An exploration of why we play video games despite the fact that we are almost certain to feel unhappy when we fail at them.

DIVProminent queer theorist offers a "low theory" of culture knowledge drawn from popular texts and films./div

An Observer book of the year HAUNTED! By endless tiny humiliations. STRUGGLING! To resurrect the corpse of his literary career. ENSNARED! In a loving yet bamboozling marriage. A man at odds with the universe, Anthony McGowan stumbles from one improbable fiasco to the next. On the mean streets of West Hampstead he reflects upon all that is at the heart of life itself – socks with holes, underwhelming packed lunches, broken washing machines, Kierkegaard, liver salts, British Library eccentricities and disapproving ladies on trains. In this chronicle of one man’s daily failures and disappointments, McGowan can’t help but speak his mind – with cringeworthy and hilarious results.

This mind-bending, award-winning book, written by an Oxford psychiatrist and philosopher, explores what it means to be successful, and how, if at all, true success can be achieved.

Every time Matthew Altobelli tried to picture his life after high school, he couldn’t see anything. But a conversation with his guidance counselor in January 2006 gave him clarity: He would join the Air Force. But after returning home from Afghanistan, he found himself battling a host of physical issues as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He began to look forward to hospital stays when he’d be numbed by drugs. Under the influence, he could escape his mental demons or the physical world. While many veterans suffer from PTSD and its related symptoms, it can affect anyone who has suffered trauma. Drawing on his personal experiences, the author explains what it means and how he’s fought it. Take a journey down a winding path of heartache as a former staff sergeant seeks to find his place in the civilian world while battling demons from the past.

How does anyone get to the top of their field? We all know it takes hard work, dedication, and the occasional dose of luck, but what separates a wannabe from a winner? The Art of Doing brings together an incredible cross-section of individuals who are the at the top of their respective fields, from actor Alec Baldwin to New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz, to and asks them each one question: how do you succeed at what you do? The advice that they share is illuminating, and occasionally surprising, providing their top ten strategies on how to achieve greatness in a variety of ways. From the practical ("How to Open a Restaurant and Stay in Business," by restaurateur David Chang) to the zany ("How to Live Life on the High Wire," by infamous World Trade Center tightrope walker Philippe Petit), each interview is a testament to the knowledge and experiences that these risk-taking, barrier-breaking individuals have used to achieve their own success. With its diverse perspectives and variety of opinions about how to be the best in any field, this book will shape readers' views of success and inspire them to carve out their own niche.