Arch and unrepentant, Will Leitch, founding editor of Deadspin.com, is the mouthpiece for all the frustrated fans who just want their games back from big money, bloated egos, and blathering sportscasters. Always a fan first and a sportswriter second, Leitch considers the perfection of fantasy leagues and the meaninglessness of the steroids debate as he exposes Olympic fetishes, parses Shaq's rap attack on Kobe, shares a brew with John Rocker and his surprising girlfriend, and reveals what ESPN and the beer companies really think about you. If you or a fan you love is suffering from a sense of listless dissatisfaction brought on by the leagues and networks, God Save the Fan is your new manifesto.

A bold new theory about the Sun Earth relationship, its role in history, and its potentially disastrous future.We are in the midst of one of the most massive, powerful, and relentless solar storms in history, reports science journalist and solar expert Lawrence Joseph, and a single, random blast from the Sun could well destroy our way of life at any time. Tracing the Sun's behavior and its influence on Earth from the most recent Ice Age to the present and connecting groundbreaking research in solar physics to biology, politics, and culture, Joseph alerts us to the tremendous vulnerability of our infrastructure and delivers the tools and strategies we need to outsmart the Sun and protect Earth's satellites and other vital systems from the coming solar apocalypse. Solar Cataclysm implores us to rethink our understanding of human history and redefine our relationship with the 4.57-billion-year-old thermonuclear behemoth in order to defend our future.The connection between human history and solar activity has gone largely untold until now. Carefully examining the 4.57-billion-year story of our relationship with the Sun, science reporter and bestselling author Lawrence Joseph demonstrates how nearly every aspect of earthly existence and human behavior has always been and continues to be susceptible to changes in the Sun the basis for his "Moody Sun Hypothesis." As we come to realize that the Sun is far more turbulent and explosive than imagined, we must also come to terms with the fact that our future is more vulnerable to the Sun than ever suspected.From the Sun's role in global climate change to its constant threat of catastrophic solar blasts, and from stories of solar activity causing rifts in religion in the Middle Ages to the way sunspots are messing with our moods and minds today, Solar Cataclysm examines the myriad ways the ever-changing Sun disrupts our personal lives, determines the course of history, and shapes our destiny.But this isn't a tale of doom. Our fates, collectively and individually, aren't tethered to the Sun's ups and downs. With captivating storytelling and witty prose, Joseph shows us how to draw on the tools and expertise including the very latest solar science research and technology advances, as well as human ingenuity and survival instincts to respond effectively to the Sun's threats and to shield ourselves and our atmosphere, satellite system, power grids, and nuclear power infrastructure from the Sun's impending assault.How did the Sun King, Louis XIV, ban sunspots for virtually all of his seventy-two-year reignWhat makes Stanford and Purdue University scientists so sure that the Sun is sending out secret, vitally important messages todaySmart and engaging, Solar Cataclysm guides us to a new, dynamic, life-affirming level of interconnectedness among self, planet, and sustaining star.

We all have moments we wish we could relive. We'd give anything to skid down the toboggan hills of our youth, to breathe in the smell of our children as babies, or to spend just one more minute with someone we've lost. Dear Photograph provides a way to link these memories from the past to the present, overlapping them to see how the daydreams of our memories collide with our current realities.The idea is simple: hold up a photograph from the past in front of the place where it was originally taken, take a second photograph, and add a sentence of dedication about what the photograph means to you. The results, however, are astounding, which is why millions have flocked to dearphotograph.com and thousands have submitted their own Dear Photographs.This stunning visual compilation includes more than 140 never-before-seen Dear Photographs, as well as a space for you to attach your own cherished photo. By turns nostalgic, charming, and poignant, Dear Photograph evokes childhood memories, laments difficult losses, and, above all, celebrates the universal nature of love.

