Best Selling Books by David James

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK Once in a great while a writer comes along who can truly capture the drama and passion of the life of a family. David James Duncan, author of the novel The River Why and the collection River Teeth, is just such a writer. And in The Brothers K he tells a story both striking and in its originality and poignant in its universality. This touching, uplifting novel spans decades of loyalty, anger, regret, and love in the lives of the Chance family. A father whose dreams of glory on a baseball field are shattered by a mill accident. A mother who clings obsessively to religion as a ward against the darkest hour of her past. Four brothers who come of age during the seismic upheavals of the sixties and who each choose their own way to deal with what the world has become. By turns uproariously funny and deeply moving, and beautifully written throughout, The Brothers K is one of the finest chronicles of our lives in many years. Praise for The Brothers K “The pages of The Brothers K sparkle.”—The New York Times Book Review “Duncan is a wonderfully engaging writer.”—Los Angeles Times “This ambitious book succeeds on almost every level and every page.”—USA Today “Duncan’s prose is a blend of lyrical rhapsody, sassy hyperbole and all-American vernacular.”—San Francisco Chronicle “The Brothers K affords the . . . deep pleasures of novels that exhaustively create, and alter, complex worlds. . . . One always senses an enthusiastic and abundantly talented and versatile writer at work.”—The Washington Post Book World “Duncan . . . tells the larger story of an entire popular culture struggling to redefine itself—something he does with the comic excitement and depth of feeling one expects from Tom Robbins.”—Chicago Tribune

Offers a loving tribute to the landscape, plants, and animals of his native Montana.

Almost every couple faces a “now what?” moment as their last kid moves out of the house. There’s a big empty nest looming over this new and uncertain stage in their lives. David and Veronica James chose to look at this next phase of life as a beginning instead of an ending. Rather than staying put and facing the constant reminders of empty bedrooms and backseats, a plan began to develop to sell the nest and hit the highway. But could a homebody helicopter mom learn to let go of her heartstrings and house keys all at once? Filled with a sense of adventure and humor, Going Gypsy is the story of a life after raising kids that is a celebration of new experiences. Pulling the rip cord on the daily grind, David and Veronica throw caution to the wind, quit their jobs, sell their house, put on their vagabond shoes, and go gypsy in a beat-up old RV found on eBay. On a journey of over ten thousand miles along the back roads of America (and a hysterical, error-infused side trip into Italy), they conquer old fears, see new sights, reestablish bonds with family and friends, and transform their relationships with their three grown children from parent-child to adult-to-adult. Most importantly, they rediscover in themselves the fun-loving youngsters who fell in love three decades prior.

Throughout his writing life, David James has been collecting a collection of human destinies, deeds, and delusions. He refers to the life stories of people of different ages and wealth. The main theme, to which all his books are devoted, is the all-encompassing concept of love. No matter how people persuade themselves that they are looking for fame and fame, money and recognition, everyone is looking for love. Those who find, strive to keep, those who lose, seek again. Leading the heroes through fire, water and copper pipes, James instills hope in everyone and everyone will wait for their happiness.

The classic novel of fly fishing and spirituality republished with a new Afterword by the author. Since its publication in 1983, THE RIVER WHY has become a classic. David James Duncan''s sweeping novel is a coming-of-age comedy about love, nature, and the quest for self-discovery, written in a voice as distinct and powerful as any in American letters. Gus Orviston is a young fly fisherman who leaves behind his comically schizoid family to find his own path. Taking refuge in a remote cabin, he sets out in pursuit of the Pacific Northwest''s elusive steelhead. But what begins as a physical quarry becomes a spiritual one as his quest for self-knowledge batters him with unforeseeable experiences. Profoundly reflective about our connection to nature and to one another, THE RIVER WHY is also a comedic rollercoaster. Like Gus, the reader emerges utterly changed, stripped bare by the journey Duncan so expertly navigates.

In his passionate, luminous novels, David James Duncan has won the devotion of countless critics and readers, earning comparisons to Harper Lee, Tom Robbins, and J.D. Salinger, to name just a few. Now Duncan distills his remarkable powers of observation into this unique collection of short stories and essays. At the heart of Duncan''s tales are characters undergoing the complex and violent process of transformation, with results both painful and wondrous. Equally affecting are his nonfiction reminiscences, the "river teeth" of the title. He likens his memories to the remains of old-growth trees that fall into Northwestern rivers and are sculpted by time and water. These experiences—shaped by his own river of time—are related with the art and grace of a master storyteller. In River Teeth, a uniquely gifted American writer blends two forms, taking us into the rivers of truth and make-believe, and all that lies in between.

