Seminal essays on loneliness, living in New York, friendship, feminism, and writing from nonfiction master Vivian Gornick Vivian Gornick's Approaching Eye Level is a brave collection of personal essays that finds a quintessentially contemporary woman (urban, single, feminist) trying to observe herself and the world without sentiment, cynicism, or nostalgia. Whether walking along the streets of New York or teaching writing at a university, Gornick is a woman exploring her need for conversation and connection—with men and women, colleagues and strangers. She recalls her stint as a waitress in the Catskills and a failed friendship with an older woman and mentor, and reconsiders her experiences in the feminist movement, while living alone, and in marriage. Turning her trademark sharp eye on herself, Gornick works to see her part in things—how she has both welcomed and avoided contact, and how these attempts at connections have enlivened and, at times, defeated her. First published in 1996, Approaching Eye Level is an unrelentingly honest collection of essays that finds Gornick at her best, reminding us that we can come to know ourselves only by engaging fully with the world.

In this landmark book, sociologist Viviana Zelizer traces the emergence of the modern child, at once economically "useless" and emotionally "priceless," from the late 1800s to the 1930s. Having established laws removing many children from the marketplace, turn-of-the-century America was discovering new, sentimental criteria to determine a child's monetary worth. The heightened emotional status of children resulted, for example, in the legal justification of children's life insurance policies and in large damages awarded by courts to their parents in the event of death. A vivid account of changing attitudes toward children, this book dramatically illustrates the limits of economic views of life that ignore the pervasive role of social, cultural, emotional, and moral factors in our marketplace world.

Arnold, V.I.; Ordinary Differential Equations, 3rd edition by Valdimir I. Arnold

A thrilling friend of her parents casts a spell over a young girl. A study in the glamour of brutal ideas.Susie, he's not just an individual like you and me - he works for the government . It's as if you were saying that you and I are so nice every day and why can't our governments be just like us! But you know the whole thing, Susie - you and I are only able to be nice because our governments - our governments are not nice! - so that if you see me putting this spoon in my purse, you don't have to wrestle me to get the spoon back, you can just pick up the phone and call the police. And if there are people attacking our friends in Southeast Asia, you and I don't have to go over there and fight them with rifles - we just get Kissinger to fight them for us.Aunt Dan and Lemon was first produced by the Royal Court Theatre, London, and the New York Shakespeare Festival and received its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in August 1985. The play was revived at the Royal Court Theatre in May 2009.

In The Stages of Economic Growth, for which he is known around the world, W. W. Rostow distinguished five basic stages of growth experienced by societies as they change from a pre-industrial state to full economic maturity. In this book the analysis is continued but the focus is shifted, from economic growth to politics. Professor Rostow see politics as an eternal triangle of competing imperatives - of security, welfare, and constitutional order. Using this concept, he examines the political meaning and content of each of the stages as experienced by eight countries; Great Britain, France, China, Japan, Russia, Turkey, Mexico and the United States. He goes on to consider, in the heart of the book, a uniquely political stage: the search for quality which is possible in an age of high mass consumption. Special attention is given the United States. Professor Rostow also examines the character of politics in the developing nations of today, and makes explicit what he sees to be the lessons of history and the contemporary world for these nations. He concludes by using his analysis to speculate on possibilities for peace in the global community.

"A linguistic tour de force, high comedy set in an imaginary dark continent that expands and contracts with ineluctable precision, as one by one the author adds the letters of the alphabet to his book, and then subtracts them. While the 'geoglyphic' African landscape forms and crumbles, it is, among other things, attacked by an army of driver ants, invaded by Zanzibar, painted orange by the transvestite Queen Quat of Tanzania, and becomes a hunting ground for a pair of murderous jewel thieves tracking down their nymphomaniac moll."--Provided by publisher.

Aus dem Buch: "Die notwendige Richtung aufs Extreme, als welche in philosophischen Untersuchungen die Norm der Begriffsbildung gibt, hat für eine Darstellung vom Ursprung des deutschen Barocktrauerspiels zweierlei zu besagen. Erstens weist sie die Forschung an, unbefangen die Breite des Stoffes ins Auge zu fassen. Angesichts der ohnedies nicht allzu großen Fülle der dramatischen Produktion, soll ihr Anliegen nicht darin bestehen, in ihm, wie die Literaturgeschichte mit Recht dies täte, nach Schulen der Dichter, Epochen des oeuvres, Schichten der Einzelwerke zu suchen." Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) war ein deutscher Philosoph, Kulturkritiker und Übersetzer der Werke von Honoré de Balzac, Charles Baudelaire und Marcel Proust. Als undogmatisch positionierter Denker und durch die enge Freundschaft zu u. a. Theodor W. Adorno kann er zum assoziierten Wirkungskreis der Frankfurter Schule gerechnet werden.

A collection of essays reflecting on the enduring ingredients of leadership.

Koenig's story, from growing up as the child of Russian immigrants in 1940s Manhattan through his rise to Star Trek fame as Pavel Chekov, Russian navigator of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and beyond.

