An urgent, illuminating exploration of the social nature of shame and of how it might be used to promote large-scale political change and social reform. “[Jacquet] exposes the ways shame plays into collective ideas of punishment and reward, and the social mechanisms that dictate the ways we dictate our behavior.” —The Boston Globe Examining how we can retrofit the art of shaming for the age of social media, Jennifer Jacquet shows that we can challenge corporations and even governments to change policies and behaviors that are detrimental to the environment. Urgent and illuminating, Is Shame Necessary? offers an entirely new understanding of how shame, when applied in the right way and at the right time, has the capacity to keep us from failing our planet and, ultimately, from failing ourselves.

On the Western Circuit is a novella by Thomas Hardy. Edith is a rural girl who falls in love with an older man, in this romance where the mistakes of love life are tragically explored and bared naked.

"A provocative new novel by the nationally bestelling author of THE ATOMIC CITY GIRLS, about nine generations of one family in Eastern Tennessee whose women, in eerie echoes of the notorious Appalachian murder ballads made famous by singers, over more than a century, have been traumatized by acts of violence"--

Life and background - Writing, publication and initial critical reception of Tess - Summaries and critical commentary - What the novel is about.

Includes a brief biography of the author, thematic and structural analysis of the work, critical views, and an index of themes and ideas.