'This book is brilliant. Utterly, utterly brilliant. Apart from the epilogue, which is idiotic' Jeremy Clarkson 'F*cking brilliant' Sarah Knight AN EXHILARATING JOURNEY THROUGH THE MOST CREATIVE AND CATASTROPHIC F*CK-UPS OF HUMAN HISTORY In the seventy thousand years that modern human beings have walked this earth, we've come a long way. Art, science, culture, trade - on the evolutionary food chain, we're real winners. But, frankly, it's not exactly been plain sailing, and sometimes - just occasionally - we've managed to really, truly, quite unbelievably f*ck things up. From Chairman Mao's Four Pests Campaign, to the American Dustbowl; from the Austrian army attacking itself one drunken night, to the world's leading superpower electing a reality TV mogul as President... it's pretty safe to say that, as a species, we haven't exactly grown wiser with age. So, next time you think you've really f*cked up, this book will remind you: it could be so much worse... FURTHER PRAISE FOR HUMANS: 'Very funny' Mark Watson 'A light-touch history of moments when humans have got it spectacularly wrong... Both readable and entertaining' The Telegraph 'Chronicles humanity's myriad follies down the ages with malicious glee and much wit ... a rib-tickling page-turner' Business Standard 'A timely, irreverent gallop through thousands of years of human stupidity' Nicholas Griffin, Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History Behind the Game That Changed the World

The brand-new instant USA Today bestselling standalone thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight, Julie Clark. Perfect for fans of Gillian McAllister, Lisa Jewell and Claire Douglas. 'A powerful, ultimately moving whodunnit' THE TIMES 'Expertly plotted and exquisitely twisted' ASHLEY ELSTON, #1 NYT-BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FIRST LIE WINS 'Intriguing and twisty' C. J. TUDOR "I know what your dad did." I set down my sandwich. "He wrote a book." The boy, whose name I no longer remember, had shaken his head, eyes sparkling with glee to be the one to tell me. To shatter my childhood right there in the school cafeteria. "Your dad killed his brother and sister. Murdered them in their own home." Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor , famous not only for his novels, but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings. On the brink of financial ruin, Olivia reluctantly agrees to ghostwrite her father's last book, not realising that she will be forced to reckon with the ghosts that live at the centre of her family. Because after fifty years of silence, Vincent Taylor is finally ready to talk. But is he ready to tell the truth?

THE PITCH-BLACK REDISCOVERED CLASSIC OF 2024 From the Booker-shortlisted author of Great Granny Webster, this twisted modern classic is perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Celia Dale. 'One of the greatest, darkest writers who ever lived' Virginia Feito 'This chillingly profound story drips with classy darkness. . . a one-way descent into the abyss' Janice Hallett 'A dark masterpiece' Camilla Grudova ' I absolutely loved this . . . Creepy, atmospheric and dark as a village green at midnight' Alice Slater 'A devastating investigation of neurosis, hysteria and cruelty' Observer 'I read it with wide eyes and unsavoury glee' Sunday Times 'Caroline Blackwood sits firmly alongside the greats like Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith' Araminta Hall 'Compulsive, cruel and brilliant' Daily Mail 'Gimlet-eyed and masterful' Irish Independent *** She was dead even before I became aware of her existence . . . A child has been abducted from a sleepy Kent village, her face plastered across the media. As the crime unleashes a wave of hysteria, the claustrophobic world of Rowan Anderson and his inscrutable wife begins to disintegrate. Consumed by her macabre fixation, Cressida is determined to save their sickly daughter, Mary Rose, from the same fate - and perhaps even from Rowan himself. With caustic wit and pitch-black brilliance, Caroline Blackwood creates a skin-crawling - and utterly compulsive - story of repressed violence, female rage, and maternal obsession. INTRODUCED BY CAMILLA GRUDOVA

Spirit away with a whimsical fantasy filled with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance. Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster. And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on—someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past. This delectable quest through the spirit world is cozily crafted with a hauntingly opulent atmosphere and a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers story told in multiple perspectives. Young adult readers are sure to kick their feet and squeal with glee at hilarious banter, scrumptious culinary delights, and endearing sisterhood and found family. An enchanting read for fairy tale enthusiasts and fans of queer romance! BONUS CASE ART: Slip off the dust jacket on the gorgeous US hardcover edition to reveal strikingly illustrated creatures from folklore!

