"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to." And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of smiling village where the movies from his youth were set. Instead he drove through a series of horrific burgs, which he renamed Smellville, Fartville, Coleslaw, Coma, and Doldrum. At best his search led him to Anywhere, USA, a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger outlets populated by obese and slow-witted hicks with a partiality for synthetic fibres. He discovered a continent that was doubly lost: lost to itself because he found it blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; lost to him because he had become a foreigner in his own country.

This collection of twenty-four short stories focuses on diverse experiences in small Michigan communities during the second half of the twentieth century. It addresses such topics as racial conflict and harmony, white collar crime, college life, family dynamics, tragedy, aspirations of young athletes, growing up, personal rejection, dishonesty in academia, unusual mentors, less than ethical policemen, class conflict, and career triumphs of a twice unhappily married woman. Michigan's Polish, Finnish, Irish, Hispanic, and Asian cultures are highlighted. The stories present the human side of life in American small towns from the relative ease of physical entry into these communities to the psychological difficulty of exit.

Tales of People Who Get It is based on the ideas, actions and beliefs that were uncovered in interviews of 34 highly successful individuals from Canada, the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Jamaica and South Africa. The responses to the interviews form each individual story. And the effect is startling: when you've finished reading the stories, you get the sense that every thing is connected - that we're all connected. There is also a sense of comfort in knowing that any of the stories could be your story because while these are successful people who "get it" they are also ordinary people with the same challenges and struggles we all face. It's a chance to learn from the way they resolve these struggles and apply the lessons when those same challenges arise in your life.

From an accomplished lawyer, judge, coach, and community servant comes a fast-moving tale of colorful characters in a small, blue-collar, coal mining town deep in the hills of Kentucky. Tales of a Small-Town King traces the struggles to find upward mobility in Appalachia, all while navigating the unique culture smothered by isolation, expansive poverty, drugs, crime, and political corruption. The product of a hard-working band of Greek immigrants, with mentoring from his Uncle Miklos, Takis Tsegellis rises as the town’s favorite son – hopscotching through varied career and community projects along the way – only to ultimately leave in disgrace, however, rejected by the town he spent 40 years trying to help. Now, as he returns to town to give the eulogy at his Uncle Miklos’s funeral, he must confront his unresolved love and hate for his hometown, and his ambition to topple it, all while discovering that his family and career were never the American dream he hoped them to be. He may finally reach the mountaintop he’s always sought, just not as the person he’s always been.

First Published in 2008. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

H.P. Lovecraft, one of the twentieth century’s most important writers in the genre of horror fiction, famously referred to Edgar Allan Poe as both his “model” and his “God of Fiction.” While scholars and readers of Poe’s and Lovecraft’s work have long recognized the connection between these authors, this collection of essays is the first in-depth study to explore the complex literary relationship between Lovecraft and Poe from a variety of critical perspectives. Of the thirteen essays included in this book, some consider how Poe’s work influenced Lovecraft in important ways. Other essays explore how Lovecraft’s fictional, critical, and poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poe’s work has been understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters. Addressing a variety of topics ranging from the psychology of influence to racial and sexual politics, the essays in this book also consider how Lovecraft’s interpretations of Poe have informed later adaptations of both writers’ works in films by Roger Corman and fiction by Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. This collection is an indispensable resource not only for those who are interested in Poe’s and Lovecraft’s work specifically, but also for readers who wish to learn more about the modern history and evolution of Gothic, horror, and weird fiction.

A theological explanation and practical handbook for those preparing for a diaconate in today’s church. All too often the time spent as a deacon is seen simply as the prelude to priestly ordination. Yet the Bible defines three orders of ministry - deacon, priest, and bishop - each with its own distinctive characteristics and responsibilities. In Being A Deacon Today, Brown explores the three places where deacons minister (the church, the world, and at the margins), the three strands of their ministry (in liturgy, in pastoral care, and as catechists), and the three actions of their ministry (praying, loving, and remembering). This book, excellent for classroom use and for transitional and permanent deacons, will restore a fuller understanding of the diaconal ministry and nurture deacons in their work and spiritual life.