Djibouti, a hot, impoverished little country on the Horn of Africa, is a place of great strategic importance, for off its coast lies a crucial passage for the world's oil. In this novel by Abdourahman A. Waberi, Djibril, a young Djiboutian voluntarily exiled in Montreal, returns to his native land to prepare a report for an American economic intelligence firm. Meanwhile, a shadowy, threatening figure imprisoned in an island cell seems to know Djibril's every move. He takes dictation from his preaching cellmate known as his "Venerable Master," but as the words are put on the page, a completely different text appears--the life of Walter Benjamin, Djibril's favorite author. Passage of Tears cleverly mixes many genres and forms of writing--spy novel, political thriller, diary (replete with childhood memories), travel notebook, legends, parables, incantations, and prayers. Djibril's reminiscences provide a sense of Djibouti's past and its people, while a satire of Muslim fundamentalism is unwittingly delivered through the other Djiboutian voice. Waberi's inventive parody is a lesson in tolerance, while his poetic observations reveal his love and concern for his homeland. Praise for the French Edition "Disguised as a political thriller, Passage of Tears is above all a great novel of childhood, murderous identities, and exile."--Le Monde des Livres "A gripping book, burning with urgency and tension."--Télérama.

One of those rare, unforgettable novels that are as chilling as they are insightful, as thought-provoking as they are terrifying, award-winning author Connie Willis's Passage is an astonishing blend of relentless suspense and cutting-edge science unlike anything you've ever read before. It is the electrifying story of a psychologist who has devoted her life to tracking death. But when she volunteers for a research project that simulates the near-death experience, she will either solve life's greatest mystery -- or fall victim to its greatest terror. At Mercy General Hospital, Dr. Joanna Lander will soon be paged -- not to save a life, but to interview a patient just back from the dead. A psychologist specializing in near-death experiences, Joanna has spent two years recording the experiences of those who have been declared clinically dead and lived to tell about it. It's research on the fringes of ordinary science, but Joanna is about to get a boost from an unexpected quarter. A new doctor has arrived at Mercy General, one with the power to give Joanna the chance to get as close to death as anyone can. A brilliant young neurologist, Dr. Richard Wright has come up with a way to manufacture the near-death experience using a psychoactive drug. Dr. Wright is convinced that the NDE is a survival mechanism and that if only doctors understood how it worked, they could someday delay the dying process, or maybe even reverse it. He can use the expertise of a psychologist of Joanna Lander's standing to lend credibility to his study. But he soon needs Joanna for more than just her reputation. When his key volunteer suddenly drops out of the study, Joanna finds herself offering to become Richard's next subject. After all, who better than she, a trained psychologist, to document the experience? Her first NDE is as fascinating as she imagined it would be -- so astounding that she knows she must go back, if only to find out why this place is so hauntingly familiar. But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid.... And just when you think you know where she is going, Willis throws in the biggest surprise of all -- a shattering scenario that will keep you feverishly reading until the final climactic page is turned.

Djiouti, an impoverished little country on the Horn of Africa, is a place of great strategic importance, for off its coast lies a crucial passage for the world's oil. In this novel, a young Djiboutian returns to his native land from voluntary exile in Montreal, to prepare a report for an American economic intelligence firm.

It is June first and twelve-year-old Mary does not really understand what is happening: she does not understand the hatred and greed of the white men who are forcing her Cherokee family out of their home in New Echota, Georgia, capital of the Cherokee Nation, and trying to steal what few things they are allowed to take with them, she does not understand why a soldier killed her grandfather--and she certainly does not understand how she, her sister, and her mother, are going to survive the 1000 mile trip to the lands west of the Mississippi.

Creations on the beaches and in rivers explore the passage of time, while a white chalk path investigates the passing from day into night. "Passage" focuses exclusively on such sculpture made by artist Goldsworthy since the turn of the millennium. These evocative images are illuminated by diary entries that chart his experiences working in Scotland and abroad. 0-8109-5586-5$60.00 / Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Learn how to better navigate the challenges of adult life with Gail Sheehy’s landmark bestseller—named one of the ten most influential books of our times by the Library of Congress. For decades, Gail Sheehy’s Passages has been inspiring readers to see the predictable crises of adult life as opportunities for growth. She charts the stages between 18 and 50 as unfolding in a pattern of adult development: once recognized, more easily managed. Passages is an insightful road map of adulthood that illustrates with vivid stories our continuing personality and sexual changes throughout the “Trying 20s,” “Catch 30s,” “Forlorn 40s,” and “Refreshed (or Resigned) 50s.” One comment is continuously repeated by men, women, singles, couples, and people who recover from a midlife crisis: “This book changed my life.”

Click here to view a video interview with the author by TV Personality Jim Peck in his show MPTV Public Television Milwaukee "I Remember with Jim Peck" Every family has its own story to tell. Be it tragic, heartbreaking, or triumphant, each tale forms part of a clan ́s history and defines its identity. Author John Schissler, Jr. started with an autobiographical essay in his history class in 1964, but didn ́t really give it much thought. Recently, through his brother ́s urging, he felt somewhat obliged to reveal their storied past. After a painstaking research, he now comes up with a book that narrates the fascinating history of his family entitled Passage: The Making of an American Family. What started as a school requirement now developed into a detailed memoir of a family ́s story that impacts the lives of many. Passage chronicles the humble beginnings of John Schissler ́s family and its struggles to weather the storms of life. Thinking he already had the skeleton of the story, Schissler looked for ways to make the pieces of the tale fall into place. Through the help of his parents, relatives, and friends, he looked for connections, photos, and other evidences to corroborate the existing story he already had. Author Schissler traces his family ́s roots and finds out that their relatives came from Donaueschingen. Germany, where there are two streams that come together to form the source of the Donau (Danube) river. He believes it is only fitting that his family, who were Donauschwaben, eventually ended up in Wisconsin, which in Native American language means "gathering" or "meeting of the waters." Passage is not merely a story of a clan who survived the horrors of the world war against the innocent; it also serves as a memorial to all the forgotten souls and unsung heroes murdered by Stalin, victims of the "final solution", and other nameless ones who were dumped indiscriminately into mass graves. Accompany John Schissler, Jr. as he revisits family ́s and his own unforgettable voyage to survival in this remarkable, imagery-filled memoir. Follow their exploits as they sought refuge in a foreign soil that embraced them as if they were its own. Join them as they celebrate diversity in their newfound land, their new home called Amerca. Witness the bonds they formed, the friendships and families they built, the failures that brought forth success, and life ́s challenges that made them what they are today. According to author Schissler, "War crimes don ́t necessarily end with the war. This is a true story about an ordinary, World War II European family, who was forced to embark on an extraordinary odyssey fraught with danger, disease, and death to reach the shores of the ́Promised Land ́. Shot at by British planes, imprisoned by the Russians, and forced to work in the peat bogs of East Germany, we finally escaped to West Germany where we found temporary asylem until we completed our pilgrimage to Ellis Island. The saga continues with my family ́s physical, emotional, and social struggles to get a piece of that American Dream and our eventual assimilatinon into that cultural diversity of that melting pot which is America." Book Review The self-published memoir is definitely a genre on the rise. I ́ve purchased a couple of these types of books, because their content helped me research my own family tree. But the ambition of Mr. Schissler ́s work is something special. The scope is nearly epic, and Schissler ́s cleverly balances personal history in the context of historic events, a formula that imbues his narrative with an ingredient sadly lacking in so many other writings in this genre: Propulsion of a story. Schissler captures what really happens to people in the wicked no man ́s land of war and rehabilitation, as his family must