A rare look at the Japanese experience of World War II by a Japanese novelist and peace activist, The Breaking Jewel is set on an island in the South Pacific during the final days of World War II, when the tide has turned against Japan. The novel opens with the preparations of a small force of Japanese soldiers to defend a tiny and ultimately insignificant island from a full-scale assault by American forces. The narrative closely follows the character of squad leader Nakamura, the sole Japanese survivor of the battle.

“Jewel is a truth-teller…this is a book that lingers in your heart.” – Brené Brown *The New York Times bestseller* New York Times bestselling poet and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Jewel explores her unconventional upbringing and extraordinary life in an inspirational memoir that covers her childhood to fame, marriage, and motherhood. When Jewel’s first album, Pieces of You, topped the charts in 1995, her emotional voice and vulnerable performance were groundbreaking. Drawing comparisons to Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, a singer-songwriter of her kind had not emerged in decades. Now, with more than thirty million albums sold worldwide, Jewel tells the story of her life, and the lessons learned from her experience and her music. Living on a homestead in Alaska, Jewel learned to yodel at age five, and joined her parents’ entertainment act, working in hotels, honky-tonks, and biker bars. Behind a strong-willed family life with an emphasis on music and artistic talent, however, there was also instability, abuse, and trauma. At age fifteen, she moved out and tasked herself with a mission: to see if she could avoid being the kind of statistic that her past indicated for her future. Soon after, she was accepted to the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and there she began writing her own songs as a means of expressing herself and documenting her journey to find happiness. Jewel was eighteen and homeless in San Diego when a radio DJ aired a bootleg version of one of her songs and it was requested into the top-ten countdown, something unheard-of for an unsigned artist. By the time she was twenty-one, her debut had gone multiplatinum. There is much more to Jewel’s story, though, one complicated by family legacies, by crippling fear and insecurity, and by the extraordinary circumstances in which she managed to flourish and find happiness despite these obstacles. Along her road of self-discovery, learning to redirect her fate, Jewel has become an iconic singer and songwriter. In Never Broken she reflects on how she survived, and how writing songs, poetry, and prose has saved her life many times over. She writes lyrically about the natural wonders of Alaska, about pain and loss, about the healing power of motherhood, and about discovering her own identity years after the entire world had discovered the beauty of her songs.

Kojin Karatani wrote the essays in History and Repetition during a time of radical historical change, triggered by the collapse of the Cold War and the death of the Showa emperor in 1989. Reading Karl Marx in an original way, Karatani developed a theory of history based on the repetitive cycle of crises attending the expansion and transformation of capital. His work led to a rigorous analysis of political, economic, and literary forms of representation that recast historical events as a series of repeated forms forged in the transitional moments of global capitalism. History and Repetition cemented Karatani's reputation as one of Japan's premier thinkers, capable of traversing the fields of philosophy, political economy, history, and literature in his work. The first complete translation of History and Repetition into English, undertaken with the cooperation of Karatani himself, this volume opens with his innovative reading of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, tracing Marx's early theoretical formulation of the state. Karatani follows with a study of violent crises as they recur after major transitions of power, developing his theory of historical repetition and introducing a groundbreaking interpretation of fascism (in both Europe and Japan) as the spectral return of the absolutist monarch in the midst of a crisis of representative democracy. For Karatani, fascism represents the most violent materialization of the repetitive mechanism of history. Yet he also seeks out singularities that operate outside the brutal inevitability of historical repetition, whether represented in literature or, more precisely, in the process of literature's demise. Closely reading the works of Oe Kenzaburo, Mishima Yukio, Nakagami Kenji, and Murakami Haruki, Karatani compares the recurrent and universal with the singular and unrepeatable, while advancing a compelling theory of the decline of modern literature. Merging theoretical arguments with a concrete analysis of cultural and intellectual history, Karatani's essays encapsulate a brilliant, multidisciplinary perspective on world history.

One of the most respected artists in popular music today, Jewel is much more than a music industry success with her debut album selling more than 10 million copies. Before her gifted songwriting comes an even more individual art: Poetry. Now available in paperback, A Night without Armor highlights the poetry of Jewel taken from her journals which are both intimate and inspiring, to be embraced and enjoyed. Writing poems and keeping journals since childhood, Jewel has been searching for truth and meaning, turning to her words to record, to discover, and to reflect. In A Night Without Armor, her first collection of poetry, Jewel explores the fire of first love, the lessons of betrayal, and the healing of intimacy. She delves into matters of the home, the comfort of family, the beauty of Alaska, and the dislocation of divorce. Frank and honest, serious and suddenly playful, A Night Without Armor is a talented artist's intimate portrait of what makes us uniquely human.

A powerful story of war, love and survival set against the backdrop of the Los Banos prison raid - one of the most daring episodes of World War II.

Ohio history overflows with tales of enterprising thieves. Vault teller Ted Conrad walked out of Society National Bank carrying a paper sack containing a fifth of Canadian Club, a carton of Marlboros and $215,000 cash. He was never seen again. Known as one of the most successful jewel thieves in the world, Bill Mason stole comedian Phyllis Diller's precious gems not once, but twice. He also stole $100,000 from the Cleveland mob. Mild-mannered Kenyon College library employee David Breithaupt walked off with $50,000 worth of rare books and documents from the college. John Dillinger hit banks all over Ohio, and Alvin Karpis robbed a train in Garrettsville and a mail truck in Warren. Jane Ann Turzillo writes of these and other notable heists and perpetrators.

"So much collected wisdom and still no answers!" observed a very familiar male voice behind him. The hair on the back of his neck rose. No, it couldn't be! That was yesterday in another reality. He shivered involuntarily, hoping he was wrong about the voice. The traveling begins again! The Second Jewel of Earth follows the continuing story of a solitary man swept up in a fantastic battle to save his world. But is it really his world? Centaurs, trolls and animal-headed human compromises inhabit this strange new reality, with malevolent enemies bent on his destruction. And the pendant about his neck glows with the presence of the First Jewel, a blood-red reminder that the King he serves is more fearsome than his enemies. Sequel to his popular novel, The First Jewel of Earth, the author takes you on yet another journey to the distant past, as the Traveler searches for the second jewel to his incredible pendant. This series surveys Biblical prophesy and ancient history, revealing the origins of a supernatural war whose decisive battle is being fought today. As you join in this adventure, you will never travel alone. Come enjoy your journey! The Third Jewel of Earth is expected in late 2004.