![]() ![]() She watches over them, the guiding spirit of a kingdom whose towns nestle behind closed doors in the burls of trees. She sleeps them in beds fitted with magnolia-petal comforters. She builds these creatures elaborate homes with pebbled front walks and mushroom furniture. Also: squirrels from pairs of glued walnut shells, bears made of sweetgum balls, dragons from the pods of Kentucky coffee trees, fairies donning acorn caps, and an angel whose pine-cone body needs only two holly leaves for wings. Hers is made of twigs, though it’s every bit alive. It’s 1950, and like the boy Cyparissus, whom she’ll soon discover, little Patty Westerford falls in love with her pet deer. Her story will grab you, and I highly recommend reading the entire book, which can have a long-lasting impact. Patricia’s origin story is shared below with permission, and I owe special thanks to author Richard Powers and W. One of my favorite chapters, “Patricia Westerford,” is a masterwork, and as soon as I finished it, I wanted to share it. ![]() It’s slow and it’s steady and it’s true.” Several guests on the podcast recommended it to me, and Hugh Jackman gave me the best description: “It works on you in the way nature does. It’s beautiful, brutal, poetic, and therapeutic. ![]() Richard Powers’ The Overstory, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, is an incredible book. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Lukianoff and Haidt identify the three ‘Great Untruths’: ‘The Untruth of Fragility: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Weaker’ ‘The Untruth of Emotional Reasoning: Always Trust Your Feelings’ and ‘The Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life is a Battle Between Good People and Bad People’. Developing their thesis first articulated in an article in The Atlantic, the authors, Greg Lukianoff, a lawyer focusing on the First Amendment and the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (‘FIRE’), and Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, set out to analyse the particular cultural moment in which American universities find themselves. ![]() The latest manifestation is The Coddling of the American Mind. Cultural anxiety about what is going on at universities is nothing new. The mind that is being closed or coddled is, in the first instance, the young adult mind in its formative stage – at university. The American mind must have remained sufficiently open to allow it, three decades hence, to be coddled. In 1987, Allan Bloom published his best-selling book, The Closing of the American Mind. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() He has a scar on his chin, which I only notice because his cheeks and chin are decorated in what I’d guess to be a couple of days’ worth of stubble, and a pale, hairless line is evident. His nose is slightly crooked, as if it’s been broken and not set properly his lips are full and ridiculously kissable. His eyes are the color of snow on a moonless winter night, a murky kind of gray that shifts and changes like shadows. His dark hair is covered by a backward baseball cap, the ends curling around his ears and the snapback. He’s a seven-course meal, including the decadent dessert. ![]() From the back he’s incredible to look at, but from the front-he’s just. “What the shit?” The man unfurls from his crouched position, rising to his full and very intimidating height. The loud noise ceases, and both the board and the saw clatter to the floor. I shriek when it whirs to life and I realize belatedly that it’s a saw. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Whether considering the serial killer who turns murder into a kind of labor by mass producing dead bodies, or the hack writers and bloodthirsty actresses trapped inside Hollywood’s profit-mad storytelling machine, she reveals that each creature has its own tale to tell about how a freewheeling market economy turns human beings into monstrosities. Newitz looks at representations of serial killers, mad doctors, the undead, cyborgs, and unfortunates mutated by their involvement with the mass media industry. Ravaged by overwork, alienated by corporate conformity, and mutilated by the unfettered lust for profit, fictional monsters act out the problems with an economic system that seems designed to eat people whole. In Pretend We’re Dead, Annalee Newitz argues that the slimy zombies and gore-soaked murderers who have stormed through American film and literature over the past century embody the violent contradictions of capitalism. Labor and Working-Class History Association.Association for Middle East Women's Studies. ![]() Author Resources from University Presses.Permissions Information for Journal Authors.Journals fulfilled by DUP Journal Services. ![]() ![]() ![]() But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything-including her own life. When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld? And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike-particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. ![]() ![]() Basically, I was found myself no longer submerged in the Dark Tower worlds and found it a little difficult to get back into. ![]() This is the disadvantage of reading a series as it is published, and if you do not have the time to re-read previous instalments then it may well be that the reading enjoyment is not as high as when you can simply