A National Book Critics Circle Finalist for Criticism A deeply Malcolmian volume on painters, photographers, writers, and critics. Janet Malcolm's In the Freud Archives and The Journalist and the Murderer, as well as her books about Sylvia Plath and Gertrude Stein, are canonical in the realm of nonfiction—as is the title essay of this collection, with its forty-one "false starts," or serial attempts to capture the essence of the painter David Salle, which becomes a dazzling portrait of an artist. Malcolm is "among the most intellectually provocative of authors," writes David Lehman in The Boston Globe, "able to turn epiphanies of perception into explosions of insight." Here, in Forty-one False Starts, Malcolm brings together essays published over the course of several decades (largely in The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books) that reflect her preoccupation with artists and their work. Her subjects are painters, photographers, writers, and critics. She explores Bloomsbury's obsessive desire to create things visual and literary; the "passionate collaborations" behind Edward Weston's nudes; and the character of the German art photographer Thomas Struth, who is "haunted by the Nazi past," yet whose photographs have "a lightness of spirit." In "The Woman Who Hated Women," Malcolm delves beneath the "onyx surface" of Edith Wharton's fiction, while in "Advanced Placement" she relishes the black comedy of the Gossip Girl novels of Cecily von Zeigesar. In "Salinger's Cigarettes," Malcolm writes that "the pettiness, vulgarity, banality, and vanity that few of us are free of, and thus can tolerate in others, are like ragweed for Salinger's helplessly uncontaminated heroes and heroines." "Over and over," as Ian Frazier writes in his introduction, "she has demonstrated that nonfiction—a book of reporting, an article in a magazine, something we see every day—can rise to the highest level of literature." One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of 2013

The hell called Yuma Prison can destroy the soul of any man. And it's worse for those whose damning crime is the color of their skin. The law says Chiricahua Apache Raymond San Carlos and black-as-night former soldier Harold Jackson are murderers, and they'll stay behind bars until they're dead and rotting. But even in the worst place on Earth, there's hope. And for two hard and hated inmates -- first enemies, then allies by necessity -- it waits at the end of a mad and violent contest ... on a bloody trail that winds toward Arizona's five most dangerous men.

After labor, it’s time for rest: A gentle guide to zuo yuezi, the ancient Chinese practice of postpartum self-care, including sixty simple recipes. The first forty days after the birth of a child offer an essential and fleeting period of rest and recovery for the new mother. Based on Heng Ou’s own postpartum experience with zuo yuezi, a set period of “confinement” in which a woman remains at home focusing on healing and bonding with her baby, The First Forty Days revives the lost art of caring for the mother after birth. As modern mothers are pushed to prematurely “bounce back” after delivering their babies, and are often left alone to face the physical and emotional challenges of this new stage of their lives, the first forty days provide a lifeline—a source of connection, nourishment, and guidance. This book includes sixty simple recipes for healing soups, replenishing meals and snacks, and calming and lactation-boosting teas, all formulated to support the unique needs of the new mother. In addition to recipes, this warm and encouraging guide offers advice on arranging a system of help during the postpartum period, navigating relationship challenges, and honoring the significance of pregnancy and birth. Fully illustrated, it is a practical guide and inspirational read for all new mothers and mothers-to-be—the perfect ally during the first weeks with a new baby. “Bringing our attention back to the importance of the postpartum period for new mothers helps to create space for this essential period of integration and recovery . . . an invaluable companion during the first 40 days and beyond.” —Ricki Lake & Abby Epstein, filmmakers, The Business of Being Born

