"The fascinating and moving story of a woman finding her true place in the world, away from the strict requirements of her family and her religion. Amber Scorah navigates her escape with courage, clarity, and humor. She is a strikingly beautiful writer with the unique perspective and fresh sight that can only belong to an outsider."--Lisa Brennan-Jobs, author of Small FryA riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture--and a whole new way of thinking--turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery--with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.
Viking
|
9780735222540
|
Hardcover
Bunk
By Young, Kevin
Has the hoax now moved from the sideshow to take the center stage of American culture?Award-winning poet and critic Kevin Young tours us through a rogue's gallery of hoaxers, plagiarists, forgers, and fakers -- from the humbug of P. T. Barnum and Edgar Allan Poe to the unrepentant bunk of JT LeRoy and Donald J. Trump. Bunk traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon, examining what motivates hucksters and makes the rest of us so gullible. Disturbingly, Young finds that fakery is woven from stereotype and suspicion, race being the most insidious American hoax of all. He chronicles how Barnum came to fame by displaying figures like Joice Heth, a black woman whom he pretended was the 161-year-old nursemaid to George Washington, and What Is It?, an African American man Barnum professed was a newly discovered missing link in evolution.Bunk then turns to the hoaxing of history and the ways that forgers, plagiarists, and journalistic fakers invent backstories and falsehoods to sell us lies about themselves and about the world in our own time, from pretend Native Americans Grey Owl and Nasdijj to the deadly imposture of Clark Rockefeller, from the made-up memoirs of James Frey to the identity theft of Rachel Dolezal. In this brilliant and timely work, Young asks what it means to live in a post-factual world of "truthiness" where everything is up for interpretation and everyone is subject to a pervasive cynicism that damages our ideas of reality, fact, and art.
Graywolf Press
|
9781555977917
|
Hardcover
Long Shot
By Cudi, Azad
A Kurdish journalist who volunteered as a sniper in the fight against ISIS reveals his story in a "gripping memoir . . . elegantly told" (Publishers Weekly) .. In 2002, at age nineteen, Azad was conscripted into Irans army and forced to fight his own people. Refusing to go to war against his fellow Kurds, he deserted and smuggled himself to the United Kingdom, where he was granted asylum, became a citizen, and learned English. But in 2014, having returned to the Middle East as a social worker in the wake of the Syrian civil war, Azad found he would have to pick up a weapon once again.. After twenty-one days of intensive training as a sniper, Azad became one of seventeen volunteer marksmen deployed by the Kurdish army when ISIS besieged the city of Kobani in Rojava, the newly autonomous region of the Kurds. Here, he tells the inside story of the Kurdish forces bloody street battles against the Islamic State. Vastly outnumbered, the Kurds would have to kill the jihadis one by one, and Azad takes us on a harrowing journey to reveal the sniper units essential role in ISISs eventual defeat. Weaving the brutal events of war with personal and political reflection, he meditates on the incalculable price of victory - the permanent effects of war on the body and mind; the devastating death of six of his closest comrades; the loss of hundreds of volunteers in battle. But as Azad explains, these sacrifices saved not only a city but a people and their land.. "A propulsive memoir that captures the grim reality of small-scale conflict and reveals the fragmented politics of the Middle East today" (Kirkus Reviews) , Long Shot tells how, against all odds, a few thousand men and women achieved the impossible and kept their dream of freedom alive.
Atlantic Monthly Press
|
9780802129079
|
Hardcover
The Paint Pouring Workshop
By Ferro, Marcy
Jump into the exciting world of paint pouring - and instantly create dazzling, abstract art - with this comprehensive how-to guide by the popular founder of the Mixed Media Girl YouTube channel. Paint pouring - which involves using a free-flowing acrylic paint mixture created with a pouring medium, such as glue and water - is the hottest trend for making abstract art. In this fun, colorful guide, Marcy Ferro explains everything about working in this popular form. Learn how to create eye-catching color combos, set up a dedicated (or a paint-proof) workspace, control your pours, and much more. Along with the essentials, Ferro demonstrates a wide range of techniques, from familiar favorites such as the dirty pour and flip cup to novel ways of manipulating paint with a hair dryer or string.
Lark Crafts
|
9781454711124
|
Paperback
Untitled
By Manson, Mark
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck comes a new unorthodox self-help book. 2 million first printing.
