Slam Dunks and No-Brainers

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers PDF Author: Leslie Savan
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307264327
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
In this marvelously original book, three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Leslie Savan offers fascinating insights into why we’re all talking the talk—Duh; Bring it on!; Bling; Whatever!—and what this reveals about America today. Savan traces the paths that phrases like these travel from obscure slang to pop stardom, selling everything from cars (ads for VWs, Mitsubishis, and Mercurys all pitch them as “no-brainer”s) to wars (finding WMD in Iraq was to be a “slam dunk”). Real people create these catchy phrases, but once media, politics, and businesses broadcast them, they burst out of our mouths as celebrity words, newly glamorous and powerful. Witty, fun, and full of thought-provoking stories about the origins of popular expressions, Slam Dunks and No-Brainers is for everyone who loves the mysteries of language.

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers PDF Author: Leslie Savan
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307264327
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this marvelously original book, three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Leslie Savan offers fascinating insights into why we’re all talking the talk—Duh; Bring it on!; Bling; Whatever!—and what this reveals about America today. Savan traces the paths that phrases like these travel from obscure slang to pop stardom, selling everything from cars (ads for VWs, Mitsubishis, and Mercurys all pitch them as “no-brainer”s) to wars (finding WMD in Iraq was to be a “slam dunk”). Real people create these catchy phrases, but once media, politics, and businesses broadcast them, they burst out of our mouths as celebrity words, newly glamorous and powerful. Witty, fun, and full of thought-provoking stories about the origins of popular expressions, Slam Dunks and No-Brainers is for everyone who loves the mysteries of language.

Thirteen Ways of Looking

Thirteen Ways of Looking PDF Author: Colum McCann
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0812996739
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • Los Angeles Times • The Boston Globe • The Seattle Times • The Independent In such acclaimed novels as Let the Great World Spin and TransAtlantic, National Book Award–winning author Colum McCann has transfixed readers with his precision, tenderness, and authority. Now, in his first collection of short fiction in more than a decade, McCann charts the territory of chance, and the profound and intimate consequences of even our smallest moments. “As it was, it was like being set down in the best of poems, carried into a cold landscape, blindfolded, turned around, unblindfolded, forced, then, to invent new ways of seeing.” In the exuberant title novella, a retired judge reflects on his life’s work, unaware as he goes about his daily routines that this particular morning will be his last. In “Sh’khol,” a mother spending Christmas alone with her son confronts the unthinkable when he disappears while swimming off the coast near their home in Ireland. In “Treaty,” an elderly nun catches a snippet of a news report in which it is revealed that the man who once kidnapped and brutalized her is alive, masquerading as an agent of peace. And in “What Time Is It Now, Where You Are?” a writer constructs a story about a Marine in Afghanistan calling home on New Year’s Eve. Deeply personal, subtly subversive, at times harrowing, and indeed funny, yet also full of comfort, Thirteen Ways of Looking is a striking achievement. With unsurpassed empathy for his characters and their inner lives, Colum McCann forges from their stories a profound tribute to our search for meaning and grace. The collection is a rumination on the power of storytelling in a world where language and memory can sometimes falter, but in the end do not fail us, and a contemplation of the healing power of literature. Praise for Thirteen Ways of Looking “Extraordinary . . . incandescent.”—Chicago Tribune “The irreducible mystery of human experience ties this small collection together, and in each of these stories McCann explores that theme in some strikingly effective ways. . . . [The first story] is as fascinating as it is poignant. . . . [The second] captures the mundane and mysterious aspects of shaping characters from the gray clay of words, placing them in realistic settings and breathing life into their lungs. . . . That he makes the story so emotionally compelling is a sign of his genius. . . . The most remarkable [piece] is Sh’khol. . . . Caught in the rushing currents of this drama, you know you’re reading a little masterpiece.”—The Washington Post “McCann is a writer of power and subtlety and beauty. . . . The powerful title story loiters in the mind long after you’ve read it.”—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times “[McCann] unspools complex and unforgettable stories in this, his first collection in more than a decade.”—The Boston Globe “McCann is a passionate writer whose impulse is always toward a generous understanding of his diverse characters.”—The Wall Street Journal “Powerful, profound, and deeply empathetic, McCann’s beautifully wrought writing in Thirteen Ways of Looking glides off the page.”—BuzzFeed “McCann weaves the magic that made Let the Great World Spin so acclaimed.”—The Huffington Post

