Travel World guide

Terrell Owens is a perennial all-pro wide receiver. In 2005 he became only the sixth receiver in NFL history with 100 touchdown receptions. His reality series, The T.O. Show airs on VH1. Terrell currently plays for Buffalo Bills.

Visit the author at www.terrellowens.com

Stephen Singular has authored or coauthored seventeen previous books, including numerous New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestsellers. His titles include Presumed Guilty: An Investigation into the JonBenet Ramsey Case, the Media, and the Culture of Pornography; and Anyone You Want Me to Be: A True Story of Sex and Death on the Internet, coauthored with legendary FBI profiler John Douglas. Formerly a staff writer for the Denver Post, he lives in Denver. Visit his website at www.stephensingular.com.

In a sport full of players who are larger than life, Terrell Owens towers above the crowd.

It isn’t just that he holds the NFL record for catches in a single game (twenty) or that he’s the most feared wide receiver in the game. It’s also his penchant for unique self-expression — spiking the ball on the midfield Texas lone star in front of a hostile Dallas Cowboy crowd, pulling a Sharpie from his sock to sign a game ball after a touchdown, and dancing with a cheerleader’s pom-poms after another TD. Never politically correct and always controversial and colorful on and off the field, Terrell Owens has transformed himself into “TO,” the outrageous gridiron personality who has rocked the entire NFL and the sports landscape. But Owens is more than touchdowns, dancing, and celebrations. In this wickedly insightful book, he’s full of sharp-eyed observations on the contentious, demanding, insane phenomenon that is pro football.

In Catch This! Owens takes readers back to his hardscrabble childhood in rural Alabama, where he was raised by a stern grandmother and loving mother. By the time he won an athletic scholarship for football at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, the once small, bullied boy had transformed himself into a very large man with a super body and an iron will to succeed. He takes us behind his apprenticeship to — and eventual eclipsing of — the legendary 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice. He pulls no punches when it comes to his extremely public fight with San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci — a relationship so sour that they didn’t speak at all during the crucial final weeks of the 2001 season. And, finally, he lets loose on the free agent scandal that shook the NFL in 2004 — and reveals the truth behind the NFL’s attempt to deny him free agency, his fraudulent trade to the Baltimore Ravens, and his ultimate happy landing with the Philadelphia Eagles.

For those who think they know both Terrell Owens and TO, catch this story.

Catch This!: Going Deep with the NFL’s Sharpest Weapon

T.O.’s Finding Fitness: Making the Mind, Body, and Spirit Connection for Total Health

“T.O. scores a touchdown with Finding Fitness. This book definitely teaches you how to make working out a lifestyle.” — Michael Jordan

“T.O.’s reputation as a hard worker and workout legend is undisputed. For all those who have wondered how he does it, here is your chance: T.O.’s Finding Fitness is a must-read for those interested in getting inside an elite athlete’s workout regimen.” — Andy Roddick –This text refers to the Paperback edition.

At the top of his game and his sport, Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver Terrell Owens has a phenomenal body: Muscle & Fitness magazine said this when they chose T.O. for the cover, but anyone who’s ever seen him play knows he has the best physique in football. Strong, fast, agile, and focused — when T.O. takes the field, he’s in complete control. Such mastery might seem out of reach for an ordinary athlete or someone just starting to think about getting in shape, but T.O. believes that everyone is capable of finding their ideal body. Whether you want to slim down or bulk up, develop explosive speed or increase your endurance, define your abs or fine-tune your form, T.O.’s Finding Fitness will unlock your potential with a diet and exercise plan tailored to your fitness goals.

Inside T.O.’s Finding Fitness, Owens shares complete workout routines for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, all of which can be done using his T.O. Super Strong Man Bands, free weights, or his own strength-training stretches. Photographs, easy-to-follow instructions, and helpful tips from Buddy Primm guarantee results. Along with plans for general fitness and weight loss, there are separate guides designed to enhance your performance in football, baseball, golf, martial arts, tennis, and basketball. And whether you’re looking for the winning catch, the lightning-fast serve, or the money shot at the buzzer, or you just want to keep up with the kids and power through an afternoon at the office, you need the right fuel to stay at the top of your game. T.O. helps you make the right eating decisions with meal plans detailing his choices both in and out of season.

Finally, as any athlete learns, just knowing what to do isn’t always enough. T.O. realizes how hard it can be to stick to a routine, so over the years he has figured out how to motivate himself and make every day count. His approach has given him the crucial mental edge on his competitors and kept him fired up through setbacks and injuries. Get inspired today: take control, make the mind-body-spirit connection, and find your own best body.

T.O.’s Finding Fitness: Making the Mind, Body, and Spirit Connection for Total Health

Chris Santella, author of STC’s Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, is a freelance writer and marketing consultant based in Portland, Oregon. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Travel & Leisure, among other publications.

There’s an incredible similarity between the mechanics of a fly cast and the swing of a golf club. Perhaps that’s why Chris Santella, author of Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, can be found on the links when he’s not on the stream. With Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die, Santella gives voice to his other sporting passion, interviewing 50 people intimately connected to the sport about some of their favorite courses around the world.

