The first selected poems from one of the most inventive poets writing today. Bob Perelman's poetry is alternately lyrical, polemical, funny, self-critical and didactic, and consistently engaging. In this, his first selected volume, the author of The Marginalization of Poetry delivers a stunning poetic portrait of late 20th-century America. This volume includes work from all of Perelman's previously published collections.

The way most Western politicians talk, democracy is the pinnacle of civilization, the best political system there is. Many think it's the system the rest of the world ought to adopt. Bob Rae is not one of them. He is too well informed about the difficulties and dangers of implanting democracy in foreign lands. Exporting Democracy is an eloquently argued book in which Rae brings his lively, nuanced understanding to bear on the history and current fortunes of this powerful idea. He shows how it and the related ideas of freedom, human rights, and federalism have been pushed to centre stage by the collapse of Soviet communism and by ongoing wars to topple secular and religious dictatorships in the Middle East. He's also witnessed attempts to implant democracy in three countries riven by tribal and ethnic divisions, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, and offers readers a cool appraisal of the effort.

If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? Following his bestselling political memoir, the former premier of Ontario stepped back to consider the subject of responsibility in and for society. Structuring his thoughts on Rabbi Hillel’s famous questions, he explores the roles of government, business, communities and individuals in the new economic and political reality of Canada. He confronts the most basic and urgent question of our time: in this age of globalism, in this period when the gulf between rich and poor is growing, what is our responsibility to ourselves and to others? Every successful society needs to recognize and reward individual success as well as demonstrate an organized capacity for social compassion. A successful politics will understand that pursuing both prosperity and the public good — finding the right answers to the three questions — is not easy. But the challenge must be met. From the Trade Paperback edition.

A young soccer player dreamed of playing professionally. Or, better said, he dreamed of doing something great. He wanted to be someone or get somewhere--for his life to mean something--and soccer became his path. When he heard his name called in the 1st Round of the MLS SuperDraft, he expected his life to change forever. What he found, instead, was much of the same: the same fears, insecurities, and internal conflicts, except now with higher stakes. When the Dream Became Reality is the story of a professional athlete's path and evolution, as a person and athlete, from childhood through six professional seasons. In this heartfelt memoir, Bobby Warshaw recounts the moments we rarely hear so honestly from athletes, including disagreements with coaches, personal mistrust of his own ability, doubt about his sexuality, and the aftermath of loss and failure. Warshaw experienced incomparable highs--game-winning goals; championship games; wearing the captain's armband--but he rarely felt like he was living the dream that everyone suggested. Beyond the usual self-doubt, he struggled to come to terms with the paradox at the root of the profession: the intersection of a ruthless business with a children's game. To achieve his goals, Warshaw discovered at a young age he would have to live with two conflicting parts of his life, the athlete and the human. The former Stanford University captain opens up about his efforts to maximize his ability as an elite player and a compassionate person despite their often-clashing demands; the constant frustration that he never performed either as well as he would have wanted; and the subsequent struggle to like himself, as either an athlete or a person, along the way. When the Dream Became Reality is not the story of the glitz and glamour of a famous superstar, but rather the everyday emotions and decisions of an average pro pushing to be remembered. Warshaw writes the story that pulls back the curtain on the life and emotions of America's professional athletes. Sometimes there is more than giant contracts and big trophies on the line. It's a common thought to chase our dreams. Do we ever stop to think what happens when we get there? When the dream no longer remains a dream, but becomes reality.

The new collection from Lambda Literary Award-winning author and editor of Transcendent 2 offers plenty of thrills for readers of LGBTQ-focused speculative literature. The stories range from magical space opera to cheerful body horror and historical fantasy, always with a sense of hope amid adversity.

The twelve contemporary fiction writers interviewed in Passion and Craft go beyond the merely autobiographical, revealing that, despite their differences, they share passionate devotion and discipline for their craft. Included are Richard Ford, winner in 1995 of both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award; Gina Berriault, 1997 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; Bobbie Ann Mason; T. Coraghessan Boyle; Rick Bass; Leonard Michaels; Christopher Tilghman; Thom Jones; Julia Alvarez; Andre Dubus; Jayne Anne Phillips; and Tobias Wolff. Their comments will interest readers devoted to their novels and stories, other writers, and aspiring writers.

"The Parliament of Animals represents a scholarly treatise on folkloric and literary narratives of animals. Each chapter on such creatures as elephants, monkeys, rats, snakes, dogs, wolves, cats, and birds includes informative introductions concerning the behavior and psychology of these animals and their relationship to their human counterparts. Useful select bibliographies on zoology, literature, folklore and language conclude these introductory comments which are followed by intriguing fables, legends, anecdotes and literary works concerning the animals under discussion. This book is thus a novel approach to the fascinating subject of the depiction of animals in prose writings over many centuries, giving scholarly information while at the same time providing a splendid collection of readable and enjoyable narratives from anonymous or known authors. The reader is easily engaged by this anthologized treatise on animal behavior, intelligence and psychology, and the obvious result is a better understanding and appreciation of both the animal and the human world. It is exactly this all-inclusive approach to animal narratives that makes this book by Boria Sax such worthwhile reading for naturalists, folklorists, cultural historians, literary scholars, and last but not least, the interested generalists."