What if I told you that a decade ago, one of the greatest baseball prospects of his era was hitting home runs off Hall of Famers while hiding Parkinson's disease? What if I told you this is not the most amazing part of Petrick's story? When he signed a big-league contract, baseball executives and scouts uniformly predicted he would be the Rockies starting catcher for a decade. 'Think Buster Posey with speed,' says Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle, who managed Petrick in Colorado. 'He could have been one of the best catchers ever.' When he was called to the majors, Petrick didn't disappoint, hitting .323 over his first two seasons, with 11 homers off the likes of Randy Johnson. What no one knew at the time was that after his rookie season, Petrick was told he had Parkinson's, the same diagnosis his father received just seven months before. Four years later, Petrick quietly disappeared from the game. A man destined for fame and fortune was instead receiving disability as his wife went back to work full-time, leaving Petrick as primary caregiver for their infant daughter. With his physical capacity growing more diminished by the day, Petrick resolved to undergo a radical surgery to improve the life of his family. Petrick's soul-stirring journey, which he first recounted on his wildly popular blog called Faith In The Game and now in 40,000 to One, has earned him worldwide acclaim as an author and speaker, with some citing his book as one of the greatest sports biographies of all time. Says legendary baseball writer Steve Wulf of ESPN: 'Ben could've become the best catcher in baseball, and maybe one of the best in history, until Young-Onset Parkinson's robbed him of his physical abilities. But clearly he lost one gift only to find another.' Baseball America calls 40,000 to One 'An inspiration for all,' and beloved columnist and author Sharon Randall says, 'Ben writes with a kind of honesty and grace that both breaks your heart and makes it soar. He makes me want to not just be a better writer, but a better person. Never maudlin and truly inspiring, Ben and his book are a treasure.' World Series MVP Scott Brosius calls 40,000 to One 'a must-read. Powerful, inspiring and challenging on every level,' while Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd calls it 'A courageous and brilliantly told book.' Petrick's celebrated work has managed to transcend the sports genre, with no less than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saying, 'There are moments in this book that take your breath away. What the world will know once they've read 40,000 to One is that Ben's baseball success was prologue to what he was really meant to do in life: reveal a better way to those of us whose lives spin wildly at times.' 40,000 to One marks the arrival of an astonishingly bold and riveting author whose story seems destined to touch the hearts of millions, much as crossovers from the sports genre like Mitch Albom's 'Tuesdays With Morrie' and Arthur Ashe's 'Days of Grace' have in the past. With priceless wisdom on every page, Ben Petrick's 40,000 to One is a debut work that demands to be read, passed on and celebrated.

In this illuminating and deeply moving memoir, a former American military intelligence officer goes beyond traditional Cold War espionage tales to tell the true story of her family—of five women separated by the Iron Curtain for more than forty years, and their miraculous reunion after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Forty Autumns makes visceral the pain and longing of one family forced to live apart in a world divided by two. At twenty, Hanna escaped from East to West Germany. But the price of freedom—leaving behind her parents, eight siblings, and family home—was heartbreaking. Uprooted, Hanna eventually moved to America, where she settled down with her husband and had children of her own. Growing up near Washington, D.C., Hanna’s daughter, Nina Willner became the first female Army Intelligence Officer to lead sensitive intelligence operations in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War. Though only a few miles separated American Nina and her German relatives—grandmother Oma, Aunt Heidi, and cousin, Cordula, a member of the East German Olympic training team—a bitter political war kept them apart. In Forty Autumns, Nina recounts her family’s story—five ordinary lives buffeted by circumstances beyond their control. She takes us deep into the tumultuous and terrifying world of East Germany under Communist rule, revealing both the cruel reality her relatives endured and her own experiences as an intelligence officer, running secret operations behind the Berlin Wall that put her life at risk. A personal look at a tenuous era that divided a city and a nation, and continues to haunt us, Forty Autumns is an intimate and beautifully written story of courage, resilience, and love—of five women whose spirits could not be broken, and who fought to preserve what matters most: family. Forty Autumns is illustrated with dozens of black-and-white and color photographs.

THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON BEHIND THE COSMERE A STANDALONE COSMERE ADVENTURE WITH MAGIC AS YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN IT **** A story of two sisters, who just so happen to be princesses. A story about two gods, one a God King and one lesser. A story about an immortal trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Meet WARBREAKER. This is a story of two sisters - who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, a lesser god, and an immortal trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Theirs is a world in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city. A world transformed by BioChromatic magic, a power based on an essence known as breath. Using magic is arduous: breath can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. But the rewards are great: by using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be performed. **** SANDERSON THE EPIC FANTASY TITAN: 'Exceptional tale of magic, mystery and the politics of divinity' MICHAEL MOORCOCK 'A powerful stand-alone tale of unpredictable loyalties, dark intrigue and dangerous magic' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'Sanderson is astonishingly wise' ORSON SCOTT CARD 'Epic in every sense' GUARDIAN