#paperback #oscarwilde #fiction #essays #novel #doriangray #plays #importanceofbeingearnest #anidealhusband #deprofundis

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Rhode Island

"An excellent collection of some of Oscar Wilde's key works. A useful and representative selection of his writings, ideal for those not already familiar with his trademark wit or his more serious work, but equally valuable for the Wilde devotee." -- newbooks magazine
Poet and playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) wrote sparkling comedies that were the toast of London's West End in the 1890s. The master of the witty epigram who could resist anything except temptation, Wilde was imprisoned by an unjust society and died in obscurity, but his enduring works continue to enchant readers and audiences.
The Irish author's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, appears in this splendid showcase of his philosophy and wit. Additional selections include Wilde's ever-popular comedies The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband; his essay on aestheticism, "The Decay of Lying: An Observation"; his deeply moving prison letter, "De Profundis"; and fairy tales from A House of Pomegranates and The Happy Prince.

Oscar Wilde the Dover Reader

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Jon Winokur

This book would make a great gift for the dog lover in your life

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Maryland

A collection of quotations, anecdotes, folklore, and essays from the likes of Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson offers a comical and poignant view of man's best friend

Mondo Canine

cf773cf4-2b68-43d5-88df-53fcd86a9627-1

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Texas

Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in His Own Words 

The Founding Fathers 

John Adams: A Biography in His Own Words 

Harry G. Frankfurt

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory."

Frankfurt, one of the world's most influential moral philosophers, attempts to build such a theory here. With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt proceeds by exploring how bullshit and the related concept of humbug are distinct from lying. He argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do, that is, by deliberately making false claims about what is true. In fact, bullshit need not be untrue at all.

Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Frankfurt concludes that although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the practitioner's capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true. By virtue of this, Frankfurt writes, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.

On Bullshit

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Amy Poehler

Illinois

In a perfect world . . . We'd get to hang out with Amy Poehler, watching dumb movies, listening to music, and swapping tales about our coworkers and difficult childhoods. Because in a perfect world, we'd all be friends with Amy—someone who seems so fun, is full of interesting stories, tells great jokes, and offers plenty of advice and wisdom (the useful kind, not the annoying kind you didn't ask for, anyway). Unfortunately, between her Golden Globe-winning role on Parks and Recreation, work as a producer and director, place as one of the most beloved SNL alumni and cofounder of the Upright Citizens' Brigade, involvement with the website Smart Girls at the Party, frequent turns as acting double for Meryl Streep, and her other gig as the mom of two young sons, she's not available for movie night. Luckily we have the next best thing: Yes Please, Amy's hilarious and candid book. A collection of stories, thoughts, ideas, lists, and haikus from the mind of one of our most beloved entertainers, Yes Please offers Amy's thoughts on everything from her "too safe" childhood outside of Boston to her early days in New York City, her ideas about Hollywood and "the biz," the demon that looks back at all of us in the mirror, and her joy at being told she has a "face for wigs." Yes Please is chock-full of words and wisdom to live by.

Yes Please

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Robert Fulghum

First Edition 
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
I once began a list of the contradictory notions I hold:
Look before you leap.
He who hesitates is lost.
Two heads are better than one.
If you want something done right, do it yourself.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Better safe than sorry.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
You can't tell a book by its cover.
Clothes make the man.
Many hands make light work.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
It's never too late to learn.
Never sweat the small stuff.
God is in the details.
And so on. The list goes on forever. Once I got so caught up in this kind of thinking that I wore two buttons on my smock when I was teaching art. One said, "Trust me, I'm a teacher." The other replied, "Question Authority."

Second Thoughts from a Secret Life

Down-to-earth, personal, and often humorous accounts of the factors and events that led 64 modern philosophers to love philosophy.

Maybe (Maybe Not)

62c59eec-fc97-4448-83e0-190cff222a7e-1

Charles Olson

Merton M. Sealts

New York

One of the most stimulating essays ever written on Moby Dick, and for that matter on any piece of literature, and the forces behind it."—San Francisco Chronicle First published in 1947, this acknowledged classic of American literary criticism explores the influences—especially Shakespearean ones—on Melville's writing of Moby-Dick. One of the first Melvilleans to advance what has since become known as the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," Olson argues that there were two versions of Moby-Dick, and that Melville's reading King Lear for the first time in between the first and second versions of the book had a profound impact on his conception of the saga: "the first book did not contain Ahab," writes Olson, and "it may not, except incidentally, have contained Moby-Dick." If literary critics and reviewers at the time responded with varying degrees of skepticism to the "theory of the two Moby-Dicks," it was the experimental style and organization of the book that generated the most controversy.

