What is the price of brillianceWhy are so many creative geniuses also ruinously self-destructiveFrom Caravaggio to Jackson Pollack, from Arthur Rimbaud to Jack Kerouac, from Charlie Parker to Janis Joplin, to Kurt Cobain, and on and on, authors and artists throughout history have binged, pill-popped, injected, or poisoned themselves for their art. Fully illustrated and addictively readable, Genius and Heroin is the indispensable reference to the untidy lives of our greatest artists and thinkers, entertainingly chronicling how the notoriously creative lived and died whether their ultimate downfalls were the result of opiates, alcohol, pot, absinthe, or the slow-motion suicide of obsession.

Nobody likes to think about death, but the world would be awfully crowded without it.From YouTube sensation Ken Tanaka and actor David Ury, who was crushed by an ATM on AMC's Breaking Bad, comes Everybody Dies, a colorful story and delightful assemblage of games that makes it easy-even fun- to come to grips with mortality.

An uproariously funny daily inspirational guide for manly men. Ralph and Reggie two regular, blue-collar buds from Boston offer one-a-day mcnuggets of affirmation, inspiration, manly wisdom and earth-shaking epiphanies from the end of the bar on the inner issues that truly matter everything from sex to sports to sex to imported vs. domestic to sex to the meaning of life.

Popular blogger Karen Alpert shares her hysterical take on the many "joys" of parenting I Heart My Little A-Holes is full of hilarious stories, lists, thoughts and pictures that will make you laugh so hard you'll wish you were wearing a diaper.

From the underbelly of the nuts behind hit websites failblog.org and icanhascheezburger.com comes FAIL Nation, your silent guide and handler to the not-even-close-to-perfect nation of FAIL, chock-full of irrelevant tips and useless suggestions about why to shop, who to eat, and when to see. So fasten your exit and check for the nearest seatbelt your FAIL plane departs now.

Get revenge on all your annoying coworkers with this guide to 101 awesome office pranks Are your eyes beginning to glaze over from the fluorescent lights in your tiny cubicleHave you had one too many burnt cups of coffeeDoes the guy in the cube next to you insist on pencil-drumming while cranking "Hells Bells" and five-finger discounting your paper clipsIf your answer to any of these questions is yes, then you're in need of some Cubicle Warfare.With Cubicle Warfare, you'll never be bored at the office again. Make your coworkers jump, squeal, and run for cover with hilarious pranks such as the Paper Clip Chain, Bottomless Box, and the Sticky Note Office, as well as the more advanced Freezer Bomb, Chair Chaos, and Textless Keyboard. Even if you're not a prankster yourself, you can still use this riotous guide to recognize the warning signs and defend your desk from conniving coworkers. Bad days at the office will be a thing of the past.

At last, a humorous, anecdote-filled exploration of the many ways in which women stab each other in the back and talk about each other behind closed doors If you exhibit any of these traits, you may be guilty of being a Player hateHER: You get upset when people don't notice how fabulous you are. You vow to get revenge on your boyfriend's mistress, instead of him. You become angry when you see someone wearing the same outfit you purchased, as if it were produced just for you. Player hateHER shows women why they hate on one another, and, most important, how they can stop! A much-needed lesson in respecting one another and respecting yourself.

Since the latter part of the century just past, Stanley Bing has been exploring the relationship between authority and madness. In one bestselling book after another, reporting from his hot-seat as an insider in a world-renowned multinational corporation, he has tried to understand the inner workings of those who lead us and to inquire why they seem to be powered, much of the time, by demons that make them obnoxious and dangerous, even to themselves. In What Would Machiavelli Do?, Bing looked at the issue of why mean people do better than nice people, and found that in their particular form of insanity lay incredible power. In Throwing the Elephant: Zen and the Art of Managing Up, he offered a spiritual path toward managing the unruly executive beast. And in Sun Tzu Was a Sissy, he taught us how to become one of them, and wage war on the playing field that ends in a dream home in Cabo. Now he returns to his roots to offer the last word on the entity that shapes our lives and stomps through and on our dreams: The Crazy Boss. Students of Bing and there are many, secreted inside tortured organizations, yearning for blunt instruments with which to fight will note that he has walked this ground before, looking for answers. In 1992, he published the first edition of Crazy Bosses, which was fine, as far as it went. Now, some 15 years and several dozen insane bosses later, he has updated and rethought much of the work. Back in the last century, Bing was a small, trembling creature, looking up at those who made his life miserable and analyzing the mental illness that gave them their power. Today, while still trembling much of the time, he is in fact one of those people his prior work has warned us against. His own hard-won wisdom and now institutionalized dementia make this new edition completely fresh and indispensable to anyone who works for somebody else or lives with somebody else, or would like to. In short, Bing is back on his home turf in this funny, true, and essential book, peering with his keen and frosty eye at the crazy boss in all his guises: the Bully, the Paranoid, the Narcissist, the Wimp, and the self-destructive Disaster Hunter. If you loved the original, classic Crazy Bosses, you'll be thrilled to plunge back into the new, refurbished pool. If you are new to the book, strap yourself in: it's going to be a crazy ride.

