ABOUT M. According to the Yugantar, one of the two pillars of Neo-Vedanta is the mighty, lionic Swami Vivekananda and the other, M., the humble, quiet, wise and illumined proclaimer singing day and night the glory of the Godman, Sri Ramakrishna. About him Sri Ramakrishna said, "With these very eyes, I saw you among the singers of Sri Chaitanya's sankirtana... You belong to the ever-perfect class... You are my own, of the same substance as father and son... You trade in the Jewellery of the Spirit... Ma! illumine him. Otherwise how will he illumine others. Except for me he knows nothing." Swami Vivekananda wrote to him, "You have hit Ramakrishna in the right point... (he) is with you evidently." Sri Ma Sarada Devi wrote to M., "When I heard you (read the Kathamrita) I felt those were His very words." Christopher Isherwood said of M., "The ideas and ideals Sri Ramakrishna taught to the house-holder found their embodiment in M." ABOUT THE BOOK The author has freely drawn on the Kathamrita, Sri Ma Darshan (M., the Apostle and the Evangelist), Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna & his Disciples and on some articles which have appeared from time to time in the Prabuddha Bharata and the Vedantal Kesari in compiling this short life. Sri Ma Trust brought out A Short Life of M., in 1977. The present edition is a somewhat enlarged and corrected version of the same. The Trust has also brought out a bigger book on M. and the Kathamrita under the title, 'Life of M. and Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathmrita.'

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

River Phoenix: A Short Life is the first biography of this talented but tragic young star. It explores the contradictions of a life that encompassed the hippy philosophy of his unconventional parents, the abnormal pressures of child stardom on TV, leading inevitably to the big time as a brat pack hopeful in Hollywood. However, there was real talent in this young actor which was recognised by up-coming directors and established names. His performance in Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty and his role as a male prostitute in My Own Private Idaho established his credentials as a serious actor with the potential for greatness.

An exceptional work that is at once an astonishing journey across countries and continents, an immersive examination of a great artist’s work, and a moving and intimate memoir—now available in paperback. In 2012, facing the death of his father and impending fatherhood, Toby Ferris set off on a seemingly quixotic mission to track down and look at—in situ—every painting still in existence by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the most influential and important artist of Northern Renaissance painting. The result of that pursuit is a remarkable journey through major European cities and across continents. As Ferris takes a keen analytical eye to the paintings, each piece brings new revelations about Bruegel’s art, and gives way to meditations on mortality, fatherhood, and life. Ferris conjures a whole world to which most of us have probably lost the key, and in the process teaches us how to look, patiently and curiously, at the world. Short Life in a Strange World is a dazzlingly original and assured debut—a strange and bewitching hybrid of art criticism, philosophical reflection, and poignant memoir. Beautifully illustrated with sixty-six color images, it subtly alters the way we see the world and ourselves.

Aside from meeting some of the most famous artists of our time, from Marcel Duchamp to Bob Dylan, Tucker's personal story involves a tragic family life and years as a starving artist, related poignantly but without pandering. Deftly edited by close friend and artist Lou, this is an arresting tour of a life devoted to new art, with a perfectly charming guide"--PW Annex Reviews.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Provocative and appealing . . . well worth your extremely limited time." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern fixation on “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing how many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.