A quirky assortment of materialistic suburbanites trying to supersize and spend their way to happiness An affectionate satire of the culture of self-indulgence, The Final Days of Great American Shopping exposes the American obsessions with money, mass marketing, and material objects. In Belladonna, a gated subdivision in upstate South Carolina, readers meet acolorful cast of characters doing their best to buy happiness in a series of sixteen closely linked stories from the past, present, and future. Whether speed dating, test driving cars, upsizing to dream houses, flying helicopters, or lusting after designer shoes, these small-town spenders have good intentions that often go hilariously awry as they search for emotional and spiritual comfort. Gilbert Allen is a master at character development and the individuals in this collection are no exception. Among them are the childless, emotionally distant couple Butler and Marjory Breedlove; the harried appliance salesman John Beegle and his precocious, pole-dancing daughter Alison; and the one-handed soccer wunderkind Amy Knobloch. Also featured are Ted Dickey the mastermind of the Mental Defectives self-help book series and the undefeated Speed Dating Champion of the World; Jimmy Scheetz, the pragmatic philanthropist behind Ecumenical Bedding; Ruthella Anderson, a retired first-grade teacher addicted to Star Trek and to extreme couponing; and the mysterious Gabriella, an aging Italian beauty who presides over Doumi Shoes. Arranged chronologically, the stories span nearly a century. While most are set in the recent past or in the immediate future, the book's title story is set in 2084. It depicts a dystopian shopping mall worthy of George Orwell, John Cheever, or Flannery O'Connor, and raises the question, "Can America survive international terrorism, ecological apocalypse, and demographic disaster to morph triumphantly into the USAARP?"

"An affectionate satire of the culture of self-indulgence, The final days of great American shopping exposes our obsessions with money, mass marketing, and material objects ... Whether speed dating, test-driving cars, upsizing to dream houses, flying helicopters, or lusting after designer shoes, these small-town spenders have good intentions that often go hilariously awry as they search for emotional and spiritual comfort"--Dust jacket.

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.

Kate Miller may be the last great American housewife left in Van Nuys. But as she sails toward forty on a wave of a pretty good (albeit somewhat boring) life with her husband and two kids, the death of her dysfunctional mother sends Kate out on a ledge and straight up a tree. Surveying her life from atop an endangered tree near the Fashion Square Plaza Mall, Kate learns more than how to fight for a cause. She learns how one frightened woman can actually discover her true self, one branch at a time and right down the street from her own backyard.

Examines several key documents from the history of the United States, providing vocabulary helps, historical context, additional explanation and text analysis, with illustrations and graphics to bring these important documents to life for families to study and share together.

The ultimate in slow-cooker books--with 500 recipes, each adapted for three sizes of appliance. From breakfast to soups, mains to grains, vegetables to desserts, this guide is the only book you'll ever need to master your slow cooker or crockpot. Millions of people are turning to slow cookers for their weeknight meals yet often can't find recipes that match their exact machine. Adapting recipes meant for a different-size cooker doesn't work--getting the right level of spice in your Vietnamese soup or keeping pulled pork tender requires having ingredients in the right proportion. But now, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough have decoded slow cookers, and each of their recipes includes ingredient proportions for 2-3 quart, 4-5 quart, and 6-8 quart machines, guaranteeing a perfect fit no matter what machine you own. Each recipe is labeled for its level of difficulty and nutritional value, and they cover every kind of dish imaginable: delicious breakfast oatmeals, slow-braised meats, succulent vegetables, sweet jams and savory sauces, decadent desserts. This is the slow cooker book to end them all.

Profiles fifty sites across the United States that trace the cultural history of the country, discussing the people and events that led to each site's importance, from the National Mall in D.C. to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.