Search results for """ "Hard Luck""

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Book SynopsisThe concept of luck has played an important role in debates concerning free will and moral responsibility, yet participants in these debates have relied upon an intuitive notion of what luck is. Neil Levy develops an account of luck, which is then applied to the free will debate. He argues that the standard luck objection succeeds against common accounts of libertarian free will, but that it is possible to amend libertarian accounts so that they are no more vulnerable to luck than is compatibilism. But compatibilist accounts of luck are themselves vulnerable to a powerful luck objection: historical compatibilisms cannot satisfactorily explain how agents can take responsibility for their constitutive luck; non-historical compatibilisms run into insurmountable difficulties with the epistemic condition on control over action. Levy argues that because epistemic conditions on control are so demanding that they are rarely satisfied, agents are not blameworthy for performing actions that theyTrade ReviewHard Luck is important and challenging. Some of the arguments it directs at varieties of compatibilism, especially those concerning control, should generate much useful discussion. And Levy brings empirical research to bear fruitfully on issues like the effects of unconscious attitudes. * Steven Sverdlik, Mind *[an] impressively wide-ranging book ... a no-frills and honest engagement with the issues by a creative philosopher, and it deserves to be read. * Neal A. Tognazzini, Australasian Journal of Philosophy *All in all, Hard Luck is good philosophy: informed, clear and controversial. * Brian Jonathan Garrett, Philosophy in Review, (2013), no. 3 *Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements ; 1. Introduction ; 2. An Account of Luck ; 3. Luck and Libertarianism ; 4. The Luck Problem for Compatibilists ; 5. The Epistemic Dimensions of Control ; 6. Akratic Freedom? ; 7. The Retreat to the Inner Citadel ; 8. Quality Of Will Theories And History-Insensitive Compatibilism ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe perfect gift for Wimpy Kid fans - now you can read and listen to Hard Luck, book 8 in the award-winning, hilarious Wimpy Kid series! Greg Heffley''s on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg''s life destined to be just another hard-luck story?Perfect for readers of 8+ and also reluctant readers. You can also discover Greg on the big screen in any one of the three Wimpy Kid Movie box office smashes.Reviews for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series:''The world has gone crazy for Jeff Kinney''s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series'' - Sun''Kinney is right up there with JK Rowling as one of the bestselling children''s authors on the planet'' - Independent ''The most hotly anticipated children''s book of the year is here - Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' - The Big issue

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Book SynopsisJoseph C. Russo takes readers into the everyday lives of the rural residents of southeast Texas, showing how their hard-luck stories render the region a mythopoetic landscape that epitomizes the impasse of American late capitalism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. The Strange Time of Hard-Luck Stories 17 2. The Higher the Hair, the Closer to God 47 3. Queer Character and the Golden Triangle 76 4. Ringing Out 94 Notes 119 Bibliography 127 Index 135

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Book SynopsisTHE ONE WHERE GREG NEEDS A NEW FRIENDThe eighth laugh-out-loud, fully-illustrated Diary of a Wimpy Kid book from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney! A global phenomenon with 250 million copies of the series sold worldwide!Things haven''t been going all that well for Greg Heffley recently.For one thing, his best friend Rowley has a GIRLFRIEND, so now Greg is in the market for a new best friend. But after he''s spent so long training him to be the perfect best friend, finding a ''new Rowley'' won''t be easy.And to top it off, his family (including his feral cousins) are coming to stay. Can Greg improve his luck before it''s too late?WHAT''S IN DIARY OF A WIMPY KID? 50% words, 50% cartoons, 100% hilarious! Stories that all readers can''t wait to get their hands on Laughter guaranteed! *BRAND NEW* DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE DEEP END IS OUT NOW! And DON''T MISS an all-new fantasy from Greg''s best friend in Rowley Jefferson''s Awesome Friendly Adventure, the follow-up to the instant #1 bestseller Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson''s Journal. ''Kinney is right up there with J K Rowling as one of the bestselling children''s authors on the planet'' Independent Have you read all the DIARY OF A WIMPY KID series? Diary of a Wimpy Kid Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End - the BRAND NEW Wimpy Kid book - out now!!Trade ReviewKinney is right up there with JK Rowling as one of the bestselling children's authors on the planet * Independent *

