With an intense, yet elegant, examination of the agricultural origins of four meals from three different pathways, Michael Pollan, bestselling author of THE BOTANY OF DESIRE, explores how the American diet affects the planet. Tracing the mind-boggling path of corn from seed to plate, Pollan analyzes industrial agriculture with a fast food meal in m...more

A moving story of heroism, filled with vivid characterizations, suspense, and a keen sense of mystery--Kenneally's most compelling work since his Booker Prize-winning Schindler's List. A woman who loses her husband's love and attention to his mistress and his political dealings, and her children to a tragic fire, attempts to start anew in the Austr...more

Smart people often believe that the opinion of the crowd is always inferior to the opinion of the individual specialist. Philosophical giants such as Nietzsche thought that "Madness is the exception in individuals but the rule in groups". Henry David Thoreau lamented: "The mass never comes up to the standard of its best member but on the contrary d...more

The full range of Lee Miller's outstanding photographs from World War II, accompanied by her brilliant dispatches.Lee Miller's work for Vogue from 1941 to 1945 sets her apart as a photographer and writer of extraordinary ability. Her words combine immediacy with acute observation, and deep personal involvement with professional detachment. Compleme...more

Meet Burt Hecker: a mead-drinking, tunic-wearing medieval re-enactor from upstate New York. He prefers oat gruel to French fries because potatoes were unavailable in Europe before 1200 AD; and, at war with the modern world, he enjoys hosting large-scale re-enactments at the Victorian bed and breakfast he calls home.But Burt has some serious proble...more

It was probably the most cutthroat pennant race in baseball history. And it was a struggle to define how baseball would be played. This book recreates the rowdy, season-long 1897 battle between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Beaneaters. The Orioles had acquired a reputation as the dirtiest team in baseball. Future Hall of Famers John McGraw, ...more

Eight funny and poignant stories of immigrant experience in contemporary Ireland The eight tales in Roddy Doyle’s first-ever collection of stories have one thing in common: someone born in Ireland meets someone who has come to live there. In “Guess Who’s Coming for the Dinner,” a father who prides himself on his open-mindedness when his da...more

Young Octavian is being raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers. After he opens a forbidden door he learns the hideous nature of their experiments and his own chilling role in them. Set in Revolutionary Boston, M.T. Anderson's mesmerizing novel takes place at a time when Patriots battled to win liberty while African slave...more