In order to get the listing for Ian Forbes, realtor Amanda Thorn must appear on a bizarre reality dating show he''s filming and discovers that there is a killer among the catty cast when two of his prospective lovers turn up dead.

A first collection by an award-winning writer features characters at relationship crossroads in such stories as "Lizard Man," in which two men race to save a sick alligator; and "The End of Aaron," in which a girl helps her boyfriend face his greatest fears.

Sarajevo, 28 June 1914: The story of the assassination that changed the world. A historical account of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Using newly available sources and older material, David James Smith brilliantly reinvestigates and reconstructs the events which subsequently determined the shape of the twentieth century. Young Gavrilo Princip arrived at the Vlajnic pastry shop in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the morning of 28 June 1914. He was greeted by his fellow conspirators in the plot to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Archduke, next in line to succeed as Emperor of Austria, was beginning a state visit to Sarajevo later that morning. Ferdinand was not a very popular character - widely thought of as bad-tempered and arrogant and perhaps even deranged. To the young students he embodied everything they loathed about imperial oppression. They planned to kill him at about 11 o''clock as he paraded down Appel Quay to the town hall in his open top car. What happened in those few hours - leading as it did to the First and Second World Wars - is as compelling as any thriller.

Duncan offers a collection of "churchless sermons," stories, memoir, and conversations with the affirmation that the way of life preached and embodied by Jesus is apolitical.

Light in the Dark is a playful illustrated children’s book which teaches children not to be afraid of the dark. The story follows a young boy using play through hide and seek with his dad to see the lighter sides of the dark and cleverly utilises the different colours of the rainbow to also teach children about colours. And to add a bit more fun, there is a ‘find the star’ on each spread.

Nelson Mandela is well-known throughout the world as a heroic leader who symbolizes freedom and moral authority. He is fixed in the public mind as the world''s elder statesman -- the gray-haired man with a kindly smile who spent 27 years in prison before becoming the first black president in South Africa. But Nelson Mandela was not always elderly or benign. And, in Young Mandela, award-winning journalist and author David James Smith takes us deep into the heart of racist South Africa to paint a portrait of the Mandela that many have forgotten: the committed revolutionary who left his family behind to live on the run, adopting false names and disguises and organizing the first strikes to overthrow the apartheid state. Young Mandela lifts the curtain on an icon''s first steps to greatness.

An epic comedy about the quest for transcendence in an anything-but-transcendent America, set amid the gorgeous landscapes of the American west: A “spiritual journey” full of “fun, joy, love, courage and compassion” (Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Powers) from the author of the perennial cult bestsellers The River Why and The Brothers K. A random bolt from a DC-8 falls from the sky, killing a child and throwing the faith of a young Jesuit into crisis. A boy’s mother dies on his fifth birthday, sparking a lifetime of repressed anger that he unleashes once a year in reckless duels with the Fate, God, or Power who let the coincidence happen. A young woman on a run in Seattle experiences a shooting star moment that pierces her with a love that will eventually help heal the Jesuit, the angry young man, and innumerable others. The journeys of this unintentional menagerie carry them to the healing lands of Montana and a newly founded community—where nothing tastes better than Maker''s Mark mixed with glacier ice, and nothing seems less likely than the soul-filling delight a troupe of spiritual refugees, urban sophisticates, road-weary musicians, and local cowboys begin to find in each other''s company. With Sun House, David James Duncan continues exploring the American search for meaning and love that he began in his acclaimed novels The River Why and The Brothers K.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Psychoanalytic Cultural Criticism and the Soul -- Towards a Psychoanalytic Understanding of Fascism and Anti-Semitism: Perceptions From the 1940''s -- On Parenting and Playing -- The Relationship and Debates Between Bruno Bettelheim and Rudolf Ekstein -- In Memoriam: Rudolf Ekstein (1912-2005) -- A Final Conversation With Bruno Bettelheim -- The Suicide of a Survivor: Some Intimate Perceptions of Bettelheim''s Suicide -- Homage to Bettelheim -- An Open Letter to Newsweek -- Concerning Bruno Bettelheim: A Reply To Former Patients From The Orthogenic School -- Two Letters From Bettelheim To The Author -- About the Author -- References -- Index -- Acknowledgements.

Friday, 12th February, 1993. Two outwardly unremarkable ten-year-old boys began the day by playing truant and ended it running an errand for the local video shop. In between they abducted and killed a two-year-old boy, James Bulger. In search of an explanation, award-winning journalist David James Smith looks behind the misinformation, misunderstanding and sensational reporting to an exact account of the events of that day. A sensitive and definitive account, The Sleep of Reason achieves a unique understanding of the James Bulger case, and comes as close as may ever be possible to explaining how two ten-year-olds could kill.

