New York's 50 Best Places to Take Children is the definitive guide to showing kids a good time in the Big Apple. Completely revised and updated for an all-new third edition, this classic City & Company backlist title remains the most comprehensive and accessible book of its kind.

This newest volume of Strange New Worlds features original Star Trek®, Star Trek: The Next Generation ®, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine®, Star Trek: Voyager®, and Star Trek: Enterprise™ stories written by Star Trek fans, for Star Trek fans! Each of these stories features our favorite Trek characters in new and adventurous situations. In this anthology, we get to experience a new version of the Kobayashi Maru, feel what it's like to be inside the Borg collective, delight in tasting new foods, and encourage Starfleet's future. This year's Strange New Worlds winners encompass newcomers and veterans alike, including Alan James Garbers, Kevin Lauderdale, Kevin Andrew Hosey, Paul C. Tseng, Kevin G. Summers, Sarah A. Seaborne, John Takis, Dan C. Duval, Amy Vincent, David DeLee, Muri McCage, Susan S. McCrackin, M.C. Demarco, Annie Reed, Amy Sisson, J.B. Stevens, Robert Burke Richardson, Lorraine Anderson, A. Rhea King, Derrek Tyler Attico, Geoffrey Thorne, and Paul J. Kaplan.

From a passionate new voice in American politics comes a clear-eyed vision for fixing our moribund democracy. Jason West has become a political force for his generation. With logic, charm, and conviction, he has used his platform as mayor of New Paltz, New York, to present a radical vision of human rights. This book is his manifesto. West has received the most press for marrying same-sex couples (and is defendant in numerous lawsuits for solemnizing without a license). But he sees the issue of gay marriage in the context of civil rights, basic equality under the law, which he extends to fair housing, property taxes, and energy use. Jason is a lifelong agitator — as a child, he boycotted McDonalds over environmental issues — pursuing a clear and unwavering faith in the power of political change and re-engagement. The son and grandson of steelworkers, he believes strongly that opportunities should be available to citizens across the board — from marriage to higher education to renewable sources of energy to affordable, appealing housing for seniors. In Dare to Hope, he offers an accessible blueprint for everyday activism and engagement in your community. With this book, Jason West plants new hope into the political wasteland. He persuades us that common sense and frugality are more poetic than profligacy; that freedom and equality are our destiny, and that we alone must and can take charge of our stalled democracy. Jason West is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz. He was elected mayor of New Paltz, New York, in 2003. This is his first book.ns.

Old cars, custom carpentry and chemistry sets are just some of the topics novelist Beller (The Sleep-Over Artist) uses to explore his own emotional maturation. In spare, crisp language, his descriptions of items and tasks slowly become excavations of memories. The best sections of his book—which is largely assembled from pieces that first appeared in magazines like the New Yorker and Elle—call to mind Raymond Carver in their clarity of language and subdued emotion. In one essay, Beller's fond recall of his 1977 Thunderbird morphs into a meditation on the difficulty of letting go of the romantic notions of youth. In another, a girlfriend's constant purchases of clothing for the author eventually become occasions for melancholy (the gifts began to feel like apologies). A third piece addresses the "paradoxical reality" of strip clubs: they're "one of the few remaining places men can go to not think about women." The only blot on this otherwise excellent book is the chapter in which Beller describes the end of a relationship between the cofounders of Nerve.com; its reportorial tone feels jarring and out-of-place. The rest of the book is thoughtful and controlled; overall, Beller has penned a fine collection of essays that will resonate with many. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In his sixteenth Matthew Scudder novel, All the Flowers Are Dying, New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block takes the series to a new level of suspense and a new depth of characterization. Block puts Scudder - and the reader - at the very edge of the abyss. A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three hideous murders he swears - in the face of irrefutable evidence - he did not commit. A psychologist who claims to believe the convict spends hours with the man in his death row cell, and ultimately watches in the gallery as the lethal injection is administered. His work completed, the psychologist heads back to New York City to attend to unfinished business. Meanwhile, Scudder agrees to investigate the suspicious on-line lover of an acquaintance. It seems simple enough. At first. But when people start dying and the victims are increasingly closer to home, it becomes clear that a vicious killer is at work. And the final targets may be Matt and...

This follow-up to The Foster's Market Cookbook offers new simple, spruced-up recipes from the author's North Carolina gourmet takeout shops. In the tradition of Martha Stewart, with whom Foster coauthored the previous book and worked as a chef in the '80s, the effortlessly elegant food also reflects Foster's Southern background, with its prevalence of sweet potatoes, cornmeal and black-eyed peas. Flavorful marinades, fresh herbs and seasonal ingredients maximize taste for quick meals on the grill or hands-off roasts. Numerous salsas and sides enliven each plate, and alternatives "for all seasons" to standards, like Twice-Baked Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, and Sautéed Shrimp, provide year-round variety. Desserts are unfussy crowd-pleasers such as Mom's Apple Cobbler with Buttermilk Biscuit Topping, and Individual Chocolate Pudding Cakes. Sidebars on "Basics" and "Tricks of My Trade" share tips on techniques, shortcuts and gadgets. Busy cooks will learn to love leftovers when delicious Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder is transformed into spicy Green Chili, and Skillet Cornbread becomes rustic Panzanella, an Italian bread salad. This is homey, American food with a kick, sure to appeal to cooks in search of easy ways to revitalize their repertoire. 160 color photos. (May 24)