Harper
|
9780062888433
|
Hardcover
For the Love of Music
By Mauceri, John
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music How can I get the most from the listening experienceA protg of Leonard Bernstein--his colleague for eighteen years--and an eminent conductor who has toured and recorded all over the world, John Mauceri helps us to reap the joys and pleasures classical music has to offer. Briefly, we learn the way a musical tradition born in ancient Greece, embraced by the Roman Empire, and subsequently nurtured by influences from across the globe, gave shape to the classical music that came to be embraced by cultures from Japan to Bolivia. Then Mauceri examines the music itself, helping us understand what it is we hear when we listen to classical music: how, by a kind of sonic metaphor, it expresses the deepest recesses of human feeling and emotion; how each piece bears the traces of its history; how the concert experience--a unique one each and every time--allows us to discover music anew. Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
Knopf
|
9780525520658
|
Hardcover
Wake, Siren
By Maclaughlin, Nina
In fierce, textured voices, the women of Ovid's Metamorphoses claim their stories and challenge the power of mythI am the home of this story. After thousands of years of other people's tellings, of all these different bridges, of words gotten wrong, I'll tell it myself.Seductresses and she-monsters, nymphs and demi-goddesses, populate the famous myths of Ovid's Metamorphoses. But what happens when the story of the chase comes in the voice of the woman fleeing her rape? When the beloved coolly returns the seducer's gaze? When tales of monstrous transfiguration are sung by those transformed? In voices both mythic and modern, Wake, Siren revisits each account of love, loss, rape, revenge, and change. It lays bare the violence that undergirds and lurks in the heart of Ovid's narratives, stories that helped build and perpetuate the distorted portrayal of women across centuries of art and literature. Drawing on the rhythms of epic poetry and alt rock, of everyday speech and folk song, of fireside whisperings and therapy sessions, Nina MacLaughlin, the acclaimed author of Hammer Head, recovers what is lost when the stories of women are told and translated by men. She breathes new life into these fraught and well-loved myths.
FSG Originals
|
9780374538583
|
Paperback
52 Weeks of Scarves
By Laine.,
52 Weeks of Scarves is a contemporary collection of 52 patterns for scarves, shawls, wraps, cowls and collars, from Nordic knitting experts Laine.Nothing brings more comfort than a hand-knitted scarf - from a light wrap for cool shoulders on summer evenings or spring mornings, to a beautiful shawl as the centerpiece of fall outfits, or a cozy collar to be layered under winter coats. Whether you're creating a shawl for yourself or a cowl for a loved one, there's care in every stitch. Knitting is more than just knit, knit, purl. It is a feeling.This stunning book contains a beautiful scarf pattern for every week of the year. The 52 projects have been contributed by leading knitwear designers from across the world and showcase an exceptionally wide range of yarns, techniques and difficulty levels, including two crochet designs.
Hardie Grant
|
9781743798515
|
Paperback
Taming Chronic Pain
By Orr, Amy
Taming Chronic PainReaders of books like Mind Over Mood, Pain Free, and 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will find answers, companionship and more in Taming Chronic Pain.A Well-Rounded Approach: Living with pain offers more than just physical challenges. For those of us navigating the treacherous waters between self-care and normal daily life, there are an overwhelming number of obstacles to overcome. Taming Chronic Pain takes a brutally honest -- and at times humorous -- look at the major issues associated with long-term pain management, offering practical advice, insight, exercises and discussion of everything from basic scientific knowledge to the psychological effects of chronic pain.Unique Insight: Author and scientist Amy Orr offers this no-holds-barred, well-rounded and relatable discussion of everything you're struggling to face and everything you haven't thought of yet. Taming Chronic Pain clarifies with easy to understand diagrams and cartoons.Written by a Fellow Pain Sufferer: While dealing with her own chronic pain, Amy has done years of extensive research on every aspect of long-term physical suffering. Her scientific skills and personal experience have given her the expertise to provide this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, knowing glimpse into the many areas of living with chronic pain that no one but a fellow sufferer would recognize.Taming Chronic Pain is a must-have for any chronic pain sufferer. Readers will discover:Tools to help you live your life with chronic pain, whether that be back, neck, or shoulder pain; arthritis; migraines; nerve pain; or something else entirelyA helpful approach to pain management that takes medicine, meditation, and psychology into accountLifestyle suggestions to lessen the effects of painTips and tricks for managing relationships while managing pain, and advice for caregiversAdvice and comfort from someone who understands life's struggles when you're rarely feeling well.
Mango
|
9781642500370
|
Paperback
Voice-Overs for Podcasting
By Clark, Elaine A.
Voice-Overs for Podcasting is exactly what podcasters of all levels need: an essential handbook to create, build, improve, and connect with audiences around the globe. Written by veteran voice-over coach and author, Elaine A. Clark, this book delivers the nuts and bolts of podcasting and elevates it to a new creative level where the voice is the star and the listener is the happy recipient. Clark shows the reader how, in addition to developing knowledge and expertise on their topic, a podcaster's emotion, storytelling, content, voice, and performance techniques can hugely impact listeners and reviews. This must-read guide offers a fresh approach for podcasters to perform and deliver the most engaging story that audiences will want to hear, turning a small fan base into millions of subscribers.
