Discover the secrets of Hollywood storytelling in this fascinating collection, in which fifty screenwriters share the inside scoop about how they surmounted incredible odds to break into the business, how they transformed their ideas into box-office blockbusters, how their words helped launch the careers of major stars, and how they earned accolades and Academy Awards. Entertaining, informative, and sometimes startling, Tales from the Script features exclusive interviews with film's top wordsmiths, including John Carpenter (Halloween), Nora Ephron (Julie & Julia), John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and David hayter (Watchmen). Read along as:Frank Darabont explains why he sacrificed his salary to preserve the integrity of his hard-hitting adapta-tion of Stephen King's novella The Mist.William Goldman reveals why he's never had any interest in directing movies, despite having won Oscars for writing All the President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.Ron Shelton explains why he nearly cut the spectacular speech that helped cement Kevin Costner's stardom in Bull Durham.Josh Friedman describes the bizarre experience of getting hired by Steven Spielberg to adapt H. G. Wells's classic novel War of the Worlds even though Spielberg hated Friedman's take on the material.Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) analyzes his legendary relationship with Martin Scorsese.Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) reveals why the unrelenting hype around his multimillion-dollar * sales caused him to retreat from public life for several years.Tales from the Script is a must for movie buffs who savor behind-the-scenes stories and a master class for all those who dream of writing the Great American Screenplay, taught by those who made that dream come true.

From the known to the unknown . . . With its spectacular temples, tombs, monuments, and mummies, as well as esoteric metaphysics, legendary historical characters, and connections to the Bible, ancient Egypt has enticed the human imagination for centuries. This search for understanding and drive to uncover a lost civilization has also been the life work of archaeologist Donald P. Ryan, Ph.D. In Beneath the Sands of Egypt, he offers an intriguing personal account of a career spent researching the remains of Egypt's past including his headline-making rediscovery of a lost tomb in the Valley of the Kings containing the mummy of the famous female pharaoh Hatshepsut.Since his early childhood, Ryan dreamed of exploration and adventure. Inspired by his plastic dinosaurs, his books including Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki and his father's National Geographic collection, Ryan was determined to become an archaeologist. It is a quest that has taken him from harsh desert digs to the modern comforts of Europe's finest museums to treacherous Alpine peaks and into the lives of his archaeological predecessors, gathering insight from obscure documents and, literally, digging in their wake.Beneath the Sands of Egypt interweaves Ryan's captivating tales from the field with reflections into the arcane world of Egyptology, from the writings of Herodotus to the tools of the trade, the intricacies of obtaining a digging permit to the thrall of popular myths. In addition, Ryan introduces a diverse cast of eccentric colleagues, helpful locals, wily entrepreneurs, and enlightened benefactors who have touched his life, including the legendary Thor Heyerdahl, Ryan's childhood hero who eventually became his friend, mentor, and boss. Throughout, Ryan adds his unique touch, reminding us how an artifact as seemingly insignificant as a piece of rope can unlock invaluable insights and offer its own wonderful tale.Infused with the irrepressible curiosity that has fueled Ryan's journey, Beneath the Sands of Egypt is the extraordinary story of a man who has spent a lifetime embracing adventure whenever and wherever he finds it.

Marge Piercy, a writer who is highly praised as both a poet and a novelist, turns her gaze inward as she shares her thoughts on life and explores her development as a woman and writer. She pays tribute to the one loving constant that has offered her comfort and meaning even as the faces and events in her life have changed -- her beloved cats.With searing honesty, Piercy tells of her strained childhood growing up in a religiously split, working-class family in Detroit. She examines her myriad friendships and relationships, including two painful early marriages, and reveals their effects on her creativity and career. More than a reminiscence of things past, however, Sleeping With Cats is also a celebration of the present and the future, as Piercy shares her views on aging, creativity, and finding a lasting and improbable love with a man fourteen years younger than herself.A chronicle of the turbulent and exciting journey of one artist's life, Sleeping With Cats is a deeply intimate, unforgettable story.

