This book features the cover art of the original 40 books Tom Swift series commencing in 1910. The Tom Swift books have been credited with laying the foundations for success of American science fiction by focusing on brilliant scientists and inventors. Tom Swift's adventures have been popular since inception in 1910: by 1914, 150,000 copies a year were being sold. As of 2009, Tom Swift books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

In these 39 lively essays and profiles, bestselling novelist and biographer Edmund White draws on his wide reading and his sly humour to illuminate some of the most influential writers, artists and cultural icons of the past century, among them Marcel Proust, Catherine Deneuve, George Eliot, Andy Warhol, André Gide, David Geffen, and Robert Mapplethorpe. 'Anyone who loves arts and letters even half as much as Edmund White will enjoy this fine collection by this admirable American writer.' - The Washington Post Book World

The 18th book of the series. Like many people, Tom Swift-and his father, Damon-have dreamed of the days when the personal jet backpacks we've heard about since the 1940s become reality. When a movie director from Hollywood comes to Tom to create the real thing-he demands reality in his science fiction films with special effects-it intrigues the young inventor enough to see what he might create. It's a lot harder than it first appears! He must convince the director that his plans to have a 1940's period piece with leather jackets and bullet-nosed SCUBA tank-shaped rockets has to be updated to match what he believes might be deliverable as a real device. The suit is hijacked by the stuntman and ends up shooting him into space making necessary a search and rescue mission. In the end, it is up to Bud Barclay to save the day and fly the suit for the film. But, a sudden attack might be sending him on a collision course with death. Can Tom rescue his best friend and save the movie?

"How do words get coined? That question is explored in Ralph Keyes's latest book, The Hidden History of Coined Words. Based on meticulous research, Keyes has determined that successful neologisms are as likely to be created by chance as by intention. A remarkable number of new words were coined whimsically, he's discovered, to taunt, even to prank. Knickers resulted from a hoax, big bang from an insult. Wisecracking produced software, crowdsource, and blog. More than a few neologisms weren't even coined intentionally: they resulted from happy accidents such as typos, mistranslations, and misheard words like bigly and buttonhole, or from an unintended coinage such as Isaac Asimov's robotics. Many of the word coiners Keyes writes about come from unlikely quarters. Neologizers (a Thomas Jefferson coinage) include not just learned scholars and literary lions but cartoonists, columnists, children's authors, and children as well. Wimp, Keyes tells us, originated with an early 20th century book series on The Wymps, goop from a series about The Goops, and nerd from a book by Dr. Seuss. Competing claims to have coined terms like gonzo, mojo, and booty call are assessed, as is epic battles fought between new word partisans, and those who think we have enough words already. A concluding chapter offers pointers on how to coin a word of one's own. Written in a reader-friendly manner, The Hidden History of Coined Words will appeal not just to word lovers but history buffs, trivia contesters, and anyone at all who is interested in a well-informed good read"--

In this hardbound edition of the 11th novel in The New Tom Swift Invention Series, someone is setting huge fires in an apparent attempt to draw Tom Swift into becoming involved in what looks like terrorist attacks. When a near tragedy and a request from a dear friend finally do prompt the young inventor into action, he discovers that an old enemy may be behind these fires. As he tries to find a solution for fighting the fires--and hopes that the FBI might catch the perpetrators--Tom finds that the writings of his namesake, the original Tom Swift, may hold the clues to the answer he seeks. An entire notebook tells the story of the trials and successes of his ancestor and his incredible fire fighting aerial ship. But can modern technology do what our Tom wants? This volume contains both the novel as well as a novella that tells the story of the original Tom and his search to create an aerial firetruck.

The Tom Swift adventure about his Rocket Ship doesn't tell much of the real tale other than the build and launch. In fact it just assumes that things like Fearing Island exist and his own father, Damon, has nothing better to do than stand and watch his son shoot into space. The truth is Damon also built a privately-funded rocket as part of an X-Prize competition. His was unique with a series of obstacles to overcome and began even before Tom had finished his Flying Lab. This included locating and building out Fearing Island off the coast of Georgia and everything that went into that massive operation. This is the story of how Fearing island came to be, how Damon became very good friends with the U.S. Senator who would play a large part in their lives, how he designed and built something more like a monstrous child's toy than a heavy-lifting rocket, and how he and Tom went into a friendly competition to see whose rocket would be launched first. It is a unique look into the father of Tom Swift.

This collection of essays critically evaluates Robert Lowell's correspondence, Elizabeth Bishop's unfinished poems, the inflated reputation of Hart Crane, the loss of the New Critics, and a damning-and already highly controversial-indictment of an edition of Robert Frost's notebooks. The book also includes essays on Derek Walcott and Geoffrey Hill, two crucial figures in the divided world of contemporary poetry, and an attempt to rescue the reputation of the nineteenth-century poet John Townsend Trowbridge. Short reviews consider John Ashbery, Anne Carson, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Louise Glück, Jorie Graham, Robert Hass, Seamus Heaney, and more.

Named a Library Journal Best Reference of 2023 - From Library Journal's Starred Review: "This ambitious and entertaining update solidifies Berger’s volume as a must-have title for librarians, booksellers, collectors, and students of the book arts and book history." This new edition of The Dictionary of the Book adds more than 700 new entries and many new illustrations and brings the vocabulary and theory of bookselling and collecting into the modern commercial and academic world, which has been forced to adjust to a new reality. The definitive glossary of the book covers all the terms needed for a thorough understanding of how books are made, the materials they are made of, and how they are described in the bookselling, book collecting, and library worlds. Every key term—more than 2,000—that could be used in booksellers’ catalogs, library records, and collectors’ descriptions of their holdings is represented in this dictionary. This authoritative source covers all areas of book knowledge, including: The book as physical object Typeface terminology Paper terminology Printing Book collecting Cataloging Book design Bibliography as a discipline, bibliographies, and bibliographical description Physical Condition and how to describe it Calligraphy Language of manuscripts Writing implements Librarianship Legal issues Parts of a book Book condition terminology Pricing of books Buying and selling Auctions Items one will see an antiquarian book fairs Preservation and conservation issues, and the notion of restoration Key figures, presses / publishers, and libraries in the history of books Book collecting clubs and societies How to read and decipher new and old dealers’ catalogs And much more The Dictionary also contains an extensive bibliography—more than 1,000 key readings in the book world and it gives current (and past) definitions of terms whose meaning has shifted over the centuries. More than 200 images accompany the entries, making the work even more valuable for understanding the terms described.

Over 60 images relating to books and reading in a full-color paperback. Part of Applewood's Pictorial America series, the book features images drawn from historical sources and includes prints, paintings, illustrations, and photographs. This small gem is the ideal gift for all bibliophiles'Äîauthors, publishers, librarians, booksellers, and avid readers of all ages.

In his 17th adventure, Tom finds himself battling something his scientific knowledge has not prepared him for: personal tragedy! Having conquered several of sci-fi's most difficult problems, he is faced with a crisis that will test his abilities nearly to the breaking point. An incredibly close person is stricken with an inoperable tumor inside his head that will kill him in months, or an operation might do it sooner. At the very least, standard medical procedures would leave him with brain damage. When Doc Simpson proposes an impossible task, Tom finds that he must rally if there is anything to do to save the man. But Doc himself refuses to consider the treatment Tom has in mind when he finds what the inventor proposes is more like a living video game that serious surgery. Is possible to convince him to let Tom-an unskilled surgeon at the very best-perform the life-saving procedure? And, can Tom rally his emotional and physical strength long enough to make the operation a success?