Call Me Ishmael

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Sue Monk Kidd

Ex-library book in excellent condition. Library stickers on the front cover and spine as well as library stamp on the third page.  Inside pages are in like new condition. ￼

The Early Inspirational Writings of Sue Monk Kidd

Includes stories and essays which are drawn from the author's writings for both Guideposts and for other publications. They offer a glimpse into the early years of the author's journey as a writer and as a spiritual seeker. This work also includes reflections on the author's multiple roles as mother, daughter, wife, nurse, and writer.

Firstlight

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#hardcover #nonfiction #essays #shorts #witty #humor #memoir #shortstories #daring #wise 

Oregon

Essays

For fans of John Jeremiah Sullivan and Wells Tower, a “glittering,” (Leslie Jamison), “always smart, often hilarious, and ultimately transcendent” (Anthony Doerr) linked essay collection from the managing editor of Tin House that brilliantly explores the nature of identity. Daring and wise, hilarious and tender, Cheston Knapp’s exhilarating collection of seven linked essays, Up Up, Down Down, tackles the Big Questions through seemingly unlikely avenues. In his dexterous hands, an examination of a local professional wrestling promotion becomes a meditation on pain and his relationship with his father. A profile of UFO enthusiasts ends up probing his history in the church and, more broadly, the nature and limits of faith itself. Attending an adult skateboarding camp launches him into a virtuosic analysis of nostalgia. And the shocking murder of a neighbor expands into an interrogation of our culture’s prevailing ideas about community and the way we tell the stories of our lives. Even more remarkable, perhaps, is the way he manages to find humanity in a damp basement full of frat boys. Taken together, the essays in Up Up, Down Down amount to a chronicle of Knapp’s coming-of-age, a young man’s journey into adulthood, late-onset as it might appear. He presents us with formative experiences from his childhood to marriage that echo throughout the collection, and ultimately tilts at what may be the Biggest Q of them all: what are the hazards of becoming who you are? With “an ordnance of wit” (Wells Tower) and “a prose style that feels both extravagant and exact, and a big, booming heart” (Maggie Nelson), Up Up, Down Down signals the arrival of a truly one-of-a-kind voice.

Up up, down Down

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Justin Halpern

Alaska

"Human beings fear the unknown. So, whatever's freaking you out, grab it by the balls and say hello. Then it ain't the unknown anymore and it ain't scary. Or I guess it could be a shitload scarier." Fans of the #1 bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says will recognize the always-patient voice of Justin Halpern's dad as it crackles through the pages of this hysterical new book. The story begins when Justin takes his dad out to lunch to announce that he's decided to propose to his girlfriend. "You've been dating her for four years," his dad replies. "It ain't like you found a parallel fucking universe." But eventually he gives Justin some advice: that he should take a day off and think back over everything he's learned in life about women, relationships, and himself before making his decision. And that's just what Justin does—revisiting everything from his disastrous childhood crushes to the night he finally lost his virginity while working as a dishwasher at Hooters. I Suck at Girls is full of his dad's patented brand of wisdom. But it's also full of new characters just as funny as his dad—from his brother, who provides insights into wedding night rituals ("You stand in one corner of the room, and she stands in the other. You each take off one piece of clothing at a time") to his first boss, who warns Justin to man up: "That's what a man does. He takes his shots and then he scrubs the shit out of some dishes." The result is a pilgrim's progress through the landscape of sex and love—by one of the funniest writers at work today.

I Suck at Girls

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Mindy Kaling

Hawaii

Hollywood starlet Mindy Kaling Kaling shares her ongoing, laugh-out-loud journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life.

Why Not Me?

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Lisa Scottoline

Francesca Serritella

Washington

Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella are back with another collection of warm and witty stories that will strike a chord with every woman. This four book series is among the best reviewed humor books published today and has been compared to the late greats, Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron.Booklist raved of the third book in the series,Meet Me At Emotional Baggage Claim, "readers can count on an ab-toning laugh session, a silly giggle, a sympathetic sigh, and a lump in the throat as life's moments are rehashed through the keen eyes and wits of this lovable mother-daughter duo." This fourth volume,Have a Nice Guilt Trip, maintains the same sterling standard of humor and poignancy as Lisa and Francesca continue on the road of life acquiring men and puppies. Ok, to be honest, Lisa is acquiring the puppies, while Francesca is lucky enough to have dates with actual men. They leave it to the listeners to decide which is more desirable and/or or easier to train.

