Two Minutes To Glory

Take a front row seat at "the Run for the Roses" with the first comprehensive history of the Kentucky Derby. From mint juleps to the garland of roses, to weeping men and women in the Winner's Circle, Two Minutes to Glory is the official story of the world's greatest horse race—the Kentucky Derby. This book is chockablock with facts, figures, and statistics on all 132 years of this incredible race. It also contains a capsuled yet detailed history of the race and of Churchill Downs, focusing on all the larger-than-life personalities from Col. M. Lewis Clark, who founded the Derby in 1875, to Col. Matt Winn, who saved it when it was in the stretch, out of breath, about to break down, and in need of a miracle—and beyond that to the present day. But perhaps the best parts of this lavishly illustrated book are the stories of the races, from 1875 to 2006. It is not a mere recitation of what happened—though there is that—but the human (and horse) stories behind the races, like that of Conn McCreary, who, astride Count Turf in 1951, looked down the track before the gates opened and knew that he was riding not just to win the Derby, but for his life. Or the 2005 race where a seventy-nine-year-old woman named Alice Chandler burst into tears as she watched her 50-1 shot Giacomo roar down the stretch to win—but also cried because she knew that when just a foal, he had previously beaten an opponent called death. This book looks at all the people and horses who made the Derby what it is over the years: trainer Ben A. Jones with six Derby winners; Eddie "Banana Nose" Arcaro and Secretariat, who broke the two-minute barrier and ran the fastest Derby in history; the great owners, the grooms—and all the rest. It is history, yes, but history with heart and soul. As horsemen say, have a good ride.

Contains anecdotes from observations and interviews with nearly 50 players and coaches from every generation of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Players mentioned include April Heinrichs, Michelle Akers, Carla Overbeck, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Christie Rampone, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd.

Keep up your ability to read and understand biblical Latin with this daily guide. Each day's reading includes a verse in both Latin and English, one new vocabulary word with translation and definitions, two review words from earlier in the book, and a breakdown of the Latin verse into phrases with a side-by-side translation. Karen D. Lavery presents the material in such a clear and simple way that it keeps the reader from being overwhelmed, thus restoring confidence as one progresses. This method also enables one to gradually build a robust vocabulary, while inductively reviewing morphology and syntax. Keep Up Your Biblical Latin in Two Minutes a Day is an invaluable tool that should be in the library of every student of Latin. "Everyone who has had exposure to Latin, regardless of how elementary and regardless of how long ago, can pick up this book and start reading right away. Karen DeCrescenzo Lavery and Jonathan Kline have carefully selected short and vivid verses, and a literal translation invites you to look closely at each word of each passage: the Biblical Latin lingers, cultivating mind and soul. This is a wonderful addition to a wonderful series." --Luca Grillo, Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Collegiate Professor of Classics, University of Notre Dame

A dazzling short story collection from the person Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls "one of the greatest writers of our time" Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, although renowned for his novels, memoirs, and plays, honed his craft as a short story writer. From "The Fig Tree, " written in 1960, his first year as an undergraduate at Makerere University College in Uganda, to the playful "The Ghost of Michael Jackson," written as a professor at the University of California, Irvine, these collected stories reveal a master of the short form. Covering the period of British colonial rule and resistance in Kenya to the bittersweet experience of independence—and including two stories that have never before been published in the United States— Ngũgĩ's collection features women fighting for their space in a patriarchal society, big men in their Bentleys who have inherited power from the British, and rebels who still embody the fighting spirit of the downtrodden. One of Ngũgĩ's most beloved stories, "Minutes of Glory," tells of Beatrice, a sad but ambitious waitress who fantasizes about being feted and lauded over by the middle-class clientele in the city's beer halls. Her dream leads her on a witty and heartbreaking adventure. Published for the first time in America, Minutes of Glory and Other Stories is a major literary event that celebrates the storytelling might of one of Africa's best-loved writers.

Clayton Howard has stopped experiencing life. A troubled childhood has left him "going through the motions". One day, he happens upon a terrible accident and he's the first to discover the youngest victim. Immediately after, Clayton's dreams lead him to the location of buried wealth. Clayton's life changes instantly as he becomes rich beyond his wildest expectations. While he considers himself extremely lucky at first, he begins to realize that the opportunity to experience life's real treasures are threatened by his greed.

The year is 1968 and the Vietnam War is reaching its nadir. Thomas Bishop, like so many other young men of this generation, faces terrible decisions forced on him by foreign policy of the American government. Honor bound to defend America from communism, Thomas trains to become a Marine Corps pilot to avoid a walking tour in the jungles of Vietnam. Tran Thien Don is a simple peasant boy thrust into the American War following a violent and life changing encounter with soldiers from Saigon. The struggle to preserve and maintain Vietnamese culture through a history of invasion from China, Japan, France, and now the inexplicable devastation from America, has ignited a fire in Don to fight for his country's unification, while seeking the opportunity for revenge on his personal enemies. Oliver Lacey is a young man who is an accidental Marine inductee facing racism in the ranks in Vietnam, missing a civil rights movement at home, and experiencing his own awakening about his place in the world. On the streets of the United States and in universities around the world the war rages. Few escape its reality as the nightly news sends images from Vietnam into homes during dinner. This tragic and unrelenting suppertime carnage sparks a collective awakening and a revolution of social change is born. Glory's Child is a story of the death of American idealism. From multiple perspectives the horrifying truth of war settles in around its characters. It is a gripping tale of heartbreak, survival, death, and a thorough examination of the philosophy and politics surrounding the execution of the American War in Vietnam.