Inside the making of one of the biggest-selling albums of all time: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 Rumours album topped the Billboard 200 for thirty-one weeks and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. More recently, Rolling Stone named it the 25th greatest album of all time and the hit TV series Glee devoted an entire episode to songs from Rumours, introducing it to a new generation. Now, for the first time, Ken Caillat, the album's co-producer, tells the full story, from endless partying and relationship dramas to the creative struggles to write and record "You Make Loving Fun," "Don't Stop," "Go Your Own Way," "The Chain," and other timeless tracks. Tells the fascinating story of the making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, written by the producer who saw it all happen: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's screaming match while recording "You Make Loving Fun." The band's struggles with increasing success, How the album almost never happened when the master tape nearly disintegrated The incredible attention paid to even the tiniest elements of songs, from Lindsey playing a chair to Mick breaking glass. Includes eighty black-and-white photographs. In 1977, Fleetwood Mac's members were guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, vocalist Stevie Nicks, drummer Mick Fleetwood, vocalist Christine McVie, and bass guitarist John McVie. Making Rumours shows how Fleetwood Mac created one of the greatest albums of all time, amidst heartbreak, divorce, addiction, and betrayal.

Spirit away with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance in this whimsical fantasy—and witness a sinister plan take shape in a BONUS chapter added to this special deluxe paperback edition that features gorgeous sprayed edges ! Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster. And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on—someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past. This delectable quest through the spirit world is cozily crafted with a hauntingly opulent atmosphere and a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers story told in multiple perspectives. Young adult readers are sure to kick their feet and squeal with glee at hilarious banter, scrumptious culinary delights, and endearing sisterhood and found family. An enchanting read for fairy tale enthusiasts and fans of queer romance!

Spirit away with a whimsical fantasy filled with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance. Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster. And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on—someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past. This delectable quest through the spirit world is cozily crafted with a hauntingly opulent atmosphere and a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers story told in multiple perspectives. Young adult readers are sure to kick their feet and squeal with glee at hilarious banter, scrumptious culinary delights, and endearing sisterhood and found family. An enchanting read for fairy tale enthusiasts and fans of queer romance! BONUS CASE ART: Slip off the dust jacket on the gorgeous US hardcover edition to reveal strikingly illustrated creatures from folklore!

Spirit away with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance in this whimsical fantasy—and witness a sinister plan take shape in a BONUS chapter added to this special deluxe paperback edition that features gorgeous sprayed edges ! Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster. And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on—someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past. This delectable quest through the spirit world is cozily crafted with a hauntingly opulent atmosphere and a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers story told in multiple perspectives. Young adult readers are sure to kick their feet and squeal with glee at hilarious banter, scrumptious culinary delights, and endearing sisterhood and found family. An enchanting read for fairy tale enthusiasts and fans of queer romance!

Inside the making of one of the biggest-selling albums of all time: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 Rumours album topped the Billboard 200 for thirty-one weeks and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. More recently, Rolling Stone named it the 25th greatest album of all time and the hit TV series Glee devoted an entire episode to songs from Rumours, introducing it to a new generation. Now, for the first time, Ken Caillat, the album's co-producer, tells the full story, from endless partying and relationship dramas to the creative struggles to write and record "You Make Loving Fun," "Don't Stop," "Go Your Own Way," "The Chain," and other timeless tracks. Tells the fascinating story of the making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, written by the producer who saw it all happen: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's screaming match while recording "You Make Loving Fun." The band's struggles with increasing success, How the album almost never happened when the master tape nearly disintegrated The incredible attention paid to even the tiniest elements of songs, from Lindsey playing a chair to Mick breaking glass. Includes eighty black-and-white photographs. In 1977, Fleetwood Mac's members were guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, vocalist Stevie Nicks, drummer Mick Fleetwood, vocalist Christine McVie, and bass guitarist John McVie. Making Rumours shows how Fleetwood Mac created one of the greatest albums of all time, amidst heartbreak, divorce, addiction, and betrayal.

