishing capacity to heighten sexual pleasure so that it’s the only thing you want to live for. Shepard was a victim twice over: of meth and of a fellow meth user.”
"For those who like their history rich in vivid details, Derek Beck has served up a delicious brew in this book....This may soon become everyone's favorite." —Thomas Fleming, author of Liberty! The American Revolution A sweeping, provocative new look at the pivotal years leading up to the American Revolution The Revolutionary War did not begin with the Declaration of Independence, but several years earlier in 1773. In this gripping history, Derek W. Beck reveals the full story of the war before American independence—from both sides. Spanning the years 1773-1775 and drawing on new material from meticulous research and previously unpublished documents, letters, and diaries, Igniting the American Revolution sweeps readers from the rumblings that led to the Boston Tea Party to the halls of Parliament—where Ben Franklin was almost run out of England for pleading on behalf of the colonies—to that fateful Expedition to Concord which resulted in the shot heard round the world. With exquisite detail and keen insight, Beck brings revolutionary America to life in all its enthusiastic and fiery patriotic fervor, painting a nuanced portrait of the perspectives, ambitions, people, and events on both the British and the American sides that eventually would lead to the convention in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Captivating, provocative and inspiring, Igniting the American Revolution is the definitive history of these landmark years in our nation's history, whose events irrevocably altered the future not only of the United States and England, but the whole world. " Integrating compelling personalities with grand strategies, political maneuverings on both sides of the Atlantic, and vividly related incidents, Igniting the American Revolution pulls the reader into a world rending the British Empire asunder." – Samuel A. Forman, author of the biography Dr. Joseph Warren
From the mega-bestselling creators of Fart Monster and Friends comes your favourite characters, now in paperback! There is a monster under my bed who farts. You don't want to use the bathroom after him... Everyone says, 'It wasn't me!' But what if it REALLY wasn't you? What if it was the monster who lives under your bed? How much trouble can one little monster cause... Written and illustrated by superstar duo, Tim Miller and Matt Stanton, this book will have you rolling all over the floor laughing. PRAISE 'With There is a Monster Under My Bed Who Farts, the two men have come up with an instant classic. It's funny, it's beautifully illustrated and it's ever so naughty. I loved it. Now it's time to share it with my daughter!' - Rob Minshull, ABC Radio Brisbane 'If the word fart offends you, don't buy this book by these Aussie blokes because you'll be encouraging your preschooler to embrace their gastric shortcomings. The super-cute illustrations will even make puritans smile' - Herald Sun 'Tickle your toddler's funny bone with this irreverent story' - Mother and Baby 'Tim Miller's text comprises simple statements about where and how the farting takes place, leaving plenty of narrative room for Matt Stanton's cartoon-style illustrations. Using simple shapes, bulging-eyed characters and dynamic compositions, he engagingly captures the personalities of the little boy, the monster and the farts. This book will provoke disgust and hilarity in equal measure, but there is no doubt that it will definitely appeal to the legion of littlies who are fascinated with "impolite" bodily functions' - Canberra Times 'The title says it all, and this jovial book will delight the under fours' - Weekend Australian
With wondrous observations and bittersweet humor, the beloved best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author tells the story of an unsuspecting young woman who becomes the North star that helps a stumbling, dysfunctional family find its footing. Mrs. Emerson, widowed with seven adult children, lives alone in crumbling Victorian mansion outside Baltimore with only a collection of antique clocks to keep her company. Elizabeth Abbott—twenty-three years old, aimless, bohemian, and beautiful—leads a vagabond lifestyle until she happens upon Mrs. Emerson’s home and convinces the older woman to hire her as a handyman. When three of the strange, idiosyncratic Emerson children return to their childhood home for a visit, they are irresistibly drawn to Elizabeth.
From Charles Dickens’ London to today’s megacities, a fascinating exploration of what urban walking tells us about modern life—for fans of Rebecca Solnit, Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City, and literary history. “A labyrinthine journey into the literature of walking and thinking,” as seen in the lives and works of Edgar Allan Poe, Virginia Woolf, Ray Bradbury, and other literary greats (Guardian). There is no such thing as a false step. Every time we walk we are going somewhere. Especially if we are going nowhere. Moving around the modern city is not a way of getting from A to B, but of understanding who and where we are. In a series of riveting intellectual rambles, Matthew Beaumont retraces episodes in the history of the walker since the mid-19th century. From Dickens’s insomniac night rambles to restless excursions through the faceless monuments of today’s neoliberal city, the act of walking is one of self-discovery and self-escape, of disappearances and secret subversions. Pacing stride for stride alongside literary amblers and thinkers such as Edgar Allan Poe, André Breton, H. G. Wells, Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys and Ray Bradbury, Beaumont explores the relationship between the metropolis and its pedestrian life. Through these writings, Beaumont asks: Can you get lost in a crowd? What are the consequences of using your smartphone in the street? What differentiates the nocturnal metropolis from the city of daylight? What connects walking, philosophy and the big toe? And can we save the city—or ourselves—by taking to the pavement?
