It Only Hurts When I Cry

I chose the title It Only Hurts When I Cry because when I was a child, and I was being physically beaten, or back then they would call it discipline, I refuse to cry. Because in my mind, if I cried, the pain would come, so I build an exterior wall around myself and refused to submit to the pain. Therein was where the title It Only Hurts When I Cry came from. I know truly now that that was just a coping mechanism. That enabled me to survive emotionally, mentally, and physically. But for me, the words were just so powerful that I chose to title my first memoir about my tumultuous upbringing It Only Hurts When I Cry by Lisa Bethel-Young.

This bestselling "lyrical, moving book: part essay, part memoir, part surprising cultural study" is an examination of why we cry, how we cry, and what it means to cry from a woman on the cusp of motherhood confronting her own depression (The New York Times Book Review). Heather Christle has just lost a dear friend to suicide and now must reckon with her own depression and the birth of her first child. As she faces her grief and impending parenthood, she decides to research the act of crying: what it is and why people do it, even if they rarely talk about it. Along the way, she discovers an artist who designed a frozen–tear–shooting gun and a moth that feeds on the tears of other animals. She researches tear–collecting devices (lachrymatories) and explores the role white women’s tears play in racist violence. Honest, intelligent, rapturous, and surprising, Christle’s investigations look through a mosaic of science, history, and her own lived experience to find new ways of understanding life, loss, and mental illness. The Crying Book is a deeply personal tribute to the fascinating strangeness of tears and the unexpected resilience of joy.

We know the what of suffering, but we don’t always understand the why. Regardless of our age, ability, or attitude, we wonder what purpose it accomplishes. Is pain a part of some immutable law of the universe as is the law of gravity? Has it always existed? Will it continue to hound our steps as long as we live? Does it serve any good purpose? Some partial answers to these very basic questions will be attempted in the pages to follow—partial, I say, because the full reason for pain and suffering remains a dark, undeclared secret, locked in the bosom of God, to be revealed only on the other side of eternity. This book deals with the suffering experienced by the child of God. Such horrors as the Nazi holocaust, the starvation of millions of innocent children in the world, the horrors of war, or other tragedies demand their own explanations. Right now, let us limit ourselves to a discussion of pain and sorrow in the lives of believers

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American—“in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself” (NPR). • CELEBRATING OVER ONE YEAR ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother's tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band--and meeting the man who would become her husband--her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her. Vivacious and plainspoken, lyrical and honest, Zauner's voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, and complete with family photos, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.

Crying has fascinated mankind for millenia. Since ancient times, we have known that emotional tears are a unique human characteristic. Unsurprisingly, over hundreds of years, scholars from different backgrounds have speculated about the origin and functions of human tears. According to Charles Darwin, tears fulfilled no adaptive function. And yet, this seems in sharp contrast to statements in the popular media about the significance of crying. Crying is thought to bring relief and is considered healthy - and withholding tears unhealthy. In addition, tears have been said to inhibit aggression in assaulters and to promote social bonding. Perhaps that could explain why tears have been so important in our evolution. Ad Vingerhoets is one of the few scientists in the world to have studied crying. He examines in Why only humans weep which claims about crying are scientifically tenable - which are fact and which are fiction? Though a psychologist, he doesn't just restrict himself to the current psychological literature, but also explores work in evolutionary biology, neurosciences, theology, art, history, and anthropology to provide an integrated perspective on this complex phenomenon. Written throughout in an academically accessible style, this book is groundbreaking in contributing to a modern scientific understanding of crying. It will have broad appeal to psychologists, psychiatrists, philosophers, biologists, and anthropologists.

