No matter what happens, you don't have to pick up a drink or drug today." These words tend to strike fear in the hearts of many alcoholics and addicts who are new to recovery, because just one day without booze or drugs may as well be an eternity. It can seem like an impossible task to get through twenty-four hours, never mind a week or a month - so just how do we get that proverbial monkey off our back? This book is full of suggestions that can work for anyone who is new to recovery or trying to get clean and sober again. The author has drawn on her own experiences and that of others in early recovery to determine the 'Fifty Things Every Alcoholic and Addict Should Know, ' including: The First Thirty Days - What to expect and how to get through it Things to Avoid - Protecting your recovery and coping with stress Relapse - Warning signs and moving forward if it happens Family - How to include them and re-build relationship Dating in Recovery - The not so good, the bad and the ugly Dry Drunk - How not to be one Twelve Step Programs - How they work and what you should know "If you have a substance abuse problem and want to quit or are new to sobriety and don't know what to expect, read this book. It's different, down to earth and a very easy read. 'Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down is not your typical recovery book". - Tom Chenault, Radio Talk Show Host and Recovering Alcoholic.

This book is a social and political commentary on America's most pressing problems in the first quarter of the 21st Century. It is written for the author's grandchildren of 50-100 years hence. They will never be able to find many of the details and minutiae of this decade. Knowledge and experience benefit future generations. Most people experience a time in their lives when they wish they knew more about their ancestors. In the past it was excusable because the means of obtaining that information was difficult. Modern technology means this generation has no excuse for ignoring their history. Illegitimi Non Carborundum relates current events to fascinating solutions. The federal budget can be balanced, prison populations can be reduced by half, and welfare rolls can be reduced or eliminated. Present leaders cannot think beyond the box. We can create innovative and original solutions with positive ideas. Asking important questions and condemning the ignorance of leaders who seek office but fail to lead is vital to today's issues. If you want to be one of those rare people who is not politically or socially bound to the present trend of pious correctness, this book will raise your consciousness and either make you applaud or fiercely condemn. There is plenty of blame to go around, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. This is the book with solutions that will turn America around.

An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times). Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate “Handmaids” under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred’s persistent memories of life in the “time before” and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood’s devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning.

Featuring actors like Richard Harris, Sean Connery, Alan Bates, Tom Courtney, Albert Finney, Robert Stephens, Terence Stamp, Peter O’Toole, Robert Shaw and Michael Caine, this book explores the rise and camaraderie of that entire generation of hard-living, boozing actors who ripped apart the staid British theatre and film industry in a trail-blazing ten year period from the mid-50s to the mid-60s.

This provides a comprehensive approach and includes both literal translations and definitions with several useful innovations. Included is not only the modern English pronunciation but also the classical or 'restored' one. Each entry is also cross-referenced to related terms for ease of use.

Completely updated for the twenty-first century, this reference presents definitions and origins of thousands of words, idioms, catchphrases, slogans, nicknames, and events from TV, literature, music, comic strips, and computer games.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE • A modern masterpiece that "reminds us of the power of truth in the face of evil” (People)—and can be read on its own or as a sequel to Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale. “Atwood’s powers are on full display” (Los Angeles Times) in this deeply compelling Booker Prize-winning novel, now updated with additional content that explores the historical sources, ideas, and material that inspired Atwood. More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third: Aunt Lydia. Her complex past and uncertain future unfold in surprising and pivotal ways. With The Testaments, Margaret Atwood opens up the innermost workings of Gilead, as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

In The Handmaid’s Tale and Philosophy, philosophers give their insights into the blockbuster best-selling novel and record-breaking TV series, The Handmaid’s Tale. The story involves a future breakaway state in New England, beset by environmental disaster and a plummeting birth rate, in which the few remaining fertile women are conscripted to have sex and bear children to the most powerful men, all justified and rationalized by religious fundamentalism. Among the questions raised by this riveting and harrowing story: ● The Handmaid’s Tale displays the connection between sex and power. What light does this story shed on sex and power in our own society? ● The divinity of the feminine is associated with the female capacity to give birth. Is this association inherently exploitative? ● In the story, the revolution rapidly rebranded people by changing their names and placing them into functional groups with specific titles. How important is change in language to the suppression of individual freedom? ● The Handmaid’s Tale sees everything through the eyes of one character. How is it possible to construct a self and an identity at odds with the definition which the culture attempts to impose? ● In oppressive societies, even the most oppressed do show some freedom of choice. What is the limit of autonomy in a repressive society ruled by a fanatical ideology? ● Our present ethics of sex relies heavily on the notion of consent, but in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale there is little scope for consent. How is the power of consent constricted by the broader social conditions? ● The feminist idea of Care Ethics can be used to critique various gender relationships. How does Care Ethics evaluate our own society and the society depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale? ● The society portrayed in the story is marked by fierce religiosity, yet the Christian God presumably disapproves of its brutal exploitation and oppression. What is the relation between a loving Deity and the literal interpretation of scriptural passages? ● Among many dystopian stories, what makes The Handmaid’s Tale particularly memorable, and what purpose is served by the contemplation of imaginary dystopias? ● Suicide is common in The Handmaid’s Tale, and contemplating the possibility of suicide is even more common. Can life be worth living if the political and religious structure is thoroughly malign? ● Beneath the theocratic preaching, there is the practical suggestion that everything is being arranged for the good of society and therefore of everyone. Who gets to decide and enforce what is in society’s best interests?

Brilliant, brave, controversial, combative, intellectual - just how do you become Janet Street-Porter? In this mesmerising account of growing up in post-war London there is poignancy, mystery - and a trademark black humour. BAGGAGE will touch readers at many levels; it is as edgy and fearless as Janet Street-Porter herself.