DailyLit: Non-Fiction Books

Good Experience Columns

by Mark Hurst

Description

Mark Hurst, the visionary who popularized "customer experience" in business, shares his thinking in these short essays. A commitment to good experience, Hurst argues, can improve any organization: by treating people better, companies perform better. Adapted from Hurst's past writings in his Good Experience newsletter, the essays take on topics as diverse as branding, community, customer research, Internet technology, information overload, and interviews with unusual thinkers.

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This work, Good Experience Columns, by Mark Hurst, is distributed under the following Creative Commons License: Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Generic.

Originally published in Good Experience between October 2002 and May 2008.

Waiting for the Call

by Jacqueline Taylor

Description

One woman's search for the meaning of faith when the foundations of her beliefs are tested to the limit

Waiting for the Call takes readers from the foothills of the Appalachians—where Jacqueline Taylor was brought up in a strict evangelical household—to contemporary Chicago, where she and her lesbian partner are raising a family. In a voice by turns comic and loving, Taylor recounts the amazing journey that took her in profoundly different directions from those she or her parents could have ever envisioned.

Taylor's father was a Southern Baptist preacher, and she struggled to deal with his strictures as well as her mother's manic-depressive episodes. After leaving for college, Taylor finds herself questioning her faith and identity, questions that continue to mount when—after two divorces, a doctoral degree, and her first kiss with a woman—she discovers her own lesbianism and begins a most untraditional family that grows to include two adopted children from Peru.

Even as she celebrates and cherishes this new family, Taylor insists on the possibility of maintaining a loving connection to her religious roots. While she and her partner search for the best way to explain adoption to their children and answer the inevitable question, "Which one is your mom?" they also seek out a church that will unite their love of family and their faith. Told in the great storytelling tradition of the American South, full of deep feeling and wry humor, Waiting for the Call engagingly demonstrates how one woman bridged the gulf between faith and sexual identity without abandoning her principles.

Praise for Waiting for the Call

"Well-written, absorbing, and a great pleasure to read...will appeal to Christians struggling to square their traditional beliefs with acceptance of homosexuality as well as to all those interested in adoption, lesbian marriage, and the changing shape of America's families."
—Elizabeth C. Fine, Virginia Tech University

"This deeply moving story of a lesbian Christian's journey to self-acceptance is a rare celebration of life. I found myself alternately weeping and then laughing out loud at Jacqueline Taylor's memoir of her staunch Southern Baptist father and clever but sometimes manic mother, of her missteps on the road to a long-lasting, committed relationship, and of the wit and wisdom of her adoptive daughters."
—Reverend Mel White, author of Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Rightand cofounder of Soulforce

"Especially compelling is the way in which the author never completely abandons religion, either for herself or for her children, and shows that fundamentalists and evangelicals cannot be painted with one brush. With a fascinating and gripping narrative, Waiting for the Call engages with current debates not only about homosexuality but about definitions of family, of mother and father, of child rearing, of education, of community."
—Linda Kintz, author of Between Jesus and the Market:The Emotions That Matter in Right-Wing America

"We have deeply needed a book that shows an intelligent LGBT person as a Christian—this is that book."
—Louise A. Blum, author of You’re Not from Around Here, Are You? A Lesbian in Small-Town America

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Previously published by the University of Michigan Press.

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Whatever You Do, Don't Run

by Peter Allison

Description

Whatever You Do, Don't Run is a hilarious collection of true tales from top safari guide Peter Allison. In a place where the wrong behavior could get you eaten, Allison has survived face-to-face encounters with big cats, angry elephants, and the world's most unpredictable animals—herds of untamed tourists and foolhardy guides whose outrageous antics sometimes make them even more dangerous than a pride of hungry lions!

Join Allison as he faces down charging lions—twice; searches for a drunk, half-naked tourist who happens to be a member of the British royal family; drives a Land Rover full of tourists into a lagoon full of hippos; and adopts the most vicious animal in Africa as his "pet." Full of lively humor and a genuine love and respect for Botswana and its rich wildlife, Whatever You Do, Don't Run takes you to where the wild things are and introduces you to a place where every day is a new adventure!

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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Previously published by The Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

Cover photos by IndexOpen.
Cover design by Jane Sheppard.

Please note that this book does not contain the images found in the paperback version.

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The Soul of the Rhino

by Hemanta R. Mishra

Description

In early 2006, National Public Radio reported that "A promising conservation effort to save one of Nepal's signature endangered species is now in serious trouble, due primarily to poachers taking advantage of fighting between government forces and Maoist insurgents." This was devastating news indeed to author and scientist Hemanta Mishra, who has spent the better part of his adult life struggling to save the Indian Rhino from extinction in his native Nepal.