For both passionate golfers and armchair travelers, this gorgeous full-color book presents the world’s greatest golf venues, the personal favorites of renowned players, course architects, and other experts in the sport. From Ballyliffin, Ireland’s northernmost course, whose rumpled fairways wander along the North Sea in the shadows of Glashedy Rock, to New Zealand’s Cape Kidnappers, perched atop dramatic cliffs some 500 feet above the ocean, the book’s beautiful photographs capture the architecture, noteworthy holes, location, and ambiance that make these courses standouts for ardent golfers. A brief history of each course, an experiential account-filled with local color-from the person recommending the venue, and trip-planning advice provide adventurous readers with all the information they need to chip and putt their way around the globe.

A close-up look at golf’s top courses around the world, recommended by such experts as Nick Faldo and Christie Kerr (pro golfers), Pete Dye and Tom Doak (course architects), Brian McCallen (editor and author), and Donald Trump
With breathtaking color photographs of each site, this is a great gift for avid golfers and armchair travelers alike

Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations

Golf Courses: Fairways of the World

This pictorial journey across 80 golf courses around the globe is the ideal fantasy playground for the golf aficionado. Sports photographer David Cannon captures courses that range from oceanside to marshy to mountains, and the perspective on these green panoramas is enough to make any golfer pack his bagsand his clubs. ~Palm Beach Illustrated

[A] handsome, full-color, foldout-rich love letter to the worlds great golf courses, written through the wide-angle lens of his trusty camera This is golf porn in its best possible light, so savor it, guilt-free. ~Fairways + Greens

Cameron is the official shuttermeister for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, so he had access to some not-so-easy-to-get-into courses, like Pine Valley and Seminole. ~Quest

Photographer David Cannon began his career in sports photography 25 years ago and is considered the premier golf photographer in the world. Having played more than 700 courses in over 40 countries, Cannon photographs with a true golfers eye, offering an extraordinary window into some of the worlds most celebrated courses. ~Rosewood

Photographer David Cannon began his career in sports photography twenty-five years ago and is considered the premier golf photographer in the world. Having played at more than seven hundred golf courses in over fifty countries, Cannon photographs with a true golfer’s eye, offering an extraordinary window into some of the world’s most celebrated courseswith more than 40 in North America, dozens in Asia and the South Pacific, and several in both Africa and the Middle East. Savor a view from the 11th hole of the incomparable and historic St. Andrews’s Old Course bathed in golden afternoon light; glimpse giraffes and elephants from any green at Leopard Creek, South Africa; vicariously experience Pirate’s Plank, the harrowing 15th hole at Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand, which is set at the very end of the clifftop fairway surrounded by dramatic 500-foot drops to the ocean; and take in the serene sea view from the signature 18th hole of the very private Seminole Golf Course in Florida. Golf Courses stunningly captures the singular genius and beauty of golf courses. It is a comprehensive collection of the world’s best courses by revered designers including Donald Ross, Pete Dye, and Robert Trent Jones, Sr., and such new talent as Steve Smyers and Tom Doak, among many othersall of whom skillfully orchestrate the exceptional union of nature and course design on five continents. This deluxe, limited-edition volume features over two hundred sumptuous color photographs of courses, some of which have never been photographed or published previously, in full spreads and gatefoldssome measuring over five feet in lengthand includes a numbered print signed by the photographer. Golf Courses: Fairways of the World will be strictly limited to 5,000 copies.

Golf Courses: Fairways of the World

A former research scientist at NASA, Dave Pelz founded the Pelz Golf Institute and the Dave Pelz Scoring Game Golf Schools. He has devoted more than three decades to science-based golf instruction. His bestsellers include Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible, Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible, and Dave Pelz’s Damage Control. A short game analyst for the Golf Channel, and technical and short game consultant for Golf Magazine, he lives outside Austin, Texas.

The renowned instructor behind elite pros such as Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh shows you how to conquer the ten shots you fear the most.

Some golfers stand over shots with so much fear in their hearts that they can’t bear to swing their clubs. Others, filled with anxiety, butcher shots they might otherwise hit reasonably well. After conducting worldwide surveys to determine which shots golfers fear the most, master golf instructor Dave Pelz has focused his skilled research and development on creating a methodology and conditioning process proven to teach golfers how to conquer their top 10 most feared shots. The first book to use the “Golfer’s Eye View(tm)”-a technique developed for Pelz by “hall of fame” golf photographer Leonard Kamsler-Dave Pelz’s Golf without Fear features Pelz’s signature combination of science and savvy.

Coaching readers through their shots, Pelz offers a visual method of instruction, with close-up images of the problems that caused their fears, the solutions to those problems, and step-by-step instructions for how to execute those shots with confidence in the future. He retrains golfers to apply precise, clearly defined body positions and setups, in addition to specific techniques for the moment when contact with the ball occurs, making Dave Pelz’s Golf without Fear a trove of score-saving lessons. With full-color photography throughout, this is a powerful course in making winners out of even your worst shots.

Dave Pelz’s Golf without Fear: How to Play the 10 Most Feared Shots in Golf with Confidence

Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible: The Complete Guide to Mastering the Green

Golf’s foremost apostle from 100 yards in, Dave Pelz follows up the bestselling Short Game Bible–his essential testament on how to get on the green–with chapter and verse on what to do once you’re finally there. The lower your handicap, the more of a religious experience it should be.

