David Benjamin pays homage to the exuberance of countless untamed boys who grew up in Middle America at mid-century.Whether he's stalking snakes in the bogs of Wisconsin, playing four-kid baseball with his bothersome little brother and two favorite cousins, leaping garbage cans for a beautiful little redheaded girl, or joining Chucky Dutcher for a movie marathon at the Erwin Theater, Benjamin is the kind of precocious ironist who would have found a sidekick in Huck Finn.His...

The story of Jonah is sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths and remains a recognizable legend even in the most secularized corners of the West. And yet the maritime prophet's story has been trivialized as a quaint children's tale, his character has been blasted by unsympathetic commentators, and even his alleged tomb has now been destroyed by Islamic State militants who, in 2014, took the city of Mosul on the Nineveh Plains. Now that Nineveh is once again in the grip of tyrannical violence ...

Burning crosses on lawns and swastikas on Jewish graves?These are outrages wildly out of place in neighborly Hercules, Wis. But when a rash of hate crimes strikes, villagers turn to ex-police chief Jim Otis for help. Trouble is, after a scandal over a high-school cheerleader, Jim's no longer a cop. The crimes spiral beyond the new police chief's control. Suspicion focuses on Norman Klinghofer, who lives quietly in a historic family compound atop Bastard's Bluff. When Norman is fing...

How organizations can rapidly, practically, effectively and repeatedly deal with complexity. Solving complex issues in days.The revolutionary process at the heart of Cracking Complexity is backed by empirical research from the authors' work with world-leading companies whose experiences will serve as case-studies.Komlos and Benjamin's approach harnesses disparate views from inside and outside of an organization, including front-line employees, form...

David Benjamin Blower's first book was devised as 100-odd pages of liner notes accompanying his latest musical output. But what he and musical comrades the Army of the Broken Hearted have been communicating for years, on stages and in alleyways throughout Birmingham and the UK, found new, vociferous life as it spilled into the written word. Kingdom vs. Empire emerged as an explosive manifesto for politicised faith in 21st Century Britain.The book reads with the boiled-down intensit...

Sumo is a fresh and funny introduction to the fascinating world of sumo, Japan's national sport. Author David Benjamin peels away the veneer of sumo as a cultural treasure and reveals it as an action-packed sport populated by superb athletes who employ numerous strategies and techniques to overcome their gargantuan opponents. Sumo provides an engaging, witty, behind-the-scenes look at sumo today.

Steve and Mie are a pair of globetrotting journalists, based in Paris, who make up fanciful stories about strangers they see at nearby tables in bistros, bars and brasseries. When they start spinning yarns about a waitress, Mireille, and a down-and-out American novelist named Cavendish, they find themselves peeking into a pair of tempestuous love triangles.One love storm—among Mireille, her possessive lover Serge, and Cavendish—takes place in present-day Paris. The other ill-starre...

Complexity has met its match!Today, every leader and organisation grapples with unprecedented complexity. Some thrive in these situations while the vast majority do not.Now updated for a post-Covid world, David Benjamin and David Komlos share their cutting-edge, highly-engaging step-by-step formula for rapidly cracking incredibly knotty and important challenges, by involving and mobilizing all the right people-no matter where they are-to co-create solutions...

The rarest lost book in history has been found, and stolen all over again, in Paris. Its pursuers include the most diabolical literary criminal in the world, Krisko Krillkin. The man who re-lost the masterpiece, bookseller Chester Quinn, is hopelessly overmatched. Luckily, into his life floats Circe Evans, granddaughter of Paris' most renowned and complacent detective, Homer Evans. Circe assembles a motley, fiercely loyal crew and leads a breakneck dash, strewn with murders, near-murders, ...

Franklin Roosevelt Cribbs' summer job, at an art and music camp in the Wisconsin woods, spiraled into the wildest journey of his life. But this was true for almost anyone in that summer of 1968. Camp Nantoka was a piece of Chicago ripped from its roots and dropped into the woods. While campers came for art and music, their city simmered with racial tension and political turmoil. Thrust into the maelstrom, Cribbsy feels his way, learning fast, arguing, fighting, blundering, falling in love,...

Something is rotten at Hercules High School. Student Heather Sundergard has been caught cheating on the state's most prestigious scholarship exam. One of Heather's teachers, Carol Demeter, has been implicated—and fired by the school board. But Carol happens to be police chief Jim Otis. fiancée. Otis sees the fine hand in this scam of teenage femme fatale Josie Dobbs. But Josie's "back east," in college.Or is she?Jim Otis' struggle to exonerate Carol sends him into ...

Saint Paul, Private Eye!It is written, in Matthew, that Jesus, on the cross, cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"Was this all Jesus said? Who was present to hear him say anything at all? His disciples had fled in fear. Roman soldiers surrounded him. Was there a secret revealed at the Crucifixion — lost forever because there was no one to bear witness?Paul, the "saint" who for ten years tormented the followers of Jesus, suffers visions of the Cruci...