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From the Moment They Met It Was Murder: Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir
The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity--its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history--is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film's 80th anniversary. From actual murder to magazine fiction to movie, the history of Double Indemnity is as complex as anything that hit the screen during film noir's classic period. Born of a 1927 tabloid-sensation "crime of the century" that inspired journalist and would-be mystery writer James M. Cain, Hollywood quickly bid on the film rights to Double Indemnity, but throughout the 1930s a strict code of censorship made certain that no studio could green-light a murder melodrama based on real events. Then in 1943, writer and newly minted director Billy Wilder hired hard-boiled novelist Raymond Chandler to help him write a script that would be acceptable to industry censors. Wilder then cajoled a star cast into coming aboard: the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck in her unforgettable turn as the ultimate femme fatale; Fred MacMurray, cast against type as her partner in crime; and Edward G. Robinson as a dogged claims investigator. Besides Chandler, other key collaborators were veteran cinematographer John Seitz, costume designer Edith Head, and composer Miklós Rózsa. The final film became one of the earliest studio noirs to gain critical and commercial success, including being nominated for seven Oscars. It powerfully influenced the burgeoning noir movement, spawned many imitators, and affected the later careers of all its cast and crew. Double Indemnity's impact on filmmakers and audiences is still felt eight decades after its release. -
People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal
At a moment when our democratic abilities seem to have eroded, and political, economic, and technological forces have weakened the capacity for collective action, People, Power, Change is a once-in-a-generation book for anyone who wants to create real and lasting change. Marshall Ganz is one of the world's leading authorities on democratic organizing, and this book is the culmination of his decades of teaching, research, and work. In People, Power, Change, Ganz distills for students, practitioners, and activists the principles he has gleaned over the last half-century of creating collective action. Ganz explores the forces, craft, and learned skill of organizing and provides an actionable framework for how to actually do it. He focuses the book on the creation and substance of relationships, the fuel of values and narrative, the resources and power of strategy, the necessity of structure, and the accountability of action. Across these five organizing ideas, Ganz weaves in his personal experiences from a lifetime of organizing in iconic social movements and campaigns to illustrate how collective action actually works and to build the practices and skills that must be developed to do it with intention and with success. -
Sold outPunch Drunk Love Vol. 2
BEGGING FOR IT After getting not just one, but two passionate encounters with manager Jeong Tae-moon, finance worker Park Seon-woo is on cloud nine. The problem? Mr. Jeong is completely turned off by everything from Seon-woo's frumpy appearance to his sloppy oral technique. Desperate to keep living his ultimate fantasy come true, Seon-woo works hard to improve himself and become a man worthy to stand at Mr. Jeong's side...or just to crouch on hands and knees as Mr. Jeong's footstool! Could he even dare hope to become Mr. Jeong's exclusive lover? Maybe if he ditches those Coke-bottle glasses...Sold out -
Moon Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Hiking, Camping, Waterfalls & Big Trees
Explore granite domes, thundering waterfalls, and towering trees: Moon Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon reveals the best of these stunning national parks. Inside you'll find:- Flexible Itineraries: Unique and adventure-packed ideas for day hikers, winter visitors, families with kids, campers, and more
- The Best Hikes in Each Park: Detailed hike descriptions, individual trail maps, mileage and elevation gains, and backpacking options
- Experience the Outdoors: Ride the open-air tram through Yosemite Valley or hike downhill from Glacier Point past roaring waterfalls. Drive the legendary Generals Highway or take a scenic bike ride to pristine lakes (and yes, more waterfalls!). Go for a horse-drawn wagon ride on a history tour or take a rock-climbing lesson. Walk among the goliaths of Sequoia's Giant Forest and stop at a historic lodge for dinner and a well-deserved drink
- How to Get There: Up-to-date information on traveling between the parks, gateway towns, park entrances, park fees, and tours
- Where to Stay: From campgrounds and rustic lodges to the majestic Ahwahnee, find the best spots to kick back, both inside and outside the parks
- Planning Tips: When to go, what to pack, safety information, and how to avoid the crowds, with full-color photos and easy-to-use maps throughout
- Expertise and Know-How from seasoned explorer and outdoor expert Ann Marie Brown
About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell--and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you. -
Engage, Vol. 1
The greatest love is one that surmounts even the greatest obstacles in this romance featuring Naru from the Love Nest series. When a young chef confesses his love to a mysterious and attractive older stranger, he's drawn into a deep web of intrigue and buried family history that could threaten his attraction to the only man he's ever loved. The highlight of chef Mei Suzumori's year is the Tanabata Festival--the one day a year when a pair of mythical lovers reunites. For Mei, it's the day that a mysterious, handsome stranger visits his adopted family's restaurant to buy tasty seasonal taiyaki. This year, unable to hold his feelings for the attractive stranger back any longer, Mei professes his love--and finds he's linked to the enigmatic Naru by a bond much deeper and more complicated than he ever imagined. -
All the Fiends of Hell
The red night of bells heralds global catastrophe. Annihilation on a biblical scale.
