These courtesans were the queens of the profession. Presented are twelve of the most distinguished courtesans in Paris during their golden age.

From the Booker-shortlisted author of Umbrella , a world-girdling collection of writings inspired by a life lived in and for literature From one of the most unusual and distinctive writers working today, dubbed "the most daring and delightful novelist of his generation" by the Guardian , Will Self's Why Read is a cornucopia of thoughtful and brilliantly witty essays on writing and literature. Self takes us with him: from the foibles of his typewriter repairman to the irradiated exclusion zone of Chernobyl, to the Australian outback, and to literary forms past and future. With his characteristic intellectual brio, Self aims his inimitable eye at titans of literature like Woolf, Kafka, Orwell, and Conrad. He writes movingly on W.G. Sebald's childhood in Germany and provocatively describes the elevation of William S. Burroughs's Junky from shocking pulp novel to beloved cult classic. Self also expands on his regular column in Literary Hub to ask readers, how, what, and ultimately why we should read in an ever-changing world. Whether he is writing on the rise of the bookshelf as an item of furniture in the nineteenth century or on the impossibility of Googling his own name in a world lived online, Self's trademark intoxicating prose and mordant, energetic humor infuse every piece. A book that examines how the human stream of consciousness flows into and out of literature, Why Read will satisfy both old and new readers of this icon of contemporary literature.

From our decrying of ”the abuse excuse” to our cheers of Free the Juice,” our reactions to violent crime fluctuate wildly. Expanding on her well-known ideas about self-help and the American psyche, Wendy Kaminer shows us how pop-psychology and religious fervor vie with law and rationality in our courtrooms and in our minds. She doesn't offer up any easy solutions; rather, with her trademark epigrammatic brilliance, she gives us an alarming picture of the emotional needs and cultural forces behind our righteous proclamations about crime and punishment.

With his dynamic on-air personality and his trademark cry of "Burn, baby! BURN!" when spinning the hottest new records, Magnificent Montague was the charismatic voice of soul music in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. In this memoir Montague recounts the events of his momentous radio career, which ran from the era of segregation to that of the civil rights movement; as he does so, he also tells the broader story of a life spent in the passionate pursuit of knowledge, historical and musical. Like many black disc jockeys of his day, Montague played a role in his community beyond simply spreading the music of James Brown, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and other prominent artists. Montague served as an unofficial spokesman for his black listeners, reflecting their beliefs and acting as a sounding board for their concerns. Montague was based in Los Angeles in 1965 when the Watts rioters seized on his incendiary slogan, turning the shout of musical appreciation into a rallying cry for racial violence. In Burn, Baby! BURN! Montague recalls these tumultuous times, including the personal struggle he faced over whether to remain true to his listeners or bend to political pressure and stop shouting his suddenly controversial slogan. Since the mid-1950s Montague had also expressed his passion for African American culture by becoming a zealous collector of artifacts of black history. He has built a monumental collection, taking time out from his collecting to become only the second African American to build his own radio station literally from the ground up. A compelling account of a rich and varied life, Burn, Baby! BURN! gives an insider's view of half a century of black history, told with on-the-air zest by the DJ/historian who was there to see it unfold.

Money, jobs, careers, training-all are topics often overheard in the conversation of middle-class Americans. One of the nation's leading critics of education, the world of work, and the labor movement, Stanley Aronowitz shows how new technologies, labor, and education all are deeply intertwined in our culture and everyday lives. This book reflects Aronowitz's thinking at a time when globalization has brought these connections to broad public attention. Aronowitz argues for the decline of "the job" as the backbone, along with family, of American society. Despite high employment, low wages and job insecurity leave many families at or below the poverty line. The career instability previously experienced mostly by blue-collar workers has spread to middle managers and high-level executives caught in the rapid movement of capital and technologies. In light of these facts, Aronowitz argues for a new social contract between employers and workers.

A pioneering look at first marriages lasting five years or less and ending without children, Paul’s book “will be a lesson to those contemplating marriage and a comfort to those who falter” ( The Economist ). What is it about marriage that makes today’s twenty- and thirtysomethings want it so badly? And why do so many of their marriages, despite high hopes and desires, end in divorce? Nobody goes into a starter marriage expecting to divorce and trade up to something better, but like a starter home, a starter marriage can teach you a lot about what to look for, and what to avoid, the next time around. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with starter-marriage vets, Pamela Paul explores why young people are jumping in and out of marriage, and what lessons can be drawn from their failures. She shows how starter marriages can be avoided, and why lifelong marriage is still a desirable, achievable option for the next marrying generation.

Poised to capitalize on renewed political interest following the federal election, the trade paperback edition of What’s Happened to Politics? is sure to be necessary reading for every concerned Canadian citizen. Segmented electorates. Political leaders avoiding debate and dialogue in favour of an endless repetition of sound bites and vanity videos with little substance. Billions of dollars spent on lobbying. It’s clear that Canadian politics is in a sorry state. Through increasingly low voter turnouts and a general lack of engagement in the political process, Canadians have shown that they are dissatisfied and fed up with present-day politics. At a time when Canadians across the political spectrum are frustrated with political gamesmanship, it is more important than ever to find ways to re-engage with our communities, our leaders, and our political institutions. In Bob Rae, Canadians hear the voice of reason they need, and in What’s Happened to Politics? , they finally get an definitive account of the problems plaguing their national politics. Touching on everything from polling to issues of social justice to the way in which political parties package their candidates, Rae identifies the shortcomings of the current Canadian political framework, and what we, as citizens, can do to remedy that. With remarkable insight and startling accuracy, Rae envisions a political forum where citizens are inspired to participate, instead of feeling disenfranchised. Timely, filled with real-world examples, and told from the point of view of an experienced statesman, What’s Happened to Politics? is necessary reading for all Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation. Erudite, engaged, and keenly attuned to the frustrations expressed by Canadians across the political spectrum, Rae shows why he is the leading voice on Canadian politics.

Contrary to common perception and belief, most island societies of the Pacific were not isolated, but were connected to other island societies by relations of kinship and marriage, trade and tribute, language and history. Using network models from graph theory the authors analyze the formation of island empires, dialect groups, economic and political centers; the evolution and devolution of social stratification; and the development of kinship terminologies, marriage systems and descent groups.

This volume contains Rifat Bali's study of the Jewish place in Istanbul's nineteenth-century sex trade as well as three contemporary accounts of the practice.