Neko Case

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Iowa

A Memoir

The Harder I Fight the More I Love You

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Andra Bucci

Tatiana Bucci

Ann Goldstein

A True Story of Family and Survival in Auschwitz

*NOW WITH A DETAILED READING GROUP GUIDE*
 
A haunting WWII memoir of two sisters who survived Auschwitz that picks up where Anne Frank's Diary left off and gives voice to the children we lost.

On March 28, 1944, six-year-old Tati and her four-year-old sister Andra were roused from their sleep and arrested. Along with their mother, Mira, their aunt, and cousin Sergio, they were deported to Auschwitz.
 
Over 230,000 children were deported to the camp, where Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death, performed deadly experiments on them. Only a few dozen children survived, Tati and Andra among them.
 
Tati, Andra, and Sergio were separated from their mothers upon arrival. But Mira was determined to keep track of her girls. After being tattooed with their inmate numbers, she made them memorize her number and told them to "always remember your name." In keeping this promise to their mother, the sisters were able to be reunited with their parents when WWII ended.
 
An unforgettable narrative of the power of sisterhood in the most extreme circumstances, and of how a mother's love can overcome the most impossible odds, the Bucci sisters' memoir is a timely reminder that separating families is an inexcusable evil.

Always Remember Your Name

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Pardis Mahdavi

There is a cut in the spine from the publisher but it doesn’t affect readability 

The True Story of the Middle Eastern Horsewomen Who Fought the War on Terror

The untold story of generations of Middle Eastern freedom fighters--horsewomen who safeguarded an ancient breed of Caspian horse--and their efforts to defend their homelands from the Taliban and others seeking to destroy them.



Book of Queens reaches back centuries to the Persian Empire and a woman disguised as a man, facing an invading army, protected only by light armor and the stallion she sat astride. Mahdavi draws a thread from past to present: from her fearless Iranian grandmother, who guided survivors of domestic violence to independent mountain colonies in Afghanistan where the women, led by a general named Mina, became their country's first line of defense from marauding warlords. To the female warriors who helped train and breed the horses used by US Green Berets when they touched down in October 2001, with a mission but insufficient intelligence on the ground--women whose contributions were then forgotten.



Pardis Mahdavi chases the legacy of Caspian horses and the women whose lives are saved by them, drawing on decades of research, newly-discovered diaries, and exclusive military sources. Among those intersecting stories is that of American Louise Firouz, who helped bring the breed back from the brink of extinction, connecting Virginia traders to British royals to the son of the Shah. Firouz's life is forever changed when she meets Mahdavi's own family, who run an unusual smuggling operation in addition to raising horses in a wild bid for freedom.



Book of Queens is an epic tale of hidden women whose communal knowledge was instrumental in saving an animal as ancient as civilization, and who were the genesis of their own liberation.

Book of Queens

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Eugene Lipov

Jamie Mustard

Holly Lorincz

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

The Startling Truth about Trauma and the Scientific Breakthrough That Can Transform Your Life

The world has long misunderstood trauma. Now, leading experts in the field have a radical new understanding of post-traumatic
stress . . . and a surprising new treatment to reverse it could have profound implications for medicine, mental health, and society at large.

Despite its prevalence, post-traumatic stress, PTSD, is often seen as an unbeatable lifelong mental disorder. Leading trauma doctors and neuroscientists now understand that the result of trauma is not a disorder, but rather a physical injury to the body-invisible but tangible, and most importantly, treatable.


Meet Dr. Eugene Lipov. His research and partnerships have led to an amazing discovery that all trauma has at its root a single piece of human hardware- the stellate ganglion. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress are the same for all of us, whether from childhood poverty or abandonment, the ravages of war, or the brutality of sexual assault. Dr. Lipov's pioneering procedure appears to treat injury to the stellate ganglion, relieving even the worst symptoms of PTSD-irritability, hypervigilance, insomnia, and more-in a 15-minute treatment.