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Book SynopsisIn the most hotly-anticipated children''s book release of the year, the globally-bestselling and award-winning Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is back, in this hilarious audio edition, read by Dan Russell.Greg Heffley''s on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg''s life destined to be just another hard-luck story?Trade ReviewThe world has gone crazy for Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series * Sun *Kinney is right up there with JK Rowling as one of the bestselling children's authors on the planet * Independent *The most hotly anticipated children's book of the year is here - Diary of a Wimpy Kid * The Big Issue *

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Book SynopsisJoseph C. Russo takes readers into the everyday lives of the rural residents of southeast Texas, showing how their hard-luck stories render the region a mythopoetic landscape that epitomizes the impasse of American late capitalism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. The Strange Time of Hard-Luck Stories 17 2. The Higher the Hair, the Closer to God 47 3. Queer Character and the Golden Triangle 76 4. Ringing Out 94 Notes 119 Bibliography 127 Index 135

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Book SynopsisThe great myth of horse racing is that the game is the regal and royal Sport of Kings. It isn't. Not by a long shot. Anyone who doubts this need look no further than Suffolk Downs, a once-proud racecourse graced in its glory years by boisterous throngs and champions such as Seabiscuit. Now the blue-collar East Boston track is one of many that have fallen on hard times. These days "Sufferin' Downs" is where grizzled Thoroughbreds come to end their careers, hopeful young jockeys aspire against daunting odds to begin them, and diehard fans cheer, curse and gamble on the entire fascinating spectacle. These bit players are not just cogs of a single, struggling horse track. They are the unseen supporting cast for a 15 billion betting industry. In fifteen years as a racing reporter and press box personality, T.D. Thornton gained access to remote corners of racetrack life off limits to the general public. He got to know the raucously Runyonesque characters and the quirky personalities of the horses he learned the tricks of the trade from trainers, owners, and jockeys he witnessed the tragedies and small triumphs of racing lives lived below the radar. One recent season, he finally decided to write it all down. Not by a Long Shot is a deeply textured portrait of an industry where even the best in the business lose 75 percent of the time.Trade Review"Not By a Long Shot is the sort of book American sports writers do better than almost anyone else, filled with anecdotes and atmosphere and underpinned with solid reporting and great quotes. Worth reading even if you're not a race fan." Observer "In Not by a Long Shot, (TD Thornton) offers an insider's version of a single four-month winter season at Suffolk Downs, a day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of the many and varied walks of racetrack life at close to the bottom level... In his most successful sections, Thornton turns the spotlight on an unsung, woebegone array of diehards." Racing Post"

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Book SynopsisLife's journey is tough, with some succeeding through hard work, talent, or luck. Ashwin Sanghi's non-fiction book explores the concept of luck and whether it can be attracted or trained for. Through anecdotes and wisdom, he suggests that luck may not be solely a twist of fate.