From the mastermind behind The Dangerous Damsels series, India Holton delivers another fantastical and whimsical story that's perfect to read with a cup of tea . . . Rival ornithologists hunt through Europe for dangerous magical birds in this historical fantasy romance. If Indiana Jones featured manners, tea, and helicopter parasols – this would be it! ---- Two rival ornithologists. Seeking one dangerous, beautiful bird. Is the hunt of their lives also how they find the love of their lives? Professor Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare Deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination. For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Beth. When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. They're hunting the rarest of species. But will these rivals discover something even more endangered – true love . . . Tropes: 1. Enemies-to-lovers 2. One bed / one horse 3. Badass feminist 4. Who hurt you? ---- Readers are loving The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love ‘India's latest novel is nothing short of a fun, wild, and swoon-worthy ride’ ***** Reader Review ‘Everything about this was absurd in the best way and I loved it so much’ ***** Reader Review ‘I've never before so strongly felt the author's glee emanating from every page-- rife with devious smiles and cackling laughter’ ***** Reader Review ‘Truly a love letter to Romance reader’ ***** Reader Review ‘This was everything I was hoping it would be! It was charming, whimsical, enchanting, funny, & swoon worthy’ ***** Reader Review

'Truly delicious... everything I want a book to be' DAISY BUCHANAN 'Wickedly delectable' NEW YORK TIMES 'Hugely fun' i PAPER 'Salacious and addictive, every page left me giggling with glee' ANNIE LORD 'Juicy, salacious and a whole lot of fun' GLAMOUR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF CRAZY RICH ASIANS Eden Tong is used to feeling out of place. Growing up next door to Greshamsbury Manor, she spent her days in the shadow of the chilly matriarch Arabella and her children: free-spirited Augie , golden child Bea , and Rufus , Eden's childhood best friend. When she receives an invite to a luxurious wedding in Hawaii, she finds herself thrown back into the family's orbit: and face-to-face with Rufus. The future Earl is gorgeous, artistic, and - unbeknownst to Eden - desperately in love with her. But his mother has other plans. Arabella knows the terrible truth - the Greshamsbury family is drowning in debt. Rufus needs to find a match with serious money to keep them afloat. Arabella is prepared to destroy anyone who gets in her way. Including Eden . . . Lies and Wedding transports its reader from the white-sand beaches of Hawaii to the colourful medinas of Marrakech, via the glitzy bachelor pads of Beverly Hills and opulent English countryside manors. This is a hilarious, juicy, and page-turning story about love and money - and the lies we tell to keep them. *** PRAISE FOR KEVIN KWAN 'Your perfect summer read' DAILY MAIL 'Delightful' INDEPENDENT 'Laugh-out-loud funny' SUNDAY MIRROR 'Pure entertainment' NYLON 'Hilarious' COSMOPOLITAN