First published in 1904, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" by L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, describes the action of some uncommon events in the land of Santa. Not far from the Laughing Valley where Santa and all his magical helpers live, and beyond the Forest of Burzee, there stands a huge mountain that contains the Cave of Demons. Each demon has a specialty: Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance. Because the promise of Santa puts all girls and boys on their best behavior, the demons have hardly any visitors to their caves. In order to remedy their dismal foot traffic, they conspire to kidnap Santa! But oh! even when it looks as if the demons might win, one can never underestimate the power of devoted (and magical!) friends. Adapted by Alex Robinson, author of several graphic novels, the action and menace of the tale will be enhanced and lightly spoofed. It seems a most appropriate treatment of Baum's work -- he was an author who often let his profound and unsettling meanings roil beneath the surface of his otherwise fanciful stories.

You drag yourself to work wearing your office uniform, complete with khaki pants and sense of impending doom. After grabbing a cup of the office sludge, you settle in with your fellow cube dwellers and wonder: How will I last another day in this freaky corporate jungleCheaper than therapy, Cube Monkeys is your secret weapon to surviving the longest 40 hours of the week. Wanna get the overachieving intern firedDon't know how to tell the Stink Bomb down the hall he needs a scrub a dub dubAfraid you may have told off the boss after your fifth margarita at last night's happy hourNeed a handy list of excuses good for any occasionLook no further. The editors of CareerBuilder.com and Second City Communications have answers to your most pressing office survival questions, as well as advice, tips, and more to help you make it through the day without killing anyone. (Well, maybe the intern will take a hit. But that little snitch had it coming.)

John Leguizamo's smash–hit one–man shows have been acclaimed by critics and fans alike. In this new Harper Paperback edition, all four shows are compiled into one phenomenally entertaining volume. Mambo Mouth (1991), Leguizamo's first show, was an off Broadway sensation. Leguizamo's portrayal of seven different Latino characters earned him both Obie and Outer Critics Circle awards. His follow up, Spic–O–Rama (1993), a "dysfunctional family comedy," presents 24–hours in the life of one family. It enjoyed a sold–out run in Chicago before relocating to New York where it won its creator a Drama Desk Award. Freak (1998), Leguizamo's Broadway debut, is his own coming–of–age story. A "demi–semi–quasi–pseudo–autobiography," the show was a critical and commercial success and won an Emmy when it was shown on TV. Sexaholix: A Love Story (2001), based on the sold–out national tour of John Leguizamo Live! was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award as well as a Tony Award. Alternately hilarious and poignant, always candid and searingly intelligent, The Works of John Leguizamo is a must–have for fans of this inimitable performer.

