"If the postmodernist ethical onslaught has led to the demise of literature by exposing its political agenda, if all literature is compromised by its entanglement with power, why does literature’s subterranean voice still seduce us into reading? Why do the madness and the scandal of transgressive literature, its power to force us to begin anew, its evil, escape the gaze of contemporary literary criticism? Why do we dare not reject ethics and the ethical approach to literature? If the primary task of literary criticism is to correct others’ ethical missteps, should we not begin by confronting the seductiveness of ethics, our desire for ethics, the pleasure we take in being ethical? And what is the relationship between ethics and history in the study of literature? What would be the ethical consequences of an erasure of history from literary criticism? In a series of essays on the writings of Kawabata Yasunari, Murakami Haruki, Karatani Kjin, Furui Yoshikichi, Mishima Yukio, Oe Kenzaburo, Natsume Soseki, and Kobayashi Hideo, Hosea Hirata visits the primal force of the scandalous in an effort to repeat (in the Kierkegaardian sense) the originary scene that initiates the obscure yet insistent poetry that is literature and to confront the questions raised."

An advertising creative director and co-producer of Mad Men presents a concise, anecdotal guidebook of rules, principles and insights into the art of persuasion in the information economy. Simultaneous.

Okumura is still obsessed with 2D character Liliel, but another convention brings him closer to real-life Lilysa, who is touched by his valiant efforts to support her dream. Thanks to him, she's able to hold her own against Nagomi, one of the Heavenly Queens of Cosplay. Back at school, Okumura submits an activity report that puts the survival of the manga club at stake. What is club advisor Mayuri to do now?

Mixed martial arts fighter Reid Andrews's chance to reclaim his title as light heavyweight champ is shattered when he's injured only months before the rematch. To make sure he's healed in time, his trainer sends him to recuperate under a professional's care—Reid's best friend's little sister, all grown up. Disorganized and bookish Lucie Miller needs some professional help of her own. She'd do anything to catch the eye of a doctor she's crushed on for years, so when Reid offers seduction lessons in exchange for 24/7 conditioning for the biggest fight of his career, Lucie jumps at the chance. Soon Reid finds himself in the fight of his life...winning Lucie's heart before she gives it to someone else. Each book in the Fighting for Love series is STANDALONE: * Seducing Cinderella * Rules of Entanglement * Fighting For Irish * Sweet Victory

Lilysa hits a snag coming up with a Liliel costume and the manga club decides to do a cosplay of a game Magic Girls for Winter Comiket. But they're not the only ones: Heavenly Queens Hoshizuki Yoki and Nagomi are going as magic girls, too. Whose cosplay will attract the bigger crowd? May the path of otakudom rise to meet these otaku!

It’s interesting that we tend to seek for answers with the same brain that has produced the questions and then wonder why we keep the questions but not have the answers or why the answers never seem to match our initial perceptions or expectations when making the questions? And yet, for some reason, we persist for months, and even years of our life, with the same questions. Very often, we give up on finding the answers, but the questions remain, buried in our subconscious mind. And so, and ironically, I find myself realizing that the best answers can only be seen and not searched. Truly, you can only look at what lays in front of you, because life is perfect already, and anything that can be found beyond our preconceived ideas about life is really beyond our preconceptions, thoughts or expectations, which means one cannot be without not being. In this book, I will show you what I’ve found when forgetting myself, when allowing myself to feel stupid and realizing that I know very little about life, and in specific, women, which is something I had to do if I wanted to truly know how to conquer a ten instead of settling for less. I actually thought I had conquered many tens before in my life, you know, those women every man wants, that they try to anxiously seduce even as she is right next to me, or that they want to learn how to seduce by becoming my friends first and copying what I do next. But recent experiences shown me that the level can always be upgraded. Those tens are now ones when compared to the astonishing goddesses I met in the baltic countries. In my previous books I did mention women that are socially perceived as a ten. But what if you met the hottest girls in the world? What kind of ten is that previous girl you met? Relearning about how to answer such questions is what I did to write this book. After ending a five years relationship with a woman that was a ten from the social perception of any country we visited together, in a nearly total of thirty countries, often making men wondering what a guy like me had that they didn’t, and assuming it’s just the size of my cock, was what I did to upgrade my game and take it to a completely new level, far beyond my personal expectations. I decided to travel for 4 months in 7 of the countries with the most beautiful women in the world: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Belgium and Spain. This book resumes conclusions that I’m not necessarily proud or happy about, but that, as a social, psychological, but also psychopathic, and foremost, mindfucking scientist, as well as researcher, do present very accurate insights into the female mind, at least the one that is at the top as the most appreciated, the tall, blond and blue or green eyes blond with long hair and beautiful facial features. You know, that goddess that you thought only existed either in the Lord of the Rings or very high quality porn movies. Yep, I’m going to teach you here how to blow yourself away with amazing success in picking up and dating the hottest women in the world. And if you can’t, well, fuck it and fuck you, because I’m not your father and this isn’t LSD and won’t make miracles for you just because you read it. This is just a book. You’re responsible for what you do, say and also for who you are. So, don’t blame me or anyone else for being yourself and existing in the way you do. If you want these tips to work, you must use them over and over again, because they’re so good that they even work on men. That’s right, I made as many male friends as I made female friends by behaving and talking like what I will show you here. And I also did have amazing conversations with some guys while seducing their girlfriend in front of them. The emails that these girls kept sending me still surprise me to this day.

A 16-year-old girl who suddenly encounters death reconsiders her own life and searches for answers to the everlasting questions: "What are we living for? What is the sense of life? Who am I really? She finds answers from a most erudite man, the martial-arts master Sensei.

A King’s Convictions The priestess Farangis and wandering minstrel Gieve have joined Prince Arslan in his quest to reclaim his kingdom. But these new additions are far from enough to stand up against the vast army of Lusitania and the nefarious scheming of the Man in the Silver Mask. Arslan must seek reinforcements from Kashan Fortress and is warmly greeted by its lord, Hodir, but Hodir’s hospitality will come at a price. As the path to the royal throne stands before him, Arslan’s principles will be put to the test and he will discover what it means to be a true king.

Okamura and Lilysa take part in a cosplay convention in a bid for the manga club's survival. Their plans are derailed by the appearance at the con of one of the Four Heavenly Queens of cosplay, Nagomi--and their advisor, Mayuri, shows up as well... Both Lilysa and Okamura are forced to look into their own hearts and think about what cosplay means to them. The path of otakudom has more twists and turns than ever!

The student council holds a cosplay cafe for the culture festival and Vice President Marina reveals herself as an otaku on the cafe stage. Her mother is shaken by the news, but she comes around when she sees the way Marina lights up when she's cosplaying and dancing. After the festival, Marina stops by the manga club. What could it be about?! The path of otakudom is turning into a maze!!