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Showing 1 - 20 of 51478 items
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Sports and games, United States history, Baseball, Lifestyle
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Anthropologist shares anecdotes and stories of baseball's history, from its founding in the mid-1800s to the early twenty-first century, framing…
them in the context of social and political history. Presents similarities between the sport and war and nationalism. Strong language. 2014
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United States history, Indigenous peoples history, Customs and cultures, History
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The first intersectional history of the Black and Native American struggle for freedom in our country that also reframes our…
understanding of who was Indigenous in early America Beginning with pre-Revolutionary America and moving into the movement for Black lives and contemporary Indigenous activism, Afro-Indigenous historian, Kyle T. Mays argues that the foundations of the US are rooted in antiblackness and settler colonialism, and that these parallel oppressions continue into the present. He explores how Black and Indigenous peoples have always resisted and struggled for freedom, sometimes together, and sometimes apart. Whether to end African enslavement and Indigenous removal or eradicate capitalism and colonialism, Mays show how the fervor of Black and Indigenous peoples calls for justice have consistently sought to uproot white supremacy. Mays uses a wide-array of historical activists and pop culture icons, &“sacred&” texts, and foundational texts like the Declaration of Independence and Democracy in America. He covers the civil rights movement and freedom struggles of the 1960s and 1970s, and explores current debates around the use of Native American imagery and the cultural appropriation of Black culture. Mays compels us to rethink both our history as well as contemporary debates and to imagine the powerful possibilities of Afro-Indigenous solidarity
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Women biography, Anthologies, Literature biography
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The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of…
essays. "Any story that starts will also end." As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores "what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self." When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks' short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom's brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer's eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo's children's books (author of the upcoming The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz's Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author's grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time
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Journals and memoirs, Arts and entertainment, Anthologies
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The international literary icon opens his eclectic closet: Here are photographs of Murakami&’s extensive and personal T-shirt collection, accompanied by…
essays that reveal a side of the writer rarely seen by the public. Considered "the world's most popular cult novelist" ( The Guardian ), Haruki Murakami has written books that have galvanized millions around the world. Many of his fans know about his 10,000-vinyl-record collection, and his obsession with running, but few have heard about a more intimate, and perhaps more unique, passion: his T-shirt-collecting habit. In Murakami T, the famously reclusive novelist shows us his T-shirts—including gems from the Springsteen on Broadway show in NYC, to the Beach Boys concert in Honolulu, to the shirt that inspired the beloved short story &“Tony Takitani.&” Accompanied by short, frank essays that have been translated into English for the first time, these photographs reveal much about Murakami's multifaceted and wonderfully eccentric persona. *Includes a downloadable PDF of images from the book
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United States history, Customs and cultures
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A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing…
vision of the American past and present. In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country&’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story builds on one of the most consequential journalistic events of recent years: The New York Times Magazine &’s award-winning &“1619 Project,&” which reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on the original 1619 Project, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This legacy can be seen in the way we tell stories, the way we teach our children, and the way we remember. Together, the elements of the book reveal a new origin story for the United States, one that helps explain not only the persistence of anti-Black racism and inequality in American life today, but also the roots of what makes the country unique. The book also features a significant elaboration of the original project&’s Pulitzer Prize–winning lead essay, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, on how the struggles of Black Americans have expanded democracy for all Americans, as well as two original pieces from Hannah-Jones, one of which makes a profound case for reparative solutions to this legacy of injustice. This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation&’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life. Lorna Simpson Beclouded , 2018 © Lorna Simpson. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
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United States travel and geography, United States history
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The 1619 Project&’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in…
the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson. A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders. But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived. And the people planted dreams and hope, willed themselves to keep living, living. And the people learned new words for love for friend for family for joy for grow for home. With powerful verse and striking illustrations by Nikkolas Smith, Born on the Water provides a pathway for readers of all ages to reflect on the origins of American identity
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True crime, Politics and government, United States history, Police and military
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Examines the role of FBI informant Gary Thomas Rowe Jr., who infiltrated the Alabama Klan and identified suspects in the…
1965 murder of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, a white woman from Detroit, while he participated in other race crimes. Criticizes the effectiveness of the FBI's reliance upon informants. 2005
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Folklore, fables and fairy tales, General fictionAnthologies
