"Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country. The decline of white working-class Americans, a demographic that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm -- but never before written about as searingly from the inside. Former marine and Yale Law School graduate J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social,...

Looks at current research from a variety of disciplines by following the lives and unconscious motivations of a hypothetical American couple as they grow, meet, and change throughout their lives.

"This is the story of how success happens. It is told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica-how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed. Distilling a vast array of information into these two vividly realized characters, Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. A scientific revolution has occurred-we have learned more about the human brain in the last thirty years than we...

"A brilliant, funny, generation-defining memoir about the double bind of crafting perfect adversity narratives for highly selective institutions, while fumbling through the far murkier reality of actual life in foster care and inpatient mental health treatment. As a child, Emi Nietfeld was caught between a hoarder mother who got her put on antipsychotic medication, but was also the only person to believe she was exceptional, and a state system exemplified...

"In A Just and Generous Nation, the eminent historian Harold Holzer and the noted economist Norton Garfinkle present a groundbreaking new account of the beliefs that inspired our sixteenth president to go to war when the Southern states seceded from the Union. Rather than a commitment to eradicating slavery or a defense of the Union, they argue, Lincoln's guiding principle was the defense of equal economic opportunity. Lincoln firmly believed that...

"When U.S. troops occupy Germany, friends Jakob and Emmanuelle are saved from the terrible fate of so many in the camps. With the help of sponsors, they make their way to New York. In order not to be separated, they allow their friendship to blossom into love and marriage, and start a new life on the Lower East Side, working at grueling, poorly paid jobs. Decades later, through talent, faith, fortune, and relentless hard work, Jakob has achieved success...