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Book SynopsisMickey Prada is a nice kid. Perhaps too nice. He works in a neighbourhood seafood market in Brooklyn putting fish on ice. He's got a nice girlfriend. He even delayed college a year, to look after his sick dad who's gradually losing his marbles and has a tendency to go walkabout. But Mickey's got a little problem. A customer at the fish store, Angelo Santoro, keeps asking Mickey to place bets for him and Angelo keeps losing. As Angelo gets further in the hole, his bad luck is turning out to be Mickey's too. Now Mickey's got his bookie after him and Angelo's showing him the butt of his pistol rather than paying him back. So when his best friend, Chris, asks Mickey to join him on a can't-lose caper, Mickey decides to go along. But, sure-fire schemes often have a way of backfiring, and this one is sending Mickey into an uncharted part of Brooklyn, where fish like Chris and Mickey have trouble...Trade Reviewa hard-knuckled writer -- Marilyn Stasio * New York Times Book Review *From the first page of this noir thriller, you know things are only going to get worse, but you can't stop reading * Newsweek *Jason Starr's Tough Luck [is] the kind of book you read with a wince, but you read it straight through because you can't put it down. Starr [is] a terrifically taut writer * The Baltimore Sun *Tough Luck, an enthralling character study, is perfect car-crash literature; spiritual sustenance for the "inner rubber-neck" in all of us -- Paul Kane * New Mystery Reader Magazine *Starr has total control of his plot, and he's so relentlessly clever that poor Mickey's life becomes a mesmerizing exercise in personal decline in which every piece smartly falls into place. An unsettling read, but hard to put down * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 One of Bloomberg View's "Five Books to Change Conservatives' Minds," chosen by Cass Sunstein Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2016 "The reminder about the important role of luck is welcome."--Enlightened Economist "Frank is not just arguing that luck plays an important role in the lives of successful people such as Al Pacino. If that were all he was doing, his book would be engaging but trivial. But it is much more interesting than that."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Frank's book gives a compelling argument for why we should consider our collective needs more when we look to change society for the better."--Jill Suttie, Psy.D., Greater Good "Well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--Fortune "The most striking of Frank's arguments is a computer-simulated proof of luck's importance, even in very nearly meritocratic situations."--Tim Smith-Laing, Daily Telegraph "Reading Success and Luck is almost like having a robust conversation over dinner--a simple premise, some explanation, a few examples... It is commendable that he is addressing the problem with an actual solution in mind."--Kris Rothstein, Bookslut "Frank makes his points persuasively."--Australian Financial Review "This is a bold vision and, although controversial, has a good deal more realism than the dangerous siren calls from the left for wage caps or punitive income tax rates for high earners."--Matthew Syed, The Times "Like any good economist, Frank backs up his argument with studies and statistics; and like any good behavioral economist, he investigates why this obvious fact is so hard for so many Americans to accept, and offers some strategies for overcoming that resistance."--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Frank points out that for every big winner, there are scores of people who are as skilled, hard-working and intelligent, but came in just behind. The lack of a lucky break can be the difference between wild success and a near miss or worse."--Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg View "Success and Luck is an important book: elegantly written, well argued and desisting from self-indulgence in its length."--Tim Wigmore, New Statesman "The book is diverting and easy to read... He makes a compelling case for the role of luck in much of the wealth held by people in developed societies."--Ouida Taaffe, Financial World "[An] occasionally humorous, yet most insightful book."--David Marx Book Reviews "Robert Frank's enjoyable treatise, Success and Luck, might be the better bet for fixing society. His case histories show that while winners often need talent and hard work to succeed, they also need simple, dumb luck."--Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist "How important is luck in monetary success?... Is luck as important as hard work in becoming successful?... These important questions--we ponder them often--that economists rarely bother to study. Except for one of my favourite economists Robert Frank."--Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald "What makes Success and Luck different is that Frank connects the importance of luck in determining personal economic success with a set of larger policy recommendations."--Dr. Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed "Success and Luck is written in a clear, engaging and personable style, not least because it is littered with anecdotes and stories illustrating the huge effects that tiny chance events can have. I found examples from Frank's own life especially compelling."--Dan McArthur, LSE Review of Books "Though hard work, effort, and schooling are important factors, Frank demonstrates convincingly that pure, random luck also matters (a lot)... This book is well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments xix 1 Write What You Know 1 2 Why Seemingly Trivial Random Events Matter 21 3 How Winner-Take-All Markets Magnify Luck's Role 40 4 Why the Biggest Winners Are Almost Always Lucky 56 5 Why False Beliefs about Luck and Talent Persist 69 6 The Burden of False Beliefs 86 7 We're in Luck: A Golden Opportunity 109 8 Being Grateful 128 Appendix 1: Detailed Simulation Results for Chapter 4 151 Appendix 2: Frequently Asked Questions about the Progressive Consumption Tax 158 Notes 173 Index 183

