This unusual coming of age story is set in Tehran, right before and after the 1979 revolution, which replaced the Shah’s westernized regime with the rule of Moslem fundamentalists. The story’s narrator is a 12-year-old boy with an overactive imagination, who is in love with all things American and is surrounded by tight-knit web of eccentric relatives. In his chaotic world, street dogs give profound advice; otherworldly jins co-exist with humans; and an ancient culture lives side by side with the daily rhythms of American pop songs and sitcoms. Despite its exotic milieu, the characters and events of the book will seem strangely familiar to all of us who have lived through the difficult process of growing up. This may be an Iranian family, but readers everywhere will be able to identify with the narrator's rivalries with his brother, the summertimecar trips, the painful pangs of first love, disastrous dinner parties at home, and the dark shadows that death casts on daily life. The book also gives readers a colorful account of living through a difficult political climate through the eyes of a young boy; a perspective beyond what appears on TV news and daily headlines, and an interesting comment on the role of American pop culture in a Third World country.

Don Cherry straddled the world of music and the world of golf. With his two innate talents, Cherry ascended to unbelievable heights—making gold records, winning major golf victories, and securing a place for himself in the history books. As a result, he touched the lives of dozens of big-time athletes and stars. From Demaret to Crosby, Dino to Palmer, Nicklaus to Sinatra, and Mickey Mantle to former U.S. presidents. Known in the sports world for his animated style and fiercely competitive nature, Cherry came close to winning the U.S. Open in 1960. At the same time, he got paid to sing, earning worldwide fame as the voice of "Mister Clean" (the most famous commercial jingle in the world), while making top-selling records. Cherry cut records that earned gold, such as "Band of Gold." He headlined at the Desert Inn and palled around with Rat Packer Dean Martin. He played The Masters nine times, won the famed America's Golf Cup twice, and took home the Walker Cup three times. All of these are highlighted in Cherry's Jubilee. So are some of his darker moments—such as the time he nearly died, falling into a coma before comedian Buddy Hackett diagnosed what the doctors couldn't—and the most devastating blow of his life, the death of his son, who was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. In Cherry's Jubilee, Don Cherry tells the story of his remarkable life. In a down-home and honest manner, using humor and wit, he offers countless anecdotes, clubhouse stories, and backstage tales about his life and career. His engaging accounts, along with the many names and celebrities you will recognize along the way, show just how fascinating and consequential Don Cherry really was—and is. This is the true rags-to-riches story of a man who has lived the American dream and definitely earned his own band of gold.

Reproduction of the original: The Gold Brick by Ann S. Stephens

Lynching in American Literature and Journalism consists of twelve essays investigating the history and development of writing about lynching as an American tragedy and the ugliest element of national character. According to the Tuskegee Institute, 4,743 people were lynched between 1882 and 1968 in the United States, including 3,446 African Americans and 1,297 European Americans. More than 73 percent of the lynchings in the Civil War period occurred in the Southern states. The Lynchings increased dramatically in the aftermath of the Reconstruction, after slavery had been abolished and free men gained the right to vote. The peak of lynching occurred in 1882, after Southern white Democrats had regained control of the state legislators. This book is a collection of historical and critical discussions of lynching in America that reflects the shameful, unmoral policies, and explores the topic of lynching within American history, literature, and journalism.

"I gave up sleep so that I could read to the surprising and satisfying ending. I laughed out loud in public in response to the quirky plot twists. An Unsafe Pair of Hands by Chris Dolley is a masterful addition to the British mystery genre." -- Barth Siemens Peter Shand is the 'safe pair of hands' - a high-flying police administrator seconded to a quiet rural CID team to gain the operational experience he needs for promotion. On his second day he's thrust into a high-profile murder case. A woman's body is discovered in an old stone circle - with another woman buried alive beneath her. The pressure on Shand is enormous. The media is clamoring for answers, but everything about the case is baffling. Then a local journalist singles out Shand as the reason for the lack of progress, and goads him at a press conference. Shand responds by inventing a lead, and keeps on lying - to the press, his boss, his team - telling himself that he'll solve the case before anyone finds out. And then another murder occurs. And had there been a third? Shand begins to doubt his ability. He's desperate, increasingly unpredictable, pursued by an amorous psychic, and somehow gaining a reputation for arresting livestock. Which will break first? The case, or Shand? Chris Dolley is a New York Times bestselling author.

The bestselling classic about a mixed-race child in the Civil War-era South that “chronicles the triumph of a free spirit over many kinds of bondage” (TheNew York Times Book Review). Jubilee tells the true story of Vyry, the child of a white plantation owner and his black mistress. Vyry bears witness to the antebellum South in both its opulence and its brutality, its wartime ruin, and the promises of Reconstruction. Weaving her own family’s oral history with thirty years of research, Margaret Walker brings the everyday experiences of slaves to light in a novel that churns with the hunger, the hymns, the struggles, and the very breath of American history. “A revelation.”—Milwaukee Journal Includes a foreword by Nikki Giovanni