Starred Review. Pasta's very simplicity can sometimes trip up cookbook authors. After all, how many recipes for spaghetti with tomato sauce does one need? Mother and daughter Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene easily skirt this issue with inventive dishes such as Tagliolini with Green Apple Pesto and Speck, and Ditaloni with Eggplant Balls, Potato, and Pancetta. To coauthor Carreño's credit, the voices of these two women, who run a restaurant in a 13th-century Sicilian abbey, remain genuine and convincing throughout. They demonstrate that cuisine can be inventive without involving backbreaking labor: in a recipe for Bucatini with Dried Figs, for example, they explain that they purchase dried figs rather than drying their own, "a boring and tedious task." In a charming sidebar, they describe the pasta they prepare for their dogs and cats twice a day. There's a distinct Sicilian flavor throughout, which means less of an emphasis on handmade egg pasta (Papa's Ricotta Ravioli with Simple Butter Sauce is one exception) and an homage to the classic Lampedusa novel The Leopard in the form of a timballo that mimics one served in a prince's home in the novel, as well as a version of Sicily's Famous Spaghetti with Eggplant and Ricotta Salata. Recipes are clearly written and divided into types, such as rich pasta, one-dish pasta, soup with pasta, etc. The Tornabenes'La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio (Knopf, 1996) and Sicilian Home Cooking (Knopf, 2001) were James Beard Award winners; this new addition looks like another potential champion. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Once again, the memorable heroine of Gingerbread offers a light-hearted, sassy narrative that will enthrall her fans, and win over new recruits," according to PW. Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information

Wonder Blake finds herself living every teenager's dream scenario: while singing along to her Walkman during her shift at the Dairy Queen, she is discovered by a big-time agent. Ages 13-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

In this affecting, if oddly flat, crime novel from Edgar-winner Cook (The Chatham School Affair), Eric Moore, a prosperous businessman, watches his safe, solid world disintegrate. When eight-year-old Amy Giordano, whom Eric's teenage son, Keith, was babysitting, disappears from her family's house, many believe Keith is an obvious suspect, and not even his parents are completely convinced that he wasn't somehow involved. As time passes without Amy being found, a corrosive suspicion seeps into every aspect of Eric's life. That suspicion is fed by Eric's shaky family history-a father whose failed plans led from moderate wealth to near penury, an alcoholic older brother who's never amounted to much, a younger sister fatally stricken with a brain tumor and a mother driven to suicide. Not even Eric's loving wife, Meredith, is immune from his doubts as he begins to examine and re-examine every aspect of his life. The ongoing police investigation and the anguish of the missing girl's father provide periodic goads as Eric's futile attempts to allay his own misgivings seem only to lead him into more desperate straits. The totally unexpected resolution is both shocking and perfectly apt. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

A kaleidoscopic array of viewpoints tumble and shift in this latest suspense thriller by Edgar Award-winner Cook (The Interrogation, etc.), until the facts settle into place and the full picture can be understood. The complex arrangement of voices and events works smoothly, bringing each of the protagonists more clearly into focus as the story progresses. As the novel begins, Sara Labriola is fleeing Tony, her husband of nine years. It's not that she doesn't love him, but Tony's overbearing mobster father, Leo, casts a long shadow over Sara and Tony's marriage. Around the same time, sad sack Mortimer, a broke gambler who owes Leo $15,000, learns he has three months to live. Desperate to discharge his debts and leave a little something for his wife before he dies, he agrees to help Vinnie Caruso, who's following orders from Leo to find Sara. Mortimer turns to the shadowy Stark, an obsessive, tightly wound man who excels at finding people. Stark is haunted by the fate of a woman he found years earlier, and he suspects that this case, too, is not about a loving husband looking for his spouse. Sara, meanwhile, has stumbled into a New York nightclub frequented by Mortimer, where she gets a job as a singer. Cleverly manipulated coincidence provides much of the driving force here, to excellent effect. Although most of the characters are cookie-cutter noir, neat turns of phrase and tight plotting make for an engaging read. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This is a solid and diverse collection of true-crime writing, if devoid of the memorable entries that marked the 2004 edition. The 16 pieces-some by familiar names such as noir master Ellroy, Freakonomics coauthor Stephen J. Dubner and terrorism expert Lawrence Wright-span a wider range of criminal activities, however, from an anatomy of bar fights (perhaps the slightest of the pieces) to the evolving nature of al-Qaeda as evidenced by the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombings. Three essays stand out in particular for conveying noteworthy aspects of the criminal mind in a short format. Texas Monthly regular Skip Hollandsworth offers a compelling portrait of a respectable, church-going suburbanite who masterminded numerous burglaries. Dubner's piece also deals with a master burglar who specialized in designer silverware; Ivana Trump was among his victims. Justin Kane and Jason Felch outline the vicissitudes of an elaborate federal investigation of the Ukrainian underworld. Philip Weiss presents outstanding investigative work on a forgotten travesty of justice involving the Peace Corps (though it has less impact than his book on the topic, American Taboo). Anyone interested in true crime should find something to enjoy in this wide-ranging collection. (Sept. 9) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Curnyn (Bombshell, etc.) cranks up the heat with a seaside murder and some sexy sleuthing in this lively caper. On New York's Fire Island, three 30-something pals—Nick, an impulsive, charming pipe-dreamer; Sage, a flirty go-getter; and Zoe, a sensitive filmmaker—partake in a tony summer share at the sprawling house of Sage's debonair boss, Tom, and his wife, Maggie. Maggie used to love rock and roll, but now sings in the key of Martha, enlisting her tenants to fetch coriander and "a crisp, citrusy white." That is, until she's found floating in the ocean. Multiple narrators provide diverse perspectives on the matter (Maggie's wry, beyond-the-grave musings seem ripped from the Desperate Housewives handbook). Sage had certainly hated Maggie, and Tom takes the tragedy a little too in stride, in Zoe's humble opinion; also, it seems that Nick and Maggie had some unfinished business of a highly classified nature. No one's off the hook—unless, by some chance, there's a far more insidious avenger afoot. Whodunit? And who cares? Curnyn's writing is light and zingy, but she expends too much energy on labored plot twists to wring the fun out of this zany crew. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Two teenagers struggle with identity and self-determination in Dermansky's entertaining debut.To the casual observer, twins Chloe and Sue are exactly the same—even their father mixes them up sometimes. Of course, Chloe understands that they're very different people, but Sue wants nothing more than to be one with Chloe, whom she's convinced is prettier, smarter and nicer. The chapters alternate between the voices of Sue and Chloe, moving quickly but seamlessly through their high school years with their attendant dramas and tragedies. It feels primarily like Sue's story, though, because it is her desire to hold on to her perfect intimacy with Chloe that sets the plot in motion. And it is Sue's voice—variously deadpan, yearning, and frequently repetitive to good effect—that carries most of the novel's emotional weight. (Though Chloe has her moments: "I did everything for Sue. She needed me as if I were the oxygen she breathed, but she didn't understand what it cost me.") While some aspects of the tale seem unlikely (the twins' blithely neglectful parents and extremely generous friends, for example), this is balanced by an overarching fable-like quality to this moving and well-written story of two girls learning to accept who they are. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deputy Chief Ray Downey, the most highly decorated firefighter in the history of the FDNY, died during the World Trade Center rescue operations, but months earlier, he had arranged for his nephew, filmmaker Tom Downey, to make a documentary on the emergency experts of Brooklyn's Rescue Company No. 2, the "most active firefighting unit in the city." After the completed film, Still Riding: Rescue Company New York City, aired on September 11, 2002, Tom Downey continued his research, writing about firefighters for the New York Times. For this book, he follows the efforts of the new captain, Phil Ruvolo, to take command and establish a rapport with his men. Interweaving the history and lore of landmark fires with daily chores and rituals, Downey recreates the firehouse's kitchen table banter and sardonic humor. He probes the physical toll and psychological problems firefighters experience, along with the job's dangers: "Crawling in for a job, a fireman would feel the linoleum, think it was safe to enter, and then fall through." Limning individual personalities and capturing the company's camaraderie with amusing anecdotes, Downey's descriptions burn into the pages with searing intensity. Writing with verve and energy in a gritty style, he explores all extremes of the firemen's world, from triumphant moments of heroism to bitter tragedies. The concluding chapters document 9/11 and its aftermath from the firemen's point of view: the "horrible losses" resulting in a massive shortage of qualified firefighters to fill the ranks of the rescue and squad companies. Agent, Heather Schroder. (June 1) Forecast: With national print ads, media appearances and an endorsement by Dennis Smith (Report from Engine Company 82), Downey's chronicle should find a welcome audience among firefighting buffs. A third of the author's royalties will go to the Chief Ray Downey Scholarship Fund and the Rescue 2 Memorial Fund. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

