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Essays

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    "Jamison has done an exceptional job curating this volume, selecting essayists who are diverse in ideas and experiences, and essays that are challenging, passionate, sobering, and clever." --Publishers Weekly "The essay is political-and politically useful, by which I mean humanizing and provocative-because of its commitment to nuance, its explorations of contingency, its spirit of unrest, its glee at overturned assumptions; because of the double helix of awe and distrust-faith and doubt-that structures its DNA," writes guest editor Leslie Jamison in her introduction. From the Iraqi desert to an East Jerusalem refugee camp, from the beginnings of the universe to the aftermath of a suicide attempt, the genetic makeup of the eclectic and electric selections in The Best American Essays 2017 "thrill toward complexity." The Best American Essays 2017 includes RACHEL KAADZI GHANSAH, LAWRENCE JACKSON, RACHEL KUSHNER, ALAN LIGHTMAN, BERNARD FARAI MATAMBO, WESLEY MORRIS, HEATHER SELLERS, ANDREA STUARTand others

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    Keane, Marc Peter
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    In Japanese gardens, composition follows from placement of the first stone; all elements and plantings become interconnected. These eight essays on Kyoto gardens similarly begin with keen description and build into richly meditative excursions into art, Buddhism, nature, and science. Landscape architect Marc Keane shows how Japanese gardens are both a microcosm of the natural universe and a clear expression of our humanity, mirroring how we think, worship, and organize our lives and communities. Filled with passages of alluring beauty, this is a truly transcendent book about "experiencing" Japanese design. Marc Peter Keane has lived in Kyoto for 17 years and is author of Japanese Garden Design. He designs residential, company, and temple gardens.

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    Green, John
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    The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet-from the QWERTY keyboard and Staphylococcus aureus to the Taco Bell breakfast menu-on a five-star scale. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection that includes both beloved essays and all-new pieces exclusive to the book.

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    Childs, Craig
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    Nature writer Craig Childs presents a collection of forty essays, each of which focuses on a personal encounter with a particular species. Replete with astonishing facts about the species' behavior, habitat, breeding, and lifespan, Childs' writing transports listeners beyond the human realm and deep inside the animal kingdom.

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    Carrière, Marie J.
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    Ten years, ten authors, ten critics. The Canadian Literature Centre/Centre de littérature canadienne reaches into its ten-year archive of Brown Bag Lunch readings to sample some of the most diverse and powerful voices in contemporary Canadian literature. This anthology offers readers samples from some of Canada’s most exciting writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each selection is introduced by a brief essay, serving as a point of entry into the writer’s work. From the east coast of Newfoundland to Kitamaat territory on British Columbia’s central coast, there is a story for everyone, from everywhere. True to Canada’s multilingual and multicultural heritage, these ten writers come from diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, and work in multiple languages, including English, French, and Cree. Ying Chen | essay by Julie Rodgers Lynn Coady | essay by Maïté Snauwaert Michael Crummey | essay by Jennifer Bowering Delisle Caterina Edwards | essay by Joseph Pivato Marina Endicott | essay by Daniel Laforest Lawrence Hill | essay by Winfried Siemerling Alice Major | essay by Don Perkins Eden Robinson | essay by Kit Dobson Gregory Scofield | essay by Angela Van Essen Kim Thúy | essay by Pamela V. Sing

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    Higgins, Maeve
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    As an eternally curious outsider, Maeve Higgins can see that the United States is still an experiment. Some parts work well and others really don’t, but that doesn't stop her from loving the place and the people that make it. With piercing political commentary in a sweet and salty tone, these essays unearth answers to the questions we all have about this country we call home; the beauty of it all and the dark parts too. Maeve attends the 2020 Border Security Expo to better understand the future of our borders, and finds herself at The Alamo surrounded by queso and homemade rifles. A chance encounter with a statue of a teenage horseback rider causes her to interrogate the purpose of monuments, this sends her hurtling through the past, connecting Ireland’s revolutionary history with the struggles of Black Americans today. And after mistaking edibles for innocent candies, Maeve gets way too high at Paper Source. Most of all, Maeve wants to leave this country and this planet better than she found it. That may well be impossible, but it certainly means showing love. Lots of it, even when it's difficult to do so. Threaded through these pieces is love for strangers, love for friends who show up right on time, love for trees, love for Tom Hardy, love for those with differing opinions, love for the glamorous older women of Brighton Beach with tattooed eyeliner and gold jewelry, love for everybody on this train.

