German-Jewish political philosopher Hannah Arendt (1906-75) fled from the Nazis to New York in 1941, and during the next thirty years in America she wrote her best-known and most influential works, such as The Human Condition, The Origins of Totalitarianism, and On Revolution. Yet, despite the fact that a substantial portion of her oeuvre was written in America, not Europe, no one has directly considered the influence of America on her thought-until now. In Arendt and America, historian Richard H. King argues that while all of Arendt's work was haunted by her experience of totalitarianism, it was only in her adopted homeland that she was able to formulate the idea of the modern republic as an alternative to totalitarian rule.?Situating Arendt within the context of U.S. intellectual, political, and social history, King reveals how Arendt developed a fascination with the political thought of the Founding Fathers. King also re-creates her intellectual exchanges with American friends and colleagues, such as Dwight Macdonald and Mary McCarthy, and shows how her lively correspondence with sociologist David Riesman helped her understand modern American culture and society. In the last section of Arendt and America, King sets out the context in which the Eichmann controversy took place and follows the debate about "e;the banality of evil"e; that has continued ever since. ?As King shows, Arendt's work, regardless of focus, was shaped by postwar American thought, culture, and politics, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War.For Arendt, the United States was much more than a refuge from Nazi Germany; it was a stimulus to rethink the political, ethical, and historical traditions of human culture. This authoritative combination of intellectual history and biography offers a unique approach for thinking about the influence of America on Arendt's ideas and also the effect of her ideas on American thought.

In the United States at the height of the Cold War, roughly between the end of World War II and the early 1980s, a new project of redefining rationality commanded the attention of sharp minds, powerful politicians, wealthy foundations, and top military brass. Its home was the human sciences-psychology, sociology, political science, and economics, among others-and its participants enlisted in an intellectual campaign to figure out what rationality should mean and how it could be deployed.?How Reason Almost Lost Its Mind brings to life the people-Herbert Simon, Oskar Morgenstern, Herman Kahn, Anatol Rapoport, Thomas Schelling, and many others-and places, including the RAND Corporation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Cowles Commission for Research and Economics, and the Council on Foreign Relations, that played a key role in putting forth a "e;Cold War rationality."e; Decision makers harnessed this picture of rationality-optimizing, formal, algorithmic, and mechanical-in their quest to understand phenomena as diverse as economic transactions, biological evolution, political elections, international relations, and military strategy. The authors chronicle and illuminate what it meant to be rational in the age of nuclear brinkmanship.

Growing up an Italian-American in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of New York city, Marianna De Marco longed for college, culture, and upward mobility. Her daydreams circled around WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) heroes on television-like Robin Hood and the Cartwright family-but in Brooklyn she never encountered any. So she associated moving up with Ocean Parkway, a street that divides the working-class Italian neighborhood where she was born from the middle-class Jewish neighborhood into which she married. This book is Torgovnick's unflinching account of crossing cultural boundaries in American life, of what it means to be an Italian American woman who became a scholar and literary critic.Included are autobiographical moments interwoven with engrossing interpretations of American cultural icons from Dr. Dolittle to Lionel Trilling, The Godfather to Camille Paglia. Her experiences allow her to probe the cultural tensions in America caused by competing ideas of individuality and community, upward mobility and ethnic loyalty, acquisitiveness and spirituality.

Between present and past, visible and invisible, and sensation and idea, there is resonance-so philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty argued and so Jessica Wiskus explores in The Rhythm of Thought. Holding the poetry of Stephane Mallarme, the paintings of Paul Cezanne, the prose of Marcel Proust, and the music of Claude Debussy under Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological light, she offers innovative interpretations of some of these artists' masterworks, in turn articulating a new perspective on Merleau-Ponty's philosophy.?More than merely recovering Merleau-Ponty's thought, Wiskus thinks according to it. First examining these artists in relation to noncoincidence-as silence in poetry, depth in painting, memory in literature, and rhythm in music-she moves through an array of their artworks toward some of Merleau-Ponty's most exciting themes: our bodily relationship to the world and the dynamic process of expression. She closes with an examination of synesthesia as an intertwining of internal and external realms and a call, finally, for philosophical inquiry as a mode of artistic expression. Structured like a piece of music itself, The Rhythm of Thought offers new contexts in which to approach art, philosophy, and the resonance between them.

"e;The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."e; Like all of Steve Biko's writings, those words testify to the passion, courage, and keen insight that made him one of the most powerful figures in South Africa's struggle against apartheid. They also reflect his conviction that black people in South Africa could not be liberated until they united to break their chains of servitude, a key tenet of the Black Consciousness movement that he helped found.I Write What I Like contains a selection of Biko's writings from 1969, when he became the president of the South African Students' Organization, to 1972, when he was prohibited from publishing. The collection also includes a preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu; an introduction by Malusi and Thoko Mpumlwana, who were both involved with Biko in the Black Consciousness movement; a memoir of Biko by Father Aelred Stubbs, his longtime pastor and friend; and a new foreword by Professor Lewis Gordon.Biko's writings will inspire and educate anyone concerned with issues of racism, postcolonialism, and black nationalism.

In Trying Biology, Adam R. Shapiro convincingly dispels many conventional assumptions about the 1925 Scopes "e;monkey"e; trial. Most view it as an event driven primarily by a conflict between science and religion. Countering this, Shapiro shows the importance of timing: the Scopes trial occurred at a crucial moment in the history of biology textbook publishing, education reform in Tennessee, and progressive school reform across the country. He places the trial in this broad context-alongside American Protestant antievolution sentiment-and in doing so sheds new light on the trial and the historical relationship of science and religion in America.?For the first time we see how religious objections to evolution became a prevailing concern to the American textbook industry even before the Scopes trial began. Shapiro explores both the development of biology textbooks leading up to the trial and the ways in which the textbook industry created new books and presented them as "e;responses"e; to the trial. Today, the controversy continues over textbook warning labels, making Shapiro's study-particularly as it plays out in one of America's most famous trials-an original contribution to a timely discussion.

In Jane Austen's works, a name is never just a name. In fact, the names Austen gives her characters and places are as rich in subtle meaning as her prose itself. Wiltshire, for example, the home county of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, is a clue that this heroine is not as stupid as she seems: according to legend, cunning Wiltshire residents caught hiding contraband in a pond capitalized on a reputation for ignorance by claiming they were digging up a "e;big cheese"e;-the moon's reflection on the water's surface. It worked.In Jane Austen's Names, Margaret Doody offers a fascinating and comprehensive study of all the names of people and places-real and imaginary-in Austen's fiction. Austen's creative choice of names reveals not only her virtuosic talent for riddles and puns. Her names also pick up deep stories from English history, especially the various civil wars, and the blood-tinged differences that played out in the reign of Henry VIII, a period to which she often returns. Considering the major novels alongside unfinished works and juvenilia, Doody shows how Austen's names signal class tensions as well as regional, ethnic, and religious differences. We gain a new understanding of Austen's technique of creative anachronism, which plays with and against her skillfully deployed realism-in her books, the conflicts of the past swirl into the tensions of the present, transporting readers beyond the Regency.Full of insight and surprises for even the most devoted Janeite, Jane Austen's Names will revolutionize how we read Austen's fiction.

Everyone has a story to share. What's yoursIn 2009, Brandon Doman, who has always been curious about the people with whom we share our world, sat at a local coffeehouse and decided to ask passersby a simple question: "What's your story?" Providing only paper and pens, Doman created an exploratory space that instantly intrigued people to share their stories anonymously. Now, more than 10,000 stories later, the Strangers Project has become a momentous movement, engaging strangers of all ages and backgrounds to reflect, rejoice, heal, and connect through words. Published here for the first time, What's Your Storyshowcases a selection of two hundred stories from the Strangers Project. Equal parts heartbreaking and humorous, this moving compendium lays bare our universal truths, desires, and sufferings, and illustrates the emotional power of storytelling and our shared humanity. To complete this beautiful collage of stories, a blank page is included at the end for readers to add their own personal story. With more than fifty color photographs and illustrations

For more than 100 years, Delmonico has embodied the spirit of New Orleans. First opened in 1895, Delmonico Restaurant and Bar in New Orleans reopened its doors a century later to tremendous acclaim as Emeril's Delmonico. In his latest cookbook, America's favorite celebrity chef presents a collection of recipes that are adapted and simplified for home cooks, featuring a combination of Creole classics and Emeril's kicked-up creations. Emeril's Delmonico is full of recipes for hearty, innovative food steeped in New Orleans style. Illustrated with both contemporary full-color and vintage black-and-white photographs, Emeril's Delmonico paints a lively, evocative portrait of Emeril's classic cuisine and the rich culinary history of New Orleans.

