Results 41 to 50 of 61 | « previous | next »
- Rental person who does nothing : a memoir / by Morimoto, Shoji,author.; Knotting, Don,translator.; translation of:Morimoto, Shoji.'Rental nanmo shinai hito' to iu service wo hajimemasu.English.;
"Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told that he was a 'do-nothing' because he lacked initiative. Dispirited and unemployed, it occurred to him that if he was so good at doing nothing, perhaps he could turn it into a business. And with one tweet, he began his business of renting himself out to do nothing. Morimoto, aka Rental Person, provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. Sitting with a client undergoing surgery, accompanying a newly-divorced client to her favourite restaurant, visiting the site of a client's suicide attempt are just a few of his thousands of true life adventures. He is dependable, non-judgmental and committed to remaining a stranger and the curious encounters he shares are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology. In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life"--Publisher's description.
- Subjects: Autobiographies.; Anecdotes.; Personal narratives.; Morimoto, Shoji.; Interpersonal relations; Loneliness; Social psychology; Social service;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- City of likes : a novel / by Mollen, Jenny,1979-author.;
Megan Chernoff is a talented but unemployed copywriter in an identity crisis after the birth of her second child. Seeking a fresh start, she and her family move to New York City, where she meets Daphne Cole-a gorgeous, stylish, well-known momfluencer. To Meg's surprise and delight, Daphne shows an inordinate amount of interest in Meg, showering her with compliments, attention, gifts, and all the perks that come with having a massive digital platform. Before she knows it, Meg finds herself immersed in Daphne's world-hobnobbing at exclusive power mama supper clubs, partaking in fancy wellness rituals, and reveling in the external validation she gets from her followers who grow daily by the thousands. Her friendship with Daphne, as well as the world she's been granted access to, is intoxicating and all-consuming. But is it authentic? When Meg realizes she's losing track of what matters most-her relationship with her sons and her husband-the deep cracks in Daphne's carefully curated façade are finally exposed. It's up to Meg to find her way back to her real life. But first she must determine what "real" even means.
- Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Female friendship; Self-presentation; Social media; Social media;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Luster / by Leilani, Raven,author.;
"Sharp, comic, disruptive, tender, Raven Leilani's debut novel, Luster, sees a young black woman fall into art and someone else's open marriage. Edie is stumbling her way through her twenties--sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She's also, secretly, haltingly, figuring her way into life as an artist. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage--with rules. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren't hard enough, Edie finds herself unemployed and falling into Eric's family life, his home. She becomes a hesitant friend to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie is the only black woman who young Akila knows. Razor sharp, darkly comic, sexually charged, socially disruptive, Luster is a portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life in a tumultuous era. It is also a haunting, aching description of how hard it is to believe in your own talent and the unexpected influences that bring us into ourselves along the way."--
- Subjects: Novels.; Novels.; Triangles (Interpersonal relations); Young women; African American women artists; Adopted children; Domestic fiction.;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- A good Indian girl / by Shah, Mansi(Novelist),author.;
Jyoti has always been the ideal second-generation Indian daughter. She stayed out of trouble, looked after her younger sisters and married a man her parents approved of. So when her husband, Ashok, forces her to quit her dream job as head chef of his family's restaurant to focus on starting a family, she obliges. But despite Jyoti's tireless efforts to provide children, when it becomes clear that she cannot carry a baby to term, Ashok leaves her for a younger woman. Jyoti's new status as an unemployed divorcee is a disgrace to her traditional Gujarati family, and she flees New York to visit her best friend in Tuscany. Sumptuous meals, warm Italian sunshine and la bella vita reawaken the passion that Jyoti has lost, leading to a serendipitous opportunity that could help her buy Ashok's restaurant. But when Jyoti's Indian-Italian culinary fusion unexpectedly goes viral, her aunties immediately find out and gossip ensues, estranging her even further from her family back home. Then a shocking revelation comes to light, leading Jyoti to reconsider her relationship with Ashok. Now she must decide what she truly desires--family approval, career growth, even motherhood--before the summer ends.
- Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Recipes.; Novels.; Divorced women; East Indian Americans; Families; Female friendship; Identity (Psychology); Self-actualization (Psychology); Voyages and travels; Women cooks;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The wolf at the door : the menace of economic insecurity and how to fight it / by Graetz, Michael J.,author.; Shapiro, Ian,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Americans face real economic hardship but respond with fantastical solutions, from tax-cut magic to the end of capitalism. Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro focus on what truly worries people: their own insecurity. The authors propose concrete reforms affecting taxes, health care, and wages and share organizing strategies to achieve changes people need"--
- Subjects: Economic security;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Mr. Mercedes : a novel / by King, Stephen,1947-;
"In a mega-stakes, high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the "perk" and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy. Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands. Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable"--Provided by publisher.
