Looney Tombs


Book Description




Weird New England


Book Description

"It may seem like clambakes, the Red Sox, and the Patriots define New England, but boy did the Pilgrims land in one very strange spot! These six states are filled with odd curiosities and bizarre legends, such as the elusive Vermont hum, the hibernating hill folk, hillside whale tales, and the Holy Land (yes, you read that right). Tongue-in-cheek and filled with dry wit, this is a journey you'll not soon forget."--P. [4] of cover.




The Greatest Horror Movie Ever Made


Book Description

WHAT IS THE GREATEST HORROR MOVIE EVER MADE? Paul Counelis tries to answer that impossible question by making the case for ten of the most popular horror flicks ever to terrorize the screen. Witty, informative and thoughtful commentary highlight this collection. With "Greatest Horror Movie" lists by industry pros from writers, musicians, directors, horror hosts and actors. With a foreword by author Glen Birdsall and an amazing cover illustration by artist Roger Scholz!




A Compendium of Kisses


Book Description

From first kisses to missed kisses, stolen kisses, the chemistry of kisses, around-the-world kisses, silver-screen kisses, Freudian kisses, lipstick kisses and record-breaking kisses, this eclectic collection of facts, figures, quotes and curiosities has everything you've ever wanted to know—and more—about that most deceptive, delightful and indispensable gesture: the kiss.




The Autobiographer's Handbook


Book Description

At last—the contemporary masters of memoir have come together to reveal their strategies and impart their advice. This book contains an unprecedented wealth of knowledge in one place. In The Autobiographer's Handbook, you're invited to a roundtable discussion with today's most successful memoirists. Let Nick Hornby show you how the banal can be brilliant. Elizabeth Gilbert will teach you to turn pain into prose. Want to beat procrastination? Steve Almond has the answer. Learn about memory triggers (Ishmael Beah: music) and warm-up exercises (Jonathan Ames: internet backgammon). These writers may not always agree (on research: Tobias Wolff, yes, Frank McCourt, no) but whether you're a blossoming writer or a veteran wordsmith, this book will help anyone who has ever dreamed of putting their story on paper, on writing themselves into existence. Featuring: STEVE ALMOND • JONATHAN AMES • ISHMAEL BEAH • ELIZABETH GILBERT • NICK HORNBY • A. J. JACOBS • MAXINE HONG KINGSTON • PHILLIP LOPATE • FRANK MCCOURT • DAVID RAKOFF • ESMERALDA SANTIAGO • JULIA SCHEERES • ART SPIEGELMAN • ANTHONY SWOFFORD • SARAH VOWELL • SEAN WILSEY • TOBIAS WOLFF • AND MANY MORE




Weird N.J.


Book Description

New Jersey is even WEIRDER than we thought! From the authors of Weird N.J.—with more than 125,000 copies sold—comes a second amazing collection of the wonderful weirdness that fills every inch of the Garden State. One of the bestselling books ever to hit New Jersey was Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran’s Weird N.J. The book was such a phenomenon that it began a whole series of Weird state books, each one a bestseller. But the Marks, as they are called, always knew that there were more, bizarre stories lurking in their own home state. So back they went, camera and notebook in hand, to travel the highways and byways of New Jersey to chronicle more weirdly bizarre stories. And what did they find? How about the pathway of a doctor’s office paved with tombstones? Or a pumpkin-shaped house? Then there’s the Hub Cap Tree, the Birdsville Church (yes, a church for birds), and the bowling ball pyramid that graces one proud resident’s front lawn. Fun too are the haunted houses to visit, the ghosts to chat with, and the cursed roads to travel down. It’s all part of the long, strange trip known as Weird N.J.







Thomas Jefferson's Education


Book Description

“Taylor… probes [Jefferson’s] ambitious mission in clear prose and with great insight and erudition.” —Annette Gordon-Reed, Atlantic By turns entertaining and tragic, this elegant history reveals the origins of a great university in the dilemmas of Virginia slavery. Thomas Jefferson shares center stage with his family and fellow planters, but at the crux are the enslaved black families on whom they depend. Taylor’s account of Jefferson’s campaign to save Virginia by building the university is dramatic, a contest for power and resources rich in political maneuver and eccentricities comic and cruel.




Earthing the Myths


Book Description

In Ireland, the link between place and myth is strong, and there is no more enlightening way to understand the rich tapestry of Irish mythology, and its relationship to our true history, than by reading the landscape. Earthing the Myths is an engaging and exhaustive county-by-county guide to the vast number of fascinating places in Ireland connected to myth, folklore and early history. Covering the period 800 BC to AD 650, this book spans the Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the early Christian period, and explores the ways in which the land evolved, and with it our catalogue of myths and legends. Smyth chronicles sites the length and breadth of the country, where druids, fairies, goddesses, warriors and kings all left their mark, in tales both real and imagined. With over one thousand locations recorded, from Rathlin Island to the Beara Peninsula, Earthing the Myths breathes life into places throughout Ireland that find their origins in our pre-Christian and pre-Gaelic past, and shows that they still possess unique wisdom and vibrant energy.




THE KING OF ELFLAND’S DAFTER or LOONEY RUNES


Book Description

A funny thing happened on the way to the Metaphorest. The Magick is gone. Suddenly, grown to full size without the existence of extropy to keep them thumb-height, the Faerie Folk have to find a new way and a new place to live. But there is hope - the Crystal Dwarfs are dying out and they want an infusion of new blood, preferably female, not too tall and a bit dim. The King of Elfland leads his motley tribe of Imps, Emps, Amps and Umps to the Hole of the Mountain King because the Diamond Duke and five guys named Mho take a shine to Princess Titania and her gels. Little does anyone know that some vestige of Magick still resides in certain crystals. Anyone, that is, except Lobster Rampant of the Third Ear and his band of New Age Dippies. Will Titania get married in white shoes and a mini-dress? Will Prince Vince stage a takeover? And who is Idaho Jonah? Read this, and you'll be none the wiser. This book is mything something important - New York Review of Tooks