Weaving hard science with moving human stories, The Invisible Machine reveals how this treatment was developed. It also tells the incredible story of the unlikely team, including the doctor, an artist, Special Forces leadership, and a sheriff, who are working together to change our understanding of post-traumatic stress and why it matters to society.

Written in collaboration with Holly Lorincz and featuring stories of warriors, prisoners, abuse survivors, and the average citizen, The Invisible Machine reveals a stark new understanding of human pain. The implications for a better, pain-free world are astounding-and that world could be nearer than we think.

The Invisible Machine

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Lawrence Kasanoff

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

How to Be More Innovative in Work and Life ... by Being a Little Crazy

Legendary movie producer Larry Kasanoff knows firsthand that massive success requires taking big risks—it paid off for him with blockbusters Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Dirty Dancing, and other feature films. Now, he’s sharing behind-the-scenes stories and hard-won wisdom to help creatives thrive in any industry. Larry will be the first to tell you that excelling in any creative field requires taking big risks. It means embracing your crazy side: the most unique, boldest, and bravest part of you, and your greatest asset when it comes to creating something truly original. In A Touch of the Madness, Larry uses firsthand memories from working on some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, including Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Platoon, True Lies, Dirty Dancing, and the Mortal Kombat film series, to show you the three principles that form the foundation of a thriving career in any industry: Create a great idea that will excite your audience Ask as many times (and as many people) as it takes to get a “yes” Play while you work—don’t forget to have fun Companies and organizations tend to be comfortable with the tried and true. But customers are attracted to what’s new, different, and better. To be innovative, you have to be a little crazy. A Touch of the Madness will help you embrace your wildest creative impulses and live your dreams—without anyone holding you back.

A Touch of the Madness

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John Grisham

Jim McCloskey

Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions

In his first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, #1 bestselling author John Grisham and Centurion Ministries Founder Jim McCloskey share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions. Impeccably researched and grippingly told, Framed offers an inside look at the injustice faced by the victims of the United States criminal justice system. A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty there is very little room to prove doubt. Framed shares ten true stories of men who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, wives, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place, and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and the corrupt court system that can make them so hard to reverse. Told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of overcoming adversity when the battle already seems lost, and the deck is stacked against you.

Framed

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Amy Low

Notes from the Last Room

Lessons and advice on navigating uncertainty while battling stage four cancer after divorce in midlife Amy Low resides in a room that is her last--her medical team is clear-eyed with her: there is no cure for Stage IV metastatic colon cancer, and the odds of long-term survival are scant. Miraculously, she's lived four years with her diagnosis, and that life between life has changed her. Through the swirl of prolonged trauma and unbearable grief, a vantage point emerged--a window that showed her the way to relish life and be kinder to herself and others while living through the inevitable loss and heartbreak that crosses everyone's paths. Instead of viewing joy and sorrow as opposites, she saw how both exist in harmony, full of mystery and surprise. Instead of seeing days as succeeding or failing, and physical selves as healthy or unwell, she's learned to carry both achievements and afflictions in stride. And instead of bitterness and betrayal, forgiveness--toward her body, toward others, toward herself--became her wisest light. Mapping her experiences to the words that St. Paul wrote in his own last room, The Brave In-Between is a sacred invitation to explore that space between triumph and tragedy. We all have a heart to marvel at miracles, a lightness to spot the absurdity, and an imagination to pause and extend empathy for others--even when tragedy strikes. Sometimes we just need a guide.

