The Humor Code

In exile now for more than twenty years, Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet and critic Ngugi wa Thiong’o has become one of the most widely read African writers. Commencing in “our times” and set in the fictional “Free Republic of Aburiria,” Wizard of the Crow dramatizes with corrosive humor and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburirian people. Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, this magnificent novel reveals humanity in all its endlessly surprising complexity.

With his signature humor and amazing facts, best-selling author Jerry Pallotta offers a decapod for every letter of the alphabet.Meet dozens of crustaceans--and a few bonus animals--with engaging text and a laugh-out-loud narrative, from A (Arrow Crab) to E (exoskeleton) to I (Imocaris, a kind of fossil scientists believe to be the first crab on earth) to Z (Zebra Hermit Crabs, which have a hard covering on their legs and claws, but their body is soft). Readers of all ages will be entertained (and learning!) with every page turn.

The witch and her cat couldn't be happier, flying through the sky on their broomstick-until the witch drops her hat, then her bow, then her wand! Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items and all they want in return is a ride on the broomstick. But is there room on the broom for so many new friends? And when disaster strikes, will they be able to save the witch from the clutches of a hungry dragon? From the acclaimed creators of The Gruffalo, this enchanting story of quick wits and friendship is full of humor and adventure-and just the right amount of spookiness.

Can owls swim?Do woodpeckers eat wood?Are vampire bats real?Tim Flannery has the answers. In this informed and accessible book, he introduces some of the most spectacular and unusual creatures soaring through Earth's skies with in-depth and often-bizarre facts. Flannery ties together concepts of climate change, evolution, conservation, and taxonomy throughout each animal's profile, firmly connecting it to its environment while sparking wonder at its role in the natural world. Packed with vibrant illustrations and guided by real-life anecdotes from one of our greatest science communicators, Weird, Wild, Amazing! Sky teaches readers to cherish and delight in our planet's ecosystems with Flannery's signature mix of humor and wisdom.

The story of a small boy in a small town; an adult that loves to provoke humor; and an unusual courtship and marriage

“In Britney Spears’s memoir, she’s stronger than ever.” —The New York TimesThe Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.

Proust and the Arts brings together expert Proustians and renowned interdisciplinary scholars in a major reconsideration of the novelist's relation to the arts. Going beyond the classic question of the models used by Proust for his fictional artists, the essays collected here explore how he learned from and integrated, in highly personal ways, the work of such creators as Wagner or Carpaccio. This volume reveals the breadth of Proust's engagement with varied art forms from different eras: from "primitive" arts to sound recordings, from medieval sculpture to Art Nouveau glassmaking, and from portrait photography to the private art of doodling. Chapters bring into focus issues of perception and detail in examining how Proust encountered and responded to works of art, and attend to the ways art shaped his complex relationship to identity, sexuality, humor, and the craft of writing.

Written in Soviet Moscow in the 1920s—but considered too subversive even to show to a publisher—the seven tales included here attest to Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky’s boundless imagination, black humor, and breathtaking irony: a man loses his way in the vast black waste of his own small room; the Eiffel Tower runs amok; a kind soul dreams of selling “everything you need for suicide”; an absentminded passenger boards the wrong train, winding up in a place where night is day, nightmares are the reality, and the backs of all facts have been broken; a man out looking for work comes across a line for logic but doesn’t join it as there’s no guarantee the logic will last; a sociable corpse misses his own funeral; an inventor gets a glimpse of the far-from-radiant communist future.

An inspirational guide offers a program to put the joy back into parenting and create a harmonious family atmosphere with self-esteem, compassion, balance, humor, communication, integrity, responsibi

Using humor, narrative, and theological reflection, this inviting book explores the yearlong experiment of two young families to implement twelve small practices of radical faith--not waiting until th

This updated compendium of observations, discoveries, reviews, serendipities, humor, experiences, and more is not only for the road traveler, but the armchair traveler as well. The author has visited

The Roskelley Collection includes legendary climber John Roskelley's three acclaimed books, together for the first time in one volume and all written with opinion, self-reflective humor, and spellbind

Climate change lends itself to both political economy and humor. Vogel argues that mainstream economics fails to recognize the thermodynamic nature of climate change, thereby missing the point of Nort

Climate change lends itself to both political economy and humor. Vogel argues that mainstream economics fails to recognize the thermodynamic nature of climate change, thereby missing the point of Nort

Now several years post-divorce, relationship expert and humorist Mark Miller has experienced more than five hundred first dates. In 500 Dates, composed of fifty-five humor essays, Miller features the

Playwright Tony Kushner is a voice of intellectualism, neo-socialism, gay activism and political outrage in an era when the political pendulum has swayed to the right. Through scalding humor, thought

