The Game


Book Description

Hidden somewhere, in nearly every major city in the world, is an underground seduction lair. And in these lairs, men trade the most devastatingly effective techniques ever invented to charm women. This is not fiction. These men really exist. They live together in houses known as Projects. And Neil Strauss, the bestselling author and journalist, spent two years living among them, using the pseudonym Style to protect his real-life identity. The result is one of the most explosive and controversial books of the last decade—guaranteed to change the lives of men and transform the way women understand the opposite sex forever. On his journey from AFC (average frustrated chump) to PUA (pick-up artist) to PUG (pick-up guru), Strauss not only shares scores of original seduction techniques but also has unforgettable encounters with the likes of Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Heidi Fleiss, and Courtney Love. And then things really start to get strange—and passions lead to betrayals lead to violence. The Game is the story of one man's transformation from frog to prince to prisoner in the most unforgettable book of this generation.




The Moonshot Game


Book Description

India's start-up revolution began in 1998, when the first venture capitalists (VCs) arrived from the US and backed early businesses in IT services for global corporates. The second wave came in 2006 when home-grown VCs raised large amounts of capital and funded products and services companies for Indian consumers. This is a gripping behind-the-scenes story of a VC's journey, right from the beginning of the second start-up revolution in India in 2006 until the end of the funding frenzy in 2016. A story about how global conditions, local consumers, founder ambition and good old greed shaped the start-up story in India. Rahul Chandra is the co-founder of Helion Ventures, and in this candid memoir he tells us about his journey building one of India's oldest VC firms. In a remarkably gripping account, he recounts his adventures in India's hyper-funded start-up ecosystem. The Moonshot Game gives readers an insight into the secret world of a VC, with unguarded stories involving large bets and big mistakes, and tales of how one juggles several investments at the same time. Rahul shows why being a VC is a constant journey of ups and downs, why building value is a long-term business, and why no amount of failure can be an excuse to lose optimism in the power of entrepreneurship.




Values of the Game


Book Description

The former U.S. Senator and member of two championship New York Knicks teams revisits his first career in a series of personal observations and reflections that illustrate how the "right stuff" on the court is a proving ground for the "right stuff" in life




How Games Move Us


Book Description

An engaging examination of how video game design can create strong, positive emotional experiences for players—with examples from popular, indie, and art games. This is a renaissance moment for video games—in the variety of genres they represent, and the range of emotional territory they cover. But how do games create emotion? In How Games Move Us, Katherine Isbister takes the reader on a timely and novel exploration of the design techniques that evoke strong emotions for players. She counters arguments that games are creating a generation of isolated, emotionally numb, antisocial loners. Games, Isbister shows us, can actually play a powerful role in creating empathy and other strong, positive emotional experiences; they reveal these qualities over time, through the act of playing. She offers a nuanced, systematic examination of exactly how games can influence emotion and social connection, with examples—drawn from popular, indie, and art games—that unpack the gamer’s experience. Isbister describes choice and flow, two qualities that distinguish games from other media, and explains how game developers build upon these qualities using avatars, non-player characters, and character customization, in both solo and social play. She shows how designers use physical movement to enhance players’ emotional experience, and examines long-distance networked play. She illustrates the use of these design methods with examples that range from Sony’s Little Big Planet to the much-praised indie game Journey to art games like Brenda Romero’s Train. Isbister’s analysis shows us a new way to think about games, helping us appreciate them as an innovative and powerful medium for doing what film, literature, and other creative media do: helping us to understand ourselves and what it means to be human.




The Answer Is . . .


Book Description

A RECOMMENDED SUMMER READ BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, TIME, AND NEWSWEEK Longtime Jeopardy! host and television icon Alex Trebek reflects on his life and career. Since debuting as the host of Jeopardy! in 1984, Alex Trebek has been something like a family member to millions of television viewers, bringing entertainment and education into their homes five nights a week. Last year, he made the stunning announcement that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. What followed was an incredible outpouring of love and kindness. Social media was flooded with messages of support, and the Jeopardy! studio received boxes of cards and letters offering guidance, encouragement, and prayers. For over three decades, Trebek had resisted countless appeals to write a book about his life. Yet he was moved so much by all the goodwill, he felt compelled to finally share his story. “I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,” he writes in The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life. The book combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality, and philanthropy. Trebek also addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation. The book uses a novel structure inspired by Jeopardy!, with each chapter title in the form of a question, and features dozens of never-before-seen photos that candidly capture Trebek over the years. This wise, charming, and inspiring book is further evidence why Trebek has long been considered one of the most beloved and respected figures in entertainment.




Theory of Fun for Game Design


Book Description

Discusses the essential elements in creating a successful game, how playing games and learning are connected, and what makes a game boring or fun.




The Final Reflection


Book Description

Klingon Capt. Krenn is a ruthless war strategist. But on a mission to Earth, Krenn learns a lesson in peace when his empire hatches a covert plan to shatter the Federation. Only Krenn can prevent a war--at the risk of his own life!