Assassinations, bombings, hijackings, diplomatic kidnappings-terrorism is the most publicized form of political violence. The history of terrorism goes back a very long time, but the very fact that there is such a history has frequently been ignored, even suppressed. This may be because terrorism has not appeared with equal intensity at all times. When terrorism reappeared in the late twentieth century after a period of relative calm, there was the tendency to regard it as a new phenomenon, without precedent. The psychological study of terrorism has never been much in fashion. But this neglect has left a number of crucial questions unanswered. Among these are why some people who share the same convictions turn to terrorism and others do not. What is terrorism's true impact on international politics? What influence might it exert in the future? A History of Terrorism completes Walter Laqueur's pioneering and authoritative study of guerilla warfare and terrorist activity. He charts the history of political terror from nineteenth-century Europe, through the anarchists of the 1880s and 1890s, the left- and right-wing clashes during the twentieth century, and the multinational operations of Arab and other groups today. Laqueur examines the sociology of terrorism: funding, intelligence gathering, weapons and tactics, informers and countermeasures, and the crucial role of the media. He probes the "terrorist personality" and how terrorists have been depicted in literature and films. The doctrine of systematic terrorism and current interpretations of terrorism, its common patterns, motives, and aims, are unflinchingly faced and clearly explicated. Finally, Laqueur considers the effectiveness of terrorism and examines the ominous possibility of nuclear blackmail. Challenging accepted assumptions, forecasting the changes in terrorist activity that will affect tomorrow's headlines, Walter Laqueur demystifies terrorism without belittling its importance. Together with its companion volume, Guerrilla Warfare , also available from Transaction, A History of Terrorism is an essential tool for assessing and understanding this all-too-often sensationalized modern expression of extreme political action.

Relates the multiple ways adopted by young German Jews (born mainly between 1914-28) to escape from Nazi Germany. Their destinations included Palestine, Great Britain, the USA, South America, and China. Dwells on the routes of escape - sometimes dangerous, and on the organizational framework of the escape - sometimes part of a political underground. Some young persons managed to survive in Germany. Many Jews, both those who escaped and those who remained in Germany, joined the anti-Nazi struggle in multiple forms - from the underground in Berlin to joining up with the Red Army. Many countries of destination were reluctant to accept the refugees, in part due to antisemitism. Other possible frameworks (e.g. communists) were also not eager to help Jews. The majority of the émigrés did not return to Germany after the war.

The author reviews the new body of evidence around the towering figure of the former Soviet leader: his rise to power, his ruthless collectivization of agriculture; ;the period of the purges and show trials and his role in the war.

This is a well documented account of the main milestones on the road that led to the Six Day War and beyond. Walter Laqueur concentrates on those weeks of mounting tension and feverish diplomacy which preceded the outbreak of war, but he also analyses the underlying causes of the war, the clash of rival and irreconcilable nationalism. He paints a surprising picture of the Middle East and world of the Arab nations torn by internal dissension and whipped into war frenzy by decades of irresponsible propaganda yet stumbling unprepared into the long awaited conflict; of an Israeli government which was unready and confused; and on the sidelines of Russia and America, two impotent super powers outpaces by events and unable to restrain their proteges.

American Inquisitors is one of the small gems among Walter Lippmann's larger books. Written in response to the trials of John Scopes and William McAndrew in 1925 and 1927, this volume contains a succinct analysis of a basic problem of democracy: the conflict between intellectual freedom and majority rule. In both cases, the state, acting in the name of popular sovereignty, sought to suppress teaching that was contrary to the tenets of religious fundamentalism and patriotic tradition. In distilling the arguments surrounding both trials, Lippmann sounds a warning against the tyranny of the majority and challenges people to rethink their theories of liberty and democracy. "American Inquisitors "consists of five related dialogues, each exploring a different dilemma at the heart of democratic political theory. The first two establish the principles of majority rule and freedom of the mind in the persons of William Jennings Bryan and Thomas Jefferson, with Socrates urging a reexamination of all principles..These dialogues debate the will and the rational capacity of the people to rule and demonstrate the relative nature of freedom in democratic society. The third and fourth dialogues set a fundamentalist against a modernist and an Americanist against a scholar. Lippmann resists easy stereotyping and puts challenging insights and plausible arguments into the mouths of all the parties. These dialogues ask whether commitment to community comes before intellectual inquiry, 'or whether the search for truth precedes identity. The final dialogue, between Socrates and a conscientious teacher, attempts to define the mission of teaching and determine when and how to face the consequences of truth. Lippmann concludes that the program of liberty is to deprive the sovereign of absolute and arbitrary rule. Taken as a whole, the dialogues constitute an essential consistency within Lippmann's political thought, and delineate a recurring problem hi American politcal culture. "American Inquisitors "will be of special interest to political scientists, historians, sociologists, and American studies specialists.

