Anyone interested in the history of Zimbabwe will love this memoir by Lawrence D. Moyo. It traces the tumultuous events of the First Chimurenga of 1896 through independence from Great Britain in 1980 until the present day. He vividly describes his childhood struggles as the son of a father who abuses his children as 'slave labourers'. Lawrence progressively climbs the educational ladder until he emigrates to the UK with his family. Harping on the theme of 'hidden racism', among others, Lawrence then endures horrific racist treatment from criminally disobedient white and black students in schools he works at as an English teacher. Having become a highly respected educational specialist, he is now retired in the UK, retaining his connections with his family members and friends in Zimbabwe.
The United States has been epitomized as a land of opportunity, where hard work and skill can bring personal success and economic well-being. The American Dream has captured the imagination of people from all walks of life, and to many, it represents the heart and soul of the country. But there is another, darker side to the bargain that America strikes with its people -- it is the price we pay for our individual pursuit of the American Dream. That price can be found in the economic hardship present in the lives of millions of Americans. In Chasing the American Dream, leading social scientists Mark Robert Rank, Thomas A. Hirschl, and Kirk A. Foster provide a new and innovative look into a curious dynamic -- the tension between the promise of economic opportunities and rewards and the amount of turmoil that Americans encounter in their quest for those rewards. The authors explore questions such as: -What percentage of Americans achieve affluence, and how much income mobility do we actually have? -Are most Americans able to own a home, and at what age? -How is it that nearly 80 percent of us will experience significant economic insecurity at some point between ages 25 and 60? -How can access to the American Dream be increased? Combining personal interviews with dozens of Americans and a longitudinal study covering 40 years of income data, the authors tell the story of the American Dream and reveal a number of surprises. The risk of economic vulnerability has increased substantially over the past four decades, and the American Dream is becoming harder to reach and harder to keep. Yet for most Americans, the Dream lies not in wealth, but in economic security, pursuing one's passions, and looking toward the future. Chasing the American Dream provides us with a new understanding into the dynamics that shape our fortunes and a deeper insight into the importance of the American Dream for the future of the country.
The Prince and the Potter is the tale of Prince Ananda's journey to awakening. The story begins with Ananda enjoying a life of luxury and follows him as he departs from the palace to become a Buddhist monk in a forest monastery. Here he is brought under the tutelage of the wise abbot Kondanna, through whom he learns the essence of the Buddha's teachings. But these teachings require him to leave the monastery in order to follow his own path to enlightenment. Along the way, he meets his soul mate, Anjali, and discovers his creative voice. The Prince and the Potter is at once insightful and entertaining, a must read for all who are embarking on the spiritual path. "The Prince and the Potter is a concise but essential piece of literature that conveys the true insight of the dharma." - Rev. Truong Thach Dhammo, abbot of Khmer Kampuchea Krom Buddhist Temple, and member of the Buddhist delegation to the United Nations "The Prince and the Potter weaves the timeless wisdom of Buddhist philosophy into an imaginative dreamlike tale." - Brian Henry, instructor, Ryerson University
When sewist Lydia Barnes finds a dead body soon after moving to a new town, she will need more than shear luck to find the killer, in this novel perfect for fans of Molly MacRae and Anna Gerard. Lydia Barnes is excited for a fresh start when she moves to the quaint mountain town of Peridot, Georgia. Her friend, Fran, offers her a job at the Measure Twice fabric store and even sets her up on a date with the handsome Brandon Ivey, who also happens to be Lydia’s new next-door neighbor. Finally, things are looking up. But after a disaster first date that ends with a fist bump instead of a kiss, Lydia doesn’t think her night can get any worse. She’s soon proven wrong when she later stumbles upon Brandon’s dead body. Considered the prime suspect by the police, Lydia calls on her friends to help her hunt for the truth and prove her innocence. But when another body is soon found inside the Measure Twice store, Lydia knows that the killer must be close by, and that this town has more than its fair share of secrets. Who would want to frame the newest addition to Peridot for these terrible murders—and why? Lydia may discover that while sewing might have a pattern, killing rarely does. Will she be able to stitch together the clues and clear her own name before the killer strikes again?
A freak accident and the discovery of a Codex takes two young protagonists on a subterranean and intergalactic journey. They are thrown into a world of bizarre encounters with ethereal entities, parallel dimensions, bellowing chasms, albino fish, and a strange black pyramid.
Mom's last words: Keep them safe. Help them be happy. Morgan promised, so she sacrifices soccer, free time, and friendships for her younger siblings. But when Dad's “talk therapy” campout ignites Morgan's anxiety, she makes a reckless decision to prove she can fill Mom's shoes . . . which leaves her literally fighting for survival.
Alone among contemporary American novelists, John Irving seems to bridge the ever-present cultural divide between best-selling fiction and serious literary endeavour. His Irvingnesque style encapsulates the shifting patterns of American culture since the 1960s, expressing a mood of nostalgic melancholy or cultural mourning, which seems to go against ideas of the Postmodern. Indeed, Irving is one of the very few commercial novelists to be taught on university courses, this book is the first full-length study of his writing to situate him within the social, historical and political context of his times. It contends that postmodernism derives from the political failure of the sixties and a narcissistic obsession with the composition of the self. This narcissism is at the same time what Freud labels as cultural melancholia, the mourning of a lost ideal self-image. Just as nostalgia appears as narcissistic history, this lost self-image conjures up the figure of the Dead Father and the Father's Law, a figure which Irving's prose obsessively pursues.
That is a story from the Arctic past, where we were inspired by love and learned how humans can coexist. During the future war, in an underground research facility at an Arctic research station, the ancestors of viruses and bacteria—macromolecular substances—were discovered deep in the Arctic. However, Liu Ming, who was instructed by his superiors to research biochemical weapons, felt conflicted. Confronted with his father's past and his own moral struggles, he found himself deeply confused until everything was brought to light...