“Playwright David Foley is a rich new find.”—The New York Post Three plays about religion, family and lifestyle, and the often problematic connections between them. Includes Mother Caldwell; The Last Days of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, in Exile; and Suffering the Witch. David Foley has written nine plays, ranging in subject from the Trojan War to a turn-of-the-century Naval sex scandal.

Last year's much-ballyhooed The Bitch in the House, edited by Hanauer, collated essays by women on their frustration and rage. Now Jones (Hanauer's husband and a novelist and journalist) offers the male version, wherein guys discuss how they feel about their standing in today's shifting cultural landscape (that is, if they care at all). As Jones notes, "The fact that women are in charge of their own birth control and reproduction may be a gigantic cultural shift, but I've yet to hear a single man complain about it." Divided into sections on "Hunting and Gathering," "Can't Be Trusted With Simple Tasks," "Bicycles for Fish" and "All I Need," the essays vary from somewhat revelatory to unsurprising, but they are almost uniformly entertaining and well written. There are several pieces in the vein of Christopher Russell's droll snippet about being bossed around by his Type A wife. Despite her "officious way," deep down, Russell knows her fussiness is often necessary. Some are more visceral, like Robert Skates's display of his jaded humor about the pain of divorce ("Punching doors seems to help. Throwing phones through windows ain't bad either"), or Jarhead author Anthony Swofford's wry tale of beating up a guy at a bar who was molesting Swofford's passed-out girlfriend. While precious few entries stray from the rested maunderings of educated professionals-there's no real scoop on what guys on the assembly line think-the book still manages to open a window into a place many women are pretty convinced doesn't exist: the male psyche. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Meet Leslie, a gallery owner in New York City; Donna, a pharmaceutical sales manager in Texas; Lynne, an animal trainer in Utah; and Betsy, a CEO in California. These women and ninety-six others are members of The Happy 100, a diverse group of women who love their jobs unequivocally. While many workers across America feel bored, unrecognized, and unchallenged, these women greet each new workday with pleasure and a sense of anticipation. What’s their secret? There are concrete connections between each woman’s job and her unique combination of skills, character, and personality, and Be Happy at Work highlights them through candid snapshots of their working lives and career journeys. Author Joanne Gordon has identified three universal themes and ten categories of happy working women, demonstrating the core reasons of their fulfillment. There are The Lovers, women whose work champions a personal passion; The Thinkers, who thrive on intellectual challenge; The Surviving Artists, who make a sustainable living from a creative endeavor; The Determinators, who feed a need for control and influence; The Heroines, who work to change the world; and The Builders, who enjoy building a company, a team, or a product from the ground up. Each of Gordon’s interviewees fits into one of these groups–everyone from actress Stockard Channing, broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl, and songwriter Diane Warren to everyday women who work as a screwdriver manufacturer, a truck driver, and a hospital clown. Gordon tells each their stories and reveals why each woman is happy with her choice–and how readers can achieve the same happiness in their own working lives. Here are the inspiring stories of a chef at the South Pole, a scientist, a judge, a forest ranger, an investment banker, and a Manhattan doorperson, among others. The Happy 100 are all real women whose career stories will help you find yourself in their company. Be Happy at Work proves that loving one’s job is not a luxury for the lucky–it’s a real, attainable possibility for every woman, everywhere.

