Organized alphabetically for easy reference, A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi" is an accessible lexicon of foreign words and phrases used in English, containing everything from aficionado (Spanish) to zeitgeist (German). Inside you'll find translations, definitions, origins, and a descriptive timeline of each item's evolution. Entries include: À la carte: from the card or of the menu (French) Fiasco: complete failure (Italian) Dungarees: thick cotton cloth/overalls (Hindi) Diaspora: dispersion (Greek) Smorgasbord: bread and butter (Swedish) Cognoscenti: those who know (Italian) Compos mentis: having mastery of one's mind; with it (Latin)
Added by: docfaust | Karma: 10.16 | E-Books, Fiction literature | 22 August 2013
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Sir Salman Rushdie - The Ground beneath her Feet
Vina Apsara, a famous and much-loved singer, is caught up in a devastating earthquake and never seen again. This is her story, and that of Ormus Cama, the lover who finds, loses, seeks and again finds her, over and over, throughout his own extraordinary life in music. Set in the inspiring, vain, fabulous world of rock'n'roll, this is the story of a love that stretches across continents, across Vina and Ormus's whole lives, and even beyond death.
How to Do Things with Books in Victorian Britain asks how our culture came to frown on using books for any purpose other than reading. When did the coffee-table book become an object of scorn? Why did law courts forbid witnesses to kiss the Bible? What made Victorian cartoonists mock commuters who hid behind the newspaper, ladies who matched their books' binding to their dress, and servants who reduced newspapers to fish 'n' chips wrap?
The Five-Year Party: How Colleges Have Given Up on Educating Your Child and What You Can Do About It
Colleges look much the same as they did five or ten years ago, but a lot has changed behind the scenes. While some mixture of study and play has always been part of college life, an increasing number of schools have completely abandoned the idea that students need to learn or demonstrate that they've learned.
