The daughter of Erica Jong and Jonathan Fast, and the granddaughter of the late Howard Fast, describes her unconventional, bohemian upbringing in the 1980s, from her communist grandfather and the world famous sex therapists living in the cellar, to a numbers-runner nanny and a mother who is the queen of erotica. Originally published as The Sex Doctors in the Basement. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
'A brilliant cultural history.' Irish Examiner Girls behave badly. If they're not obscenity-shouting, pint-swigging ladettes, they're narcissistic, living dolls floating around in a cloud of self-obsession, far too busy twerking to care. And this is news. In this witty and wonderful book, Carol Dyhouse shows that where there's a social scandal or a wave of moral outrage, you can bet a girl is to blame. Whether it be stories of 'brazen flappers' staying out and up all night in the 1920s, inappropriate places for Mars bars in the 1960s or Courtney Love's mere existence in the 1990s, bad girls have been a mass-media staple for more than a century. And yet, despite the continued obsession with their perceived faults and blatant disobedience, girls are infinitely better off today than they were a century ago. This is the story of the challenges and opportunities faced by young women growing up in the swirl of the twentieth century, and the pop-hysteria that continues to accompany their progress.
"Randa, what's wrong with you?" "Nothing. I mean, I'm a crazy cocaine addict with a hankering for heroin, but other than that, I'm just a nice Jewish girl from the Upper East Side with Prada shoes. How could anything be wrong?" Molly Jong-Fast's Normal Girl is striking-and as funny as it as real. Inspired by her own experiences growing up in the decadent, fast-paced netherworld of New York City's jet set, Jong-Fast's debut novel is a hilarious, hard-edged walk past the velvet rope. At just nineteen, Miranda Woke seems to have it all. Her parents are famous socialites, she's already been written up on Page Six sixteen times, she's on all the right invitation lists, and drugs and alcohol are never in short supply. But while her image screams "It girl," she'd rather be a normal girl, and the A-list feels even more uncomfortable than her Manolo Blahnik shoes. In fact, she's become the "living embodiment of an awkward phase" with "more issues than Harper's Bazaar." Neither Xanax nor Deepak Chopra tapes help. And now that her junkie party has trashed her parents' house, she has to liquidate her trust fund to pay Mom's decorator for a quick fix. But worst of all, Miranda thinks she just murdered her own boyfriend. In an all-too-glamorous world where the cell phone is always ringing, Miranda sees no escape other than a downward spiral of cocaine, Valium, and heroin. It takes friends who offer more than air kisses to force Miranda to look in the mirror and get some help.
The daughter of Erica Jong and Jonathan Fast, and the granddaughter of the late Howard Fast, describes her unconventional, bohemian upbringing in the 1980s, from her communist grandfather and the world famous sex therapists living in the cellar, to a numbers-runner nanny and a mother who is the queen of erotica. 35,000 first printing.
HIGH SOCIETY CAN BE A KILLER. Upper East Side socialite Daisy Greenbaum is accustomed to the finer things—designer clothes, summers in the Hamptons, elite private school educations for her daughters, and a staggeringly expensive Park Avenue apartment. But Daisy finds her well-heeled lifestyle on precarious footing after her husband, master of the universe Dick Greenbaum, learns about some shady dealings that threaten his position at The Bank. Daisy refuses to allow her family to slip down the social ladder, so she devises a madcap plan: Anyone who jeopardizes her place at the top will simply have to be dispatched—six feet under. From Dick’s arrogant boss to his scheming former mistress to a pair of nosy bloggers, Daisy’s hit list is a who’s who of big names with even bigger secrets. But with the body count rising as the Dow Jones falls, can Daisy really get away with murder?
Only children don’t have to share bedrooms, toys, or the backseat of a car. They don’t have to share allowances, inheritances, or their parents’ attention. But when they get into trouble, they can’t just blame their imaginary friends. In Only Child, twenty-one acclaimed writers tell the truth about life without siblings—the bliss of solitude, the ache of loneliness, and everything in between.In this unprecedented collection, writers like Judith Thurman, Kathryn Harrison, John Hodgman, and Peter Ho Davies reflect on the single, transforming episode that defined each of them as an only child. For some it came while lurking around the edges of a friend’s boisterous family, longing to be part of the chaos. For others, it came in sterile hospital halls, while single-handedly caring for a parent with cancer. They write about the parents who raised them, from the devoted to the dismissive. They describe what it’s like to be an only child of divorce, an only because of the death of a sibling, an only who reveled in it or an only who didn’t. In candid, poignant, and often hilarious essays, these authors—including the children of Erica Jong, Alice Walker, and Phyllis Rose—explore a lifetime of onliness. As adults searching for partners, they are faced with the unique challenge of trying to turn a longtime trio into a quartet. In deciding whether to give junior a sib, they weigh the benefits of producing the friend they never had against the fear that they will not know how to divide their love and attention among multiples. As they watch their parents age, they come face-to-face with the onus of being their family’s sole historian.Whether you’re an only child curious about how your experiences compare to others’, the partner or spouse of an only, a parent pondering whether to stop at one, or someone with siblings who’s always wondered how the other half lives, Only Child offers a look behind the scenes and into the hearts of twenty-one smart and sensitive writers as they reveal the truth about growing up—and being a grown-up—solo.
This book reflects a multi disciplinary, integrative approach to the theology and practice of relational intimacy. It combines biblical data on sexuality and relationships with marriage and bonding research. The reader is then guided in applying the research to his or her relationships. In essence, this is a handbook for understanding and deepening the stages involved in bonding or attaching closely to another human being. Marriage, the most intimate of all human relationships, is described in Scripture as a "one-flesh mystery" (Eph 5:31-32). This mystery of human bonding is as beautiful as it is complex, particularly in a post-Eden world. Many of us are woefully aware of our relational deficits, yet lack vibrant marriages around us to emulate. Those of us who have not experienced relationships of health, safety, and security particularly find we need roadmaps along the way. Our desire is that in the pages of this book readers will find personal encouragement and direction that is both biblically precise and practical for their relational journeys. Our intimacy model is built upon God's bold promises to heal and redeem. His pathways bring life; he is the one true lover of our souls. Our intimacy with him is foundational to all other relationships.
"Is addiction a disease, a sin, a sign of hypersensitivity, a personal failing, or a unique resource for the creative mind? However it is defined, it can have devastating consequences - yet it can also be a source of inspiration. In this updated edition featuring three new essays on addiction to marijuana, video games, and sex, leading American and Canadian writers explore their surprisingly diverse personal experiences with this complex phenomenon and reveal in candid, graphic, powerful prose what happens when their compulsions took over their lives."--Back cover.
