Search results for ""Melville House""

Within two generations humanity is set to leave behind the fossil fuels which built our modern industrial civilisation. The clean energy transition is already underway, and its completion inevitable. So what lies ahead in our future? The key technologies of wind, solar, pumped hydro, batteries, heat pumps and green hydrogen are going to be key, argues Black. But transitions are not necessarily going to be smooth: fossil fuel corporations will go bankrupt and workers will lose jobs; the most powerful fossil fuel states have always pushed back and will continue to do so as their market contracts. However, water cannot be pushed uphill for any length of time. Already clean energy costs have fallen so far that almost all electricity generation capacity being built around the world is renewable; soon, for example, electric models will account for almost all growth in the global car fleet. As more are built, costs come down and rollout accelerates. Whether the transition happens fast enough

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In a society battered by economic, political, cultural and ecological collapse, where do we place our trust, now that it is more vital than ever for our survival? How has that trust - in our laws, our media, our governments - been lost, and how can it be won back? Examining the police, the rule of law, artificial intelligence, the 21st century city and social media, Ros Taylor imagines what life might be like in years to come if trust continues to erode. Have conspiracy theories permanently damaged our society? Will technological advances, which require more and more of our human selves, ultimately be rejected by future generations? And in a world fast approaching irreversible levels of ecological damage, how can we trust the custodians of these institutions to do the right thing - even as humanity faces catastrophe?

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Look in the mirror - what do you see? We all feel, instinctively, that self exists. That somewhere inside us, under the clothes, the make-up and self-tan, lurks a hard ''pearl'', a kernel of truth called ''me''. And it''s big business uncovering that ''authentic'' kernel. It''s also a fool''s errand, because that ''true self''? It doesn''t exist. Self is no more than a story we tell ourselves. It''s mutable, pliable as Plasticine. Worse, it''s not even strictly autobiographical, but co-authored with those around us. And as such, there is no one version, but myriad, and the number is growing as we are exposed to ever more connections. We are already seeing the effects travel, television, and celebrity culture can have on the formation of self, but as digital and social media exposure grows, and in the advent of AI, what will happen to our sense of self? Can we become ever more multiple and adapt better to our globalised world? Or will we dissolve into narcissitic, detached ''nobodies''?

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A quirky and literary book about the umbrella, exploring its history and cultural and literary significance. You will never think of the humble brolly in the same way again.

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The Italy Letters is a slim, powerful shot of literary fantasia from one of America''s best-kept secrets. Long a cult favourite, visionary writer Vi Khi Nao weaves an unforgettable and highly distinctive story of a love affair suffused with longing, erotic passion, and heartbreak - all while painting a picture of the scabby underside of Las Vegas. This beautiful and mesmerizing novel by a queer Vietnamese American writer is a brilliant and unclassifiable work of fiction that takes the form of a series of letters written by the unnamed narrator to her lover in Italy... part of a stream-of-consciousness narrative that is by turns poignant, bawdy, funny, and disturbing - and often beautifully poetic. The story touches, obliquely but powerfully, on the immigrant experience, LGBTQIA identity, social class in the academy, writing, betrayal, sex, and homesickness. The narrator is in the process of caring for her declining mother, who is both deteriorating in health but remains imperious - not

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Two young lawyers, Ben and Boris, arrive in the New Orleans public defender''s office determined to represent those most in peril: kids who are to be prosecuted as adults. When 16-year-old Robert is arrested and charged with murder, the two set about constructing his defense, with Ben taking the lead. But years of heavy cases spark a burning recklessness in Ben. He does what he believes - what he knows - must be done. And in his fervour to absolve Robert, Ben spins a web to bend the narrative in his favour, one in which everyone is expendable - even those his young client loves most. A riveting story of loyalty and grief that cross-examines an unjust criminal legal system, Seraphim combines the grit and realism of Richard Price''s Clockers with the empathy and psychological complexity of Michael Chabon''s The Yiddish Policemen''s Union.

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Wittgenstein Jr. is the nickname Peters and his gang of fellow Philosophy undergrads give to their lecturer; a brooding, complicated, melancholic academic who is determined to make them grasp the very essence of philosophical thought. But the students are too busy getting drunk on lethal homemade cocktails, falling in and out of love, and coming to terms with the life waiting for them after Cambridge. As Wittgenstein Jr. becomes more withdrawn and depressive, the students come to realise how much he needs them.

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