With information on entertaining, etiquette, housekeeping, basic home repair, decorating, sex, and beauty, The Modern Girl's Guide to Life became a sensational bestseller as young women everywhere discovered this indispensable book covered everything they should know . . . but might not. Now, in this revised edition of the classic, style maven Jane Buckingham reveals more of the helpful tips and secrets that get passed down from generation to generation, but that many of us have somehow missed.Full of practical, definitive advice on the basics the day-to-day necessities like finding a bra that fits, balancing a checkbook, making a decent cup of coffee, and hemming a pair of pants The Modern Girl's Guide to Life, Revised Edition includes new topics such as: Social Media 101: where you should and shouldn't be online Online dating: should you, shouldn't you, and how you can find the right guy Sexting: dos and don'ts Online flash sales: Are you really savingTips and tricks for eating organic, shopping at farmers' markets, and juicing safely Updated recipes, including vegan and gluten-free How to find the exercise you won't skip out on doing Interview etiquette: everything from what to wear to what to say Updated financial section . . . and more! Modern Girl guru Jane Buckingham includes loads of savvy counsel to help us feel more refined, in charge, and together as we navigate the rocky terrain that is twenty-first-century womanhood.

The coeditor of the enormously popular Jewish Catalog "help[s] readers understand more fully the meaning of our holidays and thereby to observe these festivals . . . with a greater devotion and joy."--Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler

James Dean to Hopper I saw what you did today. Today you were great. Jack Nicholson to Hopper We're geniuses, you know thatIsn't it great to be a geniusThe chopper-riding hippie outlaw in Easy Rider. The prophetic madman in the jungle in Apocalypse Now. The terrifying psychopath in Blue Velvet. The kid gone wrong in Rebel Without a Cause. The actor taken under the wing of James Dean who longed to be the next Orson Welles. The hell-raising director who revolutionized Hollywood. An enigmatic man from Dodge City, Kansas, on an endless quest to realize the American Dream.Dennis Hopper has been described as a rebel, an icon, an addict plagued by demons, and one of the most important champions of the pop-art movement. Friend to Warhol, muse to David Lynch, mentor to Sean Penn, champion of Ice-T, Dennis Hopper built a career that was a half-century of rebellion waged at the edge of American popular culture.Tom Folsom's Hopper is a wild ride through Dennis's many lives. Featuring hundreds of interviews with Hopper's fellow actors, artists, musicians, and residents of Taos, New Mexico (where he spent much of his most manic time), as well as his ex-wives and many other people who knew him, Hopper takes you on an extraordinary and sometimes troubling journey. From Dennis's early days with his grandparents on a dusty farm in Kansas, where he watched trains go by on their way to Los Angeles, to his formative time in Hollywood as one of a bright new crop of actors straddling the edge of the studio system, to the rebellious 1960s and the start of the independent film movement, to the drug-addled 1970s and beyond, when Hopper staged one of the greatest Hollywood comebacks of all time Tom Folsom has crafted a biography as unconventional as Dennis Hopper himself.

We may not realize it, but children are hyperaware of money. They have scores of questions about its nuances that parents often don't answer, or know how to answer well. But for Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist and father, good parenting means talking about money with our kids much more often. When parents avoid these conversations, they lose a tremendous opportunity not just to model important financial behaviors, but also to imprint lessons about what their family cares about most.Written in a warm, accessible voice, grounded in real-world stories from families with a range of incomes, The Opposite of Spoiled is a practical guidebook for parents that is rooted in timeless values. Lieber covers all the basics: the best ways to handle the tooth fairy, allowance, chores, charity, savings, birthdays, holidays, cell phones, splurging, clothing, cars, part-time jobs, and college tuition. But he also identifies a set of traits and virtues like modesty, patience, generosity, and perspective that parents hope their young adults will carry with them out into the world.In The Opposite of Spoiled, Ron Lieber delivers a taboo-shattering manifesto that will help every parent embrace the connection between money and values to help them raise young adults who are grounded, unmaterialistic, and financially wise beyond their years.

