Flavor Of The Month

While fads such as hula hoops or streaking are usually dismissed as silly enthusiasms, trends in institutions such as education, business, medicine, science, and criminal justice are often taken seriously, even though their popularity and usefulness is sometimes short-lived. Institutional fads such as open classrooms, quality circles, and multiple personality disorder are constantly making the rounds, promising astonishing new developments—novel ways of teaching reading or arithmetic, better methods of managing businesses, or improved treatments for disease. Some of these trends prove to be lasting innovations, but others—after absorbing extraordinary amounts of time and money—are abandoned and forgotten, soon to be replaced by other new schemes. In this pithy, intriguing, and often humorous book, Joel Best—author of the acclaimed Damned Lies and Statistics—explores the range of institutional fads, analyzes the features of our culture that foster them, and identifies the major stages of the fad cycle—emerging, surging, and purging. Deconstructing the ways that this system plays into our notions of reinvention, progress, and perfectibility, Flavors of the Month examines the causes and consequences of fads and suggests ways of fad-proofing our institutions.

Charlie Stetko had a life to envy. A penthouse in Manhattan, a beautiful girlfriend, and a high-octane marketing career. Or so she thought. When her girlfriend sends her packing, Charlie ends up unemployed. Without a place to live or money of her own, she’s forced to do the one thing she vowed she never would: go back to Shaker Falls, Vermont. Back to her parents and back to the small town life—and the people—she left behind. Back to a part-time job in the new bakery in town. Emma Grier thought Charlie was the love of her life until that uppity Manhattan entrepreneur swept Charlie off her feet. Charlie left everything in Shaker Falls behind, including Emma’s shattered heart. But Emma picked herself back up and now owns a popular restaurant in town. As for her love life? She doesn’t need one. Something else she doesn’t need? Charlie waltzing into her restaurant to sell her the bakery’s pie.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The First Wives Club: This novel about an aging actress’s revenge on Hollywood is a “hoot” (Entertainment Weekly). Mary Jane Moran was an ambitious New York stage actress who lost the role of a lifetime and the one man she loved—all because Hollywood thought she was too plain and too old to star in the movies. But M. J. knew what she had inside—she just needed a little help bringing it out. Two years, forty pounds, sixty-seven thousand dollars, and a full round of nips, tucks, lipos, and implants later, the Broadway gypsy moth emerged a gorgeous butterfly with a new name and a new body. The woman now called Jahne Moore was svelte, sexy, and ripe for the big time. Jahne and her two sisters-in-arms—one ruthless LA native and one sweet Texas belle—are making their move on the West Coast. Television’s top creator wants them in the season’s white-hot new series. But as the starlets climb furiously to the top, they struggle to hide the secrets of their pasts. And Jahne Moore must give her most convincing performance ever when the same man who once broke her heart begs her to play a starring role—both in his show and in his life . . . “[A] juicy novel about Hollywood celebrities and secrets.” —Publishers Weekly “Compulsively readable.” —Daily News (New York) “Delicious and satisfying.” —Detroit Free Press

Publisher Description

Rejected by Hollywood as too fat, actress Mary Jane Moran endures a series of operations to reemerge as thin, gorgeous Jahne Moore, and embarks on her new career in Tinseltown.

Flavors of the Month-September 2022 Issue 1 Flavor of the Month: Caramel Sauce Model Name: NOVA SHARPE Main Photographer: Nate Williams Featured Shout Out: Horizon Kings What is your favorite flavor?

Helps prospective foragers identify 72 edible plants and then provides more than 80 recipes for utilizing them, including Cardamine Cress With Fennel and Orange Vinaigrette; Braised Beef With Onions and Dandelion; Violets, Strawberries, and Créme Fraiche; and more.