The Brave In-Between

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Emily Farris

And Other Tales from My ADHD Brain

A hilariously-honest, heartwarming essay collection about life, love, and discovering you have ADHD at age 35 Despite being a published writer with a family, a gaggle of internet fans, and (most shockingly) a mortgage, Emily Farris could never get her sh*t together. As she saw it, disorganization was one of her countless character flaws--that is until she was diagnosed with ADHD at age 35. Like many girls who go undiagnosed, Emily grew up internalizing criticisms about her impulsivity and lack of follow-through. She held onto that shame as she tried (and often failed) to fit into a world designed for neurotypical brains. I'll Just Be Five More Minutes is a personal essay collection of laugh-out-loud-funny, tear-jerking, and at times cringey true stories of Emily's experiences as a neurodivergent woman. With the newfound knowledge of her ADHD, Emily candidly reexamines her complicated relationships (including one with a celebrity stalker), her money problems, the years she spent unknowingly self-medicating, and her hyperfixations (two words: decorative baskets). A memoir-in-essays both entertaining and enlightening, I'll Just Be Five More Minutes is for people with ADHD, as well as those who know and love them. This a powerful collection of deeply relatable, wide-ranging stories about a woman's right to control her own body, about overwhelm and oversharing, about drinking too much and sleeping too little, and about being misunderstood by the people closest to you. At its heart, I'll Just Be Five More Minutes is about not quite fitting in and not really understanding why--something we've all felt whether we're neurodivergent or not.

I'll Just Be Five More Minutes

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Francine Prose

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

A Personal History

1974

Bill Streever

The Search for Optimism in an Epoch of Extinction

An inspired and impassioned story of adventure that explores the richness of marine life and charts a path of resilience and hope. Everyone alive today is witnessing a mass extinction event caused by the more than eight billion humans who share this planet. At times, it seems there is little hope. Climate change, resource exploitation, agrochemicals, overfishing, plastics, dead zones in our oceans, drought and desertification, conversion of habitat to housing, farming, and industrial infrastructure—the list of impacts and insults goes on and on. We are, it seems, on an unalterable path that will continue to decimate biodiversity. A feeling of hopelessness, while not unwarranted, is part of the problem. Without hope, without some belief in the possibility of positive outcomes, the fight for nature is over. Why even try if the battle is already lost? While staring the problems squarely in the face, A Sea Full of Turtles offers hope for those who care about our living world. Delivered as a travel narrative set in Mexico’s Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), at one level the book focuses on dramatically underfunded but highly successful efforts to protect sea turtles. But the book goes beyond Mexico and beyond sea turtles to look at how some humans have changed their relationship with nature—and how that change can one day end the extinction crisis. Enchanting, galvanizing, and brimming with joy and wonder, A Sea Full of Turtles will inspire immediate action to face the great challenges that lie ahead. Pessimism is the lazy way out. Optimism, it turns out, is both a reasonable and an essential attitude for us all as we fight for the beautiful diversity of life on our Earth.

A Sea Full of Turtles

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Martina McGowan

Catharsis

"A Sweeter Song moves beyond the rage of McGowan's first poetry collection by showing that there is more than one dimension to the lives of people of color, women, and other marginalized and oppressed peoples, focusing on universal issues we all face as human beings. The issues covered in this collection include, but are not limited to: Personal history/ Parents/ Ancestors Love/Lust/ Loss Biblical Religion Death/Dying/ Aging War /Politics"--

A Sweeter Song

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Liz Ianelli

Bret Witter

Life Inside (and Outside) the Totally F*cked-Up Troubled Teen Industry

"There was a huge public outpouring to the recent articles in The New York Times about Family Foundation School, a last-resort institution for troubled teens in upstate New York. It described the near 50% death rate of alumni-including many by suicide-and how the survivors lived with their trauma in the years after leaving the school. A follow-up piece this January covered the shocking facts that came to light through multiple lawsuits and the continuing fight for justice on behalf of the survivors. No one would know this story without Liz, known around the world as Survivor993, and this searing memoir-for readers of works like Girl, Interrupted, Finding Me by Michelle Knight, and The Boy Who Was Raised by a Dog by Bruce Perry-shares the story of her years at Family Foundation, and her rage and recovery in the years after she left. Liz refused to live a quiet life after what she had been through; this is her story of pointing fingers and fighting back. Her hashtag #Iseeyousurvivor has been shared 237 million times. In a narrative reminiscent of Erin Brockovich, Liz and her group of "troubled teens" shut the Family Foundation School after testifying in Congress, and they went on to shutter The Agape Boys Ranch and Circle of Hope, two abusive Christian homes in Missouri. I SEE YOU, SURVIVOR, is about what really happened at The Family and the thousands of facilities like it, about how destroying a child through "tough love" is abuse, and the abuse of children has consequences. This book will challenge your faith, break your heart and make you cry-but this is not a dark book. It is an inspiring book. Because it's not a book about trauma, it's about triumph, and Liz's critical message for every survivor she sees: "You are not broken. You are not unlovable. And you are not alone. There are millions of us. And I come with a message, for you, for them, for everyone: They act strong, but we are stronger. We are worthy. We are not alone. Speak, and we will be there for you. Speak, because there is power in your testimony. Speak, and we will win.""--