The Soul of the Rhino is the spirited yet humble account of Mishra's unique personal journey. Fresh out of university in the 1970s, Mishra embarks on his conservation work with the help of an ornery but steadfast elephant driver, the Nepalese royal family, and handfuls of like-minded scientists whose aim is to protect the animal in the foothills of the Himalayas. Yet, in spite of decades spent creating nature reserves and moving rhinos to protected areas, arm-wrestling politicians, and raising awareness for the cause, Mishra is still fearful about the future of the Indian Rhino. To this day, Nepal is overrun by armed insurgents, political violence, and poachers who could kill off this magnificent creature for good.

Filled with candor and bittersweet humor, Mishra re-creates his journey on behalf of the rhino, an ugly yet enchanting, terrifying yet delicate creature. The first book of its kind to delve into the multi-layered political labyrinths of South Asian wildlife conservation, and one man’s endurance in the face of it all, The Soul of the Rhino is sure to win over your heart and soul.

Praise for The Soul of the Rhino

"The Soul of the Rhino is unusual, fascinating and important. It provides not only a rare insight into the personality and behavior of the highly endangered and little known Asian rhino, but an equally absorbing picture of the people who share its habitat...[It] is also a commentary on the way in which wildlife management can be helped or tragically hindered by revolution, politics and the commitment, or lack of it, of those in power. Most important, it will surely inspire other young people in Asia to follow in [Mishra's] footsteps. I hope you will buy and read this book."
—Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace

"The Soul of the Rhino is the first book of its kind that proves that nature conservation in Asia does not only depend upon good Western science. But like politics in America, it is an art—an art of the possible—an art that puts human needs and culture in the forefront of environmental conservation."
—Rimpoche Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

"For anyone in wildlife, the Himalayan region, Hindu and Buddhist culture, this book is a delight...Many well-meaning, dedicated conservation supporters have written enthusiastically about environmental, species, and cultural conservation—but Mishra has not only 'talked the talk,' he has really 'walked the walk,' as the reader will learn."
—Kenneth Nebenzahl, director of the American Himalayan Foundation, and member of the World Wildlife Fund—U.S. Council

"From the unique perspective of a Nepali dealing with conservation battles in his own country, [Mishra] describes his contacts with everyone from poacher and foreigner to bureaucrat, royalty and rhino. I enjoyed The Soul of the Rhino immensely for its potent conservation message as well as its insights into a culture and the soul of the author."
—George B. Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society

Extended Copyright Information

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Lyons Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Previously published by The Lyons Press, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press.

Cover design by Georgiana Goodwin.
Cover image Bridgeman Art Library.

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Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters

by Austen-Leigh and Austen-Leigh

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Memoir of Jane Austen

by James Edward Austen-Leigh

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The Jihad Next Door

by Dina Temple-Raston

Description

They called themselves the Arabian Knights. They were six Yemeni-American friends, a gang of high-school soccer stars, a band of brothers on the grim side streets of Lackawanna's First Ward, just a stone's throw from Buffalo.

Later, people would argue about why they left western New York in the spring of 2001 to attend an al-Qaeda camp. Some said they traveled to Afghanistan to become America's first sleeper cell—terrorists slumbering while they awaited orders from on high. Others said that their ill-fated trip was a lark, an adventurous extension of their youthful wrestling with what it meant to be Muslim in America.

Dina Temple-Raston returns to Lackawanna to tell the story of a group of young men—born and brought up in small town America—who left otherwise unremarkable lives to attend an al-Qaeda camp. Though they sought to quietly slip back into their roles as middle class Americans, the 9/11 attacks made that impossible.

The Jihad Next Door is the story of pre-emptive justice in the age of terror. It follows a handful of ordinary men through an extraordinary time when Muslims in America are often instantly suspect, their actions often viewed through the most sinister lens.

Praise for The Jihad Next Door

"With this compellingly told story, Dina Temple-Raston gives us a thorough and nuanced account of the Ashcroft Justice Department's trophy case, that of the Lackawanna Six, as well as others. Any fair-minded reader will come to appreciate the damage done to our highest values when the government throws scrupulousness to the winds."
—Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology, Columbia University, and author of The Bulldozer and the Big Tent

"Dina Temple Raston's inside story of what was called the first homegrown jihadist cell in the U.S. is a must-read for anyone concerned with where the threat to America—and its values—truly resides."
—Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al-Qaeda

