The author offers a look at depression in which he draws on his own battle with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, researchers, doctors, and others to assess the complexities of the disease, its causes and symptoms, and available therapies. This book examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has on various demographic populations, around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness. He takes readers on a journey into the most pervasive of family secrets and contributes to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition.

From the bestselling author of Oracle Night and The Book of Illusions, an exhilarating, whirlwind tale of one man's accidental redemption Nathan Glass has come to Brooklyn to die. Divorced, estranged from his only daughter, the retired life insurance salesman seeks only solitude and anonymity. Then Nathan finds his long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, working in a local bookstore—a far cry from the brilliant academic career he'd begun when Nathan saw him last. Tom's boss is the charismatic Harry Brightman, whom fate has also brought to the "ancient kingdom of Brooklyn, New York." Through Tom and Harry, Nathan's world gradually broadens to include a new set of acquaintances—not to mention a stray relative or two—and leads him to a reckoning with his past. Among the many twists in the delicious plot are a scam involving a forgery of the first page of The Scarlet Letter, a disturbing revelation that takes place in a sperm bank, and an impossible, utopian dream of a rural refuge. Meanwhile, the wry and acerbic Nathan has undertaken something he calls The Book of Human Folly, in which he proposes "to set down in the simplest, clearest language possible an account of every blunder, every pratfall, every embarrassment, every idiocy, every foible, and every inane act I had committed during my long and checkered career as a man." But life takes over instead, and Nathan's despair is swept away as he finds himself more and more implicated in the joys and sorrows of others. The Brooklyn Follies is Paul Auster's warmest, most exuberant novel, a moving and unforgettable hymn to the glories and mysteries of ordinary human life.

This witty autobiography captures the rich and varied life of a renowned French author and pioneering feminist, through the obstacles and movements in twentieth-century France. Born in 1920 in Paris, Benoite Groult obtained the right to vote only when she was twenty-five years old. She married four times, bore three children, underwent several illegal abortions, became a writer after she turned forty, and a feminist in her fifties. Groult chronicles her experiences and her intellectual developments through successive phases—as an obedient child, an awkward and bookish adolescent, and a submissive wife—until finally becoming a liberated novelist. Here, she recounts the childhood trips she spent with her family, Paris during the occupation, her marriages, motherhood, and her continuous fight for women’s rights. At ninety-one years old, she concludes that she has been, and still is, a happy woman—lucky to have captured her freedoms, one by one, paying for them, delighting in them, and loving them. Sexy, chatty, and full of shrewd insight, My Escape covers her years of struggle and success—as a daughter, lover, writer, wife, mother, and reluctant socialite—and draws a portrait of the role of French women in the twentieth century.

A collection of essays and other non fiction from Terry Pratchett, spanning the whole of his writing career from his early years to the present day. Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series -- but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer's research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together for the first time the finest examples of Pratchett's non fiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important); from memories of Granny Pratchett to speculation about Gandalf's love life, and passionate defences of the causes dear to him. With all the humour and humanity that have made his novels so enduringly popular, this collection brings Pratchett out from behind the scenes of the Discworld to speak for himself -- man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orangutans and Dignity in Dying. Snuff was the bestselling adult hardcover novel of 2011. A Blink of the Screen, Terry's short fiction collection, was also one of the bestselling hardcovers of 2012.

Will you get to the Orwellians before the Wanstein Club get to you? The clock is ticking… Based on the global phenomenon of Escape Rooms, and following on from the international bestseller The Escape Book by Ivan Tapia, this book puts your ingenuity, wit and perseverance to the test with even more fiendish challenges, puzzles, and enigmas that you must solve to thwart the sinister Wanstein Club. Investigative journalist Candela Fuertes is at rock bottom: her fight against Castian Warnes, the head of the powerful and sinister Wanstein Club, has undermined her credibility as a journalist, and meanwhile she suspects Warnes is behind the car accident that put her boss in hospital. Corroded by the thirst for revenge, she decides to turn to the only people who can help her in a cause that seems already lost: the Orwellians, a group of hackers hell bent on revealing the secrets of the rich and famous. In order to get to the Orwellians, you and Candela must follow their trail all over London. The chapters of the book are jumbled up, and to know where to continue reading, you must solve the puzzles, optical illusions, conundrums and anagrams that you find. Each time you solve a puzzle, the number you arrive at will indicate the page from which you can continue the story.

Activity book meets adventure in this series that is Choose Your Own Adventure meets I Survived meets doodle book! Doodle, decide, and demolish your way out of history's greatest events--the perfect book for fun and educational summer reading! Reader, beware! Once you open this book, there is no turning back. You will have three chances to survive the Titanic's fateful voyage. Decide which path to take first. Passenger: Exploring the ship is fun! Just don't get caught on the wrong deck when there's an iceberg ahead! Crew Member: You work for a family in first class. Can you persuade them to save you along with their beloved dog? Stowaway: You snuck onto this ship. Can you draw your way onto a lifeboat? In the Escape This Book! series, YOU are the star of history! Doodle your way through adventures as you decide the best path for survival. Don't be afraid to rip or fold a page. . . . Your escape may depend on it!

Mary Robson is a young Yorkshire woman, married to her solid, unromantic cousin, John. Together they battle to preserve Mary's neglected inheritance: their beloved farm, Anderby Wold. This labour of love - and the benevolent tyranny of traditional Yorkshire ways - has made Mary old before her time. Then into her purposeful life comes David Rossitur. Young, red-haired, charming, eloquent: how can she help but love him? But David is from a different England - radical and committed to social change. As their confrontation and its consequences inevitably unfold, Mary's life and that of the calm village of Anderby are changed forever.