Great transformations

On the campus of Yale University, in 1970, an "odd couple," Hillary Rodham and Bill ("Bubba") Clinton, came together at a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Yale Art Museum. Before the end of that rainy afternoon, they had formed an unbreakable bond forged while they rested on the seat of a Henry Moore sculpture. They were from completely different worlds-he, a populist from a poverty-stricken background in Arkansas; she, a former "Goldwater Girl" and conservative Republican gradually moving into the liberal camp. As he sat beside her, holding her hand, she gazed into the eyes of this 210-pound, orange-bearded "Viking," tall and scruffy looking, with an Elvis drawl. He'd later jokingly claim, "I identified with Elvis since both of us had hillbilly peckers." Freshly emerged from Wellesley College, with its "coven of lesbians," she was a budding feminist-pimply faced, wearing no makeup but with Mr. Magoo eyeglasses, and walking around on chubby legs. He had all the pretty women he wanted. What he was looking for was a woman with a "sense of strength and self-possession-all in all, that afternoon, I knew I'd found my Evita." He confided to her that since the age of seven, he had only one abiding ambition-and that was to be the President of the United States. He promised her, "If elected, I will pave the way for you to become the first woman president. You can follow after my administration." He held out the prospect of making her the most powerful woman on the planet. As she recalled, "I was giddy with emotion." It took a while, but he finally lured her to Arkansas, which she interpreted as "on the other side of the moon." Crossing the welcome mat at his Scully Street house, she came face to face with her future mother-in-law, Virginia Cassidy Blyth, Clinton, Dwire, Kelley. She stood in the kitchen in her stiletto heels evocative of a drag revue, wearing garish lipstick-"the brighter the better"-and a tight "Dinah Dors" sweater. As Virginia recalled, "It was an immovable object colliding with an irresistible force. I extended my hand to this Chicago carpetbagger with coke bottle glasses." "I'm going to marry this gal," Bubba announced. "She's going to become the First Lady of Arkansas." In the days ahead, Hillary was introduced to other members of this "white trash family" known for its divorces, violence, alcoholism, drug addiction, adultery, and promiscuity. He told her, "I'm a bastard. My father, William Jefferson Blythe, III, had not divorced his wife when he married mama. I took the last name of another husband, Roger Clinton." Before the end of the first day of her inaugural meeting with Hillary, Virginia warned her, "Put a lock on your lingerie. Otherwise, you'll find Bill dressing up in your finery after midnight." Their trail to the White House began in Arkansas, with Hillary helping direct her sex-crazed Bubba into the governor's seat. "With my back-up, he pursued his dream while I was also chasing a dream of my own. Women can dream harder than any man-in fact, being what they are, I don't understand why women don't turn lesbian." Through the tides of the wars to come, both Hillary and Bill learned that love was a creature of many faces, with ever-changing rules and compromises on the road to their horizon. Often threatening divorce, she remained at his side, interpreting his affairs as minor annoyances. On their stormy seas, they sailed through triumph and tragedy, setbacks and comebacks, the good years and the bad ones, bimbo eruptions, serial infidelities, near bankruptcy with crippling legal bills, impeachment, the stockpiling of post-Presidential millions, and surviving vitriolic scorn that rivaled that of Dr. Goebbels against the Jews. They faced maddening failures and stunning achievements, their love and loyalty enduring through hurricane winds. She was at his side as the sex-crazed Arkansas Bubba became the notorious "Slick Willie," eventually morphing into "The 21st Century's Greatest Living Elder Statesman." Hillary herself began her own road to the White House (actually, she had already been there for eight years as First Lady), with stints as a Senator from New York, a failed presidential candidate, and a globe-trotting Secretary of State. She also became one of the country's leading Democratic visionaries, admired by millions. Of course, that provoked Apocalyptic attacks from her enemies, Senator Mitch McConnell, Senior Republican Senator from Kentucky, trumpeting, "If given power in 2016, she'll lead us to the Gates of Hell." One night on Martha's Vineyard, Hillary had a candid talk with a former First Lady, Jackie Kennedy Onassis. "Bill is a charismatic politician, but also deeply flawed. He has such charm you can always forgive him." "I know of such men," Jackie said, no doubt recalling her own years with another charismatic president. "You had Marilyn Monroe to compete with. I have a lesser light-Sharon Stone. Bill was hopelessly gone when she crossed her legs in Basic Instinct." ***Hundreds of tantalizing anecdotes fill this book from a writing team already famous for its exposes of both the Kennedys and the Reagans. As Hillary stares into her uncertain future, she claims, "Before the arrival of the Grim Reaper, Bill and I will change history...for the better, of course." So This Is That Thing Called Love is not a treatise about politics. It's a love story probing the boundaries of a relationship between two people who are committed to each other despite the vagaries of life, come what may. What a ride it's already been, with more "Second Coming Headlines" looming in the years ahead. There will definitely be a second act for this pair. As a critic who despises Hillary, but only in private, First Lady Michelle Obama said, "Hillary's story won't be over until the Fat Lady sings."