Have a Nice Guilt Trip

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Priyanka Kumar

California

"Birds are my almanac. They tune me into the seasons, and into myself."

 So begins this lively collection of essays by acclaimed filmmaker and novelist Priyanka Kumar. Growing up at the feet of the Himalayas in northern India, Kumar took for granted her immersion in a lush natural world. After moving to North America as a teenager, she found herself increasingly distanced from more than human life, and discouraged by the civilization she saw contributing to its destruction. It was only in her twenties, living in Los Angeles and working on films, that she began to rediscover her place in the landscape -- and in the cosmos -- by way of watching birds.

 Tracing her movements across the American West, this stirring collection of essays brings the avian world richly to life. Kumar's perspective is not that of a list keeper, counting and cataloguing species. Rather, from the mango-colored western tanager that rescues her from a bout of altitude sickness in Sequoia National Park to ancient sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and from the snowy plovers building shallow nests with bits of shell and grass to the white-breasted nuthatch that regularly visits the apricot tree behind her family's casita in Sante Fe, for Kumar, birds "become a portal to a more vivid, enchanted world."

 At a time when climate change, habitat loss, and the reckless use of pesticides are causing widespread extinction of species, Kumar's reflections on these messengers from our distant past and harbingers of our future offer luminous evidence of her suggestion that "seeds of transformation lie dormant in all of our hearts. Sometimes it just takes the right bird to awaken us."

Conversations with Birds

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Robert Cowley

David Herbert Donald

New Jersey

Perspectives on the Civil War

Essays on the most vital conflict in America's history as written by renowned historians and presented by the editor of "What If?" Authors include David Herbert Donald, Gary Gallagher, James McPherson, Stephen Sears and more.

With My Face to the Enemy

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Glory Edim

Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature. "A brilliant collection of essential American reading . . . smart, powerful, and complete."--Min Jin Lee, author of the National Book Award finalist Pachinko Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives--but not everyone regularly sees themselves in the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all--regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability--have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature. Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology) Whether it's learning about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, finding a new type of love in The Color Purple, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, the subjects of each essay remind us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her book club-turned-online community Well-Read Black Girl, in this anthology Glory Edim has created a space in which black women's writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world and ourselves. Advance praise for Well-Read Black Girl "This book is a star chart, a map readers can use to navigate the world via the minds of brilliant black women writers. The essays extol us all to regard--and to celebrate--the written word anew."--Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House "An eloquently provocative anthology . . . Candid and thoughtful from start to finish, [Glory] Edim's collection amply celebrates the many paths black women have traveled on the road to self-definition. . . . In each essay, the contributor discusses her relationships to reading, books, and the world, yet each bears the unique experiential imprint of the woman who wrote it."--Kirkus Reviews

Well-Read Black Girl

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Ex-library copy. Front matter torn out, has other library markings.

Voices of Refusal and Dissent

These essays are an urgent and passionate intervention by Israeli citizens challenging the continued occupation of Palestinian territory and the failed policies of Ariel Sharon's government. Against a backdrop of increasing violence on both sides, the book presents a broad range of dissenting voices that articulate practical, legal and moral objections to the occupation.

The Other Israel

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An Amateur in the Ring

George Plimpton makes his riskiest foray into participatory journalism -- stepping into the ring against a champion boxer -- in Shadow Box, repackaged and including never-before-seen content from the Plimpton archives.

Stepping into the ring against light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore, George Plimpton pauses to wonder what ever induced him to become a participatory journalist. Bloodied but unbowed, he holds his own in the bout -- and lives to tell, in this timeless book on boxing and its devotees, among them Ali, Joe Frazier, Ernest Hemingway, and Norman Mailer.

Shadow Box is one of Plimpton's most engaging studies of professional sport, told through the eyes of an inquisitive and astute amateur. From the gym, the locker room, ringside, and even in the harsh glare of the ring itself, Plimpton documents what it is like to be a boxer, an artist of mayhem.

Shadow Box

2dd93d00-a69f-47e5-9d69-6b2dbe79c0db-1

#hardcover #nonfiction #humor #comedy #amypoehler #autobiography #biography #essays 

Delaware

Steven Nightingale

Ex-library copy with typical interior markings/defects.