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Book SynopsisWith a highly regarded track record in the field of positive thinking, learning and performance improvement, Douglas Miller is the author of seven books and a successful motivational speaker and trainer working across Europe and Central Asia for key clients including The United Nations and The Central European Bank. Table of ContentsContents About the author Introduction CHAPTER 1 THE LUCK FACTORS CHAPTER 2 WHAT DRIVES LUCK Luck Factor 1 Knowing what matters to you Luck Factor 2 Feeling eager and alive Luck Factor 3 Can do, will do CHAPTER 3 LEARNING Luck Factor 4 Failure is good Luck Factor 5 Knowing your capability Luck Factor 6 Being open to feedback Luck Factor 7 Modelling your learning Luck Factor 8 Turning fear into fulfilment CHAPTER 4 PERFORMING Luck Factor 9 Hard work Luck Factor 10 What’s the point? Luck Factor 11 Thinking without thinking Luck Factor 12 Keeping fresh CHAPTER 5 PURPOSE Luck Factor 13 Having life-defining goals Luck Factor 14 Having a horizon Luck Factor 15 Living in the moment CHAPTER 6 PEOPLE Luck Factor 16 Behaviour breeds behaviour Luck Factor 17 Networking Luck Factor 18 Influencing Luck Factor 19 Sharing success CHAPTER 7 OPPORTUNITY Luck Factor 20 Spotting opportunities Conclusion Resources Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisThe American dream of equal opportunity is in peril. America''s economic inequality is shocking, poverty threatens to become a heritable condition, and our healthcare system is crumbling despite ever increasing costs.In this thought-provoking book, Edward D. Kleinbard demonstrates how the failure to acknowledge the force of brute luck in our material lives exacerbates these crises leading to warped policy choices that impede genuine equality of opportunity for many Americans. What''s Luck Got to Do with It? combines insights from economics, philosophy, and social psychology to argue for government''s proper role in addressing the inequity of brute luck. Kleinbard shows how well-designed public investment can blunt the worst effects of existential bad luck that private insurance cannot reach and mitigate inequality by sharing the costs across the entire risk pool, which is to say, all of us. The benefits, as Kleinbard shares in a wealth of data, are economic as well as social a more iTrade ReviewWhat's Luck Got to Do with It? intelligently and accessibly argues for the government's proper role in addressing the effects of brute luck as an obstacle to equality of opportunity. Combining insights from economics, philosophy, religion, and psychology, this book brilliantly creates a path to a fairer America. * Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation *Is what we earn the just desserts of hard work and deferred gratification? Or is it, in large part, the result of existential luck — where, when, and to whom we are born? In this insightful and carefully-crafted book, Kleinbard argues that existential luck is enormously important for explaining the inequities of our society as well as the ideal policy response to such inequities. Policymakers would be wise to heed Kleinbard's clarion call for greater public investments in health care, education, and child care, and to acknowledge the essential importance of insuring Americans against systemic misfortune. * Lily Batchelder, NYU School of Law, Former National Economic Council Deputy Director *With a relentless commitment to rigor and clarity, Edward Kleinbard has brought to light the unfairness of the U.S. economy and the unjustified risks that many Americans must bear. This provocative and entertaining book is a fresh look at how to complete America's social contract. Featuring Ed's legendary wit and ability to explain fiscal policy in plain English, this is a must read for anyone interested in greater economic justice. * Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, co-authors of The Triumph of Injustice *Edward Kleinbard brilliantly analyzes how luck, good and bad, affect our economic circumstances. He notes that society accepts growing inequality because we too often discount the role of good luck in a person's economic success. Kleinbard applies social insurance principles in developing sweeping policy responses to correct for bad luck. He matches an original assessment of our economic challenges with proven solutions to economic inequality. * U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Bad Luck Changes Everything PART 1: AN OVERVIEW OF MY ARGUMENT 1. Buffeted by the Winds of Fortune 2 The Denial of Luck PART 2: EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY BETRAYED 3. Born on Third Base DL Or Out on the Street? 4. It's Better to Be Lucky Than Smart 5. Education Is the Engine of Opportunity PART 3: INSURANCE TO THE RESCUE 6. Insurance as Product 7. Insurance as Metaphor 8. The Social Mortgage PART 4: OPPORTUNITY RESTORED 9. From Insurance Theory to Political Reality 10. Healthcare and Medicare for All 11. Epilogue: Progressive Policies, Progressive Paradigms Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author and economics columnist Robert Frank, a compelling book that explains why the rich underestimate the importance of luck in their success, why that hurts everyone, and what we can do about it How important is luck in economic success? No question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals. As conservatiTrade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 One of Bloomberg View's "Five Books to Change Conservatives' Minds," chosen by Cass Sunstein Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2016 "The reminder about the important role of luck is welcome."--Enlightened Economist "Frank is not just arguing that luck plays an important role in the lives of successful people such as Al Pacino. If that were all he was doing, his book would be engaging but trivial. But it is much more interesting than that."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Frank's book gives a compelling argument for why we should consider our collective needs more when we look to change society for the better."--Jill Suttie, Psy.D., Greater Good "Well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--Fortune "The most striking of Frank's arguments is a computer-simulated proof of luck's importance, even in very nearly meritocratic situations."--Tim Smith-Laing, Daily Telegraph "Reading Success and Luck is almost like having a robust conversation over dinner--a simple premise, some explanation, a few examples... It is commendable that he is addressing the problem with an actual solution in mind."--Kris Rothstein, Bookslut "Frank makes his points persuasively."--Australian Financial Review "This is a bold vision and, although controversial, has a good deal more realism than the dangerous siren calls from the left for wage caps or punitive income tax rates for high earners."--Matthew Syed, The Times "Like any good economist, Frank backs up his argument with studies and statistics; and like any good behavioral economist, he investigates why this obvious fact is so hard for so many Americans to accept, and offers some strategies for overcoming that resistance."--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Frank points out that for every big winner, there are scores of people who are as skilled, hard-working and intelligent, but came in just behind. The lack of a lucky break can be the difference between wild success and a near miss or worse."--Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg View "Success and Luck is an important book: elegantly written, well argued and desisting from self-indulgence in its length."--Tim Wigmore, New Statesman "The book is diverting and easy to read... He makes a compelling case for the role of luck in much of the wealth held by people in developed societies."--Ouida Taaffe, Financial World "[An] occasionally humorous, yet most insightful book."--David Marx Book Reviews "Robert Frank's enjoyable treatise, Success and Luck, might be the better bet for fixing society. His case histories show that while winners often need talent and hard work to succeed, they also need simple, dumb luck."--Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist "How important is luck in monetary success?... Is luck as important as hard work in becoming successful?... These important questions--we ponder them often--that economists rarely bother to study. Except for one of my favourite economists Robert Frank."--Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald "What makes Success and Luck different is that Frank connects the importance of luck in determining personal economic success with a set of larger policy recommendations."--Dr. Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed "Success and Luck is written in a clear, engaging and personable style, not least because it is littered with anecdotes and stories illustrating the huge effects that tiny chance events can have. I found examples from Frank's own life especially compelling."--Dan McArthur, LSE Review of Books "Though hard work, effort, and schooling are important factors, Frank demonstrates convincingly that pure, random luck also matters (a lot)... This book is well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments xix 1 Write What You Know 1 2 Why Seemingly Trivial Random Events Matter 21 3 How Winner-Take-All Markets Magnify Luck's Role 40 4 Why the Biggest Winners Are Almost Always Lucky 56 5 Why False Beliefs about Luck and Talent Persist 69 6 The Burden of False Beliefs 86 7 We're in Luck: A Golden Opportunity 109 8 Being Grateful 128 Appendix 1: Detailed Simulation Results for Chapter 4 151 Appendix 2: Frequently Asked Questions about the Progressive Consumption Tax 158 Notes 173 Index 183

