A social and cultural history of the Grateful Dead, America's greatest folk/rock institution, by a "National Book Critics Circle Award"-winning author. 8-page photo insert.

I was his weakness. He was my strength. Until I destroyed him.I was infatuated with Shane Wilder since the first time I saw him surfing. But we couldn't be together. Not yet, anyway. I was too young and screwed up. He was too focused on chasing his dream.So we became friends. We met on the rooftop for late-night confessions under the stars. Cruised along the Pacific Coast Highway with the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces.I took photos of all the beautiful and ugly and interesting things, while he traveled the world in search of the perfect waves.I told him I would wait for him. I never meant to lie.I never meant to ruin his life.I. Destroyed. Him. As his star faded, mine burned bright. But as everyone knows, all that glitters is not gold. Now I'm back after seven long years, hoping for a chance to right my wrongs and fix what I've broken. This time I can only hope that loving Shane Wilder will be enough to save him.

October 1967 during the height of the Vietnam War Craig Anderson, John Barilla, Michael Lindner and Rick Bailey, deserted the US Intrepid; smuggled from Tokyo to Sweden via Moscow with the help of a Japanese anti-war group, a draft-card-burning Buddhist priest from Nebraska, and the staff of the Russian Embassy in Tokyo. Their act of defiance made them headline news around the world as the Intrepid Four, and inspired other disillusioned young conscripted soldiers to follow their escape to Sweden. Operation Chaos tells the true story of this group of U.S. military deserters who found asylum in Sweden during the Vietnam War and how in falling in league with the American Deserters Committee and its mysterious founder Michael Vale they became a thorn in the side of the US government during the Cold War. Travelling widely to Paris, Stockholm, North Carolina, Washington and New York visiting protected archives and meeting with the original agents and dissidents Matthew Sweet here uncovers their life underground, how the US government waged a determined campaign to discredit deserting soldiers, the story behind the secret scheme code named Operation Chaos, how the CIA tried to infiltrate this radical political group, an international game of cat and mouse and spiraling series of events winding all the way to the Manchurian Candidate scare of 1973/4, and the hunt for the victims of “the brainwashing institutes of Sweden”. Sweet’s fascinating journey of discovery sheds new light on one of the great untold tales of the Cold War, where the facts are wilder than any work of fiction.

Vampires, shifters, & demons...not to mention a few fallen angels and a goddess, the best-selling Kali Sweet urban fantasy series is now available as a special collection! Don't miss the first three full-length, action-packed novels that will keep you turning the pages and to see if Kali can save the world - and her love life - or will set everyone and everything straight to hell. Revenge Is Sweet, Book 1 Payback is a bitch and her name is Kali Sweet... I’m Kali Sweet, the best damn vengeance demon on earth. I work for the supernatural world’s Justice Department and protect innocent humans from otherworldly creatures like me. While I can’t take revenge for myself, I make sure justice is done for others. But when my latest run-in with Chicago’s vampire king backfires, the fallout leaves me with three big problems: a powerful Undead enemy who wants my head, my boss looking over my shoulder, and three personal blood slaves jeopardizing my reputation. Sweet Chaos, Book 2 The past always finds a way to bite you in the ass. As a three-hundred-year old vengeance demon, I’ve made a lot of enemies. Two of them are back, and together they’re bringing a war to Chicago that will topple the carefully constructed world I’ve protected for centuries. But I’m Kali Sweet. I never run from my past…and I’m not about to hide from my present. Sweet Soldier, Book 3 Life is one battle after another… Armageddon is coming, and it’s up to me to stop the Four Horsemen and their heavenly army of angels. The only way I can stop them and the coming biblical apocalypse is to recruit an army – an army led by the king of hell. Lucifer’s not about to help without getting something in return, and following anyone’s orders – even his – is not my style. But what price will I pay for dealing with the devil? Going to the dark side has never been so sweet.

Alexander Being with Tavin is like eating those candies that start out sweet and then turn so sour, your eyes water. When she's happy, her radiance is stunning, but her glow is dimmed by her dark secrets. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her, sucking on that lollipop, that there was something unique about her. I was right in more ways than one, and while I don't know the extent of suffering that her life entails, I'll do whatever I need to, to convince her she can trust me. I just need to hang on to her long enough to do that. Tavin When he wraps his arms around me, and his warmth makes me feel safe, it's easy to pretend that this is real. I knew going out with him was a bad idea, I just never imagined it would go this far. It was only supposed to be one night. One night to feel like a normal girl. I didn't plan for this and now, every day that passes puts us deeper in danger. All I can do is make the most of every moment with him, so when the time comes for this to end, then at least we'll be left with beautiful memories. Trigger Warning: This novel contains drug use, explicit sexual content, violence, and sensitive subject matter which may be triggering for some readers. *** A percentage of all sales is being donated to the To Write Love On Her Arms charity.

Keith Elliot Greenberg chronicles the growth of indie wrestling from bingo halls to a viable alternative to the WWE and speaks to those involved in the Alternative Wrestling League with remarkable candor, gaining behind-the-scenes knowledge of this growing enterprise. As COVID-19 utterly changed the world as we know it, only one sport was able to pivot and offer consistent, new, live programming on a weekly basis: professional wrestling. In 2017, after being told that no independent wrestling group could draw a crowd of more than 10,000, a group of wrestlers took up the challenge. For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Center Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT. Acclaimed wrestling historian Keith Elliot Greenberg’s Too Sweet takes readers back to the beginning, when a half century ago outlaw promotions challenged the established leagues, and guides us into the current era. He paints a vivid picture of promotions as diverse as New Japan, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro, Progress, and Chikara, and the colorful figures who starred in each. This is both a dynamic snapshot and the ultimate history of a transformational time in professional wrestling.

In this generous collection of book reviews and literary essays, legendary Village Voice rock critic Robert Christgau showcases the passion that made him a critic—his love for the written word. Many selections address music, from blackface minstrelsy to punk and hip-hop, artists from Lead Belly to Patti Smith, and fellow critics from Ellen Willis and Lester Bangs to Nelson George and Jessica Hopper. But Book Reports also teases out the popular in the Bible and 1984 as well as pornography and science fiction, and analyzes at length the cultural theory of Raymond Williams, the detective novels of Walter Mosley, the history of bohemia, and the 2008 financial crisis. It establishes Christgau as not just the Dean of American Rock Critics, but one of America's most insightful cultural critics as well.

A true romantic at heart, N.R.Hart expresses feelings of love, hope, passion, despair, vulnerability and romance in her poetry. Trapping time forever and a keeper of memories is what she loves most about the enduring power of poetry. Her poetry has been so eloquently described as "words delicately placed inside a storm." Poetry is here to make us feel instead of think; as thinking is for the mind and poetry is for the heart and soul. N.R.Hart hopes to open up your heart and touch your soul with her poetry.

Kaylin Neya is a Hawk, part of the elite force tasked with keeping the City of Elantra safe. Her past is dark, her magic uncontrolled and her allies unpredictable. And nothing has prepared her for what is coming, when the charlatans on Elani Street suddenly grow powerful, the Oracles are thrown into an uproar and the skies rain blood…. The powerful of Elantra believe that the mysterious markings on Kaylin's skin hold the answer, and they are not averse to using her—how ever they have to—in order to discover what it is. Something is coming, breaking through the barriers between the worlds. But is it a threat that Kaylin needs to defend her city against—or has she been chosen for another reason entirely?