In the middle of his life, Jack Grout found himself abducted by aliens. There were other things. His wife left him. His son came one night to the Skylark Lounge - the pool hall Jack bought after throwing in his job in newspaper advertising - and punched him. And there was the mistreatment for melanoma. But what Jack really needed to know was why the aliens, who had first taken him when he was nine years old and shown him his life in unbearably vivid close-up, had returned.

The story of a man who lives on the fringe of society, hanging on by a thread. Unable to cope with the tedium of the expected, he is now a misanthrope, sick of it all. Golf, gambling, drinking, drugs, and sex with beautiful women are now his only reasons to get out of bed in the morning. He has problems, but when he finds trouble his life gets interesting. Enjoy his adventure.

Detailed and timely information on accommodations, restaurants, and local attractions highlight these updated travel guides, which feature all-new covers, a two-color interior design, symbols to indicate budget options, must-see ratings, multi-day itineraries, Smart Travel Tips, helpful bulleted maps, tips on transportation, guidelines for shopping excursions, and other valuable features. Original.

Discover the big city lounges and dusty roadside dives that embody the spirit of Texas with this go-to guide to the best signature cocktails around. Explore popular pubs, dive bars, and cocktail hotspots as you delve into the Lone Star State’s diverse spirits scene with this guide. These top mixologists take full advantage of local flair and flavor with signature creations inspired by the great state of Texas. Discover the unique character of each location and the distinctive recipes from these venues. You will feel like you're really there long before you order your first drink. Inside you’ll find: - 50 bar profiles and bartender highlights - Beautifully illustrated pages that showcase the heart of each location - Background on the bustling history of the Texas bar scene Never be without a drink with recipes from timeless locations and profiles on some of the best bartenders west of the Mississippi. You’ll never have to scour for your next drink with this guide by your side. Find yourself right at home on the range with Drink Like a Local: Texas.

This provocative collection contains pieces both older and previously unpublished from the author's 20 year career. Readers will especially value the new material, pulled from his journalistic pieces written during his five-year employment at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Posthumously published, this book gives one last celebratory glance at a writer who colorfully captured everyday life in New Zealand and provided many with a stronger sense of place.

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • USA TODAY BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF AUDIBLE'S BEST BIOS AND MEMOIRS OF 2023 • “A raw, intimate look at [Hendrickson's] life with a stutter. It’s a profoundly moving book that will reshape the way you think about people living with this condition.”—Esquire • A candid memoir about a lifelong struggle to speak. “Life On Delay brims with empathy and honesty . . . It moved me in ways that I haven’t experienced before. It’s fantastic.”—Clint Smith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller How the Word Is Passed “I can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me want to both cry and cheer so much, often at the same time.”—Robert Kolker, best-selling author of Hidden Valley Road In the fall of 2019, John Hendrickson wrote a groundbreaking story for The Atlantic about Joe Biden’s decades-long journey with stuttering, as well as his own. The article went viral, reaching readers around the world and altering the course of Hendrickson’s life. Overnight, he was forced to publicly confront an element of himself that still caused him great pain. He soon learned he wasn’t alone with his feelings: strangers who stutter began sending him their own personal stories, something that continues to this day. Now, in this reported memoir, Hendrickson takes us deep inside the mind and heart of a stutterer as he sets out to answer lingering questions about himself and his condition that he was often too afraid to ask. In Life on Delay, Hendrickson writes candidly about bullying, substance abuse, depression, isolation, and other issues stutterers like him face daily. He explores the intricate family dynamics surrounding his own stutter and revisits key people from his past in unguarded interviews. Readers get an over-the-shoulder view of his childhood; his career as a journalist, which once seemed impossible; and his search for a romantic partner. Along the way, Hendrickson guides us through the evolution of speech therapy, the controversial quest for a “magic pill” to end stuttering, and the burgeoning self-help movement within the stuttering community. Beyond his own experiences, he shares portraits of fellow stutterers who have changed his life, and he writes about a pioneering doctor who is upending the field of speech therapy. Life on Delay is an indelible account of perseverance, a soulful narrative about not giving up, and a glimpse into the process of making peace with our past and present selves.

As the economic reforms of the mid-1980s begin to take their toll on New Zealand's most vulnerable, Gina Tully, manager of Happy World hotel--a down-and-out residential hotel filled with rascals and eccentrics--must reconcile her social conscience with her need to keep her job. Emerging from this story about the downtrodden and disadvantaged is a celebration of human resilience that reminds us of the importance of intimacy and compassion.