I See You, Survivor

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Frederick Joseph

Reflections on Manhood

In this personal and poignant collection, the author of the New York Times bestseller The Black Friend examines the culture of masculinity through the lens of a Black man. What does it mean to be a man today? How does the pervasive yet elusive idea of "masculine toxicity" actually reflect men's experiences--particularly those of color--and how they navigate the world? In this thought-provoking collection of essays, poems, and short reflections, Frederick Joseph contemplates these questions and more as he explores issues of masculinity and patriarchy from both a personal and cultural standpoint. From fatherhood, and "manning up" to abuse and therapy, he fearlessly and thoughtfully tackles the complex realities of men's lives today and their significance for society, lending his insights as a Black man. Written in Joseph's unique voice, with an intelligence and raw honesty that demonstrates both his vulnerability and compassion, Patriarchy Blues forces us to consider the joys, pains, and destructive nature of manhood and the stereotypes it engenders.

Patriarchy Blues

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Brad Balukjian

On the Open Road in Search of Wrestlemania

From the bestselling author of The Wax Pack, comes another eye‑opening road trip adventure into a pocket of iconic pop culture--professional wrestling--starring the Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana, and many more larger‑than‑life characters of the WWF of the 1980s. In 2005, Brad Balukjian left his position as a magazine fact-checker to pursue a dream job: partner with his childhood hero, The Iron Sheik (whose real name was Khosrow Vaziri), to write his biography. Things quickly went south, culminating in the Sheik threatening Balukjian's life. Now seventeen years later, Balukjian returns to the road in search of not only a reunion with the Sheik, but something much bigger: truth in a world built on illusion. Balukjian seeks out six of the Sheik's contemporaries, fellow witnesses to the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) explosion in the mid-'80s, to unearth their true identities. As Balukjian drives 12,525 miles around the country, we revisit the heady days when these avatars of strength, villainy, and heroism first found fame and see where their journeys took them. From working out with Tony Atlas (Tony White) to visiting Hulk Hogan's (Terry Bollea) karaoke bar, we see where these men are now and how they have navigated the cliffs of fame. The Six Pack combines the spirit of a fan with the rigor of an investigative reporter, tracking down former WWF employees, childhood friends, and mutually curious archivists. Wrestling is perceived as a subculture without a cultural home, somewhere between sport and theater--often dismissed as silly and low‑brow. But what makes this book so compelling is the humanity beneath each wrestler. The Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan, and the rest of the cast were not characters in a comic book movie. They were real people, with families and feelings and bodies that could break. Most of them did, in fact, break; some have been repaired, but none of them will ever be the same.

The Six Pack

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Lyn Slater

Lessons in Living Boldly from the Accidental Icon

A personal memoir in which Lyn Slater, known on Instagram as “Accidental Icon,” brings her characteristic style, optimism, forward-thinking, and rules-are-meant-to-be-broken attitude to the question of how to live boldly at any age. When Lyn Slater started her fashion blog, Accidental Icon, at age sixty-one, she discovered that followers were flocking to her account for more than just her A-list style. As Lyn flaunted gray hair, wrinkles, and a megadose of self-acceptance, they found in her an alternative model of older life: someone who defied the stereotypes, refused to become invisible, and showed that all women have the opportunity to be relevant and take major risks at any stage of their life. Youth is not the only time we can be experimental. How to Be Old tells the ten-year story of Lyn’s sixties, the sometimes-glamorous, sometimes-turbulent decade of Accidental Icon. This memoir is about the hopeful and future-oriented process of reinvention. It shows readers that while you can’t control everything, what you can control is the way you think about your age and the creative ways you respond to the changes in your mind and body as they happen. Rather than trying to meet standards of youth and beauty as a measure of successful aging, Lyn promotes a more inclusive and empowering standard to judge our older selves by. In this paradigm-shifting memoir, Lyn exemplifies that even with its unique challenges, being old is just like any new beginning in your life and can be the best and most invigorating of all of life’s phases, full of rebellion and reinvention, connection and creativity.

