Barbra Streisand

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

New York

The long-awaited memoir by the superstar of stage, screen, recordings, and television Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. She has been nominated for a Grammy 46 times, and with Yentl she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major motion picture. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl (musical and film) to the long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. She recounts her early struggles to become an actress, eventually turning to singing to earn a living; the recording of some of her acclaimed albums; the years of effort involved in making Yentl; her direction of The Prince of Tides; her friendships with figures ranging from Marlon Brando to Madeleine Albright; her political advocacy; and the fulfillment she’s found in her marriage to James Brolin. No entertainer’s memoir has been more anticipated than Barbra Streisand’s, and this engrossing and delightful book will be eagerly welcomed by her millions of fans.

My Name Is Barbra

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Britney Spears

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope. In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.

The Woman in Me

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Dominique Morisseau

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Kenyatta Shakur is alone. His wife has died, and now, this former Black Revolutionary and political prisoner, is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter Nina. If Kenyatta truly wants to reconcile his past, he must first conquer his most challenging revolution of all – fatherhood. Sunset Baby is an energised, vibrant and witty look at the point where the personal and political collide. One of the most exciting and distinctive undiscovered voices in America.

Sunset Baby

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Tennessee Williams

Arthur Miller

Tennessee Williams' classic drama studies the emotional disintegration of a Southern woman whose last chance for happiness is destroyed by her vindictive brother-in-law.

A Streetcar Named Desire

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Stephen Karam

A powerful comedy-drama about a family gathering at Thanksgiving, from a gifted young American playwright. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's apartment in lower Manhattan. Unfolding over a single scene, this "delirious tragicomedy" (Chicago Sun-Times) by acclaimed young playwright Stephen Karam "infuses the traditional kitchen-sink family drama with qualities of horror in his portentous and penetrating work of psychological unease" (Variety), creating an indelible family portrait.

The Humans

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Katie Cappiello

Meg McInerney

Jennifer Baumgardner

A Play and Guidebook for Combating Sexism and Sexual Violence

Remember the slut at your school? Whether used as a slur or reclaimed as an expression of sexy confidence, this word has been used as an acceptable excuse for rape, bullying and the sexual double standard. In the spirit of The Vagina Monologues, this riveting, critically acclaimed play - written in collaboration with New York City high school students - sheds light on enduring feminist issues. The play is accompanied by production notes, a guide for talk-backs and provocative essays by Carol Gilligan and Jennifer Baumgardner.

Slut

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Margaret Edson

A Play

Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the Oppenheimer Award

Margaret Edson's powerfully imagined Pulitzer Prize-winning play examines what makes life worth living through her exploration of one of existence's unifying experiences--mortality--while she also probes the vital importance of human relationships. What we as her audience take away from this remarkable drama is a keener sense that, while death is real and unavoidable, our lives are ours to cherish or throw away--a lesson that can be both uplifting and redemptive. As the playwright herself puts it, "The play is not about doctors or even about cancer. It's about kindness, but it shows arrogance. It's about compassion, but it shows insensitivity."

InWit,Edson delves into timeless questions with no final answers: How should we live our lives knowing that we will die? Is the way we live our lives and interact with others more important than what we achieve materially, professionally, or intellectually? How does language figure into our lives? Can science and art help us conquer death, or our fear of it? What will seem most important to each of us about life as that life comes to an end?

The immediacy of the presentation, and the clarity and elegance of Edson's writing, make this sophisticated, multilayered play accessible to almost any interested reader.

As the play begins, Vivian Bearing, a renowned professor of English who has
spent years studying and teaching the intricate, difficult Holy Sonnets of the
seventeenth-century poet John Donne, is diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Confident of her ability to stay in control of events, she brings to her illness the same intensely rational and painstakingly methodical approach that has guided her stellar academic career. But as her disease and its excruciatingly painful treatment inexorably progress, she begins to question the single-minded values and standards that have always directed her, finally coming to understand the aspects of life that make it truly worth living.

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Liz Gill

If you’re interested in being a director!

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

The Essential Guide to Being a First Assistant Director

Whether it's a crew of 200 shooting a cast of thousands on horseback, or a crew of 12 filming one person in a room, each and every successful movie production requires a strong first assistant director at its helm. This book lays out what it takes to be a successful first assistant director.