While you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to explain the forces at work in rolling a small, dimpled ball over changing terrain toward a cup that looks far too small for its purpose, Pelz was in fact a rocket scientist by trade. His approach is analytical, theoretical, mechanical, and systematic, brimming with graphs, charts, and illustrations. But don’t let that scare you–for all the science, Pelz and the gospel he preaches are as inspiring as a good sermon and readily understandable regardless of your skill level. Yes, advanced players will no doubt be more intrigued with the depths Pelz plumbs, but high handicappers can draw solace from the quality of the supplicants who’ve sought his counsel–Lee Janzen, Annika Sorenstam, Steve Elkington, and Colin Montgomery, for starters–and proceed from there. Numbers, charts, and graphs aside, Pelz preaches good grip and stroke, proper reading of lines and distances, the importance of leaving a ball in the best location (that only seems obvious), and the need to identify your putting weaknesses, learn why they’re your weaknesses, and address the proper fixes. “Never give up on putting well,” Pelz stresses. By studying his bible and heeding his golden rules, you’ll find yourself standing over those knee-rattling, downhill 4-footers with a lot more going for you than just a prayer. –Jeff Silverman

Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible is the second book in a four-book series, the Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series.

Over 150,000 readers have purchased Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible after just its first year of release publication, making the book an instant classic.Now, let Dave help you shape up your game on the greens with his new Putting Bible, which is sure to make all other putting manuals obsolete.

Dave Pelz looks at putting, golf’s least-understood skill, as no one has ever approached it before.Because a putt is the terminal shot on every hole and there is no possibility of recovery from short misses, putts count almost a disproportionate amount.Every golfer knows a 2-foot putt counts the same as a 300-yard drive–one stroke.And while the putting stroke is only one of several types of swings golfers make, it accounts for nearly half of all the swings made–43 percent–and perhaps as much as 80 percent of all the anguish and frustration involved in the game.These are some of the reasons every golfer needs Dave’s insights into the putting game and the simplicity he brings to improving their ability to putt.

Putting is also different in another way:It is one of the few skills in all of sport in which any player, regardless of size, strength, speed, gender, or education, can compete equally with–and have a realistic chance to surpass the skills of–the best professionals in the world.

As Dave explains, putting is actually simple to understand and do. Once golfers grasp his concepts, they can perform on the greens as never before.

Using decades of scientific research from studying thousands of golfers, Dave shows readers the simplicity of putting that escapes most golfers and lays out the fifteen well-defined building blocks of the putting game that each of us already has and owns. This comprehensive guide from the internationally revered master of the short game and putting game–packed with charts, photos, and easy-to-understand instruction–will be the essential volume for all golfers who want to take strokes off their score with better putting.

A former NASA physicist and founder of the World Putting Championship, Dave brings a scientific rigor to his instruction that has made him the top putting expert in the world.Observing and teaching thousands of golfers to better their scores, Dave’s body of knowledge in putting is unequaled.By uncovering the mysteries of this part of the game, Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible raises putting instruction to a new level.

Dave Pelz’s Scoring Game Schools and clinics are renowned worldwide, attracting top players like Jesper Parnevik, Tom Kite, Colin Montgomerie, two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen, Vijay Singh, Steve Elkington, and many LPGA players including Annika Sorenstam and Liselotte Neumann.

Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible: The Complete Guide to Mastering the Green (Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series)

“Get in the best shape of your life while learning the most effective self-defense technique in the world.”
- David Barton, fitness expert and owner, David Barton Gyms

“Training with krav maga instructor David Kahn was an honor and privilege, and the tactics he teaches are a valuable skill.”
- Mark A. Hanafee, U. S. Coast Guard Police Training Officer

“David Kahn is a wonderful teacher and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone–male or female, big or small, or fat.”
- James Gandolfini, actor (The Sopranos)
–This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

David Khan was named “Top Fitness Guru” by New York Magazine in January 2004 He sits on the board of the Israeli Krav Maga Association He is founder and director of the Krav Maga programme in America He is a graduate of Princeton University and lives in New York City

The first of its kind – an illustrated guide to the hottest new fitness trend from a top expert in the field. Increasingly popular as a self-defence method and fitness program, Krav Maga is the Israeli military’s renowned method for fending off attackers. Based on the principles of doing minimal harm and enhancing our natural instincts for self-protection, anyone can master its moves – regardless of strength, size, age or gender. In this excellent beginner’s guide David Khan presents the basic techniques and principles. Topics include: Anticipating an attack; Understanding the bodies vulnerable targets; Mastering essential defence techniques, and more

“Get in the best shape of your life while learning the most effective self-defense technique in the world.”
- David Barton, fitness expert and owner, David Barton Gyms

“Training with krav maga instructor David Kahn was an honor and privilege, and the tactics he teaches are a valuable skill.”
- Mark A. Hanafee, U. S. Coast Guard Police Training Officer

“David Kahn is a wonderful teacher and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone–male or female, big or small, or fat.”
- James Gandolfini, actor
–This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Krav Maga

Complete Krav Maga: The Ultimate Guide to Over 230 Self-Defense and Combative Techniques

First class all the way. –Risingsunproductions.net

Great book! –Fightingspirit.com

Developed for the Israel military forces and battle tested in real-life combat, Krav Maga has gained an international reputation as an easy-to-learn yet highly effective art of self-defense. Clearly written and extensively illustrated, Complete Krav Maga details every aspect of the system including dozens of hand-to-hand combat moves, over 20 weapons defense techniques and a complete physical conditioning workout program.