How to Be Old

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Rebecca Struthers

A Watchmaker's History

"As impeccably crafted and precisely engineered as any of the watches on which the author has worked so lovingly over the years, this book is a joy to behold and a wonder to enjoy." -Simon Winchester, author of The Perfectionists and Land An award-winning watchmaker--one of the few practicing the art in the world today--chronicles the invention of time through the centuries-long story of one of mankind's most profound technological achievements: the watch. Timepieces have long accompanied us on our travels, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest, the ice of the arctic to the sands of the deserts, outer space to the surface of the moon. The watch has sculpted the social and economic development of modern society; it is an object that, when disassembled, can give us new insights both into the motivations of inventors and craftsmen of the past, and, into the lives of the people who treasured them. Hands of Time is a journey through watchmaking history, from the earliest attempts at time-keeping, to the breakthrough in engineering that gave us the first watch, to today - where the timepieces hold cultural and historical significance beyond what its first creators could have imagined. Acclaimed watchmaker Rebecca Struthers uses the most important watches throughout history to explore their attendant paradigm shifts in how we think about time, indeed how we think about our own humanity. From an up-close look at the birth of the fakes and forgeries industry which marked the watch as a valuable commodity, to the watches that helped us navigate trade expeditions, she reveals how these instruments have shaped how we build and then consequently make our way through the world. A fusion of art and science, history and social commentary, this fascinating work, told in Struthers's lively voice and illustrated with custom line drawings by her husband and fellow watchmaker Craig, is filled with her personal observations as an expert watchmaker--one of the few remaining at work in the world today. Horology is a vast subject--the "study of time." This compelling history offers a fresh take, exploring not only these watches within their time, but the role they played in human development and the impact they had on the people who treasured them.

Hands of Time

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Erin Carlson

The Inside Story of a League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood

The inside story of A League of Their Own--one of the most beloved, enduring, and genre‑busting baseball movies of all time--featuring exclusive interviews and behind‑the‑scenes memories from the original cast and creators, and chronicling how the Penny Marshall classic developed from an unheralded piece of American history into a perennial cinematic favorite. No Crying in Baseball is a rollicking, revelatory deep dive into a one‑of‑a‑kind film. Before A League of Their Own, few American girls could imagine themselves playing professional ball (and doing it better than the boys). But Penny Marshall's genre outlier became an instant classic and significant aha moment for countless young women who saw that throwing like a girl was far from an insult. Part fly‑on‑the‑wall narrative, part immersive pop nostalgia, No Crying in Baseball is for readers who love stories about subverting gender roles as well as fans of the film who remain passionate thirty years after its release. With key anecdotes from the cast, crew, and diehard fanatics, Carlson presents the definitive, first‑ever history of the making of the treasured film that inspired generations of Dottie Hinsons to dream bigger and aim for the sky.