'Truly delicious... everything I want a book to be' DAISY BUCHANAN 'Wickedly delectable' NEW YORK TIMES 'Hugely fun' i PAPER 'Salacious and addictive, every page left me giggling with glee' ANNIE LORD 'Juicy, salacious and a whole lot of fun' GLAMOUR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF CRAZY RICH ASIANS Eden Tong is used to feeling out of place. Growing up next door to Greshamsbury Manor, she spent her days in the shadow of the chilly matriarch Arabella and her children: free-spirited Augie , golden child Bea , and Rufus , Eden's childhood best friend. When she receives an invite to a luxurious wedding in Hawaii, she finds herself thrown back into the family's orbit: and face-to-face with Rufus. The future Earl is gorgeous, artistic, and - unbeknownst to Eden - desperately in love with her. But his mother has other plans. Arabella knows the terrible truth - the Greshamsbury family is drowning in debt. Rufus needs to find a match with serious money to keep them afloat. Arabella is prepared to destroy anyone who gets in her way. Including Eden . . . Lies and Wedding transports its reader from the white-sand beaches of Hawaii to the colourful medinas of Marrakech, via the glitzy bachelor pads of Beverly Hills and opulent English countryside manors. This is a hilarious, juicy, and page-turning story about love and money - and the lies we tell to keep them. *** PRAISE FOR KEVIN KWAN 'Your perfect summer read' DAILY MAIL 'Delightful' INDEPENDENT 'Laugh-out-loud funny' SUNDAY MIRROR 'Pure entertainment' NYLON 'Hilarious' COSMOPOLITAN

From the mastermind behind The Dangerous Damsels series, India Holton delivers another fantastical and whimsical story that's perfect to read with a cup of tea . . . Rival ornithologists hunt through Europe for dangerous magical birds in this historical fantasy romance. If Indiana Jones featured manners, tea, and helicopter parasols – this would be it! ---- Two rival ornithologists. Seeking one dangerous, beautiful bird. Is the hunt of their lives also how they find the love of their lives? Professor Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare Deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination. For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Beth. When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. They're hunting the rarest of species. But will these rivals discover something even more endangered – true love . . . Tropes: 1. Enemies-to-lovers 2. One bed / one horse 3. Badass feminist 4. Who hurt you? ---- Readers are loving The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love ‘India's latest novel is nothing short of a fun, wild, and swoon-worthy ride’ ***** Reader Review ‘Everything about this was absurd in the best way and I loved it so much’ ***** Reader Review ‘I've never before so strongly felt the author's glee emanating from every page-- rife with devious smiles and cackling laughter’ ***** Reader Review ‘Truly a love letter to Romance reader’ ***** Reader Review ‘This was everything I was hoping it would be! It was charming, whimsical, enchanting, funny, & swoon worthy’ ***** Reader Review

'Truly delicious... everything I want a book to be' DAISY BUCHANAN 'Wickedly delectable' NEW YORK TIMES 'Hugely fun' i PAPER 'Salacious and addictive, every page left me giggling with glee' ANNIE LORD 'Juicy, salacious and a whole lot of fun' GLAMOUR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF CRAZY RICH ASIANS Eden Tong is used to feeling out of place. Growing up next door to Greshamsbury Manor, she spent her days in the shadow of the chilly matriarch Arabella and her children: free-spirited Augie , golden child Bea , and Rufus , Eden's childhood best friend. When she receives an invite to a luxurious wedding in Hawaii, she finds herself thrown back into the family's orbit: and face-to-face with Rufus. The future Earl is gorgeous, artistic, and - unbeknownst to Eden - desperately in love with her. But his mother has other plans. Arabella knows the terrible truth - the Greshamsbury family is drowning in debt. Rufus needs to find a match with serious money to keep them afloat. Arabella is prepared to destroy anyone who gets in her way. Including Eden . . . Lies and Wedding transports its reader from the white-sand beaches of Hawaii to the colourful medinas of Marrakech, via the glitzy bachelor pads of Beverly Hills and opulent English countryside manors. This is a hilarious, juicy, and page-turning story about love and money - and the lies we tell to keep them. *** PRAISE FOR KEVIN KWAN 'Your perfect summer read' DAILY MAIL 'Delightful' INDEPENDENT 'Laugh-out-loud funny' SUNDAY MIRROR 'Pure entertainment' NYLON 'Hilarious' COSMOPOLITAN

