How They Blew It

How They Blew It is a series of eye-popping tales of entrepreneurs and business leaders who went from corporate gurus to financial disaster zones in rapid and humiliating fashion. Full of surprising details and mind-blowing sums of money, it looks at the characteristics of these leaders and the fine line between hero and zero.How They Blew It is about the people at the heart of these business catastrophes. It is about what drives them to succeed and then to fail. It is a compelling examination of the rights and wrongs of each case and it seeks to get into the minds of the people behind the business disasters and ask "Why the hell did they do that?" By examining how business ventures can go so badly wrong, you can learn to avoid those mistakes in the first place.

A hilarious examination of faux pas for readers of Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half and Jenny Lawson’s Let’s Pretend This Never Happened Humankind is doomed. Especially you. It’s already too late. From overstaying your welcome at a party, to leaving passive-aggressive post-its on your roommate’s belongings, to letting your date know the extent of the internet reconnaissance you did on them—you're destined to embarrass yourself again and again. In You Blew It!, Josh Gondelman, comedian and co-creator of the “Modern Seinfeld” twitter account, teams up with Joe Berkowitz, an equally wry and ruthless social-observer, to dissect a range of painfully hilarious faux pas. Breaking down the code violations of modern culture—particularly our fervent, ridiculous addiction to technology—Gondelman and Berkowitz will keep you laughing as they explore how social blunders are simply part of the mystery that is you.

In 2011, the Midwest suffered devastating floods. Due to the flooding, the US Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway, one of the flood prevention mechanisms of the Mississippi Rivers and Tributaries Project. This levee breach was intended to divert water in order to save the town of Cairo, Illinois, but in the process, it completely destroyed the small African American town of Pinhook, Missouri. In When They Blew the Levee: Race, Politics, and Community in Pinhook, Missouri, authors David Todd Lawrence and Elaine J. Lawless examine two conflicting narratives about the flood--one promoted by the Corps of Engineers that boasts the success of the levee breach and the flood diversion, and the other gleaned from displaced Pinhook residents, who, in oral narratives, tell a different story of neglect and indifference on the part of government officials. Receiving inadequate warning and no evacuation assistance during the breach, residents lost everything. Still after more than six years, displaced Pinhook residents have yet to receive restitution and funding for relocation and reconstruction of their town. The authors' research traces a long history of discrimination and neglect of the rights of the Pinhook community, beginning with their migration from the Deep South to southeast Missouri, through purchasing and farming the land, and up to the Birds Point levee breach nearly eighty years later. The residents' stories relate what it has been like to be dispersed in other small towns, living with relatives and friends while trying to negotiate the bureaucracy surrounding Federal Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency Management Agency assistance programs. Ultimately, the stories of displaced citizens of Pinhook reveal a strong African American community, whose bonds were developed over time and through shared traditions, a community persisting despite extremely difficult circumstances.

A hilarious examination of faux pas for readers of Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half and Jenny Lawson’s Let’s Pretend This Never Happened Humankind is doomed. Especially you. It’s already too late. From overstaying your welcome at a party, to leaving passive-aggressive post-its on your roommate’s belongings, to letting your date know the extent of the internet reconnaissance you did on them—you're destined to embarrass yourself again and again. In You Blew It!, Josh Gondelman, comedian and co-creator of the “Modern Seinfeld” twitter account, teams up with Joe Berkowitz, an equally wry and ruthless social-observer, to dissect a range of painfully hilarious faux pas. Breaking down the code violations of modern culture—particularly our fervent, ridiculous addiction to technology—Gondelman and Berkowitz will keep you laughing as they explore how social blunders are simply part of the mystery that is you.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda goes to Italy in Arvin Ahmadi's newest incisive look at identity and what it means to find yourself by running away. Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy--he just didn't think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right? Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature... until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a US Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom. At turns uplifting and devastating, How It All Blew Up is Arvin Ahmadi's most powerful novel yet, a celebration of how life's most painful moments can live alongside the riotous, life-changing joys of discovering who you are.

So many people in the world truly believe they are not worthy of receiving Gods best for them. This work gives vivid examples of Gods provision today for all who will turn to Him. The good life is available for the asking. (Social Issues)

A rhymed tale describing the antics of a capricious wind. The wind blew, and blew, and blew! It blew so hard, it took everything with it: Mr. White’s umbrella, Priscilla’s balloon, the twins’ scarves, even the wig on the judge’s head. But just when the wind was about to carry everything out to sea, it changed its mind! With rhyming verse and colorful illustrations, Pat Hutchins takes us on a merry chase that is well worth the effort.