An ideal gift book with personality and charm, Bertha Venation is a legendary editor's lifetime collection of the amazing names of actual people, with his own inimitable wit, commentary, and stories.Roger Gotobed . . . Ida Slaptor . . . Formica Dinette . . . Honeysuckle Weeks . . . Gay Beach . . . Sappho Clissit . . . Dimple MysteryThis colorful collection of extraordinary names, sure to please every lover of miscellany, features: Celebrity Children, Weirdest Names in Sports, Aptly Named Professionals, Literary Highlights, Funny Name Marriages, Places and Houses with Strange Names, Long and Meaningless Names, and Pets.Barbara Fatt Heine . . . P. Enis . . . Razzle and Dazzle . . . Moondog . . . Casa Enima . . . Phydeaux . . . Phat Ho . . . Fitz Funfrock . . . Mone't Elysea Ann . . . and Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Within the genre of financial selfhelp, ‘Trusts A Practical Guide’ is an invaluable and rare resource for financial experts and members of the public alike who need a reference work on a subject that is, on the face of it, complex but which undeniably affects many people’s lives at one point or another. Whatever your occupation or background, you are almost certain at some time to need some understanding of this subject, whether in your own financial planning or in advising those around you – and this guide is particularly helpful when dealing with a relative’s probate or the complex issues arising from an inheritance.After thirtyfive years at the top of his profession, FSA member Terry O'Halloran writes passionately and informatively, not only about his subject but also about the importance of spreading the word to others. He has seen many times first hand the benefits of wellorganized and implemented financial planning on people’s lives. More poignantly, he has seen what can happen when such matters are left to chance.Using famous historical characters, placing them in recognizable situations and using real life case histories, he explains the organization and procedure of Trusts simply and easily bringing his subject alive by putting it in a perspective that is easily assimilated by the layman. Terry O'Halloran clearly explains the intricacies of Trusts and confronts their realities with reallife examples such as a family case involving a number of exwives, a business partnership that goes very expensively wrong and even the attempted murder of a director and removal of the wouldbe assassin (as a Trustee). Building the full picture from simple steps, the author explains the merits or otherwise of trusts and their uses with life assurance and pension products. “Trusts are the most important adjunct to life assurance, business protection, estate planning and pension provision. A basic understanding is essential,” he insists. After searching in vain for a book for his own use, the need for a reference book on this subject was clear. “I needed a reference book that I could refer to during the working day but which would also be simple enough for any of my clients to understand. So I wrote one – in fact I had to write it because there was simply nothing suitable in existence. Moreover, I use it all the time. My own copies are dogeared from use.” “I believe,’ Trusts’ is a practical tool for the professional’s everyday use and a good guide for the layman.

Pour bien comprendre la portée de l'intervention et de l'influence de l'?uvre de Delacroix dans l'école fran?aise, il est nécessaire de se rappeler la situation exacte de la peinture au moment où il parut.??La Révolution avait brutalement traité les ma?tres du XVIIIème siècle finissant. ?prise d'un sévère idéal gréco-romain, dont déjà Vien avait donné des exemples et que David allait porter à son apogée, la génération jacobine avait considéré les peintres légers et délicieux du règne de Louis XVI comme les bénéficiaires de la corruption luxueuse des nobles et des fermiers généraux, et elle les avait rejetés dans le même mouvement d'injuste fureur. Fragonard mourait oublié, chassé de son logis des galeries du Louvre. Hubert Robert échappait gr?ce à une erreur à l'échafaud. Greuze mourait dans la misère noire. On ne parlait plus de Chardin. Un Latour se vendait quelques francs. ??L'?Embarquement pour Cythère?, peint par Watteau pour son entrée à l'Académie, y était criblé de boulettes de papier m?ché par les élèves de David, neveu de Boucher dont ils parlaient en de tels termes, qu'il était obligé, par pudeur, d'excuser à leurs yeux son oncle. Les gravures de Cochin, de Lépicié, de Choffard, de Lavreince, des Saint-Aubin, de Debucourt, de Gravelot, d'Eisen, allaient s'ensevelir dans les soupentes de quelques brocanteurs, et on attendrait quatrevingts ans avant de les rechercher pour les couvrir d'or. Un siècle s'effondrait. Son go?t exquis, sa morale profondément naturelle et humaine, son libéralisme sceptique, tout lui était imputé à vice et à crime. On rêvait d'un art moralisateur, que Greuze avait préparé aux applaudissements de Diderot par ses scènes familiales et son ingénuité bourgeoise, mêlée de libertinage hypocrite. ??On voulait un art héro?que, sévère, propre à élever les consciences. David apparut l'homme d'une telle ?uvre, et créa d'un seul effort la réaction d'une esthétique néo-romaine, d'une peinture con?ue d'après la statuaire antique, et toute consacrée à des expressions de sentiments cornéliens. La discipline de cette école fut plus dure encore que celle imposée, centvingtcinq années auparavant, par Louis XIV, Le Brun et l'école de Rome. Plus de recherches de la nature, plus de gr?ce, plus de vérité, plus de coloris, mais simplement un art allégorique, pompeux, aride, éloigné de la vie et tout entier construit sur des théories, un art aussi opposé que possible au tempérament fran?ais.

