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An essential defense of the people the world loves to revile--the loners--yet without whom it would be lost The Buddha. Rene Descartes. Emily Dickinson. Greta Garbo. Bobby Fischer. J. D. Salinger: Loners, all--along with as many as 25 percent of the world's population. Loners keep to themselves, and like it that way. Yet in the press, in films, in folklore, and nearly everywhere one looks, loners are tagged as losers and psychopaths, perverts and pity cases, ogres and mad bombers, elitists and wicked witches. Too often, loners buy into those messages and strive to change, making themselves miserable in the process by hiding their true nature--and hiding from it. Loners as a group deserve to ...
“Self-loathing is a dark land studded with booby traps. Fumbling through its dark underbrush, we cannot see what our trouble actually is: that we are mistaken about ourselves. That we were told lies long ago that we, in love and loyalty and fear, believed. Will we believe ourselves to death?” —from Unworthy As someone who has struggled with low self-esteem her entire life, Anneli Rufus knows only too well how the world looks through the eyes of those who are not comfortable in their own skin. In Unworthy, Rufus boldly explores how a lack of faith in ourselves can turn us into our own worst enemies. Drawing on extensive research, enlightening interviews, and her own poignant experiences, Rufus considers the question: What personal, societal, biological, and historical factors coalesced to spark this secret epidemic, and what can be done to put a stop to it? She reveals the underlying sources of low self-esteem and leads us through strategies for positive change.
Rufus identifies a rather striking social trend: many people are stuck in the wrong relationship, career, or town, or just with bad habits they can't seem to quit. Many even say they want to change, but face a complex network of causes for immobilization.
"The brilliant mind behind Party of One examines the striking social trend: people are stuck and they want to change, but..." (San Francisco Chronicle) In this book, Anneli Rufus identifies an intriguing aspect of our culture: Many of us are stuck. Be it in the wrong relationship, career, or town, or just with bad habits we can't seem to quit, we even say we want to make a change, but . . . Merging interviews, personal anecdotes, and cultural criticism, Stuck is a wise and passionate exploration of the dreams we hold dearest for ourselves-and the road to actually achieving them. When faced with the possibility of change, our minds can play tricks on us. We tell ourselves: I can't make it. Or...
An award-winning journalist offers a frank, insightful exploration of the full range of emotions that often accompany death, discussing the conflicted feelings of loss, guilt, doubt, and even joy that sometimes accompanies the death of a loved one. Original.
Holy relics -- the bodily remains of saints and other sacred figures -- were for centuries the most revered objects in the Western world, at center-stage in Europe's great churches and cathedrals. Today some relics have been shunted to side chapels and dark crypts, yet many continue to draw prayerful pilgrims, as they have for centuries, seeking solace, inspiration, and signs of miracles. In Magnificent Corpses, Anneli Rufus recounts her visits to 18 of Europe's most significant relics. With an engaging mix of history and personal narrative, Rufus tells their secret stories and, along the way, revisits with a fresh eye the compelling accounts of the saints whose physical bodies the relics represent.
Welcome to Weird Europe...where truth is stranger than fiction. Thrill-seekers, students of the bizarre, travelers searching for relief from the usual tourist attractions--rejoice! At last, here is a guidebook to Europe's dark side, compiled by Kristan Lawson and Anneli Rufus. From strange natural wonders to the handiwork of mad scientists, dreamers, and zealots, Europe harbors hundreds of fascinating--and occasionally gruesome--surprises. In these pages, you'll discover: -Two-headed animals -Erotic museums -Creepy catacombs -A cathedral made of salt -A railroad operated by children -The Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum -An all-ice hotel -Ancient pagan rituals -Mines -Sewer tours -A museum of espionage -UFO landing sites -Pictures drawn by the dead -A frog museum -Pancake races -Oddball art -Underground cities -Giants, freaks, and Siamese twins -The Temple of Echoes -And more! Covering twenty-five countries, with complete directions, opening hours, and admission prices for nearly a thousand wild attractions, Weird Europe is an indispensable guide to a world that you never knew existed. Once you enter Weird Europe, there's no turning back.
Illustrated throughout, this one-of-a-kind guide to California's infamous sites covers movie locations; celebrity haunts; cult temples; sites of scandal, murder and mayhem; and the places where rock 'n' roll legends went down. 75 photos.
From invitations, party favors, decorations, music, games, food, and drinks, --this highly entertaining cookbook will serve as any fun-loving girl's personal manifesto for new ways to live and to celebrate life.
"Solitude was seminal in challenging the established belief that "interpersonal relationships of an intimate kind are the chief, if not the only, source of human happiness." Indeed, most self-help literature still places relationships at the center of human existence. Lucid and lyrical, Storr's book cites numerous examples of brilliant scholars and artists -- from Beethoven and Kant to Anne Sexton and Beatrix Potter -- to demonstrate that solitude ranks alongside relationships in its impact on an individual's well-being and productivity, as well as on society's progress and health. But solitary activity is essential not only for geniuses, says Storr ; the average person, too, is enriched by spending time alone."--Back cover.