Download or read book Going Clear written by Lawrence Wright and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-01-17 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower comes “an utterly necessary story” (The Wall Street Journal) that pulls back the curtain on the church of Scientology: one of the most secretive organizations at work today. • The Basis for the HBO Documentary. Scientology presents itself as a scientific approach to spiritual enlightenment, but its practices have long been shrouded in mystery. Now Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—uncovers the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, and his tough, driven successor, David Miscavige. We go inside their specialized cosmology and language. We learn about the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see the church court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning its clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts. Through it all, Wright asks what fundamentally comprises a religion, and if Scientology in fact merits this Constitutionally-protected label.

Download or read book Remember Me written by Sophie Kinsella and published by Dial Press. This book was released on 2008-02-26 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the same wicked humor and delicious charm that have won her millions of devoted fans, Sophie Kinsella, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Shopaholic & Baby, returns with an irresistible new novel and a fresh new heroine who finds herself in a life-changing and utterly hilarious predicament…. When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed. Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all. Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does? BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Sophie Kinsella's Wedding Night.

Download or read book What a City Is For written by Matt Hern and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2016-09-23 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation into gentrification and displacement, focusing on the case of Portland, Oregon's systematic dispersal of black residents from its Albina neighborhood. Portland, Oregon, is one of the most beautiful, livable cities in the United States. It has walkable neighborhoods, bike lanes, low-density housing, public transportation, and significant green space—not to mention craft-beer bars and locavore food trucks. But liberal Portland is also the whitest city in the country. This is not circumstance; the city has a long history of officially sanctioned racialized displacement that continues today. Over the last two and half decades, Albina—the one major Black neighborhood in Portland—has been systematically uprooted by market-driven gentrification and city-renewal policies. African Americans in Portland were first pushed into Albina and then contained there through exclusionary zoning, predatory lending, and racist real estate practices. Since the 1990s, they've been aggressively displaced—by rising housing costs, developers eager to get rid of low-income residents, and overt city policies of gentrification. Displacement and dispossessions are convulsing cities across the globe, becoming the dominant urban narratives of our time. In What a City Is For, Matt Hern uses the case of Albina, as well as similar instances in New Orleans and Vancouver, to investigate gentrification in the twenty-first century. In an engaging narrative, effortlessly mixing anecdote and theory, Hern questions the notions of development, private property, and ownership. Arguing that home ownership drives inequality, he wants us to disown ownership. How can we reimagine the city as a post-ownership, post-sovereign space? Drawing on solidarity economics, cooperative movements, community land trusts, indigenous conceptions of alternative sovereignty, the global commons movement, and much else, Hern suggests repudiating development in favor of an incrementalist, non-market-driven unfolding of the city.

Download or read book A History of African American Autobiography written by Joycelyn Moody and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 724 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This History explores innovations in African American autobiography since its inception, examining the literary and cultural history of Black self-representation amid life writing studies. By analyzing the different forms of autobiography, including pictorial and personal essays, editorials, oral histories, testimonials, diaries, personal and open letters, and even poetry performance media of autobiographies, this book extends the definition of African American autobiography, revealing how people of African descent have created and defined the Black self in diverse print cultures and literary genres since their arrival in the Americas. It illustrates ways African Americans use life writing and autobiography to address personal and collective Black experiences of identity, family, memory, fulfillment, racism and white supremacy. Individual chapters examine scrapbooks as a source of self-documentation, African American autobiography for children, readings of African American persona poems, mixed-race life writing after the Civil Rights Movement, and autobiographies by African American LGBTQ writers.