Veteran New York Times journalist Joseph Berger takes us inside the fascinating, insular world of the Hasidim to explore their origins, beliefs, and struggles. Though the Hasidic way of life was nearly extinguished in the Holocaust, today the Hasidim—"the pious ones"—have become one of the most prominent religious subcultures in America. In The Pious Ones, New York Times journalist Joseph Berger traces their origins in eighteenth-century Eastern Europe, illuminating their dynamics and core beliefs, which remain enigmatic to outsiders. He analyzes the Hasidim's codified lifestyle, revealing its fascinating secrets, complexities, and paradoxes, and provides a nuanced and insightful portrayal of how their all-encompassing faith dictates nearly every aspect of life—including work, education, food, sex, clothing, and social relations—and helps them to sustain a sense of connection and purpose in a changing world. From the intense sectarian politics to the conflicts that arise over housing, transportation, schooling, and gender roles, The Pious Ones chronicles the ways in which the fabric of Hasidic existence is threatened by both exposure to the wider world and internal fissures within its growing population. What lies ahead for the Hasidim, and what lies ahead for American culture and politics as these ultra-Orthodox Jews occupy a greater place in our society?

In Safe at Home, Alyssa Milano actress, blogger, and the mind behind the bestselling Touch sports-clothing line tells the story about her lifelong obsession with baseball, revealing what the game has meant to her and why everyone should take a chance on nine innings. Her baseball story begins in Brooklyn, New York, where her father scorned the Dodgers for abandoning his beloved city. When he and his young daughter later moved out west for a fledgling TV show called Who's the Boss?, Alyssa learned one of the fundamental truths of the game: No matter where you are, no matter how old you are, baseball connects you to your past.From arguing about the importance of baseball history to criticizing Major League Baseball's response to the steroid scandal, Alyssa brings an intelligent, wry, and entertaining female voice to the world of baseball writing. The end result is a unique and unexpected book that is equal parts memoir, manifesto, and love letter to America's game.

Have you ever found yourself looking up at the starry night, wondering and wanting to know more?Congratulations! You're a stargazer. Unlike its more scientific sister astronomy, stargazing requires no equipment except perhaps something comfortable to sit on and a star map. The Stargazer's Guide provides these maps and shows you what there is to see in the sky, why it's interesting, and how previous generations viewed and interpreted it. Organized by month, The Stargazer's Guide takes you through the night sky's stories mythological, historical, and scientific offering simple diagrams that enable you to easily identify the constellations. Let expert stargazer Emily Winterburn enthrall you with true stories of romantic and scientific endeavors, and mythic tales of beasts and battles that led to the naming of the stars. With this enchanting, accessible, and fun guide to the heavens, you'll discover and revel in the beauty and wonder of the night sky.

In this inspiring memoir, internationally beloved actress Jane Seymour shows how she has learned to embrace and learn from the many changes in her life Now fifty, Jane Seymour the eternally beautiful star of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and countless other television shows and films is a living testament to the rewards of embracing midlife and its challenges eagerly and gracefully. In Remarkable Changes, she leads the reader through the challenges of those years from the physical changes that come with the territory to the emotional transformations that accompany this passage of life. From understanding the stages of change, to making every moment significant, she helps us find the true value in our life transitions, from marriage and divorce to career changes to milestones in the lives of our parents and children. Whether we initiate change in our life or it is thrust upon us by circumstances beyond our control, Jane shows that we should stop coping with change and start actively incorporating it into our lives, using the hard won wisdom weall gained through the years. Holding up as an example her own life and the lives of those closest to her, Seymour empowers us to accept life shifts and teaches us how to take even the toughest situations and turn them into strengthening tools. She talks about her own experiences with divorce and remarriage, children and stepchildren, and her new twin boys, and she describes her indomitable mother's difficult years in a World War II prison camp in Indonesia. Her best friend faced her own challenges when learning to understand her son's mental illness, and another friend started a grief recovery organization when his wife and son were murdered. We all need to face the beginnings and endings that make up our constantly changing lives. And this warm, inspiring book shows that we can all learn how to make each change remarkable.

