THE STORY: No men are onstage, but their presence is felt everywhere in this office comedy for the new millennium. Two generations of women, career secretaries in their forties and entry-level assistants in their twenties, gather in the break room
Willis examines the many orientations and perspectives of reporters that gather and present the news of the day. Debunking the notion that there are limited perspectives journalists may use, Willis examines up to 15 different orientations that reporters bring to their work. These perspectives run the gamut, from the traditional approach of distancing oneself completely from events and people involved to becoming part of the story's fabric to ascertain the story's true essence. Willis also suggests that, for many stories, it is wholly appropriate for journalists to feel what a non-professional would experience at such an event, and to allow those emotions to fuel the reporting and writing of the story. Several examples are discussed in detail, including the coverage of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Known as the “patron saint of all outsiders,” Simone Weil (1909–43) was one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable thinkers, a philosopher who truly lived by her political and ethical ideals. In a short life framed by the two world wars, Weil taught philosophy to lycée students and organized union workers, fought alongside anarchists during the Spanish Civil War and labored alongside workers on assembly lines, joined the Free French movement in London and died in despair because she was not sent to France to help the Resistance. Though Weil published little during her life, after her death, thanks largely to the efforts of Albert Camus, hundreds of pages of her manuscripts were published to critical and popular acclaim. While many seekers have been attracted to Weil’s religious thought, Robert Zaretsky gives us a different Weil, exploring her insights into politics and ethics, and showing us a new side of Weil that balances her contradictions—the rigorous rationalist who also had her own brand of Catholic mysticism; the revolutionary with a soft spot for anarchism yet who believed in the hierarchy of labor; and the humanitarian who emphasized human needs and obligations over human rights. Reflecting on the relationship between thought and action in Weil’s life, The Subversive Simone Weil honors the complexity of Weil’s thought and speaks to why it matters and continues to fascinate readers today.
A single dad is determined to persuade the prickly woman of his dreams that they can be more than a fling in this heartwarming romance from New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne Alexandra McKnight prefers a life of long workdays and short-term relationships, and she’s found it in Hope’s Crossing. She’s just been offered her dream job at an exclusive new restaurant being built in town. But when it comes to designing the kitchen, Alex finds herself getting up close and personal with construction foreman Sam Delgado. At first glance, Sam seems perfect for Alex. He’s big, tough, gorgeous—and only in town for a few weeks. But when Sam suddenly moves into a house down the road, Alex suspects that the devoted single father of a six-year-old boy wants more from her than she’s willing to give. Now it’s up to Sam to help Alex see that, no matter what happened in her past, together they can build something more meaningful in Hope’s Crossing.
More than a century ago, lighthouse keeper Linus Harris left his beloved wife and waded into the ocean with three other men to reunite with their mermaid lovers. The mysterious Mermaid Mutiny of 1888 has become legend for the residents of Cradle Harbor, Maine, honored by the town’s Mermaid Festival every August, when wind chimes are hung from seaside porches to drown out the alluring sound of mermaid song. For thirty-five-year-old Tess Patterson, the legend is more than folklore; it’s proof of life’s magic. A hopeless romantic who is profoundly connected to the ocean in which she lost her mother, Tess ekes out a living as a wood-carver and longs to find a love as mystical as the sea. But when she’s hired to carve the commemorative mermaid sculpture for the coming festival, a chance to win the town’s elusive acceptance might finally be in her grasp. For Tom Grace, life’s magic was lost at eighteen, when the death of his parents left him to care for his reckless brother, Dean. Now thirty-five and the new owner of Cradle Harbor’s prized lightkeeper’s house, Tom hopes the quiet town will calm Dean’s self-destructive ways. But when Tom discovers Tess working on her sculpture, an unlikely and passionate affair ignites between them that just might be the stuff of legend itself—even as it brings to the surface a long-buried secret that could tear everything apart. CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED
Paul Robeson, the towering six-foot six athlete, orator, actor, singer, intellectual, and activist, was arguably one of the most simultaneously loved and loathed American personalities of the 20th century. This collection, edited by George Mason University professor Jeffrey Stewart to serve as a companion to a traveling exhibition marking the centennial anniversary of his birth on April 9, 1898, brings together 18 scholars and historians to the most detailed and balanced look at Robeson to date. Francis C. Harris details Robeson's career as an multilettered athlete at Rutgers University, where he endured gang tackles, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken nose. In "Paul Robeson, Musician," Doris Evans McGinty and Wayne D. Shirley highlight the centrality of Negro spirituals and folk songs in Robeson's repertoire. Robeson biographer Martin Duberman chronicles the social and sexual implications of Robeson's portrayals of Shakespeare's Othello, while Charles Musser reveals the complexities of Robeson's friendship with playwright Eugene O'Neill as well as his difficulties with African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. The entries dealing with Robeson's political activities show his courage to speak out against injustice and the price he paid for it. Lawyer-writer Derrick Bell examines Robeson's "small service" to the cause of African American justice. David Levering Lewis looks at Robeson's deep, albeit naive views on the Soviet Union, which dovetailed into his support of American workers, the subject of Mark D. Naison's contribution.
You’re probably never going to be a saint. Even so, let’s face it: you could be a better person. We all could. But what does that mean for you? In a world full of suffering and deprivation, it’s easy to despair—and it’s also easy to judge ourselves for not doing more. Even if we gave away everything we own and devoted ourselves to good works, it wouldn’t solve all the world’s problems. It would make them better, though. So is that what we have to do? Is anything less a moral failure? Can we lead a fundamentally decent life without taking such drastic steps? Todd May has answers. He’s not the sort of philosopher who tells us we have to be model citizens who display perfect ethics in every decision we make. He’s realistic: he understands that living up to ideals is a constant struggle. In A Decent Life, May leads readers through the traditional philosophical bases of a number of arguments about what ethics asks of us, then he develops a more reasonable and achievable way of thinking about them, one that shows us how we can use philosophical insights to participate in the complicated world around us. He explores how we should approach the many relationships in our lives—with friends, family, animals, people in need—through the use of a more forgiving, if no less fundamentally serious, moral compass. With humor, insight, and a lively and accessible style, May opens a discussion about how we can, realistically, lead the good life that we aspire to. A philosophy of goodness that leaves it all but unattainable is ultimately self-defeating. Instead, Todd May stands at the forefront of a new wave of philosophy that sensibly reframes our morals and redefines what it means to live a decent life.
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Faerie Wars Chronicles, Herbie Brennan, comes this heart-pounding middle-grade adventure—think The Da Vinci Code for tweens. Reminiscent of the Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl series, this edge-of-your-seat thriller involves an ancient curse, a murder, and a conspiracy by a secret society. When Edward Michael “Em” Goverton uncovers the key to a five-hundred-year-old deadly prediction by the prophet Nostradamus, personal tragedy morphs into international crisis. Soon Em finds himself enmeshed in a sinister web of shocking events where nothing is quite as it seems. But the ominous forces behind the plot are not about to sit back and let their plans be ruined, and soon their net begins to close in on Em. It’s a race against the clock for Em and his friends to prevent a catastrophe that threatens the lives of an entire generation.