Confront the spectre of failure, the wraith of social media, and other supernatural enemies of the authorTom Gauld returns with his wittiest and most trenchant collection of literary cartoons to date. Perfectly composed drawings are punctuated with the artist’s signature brand of humor, hitting high and low. After all, Gauld is just as comfortable taking jabs at Jane Eyre and Game of Thrones.Some particularly favored targets include the pretentious procrastinating novelist, the commercial mercenary of the dispassionate editor, the willful obscurantism of the vainglorious poet. Quake in the presence of the stack of bedside books as it grows taller! Gnash your teeth at the ever-moving deadline that the writer never meets! Quail before the critic’s incisive dissection of the manuscript! And most important, seethe with envy at the paragon of creative productivity!Revenge of the Librarians contains even more murders, drubbings, and castigations than The Department of Mind-Blowing Theories,

Winner of the National Book Award Now with a new introduction from Hilton Als and a redesigned cover, Flannery O'Connor's The Complete Stories is the essential collection of this legendary author's most infamous works. This is the essential volume of the stories of Flannery O'Connor. In these sly, laconic, and fiercely observed works, O'Connor does nothing less than elaborate a unique and new way of seeing the world. Contorting her sharply drawn characters through her Southern Gothic prism, she produces a panorama unequaled in its vision of the interplays of faith, evil, humor, violence, and compassion that embody American life. These thirty-one chronologically ordered stories include twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime--Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find. Taken together, these stories reveal O'Connor's abiding and visionary gift--one that has given us some of the most powerful and distu

A humorous, uplifting look at mindfulness, from beloved illustrator Grant Snider "Find a quiet spot away from all distraction / Listen to your breath / Watch your thoughts float past you / Forget the obligations of today / Try not to consider your eventual decay / Let yourself drift away / Arise, connected with the Earth / Awakened to the Universe." In The Art of Living, cartoonist Grant Snider, author of The Shape of Ideas and I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf, has created an all-new collection of one- and two-page comics that map his inner thoughts, poetic observations, and frequent failures at living mindfully. With both humor and a touch of reality, The Art of Living centers on mindfulness, but also empathy, relaxation, gratitude, and awareness--evergreen subjects that are more important and relevant now than ever. With a striking package, The Art of Living is an extension of the themes of Snider's first two books--which explored the creative process and the love of reading--and i

This newly updated compendium of observations, discoveries, reviews, humor, experiences, and more is not only for the road traveler, but the armchair traveler as well. It reads as a diary of discoveri

"This compendium of facts, observations, discoveries, reviews, serendipity, humor, experiences, and more is not only for the road traveler, but the armchair traveler as well. It reads not as a phone d

Writing with warmth and humor, Connie Schultz reveals the rigors, joys, and absolute madness of a new marriage at midlife and campaigning with her husband, Sherrod Brown, now the junior senator from O

The rural folk humor written by Arkansas writer C. F. M. Noland beginning in 1837 is brought together in a collection of semiautobiographical letters that tell tall tales in dialect, reflecting the pe

Straightforwardly told, rich in detail, and laced with appealing campfire humor, Andy Adams's realistic The Log of a Cowboy is a classic portrayal of the western cattle country. Drawing on his own exp

The late eighteenth century in England was the first great age of cartooning, and English caricature prints of the period have long been enjoyed for their humor and vitality. Diana Donald presents the

The late eighteenth century in England was the first great age of cartooning, and English caricature prints of the period have long been enjoyed for their humor and vitality. Now Diana Donald presents

Filmmakers have often encouraged us to regard people with physical disabilities in terms of pity, awe, humor, or fearas "Others" who somehow deserve to be isolated from the rest of society. In this

Since its first publication in 1993, The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit has been charming readers young and old with its unconditionally candid tale that raises bathroom humor

All that stands between an evil villain and world domination is a pair of twelve-year-olds who just learned they're time travelers. What could go wrong? Twins Pew and Basket Church dream of escaping the miserable misfortune of their isolated orphanage. Or, even better, the return of their unknown parents. But even in their wildest dreams, they never imagined the truth: The twins can travel through time. Armed only with perplexing clues to their past and a time travel talisman that is key to their future, Pew and Basket embark on an epic quest. It takes them into George Washington's war tent and on a hunt for the Liberty Bell, from the battlefields of the American Revolution to a pirate republic in the Caribbean and beyond, all in a race to uncover the secrets of their family--and outsmart time's greatest villain. History, mystery, humor, and adventure collide in this delightfully clever romp that heralds the arrival of James Patterson's newest blockbuster series.

The eponymous and hapless detective Happy Doll returns with a new philosophy and a new case in this second installment of a series “that's a tightly coiled double helix of offbeat humor and unflinching violence” (The New York Times Book Review)Although badly scarred and down to his last kidney after the previous caper, Happy Doll is back in business. When a beguiling young woman turns up at his door, it’s Doll’s past that comes knocking. Mary DeAngelo is searching for her estranged mother, Ines Candle―a singular and troubled woman Doll once loved. The last he’d seen her she’d been near-death: arms slit like envelopes. Although she survived the episode, she vanished shortly thereafter. Now, years later, Mary claims Ines is alive and has recently made contact―messaging her on Facebook and calling her from a burner phone―only to disappear once again. Although his psychoanalyst would discourage it, Doll takes the case, desperate to see Ines again. But as the investigation deepens, there ar