Seeing the morning is no blessing. The handful of scattered survivors are confronted by blood-red skies and an infestation of predatory horrors that never originated on earth. An occupying force intent on erasing the remnants of animal life from the planet.
Across the deserted landscapes of England, bereft of infrastructure and society, the overlooked can either hide or try to outrun the infernal hunting terrors. Until a rumour emerges claiming that the sea may offer an escape.
Ordinary, unexceptional, directionless Karl, is one of the few who made it through the first night. In the company of two orphans, he flees south. But only into horrifying revelations and greater peril, where a transformed world and expanding race of ravening creatures await. Driven to the end of the country and himself, he must overcome alien and human malevolence and act in ways that were unthinkable mere days before.
All The Fiends of Hell is a novel of alien horror from the four times winner of the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel.
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The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness
Renowned naturalist Kenn Kaufman examines the scientific discoveries of John James Audubon and his artistic and ornithologist peers to show how what they saw (and what they missed) reflects how we perceive and understand the natural world. Raging ambition. Towering egos. Competition under a veneer of courtesy. Heroic effort combined with plagiarism, theft, exaggeration, and fraud. This was the state of bird study in eastern North America during the early 1800s, as a handful of intrepid men raced to find the last few birds that were still unknown to science. The most famous name in the bird world was John James Audubon, who painted spectacular portraits of birds. But although his images were beautiful, creating great art was not his main goal. Instead, he aimed to illustrate (and write about) as many different species as possible, obsessed with trying to outdo his rival, Alexander Wilson. George Ord, a fan and protégé of Wilson, held a bitter grudge against Audubon for years, claiming he had faked much of his information and his scientific claims. A few of Audubon's birds were pure fiction, and some of his writing was invented or plagiarized. Other naturalists of the era, including Charles Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleon), John Townsend, and Thomas Nuttall, also became entangled in the scientific derby, as they stumbled toward an understanding of the natural world--an endeavor that continues to this day. Despite this intense competition, a few species--including some surprisingly common songbirds, hawks, sandpipers, and more--managed to evade discovery for years. Here, renowned bird expert and artist Kenn Kaufman explores this period in history from a new angle, by considering the birds these people discovered and, especially, the ones they missed. Kaufman has created portraits of the birds that Audubon never saw, attempting to paint them in that artist's own stunning style, as a way of examining the history of natural sciences and nature art. He shows how our understanding of birds continues to gain clarity, even as some mysteries persist from Audubon's time until ours. -
French Boulangerie: Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts
A complete baking course from the world-renowned professional culinary school École Ferrandi, dubbed the "Harvard of gastronomy" by Le Monde newspaper. From crunchy baguettes to fig bread, and from traditional brioches to trendy cruffins, this comprehensive volume teaches aspiring bakers how to master the art of the French boulangerie. This new cookbook focuses on bread and viennoiserie, the category of French baked goods traditionally enjoyed for breakfast (like croissants and pains au chocolat); it is a perfect complement to Ferrandi's bestselling French Pâtisserie, which covers baked desserts. Here, the culinary school's team of experienced chef instructors provides more than 40 techniques, explained in 220 step-by-step instructions--from making your own poolish or levain to kneading, shaping, and scoring various types of loaves, and from laminating butter to braiding brioches. Base recipes for doughs, fillings, and classic viennoiserie provide fundamental building blocks. Organized into four categories--traditional breads, specialty breads, viennoiserie, and sandwiches--the 83 easy-to-follow recipes provide home chefs with sweet and savory options for breakfast or snacks--from country bread to grissini, pastrami bagels to croque-monsieurs, and kougelhopf to beignets. Select gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan recipes offer something for everyone. A general introduction explains the fundamentals of bread and viennoiserie making, including key ingredients, the importance of gluten, the steps of fermentation, and an informative glossary. -
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport
The bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil mines the subtle horrors of 1950s America in a gripping novel about a woman under pressure--from the living and the dead.
The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.
Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They're the picture of domestic tranquility--until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they're real--and frightening.
