The Strangers We Became

Author : Cynthia Kaplan Shamash
Publisher : Brandeis University Press
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2015-09-22
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781611688061

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The Strangers We Became by Cynthia Kaplan Shamash Pdf

This riveting and utterly unique memoir chronicles the coming of age of Cynthia Shamash, an Iraqi Jew born in Baghdad in 1963. When she was eight, her family tried to escape Iraq over the Iranian border, but they were captured and jailed for five weeks. Upon release, they were returned to their home in Baghdad, where most of their belongings had been confiscated and the door of their home sealed with wax. They moved in with friends and applied for passports to spend a ten-day vacation in Istanbul, although they never intended to return. From Turkey, the family fled to Tel Aviv and then to Amsterdam, where Cynthia's father soon died of a heart attack. At the age of twelve, Sanuti (as her mother called her) was sent to London for schooling, where she lived in an Orthodox Jewish enclave with the chief rabbi and his family. At the end of the school year, she returned to Holland to navigate her teen years in a culture that was much more sexually liberal than the one she had been born into, or indeed the one she was experiencing among Orthodox Jews in London. Shortly after finishing her schooling as a dentist, Cynthia moved to the United States in an attempt to start over. This vivid, beautiful, and very funny memoir will appeal to readers intrigued by spirituality, tolerance, the personal ramifications of statelessness and exile, the clashes of cultures, and the future of Iraq and its Jews.

Author : Renée Carlino
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2015-08-18
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781501105784

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Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino Pdf

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City. To the Green-eyed Lovebird: We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House. You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more. We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other. Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding… I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello. After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half? M

Author : Pip Drysdale
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2023-11-07
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781668021507

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The Strangers We Know by Pip Drysdale Pdf

Imagine seeing your loving husband pop up on your best friend’s dating app. Now imagine that’s the best thing that happens to you all week... When Charlie sees a man who is the spitting image of her husband, Oliver, on a dating app, her heart stops. Her first desperate instinct is to tell herself she must be mistaken—after all, she only caught a glimpse from a distance as her friends laughingly swiped through the men on offer. But no matter how much she tries to push her fears aside, she can’t let it go. Because she took that photo. On their honeymoon. When other signs of betrayal begin to surface, Charlie does the only thing she can think of to defend herself—she signs up for the app to catch Oliver in the act. But Charlie soon discovers that infidelity is the least of her problems. Nothing is as it seems, and nobody is who she thinks they are...

Author : Katherena Vermette
Publisher : University of New Mexico Press
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2024-03
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780826366061

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The Strangers by Katherena Vermette Pdf

The Strangers, a breathtaking companion to Vermette's bestselling debut The Break, is a fierce exploration of race, class, inherited trauma, and matrilineal bonds that--despite everything--refuse to be broken. Cedar, Phoenix, and Elsie--these are the Strangers, each haunted in her own way. Cedar grapples with the pain of being separated from her mother, Elsie, and her sister, Phoenix. From a youth detention center, Phoenix gives birth to a baby she'll never get to raise. And Elsie, struggling with addiction and determined to turn her life around, is buoyed by the idea of being reunited with her daughters and striving to be someone they can depend on, unlike her own distant mother. Between flickering moments of warmth and support, the women diverge and reconnect, fighting to survive in a fractured system that pretends to offer success but expects them to fail. Facing the distinct blade of racism from those they trusted most, they urge one another to move through the darkness, all the while wondering if they'll ever emerge safely on the other side.

