Run Between The Raindrops

The blood-drenched Navy Corpsman had it right as he labored to keep yet another Marine alive on the mean street of Hue City: “Getting out of Hue alive is like trying to run between raindrops without getting wet.” Nearly half a century has passed since Marine veteran Dale Dye fought in Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. That brutal experience prompted him to write a searing, critically acclaimed novel about the surreal experiences of the battle to wrest control of Vietnam’s ancient Imperial capital from regiments of fanatical North Vietnamese Army soldiers. Now he’s taken a long second look at that fight and revised his original work into an even more powerful narrative of one of the Vietnam War’s most brutal battles. The story is told through the eyes of a veteran Marine Corps Combat Correspondent with the observational skills and off-beat attitude to relate what he sees from the close-quarter, house-to-house meat-grinder of the southside to the epic assault on the enemy-infested walls of the city’s medieval Citadel in a voice that reflects the Code of the Grunt: Just do it—or die trying. There it is.

A book of hilarious and ingenious comic drawings from the popular 30 Rock star and "World Champion" comedian Judah Friedlander, hailed by Tina Fey as "one of the all-time great weirdos." Most Americans know Judah Friedlander from his role as Frank Rossitano on 30 Rock and from appearances in films like American Splendor and The Wrestler. But long before he became a film and TV star and stand-up comic Friedlander drew stuff. Now, in this quirky, hilarious, and surprisingly profound collection of drawings, Friedlander shows a new side to his "terrifically entertaining" (New York Times) comedy. Whether imagining George Washington in Las Vegas, plastic surgery for imperfect triangles, and the Keystone Pipeline as a sex act, Friedlander's "Joodles" push boundaries as they explore the absurdities of American life, sex, and even history and human rights. If the Raindrops United is a milestone in the career of one of America's most inventive comedians. Praise for If the Raindrops United: "Judah has drawn a weird and funny book in the grand '70s tradition of B. Kliban! I think this book will probably fix the world." -- Tina Fey "Some people meditate. Some people masturbate. But if you don't have the time or patience for either of those, I recommend reading If the Raindrops United to calm down, have a little laugh, or a big think." -- Susan Sarandon "I've known Judah for many years and I still don't understand how his mind works, but it sure works. Seriously strange. Seriously funny. A National Treasure. Sadly, I need to get a restraining order against him." -- Paul Giamatti "Judah thank you for writing a funny twisted book. It is such an easy read. Even dum dums like me can enjoy it!!! Buy this book." -- Dave Attell "Judah's drawings are deceptively simple, yet they become more compelling with every page. His talent as an actor/writer/comedian is further conveyed in ANOTHER medium. He's a Quadruple Threat. He wears many hats. Literally." -- Janeane Garofalo "Reading Judah Friedlander's new book is a lot like hanging out with Judah himself: occasionally baffling, frequently thought-provoking, but, most of all, consistently hilarious!" --Mick Foley "To compare Judah Friedlander to a great cartoonist like Jim Davis would be a compliment to Jim Davis." -- Wyatt Cenac "Another hit from The World Champ tackling the signs and symbols you frequently question while dropping hot lava in your American Standard VorMax." -- Eddie Huang

An electric collection of new short stories from the inimitable, bestselling writer of Talk to Me and Outside Looking In In the title story of Walk Between the Raindrops, a woman sits down next to a man at a bar and claims she has ESP. In “Thirteen Days,” passengers on a cruise line are quarantined, to horrifying and hilarious effect. And “Hyena” begins simply: “That was the day the hyena came for him, and never mind that there were no hyenas in the South of France, and especially not in Pont-Saint-Esprit—it was there and it came for him.” A virtuoso of the short form, T.C. Boyle returns with an inventive, uproarious, and masterfully told collection of short stories characterized by biting satire, resonant wit, and a boundless, irrepressible imagination.

The New York Times–bestselling classic set amid the mountains and streams of early twentieth-century Montana, “as beautiful as anything in Thoreau or Hemingway” (Chicago Tribune). When Norman Maclean sent the manuscript of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories to New York publishers, he received a slew of rejections. One editor, so the story goes, replied, “it has trees in it.” Today, the title novella is recognized as one of the great American tales of the twentieth century, and Maclean as one of the most beloved writers of our time. The finely distilled product of a long life of often surprising rapture—for fly-fishing, for the woods, for the interlocked beauty of life and art—A River Runs Through It has established itself as a classic of the American West filled with beautiful prose and understated emotional insights. Based on Maclean’s own experiences as a young man, the book’s two novellas and short story are set in the small towns and mountains of western Montana. It is a world populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, but also one rich in the pleasures of fly-fishing, logging, cribbage, and family. By turns raunchy and elegiac, these superb tales express, in Maclean’s own words, “a little of the love I have for the earth as it goes by.” “Maclean’s book—acerbic, laconic, deadpan—rings out of a rich American tradition that includes Mark Twain, Kin Hubbard, Richard Bissell, Jean Shepherd, and Nelson Algren.” —New York Times Book Review Includes a new foreword by Robert Redford, director of the Academy Award–winning film adaptation

Details the life of Charley Chase—a major force in the shaping of motion picture comedy.

Captain Sad Sam Gerdine is marking time at Camp Pendleton in the summer of 1950. He's finally been given command of the rifle company he worked for with such focus that he lost both his wife and the child he loves. It's not much of a command in the diminished post-World War II Marine Corps, but he's doing his best with an outfit that includes rascals, rejects, and-fortunately-a solid cadre of anxious young officers and savvy, combat-hardened senior NCOs. And then-in the words of Elmore Bates, his competent and colorfully profane Company Gunnery Sergeant-the “defecation strikes the oscillation.” War in Korea and the Marines will be the allied fire brigade against a North Korean juggernaut rolling across the Land of the Morning Calm. In short order, mostly by ignoring rules and regulations, Captain Gerdine proceeds to make Able Company, 5th Marines a combat-ready outfit prepared to face the rigors of war in Korea. From the Pusan Perimeter to the audacious landing at Inchon and on into the frigid, intense combat at the Chosin Reservoir, Sad Sam's Marines mold and meld into a shining example of how U.S. Marines get the job done despite formidable odds.

Before Mother Rabbit's five babies can explore their new world, a sudden rain shower sends the new world in to explore them! A poetic story of exploring nature's wonders for the first time. Full-color illustrations.

Raindrops trickle to the ground. Raindrops fall all around!

From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans' strangest questions. The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical: - What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool? - Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns? - What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City? - Are fire tornadoes possible? His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.

"The surest way to ruin a relationship is to marry the man you love." At least that's what Vanella Morris believes; she's seen the crazy things that marriage makes people do. So when Alton, her longtime boyfriend and love of her life, proposes, Vanella is faced with a dilemma: Unable to convince Alton to skip the vows, does she walk away from happiness because of her fears?