Ingrid Betancourt, a senator and a presidential candidate in Colombia, grew up among diplomats, literati, and artists who congregated at her parents' elegant home in Paris, France. Her father served as Colombia's ambassador to UNESCO and her mother, a political activist, continued her work on behalf of the country's countless children whose lives were being destroyed by extreme poverty and institutional neglect. Intellectually, Ingrid was influenced by Pablo Neruda and other Latin American writers like Gabriel García Márquez, who frequented her parents' social circle. She studied at ?cole de Sciences Politiques de Paris, a prestigious academy in France. From this charmed life, Ingrid Betancourt -- not yet thirty, happily married to a French diplomat, and a mother of two children -- returned to her native country in the late 1980s. On what was initially just a visit, she found her country under internal siege from the drug cartels and the corrupt government that had allowed them to flourish. After seeing what had become of Colombia's democracy, she didn't feel she could leave. Until Death Do Us Part is the deeply personal story of a woman who gave up a life of comfort and safety to become a political leader in a country being slowly demolished by terrorism, violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. It is a country where democracy has been sacrificed for the well-being of the few, where international criminals determine policy, and where political assassinations are a way of life. Now forty, Ingrid Betancourt has been elected and reelected as a representative and as a senator in Colombia's national legislature. She has founded a political party that has openly confronted Colombia's leaders and has earned the respect of a nation. And now she has become a target of the establishment and the drug cartels behind it. Forced to move her children out of Colombia for protection against death threats, Ingrid Betancourt remained and continued to fight the political structure that has crumbled under the destructive power of the paramilitary forces, the financial omnipotence of the drug cartels, and the passivity of governmentfor-sale. Here is a political cocktail that has destroyed countless lives in Colombia and has spread to countries beyond its borders. A memoir of a life in politics that reads like a fastpaced political thriller, Until Death Do Us Part -- already an international bestseller -- is a hair-raising account of one woman's fight against the establishment. It is a story of a woman whose love for her country and faith in democracy gave her the courage to stand up to the power that has subjugated, intimidated, or corrupted all those who opposed it. A chilling account of the dangerous, byzantine machine that runs Colombia, it is also an inspiring story of privilege, sacrifice, and true patriotism.

A practical guide to the physical and behavioral displays owners and dogs exchange and how to use them to create a lasting bond.

The 2014 National Poetry Series Selection Chosen by Campbell McGrath

"If there was an opportunity for me to return to Cleveland and those fans welcomed me back, that'd be a great story." Lebron JamesScott Raab is a last vestige of Gonzo Journalism in an era when sanitary decorum reigns. Crude but warmhearted, poetic but raving, Raab has chronicled at GQ and Esquire everything from nights out with the likes of Tupac and Mickey Rourke to a moral investigation into Holocaust death-camp guard Ivan the Terrible to the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, but the book you hold in your hands is neither a story nor a job: The Whore of Akron is the product of lifelong suffering, and a mission bound with the meaning of existence.Raab sat in the lower bowl of Cleveland Stadium on December 27, 1964, when the Browns defeated the Colts for the NFL World Championship the last sports title the declining city has won. He still carries his ticket stub wherever he goes, safely tucked within a Ziploc bag. The glory of that triumph is an easy thing to forget each generation born in Cleveland is another generation removed from that victory; an entire fan base "whose daily bread has forever tasted of ash."LeBron James was supposed to change all that. A native son of Akron, he was already world famous by the age of seventeen, had already graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, was already worth $90 million to Nike. He seemed like a miracle heaven-sent by God to transform Cleveland's losing ways. That the Cavaliers drafted him, the hometown prodigy, with the first pick of the 2003 draft, seemed nothing short of destiny. But after seven years and still no parade down Euclid Avenue he left. And he left in a way that seemed designed to twist the knife: announcing his move to South Beach on a nationally televised ESPN production with a sly title ("The Decision") that echoed fifty years of Cleveland sports futility.Out of James's treachery grew a monster. Raab, a fifty-nine-year-old, 350-pound, Jewish Santa Claus with a Chief Wahoo tattoo, would bear witness to LeBron's every move, and in doing so would act as the eyes and ears of Cleveland itself. (He did not keep this intentions a secret and was promptly banned by the Miami Heat.)The Whore of Akron is an indictment of a traitorous athlete and the story of Raab's hilarious, profane (and profound) quest to reveal the "wee jewel-box" of LeBron James's very soul.

