Summary T HE GIFT OF MISFORTUNE CHRONICLES THE STORY OF A YOUNG HAITIAN IMMIGRANT TORN BETWEEN HIS NATIVE LAND, WHICH HE LOVES UNCONDITIONALLY, AND AN ADOPTED COUNTRY THAT HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH AT FIRST SIGHT. However, once he reluctantly arrives in his new country, in spite of himself, he loves it, but three major obstacles surface that alter his attitudes and eventually his life: his natural kinship with the Christian notion of poverty and wealth; his encounter with his adopted father/friend, Thomas, who is very critical of America; and the most important, the obstacle that makes him change his attitude about American culture and democracyhis malevolent and greedy wife, Monica. Politics, religion, fear, deception, greed, courage, and revelation all come to play in the journey of Armand, who brings a willing sister to the United States while his heart and soul is still in Haiti. During Haitis most turbulent recent times, Armand and sister, Deborah, become concerned about the chaos that is claiming the streets of Port-au-Prince. The fear, violence, murder, and hopelessness were affecting not only the poor and desperate but the wealthy and desperate as well. Deborah wants to go, and so one morning, she wakes up in her comfortable house. After hearing another story of one of her friends put to death because they will not join the military of Baby Doc (Jean-Claude Duvalier), she wants to go out of Haiti as both patriot and citizen. Deborah cannot go anywhere without her brother, Armand, and though he too is frightened, he feels that he cant leave Haiti. They are not involved in politics, but are religious: Armand, fundamentalist Protestant; and Deborah, traditional Catholic. They are still thrust into the politics of the country. They attend the finest school in Haiti, and they attend this school with the countrys elite who are pro-Duvalier. With warring factions, violence spurting all around them, certain friends disappearing overnight, never to return, and some friends demanding them to choose between their neutral political life, and the need for them to get involved in the Duvalier government, and concerns for Deborahs freedom since an important Duvalier official might want Deborah for his son, they hatch a plan to escape to the United States of America. In the beginning, it is Deborah, and not Armand, who wanted to abandon Haiti, but Armand has to go to protect his sister and make sure she got there safely. After making a careful trip to Bainet to get money from their very wealthy parents, they leave for the United States of America. Armand leaves with a heavy heart because, unlike Deborah, he wanted to stay in Haiti to do religious work, which would end up looking like political work since Armand has a close connection and passion for the poor. But because of family and tradition, Deborah becomes the major priority. Armand starts a whole new journey when he gets on that plane to the United States and lands in New York City, where his relatives and friends are awaiting him and Deborah. In New York City, he is immediately thrown into a quandary. Though he misses Haiti, he excitingly falls in love with the United States and New York City. On his beginning U.S. journey, he is introduced to the two most important people in his life and the two most important characters in the novel. Also, he is introduced to two of the most important persons he met in his life in the United States: Thomas, a radical Christian socialist who constantly places the United States into the glaring light of expectation and reality and compels Armand to go beyond his strict religious beliefs to uncover deeper truth about a society that worships the material greed; and the other person is Monica, a young woman of questionable reputation, but has sterling charm, a charm that, in spite of all of the warning of Armands family and church friends, got Armand to marry her. The novel unfolds with these two polar, opposite ch

Divine Misfortune is a story of gods and mortals -- -in worship, in love, and at parties. Teri and Phil had never needed their own personal god. But when Phil is passed up for a promotion -- again-it's time to take matters into their own hands. And look online. Choosing a god isn't as simple as you would think. There are too many choices; and they often have very hefty prices for their eternal devotion: blood, money, sacrifices, and vows of chastity. But then they found Luka, raccoon god of prosperity. All he wants is a small cut of their good fortune. Oh -- and can he crash on their couch for a few days? Throw in a heartbroken love goddess and an ancient deity bent on revenge and not even the gods can save Teri and Phil.

WHEN EVEN THE FORTUNE COOKIES HINT AT CALAMITY AHEAD, WATCH OUT! Best friends Sue Jan and Lovita run a beauty shop/boutique in the little West Texas town of Wachita. They share a passion for food and fun. But one day, over lunch in a Chinese restaurant, Lovita opens a fortune cookie with a sinister message: "Your father was murdered. . ." a clue that leads them to God, an international spy ring, and several devastatingly handsome strangers. A most unlikely pair of detectives, these girlfriends "comb" the countryside with style, sarcasm, and lots of Szechwan. This tale is like good take-out food--definitely worth bringing home.

"Gordo, a freelance writer, is married to Ana, an attorney. The couple has built a genteel life in the Oleander City. Sons Jake and Sam attend private schools, the family is active in the community, life is good.".

High charged family saga rich with sibling rivalry, insatiable ambition, eroticism and addiction. The story revovles around two sisters, Venetia and Atlanta, and traces the sisters' desperate struggles to find their own individual identities.Laura Marlowe the mother, is a Hollywood movie star and their father is Greek billionaire Nicholas Stephanolooplis a cold and cruel tycoon who controls and dominates his women as ruthlessly as he does his international business empire.

Wiglaf and his friends Angus and Erica find themselves teamed with the obnoxious Bragwort to represent the Dragon Slayers' Academy in an unevenly matched contest at the All-Schools Brain-Power Tournament.

An entertaining and insightful exploration of schadenfreude: the deliciously dark and complex joy we've all felt, from time to time, at news of others' misfortunes. You might feel schadenfreude when... the boss calls himself "Head of Pubic Services" on an important letter a cool guy swings back on his chair, and it tips over. a Celebrity Vegan is caught in the cheese aisle. an aggressive driver cuts you off -- and then gets pulled over. your co-worker heats up fish in the microwave, then gets food poisoning. an urban unicyclist almost collides with a parked car. someone cuts the line for the ATM -- and then it swallows their card. your effortlessly attractive friend gets dumped. We all know the pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. The Germans named this furtive delight in another's failure schadenfreude (from schaden damage, and freude, joy), and it has perplexed philosophers and psychologists for centuries. Why can it be so satisfying to witness another's distress? And what, if anything, should we do about it? Schadenfreude illuminates this hidden emotion, inviting readers to reflect on its pleasures, and how we use other people's miseries to feel better about ourselves. Written in an exploratory, evocative form, it weaves examples from literature, philosophy, film, and music together with personal observation and historical and cultural analysis. And in today's world of polarized politics, twitter trolls and "sidebars of shame," it couldn't be timelier. Engaging, insightful, and entertaining, Schadenfreude makes the case for thinking afresh about the role this much-maligned emotion plays in our lives -- perhaps even embracing it.