Why Not

Why Not? is a primer for fresh thinking, for problem-solving with a purpose, for bringing the world a few steps closer to the way it should be. Idealistic? Yes. Unrealistic? According to Why Not? authors Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres, no. Illustrated with examples from every aspect of life, Why Not? offers techniques which will help you take the things we all see, every day, and think about them in a new way. Great ideas are waiting. Why not be the one to discover them?

The place is gaudy yet drab, lively yet death-like, dispassionate mother hen to a brood of dithered chicks. Discover its bizarre existence from the inside, through the muddled collective mind of the outcast in-group, a gay throng of third-sex bewildered ones who frantically seek a why--but must always settle for The Why Not! Borgo Press is pleased to represent a true classic of gay literature, now available again for the first time in four decades. Includes an introduction by the author, written for this release.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From Grammy-winning pop star Ciara and Super Bowl champion quarterback Russell Wilson comes a picture book to inspire young readers to see the value in themselves, be brave, and go after their biggest dreams! Why not you? Amazing you! You’re a winner! You’re so strong! You are perfect and important—you and all your gifts belong! We all have big dreams! Sometimes it’s hard to imagine our big dreams coming true. But what if someone saw all the amazing and spectacular parts of us—our winning smiles, our fancy feet, our warm hearts—and asked, “Why not you?” Whether it’s becoming a football player or a pop star or the president or a scientist: Why not you? In this picture book debut, superstars Ciara and Russell Wilson encourage readers to see themselves achieving their dreams, no matter how outrageous they may seem. It’s a lyrical celebration of self-esteem, perseverance, and daring to shoot for the stars.

Howie gets a job at Artie Kraft's Arts 'N Crafts hoping to score with his lady coworkers. After all, girls love a sensitive guy, and what's more sensitive than dedicating your life to selling yarn and ... stuff? (Okay, so maybe it'd be a good idea to actually learn what one sells at an arts 'n crafts store.) But things don't go exactly according to plan. Coworker #1 is Kristy: blonde, bubbly, unattainable perfection. Coworker #2 is Cora: tiny, much-pierced, and way too fierce to screw with in any sense. And Coworker #3 is, well, Arthur. It goes without saying that he's not an option. Right?... Right? Yeah, Howie's life just got straight up confusing. Pun intended.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and creator of The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever comes a hilarious collection of essays about her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life. “This is Kaling at the height of her power.”—USA Today In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares insightful, deeply personal stories about falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, and believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you. In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.”) “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. (“I had been replaced by a younger model. And now they had matching bangs.”) In “Unlikely Leading Lady,” she muses on America’s fixation with the weight of actresses, (“Most women we see onscreen are either so thin that they’re walking clavicles or so huge that their only scenes involve them breaking furniture.”) And in “Soup Snakes,” Kaling spills some secrets on her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and close friend, B.J. Novak (“I will freely admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell.”) Mindy turns the anxieties, the glamour, and the celebrations of her second coming-of-age into a laugh-out-loud funny collection of essays that anyone who’s ever been at a turning point in their life or career can relate to. And those who’ve never been at a turning point can skip to the parts where she talks about meeting Bradley Cooper.

This is the story of perseverance, strength, trials and tribulations of a first generation Czech whose parents escaped Prague in 1968. It was during the Warsaw Pact when the Russian military invaded Prague, Czechoslovakia, in order to promote communism. Without a father in my life to help me become a man and with a mother who struggled most of her adult life with paranoid delusional schizophrenia, I was left alone to grow up. I started in foster homes, angry, confused and lacking answers to several questions about my life. At eleven years old I became hooked on drugs and alcohol and was on my way to becoming a criminal. I was brought up on the streets of Vancouver and had many encounters with the authorities, so was heading to a place I really didn't want to go. Instead of going to jail I tried to enlist in the Canadian Army, and with a letter of intent I was saved from a life behind bars. In a surprising turn, I was denied joining the Canadian Forces because of my lack of education. I took advantage of the situation and decided to change my life. By the time I was 22, the deaths of 12 people around me challenged me to escape the world I once knew and search for a new, better life. I met a beautiful older woman, fell in love again and started a family. Not much time went by until I was tested once again by the break up of my family. Soon afterwards I was introduced to an exquisitely fantastic English lady and a wonderfully talented acting coach who is so friendly, patient and understanding. I eventually overcame the challenging demons of my past. After 18 months of acting classes I started as an extra, then in theatre and commercials. Now, I am an actor. I immerse myself into taking any roles that are put in front of me. My life turned around and seemed to be more manageable. And being distracted by new challenges left me feeling useful and contented. My construction career became another stage. I worked on some of the biggest projects in British Columbia history. At the age of twenty I was hired as a labourer for a gas company in Victoria, British Columbia. There was a mad panic to get every commercial and residential building hooked up to natural gas. I took advantage of every opportunity and gradually started operating equipment. I had my sights on the big jobs, big equipment, even bigger paychecks, to where I would work for some of the biggest companies in the world and on the largest projects in the province. This was just another persona I undertook. I eventually became an actor, author, journeyman excavator operator, foreman, security person, bodybuilder, usher, host, volunteer, world traveller. I am an advocate for positive reinforcement of oneself. Everyone has a story to tell, how many chapters is up to you.

Aspiring business owners and executives seeking to climb to the next rung, young to mid-career professionals seeking tools for life achievement, and general readers interested in biographies of successful people will like Larry Thornton’s “Why Not Win?”. The book is a front-row seat to how one man altered his thinking to transform his life. The book begins with his growing up with brown skin in the 1960s in segregated Montgomery, Alabama. A desegregation school pioneer, Thornton was a classroom failure until a perceptive English teacher showed him he had value and encouraged him to go to college. Like the educator who changed his life, Thornton became a classroom teacher. But budget cuts took his job, and he decided to rewrite his story using his artistic talent. Thornton’s artistry and work ethic got him attention at Coca-Cola, both for the good and the bad. He had to figure out a way to navigate this new world, where higher-ups praised him but co-workers reminded him of his “blackness” by drawing a noose in his workstation. He persevered by learning to appreciate and embrace diversity, people resources, and conflicting opinions. While his success grew at Coca-Cola, Thornton did the unthinkable: set out to be the first African American to own a McDonald’s franchise in Birmingham. This thorny journey was peppered with threats, attempts to thwart his mission and a marriage he could not keep from falling apart. He absorbed the “try, try and try again” motto, and came to see that failure was a prelude to feasting upon the sweet fruit of success. Thornton’s own mother never had a checking account, but years after her passing he found himself on the board of directors for a major financial institution. He slowly became a part of a small fraternity of captains of industry and fought past guilt and insecurity to pave the way for others who look like him to join him at the table. Trying to fit into this new world, he learned that “Thank you,” “Please,” and “Excuse me” are perhaps three of the most powerful phrases in communication. Thornton made up his mind that he would spend each day on a mission to show his unbending gratitude for his life and its benefits by fostering a supreme attitude and maintaining consistency in vision, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to principles. Thornton’s journey from Madison Park, Montgomery, has been a long one. “Why Not Win?" reflects on his most useful lessons and the anecdotes associated with them. If he were a Zen monk, his koan might well be: “Plan your past.” By that he means, think ahead one day, one week, one year, even twenty years out, and decide today your desired outcome, and work for it. “Thank God for memories,” he says; “Let’s plan to make them pleasant ones.”