Christopher Robbins

A funny and moving memoir which is also a portrait of one of the last great eccentrics: the Irish film director Brian Desmond Hurst.

"The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in which adventure and heartbreak combine to produce a unique form of wisdom. Boldly escaping Vienna after the Anschluss, having refused to make accommodations for being Jewish, he arrived stateless in France one week before Kristallnacht. But rather than let this most precarious of positions defeat him, Thomas began to fight what was to become a fantastic and ultimately heroic personal war against the forces of barbarism that engulfed his world." "Christopher Robbins has dug deep to explore and substantiate the details of the Michel Thomas story. He has authenticated every episode through camp records, Vichy documents, Resistance papers and U.S. Army reports as well as with hundreds of hours of interviews with the man himself. Today, Michel Thomas teaches languages to inner-city kids, movie stars and heads of industry, succeeding in a matter of days even with people who consider themselves hopeless as linguists. To those who have been taught by him, he seems to have a magical gift for unlocking the secret powers of the mind."--Jacket.

Summary:At first glance, the sisters of ultra-exclusive Kappa Rho Nu - the Ravens - seem like typical sorority girls. Ambitious, beautiful, and smart, they're the most powerful girls on Westerly College's Savannah, Georgia, campus. But the Ravens aren't just regular sorority girls. They're witches. Scarlett Winter has always known she's a witch - and she's determined to be the sorority's president. But if a painful secret from her past ever comes to light, she could lose absolutely everything... Vivi Devereaux has no idea she's a witch. So when she gets a coveted bid to pledge the Ravens, she vows to do whatever it takes to be part of the magical sisterhood. The only thing standing in her way is Scarlett, who doesn't think Vivi is Ravens material. But when a dark power rises on campus, the girls will have to put their rivalry aside to save their fellow sisters. Someone has discovered the Ravens' secret. And that someone will do anything to see these witches burn. -Worldcat

Travel writer Christopher Robbins relates a story by turns hilarious and grim as he finds Eminem-worship by a shrinking Aral Sea, hears the Kazakh John Lennon play in a dusty desert town, joins nomads hunting eagles, eats boiled sheep's head (a delicacy), and explores some of the most beautiful, unspoiled places on earth. Meet the country that gave the world apples, trousers, and possibly King Arthur. --From amazon.com.