Christine Williams
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Postmodernism has become the buzzword of contemporary society over the last decade. But how can it be defined? In this highly engaging introduction, the mysteries of this most elusive of concepts are unraveled, casting a critical light upon the way we live now, from the politicizing of museum culture to the cult of the politically correct. The key postmodernist ideas are explored and challenged, as they figure in the theory, philosophy, politics,...
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This book gives a clear overview of the philosophical work of Jürgen Habermas, the most influential German philosopher alive today, who has commented widely on subjects such as Marxism, the importance and effectiveness of communication, the reunification of Germany, and the European Union.
Gordon Finlayson provides listeners with a clear overview of Habermas' forbiddingly complex philosophy using concrete examples and accessible language. He then...
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Hegel is regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern political and intellectual development. After painting Hegel's life and times in broad strokes, Peter Singer goes on to tackle some of the more challenging aspects of Hegel's philosophy. Offering a broad discussion of Hegel's ideas and an account of his major works, Singer explains what have often been considered abstruse and obscure ideas in a clear and inviting manner.
24) Obedience
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The thought of him was irresistible, a mystery. It made her feel beautiful. And, while it lasted, it gave her a glimpse of paradise. A once bustling convent in the south of France is closing, leaving behind three elderly nuns. Forced for the first time to confront the community that she betrayed decades ago, one of those nuns, Sister Bernard, struggles to reconcile her uncertain faith with the passionate, impulsive actions of her youth. The young...
25) Old News
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A sweltering July in Chicago, 1923. Edna Ferber, now a famous short-story writer, is supposed to be researching the novel that will become So Big, her Pulitzer-Prize winner. With her mother, Julia, she spends the week visiting her mother's old childhood friend, Esther Newmann, who lives with her family on the edge of the bustling Maxwell Street Jewish marketplace. But the awful specter of a scandalous murder fifteen years before suddenly haunts Edna....
26) Escape Artist
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In 1904, the future bestselling writer Edna Ferber, then a nineteen-year-old fledgling reporter in Wisconsin, teams up with famed escape artist Harry Houdini to solve the baffling murder of a girl who has mysteriously disappeared from a locked room at the local high school. Edna Ferber is a reporter for the Appleton, Wisconsin, Crescent, an occupation that many townspeople, including her own family, consider scandalous for a proper young girl. It's...
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Fresh, charming, and wholly irresistible, Champagne Baby turns a familiar tale on its head: instead of yet another American seeking the French secret to good living, a Frenchwoman finds her purpose-much to her surprise-in America. Laure Dugas is a champagne baby, born into a family of winemakers from two storied regions of France: Champagne and the Rhône Valley. When Laure was an infant, her mother would dip a finger in wine and dab it on Laure's...
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With his well-known idiosyncrasies and aphoristic style, Friedrich Nietzsche is always bracing and provocative, and temptingly easy to dip into. Michael Tanner's introduction to the philosopher's life and work examines the numerous ambiguities inherent in his writings and explodes many of the misconceptions that have grown in the hundred years since Nietzsche wrote "do not, above all, confound me with what I am not!"
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Two orphan girls are taken from their jobs in a pants factory in North Korea, spirited across the Demilitarized Zone to be sex workers in the South, and eventually shipped to the United States. What propels the story is Gi, the heroine: a tender-hearted genius who loses everything yet refuses to be destroyed. Reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, All Woman and Springtime reveals with chilling accuracy life behind North Korea's iron curtain, the horrific...
30) The Slow Moon
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On an early spring night in 1991, two high school sweethearts slip away from a party and sneak off into the woods to make love for the first time. But what is meant to be an idyllic, intimate evening turns into a nightmare that leaves Sophie unconscious and Crow, despite evidence, proclaiming his innocence.
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The debate between science and religion is never out of the news: emotions run high, fueled by polemical bestsellers like The God Delusion and, at the other end of the spectrum, high-profile campaigns to teach "Intelligent Design" in schools.
Yet there is much more to the debate than the clash of these extremes. As Thomas Dixon shows in this balanced and thought-provoking introduction, many have seen harmony rather than conflict between faith and...
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Overcoming your pain—proven strategies for grief recovery
Coping with loss is difficult, but that doesn't mean you have to suffer alone. Based on the proven-effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) treatment, Moving Through Grief provides simple and effective techniques to help you get unstuck and start living a rich and fulfilling life again, loss and all.
ACT is all about embracing what hurts and committing to actions that will improve...
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Contemporary fiction is a wide and diverse field, now global in dimension, with an enormous range of novels and writers that continues to grow at a fantastic speed.
In this Very Short Introduction, Robert Eaglestone provides a clear and engaging exploration of the major themes, patterns, and debates of contemporary fiction. From genre, form, and experimentalism to the legacies of modernism and postmodernism, the relationship between globalization...
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A provocative description of the power of population change to create the conditions for societal transformation.
As the world nears eight billion people, the countries that have led the global order since World War II are becoming the most aged societies in human history. At the same time, the world's poorest and least powerful countries are suffocating under an imbalance of population and resources. In 8 Billion and Counting, political demographer...
35) Beat until Stiff
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Pastry chef Mary Ryan has sunk a lot of time and talent into the American Fare, San Francisco's hottest spot, while grieving over her broken marriage. Then, arriving at work very early one day, she discovers a laundry bag stuffed with the dead body of one of her employees. The ensuing investigation soon exposes all of the dirty secrets that the food industry would like to keep hidden—philandering chefs, illegal aliens, and subsistence-level pay...
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Imagine being a thirteen-year-old girl in love with boys, school, family-life itself. Then suddenly, in a matter of hours, your life is shattered by the arrival of a foreign army. You can no longer attend school, have possessions, talk to your neighbors. One day your family has to leave your house behind and move into a crowded ghetto, where you lose all privacy and there isn't enough food to eat. Still you manage, somehow, to adjust. But there is...
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Do you remember your first love? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you had a second chance to follow your heart?
When Laney Richins left Echo Ridge, New York, eight years ago, she vowed she'd never return, but life had other plans. Those plans included her cute little boy and a divorce, so Laney moved back home and started over. Working in the flower shop seems like the perfect plan until Billy Redford, the man she should have married,...
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An auto accident with a bad boy sparks a fake engagement... Is it fate or a heartbreaking mistake?
After her fiancé dumped her just months before their wedding, Liza Sorenson swore off dating. The holiday season is ruined when Liza is forced to attend a design conference and meet with her ex-the guy who now wants her back. She needs help to fend off her ex, so when she gets into an accident with Jaime Maldonado, she sees an opportunity.
After a...
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Ayurveda is a profound science with wisdom spanning so wide that it can be difficult to know exactly where to begin. As an Ayurvedic consultant, Susan Weis-Bohlen helps those who are new to Ayurveda address this exact issue. In Ayurveda Beginner's Guide, Susan explains of the holistic principles behind Ayurveda, and offers gentle guidance for incorporating its restorative practices in your everyday life.Designed with the newcomer in mind, Ayurveda...
40) Mildred Pierce
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Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness. She used those attributes to survive a divorce and to claw her way out of poverty. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men and an unreasoning devotion to her monstrous daughter.