Jenna's friendship with Mac, a busboy, and Pouri, a Taiwanese patrygoer, is tested when Pouri suggests that Jenna and Mac help her stage her own kidnapping in order to to avoid flunking out of school and being sent back to Taiwan.

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow comes a remarkably revealing profile of the Miami Beach no one knows–a tale of fabulous excess, thwarted power, and rekindled lives that will take its place among the decade’s best works of social portraiture. Created from a mix of swampland and dredged-up barrier reef, Miami Beach has always been one part drifter-mecca and one part fantasyland, simultaneously a catch basin for con men, fast-talk artists, and shameless self-promoters, and a Shangri-La for sun worshippers and hardcore hedonists. In Miami Beach it’s often said that "if you’re not indicted you’re not invited." But the city’s mad, fascinating complexity resists easy stereotyping. Fool’s Paradise is more than just a present-day profile of a dark Eden. Gaines journeys back into the city’s social and cultural history, unearthing stories of the resort’s past that are every bit as absorbing–and jaw-dropping–as those of its present. The book begins with a snapshot of the city’s current excess (this is, after all, a sun-washed hamlet that boasts, on a per capita basis, more bars–and breast implants–than any other place in America), then plunges into the Beach’s origins, chronicling the audacious rise of such hoteliers as the Fontainebleau’s Ben Novack and the Eden Roc’s Harry Mufson, the sharp-elbowed tactics of Al Capone and Frank Sinatra, and the Mac-10 shooting sprees of the Marielito and Colombian drug lords. From there, the narrative shifts to two wildly eccentric souls who gave their lives to preserving the city’s architectural dazzle and creating its color palette, introduces us to "the Most Powerful Man in Miami Beach," and arrives finally in the modern day, where we meet, among others, a kinky German playboy who once owned a quarter of South Beach and publicly flaunts his sexual escapades; a fabulously successful nightclub promoter whose addictive past seems to have given him a portal into the night world’s id; and a gaggle of young sexy models, dreamers, and schemers on a mission to achieve significance. Evoking the Beach’s surreal blend of flashy Vegas and old Hollywood glamour, as well as its manic desperation and reckless wealth, Gaines persuasively demonstrates that though the Beach is–in the words of its most famous drag queen–"an island of broken toys . . . a place where people get away with things they’d never get away with anyplace else," it casts an irresistible spell.

This informative reader introduces students to the sociological imagination in a way that is informative and entertaining. From a pedagogical standpoint, this is an excellent reader for introductory level courses on the sociology of deviance and social control. The collection of articles combines readings on sociological perspectives and theories with journalistic treatments of deviance and social control. The focus is on the social construction of deviance and the legitimizing of social control.

“1977 is the Queen's jubilee year, well let's make it our year as well. Let's get out and do something. Chuck away the f•••••g stupid safety-pins, think about people's ideas instead of their clothes. This "scene" is not just a thing to do in the evening. It's the only thing around that's honest...” Omnibus Press presents the definitive collection of Sniffin' Glue… And Other Rock ‘n’ Roll Habits, the most vital and cutting edge punk fanzine of its time. This book features both a digital recreation of every issue and all the original prints in their entirety. Danny Baker, who wrote for the original fanzine over four decades ago, provides a full-length interview on its impact. During its brief existence Sniffin' Glue… chronicled the birth, rise and demise of punk rock in the UK. Starting with a print run of a mere 50 copies, by Issue 3 the circulation was into the thousands. Interviews and reviews of all the key punk artists - The Damned, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Generation X, Chelsea, Blondie, The Jam, Iggy Pop and more - alongside news, editorials and gig reviews depict the grassroots punk scene from the inside. Its authentic voice made it a cult classic of its time and a much sought-after historical artefact to this day. On the 40th anniversary of the magazine’s final publication, Omnibus Press are providing the definitive edition of Sniffin Glue…. This is the best possible way to experience the counter-cultural revolution of the ‘70s that spread anarchy throughout the UK.

Joseph Byrnes recounts the fights and reconciliations between French citizens who found Catholicism integral to their traditional French identity and those who found the continued presence of Catholicism an obstacle to both happiness and progress.