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After the death of his beloved wife, after the loss of his advertising business to his once-trusted partner, after bankruptcy forced him from his home, Alan Christoffersens daring cross-country journey-a walk across America, from Seattle to Key West, with only the pack on his back-has taught him lessons about love, forgiveness and, most of all, hope.Now Alan must again return west to face yet another crisis, one that threatens to upend his world just...

Why did the conventional wisdom - that soldiers become increasingly cynical and disillusioned as war progresses - not hold true in the Civil War?. It is to this question - why did they fight - that James M. McPherson, America's preeminent Civil War historian, now turns his attention. He shows that, contrary to what many scholars believe, the soldiers of the Civil War remained powerfully convinced of the ideals for which they fought throughout the...

The author concludes his "trilogy of American public life" by contemplating the many cultural associations of the color brown--toil, decay, impurity, and time--as he considers the meaning of Hispanics in American society.

The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family. - Publisher. "Much of my lecture at Carnegie Mellon focused on the professional side of my life--my students, colleagues and career. The book is a far more personal look at my childhood dreams and all the lessons I've learned....

The grief of a suicide takes different form than other types of death, and can include Post Traumatic Stress syndrome. For those who lose loved ones to suicide, however, help is available. Also, new research on how the brain works and the role that genetics plays in depression and sucide not only sheds light on why people take their own lives, but also offers hope, and new tools in prevention. This newly revised edition goes into more detail about...

" At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. "When Breath Becomes Air" chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a naïve medical student "possessed," as he wrote, "by the...

Honest, warm, and witty, this memoir reads like a conversation with a dear friend, a woman sharing her vulnerabilities and confidence, her pain and loss, as she endures infertility, illness, and recovery. With self-awareness and humor, the author takes readers along as she heals by focusing on the experiences of her mother and grandmothers, the wonders of the natural world, and creating a legacy for herself. Perfect for readers of Anne Lamott and...

"Time Traveler's Wife meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in a wondrous novel exploring the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the timelessness of family. Just because life might be out of order, doesn't mean it's broken. It's new years eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics,...

A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggles to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they've left the battlefield.

Acclaimed author Walter Anderson was editor of Parade magazine for 20 years. His memoir, Meant to Be, is the true story of a son who discovers that he is his mother's deepest secret. When the abusive man who Walter knew as his father dies, Walter feels compelled to ask his mother if he was his real father. No, she replies, and so begins his remarkable journey toward self-discovery.