![]() Just as I thought that About Schmidt was more than its apparently depressing ending, so I think The Pursuit of Happyness is more than its inspirational ending. But I would like to downplay both extremes just a little. If you thought so, this week's movie will be the antidote, since it is uplifting, even inspirational, unless you are a certain kind of person that I will mention in a moment. Once again, before we move on to a discussion of tonight's film, the based-on-a-true-story Pursuit of Happyness by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith, I want to look back for just a moment to the view, expressed by some during the discussion last week, that About Schmidt was a depressing movie. Before showing this movie, Mr.Bowman spoke for a few minutes about it and the series as a whole as follows. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This summerEPPC Resident Scholar James Bowmanhas been presenting, on behalf of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Hudson Institute in Washington, a series of six films on the general theme of “The Pursuit of Happiness.” The sixth and final film in the series, itself titled The Pursuit of Happyness, by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith, Thandie Newton and Jaden Smith, was shown on Tuesday, August 3rd. ![]()
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![]() The first part is written from a point of distance, without dialogue or involvement from the author. The second part is an extended essay on Orwell’s political thinking at the time, and the hindrances to Socialism’s rise in England (notably, Socialists themselves in many cases) – a particularly pressing topic at the time of publication as Orwell cites Socialism as the solution to the rising Fascism in Europe. The first part describes Orwell’s nomadic experiences as a bourgeois writer (in his own words, part of the lower-upper-middle-class) slumming around working class areas in the North of England, where he records the crushing poverty he observes. The Road to Wigan Pier (1937) – a book commissioned by the Left Book Club – is, perhaps, the perfect encapsulation of Orwell’s early approach to political writing, and is one of the most often cited books when 1930s unemployment in Britain is discussed. ![]() ![]() I must have held a copy (almost certainly the 2011 reissue from Soho Press, with its scratchy and disturbing cover) in my hands at some point, must have read the jacket copy or a synopsis somewhere, but despite loving both the Claire DeWitt books and horror fiction, I never took the leap. Though it was originally published in 2003, I first encountered the book in 2012, after finishing the first of Gran’s Claire DeWitt novels and wondering what else she’d written. It is, without a doubt, one of the best slices of horror fiction I’ve ever read. ![]() Sara Gran’s Come Closer is one such book for me: I was scared of this book before I read it, I was scared while I was reading it, and I remain scared of it now. ![]() ![]() Usually it’s just because you’re not ‘feeling it’ at whatever particular moment–but sometimes, a book can give you the heebie-jeebies before you’ve even touched it. The avoidance is rarely for nefarious reasons, of course. ![]() They wait, looming in the background, for their appointed time. You choose to wait on them instead of picking them up when they’re first recommended to you, or when you first hear about them online, or when you first flip open a copy at the bookstore. There are some books that spend a long time making their way onto your to-read shelf. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Revisiting the earliest days of the Trump presidency, Rage reveals how Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats struggled to keep the country safe as the president dismantled any semblance of collegial national security decision making. In 17 on-the-record interviews with Woodward over seven volatile months-an utterly vivid window into Trump’s mind-the president provides a self-portrait that is part denial and part combative interchange mixed with surprising moments of doubt as he glimpses the perils in the presidency and what he calls the “dynamite behind every door.”Īt key decision points, Rage shows how Trump’s responses to the crises of 2020 were rooted in the instincts, habits and style he developed during his first three years as president. ![]() In dramatic detail, Woodward takes readers into the Oval Office as Trump’s head pops up when he is told in January 2020 that the pandemic could reach the scale of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 675,000 Americans. Woodward, the #1 international bestselling author of Fear: Trump in the White House, has uncovered the precise moment the president was warned that the Covid-19 epidemic would be the biggest national security threat to his presidency. Rage is an unprecedented and intimate tour de force of new reporting on the Trump presidency facing a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest. ![]() ![]() ![]() Smith studied experimental psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was here that her high school English teacher, Zoe Gibbs, gave Smith the confidence to write. As a child, she grew up in Villa Park, California and attended Villa Park High School. Her reported date of birth