The Pleasure Was Mine

Prate Marshbanks proposed to his future wife on a muggy July night at Pete's Drive-in back in '52. "She said yes to me between bites of a slaw burger all-the-way." A college graduate and daughter of a prominent lawyer, Irene was an unlikely match for Prate, a high school dropout. He lived his married life aware of the question on people's minds: How in the world did a tall, thin, fair-skinned beauty and one of the most respected high school English teachers in all of Greenville County, in all of South Carolina for that matter, wind up married to a short, dark, fat-faced, jug-eared house painter? That their marriage not only survived for fifty years, but flourished, is a source of constant wonder to Prate. Now he faces a new challenge with Irene. From the author of In The Family Way, a novel the Atlanta Constitution called "an instant classic" and the Charlotte Observer praised as "a lovely, moving book," comes a powerful story of hard-earned hope. The Pleasure Was Mine takes place during a critical summer in the life of Prate Marshbanks, when he retires to care for his wife, who is gradually slipping away. To complicate things, Prate's son, Newell, a recently widowed single father, asks Prate to keep nine-year-old Jackson for the summer. Though Prate is irritated by the presence of his moody grandson, during the summer Jackson helps tend his grandmother, and grandfather and grandson form a bond. As Irene's memory fades, Prate, a hardworking man who has kept to himself most of his life, has little choice but to get to know his family. With elegance and skillful economy of language, Tommy Hays renders an unforgettable character in Prate Marshbanks. The Pleasure Was Mine is at once a quietly wrenching portrayal of grief, a magical and romantic story about the power of love, and an unexpectedly moving take on the resilience of family.

Trisha wants to be rich and famous, so she opens her arms for all the right men. She doesn't care if it's Sanjay or someone else. She has the beauty to lure and the brain to know how, where and when. Sanjay is a happy man - with a beautiful trophy wife and roaring extra marital affairs. He dated a few, slept with many, but respected none. Until he saw Trisha, and she was all he could think about. A refined socialite and a renowned man's wife - that's the identity Bharti has lived with. Caught in a loveless marriage, she dares to break free and find herself when love comes knocking. Breathtakingly charming and lovable, Ankit is a guy who thinks from his heart. He lives to enjoy life and makes every second count when he bumps into Bharti. The only thing more shocking than the dark, dangerous pleasures they discover is how right it feels. When their lives mingle and feelings kindle, dirty secrets are revealed. A story of love, lust, deception and betrayal, The Pleasure Is All Mine is an irresistibly sensual page-turner that explores having it all, and the consequences of wanting more.

With The Pleasure is All Mine, anyone can enjoy a Steak au Poivre with Frites, Three-Cheese Ravioli, Coconut Fish Curry with Homemade Naan Bread, or a Wild Blueberry Free-Form Tart without the expense and hassle of restaurants or fussy dinner guests. The 100 uncomplicated, exquisite recipes in this collection are simple to prepare and require no fancy equipment. With just a skillet, bowl, knife, and a few perfect ingredients, Pirret makes great solo dining effortless-and she offers inspired wine and cocktail pairings, too, to make dinner complete. Edgy and bursting with personality, The Pleasure is All Mine is also filled with a wealth of devilishly entertaining stories based on her experiences living in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London.

When Joan Kelly took a weekend job as a professional submissive in a private dungeon, it seemed she'd finally found a perfect outlet for her pent-up desires. Suddenly, Joan was being paid to do things she'd only fantasized about. Having spent several years scouring the Internet unsuccessfully for a man who would dominate her in the bedroom without getting on her nerves outside of it, Joan had nearly lost hope of satisfying her sexually submissive urges. Now, using her professional name, "Marnie," she was being paid to do only what she felt like with kinky men who didn't even expect to have any real sex in their sessions. To Joan, it almost felt like being paid to practice the art of self-centeredness -- except for the part where she had to kneel and address strangers as "Master." The Pleasure's All Mine offers the reader a rare, intimate, often amusing, sometimes disturbing look into the life of a professional submissive -- one whose drive for self-acceptance and respect is as relentless as her sexual need for the services she provides. Readers will experience many humorous, bizarre, frightening, and utterly entertaining events through the perceptive and insightful eyes of this writer.

Reconnect to your inner sense of pleasure and joy through embodiment practices, which put you in touch with the natural wisdom of your body and enhance your ability to connect with others. In this time of increased fatigue, loneliness, and anxiety, disconnection from our bodies and from each other is at the core of our personal pain and our collective suffering. Women in particular are rewarded for, and expected to participate in self-denial. By weaving together historical and cultural commentary, humorous and poignant anecdotes, and experiential tools backed by science, The Pleasure Is All Yours is a step-by-step guide to help you release barriers to receiving life’s pleasures and deeper connections with others. In this timely guide, holistic psychologist, relationship and sex therapist, and yoga teacher Dr. Rachel Allyn introduces bodyfulness, an embodiment method she developed to help you to awaken into your body's own capacity for healing and deeper connection. Allyn explains how bodyfulness can connect you to four essential and overlooked types of pleasure—sensual, playful, lively, and erotic— which overlap in many ways, and helps you identify what can inspire your own pleasure in each category. Through bodyful activities such as breathing exercises, mindfulness, yoga, auditory release, and dynamic movements, this book helps you reunite with your inherent wisdom and soulful delight.

Resisting those who would use a revolutionary new technology for unethical purposes, doctor David Tennant and psychiatrist Rachel Weiss run for their lives from ruthless NSA agents and turn to David's unusual dreams for guidance.

"Wendy Lesser's extraordinary alertness, intelligence, and curiosity have made her one of America's most significant cultural critics," writes Stephen Greenblatt. In Why I Read, Lesser draws on a lifetime of pleasure reading and decades of editing one of the most distinguished literary magazines in the country, The Threepenny Review, to describe her love of literature. As Lesser writes in her prologue, "Reading can result in boredom or transcendence, rage or enthusiasm, depression or hilarity, empathy or contempt, depending on who you are and what the book is and how your life is shaping up at the moment you encounter it." Here the reader will discover a definition of literature that is as broad as it is broad-minded. In addition to novels and stories, Lesser explores plays, poems, and essays along with mysteries, science fiction, and memoirs. As she examines these works from such perspectives as "Character and Plot," "Novelty," "Grandeur and Intimacy," and "Authority," Why I Read sparks an overwhelming desire to put aside quotidian tasks in favor of reading. Lesser's passion for this pursuit resonates on every page, whether she is discussing the book as a physical object or a particular work's influence. "Reading literature is a way of reaching back to something bigger and older and different," she writes. "It can give you the feeling that you belong to the past as well as the present, and it can help you realize that your present will someday be someone else's past. This may be disheartening, but it can also be strangely consoling at times." A book in the spirit of E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel and Elizabeth Hardwick's A View of My Own, Why I Read is iconoclastic, conversational, and full of insight. It will delight those who are already avid readers as well as neophytes in search of sheer literary fun.