Central bankers have enjoyed great power and autonomy. They have cooperated to construct and preserve towering structures of debt, reshaping relations of power and ownership around the world. In Central Banks and Gold, Simon James Bytheway and Mark Metzler explore how this financialized form of globalism first took shape a century ago.

<p>A book of portraits photographed on film, processed and printed using traditional materials, accompanied by a narrative of the author's recollections of the occasion. </p> <p> <p>Celebrities include: </p> <p>David Bowie Natalia Makarova Yuri Grigorovich Cornelia Parker Andre & Tomas Brenda Blethyn Simon Rattle Jenny Agutter The Everly Brothers Margaret Drabble Bo Diddley Ute Lemper Abdul Qureshi Ike & Tina Turner Chris Blackwell Darcey Bussell John McEnroe Irene Thomas Robert Wyatt Liz Smith Michael Kauffmann Georg & Valerie Solti Spike Milligan Antonia Franceschi R.D.Laing Cynthia Payne Slava Polunin Kim Wilde David & Richard Attenborough Gianni Versace Michael Foot Jerry Lee & Linda Gail Lewis Luciano Pavarotti Jenny Saville Floyd Patterson Julie Walters Ornette Coleman The Ballet Boyz Melissa Phelps Rudolf Nureyev Nicola Benedetti Stephen Sondheim Bridget Riley Carlos Acosta Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard, Duffy Power Dizzy Gillespie Judy Tzuke Ian Board & Daniel Farson Ruby Wax Harold Pinter Vivienne Westwood & Joe Corré Buzz Aldrin Ninette de Valois & Margot Fonteyn Chuck Berry Torvill & Dean John Peel Charo Espino & Paco Peña Segun Adewale Marina Abramovich Johnny Cash Maria Björnson Mick Jagger Delphine Seyrig Pilgrim Sylvie Guillem Bobby McFerrin Diana Ross Isaiah Berlin Lea Anderson Tom Courtenay Lindsay Kemp Def Leppard Peter Blake & Gerald Scarfe George Weidenfeld Imelda May Ken Russell Zaha Hadid Sonny Rollins Shirley Bassey Paul Schrader Joni Mitchell Henry Mancini John Smith & Family Juliette Binoche Antonio Pappano Tears For Fears Julie Christie Valery Gergiev Irek Mukhamedov Salif Keita Dolly Mixture Anthony Gormley David Hockney & John Cox Peter Ustinov Kashgar Market Mark Rylance Jessye Norman Anthony Newley Deborah Bull Ian Dury</p> <p><b></b></p>

Alice like you've never seen her before! Some of the greatest comic bookartists ever to put pen to paper tumble down the rabbit hole for their ownunique look at Lewis Carroll's famous creation! Walt Kelly, Alex Toth, DanDeCarlo, George Carlson, MAD-men Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, and DaveBerg, the Simon and Kirby Shop, the Walt Disney Studios, pioneering YellowKid creator R. F. Outcault, and many more visit Wonderland andwrite...draw!...home to tell about it! You'll be astonished to see Alicegruesomely starring in the banned horror comic book stories of the 1950s, as thebasis of a romance comic, riding on a flying saucer, meeting Santa Claus, as ateeny-bopper, hanging out with famous comic characters, going to the weirdMonkey Island, looking like Alfred E. Neuman, selling out to pimp bread...andeven have a sex change - TWICE! The fascinating - sometimes bizarre- comics, the rare original art, a special introduction by Mark Burstein,president of Lewis Carroll Society of North America, and a revealing foreword bythe award-winning comics historian Craig Yoe make this book truly a wonder!Alice in Comicland will leave you grinning like the Cheshirecat!

