Apathy and Other Small Victories

Apathy and Other Small Victories

Author: Paul Neilan

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2007-04-01

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1429907347

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A scathingly funny debut novel about disillusionment, indifference, and one man's desperate fight to assign absolutely no meaning to modern life. The only thing Shane cares about is leaving. Usually on a Greyhound bus, right before his life falls apart again. Just like he planned. But this time it's complicated: there's a sadistic corporate climber who thinks she's his girlfriend, a rent-subsidized affair with his landlord's wife, and the bizarrely appealing deaf assistant to Shane's cosmically unstable dentist. When one of the women is murdered, and Shane is the only suspect who doesn't care enough to act like he didn't do it, the question becomes just how he'll clear the good name he never had and doesn't particularly want: his own. “The malaise of cubicle culture may be well-trodden comedic territory by now, but Neilan's debut skewers office life with a flourish for the grotesque.” —The Village Voice


Book Synopsis Apathy and Other Small Victories by : Paul Neilan

Download or read book Apathy and Other Small Victories written by Paul Neilan and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A scathingly funny debut novel about disillusionment, indifference, and one man's desperate fight to assign absolutely no meaning to modern life. The only thing Shane cares about is leaving. Usually on a Greyhound bus, right before his life falls apart again. Just like he planned. But this time it's complicated: there's a sadistic corporate climber who thinks she's his girlfriend, a rent-subsidized affair with his landlord's wife, and the bizarrely appealing deaf assistant to Shane's cosmically unstable dentist. When one of the women is murdered, and Shane is the only suspect who doesn't care enough to act like he didn't do it, the question becomes just how he'll clear the good name he never had and doesn't particularly want: his own. “The malaise of cubicle culture may be well-trodden comedic territory by now, but Neilan's debut skewers office life with a flourish for the grotesque.” —The Village Voice


The Hollywood Spiral

The Hollywood Spiral

Author: Paul Neilan

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2021-06-15

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1538736667

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the author of Apathy and Other Small Victories, this darkly comic novel set in the near future about the race to find a missing cyber program with the power to bend reality—all before a fast-approaching comet destroys the earth. In the near future, after the internet grinds to a halt amid a wave of cyber-attacks, a company named Zodiac steps in to replace it with an evolved, augmented-reality version called The Grid. Harrigan, a hard-drinking private detective living as off-Grid as possible, is about to be evicted from his apartment when a stranger shows up asking for his help in finding Anna, an escort who he claims he's desperately in love with. Turns out that through Harrigan's new client, Anna has come into possession of a program/entity called Mirror, Mirror, which has the capacity to merge The Grid and reality, bending both to the whims of the program's user. Soon Harrigan finds himself up against the last surviving organized crime gangs in Los Angeles, Zodiac's mercenaries, and a mysterious group called The First Church Multiverse, all of whom are hot on the trail of Mirror, Mirror—if the comet rapidly approaching Earth doesn't kill them all first.


Book Synopsis The Hollywood Spiral by : Paul Neilan

Download or read book The Hollywood Spiral written by Paul Neilan and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of Apathy and Other Small Victories, this darkly comic novel set in the near future about the race to find a missing cyber program with the power to bend reality—all before a fast-approaching comet destroys the earth. In the near future, after the internet grinds to a halt amid a wave of cyber-attacks, a company named Zodiac steps in to replace it with an evolved, augmented-reality version called The Grid. Harrigan, a hard-drinking private detective living as off-Grid as possible, is about to be evicted from his apartment when a stranger shows up asking for his help in finding Anna, an escort who he claims he's desperately in love with. Turns out that through Harrigan's new client, Anna has come into possession of a program/entity called Mirror, Mirror, which has the capacity to merge The Grid and reality, bending both to the whims of the program's user. Soon Harrigan finds himself up against the last surviving organized crime gangs in Los Angeles, Zodiac's mercenaries, and a mysterious group called The First Church Multiverse, all of whom are hot on the trail of Mirror, Mirror—if the comet rapidly approaching Earth doesn't kill them all first.


The Power of Negative Thinking

The Power of Negative Thinking

Author: Bobby Knight

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 054402771X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Using examples from his long career, a legendary basketball coach outlines the benefits of negative thinking, which helps build a realistic strategy that takes all potential obstacles into account.


