Meander, Spiral, Explode


Book Description

"How lovely to discover a book on the craft of writing that is also fun to read . . . Alison asserts that the best stories follow patterns in nature, and by defining these new styles she offers writers the freedom to explore but with enough guidance to thrive." ―Maris Kreizman, Vulture A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019 | A Poets & Writers Best Books for Writers As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s been one path through fiction we’re most likely to travel― one we’re actually told to follow―and that’s the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides . . . But something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculosexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Why not draw on them, too?" W. G. Sebald’s Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc--or, in nature, wave. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her “museum of specimens” include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Gabriel García Márquez, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison. Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let’s leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.




The Pathfinder Process


Book Description

Dear Readers, This is neither a typical business book, nor a traditional relationship treatise. It is based on my own experience and includes many personal accounts of a sometimes difficult journey. I am often a catalyst for change, where my role is to seed new thoughts and behaviors. I was one of the first women engineers in the paper industry in the United States. The company I worked for was at the forefront of organizational change. After an assignment in France I turned my attention inward to study Life Therapy. It helped me recover from burnout and showed me the road back to life. I returned to my native Sweden to start a therapy business. There I discovered the expressive arts and instead of becoming a therapy teacher I began writing books. Reading the Pathfinder Process - exploring the potential of organizations and relationships is much like coming to visit me. Come have a cup of tea as we ponder the meaning of life. Come walk with me in the woods as I tell you about my life. Come into my office and I'll share the secrets of organizational change. Come discover my views on relationships. Welcome! Eva Dillner




The Meandering Way


Book Description

How often do you feel overwhelmed by the pace of your life? These days it's easy to work harder and harder, constantly pushing ourselves and those around us so that we and our congregations can be "successful." We forget that our drive to succeed can prevent us from taking the time to stop and listen for what God is calling us and our congregations to be. This book is one pastor's story of his journey from a success-oriented drivenness to a significance-oriented, meandering style of life. What you will find are reflections from a fellow traveler who is now less desirous of doing something spectacular for God and is instead committed to doing something significant with God--who is discovering a more grace-filled, Spirit-led way. This book offers a contrarian take on the more popular practices of leadership found throughout the church today. Meandering leaders are attentive to the promptings of the Spirit. They are guides and mentors who patiently journey alongside those they love and lead. Ultimately, being a meandering leader is about being on a journey with God--personally and corporately slowing down the pace of our lives and following God's Spirit. In the faith journey, we are not so much racing toward a physical finish line as we are meandering toward becoming all that God has in mind for us to be. This book is an invitation to journey into the depths of your own soul and to follow the Spirit's lead in the next chapters of your life.




Cartooning


Book Description

Provides lessons on the art of cartooning along with information on terminology, tools, techniques, and theory.




Meandering in Medical Physics


Book Description

When Professor J.E. Roberts was first employed at the then Cancer Hospital (Free) in 1932, the words medical and physics were rarely joined together. Meandering in Medical Physics presents an account of Professor Roberts's experiences in professional life, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. It documents the early history of medical physics and provides insight into the very basic equipment and working conditions well known to hospital physicists not long ago. Enhanced by archived photographs from the British Institute of Radiology, the book will entertain, enlighten, and educate.




The Bridge to Never Land


Book Description

One summer morning while Aidan and Sarah are visiting their grandfather, they discover a secret compartment in his battered wooden desk. Inside is a yellowed envelope that contains a piece of very thin, almost translucent, white paper, on which, handwritten in black ink, are a series of seemingly random lines; among them are what appear to be fragments of letters, but not enough to make sense. At the bottom of the page is a verse about Peter Peter and a reference to a real hotel in London. As it happens, the family is about to embark on a trip to Europe, so the children decide that while in London, they will try to locate the hotel.




The Lightning Within


Book Description

In days of old, there was a tale told, of a place of enchantment, magical charm and beauty; a place of hopes, dreams, and fairy dust magic. Where there lives two, very true and very best friends. In this place known only to two of humankind, lives Starbeam, a yearling of chestnut brown with a perfect star of white upon his forehead, and Goldie, a beautiful gold and black butterfly or should we say Ondo' maiden, yes, a true change about. Goldie is very special you see, for she is a Fairy Princess and she can change into what ever, whenever she likes. However, most of the time she likes being just Goldie butterfly. Starbeam and Goldie are destined to protect all beings of the enchanted forest of Wherever from hurt, harm and danger. Their adventures take them from the peace and tranquility of the enchanted meadows, forest and the beautiful Blue Glass Lake of fairy-like folk. Deep in the forest where there friend the old hermit lives. Walking, talking tree-beings, and all of their animal friends that live there in the north of Wherever. The great waterfalls and mountains of the enchanted forest of the south of Wherever. The great mountain cliffs of the Golden City of Var, to the great Sea of Source, east of Wherever. The tangled jungles and deserts of the west of the enchanted forest of Wherever, and back again. Now we would like you to open your hearts and your minds. Come sit with us and listen as we tell this tale, my grandchildren and I, of fairy dust magic, hopes and dreams. As Starbeam and Goldie, with a lot of courage and a whole lot of trust, set off on their quest to rescue the Crystal Key of the Book of Spells of Good and Mean Tricks from the very raging Sea of Source.You see, prophesy proclaims that harmony and peace will dwell Forever and Always in the Enchanted Forest of Wherever.




The Current


Book Description




Wagering on Transcendence


Book Description

Wagering on Transcendence explores the question of ultimate meaning in literature. Through essays, Mount Mary College professors from various disciplines analyze several pieces of literature from a variety of genres and authors to show how each depicts the human struggle to find meaning. The essays analyze concrete examples of spiritual journeys, the ways in which nature can be an avenue of transcendence, the transforming effect that the search for meaning can have on the individual, how transcendence can be experienced through community, the roles of language and story in the quest for transcendence, and the wager itself: how our bets about the existence of the Divine determine how we live our lives.




The Best American Infographics 2014


Book Description

Year two of this fresh, timely, beautiful addition to the Best American series, introduced by Nate Silver The rise of infographics across virtually all print and electronic media reveals patterns in our lives and worlds in fresh and surprising ways. As we find ourselves in the era of big data, where information moves faster than ever, infographics provide us with quick, often influential bursts of art and knowledge — to digest, tweet, share, go viral. Best American Infographics 2014 captures the finest examples, from the past year, of this mesmerizing new way of seeing and understanding our world. Guest introducer Nate Silver brings his unparalleled expertise and lively analysis to this visually compelling new volume.