What does he really mean when he says: “It’s not you, it’s me”? Profanity. Egging. Xanax. Oh, the things men (and even some women) will resort to when love’s gone awry. In The Encyclopedia of Exes, some of today’s hippest male writers dig deep into their romantic pasts to present twenty-six inspired pieces of short fiction on heartbreak and failed relationships. Their stories, ranging from the passionate to the cynical to the downright hilarious, address the age-old issue of how and why romance often fails—from a uniquely male perspective. Ever wondered just what men do with their broken hearts, or why they break women’s hearts so often? The Encyclopedia of Exes demystifies the inner workings of the male psyche to the benefit of women everywhere, featuring a broad range of writers. Anthony by Steve Almond • The Breakup Ceremony by Touré • Car by Matthew Sharpe • Devotion by Adam Langer • Egging by Jeff Johnson • Five by Jonathan Lethem • Geography by Michael Schur • Honesty by Ben Greenman • Innocence by Nick Fowler • John by Joshua Braff • Kiss by Anthony Schneider • Last by Richard Rushfield • Murmur by Panio Gianopoulos • Nightlife by Lee Klein • Over by Jack Murnighan • Profanity by Darin Strauss • Quitting by Dan Guterman • Radio by Sebastian Matthews • Sealed-off by Jonathan Ames • Triangle by Gary Shteyngart • Unambiguous by Ben Schrank • Virginity by Neal Pollack • Winston by Lewis Robinson • Xanax by Marc Spitz • Youth by Justin Haythe • Z by Dan Kennedy • and a Preface by John Aboud An encyclopedic approach to our most enduring mystery, The Encyclopedia of Exes offers insight, humor, quality writing, and an unparalleled look inside the male mind.

Grade 5-8–The front copy promises "fits of uncontrollable laughter," but this chick-lit entry fails to deliver. Moving from California to Philadelphia and entering seventh grade in a new school, Raisin deplores the results of her mother's marriage to "Horse Ass," or Horace. She admires people for their looks and clothes, fails to appreciate her only acquaintance as a patient prince of a guy, and generally displays every obnoxious middle school characteristic imaginable. Recounting events through the blog to her buddies back home in Berkeley, Raisin details every embarrassing and thoughtless idea she has ever had, specializing in a long description of her travails on the arrival of her first period. This is actually the best part of the book, and updates "that Margaret person" whom Raisin thinks was nuts to actually look forward to this event. The inevitable denouement when everyone reads her entire blog is not surprising; nor is the fact that Raisin learns very little from the whole experience. There are better, funnier, and more realistic tales about adjusting to a new life after a parent's divorce. Shallow, very shallow.–Carol A. Edwards, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, CO Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

With simple but delightful storytelling, Kevin Carroll channels his childhood passion for sport and play into a universally appealing blueprint for life. Drawing wisdom from the playgrounds of his youth, where he spent hour upon hour sharpening his body and his mind, Carroll shares with readers his Rules of the Red Rubber Ball -- how to achieve maximum human potential through the power of passion and creativity. Finding your own "red rubber ball" and chasing it to your heart s content, he argues, is the surest route to peace, prosperity, and happiness. Over the years as an athletic trainer and public speaker, Carroll has transformed his philosophy into seven simple rules that any successful leader will endorse: 1) Commit to it 2) Seek out encouragers 3) Work out your creative muscle 4) Prepare to shine 5) Speak up 6) Expect the unexpected 7) Maximize the day With an award-winning design and color photos throughout, Rules of the Red Rubber Ball will inspire the child in everyone for generations to come.

Soho Press cofounder and publisher Jurjevics gives a knowing nod to apocalyptic plot expectations for biohazard thrillers, but the real passion of his debut lies in presenting difficult science clearly, creating complex characters and playing Cassandra on the environment. Four members of Arctic Research Station Trudeau go missing: three of them turn up, still in their cold-weather suits, twisted into positions of inexplicably grotesque and agonizing death; the fourth lays nearby, naked and frozen solid. Jessie Hanley, an epidemiologist working for a California biotech firm, is hired by the Canadian government to parachute into the isolated facility and track down the cause of the mysterious deaths. Jurjevics lovingly details the Trudeau Station facility, bringing its scientific community to life along with the brutal but beautiful surrounding Arctic environment. A parallel plot features several Russian submarines and a cold war secret that eventually comes to light and bears on the pathogen's origins. It slows down the search for the virulent, always-fatal disease. While not quite over-the-top enough for bestsellerdom, Jurjevics's debut will lure those with a taste for deep science, medical intricacies and a plot that twists and shines like the aurora borealis. 5-city author tour. (On sale Aug. 22) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Journalist Konigsberg embarks on a lengthy odyssey when he discovers, by chance, a dark secret that has haunted his respectable Midwestern Jewish family: his great-uncle has spent most of the past four decades in jail for a series of brutal crimes. Great-uncle Heshy "Kayo" Konigsberg eventually calls the author from prison (he wants to fictionalize his life) and sets in motion a series of bizarre visits during which the criminal attempts to manipulate the younger man's sympathies. Despite the author's clear-eyed awareness of his relative's misdeeds, which include vicious gangland murders that will remind many of the career of Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, he has a hard time staying away from the prison. Though "nasty, brutish, and short-tempered," Kayo is also oddly "ingratiating." But while Konigsberg succeeds at introducing touches of humor and deftly brings his family members to life, too much remains cryptic—particularly what led Kayo to his career path—to make the narrative fully satisfying. The author's determination to continue his quest becomes even more puzzling when Kayo's reaction to his planned piece for the New Yorker leads him to fear for his life. Nonetheless, this debut, with its atypical perspective on organized crime, will intrigue many readers. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A baby boom has hit Brooklyn, and the borough known as a cool Manhattan alternative is getting in the family way! No longer do Brooklyn babies have to be born, fed, and clothed on the island of Manhattan.

