How Fiction Works


Book Description

What makes a story a story? What is style? What’s the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely—from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings—Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. The result is nothing less than a philosophy of the novel—plainspoken, funny, blunt—in the traditions of E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. It sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision. It will change the way you read.







How Fat Works


Book Description

An experimental pathologist and molecular geneticist, Philip Wood uses gene-knockout technology to study the way mouse genes regulate the metabolism of fat—research that provides insights into the workings of fatty-acid metabolism in humans and what can happen when that metabolic balance goes awry. Based on the classes he regularly teaches to first- and second-year medical students, Wood's book reviews the individual and public health burden of obesity and clarifies often-used, but often inadequately explained, terms employed in the continuing cultural and scientific debate about excess fat. He explains the role of fat in the healthy body, how fat is made, stored, and burned, and demonstrates how excess fat can lead to an array of metabolic disorders and diseases, from hypercholesterolemia and insulin resistance to diabetes. He reviews what recent research can tell us about specific genes or groups of genes that can lead to specific metabolic disorders. He explains the science behind common weight-loss regimens and why those regimens might succeed or fail, and reviews the complex interplay of hormones, genes, and stress in the way our bodies deal with fat through the life cycle. How Fat Works is a concise, clear, and up-to-date primer on the workings of fat, and essential reading for professionals entering careers in medicine and public health administration or anyone wanting a better understanding of one of our most urgent health crises.




Painted Wood


Book Description

The function of the painted wooden object ranges from the practical to the profound. These objects may perform utilitarian tasks, convey artistic whimsy, connote noble aspirations, and embody the highest spiritual expressions. This volume, illustrated in color throughout, presents the proceedings of a conference organized by the Wooden Artifacts Group of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) and held in November 1994 at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia. The book includes 40 articles that explore the history and conservation of a wide range of painted wooden objects, from polychrome sculpture and altarpieces to carousel horses, tobacconist figures, Native American totems, Victorian garden furniture, French cabinets, architectural elements, and horse-drawn carriages. Contributors include Ian C. Bristow, an architect and historic-building consultant in London; Myriam Serck-Dewaide, head of the Sculpture Workshop, Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, Brussels; and Frances Gruber Safford, associate curator of American decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A broad range of professionals—including art historians, curators, scientists, and conservators—will be interested in this volume and in the multidisciplinary nature of its articles.




The Pale of Settlement


Book Description

In settings from Jerusalem to Manhattan, from the archaeological ruins of the Galilee to Kathmandu, The Pale of Settlement gives us characters who struggle to piece together the history and myths of their family’s past. This collection of linked short stories takes its title from the name of the western border region of the Russian empire within which Jews were required to live during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Susan, the stories’ main character, is a woman trapped in her own border region between youth and adulthood, familial roots in the Middle East and a typical American existence, the pull of Jewish tradition and the independence of a secular life. In “Helicopter Days,” Susan discovers that the Israeli cousin she grew up with has joined a mysterious cult. “Lila’s Story” braids Susan’s memories of her grandmother—a German Jew arriving in Palestine to escape the Holocaust—with the story of her own affair with a married man and an invented narrative of her grandmother’s life. In “Borderland,” while trekking in Nepal, Susan meets an Israeli soldier who carries with him the terrible burden of his experience as a border guard in the Gaza Strip. And in the haunting title story, bedtime tales are set against acts of terrorism and memories of a love beyond reach. The stories of The Pale of Settlement explore the borderland between Israelis and American Jews, emigrants and expatriates, and vanished homelands and the dangerous world in which we live today.




The Anarchist's Workbench


Book Description




The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters


Book Description

An exciting new approach for beginning to advanced quilters who want to improvise on their own, with a friend, or with a community of fellow makers. Forget step-by-step instructions and copycat designs. In The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, Sherri Lynn Wood presents a flexible approach to quilting that breaks free of old paradigms. Instead of traditional instructions, she presents 10 frameworks (or scores) that create a guiding, but not limiting, structure. To help quilters gain confidence, Wood also offers detailed lessons for stitching techniques key to improvisation, design and spontaneity exercises, and lessons on color. Every quilt made from one of Wood’s scores will have common threads, but each one will look different because it reflects the maker’s unique interpretation. Featured throughout the book are Wood’s own quilts and a gallery of contributor works chosen from among the hundreds submitted when she invited volunteers to test her scores during the making of this groundbreaking work. “Wood offers a series of techniques, guidelines and lessons on color choice for those ready to explore improvisational quilting. Her book is loaded with full-color photos and examples to inspire.” —Dallas Morning News “Despite how it may “seam,” quilting isn’t all about rules! Quilting can be an exhilarating way to channel your creativity and express yourself. This book is focused more on exploration than explanation—a perfect mindset for beginners!” —Powell’s Books Staff Pick