From the mastermind behind The Dangerous Damsels series, India Holton delivers another fantastical and whimsical story that's perfect to read with a cup of tea . . . Rival ornithologists hunt through Europe for dangerous magical birds in this historical fantasy romance. If Indiana Jones featured manners, tea, and helicopter parasols - this would be it! ---- Two rival ornithologists. Seeking one dangerous, beautiful bird. Is the hunt of their lives also how they find the love of their lives? Professor Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare Deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, stealing both her bird and her imagination. For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Beth. When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. They're hunting the rarest of species. But will these rivals discover something even more endangered - true love . . . Tropes: 1. Enemies-to-lovers 2. One bed / one horse 3. Badass feminist 4. Who hurt you? ---- Readers are loving The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love 'India's latest novel is nothing short of a fun, wild, and swoon-worthy ride' ***** Reader Review 'Everything about this was absurd in the best way and I loved it so much' ***** Reader Review 'I've never before so strongly felt the author's glee emanating from every page-- rife with devious smiles and cackling laughter' ***** Reader Review 'Truly a love letter to Romance reader' ***** Reader Review 'This was everything I was hoping it would be! It was charming, whimsical, enchanting, funny, & swoon worthy' ***** Reader Review

“Mind-expanding . . . The Score is so exuberant and readable that the depth and seriousness of its insights almost sneak up on you.” —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times “Brilliant and wildly original . . . The Score is socially attentive, historically literate and imbued with sensual glee.” —Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post “I give this excellent book five stars.” —Stuart Jeffries, Financial Times A philosophy of games to help us win back control over what we value The philosopher C. Thi Nguyen—one of the leading experts on the philosophy of games and the philosophy of data—takes us deep into the heart of games, and into the depths of bureaucracy, to see how scoring systems shape our desires. Games are the most important art form of our era. They embody the spirit of free play. They show us the subtle beauty of action everywhere in life in video games, sports, and boardgames—but also cooking, gardening, fly-fishing, and running. They remind us that it isn’t always about outcomes, but about how glorious it feels to be doing the thing. And the scoring systems help get us there, by giving us new goals to try on. Scoring systems are also at the center of our corporations and bureaucracies—in the form of metrics and rankings. They tell us exactly how to measure our success. They encourage us to outsource our values to an external authority. And they push on us to value simple, countable things. Metrics don’t capture what really matters, they only capture what’s easy to measure. The price of that clarity is our independence. The Score asks us is this the game you really want to be playing?

In A Table for Fortune , National Book Award-winner William T. Vollmann depicts from the balcony-level of history the last half-century of American politics, war, and life. At once a family drama, bildungsroman, and national epic, this 3,000+ page, four-part novel may be our most ambitious writer's most ambitious work. Parts 1 and 2 gather from the half-forgotten annals of the near-past –– Stasi documents, Iraqi newspaper articles, presidential radio addresses –– to form a vivid and mesmeric epic centered on Elliott Stevens, or DAVE, a CIA analyst whose glee at winning the Cold War is matched only by the dread that culminates in the nightmares of September eleventh and the resulting War on Terror. The hero of Parts 3 and 4 is Matthew Stevens, Elliott's son, whose efforts to divine the fate of his life and escape his parents result in homelessness, addiction, and perhaps even happiness. Spanning from 1968 to 2019, these volumes comb together –– with Vollmann's trademark generous wit and Olympian prose –– a staggeringly well-researched, definitive history of American post-war foreign policy with a deft, moving chronicle of a family's descent into resentment and gloom. Not since War and Peace have the internal lives of characters and the history of a nation been forged together in so forceful a study of causes, fate, and nationhood. Elliott and Matthew Stevens are “passengers within a divine bullet;” which, like Gogol's troika before it, overtakes all flying to its nation's end. This boxed set, with all four volumes in hardcover, allows the book to be read as intended: as one towering novel, the magnum opus of one of the giants of literature.