Author : Claudia Durastanti
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2022-01-25
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780593087961

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Strangers I Know by Claudia Durastanti Pdf

"Durastanti casts the universal drama of the family as the sieve through which the self—woman, artist, daughter—is filtered and known." —Ocean Vuong A work of fiction about being a stranger in your own family and life. Every family has its own mythology, but in this family none of the myths match up. Claudia’s mother says she met her husband when she stopped him from jumping off a bridge. Her father says it happened when he saved her from an attempted robbery. Both parents are deaf but couldn’t be more different; they can’t even agree on how they met, much less who needed saving. Into this unlikely yet somehow inevitable union, our narrator is born. She comes of age with her brother in this strange, and increasingly estranged, household split between a small village in southern Italy and New York City. Without even sign language in common – their parents have not bothered to teach them – family communications are chaotic and rife with misinterpretations, by turns hilarious and devastating. An outsider in every way, she longs for a freedom she’s not even sure exists. Only books and punk rock—and a tumultuous relationship—begin to show her the way to create her own mythology, to construct her own version of the story of her life. Kinetic, formally dazzling, and spectacularly original, this book is a funny and profound portrait of an unconventional family that makes us look anew at how language shapes our understanding of ourselves.

Author : Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher : Little, Brown
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2019-09-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780316535625

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Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell Pdf

Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers and why they often go wrong—now with a new afterword by the author. A Best Book of the Year: The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, and Detroit Free Press How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to one another that isn’t true? Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland—throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times.

Author : Alexander Gordon Smith
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2017-11-07
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 9780374301750

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The Devil's Engine: Hellwalkers by Alexander Gordon Smith Pdf

From the author of Fury, The Devil's Engine: Hellwalkers concludes an explosive trilogy about the secret battle for control of an all-powerful ancient machine which can grant you anything you wish for, in exchange for your soul. In the third and final book of Alexander Gordon Smith's Devil's Engine series, Marlow and Pan are in hell. Literally in hell. Faced with the awful truth of being trapped in the underworld for an eternity—of Pan being trapped—Marlow makes a final deal with the Devil, a deal to go home. But he should have known: there is no real escape from a fight with the ultimate enemy. And when all hell breaks loose, it will be a war to end all wars—with demonic creatures spilling into the streets, monsters emerging from the shadows. Only the Hellraisers stand in their way, and they're not sure this is a battle they can win. They have no powers, they have no weapons. But they have each other, and they have hope, and they know how to kick ass.

Author : Tash Aw
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 80 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2016-03
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781632060457

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The Face by Tash Aw Pdf

A whirlwind personal history of modern Asia, as told through his Malaysian and Chinese heritage

Author : Dean Koontz
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 704 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2002-10-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781440673887

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Strangers by Dean Koontz Pdf

“The plot twists ingeniously...an engaging, often chilling book.”—The New York Times Book Review A writer in California. A doctor in Boston. A motel owner and his employee in Nevada. A priest in Chicago. A robber in New York. A little girl in Las Vegas. They’re a handful of people from across the country, living through eerie variations of the same nightmare. A dark memory is calling out to them. And soon they will be drawn together, deep in the heart of a sprawling desert, where the terrifying truth awaits...

Author : Arlie Russell Hochschild
Publisher : The New Press
Page : 395 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2018-02-20
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781620973981

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Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild Pdf

The National Book Award Finalist and New York Times bestseller that became a guide and balm for a country struggling to understand the election of Donald Trump "A generous but disconcerting look at the Tea Party. . . . This is a smart, respectful and compelling book." —Jason DeParle, The New York Times Book Review When Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, a bewildered nation turned to Strangers in Their Own Land to understand what Trump voters were thinking when they cast their ballots. Arlie Hochschild, one of the most influential sociologists of her generation, had spent the preceding five years immersed in the community around Lake Charles, Louisiana, a Tea Party stronghold. As Jedediah Purdy put it in the New Republic, "Hochschild is fascinated by how people make sense of their lives. . . . [Her] attentive, detailed portraits . . . reveal a gulf between Hochchild's 'strangers in their own land' and a new elite." Already a favorite common read book in communities and on campuses across the country and called "humble and important" by David Brooks and "masterly" by Atul Gawande, Hochschild's book has been lauded by Noam Chomsky, New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu, and countless others. The paperback edition features a new afterword by the author reflecting on the election of Donald Trump and the other events that have unfolded both in Louisiana and around the country since the hardcover edition was published, and also includes a readers' group guide at the back of the book.

