Other books that might interest you

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  Death etc

  Harold Pinter

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  A collection of political essays, poetry, and dramatic works by the Nobel Prize–winning playwright and author of Betrayal.   Throughout his life, playwright, poet, and political activist Harold Pinter has consistently cast light on the hypocrisy of power and those who would defend the status quo for the sake of their own security and comfort. Awarded the Wilfred Owen Prize in 2004 for his poetry condemning US military intervention in Iraq, Mr. Pinter has succeeded in combining his artistry with his political activism.  Death etc. brings together Pinter’s most poignant and especially relevant writings in response to war. From chilling psychological portraits of those who commit atrocities in the name of a higher power, to essays on the state-sponsored terrorism of present-day regimes, to solemn hymns commemorating the faceless masses that perish unrecognized, Mr. Pinter’s writings are as essential to the preservation of open debate as to our awareness of personal involvement in the fate of our global community.

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  Cocaine's Son

  Dave Itzkoff

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  New York Times journalist David Itzkoff crafts a powerful, remarkably honest memoir that no reader will ever forget. Growing up, David understood his father to be a trusted ally and confidant—a man who always had some hard-won wisdom to share. But he was also a junkie. As David grew older, he fell into the same trap, until he and his father hit the road in search of their “morning after.”  “A memoir can be great for many reasons, but one quality matters more than all the others—brutal, uncomfortable honesty.”—Chuck Klosterman

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  How Y'all Doing? - Misadventures...

  Leslie Jordan

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  New York Times and USA Today Bestseller 
  Audie Award Winner, Humor 
  Viral sensation and Emmy Award-winner Leslie Jordan regales fans with entertaining stories about the odd, funny, and unforgettable events in his life in this unmissable essay collection that echoes his droll, irreverent voice. 
  When actor Leslie Jordan learned he had “gone viral,” he had no idea what that meant or how much his life was about to change. On Instagram, his uproarious videos have entertained millions and have made him a global celebrity. Now, he brings his bon vivance to the page with this collection of intimate and sassy essays. 
  Bursting with color and life, dripping with his puckish Southern charm, How Y’all Doing? is Leslie doing what Leslie does best: telling stories that make us laugh and lift our spirits even in the darkest days. Whether he’s writing about his brush with a group of ruffians in a West Hollywood Starbucks, or an unexpected phone call from legendary Hollywood start Debbie Reynolds, Leslie infuses each story with his fresh and saucy humor and pure heart. 
  How Y’all Doing? is an authentic, warm, and joyful portrait of an American Sweetheart— a Southern Baptist celebutante, first-rate raconteur, and keen observer of the odd side of life whose quirky wit rivals the likes of Amy Sedaris, Jenny Lawson, David Rakoff, and Sarah Vowell.

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  20th Century’s Most Influential...

  Charles River Editors

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  In their biography of Pablo Picasso, Hans Ludwig and Chris Jaffe note that “for him, art was always adventure: ‘To find is the thing.’” Indeed, there is perhaps no artist who produced more art than Picasso, whose enormous oeuvre (which spanned most of his 91-year life) contained a countless number of paintings and drawings. Picasso also worked in other mediums as well, notably sculpture and lithography, and his constant experimentation with form makes him a useful case study through which to chart the growth of Modernism as an artistic movement and many of the artistic trends that would dominate the 20th century. At the same time, one of the challenges involved in examining Picasso’s body of work is the sheer breadth of it all.  
  	In his review of Salvador Dali’s first autobiography, George Orwell declared that “One ought to be able to hold in one’s head simultaneously the two facts that Dali is a good draughtsman and a disgusting human being.” Whether or not one agrees with the famous author’s assessment, Orwell captures the polarizing nature of Salvador Dali, and the extent to which his undeniable technical virtuosity often brushed against his penchant for provoking his audiences (not to mention provoking long-entrenched standards of “proper” taste).  
  	To truly grasp the significance of Jackson Pollock in 20th century art, it’s necessary to understand the dramatic departure he initiated away from the straightforward compositions associated with the social realist art of the 1930s, a Depression-era period in which political art offered readily comprehensible narratives that were grasped by viewers with little artistic training.  
  Few artists of the 20th century were as enigmatic as Andy Warhol, who once remarked, “If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, there I am. There’s nothing behind it.” This statement is hardly out of character for the famous artist.

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  Heretics

  G.K Chesterton

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  The Author Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London, England on the 29th of May, 1874. Though he considered himself a mere "rollicking journalist," he was actually a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every area of literature. A man of strong opinions and enormously talented at defending them, his exuberant personality nevertheless allowed him to maintain warm friendships with people--such as George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells--with whom he vehemently disagreed. Chesterton had no difficulty standing up for what he believed. He was one of the few journalists to oppose the Boer War. His 1922 "Eugenics and Other Evils" attacked what was at that time the most progressive of all ideas, the idea that the human race could and should breed a superior version of itself. In the Nazi experience, history demonstrated the wisdom of his once "reactionary" views. 
  Chesterton wrote several works of Christian apologetics, the best known of which are "Orthodoxy", "Heretics", and "The Everlasting Man". (Summary from Project Gutenberg)

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  Jericho

  Charles Bowden

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  When Charles Bowden died in 2014, he left behind an archive of unpublished manuscripts. Jericho marks the fifth installment in his venerable “Unnatural History of America” sextet. In it he invokes the cycles of destruction and rebirth that have defined the ancient biblical city over millennia. From the ruins of Jericho’s walls Bowden reflects on the continuum of war and violence—the many conquests of the Americas; the US-Mexican War; the Vietnam War; and the ongoing militarization of our southern border—to argue against the false promise of security that is offered when men “build that wall.” Walls—both real and imagined—will always come tumbling down.  Along the way, Bowden tells stories of loss and violence, like that of David Hartley, who mysteriously vanishes on Falcon Lake; of murdered drug runners and their cartel bosses; and of a haunted sicario, or hitman, who is running from his past and compulsively confesses his sins as he searches for an absolution that will never come. Set against these scenes of trauma and violence are Bowden’s gorgeous meditations on nature: dancing cranes, soaring eagles, winding paths that traverse mountains, lakes, and deserts. And threaded throughout are the heroic narratives of men like Martin Luther King Jr., who defied the boundaries that surrounded him and was able to reshape the arc of history. Jericho is a remarkable affirmation of our shared humanity and a timely rejection of violence and nationalism by one of our most prophetic writers working at the height of his powers.

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