This volume is a history of the Japanese drive for the conquest of Greater East Asia. It includes an account of the Malayan campaign and the Fall of Singapore, followed by an outline of the dominant features of the campaign in S E Asia and the Pacific and ending with the attack on Japan and the unconditional surrender. As a prisoner in Tokyo, the author was able to observe the reactions of the people and the government to the bombing of Japan, and by revealing their overwhelming defeat, to dispose of the fiction that surrender was brought about by two atomic bombs. The outstanding value of the work is its analysis of the fundamental problems of Japan.

In this timely, challenging book, a former minister and current legislator in the British government examines the wave of American federal crime-control laws that surfaced both before and after the 1994 "Republican Revolution" in Congress. Lord Windlesham focuses on the pressure that populist opinion and special interests can exert in shaping crime policy. Several law-making actions and arguments are explored, such as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (thought by many to be the key legislative achievement of President Clinton''s first term), the Brady Act, the "three strikes and you''re out" rule, Megan''s Law, and so forth. Furthermore, in presenting controversial views on the NRA and its competitors, the book ultimately asks how long America can continue to tolerate the private possession of deadly weapons.

This book explores a largely forgotten legacy of multicultural political thought and practice from within Eastern Europe and examines its relevance to post-Cold War debates on state and nationhood. Featuring a Preface by former UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke, it weaves theory and practice to challenge established understandings of the nation state. Eastern Europe is still too often viewed through the prism of ethnic conflict, which overlooks the region’s positive contribution to modern debates on the political management of ethno-cultural diversity, and towards the construction of a united Europe ‘beyond the nation-state’. Based on extensive archival research in Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Russia, as well as the League of Nations Archive in Geneva, this book explores this neglected multicultural legacy and assesses its significance in the post-Cold War era, which has seen the reappearance of national cultural autonomy laws in several states of Eastern Europe. Ethnic Diversity and the Nation Stateis invaluable reading for students and scholars of political science, history, sociology and European studies, and also for policy makers and others interested in minority rights and ethnic conflict regulation.

Felix Klein, one of the great nineteenth-century geometers, rediscovered in mathematics an idea from Eastern philosophy: the heaven of Indra contained a net of pearls, each of which was reflected in its neighbour, so that the whole Universe was mirrored in each pearl. Klein studied infinitely repeated reflections and was led to forms with multiple co-existing symmetries. For a century these ideas barely existed outside the imagination of mathematicians. However in the 1980s the authors embarked on the first computer exploration of Klein''s vision, and in doing so found many further extraordinary images. Join the authors on the path from basic mathematical ideas to the simple algorithms that create the delicate fractal filigrees, most of which have never appeared in print before. Beginners can follow the step-by-step instructions for writing programs that generate the images. Others can see how the images relate to ideas at the forefront of research.

The Akhbār majmū‘a has in recent years been a topic of fierce debate, thought to be either one of the oldest original sources for the history of early Islamic Spain or a late compilation of earlier sources. This book examines the early history of Islamic Spain and provides a translation of this key contemporary account.

This handbook is written for undergraduate sport studies and sport and exercise students. It introduces students to the basic scientific principles that will underpin their learning and is aimed primarily at those who have little or no background in science. Craig Williams and David James apply key scientific concepts to real situations to better understand the principles at work. Clearly divided into three sections, the text covers: * the three physical states of gas, liquid and solid * explanations of forces, energy and electricity - including pressure, torque and joint velocity * data analysis, ICT and report writing - important areas for the scientist. Science for Exercise and Sport provides the student with all the basic scientific background information they need and demonstrates how the theory can be used to map and monitor the human body in the sport and exercise discipline.

Abstract: Fifteen articles are presented to assist prospective authors in the experimental design, conduct, and interpretation of epidemiologic studies. The information also should aid readers of medical journals in judging the validity of the conclusions presented in published epidemiologic studies. Attention is focused on the rudiments of the epidemiological approach, its terminology, and methods, with the premise that all findings must relate to the defined population. Topics include; repeatability and v alidity; observer variation; planning and conducting an epidemiological survey; comparing relative rates; difficulties introduced by biased case selection and incomplete follow-up; and the importance of screening patients for preclinical disease. Guidance also is given concerning comparisons between communities or between individuals, and the proper and improper selection of controls. (wz).

