Rainforests are key to the health of our world
- they maintain the water & air cycles, store carbon, & have yielded countless
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Kelvin Mac Kenzie on his transformation from the editor of a populist anti-immigrant newspaper to someone who now knows just how much migration has done for this country. He feels he is in a minority: a white man who supports migrants & takes on the increasingly hysterical anti-minority lobbies & communities. In this remarkable essay he reminds us of the economic, cultural & historical importance of immigration. An unexpected book by a man famous for speaking his mind. Provocations is a groundbreaking new series of short polemics composed by some of the most intriguing voices in contemporary culture. Never less than sharp, intelligent & controversial Provocations is a major new contribution to some of the most vital discussions in society today. ...

This is the story of two men who first become friends in 1970s New York, of the women in their lives, & of their sons, born the same year. Both Leo Hertzberg, an art historian, & Bill Weschler, a painter, are cultured, decent men, but neither is equipped to deal with what happens to their children
- Leo's son drowns when he's 12, while Bill's son Mark grows up to be a delinquent, & the acolyte of a sinister, guru-like artist who spawns murder in his wake. Spanning the hedonism of the eighties & the chill-out nineties, this multi-layered novel combines a plot of mounting menace with a deeply moving account of familial relationships & a superbly observed portrait of an artist, set against the backdrop of a society reaching new depths of depravity in its frenetic quest for the next fashion, drug & thrill.
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This is the story of two men who first become friends in 1970s New York, of the women in their lives, & of their sons, born the same year. Both Leo Hertzberg, an art historian, & Bill Weschler, a painter, are cultured, decent men, but neither is equipped to deal with what happens to their children
- Leo`s son drowns when he`s 12, while Bill`s son Mark grows up to be a delinquent, & the acolyte of a sinister, guru-like artist who spawns murder in his wake. Spanning the hedonism of the eighties & the chill-out nineties, this multi-layered novel combines a plot of mounting menace with a deeply moving account of familial relationships & a superbly observed portrait of an artist, set against the backdrop of a society reaching new depths of depravity in its frenetic quest for the next fashion, drug & thrill.
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REISSUED AS A SCEPTRE 30TH CLASSIC, with a new afterword by the author In 1975 art historian Leo Hertzberg discovers an extraordinary painting by an unknown artist in a New York gallery. He buys the work, tracks down its creator, Bill Weschler, & the two men embark on a life-long friendship. This is the story of their intense & troubled relationship, of the women in their lives & their work, of art & hysteria, love & seduction & their sons
- born the same year but whose lives take very different paths.
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In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he`d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, & now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life & on his writing. Equal parts travelogue, training log, & reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon & settings ranging from Tokyo`s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston. Funny & sobering, playful & philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a must read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running. ...

From NYT bestselling authors Becky Albertalli (Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda) & Adam Silvera (They Both Die At The End) comes a long-awaited collaboration about two very different boys who can`t decide if the universe is pushing them together or pulling them apart. Meet Arthur & Ben. ARTHUR is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it`s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it. BEN thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn`t be carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend`s things. But when the boys have a chance meeting at the post office, they leave wondering what exactly the universe does have in store for them. What if
- in a city of eight million people
- they can`t find each other again? What if they do.. . & then can`t nail a first date even after three do-overs? What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work & Ben doesn`t try hard enough? What if life really isn`t like a Broadway play? But what if it is?WHAT IF IT`S US PRAISE FOR WHAT IF IT`S US: ” Romantic, realistic & sweet, this perfectly captures New York, teenage love & life in that gray area when you`re not quite an adult & not quite a child either”
- Lauren James, author of The Loneliest Girl in the Universe PRAISE FOR ADAM SILVERA: ` History Is All You Left Me overflows with tenderness & heartache. There isn`t a teenager alive who won`t find their heart described perfectly on these pages.` Patrick Ness ` This book will make you cry, think, & then cry some more.` Nicola Yoon ` Bold & haunting.` Lauren Oliver on They Both Die At The End `A phenomenal talent.` Juno Dawson PRAISE FOR BECKY ALBERTALLI: ` The love child of John Green & Rainbow Rowell.` Teen Vogue Praise for Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda: `I love you, Simon. I love you! & I love this fresh, funny, live-out-loud book.` Jennifer Niven `A wonderfully charismatic story about coming-of-age & coming out`. Bookseller


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For most Europeans & Americans, Latin America is still little more than their underdeveloped sibling, its inhabitants pitching up on its shores or struggling across the Rio Grande into the USA. It's a place of exuberant music, mesmerising football, extravagant beauty, fantastic literature, drug trafficking & guerrilla warfare
- in short, exotic, dangerous & exciting. In this counterintuitive & fascinating book, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, who teaches international Law & International Affairs at London University, shows how, unafraid to turn its back on some commonly held economic views that have now lost their currency, Latin America is in fact making its presence felt from Lima to Shanghai, from Brazilia to London & from Buenos Aires to New York. While the world acknowledges the continuing importance of the US in international affairs, few people have noticed that with Spanish language & culture in the ascendant the US is quietly but quickly becoming the next Latin American country. In fact, Guardiola-Rivera argues, the next Barack Obama is as more than likely to be of Latino origin. Both a hidden history of the modern world from the silver peso (the world's first truly global currency) to the recent shift away from globalism & an imaginative vision rooted in a sure understanding of the past, What If Latin America Ruled the World? is certain to provoke interest & controversy.
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For most Westerners, Latin America is the junior partner of the New World, an underdeveloped sibling to the US & Canada. The vibrancy of its culture is unquestionable, but the Spanish & Portuguese-speaking countries of Central & South America are easily typecast & overlooked as exotic, dangerous, & decidedly not part of the First World. In his provocative & powerful book, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera shows how Latin America & its people are making their presence felt across the world by upsetting long-standing political & economic assumptions & orthodoxies. The US will still occupy center stage in the West for the time being, but few observers have taken notice of the rapid growth of Spanish language & culture within the USA
- which is quietly & quickly becoming part of Latin America in its own way. Guardiola-Rivera`s stimulating work is equally a hidden history of the modern world (the silver peso was the first global currency) & a piercing look at the future. Latin America has been in the vanguard of opposition to globalization, & its politics are imaginative, innovative & unlike those anywhere else in the world. For anyone interested in the future of the Western hemisphere or the world economy, ” What if Latin America Ruled the World?” is a must-read.
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From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, hilarious & informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask. Millions visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe`s iconic webcomic. Fans ask him a lot of strange questions: How fast can you hit a speed bump, driving, & live? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British Empire? When will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than living? How many humans would a T Rex rampaging through New York need to eat a day? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations & consults nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity & hilarity, complemented by comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. ...