Book Synopsis The Power of Negative Thinking by : Bobby Knight

Download or read book The Power of Negative Thinking written by Bobby Knight and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2013 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using examples from his long career, a legendary basketball coach outlines the benefits of negative thinking, which helps build a realistic strategy that takes all potential obstacles into account.


Roots of Apathy

Roots of Apathy

Author: Michael R. Hicks

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-02-03

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 9781495270048

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Apathy! Perhaps the greatest challenge facing schools in America today. Teachers, counselors and caring adults are laboring to save students from failing, but despite all their efforts, many teenagers just don't seem to care about school. Though tugged in the right direction, some are determined to “crawl” themselves through the proverbial cracks. The symptoms of apathy are familiar and include things like chronic absenteeism, lack of motivation, being disorganized, inattentive, unprepared, abrasive, disrespectful, distracted and lethargic, to mention a few. Educators prod, lecture and admonish these teenagers to take school serious and to be responsible, but nothing seems to stir interest or kindle their desire to achieve academically. A lot of research has been done to address the problem and school districts have implemented a myriad of intervention programs to meet the need. Much of the focus however, is on outward symptoms and the obvious is often overlooked…apathy has roots! In this book we will look below the surface and into the subterranean world where struggling students think, feel and live. Original stories, written by students about their own lives, will help us learn how teenagers often lose their way in school. We will let "them" tell "us" how they slipped into the “I don't care” fog we call apathy. In Roots of Apathy we will explore the powerful impact of factors like divorce, violence at home, drug and alcohol abuse, neglect, poverty, the loss of a loved one, the lure of unhealthy friendships, insecurities, frequent moving, addictions, sexual abuse, shame and how these factors lead to debilitating emotions like depression, discouragement, anger, grief, bitterness, hopelessness and fear. These companions of apathy are often the real culprits hidden beneath the surface of the struggling student. Though hard to see at times, locked inside the apathetic teenager, is a beautiful young person with all the hopes, dreams and aspirations that we had when we were their age. But for many of them the road has been hard. The storms of life have turned their world upside down. What we see on the outside is often their desperate attempt to cope with what we don't see on the inside. For some, their problems feel so heavy they can't carry anything else, not even school. In Roots of Apathy we will rediscover what it's like to be a teenager living through difficult circumstances and then explore ways to connect with them. Some will need our help learning to persevere through adversity, rather than just hunkering down and simply enduring suffering. Others will need help learning to forgive the people who've hurt them and let them down. Nearly all struggling teenagers will need hope to believe that the horrible things that have happened to them can have meaning; that surviving storms can uniquely equip them to help other struggling souls one day. If you are looking for another book with lots of pedagogical jargon and references to research studies, you should pick up something else to read. This is not that kind of book. In Roots of Apathy, the stories of students themselves drive the narrative. Some parts may make you smile, while other parts make you cry. I hope when you finish reading you will be inspired to keep loving kids and to care relentlessly for the ones who so desperately need us to not give up on them.


Book Synopsis Roots of Apathy by : Michael R. Hicks

Download or read book Roots of Apathy written by Michael R. Hicks and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-02-03 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Apathy! Perhaps the greatest challenge facing schools in America today. Teachers, counselors and caring adults are laboring to save students from failing, but despite all their efforts, many teenagers just don't seem to care about school. Though tugged in the right direction, some are determined to “crawl” themselves through the proverbial cracks. The symptoms of apathy are familiar and include things like chronic absenteeism, lack of motivation, being disorganized, inattentive, unprepared, abrasive, disrespectful, distracted and lethargic, to mention a few. Educators prod, lecture and admonish these teenagers to take school serious and to be responsible, but nothing seems to stir interest or kindle their desire to achieve academically. A lot of research has been done to address the problem and school districts have implemented a myriad of intervention programs to meet the need. Much of the focus however, is on outward symptoms and the obvious is often overlooked…apathy has roots! In this book we will look below the surface and into the subterranean world where struggling students think, feel and live. Original stories, written by students about their own lives, will help us learn how teenagers often lose their way in school. We will let "them" tell "us" how they slipped into the “I don't care” fog we call apathy. In Roots of Apathy we will explore the powerful impact of factors like divorce, violence at home, drug and alcohol abuse, neglect, poverty, the loss of a loved one, the lure of unhealthy friendships, insecurities, frequent moving, addictions, sexual abuse, shame and how these factors lead to debilitating emotions like depression, discouragement, anger, grief, bitterness, hopelessness and fear. These companions of apathy are often the real culprits hidden beneath the surface of the struggling student. Though hard to see at times, locked inside the apathetic teenager, is a beautiful young person with all the hopes, dreams and aspirations that we had when we were their age. But for many of them the road has been hard. The storms of life have turned their world upside down. What we see on the outside is often their desperate attempt to cope with what we don't see on the inside. For some, their problems feel so heavy they can't carry anything else, not even school. In Roots of Apathy we will rediscover what it's like to be a teenager living through difficult circumstances and then explore ways to connect with them. Some will need our help learning to persevere through adversity, rather than just hunkering down and simply enduring suffering. Others will need help learning to forgive the people who've hurt them and let them down. Nearly all struggling teenagers will need hope to believe that the horrible things that have happened to them can have meaning; that surviving storms can uniquely equip them to help other struggling souls one day. If you are looking for another book with lots of pedagogical jargon and references to research studies, you should pick up something else to read. This is not that kind of book. In Roots of Apathy, the stories of students themselves drive the narrative. Some parts may make you smile, while other parts make you cry. I hope when you finish reading you will be inspired to keep loving kids and to care relentlessly for the ones who so desperately need us to not give up on them.


