The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature

The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature
Author: Laurie E. Rozakis
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 500
Release: 1999
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780028633787

Looks at American authors from Washington Irving to John Updike and provides brief biographical sketches, excerpts and summaries of major works, and explanations of major literary movements

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the American Accent

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the American Accent
Author: Diane Ryan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2009
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9781592579181

Directed to speakers of English as a second language, a multimedia guide to pronouncing American English covers pronunciation, word connections, and intonation.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Verbal Self-defense

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Verbal Self-defense
Author: Lillian Glass
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1999
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9780028627410

Offers advice on identifying the verbal bullies in one's life, determining the difference between abuse and "kidding around," turning negative comments to one's advantage, and delivering verbal defense appropriately and confidently

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ballroom Dancing
Author: Jeff Allen
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2002
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780028643458

Describes the history of ballroom dancing; presents photo-illustrated instructions for the waltz, foxtrot, tango, Viennese waltz, rumba, merengue, samba, cha-cha, mambo, East Coast swing, and hustle; discusses such topics as timing, rhythm, practice, and expectations; and includes an eleven-track audio CD.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory

The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory
Author: George Musser
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2008-07-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1101029358

We’re living in the midst of a scientific revolution that’s captured the general public’s attention and imagination. The aim of this new revolution is to develop a “theory of everything”—a set of laws of physics that will explain all that can be explained, ranging from the tiniest subatomic particle to the universe as a whole. Here, readers will learn the ideas behind the theories, and their effects upon our world, our civilization, and ourselves. The Complete Idiot’s Guide® String Theory explains how this exciting idea holds up against competing theories. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide®, you get: • Clear explanation of quantum mechanics, Einstein’s theories of relativity, and how string theory unites them. • A quick, easy-to-understand overview of competing theories and how they might be tested. • Fast facts about black holes, what’s inside them, how they’re made, and why they’re so paradoxical. • Simple, smart tips to help you visualize extra dimensions.

Israel

Israel
Author: Noa Tishby
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1982144955

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A “fascinating and very moving” (Aaron Sorkin, award-winning screenwriter of The West Wing and The Social Network) chronological timeline spanning from Biblical times to today that explores one of the most interesting countries in the world—Israel. Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts? Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby. But “this is not your Bubbie’s history book” (Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher). Instead, offering a fresh, 360-degree view, Tishby brings her “passion, humor, and deep intimacy” (Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor) to the subject, creating an accessible and dynamic portrait of a tiny country of outsized relevance. Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, Tishby chronicles her homeland’s evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel’s creation to the disputes dividing the country today. Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, Tishby provides critical context around headline-generating controversies and offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish
Author: Gail Stein
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2003
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 0028644514

Presents the principles of Spanish vocabulary, grammar, and usage for immediate use, along with a Spanish/English-English/Spanish dictionary, a guide to pronunciation, cultural information, useful phrases, and exercises.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French
Author: Gail Stein
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 479
Release: 1999
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 002863229X

You're no idiot, of course. You appreciate wine and brie, can pronounce "croissant," and know that "bonjour" means hello. But when it comes to actually learning the language, you feel stranded on the Eiffel Tower with no way down. Don't strap on your parachute just yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning French, Second Edition makes mastering French fun and entertaining--instead of bogging you down with verb tenses and vocabulary lists. You'll feel confident about "parlaying" your new proficiency into conversations with native speakers. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

Speaking American

Speaking American
Author: Josh Katz
Publisher: Mariner Books
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2020-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780358359937

Did you know that your answers to just a handful of questions can predict the zip code of where you grew up? Speaking American offers a visual atlas of the American vernacular--who says what, and where they say it--revealing the history of our nation, our regions, and the language that divides and unites us.

Albion's Seed

Albion's Seed
Author: David Hackett Fischer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 981
Release: 1991-03-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 019974369X

This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.