May 1st, 2011

A mesmerizing tale of love-from the author of The Bastard of Istanbul

Elif Shafak, the most widely read female writer in Turkey, has earned a growing fan base all over the world with her bestselling The Bastard of Istanbul. In The Forty Rules of Love, her lyrical, imaginative new novel about the famous Sufi mystic Rumi, Shafak effortlessly blends East and West, past and present, to create a dramatic, compelling, and exuberant tale about how love works in the world. Shafak unfolds two parallel narratives-one set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the wandering dervish known as Shams of Tabriz, and one contemporary, as an unhappy American housewife, inspired by Rumi's message of love, finds the courage to transform her life.

Since it opened in 2004, Millennium Park has become an essential destination for visitors to and residents of Chicago, second only to Navy Pier. As with many of Chicago’s architectural and artistic marvels, how the park came to be is a story of outsize ambition, luck, political maneuvering, and turning obstacles into opportunities. Cheryl Kent’s lavishly illustrated book is the best general introduction to the park’s history and each of its attractions. 

Each chapter describes a conceptual, design, and construction process that defied the odds. From Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate (affectionately called “the Bean”) to Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, projects that could have been modest and conventional instead blossomed into trophy pieces to rival Picasso’s sculpture in Daley Plaza. In every case, the story of how that transformation occurred shows individuals who invested themselves in the spirit of the enterprise and accomplished more than they ever thought they could. Its millions of visitors attest to Millenium Park’s enduring appeal. Cheryl Kent’s book will be both an essential guide to the park and a keepsake for those who have enjoyed its unique attractions.

Joseph Schumpeter is seen as the foremost theoretician of entrepreneurship. In addition, Schumpeter, whose "creative destruction" is as famous as Milton Friedman's "there is no free lunch," is increasingly recognized as a major economist, often given the same stature as John Maynard Keynes.

Schumpeter spent the last twenty years of his life as a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. English-speaking readers may be familiar with some of his works, especially The Theory of Economic Development and the classic Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. However, very few of Schumpeter's key texts on the entrepreneur and entrepreneurship have been available in English.

This anthology contains several newly translated texts and puts together, for the very first time, all of Schumpeter's writings on the entrepreneur and entrepreneurship. English-speaking readers will now be able to access the entire palette of Schumpeter's work and to follow the evolution of his ideas over time.

The volume begins with an introduction that points readers to the most important aspects of the works presented. The introduction also attempts to go beyond Schumpeter's ideas, drawing on his basic intuitions of entrepreneurship to share a couple of key notions: that entrepreneurship consists of a new combination of already existing elements in the economy and that the entrepreneur has to break through resistance to the new idea, in him or herself as well as in others.

This inspirational memoir by Craig Robinson pays tribute to his parents, his coaches, and the lessons his experiences have taught him.

Foreword by Marian Robinson

When he stepped into history's spotlight at the National Democratic Convention, Craig Robinson recalls that nothing could have been more gratifying than introducing his sister, Michelle Obama, to millions of Americans. Within minutes, he won the hearts of the nation by sharing highlights of growing up in the modest Robinson household, where he and his sister were raised by devoted parents who taught them the values of education, and hard work, and the importance of reaching far beyond what even seemed possible.

Those lessons of character were fundamental in shaping Craig Robinson's own remarkable journey: from his days playing street basketball on Chicago's Southside while excelling academically, to admission at Princeton University, where he was later named Ivy League Player of the Year, twice. After playing professionally in Europe, Robinson made an about-face, entering the competitive field of finance. With his MBA from the University of Chicago, his meteoric rise landed him a partnership in a promising new venture. But another dream beckoned, and Craig made the unusual decision to forgo the trappings of money and status in the business world in order to become a basketball coach. He soon helped transform three struggling teams-as an assistant coach at Northwestern, then as head coach at Brown, and now at Oregon State University. In his first season at OSU, he navigated what was declared to be one of the nation's best single season turnarounds.

In A Game of Character, Robinson takes readers behind the scenes to meet his most important influences in his understanding of the winning traits that are part of his playbook for success. Central to his story are his parents, Marian and Fraser, two indefatigable individuals who showed their children how to believe in themselves and live their lives with conviction through love, discipline, and respect. With insights into this exemplary family, we relive memories of how Marian sacrificed a career to be a full-time mom, how Fraser got up and went to work every day while confronting the challenges of multiple sclerosis, and how Craig and Michelle strengthened their bond as they journeyed out of the Southside to Princeton University and, eventually, the national stage.

Heartwarming, inspiring, and even transformational, A Game of Character comes just at the right time in an era of change, reminding readers of the opportunity to work together and embrace the character of our nation, to make a difference in the lives of others, and to pave the way for the next generation.

From the bestselling author of Caucasia, riveting, unexpected stories about identity under the influence of appearances, attachments, and longing.

Each of these eight remarkable stories by Danzy Senna tightrope-walks tantalizingly, sometimes frighteningly, between defined states: life with and without mates and children, the familiar if constraining reference points provided by race, class, and gender. Tensions arise between a biracial couple when their son is admitted to the private school where they'd applied on a lark. A new mother hosts an old friend, still single, and discovers how each of them pities-and envies- the other. A young woman responds to an adoptee in search of her birth mother, knowing it is not she.

The hilarious New York Times bestseller from the author of I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

Sloane Crosley, the brilliantly funny "fountain of observations" (Boston Globe), now takes readers from a bear-infested wedding in Alaska to a run-in with clowns in Portugal in a new collection of essays about the messiest and most unexpected dilemmas life has to offer.

Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue—the daughter of an African mother she never knew and a white sailor who brought her into bondage—ZaritÉ, known as TÉtÉ, survives a childhood of brutality and fear, finding solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and in her exhilarating initiation into the mysteries of voodoo.

When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, he discovers that running his father's plantation is neither glamorous nor easy. Marriage also proves problematic when, eight years later, he brings home a bride. But it is his teenaged slave, TÉtÉ, upon whom Valmorain becomes most dependent, as their lives intertwine across four tumultuous decades.

In Island Beneath the Sea, internationally acclaimed author Isabel Allende spins the unforgettable saga of an extraordinary woman determined to find love amid loss and forge her own identity under the cruelest of circumstances.