turn the last page on book three and reach over, open, and begin reading book four. There are two reasons that might explain this, the first being that a year had passed since I had finished The Waste Lands and much momentum had been lost, and much that had happened had been forgotten. The first three books, The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands I found brilliant but have to be honest and admit that Wizard and Glass, on first read, was not a great experience. ![]() This is my fourth pass and it is a series that just keeps giving and giving. If books are judged solely by their re-readability value then the Dark Tower books must be up there at the very top. ![]() ![]() Bremer dan Gorst – a squeaky-voiced master swordsman who was First Guard to King Jezal, and now to King Orso.Yolk – Corporal Tunny’s idiot sidekick.Tunny – once Corporal Tunny, pimp and carousing partner to Orso while he was still crown prince.Hildi – the king’s valet and errand-girl, previously a brothel laundress.Her August Majesty Queen Terez – Queen Dowager and mother of the King of the Union.His August Majesty King Orso the First – unwilling High King of the Union, a notorious wastrel while crown prince.The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply. The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. ![]() Unrest worms into every layer of society. ![]() But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye. ![]() But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.įor heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. Peace is just another kind of battlefield. ![]() ![]() ![]() I created more time and comfort in my day I try to have no more than five open tabs at any given time now, which are my email, Canva, Teachable, and one or two Google docs.ģ. I grabbed all of my desktop folders and put them in one "Omega" folder, so now I enjoy a pristinely empty screen that doesn't give me anxiety.įinally - this was the toughest - I began closing all my browser tabs before bed. Plus, all the tasks I start actually get done.Ĭlear's book inspired me to do the same inside my laptop, too. Now everything that crosses my mind is in that one journal rather than spread across 20-odd sticky notes. Getting rid of the clutter has helped me focus, and I no longer lose ideas. I stashed all my "extras" - my Kindle and any hardcover books, pencils, business cards, and highlighters - in my closet. The "essentials" on my desk now are my laptop, a podcasting microphone, a journal with a single pen, and a water bottle. ![]() It often indicates a user profile.Īfter reading "Atomic Habits," I set an alarm for 20 minutes so I'd get it done under pressure and separated everything into three piles: essentials, nice-to-have, and extras. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]() ![]() ![]() This exhilarating novella explores the horror in both the enemy you know - and the one you can only imagine. But what's outside may be even more dangerous. Now David and his son must try to escape. And there is another shocking threat from within - one group of survivors, led by a religious zealot, is calling for a sacrifice. Violent forces concealed in the mist are starting to emerge. The Mist by Stephen King 142,218 ratings, 3.95 average rating, 4,844 reviews The Mist Quotes Showing 1-28 of 28 You know what talent is The curse of expectation. Once there, they become trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town. 'Something in the fog!' he screamedįollowing a freak summer storm, David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbour Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies. 1 bestselling author Stephen King's terrifying novella about a town engulfed in a dense, mysterious mist - originally published in the acclaimed short story collection Skeleton Crew and made into a feature film by Frank Darabont - is now available as a stand-alone publication.Ī man staggered into the market. ![]() King's terrifying novella about a town engulfed in a mysterious mist, now available for the first time from Hodder in standalone form, as part of their exciting Stephen King reissue programme for 2021. ![]() ![]() ![]() Those are the kinds of questions Brown’s story raises. But there is another side of war that’s seldom explored: Why do some soldiers risk their lives to save their enemies and, in some cases, develop a deep bond with them that outlives war?Īnd are such acts of chivalry obsolete in an age of drone strikes and terrorism?Ĭharles Brown was on his first combat mission during World War II when he met an enemy unlike any other. People love to hear war stories about great generals or crack troops such as Seal Team 6, the Navy unit that killed Osama bin Laden. Years later, Brown would track down his would-be executioner for a reunion that reduced both men to tears. What happened next was one of the most remarkable acts of chivalry recorded during World War II. ![]() ![]() ![]() Half his crew was wounded, and the tail gunner was dead, his blood frozen in icicles over the machine guns.īut when Brown and his co-pilot, Spencer “Pinky” Luke, looked at the fighter pilot again, something odd happened. His bomber had been shot to pieces by swarming fighters, and his plane was alone in the skies above Germany. The B-17 pilot, Charles Brown, was a 21-year-old West Virginia farm boy on his first combat mission. ![]() |