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From the very first page of this stunning novel, readers are drawn into the lives of eight seemingly ordinary women who pass through Manhattan's swanky Four Seasons Hotel. While offering sanctuary to some, solace to others, the hotel captures their darkest moments as they grapple with family, sex, power, love, and death. Trish obsesses over her best friend's wedding and dramatic weight loss. Robin wants revenge after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her older sister. Anne is single, lonely, and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug-addicted rock star Louise needs to dry out. Southerner turned wannabe Manhattanite Franny is envious of her neighbors' lives. Sheila wants to punish her boyfriend for returning to his wife. Ellen so desperately wants children that she insists she's pregnant to her disbelieving husband. And Morgan, the hotel manager—haunted by the memory of her dead sister—is the thread that weaves these women's lives together.
A young widow who lusts, a daughter who aches, a shopaholic who hungers...The Joy of Funerals is a riveting collection that explores the lives of nine young women, each willing to take drastic measures to fill the voids created by longing and loneliness. The first eight face death differently, while the ninth woman Nina ties them all together by attending funerals in her search to connect with others. Written with raw wit, mordant humor and a uniquely penetrating voice, Strauss turns the spotlight on loss and grief. In the vein of Six Feet Under, this is a provocative look into the inner world of those left behind, and those still holding on. "The desire for human connection runs throughout Alix Strauss's dark and spirited novel, The Joy of Funerals." - Vanity Fair
A USA Today Bestseller Featured in the Washington Post “Zibby Owens has done the literary world a great service, collecting important views at a critical moment in history. As she says, this is not a time to lower your voice. Kudos to her and all the authors here for sharing valuable insight, emotion, and perspective on the often misunderstood Jewish experience.” —Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie An intimate and hopeful collection of meaningful, smart, funny, sad, emotional, and inspiring essays from today’s authors and advocates about what it means to be Jewish, how life has changed since the attacks on October 7th, 2023, and the unique culture that brings this group toge...
Smart, spunky, and pretty, Britney Spears is a teenage singing sensation People called "a mix of Debbie Gibson's wholesomeness and Alanis Morissette's grit." Her Baby One More Time album hit #1 on the Billboard chart right out of the starting gate. It may seem like success came overnight for this brown-eyed beauty, but she's been working at it since childhood: before joining The Mickey Mouse Club at 11, Britney was acting in commercials and in an Off-Broadway show. And at 15, the singing bug bit--and there was no stopping Britney. But behind the fame, Britney's just an ordinary teen--she loves shopping, going to the beach, eating pizza, and talking about boys. She's close to her family and is in no rush to grow up. Find out all about Britney--from her career plans to her personal life, how she gets her cool look, who she spends her time with, what it was like on the road opening for 'N Sync and much, much more. With eight pages of awesome photos!
Updated with a new introduction, this fifteenth anniversary edition of A Return to Modesty reignites Wendy Shalit’s controversial claim that we have lost our respect for an essential virtue: modesty. When A Return to Modesty was first published in 1999, its argument launched a worldwide discussion about the possibility of innocence and romantic idealism. Wendy Shalit was the first to systematically critique the "hook-up" scene and outline the harms of making sexuality so public. Today, with social media increasingly blurring the line between public and private life, and with child exploitation on the rise, the concept of modesty is more relevant than ever. Updated with a new preface that a...
The linked stories in Cara Blue Adams’s precise and observant collection offer elegantly constructed glimpses of the life of Kate, a young woman from rural New England, moving between her childhood in the countryside of Vermont and her twenties and thirties in the northeast, southwest, and South in pursuit of a vocation, first as a research scientist and later as a writer. Place is a palpable presence: Boston in winter, Maine in summer, Virginia’s lush hillsides, the open New Mexico sky. Along the way, we meet Kate’s difficult bohemian mother and younger sister, her privileged college roommate, and the various men Kate dates as she struggles to define what she wants from the world on her own terms. Wryly funny and shot through with surprising flashes of anger, these smart, dreamy, searching stories show us a young woman grappling with social class, gender, ambition, violence, and the distance between longing and having.
“Like a beautifully-wrapped gift box, full of unexpected pleasures. Alix Strauss proves herself to be an astute and deeply feeling observer of human nature.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Black & White A stunning, wise, and witty second novel from renowned trend journalist Alix Strauss, Based Upon Availability chisels away at the exteriors of eight smart and intriguing women while delving deep inside to see what they’re truly made of. Following her Ingram Award-winning The Joy of Funerals—named Best Debut Novel by The New York Resident—Based Upon Availability is women’s literary fiction at its finest.
Vibrant, vivacious and gorgeous, Wendy Shanker is a fat girl who has simply had enough - enough of family, friends, co-workers, women's magazines, even strangers on the street all trying (and failing) to make her thin. With her mandate to change the world - and the humour and energy to do it - Wendy shows how media madness, corporate greed and even the most well-intentioned loved ones can chip away at a woman's confidence. She invites people of all sizes, shapes and dissatisfactions to trade self-loathing for self-tolerance, celebrity worship for reality reverence, and a carb-free life for a guilt-free Krispy Kreme. Wendy explores dieting debacles, full-figured fashions and feminist philosophy while guiding you through exercise clubs, doctors' offices, shopping malls and the bedroom. In the process, she will convince you that you can be fit and fat, even as the weight loss industry conspires to make you think otherwise. The Fat Girl's Guide to Life invites you to step off the scales and weigh the issues for yourself.
In this powerful, unforgettable memoir, acclaimed novelist Darin Strauss examines the far-reaching consequences of the tragic moment that has shadowed his whole life. In his last month of high school, he was behind the wheel of his dad's Oldsmobile, driving with friends, heading off to play mini-golf. Then: a classmate swerved in front of his car. The collision resulted in her death. With piercing insight and stark prose, Darin Strauss leads us on a deeply personal, immediate, and emotional journey—graduating high school, going away to college, starting his writing career, falling in love with his future wife, becoming a father. Along the way, he takes a hard look at loss and guilt, maturity and accountability, hope and, at last, acceptance. The result is a staggering, uplifting tour de force. Look for special features inside, including an interview with Colum McCann.
Divulging lost secrets can be murder In his first mission for the Crimson Dragon Society, Nick Severance finds himself drawn into a situation where events of the past have a murderous impact in the present. Can he deal with that impact and emerge unscathed? When Nick gets his first assignment from the shadowy Japanese intelligence agency he joined after fleeing the UK, it seems easy enough. All he has to do is play the babysitter and escort a retired MI6 agent to a safe house. But when Nick discovers why the agent needs help, the game changes. What was done secretly 20 years ago still has the power to ruin lives. But there’s no one else left alive who knows anything about it. Until now. Someone with plenty to lose wants the secrets of the past to stay buried. And he’ll do anything it takes to make that happen. But he’s not the only one who wants something. Nick must draw on all his resources as he becomes entangled in a web of lies, deceit and murder. His first assignment might just be his last.