The brutality of college football with its jock mentality and misogyny is described through the eyes of its hero, Elwood Riley. He is a philosophic type who obtained a football scholarship so he could escape the provinciality of his hometown for the more worldly University of Michigan.

Elwood Reid first appeared on the literary stage with a powerful and bruising story called "What Salmon Know," which appeared in the March 1997 issue of GQ. Here was a writer not afraid to examine the soulful underside of the American male, or the violence that accompanies disappointed dreams. Now, in his first, extraordinary novel, Reid tells the story of Elwood Riley, a six-foot-six, 275-pound blue-collar kid whose ticket out of Cleveland is a "full ride" football scholarship to the University of Michigan. But Riley is cursed with intelligence and an awareness of the vicious inhumanity of the college football system. If Riley doesn't want to "six"--lose his scholarship or get maimed--he has to become a "fella," a pain-loving freak too nihilistic to care what he does to himself or others. And after Riley encounters the alluring, mysteriously damaged Kate, his dilemma becomes ever more painful. Elwood Reid's portrait of this world is at once blackly humorous, starkly tragic, and perfectly detailed. With deft strokes, he portrays emotionally stunted coaches who have mastered the art of humiliating and manipulating young men, groupies attracted to the fame but undone by the shocking cruelty of the players, and the athletes themselves, who grow addicted to violence, alcohol, and steroids, too caught up in the glory of playing for Big Blue to notice they are mere meat to the coaches and the university. In tough, spare, beautiful prose that should invite comparisons to the works of Thom Jones and Denis Johnson, Reid describes a place where young men damage their souls and their bodies in pursuit of a worthless glamor. This is a profound, unsettling book about a familiar yet hidden world--a Greek tragedy in cleats.

Survive alongside Henry VIII’s ill-fated wives with this witty book of essential life advice, history, and trivia—perfect for fans of the hit musical Six. Get the inside scoop from some of the toughest women in English history, as ex-wives, mothers, and daughters of King Henry VIII dish out all their survival secrets in this humorous guide to life. With a bit of sarcasm and friendly charm, each of these legendary ladies explains how their sixteenth-century hard-earned lessons (from living with unstable men to stifling Tudor traditions) apply to twenty-first-century dating, marriage, and feminism. Written from the perspectives of each of the different women around Henry VIII, you’ll get the facts from the Queen Mother and the less-remembered but no less important Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and more. With must-know historical trivia alongside wise life advice, Don’t Lose Your Head is the perfect survival guide for fans obsessed with Broadway’s latest historical pop musical Six, as well as anyone fascinated by British royalty and culture.

In their weekly radio show and in their popular workshops, Gary and Joy Lundberg have already helped thousands of people and their families to communicate more effectively. Now, the Lundbergs address an all too common dilemma that arises when others expect you to solve their problems for them, showing readers how they can shed the no-win role of "fixer" and empower people to solve their own problems through validation--a simple yet profound communication tool that is essential to any healthy relationship. Refreshingly straightforward, this inspiring and entertaining work is poised to become a classic guide for anyone who wishes to improve relationships with their partner, children, colleagues and friends.

A monumentally devastating plague leaves only a few survivors who, while experiencing dreams of a battle between good and evil, move toward an actual confrontation as they migrate to Boulder, Colorado.

'If the ball's there, hit it. Don't worry about what might happen. Play for the glory. Play for the six' Chris Gayle is the only man to have ever hit a six off the first ball of a Test match. But then producing the impossible is an everyday act for the West Indies legend: the first man to smash an international T20 century, the first to hit a World Cup 200, the fastest century in the history of the game. He has hit twice as many T20 sixes as any other man and scored two Test triple centuries. All this is delivered with cricket's biggest bat and an even bigger smile. Off the pitch, millions follow him on Instagram and Twitter to catch a glimpse of a globe-trotting life spent in nightclubs as much as nets, hot-tubs as often as helmets and pads. He plays late, parties later, demolishes a king-size pile of pancakes and then strolls out to mangle another hapless bowling attack. But do we really know him? Do we know what took a shy, skinny kid from a cramped tin-roofed shack in the dusty back streets of Kingston, sharing a bed with three brothers and stealing empty bottles to buy food, to the very top of the cricket world - without losing himself along the way? Outrageous and utterly original, this unputdowneable memoir will leave you reeling. Welcome to the world of the Six Machine.

Download the first two chapters of Six of Crows for free! Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price-and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.... A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist.