During World War I, while stationed overseas in France with the United States Army, Private James Donovan literally stumbles upon a small dog cowering on the streets of Paris. Named Rags for his disheveled appearance, the little stray quickly finds a home with Donovan and a place in his heart. Although the Army did not have an official canine division, Rags accompanies Donovan to the battlefield, making himself a useful companion delivering messages and providing a much-appreciated morale boost to the soldiers. News about Rags spreads and soon the little dog's battlefield exploits become the stuff of legend. But during a fierce battle near the end of the war, both Rags and Donovan are wounded. Severely injured, Donovan is sent back to the United States. And the little dog with the big heart refuses to leave his best friend's side.

Who wants to be a millionaire? Who doesnt? From magician to manufacturing magnate, fi nancial columnist to real estate investor, poet to college dropout, here are the profi les of 17 ordinary people who started with nothing-and became millionaires!These are stories of people who overcame poverty or in some cases middle class lifestyles to single-handedly beat overwhelming odds and achieved fi nancial success. They may not all be household names, but their stories can serve as an inspiration to us all. Praise for Rags to Riches: There are as many paths to fi nancial success as there are people who want to achieve it. This book shows that wealth is within the reach of just about anyone. -Tom Siedell, Managing Editor, Your Money The most extraordinary thing about Rags to Riches is that it affi rms how ordinary people have this tremendous, innate ability to achieve success and generate wealth if they put their minds to it. -John E Wasik, Author, Retire Early and Live the Life You Want Now Rags to Riches: Motivating Stories of How Ordinary People Achieved Extraordinary Wealth goes well beyond the quick-fi x guru guidebooks to explore effective, longterm strategies that systematically build wealth. Its fascinating, candid look at how every day, people reach their goals by turning challenge into opportunity.-Marla Brill, Publisher, Brills Mutual Funds Interactive www.brill.com A fascinating and instructive collection of biographies. -Evan Simonoff, Associated Publishedr/Editor-in-Chief, Financial Planning Now readers everywhere can discover what Palm Beach Daily News readers have learned: Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine know everything there is to know about personal wealth-how to get it and how to grow it. Gails weekly column in our paper tells affl uent readers how to manage their fortunes. This book takes a step back and tells readers, in the words of millionaires whove been there and done it, how to acquire a vast personal fortune. -Linda Rawls, Editor, Palm Beach Daily News Husband and wife Alan Lavine and Gail Liberman know money. They are syndicated fi nance columnists and authors based in North Palm Beach, Florida. Their joint columns run weekly in the Boston Herald, on America Online, and in numerous newspapers. They are frequent guests on radio and television as well as columnists for Fundsinteractive.com and Quiken.com. Alan and Gail are the authors of Love, Marriage & Money, as well as the bestseller, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Mutual Funds.

"Born in 1948, in Abu Dhabi, the author knew dreadful poverty for years before fabulous oil wealth transformed his country forever. He grew up in the ruler's palace, barefoot like his playmates, now senior figures in the United Arab Emirates." "This is a vivid eye-witness account of the total transformation within only 30 years of a Bedouin society into a country with the world's highest per capita income. He speaks with great frankness about his own life and career and about the role of the British in his country."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. One of Library Journal's Best Short Story Collections of 2019. One of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and Tor.com's Books to Read in February. "Sharp, haunting . . . [Meijer] writes wonderfully of the trap of the self, with its impossible prisons of circumstance and identity, not to mention the perversity of being buried alive, alone, inside a body." --Merritt Tierce, The New York Times Book Review From the author of Heartbreaker, a disquieting collection tracing the destructive consequences of the desire for connection A man, forgotten by the world, takes care of his deaf brother while euthanizing dogs for a living. A stepbrother so desperately wants to become his stepsibling that he rapes his girlfriend. In Maryse Meijer’s decidedly dark and searingly honest collection Rag, the desperate human desire for connection slips into a realm that approximates horror. Meijer’s explosive debut collection, Heartbreaker, reinvented sexualized and romantic taboos, holding nothing back. In Rag, Meijer’s fearless follow-up, she shifts her focus to the dark heart of intimacies of all kinds, and the ways in which isolated people’s yearning for community can breed violence, danger, and madness. With unparalleled precision, Meijer spins stories that leave you troubled and slightly shaken by her uncanny ability to elicit empathy for society’s most marginalized people.

