Special occasions deserve special words--phrases more eloquent than we ourselves could compose. This lavishly illustrated collection includes some of the best readings ever created to mark births and birthdays, engagements and weddings, retirements and deaths. Arranged by theme, it includes writers ranging from Shakespeare and Wordsworth to Whitman, Angelou, and Dr. Seuss, as well as Apache prayers and Irish blessings.--

Prepare yourself for an unparalleled sensory experience. Filmed over a period of almost five years and in twenty-five countries, it explores the wonders of the world from sacred grounds to industrial sites, looking into the unfathomable reaches of man's spirituality and the human experience. Photographed entirely in 70mm and transferred to 4K digital projection format, its mesmerizing images of unprecedented clarity illuminate the links between humanity...

The quinceañera, the fifteenth birthday celebration for a Latina girl, is quickly becoming an American event. This legendary party is a sight to behold: lavish ball gowns, extravagant catered meals, DJs, limousines, and multi-tiered cakes. The must-haves for a "quince" are becoming as numerous and costly as a prom or wedding. And yet, this elaborate ritual also hearkens back to traditions from native countries and communities, offering young Latinas...

"A young man journeys into Sri Lanka's formerly war-torn north, and into a country's soul, in this searing novel of love and the legacy of war from the award-winning author of The Story of a Brief Marriage. "The closest we seem to get to the present are those brief moments we stop to consider the spaces our bodies are occupying, the warmth of the sheets in which we wake, the scratched surface of the window on a train taking us somewhere else..." A...

When Gerry, the beloved Williams patriarch, dies suddenly, his grandchildren flock from across the country to the family home in Eulalia, Georgia. But when Gerry's best friend steps up to the microphone to deliver his eulogy, the funeral turns out unlike anyone expected. The cousins, left reeling and confused, cope with their fresh grief and various private dramas. Delia, recently heartbroken, refuses to shut up about her ex. Her sister Alice, usually...

The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. In 2007, the Mobile Carnival Association (MCA)--an all-white organization--and the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (MAMGA)--an all-black organization--select their own separate king, queen, and royal court to represent the city. This lively and revealing portrait of life in the New South examines how blacks and whites coexist peaceably enough but rarely interact, are segregated...

"Struggling musician Erik Dieter returns home for his mother's funeral and, under strange circumstances, finds a photograph of a late sixties jazz musician. The search for this musican's identity will soon become an obsession that will take Erik down the spiralling depths of his ambitions--a journey that will erode his faith in reality, forcing him to confront the horrors of his own great expectations."--Page [4] of cover.

Video shows the link between modern naturopathic medicine and the ritual ceremony and spiritual traditions of Native American Medicine.

"The classic short story--now in full color. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" continues to thrill and unsettle readers nearly seven decades after it was first published. By turns puzzling and harrowing, it raises troubling questions about conformity, tradition, and the specter of ritualized violence that haunts even the most bucolic, peaceful village. This graphic adaptation, published in time for Jackson's centennial, allows readers to experience...

'This is how we carried out of Africa the poor broken body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David Livingstone, so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own land.' So begins Petina Gappah's powerful novel of exploration and adventure in nineteenth-century Africa--the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone's body, his papers and maps, fifteen hundred miles across the continent of...