By turns playful, angry, clever, serious, sentimental, cynical, and ribald, Joseph Dobrian's essays and journalism turn conventional wisdom on its ear. This collection of Joseph Dobrian's non-fiction provides new, contrarian perspectives on a wide range of subjects, and dares you to disagree. In the course of this book, the author: explains what it means to write honestly debunks the concept of "unconditional love" contrasts modern and old-fashioned ideas of etiquette discusses the finer points of food, drink, and personal style looks askance at politics, justice, and religion dissects "The Awful English Language" advises on how to keep romance alive suggests what music to listen to, on the last night of your life Whether or not he's right, is for the reader to decide - but Joseph Dobrian is never in doubt. "The American Orwell. Agree with him or not, Joseph Dobrian is a wonderful writer." - Casper Melick "Even if you can't agree with everything in Joseph Dobrian's aptly titled book of maddening and illuminating essays - and I certainly can't - you can't help but admire the passion and perception revealed in each one. Provocateur, devil's advocate, pontificator, stylist, romantic, 24/7 judge and jury, humanist despite his best intentions to the contrary, he will irritate you, entertain you, and just possibly make you rethink your own indefensible positions." - Holly Carver

A beautiful commemorative edition of Dr. Martin Luther King's essay "Letter from Birmingham Jail," part of Dr. King's archives published exclusively by HarperCollins. With an afterword by Reginald Dwayne Betts On April 16, 1923, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., responded to an open letter written and published by eight white clergyman admonishing the civil rights demonstrations happening in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King drafted his seminal response on scraps of paper smuggled into jail. King criticizes his detractors for caring more about order than justice, defends nonviolent protests, and argues for the moral responsibility to obey just laws while disobeying unjust ones. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" proclaims a message - confronting any injustice is an acceptable and righteous reason for civil disobedience. This beautifully designed edition presents Dr. King's speech in its entirety, paying tribute to this extraordinary leader and his immeasurable contribution, and inspiring a new generation of activists dedicated to carrying on the fight for justice and equality.

The National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author delivers a collection of essays that serve as the perfect “antidote to mansplaining” (The Stranger). In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters. She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, “He’s trying to kill me!” This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf’s embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women. “In this series of personal but unsentimental essays, Solnit gives succinct shorthand to a familiar female experience that before had gone unarticulated, perhaps even unrecognized.” —The New York Times “Essential feminist reading.” —The New Republic “This slim book hums with power and wit.” —Boston Globe “Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Essential.” —Marketplace “Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions.” —Salon