A chemist-turned-writer and a construction rigger in a remote factory pass the time swapping tales of their lives and voyages. Primo Levi’s most light-hearted novel, The Monkey’s Wrench is a tribute to storytelling, human ingenuity, and the importance of finding meaningful work in life. “A lot of stories have happened to me,” says Faussone, the mysterious construction rigger at the center of this comic novel by Primo Levi. Far from home on a work assignment, Libertino Faussone befriends the book’s narrator, a chemist based loosely off of Levi himself. Although he can’t quite explain it, the chemist is immediately entranced by the wandering laborer who has traveled to every corner of the world. The two embark on an unlikely friendship, trading tales filled with curses and spies, scandal and heartbreak. With its easy-going and even whimsical tone, The Monkey’s Wrench is a change from Primo Levi’s other works. Yet its message is just as vital. The novel reminds us about the importance of connection between strangers, our endless capacity to solve even the most challenging of problems, and finding fulfillment in work. Along with Elie Wiesel and Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi is remembered as one of the most powerful and perceptive writers on the Holocaust and the Jewish experience during World War II. This is an essential book both for students and literary readers. Reading Primo Levi is a lesson in the resiliency of the human spirit.

A motley crew of saboteurs wreaks havoc on the corporations destroying America’s Western wilderness in this “wildly funny, infinitely wise” classic (The Houston Chronicle). When George Washington Hayduke III returns home from war in the jungles of Southeast Asia, he finds the unspoiled West he once knew has been transformed. The pristine lands and waterways are being strip mined, dammed up, and paved over by greedy government hacks and their corrupt corporate coconspirators. And the manic, beer-guzzling, rabidly antisocial ex-Green Beret isn’t just getting mad. Hayduke plans to get even. Together with a radical feminist from the Bronx; a wealthy, billboard-torching libertarian MD; and a disgraced Mormon polygamist, Hayduke’s ready to stick it to the Man in the most creative ways imaginable. By the time they’re done, there won’t be a bridge left standing, a dam unblown, or a bulldozer unmolested from Arizona to Utah. Edward Abbey’s most popular novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang is an outrageous romp with ultra-serious undertones that is as relevant today as it was in the early days of the environmental movement. The author who Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove) once dubbed “The Thoreau of the American West” has written a true comedic classic with brains, heart, and soul that more than justifies the call from the Los Angeles Times Book Review that we should all “praise the earth for Edward Abbey!” “Mixes comedy and chaos with enough chase sequences to leave you hungering for more.”—The San Francisco Chronicle

In this fun & funny celebration of hardware, Vince Staten answers the burning questions that have plagued humankind from time immemorial, such as: Did monkeys invent the monkey wrench?; Are Swiss Army knives really Swiss?; If cement was invented 7,000 years ago then why isn't the whole planet paved? Yes, in this book Staten reveals the mysterious origins of all the things that hold your house together & all the tools you've ever dreamed of having. And drawing on his years behind the counter of his father's hardware store, he reminds us that there once was a place where like-minded souls could discuss really important things like baseball, bad movies, & box-end wrenches. An amusing trip into the world of hardware.

Inspiration for the Netflix series Chico Bon Bon! Whether you need a beebersaw or a chisel, Chico Bon Bon's your monkey. He can build or fix just about anything—from a dock for the ducks to a clock for the Clucks, even a small roller coaster for local chipmunks. But will his tools and his sharp wit save him when an organ grinder sets his sights on making Chico a circus star? Chris Monroe's quirky hero and detailed illustrations will absorb readers in an entertaining adventure that shows there is an inventive way out of every problem—if you have the right tools.

This is the first collection of articles completely and explicitly devoted to the new field of 'comparative developmental evolutionary psychology' - that is, to studies of primate abilities based on frameworks drawn from developmental psychology and evolutionary biology. These frameworks include Piagetian and neo-Piagetian models as well as psycholinguistic ones. The articles in this collection - originating in Japan, Spain, Italy, France, Canada and the United States - represent a variety of backgrounds in human and nonhuman primate research, including psycholinguistics, developmental psychology, cultural and physical anthropology, ethology, and comparative psychology. The book focuses on such areas as the nature of culture, intelligence, language, and imitation; the differences among species in mental abilities and developmental patterns; and the evolution of life histories and of mental abilities and their neurological bases. The species studied include the African grey parrot, cebus and macaque monkeys, gorillas, orangutans, and both common and pygmy chimpanzees.

“In Levi’s writing, nothing is superfluous and everything is essential.” —Saul Bellow A Penguin Classic In the final days of World War II, a courageous band of Jewish partisans makes its way from Russia to Italy, moving toward the ultimate goal of Palestine. Based on a true story, If Not Now, When? chronicles their adventures as they wage a personal war of revenge against the Nazis: blowing up trains, rescuing the last victims of concentration camps, scoring victories in the face of unspeakable devastation. Primo Levi captures the landscape and the people of Eastern Europe in vivid detail, depicting as well the terrible bleakness of war-ridden Europe. But finally, what he gives us is a tribute to the strength and ingenuity of the human spirit. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

When ex-Krishna Steve Bryant launched a one-man holy war against the Hare Krishna cult, his body was found murdered. It was the Krishnas' response to make Bryant a monkey on a stick, a gruesome warning to all other Krishnas that death was in store for those with dreams of defection. 16 pages of photos.