Unleavened Dead

Unleavened Dead PDF Author: Ilene Schneider
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504089243
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
A full-time rabbi becomes a part-time sleuth when three suspicious deaths arise in this cozy mystery by the author of Chanukah Guilt. Rabbi Aviva Cohen has her hands full with Passover preparations, she certainly has no time to deal with anything else. Yet tragedy soon changes her plans when two members of the congregation are found dead. Their cause of death is believed to be accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, but Aviva is not so sure. Soon after, her niece’s partner is suspected in a hit-and-run death. While Aviva is certain she’s innocent, the amateur sleuth can’t overlook the body-sized dent in the hood of her SUV. Digging into the two cases, Aviva uncovers a surprising connection between them, as well as a heap of disturbing criminal activity. Now she must quickly sift through the mishegoss to find out the truth before death strikes again . . . “Aviva is a great character, full of fun, somebody you’d feel comfortable hanging out with. Even though there are many mentions of Jewish tradition, non-Jews won’t feel bombarded with too much information or miss any good clues along the way.” —Kings River Life Magazine

New York

New York PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : New York (N.Y.)
Languages : en
Pages : 1436

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Book Description


Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder PDF Author: Valerie Burns
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN: 1496741870
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
Be one of the first to read this sneak preview sample edition of this delectable new cozy mystery series. Social media maven Maddy Montgomery’s perfectly ’grammable life has come undone, and she’s #StartingOver in a tiny town with one giant problem—a killer on the loose . . . When Maddy Montgomery’s groom is a no-show to their livestream wedding, it’s a disaster that no amount of filtering can fix. But a surprise inheritance offers a chance to regroup and rebrand—as long as Maddy is willing to live in her late, great-aunt Octavia’s house in New Bison, Michigan, for a year, running her bakery and caring for a 250-pound English mastiff named Baby. Maddy doesn’t bake, and her Louboutins aren’t made for walking giant dogs around Lake Michigan, but the locals are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. With help from her aunt’s loyal friends, aka the Baker Street Irregulars, Maddy feels ready to tackle any challenge, including Octavia’s award-winning cake recipes. That is, until New Bison’s mayor is fatally stabbed, and Maddy’s fingerprints are found on the knife . . . Something strange is going on in New Bison. It seems Aunt Octavia had her suspicions, too. But Maddy’s going to need a whole lot more than a trending hashtag to save her reputation—and her life.

The Harcourt Brace Student Thesaurus

The Harcourt Brace Student Thesaurus PDF Author: Harcourt Brace & Company
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780152001865
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Defines and discriminates synonyms, such as "take, carry, deliver, transport." Includes usage notes and antonyms.

That's Funny!

That's Funny! PDF Author: Michael Cader
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780836215021
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
A compendium of thousands of jokes from popular comedians and comics, including Tim Allen, Brett Butler, Jeff Foxworthy, Roseanne, Paul Reiser, and Steve Martin.

Don't Even Think of Parking Here!

Don't Even Think of Parking Here! PDF Author: Paul Trapido
Publisher: Touchstone
ISBN: 9780671628369
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description


New York Magazine

New York Magazine PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
New York magazine was born in 1968 after a run as an insert of the New York Herald Tribune and quickly made a place for itself as the trusted resource for readers across the country. With award-winning writing and photography covering everything from politics and food to theater and fashion, the magazine's consistent mission has been to reflect back to its audience the energy and excitement of the city itself, while celebrating New York as both a place and an idea.

Extra Nutty! Even More Letters from a Nut!

Extra Nutty! Even More Letters from a Nut! PDF Author: Ted Nancy
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312261559
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Welcome to the world of Ted L. Nancy. Some have called him inspired, some have called him a goofball, and many have wondered who Ted really is. All we know is that Ted loves to write and it shows-Extra Nutty! is chock full of nut, a record of real live correspondence from America's favorite pen pal to a cross-section of this great nation. Extra Nutty! is bursting with all new letters showing Ted at his looniest. Take, for example, this: Dear Business Permits Dept.: I want to apply for a business permit in your fine city...I operate the Soup & Sleep Restaurants. You can either order soup or sleep. A hostess will greet you and you would say, "I'd like to sleep." She will lead you to a table where you can catch a few winks. Or this: Dear Helena Ocean & Dog Licensing Dept: I will stage the play "Mark Twain with Tourette's Syndrome.". . . Let me know what arrangements I need to make to store my anchovie tank at your seaport. Thank you. I await large crowds. Or even this: Dear Kmart: I have invented a male underpants liner...This liner fits right in your shorts and can be thrown away after 15 weeks. I have been wearing the same pair of underwear for 105 days now and although they feel a little stretchy they are perfectly clean. Ted's unique way of looking at the world-and how the world responds to Ted's schemes--is captured here in this extra nutty, hugely hilarious collection.