Running the Show

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Mike Bent

For aspiring and existing comedy writers 

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

From Stand-Up to Sketch - All You Need to Succeed in the World of Comedy

A guy walks into a bar... With this guide, aspiring comics will learn to navigate the complex world of comedy writing. Discover how to tap into your natural sense of humor through real-life examples and hands-on skill-building exercises. Learn the best ways to come up with ideas and write comedy that gets laughs--every time! Mike Bent, an accomplished stand-up comedian and teacher, provides the inside scoop on techniques to jump-start your comedy writing career, including how to: Develop comic characters for sketches and scenes Create and polish a standup routine Write for TV and movies Use the web to advance your comedy career Everyone loves a comedian. But breaking into this tough field is no laughing matter. After sharpening your comedy-writing skills with this practical (and funny!) guide, you'll feel comfortable adding humor to everyday situations and may even take a chance on your dream job in show business!

Guide to Comedy Writing

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Annie Baker

Four Plays

The debut collection of a celebrated new American playwright.

The Vermont Plays

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Jennifer E. Smith

If fate sent you an email, would you answer? When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

This Is What Happy Looks Like

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Jennifer Smith autographed the classic YA novel 

Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor. Owen lives in the basement. It's fitting, then, that they meet in the middle -- stuck between two floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, Lucy and Owen spend the night wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is back, so is reality. Lucy soon moves abroad with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and to San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland, Lucy and Owen stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and phone calls. But can they -- despite the odds -- find a way to reunite? Smartly observed and wonderfully romantic, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. Sometimes, it can be a person.

The Geography of You and Me

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Stefan Rudnicki

A diverse collection of monologues featuring the voices of women through the ages

Drawn from poetry, fiction, diaries, journals, and documents of public record, these selections, although not originally intended for theatrical or cinematic performances, offer unique dramatic opportunities for actors, speakers, students, or anyone interested in women's studies.
Stefan Rudnicki has brought together selections from well-known as well as obscure authors, providing a tremendous range of women's perspectives from a variety of sources- poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, and Sappho, among others; passages from Mary Shelley's journal, the diaries of Anais Nin, and the memoirs of Isadora Duncan; polemics from Mary Wollstonecraft and Joan of Arc, as well as Susan B. Anthony's "On Woman's Right to Suffrage"; and selections from the novels of Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Ursula K. LeGuin, and others.

The Actor's Book of Monologues for Women

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Irving Shulman

The classic novelization of one of Broadway's most enduring and beloved musicals, West Side Story.

Maria is young and innocent and has never known love--until Tony. And Tony, searching for life beyond the savagery of the streets, has discovered love for the first time with her, too.

But Maria's brother is the leader of the Sharks and Tony had once led the rival Jets. Now, both gangs are claiming the same turf and with tensions rising to the point of explosion, it seems there is no way to stop a rumble.

Tony promised Maria that he would stay out of it. But will he be able to keep his word or will their newfound love be destroyed by violence or even death?

Evocative and unforgettable, this novelization brings out all of the depth, drama, and beauty of one of the most enduring stories in the history of American theater.

West Side Story

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Danielle Henderson

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Feminist Theory (as Imagined) from Your Favorite Sensitive Movie Dude

Based on the blog of the same name, a humorous book pairs 120 photos of Ryan Gosling with favorite feminist theories.

Feminist Ryan Gosling

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Stephen Greenblatt

English

Volume B - the Sixteen Century, the Early Seventeenth Century

The most trusted anthology for complete works and helpful editorial apparatus. The Tenth Edition supports survey and period courses with NEW complete major works, NEW contemporary writers, and dynamic and easy-to-access digital resources. NEW video modules help introduce students to literature in multiple exciting ways. These innovations make the Norton an even better teaching tool for instructors and, as ever, an unmatched value for students.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature

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Volume C - the Sixteenth Century, the Early Seventeenth Century

Aparna Nancherla

If you haven’t watched her stand up press pause in this app and go watch. This memoir by Aparna is well written and poignant and an eviscerating look at the damage we do to our bodies and d psyche and self. Brilliant.  

Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome

“A deeply honest and funny look at how exhausting it can be to live a human life, Unreliable Narrator is a book for anyone who wants to laugh and feel less alone.”—Amy Poehler A hilarious and insightful collection of essays exploring impostor syndrome, from the inside and out, by the most successful fraud in comedy Aparna Nancherla is a superstar comedian on the rise—a darling of Netflix and Comedy Central’s comedy special lineups, a headliner at comedy shows and music festivals, a frequenter of late night television and the subject of numerous profiles. She’s also a successful actor who has written a barrage of thoughtful essays published by the likes of the New York Times. If you ask her, though, she’s a total fraud. She’d hate to admit it, but no one does impostor syndrome quite like Aparna Nancherla. UNRELIABLE NARRATOR is a collection of essays that uses Aparna’s signature humor to illuminate an interior life, one constantly bossed around by her depression (whom she calls Brenda), laced with anxiety like a horror movie full of jump-scares, and plagued by an unrepenting love-hate relationship with her career as a painfully shy standup comedian. But luckily, crippling self-doubt comes with the gift of keen self-examination. These essays deliver hilarious and incredibly insightful meditations on body image, productivity culture, the ultra-meme-ability of mental health language, and who, exactly, gets to make art “about nothing.” Despite her own arguments to the contrary, UNRELIABLE NARRATOR is undeniable proof that Aparna is a force—as a comedian and author alike—to be reckoned with.

Unreliable Narrator

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Sigmund Freud

Joyce Crick

John Carey

If you are into Freud and also jokes this book is for you

Why do we laugh? The answer, argued Freud in this groundbreaking study of humor, is that jokes, like dreams, satisfy our unconscious desires. The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious explains how jokes provide immense pleasure by releasing us from our inhibitions and allowing us to express sexual, aggressive, playful, or cynical instincts that would otherwise remain hidden. In elaborating this theory, Freud brings together a rich collection of puns, witticisms, one-liners, and anecdotes, which, as Freud shows, are a method of giving ourselves away. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious

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Zach Zimmerman

Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth?

In this debut collection of essays, lists, musings, and quips, New York-based comedian Zach Zimmerman delicately walks the fine line between tear-jerking and knee-slapping, and does so with aplomb.



In this laugh-and-cry-out-loud, memoir-esque exploration of selfhood, Zimmerman dives into the pros and cons of retiring a Bible-Belt-dwelling, meat-eating, God-fearing identity in exchange for a new, metropolitan lease on life--one of vegetarianism, atheism, queerness, and humor. Whether learning to absolve instilled religious guilt or reminiscing over Tinder dates gone horribly wrong, this book is a candid and hysterical look at one person's journey toward making peace with the past and seeking hope in the future.



HILARIOUS WRITING: The stories featured in this collection are an uproarious read with a strong and established tone of voice. Featuring pieces that were originally published in the New Yorker, Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? is a literary gem.

 

RELEVANT AND INCLUSIVE: Zimmerman navigates obstacles in the queer community with essays that are not only humorous and heartfelt, but also act as guiding anecdotes for young, queer community members.

 

ESTABLISHED AUTHOR AND COMEDIAN: Zimmerman has written dozens of New Yorker humor pieces and essays, a Billboard Top Ten comedy album that debuted at #1, and has been featured in New York Magazine, The New York Times, TimeOut, Vulture, and more.



Perfect for:
 * Comedy and humor fans
 * Literary enthusiasts and fans of comedy writing like David Sedaris and Gary Janetti
 * Short story and essay collection readers

Is It Hot in Here?

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Cynthia Willett

Julie Willett

Coming at stand up comedy from a female and subversive POv


How Feminists and Other Subversive Comics Speak Truth

A radical new approach to humor, where traditional targets become its agents Humor is often dismissed as cruel ridicule or harmless fun. But what if laughter is a vital force to channel rage against patriarchy, Islamophobia, or mass incarceration? To create moments of empathy and dialogue between Black Lives Matter and the police? These and other such questions are at the heart of this powerful reassessment of humor. Placing theorists in conversation with comedians, Uproarious offers a full-frontal approach to the very foundation of comedy and its profound political impact. Here Cynthia Willett and Julie Willett address the four major theories of humor--superiority, relief, incongruity, and social play--through the lens of feminist and game-changing comics such as Wanda Sykes, Margaret Cho, Hannah Gadsby, Hari Kondabolu, and Tig Notaro. They take a radical and holistic approach to the understanding of humor, particularly of humor deployed by those from groups long relegated to the margins, and propose a powerful new understanding of humor as a force that can engender politically progressive social movements. Drawing on a range of cross-disciplinary sources, from philosophies and histories of humor to the psychology and physiology of laughter to animal studies, Uproarious offers a richer understanding of the political and cathartic potential of humor. A major new contribution to a wider dialogue on comedy, Uproarious grounds for us explorations of outsider humor and our golden age of feminist comics--showing that when women, prisoners, even animals, laugh back, comedy along with belly laughs forge new identities and alter the political climate.