The Method of Freedom was written at a time of deep anxiety for America and Europe. The worst depression in modem history gripped the world and the rise of dictatorships in Europe and Asia posed a mortal challenge to the essentials of free government. In this volume of a continuing series on the major works of Walter Lippmann, a model for economic recovery and social stability is outlined under a "regime of liberty." Lippmann's work takes on a special pertinence in the 1990s as the nations of Eastern Europe embark on the historically unprecedented transition from Communist centralization to democracy and free market economies. Rejecting both laissez-faire and centrally enforced collectivization, Lippmann described the salutory economic functions of a government with a mandate that rested on the consent of a middle-class constituency, which he termed a "free collectivism." Capitalism, in his view, had become too complex to be regulated by private initiative, and it became the function of government to ensure a compensatory redistribution of income and property in order to make its citizens comfortably secure. Lippmann recognized that market regulation needed to be safeguarded from political demagoguery and the tyranny of the majority. The Method of Freedom calls for the formation of an informed and competent managerial class to direct economic policy within the bounds of legislative consent. Lippmann's effort to balance the competing claims of capitalism and democracy anticipated the New Deal achievements of the 1930s and influenced a generation of American statesmen in their understanding of what constituted a good society. The Method of Freedom is a work of enduring interest

This is a moving, star-filled account of one of Hollywood’s true golden ages as told by a man in the middle of it all. Walter Mirisch’s company has produced some of the most entertaining and enduring classics in film history, including West Side Story , Some Like It Hot , In the Heat of the Night , and The Magnificent Seven . His work has led to 87 Academy Award nominations and 28 Oscars. Richly illustrated with rare photographs from his personal collection, I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History reveals Mirisch’s own experience of Hollywood and tells the stories of the stars—emerging and established—who appeared in his films, including Natalie Wood, John Wayne, Peter Sellers, Sidney Poitier, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, and many others. With hard-won insight and gentle humor, Mirisch recounts how he witnessed the end of the studio system, the development of independent production, and the rise and fall of some of Hollywood’s most gifted (and notorious) cultural icons. A producer with a passion for creative excellence, he offers insights into his innovative filmmaking process, revealing a rare ingenuity for placating the demands of auteur directors, weak-kneed studio executives, and troubled screen sirens. From his early start as a movie theater usher to the presentation of such masterpieces as The Apartment , Fiddler on the Roof , and The Great Escape , Mirisch tells the inspiring life story of his climb to the highest echelon of the American film industry. This book assures Mirisch’s legacy—as Elmore Leonard puts it—as “one of the good guys.” Best Books for Special Interests, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Association

The interviews in this collection cover Walter Mosley's career and reveal an overarching theme: a belief in the transformative power of reading and writing. Since the 1990 publication of his first novel, Devil in a Blue Dress , Mosley (b. 1952) has published over thirty books in a tremendous range of genres and modes: crime and detective fiction, science fiction, literary novels of ideas, character studies, political and social nonfiction, erotica, and memoir. Best known for his Easy Rawlins detective series and Socrates Fortlow series of crime novels, Mosley has created a body of work that as a whole chronicles and examines twentieth-century African American experience. Conversations with Walter Mosley covers the breadth of Mosley's career and reveals a craftsman and wryly witty conversationalist. Conscious of his forebears as well as literary techniques, he discusses favorites and influences including Camus, Shakespeare, and Dickens as well as writers in popular genres--especially speculative fiction and the hard-boiled noir detective tradition. He also discusses how his work modifies the crime tradition to engage it with black experience.

Millions of men and (no doubt many) women have watched famed black porn queen Debbie Dare—she of the blond wig and blue contacts—“do it” on television and computer screens in every combination of partners and positions imaginable. But after an unexpected and thunderous on-set orgasm catches her unawares, Debbie returns home to find her porn-producer husband dead, electrocuted in their hot tub in the midst of “auditioning” an aspiring young starlet. Burdened with massive debt—incurred by her husband, and which various L.A. heavies want to collect on—Debbie must find a way to extricate herself from the peculiar subculture of the porn industry and reconcile herself to sacrifices she’s made along the way. In Debbie Doesn’t Do it Anymore, the creator of the Easy Rawlins series has painted a moving portrait of a resilient soul in search of salvation and a cure for grief.

After being asked to investigate the charges against a white nationalist accused of treason and murder, Joe King Oliver, with help from bodyguard and mercenary Oliya Ruez, embarks on a winding quest to expose the truth.

The second in the Fearless Jones series from the author of the Easy Rawlins crime thrillers. 'Will not disappoint fans of the Easy Rawlins series. The prose is taut and sinewy and Mosley effortlessly creates a classic noir setting' Douglas Field, Big Issue Paris Minton is a man who would rather walk away from trouble, but in 1950s' Los Angeles, it just comes and finds you. Fearless Jones turns up on Paris's doorstep one night asking him to help an attractive woman find her husband. One night later a stranger shows up looking for the same man. It isn't long before Paris is running for his life, and it looks like even his friend Fearless might not be able to save him.