A Pomegranate in the Hand of God

Andalusia: ancient homeland of the mysterious Iberians, birthplace of Roman emperors, seedbed of modern Anarchism, and unmarked gravesite of Spain's greatest lyric poet. Perhaps most importantly, Andalusia is home to the city of Granada, where a hybrid culture composed of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian traditions gave rise to an intellectual vanguard whose achievements can be compared only with those of classical Athens, Ming China, or Renaissance Italy. Granada resident Steven Nightingale excavates the rich past of his adopted city and its surrounding countryside, finding there a lavish story of utopian ecstasy, political intrigue, and finally anguish. Part of that region in southern Spain named by its Islamic rulers "Al–Andalus," medieval Granada witnessed a flourishing of poetry in several languages, the first modern translations of Greek philosophy, the birth of algebra, and the construction of architectural masterpieces such as the Alhambra and the Generalife. Yet with Ferdinand and Isabella's sack of Granada in 1492, regarded as the culmination of the Reconquista, which sought to reclaim Spain for the Vatican, a Catholic mythology of Spain began to erode Granada's centuries–old reputation as an artistically vital haven for multiple ethnic and religious groups. Linking the disastrous afterlife of the Reconquista to the Catholic nationalism of the Franco regime—whose execution of Granadan poet Federico Garcia Lorca symbolizes the suppression of Andalusia's cultural heritage—Nightingale demonstrates the extent to which this Catholic triumphalism also obscured the source of much cultural wealth bequeathed by Al–Andalus to Christian Europe. Nightingale's own account of the region's medieval zenith recovers the intellectual pageantry and aesthetic splendor of this astounding period in Western history and the marvelous city that was its cultural center.

Granada

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Anna Sale

North Carolina

From the host of the popular WNYC podcast Death, Sex, & Money, Let's Talk About Hard Things is "like a good conversation with a friend" (The New Yorker) where "no topic is off-limits when it comes to creating meaningful connection" (Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone).

Anna Sale wants you to have that conversation. You know the one. The one that you've been avoiding or putting off, maybe for years. The one that you've thought "they'll never understand" or "do I really want to bring that up?" or "it's not going to go well, so why even try?"

Sale is the founder and host of WNYC's popular, award-winning podcast Death, Sex, & Money or as the New York Times dubbed her "a therapist at happy hour." She and her guests have direct and thought-provoking conversations, discussing topics that most of us are too squeamish, polite, or nervous to bring up. But Sale argues that we all experience these hard things, and by not talking to one another, we cut ourselves off, leading us to feel isolated and disconnected from people who can help us most.

In Let's Talk About Hard Things, Sale uses the best of what she's learned from her podcast to reveal that when we dare to talk about hard things, we learn about ourselves, others, and the world that we make together. Diving into five of the most fraught conversation topics--death, sex, money, family, and identity--she moves between memoir, fascinating snapshots of a variety of Americans opening up about their lives, and expert opinions to show why having tough conversations is important and how to do them in a thoughtful and generous way. She uncovers that listening may be the most important part of a tough conversation, that the end goal should be understanding without the pressure of reconciliation, and that there are some things that words can't fix (and why that's actually okay).

Let's Talk about Hard Things

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Readings in Philosophy 

The readings in Justice include the central philosophical statements about justice in society organized to illustrate both the political vision of a good society and different attempts at an analysis of the concept of justice.

Justice

fc6b3b69-45f6-4c36-a329-8cf6c2486654-1

#hardcover #nonfiction #biography #mindykaling #fiction #autobiography #essays 

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Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde the Dover Reader

Jon Winokur

Mondo Canine

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in His Own Words

James Bishop Peabody

John Adams: A Biography in His Own Words

Harry G. Frankfurt

On Bullshit

Amy Poehler

Yes Please

Robert Fulghum

Maybe (Maybe Not)

Charles Olson; Merton M. Sealts; Merton M. Sealts

Call Me Ishmael

Sue Monk Kidd

Firstlight

Cheston Knapp

Up up, down Down

Justin Halpern

I Suck at Girls

Mindy Kaling

Why Not Me?

Lisa Scottoline; Francesca Serritella

Have a Nice Guilt Trip

Priyanka Kumar

Conversations with Birds

Robert Cowley; David Herbert Donald

With My Face to the Enemy

Glory Edim

Well-Read Black Girl

Roane Carey (Editor); Jonathan Shainin (Editor)

The Other Israel

George Plimpton; Mike Lupica (Foreword by)

Shadow Box

Amy Poehler

Yes Please

Steven Nightingale

Granada

Anna Sale

Let's Talk about Hard Things

Mindy Kaling

Why Not Me?

Jonathan Westphal (Editor)

Justice

Mindy Kaling

Why Not Me?