First student of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Sam Kashner tells with humor and grace his life with the Beats. But the best story is Kashner himself -- the coming-of-age of a young man in the chaotic world of the very idols he hoped to emulate.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Straight talk about George W. Bush,corporate government, and the whole charade of presidential campaigning -- from the last honest man in American politics Ralph Nader -- brilliant visionary, relentless activist -- may be the most honest man left in politics. And yet his presidential campaigns have faced consistent opposition -- mainly from Democrats afraid that competition from an inspiring independent could dent their voting block.Now, in The Good Fight, Nader swings back harder than ever at those who "want to block the American people from having more voices and choices" and have lost touch with the concept that votes must be earned, not inherited or entitled. While taking on corporate-occupied Washington and the government's daily abuse of ordinary citizens, he urges a speedy return to stronger civic motivation. If fed-up citizens don't actively join the fight for better leadership, then ultimately we have no one to blame but ourselves for the inadequate checks on the erosion of our civil liberties.In an era when politicians sell us rhetoric and then sell out our principles, Nader stands as a crucial voice of candor. The Good Fight is a stirring response to politics as usual, one that will captivate readers of all political stripes and help us define what we must do to shape the brightest future for our nation.

There's undead and then there's . . . living dead!Private Investigator Felix Gomez thought he had seen it all since becoming a vampire: horny aliens, maniacal nymphos. But now he's facing everyone's worst nightmare.As far as being undead goes, vampires are indisputably the more civilized—intelligent, rational (on occasion), good conversationalists. Zombies, on the other hand, are just violent, walking, rotting, flesh-eating meat with no redeeming qualities. And now there's a ravenous army of them heading this way.So it's vamps versus zombies, round one. And Felix's only hope of stopping the stinking, hungry horde is a pre-cocious and much-too-hot-for-her-britches teenager with clairvoyant powers. But she's not going to help unless Felix agrees to make her immortal.

The calamity-prone residents of 28 Barbary Lane are at it again in this deliciously dark novel of romance and betrayal. While Anna Madrigal imprisons an anchorwoman in her basement, Michael Tolliver looks for love at the National Gay Rodeo, DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track a charismatic psychopath across Alaska, and society columnist Prue Giroux loses her heart to a derelict living in San Francisco park.

From the #1 London Times bestselling author Josephine Cox comes a powerful story of a love shrouded in darkness and shocking secrets, and plagued by malignant forces.All Jack's life, his nightmares have haunted him, dragging him back to a place where it was always midnight. . . . Molly and Jack are deeply in love. But Jack's night terrors are tearing their relationship apart. Taunted by eyes in the gloom of night, Jack is finding it harder and harder to free himself from the haunting visions, even once daylight comes. In his dreams, he knows exactly what's demanded of him, but when he wakes he can make no sense of what they mean. With Molly urging him to seek help, frightened that her adored one is being driven too close to the edge, Jack begins to hunt for answers—a search that is taking him back through the shadows of his own past and toward the one person he could turn to throughout his troubled youth. But the revelations waiting there could prove too terrible for Jack or Molly to endure. . . .

It's the Rounders' last season together, and they want to go out with a bang. Especially Slingshot Slocum, the team's star pitcher. So why has he just walked three batters in a rowSlingshot's obsessed with mastering the forkball—a dangerous split-finger curveball that everyone knows should never be attempted by anyone under the age of seventeen. It could wreck his arm forever!And he's not making it over the plate. Just like the torrential weather, Slingshot is all wet! The rain won't stop pouring down, and the Rounders' season is starting to feel like an airport during the holidays: nothing but delays and cancellations.At least they have their team rafting trip to look forward to. Until a flash flood sends them careening straight into the middle of a real-life ghost tale.Can the Rounders pull themselves out of peril—and their pitcher out of his funk—before their final showdown with archrivals the HaymakersAnd will the weird weather let up or rain on their parade?Looking for hilarity, high stakes, high jinks, extreme weather, and some spooky spelunkingCatch this action-packed baseball adventure!

