Liquid Land


Book Description

In "Liquid Land," Levin guides readers past the dire headlines about the Everglades' demise and into the magnificent swamp itself, where they come face-to-face with the remaining plants, animals, and landscapes that will survive only if the public protects them.




The Liquid Land


Book Description

A town that doesn't want to be found. A countess who rules over the memories of an entire community. A hole in the earth that threatens to drag them all into its depths. When her parents die in a car accident, the highly talented physicist Ruth Schwarz is confronted with an almost intractable problem. Her parents' will calls for them to be buried in their childhood home--but for strangers, Gross-Einland is a village that remains stubbornly hidden from view. When Ruth finally finds her way there, she makes a disturbing discovery: beneath the town lies a vast cavern that seems to exert a strange control over the lives of the villagers. There are hidden clues about the hole everywhere, but nobody wants to talk about it--not even when it becomes clear that the stability of the entire town is in jeopardy. Is this silence controlled by the charming countess who rules the community? And what role does Ruth's family history, a history she is only just beginning to uncover, have to play? The more questions Ruth asks, the more vehement the resistance she encounters from the residents. But as she continues to dig deeper, she comes to realize that the key to deciphering the mysterious codes of the people of Gross-Einland can only lie in the history of the hole. In the literary tradition of Thomas Bernhard and Elfriede Jelinek, Raphaela Edelbauer weaves the complexities of small-town social structures into an opaque dream fabric that is frighteningly true to life, and in the process she turns us towards the abject horror that lies beneath repressed memory. The Liquid Land is a dangerous novel, at once glittering nightmare and dark reality, from an extraordinary new literary voice.




Liquid Land


Book Description

Photographs of the effects of oil pollution on the environment and people of the Absheron Peninsula of Azerbaijan, paired with photographs of butterflies taken by the author's father.




The Dreamt Land


Book Description

A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil—the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water intensify even as California lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land, he travels the state to explore the one-of-a-kind distribution system, built in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth. The Dreamt Land weaves reportage, history and memoir to confront the "Golden State" myth in riveting fashion. No other chronicler of the West has so deeply delved into the empires of agriculture that drink so much of the water. The nation's biggest farmers—the nut king, grape king and citrus queen—tell their story here for the first time. Arax, the native son, is persistent and tough as he treks from desert to delta, mountain to valley. What he finds is hard earned, awe-inspiring, tragic and revelatory. In the end, his compassion for the land becomes an elegy to the dream that created California and now threatens to undo it.




Home Land


Book Description

What if somebody finally wrote to his high school alumni bulletin and told...the truth! Home Land is a brilliant work from novelist Sam Lipsyte, whom Jeffrey Eugenides calls "original, devious, and very funny" and of whose first novel Chuck Palahniuk wrote, "I laughed out loud--and I never laugh out loud." The Eastern Valley High School Alumni newsletter, Catamount Notes, is bursting with tales of success: former students include a bankable politician and a famous baseball star, not to mention a major-label recording artist. Then there is the appalling, yet utterly lovable, Lewis Miner, class of '89--a.k.a Teabag--who did not pan out. Home Land is his confession in all its bitter, lovelorn glory. Winner of the Believer Book Award New York Times Notable Book of the Year




Liquid City


Book Description

Megalopolis was the name given to a Peloponnesian city that was founded around 371- 368 BCE. Though planned on a grand scale, the city failed to realize the dreams of the founders, and it declined by the late Roman period. In 1957, the renowned geographer Jean Gottman applied the term in his description of the densely populated area of the northeastern United States that includes the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Liquid City is the first book to examine the social, economic, and demographic changes that have taken place in Megalopolis over the past fifty years. Nearly one in six Americans live in the modern Megalopolis, making it one of the largest city regions in the world. John Rennie Short juxtaposes Gottman's work with his own examination, providing a comprehensive assessment of the region's evolution. Particularly important are his use of 2000 Census data and his discussions of sources of identity, unity, and fragmentation in Megalopolis. Emphasizing the fluid, variable character of Megalopolis, this clear and accessible book focuses on five aspects of change: population redistribution from cities to suburbs; economic restructuring; immigration; patterns of racial/ethnic segregation; and the processes of globalization that have made one of the world's most influential economies.




River of Lakes


Book Description

First explored by naturalist William Bartram in the 1760s, the St. Johns River stretches 310 miles along Florida's east coast, making it the longest river in the state. The first "highway" through the once wild interior of Florida, the St. Johns may appear ordinary, but within its banks are some of the most fascinating natural phenomena and historic mysteries in the state. The river, no longer the commercial resource it once was, is now largely ignored by Florida's residents and visitors alike. In the first contemporary book about this American Heritage River, Bill Belleville describes his journey down the length of the St. Johns, kayaking, boating, hiking its riverbanks, diving its springs, and exploring its underwater caves. He rediscovers the natural Florida and establishes his connection with a place once loved for its untamed beauty. Belleville involves scientists, environmentalists, fishermen, cave divers, and folk historians in his journey, soliciting their companionship and their expertise. River of Lakes weaves together the biological, cultural, anthropological, archaeological, and ecological aspects of the St. Johns, capturing the essence of its remarkable history and intrinsic value as a natural wonder.




Liquid Metal


Book Description

This reader brings together a great number of what are regarded to be the 'seminal' essays that have opened up the study of science fiction to serious critical interrogation. It includes key essays by writers such as J.P. Telotte, Susan Sontag and Peter Biskind.




No Touching


Book Description

A MOVING STORY OF LIBERATION THAT SHATTERS TIRED PREJUDICES ABOUT WOMANHOOD, SEX AND SOCIETY Josephine teaches in a high school in a suburb of Paris. Her life is a balancing act between Xanax and Tupperware lunches in the staff room until she walks into a Champs-Elysée's strip club. There she learns a secret nocturnal code of conduct; she discovers camaraderie and the joys of female company, and she thrills at the sensation of men's desire directed toward her. Josephine, a teacher by day, begins to lead a secret existence by night that ultimately allows her to regain control of her life. This delicate balance is shattered one evening by an unexpected visitor to the club where she dances. A heartrending reflection on a woman's image of herself, and the way others see her, Ketty Rouf's extraordinary debut novel No Touching won the prestigious French literary prize Prix du Premier Roman 2020 (First Novel award)




Snakes of the Eastern United States


Book Description

More than sixty species of snakes are found in the eastern United States, the region of highest biodiversity of all reptiles and amphibians in North America. In this brand new guide, stunning photographs, colorful geographic range maps, and comprehensive written accounts provide essential information about each species—including detailed identification characteristics, general ecology and behavior, and conservation status. Carefully researched and written by an expert herpetologist, the guide is directed toward a general audience interested in natural history. Additional information supports the already fact-filled snake species profiles. A chapter on urban and suburban snake ecology focuses on species most commonly found in some of the country’s largest cities and residential settings. A chapter on snake conservation includes information on threats faced by native species in many regions of the eastern United States. Another chapter provides the latest updates on the status of invasive species of pythons and boa constrictors that have now become naturalized permanent residents in certain areas of the country. This is the most accessible and informative guide to snakes of the eastern United States available anywhere. Covers snakes in these states (plus Washington, DC): Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Features: More than 385 stunning color photographsColorful geographic range mapsSpecies accounts that cover identification, general ecology and behavior, and conservation statusExtra information on snakes in urban and suburban areasStrong conservation message, with a focus on environmental threats to native speciesCoverage of invasive snakes