All the moves are described in depth from beginning Yellow Belt to advanced Black Belt, yet they are easy to learn because one of Krav Maga’s strengths is its simplicity. Based on the principle that it is best to move from defense to attack as quickly as possible, Complete Krav Maga offers fast-escape maneuvers from attacks and holds. It then follows them up with specific counterattacks, including punches, kicks and throws.

The authors show how anyone can practice self defense by using Krav Maga to protect weak spots, exploit an assailant’s vulnerabilities and turn the attacker s force against him. Complete Krav Maga teaches the reader how to get in shape, gain confidence and feel safer and more secure every day.

Complete Krav Maga: The Ultimate Guide to Over 230 Self-Defense and Combative Techniques

Derek Jeter is the shortstop for the New York Yankees and the founder of the Turn 2 Foundation. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Life You Imagine. He lives in New York City and Tampa, Florida. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

What is it really like being a superstar shortstop with four World Series rings, MVP awards from the All-Star Game and the World Series, and a long-term contract playing for the best team in baseball? In Game Day, New York Yankee Derek Jeter takes you behind the scenes for an intimate look at his life on and off the field during spring training, the regular season, and the 2000 World Series.

With never-before-seen photographs that capture private moments at home and public moments at home plate, Game Day is a unique look at how a world-class athlete like Derek Jeter is able to push himself to win, whether it is the 50th game of the 162-game season or Game 5 of the World Series. Divided into three parts, Game Day invites Derek s fans to see how he gets ready every year for spring training, how he makes it through grueling regular-season games, and how he tackles each game in the postseason, where every run scored and every play made is the difference between going home in victory or in defeat.

Beautifully designed and full of exclusive, candid shots, Game Day is a true insider s peek into Derek s life. Fans can see Derek warming up with fellow Yankees at spring training and before games, goofing off with Bernie Williams, sharing a meal with Tino Martinez, relaxing at his home in Tampa, getting his hair cut at his apartment in New York, working out to stay in shape all season, walking the streets of the Big Apple, hugging his parents and sister after winning the World Series, and making the big plays that have made him one of the most thrilling baseball players in the major leagues today. And fans can read about how Derek approaches each game, hones his skills, sharpens his mental focus, and stays competitive throughout the entire season, leading up to the biggest game days of all: the championship play-offs and the World Series.

Game Day goes beyond the roped-off sections of the stadiums and gives fans a perfect picture of what it s like to be baseball s most popular rising star.

Game Day

The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams

This year’s most valuable player on the All-Star team and a shortstop for the New York Yankees, Jeter would seem to have the perfect life. His skills on the field are stellar, and he’s already been compared to some of baseball’s most legendary players. Teammates and fans respect and adore him. In this affable volume, Jeter, who says he hopes he can set a good example for young people, shares some of his personal history as he outlines the 10 principles that led to his success. Jeter’s life was not always idyllic: his mother is white and his father African-American, and they, along with Jeter and his sister, Sharlee, endured slurs and taunts while growing up. Yet Jeter clearly found a bulwark of affection in his parents, who set high standards for him and refused to let him stint on his academic work even as they wholeheartedly supported his athletic pursuits. (In fact, Jeter and his sister had to sign contracts spelling out the daily chores and other work they were expected to do.) Among the lessons his parents helped Jeter learn: set high goals, don’t be afraid to fail, find role models and think before you act. For example, in the chapter “Have a Strong Supporting Cast,” Jeter discusses the importance of selecting friends who encourage your ambitions and provide frank criticism of your mistakes; he offers many anecdotes of his own friends, including manager Joe Torre and his high school sweetheart, Marisa Novara. Jeter and Curry, a sports reporter for the New York Times, clearly assume the audience for this book will be teenagers who are looking to emulate Jeter’s success. In fact, Jeter’s story and his genuine concern with “being the best” and “doing the right thing” should motivate readers of all ages. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Ever wonder what it would take to turn all of your dreams into reality? In The Life You Imagine, All-Star New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter shows how you can use the same game plan that helped an eight-year-old boy who fantasized about playing baseball for the Bronx Bombers grow up and become MVP of the 2000 World Series. With the help and support of both of his parents, Derek developed a practical program that would assist him in achieving all of his personal and professional aspirations-and now he shares his secrets to success so that you can get closer to living your dream, too.

In this inspiring, information-packed book, Derek provides you with the ten lessons that have guided him throughout his life on and off the field, from his dream of being a gifted, hardworking athlete to his goal of becoming an active community leader. Using personal stories from his own life as a student athlete in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and as a Yankee team player, Derek writes about the simple steps that put him on course for success, including:

* Setting your goals high and finding the right role models
* Being serious but still having fun
* Challenging yourself daily and not being afraid to fail
* Surrounding yourself with a strong supporting cast

Filled with rare family photos and pictures of Derek playing for the Yankees, The Life You Imagine is an intimate look into the life of a superstar athlete — including the remarkable relationship he has with his family, what it’s like to play with the Yankees, and how he’s used his baseball celebrity to found the Turn 2 Foundation, a drug and alcohol prevention program for kids.

The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams

Carl Nyman is graphic designer and illustrator. Originally from Sweden, he has lived and worked inMelbourne and currently resides in New York City. Recent work includes a tour of five major Asian cities, bringing stencil graffiti to the Far East. He continually documents urban expressions of art.