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A brilliantly original, landmark retelling of Greek myths, recounted as if they were actual scenes being woven into textiles by…
the women who feature prominently in them—including Athena, Helen, Circe and Penelope &“Greek myths were full of powerful witches, unpredictable gods and sword-wielding slayers. They were also extreme: about families who turn murderously on each other; impossible tasks set by cruel kings; love that goes wrong; wars and journeys and terrible loss. There was magic, there was shape-shifting, there were monsters, there were descents to the land of the dead. Humans and immortals inhabited the same world, which was sometimes perilous, sometimes exciting. &“The stories were obviously fantastical. All the same, brothers really do war with each other. People tell the truth but aren&’t believed. Wars destroy the innocent. Lovers are parted. Parents endure the grief of losing children. Women suffer violence at the hands of men. The cleverest of people can be blind to what is really going on. The law of the land can contradict what you know to be just. Mysterious diseases devastate cities. Floods and fire tear lives apart. &“For the Greeks, the word muthos simply meant a traditional tale. In the twenty-first century, we have long left behind the political and religious framework in which these stories first circulated—but their power endures. Greek myths remain true for us because they excavate the very extremes of human experience: sudden, inexplicable catastrophe; radical reversals of fortune; and seemingly arbitrary events that transform lives. They deal, in short, in the hard, basic facts of the human condition.&” —from the Introduction
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Customs and cultures, History, United States history
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The incredible true story of the last ship to carry enslaved people to America, the remarkable town its survivors founded…
after emancipation, and the complicated legacy their descendants carry with them to this day—by the journalist who discovered the ship's remains. Fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed, the Clotilda became the last ship in history to bring enslaved Africans to the United States. The ship was scuttled and burned on arrival to hide evidence of the crime, allowing the wealthy perpetrators to escape prosecution. Despite numerous efforts to find the sunken wreck, Clotilda remained hidden for the next 160 years. But in 2019, journalist Ben Raines made international news when he successfully concluded his obsessive quest through the swamps of Alabama to uncover one of our nation's most important historical artifacts. Traveling from Alabama to the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey in modern-day Benin, Raines recounts the ship's perilous journey, the story of its rediscovery, and its complex legacy. Against all odds, Africatown, the Alabama community founded by the captives of the Clotilda , prospered in the Jim Crow South. Zora Neale Hurston visited in 1927 to interview Cudjo Lewis, telling the story of his enslavement in the New York Times bestseller Barracoon . And yet the haunting memory of bondage has been passed on through generations. Clotilda is a ghost haunting three communities—the descendants of those transported into slavery, the descendants of their fellow Africans who sold them, and the descendants of their American enslavers. This connection binds these groups together to this day. At the turn of the century, descendants of the captain who financed the Clotilda's journey lived nearby—where, as significant players in the local real estate market, they disenfranchised and impoverished residents of Africatown. From these parallel stories emerges a profound depiction of America as it struggles to grapple with the traumatic past of slavery and the ways in which racial oppression continue to this day. And yet, at its heart, The Last Slave Ship remains optimistic – an epic tale of one community's triumphs over great adversity and a celebration of the power of human curiosity to uncover the truth about our past and heal its wounds
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General non-fiction, Journals and memoirs, United States history
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"An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and…
one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration." —Isabel Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents An essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole. This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life. Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. With uncommon insight and breathtaking clarity, South to America offers an assertion that if we want to build a more humane future for the United States, we must center our concern below the Mason-Dixon Line
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Anthologies
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Introduction by New York Times bestselling author Henry Louis Gates Jr. Spanning more than 35 years of work, the first…
comprehensive collection of essays, criticism, and articles by the legendary author of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston, showcasing the evolution of her distinctive style as an archivist and author. "One of the greatest writers of our time."—Toni Morrison You Don't Know Us Negroes is the quintessential gathering of provocative essays from one of the world's most celebrated writers, Zora Neale Hurston. Spanning more than three decades and penned during the backdrop of the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, Montgomery bus boycott, desegregation of the military, and school integration, Hurston's writing articulates the beauty and authenticity of Black life as only she could. Collectively, these essays showcase the roles enslavement and Jim Crow have played in intensifying Black people's inner lives and culture rather than destroying it. She argues that in the process of surviving, Black people re-interpreted every aspect of American culture—"modif[ying] the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly religion." White supremacy prevents the world from seeing or completely recognizing Black people in their full humanity and Hurston made it her job to lift the veil and reveal the heart and soul of the race. These pages reflect Hurston as the controversial figure she was—someone who stated that feminism is a mirage and that the integration of schools did not necessarily improve the education of Black students. Also covered is the sensational trial of Ruby McCollum, a wealthy Black woman convicted in 1952 for killing her lover, a white doctor. Demonstrating the breadth of this revered and influential writer's work, You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays is an invaluable chronicle of a writer's development and a window into her world and mind. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook
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United States history, Politics and government biography, Politics and government
