Life Is Funny But It Ain't No Joke


Book Description

Life Is Funny but It Ain't No Joke recounts the spiritual journey of the author, who forgets his divine identity and then mistakenly identifies with his mind as himself and experiences the dire consequences that inevitably follow. The author then takes you along with him as he courageously undertakes the "hero's journey," which allows him to reclaim his true identity, his authentic life, and to discover more than 125 striking, original wisdom sayings during his venture within. These pearls of wisdom are designed to help free you from the prison of your mind, so you can begin living the life you were born to live.




Fun


Book Description




The Handbook of Research on Black Males


Book Description

Drawing from the work of top researchers in various fields, The Handbook of Research on Black Males explores the nuanced and multifaceted phenomena known as the black male. Simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible, black males around the globe are being investigated now more than ever before; however, many of the well-meaning responses regarding media attention paid to black males are not well informed by research. Additionally, not all black males are the same, and each of them have varying strengths and challenges, making one-size-fits-all perspectives unproductive. This text, which acts as a comprehensive tool that can serve as a resource to articulate and argue for policy change, suggest educational improvements, and advocate judicial reform, fills a large void. The contributors, from multidisciplinary backgrounds, focus on history, research trends, health, education, criminal and social justice, hip-hop, and programs and initiatives. This volume has the potential to influence the field of research on black males as well as improve lives for a population that is often the most celebrated in the media and simultaneously the least socially valued.




It’s Called a Spade


Book Description

“it’s called a spade” is a reference to calling life like it is instead of hiding the tough stuff and pretending like everything is fine. It’s a collection of stories about life, about people and God, recovery and relapse, heartache and brokenness, and the reality that life is hard, even if you believe in God, even if you don’t. But there is also hope and humor and healing that comes without answers. This is a collection of stories from a human who almost disappeared in her efforts to be seen, a girl who called spades hearts and smiled while bluffing.




Inside Inside


Book Description

Over the years, Inside the Actors Studio has brought more than 200 of the world’s most celebrated actors, directors, writers and performing artists into 84,000,000 homes in America and 125 countries around the world. Now James Lipton—its host and creator—is offering the reader of this book a backstage pass to the award-winning series—and to his own amazing journey to its stage. You will witness, in unprecedented close-up, the wit, wisdom and candor of a galaxy of stars, from Al Pacino, Barbra Streisand, Robin Williams and Steven Spielberg to Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp and many more. With the same candor he demands of his guests, James Lipton also reveals a life that began under the tutelage of a poet, his father, and a teacher, his mother; continued in the orbit of theatrical giants like Stella Adler; and, as writer and producer, took him to the White House with two presidents, the Great Wall of China with Bob Hope, and legendary days and nights in New York, London, and Paris with “the heroes of his life” and ours. This book is a sincere and passionate celebration of the arts and artists we admire—and thought we knew until this moment.




A Telling Experience


Book Description

The book title “A Telling Experience” has a double meaning: 1) something curious that you were part of, and 2) the sharing of your particular story. An experience becomes even more meaningful by being told. The thing may be familiar, or it may be as strange as The Twilight Zone but true. The idea of this book is that everybody’s life is somehow a Tall Tale. This book is my Tall Tale: my ordinary, strange, telling experience. A bewildered youth, a bumbling smitten young adult, a middle-age striver, finally a would-be philosopher. It’s a wild ride. You’ll laugh your head off and cry your eyes out, I promise! It’s a bizarre collection, every chapter a story of its own, and every story a very Tall Tale! Each story is somehow like your own story, and in some way like everybody else’s story too! We’re all in the same boat, it seems! That’s a comforting thought overall. Misery loves company and, especially, so does joy!




It's No Joke


Book Description

Philosophy is NOT just for eggheads. It's a human subject that is supposed to do its best to answer Three Fundamental Questions: Why am I even alive? Is there actually an invisible Daddy-Mommy God, and if so, what are its qualities? Is there life---thinking & feeling---after death? Every person on earth wonders about these things---especially when they are in some sort of pain. They wonder if life is just making it up as you go along---or is it unfolding like a plan, like a script, like a story that has been imagined first and then lived out? Alexander T. Newport has been obsessively thinking about these things since 1970. He was 6 1/2 years old when he asked his father, "What does it mean to die?" And his father replied, "When you're dead, you're dead. No more thinking. No more feeling." Your Philobabblist Extraordinaire has been chewing on the subject ever since. NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER: It's No Joke: We Live in Hell is a slim book. It is the size of a pamphlet. Be not surprised that it is only about 50 pages long, dig?




Backcast


Book Description

"I love Ann McMan."—Dorothy Allison, National Book Award finalist for Bastard Out of Carolina When sculptor and author Barb Davis is given an NEA grant to pair original feminist sculptures with searing first-person essays on transitions in women's lives, she organizes a two week writing retreat with twelve of the best, brightest, and most notorious lesbian authors in the business. But in between regularly scheduled happy hours and writing sessions, the women enter a tournament bass fishing competition, receive life coaching from a wise-cracking fish named Phoebe, and uncover a subterranean world of secrets and desires that is as varied and elusive as the fish that swim the inland sea. Set on the beautiful shores of Vermont's Lake Champlain, Backcast is richly populated with an expansive cast of endearing and outrageous characters who battle writer's block, quirky locals, personal demons, unexpected attractions, and even each other during their two-week residency. For Barb and each of her twelve writers, the stakes in this fast-moving story are high, but its emotional and romantic payoffs are slow and sweet. Filled with equal parts laugh-out-loud humor and breathtaking pathos, Backcast serves up a sometimes irreverent, sometimes sobering look at the hidden lives of women, and how they laugh, love, lose, and blunder through their own search for meaning. Ann McMan is the author of five novels, including Jericho and Aftermath, and two short story collections. She has won two Golden Crown Literary Awards and her novel, Hoosier Daddy, was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist.




Chas and Dave


Book Description

Bursting onto the music scene in the 70's, Chas 'n' Dave released songs that spoke about life in London, using their own accents rather than the fashionable but fake transatlantic twang. They knew that if they wrote and sang about their own experience rather than simply making up the bollocks that was normally expected then people would be interested. With hits like "Gertcha", "Rabbit", "The Sideboard Song" and "Margate", they created a sound that was uniquely British and rockin' to boot. What most people don't know is that both Chas and Dave had previous careers, playing with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, nor the stories about getting nicked fishing, getting cracked onto by dodgy producers, going barmy locked in recording studios, playing with the Beatles and generally getting pissed and having a laugh. If you've ever wondered what makes this legendary duo tick (or even which one is bloody which) then this is the book for you!




American Magazine


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