Leaving the Witness
By Scorah, Amber
"The fascinating and moving story of a woman finding her true place in the world, away from the strict requirements of her family and her religion. Amber Scorah navigates her escape with courage, clarity, and humor. She is a strikingly beautiful writer with the unique perspective and fresh sight that can only belong to an outsider."--Lisa Brennan-Jobs, author of Small FryA riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture--and a whole new way of thinking--turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery--with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.
Bunk
By Young, Kevin
Has the hoax now moved from the sideshow to take the center stage of American culture?Award-winning poet and critic Kevin Young tours us through a rogue's gallery of hoaxers, plagiarists, forgers, and fakers -- from the humbug of P. T. Barnum and Edgar Allan Poe to the unrepentant bunk of JT LeRoy and Donald J. Trump. Bunk traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon, examining what motivates hucksters and makes the rest of us so gullible. Disturbingly, Young finds that fakery is woven from stereotype and suspicion, race being the most insidious American hoax of all. He chronicles how Barnum came to fame by displaying figures like Joice Heth, a black woman whom he pretended was the 161-year-old nursemaid to George Washington, and What Is It?, an African American man Barnum professed was a newly discovered missing link in evolution.Bunk then turns to the hoaxing of history and the ways that forgers, plagiarists, and journalistic fakers invent backstories and falsehoods to sell us lies about themselves and about the world in our own time, from pretend Native Americans Grey Owl and Nasdijj to the deadly imposture of Clark Rockefeller, from the made-up memoirs of James Frey to the identity theft of Rachel Dolezal. In this brilliant and timely work, Young asks what it means to live in a post-factual world of "truthiness" where everything is up for interpretation and everyone is subject to a pervasive cynicism that damages our ideas of reality, fact, and art.
Long Shot
By Cudi, Azad
A Kurdish journalist who volunteered as a sniper in the fight against ISIS reveals his story in a "gripping memoir . . . elegantly told" (Publishers Weekly) .. In 2002, at age nineteen, Azad was conscripted into Irans army and forced to fight his own people. Refusing to go to war against his fellow Kurds, he deserted and smuggled himself to the United Kingdom, where he was granted asylum, became a citizen, and learned English. But in 2014, having returned to the Middle East as a social worker in the wake of the Syrian civil war, Azad found he would have to pick up a weapon once again.. After twenty-one days of intensive training as a sniper, Azad became one of seventeen volunteer marksmen deployed by the Kurdish army when ISIS besieged the city of Kobani in Rojava, the newly autonomous region of the Kurds. Here, he tells the inside story of the Kurdish forces bloody street battles against the Islamic State. Vastly outnumbered, the Kurds would have to kill the jihadis one by one, and Azad takes us on a harrowing journey to reveal the sniper units essential role in ISISs eventual defeat. Weaving the brutal events of war with personal and political reflection, he meditates on the incalculable price of victory - the permanent effects of war on the body and mind; the devastating death of six of his closest comrades; the loss of hundreds of volunteers in battle. But as Azad explains, these sacrifices saved not only a city but a people and their land.. "A propulsive memoir that captures the grim reality of small-scale conflict and reveals the fragmented politics of the Middle East today" (Kirkus Reviews) , Long Shot tells how, against all odds, a few thousand men and women achieved the impossible and kept their dream of freedom alive.
The Paint Pouring Workshop
By Ferro, Marcy
Jump into the exciting world of paint pouring - and instantly create dazzling, abstract art - with this comprehensive how-to guide by the popular founder of the Mixed Media Girl YouTube channel. Paint pouring - which involves using a free-flowing acrylic paint mixture created with a pouring medium, such as glue and water - is the hottest trend for making abstract art. In this fun, colorful guide, Marcy Ferro explains everything about working in this popular form. Learn how to create eye-catching color combos, set up a dedicated (or a paint-proof) workspace, control your pours, and much more. Along with the essentials, Ferro demonstrates a wide range of techniques, from familiar favorites such as the dirty pour and flip cup to novel ways of manipulating paint with a hair dryer or string.
Untitled
By Manson, Mark
From the New York Times best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck comes a new unorthodox self-help book. 2 million first printing.
