Publisher Description

“One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review Hailed as “a magisterial critique of top-down social planning” by the New York Times, this essential work analyzes disasters from Russia to Tanzania to uncover why states so often fail—sometimes catastrophically—in grand efforts to engineer their society or their environment, and uncovers the conditions common to all such planning disasters. “Beautifully written, this book calls into sharp relief the nature of the world we now inhabit.”—New Yorker “A tour de force.”— Charles Tilly, Columbia University

The New York Times bestselling work of undercover reportage from our sharpest and most original social critic, with a new foreword by Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job—any job—can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly "unskilled," that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you int to live indoors. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity—a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich's perspective and for a rare view of how "prosperity" looks from the bottom. And now, in a new foreword, Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, explains why, twenty years on in America, Nickel and Dimed is more relevant than ever.

How will low-income communities be affected by the waves of social, economic, political, and cultural change that surround the new information technologies? How can we influence the outcome? This action-oriented book identifies the key issues, explores the evidence, and suggests some answers. Avoiding both utopianism and despair, the book presents the voices of technology enthusiasts and skeptics, as well as social activists. The book is organized into three parts. Part I examines the issues in their socio-technical, economic, and historical contexts. Part II--the core of the book--proposes five initiatives for using computers and electronic communications to benefit low-income urban communities: - to provide access to the new technologies in ways that enable low-income people to become active producers rather than passive users;- to use the new technologies to improve the dialogue between public agencies and low-income neighborhoods;- to help low-income youth to exploit the entrepreneurial potential of information technologies;- to develop approaches to education that take advantage of the educational capabilities of the computer;- to promote the community computer: applications of computers and communications technology that foster community development. Part III presents a synthesis of the various topics. Its main questions are, What are the prospects and problems of initiatives to enable the poor to benefit from the new technologies? and What federal, state, and municipal policies would enhance the prospects for success? Contributors Alice Amsden, Jeanne Bamberger, Anne Beamish, Manuel Castells, Joseph Ferreira, Peter Hall, Leo Marx, William J. Mitchell, Mitchel Resnick, Bish Sanyal, Donald A. Schön, Alan and Michelle Shaw, Michael Shiffer, Bruno Tardieu, Sherry Turkle, Julian Wolpert

2020 Whitney Award Winner Scotland 1794 For more than twenty years, the Lowland village of Craigmuir has been untouched by smallpox, leaving the people vulnerable to a painful lesson on the price of belonging, belief, and survival. Isla Findlay belongs nowhere. The daughter of a disgraced woman and the Highlander who abandoned them both, she tries to be a dutiful niece to the uncle who has taken her in, blending into the village as best she can. But when a young Highlander's arrival in the area coincides with an outbreak of dreaded smallpox, it stirs up questions about Isla's past and forces a confrontation between the beliefs she holds and the community she wants to belong to. Dr. Graeme MacNeill killed the only patient he ever had: his own father. The only way he can think to atone is to cut all ties from the Lowland world his father hated—including his education as a physician—and embrace the Highland heritage he used to be ashamed of. He travels to Craigmuir to sell the unwanted estate he has inherited from an uncle and return home, but fate—and the red-headed young woman he encounters in the village—have no intention of letting him leave things so easily behind.

Nonfiction. Self-Help. Mental Health. Philosophy. Ethics. Winner of the 2015 Living Now Book Award for Personal Growth. Is not being happy really so bad? In HIGH ON LOW: HARNESSING THE POWER OF UNHAPPINESS, Wilhelm Schmid persuasively argues that far from preventing us from living a full and successful life, being unhappy--be it in terms of discontent, melancholy, sadness, or depressive mood--is an inherent part of a well-rounded, active, and creative life. Rather than attempting to treat unhappiness as an unwelcome interloper on our perpetual quest for happiness, we should, Schmid suggests, draw on and harness the very power of not being happy. "This little book covers the gray area between melancholy and depression, finding meaning in a sense of place where one is unhappy, and pinpointing the real values in life." --Midwest Book Review "High on Low surprises on nearly every page .. Unlike the often simplistic recommendations found in many self- help books, these philosophical musings written for a general audience feel more like a rare chance to sit and listen to the advice of a wise elder. High on Low is a little book that can be read and reread, something to pull out and ponder on rainy, melancholy days." --Patty Somlo, The Mindful World "Psychology, philosophy and self-help shelves in the majority of our bookstores are lined with manuals on how to achieve as much happiness as possible, but this philosopher is able to offer up something different that may be able to help an individual who just can't connect with a hedonistic culture." --Erica Roberts, The Mindful World

REAL FOOD. REAL LIFE. REAL FLAVOR. Forever short on time, Associated Press food editor J. M. Hirsch is a master of kitchen shortcuts; his favorite, letting high-flavor ingredients do the heavy lifting, was the inspiration for this collection of nearly 150 boldly delicious recipes. Because nobody has time to make a bland meal. His approach to cooking is simple: Foods that taste great going into the pot need less work from you to taste great when they come out. He shows busy cooks how to use ingredients with intense flavor to make the meals they want in the time they have. The recipes are easy and the flavors are robust. Try Four-Cheese Baked Gnocchi, Pork Chops with Red Wine Cranberry Sauce, Red Curry Beef, Sweet-and-Savory BBQ Chicken, Chili Balsamic Marinated Sirloin with Fettuccine and Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Bacon, Beans, and Beer Chili. There’s even dessert, with Balsamic Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream and Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Breadsticks.

Clearly written strategies and powerful advice shows the essential winning strategies for beating Omaha high-low poker! This money-making guide includes more than sixty hard-hitting sections on Omaha. Players learn the rules of play, best starting hands, strategies for the flop, turn, and river, how to read the board for both high and low, dangerous draws, and how to beat low-limit tournaments. Includes odds charts, glossary, low-limit tips, and strategic ideas. 240 pages

We all know that in order to be a successful investor, we should buy low and sell high. In other words, we should pay a low price for our investment and sell it for a higher price. So why do many of us do exactly the opposite? Why do we buy high and sell low? To answer this question, I would like you to join me on a journey. As you read this book, you will realize some of the major mistakes we make as investors. You will discover why being liked does not make you a good investor, why our inability to not act might stop us from achieving the success we want, and why 88 percent of Swedish drivers believe they are safer drivers than most. After we learn to recognize some of our mistakes as investors, we will go on to learn about the stock market and the psychology of its participants. You'll learn the true value of a company and that a stock is more than a ticker running at the bottom of a TV screen while an assortment of noises tells you what to do next. You may be surprised to learn that there isn't a single company ticker or even an actual company name mentioned in this book. However, many characteristics of good companies are discussed. I will share with you the potent thoughts of some of the greatest investors of the last hundred years-luminary people such as Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and Charles Munger. You will learn about the three key areas to explore before acquiring shares of any company. You will also learn about an old man sitting under an olive tree with a wise lad, discussing the fundamentals of valuing a company. I wrote this book because I believe understanding the fundamentals of investing is a crucial first step in making the right investment decisions, which today more than ever is mandatory for any investor who cares about his or her financial future. I wrote this book also because I have seen too many people jump in to commit their hard-earned money without knowing the basics of investments, making the same mistakes over and over again and ending up with unsatisfactory results and even frustration about investing. I want you to know more. This will be the first step in a long and enjoyable journey, during which you will learn how to think about yourself as an investor, some of the checklists you'll need to go through when investing, and how to find a suitable investment at the right price. I hope that by the time you finish this book you will be as enthusiastic as I am about continuing your education and the lifelong journey of being a value investor.