New York Times Bestseller • From a former White House speechwriter comes a deliciously candid memoir about official Washington—a laugh-out-loud cri de coeur that shows what can happen to idealism in a town driven by self-interest. “[An] entertaining book about what goes on—or doesn’t—in Washington.” —American Spectator Despite being raised by reliably liberal parents, Matt Latimer is lured by the upbeat themes of the Reagan Revolution and, in the tradition of Mary Tyler Moore, sets off from the Midwest for the big city. Determined to “make it after all,” Matt daydreams of eradicating do-nothing boondoggleism and leading America to new heights of greatness. But first he has to find a job. Like an inside-the-Beltway Dante, Matt descends into Washington, D.C., hell, and snares a series of increasingly lofty—but unsatisfying—jobs with powerful figures on Capitol Hill. When Fate offers Matt a job as chief speechwriter for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Matt finds he actually admires the man (causing his liberal friends to shake their heads in dismay), his youthful passion is renewed. But Rummy soon becomes a piñata for the press, and the Department of Defense is revealed as alarmingly dysfunctional. Eventually, Matt lands at the White House, his heart aflutter with the hope that, here at last, he can fulfill his dream of penning words that will become part of history—and maybe pick up some cool souvenirs. But reality intrudes once again. More like The Office than The West Wing, the nation’s most storied office building is run by staffers who are in way over their heads, and almost everything the public has been told about the major players—Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Rove—is wrong. Both a rare behind-the-scenes account that boldly names the fools and scoundrels, and a poignant lament for the principled conservatism that disappeared during the Bush presidency, Speech-less will forever change the public’s view of our nation’s capital and the people who joust daily for its power. Praise for Speech-less “Deft, surprising, darned entertaining.” —Christopher Buckley "It's a good read… quite frankly, the stories are funny!" —Pat Buchanan
After his father died on 9/11 in the World Trade Center, nine-year-old Matthew John Bocchi began an obsessive quest to find out exactly how he died. He researched video tapes, pictures, blogs, anything that could potentially answer the question looming in his mind: was his father one of the jumpers? In the first memoir told by a child of 9/11, Matt intimately delves into the psychological and emotional torment that ensued after his father’s death. With heartbreaking vulnerability, he details how his incessant quest resulted in a devastating act of violence that stripped his innocence as a young man. As Matt spirals down a bottomless pit of drug abuse, he willfully risks his life in search of the next high—all in an attempt to forget his past. Now at twenty-eight years old and sober, he recounts his unique story—one full of heartbreak and despair, grief and uncertainty, but most importantly, happiness and hope. The lesson he teaches us is clear but intricate: No matter how far you fall, you can always rise again. No matter how far you stray, you can always find your way home. And no matter how wide you sway, you can always pick up the pieces and stand tall.
Nimona meets Wynd in VERSE Book 1: The Broken Half, where magic and mystery changes the world in a flash! EVERYONE KNOWS MAGIC DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE, UNTIL MAGIC CHANGES EVERYTHING. Fife is your typical apprentice blacksmith and he knows one thing for certain. Magic doesn’t exist anymore. Sure, there’s the Verse, but that’s not the same thing at all. Then he meets Neitya, who isn’t your typical girl, and everything he knows changes in a flash of…well…magic. Fife's plans to become an expert swordsmith are interrupted when he meets Neitya, an extraordinary girl unlike any he's ever met before...primarily because of her horns and amnesia. Worryingly, she seems akin to the monstrous Vel who roam the countryside. but when Fife is attacked by the Vel, Neitya saves him by using a skill thought to be forever lost to everyone: Magic. Fife and Neitya decide to journey together, seeking the guidance they need to unravel the mystery of her origin. Read the entire VERSE saga! Verse Book 1: The Broken Half Verse Book 2: The Second Gate Verse Book 3: The Song For fans and readers of Snapdragon (Kat Leyh); The Witch Boy, The Hidden Witch, The Midwinter Witch (Molly Knox Ostertang); Mooncakes (Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu); The Prince and the Dressmaker (Jen Wang), The Legend of Korra, and the books of Tamora Pierce. “Verse's rich drawings and colours beautifully illustrate a complicated, engaging fantasy world filled with sympathetic characters. I can't wait to learn more about them as their journey continues!" - Faith Erin Hicks
From bestselling author Greig Beck, with new book Extinction Plague: A Matt Kearns Novel 4 out soon. EXTINCTION IS CONTAGIOUS Matt Kearns, linguist, archaeologist and reluctant explorer from Beneath the Dark Ice and Black Mountain returns to help save the world. And this time he doesn't have Alex Hunter to save him when the stuff hits the fan. When a fame-hungry scientist brings an impossible, living specimen of a creature long thought extinct back from the wild jungles of South America he unwittingly brings along a passenger. Something with the potential to destroy every living thing on our planet. The infestation begins, rapidly overtaking medical resources and resisting all treatment. One woman knows the danger, Carla Nero, chief scientist of the Center for Disease Control. She makes Matt an offer he can't refuse and together they join a team heading to the deep jungle in a desperate race to locate the hidden place where the specimen was taken. Only by finding the location of the specimen can the team - and the world - hope to uncover the secret of how to survive the ancient, horrifying parasite that has been released. SHORTLISTED FOR BEST HORROR NOVEL AT THE 2014 AUREALIS AWARDS