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Book SynopsisA joy' Philippe SandsGlorious' David SpiegelhalterA fascinating, enchanting and personal look at the meaning of luck, and the way in which it has shaped our shared history and continues to inflect our day to day lives.What does it mean to be lucky? How might we mitigate the effects of bad luck and maximise those of good? Is there really such a thing as luck' at all?To answer these questions, David Flusfeder sets out on a quest that will take him across the world and through history. Travelling from Siberia to Versailles, from his father's life in war-time Poland to Nietzsche on the slopes of Vesuvius, Flusfeder investigates some victors of luck and those who were defeated by it. In following him, we find ourselves confronting who we are and how we might choose to live.Thrilling, intelligent and wilfully unique I loved it' James Runcie, author of The Great PassionRuminative page-turning' TLSFascinating An eminently enjoyable and engrossing page-turner' The Jewish ChronicleTrade Review‘Luck is a wonderful intermingling of the historic, philosophical and literary, with tales of the author and his engaging, complicated, extraordinary father. A joy’ Philippe Sands, author of The Last Colony ‘An extraordinary collection of insights into luck, skilfully combining personal stories and historical studies into a partly random structure. It has a glorious unpredictability, producing a stimulating feeling of uncertainty about what the next gem will turn out to be’ David Spiegelhalter, author of The Art of Statistics ‘Ruminative … page-turning’ TLS ‘In Luck, [Flusfeder] bypasses the scientific harsh truth about randomness and probability and instead has written a book about the human side of luck … Eccentric, insightful meditations’ New Scientist ‘Thrilling, intelligent and wilfully unique, with the bonus ball of being unexpectedly moving, David Flusfeder’s thirteen investigations are the result of a lifetime of original thinking. I loved it’ James Runcie, author of The Great Passion ‘Fascinating … An eminently enjoyable and engrossing page-turner’ The Jewish Chronicle ‘Flusfeder stands up for superstition’ Telegraph ‘This deep, particular and witty examination of the nature of luck and its role in human existence is an absolute joy, from random start to mysterious finish. A most unusual book’ Louisa Young, author of Twelve Months and a Day