Jake Smallman has worked as a graphic designer in the United Kingdom and Australia. He has documented and participated in Melbourne’s stencil-graffiti scene for years, gaining media attention and commissions in addition to exhibiting all over Australia and the United States.

Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne, MBP’s first street-art book, stands as a contemporary classic of the genre. During the first few years of this century, Melbourne, Australia, was the global epicenter of stencil graffiti, with artists like MEEK, SIXTEN, VEXTA, and MEGGS cutting amazing stencils and getting them up all over the city. The variety and abundance of the city’s scene attracted international attention, especially after BANKSY paid a visit. This was the first graffiti book to be published that focused on stencil graffiti, and while many stencil-centric books have followed, it remains the only one that documents a once prolific scene that will stand the test of time.

The paperback edition of Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne brings all of the original’s great photographs and interviews to new readersat the same size but lower cost. Marvel at the artistry and ingenuity of the stencils; read about feats of daring-do as told by the artists; laugh at the political puns and pop-culture references.

Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne

Wall and Piece

People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.
Banksy

Since spotting my first few Banksies I have been desperately seeking out more. They make me smile and feel optimistic about the possibilities of shared dreams and common ownership.
Simon Hattenstone, Guardian

Banksy, Britain’s now-legendary “guerilla” street artist, has painted the walls, streets, and bridges of towns and cities throughout the world. Not only did he smuggle his pieces into four of New York City’s major art museums, he’s also “hung” his work at London’s Tate Gallery and adorned Israel’s West Bank barrier with satirical images. Banksy’s identity remains unknown, but his work is unmistakablewith prints selling for as much as $45,000.

Wall and Piece

Drawing mainly on his own participant-observation experiences, Kelner situates the program in a context of political tourism, giving us new tools with which to understand the visceral, emotional and cognitive impacts on the participants. This provides a sophisticated lens through which to analyze what the Birthright program, and others like it, does, how it accomplishes its goals, what those goals are and why the mechanisms used may also limit its impact.
-Harriet Hartman,The Foreward

“Kelner, assistant professor of sociology and Jewish studies at Vanderbilt University, has written an original and persuasive account of the ways in which tourism has evolved into an important means for the creation of transnational identities and commitments. Using Birthright tours to Israel as his example, Kelner offers new ways to think about place, society, and self.”-Society (Social Science and Modern Society),

“This fascinating, carefully researched study focuses on a specific kind of tourism… the Israeli Taglit-Birthright program… This study is insightful, rich in data, and exceptionally well informed. While the subject focus is unique, the volume contributes broadly to understanding pilgrimage and tourism, youth culture, and Israel-diaspora relations… Highly recommended.”-CHOICE,

“After several years of serious scholarship, Kelner concludes that tourism is the great equalizer, an opportunity for institutions to compete for the ability to represent a people.Though not the first book to explore Birthright’s impact, Tours That Bind approaches the subject academically, analyzing how Israel co-opts the Jewish diaspora to strengthen its nation-state.”-Jewish Book World,

Tours that Bind is an exceptional work. Shaul Kelner offers one of the finest social scientific studies of contemporary Jewish life in a generation.
-Riv-Ellen Prell,author of Fighting to Become Americans: Jews, Gender and the Anxiety of Assimilation

Shaul Kelner is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University.

Since 1999 hundreds of thousands of young American Jews have visited Israel on an all-expense-paid 10-day pilgrimage-tour known as Birthright Israel. The most elaborate of the state-supported homeland tours that are cropping up all over the world, this tour seeks to foster in the American Jewish diaspora a lifelong sense of attachment to Israel based on ethnic and political solidarity. Over a half-billion dollars (and counting) has been spent cultivating this attachment, and despite 9/11 and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict the tours are still going strong.

Based on over seven years of first-hand observation in modern day Israel, Shaul Kelner provides an on-the-ground look at this hotly debated and widely emulated use of tourism to forge transnational ties. We ride the bus, attend speeches with the Prime Minister, hang out in the hotel bar, and get a fresh feel for young American Jewish identity and contemporary Israel. We see how tourism’s dynamism coupled with the vibrant human agency of the individual tourists inevitably complicate tour leaders’ efforts to rein tourism in and bring it under control. By looking at the broader meaning of tourism, Kelner brings to light the contradictions inherent in the tours and the ways that people understandtheir relationship to place both materially and symbolically. Rich in detail, engagingly written, and sensitive to the complexities of modern travel and modern diaspora Jewishness, Tours that Bind offers a new way of thinking about tourism as a way through which people develop understandings of place, society, and self.

