Dancing With Death

A former stripper turned suburban housewife is exposed as a brutal killer in this shocking true crime tale of a loving husband beheaded in Phoenix. Phoenix, Arizona, 2004. Marjorie Orbin filed a missing person’s report on her husband, Jay. She claimed that the successful art dealer had left town on business after celebrating their son’s birthday more than a month before. But no one believed that Jay would abandon the family he loved. Authorities suspected foul play . . . As the search for Jay made local headlines, Marjorie’s story starting coming apart. Why did she wait so long before going to police? If Jay was away on business, why were there charges made to his credit card in Phoenix? Then, the unthinkable happened. Jay’s headless, limbless torso was discovered on the outskirts of the Phoenix desert—and all evidence pointed to Marjorie as the killer. The investigation revealed surprising details about her life—six previous marriages, an ongoing affair with a man from her gym, and alleged ties to the New York mafia.

“An unforgettable escapade of ultimate danger and discovery…” - Readers' Favorite Fans of Jon Krakauer will devour this gripping tale of adventure, survival, and a search for life’s deeper meaning. Two men, three years, seven countries, 3000 miles… The Central American Sea Kayak Expedition 2000 is an inspiring journey of exploration, endurance, and self-discovery that takes Jean-Philippe Soulé and his traveling partner Luke Shullenberger from Baja California all the way to Panama. During this unfathomably grueling expedition, they face every manner of threat, from sharks, crocodiles, and bandits to stormy seas, malaria, and their own mortality—all in search of a deeper connection to Mother Nature and the indigenous people who revere her most. This riveting memoir of physical and emotional endurance will leave you breathless as you experience their victories, misfortunes and sacrifices. An evocative, gripping narrative coupled with award-winning photographs that is a must-read for those who love travel, outdoor adventure, and cultural exploration—and for the dreamers who've been told they can't, but stubbornly refuse to listen.

‘Be quiet and be calm, my countrymen, for what is taking place is exactly what you came to do ... Brothers, we are drilling the death drill.’ – Reverend Isaac Wauchope Dyobha Paris, 1958. A skirmish in a world-famous restaurant leaves two men dead and the restaurant staff baffled. Why did the head waiter, a man who’s been living in France for many years, lunge at his patrons with a knife? As the man awaits trial, a journalist hounds his long-time friend, hoping to expose the true story behind this unprecedented act of violence. Gradually, the extraordinary story of Pitso Motaung, a young South African who volunteered to serve with the Allies in the First World War, emerges. Through a tragic twist of fate, Pitso found himself on board the ss Mendi, a ship that sank off the Isle of Wight in February 1917. More than six hundred of his countrymen, mostly black soldiers, lost their lives in a catastrophe that official history largely forgot. One particularly cruel moment from that day will remain etched in Pitso’s mind, resurfacing decades later to devastating effect. Dancing the Death Drill recounts the life of Pitso Motaung. It is a personal and political tale that spans continents and generations, moving from the battlefields of the Boer War to the front lines in France and beyond. With a captivating blend of pathos and humour, Fred Khumalo brings to life a historical event, honouring both those who perished in the disaster and those who survived.

Death created it all, and mankind ruined it. No he wants everything back - in blood.Mankind sold its soul to ideologies, beliefs and superstition. And with that, they alienated themselves from the world and entered an abyss, meant only for failure.The extinction of the human race is now his sole target; earth will not know peace until every soul has been reaped. Peace comes only with victory, and the war for earth has begun!

One of the most widely used ethnographies published in the last twenty years, this Margaret Mead Award winner has been used as required reading at more than 600 colleges and universities. This personal account by a biocultural anthropologist illuminates not-soon-forgotten messages involving the sobering aspects of fieldwork among malnourished children in West Africa. With nutritional anthropology at its core, Dancing Skeletons presents informal, engaging, and oftentimes dramatic stories that relate the author’s experiences conducting research on infant feeding and health in Mali. Through fascinating vignettes and honest, vivid descriptions, Dettwyler explores such diverse topics as ethnocentrism, culture shock, population control, breastfeeding, child care, the meaning of disability and child death in different cultures, female circumcision, women’s roles in patrilineal societies, the dangers of fieldwork, and facing emotionally draining realities. Readers will laugh and cry as they meet the author’s friends and informants, follow her through a series of encounters with both peri-urban and rural Bambara culture, and struggle with her as she attempts to reconcile her very different roles as objective ethnographer, subjective friend, and mother in the field. The 20th Anniversary Edition includes a 13-page “Q&A with the Author” in which Dettwyler responds to typical questions she has received individually from students who have been assigned Dancing Skeletons as well as audience questions at lectures on various campuses. The new 23-page “Update on Mali, 2013” chapter is a factual update about economic and health conditions in Mali as well as a brief summary of the recent political unrest.

Seeking to merge the information of theologians and anthropologists, this book looks at the variety of ways in which cultures around the world deal with death and give it meaning. In some cultures, most famously Ancient Egypt, families would virtually financially ruin themselves in order to deal with the death of just one person. Other cultures such as the nomadic peoples of southern Africa, simply pull down the roof of their dwelling onto the body and move on, while the wrapped bodies in Torajan (Indonesian) houses are used as shelves. The reader is guided through such diverse areas as myths about death, belief about ways to mourn, joking at funerals, post-mortem videos, cannibalism, headhunting and royal mortuary ritual.