Poetry. With collages by the author. Doren Robbins' unique voice of existential disgust and cynicism comes through in a relentless damning of our culture, politics and state of being. And yet, it is hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny, the absurdity of the human condition splayed on the pages of TWIN EXTRA for our examination. As out there as on an LA freeway. Pushing the mind, the language, the knowable, the absurdities, the 'dipshitalore, ' the passions, the maturity of a surrealist--one's self and one's reality. His intellectual, linguistic, vast roaming in these poems will blow you away in recognition, gratitude, and awe...What an accomplishment! What joy!--Sharon Doubiago TWIN EXTRA is a delicatessen Walt Whitman, satirical yet dead- serious and playing for keeps, coming to grips with the infernal system of life in an ironically and grotesquely distorted American hell ... Doren Robbins' poems bring to mind the self-revelatory stanzas in Whitman's 'Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, ' but now the river is underground, the ferry has become Rimbaud's Drunken Boat, and the city's an infernal ruins populated with labyrinthine memories of alienated and damaged souls caught in the contradictions generated by dystopian capitalism.--Uri Hertz

This book presents an account of the essentially Aristotelian philosophy of John Sergeant (1623-1707) and his Blackloist colleagues, Kenelm Digby and Thomas White. Despite their notoriety as Catholic controversialists in the mid-seventeenth century, Sergeant and his circle have long suffered from historical neglect, and Professor Krook's work provides a useful corrective to conventional historiography. Digby, White and Sergeant were all concerned to present a coherent philosophical and theological framework, which would provide some certainty in the face of the contemporary sceptical challenge, and the author shows how their work was securely based on traditional Aristotelian foundations. Through a detailed discussion of Aristotelian methodology, she shows how, in the face of Protestant misunderstanding, they justified their own claims for certainty. This study restores Sergeant and his circle to their proper historical importance and provides an original and illuminating study of late seventeenth-century Aristotelian philosophy.

An autobiographical account.

"Newlyweds just barely out of their childhood, the ben-Yichyas make their new home in Jerusalem, in the shadows of the dark towering walls of stone and amid a community of devout Jews living in squalor. Who among these impoverished neighbors will buy the exquisite jewelry that Ezra fashions from gold and silver? And how will the young Yemenite couple maintain their ancient traditions and customs while struggling to weave themselves into the vivid tapestry of immigrants from distant lands who comprise the old Yishuv?"--from jacket.

There are eight million stories in the naked city, and Ed Koch has something to say about every one of them. Whether criticizing the mayor, panning a movie, or recommending the best places to eat, Ed Koch always lets you know what he's thinking.For many, Ed Koch represents the typical New Yorker - brash, intelligent, opinionated, and anxious to lecture, cajole, and kibbitz on the widest variety of subjects. This book represents the best of Koch's writing since he left office. He writes a lively weekly column of opinion as well as weekly movie and restaurant reviews. These columns and Koch's daily radio talk show have allowed New York's former mayor to maintain an exciting running commentary on the city and the nation's affairs. He takes real pleasure in lambasting his fellow political columnists and movie critics (particularly when he goes to a film on their recommendation).While most politicians tend to pull their punches when discussing things cultural, Koch wades into movie reviewing with real gusto. What other elected public official would review a movie as violent as Reservoir Dogs? And call it a masterpiece? He's not afraid to admit that he was bored by Howard's End or to gush rhapsodically about Doc Hollywood, a summer movie many reviewers panned.While some critics may dismiss Koch's reviews and opinions as hopelessly middle-class, Koch revels in his role as spokesman for the millions of Americans who are ignored by the cultural elite. For all of the obvious joy he takes in sharing movie tips, favorite recipes, and restaurants, Koch is deadly serious when it comes to warning his readers of the rise of radical racism in America's cities and on college campuses and the failure of most politicians to confront it.Ed Koch on Everything is amazing evidence of a hyperactive mind, and testament to a man unafraid to put into words what millions of Americans are thinking.

Christmas in New York. The city's legendary Ramsey's Department Store is suffering its worst season in years. General manager Barnaby Tischler knows it's because their rival, Weatherly's superstore, is scaring off the store's customers--with bomb threats! But when Ramsey's Santa-for-hire is found in a utility closet shot through the heart, Tischler's only hope lies in his old buddy, Mayor Ed Koch.

