One flew east, one flew west, one stayed thirty years in the cuckoo's nest. This is his story. Kevin O'Hara worked for three decades as a psychiatric nurse at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. There he brought to his patients the same warmth and humor that won him acclaim for his first two memoirs, the beloved Irish travel saga Last of the Donkey Pilgrims , and A Lucky Irish Lad , his precise and witty evocation of growing up as an Irish Catholic immigrant in the 1950s and 60s. Now he tells the stories of the many colorful ...

Questions for Water brings Crawford's lyrical voice and intimate perspective to the challenges faced by twenty-first century families in America and the world . Whether she's exploring fires that raged in Australia, racial injustices within the American legal system, or the search for a gun in her son's Baltimore school, Crawford guides us all safely beyond the reach of dark times as she articulates her own fears. In the luminous title poem, Crawford reaches simultaneously back to her family's immigrant experience and immigrant experiences that define ...

Off to Join the Circus focuses on an overly enmeshed, neurotic Jewish family in the Washington, D.C., area, and what happens when a relative returns after 64 years . Adele Pinsky ran away as a teenager back in 1954, perhaps to join a circus. The repercussions from her departure reverberated down the generations, affecting her younger brother, Howard, now a 75-year-old retired lawyer; his educator wife, Marilyn; their three daughters; and their two teenaged grandsons. Adele's reappearance in 2018, at a moment when the family is preparing for the younger ...

If you like  Tiger King , you'll love  Setting the Family Free!  The loner who collects unusual things. The private reserve of exotic pets released into a rural Ohio community. The estranged wife who loves the animals like family. The caretaker who knows the beasts are dangerous. The neighbors and locals who fall victim to attack. The reporters who present the incidents to the world. The Sheriff and his team of experts who must hunt the creatures down. The animal advocate who winces at the spectacle. The celebrity zookeeper who ...

In this layered collage of memory within memory, Hale recreates for readers her kaleidoscopic experience of a decades-long journey to acceptance and insight. Writer, prodigal daughter, single parent, Buddhist disciple, and, late in midlife, a newlywed, she is transformed through an unconventional relationship with a female spiritual teacher and an odd ritual of repeated tattooing with her two young adult children. 'Christine Hale's evocation of the bewildering complexities of life as a mother, daughter, wife (and ex-wife), and student of Buddhism is ...

Illuminating the intimate, human faces of war, this unique series of short stories by award-winning author Katey Schultz questions the stereotypes of modern war by bearing witness to the shared struggles of all who are touched by it. Numerous characters-returning U.S. soldier and pragmatic jihadist, Afghan mother and listless American sister, courageous amputee and a ghost that cannot let go-appear in Flashes of War, which captures personal moments of fear, introspection, confusion, and valor in one collection spanning nations and perspectives. Written in ...

Inspired by the leaders, causes, and music of his youth, Chic Dambach set out to change the world. This is the fascinating life story of a '60s antiwar and free speech leader who remained true to his values and helped build a more peaceful world. Along the way, he witnessed the torture of a black football teammate, he led a strike for his Peace Corps training group, his best friend and mentor was murdered, he donated a kidney to save his son's life, faced financial ruin, helped end two major wars in Africa, and created the first Global Symposium ...

In  Burnt Toast , Nancy Gerber searches for the story of her immigrant grandmother, who fled antisemitism in the Ukraine at the age of fifteen, during the early years of the 20th century. The author's grandmother maintained a stalwart silence about the traumas she'd faced: leaving mother and homeland behind, never to return, encountering antisemitism in the new country that was now home, isolation, poverty, and despair. In spite of the grandmother's silences, the author formed a strong bond with this enigmatic woman, whose flashes of ...

When twenty-eight-year-old Maria Giura fell in love with Catholic priest Father James Infanzi, she had no idea how needy and angry they both were nor how complicated their attraction would become. His attention seemed to fill the void left by her fractured family, but he also seemed to be a sign for her to finally face the celibate vocation she’d been running from ever since she first felt God’s call. Celibate focuses on her ten-year struggle to let go of this priest, to heal from her childhood, and to finally embrace her true calling. Fiercely ...

Baltimore City Police Detective Kev Dixit's life has become a series of good deeds, well punished. He's pushing his way through line of duty killings, idiot tests and shifts with humorless partners. But he's also the glue holding together the lives of his old Ignatius High School friends - within limits. Dixit didn't want to mediate a business dispute among his former classmates turned mortgage fraudsters and their psychopathic business partner especially on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He didn't think the psycho would carry a loaded gun into a business ...