The critically acclaimed author of Serving Victoria brilliantly illuminates the life of the little-known Bess of Hardwick—next to Queen Elizabeth I, the richest and most powerful woman in sixteenth-century England.Aided by a quartet of judicious marriages and a shrewd head for business, Bess of Hardwick rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most respected and feared Countesses in Elizabethan England—an entrepreneur who built a family fortune, created glorious houses—the last and greatest built as a widow in her 70s—and was deeply involved in matters of the court, including the custody of Mary Queen of Scots.While Bess cultivated many influential courtiers, she also collected numerous enemies. Her embittered fourth husband once called her a woman of “devices and desires,” while nineteenth-century male historians portrayed her as a monster—”a woman of masculine understanding and conduct, proud, furious, selfish and unfeeling.” In the twenty-first century she has been neutered by female historians who recast her as a soft-hearted sort, much maligned, and misunderstood. As Kate Hubbard reveals, the truth of this highly accomplished woman lies somewhere in between: ruthless and scheming, Bess was sentimental and affectionate as well.Hubbard draws on more than 230 of Bess’s letters, including correspondence with the Queen and her councilors, fond (and furious) missives between her husbands and children, and notes sharing titillating court gossip. The result is a rich, compelling portrait of a true feminist icon centuries ahead of her time—a complex, formidable, and decidedly modern woman captured in full as never before.

From Fairway Market's master buyer and author of the hugely successful Cheese Primer comes a celebration of the store's extravagant food collection and the stories surrounding its culture.Fairway, a local institution in New York City for more than fifty years, is the busiest food store in the world. There shoppers can find innumerable artisanal food products, which, for three decades, Steven Jenkins has traveled the world to find. With a wonderful narrative and anecdotes from the man who personally brought so many of the world's greatest foods to New York and the United States, readers will become more enthusiastic shoppers and better cooks. Jenkins's longtime associate, Mitchel London, provides recipes that will attract not only Fairway customers but any home cook who has access to great ingredients.

For fans of the Chronicles of Narnia comes the Wildwood Chronicles, the New York Times bestselling fantasy adventure series by Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of The Mysterious Benedict Society. This collection brings together all three novels, each replete with illustrations, including a number of gorgeous, full-color plates.Wildwood: Prue and her friend Curtis uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.Under Wildwood: Ever since Prue returned home from the Impassable Wilderness after rescuing her brother from the malevolent Dowager Governess, life has been pretty dull. Her mind is constantly returning to the verdant groves and sky-tall trees of Wildwood. But all is not well in that world. Prue and her friend Curtis are thrown together again. To save themselves and the lives of their friends, they must go under Wildwood.Wildwood Imperium: The fate of Wildwood hangs in the balance, as Prue and Curtis draw closer to their goal of bringing together a pair of exiled toy makers in order to reanimate a mechanical boy prince. . . .

Prima Ballerina Darcey Bussell takes you on a captivating journey to a faraway land of ballet and magic, the wonderful world of Enchantia! Books 1 to 6 in the sparkly Magic Ballerina series for all young girls who dream of being a ballerina, or simply love to dance… Delphie’s greatest dream is to become a ballerina, and she can't quite believe it when she is invited to join the new ballet school. But there's more to Madame Zarakova's than it at first seems and with the help of some very special ballet shoes, Delphie finds herself spinning into a whole new world… Join Delphie in the first series of the wonderful Magic Ballerina books.

At long last, this is the definitive Wet Hot American Summer book fans have been clamoring for! Screenwriters David Wain and Michael Showalter take pen to page and create a hilarious, behind-the-scenes annotated version of the original screenplay that launched a thousand Halloween costumes. They provide commentary on and insight into how and why they made the artistic decisions they did while writing and filming the movie that went on to become a true cult classic, as well as an ongoing Netflix series. The book will also feature reproduced ephemera from filming-photos, original (and scathing) reviews, AIM chat conversations, marked up script pages, and so much more. Written and curated by Wain and Showalter, this will be the must-have guide to all things Wet Hot.