The real stories, lives and dramas behind the smash hit BBC series Call the Midwife which premieres on PBS September 30, 2012.The official companion to seasons one and two, The Life and Times of Call the Midwife, gives fans a deeper insight into the period, the stories and the characters, and how Call the Midwife, based on the bestselling memoirs by Jennifer Worth, was brought to the screen. With never before seen photographs taken on set as well as unique sketches and exclusive interviews and anecdotes, this book truly takes you behind the scenes. Discover the hidden secrets of the nurses and nuns of Nonnatus House and delve deeper into the historical context of the series with chapters detailing birth, health, faith, fashion, beauty, street life and food. From the team who brought you The World of Downton Abbey, high production values and attention to detail will create the ultimate and beautifully packaged gift purchase this Christmas that no fan of the show could bare to be without.

Why do some workplace cultures inspire energy and innovation, while others fuel anxiety, boredom, or cynicismUntil now, such legendary cultures have seemed like magic beyond our control. However, behind every culture is a surprisingly elegant science. Primed to Perform proves that the highest-performing cultures are built on a simple truth: why people work affects how well they work. Great organizations inspire the three most powerful motives for work play, purpose, and potential and eliminate the three most destructive emotional pressure, economic pressure, and inertia. They create total motivation (or ToMo, for short). Total motivation cultures create the highest-performing employees and the most adaptive organizations.Authors Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor show that extraordinary performance at companies like Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Apple, and Whole Foods comes from cultures that inspire total motivation. They describe how investment professionals, salespeople, teachers, and CEOs perform better when driven by total motivation. And, most important, they share how you can build a culture that inspires total motivation in every moment of every day.Primed to Perform builds on over a century of academic thinking as well as the authors' original research into how ToMo drives performance at iconic companies. It introduces the authors' highly predictive new measurement tool, the total motivation factor, which allows leaders to measure the strength of their culture and understand how it changes over time. It gives leaders the tools to transform their own workplaces.High-performing cultures can't be left to chance; organizations must create systems that shape and maintain them. Whether you're a five-person team or a start-up, an elementary school or a university, a nonprofit or a mega-institution, Primed to Perform shows you how.

150 Best New Kitchen Ideas offers interior designers and homeowners the latest in modern and traditional kitchen design. Showcasing 150 profiles of the most exciting kitchen designs from around the world, this stunning compendium provides innovative solutions and practical advice for creating attractive, functional, and affordable kitchens, no matter the size of the space. Explore the diversity of current trends from concept design to beautiful finished kitchens—there is no shortage of ideas or wares to make cooking a much more pleasant experience. The newest addition to the 150 Best series, this indispensable guide, illustrated with hundreds of photographs, is an inspirational source of original ideas to create a beautiful new kitchen.

From the author of the bestselling Dorothy Dandridge comes a dazzling look at one of America's brightest and most troubled theatrical stars. Almost no other star of the twentieth century reimagined herself with such audacity and durable talent as did Ethel Waters. In this enlightening and engaging biography, Donald Bogle resurrects this astonishing woman from the annals of history, shedding new light on the tumultuous twists and turns of her seven-decade career, which began in Black vaudeville and reached new heights in the steamy nightclubs of 1920s Harlem. Bogle traces Waters' life from her poverty-stricken childhood to her rise in show business; her career as one of the early blues and pop singers, with such hits as "Am I Blue?," "Stormy Weather," and "Heat Wave"; her success as an actress, appearing in such films and plays as The Member of the Wedding and Mamba's Daughters; and through her lonely, painful final years. He illuminates Waters' turbulent private life, including her complicated feelings toward her mother and various lovers; her heated and sometimes well-known feuds with such entertainers as Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, and Lena Horne; and her tangled relationships with such legends as Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Harold Clurman, Elia Kazan, Count Basie, Darryl F. Zanuck, Vincente Minnelli, Fred Zinnemann, Moss Hart, and John Ford.In addition, Bogle explores the ongoing racial battles, growing paranoia, and midlife religious conversion of this bold, brash, wildly talented woman while examining the significance of her highly publicized life to audiences unaccustomed to the travails of a larger-than-life African American woman.Wonderfully atmospheric, richly detailed, and drawn from an array of candid interviews, Heat Wave vividly brings to life a major cultural figure of the twentieth century a charismatic, complex, and compelling woman, both tragic and triumphant.