- Subjects: Horror tales.; Suspense fiction.; Mystery fiction.; Mercedes automobiles; Serial murderers;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Wandering souls : a novel / by Pin, Cecile,author.;
"A boldly imagined debut novel about three Vietnamese siblings who seek refuge in the UK, expanding into a luminous meditation on ancestry and love. After the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh, and Minh begin a perilous journey to Hong Kong with the promise that their parents and younger siblings will soon follow. But when tragedy strikes, the three children are left orphaned, and sixteen-year-old Anh becomes the caretaker for her two younger brothers overnight. In the years that follow, Anh and her brothers resettle in the UK and confront their new identities as refugees, first in overcrowded camps and resettlement centers and then, later, in a modernizing London plagued by social inequality and raging anti-immigrant sentiment. Anh works in a clothing factory to pay their bills. Minh loiters about with fellow unemployed high school dropouts. Thanh, the youngest, plays soccer with his British friends after class. As they mature, each sibling reckons with survivor's guilt, unmoored by their parents' absence. With every choice they make, their paths diverge further, until it's unclear if love alone can keep them together. Told through lyrical narrative threads, historical research, voices from lost family, and notes by an unnamed narrator determined to chart their fate, Wandering Souls captures the lives of a family marked by war and loss yet relentless in the pursuit of a better future. With urgency and precision, it affirms that the most important stories are those we claim for ourselves, establishing Cecile Pin as a masterful new literary voice"--
- Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Families; Immigrants; Orphans; Siblings; Vietnamese;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The drowning sea / by Taylor, Sarah Stewart,author.;
"In The Drowning Sea, Sarah Stewart Taylor returns to the critically acclaimed world of Maggie D'arcy with another atmospheric mystery so vivid readers will smell the salt in the air and hear the wind on the cliffs. For the first time in her adult life, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D'arcy is unemployed. No cases to focus on, no leads to investigate, just a whole summer on a remote West Cork peninsula with her teenage daughter Lilly and her boyfriend, Conor and his son. The plan is to prepare Lilly for a move to Ireland. But their calm vacation takes a dangerous turn when human remains wash up below the steep cliffs of Ross Head. When construction worker Lukas Adamik disappeared months ago, everyone assumed he had gone home to Poland. Now that his body has been found, the guards, including Maggie's friends Roly Byrne and Katya Grzeskiewicz, seem to think he threw himself from the cliffs. But as Maggie gets to know the residents of the nearby village and learns about the history of the peninsula and its abandoned Anglo Irish manor house, once home to a famous Irish painter who died under mysterious circumstances, she starts to think there's something else going on. Something deadly. And when Lilly starts dating one of the dead man's friends, Maggie grows worried about her daughter being so close to another investigation and about what the investigation will uncover. Old secrets, hidden relationships, crime, and village politics are woven throughout this small seaside community, and as the summer progresses, Maggie is pulled deeper into the web of lies, further from those she loves, and closer to the truth"--
- Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Novels.; Murder; Secrecy; Truthfulness and falsehood;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The greatest possible good : a novel / by Brooks, Ben,1992-author.;
"Meet the Candlewicks. Seventeen-year-old Evangeline (a.k.a Dubbin), wants to change the world, has a penchant for throwing fake blood during protests, and despairs at the smug complacency of the rest of her family. Emil is fifteen, and a painfully shy math prodigy who has just begun dabbling in narcotics. Their mother, Yara, arrives at airports four hours early and fears that AI and climate change will leave her children unemployed and unable to go outside for longer than ten minutes. And, Arthur, the father, a hapless and always neutral man, who can't decide if he is a good person or a doormat-forgiving and understanding or weak and terrified. Their comfortable lives are thrown into disarray when Arthur walks out into the woods one night for a stroll in his calfskin slippers only to fall down an abandoned mineshaft. Disoriented and unable to move, he remains there for three days with only a bottle of mid-range Bordeaux, his son's confiscated stash of LSD, and his daughter's book on the concept of Effective Altruism for company. When he is rescued, he is a man transformed. Determined to give away all of his wealth and devote the rest of his life to the (statistically proven) most worthy causes, his metamorphosis shocks his family and triggers a chain of events that will have far-reaching and unforeseen consequences for them all. Equal parts hilarious and achingly human, The Greatest Possible Good spans ten years in the lives of the Candlewicks, asking universal questions about what it means to live a good life and if there is a "right" way to be a good person, while introducing the world to one of the most memorable and dysfunctional families in contemporary literature"--
- Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Novels.; Families; Middle-aged men; Wealth;
- Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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- It's (almost) always sunny in Philadelphia : how three friends spent $200 to create the longest-running live-action sitcom in history and help build a network / by Potts, Kimberly,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Charlie, Dennis, Mac, Sweet Dee, and Frank are deplorable characters. They will never mature, become more self-aware, or less self-involved. That is what the creators of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are committed to -- and that's why the show's millions of devoted fans have stuck with the cult comedy hit for over sixteen seasons and counting. Created in 2005 by stars Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day, unemployed actors with a pair of Law & Order guest appearances as the highlights of their collective resume, the frustrated trio drafted a homemade TV pilot. A few months and $200 later (the cost of videotapes, pizza for their friends who volunteered as extras, and a broomstick to tape their boom mic to), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was ready for its network debut. All major parties either passed or were interested but wanted creative control. And then came FX looking to shake up cable TV. Willing to allow McElhenney, Howerton, and Day complete freedom to deconstruct the traditional sitcom, new president John Landgraf agreed to take a chance. No one had any idea how big of a success it would be. With FX's one creative note -- the hiring of Danny DeVito -- adding the final piece of the puzzle, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has enjoyed a steady climb to high ratings, critical acclaim, and a place in the cultural zeitgeist. Now, how the show and its creators have accomplished this is revealed with this in-depth, behind-the-scenes celebration. As thoughtful, provocative, and engaging as the show itself, this book also explores how the show has pushed the envelope and used absurdist comedy to explore major societal issues, including the #MeToo movement, LGBTQ+ rights, racism, and more. It also asks, what does the future hold for The Gang? It certainly won't include the characters' personal growth, but the show itself continues to move forward, adding to its dynamic history with each season."--
- Subjects: It's always sunny in Philadelphia (Television program); Situation comedies (Television programs); Television comedies;
- Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Results 41 to 50 of 61 | « previous | next »