In the summer of 1942, Eve Halverson assumes her dead sister’s identity and leaves behind her small-town life in Washington for the promise of something new in San Pedro, California. Determined to support the war effort, she takes a job at a boot factory, stepping into an unfamiliar world of sweat, steel, and camaraderie. Among the women on the factory floor, she finds resilience, laughter, and unexpected friendships that begin to reshape her understanding of the world—and herself....

Honoring 25 Years of Gunning for Ho: This special edition contains a new preface by the author, revisiting the stories of Vietnam and offering fresh insights and reflections.In this rich and varied collection of short stories (six stories & one novella), former Green Beret H. Lee Barnes deals with the war itself and with its aftermath, but his stories focus more on the human aspects of men in armed conflict and families at home than on the...

The glitter and excitement that tourists associate with casinos is only a facade. To the gaming industry's front-line employees, its dealers, the casino is a far less glamorous environment, a workplace full of emotional tension, physical and mental demands, humor and pathos. Author H. Lee Barnes, who spent many years as a dealer in some of Las Vegas's best-known casinos, shows us this world from the point of view of the table-games dealer. Told in the voices of dozens of dealers, male and ...

Unfolding from the bygone era of 1950s Las Vegas through the turbulent decades that followed, this epic novel examines the universal search for identity and reward in a world where the good life always seems out of reach. The streets of early Las Vegas are a tough place for a boy to grow up. Pete Elkins is fatherless, living in a cramped apartment with his mother, a party-girl with a penchant for falling in love with the wrong kind of man; and his older sister, who has grown up too fast fr...

The Gambler’s Apprentice tells the story of a teenage boy growing up in Texas during desperate times. Willy, wise and capable beyond his years, learns the gambler’s trade and experiences adventures that demand quick wits—and sometimes violent actions. This is a multilayered story, full of Old West motifs such as cattle-rustling and gunfights along with more modern twists.Starting with a cattle-rustling scheme involving his father, Willy embarks on a life of crime early, ev...

In the seven stories and novella of Minimal Damage, veterans search for dignity in a civilian life that has no need for men who were soldiers. Finding themselves psychically scarred, in crisis, on the fringes of society, or in battle with their memories, these men are living "like warts on America's ass." The characters range from the enigmatic Mr. K, who runs a reality television show and once led an escape from a Korean pow camp, to the doomed Billy Debecki, who regains his dign...

Jude is a Las Vegas casino dealer who barely survived the deadly MGM fire in 1980. More than two decades later, he’s still dealing, a tired, middle-aged man, divorced, struggling with debt, and trying to be a good father to his children. Then he loses his job and his car is totaled in an accident. When an attractive woman friend offers to help him get another job, Jude is happy to go along. Gradually, he realizes that his new job is part of an elaborate scheme to cheat a casino and that hi...

In this rich and varied collection of short stories (six stories & one novella), former Green Beret Lee Barnes deals with the war itself and with its aftermath, but his stories focus more on the human aspects of men in armed conflict and families at home than on the violent drama or political aspects of that war.

The Future Is OurselvesThe world is rapidly changing. We surf future-shock every day, as the progress of technology races ever on. Increasingly we are asking: how do we change to live in the world to come?Whether it’s climate change, inundated coastlines and drowned cities; the cramped confines of a tin can hurtling through space to the outer reaches of our Solar System; or the rush of being uploaded into cyberspace, our minds and bodies are going to have t...

Since it was founded in 1982, The Wire magazine has covered a vast range of alternative, experimental, underground and non-mainstream music. Now some of that knowledge has been distilled into The Wire Primers: a comprehensive guide to the core recordings of some of the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical musicians on the planet, past and present. Each chapter surveys the musical universe of a particular artist, group or genre by way of a contextualizing i...

Fifteen climate experts combine forces to present a plan for slowing and ultimately preventing further destruction to our planet.As governments and businesses continue to set climate goals for reducing carbon emissions and slowing global warming, scientists, engineers, and policymakers are using cutting-edge research to introduce new climate technologies and strategies for achieving and potentially surpassing these goals.Presented by world-leading climate s...

Conflict Resolution in Asia: Mediation and Other Cultural Models is an exploration of human interaction, conflict, and conflict resolution in the incredibly diverse region that consists of South, East, and Southeast Asia. It examines how traditional, indigenous, and culturally based conflict resolution processes interact with more formal legal systems to build infrastructures that address conflicts at the interpersonal to international levels in ways that maintain social harmony. This book...