Chuck Klosterman IV

Chuck Klosterman IV

Author: Chuck Klosterman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2006-09-05

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0743284887

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A bestselling pop culture guru and author of "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" takes a unique look at his career in journalism, in this collection of work that includes the legendary chicken McNuggets experiment and an uncensored profile of Britney Spears.


Book Synopsis Chuck Klosterman IV by : Chuck Klosterman

Download or read book Chuck Klosterman IV written by Chuck Klosterman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006-09-05 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bestselling pop culture guru and author of "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" takes a unique look at his career in journalism, in this collection of work that includes the legendary chicken McNuggets experiment and an uncensored profile of Britney Spears.


Everything Changes

Everything Changes

Author: Jonathan Tropper

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2005-03-29

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0440335280

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Jonathan Tropper’s novel The Book of Joe dazzled critics and readers alike with its heartfelt blend of humor and pathos. Now Tropper brings all that–and more–to an irresistible new novel. In Everything Changes, Tropper delivers a touching, wickedly funny new tale about love, loss, and the perils of a well-planned life. EVERYTHING CHANGES To all appearances, Zachary King is a man with luck on his side. A steady, well-paying job, a rent-free Manhattan apartment, and Hope, his stunning, blue-blooded fiancée: smart, sexy, and completely out of his league. But as the wedding day looms, Zack finds himself haunted by the memory of his best friend, Rael, killed in a car wreck two years earlier–and by his increasingly complicated feelings for Tamara, the beautiful widow Rael left behind. Then Norm–Zack’s freewheeling, Viagra-popping father–resurfaces after a twenty-year absence, looking to make amends. Norm’s overbearing, often outrageous efforts to reestablish ties with his sons infuriate Zack, and yet, despite twenty years of bad blood, he finds something compelling in his father’s maniacal determination to transform his own life. Inspired by Norm, Zack boldly attempts to make some changes of his own, and the results are instantly calamitous. Soon fists are flying, his love life is a shambles, and his once carefully structured existence is spinning hopelessly out of control. Charged with intelligence and razor sharp wit, Everything Changes is at once hilarious, moving, sexy, and wise–a work of transcendent storytelling from an exciting new talent.


Book Synopsis Everything Changes by : Jonathan Tropper

Download or read book Everything Changes written by Jonathan Tropper and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2005-03-29 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jonathan Tropper’s novel The Book of Joe dazzled critics and readers alike with its heartfelt blend of humor and pathos. Now Tropper brings all that–and more–to an irresistible new novel. In Everything Changes, Tropper delivers a touching, wickedly funny new tale about love, loss, and the perils of a well-planned life. EVERYTHING CHANGES To all appearances, Zachary King is a man with luck on his side. A steady, well-paying job, a rent-free Manhattan apartment, and Hope, his stunning, blue-blooded fiancée: smart, sexy, and completely out of his league. But as the wedding day looms, Zack finds himself haunted by the memory of his best friend, Rael, killed in a car wreck two years earlier–and by his increasingly complicated feelings for Tamara, the beautiful widow Rael left behind. Then Norm–Zack’s freewheeling, Viagra-popping father–resurfaces after a twenty-year absence, looking to make amends. Norm’s overbearing, often outrageous efforts to reestablish ties with his sons infuriate Zack, and yet, despite twenty years of bad blood, he finds something compelling in his father’s maniacal determination to transform his own life. Inspired by Norm, Zack boldly attempts to make some changes of his own, and the results are instantly calamitous. Soon fists are flying, his love life is a shambles, and his once carefully structured existence is spinning hopelessly out of control. Charged with intelligence and razor sharp wit, Everything Changes is at once hilarious, moving, sexy, and wise–a work of transcendent storytelling from an exciting new talent.


