Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: zeitoun
Number of Pages: 342
Published: 2009-07-15
List price: $24.00
ISBN-10: 1934781630
ISBN-13: 9781934781630

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared. Eggers’s riveting nonfiction book, three years in the making, explores Zeitoun’s roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy — an American who converted to Islam — and their children, and the surreal atmosphe

Author: Nick Hornby
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: money, wrote, shakespeare
Number of Pages: 200
Published: 2008-12-01
List price: $14.00
ISBN-10: 1934781290
ISBN-13: 9781934781296

With an affectionate introduction by Sarah Vowell, this is the third and final collection of columns by celebrated novelist Nick Hornby from The Believer magazine. Hornby’s monthly reading diary is unlike any arts column in any other publication; it discusses cultural artifacts the way they actually exist in people’s lives. Hornby is a voracious and unapologetic reader, and his notes on books — highbrow and otherwise — are always accessible and hilarious.

Authors:Dr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey, Benny Haggis-on-Whey,
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: fusion, cold
Number of Pages: 64
Published: 2009-01-27
List price: $18.00
ISBN-10: 1934781215
ISBN-13: 9781934781210

For many years the scientific and educational communities have wondered and worried about the possibility that semi-sane scholar-pretenders would find the means to publish a series of reference books aimed at children but filled with ludicrous misinformation. These books would be distributed through respectable channels and would inevitably find their way into the hands and households of well-meaning families, who would go to them for facts but instead find bizarre untruths. The books would look normal enough but would read as if written by people who should not have written them. Sadly, that

Authors:Jose da Fonseca, Pedro Carolino, Paul Collins,
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: english, entirely, unknown, collins, library, men, written, spoke, comprehensive, phrasebook, language
Number of Pages: 151
Published: 2004-06-20
List price: $9.00
ISBN-10: 1932416110
ISBN-13: 9781932416114

In 1855, when Jose da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino wrote an English phrasebook for Portuguese students, they faced just one problem: they didn’t know any English. Even worse, they didn’t own an English-to-Portuguese dictionary. What they did have, though, was a Portuguese-to-French dictionary, and a French-to-English dictionary. The linguistic train wreck that ensued is a classic of unintentional humor, now revived in the first newly selected edition in a century. Armed with Fonseca and Carolino’s guide, a Portuguese traveler can insult a barber ("What news tell me? All hairs d

Authors:J. Storer Clouston, Paul Collins,
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: library, collins, large, lunatic
Number of Pages: 150
Published: 2007-03-02
List price: $18.00
ISBN-10: 1932416706
ISBN-13: 9781932416701

The best-bred lunatics in England live in Clankwood, and Francis Beveridge is that community’s newest resident. Rather than attending the asylum’s Saturday dances, though, Beveridge goes on the lam in London. And thus, when a traveling German noble finds himself at the luxurious Hotel Mayonnaise without a guide to England’s customs, who better to escort him than the amnesiac Englishman who materializes by his side? Beveridge provides the German with much useful knowledge, like giving a splendid tutor in bringing rail stations to a standstill, revealing the best way to fake a

Authors:Dr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey, Benny Haggis-on-Whey,
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: giraffes
Number of Pages: 64
Published: 2008-02-28
List price: $18.00
ISBN-10: 1932416978
ISBN-13: 9781932416978

For many years the scientific and educational communities have wondered and worried about the possibility that semi-sane scholar-pretenders would find the means to publish a series of reference books aimed at children but filled with ludicrous misinformation. These books would be distributed through respectable channels and would inevitably find their ways into the hands and households of well-meaning families, who would go to them for facts but instead find bizarre untruths. The books would look normal enough, but would read as if written by people who have eaten too many lead-based paint chi

Author: Evany Thomas
Publisher: McSweeney’s
Keywords: guide, couple, sleep, language, secret
Number of Pages: 95
Published: 2006-03-30
List price: $15.00
ISBN-10: 1932416471
ISBN-13: 9781932416473

What does the way a couple sleeps together say about the health of their relationship, the depths of their feelings, or their chance of a future together? Bodies at rest can provide valuable and also fascinating insight into a couple’s true desires and emotions. With easy-to-follow instructions, full-color diagrams, and in-depth historical analysis, The Secret Language of Sleep helps couples interpret the signals that their bodies send while intertwined in slumber. It starts by offering deeper understanding of old favorites such as "Paper Dolls" and "Big C, Little c," then invites couple