The Pleasure of My Company

Author: Steve Martin
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 1401398804
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 139

Book Description
From the bestselling author of Shopgirl comes the tender story of a troubled man who finds love, and life, in the most unexpected place. Daniel resides in his Santa Monica apartment, living much of his life as a bystander: He watches from his window as the world goes by, and his only relationships seem to be with people who barely know he exists. He passes the time idly filling out contest applications, counting ceiling tiles, and estimating the wattage of light bulbs. It is through Daniel's growing attachment to Clarissa, and to Teddy, that he finally gains the courage to begin to engage the world outside, and in doing so, he discovers love, and life, in the most surprising places. Filled with his trademark humor, tenderness, and out and out hilarious wordplay, The Pleasure of My Company is a tour de force sure to delight all of Steve Martin's fans.

The Pleasure of His Company

Author: Dutch Sheets
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441261117
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Book Description
Experience God's Presence in a Whole New Way There's just something about people who are close to God. Through the ups and downs of life, they remain secure, hopeful. If you want a more rewarding spiritual life, if you want the pleasure of knowing your Creator's heart, this soul-lifting book is for you. Learn from Dutch Sheets as he shares his life lessons for cultivating an intimate relationship with God. Each of the thirty short chapters reveals a simple practice or biblical mindset that will help draw you away from the noise of life and into the Lord's peaceful presence. With profound insights from the Bible and stories you won't soon forget, The Pleasure of His Company is like a spiritual mentor, showing you simple ways to enjoy God more. This powerful book can also be enjoyed as a daily devotional.

The Debt to Pleasure

Author: John Lanchester
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312420369
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
A "New York Times" Notable Book, "The Debt to Pleasure" is a wickedly funny ode to food as the novel's snobbish narrator instructs readers in his philosophy on everything from the erotics of dislike to the psychology of the menu.

It's Been A Business Doing Pleasure With You

Author: Jeff Snyder
Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
ISBN: 1619844362
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
IT'S BEEN A BUSINESS DOING PLEASURE WITH YOU is my autobiography of being a high profile gay escort, from early military upbringing and its clashes with my young gay identity, to tales of leaving home under threat of shotgun. Going out into the world I made my way to find a niche of survival, only to discover soon afterwards that I had something far harder to survive, a virus called HIV. With the lost lives of friends, lovers, and dogs, I met many in my Hollywood movie like life, famous and not so famous. In my pursuit of happiness I often found myself as shaman to many souls, some lost. Sometimes sex was the last thing required, instead many needed to be held or touched, and to be reassured of their humanity. This was not lost to me, I embraced it, as kindness was healing. Rounding out my years in the oldest profession are some bits of wisdom, folly, and finally closure with my father after years of distance with his gay son.

This Is Pleasure

Author: Mary Gaitskill
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 1524749141
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 97

Book Description
Starting with Bad Behavior in the 1980s, Mary Gaitskill has been writing about gender relations with searing, even prophetic honesty. In This Is Pleasure, she considers our present moment through the lens of a particular #MeToo incident. The effervescent, well-dressed Quin, a successful book editor and fixture on the New York arts scene, has been accused of repeated unforgivable transgressions toward women in his orbit. But are they unforgivable? And who has the right to forgive him? To Quin’s friend Margot, the wrongdoing is less clear. Alternating Quin’s and Margot’s voices and perspectives, Gaitskill creates a nuanced tragicomedy, one that reveals her characters as whole persons—hurtful and hurting, infuriating and touching, and always deeply recognizable. Gaitskill has said that fiction is the only way that she could approach this subject because it is too emotionally faceted to treat in the more rational essay form. Her compliment to her characters—and to her readers—is that they are unvarnished and real. Her belief in our ability to understand them, even when we don’t always admire them, is a gesture of humanity from one of our greatest contemporary writers.

