After coming out as gay, Jason feels compelled to leave his home in Tennessee. Hoping to create a new life in Oregon, he takes a job as a companion/housekeeper/caregiver to an elderly man named Thomas. It turns out that Thomas has been expecting him and, with just a few weeks left to live, he tells Jason they are to share with the world a very different story of creation. With the love of his deceased wife ever in his mind and the promptings of his “guide,” Karl, Thomas weaves for Jason a new creation myth filled with love and purpose – a myth that deeply challenges Jason. How do you translate mystical experiences in a language easily understood within our normal reality? How does the weirdness of quantum mechanics fit into a cause-and-effect world? Those questions have challenged the greatest teachers and the everyday seeker of the truth. They challenge Thomas as well. No one can contain the infinite and put it into finite words. Yet there are steps that can be taken to invite the infinite into our experience, for it is only through direct experience that we can begin to grasp the true nature of our being.

The Fly in My Eye is a reflection of an illusion. It is the mirror of my creature self declaring itself as real to the eye of the beholder. Yet the human self would fade away into its parent nothingness but for the trance of the image it beholds. Enamored of its own appearance, regardless the truth of the echo, the affair with the dream continues. Narcissus sees himself time after time in the clouded pond and falls for it; hook, line and sinker. He is king in his own mind only. They say it's great to be the king, but of what, I say. If it be a ragged throne in a hellish realm, of what value to the soul is it? I have chosen to stand beside my King, instead of displacing Him. The position is not as exalted by the world, but instead of the king of hell, I claim Prince of the eternal Kingdom. I inherit now, and forever, the gifts of joy, peace, wholeness, and freedom. I relinquish title to the nightmare dream; giving up only pain, guilt, discord, and death. I choose to accept the reality of my eternal being and deny, once and for all time, the temporal, chaotic, and completely insufficient life of the world of man. I will stay for awhile, but only to convince you, my brothers and sisters, to join me and journey to a better reality. Know the fly you see in your eye is but a frail wisp of a dream, destined to fade away into the illusory mysts from whence it sprang, dissolving now as we lean in the direction of truth. Clear the reflecting fly from your eye and see henceforth with the one, eternal Mind that unifies us as brothers in Christ.

“The ultimate literary bucket list.” —THE WASHINGTON POST Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that’s as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the 1,000-plus titles it recommends. Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die ranges across cultures and through time to offer an eclectic collection of works that each deserve to come with the recommendation, You have to read this. But it’s not a proscriptive list of the “great works”—rather, it’s a celebration of the glorious mosaic that is our literary heritage. Flip it open to any page and be transfixed by a fresh take on a very favorite book. Or come across a title you always meant to read and never got around to. Or, like browsing in the best kind of bookshop, stumble on a completely unknown author and work, and feel that tingle of discovery. There are classics, of course, and unexpected treasures, too. Lists to help pick and choose, like Offbeat Escapes, or A Long Climb, but What a View. And its alphabetical arrangement by author assures that surprises await on almost every turn of the page, with Cormac McCarthy and The Road next to Robert McCloskey and Make Way for Ducklings, Alice Walker next to Izaac Walton. There are nuts and bolts, too—best editions to read, other books by the author, “if you like this, you’ll like that” recommendations , and an interesting endnote of adaptations where appropriate. Add it all up, and in fact there are more than six thousand titles by nearly four thousand authors mentioned—a life-changing list for a lifetime of reading. “948 pages later, you still want more!” —THE WASHINGTON POST

A suspenseful tale of Borgesian circularity, Shadowing Botticelli's Beauty features an unusual cast drawn from three distinct spheres: C.I.A. operatives running sensitive operations during the Cold War; players from the art world among them a painter-architect based in Buenos Aires, and from ages past, the Renaissance master, Sandro Botticelli; and colorful inhabitants of an elite, New England prep school. But throughout this sinuous tale of intrigue, there is the constancy of "Abel Baaker Charlie:" devoted husband; journeyman case officer; apprentice school master; autodidactic painter; and, last but not least, self-appointed art detective. While weathering the chaos of revolutions, personal tragedies, identity crises, a treacherous colleague, and radical career shifts, the novel's dauntless protagonist tenaciously stalks a lost masterpiece looted by a Nazi war criminal in the closing days of World War II. Baaker's story, which has a basis in fact, is told with the assuredness of a veteran insider privy to the clandestine realm of spies, the arcane province of art historians, and the twisted turf of private boarding schools. While making for a fine read, with its rewarding resolution, Shadowing Botticelli's Beauty ponders the opposing roles of chance and grand design in the destiny of its memorable characters.

The tenth-anniversary edition of the book that changed lives in profound ways, now with a new foreword and afterword. In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller. Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.

This is the color version of Maui Glory Days. It is very costly to print-on-demand, however, some have requested it. Capturing Maui's golden era of windsurfing, from the early pioneering days of Kailua to the big waves at Hookipa and Jaws, this book tells the story of the Kings and legends of the sport as it evolved from longboards to high-performances in big surf. Fictional dialogue accompanies remarkable true events of survival, from near-drownings to helicopter crashes. Told by Sports Illustrated Picture of the Year (POY) award-winning photographer and filmmaker Jonathan Weston. He was the first filmmaker to take the audience along for the ride with his innovative point-of-view (POV) helmet-mounted 16mm movie camera. The thrills, dangers and behind the scenes experiences are all shared in this epic tale of perseverance and survival. Remarkable images and Wind Legends movie, also produced by Jonathan Weston, are posted in accompanying website.

Stefan Gates asks and answers all the questions about farts, so that you don't have to. What is a fart? Do all creatures fart? Why do farts smell? Why do we find them so embarrassing... and so darned funny?! Broadcaster and obsessive fartologist Stefan Gates tackles these pressing issues in Fartology, the first ever book to take a comprehensive, scientific look at the body’s extraordinary methane-making abilities. Stefan looks at the journey from food to fart; the weird science behind intestinal gas; the sounds, smells and all things in between. With farty recipes, musings on the greatest farters in history, farts in literature, and fart euphemisms Fartology offers mind-blowing, trouser-exploding fun for all the family.