James Rahn has led the Rittenhouse Writers' Group since he founded it in 1988, making it one of America's longest-running independent fiction workshops. Hundreds of writers and would-be writers have sought out the group for its remarkable level of instruction and collaboration. Rittenhouse Writers is Rahn's memoir of the workshop and how his own evolution as both a teacher and a writer—and as a son, husband, and (somewhat reluctant) father—has been intertwined with the establishment and growth of the RWG. In addition, Rahn includes ten short stories written by current and former members of the workshop. Rahn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MFA at Columbia. He then began to imagine a future that included more than just writing, one that would also tap his aspiration to offer other writers support and motivation, tough but gentle—his self-described "Iron Fist in the Velvet Glove" approach. After all, as he says more than once, "Writing is hard." Over the years, James Rahn has witnessed every imaginable writing-group scenario, from awkward flirtations to suicide scares, catty critiques, near fistfights, and of course the satisfaction of watching someone's writing soar. With insight gained through years of observation and participation, and a discerning eye for amusing detail, he takes us along for the journey. Rahn's struggle to perfect his role as instructor runs throughout the narrative, as does his effort to balance that role with the friendships he forms in the group, and to keep up with his own writing while still giving the group the attention it needs to flourish. Through his eyes, we catch the spark of the workshop's spirit and get to meet various spirits who have invigorated Rittenhouse Writers' Group. Rahn cuts back and forth, reflecting, not only on the workshop, but also on his days as a high school dropout in Atlantic City, dead-end jobs and hopeless moves, the difficulty of his mother's decline and death, and his own unexpected plunge into parenthood—when, at age 51, he and his wife took on the responsibility of raising her two young nieces. His memoir serves, in a way, as an introduction to the short stories that follow; and the stories—as surprising and varied as the writers Rahn describes working with—stand as a fitting coda to Rahn's tale and offer another window onto his life's work. "James Rahn, Jersey boy and Philadelphia treasure, has written a moving and insightful book about what happens when you create something vibrant and necessary and stick around for the long haul, whether it's teaching, writing, friendships, or love. The answers aren't always simple, and Rahn explores them with the same gusto, honesty, wry humor, and generosity of spirit he brings to his fiction and his famous workshops. This book is a powerful reminder of the importance of community and mentorship in the making of literature."—Sam Lipsyte The 10 short stories included in Rittenhouse Writers: "On Fire" by Gwen Florio "Mother—6/7 Months" by Romnesh Lamba "Moon Penitent" by Diane McKinney-Whetstone "The Last Confession" by Tom Teti "Ivory Is Wrong About Me" by Caren Litvin "The Conference Rat" by Samantha Gillison "Dropping a Line into the Murky Chop" by Saral Waldorf "What She Missed" by Lisa Paparone "Kingdom of the Sun" by Alice Schell "The Letters of Hon. Crawford G. Bolton III" by Daniel R. Biddle

Vicky, a woman old enough to know better, finds herself in the midst of a heart wrenching affair. Her children are grown and her marriage is comfortable, Vicky should be content. But she's not and she can't figure out why. Her New Year's Resolution is to put her thoughts and torments down in a diary. Her goal is to understand how her life drifted so far off course. Eventually she hopes to return to the life she loved, the life she's sure is right for her.Confessions spans one year in Vicky's life. Her family - husband, son, daughter, sister and brother-in-law, play large in her story. As the year progresses, Vicky learns that she's not the only one living a double life, not the only one projecting a face to the world that is different than the person behind the mask. As the scales fall from Vicky's eyes, all that's left is the unanswerable question: what life is right for her?