For the Love of Music
By Mauceri, John
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music How can I get the most from the listening experienceA protg of Leonard Bernstein--his colleague for eighteen years--and an eminent conductor who has toured and recorded all over the world, John Mauceri helps us to reap the joys and pleasures classical music has to offer. Briefly, we learn the way a musical tradition born in ancient Greece, embraced by the Roman Empire, and subsequently nurtured by influences from across the globe, gave shape to the classical music that came to be embraced by cultures from Japan to Bolivia. Then Mauceri examines the music itself, helping us understand what it is we hear when we listen to classical music: how, by a kind of sonic metaphor, it expresses the deepest recesses of human feeling and emotion; how each piece bears the traces of its history; how the concert experience--a unique one each and every time--allows us to discover music anew. Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
Wake, Siren
By Maclaughlin, Nina
In fierce, textured voices, the women of Ovid's Metamorphoses claim their stories and challenge the power of mythI am the home of this story. After thousands of years of other people's tellings, of all these different bridges, of words gotten wrong, I'll tell it myself.Seductresses and she-monsters, nymphs and demi-goddesses, populate the famous myths of Ovid's Metamorphoses. But what happens when the story of the chase comes in the voice of the woman fleeing her rape? When the beloved coolly returns the seducer's gaze? When tales of monstrous transfiguration are sung by those transformed? In voices both mythic and modern, Wake, Siren revisits each account of love, loss, rape, revenge, and change. It lays bare the violence that undergirds and lurks in the heart of Ovid's narratives, stories that helped build and perpetuate the distorted portrayal of women across centuries of art and literature. Drawing on the rhythms of epic poetry and alt rock, of everyday speech and folk song, of fireside whisperings and therapy sessions, Nina MacLaughlin, the acclaimed author of Hammer Head, recovers what is lost when the stories of women are told and translated by men. She breathes new life into these fraught and well-loved myths.
52 Weeks of Scarves
By Laine.,
52 Weeks of Scarves is a contemporary collection of 52 patterns for scarves, shawls, wraps, cowls and collars, from Nordic knitting experts Laine.Nothing brings more comfort than a hand-knitted scarf - from a light wrap for cool shoulders on summer evenings or spring mornings, to a beautiful shawl as the centerpiece of fall outfits, or a cozy collar to be layered under winter coats. Whether you're creating a shawl for yourself or a cowl for a loved one, there's care in every stitch. Knitting is more than just knit, knit, purl. It is a feeling.This stunning book contains a beautiful scarf pattern for every week of the year. The 52 projects have been contributed by leading knitwear designers from across the world and showcase an exceptionally wide range of yarns, techniques and difficulty levels, including two crochet designs.
Taming Chronic Pain
By Orr, Amy
Taming Chronic PainReaders of books like Mind Over Mood, Pain Free, and 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life will find answers, companionship and more in Taming Chronic Pain.A Well-Rounded Approach: Living with pain offers more than just physical challenges. For those of us navigating the treacherous waters between self-care and normal daily life, there are an overwhelming number of obstacles to overcome. Taming Chronic Pain takes a brutally honest -- and at times humorous -- look at the major issues associated with long-term pain management, offering practical advice, insight, exercises and discussion of everything from basic scientific knowledge to the psychological effects of chronic pain.Unique Insight: Author and scientist Amy Orr offers this no-holds-barred, well-rounded and relatable discussion of everything you're struggling to face and everything you haven't thought of yet. Taming Chronic Pain clarifies with easy to understand diagrams and cartoons.Written by a Fellow Pain Sufferer: While dealing with her own chronic pain, Amy has done years of extensive research on every aspect of long-term physical suffering. Her scientific skills and personal experience have given her the expertise to provide this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, knowing glimpse into the many areas of living with chronic pain that no one but a fellow sufferer would recognize.Taming Chronic Pain is a must-have for any chronic pain sufferer. Readers will discover:Tools to help you live your life with chronic pain, whether that be back, neck, or shoulder pain; arthritis; migraines; nerve pain; or something else entirelyA helpful approach to pain management that takes medicine, meditation, and psychology into accountLifestyle suggestions to lessen the effects of painTips and tricks for managing relationships while managing pain, and advice for caregiversAdvice and comfort from someone who understands life's struggles when you're rarely feeling well.
Voice-Overs for Podcasting
By Clark, Elaine A.
Voice-Overs for Podcasting is exactly what podcasters of all levels need: an essential handbook to create, build, improve, and connect with audiences around the globe. Written by veteran voice-over coach and author, Elaine A. Clark, this book delivers the nuts and bolts of podcasting and elevates it to a new creative level where the voice is the star and the listener is the happy recipient. Clark shows the reader how, in addition to developing knowledge and expertise on their topic, a podcaster's emotion, storytelling, content, voice, and performance techniques can hugely impact listeners and reviews. This must-read guide offers a fresh approach for podcasters to perform and deliver the most engaging story that audiences will want to hear, turning a small fan base into millions of subscribers.