Description: Moon Mirror focuses on a singular aspect of Rebecca Horn's extraordinarily diverse oeuvre, one that plays an important role in the formal constitution of her large sculptures and installations: the relationship between the work of art and its architectural setting. Presented here is a range of pieces, from early works of the 1970s to sculptures and installations realized in 2003. In Mekasten and R ume berhren sich in Spiegeln, both made in the 70s, the human body is the measure of spatial perception. In the late-80s installation Das gegenl ufige Konzert, Horn worked site-specifically within a building of dubious political background--the Zwinger, where countless people were tortured during the Nazi regime--exploring its history and creating a place of remembrance. In the recent Moon Mirror, a work installed in Pollen a, Majorca, the artist created a column of air between a fountain constructed of mirrors and an eddy of light beneath the dome of the Stiftskirche. At the point at which the Orient and the Occident meet, the moon is captured as a "vehicle of human vision and expression." The viewer descends into the depths of the fountain and transcends her own horizon in order to survey the heavens anew.

Americans often think of New Jersey as an environmental nightmare. As seen from its infamous turnpike, which is how many travelers experience the Garden State, it is difficult not to be troubled by the wealth of industrial plants, belching smokestacks, and hills upon hills of landfills. Yet those living and working in New Jersey often experience a very different environment. Despite its dense population and urban growth, two-thirds of the state remains covered in farmland and forest, and New Jersey has a larger percentage of land dedicated to state parks and forestland than the average for all states. It is this ecological paradox that makes New Jersey important for understanding the relationship between Americans and their natural world. In New Jersey's Environments, historians, policy-makers, and earth scientists use a case study approach to uncover the causes and consequences of decisions regarding land use, resources, and conservation. Nine essays consider topics ranging from solid waste and wildlife management to the effects of sprawl on natural disaster preparedness. The state is astonishingly diverse and faces more than the usual competing interests from environmentalists, citizens, and businesses. This book documents the innovations and compromises created on behalf of and in response to growing environmental concerns in New Jersey, all of which set examples on the local level for nationwide and worldwide efforts that share the goal of February 2006 the natural world.

This compulsively readable guide looks deep into the heart of the windy city, uncovering the stories behind startling headlines, quirky laws, and obscure police logs. From classic "strange but true" tales that made the national news to little-known, but equally odd, reports to the city desk, each story could only happen here.

This compulsively readable guide looks deep into the heart of the windy city, uncovering the stories behind startling headlines, quirky laws, and obscure police logs. From classic "strange but true" tales that made the national news to little-known, but equally odd, reports to the city desk, each story could only happen here.

This new series will visit major US cities, bringing together their most bizarre news items —classic “strange but true” stories that reached the “and finally” sections of news reports worldwide.

Bright's 12th annual compendium of hot reads makes the perfect lubricious valentine. As usual, she offers her trademarked something-for-everyone mix, which extends well beyond the usual categories of straight/bi/gay. Lisa Montanarelli's "Loved It and Set It Free," for example, recounts the adventures of two girls who decide to watch some porn together, while Bert Hart's "My Puritan Reader," set in "the Yeare of Our Lord 1692," hilariously pits handsome young John Smythe against a young suspected-witch who must be examined closely-very closely-for signs of Satan upon her intimate flesh. Greta Christina flawlessly executes a tale of woman-on-woman sexual humiliation in "View from the Fourteenth Floor." And, in Mary Gaitskill's "Ugly Cock Dance," menopausal married love finds its poet laureate. While not all the stories are as deftly written as these four, the collection as a whole stands as a love-letter to humanity, in all its varieties. What Kinsey did for his fellow travelers, Bright does, again, for hers. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In 1957, The Lonely Doll made model/actress turned author/photographer Dare Wright famous. The children's book told the story of Edith, a lonely doll until two teddy bears—a father and son—come to live with her. This dark and painfully poignant biography, tells the story of the beautiful and creative Dare (1914–2001), who was separated from her own father and brother when she was three. Alone with her strong-willed, manipulative mother, Edie, Dare strove to please her, Nathan writes, "playing handmaiden to Edie's queen as Edie created their own private universe" of dressup and pretend. Their closeness becomes increasingly disturbing, keeping Dare a child even as she matures into womanhood. There's a suggestion by some who knew them of a sexual element in the relationship, but Nathan is careful not to speculate. With Edie's death near the end of the book the story loses some of its clarity, because despite having many friends, Dare doesn't know how to live without her mother; the downward spiral of her final years is horrifying yet incomprehensible. But this is a quibble, and doesn't detract from the fascinating and elusive girl/woman at the center of this story. Photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Starred Review. A thoughtful, satisfying meditation on race and family history, Raboteau's novel is that rare debut by a young author that stands out not for its stylistic swagger or precocity, but for its simple grace and absolute wisdom. The title character, Emma Boudreaux, and her "twin" brother, Bernie, are the products of an interracial marriage and an unconventional household. But while Bernie embraces his blackness, Emma is less sure about who she is; still, she chooses to defer to her brother and their shared "skin." As an adolescent she only vaguely grasps the mysterious legacy of her black father, who went from an impoverished, segregated Mississippi childhood-his own father having been publicly lynched-to an esteemed academic career at Princeton University. That her father is often absent from family life only deepens Emma's connection with her brother. But when Bernie falls into a coma after a freak accident, Emma, now a freshman at Yale, is forced to reevaluate her identity. With shifting points of view, the novel weaves together unexpected fragments, like a paper Emma "wrote" for a post-colonial African novel class and her comatose brother's lucid dreams. Drawing from the traditions of African storytelling, the novel maps a mythically rich terrain without ever leaving the confines of American realism. Raboteau, who has already won awards for her fiction, has an assured voice that illuminates pain as acutely as love, and this book flaunts her exceptional storytelling talents. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The title of this collection of humorous essays could also serve as a warning label for its readers. They'll want to stay on guard as GQ writer-at-large Rakoff (Fraud) skewers everything and everyone he encounters. His writing is at its best when trained on the pompous and ostentatious: flying on the Concorde or visiting an exclusive, $1,300-a-night resort off Belize. While attending the Paris couture shows, Rakoff reveals the silliness of the whole enterprise with quips about Karl Lagerfeld's pre–weight loss "large doughy rump" and the "dry spaghetti" of one model's hair. In another piece, a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon tells Rakoff, "this is the Dark Ages" for cosmetic surgery (meaning that future generations will be amazed by the inevitable advances) before taking him into an examination room. While Rakoff's sardonic wit is clearly his greatest asset, it is sometimes his undoing; the same dry humor that works so well when aimed at the rich and decadent seems mean-spirited when applied to less prominent targets, like "Wildman" Steve Brill, who forages for food in New York City's parks. Still, Rakoff is generally a knowing observer of "first world problems," and his devilishly uncomfortable commentaries are generally quite funny. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Raeburn writes, "[T]here is no manual for taking care of a child with a psychiatric ailment," and it's crucial that readers of this soul-baring memoir know this isn't meant to be one. Raeburn fully discloses the daily struggles he faces with his childrenâ€"one bipolar, the other chronically depressedâ€"but what emerges is less about them than about him. He is the center of the narrativeâ€"a pragmatic journalist with an anger problem and a failed marriage who wants what's best for his children, but like most parents is groping in the dark for what that is. Honorably, Raeburn publicly acknowledges his thwarted search for parenting solutions. This work is, in some ways, his extended apology to his children for this failing. But the book serves a public good, too: it will remind parents of children with mental illness that they aren't alone in their exhausting quest to find adequate health care, fight insurance companies and love unconditionally. In fact, they're part of a growing community of parents scrambling to get their children the few resources that exist. The book, though focused on the personal, does have larger political implications. Unfortunately Raeburn, a former Business Week science and medicine writer, isn't adept at weaving the broader importance into his smaller story. When he incorporates research or sociological observation, it feels segmented and distracting. Raeburn's greatest gift is his brave honesty. He challenges all parents to take responsibility and claim their part in their children's pain. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

