Woody Guthrie said it first, "love can be . . . in all forms of life," and this anthology of poems and essays is proof of that, as thirty acclaimed authors join together to champion life in all its kinds. This is their gift to the world, not just the artistry of their words, but their vision of an extended community that includes cats, birds, frogs, butterflies, bears, dogs, raccoons, horses--a full-out menagerie of being that enriches us all.
A rising star in philosophy examines the cultural, social, and scientific interpretations of love to answer one of our most enduring questions What is love? Aside from being the title of many a popular love song, this is one of life's perennial questions. In What Love Is, philosopher Carrie Jenkins offers a bold new theory on the nature of romantic love that reconciles its humanistic and scientific components. Love can be a social construct (the idea of a perfect fairy tale romance) and a physical manifestation (those anxiety- inducing heart palpitations); we must recognize its complexities and decide for ourselves how to love. Motivated by her own polyamorous relationships, she examines the ways in which our parameters of love have recently changed-to be more accepting of homosexual, interracial, and non-monogamous relationships-and how they will continue to evolve in the future. Full of anecdotal, cultural, and scientific reflections on love, What Love Is is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand what it means to say "I love you." Whether young or old, gay or straight, male or female, polyamorous or monogamous, this book will help each of us decide for ourselves how we choose to love.
A grieving girl. An unexpected boy. A perfect love story . . . until it isn't perfect at all. Sometimes a broken heart is all you need to set you free...Reiko loves the endless sky and electric colors of the Californian desert. It is a refuge from an increasingly claustrophobic life of family pressures and her own secrets. Then she meets Seth, a boy who shares a love of the desert and her yearning for a different kind of life. But Reiko and Seth both want something the other can't give them. As summer ends, things begin to fall apart. But the end of love can sometimes be the beginning of you...
All Amber wants is a little bit of love. Her mum has never been the caring type, even before she moved to America. But Amber's hoping that spending the summer with her can change all that. And then there's Prom King Kyle, the serial heartbreaker. Can Amber really be falling for him? Even with best friends Evie and Lottie's advice, there's no escaping the fact: love is hard.
"A beautiful and brilliant reexamination of love and its perils."—Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe Common wisdom has it that love is fragile, but leading psychoanalyst Stephen A. Mitchell argues that romance doesn't actually diminish in long-term relationships—it becomes increasingly dangerous. What we regard as the transience of love is really risk management. Mitchell shows that love can endure, if only we become aware of our self-destructive efforts to protect ourselves from its risks. "Those who read this book will love more wisely because of it."—Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon "[A] work on romance that is rich and multi-layered."—Publishers Weekly "Cheerful, open, and humane—you'd definitely have wanted him as your analyst."—Judith Shulevitz, The New York Times Book Review "[T]houghtful, compassionate, and profoundly optimistic."—JoAnn Gutin, Salon.com
In Anything We Love Can Be Saved, Alice Walker writes about her life as an activist, in a book rich in the belief that the world is saveable, if only we will act. Speaking from her heart on a wide range of topics--religion and the spirit, feminism and race, families and identity, politics and social change--Walker begins with a moving autobiographical essay in which she describes her own spiritual growth and roots in activism. She goes on to explore many important private and public issues: being a daughter and raising one, dreadlocks, banned books, civil rights, and gender communication. She writes about Zora Neale Hurston and Salman Rushdie and offers advice to Bill Clinton. Here is a wise woman's thoughts as she interacts with the world today, and an important portrait of an activist writer's life. NOTE: This edition does not include photographs.
Half of the popular mother-daughter team of country singers recounts their rags-to-riches story, their successful career, their relationship, and their struggle with the illness that forced her premature retirement. Reprint.
Because the heart remembers what the mind chooses to forget... Jennifer Bantam had a lot to be grateful for and certainly wasn’t one to complain. She had a successful editing business and good friends and family. But her love life was far from perfect. By now, she thought she’d be happily married with a family, but fate just wasn’t cooperating. But everything changes when, while visiting her hometown of Shelby Falls, she receives a message from someone in her past--the sweet, handsome, and sexy Matt Conroy. While Matt is intent on apologizing for something that happened between them twenty years earlier, Jennifer has no idea what he's talking about and has successfully blocked out these memories. Matt has never forgotten his first love, Jennifer, and is determined to win her back, but will Jennifer be able to trust Matt again and let down her defenses to be with the man she fell in love with twenty years ago? Will they be able to overcome their past and explore a future together? And will a frightening turn of events threaten to ruin their chance at a happily ever after? Told through dual timelines, this is the story of second chances, never giving up, and the power of true love to make anything and everything possible, if only we have the courage to take that leap. This is What Love Can Do…
Henry Goody Johns was the eldest son of a beautiful young slave girl from East Central Africa and her Louisiana Master. Given the choice by his father to pass for white or to remain a slave, Johns chose to forever identify with his black mother and siblings, later becoming a pastor to his community after the Emancipation Proclamation. This volume of stories about Henry Goody Johns, who taught his people "What Love Can Do" is oral history at its best. It has been passed down from a generation of an enslaved people who came to learn that prejudice and hatred is a greater form of slavery than bondage itself. This memoir as written by Arthur Mitchell, a descendent of slaves on the Jons Plantation, has been preserved as closely as possible to its original form.
Marsha Fonteneau is an ethical assistant prosecuting attorney practicing in a New Jersey town. Hesitant to launch a search for Mr. Right, Marsha stays busy juggling client files, immersing herself in her work, and standing on the sidelines observing the love lives of her two close friends, Tonya Mitchell and Stephanie Dixon. Marsha’s best friend, Tonya, is a human resources manager who has been married to a handsome basketball coach for several years. Although she is devoted to her husband, Tonya cannot help but reminisce about her old flame, Duane Reed. Close pal, Stephanie, is an IT professional who has always sought love. Despite her best efforts, she still has not been able to commit to a man. Meanwhile, their mutual friend, Romare Smith, is enjoying all Manhattan has to offer while keeping his lifestyle hidden. As the friends all journey to find or keep love, their interactions continue to intertwine as secrets are revealed and life experiences are altered. Love Can Be Eternal is a story about strength, encouragement, and resilience in difficult times as three friends journey to find or keep love.
