This hard-hitting collection of creative essays explores the beauty and pain embedded in some of our favorite rough-and-tumble pastimes—roller derby, mixed martial arts, and teaching. Carlo Matos ties it all together with gusto, in a book that will send you reeling to the canvas again and again, and make you return every time for more.

The Ultimate Fighting Champion Hall of Famer tells his story in this no-holds-barred memoir—featuring a bonus chapter in this updated American edition. In Quitters Never Win, Michael Bisping—Britain’s own Rocky Balboa—tells his life story from childhood as a British Army brat to a legendary mixed martial arts career and induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. The ultimate UFC underdog, Bisping fought his way to Number One contender three times, only to be knocked back each time. But he refused to give in, clawing his way to his first World Title shot at the age of thirty-seven—and becoming the first ever British UFC world champion. Bisping offers fresh insights about his fighting career, never-before-told stories about his film and TV career, and a harrowing account of his fighting off attempted kidnappers while filming in South Africa. Loaded with the humor and brutal honesty that first won him a following on the television show Ultimate Fighter 3, Bisping recounts his record setting thirteen-year fight career battling the likes of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Dan Henderson.

From the creator of the #1 podcast "Don't Keep Your Day Job," an inspiring book about turning your passion into profit "Heller pivots effortlessly from encouraging readers to accept “miraculous changes,” find their bliss, and examine their authentic selves to practical tips for building mass marketing email distribution lists and identifying web-based social media and teaching portals that allow small-business owners to capture additional revenue...both approachable and incisive." —Booklist From the creator of the #1 podcast "Don't Keep Your Day Job," an inspiring book about turning your passion into profit The pursuit of happiness is all about finding our purpose. We don't want to just go to work and build someone else’s dream, we want to do our life's work. But how do we find out what we’re supposed to contribute? What are those key ingredients that push those who succeed to launch their ideas high into the sky, while the rest of us remain stuck on the ground? Don’t Keep Your Day Job will get you fired up, ready to rip it open and use your zone of genius to add a little more sparkle to this world. Cathy Heller, host of the popular podcast Don’t Keep Your Day Job, shares wisdom, anecdotes, and practical suggestions from successful creative entrepreneurs and experts, including actress Jenna Fischer on rejection, Gretchen Rubin on the keys to happiness, Jen Sincero on having your best badass life, and so much more. You’ll learn essential steps like how to build your side hustle, how to find your tribe, how to reach for what you truly deserve, and how to ultimately turn your passion into profit and build a life you love.

An inspiring account of high school football and the power of a dream. Players would not compromise their goal to play in the Pontiac Silverdome; a place where dreams come true and state championships are won. Their quest created a ten-year winning streak (1988-1998). Faithful fans watched them play on Friday nights, unaware of their serious challenges. You'll laugh with them, cry with them, and come to understand how their high school football experience impacted their lives, as well as their futures.

"Barnett's prose style is brassy and cleareyed, with echoes of Anne Lamott." --Beth Macy, The New York Times Book Review "Emotionally devastating and self-aware, this cautionary tale about substance abuse is a worthy heir to Cat Marnell's How to Murder Your Life." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A startlingly frank memoir of one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment Erica C. Barnett had her first sip of alcohol when she was thirteen, and she quickly developed a taste for drinking to oblivion with her friends. In her late twenties, her addiction became inescapable. Volatile relationships, blackouts, and unsuccessful stints in detox defined her life, with the vodka bottles she hid throughout her apartment and offices acting as both her tormentors and closest friends. By the time she was in her late thirties, Erica Barnett had run the gauntlet of alcoholism. She had recovered and relapsed time and again, but after each new program or detox center would find herself far from rehabilitated. "Rock bottom," Barnett writes, "is a lie." It is always possible, she learned, to go lower than your lowest point. She found that the terms other alcoholics used to describe the trajectory of their addiction--"rock bottom" and "moment of clarity"--and the mottos touted by Alcoholics Anonymous, such as "let go and let God" and "you're only as sick as your secrets"--didn't correspond to her experience and could actually be detrimental. With remarkably brave and vulnerable writing, Barnett expands on her personal story to confront the dire state of addiction in America, the rise of alcoholism in American women in the last century, and the lack of rehabilitation options available to addicts. At a time when opioid addiction is a national epidemic and one in twelve Americans suffers from alcohol abuse disorder, Quitter is essential reading for our age and an ultimately hopeful story of Barnett's own hard-fought path to sobriety.

City Quitters portrays creative pioneers pursuing alternative ways of living and working away from big cities. What does it mean to leave city life behind? Can the reality of living in the countryside fulfil our desire for a better, simpler, more creative life? This book is an attempt to shed light on what rural life can be like today, with all its joys and challenges, providing a fresh look at the people and scenes thriving outside urban spaces. From experimental co-habitation in a renaissance castle to oversized artworks on a farm, City Quitters offers a global perspective on creative post-urban life: 22 stories from 12 countries and five continents, all based in places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. About the author Karen Rosenkranz is an independent trend forecaster and ethnographer based in London. She has travelled all over the world spotting shifts in behaviour, attitudes and aesthetics, and has helped creative agencies from Amsterdam to New York uncover important socio-cultural changes. Fascinated by things that haven’t found a place yet, and anything that might impact how we live in years to come, Rosenkranz continues to explore the origins of fresh and original ideas with City Quitters. Features • 22 interviews with creative professionals and entrepreneurs who left a big city and are now living and working in a rural or provincial environment • Offers fascinating insights into the personal and professional lives of creative individuals across the globe • Shows a fresh approach to rural living beyond rustic pastimes and nostalgia

Motivational, step-by-step instructions on how you can finally keep those New Year’s resolutions It’s easy to make a resolution, but it’s also really easy to quit. And the more you want to change, the more opportunity there is to give up. Betsy Schow knows that game pretty well as when, a few years ago, she decided once and for all to lose weight. She lost 75 pounds and she’s kept it off. The Quitter’s Guide to Finishing shows readers how they can apply Schow’s unique finishing philosophy to all aspects of their lives. With humorous anecdotes and no-holds-barred frankness, Schow outlines how goal makers can move beyond “the starter’s high” and shift their perceptions in a way that allows them to actually complete their unfinished projects. The Quitter’s Guide to Finishing emphasizes action-oriented goals, planning without escape routes, using healthy rewards as motivation, and dozens of other tips and tricks to get you past the finish line.