Malice in Blunderland

Malice in Blunderland

Author: Jonny Gibbings

Publisher: Cutting Edge Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1908122137

DOWNLOAD EBOOK


Book Synopsis Malice in Blunderland by : Jonny Gibbings

Download or read book Malice in Blunderland written by Jonny Gibbings and published by Cutting Edge Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Called Out of Darkness

Called Out of Darkness

Author: Anne Rice

Publisher: Vintage Canada

Published: 2010-03-09

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0307373142

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An intimate memoir of Anne Rice’s Catholic girlhood, her unmaking as a devout believer, and her return to the Church – what she calls a decision of the heart. Moving from her New Orleans childhood in the 1940s and ‘50s, with all its religious devotions, through how she slowly lost her belief in God, Called Out of Darkness also recounts Anne’s years in radical Berkeley, where she wrote Interview with the Vampire (a lament for her lost faith) and where she came to admire the principles of secular humanists. She writes about loss and alienation (her mother’s drinking, the deaths of her young daughter and later, her husband); about the birth of her son, Christopher; and about how, after 38 years as an atheist, she once again came to believe in Christ. Anne Rice makes a spiritual confession that is a celebration: a brilliant, subtle exploration of the journey through life that allows one to answer the call out of darkness.


Book Synopsis Called Out of Darkness by : Anne Rice

Download or read book Called Out of Darkness written by Anne Rice and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-03-09 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intimate memoir of Anne Rice’s Catholic girlhood, her unmaking as a devout believer, and her return to the Church – what she calls a decision of the heart. Moving from her New Orleans childhood in the 1940s and ‘50s, with all its religious devotions, through how she slowly lost her belief in God, Called Out of Darkness also recounts Anne’s years in radical Berkeley, where she wrote Interview with the Vampire (a lament for her lost faith) and where she came to admire the principles of secular humanists. She writes about loss and alienation (her mother’s drinking, the deaths of her young daughter and later, her husband); about the birth of her son, Christopher; and about how, after 38 years as an atheist, she once again came to believe in Christ. Anne Rice makes a spiritual confession that is a celebration: a brilliant, subtle exploration of the journey through life that allows one to answer the call out of darkness.


Traveling Mercies

Traveling Mercies

Author: Anne Lamott

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2000-09-05

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0375409173

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Bird by Bird comes a personal, wise, very funny, and “life-affirming” book (People) that shows us how to find meaning and hope through shining the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life. "Anne Lamott is walking proof that a person can be both reverent and irreverent in the same lifetime. Sometimes even in the same breath." —San Francisco Chronicle Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother." Despite—or because of—her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers—her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness. Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers."


Book Synopsis Traveling Mercies by : Anne Lamott

Download or read book Traveling Mercies written by Anne Lamott and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2000-09-05 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Bird by Bird comes a personal, wise, very funny, and “life-affirming” book (People) that shows us how to find meaning and hope through shining the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life. "Anne Lamott is walking proof that a person can be both reverent and irreverent in the same lifetime. Sometimes even in the same breath." —San Francisco Chronicle Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother." Despite—or because of—her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers—her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness. Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers."


Kiss Me, Judas

Kiss Me, Judas

Author: Will Christopher Baer

Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 9781931561808

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The first installment of the Phineas Poe trilogy. An unwitting police officer fsalls in love with a beautiful but deadly tremptress who steals his kidney and leaves him alone and empty.


Book Synopsis Kiss Me, Judas by : Will Christopher Baer

Download or read book Kiss Me, Judas written by Will Christopher Baer and published by MacAdam/Cage Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first installment of the Phineas Poe trilogy. An unwitting police officer fsalls in love with a beautiful but deadly tremptress who steals his kidney and leaves him alone and empty.