Download or read book In Praise of the Goddess written by and published by Nicolas-Hays, Inc.. This book was released on 2003-12-01 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About 16 centuries ago, an unknown Indian author or authors gathered together the diverse threads of already ancient traditions and wove them into a verbal tapestry that today is still the central text for worshippers of the Hindu Devi, the Divine Mother. This spiritual classic, the Devimahatmya, addresses the perennial questions of the nature of the universe, humankind, and divinity. How are they related, how do we live in a world torn between good and evil, and how do we find lasting satisfaction and inner peace? These questions and their answers form the substance of the Devimahatmya. Its narrative of a dispossessed king, a merchant betrayed by the family he loves, and a seer whose teaching leads beyond existential suffering sets the stage for a trilogy of myths concerning the all-powerful Divine Mother, Durga, and the fierce battles she wages against throngs of demonic foes. In these allegories, her adversaries represent our all-too-human impulses toward power, possessions, and pleasure. The battlefields symbolize the field of human consciousness on which our lives' dramas play out in joy and sorrow, in wisdom and folly. The Devimahatmya speaks to us across the ages of the experiences and beliefs of our ancient ancestors. We sense their enchantment at nature's bounty and their terror before its destructive fury, their recognition of the good and evil in the human heart, and their understanding that everything in our experience is the expression of a greater reality, personified as the Divine Mother.

Download or read book Justice written by Michael J. Sandel and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A renowned Harvard professor's brilliant, sweeping, inspiring account of the role of justice in our society--and of the moral dilemmas we face as citizens What are our obligations to others as people in a free society? Should government tax the rich to help the poor? Is the free market fair? Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth? Is killing sometimes morally required? Is it possible, or desirable, to legislate morality? Do individual rights and the common good conflict? Michael J. Sandel's "Justice" course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. Up to a thousand students pack the campus theater to hear Sandel relate the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day, and this fall, public television will air a series based on the course. Justice offers readers the same exhilarating journey that captivates Harvard students. This book is a searching, lyrical exploration of the meaning of justice, one that invites readers of all political persuasions to consider familiar controversies in fresh and illuminating ways. Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, patriotism and dissent, the moral limits of markets—Sandel dramatizes the challenge of thinking through these con?icts, and shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well. Justice is lively, thought-provoking, and wise—an essential new addition to the small shelf of books that speak convincingly to the hard questions of our civic life.

Download or read book Ecological Literature and the Critique of Anthropocentrism written by Bryan L. Moore and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-14 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an analysis of literary texts that question, critique, or subvert anthropocentrism, the notion that the universe and everything in it exists for humans. Bryan Moore examines ancient Greek and Roman texts; medieval to twentieth-century European texts; eighteenth-century French philosophy; early to contemporary American texts and poetry; and science fiction to demonstrate a historical basis for the questioning of anthropocentrism and contemplation of responsible environmental stewardship in the twenty-first century and beyond. Ecological Literature and the Critique of Anthropocentrism is essential reading for ecocritics and ecofeminists. It will also be useful for researchers interested in the relationship between science and literature, environmental philosophy, and literature in general.

Download or read book Essential Hinduism written by Steven Rosen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2006-10-30 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a world religion, Hinduism remains one of the most elusive for many. Its teachings, beliefs, practices, and history are reviewed here by an expert hoping to introduce readers to the world of Hinduism. While there are many forms of Hinduism, and offshoots as well, the complex nature of this faith makes it elusive to many. This straightforward overview, focusing on Vaishnavism-the most common form of Hinduism—is ideal for those who wish to learn more about this ancient tradition.. Beginning with chapters about the foundations of Hinduism, Rosen clearly lays out what is otherwise a complicated history. Providing Hindu terms alongside English translations, he is able to bring the faith alive for readers unacquainted with its varieties and its tenets. Moving on to chapters about practices, including festivals, teachings, chanting, eating habits and more, Rosen brings Hinduism to life in vivid detail.

Download or read book A Gift of Hope written by Danielle Steel and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In her powerful memoir His Bright Light, #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel opened her heart to share the devastating story of the loss of her beloved son. In A Gift of Hope, she shows us how she transformed that pain into a campaign of service that enriched her life beyond what she could imagine. For eleven years, Danielle Steel took to the streets with a small team to help the homeless of San Francisco. She worked anonymously, visiting the “cribs” of the city’s most vulnerable citizens under cover of darkness, distributing food, clothing, bedding, tools, and toiletries. She sought no publicity for her efforts and remained anonymous throughout. Now she is speaking to bring attention to their plight. In this unflinchingly honest and deeply moving memoir, the famously private author speaks out publicly for the first time about her work among the most desperate members of our society. She offers achingly acute portraits of the people she met along the way—and issues a heartfelt call for more effective action to aid this vast, deprived population. Determined to supply the homeless with the basic necessities to keep them alive, she ends up giving them something far more powerful: a voice. By turns candid and inspirational, Danielle Steel’s A Gift of Hope is a true act of advocacy and love.