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age, and is now available in a collectible box set, including an exclusive fold-out map of Westeros. Now a major Sky Atlantic TV series from HBO, featuring a stellar cast. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has set the benchmark for contemporary epic fantasy. Labelled by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world, Martin has conjured a world as complex and vibrant as that of J.R.R. Tolkien’s, populated by a huge cast of fascinating, complex characters, and boasting a history that stretches back twelve thousand years. Three great storylines weave through the books, charting the civil war for control of the Seven Kingdoms; the defence of the towering Wall of ice in the uttermost north against the unearthly threat of the Others; and across the Narrow Sea the rise to power of Daenerys Targaryen and the last live dragons in the world. The HBO adaption of A Game of Thrones is currently airing worldwide and has already proved so popular that a second season has been commissioned. The box set includes: A GAME OF THRONES A CLASH OF KINGS A STORM OF SWORDS, 1: STEEL AND SNOW A STORM OF SWORDS, 2: BLOOD AND GOLD A FEAST FOR CROWS A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, 1: DREAMS AND DUST A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, 2: AFTER THE FEAST The dimension of the box set is 197mm x 130mm.

James Prosek has been called "the Audubon of the fishing world" by the New York Times. A passionate fisherman and talented artist from a young age, he published two illustrated books on fish and fishing while still an undergraduate at Yale. After winning a traveling fellowship to follow in the footsteps of Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler became his obsession. He was fascinated by Walton, a humble man who won the friendship of kings, and he was intrigued by the book's philosophies concerning the timelessness and immortality that could be achieved by fishing. Although Walton was sixty when The Compleat Angler was published and Prosek only twenty when he set off to visit England, they each had traits in common: a love of fishing and an extraordinary ability to make friends.This is the story of a young man's pilgrimage through England, fishing the waters that are now privately held. Along with wonderful stories about good times, great fishing, and fine eating, this trip becomes an exploration of Waltonian ideals: how to live with humor, wisdom, contentment, and simplicity.The original watercolors complementing the text are wonderful. Like Walton's book, The Complete Angler is not about fishing but about life. Or rather, it is about fishing but fishing is life.

Our nation's finest comedians, contrarians, and comic subversives come together to discuss the nature of humor, its relevance to society, and how simply speaking the truth as one sees it can give life meaning We are living in a new golden age of satire. In a nation divided, polarized, and cynical of "official" news and information, it's no surprise that more young people get their news today from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than from 60 Minutes and CNN the people who speak the most openly and fearlessly are our satirists. Politics and culture are analyzed, criticized, scandalized, and energized by comedians with no agenda other than to create the laughter and shock that comes from recognition and truth.Perhaps the greatest collection of comic talents ever between two covers, Satiristas! is a collaboration between Paul Provenza comedy's insider inquisitor extraordinaire, director/co-creator of the film The Aristocrats, and star of Showtime's The Green Room with Paul Provenza and Dan Dion, comedy's most celebrated portrait photographer. A virtual who's who of iconoclastic comedy, the book is an epic, hilarious, multivoiced manifesto on satire and comedy, and a revelatory study of the complexities and inner workings of the comic mind. Balancing on the razor's edge of communicating important ideas without pretense or condescension, political comedians Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and Lewis Black weigh in with late-night monologists Jay Leno and Craig Ferguson. Veterans like Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, Richard Lewis, and Roseanne Barr speak their minds alongside comedy legends such as the Smothers Brothers, Tom Lehrer, Lily Tomlin, and the late, great George Carlin. Also represented are creators, writers, and producers of The Daily Show, South Park, Mr. Show, This Is Spinal Tap, Wonder Showzen, Kids in the Hall, Freaks and Geeks, Superbad, The Simpsons, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Saturday Night Live as well as fresh, up-and-coming talents and a new generation of comedy stars. Together, this cross-section of subversive comic artists offers insight into what drives them and makes them tick, and what drives them crazy and ticks them off.Paul Provenza's casual, intimate, artist-to-artist interviews are intelligent, outrageous, controversial, and even downright sick but no idea or opinion is censored, and the unabashed honesty that results is funny, thought-provoking and inspirational.The intimate photographic portraits by Dan Dion, comedy's Richard Avedon, are art pieces that take us through the stand-up routine to the person underneath, making Satiristas! something that will change the way you look at comedians and the art of comedy.

A Spectacular Selection of More Than 150 Fantasy Art Shoes from the Stuart Weitzman CollectionWhen Stuart Weitzman opened its first boutique on Madison Avenue, its displays of specially commissioned fantasy shoes quickly became a destination, drawing crowds form all over the world to its magical windows. The best of this carefully curated collection is on display in book form for the first time in this unique gift volume, where these imaginative creations are presented in vivid detail. With its inventive and beautifully crafted footwear in a vast range of materials from watercolor paper to playing cards, from fresh flowers to frosting this stunning showcase where fashion and fantasy meet will thrill shoe and art lovers alike.