"The Jihad Next Door provides new insight and understanding into the complexities and nuances of jihadist radicalization in the West. Impeccably researched and artfully written, this is a critical read for any citizen seeking to understand homegrown terrorism."
—Reid Sawyer, director of the Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy

"The Jihad Next Door is a powerful chronicle of what it is like to be Muslim, and therefore suspect, in post-9/11 America. With her first-rate reporting and finely etched prose, Temple-Raston brings to life the Yemeni-American community in Lackawanna and a group of young Muslim men who flirt with jihad…and reveals a heart-wrenching case of pre-emptive justice in America today. This is an important story—and important book—about the erosion of civil liberties in the age of terror."
—Nadine Strossen, president, American Civil Liberties Union, and professor of law at New York Law School

Extended Copyright Information

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1321, New York, NY 10107. PublicAffairs books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, call (617) 252-5298, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com.

Previously published by PublicAffairs, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Cover design: Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich.
Cover photos: Konrad Fiedler.

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This Moment on Earth

by Kerry and Heinz Kerry

Description

The environment, and the movement that grew up to protect it, is under attack—concerted and purposeful. Yet the need for solutions to pressing environmental problems grows more urgent each day. Teresa Heinz Kerry and Senator John Kerry traveled across the country in a national campaign to see at first hand how these issues unite people across party and ideological lines. From the San Juan Basin to the Gulf of Mexico to the South Bronx, from mothers on Cape Cod to Colorado ranchers, they found a vibrant coalition of people and communities deploying ingenuity, technology, and sheer will power to save the world they know and love. Now, in this passionate and personal book, Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the spotlight on an inspiring crosssection of these new environmental pioneers. The book combines intensive research with keenly observed personal experiences to present a portrait of Americans devoted to the natural diversity and spectacular uniqueness of our country. It also includes an extensive guide on where and how readers can get involved.

Praise for This Moment on Earth

"John Kerry and Teresa Heinz have written a book that is a profound challenge to all of us but contains, in the examples of the men and women who are fighting the great fight for a better future for our environment, the clear hope that if we can embrace their resourcefulness, determination and essential patriotism we will prevail. Both John and Teresa have been long-time leaders in the battle to save the Earth's environment. Way back when it was not all fashionable, indeed when very few people in the world were even paying attention to it, both John and Teresa were providing outstanding and courageous leadership."
—former Vice President Al Gore

Extended Copyright Information

Previously published by PublicAffairs, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Cover design: Nina D'Amario.
Cover Photo: Copyright Tom Fowlks/Getty Images.

Sample Installment

Inside the Jihad

by Omar Nasiri

Description

Between 1994 and 2000, Omar Nasiri worked as a secret agent for Europe's top foreign intelligence services—including France's DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure), and Britain's MI5 and MI6. From the netherworld of Islamist cells in Belgium, to the training camps of Afghanistan, to the radical mosques of London, he risked his life to defeat the emerging global network that the West would come to know as Al Qaeda. Now, for the first time, Nasiri shares the story of his life—a life balanced precariously between the world of Islamic jihadists and the spies who pursue them. As an Arab and a Muslim, he was able to infiltrate the rigidly controlled Afghan training camps, where he encountered men who would later be known as the most-wanted terrorists on earth: Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, Abu Zubayda, and Abu Khabab al-Masri. Sent back to Europe with instructions to form a sleeper cell, Nasiri became a conduit for messages going back and forth between Al Qaeda's top recruiter in Pakistan and London's radical cleric Abu Qatada. A gripping and provocative insider's account of both Islamist terror networks and the intelligence services that spy on them, Inside the Jihad offers a completely original perspective on the ongoing battle against Al Qaeda.

Praise for Inside the Jihad

"A chillingly detailed portrait of life inside the Afghan training camps. Omar Nasiri's memoir offers a unique insider's perspective on the crucial years during which a loosely connected group of regional Islamist movements coalesced into Al Qaeda's global jihad."
—Ahmed Rashid, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Taliban

"A terrific book. Omara Nasiri offers a ground-breaking account of the process by which young men become mujahidin. His description of life inside the Afghan training camps is more complete than any intelligence we had available to us in the 1990s. It indicates a level of professionalism within the camps that we were only able to infer from the fragmentary accounts available to us—and which policymakers dismissed at the time as CIA scare-mongering. As a micro-level description of the whole training process within the camps, Nasiri's account has, I believe, no peer in the publications of the American intelligence community."
—Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's Osama bin Laden Unit and author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror

About the Author

Omar Nasiri (not his real name) was born in Morocco and currently resides in Germany with his wife.