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • &“Vital reading for Americans and people anywhere who seek to understand what is happening &‘after…
the fall&’ of the global system created by the United States&” ( New York Journal of Books ), from the former White House aide, close confidant to President Barack Obama, and author of The World as It Is At a time when democracy in the United States is endangered as never before, Ben Rhodes spent years traveling the world to understand why. He visited dozens of countries, meeting with politicians and activists confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that are tearing America apart. Along the way, the Russian opposition leader he spoke with was poisoned, the Hong Kong protesters he came to know saw their movement snuffed out, and America itself reached the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a fragile second chance. The characters and issues that Rhodes illuminates paint a picture that shows us where we are today—from Barack Obama to a rising generation of international leaders; from the authoritarian playbook endangering democracy to the flood of disinformation enabling authoritarianism. Ultimately, Rhodes writes personally and powerfully about finding hope in the belief that looking squarely at where America has gone wrong can make clear how essential it is to fight for what America is supposed to be, for our own country and the entire world
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Death and bereavement, Anthologies
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An immensely moving collection of letters on the theme of Grief, curated by the founder of the globally popular Letters…
of Note website.The first volume in the bestselling Letters of Note series was a collection of hundreds of the world's most entertaining, inspiring, and unusual letters, based on the seismically popular website of the same name--an online museum of correspondence visited by over 70 million people. From Virginia Woolf's heartbreaking suicide letter, to Queen Elizabeth II's recipe for drop scones sent to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression 'OMG' in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler; and from Iggy Pop's beautiful letter of advice to a troubled young fan, to Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable job application letter. Now, the curator of Letters of Note, Shaun Usher, gives us wonderful new volumes featuring letters organized around a universal theme. In this volume, Shaun Usher turns to the theme of grief. Contributors to be confirmed.
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War, History, Asian history, United States history, Politics and government
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CNN national security analyst, author of The Osama bin Laden I Know (DB 65312), examines actions and strategies--some successful, some…
not--of the United States and bin Laden's al-Qaeda during the so-called "war on terror" that began after the 9/11 attacks. 2011
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Mysteries and crime stories, Short storiesAnthologies
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Noir stories from twenty-one writers, including Sara Paretsky, Marcus Sakey, and Barbara D'Amato. In Stuart Kaminsky's "Blue Note," gambler Pitch…
Noles must win at a poker game or his blues-singer mother will lose a finger to a loan shark. Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. 2007
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Short storiesAnthologies
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Twelve short stories about the harsher aspects of human experience. In the title piece Will, a teenage boy, elopes with…
his pregnant girlfriend, Olivia, and moves into an apartment near a psychiatric hospital. Will becomes successful and blissfully happy with Olivia--unless that's merely a dream. Some strong language. 2010
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Bestsellers (Non-fiction), Politics and government, United States history, Espionage
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Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter investigates sixty years of the Central Intelligence Agency. Uses archival documents and interviews to illustrate that the…
agency's mission of gathering intelligence has faltered due to blunders, structural flaws, and philosophical conflicts. Posits that national security is jeopardized by the CIA's disarray. National Book Award. Bestseller. 2007
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United States history, Historical biography, General non-fiction
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Author selects former slaves' interviews taken during the 1920s and 1930s, as well as letters, memoirs, and diaries, to illustrate…
the thoughts and experiences of freed blacks about the Civil War. Includes reactions to the Union army's invasion of the South. Some violence and some strong language. 2008
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Customs and cultures, United States history, Politics and government, Social issues
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A breakdown of the economic and social injustices facing Black people and other marginalized citizens inspired by political activist Kimberly…
Jones' viral video, "How Can We Win." "So if I played four hundred rounds of Monopoly with you and I had to play and give you every dime that I made, and then for fifty years, every time that I played, if you didn't like what I did, you got to burn it like they did in Tulsa and like they did in Rosewood, how can you win? How can you win?" When Kimberly Jones declared these words amid the protests spurred by the murder of George Floyd, she gave a history lesson that in just over six minutes captured the economic struggles of Black people in America. Within days the video had been viewed by millions of people around the world, riveted by Jones's damning—and stunningly succinct—analysis of the enduring disparities Black Americans face. In How We Can Win , Jones delves into the impacts of systemic racism and reveals how her formative years in Chicago gave birth to a lifelong devotion to justice. Here, in a vital expansion of her declaration, she calls for Reconstruction 2.0, a multilayered plan to reclaim economic and social restitutions—those restitutions promised with emancipation but blocked, again and again, for more than 150 years. And, most of all, Jones delivers strategies for how we can effect change as citizens and allies while nurturing ourselves—the most valuable asset we have—in the fight against a system that is still rigged. A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company
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United States history, History, Biography, Travel and geography
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Sequel to How the States Got Their Shapes (DB 67306) features biographical sketches of the politicians, surveyors, religious leaders, and…
others who created the borders of America's states. Basis for the series of the same name on TV's History Channel. 2011