Beautiful Destruction

The Alberta oil/tar sands are a place of superlatives, of awesome beauty and equally awesome destruction. They are a kaleidoscope of contrasts, colours and patterns keeping time with the seemingly unstoppable movement of machinery, smoke and effluent set in an immense boreal landscape with its own immutable patterns, cadence and cycles. Beautiful Destruction is a large-format, high-quality photography book that uses over 100 stunning, full-colour aerial photographs to transcend the polarities that dominate public discourse of the largest industrial project in North America: the Alberta oil/tar sands. With short essays by renowned personalities Bill McKibben, Charles Wilkinson, Duff Connacher, Elizabeth May, Eric Reguly, Ezra Levant, Jennifer Grant, Rick George, Gil McGowan, Allan Adam, Megan Leslie and Francis Scarpaleggia from both sides of the oil/tar sands debate discussing the artistic, industrial and environmental perceptions of northern Alberta's petroleum-based mega-project, Beautiful Destruction is one of the most ambitious, provocative and unique photography projects to be published in years.

i wonder if there will come a day when i will stop thinking about you, when your memories will stop looping and replaying in my mind like some sort of malfunctioning tape recorder, when the ghost of your touch i will not feel, and your hugs i will not remember, and your kisses i will finally forget. i wonder, but all i could do is wonder, because i'm still hoping that one day you'll come back to me, maybe in the middle of the night or in one late sunday afternoon when i'm least expecting you, and all my memories of you will flashback, but this time you'll trap me in your embrace and you'll whisper, "love, i'm here now, i'm sorry if i'd ever stopped your world from spinning, time won't matter from now on, f-ck time, i'm not ever leaving you again, and i'm not letting you go. please start making memories with me." beautiful destruction is a heartfelt and relatable collection of prose & poetry about life, love, musings, and struggles. i hope this book reaches you in the right time. this book is for you.

There’s a fine line between love and hate and they were about to cross it. My name is Samantha Ross and this is my life. I existed in a world that few know. Rundown trailers and crime-ridden streets were my home. Drugs and alcohol were the norm and happiness was the exception. I lived from day to day never knowing if I would have a roof over my head or food in my stomach. My life sucked. It took from me and gave nothing back. But there was one certainty in my life. A black smudge on my window of hell. Cole Walker. He was a criminal. A thief. He brought hell and damnation with him wherever he went. He hurt and destroyed. He took and gave nothing in return. He was heartache and despair wrapped up in a perfect gorgeous package. Fast cars and fast women were his hobbies. His vices. But he had many. I was one of them. I was his addiction and his craving. His enemy on this earth. I feared him. I hated him. I loved him even more. He would either be my destruction or my salvation… Maybe even both.

Argues that United States' creative class is fighting for survival and explains why this should matter to all Americans.

“The 21 artists, who share their stories of madness, trauma, addiction, abuse and self-destruction, and their relationship to art, leave no vulnerable detail unwritten.”—Shameless A visceral look at the bizarre entanglement of destructive and creative forces, Live Through This is a collection of original stories, essays, artwork, and photography. It explores the use of art to survive abuse, incest, madness and depression, and the often deep-seated impulse toward self-destruction including cutting, eating disorders, and addiction. Here, some of our most compelling cartoonists, novelists, poets, dancers, playwrights, and burlesque performers traverse the pains and passions that can both motivate and destroy women artists, and mark a path for survival. Taken together, these artful reflections offer an honest and hopeful journey through a woman's silent rage, through the power inherent in struggles with destruction, and the ensuing possibilities of transforming that burning force into the external release of art. With contributions by Nan Goldin, bell hooks, Patricia Smith, Cristy C. Road, Carol Queen, Annie Sprinkle, Elizabeth Stephens, Carolyn Gage, Eileen Myles, Fly, Diane DiMassa, Bonfire Madigan Shive, Inga Muscio, Kate Bornstein, Toni Blackman, Nicole Blackman, Silas Howard, Daphne Gottleib, and Stephanie Howell.

A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers. ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Ms. magazine, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews “Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.”—NPR We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price. Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.

This Sleeping Beauty fights back… Find out why readers are loving this new fairy tale retelling from New York Times bestselling authors Gwynn White and Erin St Pierre! Aurora and her allies barely escaped Ryferia with their lives. Now they’re on the run from her traitorous uncle, and Raith, the power-hungry Incubus who craves her magic for himself. Aurora must trust in unlikely allies to lead her to a legendary oracle who may hold the key to her and Ryferia’s survival… Jorah failed to fulfill the terms of his bond with the vindictive Sabrisia. But his love for Aurora will send him back to Warrendyte, where he knows Sabrisia will demand his death. But all is not lost. One of Aurora’s new allies may turn the tide in their fight against their enemies. The only problem is that she exacts a steep price for her help… Queen of Destruction is a fantastical retelling of Sleeping Beauty, complete with assassins, oracles, and a vengeful goddess. If you like incredible magic, reimagined fairy tales, and high-stakes romantic adventures, then you’ll love this captivating second book in the Queen of Extinction Trilogy by Erin St. Pierre and Gwynn White. Buy Queen of Destruction to take an adventure for love today!

Introduces the creative process behind the film, with concept illustrations, sketches, storyboards, and other pre-production materials, and features interviews with the director, key crew, and cast members.