Showing results by narrator "Ian Putnam" in All Categories

What grounds the fictional world of a novel? Or is such a world peculiarly groundless? In a powerful engagement with the latest debates in novel theory, Daniel Wright investigates how novelists reckon with the ontological status of their works. Philosophers who debate whether fictional worlds exist take the novel as an ontological problem to be solved; instead, Wright reveals the novel as a genre of immanent ontological critique.

When sworn protectors of Earth, the Justice Platoon, are all horribly killed, their former arch-enemies come crawling out of the woodwork. Outnumbered, outgunned, and out of options, the US Government has no choice but to activate the Sidekicks Initiative, dragging the Platoon's middle-aged ex-sidekicks out of retirement. Now these three reluctant, out of shape former child-wonders must work together to stop the rising tide of supervillainy, avenge their former mentors' deaths, and bring the world back from the brink of destruction.

Algorithms—rules written into software—shape key moments in our lives: from who gets hired or admitted to a top public school, to who should go to jail or receive scarce public benefits. Such decisions are both technical and moral. Today, the logic of high stakes software is rarely open to scrutiny, and central moral questions are often left for the technical experts to answer.

Drawing on the example of post-WWII Britain and looking ahead at America in the 2020s, Jed Esty suggests that becoming a second-place nation is neither disastrous, as alarmists claim, nor avoidable, as optimists insist. Contemporary declinism often masks white nostalgia and perpetuates a conservative longing for Cold War certainty. But the narcissistic lure of "lost greatness" appeals across the political spectrum.

In the frozen ground of the Hürtgen Forest, Lieutenant Eric Granville digs a grave. A grave for yet another of his men lost to the brutality of World War II. He prays he will have to dig no more, for everyone knows the war is drawing to a close. But as German lines bend, then break, the Allies gain access to vast tracts of territory, including areas believed to contain advanced military research projects where the Nazis desperately work on war-ending super weapons.

This audiobook will help a parent understand the value of the time spent in youth sports. It's a helpful tool for parents and coaches to evaluate the progress of a youngster not just in a sport but in their level of confidence in life, their leadership skills, their growth as a person, and the way they relate to others. This is a great tool if you're a new parent or in the middle stages parenting it provides you with ideas and exmples to help you develop a great foundation for your children success in sports and other areas of life.

William S. Burroughs’ fiction and essays are legendary—but his influence on music’s counterculture has been less well-documented until now. Examining how one of America’s most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ‘n’ Roll reveals the transformations in music history that can be traced to Burroughs. The stories of Burroughs’ backstage impact will transform the way you see America’s cultural revolution and the way you hear its music.

What makes a state? This question has attracted more and more attention in recent years with Catalan's illegal vote for independence from Spain and Palestine's ongoing search for international recognition. And while Scotland chose to remain with the United Kingdom, discussions of independence have only continued as the ramifications of the Brexit vote begin to set in. Kosovo, South Sudan, and the situation in Ukraine - each in its way reveals the perils of creating a nation separate from neighbors who have dominated it.

Idina Moorfield is a new kind of magical with a dark and twisty lineage. Any other combat engineer in the 82nd Airborne Division would be proud of how far Idina's come, but the visions and voices in her mind are only getting worse. When it affects her work, Idina gets transferred to a new unit—a unit of misfits with their own problems. But sometimes, what seems like the worst move ever, can turn out to be the beginning of something great. Who says outcasts can’t be heroes?

A revised edition of a very practical and easy-to-use book of 3,000+ powerful questions, forming part of every coaches/leaders toolkit; it enables you to easily find key questions in some of the most distinctive areas of coaching, such as confidence, communications, and leadership, and also includes an updated chapter on lifestyle and wellness.

In his book-length essay Spirituality and the Writer, Larson surveys the literary insights of authors old and new who have shaped religious autobiography and spiritual memoir - from Augustine to Thomas Merton, from Peter Matthiessen to Cheryl Strayed. He holds them to an exacting standard: They must render transcendent experience in the writing itself.

The British Legion was one of the most remarkable regiments, not only of the American Revolution, but of any war. A corps made up of American Loyalists, it saw its first action in New York and then engaged in almost every battle in the Southern colonies. Relying on firsthand accounts - letters, diaries, and journals - War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion is the enthralling story of those forgotten Americans and the young Englishman who led them.

Sturgis Sturdevant is a professional troll. He works for a fake news website; he can’t seem to find a decent therapist or meet a nice girl; and it looks like he’s inadvertently joined a cult. If that wasn’t bad enough, Stu might also be a hypnotically programmed assassin.

This is the story of Jacques Ladouceur he was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He rose from object poverty to the highest level of pro soccer in the world. He traces his fascinating journey from playing soccer on the streets of Haiti as a boy, through his career as a professional soccer player in Athens, Greece, and the USA. He learned the true value of life, family, and making choices.

Satan Goes to the Mind Control Convention looks at the role that conspiracy theories play in American life and the current political climate. The book begins at a convention for therapists who uncover “memories” of past lives, extraterrestrials, and government mind control operations.

Alas...the good old days are gone. But not in our hearts - or our memories. That's the amazing thing about the human brain; it has this neat little “memory palace”, where can store all of our most favorite memories - and the palace has this neat little lock on the door that only WE can open. And inside that palace...oh, what memories!

How do you describe success? How do you describe where you're at with your life right now? These questions were one of the first questions I had asked myself that prompted me to start my journey to self improvement, and change my ways of thinking, and stories in this book may resonate with you. It does not mean you have to be in a really tight spot. The purpose of this book is to lightly touch on ideas and concepts that helped me improve my day to day significantly.

In 2020, engineering firm Velentium faced an unprecedented ask: partner with a small medical device company and a very large vehicle manufacturer to increase emergency ventilator production from hundreds per month to thousands per week—in just twenty-eight days.

In The Practice of Folklore: Essays Toward a Theory of Tradition, author Simon J. Bronner works with theories of cultural practice to explain the social and psychological need for tradition in everyday life. Bronner proposes a distinctive “praxic” perspective that will answer the pressing philosophical as well as psychological question of why people enjoy repeating themselves. The significance of the keyword practice, he asserts, is the embodiment of a tension between repetition and variation in human behavior.

In this astute new work, Jakob Feinig shows how the relation between money users and money-issuing governments changed from British colonial North America to today's United States, discussing how popular movements reshaped money-creating institutions, and how their opponents attempted to silence them.