Download or read book Tawdry Knickers and Other Unfortunate Ways to Be Remembered written by Alex Novak and published by TarcherPerigee. This book was released on 2010 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dictionary shows the way that names have entered the English language, recording the successes and humiliations of the original people.
Download or read book Tawdry Knickers and Other Unfortunate Ways to Be Remembered written by Alex Novak and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some are born notorious. Others have notoriety thrust upon them. Few realize that their morning mouthwash bears the name of a life- saving British baron or that their sugary graham crackers would be abhorred by the health-food fanatic who concocted the flavorless original recipe. Throughout history, the proper names of figures both noble and notorious have slipped into the common and uncommon corners of our vocabulary. Tawdry Knickers and Other Unfortunate Ways to Be Remembered details the lamentable lives and legacies of history's most infamous namesakes and the words they inspired: *Henry Shrapnel died of natural causes, despite having invented the shells whose shattering fragments would rain hellfire on soldiers from the Battle of Waterloo through the Vietnam War. *Poor virgin St. Audrey suffered from a bulging neck tumor and the unwanted advances of an unsympathetic husband, but never lived to hear crass vendors eventually hawk her "tawdry" lace. *If New York blueblood Harmen Knickerbocker isn't rolling over in his grave, his nineteenth-century drawers are at least in a twist over having his venerable family name associated with underwear. *Barbara Handler has never been happy about providing the name for the original Barbie, to say nothing of her doll's plastic relationship with Ken-named for her real-life brother. *In contrast to these, dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel avoided the inevitable "merchant of death" epitaph awaiting him by using his enormous explosives fortune to establish the Nobel Prize Foundation. Want to know where your words come from? The surprising, humorous, and often ironic stories behind ninety notable eponyms will take you on an undercover tour of the etymological sausage factory.
Download or read book 10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything written by Mark Jacob and published by Agate Publishing. This book was released on 2012-05-10 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compendium of outrageous, hilarious or just plain shocking trivia about everything from history and politics to arts, religion, technology and much more. For years, the Chicago Tribune’s “10 Things You Might Not Know” column has been informing and entertaining readers on a diverse range of subjects. This volume collects the best of these columns, offering readers obscure, fascinating facts on universal topics that will appeal to everyone from sports fans to history buffs, foodies, and more. Expertly researched and thoroughly entertaining, 10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything contains a plethora of surprising trivia on numerous topics, with an especially close look into Chicago-area history and facts. For example, in Zion, Illinois it was once illegal to spit, eat oysters, wear tan-colored shoes, or whistle on Sundays. 10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything will leave readers brighter, wittier, and curious to learn more about myriad subjects and stories they will never forget.
Download or read book Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops written by Harry Oliver and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-01-05 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating and funny origins of everyday objects-bliss for history hounds, language lovers and trivia buffs. In this delightful volume, Harry Oliver reveals the most unusual and unexpected stories behind the household necessities, toys, common objects, technological advances, and everyday items we all take for granted. Who hasn't wondered: ?Whether Thomas Crapper really invented the toilet ?What accident led to the invention of the microwave ?Why it took nearly twenty years for someone to finally decide to slice bread ?How laziness resulted in the invention of the dishwasher ?Which discovery made the milkshake possible ?Which king's fancy for his mistress inspired the first elevator
Download or read book Interior States written by Meghan O'Gieblyn and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2018-10-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of The Believer Book Award for Nonfiction "Meghan O'Gieblyn's deep and searching essays are written with a precise sort of skepticism and a slight ache in the heart. A first-rate and riveting collection." --Lorrie Moore A fresh, acute, and even profound collection that centers around two core (and related) issues of American identity: faith, in general and the specific forms Christianity takes in particular; and the challenges of living in the Midwest when culture is felt to be elsewhere. What does it mean to be a believing Christian and a Midwesterner in an increasingly secular America where the cultural capital is retreating to both coasts? The critic and essayist Meghan O'Gieblyn was born into an evangelical family, attended the famed Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for a time before she had a crisis of belief, and still lives in the Midwest, aka "Flyover Country." She writes of her "existential dizziness, a sense that the rest of the world is moving while you remain still," and that rich sense of ambivalence and internal division inform the fifteen superbly thoughtful and ironic essays in this collection. The subjects of these essays range from the rebranding (as it were) of Hell in contemporary Christian culture ("Hell"), a theme park devoted to the concept of intelligent design ("Species of Origin"), the paradoxes of Christian Rock ("Sniffing Glue"), Henry Ford's reconstructed pioneer town of Greenfield Village and its mixed messages ("Midwest World"), and the strange convergences of Christian eschatology and the digital so-called Singularity ("Ghosts in the Cloud"). Meghan O'Gieblyn stands in relation to her native Midwest as Joan Didion stands in relation to California - which is to say a whole-hearted lover, albeit one riven with ambivalence at the same time.