The ultimate insider takes us behind the scenes, in the book everyone is waiting for. As Jean Chrétien’s right-hand man for thirty years in Ministries all over Ottawa, Eddie Goldenberg got to know how things worked — especially from 1993 to 2003, when he was Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister. What did this title mean? It meant that Eddie made things happen. For example, during Paul Martin’s years at Finance, Eddie was the go-between who linked Chrétien and Martin, who were for much of the time barely on speaking terms. Or when vital decisions about the Iraq War had to be made, Eddie was the man who wrote the words, “If military action proceeds without a new resolution of the Security Council, Canada will not participate.” And that’s the way this revealing book works; important decisions are used as case studies as we learn how things really happen in the tough world of politics. Those less concerned with mastering the system will simply enjoy reading this as an engaging account of an exciting arena, filled with memorable anecdotes about the world’s biggest names. “Journalists look for winners and losers so as to make good headlines. The real story is much more interesting, but is harder to write, and is very difficult to put in a clip of a few seconds.” “President Bush smiled and said, ‘You know the guy who wanted to see me, What’s-his-name? I didn’t see him.’ I thought, poor Joe Clark; he had gone from ‘Joe Who’ to ‘What’s-his-name’ in less than twenty years.” — Excerpt from The Way it Works

No-vo-si-birsk. No-vo-si-birsk. I repeat the word over and over, trying to turn it into something ordinary instead of the name of the strange new place a million miles from home. Our train journey is over at last. The city of Novosibirsk, Siberia, is our final stop. Surely nothing can be worse than life on Train Two, Carriage One? But ... what if it is worse?

To six-year-old Dori, everything seems possible. To her family and their Peers-secular, left-leaning North American Jews-the young state of Israel seems to offer the same promise, as the starry-eyed kibbutz movement prepares the ground for their ideals of justice and cooperation to take root and flourish. They settle on Eldar in northern Galilee, determined to create a new utopia, but life on this remote hill, three kilometres from the Lebanese border, is far more complex than any of its inhabitants could have imagined. "The Last Rain" tells the story of Eldar's emergence as a kibbutz through the eyes of Dori, as well as through documentary fragments that take the reader on a labyrinthine journey through the characters' collective past. With humour, sensitivity, and a deep love for the land, "The Last Rain" follows the coming of age not only of a young girl, but also of a country in the first fraught years of its existence.

In the much-anticipated third entry in Edeet Ravel's delightful series, Pauline Carelli-Bloom is off to London to visit her grandmother. She's thrilled by all the different cultures she encounters in the great city -- and thrilled even more with Nigel Sivananda, a dashing young New Age devotee with, as she faithfully records in her diary, "blue eyes that pierce your soul and penetrate your thoughts." Now that her soul's been pierced and her thoughts penetrated, will Pauline also be swept completely off her feet? Will she return to her dull-but-faithful boyfriend Yoshi or escape to an ashram with Nigel in search of adventure and everlasting enlightenment? One thing is certain: Pauline's life is never boring, and neither is her journey toward self-discovery. Relating her latest adventures in life and love with quirky humor and an ever-present flair for the dramatic, Pauline presents a warm and funny snapshot of teen life, unfiltered and uncensored.

tr Rosmarie Waldrop, second of 2-vol set

Dahlberg's first novel, written in 1928 and published in 1930, is the story of Lorry Lewis, of Kansas City, Missouri, whose mother sent him to an orphanage in Cleveland when he was eleven. Lorry eventually winds up riding the freights across the West to Portland, and then down to Los Angeles, having many sordid encounters along the way. Somewhere between the cold naturalism of Frank Norris and the urgent spontaneity of Jack Kerouac, the book is often classified as a proletarian novel. It gives a peek into the seamy side of life in the U.S. in the late 1920s. D. H. Lawrence wrote a strange and interesting 10-page introduction, which begins: "When we think of America, and of her huge success, we never realize how many failures have gone, and still go to build up that success. It is not till you live in America, and go a little under the surface, that you begin to see how terrible and brutal is the mass of failure that nourishes the roots of the gigantic tree of dollars." And he ends by saying, "I don't want to read any more books like this. But I am glad to have read this one, just to know what is the last word in repulsive consciousness, consciousness in a state of repulsion. It helps one to understand the world, and saves one the necessity of having to follow out the phenomenon of physical repulsion any further, for the time being."