2021 Midwest Book Awards - Poetry Debut Gold Medal Winner 2020 Forewords Reviews INDIES Awards - Poetry Gold Medal Winner “Prophetic in bleak times” —DR. CORNEL WEST The Willies, Adam Falkner's first full-length poetry collection, offers a sharp and vulnerable portrait of the journey into queerhood in America. In a voice that Dr. Cornel West heralds as “prophetic in bleak times,” Falkner departs from a more familiar coming out narrative to center the stories of dueling selves. Masquerading white boy. Child of an addict. Closeted varsity athlete. Drifting seamlessly between the scholarly and conversational, Falkner's poems showcase a versatility of language and a courageous hunger, unafraid of depicting the costumes we use to hide legacies of toxic masculinity. Through snapshots both tragic and humorous, merciless and humane, Falkner offers powerful new ways of understanding the intersectional linkage that binds queer shame to cultural appropriation. At its core, The Willies asks us to consider who we will become if we do not grapple with what scares us most. Advance praise for The Willies Adam Falkner has heard what hums at the marrow of men who deceive themselves in order to survive America. — SAEED JONES This is truth that changes the air it reaches. This is poetry that, damn it, you can't shake. — PATRICIA SMITH In these urgent and sometimes mysterious poems, Falkner traces questions of identity, family, love and the self. His language is angular and surprising, his content intimate and profound. — ANDREW SOLOMON Adam Falkner is a poet with a heart of gold and a spine of steel. We need his prophetic voice in these bleak times. —DR. CORNEL WEST I am thankful for the incisive mind and eye of Adam Falkner. In the poems, the work of balancing several selves at once is done gently, deftly, and with the brilliance of someone curious about how limitless they can become. ― HANIF ABDURRAQIB

JINGLE BALLS! 'Chestnuts roasting on a...' Looking for a fun colouring book or a gift for someone who might appreciate a book full of artistic willies? 'Yule Knob' - Need a silly secret Santa, saucy stocking filler or hilarious hen night gift? Then Ella Cottons hilarious 'Cocktastic! Colourful Cocks' could be the book for you. Each beautifully designed black & white illustration depicts a famous male member taken from the world of Art ready for colouring. This is extreme mindfulness! Cocks found inside the book include:Michelangelo's David Medieval Nuns harvesting from the cock tree Roman winged penises Flower cocks Bhutanese knob dragons And many more! Ward off the 'Evil Eye' with these wonderful willies and their illuminating descriptions. Feel relaxed and amused while carefully colouring cock. Please note: Rubbing this book will not make it bigger. To see more of Ella's illustrations please visit: retroinc.co.uk

There are literally millions of books written about animals, but only two books written specifically for animals and this is one of them.* Originally these stories were published on the wind as an olfactory collection for dogs, but when they soared to #1 on the bestseller lists, other creatures demanded versions for themselves. Thus they were published with vegetable based inks for the edification of rabbits and slugs; converted into a vigorous waggle dance for honeybees; transcribed into whale songs, bird calls, cricket chirps, and elephant trumpets; and, lastly, translated into cow pies for the satisfaction of dung beetles and houseflies. All of these animals enjoyed reading about phobic cats, skeptical basset hounds, heroic honeybees, tree-hugging slugs, and megalomaniacal mollusks but now, at long last, Stories for Animals is available to animals of all species including yours. * The other is Poetry for Animals, available at fine bookstores and from woodland creatures everywhere. Recommended for ages 11+ (77+ in dog years)

Praise for Willie's Way: "Willie's Way is a fascinating compilation of real-life customer service stories that actually make a difference. It's about building your brand one customer at a time. Read how enthusiasm, confidence, and sincerity can impact your customers, grow revenues, and impact your bottom line. This is the best book I've read on customer service in a long time." --Joe Scarlett Chairman of the Board Tractor Supply Company "Wow! Willie's Way is simply infectious. Every reader is sure to find the six secrets to be very practical. In fact, they leave us without excuse. Without a doubt, Willie's Way has the power to transform an organization from one delivering mediocre customer service to one performing at the top." --Chris Strippelhoff Vice President-Member Services Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia "Van Hooser absolutely hit the bull's-eye with an outstanding instruction manual about the keys to extraordinary customer service. I have no doubt that companies and customer service professionals across virtually every industry will find value and fresh new insights in the pages of this brilliantly written gem." --Richard G. Kelley Director of Sales Training, North America Axcan Pharma, Inc.

This beautiful and brilliant debut picture book from Rosie Haine celebrates all bodies in every colour, shape and size you can imagine! All bodies are brilliant bodies, no matter what they look like. They will change as you get older, some things will change quicker than others, some might not change at all! Everyone has a bum. Nipples are normal. It isn't rude to be nude!

This dictionary gives the intriguing origins of hundreds of everyday words and expressions. Useful for reference and fun just for browsing, Dictionary of Word Origins is also a great way to expand vocabulary and enjoy doing it.

Critics often claim that prime-time television seemed immune—or even willfully blind—to the landmark upheavals rocking American society during the 1960s. Groove Tube is Aniko Bodroghkozy’s rebuttal of this claim. Filled with entertaining and enlightening discussions of popular shows of the time—such as The Monkees, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Mod Squad—this book challenges the assumption that TV programming failed to consider or engage with the decade’s youth-lead societal changes. Bodroghkozy argues that, in order to woo an increasingly lucrative baby boomer audience, television had to appeal to the social and political values of a generation of young people who were enmeshed in the hippie counterculture, the antiwar movement, campus protests, urban guerilla action—in general, a culture of rebellion. She takes a close look at the compromises and negotiations that were involved in determining TV content, as well as the ideological difficulties producers and networks faced in attempting to appeal to a youthful cohort so disaffected from dominant institutions. While programs that featured narratives about hippies, draft resisters, or revolutionaries are examined under this lens, Groove Tube doesn’t stop there: it also examines how the nation’s rebellious youth responded to these representations. Bodroghkozy explains how, as members of the first “TV generation,” some made sense of their societal disaffection in part through their childhood experience with this powerful new medium. Groove Tube will interest sociologists, American historians, students and scholars of television and media studies, and others who want to know more about the 1960s.