The best writers of our generation retell classic tales. From Sir Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene to E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops," literature is filled with sexy, deadly, and downright twisted tales. In this collection, award-winning and bestselling authors reimagine their favorite classic stories, the ones that have inspired, awed, and enraged them, the ones that have become ingrained in modern culture, and the ones that have been too long overlooked. They take these stories and boil them down to their bones, and reassemble them for a new generation of readers. Written from a twenty-first century perspective and set within the realms of science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, and realistic fiction, these short stories are as moving and thought provoking as their originators. They pay homage to groundbreaking literary achievements of the past while celebrating each author's unique perception and innovative style.

On the streets of Paris one day in July 1918, an American doughboy, Sgt. Jimmy Donovan, befriended a stray dog that he named Rags. No longer an unwanted street mutt, Rags became the mascot to the entire First Division of the American Expeditionary Force and a friend to the American troops who had crossed the Atlantic to fight. Rags was more than a scruffy face and a wagging tail, however. The little terrier mix was with the division at the crucial battle of Soissons, at the Saint-Mihiel offensive, and finally in the blood-and-mud bath of the Meuse-Argonne, during which he and his guardian were wounded. Despite being surrounded by distraction and danger, Rags learned to carry messages through gunfire, locate broken communications wire for the Signal Corps to repair, and alert soldiers to incoming shells, saving the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. Through it all, he brought inspiration to men with little to hope for, especially in the bitter last days of the war. From Stray Dog to World War I Hero covers Rags's entire life story, from the bomb-filled years of war through his secret journey to the United States that began his second life, one just as filled with drama and heartache. In years of peace, Rags served as a reminder to human survivors of what held men together when pushed past their limits by the horrors of battle. Watch a book trailer.

Rags to Rags is an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek collection of short stories about being the poorest kid in the room. It hails from the mind of Ellie Guzman, whose unconventional approach to writing humorous essays about uncomfortable topics on her blog has led to publication worldwide and an international following. Throughout her life, Guzman has somehow always ended up in wealthy spaces, from stumbling into the child acting industry, to scraping by on financial aid at a prestigious private university, to breaking into an animation studio and gradually working her way up the writing ladder. But in her personal life, she was always broke, growing up cramped in a one-bedroom apartment with a family of four and joining scientific studies to make a quick buck. Her short stories embrace the bizarreness of those situations as well as the realities of what being "poor" means, all through a hilarious and quirky lens. "Oh My God, Are You Bryan Cranston?" tells the story of the time Guzman mistakenly attended a screening with the cast of Argo, and how she attacked the hors d'oeuvres to cope with the shame of being underdressed in front of her heroes. "You Better Work" describes the unusual lengths she went through to survive college, like getting her blood drawn for cash or pretending to be a freshman for a free sandwich. "The New Normal" describes how exactly she made the leap from a career in medicine to one in television, and "Whitewashed" explores an identity crisis as a first-generation Latina coming to terms with who she is. It's a variety of topics infused with Guzman's unique voice, funny but sincere, conversational yet biting. It doesn't take itself too seriously; after all, it's not a story of rags to riches. It's a story of rags to rags.

Thrive: 30 Inspirational Rags-to-Riches Stories shows the power of perseverance to achieve unbelievable success. Follow the stories of ordinary people who overcame adversity to become wealthy entrepreneurs, innovative businessmen, and famous artists, including Jim Carrey, Eminem, Vin Diesel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Charlize Theron, Ellen DeGeneres, Mark Cuban, and Jay Z. Never give up. Thrive.

Wynona Rogers is a name that most people that know it would associate with integrity and insurance. Thirty-one years in the insurance business and a number of awards couldn't prepare her for the events that unfolded in 2007. Now she uses her unique storytelling skills in Riches to Rags: One Woman's Story of Betrayal and Redemption, the true-life story of her experience with a certain Baptist missionary and bookkeeper. Wynona grew up in the Baptist church where she was fortified with God's teachings, especially the Ten Commandments. Those teachings would be tested when a rogue missionary devastated her life. Wynona takes you through the harrowing events she experienced firsthand. The story has mystery, a bit of humor, but mostly inspiration. Pamela puts you there with her as she recounts the events that spanned the globe from Istanbul, Turkey, to the smallest island in Hawaii. Wynona Rogers shares her story so that the horrible things that happened to her may never happen to you. Truly a riches-to-rags story you won't soon forget.