ere are nine one acts by Jacquelyn Reingold (author of and ) that have been produced in New York at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, HB Playwrights Theatre, at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and at theatres across the country. Included are short plays about a woman who falls for a bee; a bee who falls for a man; a romance at Henny Youngman s funeral; a sea monster in a hospital room; a bittersweet memory on a beach; two theatre-loving cockroaches at the end of the world; a Cambodian immigrant who proposes to a homeless man; and a young woman without a vagina who finds a way to get one. The collection includes JOE AND STEW S THEATRE OF BROTHERLY LOVE AND FINANCIAL SUCCESS (2 men); DOTTIE AND RICHIE (1 man, 1 woman); FOR-EVERETT (2 men, 1 woman); 2B (OR NOT 2B) (1 man, 1 woman); JILEY NANCE AND LEDNERG (2 women); CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT (1 man, 10 women); 2B (OR NOT 2B) PART 2 (1 man, 1 woman); TUNNEL OF LOVE (2 men, 4 women); DEAR KENNETH BLAKE (1 man, 1 woman).

"...he's like none other...profound, crazed, arising from beginnings so brutal they make a razor strap seem easy to endure." -- June Akers Seese, author of James Mason and the Walk-In Closet "I found the narrator's "tetched" voice to be addictive. His detachment motivates me to turn the page to hear more." -- KGBbarlit.com "Raw, intense, and unapologetically shocking, Tetched is, by journey’s end, an…inventive work of exceptional beauty." -- Rigoberto González, author of So Often the Pitcher Goes to Water Until It Breaks "Rutkowski evokes skillfully the internal conflicts that accompany a thorny childhood and its volatile, often absurd aftermath." -- Mad Hatters' Review: Edgy & Enlightened Literature, Art & Music in the Age of Dementia "Rutkowski's novel has the depth and complexity required to engage the reader utterly in a seamless, forward-moving narrative." -- Susan Piperato, Chronogram Magazine "Thaddeus Rutkowski writes with wit, poignancy, irony, sensuality, spareness and style." -- Janice Eidus, author of The Celibacy Club "Tough and funny and touching and harrowing." -- John Barth "…one of the most original writers in America today." -- Alison Lurie, 1985 Pulitzer Prize winner for Foreign Affairs.

