“An incisive history” of how a bicycle messenger service in Seattle became a global behemoth, and the labor battles along the way (Dissent). We may see their trademark brown trucks everywhere today, but few people know the behind-the-scenes story of United Parcel Service and how it became one of America’s most admired companies. This book reveals how UPS managed to displace General Motors—the very symbol of American capitalism—to become the largest private-sector unionized employer in the United States; its long, tumultuous history with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; and its effects on its workers and surrounding communities. It also explores the question of its future in the age of Amazon—as it battles to hold on to the throne of the Package King. “Get a copy of Allen’s book for yourself and then pass it on to a UPS driver the next time you get a delivery. She is part of the most organized section of what is possibly the most important industry in 21st-century capitalism, and the outcome of her story will have a lot to do with what our world looks like on the other side of this pandemic.” —Indypendent

A volume "packed" with insight and ideas The packaging industry is more competitive every day so creating a new package that is innovative, adds value, and makes a connection with the consumer is a challenge often met with limited success. Dynamic and unusual package designs can really make a statement in overcrowded markets. What makes a package successful? How do designers find the inspiration and execute the designs that really work? This compendium of package design answers all that and more. The content covers inspiration, process, design research, working with clients, planning, and execution of some of the most effective packages on the market today. Insight from top packaging designers worldwide is provided on pages that are packed with images of great designs. Unlike most packaging books, this volume is stuffed with content in a compact, portable, and easy-to-use format

As the United States now faces a major defeat in its occupation of Iraq, the history of the Vietnam War, as a historic blunder for US military forces abroad, and the true story of how it was stopped, take on a fresh importance. Unlike most books on the topic, constructed as specialized academic studies, The (Last) War the United States Lost examines the lessons of the Vietnam era with Joe Allen's eye of both a dedicated historian and an engaged participant in today's antiwar movement. Many damaging myths about the Vietnam era persist, including the accusations that antiwar activists routinely jeered and spat at returning soldiers or that the war finally ended because Congress cut off its funding. Writing in a clear and accessible style, Allen reclaims the stories of the courageous GI revolt; its dynamic relationship with the civil rights movement and the peace movement; the development of coffee houses where these groups came to speak out, debate, and organize; and the struggles waged throughout barracks, bases, and military prisons to challenge the rule of military command. Allen's analysis of the US failure in Vietnam is also the story of the hubris of US imperial overreach, a new chapter of which is unfolding in the Middle East today. Joe Allen is a regular contributor to the International Socialist Review and a longstanding social justice fighter, involved in the ongoing struggles for labor, the abolition of the death penalty, and to free the political prisoner Gary Tyler.

#ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today Emma Roberts Belletrist Book Club Pick A New York Times Book Review’s Group Text Selection "I loved this book not just from the first chapter or the first page but from the first paragraph... The voice is just so honest and riveting and insightful about creativity and life." —Curtis Sittenfeld An extraordinary new novel of art, love, and ambition from Lily King, the New York Times bestselling author of Euphoria Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with another instant New York Times bestseller: an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman. Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfill her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink. Writers & Lovers follows Casey—a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist—in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King’s trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.

Excellent book!! If you're the least bit interested in the lengthy and nefarious relationship between the Teamsters and UPS, this book covers it all. I'm embarrassed that I've worked for more than a quarter century for UPS and been a Teamster for just as long and didn't know half of the stuff that's uncovered, exposed, and revealed in The Package King! -Rob Atkinson, veteran UPS and Teamster activist The Package King's step by step narrative of how major changes in the Teamsters and in labor history can and did happen, should serve as an exampleto any young militants entering the trade union movement today. Anyone interested in taking on the rich and powerfulon the shop floors of the 21st century should download and readthis book. -Guy Miller, In These Times His new book The Package King: A Rank and File History of United Parcel Service which was revelatory to me on a number of levels. "Oh, hell, you may say, I know what United Parcel Service is"-and that's what I thought, and know you don't is the answer! -Rick Kogan, "After Hours with Rick Kogan," WGN Radio The Package King is a wonderful look at over a century of capitalism, its transformations, and the rank and file militancy, and peaks and troughs that have characterized the U.S. labour movement of the last 100 years. It is also a call to activists to get serious about analyzing the modern logistics system and how to think about how to build worker power within it. -Gerard Di Trolio, rankandfile.ca This is a marvelous alternative history of UPS, written from the point of view of the people who do the actual work. Joe Allen unpacks a prime example of working life in our era. That sense of alienation you feel? It's not you. It's capitalism. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a better understanding of what lies beneath the brutal ugliness in our economy, and a glimpse into how we can fight back. -Brian Noe, customer review"

From legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting story about “an ordinary man in an extraordinary condition rising above hatred” (The Washington Post) and bringing the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine together—a “joyful, uplifting” (Entertainment Weekly) tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences, “the sign of a master elevating his own legendary game yet again” (USA TODAY). Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis. In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face—including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others. “Written in masterly Stephen King’s signature translucent…this uncharacteristically glimmering fairy tale calls unabashedly for us to rise above our differences” (Booklist, starred review). Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, an “elegant whisper of a story” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), “perfect for any fan of small towns, magic, and the joys and challenges of doing the right thing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series Multiple-award-winning author Rick Riordan brings back smart-mouthed Texas P.I. Tres Navarre for his most dangerous case yet. If you think the academic world is deadly dull, you're half right.... When a controversial English professor is found shot to death, Tres Navarre — P.I. and Ph.D. — is the only local academic crazy enough to accept the emergency opening at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Police assure him they already have a suspect, so while they wrap up the open-and-shut case, all Tres has to do is teach three classes, grade on a curve ... and walk in a dead man's shoes. It should be an easy assignment — but one thing Tres doesn't do is easy. When the evidence in the case starts looking a little too perfect, when the killing doesn't stop, Tres takes on some extracurricular research into the heart of an assassin — and lands in a high-stakes game of gangster honor on the darkest streets of San Antonio's West Side.... Don’t miss any of these hotter-than-Texas-chili Tres Navarre novels: BIG RED TEQUILA • THE WIDOWER’S TWO-STEP • THE LAST KING OF TEXAS • THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO AUSTIN • SOUTHTOWN • MISSION ROAD • REBEL ISLAND