Societatea deschis? contra societ??ii deschise. Societatea rom?neasc? ?ntre utopie ?i realitate este o carte de analiz? profund? ?i complex?, ce ?i-a ales ca obiect de studiu cea mai important? paradigm? sociopolitic? a postmodernit??ii, ?mpreun? cu realit??ile concrete ce se configureaz? ?n jurul acesteia. O paradigm? care ?i-a propus s? schimbe fa?a lumii, sens ?n care, de mai bine de 25 de ani o putem observa manifest?ndu-se pe multiple coordonate ?i ?n planul realit??ilor sociale ?i politice autohtone, pe care, de altfel, autorul le radiografiaz? extrem de atent, cu ochiul, mintea ?i bagajul de cuno?tin?e proprii specialistului, dar ?i cu sufletul ?i con?tiin?a celui care apar?ine societ??ii rom?ne?ti. Cartea de fa?? este, ?n acela?i timp, ?i despre societatea deschis?, dar ?i despre trecutul, prezentul ?i viitorul prefigurat lumii ?n aceast? paradigm?, c?t ?i despre evolu?ia societ??ii rom?ne?ti ca parte integrant? a acestei lumi. Ea surprinde ?i problematizeaz? o multitudine de aspecte ?in?nd at?t de natura intrinsec? a conceptului de societate deschis?, c?t ?i de schimb?rile pe care implementarea acestui concept ca realitate social? le presupune ?i le antreneaz? ?n societ??ile contemporane. Prin aceasta, ea se recomand? ca o lectur? util?, provocatoare ?i, totodat?, revelatoare tuturor celor preocupa?i de c?mpul ?tiin?elor sociale ?i politice, dar ?i celor interesa?i s? ?n?eleag? ceva ?n plus din sistemul cauzalit??ilor profunde care influen?eaz? mersul lumii, ?n general, ?i al societ??ii rom?ne?ti, ?n particular. (Maria Voinea)

O carte spectaculoas?, care ??i asum? nu pu?ine riscuri, intr?nd pe terenurile pu?in explorate ale romanului. Cercetarea ?n care ne-am angajat este analitic? ?i speculativ?, o ipotez? pe care ne-o ?nchipuim ?n anticamera adev?rurilor simple ?i general-consim?ite despre romanul secolului XX, fiindc? aceste adev?ruri sunt a?teptate ?nc? spre a fi spuse. Istoriile sistematice, studiile exhaustive despre romanul secolului abia ?ncheiat lipsesc deocamdat?. Este ?i prima dificultate majora pe care a trebuit s? o ignoram pur ?i simplu. Risc?m propria noastr? ipoteza ?ntr-un spa?iu ?nc? insuficient ordonat ?i tocmai de aceea ispititor pentru orice c?l?torie critic?.

When Sheherazad is brought to the palace to be the Sultan’s new bride, her very life depends upon her skill as a storyteller. She tells him tales of lost cities and buried treasure, of slave girls and robbers, of genies in bottles and evil sorcerers. But will it be enough to save her? The stories of the Arabian Nights date back more than a thousand years and originate from Persia, India and Arabia. Neil Duffield has combined elements of many of them, keeping alive the excitement and humour to produce a show which will transport the audience into a world of myth and legend where fantasy and reality can never be separated.

The Danaids form the chorus and serve as the protagonists. They flee a forced marriage to their Egyptian cousins. When the Danaides reach Argos, they entreat King Pelasgus to protect them. He refuses pending the decision of the Argive people, who decide in the favor of the Danaids. Danaus rejoices the outcome, and the Danaids praise the Greek gods. Almost immediately, a herald of the Egyptians comes to attempt to force the Danaids to return to their cousins for marriage. Pelasgus arrives, threatens the herald, and urges the Danaids to remain within the walls of Argos. The play ends with the Danaids retreating into the Argive walls, protected.

