After twenty years of crafting delicious food in Oakmont at his El Patio Café, loving father and husband Felipe Sanchez has big plans for expanding the business-so when the undocumented immigrant disappears without a trace, his family fears the worst. Fellow Oakmont resident Frank Sullivan has his own concerns: He's convinced that day laborers congregating at the mall are really drug dealers and becomes obsessed with driving out the immigrants he believes threaten his community. As he starts attracting followers, his family faces increasing tensions at home: His wife, Bonnie, is appalled by his xenophobic worldview, while his teenage son, Colin, struggles to cope with his father's racism as his own feelings grow for Marisol Sanchez. When police arrest Colin for drug possession, Frank seizes the opportunity to save his son's future and cleanse Oakmont of foreign invaders. Who will survive the fallout? And where is Felipe? Set amidst a backdrop of social and historical upheaval on both sides of the border, a treacherous deception and a shocking betrayal threaten to unravel the lives of two families in this riveting tale of love, hope, and resilience.

Dana Sachs went to Hanoi when tourist visas began to be offered to Americans; she was young, hopeful, ready to immerse herself in Vietnamese culture. She moved in with a family and earned her keep by teaching English, and she soon found that it was impossible to blend into an Eastern culture without calling attention to her Americanness--particularly in a country where not long ago she would have been considered the enemy. But gradually, Vietnam turned out to be not only hospitable, but the home she couldn't leave. Sachs takes us through two years of eye-opening experiences: from her terrifying bicycle accidents on the busy streets of Hanoi to how she is begged to find a buyer for the remains of American "poes and meeas" (POWs and MIAs). The House on Dream Street is also the story of a community and the people who become inextricably, lovingly, a part of Sachs's life, whether it's her landlady who wonders why at twenty-nine she's not married, the children who giggle when she tries to speak the language, or Phai, the motorcycle mechanic she falls for. The House on Dream Street is both the story of a country on the cusp of change and of a woman learning to know her own heart.

Light streams through the windows as the espresso machine roars; a gorgeous, rich scent fills the air; and witty conversation unspools over the porcelain cups. That's the café dream. Mark and Nina are about to experience the reality. Determined to re-create the perfect Viennese coffeehouse, they descend on New York's gritty but hip Lower East Side to educate the locals on authentic café culture. Soon Mark and Nina are in a downward spiral that will strip them of money, friends, sex life, status, shelter, and, finally, sanity—and offer salvation through something they have never experienced: disaster. Inspired by the author's own coffeehouse hell, Ground Up is a sharp and funny portrait of a New York constantly reinventing itself, and a surprisingly tender story of falling out of love and back in it again.

New edition of poignant selected images from famed Life photographer W. Eugene Smith’s Pittsburgh project. In 1955, having just resigned from his high-profile but stormy career with Life Magazine, W. Eugene Smith was commissioned to spend three weeks in Pittsburgh and produce one hundred photographs for noted journalist and author Stefan Lorant’s book commemorating the city’s bicentennial. Smith ended up staying a year, compiling twenty thousand images for what would be the most ambitious photographic essay of his life. But only a fragment of this work was ever seen, despite Smith's lifelong conviction that it was his greatest collection of photographs. In 2001, Sam Stephenson published for the first time an assemblage of the core images from this project, selections that Smith asserted were the “synthesis of the whole,” presenting not only a portrayal of Pittsburgh but of postwar America. This new edition, updated with a foreword by the poet Ross Gay, offers a fresh vision of Smith's masterpiece.

Meet the different kinds of people who live on this street.

In a rambling north London house, failed poet Toby Dobbs has created a refuge for people who need one. But when a quiet tragedy and an unwelcome letter interrupt Toby's sedate existence, he needs his housemates to find some direction in their lives - and fast.

The Dream Cafe, a popular neighborhood restaurant, is a welcoming haven for all kinds of people. The owner feels that the cae's exceptional nighttime goings-on should be preserved, so he asks Tom Gibbs, a young writer, to be its official scribe. Spanning the calendar year before the United States' involvement in World War II, the novel is comprised of a series of chronological stories--narrated by Tom Gibbs--each describing events at the cafe on a single night. John Mahoney, himself a young man during the time period evoked, brings vitality and veracity to the novel's mood and content. Anyone wishing to relive--or discover--the pre-WWII era will enjoy reading "Nights at the Dream Cafe."