Good Clean Fun


Book Description

After two New York Times bestsellers, Nick Offerman—woodworker, actor, comedian, and co-host of NBC’s crafting competition series Making It—returns with the subject for which he’s known best—his incredible real-life woodshop. Nestled among the glitz and glitter of Tinseltown is a testament to American elbow grease and an honest-to-god hard day’s work: Offerman Woodshop. Captained by hirsute woodworker, actor, comedian, and writer Nick Offerman, the shop produces not only fine handcrafted furniture, but also fun stuff—kazoos, baseball bats, ukuleles, mustache combs, even cedar-strip canoes. Now Nick and his ragtag crew of champions want to share their experience of working at the Woodshop, tell you all about their passion for the discipline of woodworking, and teach you how to make a handful of their most popular projects along the way. This book takes readers behind the scenes of the woodshop, both inspiring and teaching them to make their own projects and besotting them with the infectious spirit behind the shop and its complement of dusty wood-elves. In these pages you will find a variety of projects for every skill level, with personal, easy-to-follow instructions by the OWS woodworkers themselves; and, what’s more, this tutelage is augmented by mouth-watering color photos (Nick calls it "wood porn"). You will also find writings by Nick, offering recipes for both comestibles and mirth, humorous essays, odes to his own woodworking heroes, insights into the ethos of woodworking in modern America, and other assorted tomfoolery. Whether you’ve been working in your own shop for years, or if holding this stack of compressed wood pulp is as close as you’ve ever come to milling lumber, or even if you just love Nick Offerman’s brand of bucolic yet worldly wisdom, you’ll find Good Clean Fun full of useful, illuminating, and entertaining information.




Woodworking


Book Description

Get started on your woodwork practice with this ultimate guide to essential carpentry skills, techniques, tools, tips, and tricks. Complete and easy directions for key skills, from simple joinery techniques to more involved woodworking projects, with clear helpful photographs. Key carpentry skills, from simple joinery techniques to fine woodworking projects, through clear, step-by-step instructions and photographs. New carpenters will learn about the essential tools needed and the principles of basic design and practice crucial techniques like wood joints, finishing, woodturning, and furniture restoration. Experienced crafters will enjoy enhancing their skills and learning something new. We’ll make sure you choose the right wood for the job and find more than 100 hard and softwoods, plus their properties, in our handy directory. Put your skills into practice with 28 DIY woodworking projects. This carpentry book will show you how to create home accessories, furnishings, outdoor projects, workshop projects, and more. This reference book provides all the information you need to become a master carpenter and have a houseful of fine furnishings to show for the effort! Everything You Need to Know About Woodworking Woodworking is a complete illustrated carpentry course with comprehensive and extensive photos to show you how to become a craftsman. You’ll have all the information you need to start your projects right away with simple step-by-step instructions. It also makes a fantastic gift for hobby carpenters. Inside, you’ll discover: • Tools: Understand how to use hand, power, and machine tools, and choose the right wood for every job. • Techniques: Follow clear, step-by-step instructions to master all key woodworking techniques. • Projects: Put your skills into practice to create well-crafted and practical objects, from a wine rack to a chest of drawers.




Delphi Collected Works of Mrs. Henry Wood (Illustrated)


Book Description

The Victorian novelist Ellen Wood, better known as “Mrs. Henry Wood”, became an international publishing phenomenon with the controversial ‘East Lynne’. Her works are noted for their domestic dramas, enticing mysteries and inimitable gift of storytelling, making them a unique example of nineteenth century fiction. This comprehensive eBook presents Wood’s collected works, with numerous illustrations, many rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 3) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Wood’s life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * 29 novels, with individual contents tables * Many rare novels appearing in digital print for the first time * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Rare short stories * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the short stories * Easily locate the short stories you want to read * Includes Wood’s rare non-fiction text OUR CHILDREN – available in no other collection * Includes the memoir by the author’s son – first time in digital print * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres * Updated with 9 novels and a biography CONTENTS: The Novels Danesbury House (1860) East Lynne (1861) A Life’s Secret (1862) Mrs. Halliburton’s Troubles (1862) The Channings (1862) The Foggy Night at Offord (1863) The Shadow of Ashlydyat (1863) Verner’s Pride (1863) Lord Oakburn’s Daughters (1864) Oswald Cray (1864) Trevlyn Hold (1864) William Allair (1864) Mildred Arkell (1865) It May Be True (1865) Elster’s Folly (1866) St. Martin’s Eve (1866) Lady Adelaide’s Oath (1867) Orville College (1867) Anne Hereford (1868) The Red Court Farm (1868) Roland Yorke (1869) Bessy Rane (1870) George Canterbury’s Will (1870) Within the Maze (1872) The Master of Greylands (1872) Edina (1876) Pomeroy Abbey (1878) Court Netherleigh (1881) The Story of Charles Strange (1888) The Shorter Fiction The Elchester College Boys (1861) The Ghost of the Hollow Field (1867) Johnny Ludlow (1874) Johnny Ludlow, Second Series (1880) Johnny Ludlow, Third Series (1885) Johnny Ludlow, Four Series (1889) Johnny Ludlow, Fifth Series (1899) Johnny Ludlow, Sixth Series (1899) The Short Stories List of Short Stories in Chronological Order List of Short Stories in Alphabetical Order The Non-Fiction Our Children (1876) The Biographies Memorials of Mrs. Henry Wood (1887) by Charles W. Wood Ellen Wood (1900) by Thomas Seccombe Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles or to purchase this eBook as a Parts Edition of individual eBooks