A guide to the diverse range of popularly held fears and beliefs, many of which are still familiar and widespread. Covering Europe, America and beyond, and arranged alphabetically by subject, this reference guide includes superstitions related to medical ailments, the weather, and childbirth.

240 pages. Full color and B/W illustrations.

Somewhere on the borders of what is now Russia, in the late 9th century A.D., the great Khan, ruler of the Khazars, summons the three leading scholars to determine which religion—Christian, Jewish, Moslem—his people will adopt. The tribe is utterly destroyed in the immediate aftermath of this event.

A companion volume to Monet's Table provides a visual gastronomic tour of fin-de-sie+a6cle Paris, based on the life and work of Marcel Proust, with recipes adapted for the modern kitchen by a noted chef from period culinary treats. 25,000 first printing.

Elegant entertaining is always in style, and who better to explain the finer points of the art of the table than Arthur Inch, a veteran English butler who served as technical advisor for the film Gosford Park? With an historian's appreciation for the traditions of fine English homes, he discusses the elements of the table, including flatware and silver, china and glassware, serving vessels, and table decorations, as well as table and serving etiquette.

Discourse on Thinking questions that must occur to us the moment we manage to see a familiar situation in unfamiliar light.

In a distant and second-hand set of dimensions, in an astral plane that was never meant to fly . . .

Imagine a flat world, sitting on the backs of four elephants who hurtle through space balanced on a giant turtle. The Discworld is a place (and a time) parallel to our own—but also very different. That is the setting for Terry Pratchett's phenomenally successful Discworld series, which now celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary.

The Discworld Graphic Novels presents the very first two volumes of this much-loved series in graphic novel form. First published fifteen years ago, these fully illustrated versions are now issued for the first time in hardback. Introduced here are the bizarre misadventures of Twoflower, the Discworld's first ever tourist, and possibly—portentously—its last, and his guide Rincewind, the spectacularly inept wizard. Not to mention the Luggage, which has a mind of its own.

"What on earth does lagniappe mean? A sluggard who lies around till noon? A she-wolf of Anapurna? A car that demands heavy pampering?" In fact, none of the above. But one can find this Creole French word delectably defined in THE DISHEVELED DICTIONARY, which does for vocabulary what Gordon's cult classic THE WELL-TEMPERED SENTENCE did for punctuation and THE TRANSITIVE VAMPIRE did for grammar. THE DISHEVELED DICTIONARY takes a voluptuary's approach to language, offering a lavish feast of words and their multiple uses. Favorite characters from Gordon's earlier books appear in cameo, including Yolanta, Jonquil Mapp, cowboys with lingerie, and assorted royal riffraff. With her trademark cache of illustrations and flamboyantly gothic examples, Gordon takes readers on a hedonist's tour of the world of words, where they can check into the Last Judgment Pinball Machine Motel, slip into susurrant silk pajamas at Cafe Frangipane, or plunge into scenes from such literary works as Torpor in the Swing,The Wretch of Lugubria, and Gossamer and the Green Light. Laced with erudite insights and eccentric wit, THE DISHEVELED DICTIONARY is about the music of speech and the sound and sensuality of language, celebrating not only the obsure but also our most beloved and basic words.

When a pregnant Roxeanne Walker de Persand has her husband run out on her, her rough-edged sister, Isabel, comes to help her through this period as the powerful Persand family begins pushing for a divorce and control of a valuable Walker family heirloom.

The inspiration for the film starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

"It’s all devastatingly true — except the bits that are lies" — Douglas Adams

Upon publication Don’t Panic established itself as the definitive companion to Adams’s life and work. This new revised edition comes up to date, covering his later work and untimely death in 2001, and including a new introduction by Neil Gaiman.

Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman celebrates the life of Douglas Adams who, in a field in Innsbruck in 1971, had an idea that became The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — the radio series that started it all, the five book ‘trilogy’, the TV series, almost-film, and everything that followed. Don’t Panic also tells the story of the other projects Douglas worked on, including his posthumous collection The Salmon of Doubt.

things people say the wish they hadn't...