Guys Like Us

Guys Like Us considers how writers of the 1950s and '60s struggled to craft literature that countered the politics of consensus and anticommunist hysteria in America, and how notions of masculinity figured in their effort. Michael Davidson examines a wide range of postwar literature, from the fiction of Jack Kerouac to the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks, Frank O'Hara, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath. He also explores the connection between masculinity and sexuality in films such as Chinatown and The Lady from Shanghai, as well as television shows, plays, and magazines from the period. What results is a virtuoso work that looks at American poetic and artistic innovation through the revealing lenses of gender and history.

In this quiet, subdued tale, a middle-aged office worker, divorced and alienated from his only son, meets up with two childhood friends who are similarly adrift, without passions or prospects. He's looking for a second act to his mournful life, seeking the harbor of love and a true connection with his son.

Every girl has wondered how they need to act or what they need to do to get a certain boy's attention. Now they can know! Chad Eastham will encourage girls to be confident in who they are and Whose they are. Girls need to know that they are treasures to be adored and that how she feels about herself is how guys will treat her. Chapter titles add fun and interest to this life-altering message. Guys Like Girls Who . . . Wear Jeans (comfortable with who they are and Whose they are) Know the Future (understand there is a 96% chance this is not the boy they will marry so don't act like they are) Leave Us Alone (have their own hobbies) Can Spell (can say "no") Eat Tofu (live a healthy lifestyle)

On a Saturday morning, Mike Nolan, a hard-driving, hard-living lawyer in his early fifties, was hit by a truck during a 40-mile bike ride on New Jersey’s Route 35 and given up for dead. Instead, after months of recovery, Mike looked the same as he always had. The only difference? He had absolutely no memory. Guys Like Us, like a reverse memoir, is the attempt by his son, Sean, to tell Mike who he is through recollections of rare moments together and tales of the Nolan family on the Jersey shore. The Nolans, a clan planted in Ocean County by Mike’s father, Joe, are people who suffer no fools and take no prisoners; you had better wear thick skin when they are around. Three strong characters?Joe, Mike and Sean?dominate Guys Like Us. Add an enormous Cadillac that Joe and Sean bomb around in, Sean behind the wheel at the ripe age of eight. Stir in the boardwalks and beaches of the Jersey shore and near-lethal family feuds, and the pot boils. Sean Nolan does not fall far from the tree. It doesn’t take long for Sean to realize he has to tell Mike, among many other things, how impossible he could be. And that dark secrets, long held in a young boy’s heart, are out of reach to him forever. Giving his father back his memory, one funny, painful moment at a time, Nolan paints a poignant, often hilarious, portrait of their shared past.

The guys who together form the popular comedy duo The Skit Guys, take their distinct brand of humor and apply it to a guide on how to make and keep friends and why it matters for a life of faith and laughs. Since their high-school days, they've been writing and performing hilarious and poignant skits live around the world and on camera, as well as on their site, SkitGuys.com. Everywhere they go, the question people always ask them is, “How did you guys get to be and figure out how to stay friends?” Now, this offbeat duo is coming together to present Smells Like Bacon: The Skit Guys Guide to Lifelong Friendships, a book about the power of friendships and how to build the kind of friendships that last. Written in the signature hilarity of a Skit Guys dialogue—with well-placed banter or two sprinkled in for good measure—Smells Like Bacon explores: - Who needs friends? - How to be a good friend - Awkward things not to say to potential friends - How to handle difficult situations in friendship - And many fun quizzes, random stories, and references to bacon along the way

Season Finale is an inside chronicle of the entertainment industry following the unexpected rise and fall of the WB and UPN networks. In the mid-1990s, Hollywood studios Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures each launched their own broadcast television network, hoping to become the fifth player in an industry dominated by ABC, CBS, NBC, and, more recently, Fox. Against all odds, the WB and UPN altered primetime television’s landscape, only to merge as the CW in 2006—casualties of conflicting personalities, relentless competition, and a failure to anticipate the business’s future. Following the money, egos, and risks of network television, former WB executive Susanne Daniels and Variety television reporter Cynthia Littleton expose the difficulties of trying to launch two traditional broadcast networks just as cable and the Internet were ending their dominance. Through in-depth reportage and firsthand accounts, Daniels and Littleton re-create the creative and business climate that birthed the WB and UPN, illustrating how the race to find programming spawned their heated rivalry and created shows that became icons of youth culture. Offering insider stories about shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek, 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Felicity, Girlfriends, Everybody Hates Chris, and America’s Next Top Model, the authors present the creative environment that ushered these groundbreaking programs into living rooms across America. Despite success, the WB and UPN unraveled due to corporate miscalculations, management missteps, and industry upheaval that led to their decline—and rebirth as the CW. This is a cautionary and compelling entertainment saga about a precarious moment in television history, when the transformation of the broadcast networks signaled an inevitable shift for all pop culture.

Guys Like Me introduces us to five ordinary veterans from different generations who have done extraordinary work as peace activists. Michael A. Messner reveals how the horror and trauma of the battlefront motivated onetime warriors to reconcile with former enemies, crusade for justice, and heal themselves and others.