Download or read book The Journey Home written by Radhanath Swami and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of one man’s journey from his youth in suburban Chicago to an adult in spiritual India and a world of mystics, yogis, and gurus. Within this extraordinary memoir, Radhanath Swami weaves a colorful tapestry of adventure, mysticism, and love. Readers follow Richard Slavin from the suburbs of Chicago to the caves of the Himalayas as he transforms from young seeker to renowned spiritual guide. The Journey Home is an intimate account of the steps to self-awareness and also a penetrating glimpse into the heart of mystic traditions and the challenges that all souls must face on the road to inner harmony and a union with the Divine. Through near-death encounters, apprenticeships with advanced yogis, and years of travel along the pilgrim’s path, Radhanath Swami eventually reaches the inner sanctum of India’s mystic culture and finds the love he has been seeking. It is a tale told with rare candor, immersing the reader in a journey that is at once engaging, humorous, and heartwarming. Praise for The Journey Home “Here is an inspiring chapter of “our story” of spiritual pilgrimage to the East. It shows the inner journey of awakening in a fascinating and spellbinding way.” —Ram Dass, author, Be Here Now “He tells his story with remarkable honest—the temptations of the 1970s, his doubts, hopes, and disappointments, the culture shock, and the friendships found and lost . . . Add a zest of danger, suspense, and surprise, and Radhanath Swami’s story is a deep, genuine memoir that reads like a novel.” —Brigitte Sion, assistant professor of Religious Studies, New York University

Download or read book Poor Things written by Alasdair Gray and published by Dalkey Archive Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Alasdair Gray's most brilliant creations, Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter--a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for Baxter's creation.The hilarious tale of love and scandal that ensues would be "the whole story" in the hands of a lesser author (which in fact it is, for this account is actually written by Dr. McCandless). For Gray, though, this is only half the story, after which Bella (a.k.a. Victoria McCandless) has her own say in the matter.Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, Poor Things is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking duel between the desires of men and the independence of women, from one of Scotland's most accomplished authors.

Download or read book Sky Burial written by Xinran and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2011-04-20 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2002 Xinran’s Good Women of China became an international bestseller, revealing startling new truths about Chinese life to the West. Now she returns with an epic story of love, friendship, courage and sacrifice set in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Based on a true story, Xinran’s extraordinary second book takes the reader right to the hidden heart of one of the world’s most mysterious and inaccessible countries. In March 1958, Shu Wen learns that her husband, an idealistic army doctor, has died while serving in Tibet. Determined to find out what happened to him, she courageously sets off to join his regiment. But to her horror, instead of finding a Tibetan people happily welcoming their Chinese “liberators” as she expected, she walks into a bloody conflict, with the Chinese subject to terrifying attacks from Tibetan guerrillas. It seems that her husband may have died as a result of this clash of cultures, this disastrous misunderstanding. But before she can know his fate, she is taken hostage and embarks on a life-changing journey through the Tibetan countryside — a journey that will last twenty years and lead her to a deep appreciation of Tibet in all its beauty and brutality. Sadly, when she finally discovers the truth about her husband, she must carry her knowledge back to a China that, in her absence, has experienced the Cultural Revolution and changed beyond recognition. . .

Download or read book The Buying Brain written by A. K. Pradeep and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-07-16 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If You Understand Brain Basics, You'll Sell More As much as 95% of our decisions are made by the subconscious mind. As a result, the world's largest and most sophisticated companies are applying the latest advances in neuroscience to create brands, products, package designs, marketing campaigns, store environments, and much more, that are designed to appeal directly and powerfully to our brains. The Buying Brain offers an in-depth exploration of how cutting-edge neuroscience is having an impact on how we make, buy, sell, and enjoy everything, and also probes deeper questions on how this new knowledge can enhance customers' lives. The Buying Brain gives you the key to • Brain-friendly product concepts, design, prototypes, and formulation • Highly effective packaging, pricing, advertising, and in-store marketing • Building stronger brands that attract deeper consumer loyalty A highly readable guide to some of today's most amazing scientific findings, The Buying Brain is your guide to the ultimate business frontier - the human brain.