The Pleasure Was Mine

Author: Tommy Hays
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1429905301
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
Prate Marshbanks proposed to his future wife on a muggy July night at Pete's Drive-in back in '52. "She said yes to me between bites of a slaw burger all-the-way." A college graduate and daughter of a prominent lawyer, Irene was an unlikely match for Prate, a high school dropout. He lived his married life aware of the question on people's minds: How in the world did a tall, thin, fair-skinned beauty and one of the most respected high school English teachers in all of Greenville County, in all of South Carolina for that matter, wind up married to a short, dark, fat-faced, jug-eared house painter? That their marriage not only survived for fifty years, but flourished, is a source of constant wonder to Prate. Now he faces a new challenge with Irene. From the author of In The Family Way, a novel the Atlanta Constitution called "an instant classic" and the Charlotte Observer praised as "a lovely, moving book," comes a powerful story of hard-earned hope. The Pleasure Was Mine takes place during a critical summer in the life of Prate Marshbanks, when he retires to care for his wife, who is gradually slipping away. To complicate things, Prate's son, Newell, a recently widowed single father, asks Prate to keep nine-year-old Jackson for the summer. Though Prate is irritated by the presence of his moody grandson, during the summer Jackson helps tend his grandmother, and grandfather and grandson form a bond. As Irene's memory fades, Prate, a hardworking man who has kept to himself most of his life, has little choice but to get to know his family. With elegance and skillful economy of language, Tommy Hays renders an unforgettable character in Prate Marshbanks. The Pleasure Was Mine is at once a quietly wrenching portrayal of grief, a magical and romantic story about the power of love, and an unexpectedly moving take on the resilience of family.

Born Standing Up

Author: Steve Martin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1847395848
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Book Description
Steve Martin has been an international star for over thirty years. Here, for the first time, he looks back to the beginning of his career and charmingly evokes the young man he once was. Born in Texas but raised in California, Steve was seduced early by the comedy shows that played on the radio when the family travelled back and forth to visit relatives. When Disneyland opened just a couple of miles away from home, an enchanted Steve was given his first chance to learn magic and entertain an audience. He describes how he noted the reaction to each joke in a ledger - 'big laugh' or 'quiet' - and assiduously studied the acts of colleagues, stealing jokes when needed. With superb detail, Steve recreates the world of small, dark clubs and the fear and exhilaration of standing in the spotlight. While a philosophy student at UCLA, he worked hard at local clubs honing his comedy and slowly attracting a following until he was picked up to write for TV. From here on, Steve Martin became an acclaimed comedian, packing out venues nationwide. One night, however, he noticed empty seats and realised he had 'reached the top of the rollercoaster'. BORN STANDING UP is a funny and riveting chronicle of how Steve Martin became the comedy genius we now know and is also a fascinating portrait of an era.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

Author: Richard P. Feynman
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465013120
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
This collection from scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner highlights the achievements of a man whose career reshaped the world's understanding of quantum electrodynamics. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman-from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science-a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will fascinate anyone interested in the world of ideas.

It's My Pleasure

Author: Dee Ann Turner
Publisher: Elevate Publishing
ISBN: 1943425345
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description
Businesses are built by growing relationships with customers. Culture is created by the stories those relationships tell. Two of the most important differentiators of a business are its talent and its culture. Talent energized by a compelling culture will drive organizational success and provide innovative growth opportunities for both the business and the individual. Based on her more than thirty years at Chick-fil-A, most of which have been spent as Vice President, Corporate Talent, Dee Ann Turner shares how Chick-fil-A has built a devoted talent and fan base that spans generations. It's My Pleasure tells powerful stories and provides practical applications on how to develop extraordinary talent able to build and/or stimulate a company's culture.

The Pleasure of Your Company

Author: Molly O'Neill
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
With menus, game plans, and 150 recipes, O'Neill charts the waters of a new era in American home entertaining, with style, substance, and wit. She distills the fears and aspirations of anyone who would entertain into five characters who reconcile their trepidations and their grand desires with the realities of modern life. Meet Mr. D., the Manhattan caterer, mourning the demise of baby vegetables and high profits; Johanna, a recovering hostess with the mostest; and Nan, so daunted by recipes and health concerns that she has developed acute cook's block. This romp through changing social mores is a guide to everything from backyard barbecues to orchestrating a sit-down meal, from engineering brilliant conversation to accommodating the dietary constraints of modern guests. Part novel, part cookbook, part self-help, part social satire, The Pleasure of Your Company is the rare book about home entertaining that manages to be both amusing and a practical guide for the novice as well as the experienced hostess.