In eight stories, this singular collection of short fiction written over the course of ten years explores the terrain of modern urban life. In reflective, telegraphic prose, Susan Sontag confronts the reader with exposed workings of an impassioned intellect in narratives seamed with many of the themes of her essays—the nature of knowing, our relationship with the past, and the future in an alienated present.

This is a book about the Roman alphabet and the people who used it as a medium for the transmission of their civilization. Primarily, this means the Romans and their Italic subjects, speakers of Latin who disseminated the language, and the culture of which it was an expression, throughout Europe and the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. As speakers, readers, and writers of English, we are greatly indebted to the long line of purveyors of Latin in its various forms. When words are borrowed, concepts come with them. So, if we have borrowed a wide variety of Latin words, it follows that we have also borrowed a great deal of the cultural stuff that they encase. This book takes a look at what the authors consider to be some of the more intriguing cultural/linguistic goodies that have crept willy-nilly into the English language over the ages from the Latin cornucopia. - Preamble.

"A spectacular achievement and one of the very best travel books I have read." —Simon Winchester, Wall Street Journal Declaring independence in 1945, Indonesia said it would "work out the details of the transfer of power etc. as soon as possible." With over 300 ethnic groups spread across over 13,500 islands, the world’s fourth most populous nation has been working on that "etc." ever since. Author Elizabeth Pisani traveled 26,000 miles in search of the links that bind this disparate nation.

“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review For Margaret Roach, gardening is more than a hobby, it’s a calling. Her unique approach, which she calls “horticultural how-to and woo-woo,” is a blend of vital information you need to memorize and intuitive steps you must simply feel and surrender to. In A Way to Garden, Roach imparts decades of garden wisdom on seasonal gardening, ornamental plants, vegetable gardening, design, gardening for wildlife, organic practices, and much more. She also challenges gardeners to think beyond their garden borders and to consider the ways gardening can enrich the world. Brimming with beautiful photographs of Roach’s own garden, A Way to Garden is practical, inspiring, and a must-have for every passionate gardener.

A lighthearted, fact-filled guide to the roaring game: curling Immensely popular in Canada, curling has captured the hearts of millions of diehard enthusiasts around the world. Full of quirky characters, fascinating facts, intriguing history, and amazing trivia, this unique guide gives curlers (and lovers of the game) a colorful and often amusing look at this singular sport. With odd, funny factoids on every page, the book sheds light on the long-forgotten Downer Disc, a round curling broom, and how Charlie Kerr, a Brier curler of the '40s, was thwarted by the ash from his own cigar. This one-of-a-kind volume is the ultimate bonspiel prize for curling fans everywhere.Bob Weeks (Toronto, ON) is the editor of the Ontario Curling Report and the author of three books.

In the early 1980s, before Glasnost and Perestroika, Boris Mikhailov made this series of photographs in his home town of Charkow, in the Ukraine. Mikhailov is best known for his ruthlessly honest documentation of the problems of Soviet and Russian daily life; this work, which has never been published before, is sometimes gentler.