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Book SynopsisFormed from the ashes of the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown band, in a sense this could almost be two books in one, the Atomic Rooster story and the Vincent Crane story. But combined, The Hard Road is the classic tale of talented musicians who, through luck, chance and fate, both good and bad, have ultimately come up short.

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Book SynopsisWhat does "good luck" look like and how do you achieve it?Lucky symbols, lucky numbers, lucky charms and luck-creating rituals—how is it that a disciplined and hard-working country like Japan is so invested in the idea of luck? And what, exactly, does "good luck" mean?This insightful book—by a leading expert on the subject—explores the ways in which "good luck" symbols and rituals in Japan are used in tandem with diligence and a positive attitude to help people overcome life's many twists, turns and bad patches.It explores how customs and beliefs play a vital role in creating positive expectations and outcomes—and includes practical exercises for bringing good fortune and happiness into your own life. Author Nobuo Suzuki acquaints us with beloved Japanese icons of luck, prosperity, and goal-setting and explains what they truly represent—including Maneki Neko (the "Lucky Cat"), Daruma (the "Lucky Buddha") and the Seven Lucky Gods of Good Fortune. We even meet some quirky and much beloved modern Japanese symbols of luck like the "Golden Poop" (yes, you read that right!). And we learn how these symbols all foster a sense of community which contributes to the happiness and well-being of all individuals in Japan.With this book, luck becomes a matter of self-understanding and connection to others rather than something that exists outside of ourselves and other people. It is an integral part of life and learning to shape out a destiny for ourselves that we can view with pride and contentment.Trade Review"A deft blend of Japanese history and ancient and modern culture, along with theories on luck that readers can use to bring a bit more good fortune into their life." --Whitney Bates-Gomez, Library Journal Life+Style

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Town & CountryHere, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose. From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten?aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon?shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Town & CountryHere, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina?s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you?ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

