Jim Karol, entertainer and memory expert, is known to millions of fans as The Psychic Madman. He has performed on NBC’s Phenomenon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen Show, NBC’s Today Show, Howard Stern, and in the film Jackass Number Two. Jim dazzles his audience while demonstrating his memorization of over 80,000 zip codes, the entire Scrabble dictionary, thousands of digits of pi, sports almanacs, the day of the week of every date since the beginning of the modern calendar, and thousands of other facts. In this book, Jim shares his insider knowledge. He aims to entertain, as well as show the reader just how much the human mind is capable of. Learn how Jim Karol has developed his impressive mind, and give yourself the opportunity to tap into your extraordinary mental abilities.. Jim Karol is a seasoned magician and entertainer, performing in sold-out venues across the country. Lu Ann Brobst Staheli is an accomplished educator and author.

Jim Karol, entertainer and memory expert, is known to millions of fans as The Psychic Madman. He has performed on NBC's Phenomenon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen Show, NBC's Today Show, Howard Stern, and in the film Jackass Number Two. Jim dazzles his audience while demonstrating his memorization of over 80,000 zip codes, the entire Scrabble dictionary, thousands of digits of pi, sports almanacs, the day of the week of every date since the beginning of the modern calendar, and thousands of other facts. In this book, Jim shares his insider knowledge. He aims to entertain, as well as show the reader just how much the human mind is capable of. Learn how Jim Karol has developed his impressive mind, and give yourself the opportunity to tap into your extraordinary mental abilities.

Brought to light from the depths of libraries, museums, dealers, and galleries around the world, these forgotten artistic treasures include portraits of oddballs such as the British explorer with a penchant for riding crocodiles, and the Italian monk who levitated so often he's recognized as the patron saint of airplane passengers. Discover impossible medieval land yachts, floating churches, and eagle-powered airships. Encounter dog-headed holy men, armies of German giants, 18th-century stuntmen, human chessboards, screaming ghost heads, and more marvels of the human imagination. A captivating odditorium of obscure and engaging characters and works, each expertly brought to life by historian and curator of the strange Edward Brooke-Hitching, here is a richly illustrated and entertaining gallery for lovers of outré art and history.

* BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK * 'Anybody who loves the printed word will be bowled over by this amusing, erudite, beautiful book about books. It is in every way a triumph. One of the loveliest books to have been published for many, many years' Alexander McCall Smith 'Quite simply the best gift for any book lover this year, or perhaps ever' Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times Literary Book of the Year 'An utterly joyous journey into the deepest eccentricities of the human mind… The most cheering, fascinating book I’ve read for ages' Guardian From the author of the critically acclaimed and globally successful The Phantom Atlas, The Golden Atlas and The Sky Atlas comes a stunning new work. The Madman’s Library is a unique, beautifully illustrated journey through the entire history of literature, delving into its darkest territories to hunt down the very strangest books ever written, and uncover the fascinating stories behind their creation. This is a madman’s library of eccentric and extraordinary volumes from around the world, many of which have been completely forgotten. Books written in blood and books that kill, books of the insane and books that hoaxed the globe, books invisible to the naked eye and books so long they could destroy the Universe, books worn into battle, books of code and cypher whose secrets remain undiscovered… and a few others that are just plain weird. From the 605-page Qur'an written in the blood of Saddam Hussein, through the gorgeously decorated 15th-century lawsuit filed by the Devil against Jesus, to the lost art of binding books with human skin, every strand of strangeness imaginable (and many inconceivable) has been unearthed and bound together for a unique and richly illustrated collection ideal for every book-lover.

There are no short-cuts to becoming a Witch. Traditionally, students take a year and a day to prepare for their initiation into the Craft. Based on this age-old custom, Wicca: A Year and a Day is a one-of-a-kind daily guide that introduces Witchcraft over a 366-day cycle. Ideal for solitary students, this intensive study course teaches the core content of Wiccan practice: the tides of time, the wonders of the seasons, the ways of herbs and magic, the mysticism of the Old Ones, and the inner disciplines of seers and sages. Daily lessons include exercises, Wiccan theology and lore, and discussions relating to circle work, magical correspondences, holidays, deities, tools, healing, and divination.