No Crying in Baseball

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Hannah Carlson

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close

A fascinating and surprising social and design history of the sewn-in pocket, from the mid-fifteen hundreds up to today that uncovers what pockets reveal about us, our place in society, and how we move through the world. Who is allowed pockets and why? Why is it that men's clothes are full of pockets while women's have so few? How is it that putting your hands in them can be seen as a sign of laziness, arrogance, confidence, or perversion? Throughout the medieval era, the purse was an almost universal dress feature carried by men and women alike. But when men's bags, ostentatiously belted at their hips in Western Europe, moved inside clothing and the sewn-in pocket emerged, it ignited controversy and introduced a range of social issues concerning security, sexuality, power, and privilege that we continue to wrestle with today. In this abundantly illustrated four-color book, Hannah Carlson, who teaches in the apparel design department at the Rhode Island School of Design, asks a question many women are asking every day: Why do men get so many pockets, but women do not? But this pocket history is about a lot more than the politics of gender. Among her other questions: What did Walt Whitman do to usher in a new attitude toward pockets? Why are the contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets the most popular exhibit at the Library of Congress? What is the connection between pockets and pistols? And what else do we hide in our pockets? The book begins when tailoring receipts for men's sewn-in pockets first show up in the fifteen hundreds, and continues up to today, as hashtags like #PocketInequality, #wewantpockets, and #givemepocketsorgivemedeath have mobilized thousands of women to demand more from the companies they patronize. And The Pockets Book explores whether we will still need pockets when our clothes contain "smart" textiles that incorporate our IDs and credit cards and when our thumbprints replace the keys that open our front doors? The Pockets Book is for anyone intrigued by fashion but also for readers who want to discover the impact that the humble pocket has had on our culture, both high culture and pop culture.

Pockets

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An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups

Featuring 300 hours of new interviews with 90+ subjects, an oral history of the Girl Groups (such as The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas) that redefined that 1960s The Girl Group Sound, made famous and unforgettable by acts like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, took over the airwaves by capturing the mix of innocence and rebellion emblematic of America in in the 1960s. As songs like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Then He Kissed Me," and "Be My Baby" rose to number one, Girl Groups cornered the burgeoning post-war market of teenage rock and roll fans, indelibly shaping the trajectory of pop music in the process. But the story of the Girl Group Sound is also one of race and power. The women, most of whom were Black and many of whom were only teenagers when their first songs were recorded, were cultivated, packaged, and sold by a music industry that cut them out of the lion's share of their profits. And though the women's careers would take them on tour with Civil Rights leaders and to performances at some of the earliest desegregated concerts, many found themselves cast aside as trends shifted in favor of the largely white British Invasion of the mid to late '60s. While the voices of the Girl Group Sound have become essential to the American canon, many of the artists remain all but anonymous to most listeners. Weaving together over 300 hours of interviews across more than ninety subjects, But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: The Women of the Girl Groups gives voice to the many women of the era who have long been consigned to silence. Through the chorus formed by their collective voice in these pages, But Will You Love Me Tomorrow is a distinctly American coming-of-age story--it's a story of girls finding their footing as young women, of artistic success and struggle, and of the inequity faced by women of color in this country.

But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?

Meryl Frank

A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust

As child, Meryl Frank was the chosen inheritor of family remembrance. Her aunt Mollie, a formidable and cultured woman, insisted that Meryl never forget who they were, where they came from, and the hate that nearly destroyed them. Over long afternoons, Mollie told her about the city, the theater, and, above all else, Meryl's cousin, the radiant Franya Winter. Franya was the leading light of Vilna's Yiddish theater, a remarkable and precocious woman who cast off the restrictions of her Hasidic family and community to play roles as prostitutes and bellhops, lovers and nuns. Yet there was one thing her aunt Mollie would never tell Meryl: how Franya died. Before Mollie passed away, she gave Meryl a Yiddish book containing the terrible answer, but forbade her to read it. And for years, Meryl obeyed.

Unearthed is the story of Meryl's search for Franya and a timely history of hatred and resistance. Through archives across four continents, by way of chance encounters and miraculous discoveries, and eventually, guided by the shocking truth recorded in the pages of the forbidden book, Meryl conjures the rogue spirit of her cousin-her beauty and her tragedy. Meryl's search reveals a lost world destroyed by hatred, illuminating the cultural haven of Vilna and its resistance during World War II. As she seeks to find her lost family legacy, Meryl looks for answers to the questions that have defined her life: what is our duty to the past? How do we honor such memories while keeping them from consuming us? And what do we teach our children about tragedy?