Written in the tradition of historians like Mary Beard and Stacy Schiff who find modern lessons in ancient history, this provocative narrative explores the lives of five remarkable pharaohs who ruled Egypt with absolute power, shining a new light on the country's 3,000-year empire and its meaning today. In a new era when democracies around the world are threatened or crumbling, best-selling author Kara Cooney turns to five ancient Egyptian pharaohs--Khufu, Senwosret III, Akenhaten, Ramses II, and Taharqa--to understand why many so often give up power to the few, and what it can mean for our future. As the first centralized political power on earth, the pharaohs and their process of divine kingship can tell us a lot about the world's politics, past and present. Every animal-headed god, every monumental temple, every pyramid, every tomb, offers extraordinary insight into a culture that combined deeply held religious beliefs with uniquely human schemes to justify a system in which one ruled over many. From Khufu, the man who built the Great Pyramid at Giza as testament to his authoritarian reign, and Taharqa, the last true pharaoh who worked to make Egypt great again, we discover a clear lens into understanding how power was earned, controlled, and manipulated in ancient times. And in mining the past, Cooney uncovers the reason why societies have so willingly chosen a dictator over democracy, time and time again.

During the Gilded Age, Rittenhouse Square was home to Philadelphia's high society, with more millionaires per square foot than any other American neighborhood except New York's Fifth Avenue. Established by William Penn in 1682 as the South-West Square and renamed after astronomer David Rittenhouse in 1825, Rittenhouse Square and its environs changed from an isolated district of brickyards and workers' shanties into the city's most elegant and elite neighborhood between 1845 and 1865. The brownstone and marble mansions on the square itself were inhabited by the city's wealthiest and most prestigious families, with names like Biddle, Cassatt, Drexel, Stotesbury, and Van Rensselaer. As Philadelphia's upper classes fled to the suburbs in the early 20th century, their mansions were replaced by skyscrapers or taken over by cultural institutions like the Philadelphia Art Alliance and the Curtis Institute of Music. While only a few original residences remain on Rittenhouse Square, it is still the center of a lively upscale neighborhood.

A groundbreaking system for measuring organizational trustworthiness to determine investment potential "Tremendous! Laura Rittenhouse has delivered again! Investing Between the Lines is destined to become a classic in showing how candor is the language of trust and how trust is the basis on which companies ultimately succeed. I highly recommend this most interesting and insightful book." Stephen M. R. Covey, author of the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller The Speed of Trust and coauthor of Smart Trust In Investing Between the Lines, CEO communications expert, L. J. Rittenhouse offers a proven methodology for accurately analyzing the worthiness of an investment: Reading corporate "fog," i.e., shareholder letters, and other corporate correspondence. Based on a model that's made believers of Warren Buffet and Jack Welch, Rittenhouse looks at the "fog" of 100 Fortune 500 companies—and then overlays these "Fog rankings" on the stock's price performance. It's a system that made Rittenhouse one of the very first to predict the Lehman Bros. implosion, and other financia disasters—and that will arm investors with the skills and knowledge to unearth hidden risks in their portfolios and pick potential winners. L. J. Rittenhouse is president of Rittenhouse Rankings Inc, a CEO strategic and investor relations company that annually conducts a benchmark survey of CEO candor and stock price performance

A new and thoroughly revised edition of marketing and positioning genius Mark Levy, which helps readers unleash their inner creativity, problem solving skills, while also generating content. This is The Artist's Way for business people and social media people. Accidental Genius uses a similar methodology of freewriting to create business plan, find solutions, and generate new content. Over 10,000 of the original edition sold.

Though she does not understand exactly why, Maria is not content with her lot. The prospect of exchanging dependence on her family for dependence on a husband does not sit well with this young woman growing up in late 19th Century Germany. Three generations later, on the other side of the Atlantic, Eva struggles with a similar restlessness; she is generally happy but never quite satisfied. This book follows Maria and her great-granddaughter Eva as they face surprisingly similar choices in dramatically different decades: how to keep a roof over your head, when to abandon independence and commit to a lover, where to draw a line in the sand. The choices they make take them to new countries, open them up to heartache and leave them wondering what is enough.

The hijinx and tomfoolery continue and sarcasm reigns supreme in the final book from this 'Pulitzer-prize winning' (lie #1) writer. Sensitive subjects like erectile dysfunction, facebook affairs, and why boys are stupid but necessary are written with a 'riveting' (lie #2) attention to detail. Find out why ugly men make the best husbands, and why you're perfect just the way you are (lie #3).

Lauren and her friend Kayla, with whom she's secretly in love, land after-school jobs at a vintage clothing boutique, but when Lauren begins learning mysterious things about the shop's owner, she fears that both her and Kayla's lives are in danger.