Drawing mainly on his own participant-observation experiences, Kelner situates the program in a context of political tourism, giving us new tools with which to understand the visceral, emotional and cognitive impacts on the participants. This provides a sophisticated lens through which to analyze what the Birthright program, and others like it, does, how it accomplishes its goals, what those goals are and why the mechanisms used may also limit its impact.
-Harriet Hartman,The Foreward

“Kelner, assistant professor of sociology and Jewish studies at Vanderbilt University, has written an original and persuasive account of the ways in which tourism has evolved into an important means for the creation of transnational identities and commitments. Using Birthright tours to Israel as his example, Kelner offers new ways to think about place, society, and self.”-Society ,

“This fascinating, carefully researched study focuses on a specific kind of tourism… the Israeli Taglit-Birthright program… This study is insightful, rich in data, and exceptionally well informed. While the subject focus is unique, the volume contributes broadly to understanding pilgrimage and tourism, youth culture, and Israel-diaspora relations… Highly recommended.”-CHOICE,

“After several years of serious scholarship, Kelner concludes that tourism is the great equalizer, an opportunity for institutions to compete for the ability to represent a people.Though not the first book to explore Birthright’s impact, Tours That Bind approaches the subject academically, analyzing how Israel co-opts the Jewish diaspora to strengthen its nation-state.”-Jewish Book World,

Tours that Bind is an exceptional work. Shaul Kelner offers one of the finest social scientific studies of contemporary Jewish life in a generation.
-Riv-Ellen Prell,author of Fighting to Become Americans: Jews, Gender and the Anxiety of Assimilation

Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage, and Israeli Birthright Tourism

New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora

New Jews is a thoughtful, persuasive case for why the Diaspora matters.
-Secular Culture

,

Offers a new way to look at contemporary Jewry, not just its present complicated realities, but the history behind the recent departures. Well researched, deeply contextualized, and written in a sprightly manner, New Jews demonstrates that Jews at the beginning of the twenty-first century have created new spaces, new places, and new faces in which to live and by which to present themselves.
-Hasia R. Diner,author of The Jews of the United States, 1654-2000

Examining locations as diverse as New York, San Francisco and Moscow, Aviv and <Shneer probe what makes Jews feel at home.
-Lilith

,

This is a wide-ranging work . . . there is a definite shift afoot in thinking about matters of Jewish identity, and this is a worthwhile and useful effort toward articulating new directions.
-Central Conference of American Rabbis Newsletter

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New Jews makes the provocative argument that the Israel-Diaspora dichotomy no longer exists. In a series of engaging ethnographies of Jewish communities in America, Russia and Israel, Aviv and Shneer reveal a new generation of Jews embarked on a renaissance liberated from old ideologies and committed to creating homes where they live. A celebration of pluralism, this sure-to-be controversial book finds Jewish unity not in slogans but in the common search for new identities.
-David Biale,author of Cultures of the Jews: A New History

For many contemporary Jews, Israel no longer serves as the Promised Land, the center of the Jewish universe and the place of final destination. In New Jews, Caryn Aviv and David Shneer provocatively argue that there is a new generation of Jews who don’t consider themselves to be eternally wandering, forever outsiders within their communities and seeking to one day find their homeland. Instead, these New Jews are at home, whether it be in Buenos Aires, San Francisco or Berlin, and are rooted within communities of their own choosing. Aviv and Shneer argue that Jews have come to the end of their diaspora; wandering no more, today’s Jews are settled.

In this wide-ranging book, the authors take us around the world, to Moscow, Jerusalem, New York and Los Angeles, among other places, and find vibrant, dynamic Jewish communities where Jewish identity is increasingly flexible and inclusive. New Jews offers a compelling portrait of Jewish life today.

New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora

Baron L. Pineda is an assistant professor of anthropology at Oberlin College in Ohio.

Global identity politics rest heavily on notions of ethnicity and authenticity, especially in contexts where indigenous identity becomes a basis for claims of social and economic justice. In contemporary Latin America there is a resurgence of indigenous claims for cultural and political autonomy and for the benefits of economic development. Yet these identities have often been taken for granted.

In this historical ethnography, Baron Pineda traces the history of the port town of Bilwi, now known officially as Puerto Cabezas, on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua to explore the development, transformation, and function of racial categories in this region. From the English colonial period, through the Sandinista conflict of the 1980s, to the aftermath of the Contra War, Pineda shows how powerful outsiders, as well as Nicaraguans, have made efforts to influence notions about African and Black identity among the Miskito Indians, Afro-Nicaraguan Creoles, and Mestizos in the region. In the process, he provides insight into the causes and meaning of social movements and political turmoil. Shipwrecked Identities also includes important critical analysis of the role of anthropologists and other North American scholars in the Contra-Sandinista conflict, as well as the ways these scholars have defined ethnic identities in Latin America. As the indigenous people of the Mosquito Coast continue to negotiate the effects of a long history of contested ethnic and racial identity, this book takes an important step in questioning the origins, legitimacy, and consequences of such claims.

Shipwrecked Identities: Navigating Race on Nicaragua’s Mosquito Coast

Blacks and Blackness in Central America: Between Race and Place

[A] captivating addition to the growing historiographical discussion on race.
Africans have populated the shores of Central America since the 1500s. Yet rarely has a single work brought together such diligent contributing authors who provide the depths of discussion in such fascinating, unraveling ways. – Margery Coulson-Clark, Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians

This enlightening collection is destined to become essential reading for all those interested in the history of race, particularly as it pertains to the black presence in Central America. With its meticulous research, rich interpretive frameworks, and broad chronological sweep from the early colonial period into modern times, Blacks and Blackness in Central America will change how we think about racial mixture, nation-building, African survivals, black identity, and the development of society in Latin America. Thanks to this book, Afro-Central America will become standard language in the vocabulary of the African Diaspora.Ben Vinson III, author of Bearing Arms for His Majesty: The Free-Colored Militia in Colonial Mexico

