An uproarious, inspiring, and thoroughly engaging memoir by the former Associate Dean at the University of Maryland School of Engineering. With a disarming charm coupled with a gritty determination, Dr. Marilyn Berman Pollans broke down barriers to opportunity and cracked through thick glass ceilings. Her pioneering efforts have resulted in a new generation of women entering the previously male-dominated field of engineering. This jocular and absorbing memoir recounts her struggles, her se...

Bob Mayer has built a stunning edifice, shaped by his own experiences as a builder, a banker, a businessman, a hotel and casino operator, and a world-class real estate entrepreneur. From his modest beginnings as a day laborer amid the post-war Southern California housing boom, to his years as the region’s largest developer of multi-family residential housing, WITHOUT RISK recounts a true American Dream come true. In colorful vignettes, Bob shares many of the amazing and outrageous anecdote...

A bestselling, groundbreaking author investigates successful long term marriages, interviewing wives and their uncensored strategies for staying married.America's high divorce rate is well known. But little attention has been paid to the flip side: couples who creatively (sometimes clandestinely) manage to build marriages that are lasting longer than we ever thought possible. What's the secret? To find out, bestselling journalist Iris Krasnow interviewed more than ...

From Lisa Birnbach, the author of The Official Preppy Handbook, comes True Prep, which looks at how the old guard of natural-fiber-loving, dog-worshipping, G&T-soaked preppies adapts to the new order of the Internet, cell phones, rehab, political correctness, reality TV, and . . . polar fleece.

Bestselling author Delia Ephron shares a deeply personal collection of stories and essays, anchored by a loving remembrance of her sister Nora.In Sister Mother Husband Dog, Delia Ephron brings her trademark wit and effervescent prose to a series of autobiographical essays about life, love, sisterhood, movies, and family. In “Losing Nora,” she deftly captures the rivalry, mutual respect, and intimacy that made up her relationship with her older sister and frequent writing c...

From the beloved and acclaimed novelist, a collection of witty, moving essays.In her two decades of writing, Elinor Lipman has populated her fictional universe with characters so utterly real that we feel like they’re old friends. Now she shares an even more intimate world with us—her own—in essays that offer a candid, charming take on modern life. Looking back and forging ahead, she considers the subjects that matter most: childhood and condiments, long marriage and solo living, career an...

Everyone knows someone who's sick or suffering. Yet when a friend or relative is under duress many of us feel uncertain about how to cope.Throughout her recent bout with breast cancer, Letty Cottin Pogrebin became fascinated by her friends' and family's diverse reactions to her and her illness: how awkwardly some of them behaved; how some misspoke or misinterpreted her needs; and how wonderful it was when people read her right. She began talking to her fellow patie...

More than a decade after the New York Times bestselling anthology The Bitch in the House spoke up loud and clear for a generation of young woman, nine of the original contributors are back—along with sixteen captivating new voices—sharing their ruminations from an older, stronger, and wiser perspective about love, sex, work, family, independence, body-image, health, and aging: the critical flash points of women’s lives today."Born out of anger," the essays in The Bitch in the House...

“The helicopter parent has crashed and burned...Sally Koslow [has] documented a generation so cosseted that they have lost the impetus to grow up or leave home. The over-involved parent has gone from paragon of caring to a figure of fun.”—Lisa Endlich Heffernan, The AtlanticParents once dreamed of dropping their prodigies at first-choice colleges and sighing with relief at a job well done. Nowadays, though, mothers and fathers are stressing about whether J...

Read Bruce Frankel's posts on the Penguin Blog"This wise and inspiring book hands down an important message: Happiness is abundant at any age, and only you can limit your options." -The Boston GlobeIn today's world, the question "What should I do with my life?" only scratches the surface. Now, more and more people-from baby boomers retiring from their "first act" to people in their forties and fifties reconsidering their careers in a recovering eco...

Before you hit the speed dating timed tables, consider the questions you want to ask your dates and be prepared for whatever they throw at you. By going through a comprehensive list of questions beforehand, you'll be ready for anything your speed dating partners want to know. Also included is a history of speed dating and tips to help make the event a positive experience for you.

Something about Olympia Dukakis just speaks to people. In her signature straight-talk style, she tells the story of her own history and career.Olympia Dukakis, internationally known movie and theater star, was born into a Greek family in Lowell, Massachusetts. As a first generation Greek-American, Olympia "lived in the hyphen" and struggled to reconcile her American desires with her family's old-world traditions. ASK ME AGAIN TOMORROW tells the story of Olympia's s...