From the author of How to Eat Humble Pie and Not Get Indigestion comes a collection of essays--some never before published--intended to entertain, elicit laughter, and inspire healthy doses of perspective concerning our day-to-day trials.

Mothers often feel they are running as fast as they can to keep up or to stay just ahead of those who want a piece of their time, energy, and self. Author, speaker, and mother Jenn Doucette offers a humorous and insightful look at how every mom on the run can head for much-needed rest stops by: experiencing girl time choosing contentment setting boundaries and achieve freedom getting a grip on emotions giving themselves a break With comedic flair, Doucette confesses to her own failings as well as God's successes in the face of them, reminding mothers that it is healthy to laugh, take a break, and practice grace.

Jazz is one of America's greatest gifts to the arts, and native Texas musicians have played a major role in the development of jazz from its birth in ragtime, blues, and boogie-woogie to its most contemporary manifestation in free jazz. Dave Oliphant began the fascinating story of Texans and jazz in his acclaimed book Texan Jazz, published in 1996. Continuing his riff on this intriguing musical theme, Oliphant uncovers in this new volume more of the prolific connections between Texas musicians and jazz. Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State presents sixteen published and previously unpublished essays on Texans and jazz. Oliphant celebrates the contributions of such vital figures as Eddie Durham, Kenny Dorham, Leo Wright, and Ornette Coleman. He also takes a fuller look at Western Swing through Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies and a review of Duncan McLean's Lone Star Swing. In addition, he traces the relationship between British jazz criticism and Texas jazz and defends the reputation of Texas folklorist Alan Lomax as the first biographer of legendary jazz pianist-composer Jelly Roll Morton. In other essays, Oliphant examines the links between jazz and literature, including fiction and poetry by Texas writers, and reveals the seemingly unlikely connection between Texas and Wisconsin in jazz annals. All the essays in this book underscore the important parts played by Texas musicians in jazz history and the significance of Texas to jazz, as also demonstrated by Oliphant's reviews of the Ken Burns PBS series on jazz and Alfred Appel Jr.'s Jazz Modernism.

The acclaimed debut short story collection that introduced the world to an arresting and unforgettable new voice in fiction, from multi-award winning author ZZ Packer Her impressive range and talent are abundantly evident: Packer dazzles with her command of language, surprising and delighting us with unexpected turns and indelible images, as she takes us into the lives of characters on the periphery, unsure of where they belong. We meet a Brownie troop of black girls who are confronted with a troop of white girls; a young man who goes with his father to the Million Man March and must decide where his allegiance lies; an international group of drifters in Japan, who are starving, unable to find work; a girl in a Baltimore ghetto who has dreams of the larger world she has seen only on the screens in the television store nearby, where the Lithuanian shopkeeper holds out hope for attaining his own American Dream. With penetrating insight, ZZ Packer helps us see the world with a clearer vision. Fresh, versatile, and captivating, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is a striking and unforgettable collection, sure to stand out among the contemporary canon of fiction.

Bringing together the discrete fields of appropriation and performance studies, this collection explores pivotal intersections between the two approaches to consider the ethical implications of decisions made when artists and scholars appropriate Shakespeare. The essays in this book, written by established and emerging scholars in subfields such as premodern critical race studies, gender and sexuality studies, queer theory, performance studies, adaptation/appropriation studies and fan studies, demonstrate how remaking the plays across time, cultures or media changes the nature both of what Shakespeare promises and the expectations of those promised Shakespeare. Using examples such as rap music, popular television, theatre history and twentieth-century poetry, this collection argues that understanding Shakespeare at different intersections between performance and appropriation requires continuously negotiating what is signified through Shakespeare to the communities that use and consume him.

To read Illegal Woman is to straddle a vintage motorcycle behind a gorgeous young Gypsy woman and ride like hell through France in freewheeling 1965. It is a coming of age nostalgic trip that captures the excitement of empty-pocket, youthful travel. Circumstances force our suddenly broke writer, Kelly, to hitchhike from the French Riviera to Paris, where he hopes publishers' checks await him at the American Express office. Six hundred miles and only a thumb, a pair of Keds and $30 to get him there. On the way Kelly catches the eye of a beautiful Gypsy, Kalina, who teaches him to travel by his wits alone. To be Gypsy. This is a spicy romp told with energy, passion and humor. The reader will enjoy a riveting ride through Gypsy camps, Gypsy culture, French history and American folk music. Hop on the bike with Kalina and Kelly and venture into the life of the Rom at your own risk. You won't want the ride to end.