With more than 1,000 shows on the food television network, weekly appearances on Good Morning America, and guest spots with Rosie O'Donnell and Jay Leno, it seems that people can't get enough of Emeril Lagasse. Happily, here's Prime Time Emeril: More TV Dinners from America's Favorite Chef. It's another big helping of the food, the fun, and the man America has fallen in love with.Now Emeril's fans can cook more of the dishes they've seen him prepare on prime time television -- more than 150 of them. They're easy to understand and simple to follow, and the results are foolproof and pure Emeril.Each chapter of Prime Time Emeril is filled with recipes, techniques, and tips to help you re-create Emeril's unique New American style of cooking right in your own home. These recipes feature his kicked-up favorites, including Chicken Drumettes with Blue Cheese Sauce and Emerilized Barbecued Oysters with Rosemary Biscuits. There are new twists on Louisiana classics, including gumbo, jambalaya, and beignets.From his hometown of Fall River, Massachusetts, Emeril shares the food he loved best as a kid -- recipes such as Hilda's Stewed Chicken, Madeira-Braised Short Ribs, and Lobster Portuguese-Style.Re-create Emeril's amazing appetizers, including Spicy Duck Empanadas with Cilantro Cream or Singing Shrimp. How about a big bowl of steaming Monkfish Chowder or Rabbit, Andouille, and Wild Mushroom GumboKick it up more than a few notches with Mardi Gras Jambalaya, Tuna of Love, or Bamburgers. And Emeril has never been shy about dessert. Whip up one of his creations, such as Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cherry and White Chocolate Bread Pudding, or Mr. Lou's Chocolate Praline Pie.So pick up this book and pick up a pan. You're ready for some prime time cooking with Prime Time Emeril.

An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at Bruce Springsteen as you've never seen him before. This collection includes more than seventy black-and-white photographs by photographer Eric Meola, lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, and an essay by Joyce Millman.Eric Meola first saw Bruce Springsteen perform in 1973 at New York's legendary club Max's Kansas City. He began photographing Springsteen the following year, just before the release of his breakthrough album, Born to Run, for which Meola shot the cover album art. Meola continued photographing Springsteen throughout his early career, most notably from 1977 through 1979, when Springsteen was emerging as a bona-fide rock star.This carefully curated collection of images gives us a revelatory look at Springsteen as he was coming to terms with his newfound success and creating the music for his fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town. Complete with an introduction from Meola, an insightful end-of-book essay by Joyce Millman, and running lyrics to several of Springsteen's songs, this book also shows how Meola's evocative portraits reveal Springsteen as he really was an artist at the crossroads of his fledgling career, writing about dark themes and finding redemption through his own words and image.

A renowned chef and nutritionist has the recipe for delectable meals with a healthy Mediterranean focus, featuring more than 100 recipes for flavorful, seasonal local foodHailed as the Napa Valley of the East, New York's Hudson Valley has become a major hub for local foods and agriculture—and Laura Pensiero's acclaimed restaurants are at the center of it all. Customers from near and far flock to Gigi Trattoria in Rhinebeck (named one of Hudson Valley's best restaurants in Hudson Valley Magazine) and Gigi Market and Catering in Red Hook to dine on Laura's interpretations of traditional Italian dishes that highlight the bounty of the farms, gardens, and artisans of the Valley.A celebration of the food of the Hudson Valley and the people who grow and produce it, Hudson Valley Mediterranean shows how to use seasonal ingredients to create delectable, nourishing meals. Here are more than 100 easy-to-prepare and cost-effective recipes made with the best ingredients and a touch of Mediterranean flair, including:Gigi Potato Gnocchi with Northwind Farm Chicken and Pea RaguBaked Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower and ChardFava Bean and Fregola SaladSpring (and Every Other Season) LasagnaSeared Salmon over Spring TrifolatiMr. Mink's Panzanella Salad with fresh herbsStrawberry Mascarpone TartThis local and seasonal food movement is happening throughout the country, and Pensiero invites everyone to bring these foods into their own kitchens and communities using regional resources—because cooking with fresh food harvested nearby brings pleasure to eating and connects people to their family, friends, and community.