Unearthed

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Neil deGrasse Tyson

Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all. In a time when our political and cultural views feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment—a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science. After thinking deeply about how science sees the world and about Earth as a planet, the human brain has the capacity to reset and recalibrates life’s priorities, shaping the actions we might take in response. No outlook on culture, society, or civilization remains untouched. With crystalline prose, Starry Messenger walks us through the scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From insights on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, an array of brilliant and beautiful truths that apply to us all, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.

Starry Messenger

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Rafia Zakaria

Notes on Disruption

A radically inclusive, intersectional, and transnational approach to the fight for women's rights.


Upper-middle-class white women have long been heralded as "experts" on feminism. They have presided over multinational feminist organizations and written much of what we consider the feminist canon, espousing sexual liberation and satisfaction, LGBTQ inclusion, and racial solidarity, all while branding the language of the movement itself in whiteness and speaking over Black and Brown women in an effort to uphold privilege and perceived cultural superiority. An American Muslim woman, attorney, and political philosopher, Rafia Zakaria champions a reconstruction of feminism in Against White Feminism, centering women of color in this transformative overview and counter-manifesto to white feminism's global, long-standing affinity with colonial, patriarchal, and white supremacist ideals.

Covering such ground as the legacy of the British feminist imperialist savior complex and "the colonial thesis that all reform comes from the West" to the condescension of the white feminist-led "aid industrial complex" and the conflation of sexual liberation as the "sum total of empowerment," Zakaria follows in the tradition of intersectional feminist forebears Kimberlé Crenshaw, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde. Zakaria ultimately refutes and reimagines the apolitical aspirations of white feminist empowerment in this staggering, radical critique, with Black and Brown feminist thought at the forefront.

Against White Feminism

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Gabriel Winant

The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America

Winner of the Frederick Jackson Turner Award Winner of the Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize Winner of the C. L. R. James Award A ProMarket Best Political Economy Book of the Year Men in hardhats were once the heart of America’s working class; now it is women in scrubs. What does this shift portend for our future? Pittsburgh was once synonymous with steel. But today most of its mills are gone. Like so many places across the United States, a city that was a center of blue-collar manufacturing is now dominated by the service economy—particularly health care, which employs more Americans than any other industry. Gabriel Winant takes us inside the Rust Belt to show how America’s cities have weathered new economic realities. In Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, he finds that a new working class has emerged in the wake of deindustrialization. As steelworkers and their families grew older, they required more health care. Even as the industrial economy contracted sharply, the care economy thrived. Hospitals and nursing homes went on hiring sprees. But many care jobs bear little resemblance to the manufacturing work the city lost. Unlike their blue-collar predecessors, home health aides and hospital staff work unpredictable hours for low pay. And the new working class disproportionately comprises women and people of color. Today health care workers are on the front lines of our most pressing crises, yet we have been slow to appreciate that they are the face of our twenty-first-century workforce. The Next Shift offers unique insights into how we got here and what could happen next. If health care employees, along with other essential workers, can translate the increasing recognition of their economic value into political power, they may become a major force in the twenty-first century.

The Next Shift

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Adam Shatz

Essays on the Radical Imagination

What does it mean to be a politically committed writer?

Through a close reading of the lives and works of some of the greatest intellectuals of recent times, Adam Shatz asks: do writers have an ethical imperative to question injustice? How can one remain a dispassionate thinker when involved in the cut and thrust of politics? And, in an age of horror and crisis, what does it mean to be a committed writer?

Shatz interrogates the major figures of twentieth and twenty-first century thought and finds within their lives and work the roots of our present intellectual and geopolitical situation.
 
Charting the role of the committed intellectual through the work of Jean-Paul Sartre on the Algerian War and Edward Said's lifelong solidarity with the Palestinian people, to Fouad Ajami's role as the "native informant" for pro-intervention cause in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, alongside philosophers and critics Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida and Claude Lévi-Strauss and the novelists Michel Houllebecq and Richard Wright, each struggled to reconcile their writing and their politics, their thought and their commitments. 
 
Writers and Missionaries is an erudite and incisive work of intellectual elucidation and biographical enquiry that demands that we interrogate anew the relation of thought and action in the struggle for a more just world.

Writers and Missionaries

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