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Book SynopsisSome Luck is the first novel in the dazzling Last Hundred Years trilogy from the winner of the Pulitzer Prize Jane Smiley; a literary adventure that will spans a century in America.1920. After his return from the battlefields in France, Walter Langdon and his wife Rosanna begin their life together on a remote farm in Iowa. As time passes, their little family will grow: from Frank, the handsome, wilful first-born, to Joe, whose love of animals and the land sustains him; from Lillian, beloved by her mother, to Henry who craves only the world of his books; and Claire, the surprise baby, who earns a special place in her father's heart.As Walter and Rosanna struggle to keep their family through good years and hard years - to years more desperate than they ever could have imagined, the world around their little farm will turn, and life for their children will be unrecognizable from what came before. Some will fall in love, some will have families of their own, sTrade ReviewSo here it is at last, the Great American Novel and, in retrospect, it seems obvious that the great Jane Smiley would be the one who wrote it. Some Luck is a Steinbeckian Little House on the Prairie: a rural tragedy, a domestic epic and an unassuming masterpiece. And, unlike most masterpieces, it's absorbing, witty, painful, pleasurable. You must read it. * Charlotte Mendelson, Booker/Orange Prize nominated author of Almost English and When We Were Bad *A masterpiece in the making . . . intimate, miraculous-the auspicious beginning of an American saga every bit as ambitious as Updike's magnum opus, anchored in the satisfactions and challenges of life on a farm, but expanding to various American cities and beyond . . . Frank is one of the most fascinating and complex characters in recent fiction. The way Smiley gets deep inside all the children's heads is a staggering literary feat in which we see human character being assembled in something that feels like real time. An abundant harvest. * USA Today *Some Luck is set in the rural farming community of the Midwestern America state of Iowa, the world previously evoked by Jane Smiley so successfully in her 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning hit A Thousand Acres . . . Fans of big-cast family sagas with love and death and the world at large impinging only lightly - but tellingly - on events will love Some Luck. It is an easy and engrossing read with the cornfields, the snowstorms and the technological developments of the 20th century vividly evoked. * Independent *Try to pin Jane Smiley down at your peril: she is as likely to write a campus novel (Moo) as a 14th-century historical saga (The Greenlanders) or a foray into the world of breeders and racetracks (Horse Heaven) . . . Some Luck is not simply an observation of family life and the pressures it is naturally susceptible to; it is also a dissection of the idea of family, and of the truths its facade will shield from view. * Guardian *Smiley's gifts as a storyteller are in full force from the first page, drawing us into the lives of the characters. The children especially, with their emerging personalities, are marvellously evoked. * Financial Times *Smiley is a master storyteller, with a penchant for turning archetypal allegories into seemingly straightforward, contemporary narratives . . . Jane Smiley is that rare three-fer: meticulous historian, intelligent humorist and seasoned literary novelist. But what makes a Smiley novel identifiably and deliciously hers alone is a unique brand of impassioned critical patriotism . . . Some Luck is the first in a trilogy to be called "The Last Hundred Years." Like Smiley herself, the project is ambitious and coyly clever. * LA TIMES *Audaciously delicious . . . Every character here steals our heart. Smiley has turned her considerable talents to the story of an Iowa farm and the people who inhabit it. The suspense is found in the impeccably drawn scenes and in the myriad ways in which Smiley narrows and opens her camera's lens. Her language has the intimacy of a first-person telling; her stance is in-the-moment. Always at the narrative hearth stand Walter and Rosanna and that Iowa farm, a character in its own right, a landscape remembered by those who flee to Chicago, Italy, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and New York . . . We read these lives, and we find our own. * CHICAGO TRIBUNE *Some Luck opens with a Langdon family tree. Even before we get to know Rosanna, Walter, and their children, the sprawling branches reveal the scope of this novel, which begins in 1920. Smiley, who devotes a chapter per year to the Langdons' Iowa farm life, depicts both disasters and heartbreaks in an unruffled tone. The good news? This is the first of a trilogy. The bad news? We have to wait for the next volume. * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY *Engaging, bold . . . Smiley delivers a straightforward, old-fashioned tale of rural family life in changing times, depicting isolated farm life with precision . . . It is especially satisfying to hear a powerful writer narrate men's and women's lives lovingly and with equal attention. Subtle, wry and moving. * WASHINGTON POST *Moving and alert and alive . . . A book about the ordinary nothings that, in the end, are everything . . . To capture this experience - finitude, love, sorrow, the rise and fall of generations - is insanely difficult. To foster the illusion of realism in a novelistic fantasy, to convey the passage of time. * Spectator *Some Luck is as rich, beautiful and brilliant as Smiley's Pulitzer-Prize-winning A Thousand Acres. Place bets now for this year's Booker. -- Kate Saunders, Costa-winning author and critic * Saga magazine *

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Book SynopsisFearless personal essays from a treasured feminist poet and activist Luck is a collection of essays covering such topics as memory, language, landscape, poetry, anger, sex, food, pandemics, war, violence, feminism, lies, imagination, death, power, identity, and of course luck. Some are full-blown explorations, others brief riffs. Some are prose poetry, others straightforward prose. The author combines scholarly research with personal experience, producing texts both intimate and illuminating. Always attentive to the world around her and the one within, Randall has brought us her most relevant and powerful essays to date.Trade Review"“Margaret Randall has an uncanny ability to verbalize the pressing thoughts and questions that often elude us. . . . opening us to possibilities that we might otherwise never encounter, inviting us to come to our own conclusions. Partnering and paralleling Randall’s words are the powerful, evocative drawings of Barbara Byers, the two creating together a work summed up perfectly by the final words of Luck: ‘no metaphor… only untiring passion carrying creativity on its wings.’”" -- Susan Sherman, founding editor of IKON Magazine and author of America’s Child"“With essays on everything from Aging to 9/11 to a manifesto/litany on Anger, from poetic meditations on the weather to memory itself, Truth is Margaret Randall’s essential philosophy. She is there in the pantheon with Gwendolyn Brooks, June Jordan, Adrienne Rich, Wanda Coleman, Audre Lorde. Her humanity and humor, her comedy and tragedy, her activism and her love, all that Margaret Randall is, is the definition of a poet.”" -- Bob Holman * poet, filmmaker, and founder of the Bowery Poetry Club *"“Luck is both a collection of concise and adventurous philosophical essays by one of the modern world’s great poets, Margaret Randall, and a series of equally adventurous visual thought drawings by her life partner, the master generative artist and teacher, Barbara Byers. Both explore territory that cannot be experienced without the willing energy and daring that takes them beyond what even they might have expected from themselves in a process of creative exploration.”" -- V.B. Price * author of Memoirs of the World in 10 Fragments and Lucretius and the Logic of Venus *