Defying Pete's demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse. With Dr. Hansen's help, Loretta's life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he's worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work.
As Loretta's powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.
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Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Deluxe Hardcover Edition)
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offers timeless guidance for a turbulent world.- Like us, Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius lived through a world-altering pandemic: the Antonine Plague that devastated ancient Rome.
- Renowned for his principled leadership, Aurelius kept private notes detailing his philosophy on life and leadership.
- This is a collection of those private notes, filled with insights on responding well to hardship both in thought and in action.
- His writings are a cornerstone of the Stoic philosophy, embraced by leaders throughout history and across the world for their emphasis on collaboration, rationality, and striving for the good of all people.
- ''Motions and changes are continually renewing the world, just as the uninterrupted course of time is always renewing the infinite duration of ages.''--Marcus Aurelius
- George Long's elegant 1862 translation balances accessibility with preserving the classic tone of the text.
- With archival printing, this pocket-sized edition is designed for both portability and longevity.
- Hardcover gift volume with dust jacket makes an ideal addition to any home or office library.
- 64 pages.
- Book measures 4-1/2'' wide x 7-1/2'' high.
- Like us, Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius lived through a world-altering pandemic: the Antonine Plague that devastated ancient Rome.
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Sold outMy First Book
A Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Good Morning America and LitHub From groundbreaking debut author Honor Levy, stories to delight and ensnare Walking the wire between imagination and confession, My First Book marks the arrival of an electric new talent. Honor Levy's uniquely riveting voice emerges from the chaos of coming of age in Generation Z. Never far from a digital interface, her characters grapple with formative political, existential, and romantic experiences in a web-drenched society on the brink of collapse. Inventive, ambitious, and frequently surreal, the stories of My First Book are a mirrorball onto the world as it is. Levy illuminates what it is to be at once adorable, special, heavily medicated, consistently panicked, and completely sincere. One protagonist accompanies a girl with too many teeth through an abortion, while another discovers the infinite nature of love, a third reminisces about other sunsets that were "pinker, like way pinker," and another encounters God in a downtown arcade. To find and keep faith is the order of the day--but how?Sold out -
Lavash at First Sight
Sparks fly between two women pitted against each other in this delectable new romantic comedy by Taleen Voskuni, author of Sorry, Bro.
Twenty-seven-year-old Nazeli "Ellie" Gregorian enjoys the prestige of her tech marketing job but is sick of the condescending Patagonia-clad tech bros, her micromanaging boss, and her ex-boyfriend, who she's forced to work with every day. When Ellie's lovingly overbearing parents ask her to attend PakCon--a food packaging conference in Chicago--to help promote their company and vie to win an ad slot in the Superbowl (no big deal), she's eager for a brief change and a delicious distraction.
At the conference, she meets witty, devil-may-care Vanya Simonian. Ellie can't believe how easy it is to talk to Vanya and how much they have in common--both Armenian! From the Bay Area! Whose families are into food! Their meet-cute is cut short, however, when Ellie's parents recognize Vanya as the daughter of the owners of their greatest rival, whose mission (according to Ellie's mother) is to whitewash and package Armenian food for the American health-food crowd. Sworn as enemies, Ellie and Vanya must compete against each other under their suspicious parents' scrutiny, all while their feelings for each other heat to sizzling temps. -
Critical Role: Bells Hells--What Doesn't Break
Uncover the lost years of Critical Role's unrelentingly upbeat undead spellcaster in this original prequel novel to Laudna's adventures with Bells Hells. For as long as she can remember, Laudna has had a friend. A mentor. A little voice whispering in her cropped ear, promising that, no matter how monstrous she becomes or how far she wanders, there will always be someone to guide her. And so, Laudna is content. But the thought of more--of life, of love, of the magic stirring in her still veins--is unrelenting in its familiarity. More is the dream of the young girl trapped behind the bloodstained walls of Whitestone, and the nightmare of the woman who now stalks the woods outside them. More, Laudna's little voice reminds her, is dangerous. From Tal'Dorei to Marquet, the world is infested with heroes destined to rid their kingdoms of creatures like Laudna. The little voice is right, she knows. But still, she thinks of more. And when she reaches for that dream, what reaches back will change everything. Written by USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw, Critical Role: Bells Hells--What Doesn't Break delves into the unexplored years before Laudna joined up with the crew of Bells Hells, chronicling her departure from Whitestone and her solo adventures on the road to Jrusar. -
The Lost: The Search for Six of Six Million
Soon to featured in the Ken Burns documentary The U.S. and the Holocaust, airing on PBS in fall 2022
A New York Times Notable Book - Winner of the National Jewish Book Award - Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award - A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
"A gripping detective story, a stirring epic, a tale of ghosts and dark marvels, a thrilling display of scholarship, a meditation on the unfathomable mystery of good and evil, a testimony to the enduring power of the ancient archetypes that haunt one Jewish family and the greater human family, The Lost is as complex and rich with meaning and story as the past it seeks to illuminate. A beautiful book, beautifully written."--Michael Chabon
In this rich and riveting narrative, a writer's search for the truth behind his family's tragic past in World War II becomes a remarkably original epic--part memoir, part reportage, part mystery, and part scholarly detective work--that brilliantly explores the nature of time and memory, family and history.
