Even in our most casual encounters with strangers--when we are looking at each other, talking, or standing in line--legal systems with elaborate codes, authorized exceptions, and procedures for sanctioning deviance operate with a remarkable degree of success. In this pathbreaking book, Michael Reisman describes how law is an integral and indispensable part of every social interaction. The private sphere or civic order that the liberal state is committed to preserving and in which it tries to refrain from legislating, says Reisman, is not a legal vacuum but the zone of microlaw--some of it just, some unsatisfactory, and some tyrannical. Interweaving numerous real-life examples with a detailed review of the scientific literature of many disciplines, Reisman shows the extent to which microlegal systems function in our own lives. More important, he draws on the criteria of ethics and legal philosophy to demonstrate that, paradoxically, efforts to improve microlaw may threaten the very autonomy of the private sphere that is central to the liberal state.

Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award * A National Bestseller “An exceptional story collection.” —New York Times Book Review The well-intentioned protagonists of Brief Encounters with Che Guevera—including a disillusioned NGO worker, the wife of a special operations officer, and an obssessed ornithologist—are caught, to both disastrous and hilarious effect, in the maelstrom of political and social upheaval surrounding them. With masterful pacing and a robust sense of the absurd, each story is a self-contained adventure, steeped in the heady mix of tragedy and danger, excitement and hope, that characterizes countries in transition. An intelligent and keenly observed collection, Brief Encounters with Che Guevera marks the arrival of a striking and resonant new voice that speaks adeptly to the intimate connection between the foreign, the familiar, and the inescapably human.

For years, Chicagoan Vicki Quade has been telling stories as a journalist, playwright, theater producer, and performer. So it's not surprising she has a way of connecting with quirky characters during mundane, everyday occurrences. Close Encounters of a Chicago Kind is a compilation of those stories, examining the lives that brush past her on city streets, in banks, at the grocery store or in restaurants. With a sharp wit and empathetic skill, Quade colorfully recreates brief scenarios that range from the comic to the bizarre to the dangerous - and all are unique to the spirit of the Windy City.

A 21st Century Canterbury Tale a continuum of Keep Your Pecker Up. A pilgrimage in pursuit of the American Dream burnished with humor and adventure.

For many years, lesbian and gay representation in British cinema escaped the attention of critics and historians. Informative and entertaining, Brief Encounters examines performers, directors and a wide range of films to reveal a cinema more varied, vital and sensuous than we could have imagined. Through a close reading of mid-twentieth century British films, Bourne explores a range of lesbian and gay screen images from movies including Soldiers of the King, Pygmalion, In Which We Serve, Brief Encounter, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes and A Hard Day's Night. In addition, he looks in detail at the ground-breaking Victim and brings together the moving reminiscences of gay men who first saw the film in the hostile climate of 1961, and the reactions of contemporary critics. This fluent chronology of over 150 famous, half-remembered and forgotten films is a testament to the contribution of gays and lesbian to British cinema culture.

An examination of contemporary encounters between public law and private law from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

First published in 2006. The dynamics of ethnicity, diaspora, identity and community are the defining features of contemporary life, giving rise to important and exciting new interdisciplinary fields of study and literature on subjects that were previously seen as the exclusive domain of the social sciences. Connecting Histories is an important contribution to this trend. While using sociological and anthropological theories, its is an innovative historical and comparative assessment of ethnic identities and memories. Romain focuses on Afro-Caribbean and Jewish individuals and groups, investigating the ways in which 'communities' remember their experiences.

For the Sake of Humanity is a collection of essays in honour of Clemens N. Nathan, a man occupying a remarkable position in the public life of the United Kingdom. Over a period of several decades, he has stimulated and facilitated discussion, research and study on a striking array of topics, including international organisations, Human Rights, interfaith relations and the Holocaust and German-Jewish history - as well as in his own area of professional expertise: textile science and technology. His approach has been characterised by academic rigour, social concern and a commitment to historical truth, along with an adventurous and innovative spirit. All these qualities are also to be found in this collection of essays by his friends and admirers, to produce a truly fascinating book, with new insights into many topics, and a number of chapters destined to become classics in their fields. Above all, it is an erudite and charming volume, full of surprises!

Deriving from a conference organised by the Tavistock Marital Studies Institute, the present volume draws the main focus of its inquiry from a few fundamental questions. In its various brief encounters, and in disparate contexts, how effective can a psychoanalytic approach be when it addresses the parental/child or adult couple relationship? What specific quality of contact can be achieved in the relationship between client(s) and therapist in shorter-term work? This compilation of essays, written by experienced practitioners, engages directly and positively these, and other questions, demonstrating with clinical material the efficacious contribution of a psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In both the similarity and variety of responses to the complex issues explored the authors display a creative engagement and theoretical understanding that will be of great interest and stimulus to all professionals working in this field.