Download or read book The Craft of Science Writing written by Siri Carpenter and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2024-11-05 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deeply sourced, inclusive guide to all aspects of science writing with contributions from some of the most skilled and award-winning authors working today. Science writing has never been so critical to our world, and the demands on writers have never been greater. On any given day, a writer might need to explain the details of AI, analyze developments in climate change research, or serve as a watchdog helping to ensure the integrity of the scientific enterprise. At the same time, writers must spin tales that hook and keep readers, despite the endless other demands on their attention. How does one do it? The Craft of Science Writing is the authoritative guide. With pieces curated from the archives of science writers’ go-to online resource, The Open Notebook, this book explores strategies for finding and shaping story ideas, pitching editors, and building a specialty in science writing. It delves into fundamental skills that every science writer must learn, including planning their reporting; identifying, interviewing, and quoting sources; organizing interview notes; and crafting stories that engage and inform audiences. This expanded edition includes new introductory material and nine new essays focusing on such topics as how to establish a science beat, how to find and use quotes, how to critically evaluate scientific claims, how to use social media for reporting, and how to do data-driven reporting. In addition, there are essays on inclusivity in science writing, offering strategies for eradicating ableist language from stories, working with sensitivity readers, and breaking into English-language media for speakers of other languages. Through interviews with leading journalists offering behind-the-scenes inspiration as well as in-depth essays on the craft offering practical advice, readers will learn how the best science stories get made, from conception to completion. Contributors: Humberto Basilio, Siri Carpenter, Jeanne Erdmann, Dan Ferber, Tina Casagrand Foss, Geoffrey Giller, Laura Helmuth, Jane C. Hu, Alla Katsnelson, Roxanne Khamsi, Betsy Ladyzhets, Jyoti Madhusoodanan, Amanda Mascarelli, Robin Meadows, Kate Morgan, Tiên Nguyễn, Michelle Nijhuis, Aneri Pattani, Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, Mallory Pickett, Kendall Powell, Tasneem Raja, Sandeep Ravindran, Marion Renault, Julia Rosen, Megha Satyanarayana, Christina Selby, Knvul Sheikh, Abdullahi Tsanni, Alexandra Witze, Katherine J. Wu, Wudan Yan, Ed Yong, Rachel Zamzow, Sarah Zhang, and Carl Zimmer

Download or read book How To Farewell Your Ex written by Deepanwita Chakraborty and published by Ukiyoto Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-21 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book talks about the ups and downs one suffers while trying to get over the person who was once a lover. It highlights very important questions that remain unanswered because we as humans find ourselves in an awkward position to ask it. When a confused mind tries the best to find solace it looks up for quick solutions. The brain rather than focusing on a long-term healing process, which takes time to bring a visible effect, starts its journey for short-term options. Even though such options show quick results but do not last long. How the Confused mind be brought in track? How to Heal? You need to open your mind and of course open this book.

Download or read book How to Be a Bawse written by Lilly Singh and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2017-03-28 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Release your inner bawse with YouTube phenomenon Lilly Singh's How to Be a Bawse, winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards: Non-Fiction Book of the Year 'The ultimate no-nonsense manual for millennials how how to make it to the top' MARIE CLAIRE From actress, comedian and YouTube sensation Lilly Singh (aka Superwoman) comes the definitive guide to being a BAWSE - a person who exudes confidence, reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely because they've fought through it all and made it out the other side. Told in her hilarious, bold voice that's inspired over 9 million fans, and using stories from her own life to illustrate her message, Lilly proves that there are no shortcuts to success. WARNING: This book does NOT include hopeful thoughts, lucky charms, and cute quotes. That's because success, happiness and everything else you want in life needs to be fought for - not wished for. With Lilly's no-nonsense advice and first-had stories, you will learn to take your confidence to the next level and take what you want.

Download or read book Romantic Fiat written by E. Lindstrom and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Romantic period's economics of 'fiat' money the legacy of romanticism involves absolutist gestures of verbal fiat. Focused on William Wordsworth, but in constant range of his poet-successors and modern critics, Romantic Fiat presents an argument for a double romantic signature of 'let there be' and 'let be.'