Reclaim the magic of massage. If you're feeling burned out, we can beat it. If you're worried about starting your own business, we can conquer those fears. If you think you suck at massage, you're wrong. Massage is weird. There, I said it, and I'd say it again. Whether it's communicating with first time clients, figuring out how the puzzle of pain works (and why it sometimes seems impossible to solve), or creeper-proofing your practice, it can be a lot for one person to figure out all on their own. That's why we'll figure it out together! Take the leap of faith with me and we'll demystify the mysterious, bust a few massage myths, and learn how to drop the worries and start focusing on outcomes. We'll get through it together, one chapter at a time.

In a masterful work of cultural history, Charles Sprawson, himself an obsessional swimmer and fluent diver, explores the meaning that different cultures have attached to water, and the search for the springs of classical antiquity. In nineteenth-century England bathing was thought to be an instrument of social and moral reform, while in Germany and America swimming came to signify escape. For the Japanese the swimmer became an expression of samurai pride and nationalism. Sprawson gives is fascinating glimpses of the great swimming heroes: Byron leaping dramatically into the surf at Shelley’s beach funeral; Rupert Brooke swimming naked with Virginia Woolf, the dark water “smelling of mint and mud”; Hart Crane swallow-diving to his death in the Bay of Mexico; Edgar Allan Poe’s lone and mysterious river-swims; Leander, Webb, Weissmuller, and a host of others. Informed by the literature of Swinburne, Goethe, Scott Fitzgerald, and Yukio Mishima; the films of Riefenstahl and Vigo; the Hollywood “swimming musicals” of the 1930s; and delving in and out of Olympic history, Haunts of the Black Masseur is an enthralling assessment of man—body submerged, self-absorbed. It is quite simply the best celebration of swimming ever written, even as it explores aspects of culture in a heretofore unimagined way.

In masterful tales of coming of age and becoming marginalized during the Cuban Revolution and its aftermath, Pablo La Rosa nostalgically looks back at a childhood spent by the seaside and creates a mosaic of poignant experiences seen through the glaring lens of race and exile. Neither the advantages of race or education, however, can exempt the disoriented protagonist from their perceived loss of homeland, integrity, identity. In the masterful ñEl Marielito,î La Rosa captures the bewilderment of a black man, marginalized by his race and circumstances in pre and post revolutionary Cuba and during his exile in the United States. Equally on the margin in spite of the advantages of education and race, a Cuban college student can relate only to a Russian janitor; though they share no common language they wordlessly share a longing for their lost homelands. La Rosa exhibits a penchant for the whimsical and experimental in homage to Latin American masters Jose Donoso, Carlos Fuentes, and Julio Cortàzar. His stylistic journey takes us from the magically real to psychological suspense and adventure. La RosaÍs masterful pen captivates our imagination and projects the reader into the souls of his characters.

The Wrestler's Body tells the story of a way of life organized in terms of physical self-development. While Indian wrestlers are competitive athletes, they are also moral reformers whose conception of self and society is fundamentally somatic. Using the insights of anthropology, Joseph Alter writes an ethnography of the wrestler's physique that elucidates the somatic structure of the wrestler's identity and ideology. Young men in North India may choose to join an akhara, or gymnasium, where they subject themselves to a complex program of physical and moral fitness. Alter's first-hand description of each detail of the wrestler's regimen offers a unique perspective on South Asian culture and society. Wrestlers feel that moral reform of Indian national character is essential and advocate their way of life as an ideology of national health. Everyone is called on to become a wrestler and build collective strength through self-discipline.

“Daniel Malka began with nothing. He earned everything by blood, sweat and tears. He won many championships for his club and for the national team. However, unexpected misfortune ruined his life.” What a Footballer tells the story of a poor boy named Daniel Malka who got the opportunity to represent a football club and moved from extreme poverty to great riches. With an enriched lifestyle of money, fame, luxurious rides, and everything he desired, Daniel lived his life to the fullest, albeit carelessly. Before long, he lost everything his career gave him, his fame, money, connections, even his health, through lavish spending and careless associations. He ruined his life with luxury expenses, false companions, and mixing with the wrong girls. He quickly returned to his old life of pain and hunger, unfulfilled hopes and aspirations, mockery and disappointment. Money and fame are two of the most powerful assets that a human can possess. They either bring out our best or our worst, depending on how we handle them. Daniel handled money and fame the wrong way. He grew up in hardships, and his relationship with survival was harsh. So he saw careless spending and associating with the wrong crowd as his way to run from poverty. Oh, how wrong he was! He has now learned his lessons. All he wants is his wealth back as he promises to start a new life and live wisely if given a second chance. The question is will he get a second chance? Will he get back all he lost? Will Daniel start a new life if he regains his wealth and never lose his money all over again? Has he truly learned his lessons? Packed with life lessons, this book tells a story that many of us can relate to. It tells a ‘behind the scenes’ story of how people (like us) handle fame, wealth, pains, challenges, and struggles of everyday life. Is there a chance for redemption? Will Daniel and several others rise again? Get this Book Today to Find Out!

Wellington has always boasted a strong literary tradition, from its most famous daughter, Katherine Mansfield, to the richly talented young writers who have graduated from Victoria University's creative writing class in recent years. In this impressive collection of short stories, poetry and extracts from novels and memoirs, Kate Camp captures the character of a unique city. Her anthology encompasses excerpts from novels as diverse as those by Robin Hyde, Damien Wilkins and Noel Virtue, short stories by William Brandt, Patricia Grace and Samara McDowell, and a special appearance by Carmen. The city that emerges is a passionate and vibrant place. Wellington is 'like a beautiful, moody lover,' Kate Camp says in her introduction, 'at least you know you're alive.' The 'Our City' series offers a new perspective on New Zealand's major cities. Each volume presents a selection of the literature inspired by one of New Zealand's four major cities. Chosen with care by a well-known editor from each city, the selections include short stories, poems, and extracts from novels and writers' memoirs. Each contributor, whether contemporary or historical, has a strong association with the city concerned, and every selection has something significant to say about the character of the city. Together they create a vivid picture of what makes the city unique.

A colourful book on ways of traditional massage