An origin story of Julian May’s Galactic Milieu Trilogy and a link to her Saga of Pliocene Exile—“a superb piece of speculative fiction” (Library Journal). They have always been among us—the telepaths, the persons possessing higher mind-powers that have been called “metapsychic”—but they have always been few and far between and their abilities weak or erratic. Until now . . . Human evolution makes a quantum leap. And all over the world, people begin to be born with extraordinary minds. Some of them are geniuses and some are very ordinary. But all of these metapsychic operants have mind-powers that “normal” humanity considers amazing—and dangerous. Intervention paints this advent of Homo superior in a broad and colorful chronicle that begins in 1945 and culminates in 2013. Its many characters reveal the impact of higher mind-powers upon the possessors themselves, upon their “normal” associates, and upon a troubled society striving to avoid nuclear annihilation. The metapsychic operants are secretive and fearful at first. When they reveal themselves they are regarded with awe, exploited, and finally persecuted. They are torn by the dilemma of what role to play: are they destined to save the “normal” from global war, even if it means that they must use their mental powers to subjugate the race that gave birth to them? The book’s principal protagonists are members of the Remillard family of New Hampshire—whose descendants are featured in Julian May’s worldwide bestselling Saga of Pliocene Exile. Intervention details with humor, thundering action, and scientific insight a world where the human mind does much more than think—a world that is fantastic, but by no means implausible.

Twelve years after the princess Haramis, Kadiya, and Anigel wielded the three-part Scepter of Power to vanquish the sorcerer Orogastus, the Archimage Haramis is visited by a fugitive who brings dire news. A sorcerer has escaped from the Klimilon, remote Land of Fire and Ice, to established himself through force of magic as Portolanus, Master of Tuuzamen. Haramis's talisman cannot--or will not--tell her whether Portolanus is the long-banished Orogastus, but it brings ominous intelligence: The sorcerer has brought from his exile a magical object that can unbound the three talismans of the Scepter, transferring their powers from the sisters to Portolanus himself. Even more fearsome, Haramis's talisman reveals a grave threat to the unity of the sisters and the future of Ruwenda . . .for the sacred Black Trillium contained within the amulet worn by each sister has changed, its petals stained the color of blood.

How do you combat boredom? Write your own dictionary! And yes, it is as easy as it sounds, provided that you are a total smart ass or at least ten cents short of your personal dollar. Fortunately, the author just happens to be one, or the other, or both! Well, at least he has his moments. Really though, the creation of this book is more along the lines of a challenge. Having been told that he was so sarcastic that he could write a book about it, he decided to actually do it, and this book is the result. This book has been done in dictionary form for ease of subject, since sarcasm is not something that can necessarily be taught. It is more of a skill one develops for themselves. However, having a reference with a wisecrack for a multitude of different subjects at your disposal doesn't hurt, and therefore this book should be a good jumping off point for developing the skill. Always choose subjects that are not likely to get you into trouble, and keep in mind that you should use your best judgment all the same. Remember, this book has been written all in good fun.

Introduction -- Evil alchemists and Doctor Faustus -- Bacon's new scientists -- Foolish virtuosi -- Newton: a scientist for God -- Arrogant and godless: scientists in eighteenth-century satire -- Inhuman scientists: the romantic perception -- Frankenstein and the creature -- Victorian scientists: doubt and struggle -- The scientist as adventurer -- Efficiency and power: the scientist under scrutiny -- The scientist as hero -- Mad, bad, and dangerous to know: reality overtakes fiction -- The impersonal scientist -- Scientia gratia scientiae: the amoral scientist -- Pandora's box -- Robots, cyborgs, androids and clones: who is in control? -- The scientist as woman -- Idealism and conscience -- Watershed: the new scientists

Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna’s Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today. The Madman’s Middle Way presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by an essay on Gendun Chopel’s life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. Donald S. Lopez Jr. also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, Lopez examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama’s sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism’s encounter with modernity. The result is an insightful glimpse into a provocative and enigmatic workthatwill be of great interest to anyone seriously interested in Buddhism or Asian religions.