On the heels of her poignant and critically acclaimed memoirs, Waiting and Raising Blaze, Debra Ginsberg explores the unique connection she shares with her three sisters.In About My Sisters, Ginsberg examines the special bond she shares with her three sisters, May, Lavander and Deja. As her hippie parents criss-crossed the globe, Debra, the oldest of five children, formed indelible bonds with her three sisters that last to this day. Separated by fifteen years among them, Debra and her sisters represent two different generations, each one of them having something to teach the other. Debra and Maya (the next oldest) became not only babysitters, but also playmates, problem solvers, teachers and surrogate mothers to the youngest two. And the shared experience of being the children of an unconventional, dope-smoking, non-career oriented, nomadic couple bonded them even more. Structured around the course of one year, About My Sisters examines these bonds through the prism of the events of that year, revealing not only a "different" family, but also a unique and amazing relationship that has weathered many storms but never foundered. The four sisters (as well as their parents and brother) still live within ten miles of one another and share meals, holidays, joys, pains, and babysitting duties with an astounding frequency. This is a heart-warming, funny, and poignant look at a family that's much like the one we all wish we had..

Powerful and enlightening. How to Overthrow the Government is an impassioned call to arms from one of America's sharpest and most independent commentators. In its pages Huffington breaks away from the party-line platitudes of Republicans and Democrats alike while challenging Amerians to rise up and take back their government. From the power of special interests to the ravages of the war on drugs, Huffington offers radical yet viable strategies for reclaiming our nation from the corporate and political powers that hold it hostage. For, as she argues, if We the People are to preserve and protect our more perfect union, we must stand up and fight for our country -- before it's too late.

Journalist Alex Dyer made his name covering the bloody horrors of the European trenches. Yet even after the Great War is over, he cannot shake the guilt he feels for not serving on the front lines like his dearest childhood friend, Ted Eden. Worse still, Alex cannot put to rest the emotions that gnaw at him from the inside: his feelings for Clare, Ted's wife—a woman they both have loved more A masterful debut novel from the acclaimed author of The Hidden Life of Otto Frank, Carol Ann Lee's Winter of the World combines fascinating historical detail and color with breathtaking invention. Recalling the fire of the battlefield and the nightmare of the trenches, it brilliantly evokes a volatile time when life was frozen in the present tense and looking forward was the only thing more painful than looking back.

A hilarious and touching new installment of Armistead Maupin's beloved Tales of the City seriesTwenty years have passed since Mary Ann Singleton left her husband and child in San Francisco to pursue her dream of a television career in New York. Now a pair of personal calamities has driven her back to the city of her youth and into the arms of her oldest friend, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, a gardener happily ensconced with his much-younger husband.Mary Ann finds temporary refuge in the couple's backyard cottage, where, at the unnerving age of fifty-seven, she licks her wounds and takes stock of her mistakes. Soon, with the help of Facebook and a few old friends, she begins to reengage with life, only to confront fresh terrors when her checkered past comes back to haunt her in a way she could never have imagined.After the intimate first-person narrative of Maupin's last novel, Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn marks the author's return to the multicharacter plotlines and darkly comic themes of his earlier work. Among those caught in Mary Ann's orbit are her estranged daughter, Shawna, a popular sex blogger; Jake Greenleaf, Michael's transgendered gardening assistant; socialite DeDe Halcyon-Wilson; and the indefatigable Anna Madrigal, Mary Ann's former landlady at 28 Barbary Lane.More than three decades in the making, Armistead Maupin's legendary Tales of the City series rolls into a new age, still sassy, irreverent, and curious, and still exploring the boundaries of the human experience with insight, compassion, and mordant wit.