Today the women at the festival are going to kill me for insulting them!' This bold statement by Euripides is the absurd premise upon which the whole play depends. The women are incensed by his plays' portrayal of the female sex as mad, murderous, and sexually depraved, and they are using the festival of the Thesmophoria (an annual fertility celebration dedicated to Demeter) as an opportunity to debate a suitable choice of revenge.

It is fair to characterise the three suites of original water-colour drawings, as executed by our artist, as unique examples of the great George Cruikshank's special individual proficiency as an exponent of this branch of technical dexterity. More-over, it may be regarded as a fortunate circumstance that the three works, here reproduced with amazing fidelity in facsimile, represent happily the very chefs d'oeuvre of his wonderful productions; in their respective categories, preserving the best examples of his remarkable genius as an imaginative creator of vivid pictures, alike stirring and animated, and representing at one glance his vast dramatic powers, his mastery of the humorous side of life, and the intensity he was consistently able to infuse into terrible and tragic scenes. It is noteworthy that the inimitable artist George Cruikshank but rarely pro-duced finished water-colour drawings; the bulk of his prolific and familiarly rec-ognised designs for book illustrations were mostly dainty pencil sketches, occa-sionally finished in pen and ink. It is a problem difficult to solve satisfactorily whether, beyond the three memorable instances of the works here reproduced in facsimile, there are in existence any other complete suites of original illustrations by George Cruikshank—that is to say, fully executed by his master hand as finished water-colour drawings. Tinted sketches may be found in the prized possessions of Cruikshank collectors, and spirited studies for many of his favourite and most successful subjects have been cleverly touched in with watercolours; for instance, such as certain of his original drawings as designed for the illustrations of Harri-son Ainsworth's Tower of London, and the clever historical and picturesque series of Windsor Castle designs; these are, however, to be regarded as exceptional cases, for the bulk of these most successful and popular designs were carefully executed in pencil, or occasionally outlined with the pen, and highly finished with washes of warm sepia. It is worthy of recollection that Cruikshank was a most dexterous artist in this monochrome branch, his earlier artistic experiences having been al-most exclusively in the walk of aqua-tinted etchings; all his early book illustrations, his caricatures, and satirical plates—social or political—were uniformly etched by his hand in the most spirited fashion, after his ready sketches and rough studies, and when the outline etching was bitten in, Cruikshank elaborately worked out his colour suggestions, for light and shade, with a brush over the first-etched outline, in tones of sepia or Indian ink, for the guidance of the professional 'aquatinters'—the school of artists to whose trained skill was entrusted the task of completing these plates to produce the effect of highly finished washed drawings in mono-chrome. By this, his youthful practice, George Cruikshank had acquired remarka-ble dexterity, his original pen-and-ink designs, and the outline etchings, after his earlier book illustrations, being worked up in monochrome to the dainty finish of delicate miniatures, in which art both his father Isaac and his brother Isaac Robert were first-class proficients, as he himself has recorded with pride in describing the special gifts and qualifications which distinguished the Cruikshank family. ? ABOUT THE AUTHOR; George Cruikshank (1792 – 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience. Cruikshank was born in London. His father, Isaac Cruikshank, was one of the leading caricaturists of the late 1790s and Cruikshank started his career as his father's apprentice and assistant. His older brother, Isaac Robert, also followed in the family business as a caricaturist and illustrator. Cruikshank's early work was caricature; but in 1823, at the age of 31, he started to focus on book illustration. He illustrated the first, 1823 English translation (by Edgar Taylor and David Jardine) of Grimms' Fairy Tales, published in two volumes as German Popular Stories. On 16 October 1827, he married Mary Ann Walker (1807–1849). Two years after her death, on 7 March 1851, he married Eliza Widdison. The two lived at 263 Hampstead Road, North London.Upon his death, it was discovered that Cruikshank had fathered 11 illegitimate children with a mistress named Adelaide Attree, his former servant, who lived close to where he lived with his wife. Adelaide was ostensibly married and had taken the married surname 'Archibold'.

The Knights is a satire on political and social life in 5th-century BC Athens, the characters are drawn from real life and Cleon is clearly intended to be the villain. However it is also an allegory, the characters are figures of fantasy and the villain in this context is Paphlagonian, a comic monstrosity responsible for almost everything that's wrong with the world.