Academic Writing

Essayist. Preservationist. Mountain man. Inventor. John Muir may be California’s best-known icon. A literary naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club and Yosemite National Park, Muir left his legacy on the landscape and on paper. But the celebrity of John Muir does not tell the whole story. In Essential Muir, for the first time, Muir's selected writings include those that show his ecological vision without ignoring his racism, providing a more complete portrait of the man.

At the 12th Evacuation Hospital Cu Chi, Vietnam, Sarah L. Blum is an operating room nurse during the fighting in the iron triangle in 1967. Mass casualties with severely wounded soldiers show up for Sarah, her fellow nurses, and the surgeons to treat in the midst of mortar attacks, monsoons, and exploding artillery. Her story is intertwined with Johnny, hit by American artillery, and Jim, a baseball pitcher with multiple wounds including to his pitching hand.

Wilderness guide and lifelong Alaskan Bjorn Dihle weaves personal experience with historical and contemporary accounts to explore the world of brown bears - from encounters with the Lewis and Clark Expedition to frightening attacks including the famed death of Timothy Treadwell, the controversies related to bear hunting, the animal's place in native cultures, and the impacts on the species from habitat degradation and climate change.

A “hilarious…hugely entertaining” (Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City) novel that captures the complexities of marriage, art, friendship, and the fictions we create in order to become the people we wish to be. A creative writing professor at a third-tier college in upstate...

Buckle up and get ready for a raw, unfiltered ride as Josh Goodman goes from being a guy who couldn't get a drink in a busy bar to building a multimillion-dollar technology company that lets guests pour their own beer, wine, and cocktails and pay by the ounce. Travel with Goodman to Ireland, where he spent a week driving around the entire country to secure his first business partners—who eventually tried to put him out of business. Then, visit northern Austria and discover how he landed the deal that brought his business back to life.

"Сборник включает избранные труды Петра Алексеевича Кропоткина (1842-1921)—русского революционера-анархиста.

Осенью 1922 года Альберт Эйнштейн предпринял путешествие по Дальнему и Ближнему Востоку длиной почти полгода. На нить его сложного маршрута были нанизаны Гонконг и Сингапур, две короткие остановки в Китае, многочисленные лекции по всей Японии, почти двухнедельное пребывание в Палестине и трехнедельное — в Испании. Под этой обложкой приводится полный текст дневника, который физик вел на протяжении поездки. Сделанные наскоро записи отражают соображения автора о науке, философии, искусстве и политике, а также сиюминутные впечатления и отвлеченные размышления об актуальных событиях.

The small-town veterinary clinic is abuzz again! As if the beat-down by the angry monkey wasn’t enough in the first book, Dr. Skaggs narrowly escapes death when El Diablo, the 2200-pound bull, uses him as a speed bump and punching bag this time around. That’s just the beginning. Meet Magnus, the small statured gymnastic stallion, who overcomes all odds to become a father, and Festus, the bow-legged ostrich, who needs cosmetic surgery.

For those looking to teach English in Japan or are already there, this series offers hard-won lessons of how to land with a running start and set yourself up for success.

Brilliant. Colorful. Visionary. Tenacious. Witty. Since his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1986, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has been described as all of these things, and for good reason.

A chronicle of life on the resplendent island. Adele Barker and her son, Noah, settled into the central highlands of Sri Lanka for an 18-month sojourn, immersing themselves in the customs, cultures, and landscapes of the island: its elephants, birds, and monkeys; its hot curries and sweet mangoes; the cacophony of its markets; the resonant evening chants from its temples. When, having returned home to Tucson, Barker awakes on December 26, 2004, to see televised images of the island's southern shore disappearing into the ocean, she decides she must go back.

Newspaperman tells the story of how an immigrant's shy son from Queens, New York, rose to the top of his industry, powered by little more than passion, brains, and hard work. Phillips began his career working as a copyboy for the New York Herald Tribune for 16 dollars a week... and ended it as publisher of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of its parent corporation, Dow Jones & Company. The life story of Warren Phillips is the story of the American newspaper business.

In her late twenties, writer and naturalist Lucy Bryan found herself in between places. Her marriage to her first love had crumbled. Her beloved father had died of cancer. Doubt had supplanted the faith that had guided her since childhood. Uprooted and adrift, she turned to the natural world in search of meaning, connection, and a renewed sense of self.

Everyone has dreams of what they want to accomplish in life. Marty Essen’s childhood dream of becoming a herpetologist gave way to his dream of becoming a popular DJ, which led to his dream of becoming a big-time talent manager, which morphed into the dream of becoming an in-demand author and college speaker. While he achieved most of his dreams at various levels, he also realized that he didn’t necessarily have to reach the top to find success or happiness. Sometimes, “almost” is close enough.

Simon Majumdar is probably not your typical idea of an immigrant. As he says, "I'm well rested, not particularly poor, and the only time I ever encounter 'huddled masses' is in line at Costco." But immigrate he did, and thanks to a Homeland Security agent who asked if he planned to make it official, the journey chronicled in Fed, White, and Blue was born. In it, Simon sets off on a trek across the United States to find out what it really means to become an American, using what he knows best: food.

Early on in his life, Matt craved a return to nature. When he became an adult, he set aside his comfortable urban life and lived entirely off the land. In this riveting narrative that brings together epic adventure and spiritual quest, he shows us what extraordinary things the human body is capable of when pushed to its limits. He learns the secrets of the Tarahumara Indians, which help him run the 1,600-mile Pacific Crest Trail in just 58 days and endure temperature swings of 100 degrees.

Everyone wants to escape their boring, stagnant lives full of inertia and regret. But so few people actually have the bravery to run - run away from everything and selflessly seek out personal fulfillment on the other side of the world where they don’t understand anything and won’t be expected to. The world is full of cowards. Tim Anderson was pushing 30 and working a string of dead-end jobs when he made the spontaneous decision to pack his bags and move to Japan.

Francesco Clark was a 24-year-old with a bright future when he went to the Hamptons for the weekend. A nocturnal dive into the pool's shallow end changed everything. Paralyzed from the neck down, doctors announced that he'd never move from his bed or breathe without assistance. But Francesco fought back....

In February 2008 a casual afternoon of ice skating derailed the trip of a lifetime. Mary Morris was on the verge of a well-earned sabbatical, but instead she endured three months in a wheelchair, two surgeries, and extensive rehabilitation. On Easter Sunday, when she was supposed to be in Morocco, Morris was instead lying on the sofa reading Death in Venice, casting her eyes over these words again and again: "He would go on a journey. Not far. Not all the way to the tigers." Disaster shifted to possibility and Morris made a decision.

He Called Me Tin is a story of triumph and perseverance. From childhood distress to an attempt at suicide to being scarred by religion to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis to the strife of racism and discrimination as a government employee to being assaulted and nearly kidnapped abroad, she has overcome in peace....