Including maps, an extensive introduction and notes and commentary by the translator, Early Islamic Spain is the first English language translation of the important history of Islamic Spain by Ibn al-Qutiyyah, one of the earliest and significant histories of Muslim Spain and an important source for scholars.

An accessible guide to creating schedules that amplify school and district priorities, support best practices in teaching and learning, heighten student engagement, and enhance equity. A school’s schedule can be as important to education outcomes as its budget or strategic plan. The secret to making the schedule a tool for school improvement is to approach schedule design not as a technical task, centered on making everything fit like Tetris blocks, but as a strategic one. In this book, informed by research and their work with hundreds of schools, scheduling experts Nathan Levenson and David James explore how strategic scheduling can turn a "good enough" schedule into one that supercharges learning and engagement without additional costs or more FTEs. If you are ready to * Figure out which schedule type is best for your students and staff; * Disrupt harmful tracking and ensure every student has access to highly skilled teachers and rigorous curriculum; * Deliver optimum hours of core instruction while expanding electives and providing opportunities for student voice and choice; * Precisely match staffing to course enrollment to free up personnel and funds for other purposes * Find time for critical intervention and enrichment blocks; and * Communicate scheduling decisions more effectively to parents, families, and district leaders ... then it’s time for strategic scheduling. Offering targeted advice for best-practice scheduling at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, this book will help school and district leaders—and the teachers and students they serve—make the most of every school day and every school year.

This influence does not fit into neat "conservative" and "liberal" patterns, but instead interacts with parental and peer influence in heretofore unexamined ways. By-and-large, the entertainment media help to reinforce pre-existing values. However, this book takes a close look at many of the ways in which the entertainment media influence young Americans to hold socio-political beliefs that are different from these of their parents, schools, and teachers."--BOOK JACKET.

DEADCORE: 4 HARDCORE ZOMBIE NOVELLAS Join authors Randy Chandler, Ben Cheetham, Edward M. Erdelac, and David James Keaton as they unleash the carnage while breathing new life, and death, into the zombie genre. FANGORIA MAGAZINE REVIEW "As the book’s title indicates, DEADCORE achieves all extremes. Violent, perverse, depraved—and, as such, quite recommended." THE STORIES DEAD JUJU BY RANDY CHANDLER He''s the mystery man on the news. Where he shows up, the shit goes down. The dead are rising, the immigration issue has reached the boiling point, the living are screwed, and unspeakable acts are being performed upon all involved. In this tale of Zombies Gone Wild, yes the dead walk but just where the hell are they going and why? Dead Juju gives you the hardcore truth, if you''re ghoul enough to handle it. NIGHT OF THE JIKININKI BY EDWARD M. ERDELAC After a comet is observed in the western sky of feudal Japan, a murdered inmate rises from the dead and attacks his fellow prisoners. Three disparate men: a casteless bandit, a mad, child-eating monk, and a renowned but sadistic samurai band together to escape the walled and moat-surrounded prison as it fills with the walking and ravenous dead. ZEE BEE & BEE (A.K.A. PROPELLER HATS FOR THE DEAD) BY DAVID JAMES KEATON At a "Zombie Bed & Breakfast" tourist trap, guests pay for the thrill of a staged zombie assault during an apocalyptic scenario, acted out by sluggish hotel workers who are well-versed in the zombie genre. But soon the script doesn''t go as planned, the guests become uncooperative, and the actors are taking their roles very seriously these days. ZOMBIE SAFARI BY BEN CHEETHAM Survivors of a zombie apocalypse have carved out new existences on islands, only visiting the mainland to hunt zombies. But things start to go wrong. Zombies don''t die as they should. Hunters go missing. A trip that''s supposed to be fun turns into a struggle for survival as four men make a discovery that causes them to question not only what it means to be a zombie, but what it means to be human.

In 1998, Estonia became the first of the former Soviet republics to enter membership negotiations with the EU. This book traces the remarkable reforms that have propelled Estonia from the USSR to the threshold of the EU in less than a decade.

In Modernist Futures, David James examines the implications of modernism''s continuity in late twentieth- and twenty-first-century writing by tracing its political and ethical valences in emerging novelistic practices. Focusing on the work of J. M. Coetzee, Milan Kundera, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison, Michael Ondaatje and Phillip Roth, James reconsiders the purpose of literary innovation as it relates to the artistic and cultural interventions such writers perform. By rethinking critical and disciplinary parameters, James brings scholarship on contemporary fiction into dialogue with modernist studies, offering a nuanced account of narrative strategies that sheds new light on the form of the novel today. An ambitious and incisive contribution to the field, this book will appeal especially to scholars of modernism and contemporary literary culture as well as those in American and postcolonial studies.