The author of The Back of Beyond continues the chronicle of his odyssey into some of the farthest corners of the world, from the Mountains of the Moon in Zaire, to wilderness Tasmania, to the unknown regions of New Guinea.

As one of the foremost liberal voices in television and radio today, Alan Colmes has long been braving the wilds of controversial issues and conservative slander. The host of the talk-radio show Fox News Live with Alan Colmes and cohost of Fox News Channel's hit debate show Hannity Colmes, Colmes now offers this witty, passionate wake-up call to America.Colmes takes on the fundamental question: How can we protect our nation without diminishing our liberties, and regain our place in the world as an example of democracyColmes urges Americans to see past the government's manipulation of the War on Terror to silence critics; the lies we've been force-fed about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the conservative smear campaign that has turned "liberal" into a four-letter word. From debunking the myth of the liberal media to exposing conservative hypocrisy, Colmes presents the issues with thoughtful, provocative arguments, hard facts and logic, and searing humor.Certain to spark debate and cause readers to reevaluate and reaffirm their beliefs, Red, White Liberal powerfully argues that despite our differences, we must extend our hands across party lines to find solutions, protect our shores, and preserve our freedoms.

For the past thirty years, Steve Miller has done the messy, unpleasant work of salvaging America's lost companies with such success that the Wall Street Journal has dubbed him "U.S. Industry's Mr. Fix It." From his very first crisis assignment as point man for Lee Iaccoca's rescue team at Chrysler, Miller built an international reputation while fixing major problems in such varied industries as steel, construction, and health care. Most recently, as chairman and CEO of the bankrupt automotive parts manufacturer Delphi Corporation, he has confronted head-on the major issues threatening the survival of Detroit's Big Three. A battle is being fought in the heart of industrial America or what is left of it Miller observes. In the auto industry as well as every manufacturing corporation, management and labor are at loggerheads over wages and the skyrocketing costs of employee benefits. The way out of this battle is often painful and Miller is deeply aware of the high price individual workers and many communities have had to pay as a result.In this frank and unsparing memoir, Miller reveals a rarely seen side of American management. Miller recounts the inside story of the many turnaround jobs that have led to his renown as Mr. Fix It. But he also paints an intimate picture of his relationship with Maggie Miller, his wife of forty years, with whom Miller shares the credit for his success. Described by Miller as "my mentor and tormentor," Maggie served as his most trusted adviser and kept him focused on what truly matters until her death from brain cancer in 2006. A deeply moving personal story and timely snapshot of the state of American manufacturing and what it will take to restore it to profitability, The Turnaround Kid is Steve Miller's fascinating look at his education as an American executive.

