Empire of Illusion

Empire of Illusion
Author: Chris Hedges
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2009-07-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0307398587

Pulitzer prize–winner Chris Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy and illusion. Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: One, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this “other society,” serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Hedges navigates this culture — attending WWF contests as well as Ivy League graduation ceremonies — exposing an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.

Philistines at the Hedgerow

Philistines at the Hedgerow
Author: Steven Gaines
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 031649027X

Bestselling author Steven Gaines's "richly entertaining" (People) and juicy social history of the Hamptons. As one of America's most fabled communities--long a magnet for artists, celebrities, the very rich, and their respective hangers-on--the Hamptons have been a scene of constant collision among the established old guard, New Money, and the local families who farmed and fished the region for generations. In serving up three centuries of Hamptons history, Steven Gaines introduces a host of colorful characters including Jackson Pollock, Ron Perelman, Lauren Bacall, and the Bouvier Beales of Grey Gardens infamy. Philistines at the Hedgerow is a mesmerizing feat of storytelling--a book that takes us behind the privet hedges and rolling sand dunes and brings vivid life to the curious passions and personalities that animate the Hamptons.

Secret and Silent Men of 1798

Secret and Silent Men of 1798
Author: James Caulfield
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 1412029120

Academia has inexplicably ignored and omitted the presence of The Society of Freemasons in Ireland in most of the popular history books. This omission is confusing and somewhat illogical considering the overwhelming weight of evidence, not only of their existence but also their involvement in every facet of Irish affairs for more than 200 years. Their absence from the history books leaves a void which curtains the vital information needed to complete the sorry picture of 1798.

The Language of Silence

The Language of Silence
Author: Ernestine Schlant
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2004-11-23
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1135961824

Focusing on individual authors from Heinrich Boll to Gunther Grass, Hermann Lenz to Peter Schneider, The Language of Silence offers an analysis of West German literature as it tries to come to terms with the Holocaust and its impact on postwar West German society. Exploring postwar literature as the barometer of Germany's unconsciously held values as well as of its professed conscience, Ernestine Schlant demonstrates that the confrontation with the Holocaust has shifted over the decades from repression, circumvention, and omission to an open acknowledgement of the crimes. Yet even today a 'language of silence' remains since the victims and their suffering are still overlooked and ignored. Learned and exacting, Schlant's study makes an important contribution to our understanding of postwar German culture.

A Secret Life

A Secret Life
Author: Christobel Kent
Publisher: Sphere
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2019-07-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0751568813

A girls' night out. A bad decision. A life, unravelling When Georgie is persuaded to join two old friends for Ladies' Night, she intends to have fun, to behave like the Georgie she was before marriage and motherhood changed her life. But one drink too many and Georgie's not sure what happened the night before. Now she's starting to wonder just what she's invited in to her life . . .

Dark Hedges, Wizard Island, and Other Magical Places That Really Exist

Dark Hedges, Wizard Island, and Other Magical Places That Really Exist
Author: L. Rader Crandall
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2020-03-24
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0762467525

From a lost city in the desert to a cave alight with thousands of glowworms, learn about some of the most unusual places on earth and the myths, legends, and history behind each of them! Looking at places like The Skeleton Coast in Namibia, Wizard Island in the United States, and The Fairy Tale Route in Germany, The Dark Hedges and Other Magical Places that Really Exist takes young readers on a journey around the world to real places that sound straight out of fantasy. Featuring both natural and man-made wonders, this travel book combines history and storytelling to explore the far reaches of the earth.