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    Grant, George
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    In six magnificent essays, George Grant reflects on the extent to which technology has shaped the way we live now. Admirers of Grant's English-Speaking Justice will welcome this exploration of the fate of traditional values in modern education, social behaviour, and religion, as well as Grant's penetrating insights into the technology of birth.

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    Thomas, Elizabeth Marshall, Montgomery, Sy
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    Tamed and Untamed -- a collection of essays penned by two of the world's most celebrated animal writers, Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas -- explores the minds, lives, and mysteries of animals as diverse as snails, house cats, hawks, sharks, dogs, lions, and even octopuses. Drawing on stories of animals both wild and domestic, the two authors, also best friends, created this book to put humans back into the animal world. The more we learn about what other animals think and do, they explain, the more we understand ourselves as animals, too. Writes Montgomery, "The list of attributes once thought to be unique to our species -- from using tools to waging war -- is not only rapidly shrinking, but starting to sound less and less impressive when we compare them with other animals' powers." With humor, empathy, and introspection, Montgomery and Thomas look into the lives of all kinds of creatures -- from man's best friend to the great white shark -- and examine the ways we connect with our fellow species. Both authors have devoted their lives to sharing the animal kingdom's magic with others, and their combined wisdom is an indispensable contribution to the field of animal literature. The book contains a foreword by Vicki Constantine Croke, author of the bestseller.

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    Freeman, John
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    Building from his acclaimed anthology Tales of Two Americas, beloved writer and editor John Freeman draws together a group of our greatest writers from around the world to help us see how the environmental crisis is hitting some of the most vulnerable communities where they live. In the past five years, John Freeman, previously editor of Granta, has launched a celebrated international literary magazine, Freeman's , and compiled two acclaimed anthologies that deal with income inequality as it is experienced. In the course of this work, one major theme came up repeatedly: Climate change is making already dire inequalities much worse, devastating further the already devastated. But the problems of climate change are not restricted to those from the less developed world. Galvanized by his conversations with writers and activists around the world, Freeman engaged with some of today's most eloquent storytellers, many of whom hail from the places under the most acute stress—from the capital of Burundi to Bangkok, Thailand. The response has been extraordinary. Margaret Atwood conjures with a dystopian future in a remarkable poem. Lauren Groff whisks us to Florida; Edwidge Danticat to Haiti; Tahmima Anam to Bangladesh; Yasmine El Rashidi to Egypt, while Eka Kurniawan brings us to Indonesia, Chinelo Okparanta to Nigeria, and Anuradha Roy to the Himalayas in the wake of floods, dam building, and drought. This is a literary all-points bulletin of fiction, essays, poems, and reportage about the most important crisis of our times.

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    Freeman, John
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    Thirty-six major contemporary writers examine life in a deeply divided America-including Anthony Doerr, Ann Patchett, Roxane Gay, Rebecca Solnit, Hector Tobar, Joyce Carol Oates, Edwidge Danticat, Richard Russo, Eula Bliss, Karen Russell, and many more.

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    Testa, Hannah
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    Pocket Change Collective was born out of a need for space. Space to think. Space to connect. Space to be yourself. And this is your invitation to join us. "Taking on the Plastics Crisis delivers straightforward advise for getting involved in the global movement to eliminate single-use plastics." - Booklist , Starred Review "Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change."-Kirkus Reviews "Taking on the Plastics Crisis is a sobering and inspiring read by a brilliant young change maker. Now is the time for all of us to come together to solve the plastic pollution crisis."-Ed Begley Jr. (actor and environmental activist). In this personal, moving essay, youth activist Hannah Testa shares with readers how she led a grassroots political campaign to successfully pass state legislation limiting single-use plastics and how she influenced global businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. Through her personal journey, readers can learn how they, too, can follow in Hannah's footsteps and lower their carbon footprint by simply refusing single-use plastics. Pocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today's leading activists and artists. In this installment, youth activist Hannah Testa, the founder of Hannah4Change, chronicles both her personal and political mission to save the Earth's oceans by limiting single-use plastic products.