Hollywood's survivors share their secrets to success -- where, they came from, how they made it, and how you can too In a heyday of reality television and overnight stardom, it's easy to forget that most players had to work hard to make it big. How I Broke into Hollywood brings together dozens of Tinseltown's greatest success stories, from legends Sydney Pollack and Lalo Schifrin to rising starlet Erika Christensen to über-producer Gavin Polone. Icons of their industry -- writers, actors, directors, designers, cinematographers, executives and more -- they were once outsiders themselves, and their beginnings have all the grit and glamour of the best Hollywood films. Among the figures profiled: Comedian Bernie Mac, whose earliest stand-up shows were on subway cars and at funeral parties. Actor Charles Dutton, who was convicted of manslaughter at age seventeen, then went on to the Yale School of Drama and a brilliant career on stage, screen, and television. Actor Peter Gallagher, who suffered a crippling bout of stage fright moments before leaping onstage as Snoopy -- but whose jitters moved him to a performance that brought the audience to its feet and launched his career. Superagent Jay Kanter, who started out as a mailroom guy -- before nabbing Marlon Brando as his first star client. Producer Caryn Mandabach, whose first job was making beer runs for the production guys at the Olympic Auditorium -- but who paid attention and soon was developing such hits as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, and That '70s Show. Director John Landis, who hunted down his first job as a production assistant by buying a one-way ticket to London, then hitchhiking and hopping trains all the way to the set . . . in Yugoslavia. How I Broke into Hollywood shares the voices of nearly fifty Hollywood survivors as they revisit the highs and lows of their careers in their own words, dishing dirt and imparting the wisdom they gained along the way. We learn what drew them to the industry and what made them stay, what inspired and appalled them, and what secrets propelled them to professional stardom. (Hint: a good attitude -- and an unflappable ego -- don't hurt.)The road to success is a bumpy, angst-ridden, star-studded thrill ride -- but for these insiders, at least, it was worth every pitfall and lesson learned. Often hilarious, always instructive, How I Broke into Hollywood is an irresistible read for anyone fascinated by those who've made it big . . . and for people everywhere hoping to make it big themselves.

In the 1970s and 1980s, before he earned national acclaim for his award-winning novels, Pete Dexter was a newspaper columnist. Every week, in a few hundred words, Dexter cut directly to the heart of the American character at a time of national turmoil and crucial change. With haunting urgency, his columns laid bare the violence, hypocrisy, and desperation he saw on the streets of Philadelphia and in the places he visited across the country. But he reveled, too, in the lighter side of his own life, sharing scenes with the indefatigable Mrs. Dexter, their young daughter, and a series of unforgettable creatures who strayed into their lives. No matter what caught Dexter's eye, it was illuminated by his dark, brilliant humor. Collected here for the first time are eighty-two of the best of those spellbinding, finely wrought pieces with a new introduction by the author assembled by Rob Fleder, editor of the bestselling Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Book. Paper Trails is searing, heart-breaking, and irresistibly funny, sometimes all at once. As Pete Hamill says in his foreword, these essays "are as good as it ever gets."

With his career at a standstill and his golf game a shadow of its former mediocrity, TV writer and ESPN.com contributor Bob Smiley decided the time had come to turn to the one person who might be able to help: Tiger Woods. So, in January of 2008, Smiley set out to follow the game's greatest player from the gallery for every hole of an entire season and to absorb all that he could.Smiley traveled from the seaside cliffs of San Diego to the deserts of Dubai, through the hallowed gates of Augusta National, and on to arguably the greatest U.S. Open of all time back at Torrey Pines, where, in a legendary duel with charismatic journeyman Rocco Mediate, Woods won his fourteenth major on one leg.Smiley chronicles every dramatic and often hysterical moment of his journey with Tiger, including his off-course run-ins with Arabian sandstorms, ex-con ticket scalpers, and the motley assortment of strangers who became friends along the way.Told from the perspective of a true golf fan, Follow the Roar is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure through the most spectacular and inspiring season in Tiger Woods's celebrated career. In addition to the thrill of witnessing all 604 holes Woods played in '08, Smiley found in Tiger both inspiration and the gutsy embodiment of what it really means to be an athlete and a man.