From the award-winning author of the acclaimed story collection The Heaven of Animals, called “a wise debut…beautiful [stories] with a rogue touch” (The New York Times Book Review), comes a sweeping, domestic novel about a family that reunites at their North Carolina lake house for one last vacation before the home is sold—and the long-buried secrets that are finally revealed. The Starling family is scattered across the country. Parents Richard and Lisa live in Ithaca, New York, and work at Cornell University. Their son Michael, a salesperson, lives in Dallas with his elementary school teacher wife, Diane. Michael’s brother, Thad, an aspiring poet, makes his home in New York City with his famous painter boyfriend, Jake. For years they’ve traveled to North Carolina to share a summer vacation at the family lake house. That tradition is coming to an end, as Richard and Lisa have decided to sell the treasured summer home and retire to Florida. Before they do, the family will spend one last weekend at the lake. But what should to be a joyous farewell takes a nightmarish turn when the family witnesses a tragedy that triggers a series of dramatic revelations among the Starlings—alcoholism, infidelity, pregnancy, and a secret the parents have kept from their sons for over thirty years. As the weekend unfolds, relationships fray, bonds are tested, and the Starlings are forced to reckon with who they are and what they want from this life. Set in today’s America, Lake Life is a beautifully rendered, emotionally compelling novel in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, and Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth.

HEAD CLEANER is a hugely original blend of thriller, science fiction, and horror that takes our love of nostalgia to task for its morbid obsessions with dead media and dead-end jobs: Clerks meets Black Mirror (with a little Groundhog Day and Russian Doll thrown in for good measure): The last Blockbuster video store in the United States is hanging on by a thread. And after a crazy night attempting to track down a lost VCR rental to collect the record-setting and internet-famous late fee, three employees, idealistic Eva, cinephile Jerry, and their tyrannical manager Randy, discover that this machine may actually have the power to change the endings of popular films, which, depending on the historical basis of the film, might also be changing the real world around them. Or could this just be an elaborate, increasingly deadly prank? When they begin receiving videotapes and voicemails seemingly depicting their deaths, Eva, Jerry, and Randy scramble to keep the VCR from falling into the wrong hands. And as one action-packed evening begins to seemingly repeat itself (or does it?), scores are settled and unwanted confessions begin to fly, until a Final Girl finally unravels a grand psychological experiment orchestrated at the highest levels of a crumbling social media empire.

Comet Press presents 13 stories from authors of dark crime, suspense, and horror. Ultra violent, hardboiled, with an unhealthy dose of the macabre, The Death Panel is a no-holds-barred, in-your-face hard ride to hell. HORROR WORLD REVIEW "These noir themed plotlines in the stories presented in The Death Panel are like a deep breath of fresh air; it’s nice to break with convention occasionally and these stories do so wonderfully. I found myself glued to this book, and when finished, I wanted to read more, it was that enjoyable. So if you’re looking for something a little different to read in your horror fiction, a book with stories that are edgy and cool as all hell, then pick up The Death Panel, and then be prepared to be blown away by some of the best genre short story fiction written in the last few years. Yes, this book is that good." MONSTER LIBRARIAN REVIEW "If you are a horror fan who wants to expand your horizons, I highly recommend picking up The Death Panel." BOOKGASM REVIEW "With sharp writing and a crisp design to match, the anthology makes a strong case for 2009’s best. It’s only Comet Press’ third release, but already, the small-press label has distinguished itself as a reliable name brand. Pick it up, if you’ve got the balls." —Rod Lott

This book reprints and analyses reviews of music hall acts from the family magazine The Red Letter, which was published by the Scottish based firm D C Thomson from 1899 to 1987. The articles under review range in date from 1902 to 1914, covering theatres all over Britain and acts from around the world. The reviews are uniquely detailed and shed light not only on the early acts of comics who would later go on to achieve wider fame, such as Will Hay and Robb Wilton, but also reveal the acts of long forgotten performers. These so-called ‘wines and spirits’ acts—acts that would never top the bill but who nevertheless toured the halls, sometimes for years on end, such as female impersonator Albert Letine, comedy magician Chris van Bern and female stand up Anna Dorothy amongst many others—deserve to be remembered every bit as much as the top of the bill acts. The articles are arranged in sections, covering race, gender, character comedy, physical comedy, male comedy and specialty or ‘spesh’ acts. The reviews reveal not only the contents of the acts but also the audience reactions to those acts and prevailing contemporary Edwardian attitudes. The articles are accompanied by their original illustrations, some of which are unique and, like the articles themselves, unseen for over a century.