Changing the Game


Book Description

Changing the Game is intended to provide the do-it-yourself sportsman with detailed guidance and proven, time-tested techniques that will optimize the enjoyment of his or her harvest, taking it from field to fork, and for home cooks who are hunting for new ways to up their food game. Author Craig Tomsky grew up in a traditional Italian household in Northern New Jersey, where he was accustomed to good food-really good food. He has coupled his uncompromising love of such fare with his passion for hunting for more than 30 years, and has identified key factors that will reduce and, in most cases, eliminate the undesirable "gamey" flavors that all too often result from inadequately processed and prepared game. He has also developed and refined with his personal flair many recipes from family and friends over the years to not only complement each game's most desirable flavors, but to help you truly transform your game meat into delicious finished dishes. Changing the Game is a total playbook that takes the reader from caring for the game after the harvest through Craig's "keys to changing the game"-specific techniques used during the butchering and preservation processes that will positively impact the flavor and tenderness of the meat. It also lays out a roadmap and recommends equipment the reader can use to expediently and efficiently process various types of game meat. Explanations that support the findings and preparation techniques are provided in relatable layman's terms via anecdotes that are sprinkled throughout the book.Changing the Game finishes with a multitude of delicious recipes-some new, many traditional-that reflect the many cultures that make up this great country of ours. They have been enhanced by game meat as well as Craig's selection and use of complementary ingredients to achieve complex yet delicate flavor profiles for each dish. Changing the Game also contains recipes for side dishes and desserts, along with wine pairing recommendations, to provide the reader with a complete game plan for an enjoyable evening that will leave your dinner guests asking, "Is this really wild game?"




A Gentleman's Game


Book Description

Veteran Cricket journalist, Historian and author of 14 books on Cricket, Kersi Meher-Homji says: "I feel privileged to write a Foreword for his book A Gentleman's Game - Reflections on Cricket History. I enjoyed reading this well-illustrated and many-splendored publication. Each Chapter starts with a famous quote.The first Chapter is on "Ranjitsinhji, the Maharaja of Elegance and of Nawanagar". My initial reaction was: what is there on Ranji a cricket-lover does not know about? But after reading Anindya's book I learnt many things about Ranji I did not know. Some of it was not pleasant. In the beginning of his career there was a racist article on him written by Sir Home Gordon who called him "a dirty black". And did you know Ranji faced bankruptcy and earlier on he had no right to call himself a Prince?The Chapter on Keith Miller - the supreme all-round cricket icon, a war hero, a classical music aficionado and a lovable character - starts with his immortal quote: "Pressure? There is no pressure in Test cricket. Real pressure is when you are flying a Mosquito with a Messerschmitt up your arse." Apart from his heroics on the cricket field author Anindya depicts Miller's courage and gallantry during World War II.The author also mentions unsung war veterans and cricketers Graham Williams, Lionel Tennyson, Bob Crisp among others.Being a quirky cricket writer myself I found Chapters on fattest and tallest cricketers fascinating. The research on bulky cricketers is aptly titled "Have Fat, Can Bat: Cricketers who were their weight in gold." Who were they? I won't tell you; you will have to read the book."The book is not just about achievements. It details failures too: the worst declarations in history and on dropped catches by butterfingers. Also the mighty West Indies lost a match to Ireland. At one stage the Windies under Clive Lloyd were 8 for 6, 12 for 8 before being bowled out for 25. A misprint? A joke? No, it happened.I found the Chapter "A Tale of Two Test Debuts" nostalgic as I was present at the Sydney Cricket Ground when Australia's Shane Warne and India's Subroto Banerjee had made their Test debuts in January 1992. Medium-pacer Banerjee captured 3 for 47 including the scalps of Geoff Marsh, Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh. In contrast Warne had a forgettable debut, being smashed all over the park by Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar as he finished with 1 for 150. Warne became a Test legend with 708 wickets at 25.41 in 145 Tests. For Banerjee it was his Test debut and swan song as he was never selected in a Test again. To quote Anindya Dutta, "Bizarrely, the man who has bowled so well in the first innings, Subroto Banerjee, does not get to bowl a single ball in the second innings. In fact, he never gets to bowl another ball in Test cricket, and is destined to be forever referred to in cricketing history as a one-Test wonder." Cricket cruel cricket! Thus A Gentleman's Game - Reflections on Cricket History shows many aspects of cricket; the good, the gallant and the paradoxical. I enjoyed reading it. So will you."Anindya Dutta is a Banker by profession and a Cricket Historian and Writer by passion. He writes in journals and websites across the world from Australia's 'The Roar', to India's 'Cricket Country' and 'Sportstar' and on 'ESPN Cricinfo'. This is his first book. His much awaited second book 'Spell-binding Spells' will be published later this year.