Download or read book Scheisse written by Gertrude Besserwisser and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1994-07-01 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The perfect gag gift, this humorous book helps readers navigate the world of real Low German. Scheisse! introduces readers to the fine art of cursing and basic slang to spice up their German speech. If you think you have a fairly good command of German, think again. For it’s a sure bet that Frau Schultz never taught you those nasty little guttural curses and humiliating invectives so expressive of real low German speech. But relax—here at last is the one book that can introduce you to the very worst beer-hall German. Scheisse! is an indispensable guide to off-color German colloquialisms and profanities—lascivious bedroom slang and boozy insults, jeering scatological put-downs and scurrilous ridicule. This hilarious illustrated cornucopia of creative expletives, guaranteed to vex, taunt, aggravate, and provoke as only overwrought low German can, will help you master the fine art of German verbal abuse—with triumphant one-upmanship.
Download or read book The Portable Machiavelli written by Niccolo Machiavelli and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1979-01-25 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the four and a half centuries since Machiavelli’s death, no single and unanimously accepted interpretation of his ideas has succeeded in imposing itself upon the lively debate over the meaning of his works. Yet there has never been any doubt about the fundamental importance of Machiavelli’s contribution to Western political theory.The Portable Machiavelli brings together the complete texts of The Prince, Belfagor, and Castruccio Castracani, newly translated by Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa especially for this volume. In addition, the editors include an abridged version of The Discourses; a play, The Mandrake Root, in its entirety; seven private letters; and selections from The Art of War and The History of Florence.
Download or read book The Prodigal Tongue written by Lynne Murphy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOSEN BY THE ECONOMIST AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English “English accents are the sexiest.” “Americans have ruined the English language.” Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?
Download or read book Who the Hell Is Pansy O Hara written by Jenny Bond and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-07-29 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The captivating stories behind fifty of the greatest authors and their most famous literary creations Before Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara ?, there had never been a single volume that explored the backstories of so many of the greatest books in the English language. A work sure to captivate all lovers of language and literature, it reveals in short, pithy chapters, the lives, loves, motivations, and quirky, fascinating details involving fifty of the best-loved books of the Western world. - When stacked up, the original manuscript of Gone With the Wind stood taller than Margaret Mitchell, its 4' 9 1/2" author - Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, was part of the Allied team that cracked the Nazi's Enigma code - Leo Tolstoy's wife copied War and Peace by hand . . . seven times From The Great Gatsby to Harper Lee, from Jaws to J. K . Rowling, Who the Hell Is Pansy O'Hara? offers an entertaining and informative journey through the minds of writers and the life experiences that took these amazing works from notion to novel.
Download or read book The Well of Loneliness written by Radclyffe Hall and published by Read Books Ltd. This book was released on 2015-04-24 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This early work by Radclyffe Hall was originally published in 1928 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Well of Loneliness' is a novel that follows an upper-class Englishwoman who falls in love with another woman while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I. Marguerite Radclyffe Hall was born on 12th August 1880, in Bournemouth, England. Hall's first novel The Unlit Lamp (1924) was a lengthy and grim tale that proved hard to sell. It was only published following the success of the much lighter social comedy The Forge (1924), which made the best-seller list of John O'London's Weekly. Hall is a key figure in lesbian literature for her novel The Well of Loneliness (1928). This is her only work with overt lesbian themes and tells the story of the life of a masculine lesbian named Stephen Gordon.