Featuring charmingly simple illustrations and plenty of puns, The Squares is a humorous trade picture book from up-and-coming author/illustrator Kevin Jenner. Introducing squares, triangles, and circles alongside light-hearted humor, this is a truly fun introduction to shapes.This funny, bold and characterful picture storybook introduces young readers to the shapes, as they meet the Squares and the Triangles, who are always arguing!Meet the squares. They are straightforward, supportive, and reliable. Squares like things to be even. But they don't get on very well with the Triangles... The Triangles are edgy, sharp, and creative, but they really don't like the Squares.Circle comes across these two groups but just can't take a side! When a fight breaks out between the two shapes, will circle be able to help? Whose side are you on?Featuring charmingly simple illustrations and plenty of puns, The Squares is a truly fun introduction to shapes that children will love to read time and time ag

A deeply candid and refreshingly spirited memoir of identity lost and found―from the star of the iconic film Dirty Dancing In this beautiful, close-to-the bone account, Jennifer Grey takes readers on a vivid tour of the experiences that have shaped her, from her childhood as the daughter of Broadway and film legend Joel Grey, to starring in the surprise hit Dirty Dancing, and becoming America’s sweetheart overnight, to her inspiring season eleven win on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.Throughout this intimate narrative, Grey richly evokes places and times that were defining for a generation―from her pre-teen days in 1970s Malibu and wild child nights in New York City’s club scene, to her roles in quintessential movies of the 1980s, including The Cotton Club, Red Dawn, and her breakout performance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. With self-deprecating humor and frankness, she looks back on her unbridled, romantic adventures in Hollywood. And with an unflinching eye, she shares the devastating

One ofReal Simple’sBest Books of the Year“I loved this book. . . . Funny, heartbreaking and clever with a mystery at its heart.” —Jojo Moyes“With an eye as keen for human idiosyncrasies as Miranda July’s, and a sense of humor as bright and surprising as Maria Semple’s, this is a novel of pure velocity.”—Publishers Weekly(starredreview)Twenty years ago, Abigail Sorenson’s brother Robert went missing one day before her sixteenth birthday, never to be seen again. That same year, she began receiving scattered chapters in the mail of a self-help manual, the Guidebook, whose anonymous author promised to make her life soar to heights beyond her wildest dreams.The Guidebook’s missives have remained a constant in Abi’s life—a befuddling yet oddly comforting voice through her family’s grief over her brother’s disappearance, a move across continents, the devastating dissolution of her marriage, and the new beginning as a single mother and café owner in Sydney.Now, two decades after receiving thos

In this final installment of New York Times bestselling author Dan Gutman’s Flashback Four series, four brave friends head back in time to record the most infamous duel in U.S. history.Finally, the billionaire Miss Z is ready to unveil the photos captured by the Flashback Four at her museum’s grand opening! There, Luke, Julia, David, and Isabel learn that everyone thinks Miss Z is a fraud and that their photos are fake. Though they desperately want to clear her name, no one can know the truth.With Miss Z officially out of the picture, a top-secret agency steps in and sends the team on one final mission—to videotape the fateful duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. But when the kids arrive in 1804, they face a difficult question: Should they capture the tragic details of the duel, or try to change them?Dan Gutman’s signature blend of fascinating facts, humor, and action make this series finale an adventure of historic proportions

A step by step manual of guidelines and suggestioons for writers of humor

In this thought-provoking look at what's really important in life, John Ortberg uses games as a metaphor to help us recognize and play for life's real prize: being rich toward God.Told with humor and

She's hilarious. She's also wise and full of empathy. And she helps new mothers maintain the one thing they can't survive without-a sense of humor. Cynthia Copeland, a mother of three (and author of

From the Booker-shortlisted author of The Overstory and Bewilderment'A love story of charm and substance, brimming over with ideas, yet anchored in emotional truth' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHIn 1957, brilliant biologist Stuart Ressler sets out to crack the genetic code. Yet his efforts are sidetracked by other, more complex codes - social, moral, musical, and spiritual - as he falls in love with a member of his research team.Years later, another young man and woman investigate a different mystery: why did the promising Ressler suddenly vanish from the world of science?Strand by strand, these two love stories intertwine in a double helix of desire in an enthralling tale about new love and the mysteries of science.

In this sweeping, dazzling journey through history, Robert Wright unveils a discovery of crucial importance to the present moment: there is a pattern in the evolution Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and a "hidden code" in their scriptures. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright repeatedly overturns conventional wisdom to show how and why religion can strengthen the social order-even in an age of globalization-and explains why modern science is not only compatible with religion, but actively affirms the validity of the religious quest. Vast in scope and thrilling in ambition, The Evolution of God brilliantly alters our understanding of God and where He came from-and where He and we are going next.

DJ Corchin deftly captures all the band humor and inside jokes in the Marching Band Nerds Handbook―the perfect gift for a current band nerds past and present!The Marching Band Nerds Handbook is a humo