This is a hilarious book of prejudices and stereotypes that make the reader laugh and frown, stop and think. In menís circles it is commonplace to hear men's talk such as: What can a man do without a woman by his side?; Women spice life somehow; they are like that type of pain that you enjoy as it hurts; or like pepper, a hot spice that many Africans enjoy in their meals despite its sharp burning taste. Of course, there is much more to a woman - her subtlety and beauty of being infinitely human for instance - than meets a man's eye. If only men knew what women really think and say about them!

When Sasha Lawson was only five years old, her mother became the third victim of a sadistic serial killer. Now thirty-one years old, Sasha is a successful veterinarian—but she longs to bring her mother’s murderer to justice. Fueled by grief, rage, and duty, she makes a vow that she won’t let the killer escape punishment any longer and sets out to find the man who made her an orphan. To accomplish her plan, Sasha enlists the help of a private detective. Burly and solemn, Theodore Irwin—Teddy to his friends—is a former soldier and police officer, and he agrees to help her try to catch the serial killer known as the Organ Reaper. With the assistance of Sasha’s longtime friend, Matty Lee Lucas, they embark on a four-month expedition to uncover the truth of the killer. But what they discover may bring them more danger than they can imagine. In this mystery novel, a woman sets out to solve the mystery of her mother’s murder and bring the killer to justice, no matter the cost.

Known as an iconoclast and maverick, film director Robert Altman has consistently pushed against the boundaries of genre. From refashioning film noir in The Long Goodbye, the western in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, the psychological drama in Images, science fiction in Quintet, and the romantic comedy in A Perfect Couple, he has always tested the limits of what film can and should do. In this book, Frank Caso examines the development of Altman’s artistic method from his earliest days in industrial film to his work in television and feature films. Altman is one of those directors whose films audiences can easily recognize, but what exactly are the distinctive elements that have become his signature? Caso identifies more than twenty such elements in Altman’s style, tracing some—such as his use of free-hand cameras and engagement with Christian imagery—to the beginning of his career. Caso also examines Altman’s unsettling mix of offbeat comedic tone with a predominance of violence, murder, and death, showing how their counterpointing effects rendered his films at once naturalistic and otherworldly. Exploring these and other aspects of the Altmanesque style, Caso maps the innovations that have made Altman a master filmmaker. Enriched with illustration throughout, Robert Altman will appeal to fans of this distinctive American auteur or anyone interested in ground-breaking cinema.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. CliffsNotes on Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you explore life in early 20th-century Brooklyn as you follow the maturation of Francie Nolan and her family, which includes a hard-drinking father and the economic cost associated with that. But no matter the struggles that Francie encounters on her way to becoming an independent woman, her tenacity in creating the best life for herself that she can is inescapable. Ultimately her determination to succeed is like the tree that grows in the courtyard where Francie grows up, a tree called the Tree of Heaven, which always grows, regardless of whether or not it is watered, and which symbolizes the strength to survive, just as Francie survives. This study guide carefully walks you through Francie's journey by providing summaries and critical analyses of each book of the novel. You'll also explore the life and background of the author, Betty Smith. Other features that help you study include: An overview of the novel A list of characters, including analyses of major characters A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters Analyses of major themes and symbols A glossary of important terms and phrases from the novel Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

When Catherine Tudish's story collection Tenney's Landing was published in 2005, Margot Livesey said Tudish "casts an irresistible spell" and David Huddle said, "Tenney's Landing conjures up a place and a people with that magical vividness we found in Porter, Welty, Cheever, and Updike." Here, in her first novel, Tudish has fashioned a masterful and intimate portrait of a woman returning, midlife, to the small farming community where she grew up. After Nathan Rownd is injured in a tractor accident, his daughter, Virginia, leaves her suburban life and returns to Tenney's Landing with her teenage son to work the family farm. She struggles with the long periods of separation from her husband and begrudgingly relearns the insistent, exhausting cadence of farm chores. But when Nathan decides to sell the farm, Virginia realizes how deep her connection to the land is and begins to question who she is and where she belongs. Catherine Tudish's writing is a tribute to small-town America. In simple, elegant prose she captures the rhythms of everyday life and the moments of truth and transformation that are found there. American Cream is a tender and wise novel by a writer of unusual sensitivity and grace.

DIVA creatively written ethnography tracking between intimate, everyday feeling and larger collective cultural forces in the contemporary U.S./div

Blind Justice follows the efforts of several White Cane individuals who band together to identify an individual who targets blind people because he believes they cannot identify him due to their blindness. Resourceful blind individuals bring him to justice, with an unexpected result. Other books published by Donald Rilla are as follows: In the Mind of a Serial Killer The Three Italian Foster Kids Forensic Social Work: Short Stories Renee: The Runaway Foster Child Cold Case Abduction Redemption Presidential Conspiracy The Letters This Side of the Grass