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Book SynopsisIn a world where Luck can be measured and has tangible effects on the world, the only people that might be able to restore balance are those that don’t have any.Luck might be worth more than gold. What if it could actually be weighed in the same way?. Artie, Cherry, Hilde, and Joseph are The Unfortunates, a group of teens with absolutely no Luck. When the world is mysteriously plunged into chaos and reality itself is threatened, they may be our only hope. Together they are part of a government program dedicated to understanding the Constellations, mysterious beings who can seemingly control the very nature of Luck and its cosmic effects on reality. Their mission: return the world back to some semblance of order not dictated by Luck. Of course, with zero Luck, the odds aren’t exactly in their favor. A bold new graphic novel by rising stars Matthew Erman (Power Rangers: Sins of the Future) and Stefano Simeone (Mega Man: Fully Charged) about defying fate against impossible odds. Collects Good Luck #1-5.

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Book SynopsisStep into the vibrant and pulsating world of nightlife through the lens of Tough Luck, the Instagram account that has become the heartbeat of contemporary club and rave photography. Through the lenses of their talented photographers, they unfold the stories of the night, spotlighting clubs, festivals, and the diverse characters shaping nocturnal culture. While many rave photography books reminisce about the past, You Out Tonight? offers a fresh, contemporary experience. As you flip through the pages, you''ll find yourself immersed in the kaleidoscope of lights, colours, and emotions that define the modern clubbing experience. Whether you''re a seasoned partygoer or a curious observer, Tough Luck invites you to experience the magic, the chaos, and the indescribable beauty of the night. Prepare to be transported into a world where time stands still, and the only currency is the rhythm of the music.

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Book SynopsisFearless personal essays from a treasured feminist poet and activist Luck is a collection of essays covering such topics as memory, language, landscape, poetry, anger, sex, food, pandemics, war, violence, feminism, lies, imagination, death, power, identity, and of course luck. Some are full-blown explorations, others brief riffs. Some are prose poetry, others straightforward prose. The author combines scholarly research with personal experience, producing texts both intimate and illuminating. Always attentive to the world around her and the one within, Randall has brought us her most relevant and powerful essays to date.Trade Review"“Margaret Randall has an uncanny ability to verbalize the pressing thoughts and questions that often elude us. . . . opening us to possibilities that we might otherwise never encounter, inviting us to come to our own conclusions. Partnering and paralleling Randall’s words are the powerful, evocative drawings of Barbara Byers, the two creating together a work summed up perfectly by the final words of Luck: ‘no metaphor… only untiring passion carrying creativity on its wings.’”" -- Susan Sherman, founding editor of IKON Magazine and author of America’s Child"“With essays on everything from Aging to 9/11 to a manifesto/litany on Anger, from poetic meditations on the weather to memory itself, Truth is Margaret Randall’s essential philosophy. She is there in the pantheon with Gwendolyn Brooks, June Jordan, Adrienne Rich, Wanda Coleman, Audre Lorde. Her humanity and humor, her comedy and tragedy, her activism and her love, all that Margaret Randall is, is the definition of a poet.”" -- Bob Holman * poet, filmmaker, and founder of the Bowery Poetry Club *"“Luck is both a collection of concise and adventurous philosophical essays by one of the modern world’s great poets, Margaret Randall, and a series of equally adventurous visual thought drawings by her life partner, the master generative artist and teacher, Barbara Byers. Both explore territory that cannot be experienced without the willing energy and daring that takes them beyond what even they might have expected from themselves in a process of creative exploration.”" -- V.B. Price * author of Memoirs of the World in 10 Fragments and Lucretius and the Logic of Venus *

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