‘I wish I had been brave enough to come out earlier in my tenure as CEO of BP. I regret it to this day. I know that if I had done so I would have made more of an impact for other gay men and women. With The Glass Closet, I hope to give some of them the courage to make an impact of their own.’ Whether you’re lesbian, gay, transgender or straight, John Browne’s message is simple and clear, it’s better for you and it’s better for business when you bring your authentic self to work. Drawing on his personal experiences and the experience of other gay and lesbian business leaders, and by investigating the research and the social contexts, The Glass Closet strives to give courage and inspire the LGBT community that despite the risks involved, self-disclosure is best for employees and for the businesses that support them. Every CEO, every HR Manager, every team leader – anyone who is responsible for the culture and success of their business should read The Glass Closet. And for anyone fearful or lacking the confidence to bring their true self into work every day, this book was written for you.

Since the early 2000s, the phenomenon of the “down low”—black men who have sex with men as well as women and do not identify as gay, queer, or bisexual—has exploded in news media and popular culture, from the Oprah Winfrey Show to R & B singer R. Kelly’s hip hopera Trapped in the Closet. Most down-low stories are morality tales in which black men are either predators who risk infecting their unsuspecting female partners with HIV or victims of a pathological black culture that repudiates openly gay identities. In both cases, down-low narratives depict black men as sexually dangerous, duplicitous, promiscuous, and contaminated. In Nobody Is Supposed to Know, C. Riley Snorton traces the emergence and circulation of the down low in contemporary media and popular culture to show how these portrayals reinforce troubling perceptions of black sexuality. Reworking Eve Sedgwick’s notion of the “glass closet,” Snorton advances a new theory of such representations in which black sexuality is marked by hypervisibility and confinement, spectacle and speculation. Through close readings of news, music, movies, television, and gossip blogs, Nobody Is Supposed to Know explores the contemporary genealogy, meaning, and functions of the down low. Snorton examines how the down low links blackness and queerness in the popular imagination and how the down low is just one example of how media and popular culture surveil and police black sexuality. Looking at figures such as Ma Rainey, Bishop Eddie L. Long, J. L. King, and Will Smith, he ultimately contends that down-low narratives reveal the limits of current understandings of black sexuality.

Looks at the central importance of the homosexual/heterosexual dichotomy in the Western culture of the last century, in particular by a series of provocative readings of Melville, Wilde, James and Proust. A book of both political and literary importance.

The all-embracing, "whaddya got?" nature of rebellion in Fifties America included pop music's unlikely challenge to entrenched notions of masculinity. Within that upheaval, four prominent artists dared to behave in ways that let the public assume—but not see—their queerness. That these artists cultivated ambiguous sexual personas often reflected an understandable fear, but also a struggle to fulfill personal and professional expectations.Vincent L. Stephens confronts notions of the closet—both coming out and staying in—by analyzing the careers of Liberace, Johnny Mathis, Johnnie Ray, and Little Richard. Appealing to audiences hungry for novelty and exoticism, the four pop icons used performance and queering techniques that ran the gamut. Liberace's flamboyance shared a spectrum with Mathis's intimate sensitivity while Ray's overwrought displays as "Mr. Emotion" seemed worlds apart from Little Richard's raise-the-roof joyousness. As Stephens shows, the quartet not only thrived in an era of gray flannel manhood, they pioneered the ways generations of later musicians would consciously adopt sexual mystery as an appealing and proven route to success.

Includes 50 projects for shoes, range from strappy Asian Pumps with a high heel and floral design to beaded rope mules dotted with small pearls. Choose from shoes meant for weddings, fancy pairs for a night out, and casual ones for everyday or the beach. This work also includes boots and a few patterns for baby footware.

Set in a summer camp, this sweet and sharp screwball comedy set in a summer camp for queer teens examines the nature of toxic masculinity and self-acceptance. Sixteen-year-old Randy Kapplehoff loves spending the summer at Camp Outland, a camp for queer teens. It's where he met his best friends. It's where he takes to the stage in the big musical. And it's where he fell for Hudson Aaronson-Lim—who's only into straight-acting guys and barely knows not-at-all-straight-acting Randy even exists. This year, however, it's going to be different. Randy has reinvented himself as 'Del'—buff, masculine, and on the market. Even if it means giving up show tunes, nail polish, and his unicorn bedsheets, he's determined to get Hudson to fall for him. But as he and Hudson grow closer, Randy has to ask himself: How much is he willing to change for love? And is it really love anyway, if Hudson doesn't know who he truly is?

'One of the best fantasy book series of the past decade' TIME Never trust an assassin. Celaena's story continues in this second book in the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she goes to great lengths to hide her secret, her deadly charade becomes more difficult when she realises she is not the only one seeking justice. Her search for answers ensnares those closest to her, and no one is safe from suspicion - not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a princess with a rebel heart. Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie ... and what she is willing to fight for. The second book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series returns readers to a land destroyed by liars, where one woman's truth is the only thing that can save them all.

An inspirational memoir from a remarkable leader. Once a lacklustre organisation, BP became one of the world's biggest, most successful and most admired companies in the new millennium. John Browne, the company's CEO for 12 years, invented the oil 'supermajor' and led the way on issues such as climate change, human rights and transparency. In BEYOND BUSINESS, Browne brings to life what he learned about leadership in a tough industry. His story encompasses the insights gained as he transformed a national company, challenged an entire industry and prompted political and business leaders to change. He takes us across the world on adventures that include going toe-to-toe with both tyrants and elected leaders, and involve engineering feats which in many ways rival those of going to the moon. And he shares his views on the true purpose of business and the leadership needed to tackle the grand challenges of our era. It is also a story of failure and human frailty, as Browne reveals how his private and public lives collided at frightening speed in full view of the world, prompting his abrupt resignation as CEO of BP.

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller. Drawing on the experience of John Browne, former CEO of BP, and the insight of two McKinsey experts, Connect articulates and explores the recurring rift between big business and society, offering a practical manifesto for reconciliation. This timely and important book features candid interviews with global leaders at the heart of this debate, from Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Goldman Sachs’ CEO Lloyd Blankfein to Tony Blair and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web. Connect shows how companies and executives can enhance their performance by engaging radically with the world around them.