Download or read book A World of Ideas written by Chris Rohmann and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2010-10-06 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do you keep up in the age of information when there's so much to know and so little time? Here's the ideal solution: a practical book of knowledge offering in-depth analysis, detailed interpretation, and penetrating insight into the key concepts, the most influential minds, and the major intellectual movements in history. A World of Ideas is an essential tool for anyone who wants to be fully informed and stay ahead of the curve in today's world. Now you can get to the bottom of the big bang theory; find out where Freud's ideas were coming from, and where Einstein's may ultimately take us; demystify surrealism and survivalism, nature and nurture, communism and capitalism. With hundreds of in-depth entries, drawn from a wide range of fields--including religion, philosophy, psychology, economics, politics, history, art, literature, and science--A World of Ideas enables you to turn immediately to the term in question for a comprehensive description of its history, meaning, and context. - Hundreds of entries, alphabetically arranged, with key words and concepts highlighted and cross-referenced - Reviewed and approved by an academic board of leading scholars - A unique emphasis on multicultural influences and the long-neglected impact of women on the history of ideas - An extensive bibliography of further readings and resources Here are the concepts that shaped civilization . . . the minds that made history . . . the thinkers, the thoughts, and the theories--everything you need to know to fully understand the world we live in. Concise and authoritative, meticulously researched and lucidly written, this invaluable resource is sure to become a standard reference for years to come.
Download or read book Dead Money written by Rudy Stegemoeller and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2007 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The poker gods are smiling on Mark Newcomb. Hes in his elementplaying against the best at a million-dollar Texas Holdem tournament. Marks no pro, just a criminal defense lawyer with incredible instincts and lucky underwear. But keeping his head in the game gets tough when players start dying. The first to get bumped off is poker legend Shooter Deukart. Mark and his gambling buddies are at the top of the suspect list. He offers legal advice to his friends, but when another player gets whacked, hes left wondering if one of them could be the killer. With the police on his back and a mob hitman after him, Mark just wants to make it through the game alive. Will Lady Luck be on his side when the murderer strikes again?
Download or read book Star Maker written by Olaf Stapledon and published by Wesleyan University Press. This book was released on 2004-05-24 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science fiction-roman.
Download or read book The Recognitions written by William Gaddis and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2020-11-24 with total page 969 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A postmodern masterpiece about fraud and forgery by one of the most distinctive, accomplished novelists of the last century. The Recognitions is a sweeping depiction of a world in which everything that anyone recognizes as beautiful or true or good emerges as anything but: our world. The book is a masquerade, moving from New England to New York to Madrid, from the art world to the underworld, but it centers on the story of Wyatt Gwyon, the son of a New England minister, who forsakes religion to devote himself to painting, only to despair of his inspiration. In expiation, he will paint nothing but flawless copies of his revered old masters—copies, however, that find their way into the hands of a sinister financial wizard by the name of Recktall Brown, who of course sells them as the real thing. Dismissed uncomprehendingly by reviewers on publication in 1955 and ignored by the literary world for decades after, The Recognitions is now established as one of the great American novels, immensely ambitious and entirely unique, a book of wild, Boschian inspiration and outrageous comedy that is also profoundly serious and sad.
Download or read book The Complete Poetry of James Hearst written by James Hearst and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part of the regionalist movement that included Grant Wood, Paul Engle, Hamlin Garland, and Jay G. Sigmund, James Hearst helped create what Iowa novelist Ruth Suckow called a poetry of place. A lifelong Iowa farner, Hearst began writing poetry at age nineteen and eventually wrote thirteen books of poems, a novel, short stories, cantatas, and essays, which gained him a devoted following Many of his poems were published in the regionalist periodicals of the time, including the Midland, and by the great regional presses, including Carroll Coleman's Prairie Press. Drawing on his experiences as a farmer, Hearst wrote with a distinct voice of rural life and its joys and conflicts, of his own battles with physical and emotional pain (he was partially paralyzed in a farm accident), and of his own place in the world. His clear eye offered a vision of the midwestern agrarian life that was sympathetic but not sentimental - a people and an art rooted in place.
Download or read book Girl from the Gulches written by Mary Ronan and published by Montana Historical Society. This book was released on 2003 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of one woman's life in the West during the second half of the nineteenth century from growing up on the Montana mining frontier to her ascent to young womanhood on a farm in southern California.
Download or read book Rats Saw God written by Rob Thomas and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steve details his descent from bright star to burnout in this newly repackaged edition of the definitive, highly acclaimed novel from the creator of Veronica Mars and Party Down. Houston, sophomore year: Steve is on top of the world. He and his friends are the talk of the school. He’s in love with a terrific girl. He can even deal with “the astronaut”—a world-famous hero who happens to be his father. San Diego, senior year: Steve is bummed out, drugged out, flunking out. A no-nonsense counselor says he can graduate if he writes a 100-page paper. So Steve starts writing, and as the paper becomes more and more personal, he reveals how a National Merit Scholar has become an under-achieving stoner. And in telling how he got to where he is, Steve discovers how to get to where he wants to be.