This important collection of essays puts Central America firmly on the African Diaspora map. Blacks and Blackness in Central America is the one-stop volume that gathers together the leading scholars of the topic. They offer clear windows into their many years of research and discovery, collectively convincing the reader that Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were far from marginal to the historical trajectories of people of African descent in the Americas.Matthew Restall, author of The Black Middle: Africans, Mayas, and Spaniards in Colonial Yucatan

Many of the earliest Africans to arrive in the Americas came to Central America with Spanish colonists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and people of African descent constituted the majority of nonindigenous populations in the region long thereafter. Yet in the development of national identities and historical consciousness, Central American nations have often countenanced widespread practices of social, political, and regional exclusion of blacks. The postcolonial development of mestizo or mixed-race ideologies of national identity have systematically downplayed African ancestry and social and political involvement in favor of Spanish and Indian heritage and contributions. In addition, a powerful sense of place and belonging has led many peoples of African descent in Central America to identify themselves as something other than African American, reinforcing the tendency of local and foreign scholars to see Central America as peripheral to the African diaspora in the Americas. The essays in this collection begin to recover the forgotten and downplayed histories of blacks in Central America, demonstrating the centrality of African Americans to the regions history from the earliest colonial times to the present. They reveal how modern nationalist attempts to define mixed-race majorities as Indo-Hispanic, or as anything but African American, clash with the historical record of the first region of the Americas in which African Americans not only gained the right to vote but repeatedly held high office, including the presidency, following independence from Spain in 1821.

Contributors. Rina Cceres Gmez, Lowell Gudmundson, Ronald Harpelle, Juliet Hooker, Catherine Komisaruk, Russell Lohse, Paul Lokken, Mauricio Melndez Obando, Karl H. Offen, Lara Putnam, Justin Wolfe

Blacks and Blackness in Central America: Between Race and Place

William Dalrymple has proved himself to be one of the most perceptive and enjoyable travel writers of the 1990s. His first book, In Xanadu, became an instant backpacker’s classic, winning a stream of literary prizes. City of Djinns and From the Holy Mountain soon followed, to universal critical praise. Yet it is India that Dalrymple continues to return to in his travels, and his fourth book, The Age of Kali, is his most reflective book to date.

The result of 10 year’s living and traveling throughout the Indian subcontinent, The Age of Kali emerges from Dalrymple’s uneasy sense that the region is slipping into the most fearsome of all epochs in ancient Hindu cosmology: “the Kali Yug, the Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption, darkness, and disintegration.” The brilliance of this book lies in its refusal to reflect any cultural pessimism. Dalrymple’s love for the subcontinent, and his feel for its diverse cultural identity, comes across in every page, which makes its chronicles of political corruption, ethnic violence, and social disintegration all the more poignant. The scope of the book is particularly impressive, from the vivid opening chapters portraying the lawless caste violence of Bihar, to interviews with the drug barons on the North-West Frontier, and Dalrymple’s extraordinary encounter with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Some of the most fascinating sections of the book are Dalrymple’s interviews with Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, which read like nonfiction companion pieces to Salman Rushdie’s bitterly satirical Shame. The Age of Kali is a dark, disturbing book that takes the pulse of a continent facing some tough questions. –Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Lately, books on India by British writers have proliferated, but the accounts by Darymple (From the Holy Mountain; City of Dijnns) are incontestably some of the best. In Indian mythology, the Age of Kali is characterized as one of darkness. The 19 essays in the Age o f Kali, which have never been available in the United States, portray the Indian subcontinent (including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean) in the 1990s. The essays offer a wide range of interesting portraits, from a chief minister who is not upper caste, a village social worker who triumphs over reactionary forces, and a Hindi rap megastar. Dalrymple’s account is most readable when he shows without simplification in the disparate elements and challenges faced on many fronts, and it is essential reading for anyone interested in the Indian subcontinent. With the publication of The Age of Kali, Lonely Planet is reissuing In Xanadu (originally published in a 1989 Vintage edition), which won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award. In this travelog, Dalrymple retraced Marco Polo’s route from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Kubla Khan’s summer capital in Xanadu, entering China without a permit. His purpose was to describe the places and people he encountered on the road and interweave them with historical flashbacks to Polo’s time. In Xanadu is recommended for public libraries, while The Age of Kali is suitable for both public and academic.
-Ravi Shenoy, North Central Coll. Lib., Naperville, IL.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The fourth book from the most acclaimed and gifted young travel writer of his generation, author of the best-selling In Xanadu, City of Djinns and From the Holy Mountain. William Dalrymple, who wrote so magically about India in City of Djinns, returns to the country in a series of remarkable essays. Featured in the pages of The Age of Kali are fifteen-year-old guerrilla girls and dowager Maharanis; flashy Bombay drinks parties and violent village blood feuds; a group of vegetarian terrorists intent on destroying India’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet; and a palace where port and cigars are still carried to guests on a miniature silver steam train. Dalrymple meets such figures as Imran Khan, Benazir Bhutto and Baba Sehgal, the Indian Gary Glitter; he witnesses the macabre nightly offering to the bloodthirsty goddess Parashakti — She Who is Seated on a Throne of Five Corpses; he experiences caste massacres in the badlands of Bihar and dines with a drug baron on the North-West Frontier; he discovers such oddities as the terrorist apes of Jaipur (only brought to book when the municipality began impregnating their bananas with opium) and the shrine where Lord Krishna is said to make love every night to his 16,108 wives and 64,732 milkmaids.