Author : Omer T. Gillett
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 460 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 1893
Category : Electronic
ISBN : COLUMBIA:CR59965401

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How I Became a Preacher by Omer T. Gillett Pdf

Author : Joe Keohane
Publisher : Random House
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2021-07-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781984855787

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The Power of Strangers by Joe Keohane Pdf

A “meticulously researched and buoyantly written” (Esquire) look at what happens when we talk to strangers, and why it affects everything from our own health and well-being to the rise and fall of nations in the tradition of Susan Cain’s Quiet and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens “This lively, searching work makes the case that welcoming ‘others’ isn’t just the bedrock of civilization, it’s the surest path to the best of what life has to offer.”—Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Homeland Elegies In our cities, we stand in silence at the pharmacy and in check-out lines at the grocery store, distracted by our phones, barely acknowledging one another, even as rates of loneliness skyrocket. Online, we retreat into ideological silos reinforced by algorithms designed to serve us only familiar ideas and like-minded users. In our politics, we are increasingly consumed by a fear of people we’ve never met. But what if strangers—so often blamed for our most pressing political, social, and personal problems—are actually the solution? In The Power of Strangers, Joe Keohane sets out on a journey to discover what happens when we bridge the distance between us and people we don’t know. He learns that while we’re wired to sometimes fear, distrust, and even hate strangers, people and societies that have learned to connect with strangers benefit immensely. Digging into a growing body of cutting-edge research on the surprising social and psychological benefits that come from talking to strangers, Keohane finds that even passing interactions can enhance empathy, happiness, and cognitive development, ease loneliness and isolation, and root us in the world, deepening our sense of belonging. And all the while, Keohane gathers practical tips from experts on how to talk to strangers, and tries them out himself in the wild, to awkward, entertaining, and frequently poignant effect. Warm, witty, erudite, and profound, equal parts sweeping history and self-help journey, this deeply researched book will inspire readers to see everything—from major geopolitical shifts to trips to the corner store—in an entirely new light, showing them that talking to strangers isn’t just a way to live; it’s a way to survive.

Author : N. K. Jemisin
Publisher : Orbit
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2020-03-24
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780316509855

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The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin Pdf

Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a "glorious" story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City. In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels. And they're not the only ones. Every great city has a soul. Some are ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York? She's got six. For more from N. K. Jemisin, check out: The Inheritance Trilogy The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms The Broken Kingdoms The Kingdom of Gods The Inheritance Trilogy (omnibus edition) Shades in Shadow: An Inheritance Triptych (e-only short fiction) The Awakened Kingdom (e-only novella) Dreamblood Duology The Killing Moon The Shadowed Sun The Dreamblood Duology (omnibus) The Broken Earth The Fifth Season The Obelisk Gate The Stone Sky How Long 'til Black Future Month? (short story collection) "A glorious fantasy." —Neil Gaiman

Author : Vell Devaras
Publisher : Ukiyoto Publishing
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2021-12-08
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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The Love Cycle by Vell Devaras Pdf

A compilation of proses about the love cycle made of three parts: Once upon a time, there was you; Pieces of what’s left of me; and How are you, me? I was just a lost soul looking for love but I found you. I found hue in the monochrome. I found the rainbow after the rain. I found love after all the pain. Then… But when I thought I am all healed, I end up broken again. And I was left with all the shattered pieces of myself, without knowing what to do. The more I tried to pick up the fragments of my broken pieces, the more I hurt and bleed. What should I do so that I could be freed? And I realized… That maybe all I need is time. Time to let all the wounds and the scars to heal. Time to grow and be independent from anyone. Time to look at the present and stop making trips down the memory lane. Maybe all I need is to make myself grow stronger by time… Maybe this time, I could start again and the cycle goes on.

Author : William A. Shack,Elliott P. Skinner
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 1979-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0520038126

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Strangers in African Societies by William A. Shack,Elliott P. Skinner Pdf