Gordon Corera is security correspondent for the BBC, for which he has covered major terrorist attacks including 9/11, the Madrid bombings, and the London bombings. He is the author of Shopping for Bombs: Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and the Rise and Fall of the A. Q. Khan Network.

Extended Copyright Information

Previously published by Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

In the course of this book, the names of several characters have been changed along with identifying details. A very small number of non-essential facts have also been altered. We have restricted these changes to only those cases in which their revelation would jeopardize the safety of the author, members of his family, secret service officers, as well as the secrecy of ongoing intelligence operations.

Cover design by PracherDesigns.
Cover photograph by Corbis.

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The Political Brain

by Drew Westen

Description

Drew Westen, a Professor of Psychology at Emory University, is the lead investigator on a team of neuroscientists who have been studying how the brain processes political information. For two decades he has been advancing a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" visions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists. In this book he shows, through a bravura tour of American political leaders and how they have appealed to the electorate, that Americans don't vote with their heads but with their hearts, or guts, or neuroses. The Political Brain is a serious and groundbreaking investigation into the role of emotion in deciding the life of the nation. It looks at data across several Presidential elections from the 1950s through 2000, examines the evidence for the role of emotion in driving voting behavior, and provides a "clinical" view of a number of campaign ads, debate lines and personal profiles of the candidates who have sought to win our hearts. What's the matter with Kansas? Kansans are overemotional. And here's why . . .

Praise for The Political Brain

"This is the most interesting, informative book on politics I've read in many years. Westen explains how our brains work and respond to different kinds of political messages. He shows what polls and other research are good for, and how a blind adherence to them can be self-defeating. His suggestions for what candidates should say—and should have said—should be read and studied by anyone who wants to understand modern American politics. This book is a handbook for how to talk about what really matters to you, written in just the way Westen says we should talk to voters—with vivid language, evocative imagery, and a sense of humor. It's also a good primer on why attacks can't go unanswered and how best to respond to them. If you want to know why candidates win or lose elections and what voters look for in a leader—whether you're an interested voter or a candidate for public office—you have to read this book."
—Former President Bill Clinton

"Democrats have caught up with Republicans in being able to target voters, and we're making rapid strides in rebuilding our party so we can talk to voters in fifty states. This book outlines a more intractable problem: How to actually talk to voters once we organize. Drew Westen is a must read and must hear for any Democrat who wants to win in Mississippi, Colorado, or rural Ohio. In 2008 we will win the presidency if our candidate reads and acts on this book."
—Howard Dean, Chairman, Democratic Party

"The Political Brain is the most illuminating book on contemporary American politics I've ever read. By explaining how voters actually process information, Drew Westen lays bare the connection between political technique, political conviction, and the Democrats' habit of bungling winnable elections. If every leading Democratic politician reads this book, we could have a decent America back."
—Robert Kuttner, writer for The Boston Globe, and co-editor, The American Prospect

"Why do most Americans agree with Democrats and vote for Republicans? Because Republicans know more about the human brain than their opponents do. In a delightful and insightful book, Westen uses the latest research in psychology and cognitive neuroscience to show how Republicans win by appealing to the heart while Democrats lose by appealing to the mind. This fascinating book will appeal to hearts and minds on both sides of the aisle. The Political Brain is scary and scary smart, serious and seriously funny. Machiavelli, move over, there's a new kid in town."
—Daniel Gilbert, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Stumbling on Happiness

"A brilliant new book . . . Let's make sure that all Capitol Hill cavemen read [it], and take it to heart. With America stuck in the Iraqi tar pit, the last thing we need is for Democrats to de-evolve into invertebrates and slither back into the sticky muck from which they only recently crawled."
—Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post

About the Author

Drew Westen received his B.A. at Harvard, an M.A. in Social and Political Thought at the University of Sussex (England), and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Michigan, where he subsequently taught for six years. For several years he was Chief Psychologist at Cambridge Hospital and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. He is a commentator on NPR's "All Things Considered" and lives in Atlanta.

Extended Copyright Information

Previously published by PublicAffairs, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Cover design by Danny Vee.
Cover photo copyright CSAIMAGES.com

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DailyLit: Non-Fiction Books

Good Experience Columns

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Waiting for the Call

Description

Praise for Waiting for the Call

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Whatever You Do, Don't Run

Description

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The Soul of the Rhino

Description

Praise for The Soul of the Rhino

Extended Copyright Information

Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters

Memoir of Jane Austen

The Jihad Next Door

Description

Praise for The Jihad Next Door

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This Moment on Earth

Description

Praise for This Moment on Earth

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Inside the Jihad

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Praise for Inside the Jihad

About the Author

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The Political Brain

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Praise for The Political Brain

About the Author

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