The coauthors of The Botox Diaries reprise their flighty, feel-good formula for women's fiction with their second novel, about affluent divorced women friends living in a Westchester-style suburb of New York City. Sara, a caterer in her early 40s whose first husband, James, ran off to Patagonia eight years ago, has moved into her fianc Bradford's house in Hadley Farms with her young son, Dylan. Sara's best friend, Kate, a fancy Manhattan dermatologist, is having an affair with a wealthy married man, Owen, while their other friend Berni, pregnant with twins, has relocated from the West Coast, having left her job as a successful Hollywood agent to embrace motherhood. Complications ensue for all: Bradford's snide ex-wife drops in, and their rude 14-year-old daughter, Skylar, makes hell for Sara, just when James reappears to win Sara back. However, Sara's catering career takes off after a cable TV appearance, while Owen decides to leave his blond trophy wife. Predictably, Sara and Skylar become friends, Bradford and Sara prove a lasting match and even Kate makes a sage decision regarding Owen. "Getting older and smarter and more confident isn't that bad," the ladies collectively decide. This is a cotton-candy read-sweet, if a bit stale-for a day at the beach. Agent, Jane Gelfman. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Moneyed suburban moms are the belles of this midlife romantic comedy. Divorced Jess Taylor saw the back side of 40 a few years ago, but doesn't much care. She's got her bubbly 10-year-old daughter, Jen, a house in New York City suburb Pine Hills and a fulfilling job at the Arts Council for Kids. She's also got a similarly equipped best friend—except Lucy has a glamorous TV producer gig, loving husband Dan, and now, suddenly, a famous TV show host lover. Jess is appalled, but secretly she wonders if she's not missing out. Enter Jacques, long-ago ex-husband, who's just as unsuitable—and sexy—as ever. Sprightly Jen is determined to get her mom hitched, up to and including booking her on a reality dating show. Meanwhile, Jess has to get New York City's wealthy and aptly named Alpha Moms together to cast their children alongside project kids in a small-scale benefit production of My Fair Lady, which somehow ends up taking place at Lincoln Center. This amiable, good-natured comedy will put the reader in mind of her favorite flannel pajamas—not sexy, exactly, but comfortable and fun. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Abe the Emancipator, argues Washington Monthly contributor Shenk, struggled with persistent clinical depression. The first major bout came in his 20s, and the disease dogged him for the rest of his life. That Lincoln suffered from "melancholy" isn't new. Shenk's innovation is in saying, first, that this knowledge can be illuminated by today's understanding of depression and, second, that our understanding of depression can be illuminated by the knowledge that depression was actually a source of Lincoln's greatness. Lincoln's strategies for dealing with it are worth noting today: at least once, he took a popular pill known as the "blue mass"—essentially mercury—and also once purchased cocaine. Further, Lincoln's famed sense of humor, suggests Shenk, may have been compensatory, and he also took refuge in poetry. Unlike Americans today, Shenk notes, 19th-century voters and pundits were more forgiving of psychological and emotional complexity, and a certain prophetic pessimism, he notes, was appropriate to the era of the Civil War. Occasionally, Shenk chases down an odd rabbit trail—an opening meditation on whether Lincoln was gay, for example, is neither conclusive nor apposite. Still, this is sensitive history, with important implications for the present. (Sept. 20) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Animals play the starring roles in Tinti's striking debut collection. In 11 highly original, sometimes gorgeous stories, they are freighted with the symbolic significance of all that is peculiar, cruel and loving in their human counterparts. "Big animals are like big problems," says the title story's zookeeper, but more often, it's people and their complex relationships to themselves and one another that cause the problems. In "Preservation," a young painter charged with restoring murals in a natural history museum's dioramas is haunted by the impending death of her artist father in the form of a stuffed black bear come to life. A woman mourns the loss of her lover while caring for his pet boa constrictor in "How to Revitalize the Snake in Your Life." Tinti's weaker stories"-Gallus, Gallus" and "Hit Man of the Year"-read more like parables and lack the psychological realism that makes her wildest notions work so brilliantly. At its best, Tinti's suburban gothic recalls Joy Williams, where violence is domesticated though no less horrifying: a mother commits murder and covers the body with breakfast cereal in "Home Sweet Home," while in "Bloodworks," a father with his own history of cruelty to animals discovers a dead kitten in his son's closet and worries that there is "something in the family blood." A redeeming generosity underlies the harsher realities in these stories, and it is to Tinti's credit that her zookeepers and pet owners, as flawed as they are, are as sympathetic as her wise giraffes and gentle bunnies. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

In her second novel, Southgate (The Fall of Rome) explores how one generation's liberation becomes another's idea of constraint. Nested narratives follow three black women—Mildred, daughter Angela, and granddaughter Tamara—briefly breaking tradition to define themselves. Tamara, an aspiring Spike Lee, frames the tale of Angela, who escapes a prosaic life playing the obligatory naked black woman in the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Hollywood's limitations turn Angela's dreams to frustration, and her outsized sexual displays incur her mother's wrath. Bold decisions and compromises leave Angela, a single mother working in a doctor's office by day, watching videos of her glory days at night with her female lover, while insisting that she is not a "dyke." The narrative spirals back to Mildred, showing how movies—a conduit through which Mildred and teenage Angela connect—are a window to a better world. The narrative culminates in Tamara's documentary about Angela, Mildred and herself, black women in America, "making their lives mean something where they can." While what should invigorate—Tamara taking the creative reins of a form her elders limitedly participated in—lacks conviction because of a too-neat conclusion, the book's emotional intensity and its characters' complex motivation overcome occasional simplification. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In 1980, when she was 15, Shields starred in The Blue Lagoon. In the movie, her character accidentally becomes pregnant, and when her son is born, he intuitively finds his way to her breast as Shields looks on with love and contentment. The irony of this scene isn't lost on the grown-up Shields, who not only did not become pregnant accidentally—numerous IVF cycles and a miscarriage preceded the 2003 birth of her daughter—but suffered a devastating aftermath to that birth. "I was in a bizarre state of mind," Shields describes, "experiencing feelings that ranged from embarrassment to stoicism to melancholy to shock, practically at once. I didn't feel at all joyful." Shields assumed she'd bounce back in a few days, after resting from her difficult labor. Instead, her feelings intensified: "This was sadness of a shockingly different magnitude. It felt as if it would never go away." While Shields denied anything was wrong, the persistence of friends and her husband persuaded her to seek treatment through medication and therapy. This brave memoir doesn't shy away from Shields's most difficult moments, including her suicidal thoughts, clearly showing the despair postpartum depression can wreak. While the writing is sometimes repetitive and clichéd, it does emphasize the depth of Shields's depression. This tale will bring awareness of a problem that so many mothers have been afraid to discuss; look for this book to touch off a flurry of lifestyle pieces. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Told largely in retrospect, this ambitious debut by Indian émigré filmmaker Vachani is narrated by Sweta, who presides over her family history with equal parts passion and uncertainty. Born in 1958, Sweta lives with her grandparents, while her father, Ranjit Ronu Kalra, serves as an Indian air force pilot. The book takes its title from the khadi cloth favored by Gandhi, and it becomes a symbol of the unhappy divide between Sweta's grandfather, a fighter for Indian independence, and her grandmother, a fashion plate. The fight for independence, WWII, border battles with Pakistan, and Vietnam permeate the novel, separating families and dividing the populace along religious and ethnic lines. Sweta darts in and out of the story as, most of the time, an inscrutable, sullen and overweight teenager. Around her swirl the stories of her grandparents' ugly marriage, of her father's childhood as a film star and of his first love. Most moving is the figure of Nanaji, Sweta's grandfather, a tender man committed to principles and making the best of the hand he's dealt. The book opens with his death and frontloads the many characters, but Nanaji and Sweta's poignant relationship pulls the reader through manifold tragedy and serendipity.

