Essay Essays

Edgar-award winning author Dana Stabenow is best known for her Kate Shugak novels, but the unifying protagonist of almost all her writing - be it crime, fantasy, horror, or science fiction - is Alaska. This genre-spanning collection of 16 short stories features familiar characters like Kate and Jim, Liam and Wy, and Bill and Moses, but also ranges farther afield than many listeners will expect.

This completely new edition of 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays gives listeners the most inspiring approaches, both conventional and creative, that won over admissions officers at Harvard University, the nation's top ranked college. From chronicling personal achievements to detailing unique talents, the topics covered in these essays open applicants up to new techniques to put their best foot forward.

Drawing together a fascinating body of writing from over 14 years of work, Figures in a Landscape ranges from profiles of cultural icons (Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Taylor, Robin Williams) to intimate personal remembrances, from thrilling adventures in Africa to literary writings from Theroux's rich and expansive personal reading. Collectively these pieces offer a fascinating portrait of the author himself, his extraordinary life and his restless and ever-curious mind.

Time is short and college bound students need their applications to make an impact on the overworked admissions officers who guard the gates at prestigious universities. To succeed in this mission, they need a book that will get read! In The 1-Hour College Admissions Essay, screenwriter and Hollywood story consultant, Craig Machen, offers a simple set of story telling tools to give personal statements the emotional impact they need to stand out. These concepts are not complex, but without them it’s almost impossible to write anything moving or memorable. In this concise but all ...

An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well.

From cameraman to chef, musician to food scientist, Alton Brown has had a diverse and remarkable career. His work on the Food Network, including creating Good Eats and hosting Iron Chef America and Cutthroat Kitchen, has resonated with countless viewers and home cooks. Now, he shares exactly what’s on his mind, mixing compelling anecdotes from his personal and professional life with in-depth observations on the culinary world, film, personal style, defining meals of his lifetime, and much more.

Smart, humorous, and strikingly original essays by one of “America’s most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time.” (Rebecca Traister) In these eight piercing explorations on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom - award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed - embraces her venerated role as a purveyor of wit, wisdom, and Black Twitter snark about all that is right and much that is wrong with this thing we call society.

Poker is an extremely complicated game. This is especially true if your form of poker is either Texas Hold 'em or Seven-Card Stud. In addition, the typical opponent that you will face has gotten tougher as the years have gone by. As a result, those of you who just play tight (also known as playing ABC) are unable to win more than just a small amount at the lower limits. As a result, to win at poker in today's modern game requires not only numerous skills, but also a lot of thinking about the game. This text contains many of the author's current ideas on poker and related subjects. Topics ...

Americans are caught up in bulk. We guiltily watch Amazon boxes pile up on the porch, wade through endless reviews to find the perfect product, and crave the comforting indulgence of a chain restaurant. In American Bulk, Emily Mester intertwines cultural critique and personal history to explore how the things we buy, eat, amass, and discard become an intimate part of our lives. With humor and sharp intellect, she reflects on the joys and anxieties of family Costco trips, how a seasonal stint at Ulta Beauty taught her the insidious art of the sale, and what it means to get Mall Sad.

Donna Leon’s wildly popular novels starring Venetian Commissario Guido Brunetti have often been praised for their insight into culture, politics, family life, and the history of Venice, one of the world’s most treasured cities and her home for over thirty years. My Venice and Other Essays collects over fifty of Leon’s funny, charming, and passionate essays on subjects that range from battles over garbage in the canals to troubles with rehabbing Venetian real estate.

What is art? A mere imitation of life or something far greater—an act of creation that reveals the soul of the universe? Ralph Waldo Emerson, the philosopher-poet of American transcendentalism, elevates art beyond the canvas, beyond words, beyond form itself. In this essay, he explores the divine spark within creativity, arguing that true art is not bound by technique or tradition but flows from the spirit of the artist, a force both mysterious and essential.

In 1572, Montaigne - nobleman, humanist, and thoroughly Renaissance man - retired to the seclusion of his estate in the Dordogne and started to write. From his pen poured a stream of "essays" - attempts to capture the observations that came to him on an idiosyncratic range of subjects, from ancient customs, cannibals, and books to thumbs, war-horses, and the wearing of clothes. He made the study of himself the starting point for investigations into how to live, and wrote with a startlingly modern candor about love, grief, friendship, sex, and death.

Jen Mann doesn't have a filter, which sometimes gets her in trouble with her neighbors, fellow PTA moms, and that one woman who tried to sell her sex toys at a home shopping party. Known for her hilariously acerbic observations on her blog, People I Want to Punch in the Throat, Mann now brings her sharp wit to bear on suburban life, marriage, and motherhood in this laugh-out-loud collection of essays. From the politics of joining a play group, to the thrill of moms' night out at the gun range, to the rewards of your most meaningful relationship, nothing's sacred or off-limits.

A debut essay collection by the inimitable cultural critic Maris Kreizman—an introspective, searing account of the life experiences that have pushed this former “good Democrat” even further to the political left.

Poker is a game which many people play, but in which few excel. To be successful requires a great deal of work and study, and a deep understanding of those concepts that govern winning play. Yet it is fairly easy to win at poker. All you need to do is learn to play tight, and stick to easy games -- usually those prevalent at the low limits. But there is a problem with this. While this is a winning formula, it won t allow you to do much better than minimum wage. But there are a small number of players who do much better than this. These are the experts who have mastered the proper skills and...

Inside the Mind of a Visionary: Emerson’s Essays on Life, Nature, and the Human Spirit. Essays, First & Second Series is a collection that encapsulates Ralph Waldo Emerson’s vision of a life lived authentically, in harmony with one's deeper values and the natural world.

You are no doubt a busy student with a lot of things going on! It can be challenging to find the time to study in preparation for the Bar exam. However, the truth is that the Bar test is a challenging test. It is normal to have some anxiety about taking this test. Thorough preparation cannot be overlooked. That is why the author Harper Samuels developed the Bar Exam Essay Rules Study Guide! It contains practice questions and reviews all essential concepts found on the exam from all categories of the exam.

Designed to aid the serious player beat the games in today's modern casino environment. The days when you could simply master a count and expect to be a winner are gone forever. As a result, winning at blackjack requires not only numerous skills, but also a lot of thinking about the game. Unlike most blackjack books, this text assumes that you already know how to count cards, and it introduces techniques that should be useful to the successful player. The topics covered are card domination (more commonly known as shuffle tracking), theoretical concepts, blackjack biases, current blackjack, ...

After a violent coup in the United States overthrows the Constitution and ushers in a new government regime, the Republic of Gilead imposes subservient roles on all women. Offred, now a Handmaid tasked with the singular role of procreation in the childless household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost everything, even her own name.

In her introduction to this year’s The Best American Essays, guest editor Vivian Gornick states that her selections “contribute materially to the long and honorable history of the personal essay by way of the value they place on lived experience.” Provocative, daring, and honest at a time when many writers are deliberately silencing themselves in the face of authoritarian and populist censorship movements, the twenty-one essays collected here reflect their authors’ unapologetic observations of the world around them.