Every general manager today all the way up to the CEO is expected by his or her stakeholders to achieve new breakthroughs in performance and fast. Those who don't make visible progress toward that goal within the first year or two will likely find themselves looking for another job. It is precisely because of this growing breakthrough imperative that managers today, whether in corporations or nonprofits, need to get off to a fast start. They don't have time for mistakes or for going back and redoing what they should have done right in the first place. But, despite the intensity of these pressures, despite the high expectations and short time frames, a number of CEOs and general managers turn in truly exceptional results. How do they meet and exceed the breakthrough imperativeTo answer this question, consultants and former managers Mark Gottfredson and Steve Schaubert interviewed more than forty CEOs from both industry and the nonprofit sector, conducted an intensive study of what successful managers do right and what some do wrong and drew on their own combined fifty-plus years of experience at Bain & Company, where their insights have consistently been found in the pages of the Harvard Business Review. Together they came up with the four straightforward principles deceptively simple yet remarkably powerful that everyone must follow to succeed at achieving breakthrough results: 1. Costs and prices always decline2. Competitive position determines options3. Customers and profit pools don't stand still4. Simplicity gets results Although seemingly simplistic, mastering these four laws means mastering the basics of great management a foundation on which to build the rest of one's management strategy. Whether you're managing a small work group or a multinational corporation, a single division or an entire nonprofit, The Breakthrough Imperative presents these core laws of business to help you determine where you are, just how far you can go, and how to get there with stellar results.

Through 150 striking color photographs, Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs charts the road to Barack Obama's nomination as the first African American to lead the presidential ticket of a major party. Announcing his campaign in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007, Obama stood on the grounds of the Old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous "House Divided" speech against slavery in 1858. During an eighteen-month campaign, from the snows of Iowa to the hunt for Democratic "superdelegates," this junior senator from Chicago confounded the party establishment and rewrote the playbook on modern presidential campaigning. This amazing collection of photographs captures the public and private moments of his journey, and offers a unique window into one of the great triumphs in American politics.

In 1692 Puritan Samuel Sewall sent twenty people to their deaths on trumped-up witchcraft charges. The nefarious witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts represent a low point of American history, made famous in works by Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne (himself a descendant of one of the judges), and Arthur Miller. The trials might have doomed Sewall to infamy except for a courageous act of contrition now commemorated in a mural that hangs beneath the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House picturing Sewall's public repentance. He was the only Salem witch judge to make amends.But, remarkably, the judge's story didn't end there. Once he realized his error, Sewall turned his attention to other pressing social issues. Struck by the injustice of the New England slave trade, a commerce in which his own relatives and neighbors were engaged, he authored "The Selling of Joseph," America's first antislavery tract. While his peers viewed Native Americans as savages, Sewall advocated for their essential rights and encouraged their education, even paying for several Indian youths to attend Harvard College. Finally, at a time when women were universally considered inferior to men, Sewall published an essay affirming the fundamental equality of the sexes. The text of that essay, composed at the deathbed of his daughter Hannah, is republished here for the first time.In Salem Witch Judge, acclaimed biographer Eve LaPlante, Sewall's great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, draws on family lore, her ancestor's personal diaries, and archival documents to open a window onto life in colonial America, painting a portrait of a man traditionally vilified, but who was in fact an innovator and forefather who came to represent the best of the American spirit.

In 2005 Uzodinma Iweala stunned readers and critics alike with Beasts of No Nation, his debut novel about child soldiers in West Africa. Now his return to Africa has produced Our Kind of People, a non-fiction account of the AIDS crisis every bit as startling and original. HIV/AIDS has been reported as one of the most destructive diseases in recent memory tearing apart communities and ostracizing the afflicted. But the emphasis placed on death, destruction, and despair hardly captures the many and varied effects of the epidemic, or the stories of the extraordinary people who live and die under its watch.Our Kind of People opens our minds to these stories, introducing a new set of voices and altering the way we speak and think about disease. Iweala embarks on a remarkable journey through his native Nigeria, meeting individuals and communities that are struggling daily to understand both the impact and meaning of HIV/AIDS. He speaks with people from all walks of life the ill and the healthy, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, sex workers, shopkeepers, students, parents, and children. Their testimonies are by turns uplifting, alarming, humorous, and surprising, and always unflinchingly candid. Integrating his own experiences with these voices, Iweala creates at once a deeply personal exploration of life, love, and connection in the face of disease, and an incisive critique of our existing ideas of health and happiness.Beautifully written and heartbreakingly honest, Our Kind of People goes behind the headlines of an unprecedented epidemic to show the real lives it affects, illuminating the scope of the crisis and a continent's valiant struggle.