Author: Peter Alson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781734734102
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
Nate Fischer has been grinding out a living playing poker in the crucible of New York's underground gambling world. A decade ago, as a young painter, it seemed like the perfect way to pay the bills. Now he's hit a cold streak. He's running bad at the poker table. His once-promising art career is in freefall. His wife's having an affair with a dashing book editor. And increasingly, his ex-con father's problems are becoming his own. On any given night, a bad beat could mean the collapse of his house-of-cards life: pre-school tuition, rent, and the family he loves. Just as it looks like he's about to turn it all around, his buddy is shot and killed right in front of him, and the cops padlock every poker club in the city. For Nate's wife, this is the last straw. She decides she needs a break from the marriage, and Nate is forced to move into his tiny painting studio. Making matters worse, his deadbeat dad is evicted from his apartment, and Nate finds himself taking in the one guy who knows exactly where this kind of story ends - and the one least likely to help him figure a way out. Nate's struggle to rebuild his life will take him from the wild west of internet poker to the shady Russian enclaves of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, to the ultra-exclusive art auctions of elite Manhattan galleries, but in the end it is his father, revealing a side of himself that Nate has never seen, from whom Nate learns what it means to put everything on the line in the interest of love and loyalty. In this age of insecurity, Nate Fischer is a good-hearted man caught between an addictive passion for playing the odds versus a fierce desire to provide for his family and live life on his own terms. With themes that resonate-fathers and sons, the money chase, parenthood, and the fragility of marriage - The Only Way to Play It is a classic and painfully relevant tale of love, loss and redemption.
Author: Jenn Barr
Publisher: Huntington Press Inc
ISBN: 193539634X
Category : Crafts & Hobbies
Languages : en
Pages : 214
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Book Description
Mahjong is East Asia's most traditional and recognizable game. Westerners, however, often disregard this intriguing and addictive game. No longer! Written by the first American to be inducted into the prestigious Japan Professional Mahjong League, this book's the best resource for learning all the tricks of the Reach Mahjong pros. It makes players out of total beginners, explaining the background, rules, and strategies of mahjong and enabling a newbie to participate within hours. For the first time ever, daunting Japanese terms and rules are translated and simplified for the edification of players of all ages. With full-color illustrations, all the tiles, tools, and hands of the game are easy to recognize and soft on the eyes. So, have a seat and get ready to learn a unique hobby that will challenge you and your friends forever. Once you start playing, you'll never want to stop.
Author: Ian Bogost
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096506
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
How filling life with play-whether soccer or lawn mowing, counting sheep or tossing Angry Birds -- forges a new path for creativity and joy in our impatient age Life is boring: filled with meetings and traffic, errands and emails. Nothing we'd ever call fun. But what if we've gotten fun wrong? In Play Anything, visionary game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost shows how we can overcome our daily anxiety; transforming the boring, ordinary world around us into one of endless, playful possibilities. The key to this playful mindset lies in discovering the secret truth of fun and games. Play Anything, reveals that games appeal to us not because they are fun, but because they set limitations. Soccer wouldn't be soccer if it wasn't composed of two teams of eleven players using only their feet, heads, and torsos to get a ball into a goal; Tetris wouldn't be Tetris without falling pieces in characteristic shapes. Such rules seem needless, arbitrary, and difficult. Yet it is the limitations that make games enjoyable, just like it's the hard things in life that give it meaning. Play is what happens when we accept these limitations, narrow our focus, and, consequently, have fun. Which is also how to live a good life. Manipulating a soccer ball into a goal is no different than treating ordinary circumstances- like grocery shopping, lawn mowing, and making PowerPoints-as sources for meaning and joy. We can "play anything" by filling our days with attention and discipline, devotion and love for the world as it really is, beyond our desires and fears. Ranging from Internet culture to moral philosophy, ancient poetry to modern consumerism, Bogost shows us how today's chaotic world can only be tamed-and enjoyed-when we first impose boundaries on ourselves.
Author: Candice O'Sullivan
Publisher: FriesenPress
ISBN: 1525553445
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 32
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Book Description
Emily and her friends Sara and Anthony are playing a game of hide and seek. When it’s Emily’s turn to hide, she can’t find a spot that’s big enough to fit her wheelchair. Emily feels left out, but when she watches her pet, Chloe the chameleon, change colours to blend in, she invents a new way to play that makes the game more fun for everyone.
Author: Josh Kaufman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101623047
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of practicing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct complex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the methods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard keyboard, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the simple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Figure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcomponents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accurate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chainsaws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.
Author: Bill Cosby
Publisher: Cartwheel Books
ISBN: 9780590137560
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33
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Book Description
Little Bill and his friends, avid fans of the television show "Space Explorers", clamor to get the video game version, but they find that they have more fun using their imagination while playing outside.
Author: Florence Scovel Shinn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Conduct of life
Languages : en
Pages : 108
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Book Description
Author: Simon Sinek
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735213526
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, a bold framework for leadership in today’s ever-changing world. How do we win a game that has no end? Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers—only ahead and behind. The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we’re in? In this revelatory new book, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset. On one hand, none of us can resist the fleeting thrills of a promotion earned or a tournament won, yet these rewards fade quickly. In pursuit of a Just Cause, we will commit to a vision of a future world so appealing that we will build it week after week, month after month, year after year. Although we do not know the exact form this world will take, working toward it gives our work and our life meaning. Leaders who embrace an infinite mindset build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Ultimately, they are the ones who lead us into the future.
Author: Julia Cameron
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101156880
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 295
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Book Description
"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.
Author: Michael Lally
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 1609808312
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 444
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Book Description
The collected works of a poet who bridges the rhythms and message of the beats, the disarming frankness of the New York School, and the fierce temerity of activist authors throughout the ages. From a '60s-era verse letter to John Coltrane to a 2017 examination of Life After Trump, Another Way to Play collects more than a half century of engaged, accessible, and deeply felt poetry from a writer both iconoclastic and embedded in the American tradition. In the vein of William Carlos Williams and Frank O'Hara, Lally eschews formality in favor of a colloquial idiom that pops straight from the page into the reader's synapses. This is the definitive collection of verse from a poet who has been around the world and back again: verse from the streets, from the the political arena, from Hollywood, from the depths of the underground, and from everywhere in between. Lally is not a poet of any one school or style, but a poet of his own inner promptings; whether casual, impassioned, or ironic, his words are unmistakably his own. Here is a poet who can hold two opposed ideas in mind simultaneously, and fuse them, with pathos and humor, into his own idiosyncratic verbal art. As Lally himself writes: "I suffered, I starved, and so did my kids, / I did what I did for poetry I thought /and I never sold out, and even when I did / nobody bought."