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    Subversive Action presents cases that explore the use of extralegal action undertaken in pursuit of human rights and social justice, and locate that action with reference to the boundaries of social work. Definitions of social work often include goals of social change, social justice, empowerment, and the liberation of people, but social work texts make little mention of extra legal actions. Mainstream conceptions of social work usually consider it to fall within the framework of particular legal and societal contexts. As such, it is presented with boundaries for legitimate action even as it espouses principles that may require it to challenge these boundaries. How does one do social work in legal and societal contexts that challenge these principles with institutional and state-mandated exclusion and discrimination? Should social workers simply act within the bounds of the law in line with their professional sanction and mandate? Do their actions qualify as social work if they are beyond the limits of the law? The essays in this volume, by authors from around the world, raise these questions by providing a basis for reflection about the claims we make in social work embodied in discourses on social justice and human rights.

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    Pitter, Jay, Lorinc, John
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    How do we build cities where we aren't just living within the same urban space, but living together? Greater Toronto is now home to a larger proportion of foreign-born residents than any other major global metropolis. Not surprisingly, city officials rarely miss an opportunity to tout the region’s ethno-cultural neighbourhoods. Yet there’s strong evidence that the GTA is experiencing widening socio-economic disparities that have produced worrisome divisions. We say that ‘diversity is our strength,’ but has a feel-good catchphrase prevented us from confronting the forces that seem to be separating and isolating urban communities? Through compelling storytelling and analysis, Subdivided’s contributors – a wide range of place-makers, academics, activists and journalists – ask how we can expand city-building processes to tackle issues ranging from transit equity and trust-based policing to holistic mental health, dignified affordable housing and inclusive municipal governance. Ultimately, Subdivided aims to provoke the tough but pressing conversations required to build a truly connected and just city. Contents Introduction - Jay Pitter Identity and the City: Thinking Through Diversity – Beyhan Farhadi Doing Immigrant Resettlement Right – Doug Saunders Wasauksing–Vancouver–Toronto: My Path Home – Rebeka Tabobondung How We Welcome: Why Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program Undermines Place-making – Sarah Beamish and Sofia Ijaz Finding Space for Spirituality – Fatima Syed Navigating the City with an Invisible Illness: The Story of Dorothy – Denise DaCosta Culture and Mental Illness – Karen Pitter Neighbourhood Watch: Racial Profiling and Virtual Gated Communities – Asmaa Malik Accessing Education: An Immigrant’s Story – Nicholas Davis Policing and Trust in the Hyper-Diverse City – Nana Yanful Three Questions about Carding – Idil Burale An Overburdened Promise: Arts Funding for Social Development – Ian Kamau, Paul Nguyen and Ryan Paterson, with John Lorinc Designing Dignified Social Housing – Jay Pitter Walking Through Loss: A Critical Visit to an Old Neighbourhood – Photography by Taha Muharuma Reconsidering Revitalization: The Case of Regent Park – Jay Pitter in conversation with Sandra Costain Model Citizens – Andrea Gunraj A Tale of Two – or Three – Cities: Gentrification and Community Consultations – Mariana Valverde Mobility in the Divided City – Eric Mann Toward More Complete Communities: Business Out of the Box – Alina Chatterjee Going Beyond Representation: The Diversity Deficit in Local Government – John Lorinc Brampton, a.k.a. Browntown – Noreen Ahmed-Ullah Life in the City In-Between – Shawn Micallef Conclusion – J. David Hulchanski

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    Using Toronto as a case study, Subdivided asks how cities would function if decision-makers genuinely accounted for race, ethnicity, and class when confronting issues such as housing, policing, labor markets, and public space. With essays contributed by an array of city-builders, it proposes solutions for fully inclusive communities that respond to the complexities of a global city.

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    Woolf, Virginia
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    Virginia Woolf began writing reviews for the Guardian 'to make a few pence' from her father's death in 1904, and continued until the last decade of her life. The result is a phenomenal collection of articles, of which this selection offers a fascinating glimpse, which display the gifts of a dazzling social and literary critic as well as the development of a brilliant and influential novelist. From reflections on class and education, to slyly ironic reviews, musings on the lives of great men and 'Street Haunting', a superlative tour of her London neighbourhood, this is Woolf at her most thoughtful and entertaining.

