Download or read book One Man s Obsession written by Robert McMichael and published by Scarborough, Ont. : Prentice-Hall Canada. This book was released on 1986 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Crossworld written by Marc Romano and published by Marc Breman. This book was released on 2005 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sixty-four million people do it at least once a week. Nabokov wrote about it. Bill Clinton even did it in the White House. The crossword puzzle has arguably been our national obsession since its birth almost a century ago. Now, in "Crossworld," writer, translator, and lifelong puzzler Marc Romano goes where no Number 2 pencil has gone before, as he delves into the minds of the world's cleverest crossword creators and puzzlers, and sets out on his own quest to join their ranks. While covering the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for the "Boston Globe," Romano was amazed by the skill of the competitors and astonished by the cast of characters he came across--like Will Shortz, beloved editor of the "New York Times" puzzle and the only academically accredited "enigmatologist" (puzzle scholar); Stanley Newman, "Newsday"'s puzzle editor and the fastest solver in the world; and Brendan Emmett Quigley, the wickedly gifted puzzle constructer and the Virgil to Marc's Dante in his travels through the crossword inferno. Chronicling his own journey into the world of puzzling--even providing tips on how to improve crosswording skills--Romano tells the story of crosswords and word puzzles themselves, and of the colorful people who make them, solve them, and occasionally become consumed by them. But saying this is a book about puzzles is to tell only half the story. It is also an explanation into what crosswords tell us about ourselves--about the world we live in, the cultures that nurture us, and the different ways we think and learn. If you're a puzzler, "Crossworld" will enthrall you. If you have no idea why your spouse send so much time filling letters into little white squares, "Crossworld" will tell you - and with luck, save your marriage. CROSSWORLD - by Marc Romano ACROSS 1. I am hopelessly addicted to the "New York Times" crossword puzzle. 2. Like many addicts, I was reluctant to admit I have a problem. 3. The hints I was heading for trouble came, at first, only occasionally. 4. The moments of panic when I realized that I might not get my fix on a given day. 5. The toll on relationships. 6. The strained friendships. 7. The lost hours I could have used to do something more productive. 8. It gets worse, too. DOWN 1.You're not just playing a game. 2. You're constantly broadening your intellectual horizons. 3. You spend a lot of time looking at and learning about the world around you. 4. You have to if you want to develop the accumulated store of factual information you'll need to get through a crossword puzzle. 5. Puzzle people are nice because they have to be. 6. The more you know about the world, the more you tend to give all things in it the benefit of the doubt before deciding if you like them or not. 7. I'm not saying that all crossword lovers are honest folk dripping with goodness. 8. I would say, though, that if I had to toss my keys and wallet to someone before jumping off a pier to save a drowning girl, I'd look for the fellow in the crowd with the daily crossword in his hand. "From the Hardcover edition."
Download or read book Go Ask Your Father written by Lennard J. Davis and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortly before his father's death, Lennard Davis received a cryptic call from his uncle Abie, who said he had a secret he wanted to tell him one day. When finally revealed, the secret--that Abie himself was Davis's father, via donor insemination--seemed too preposterous to be true. Born before the wide use of such technologies, Davis was filled with doubt about the truth of what this ne'er-do-well uncle was claiming. Moreover, Abie was mentally unstable, an unreliable witness to the past. For over twenty years, Davis tried to erase the whole episode from his mind.Then he decided to approach Ira Glass of This American Life so that he and the show could dig deeper into this mystery. Davis's obsession to find the truth led him to DNA labs and online genealogical research sites.A suspenseful and absorbing personal journey, this is also a fascinating intellectual foray into the history of artificial insemination and a moving investigation of all our attempts to understand ourselves. The book is an expansion of the This American Life show also titled "Go Ask Your Father."
Download or read book Fast Food Maniac written by Jon Hein and published by Crown. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beloved personality from The Howard Stern Show celebrates American fast food, exploring the history and secret menu items of both national and regional chains, ranking everything from burgers and fries to ice and mascots, and offering his own expert tips on where to go and what to order. Jon Hein is the ultimate fast food maniac, and in this book he draws on his extensive knowledge of, and love for, both nationwide chains and regional gems, from McDonald’s and KFC to In-N-Out Burger and Carvel. He digs into their origin stories; reveals secret menu items; includes best lists for everything from fried chicken and shakes to connoisseur concerns such as straws and biscuits; takes a nostalgic look back at the best giveaways, slogans, and uniforms; and even provides a battle-tested drive-thru strategy. With behind-the-counter looks at places like the Dunkin' Donuts headquarters and Nathan's original hot dog stand, Fast Food Maniac is the definitive, cross-country guide to some of America's best-loved guilty pleasures.
