What the Victorian history of self-help reveals about the myth of individualism. Stories of hardworking characters who lift themselves from rags to riches abound in the Victorian era. From the popularity of such stories, it is clear that the Victorians valorized personal ambition in ways that previous generations had not. In Material Ambitions, Rebecca Richardson explores this phenomenon in light of the under-studied reception history of Samuel Smiles's 1859 publication, Self-Help: With Illustrations of Character, Conduct, and Perseverance. A compilation of vignettes about captains of industry, artists, and inventors who persevered through failure and worked tirelessly to achieve success in their respective fields, Self-Help links individual ambition to the growth of the nation. Contextualizing Smiles's work in a tradition of Renaissance self-fashioning, eighteenth-century advice books, and inspirational biography, Richardson argues that the burgeoning self-help genre of the Victorian era offered a narrative structure that linked individual success with collective success in a one-to-one relationship. Advocating for a broader cultural account of the ambitious hero narrative, Richardson argues that reading these biographies and self-help texts alongside fictional accounts of driven people complicates the morality tale that writers like Smiles took pains to invoke. In chapters featuring the works of Harriet Martineau, Dinah Craik, Thackeray, Trollope, and Miles Franklin, Richardson demonstrates that Victorian fiction dramatized ambition by suggesting where it runs up against the limits of an individual's energy and ability, where it turns into competition, or where it risks upsetting a socio-ecological system of finite resources. The upward mobility plots of John Halifax, Gentleman or Vanity Fair suggest the dangers of zero-sum thinking, particularly evidenced by contemporary preoccupations with Malthusian and Darwinian discourses. Intertwining the methodologies of disability studies and ecocriticism, Material Ambitions persuasively unmasks the longstanding myth that ambitious individualism can overcome disadvantageous systematic and structural conditions.

Ambition drives people to succeed. Ambition can make the price of success irrelevant. Ambition can kill your soul. Sherry Proper works hard to keep her life simple. She wants to stick to the important things: do good, interesting work, spend time with interesting friends and lovers. Now her tendency to stick her nose into the wrong working of things is tearing that worled apart! Her work and life have fused together and it's gotten impossible to separate them. Crime and love, passion and paranoia make for a strange, sometimes unpalatable, brew. A compelling story of urban crime, greed, and corruption and the danger of looking too closely at any of it. Get a copy now!

Archie Ferguson is the last of the original fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants Alaska bush pilots to be the subject of a biography. Dubbed Alaska's Clown Prince," he added many hilarious chapters to Alaska's history. He is also the originator of the "Arctic Bump," current practice of airline pilots who give a blast of power as they fly over the Arctic Circle to provide gullible tourists the impression that the air north of the Arctic Circle is different than air south of the Arctic Circle. His title, "the Craziest Pilot in the World, was given to him by The Saturday Evening Post in its December 1945 issue. Ferguson, who died in 1967, was an excellent example of the colorful character/con men who made Alaska what it is today."

Before me there were a few, after me there shall be no more . . . . As I begin to pen my life’s story, I realize that God is to be thanked for His mercy, goodness and grace that has kept me for such a time as this. Today I find myself living on God’s promised three score and ten, and if by reason of strength they may be fourscore – which amounts to eighty years in time. I stand at the threshold of my promised eighty years “with strength” and in God’s favor. Life for me has been quite a journey and most of my ambitions have been achieved and found to be very fulfilling. I am grateful to have been able to accept the opportunities and challenges that have confronted me in my careers and travels. I retired from the U. S. Air Force after 20 years of honorable service. I was fortunate to have people in my life to help strengthen me when I was weak or needed assistance. I covet the memories I have experienced and will never forget the people who were the most influential. I was blessed to complete a second career as a Policeman at Indianapolis, University Purdue University of Indiana. Becoming physically handicapped, I was forced to retire after 23 years of time served instead of the 25- 30 years I had intended. It has been a pleasure to research my past, and with the help of my wife, Delia, I’ve been successful in getting my story in print. I pray you will enjoy reading what I have to share with you and prayerfully I will inspire someone to seek out a lifetime career in the “Army” of the Lord and the U. S. Military Service. Of all the pride I possess for land and country, I’m most proud and thankful that I am where God needed me to be at this time in my life and I have realized the state of mental strain I’m in and now fully seeking the help I so desperately need to get well. I sincerely regret that I fathered no children, especially a son to carry on my family’s name and legacy – therefore, after me there shall be no more!

Meet your new neighbor, Archie! When a vampire vixen moves into a “haunted” property near Archie’s house, strange things start happening. It’s weird enough that this mystery woman moved in late at night, but when Archie hears ominous noises coming from her house, he’s downright frightened! Is Archie just over-reacting, or is there something sinister going on in Riverdale? Find out in the fearsome first story “Midnight Madness!”

Archie Annual #3 was originally published in 1951 and includes over 100 pages. Welcome to Riverdale, the home of everyone’s favorite teenager, Archie Andrews - and his closest friends! Dive into these beloved and classic Archie stories, which feature all the elements that have become an important part of pop culture. See the love triangle that includes girl-next-door Betty Cooper and wealthy socialite, Veronica Lodge! Share a burger with Archie’s best pal, Jughead Jones! Square off with tough-talking Reggie Mantle! Sit back and enjoy a chocolate shake at Pop’s! It’s all here for you to enjoy. Prepare to experience wonders of the teens' beloved hometown with stories like "Watch the Birdie," "in The "Male Bag"," and more!

Here together for the first time in a fabulous eBook bundle are the first three thrillers in Chelsea Cain's New York Times bestselling Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell series. Meet Gretchen Lowell, the stunningly beautiful psychopath The Huffington Post called "the most diabolical female serial killer in fiction," and Archie Sheridan, the police detective whom she caught and tortured...and then let go. HEARTSICK Archie Sheridan finally put Gretchen Lowell, the Beauty Killer, in prison, but he can't seem to forget her. Now, he realizes that even behind bars, Gretchen might be the only person who can help him find the serial killer he's currently tracking. SWEETHEART When the body of a young woman is discovered in Portland's Forest Park, Archie can't focus on the new investigation because the Beauty Killer case has exploded again: Gretchen Lowell has escaped from prison. EVIL AT HEART Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose, and is developing her own bizarre kind of fan club. When Archie and Gretchen last spoke, he agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen's trademark heart, all bets are off.