“They say comedy equals tragedy plus time: This very funny account of an often miserable childhood is proof.” --People “What a strong, funny, heartbreaking memoir, with a voice that is completely its own (written by a woman who very much seems to be completely her own, as well.) I loved it.”--Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love An uproarious, moving memoir about a grandmother’s ferocious love and redefining what it means to be family “If you fight that motherf**ker and you don’t win, you’re going to come home and fight me.” Not the advice you’d normally expect from your grandmother—but Danielle Henderson would be the first to tell you her childhood was anything but conventional. Abandoned at ten years old by a mother who chose her drug-addicted, abusive boyfriend, Danielle was raised by grandparents who thought their child-rearing days had ended in the 1960s. She grew up Black, weird, and overwhelmingly uncool in a mostly white neighborhood in upstate New York, which created its own identity crises. Under the eye-rolling, foul-mouthed, loving tutelage of her uncompromising grandmother—and the horror movies she obsessively watched—Danielle grew into a tall, awkward, Sassy-loving teenager who wore black eyeliner as lipstick and was struggling with the aftermath of her mother’s choices. But she also learned that she had the strength and smarts to save herself, her grandmother gifting her a faith in her own capabilities that the world would not have most Black girls possess. With humor, wit, and deep insight, Danielle shares how she grew up and grew wise—and the lessons she’s carried from those days to these. In the process, she upends our conventional understanding of family and redefines its boundaries to include the millions of people who share her story.

"It Only Hurts When I Rhyme" is a collection of the best poems by talk-radio poet Tarzana Joe. Joe takes on politics and politicians with rhyme and humor on topics that range from electric cars to tooth decay. Delight your conservative friends or annoy your liberal ones. It's a book they won't be able to put down--except to toss it across the room.

“[A] compulsively readable biography . . . Essential for fans of Yoakam and lovers of good music writing.” ―Library Journal From his formative years playing pure hardcore honky-tonk for mid-’80s Los Angeles punk rockers through his subsequent surge to the top of the country charts, Dwight Yoakam has enjoyed a singular career. An electrifying live performer, superb writer, and virtuosic vocalist, he’s successfully bridged two musical worlds that usually have little use for each other: commercial country and its alternative/Americana/roots-rocking counterpart. Defying the label “too country for rock, too rock for country,” Yoakam has triumphed while many of his peers have had to settle for cult acceptance. Four decades into his career, he’s sold more than twenty-five million records and continues to tour regularly. Now award-winning music journalist Don McLeese offers the first musical biography of this acclaimed artist. Tracing the seemingly disparate influences in Yoakam’s music, McLeese shows how he’s combined rock and roll, rockabilly, country, blues, and gospel into a seamless whole. In particular, McLeese explores the essential issue of “authenticity” and how it applies to Yoakam, as well as to country music and popular culture in general. Drawing on wide-ranging interviews with Yoakam and his management, while also benefiting from the perspectives of others closely associated with his success (including producer-guitarist Pete Anderson, partner throughout Yoakam’s most popular and creative decades), Dwight Yoakam pays tribute to the musician who has established himself as a visionary beyond time, an artist who could title an album Tomorrow’s Sounds Today and deliver it.

Syndicated gay humorist Kevin Isom is back—with more hilarious and thought-provoking takes on queer life. In this follow-up to his book Tongue in Cheek and Other Places: A Seriously Humorous Look at Queer Life, Isom takes a cue from his latest interest—couples dancing—and looks at queer life as a dance. From chapters like Couples Waltz (a mostly upbeat dance with occasional dips and unexpected turns) to Last Tango (when your dance partnership has exceeded its sell-by date), and from Lead or Follow (stereotypes just can’t boogie) to Queer as Polka (sometimes it’s just plain odd), Isom shows us a Dancin’ Queen who knows how to get into the gay groove. Tap your toe to the rhythm, and read on, baby! Kevin Isom is the author of Tongue in Cheek and Other Places: A Seriously Humorous Look at Queer Life. His syndicated humor column, “Tongue in Cheek,” appears in gay and lesbian newspapers and magazines across the United States, Australia, and Canada. His upcoming book is a novel titled Like Fruit on the Vine, and he may be reached at [email protected].

This is an inspirational nonfiction narrative of life during the great depression as viewed through the absorbing eyes and inquisitive mind of a child and his dog. It is a vibrant word portrait of the non-martyr life of a coal miner's son, his extended family, and the people of the anthracite coal region when the economy of our nation was at low ebb. It portrays, contrasts, and harmonizes the values, principles, life styles, and the multicultural ethnic customs and mores, of the Polish, Irish, Welch, English, and Jewish nationalities living in the northeastern region of Pennsylvania during the 1930s. It presents a society that was less complex than the one we currently live in; it exhibits personal support that was given warmly and with less formality and expense than we experience today. It is an interesting mixture of tragedy, joy, and humor emerged in a secure way of life.