Shaker Guy

Two Yellow Lab Puppies and an Old Guy by H. G. Hastings-Duffield Like the author’s other books, this, too, is a miscellany. However, unlike all the others, Two Yellow Lab Puppies and an Old Guy aims at humor, even in the discussions that definitely are intended as edification for the reader. Readers might smile, maybe even laugh, at the observations, questions, and conclusions of the most erudite puppies ever to exist. “How Do You Know If What You Do Is Right?” is a fascinating discussion between Shaker, the male pup, and the old guy. The text contains sixteen discussions of various subjects. Besides the subject matter is the entertaining back and forth between Shaker and Emmy, his sister. The author skillfully delineates them as quite different personalities. Shaker is no dummy, of course, but his interests and values are often at odds with his sister’s. Emmy is not a prude, but she is very formal and strongly opinionated about what is the proper way to behave and to speak, among other things. Despite the quarrelling, the author never allows the reader to think anything other than they dearly love each other.

"The difference between the Parthenon and the World Trade Center, between a French wine glass and a German beer mug, between Bach and John Philip Sousa, between Sophocles and Shakespeare, between a bicycle and a horse, though explicable by historical moment, necessity, and destiny, is before all else a difference of imagination. The imagination is like the drunk man who has lost his watch, and must get drunk again to find it. It is as intimate as speech and custom, and to trace its ways we need to re–educate our eyes."—Guy Davenport Modernism spawned the greatest explosion of art, architecture, literature, painting, music, and dance of any era since the Renaissance. In its long unfolding, from Yeats, Pound and Eliot to Picasso and Matisse, from Diaghilev and Balanchine to Cunningham and Stravinsky and Cage, the work of Modernism has provided the cultural vocabulary of our time. One of the last pure Modernists, Guy Davenport was perhaps the finest stylist and most protean craftsman of his generation. Publishing more than two dozen books of fiction, essays, poetry and translations over a career of more than forty years, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1990. In poetry and prose, Davenport drew upon the most archaic and the most modern of influences to create what he called "assemblages"—lush experiments that often defy classification. Woven throughout is a radical and coherent philosophy of desire, design and human happiness. But never before has Davenport's fiction, nonfiction, poetry and translations been collected together in one compendium. Eight years after his death, The Guy Davenport Reader offers the first true introduction to the far–ranging work of this neglected genius.

A Study Guide for Alan Ayckbourn's "A Chorus of Disapproval," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.

One dealer's journey from the populist mayhem of flea markets to the rarefied realm of auctions reveals the rich, often outrageous subculture of antiques and collectibles. Millions of Americans are drawn to antiques and flea-market culture, whether as participants or as viewers of the perennially popular Antiques Roadshow or the recent hit American Pickers. This world has the air of a lottery: a $20 purchase might net you four, five, or six figures. Master dealer Curt Avery, the unlikely star of Killer Stuff and Tons of Money, plays that lottery every day, and he wins it more than most. Occasionally he gets lucky, but more often, he draws on a deep knowledge of America's past and the odd, fascinating, and beautiful objects that have survived it. Week in, week out, Avery trawls the flea and antiques circuit-buying, selling, and advising other dealers in his many areas of expertise, from furniture to glass to stoneware, and more. On the surface, he's an improbable candidate for an antiques dealer. He wrestled in high school and still retains the pugilistic build; he is gruff, funny, and profane; he favors shorts and sneakers, even in November; and he is remarkably generous toward both competitors and customers who want a break. But as he struggles for a spot in a high-end Boston show, he must step up his game and, perhaps more challenging, fit in with a white-shoe crowd. Through his ascent, we see the flea-osphere for what it truly is-less a lottery than a contact sport with few rules and many pitfalls. This rich and sometimes hilarious subculture rewards peculiar interests and outright obsessions-one dealer specializes in shrunken heads; another wants all the postal memorabilia he can get. So Avery must be a guerrilla historian and use his hard-earned knowledge of America's past to live by and off his wits. Only the smartest survive in one of America's most ruthless meritocracies. Killer Stuff and Tons of Money is many things: an insider's look at a subculture replete with arcane traditions and high drama, an inspiring account of a self-made man making his way in a cutthroat field, a treasure trove of tips for those who seek out old things themselves, and a thoroughly fresh, vibrant view of history as blood sport.

"Erik Reece is obviously a writer to be reckoned with."—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature In Erik Reece's stunning collection of essays, ideas are the main characters. Written over a period of ten years, and revealing Reece's continued obsession with religion, family, and the natural world, in many ways these essays represent a sequel to his stirring memoir, An American Gospel. In that book, Reece intimitately describes his conflicted relationship with Christianity in the context of the death of his father, and Reece's own journey since then to find meaning and balance in the material and spiritual worlds. Practice Resurrection continues that exploration through essays that take the reader to Norway, New England, London, the Adirondacks, Appalachia, and back to Reece's native Kentucky River. "With his singular wit and pith, environmental writer Reece explores issues such as God, Christianity, the environment (of course), and his father's suicide in essays rife with sentient turns of phrase and exceptionally insightful passages . . . Few are better than [Reece] is at discussing a personal crisis of faith." —Booklist (starred review)

Shares hundreds of strategies, fast fixes, and trouble-shooting tips for organizing living spaces and controlling clutter, in a guide that counsels readers on how to identify objects that are truly loved and needed while preventing vulnerable areas from becoming problems. Original. 25,000 first printing.

'Things Change'' _ Childhood best friends, Frank and John, witness an accident and in the commotion they drop their baby turtles into the sewer. Years later the two friends couldn't be more different: Frank, now a police officer, is protecting the community from robot monsters while John has become a member of the evil gang the Purple dragons, yet they both have had strange interactions with a mysterious group of ninjas and their master, Splinter.