varies, with sources noting as early as 1958 or 1959 or as late as 1965. Smith was born in Orange County, California. Her books, particularly The Vampire Diaries and Night World, have been in the New York Times Best Seller list and have been nominated for five awards. Lisa Jane Smith is an American author of young adult fiction best known for her best-selling series The Vampire Diaries, which has been turned into a successful television show. ![]() ![]() Young adult, horror, science fiction, fantasy, romance University of California, Santa Barbara (B.A. ![]() ![]() ![]() New life is breathed into those characters we all knew and loved (or loved to hate) in the original Count of Monte Cristo tale (what can now, finally, be referred to as Book 1). The adventure-laden journeys of Edmond Dantes continues in (Dumas') newly-honed role as investigative reporter who publishes his (original) book as part of (this) story. The mysterious Holy Ghost Writer has penned "The Sultan of Monte Cristo" as a direct continuance of the story readers have long struggled against leaving behind. It is a grieving of sorts that has long been unmitigable. "For so many years, passionate fans of The Count of Monte Cristo have suffered a loss upon finishing Alexandre Dumas' last words. ![]() ![]() ![]() Torn between love and loyalty, she must summon the courage to stand up against the only family she has for the only man she will ever love. ![]() But revealing his sacrifice and his hidden heritage will expose them both and destroy everything Layla holds dear-even her role of mother to her precious young. Layla alone knows the truth that will save Xcor’s life. ![]() Yet after a life marked by cruelty and evil deeds, he accepts his soldier’s fate, his sole regret the loss of a sacred female who was never his: the Chosen Layla. Xcor, leader of the Band of Bastards, convicted of treason against the Blind King, is facing a brutal interrogation and torturous death at the hands of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Ward’s newest novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. ![]() ![]() Dissatisfied with the current climate in publishing, Lecky had been pressuring Comeau to print the book in a hard-copy format. That might have been the end of it except for his friend, Mike Lecky, an aspiring Vancouver- based publisher. Ten days later and $1,600 richer he posted the remaining chapters. His on-line comic, co-created with designer Emily Horne, A Softer World (Xtra has just started to print some of A Softer World’s text and photo strips see page 20 or go to ), already had a rabid following of more than 50,000 readers a week, so he decided to put the first chapter of Lockpick on-line with a Pay Pal donation jar. In his final semester he fell short of cash after his student loan was denied. Lockpick Pornography was born last spring while Comeau was studying linguistics at St Mary’s University in Halifax. ![]() ![]() Welcome to the world of Aadilor, where lords and ladies can be murderers and thieves, and the most alluring notes are often the deadliest. Larkyra and Darius must learn to trust each other if there is to be any hope of saving the people of Lachlan-and themselves. Mellow Narrated by: Madeline Lake, Nelson Hobbs Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins 4.3 (492 ratings) Try for 0. Soon she suspects Darius has his own motivations for ridding Lachlan of the corrupt duke. Song of the Forever Rains The Mousai, Book 1 By: E.J. But her plans grow complicated when she finds herself drawn to Lord Darius Mekenna, Lachlan's rightful heir. ![]() ![]() Eager to prove herself, Larkyra accepts by posing as the duke's potential bride. When it's discovered the Duke of Lachlan is siphoning a poisonous drug from the Thief Kingdom and using it to abuse his tenants, Larkyra is offered her first solo mission to stop the duke. Larkyra Bassette may be the youngest of the Mousai, but when she sings her voice has the power to slay monsters. There, the mysterious Thief King reigns supreme with the help of the Mousai, a trio of revered and feared sorceresses. Many whisper of its existence, but few have found this place, where magic and pleasure abound. The Thief Kingdom is a place hidden within the world of Aadlior. From the award-winning author of the Dreamland series comes a new dark romantic fantasy about a young woman finding hope in her powers of destruction. ![]() ![]() ![]() When they learn that the power will be shut off in their home for an hour each night, the two take the opportunity to confess secrets to each other in the darkness. Shoba and Shukumar are comfortably settled in America but are struggling with a miscarriage that has disrupted their marriage. “A Temporary Matter” is the debut story and the one that veers furthest from the themes in other stories. ![]() Three stories are set in India, with two of those concerning women living in poverty and their role in the community. Six of the nine stories in the collection focus on Indian immigrants of the first or second generation living in America, and the conflict is often driven by their difference or difficulty adjusting to life in America. The stories in the book are not linked but mostly share a common thematic purpose: an exploration of the immigrant experience and how it changes or alienates people from their heritage. ![]() |