Boris Akunin has been hailed as Russia's answer to both Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his beloved Fandorin mystery series. After five years spent abroad building up a business as something of a private investigator, the handsome, stuttering Fandorin is back in Moscow--and in for a case that entangles him with the highest echelons of Romanov royalty. Grand Duke Georgii Alexandrovich arrives in Moscow with three of his children for the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II, who is fated to become the last Emperor of Russia. During an afternoon stroll in the park, Georgii's daughter Xenia is dragged away by bandits, only to be rescued by an elegant gentleman and his Japanese sidekick. The passing heroes introduce themselves as Erast Petrovich Fandorin and Masa, but panic ensues when the party realizes that four-year-old Mikhail has been snatched in the confusion. A ransom letter arrives from an international criminal demanding the handover of the Count Orlov, an enormous diamond on the royal scepter which is due to play a part in the coronation. Can the gentleman detective find Mikhail in time? The Coronation is a fantastically entertaining and deftly plotted take on the hostage novel, not to be missed.

All of us suffer from trauma in our lives, whether it be a difficult childhood, the end of a love affair or a violent experience. Yet rather than be controlled by our pain, it is possible for us to grow in the face of our problems and create a new life for ourselves. In his groundbreaking work on the healing power of resilience, Boris Cyrulnik has created a new way for us to understand ourselves and our pasts. Cyrulnik shows us that the journey from hurt to hope may not be easy, but is one we have to choose in order to survive. Ultimately, this book is a celebration of the healing, transforming power of love.

Positional Decision Making in Chess offers a rare look into the mind of a top grandmaster. In his efforts to explain his way of thinking, Boris Gelfand focuses on such topics as the squeeze, space advantage, the transformation of pawn structures and the transformation of advantages. Based on examples from his own games and those of his hero, Akiba Rubinstein, Gelfand explains how he thinks during the game. Grandmaster Boris Gelfand won the European Junior Championship in 1987 and reached No. 3 in the World in 1990. He has led the Israeli team to numerous medals at both European and Olympiad level. Gelfand won the 2009 World Cup and has participated in six Candidates cycles, winning it in 2011. He lost the 2012 World Championship match in the play-off. At 46 he is still winning tournaments ahead of the best players in the world, in many cases men half his own age. Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard is the only chess author to have won all the major awards for chess writing.

"Authoritarianism is rampant across the globe. Right-wing governments from Russia to America oversee wars from Ukraine to Palestine, while capitalism lurches from crisis to crisis, its citizens mired in poverty. Imprisoned Putin critic Boris Kagarlitsky confronts this stark reality, demanding a clear strategy from the left to dismantle this ever-darkening nightmare. As well as bringing Russian and Western thinkers into dialogue, Kagarlitsky draws upon his experiences as a Russian dissident since the latter days of the Soviet Union in this detailed analysis of leftist strategy. As a Marxist, he engages in radical ideas including Universal Basic Income and decentralised collective ownership, as well as looking at historical and contemporary examples of revolution and dissent, covering the left's response to the war in Ukraine"--Page 4 of cover.

"A historical and literary document of the first importance . . . a dual self-portrait . . . by two gifted, courageous people whose story adds a heroic chapter to the tragic annals of our century."-- The New York Times Book Review

Memory is about choice. We can choose to remember the past in ways that provoke pain and stir our anger, or we can remember in ways that help us create the kind of world in which we most want to live. Nowhere is this choice more important than in connection to the Holocaust. And never has it been more important than now, because we are the first generation that will live without the presence of those who can tell us in their own words what they saw with their own eyes. These seventy-one firsthand stories from survivors of the Holocaust teach us to choose to remember for life, for their words are not about hatred and death but about ethics, decency, and love. Although the stories are arranged to accompany the weekly Torah readings and many of the Jewish holidays, they are just as meaningful when read on their own, in any sequence. The themes--journey, identity, resistance, community, refuge, and righteousness, to name but a few--are universal. And the lessons--about how to live more fully the life we are given--shine through.

"I Have Some Questions About God is a collection of twelve questions about God (and related issues) from children. Six wonderful rabbis, all parents, have written answers to these questions. Most of their answers are stories. Added are a series of targeted excecises that encourage children to reflect and share their experiences of God in the world. The end result is a collection of wonderful stories and hands-on experiences. With I Have Some Questions About God parents and children are invited to enter into conversations about God that are as easy as reading stories and then asking, 'Which of these answers is the closest to the way you believe?'"--

A comprehensive statement on nuclear weaponry proliferation within the context of Jewish thinking on war and peace. Based on Biblical and Talmudic sources. Written for the scholarly as well as average reader.

Challenges you to go beneath the brief, shocking story and ask: who is the tester, who is the tested and what motivates the test? Among stories so terrible they rend our hearts, so profound they touch the depths of our souls and so exalted they reach to heaven, none is more poignant than the Bible story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son, Isaac. A story revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and turned over and over by great secular thinkers searching for meaning, this gripping tale shocks us into complete attention, then takes us--in nineteen short verses--on a roller coaster ride of emotion, challenge and hope. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, known widely for making the Hebrew Bible relevant to our lives, draws on generations of Jewish sages, philosophers and scholars to explore this ancient story, known as the binding of Isaac or the test of Abraham. He invites us to use this powerful tale as a tool for our own soul wrestling, to transcend its words to confront our own existential sacrifices and our ability to face--and surmount--life's tests. By applying this tale's lessons to everyday events, Artson compels us to pay closer attention to our lives and, through our priorities, responsibilities, mindfulness and faith, ask ourselves if we are passing our own tests.