William Dalrymple has proved himself to be one of the most perceptive and enjoyable travel writers of the 1990s. His first book, In Xanadu, became an instant backpacker’s classic, winning a stream of literary prizes. City of Djinns and From the Holy Mountain soon followed, to universal critical praise. Yet it is India that Dalrymple continues to return to in his travels, and his fourth book, The Age of Kali, is his most reflective book to date.

The result of 10 year’s living and traveling throughout the Indian subcontinent, The Age of Kali emerges from Dalrymple’s uneasy sense that the region is slipping into the most fearsome of all epochs in ancient Hindu cosmology: “the Kali Yug, the Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption, darkness, and disintegration.” The brilliance of this book lies in its refusal to reflect any cultural pessimism. Dalrymple’s love for the subcontinent, and his feel for its diverse cultural identity, comes across in every page, which makes its chronicles of political corruption, ethnic violence, and social disintegration all the more poignant. The scope of the book is particularly impressive, from the vivid opening chapters portraying the lawless caste violence of Bihar, to interviews with the drug barons on the North-West Frontier, and Dalrymple’s extraordinary encounter with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Some of the most fascinating sections of the book are Dalrymple’s interviews with Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, which read like nonfiction companion pieces to Salman Rushdie’s bitterly satirical Shame. The Age of Kali is a dark, disturbing book that takes the pulse of a continent facing some tough questions. –Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Age of Kali

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

Delhi has a richly layered past, and Dalrymple (In Xanadu, McKay, 1990) deftly peels away each layer to reveal how the city came to be what it is today. Djinns are spirits said to be seen only after prolonged fasting and prayer; they too are integral to understanding the city. The author, a young Scot carrying on the fine British tradition of travel writing, has a knack for meeting fascinating people and capturing their most revealing remarks. He introduces us to dervishes, eunuchs, partridge fighting, weddings, and expatriates. His wife contributes sketches that nicely complement his text. Considering the importance of Delhi, the capital of the world’s second most populous nation, this book deserves to be in most public and academic libraries.
Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon State Coll. Lib., Ashland
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Sparkling with irrepressible wit, City of Djinns peels back the layers of Delhi’s centuries-old history, revealing an extraordinary array of characters along the way-from eunuchs to descendants of great Moguls. With refreshingly open-minded curiosity, William Dalrymple explores the seven “dead” cities of Delhi as well as the eighth city-today’s Delhi. Underlying his quest is the legend of the djinns, fire-formed spirits that are said to assure the city’s Phoenix-like regeneration no matter how many times it is destroyed. Entertaining, fascinating, and informative, City of Djinns is an irresistible blend of research and adventure.

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

Katy Mattingly was the director and lead instructor at Washtenaw Area Model Mugging (WAMM) Self-Defense in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1996-2005. She was trained in the IMPACT system of self-defense, which emphasizes physical and emotional realism, full-force practice against padded instructors, and individualized instruction. Mattingly has been teaching realistic and effective self-defense and personal safety for more than 15 years in a variety of venues, including corporations, universities, youth and community centers, and domestic violence shelters. She also is a freelance writer. She may be reached through www.KatyMattingly.com.

Hone your senses, increase awareness, and learn the techniques that could save your life. Self-Defense: Steps to Survival will teach you to identify danger, avoid assault, and defend yourself and others against attackers in a variety of situations.

Based on the proven strategies and techniques taught on campuses and in metropolitan areas worldwide, Self-Defense: Steps to Survival is both practical and immediately applicable for men, women, and teens regardless of previous experience. You’ll learn these skills:

-Assess your surroundings, notice warning signs, and remove yourself from potential harm.

-Use the power of your own voice to thwart an attack.

-Recognize warning signs of violence in an intimate relationship.

-Resist and escape physical and sexual violence by strangers and acquaintances.

-Free yourself from an assailant’s grasp.

-Develop an arsenal of strikes, kicks, and defense techniques for countering physical attacks.

-Defend yourself against weapon attacks and multiple attackers.

Don’t live in fear! Self-Defense: Steps to Survival will change the way you approach everyday life, giving you the assurance that you’ll be prepared for the unexpected.

See all the titles available in the Steps to Success Series.

Self-Defense: Steps to Survival

Self-Defense for Peaceable People: Defend Yourself Regardless of Size, Gender, Age, or Strength

Founder of the Tao-Zen Ryu Shindo system of Taoist-oriented martial arts, Master John Townsend is one of eight senior instructors appointed as direct successors to the legendary martial arts Grandmaster, Hak Tok Yun (10th Dan).

Self-Defense for Peaceable People is an accessible, authoritative introduction to the art of unarmed self-defense. While compatible with all existing martial arts systems, the method requires no training or experience at all, and is especially suited to those who simply want a realistic command of basic self-defense. Drawing on a 20-year career in law enforcement and a lifelong practice of martial arts, John Townsend explains clearly and succinctly the philosophy and theory behind self-defense, and describes the types of attacks that can happen in different situations. Realistic photo sequences illustrate in detail the evasion and counterattack techniques that enable readers to defend themselves effectively in any real-world situation, regardless of size, gender, age, or strength. Armed only with these simple techniques, readers gain a new sense of freedom, personal confidence, and peace of mind.

Self-Defense for Peaceable People: Defend Yourself Regardless of Size, Gender, Age, or Strength