Download or read book Chasing Arizona written by Ken Lamberton and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2015-02-19 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It seemed like a simple plan—visit fifty-two places in fifty-two weeks. But for author Ken Lamberton, a forty-five-year veteran of life in the Sonoran Desert, the entertaining results were anything but easy. In Chasing Arizona, Lamberton takes readers on a yearlong, twenty-thousand-mile joyride across Arizona during its centennial, racking up more than two hundred points of interest along the way. Lamberton chases the four corners of Arizona, attempts every county, every reservation, and every national monument and state park, from the smallest community to the largest city. He drives his Kia Rio through the longest tunnels and across the highest suspension bridges, hikes the hottest deserts, and climbs the tallest mountain, all while visiting the people, places, and treasures that make Arizona great. In the vivid, lyrical, often humorous prose the author is known for, each destination weaves together stories of history, nature, and people, along with entertaining side adventures and excursions. Maps and forty-four of the author’s detailed pencil drawings illustrate the journey. Chasing Arizona is unlike any book of its kind. It is an adventure story, a tale of Arizona, a road-warrior narrative. It is a quest to see and experience as much of Arizona as possible. Through intimate portrayals of people and place, readers deeply experience the Grand Canyon State and at the same time celebrate what makes Arizona a wonderful place to visit and live.
Download or read book Obsession written by Meg Anne and published by . This book was released on 2023-05-19 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Be Obsessed or Be Average written by Grant Cardone and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the millionaire entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author of The 10X Rule comes a bold and contrarian wake-up call for anyone truly ready for success. One of the 7 best motivational books of 2016, according to Inc. Magazine. Before Grant Cardone built five successful companies (and counting), became a multimillionaire, and wrote bestselling books... he was broke, jobless, and drug-addicted. Grant had grown up with big dreams, but friends and family told him to be more reasonable and less demanding. If he played by the rules, they said, he could enjoy everyone else’s version of middle class success. But when he tried it their way, he hit rock bottom. Then he tried the opposite approach. He said NO to the haters and naysayers and said YES to his burning, outrageous, animal obsession. He reclaimed his obsession with wanting to be a business rock star, a super salesman, a huge philanthropist. He wanted to live in a mansion and even own an airplane. Obsession made all of his wildest dreams come true. And it can help you achieve massive success too. As Grant says, we're in the middle of an epidemic of average. The conventional wisdom is to seek balance and take it easy. But that has really just given us an excuse to be unexceptional. If you want real success, you have to know how to harness your obsession to rocket to the top. This book will give you the inspiration and tools to break out of your cocoon of mediocrity and achieve your craziest dreams. Grant will teach you how to: · Set crazy goals—and reach them, every single day. · Feed the beast: when you value money and spend it on the right things, you get more of it. · Shut down the doubters—and use your haters as fuel. Whether you're a sales person, small business owner, or 9-to-5 working stiff, your path to happiness runs though your obsessions. It's a simple choice: be obsessed or be average.
Download or read book Polar Obsession written by Paul Nicklen and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Striking photography of the polar regions and fauna found there.
Download or read book Flotsametrics and the Floating World written by Curtis Ebbesmeyer and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-03-24 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pioneering oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer unravels the mystery of marine currents, uncovers the astonishing story of flotsam, and changes the world's view of trash, the ocean, and our global environment. Curtis Ebbesmeyer is no ordinary scientist. He's been a consulting oceanographer for multinational firms and a lead scientist on international research expeditions, but he's never held a conventional academic appointment. He seized the world's imagination as no other scientist could when he and his worldwide network of beachcomber volunteers traced the ocean's currents using thousands of sneakers and plastic bath toys spilled from storm-tossed freighters. Now, for the first time, Ebbesmeyer tells the story of his lifelong struggle to solve the sea's mysteries while sharing his most surprising discoveries. He recounts how flotsam has changed the course of history—leading Viking mariners to safe harbors, Columbus to the New World, and Japan to open up to the West—and how it may even have made the origin of life possible. He chases icebergs and floating islands; investigates ocean mysteries from ghost ships to a spate of washed-up severed feet on Canadian beaches; and explores the enormous floating "garbage patches" and waste-heaped "junk beaches" that collect the flotsam and jetsam of industrial society. Finally, Ebbesmeyer reveals the rhythmic and harmonic order in the vast oceanic currents called gyres—"the heartbeat of the world "—and the threats that global warming and disintegrating plastic waste pose to the seas . . . and to us.
Download or read book Obsession written by Ann Mayburn and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-09-18 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hannah All my life, I've only wanted one thing: someone to love me and someone who will let me love them in return. This seems like a simple request, but I was born to parents who wished I had died of childhood leukemia, instead of my younger sister, and who have ignored me no matter how much I've tried to please them. I'm starved for affection, addicted to the feeling when someone cares about me, which has led to a love life filled with either boys I've scared off, or men all too eager to take advantage of me. I thought I would never find a man who could feed my craving for constant attention-and then I met Leo. He fills the void inside of me, haunts my dreams, and does things to me in bed that are so good, they're probably illegal. I can only pray I don't scare him off once he figures out just how needy I really am. Leo There are very few people in this world I've ever been able to form an emotional attachment to, but the moment I saw Hannah, I knew she was mine. We were bound together by fate, our paths crossing first as children, then as adults, each time marking me. She doesn't know it but I've been watching her for a year now, studying her, stacking the deck so when I do make my move, there's no way she'll ever escape me. But my world is a harsh, cruel place, and the cartel I work for demands absolute loyalty and trust...a loyalty Hannah has yet to earn in the dangerous eyes of my employers. There is only one way to ensure Hannah's absolute devotion, and I hope that she doesn't hate me forever when she finds out that not only have I brainwashed her into loving me, but that I don't feel an ounce of guilt about doing it. She's mine, only mine, and I'm keeping her forever.
