Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our “résumé virtues" -- achieving wealth, fame, and status -- and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed. Looking to some of the world|s greatest thinkers and...

Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their...

The most popularly read, adapted, anthologized, and incorporated primer on sociology ever written for modern readers   Acclaimed scholar and sociologist Peter L. Berger lays the groundwork for a clear understanding of sociology in his straightforward introduction to the field, much loved by students, professors, and general readers. Berger aligns sociology in the humanist tradition-revealing its relationship to the humanities and philosophy-and establishes...

"Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy--who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. This inner peace, David Brooks reveals, comes not from a life of self-centered achievement but a life of interdependence and commitment to others. In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four main commitments that define a virtuous and meaningful life: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy...

Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America's vast inequality-- and to people's determination and intelligence in the face of hardship. Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty...

When male students from Briarwood join the all-girl Octavian Country Day at the beginning of eighth grade, Massie makes a rule that none of the girls on the Pretty Committee can have anything to do with them, trying to protect the girls' social status.

Influential scholar Peter L. Berger explores the sociological underpinnings of religion and the rise of a modern secular society   Acclaimed scholar and sociologist Peter L. Berger carefully lays out an understanding of religion as a historical, societal mechanism in this classic work of social theory. Berger examines the roots of religious belief and its gradual dissolution in modern times, applying a general theoretical perspective to specific...

Following Christmas break, the girls are back together, but everything seems different with the addition of Alicia's cousin from Spain who is spending the semester at Octavian Country Day School.

Just when Glennon Doyle Melton felt she had it all figured out--three happy children, a doting spouse, and a successful writing career --her husband revealed his infidelity and she was forced to realize that nothing was as it seemed. A recovering alcoholic and bulimic, Glennon found that rock bottom was a familiar place. She knew to hold on to what she discovered in recovery: that her deepest pain has always held within it an invitation to a richer...

Two families awaiting the arrival of their adopted infant daughters from Korea meet at the airport. The families lives become interwined after the Donaldsons, a young American couple invite the Yazdan's, Maryam, her son and his Iranian American wife to an arrival party, which becomes an annual event. Maryam, who came to this country thirty-five years earlier, feels her values threatened when she is courted by a newly widowed Donaldson. A penetrating...