It happens in an instant. On a stormy December night, two cars collide head-on, and four people's lives are forever shattered.—In the aftermath of the accident that took the life of her husband of twenty-one years, Lainey Williams is a widow with conflicting feelings of loss, guilt and regret over a union that was far from ideal. After Lainey failed to give him a son, Don turned from his wife, seeking comfort in alcohol. The night of the accident, Don was at the wheel, and drunk. He never even saw the other car coming. The horrific crash that sent his wife, Marva, into a coma has forced Nathan Sullivan to reassess his life. When their daughter went off to college, he realized how little he and Marva had left in common. What was missing most was the love. It begins as two grieving people offering each other comfort and friendship. Trust grows, along with mutual passion. But just as Lainey and Nathan are starting to rebuild their lives—both separately and together—Lainey uncovers a shocking secret about Don. And Nathan is confronted with the most agonizing decision of his life that will put his relationship with Lainey to the ultimate test.—

Although philosophy, religion, and civic cultures used to help people prepare for aging and dying well, this is no longer the case. Today, aging is frequently seen as a problem to be solved and death as a harsh reality to be masked. In part, our cultural confusion is rooted in an inadequate conception of the human person, which is based on a notion of absolute individual autonomy that cannot but fail in the face of the dependency that comes with aging and decline at the end of life. To help correct the ethical impoverishment at the root of our contemporary social confusion, The Evening of Life provides an interdisciplinary examination of the challenges of aging and dying well. It calls for a re-envisioning of cultural concepts, practices, and virtues that embraces decline, dependency, and finitude rather than stigmatizes them. Bringing together the work of sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, theologians, and medical practitioners, this collection of essays develops an interrelated set of conceptual tools to discuss the current challenges posed to aging and dying well, such as flourishing, temporality, narrative, and friendship. Above all, it proposes a positive understanding of thriving in old age that is rooted in our shared vulnerability as human beings. It also suggests how some of these tools and concepts can be deployed to create a medical system that better responds to our contemporary needs. The Evening of Life will interest bioethicists, medical practitioners, clinicians, and others involved in the care of the aging and dying. Contributors: Joseph E. Davis, Sharon R. Kaufman, Paul Scherz, Wilfred M. McClay, Kevin Aho, Charles Guignon, Bryan S. Turner, Janelle S. Taylor, Sarah L. Szanton, Janiece Taylor, and Justin Mutter

From one of Italy’s greatest writers, a stunning novel “filled with shimmering, risky, darting observation” (Colm Tóibín) After WWII, a small Italian town struggles to emerge from under the thumb of Fascism. With wit, tenderness, and irony, Elsa, the novel’s narrator, weaves a rich tapestry of provincial Italian life: two generations of neighbors and relatives, their gossip and shattered dreams, their heartbreaks and struggles to find happiness. Elsa wants to imagine a future for herself, free from the expectations and burdens of her town’s history, but the weight of the past will always prove unbearable, insistently posing the question: “Why has everything been ruined?”

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Vital reading for Americans and people anywhere who seek to understand what is happening ‘after the fall’ of the global system created by the United States” (New York Journal of Books), from the former White House aide, close confidant to President Barack Obama, and author of The World as It Is At a time when democracy in the United States is endangered as never before, Ben Rhodes spent years traveling the world to understand why. He visited dozens of countries, meeting with politicians and activists confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that are tearing America apart. Along the way, he discusses the growing authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin, and his aggression towards Ukraine, with the foremost opposition leader in Russia, who was subsequently poisoned and imprisoned; he profiled Hong Kong protesters who saw their movement snuffed out by China under Xi Jinping; and America itself reached the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a fragile second chance. The characters and issues that Rhodes illuminates paint a picture that shows us where we are today—from Barack Obama to a rising generation of international leaders; from the authoritarian playbook endangering democracy to the flood of disinformation enabling authoritarianism. Ultimately, Rhodes writes personally and powerfully about finding hope in the belief that looking squarely at where America has gone wrong can make clear how essential it is to fight for what America is supposed to be, for our own country and the entire world.

Two sisters, lost youth, and youthful obsessions; organized by day as the family sits shiva, Evening unfolds the paradoxes of love, ambition, siblings, and the way the past continues to inflect the present, sometimes against our will. In her thirties, Eve is summoned home by her distraught family to mourn the premature death of her sister, Tam, a return that becomes an unexpected encounter with the past. Eve bears the burden of a secret: Two weeks before Tam died, Eve and Tam argued so vehemently that they did not speak again. Her sister was famous, acclaimed for her career as a TV journalist and her devoted marriage. But Tam, too, had a secret, revealed the day after the funeral, one that inverts the story Eve has told herself since their childhood. In the aftermath, Eve is forced to revise her version of her fractured family, her sister’s accomplishments and vaunted marriage, and her own impeded ambition in work and love. Day by day as the family sits shiva, the stories unfold, illuminating the past to shape the present. Evening explores the dissonant love between sisters, the body in longing, the pride we take in sustaining our illusions, and the redemption that is possible only when they are dispelled. The paperback edition features a reading group guide for book clubs.

Jesus Christ Visited Ancient America By Almon Fackrell ". . . And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice . . ." (John 10:14-16) The Bible, being the most revered book of the Christians, along with the collected treasures of Mayan and Aztec antiquities, testifies: Jesus Christ Visited Ancient America. Being an enthusiast of Bible versions, and after visiting the Aztec and Mayan ruins in Mexico, Almon Fackrell was prompted to have this study and reveal the parallels of Christian belief and Ancient America's religion. With it, Almon Fackrell was able to account for 276 similarities, which prove that Israelites were in Ancient America! Discover for yourself the facts that have been written both in the Bible and the Popol Vuh. About the Author Almon Fackrell was born in Pingree, Idaho and raised in Arimo, Idaho. In 1953, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was assigned to a Special Weapons Detachment in New Mexico at Sandia Base, Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Proving Grounds. He attended the University of New Mexico and graduated at Sandia Corporation Engineering Trade School in Albuquerque. After thirty-seven years of drafting, designing, and engineering in the Aerospace Industry, he retired as a senior support engineer from Parker Hannifin Corporation in Irvine, California.