"A great story beautifully told-surprising, funny, courageous and inspiring." David Hyde Pierce "Greg is as inspirational as he is hilarious--I love this book!" Margaret Cho, Comedienne (Dr. Ken, Drop Dead Diva) "White recalls the grueling yet confidence-building three-month Marine Corps boot camp training he endured as a still-closeted teenager in 1979. "I learned that I had to respect myself if I wanted others to respect me." The author demonstrates that respect and delivers a heartening coming-of-age story, an inspiring memoir that displays a balanced, surprisingly reverent view of the Marine Corps and military service." Kirkus Reviews "This is the story of how, through pure gumption, a most unlikely Marine candidate rises to the occasion to show his true colors!" Jane Lynch, Actress (Glee, Hollywood Game Night, Angel From Hell) When Greg Cope White's best friend tells him he is spending his summer in Marine Corps boot camp, all Greg hears is "summer" and "camp." Despite dire warnings from his friend, Greg vows to join him in recruit training. He is eighteen, underweight, he's never run a mile-and he is gay. It's 1979-long before Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling, and with no LGBT rights in place in most states, and the Marines having a very definite expulsion policy in place for gay people when it comes to military personnel, will Greg even survive? The Pink Marine is the story-full of hilarity and heartbreak-of how a teenage boy who struggles with self-acceptance and his sexuality and doesn't fit the traditional definition of manliness finds acceptance and self-worth in Marine Corps boot camp.

“Mind-expanding . . . The Score is so exuberant and readable that the depth and seriousness of its insights almost sneak up on you.” —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times “Brilliant and wildly original . . . The Score is socially attentive, historically literate and imbued with sensual glee.” —Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post “I give this excellent book five stars.” —Stuart Jeffries, Financial Times A philosophy of games to help us win back control over what we value The philosopher C. Thi Nguyen—one of the leading experts on the philosophy of games and the philosophy of data—takes us deep into the heart of games, and into the depths of bureaucracy, to see how scoring systems shape our desires. Games are the most important art form of our era. They embody the spirit of free play. They show us the subtle beauty of action everywhere in life in video games, sports, and boardgames—but also cooking, gardening, fly-fishing, and running. They remind us that it isn’t always about outcomes, but about how glorious it feels to be doing the thing. And the scoring systems help get us there, by giving us new goals to try on. Scoring systems are also at the center of our corporations and bureaucracies—in the form of metrics and rankings. They tell us exactly how to measure our success. They encourage us to outsource our values to an external authority. And they push on us to value simple, countable things. Metrics don’t capture what really matters; they only capture what’s easy to measure. The price of that clarity is our independence. The Score asks us is this the game you really want to be playing?

In A Table for Fortune , National Book Award-winner William T. Vollmann depicts from the balcony-level of history the last half-century of American politics, war, and life. At once a family drama, bildungsroman, and national epic, this 3,000+ page, four-part novel may be our most ambitious writer's most ambitious work. Parts 1 and 2 gather from the half-forgotten annals of the near-past –– Stasi documents, Iraqi newspaper articles, presidential radio addresses –– to form a vivid and mesmeric epic centered on Elliott Stevens, or DAVE, a CIA analyst whose glee at winning the Cold War is matched only by the dread that culminates in the nightmares of September eleventh and the resulting War on Terror. The hero of Parts 3 and 4 is Matthew Stevens, Elliott's son, whose efforts to divine the fate of his life and escape his parents result in homelessness, addiction, and perhaps even happiness. Spanning from 1968 to 2019, these volumes comb together –– with Vollmann's trademark generous wit and Olympian prose –– a staggeringly well-researched, definitive history of American post-war foreign policy with a deft, moving chronicle of a family's descent into resentment and gloom. Not since War and Peace have the internal lives of characters and the history of a nation been forged together in so forceful a study of causes, fate, and nationhood. Elliott and Matthew Stevens are “passengers within a divine bullet;” which, like Gogol's troika before it, overtakes all flying to its nation's end. This boxed set, with all four volumes in hardcover, allows the book to be read as intended: as one towering novel, the magnum opus of one of the giants of literature.