Popular astrologist Andrea Valeria provides stellar insight into relationships and love with her newest guide to astrology. She explores each sign of the zodiac, citing the strengths and weaknesses, possibilities and vulnerabilities on the road to romance. But, in an unusual twist, Valeria takes readers back to the earliest evolution of astronomy/astrology. She presents the historical development of each sign as well as the myths and legends derived from the ancient cosmos. Choice poetic and literary references are sprinkled throughout the book. These and her irrepressible--sometimes, irreverent-sense of humor make for a little more than your average astrological encounter. According to the author, "Everyone deserves to experience that one great, all-consuming, passionate love, at least once in their lives. And every day, we could all use just a little more love, whether we're on the prowl for a brief fling, been married for decades, or something in between. And we can look to the stars to help show us the way."rendipity.

Even before the end of WWII, the Allies declared Austria the first victim of German aggression. Austrians have savored this designation, which gave them a halo of innocence and spared them the full force of postwar occupation and control. Weyr isn't so sure the Austrians deserved to be so well treated. In this fast-paced chronicle of the destruction of the city's cultural and political life, he shows that most Austrians happily accepted the 1938 union with Germany and the benefits of the pillaging of Europe in the war's first years. Many Viennese exercised their basest instincts through the public humiliation of Jews. For Weyr, Nazi domination led to the destruction of the glittering culture of Vienna, the city of Freud, Klimt, Loos and so many other intellectual and artistic luminaries. That city had been, Weyr says, "largely a Jewish creation," the fruit of a multiethnic, tolerant milieu. Weyr, a native of Vienna and longtime reporter for UPI and Newsweek, mourns the passing of that world as he provides a decent account of the city's history, drawing on memoirs and autobiographies that give the work a rich texture. But to gain deeper understanding of Viennese culture and the effects of Nazi rule, readers are better off with the notable studies by Carl Schorske, Gary B. Cohen, Evan Bukey, Marsha Rozenblitt and others. 25 b&w illus. Agent, Carl Brandt. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Few write with more honesty and lyricism about tough issues than Lisa Williams in Letters to Virginia Woolf. -- Chella Courington, author, Southern Girl Gone Wrong

Wintle, a 40-year-old, gay, obsessive-compulsive New Yorker, rescues his 13-year-old niece, Tiffany, from her Connecticut home, where she fought with her recovering alcoholic mother, associated with delinquents and feared her mother's violent boyfriend. He has lived to tell the tale and does an exceptional job portraying Tiffany as a complex teenager, capable of eliciting sympathy one moment and animosity the next. She drinks, smokes and dabbles in drugs yet sings beautifully, writes poetry and excels in school when she tries; meanwhile, he struggles with his responsibilities as a guardian while trying to maintain his own life and career (he negotiates book-to-film deals). At times, Wintle comes off as a martyr: "I'd turned into a nasty, abusive parent," he writes after a fight with Tiffany. Yet her behavior is sometimes so atrocious, one can't help wondering why he doesn't yell at her more. Wintle is balanced in his portrayal, and glimpses of Tiffany's softer side explain why he has taken her in. The lighthearted tone makes a serious subject amusing, and Wintle is charmingly self-deprecating. Although the ending doesn't tie up all the loose ends, the journey is eye-opening, and anyone who's wondered about the mysterious lives of teenagers will enjoy Wintle's tale. Agent, Mitchell Waters. (June 15) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This affecting, poetic paper-over-board picture book stands out from the first glance. On the innovative cover, a montage of black-and-white pictures of African-American captives, arranged to resemble a quilt, act as a background to a diamond-shaped die-cut opening that frames the image of an African-American girl holding a lighted candle. Woodson's (Coming on Home Soon) story, both historical and deeply personal, begins as a seven-year-old girl is sold into slavery and taken to a South Carolina plantation "without her ma or pa but with some muslin her ma had given her." There she learns to "sew colored thread into stars and moons and roads that slave children grew up and followed late in the night, a piece of quilt and the true moon leading them." Later, her daughter also stitches quilts that become "a Show Way" to guide captives escaping to freedom. The quilt becomes a metaphor not only for physical freedom but for freedom of expression. Long after emancipation, subsequent generations of women in this family stay connected through quilting, using needle and thread as a means of support and as a creative outlet. Woodson eventually reveals that this is her own lineage, and "[her] words became books that told the stories of many people's Show Ways." Talbott uses the quilt motif in rousing ways, piecing together quotes or news items for a pair of spreads about one generation "walking in a line to change the laws" as well as in softly quilted patterns that tie together the love of a child, a theme throughout this elegantly designed volume. Ages 5-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Show Business Is Murder, the latest theme anthology presented by the Mystery Writers of America and edited by Stuart M. Kaminsky, boasts some impressive talent, including Edward D. Hoch, Annette Meyers and Mat Coward, but lacks sparkle. The 20 original stories offer something for every taste, covering all forms of show business, from vaudeville and pop music to TV and scriptwriting. Agent, Howard Morhaim. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Este libro de relatos resulta un homenaje que Guillermo Samperio brindó a Raymond Carver (1939), autor que sorprendió al mundo con sus cuentos y que tuvo una temprana muerte, a la edad de 49 años. Samperio invitó a muchos escritores a que escribiesen un cuento a la manera de Carver, o con tema carveriano, para romper ese silencio. Por fortuna, la gran mayoría de los escritores respondió y esta reunión de textos cuenta con autores estadounidenses, españoles, latinoamericanos (entre ellos muchos brasileños), mexicanos, una francesa y un húngaro. Un joven escritor británico realizó el aporte más prodigioso del libro: le fue dada una libreta que Raymond Carver olvidó en Londres y que se encontraba en la oficina de objetos extraviados del National Poetry Center. Logró transcribirlos y mandarlos a Samperio, con lo cual el antólogo completó el esfuerzo de tantas personas.