The Lost begins as the story of a boy who grew up in a family haunted by the disappearance of six relatives during the Holocaust--an unmentionable subject that gripped his imagination from earliest childhood. Decades later, spurred by the discovery of a cache of desperate letters written to his grandfather in 1939 and tantalized by fragmentary tales of a terrible betrayal, Daniel Mendelsohn sets out to find the remaining eyewitnesses to his relatives' fates. That quest eventually takes him to a dozen countries on four continents and forces him to confront the wrenching discrepancies between the histories we live and the stories we tell. And it leads him, finally, back to the small Ukrainian town where his family's story began, and where the solution to a decades-old mystery awaits him.
Deftly moving between past and present, interweaving a world-wandering odyssey with childhood memories of a now-lost generation of immigrant Jews and provocative ruminations on biblical texts and Jewish history, The Lost transforms the story of one family into a profound, morally searching meditation on our fragile hold on the past. Deeply personal, grippingly suspenseful, and beautifully written, this literary tour de force illuminates all that is lost, and found, in the passage of time.
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Familiaris
The follow-up to the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling modern classic The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Familiaris is the stirring origin story of the Sawtelle family and the remarkable dogs that carry the Sawtelle name.
It is spring 1919, and John Sawtelle's imagination has gotten him into trouble ... again. Now John and his newlywed wife, Mary, along with their two best friends and their three dogs, are setting off for Wisconsin's northwoods, where they hope to make a fresh start--and, with a little luck, discover what it takes to live a life of meaning, purpose, and adventure. But the place they are headed for is far stranger and more perilous than they realize, and it will take all their ingenuity, along with a few new friends--human, animal, and otherworldly--to realize their dreams.
By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, mysterious and enchanting, Familiaris takes readers on an unforgettable journey from the halls of a small-town automobile factory, through an epic midwestern firestorm and an ambitious WWII dog-training program, and far back into mankind's ancient past, examining the dynamics of love and friendship, the vexing nature of families, the universal desire to create something lasting and beautiful, and of course, the species-long partnership between Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris.
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God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin
Baldwin's life and legacy as remembered by a pantheon of artists and writers: from Jamaica Kincaid and Barry Jenkins to Richard Avedon and Alice Neel
When author James Baldwin died in 1987, he left behind an extraordinary body of work: novels, poems, film scripts and, perhaps most indelibly, essays. A friend and supporter of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, Baldwin was a critical voice in the civil rights movement. After reaching acclaim in his early career as a writer, he struggled to retain the author's "I," while taking on the "we" of the people.
Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hilton Als and growing out of his landmark exhibition at David Zwirner in 2019, God Made My Face brings together an impressive assembly of contributors, ranging from Baldwin biographer David Leeming to novelist Jamaica Kincaid and Moonlight director Barry Jenkins, to create a memorial mosaic: one that not only mirrors Baldwin's various tones but also closely examines his singular contributions to cinema, theater, the essay and Black American critical studies. These essays are illustrated by artwork from modern and contemporary artists who were either personal contemporaries of Baldwin or directly inspired by his work. In each piece assembled here, the authors speak from a personal, informed perspective, illuminating Baldwin's deeply anguished and enlightened voice and his belief that, ultimately--because we are human--we share the potential to love, connect and live together in all our glory.
Artists include: Diane Arbus, Eugène Atget, Richard Avedon, Don Bachardy, Alvin Baltrop, Anthony Barboza, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Beauford Delaney, Marlene Dumas, Glenn Ligon, George McCalman, Alice Neel, Elle Pérez, Cameron Rowland, Kara Walker, James Welling, Larry Wolhandler.
Authors include: Stephen Best, Daphne A. Brooks, Teju Cole, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Barry Jenkins, Jamaica Kincaid, David Leeming, Darryl Pinckney.Sold out