Download or read book Rope Burns written by Ian Probert and published by Pitch Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the true story of what can happen when an obsession takes over your life, sucks you in and spits you back out again. Set during the world of boxing in the 1980s, it is a tale littered with wasted ambition and shattered hopes; a journey through boxing that begins with the summary execution of Muhammad Ali by Larry Holmes in 1980 and ends with the spectacle of yet another young life battling for survival on the surgeon's table; as injuries sustained by boxer Michael Watson during his world title fight with Chris Eubank left him fighting for his life. It seeks to answer why a man should risk his life in the ring and why so many are compelled to watch.
Download or read book Bibliophilia written by N. John Hall and published by David R. Godine Publisher. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thriller for book collectors. "Bibliophiles will enjoy Hall's cleverly fictionalized exploration of literary history and the thrill of seeking bookish treasures." --Booklist Flush with $400,000 from the sale of his great-great-grandfather's correspondence with Victorian authors, Larry Dickerson, our unassuming retired bank clerk, amateur editor, and literary neophyte, needs a creative outlet for his newly acquired wealth and fast escalating obsession with all things bookish. His journey begins with collecting rare editions of Victorian novelists but spirals rapidly to New Yorker authors, his determination to acquire growing with each new purchase. James Thurber, E.B. White, Vladimir Nabokov, J.D. Salinger, and Dorothy Parker all find their way onto Larry's shortlist, standing along previously acquired greats Trollope, Dickens, Thackeray, and Hardy. Being sensible, he approaches the biggest names in the rare book field with childish glee, and with refreshing brashness, finds himself handling copies of authors' most coveted titles, touring the New Yorker offices, and then involved in one of the biggest scandals book collecting has ever seen. Will the thrill of the chase overwhelm Larry's ability to see reason? Will his appetite outpace his resources? Join him on this journey as he discovers just how far he's willing to take his obsession.
Download or read book The Secret of the Great Pyramid written by Bob Brier and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A decade ago, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin became obsessed by the centuriesold question: How was the Great Pyramid built? How, in a nation of farmers only recently emerged from the Stone Age, could such a massive, complex, and enduring structure have been envisioned and constructed? Laboring at his computer ten hours a day for five years—creating exquisitely detailed 3-D models of the Pyramid's interior—Houdin finally had his answer. It was a startling revelation that cast a fresh light on the minds that conceived one of the wonders of the ancient world. Written by world-renowned Egyptologist Bob Brier in collaboration with Houdin, The Secret of the Great Pyramid moves deftly between the ancient and the modern, chronicling two equally fascinating interrelated histories. It is a remarkable account of the step-by-step planning and assembling of the magnificent edifice—the brainchild of an innovative genius, the Egyptian architect Hemienu, who imagined, organized, and oversaw a monumental construction project that took more than two decades to complete and that employed the services of hundreds of architects, mathematicians, boatbuilders, stonemasons, and metallurgists. Here also is the riveting story of Jean-Pierre Houdin's single-minded search for solutions to the mysteries that have bedeviled Egyptologists for centuries, such as the purpose of the enigmatic Grand Gallery and the Pyramid's crack.
Download or read book Kingdom Under Glass written by Jay Kirk and published by Picador. This book was released on 2011-11-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this epic account of an extraordinary life lived during remarkable times, Jay Kirk follows the adventures of legendary explorer and taxidermist Carl Akeley, who revolutionized taxidermy and environmental conservation and created the famed African Hall at New York's Museum of Natural History. Akeley risked death time and again in the jungles of Africa as he stalked animals for his dioramas and hobnobbed with outsized personalities of the era, such as Theodore Roosevelt and P. T. Barnum. Kingdom Under Glass is "a rollicking biography...an epic adventure...[and] a beguiling novelistic portrait of a man and an era straining to hear the call of the wild" (Publishers Weekly).
Download or read book The Night Ocean written by Howard Phillips Lovecraft and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Night Ocean" is told from the first person narrative and it follows the young painter who arrives in a small village of Ellston where he is supposed to enter a contest with his large mural. At first, he enjoys peace and quiet surroundings, but as he stays longer he start seeing and experiencing some strange things which, along with the loneliness, have strong effect to his psyche.
Download or read book Obsessed written by Ted Dekker and published by Thomas Nelson Inc. This book was released on 2006 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, real-estate dealer Stephen Friedman becomes hungry for answers after he discovers a deceased woman's papers that indicate she owned a priceless religious relic, and that she may have been his mother.
Download or read book Stalin written by Adam B. Ulam and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 788 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perestroika and glasnost have unleashed unprecedented criticism of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union, and the terrible legacy of his regime has been acknowledged by Mikhail Gorbachev.