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  Rude Talk in Athens - Ancient...

  Mark Haskell Smith

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  In ancient Athens, thousands would attend theatre festivals that turned writing into a fierce battle for fame, money, and laughably large trophies. While the tragedies earned artistic respect, it was the comedies—the raunchy jokes, vulgar innuendo, outrageous invention, and barbed political commentary—that captured the imagination of the city.The writers of these comedic plays feuded openly, insulting one another from the stage, each production more inventive and outlandish than the last, as they tried to win first prize. Of these writers, only the work of Aristophanes has survived and it’s only through his plays that we know about his peers: Cratinus, the great lush; Eupolis, the copycat; and Ariphrades, the sexual deviant. It might have been the golden age of Democracy, but for comic playwrights, it was the age of Rude Talk.Watching a production of an Aristophanes play in 2019 CE and seeing the audience laugh uproariously at every joke, Mark Haskell Smith began to wonder: what does it tell us about society and humanity that these ancient punchlines still land? When insults and jokes made thousands of years ago continue to be both offensive and still make us laugh?Through conversations with historians, politicians, and other writers, the always witty and effusive Smith embarks on a personal mission (bordering on obsession) exploring the life of one of these unknown writers, and how comedy challenged the patriarchy, the military, and the powers that be, both then and now. A comic writer himself and author of many books and screenplays, Smith also looks back at his own career, his love for the uniquely dynamic city of Athens, and what it means for a writer to leave a legacy.

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  Chasing Shackleton - Re-creating...

  Tim Jarvis

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  “Mr. Jarvis’s tribute to Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition has had a danger and heroism that are worthy of the original.” —The GuardianIn this extraordinary adventure memoir and tie-in to the PBS documentary, Tim Jarvis, one of the world's leading explorers, describes his modern-day journey to retrace, for the first time ever—and in period clothing and gear—the legendary 1914 expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton.In early 1914, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team sailed for Antarctica, attempting to be the first to reach the South Pole. Instead of glory, Shackleton and his crew found themselves in an epic struggle for survival: a three-year odyssey on the ice and oceans of the Antarctic that endures as one of the world’s most famous tales of adventure, endurance, and leadership ever recorded.In the winter of 2013, celebrated explorer Tim Jarvis, a veteran of multiple polar expeditions, set out to recreate Sir Ernest Shackleton’s treacherous voyage over sea and mountain, outfitted solely with authentic equipment—clothing, boots, food, and tools—from Shackleton’s time, a feat that has never been successfully accomplished.Chasing Shackleton is the remarkable record of Jarvis and his team’s epic journey. Beautifully designed and illustrated with dozens of photographs from the original voyage and its modern reenactment, it is a visual feast for readers and historians alike, and an essential new chapter in the story that has inspired adventurers across every continent for a century.

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  Adventures of the Horse Doctor's...

  Justin B. Long

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  When he wedded a veterinarian, chasing horses down the Interstate wasn't in the vows… 
  Bestselling author and painter Justin B. Long never dreamed he'd become a horse person. But marrying a passionate vet plunged the self-confessed numbers nerd into the wild world of equine emergency care. And just when he thought he had a handle on his new life, his close-knit community gained Internet fame with a daring freeway horse rescue. 
  This outrageous collection of uproarious exploits will tug at your heartstrings and tickle your funny bone. Through Long's vivid accounts, you'll meet a whole host of new friends, including a blind horse stuck in a sinkhole, mayhem-causing rescue kittens, and Highway, the famous I-75 Miracle Horse who cheated death four times! 
  Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband is an engrossing memoir-style compilation of four-legged antics. If you love animals, you'll adore this hilarious, delightful, and sometimes heartbreaking behind-the-scenes look at life in a rural vet clinic. 
  Buy Adventures of the Horse Doctor's Husband to gallop into bales of chaos today!

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  East-Meets-West Quilts - Explore...

  Patricia Belyea

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  Fourteen simple projects: “Readers will be awestruck by the brilliant designs and . . . sidebars on famous stitcher Ayako Miyawaki, yukata cottons, and more.” —Booklist (starred review)   Improv quilting—in which quilt designs emerge organi­cally as fabric is cut and stitched—is easy, popular, and fun. In this book, expert quilter Patricia Belyea offers improv instruction and shares her appealing Quilt Manifesto of five simple rules. While providing quilters with a starting point, the fifth rule of the Manifesto, “Break any rule you like,” opens the door to creative freedom. (However, the solid instructions allow even the rule-breakers to create beautiful quilts on the first try!)   Fourteen projects combine authentic Japanese yukata cottons and contemporary fabrics; each is finished with bold hand-stitching. The quilt-making process is presented in detail, and each quilt shows the irresistible wabi-sabi influence of Japanese design.   “With fresh designs and useful directions, Belyea's book is both practical and aspirational.” —Publishers Weekly

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  Tim Russell - Man of a Thousand...

  Garrison Keillor, Tom Keith

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  Fans of A Prairie Home Companion know him as Garrison Keillor’s grumbling sidekick Dusty “The Lives of the Cowboys,” an array of wise-cracking wise-guys from the mean streets of “Guy Noir, Private Eye,” or Jim, the beleaguered husband from A Prairie Home Companion’s famously catchup-deprived midlife couple. One minute he’s George Bush or Julia Child, Barack Obama or Arnold Schwarzenegger. So here’s the fearless Tim Russell in 19 hilarious performances from A Prairie Home Companion, embracing every hairpin turn, crazy curve, or unexpected plot twist a live radio show heard by millions each week can possibly throw at the man of a thousand voices.

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  Cola Cowboys

  Franklyn Wood

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  This vivid account tells the story of the truckers who were driving from the UK to the Middle East in the early 1980s. The journey was rough, tough, exhausting, dirty, uncomfortable and dangerous. Journalist Franklyn Wood reports that 'in the course of the one trip we are following, seven Britons died in accidents.' Among the physical hazards were icy mountain hairpins, unmade roads and desert sandstorms. Human hazards included Kamikaze coach drivers, robbers, mind-numbingly slow border controls, rogue police and the temptations of the drivers' favourite watering holes. The route led from Europe, through Turkey, Iraq (during its war with Iran) and on to the wealth and culture shock of Saudi Arabia. The cargoes were often worth a million pounds. Delivering them and returning home for the next load - this was the Olympics of truck driving. "Cola Cowboys" was originally published in 1982 when it proved extremely popular. It has been out of print for many years and has been reprinted by popular demand.

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