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices' skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don't truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

Burton and Swinburne return in a new wildly imaginative steampunk adventure, and this time they're facing their greatest foe...Leicester Square, London. Blood red snow falls from the sky and a strange creature, disorientated and apparently insane, materialises out of thin air. Spring Heeled Jack has returned, and he is intent on one thing: hunting Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton is experiencing one hallucination after another; visions of parallel realities and future history plague his every thought. These send him, and his companions, on an unimaginable expedition - a voyage through time itself...

With the world on the cusp of 'going paperless', Mark Kurlansky examines what paper means to civilisation. Through tracing paper's evolution, he challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay.

"The Familiar (Volume 1) "ranges from Mexico to Southeast Asia, from Venice, Italy, to Venice, California, with nine lives hanging in the balance, each called upon to make a terrifying choice. They include a therapist-in-training grappling with daughters as demanding as her patients; an ambitious East L.A. gang member contracted for violence; two scientists in Marfa, Texas, on the run from an organization powerful beyond imagining; plus a recovering addict in Singapore summoned at midnight by a desperate billionaire; and a programmer near Silicon Beach whose game engine might unleash consequences far exceeding the entertainment he intends. At the very heart, though, is a twelve-year-old girl named Xanther who one rainy day in May sets out with her father to get a dog, only to end up trying to save a creature as fragile as it is dangerous . . . which will change not only her life and the lives of those she has yet to encounter, but this world, too--or at least the world we think we know and the future we take for granted. (With full-color illustrations throughout.)

Best-selling artist and art instructor Mark Crilley, whose YouTube manga instruction videos have received more than 10 million views and counting, presents the most complete look yet at the variety of creative options available in the world of manga. Crilley fills each chapter with gorgeous, original artwork created with a variety of tools and in a variety of manga-inspired styles. He pairs each piece with information on the materials used and the inspiration that led to its creation. Manga Art provides readers the chance to hear from one of the leading artists in the field of manga instruction, as he reveals the creative secrets behind over 100 pieces of original, never-before-seen artwork.

Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt, is one affliction we all share. And while our ego claims to have our best interests at heart, in its never-ending pursuit of attention and power, it sabotages the very goals it sets to achieve. In Advice Not Given, renowned psychiatrist and author Dr Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our wellbeing. With great insight, Epstein offers readers a how-to guide grounded in two traditions devoted to maximizing the human potential for living a better life. Epstein uses the Eightfold Path, eight areas of self-reflection that Buddhists believe necessary for enlightenment, as the structure of the book. When informed by the sensibility of Western psychotherapy, the principles of the Eightfold Path become a road map for spiritual and psychological growth. Breaking down the wall between East and West, Epstein brings a Buddhist sensibility to therapy and a therapist's practicality to Buddhism. Our ego is at once our biggest obstacle and our greatest hope. We can be at its mercy or we can learn to mould it. Completely unique and practical, Epstein's advice can be used by all, and will provide wise counsel in a confusing world.

The second book in the Broken Empire series, Lawrence takes his young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition. To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I've walked from pawn to player and I'll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood...The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them. A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg's gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king. Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg's game plan.

Lawrence brings his highly acclaimed epic fantasy series - The Broken Empire - to its devastating conclusion. The path to the throne is broken - only the broken can walk it. The world is cracked and time has run through, leaving us clutching at the end days. These are the days that have waited for us all our lives. These are my days. I will stand before the Hundred and they will listen. I will take the throne no matter who stands against me, living or dead, and if I must be the last emperor then I will make of it such an ending. This is where the wise man turns away. This is where the holy kneel and call on God. These are the last miles, my brothers. Don't look to me to save you. Run if you have the wit. Pray if you have the soul. Stand your ground if courage is yours. But don't follow me. Follow me, and I will break your heart.

All the horrors of Hell stand between Snorri ver Snagason and the rescue of his family, if indeed the dead can be rescued. For Jalan Kendeth, getting out alive and with Loki's key is all that matters. Loki's creation can open any lock, any door, and it may also be the key to Jalan's fortune back in the living world. Jalan plans to return to the three w's that have been the core of his idle and debauched life: wine, women, and wagering. Fate, however, has other plans, larger plans. The Wheel of Osheim is turning ever faster, and it will crack the world unless it's stopped. When the end of all things looms, and there's nowhere to run, even the worst coward must find new answers. Jalan and Snorri face many dangers, from the corpse hordes of the Dead King to the many mirrors of the Lady Blue, but in the end, fast or slow, the Wheel of Osheim always pulls you back. In the end, it's win or die.