Uproarious

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Kathleen Rowe Karlyn

History and theory of women in American stand up comedy

Women in American Comedy

Amy Schumer, Samantha Bee, Mindy Kaling, Melissa McCarthy, Tig Notaro, Leslie Jones, and a host of hilarious peers are killing it nightly on American stages and screens large and small, smashing the tired stereotype that women aren't funny. But today's funny women aren't a new phenomenon—they have generations of hysterically funny foremothers. Fay Tincher's daredevil stunts, Mae West's linebacker walk, Lucille Ball's manic slapstick, Carol Burnett's athletic pratfalls, Ellen DeGeneres's tomboy pranks, Whoopi Goldberg's sly twinkle, and Tina Fey's acerbic wit all paved the way for contemporary unruly women, whose comedy upends the norms and ideals of women's bodies and behaviors. Hysterical! Women in American Comedy delivers a lively survey of women comics from the stars of the silent cinema up through the multimedia presences of Tina Fey and Lena Dunham. This anthology of original essays includes contributions by the field's leading authorities, introducing a new framework for women's comedy that analyzes the implications of hysterical laughter and hysterically funny performances. Expanding on previous studies of comedians such as Mae West, Moms Mabley, and Margaret Cho, and offering the first scholarly work on comedy pioneers Mabel Normand, Fay Tincher, and Carol Burnett, the contributors explore such topics as racial/ethnic/sexual identity, celebrity, stardom, censorship, auteurism, cuteness, and postfeminism across multiple media. Situated within the main currents of gender and queer studies, as well as American studies and feminist media scholarship, Hysterical! masterfully demonstrates that hysteria—women acting out and acting up—is a provocative, empowering model for women's comedy.

Hysterical!

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Wayne Federman

More history on cis gender stand up comedy 

From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle

Today's top stand-up comedians sell out arenas, generate millions of dollars, tour the world, and help shape our social discourse. So, how did this all happen? The History of Stand-Up chronicles the evolution of this American art form - from its earliest pre-vaudeville practitioners like Artemus Ward and Mark Twain to present-day comedians of HBO and Netflix. Drawing on his acclaimed History of Stand-up podcast and popular university lectures, veteran comedian and adjunct USC professor Wayne Federman guides us on this fascinating journey. The story has a connective tissue - humans standing on stage, alone, trying to get laughs. That experience connects all stand-ups through time, whether it's at the Palace, the Copacabana, the Apollo, Mister Kelly's, the hungry i, Grossinger's, the Comedy Cellar, the Improv, the Comedy Store, Madison Square Garden, UCB, or at an open mic in a backyard.

The History of Stand-Up

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Jaffe Cohen

Danny McWilliams

Bob Smith

From Left Out to Coming Out

A collection of anecdotes and humorous retorts are presented by an acclaimed gay comedy group, confirming some stereotypes and dispelling others while detailing positive portraits of growing up gay.

Browse by categories

Barbra Streisand

My Name Is Barbra

Britney Spears

The Woman in Me

Dominique Morisseau

Sunset Baby

Tennessee Williams; Arthur Miller

A Streetcar Named Desire

Stephen Karam

The Humans

Katie Cappiello; Meg McInerney; Jennifer Baumgardner

Slut

Margaret Edson

Wit

Liz Gill

Running the Show

Mike Bent

Guide to Comedy Writing

Annie Baker

The Vermont Plays

Jennifer E. Smith

This Is What Happy Looks Like

Jennifer E. Smith

The Geography of You and Me

Stefan Rudnicki

The Actor's Book of Monologues for Women

Irving Shulman

West Side Story

Danielle Henderson

Feminist Ryan Gosling

Stephen Greenblatt

The Norton Anthology of English Literature

Stephen Greenblatt

The Norton Anthology of English Literature

Aparna Nancherla

Unreliable Narrator

Sigmund Freud; Joyce Crick; John Carey

The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious

Zach Zimmerman

Is It Hot in Here?

Cynthia Willett; Julie Willett

Uproarious

Kathleen Rowe Karlyn

Hysterical!

Wayne Federman

The History of Stand-Up

Jaffe Cohen; Danny McWilliams; Bob Smith

Growing up Gay

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