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    Foster, Jim
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    Once again we are blessed with yet another collection of Jim Foster’s ravings. His first book, I hate to complain, but … with its views on everything from bank mergers to the author’s 30-year love affair with Sophia Loren, is being hailed as a classic example - though of what no one is quite sure. Readers will be amazed at the depth of the author’s knowledge on just about any subject and his total inability to keep it to himself. What should you do if a comet falls on you at 1000 mph? What are the best pick-up lines for the man or woman looking for romance? Why doesn’t Julia Roberts shave her underarms? All this and many other bits of useless information will have Canadians from coast to coast chuckling out loud, popping their eyes in wonder and simply scratching their heads in bewilderment.

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    Maureen Fitzgerald, Guberman, Connie, Wolfe, Margie
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    Still Ain't Satisfied - Canadian women certainly aren't! And this collection of twenty-seven articles on the major women's issues of the decade shows why feminists have only begun to fight. Women are still paid less than their male counterparts, rape and wife battering remain brutal social problems and inadequate daycare still threatens women's right to work. These and many other injustices that undermine more than fifty percent of Canada's population are thoughtfully explored in this timely and provocative book.

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    Wilcox, Alana, Palassio, Christina
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    City Hall proclaimed 2006 the Year of Creativity. ‘Live With Culture’ banners flap over the city. And across the city, donors are ponying up millions for the ROM and the AGO. Culture’s never had it so good. Right? The State of the Arts explores the Toronto arts scene from every angle, applauding, assailing and arguing about art in our fair burg. The essays consider the big-ticket and the ticket-free, from the Opera House and the CNE to the subconscious art of graffiti eradication and underground hip-hop. In between, you'll find considerations art in the suburbs, how business uses art to sell condos, questions of infrastructure, an examination of Toronto on film and a history of micro press publishing. You'll read about the fine line between party and art, the trials of being a capitalist in a sea of left-wing artists, the power of the internet to create arts communities and a plea for spaces that cater to musicians and their kids. Throughout, you'll find equal doses of optimism and frustration, and a good measure of T.O. love. Taken together, the thoughts of these writers, thinkers, musicians and city-builders aim to create an honest survey of where we're at and where we can go. Includes sixteen colour pages of eye-level Toronto, and cover art by Susan Szenes. With essays by Sandra Alland, Jason Anderson, Anna Bowness, Stephen Cain, Kate Carraway, Hanna Cho, Brendan Cormier, Natalie De Vito, Liz Forsberg, Mark Fram, Marc Glassman, Katarina Gligorijevic-Collins, Brenda Goldstein, Amy Lavender Harris, Karen Hines, Sarah B. Hood, Christopher Hume, Sam Javanrouh, Dory Kornfeld, Adam Krawesky, More Or Les, John Lorinc, James MacNevin, Claudia McKoy, Brian McLachlan, Ryan McLaren, Shawn Micallef, Jill Murray, Matt O'Sullivan, Christopher Pandolfi, Michael Redhill, Dylan Reid, Damian Rogers, Stuart Ross, Lisa Rundle, Dana Samuel, Nadja Sayej, Susan Szenes, Kevin Temple, Pablo Torres, Gayla Trail, Rannie Turingan, Jason van Eyk, Adam Vaughan, RM Vaughan, Stéphanie Verge, Lisa Whittington-Hill and Carl Wilson.

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    Knausgaard, Karl Ove.
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    Spring is a deeply moving novel about family, our everyday lives, our joys and our struggles. "Today is Wednesday the thirteenth of April 2016, it is twelve minutes to eleven, and I have just finished writing this book for you. What happened that summer nearly three years ago, and its repercussions, are long since over. Sometimes it hurts to live, but there is always something to live for." Spring follows a father and his newborn daughter through one day in April, from sunrise to sunset. A day filled with everyday routine, the beginnings of life and its light, but also its deep struggles and its darkness.

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    An insightful collection exploring the plight, past and promise of the orca, powerful symbol of BC's wild coast and apex predator of all oceans. Spirits of the Coast brings together the work of marine biologists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, poets, artists and storytellers, united by their enchantment with the orca. Long feared in Western cultures as 'killer whales,' and respected and honoured by Indigenous cultures as friends, family or benefactors, orcas are complex social beings with culture and language of their own. With contributors ranging from Briony Penn to David Suzuki, Gary Geddes and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, this collection brings together diverse voices, young and old, to explore the magic, myths, and ecology of orcas. A literary and visual journey through past and possibility, Spirits of the Coast illustrates how these enigmatic animals have shaped us as much as our actions have impacted them, and provokes the reader to imagine the shape of our shared future.

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