"This tender memoir" by the Rome Prize–winning novelist revisits the bohemian era of downtown Manhattan in a tale of love, art, and the AIDs crisis (Publishers Weekly). From the 1950s through the 1970s, downtown Manhattan was a hotbed of creative life where artists and writers were free to explore ideas and push boundaries. As a young man, celebrated author and playwright Joseph Caldwell arrived from Milwaukee to become one of the original pioneers of New York's gay bohemian community. In this charming, brutally candid memoir, Caldwell describes his tenure working at the venerated classical music station WQXR, marching in civil protests and being arrested, his evolution as a writer, and his many accomplished acquaintances. Opening with a tender and intimate moment he shared with photographer William Gale Gedney on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1959, Caldwell charts the course of his quixotic pining for him across three decades. But by the early... Views: 617
A debut novel for readers of The Handmaid's Tale and The Girls, The Birth Yard is a gripping story of a young woman's rebellion against the rules that control her bodySable Ursu has just turned eighteen, which means she is ready to breed. Within the confines of her world, a patriarchal cult known as the Den, female fertility and sexuality are wholly controlled by Men. In the season they come of age, Sable and her friends Mamie and Dinah are each paired with a Match with the purpose of conceiving a child. Sable is paired with Ambrose, the son of a favoured Man in the Den. Others are not so lucky. In their second trimester, girls are sent to the Birth Yard, where they are prepared for giving birth and motherhood, but are also regularly drugged and monitored by their midwives. Sable is unable to ignore her unease about the pills they are forced to swallow and the punishments they receive for stepping out of line. Too many of the girls, including Mamie and Dinah, have... Views: 617
In this powerful story of life, love, and the demands of marriage and motherhood, Fariba Vafi gives readers a portrait of one woman's struggle to adapt to the complexity of life in modern Iran. The narrator, a housewife and young mother living in a low-income neighborhood in Tehran, dwells upon her husband Amir's desire to immigrate to Canada. His peripatetic lifestyle underscores her own sense of inertia. When he finally slips away, the young woman is forced to raise the children alone and care for her ailing mother. Vafi's brilliant minimalist style showcases the narrator's reticence and passivity. Brief chapters and spare prose provide the ideal architecture for the character's densely packed unexpressed emotions to unfold on the page. Haunted by the childhood memory of her father's death in the basement of her house while her mother ignored his entreaties for help, the narrator believes she relinquished her responsibility and failed to challenge her mother. As a single parent... Views: 617
Sexual harassment is in the news almost every day. Countless women have been intimidated into silence or their careers and lives have been ruined because they refused to submit to unwanted sexual advances. Yet, sexual harassment coupled with corruption is not singularly an American affliction. It's an ancient disease, a truly universal tale. Dr. Raana Mahmood's story, Courage to Stay No, is a narrative of standing up against sexual corruption in her home country of Pakistan. It epitomizes the courage, audacity, and determination required to resist becoming a victim in a culture that places little value on divorced women. One that openly allows men to have a second, a third, and a fourth wife, all at a man's pleasure. After escaping from her husband's physical, verbal, and emotional abuse with her young son in tow, Dr. Mahmood filed for divorce and took up residency as gynecologist at a nearby hospital. After facing years of harassment from her colleagues for... Views: 617
Do you long to pray powerful prayers that impact Heaven and shake earth? Do you want to partner with God to deliver victory in challenging circumstances? Do you want to see God move powerfully in the lives of your loved ones? For more than 30 years, Germaine Copeland, author of the Prayers That Avail Much Series®, has been helping millions of people pray—and get results! This 40th anniversary commemorative edition is an all-in-one collection of Germaine Copeland’s three bestselling works. This book will enhance your ability to pray by placing dozens of specific, powerful prayers and scriptures at your fingertips. Whether you are a seasoned prayer warrior or a novice, this foundational work will empower you to pray with confidence, and witness the amazing effects. Views: 617
