A pot roast left unguarded. An open bedroom door. An ill-timed squat. Dogs seem to have impeccable timing. Yet how quickly calamity turns to comedy in the company of a dog, and the wrong moment turns out to be just the right one.In this delightful follow-up to Dog Is My Co-Pilot, which won the Best Book of the Year award from the Dog Writers Association of America, the editors of The Bark bring together more stories, essays, and artwork that highlight the hilarity...

There is no greater joy than seeing a beloved dog smile. Whether they're greeting us at the door, romping with their pals, or celebrating a birthday, their happiness is completely infectious. Do dogs really smile? We set out to prove this idea after a reader of The Bark sent in a photo of her grinning dog, with a suggestion for a contest ... and, the Smiling Dog contest was born. So for the past eight years, enthusiastic dog lovers everywhere have been sending in photographs of th...

If they could see us today, our forefathers would be spluttering into their pint glasses, wondering where it all went wrong. Happy to be spoon-fed on a diet of blandness, buzzwords and uniformity, in the last 20 years our society has become more insular, selfish and ignorant than ever before. Welcome to the new super-sized, dumbed-down Britain.Covering topics that will resonate across the UK, including: voter apathy; the growth of social media; the smoking ban; ignorance of the food we eat...

“Really, what other book would anyone ever need?” —Naomi Shihab Nye, author of Honeybee“Elegant and exquisite.” —Deepak Chopra, author of Muhammad, Jesus, and BuddhaThe Big Red Book is a poetic masterpiece from Jalaluddin Rumi, the medieval Sufi mystic whom Time magazine calls “the most popular poet in America.” Readers continue to be awed and inspired by Rumi’s masterfully lyrical, deeply expressive spiritual poetry, co...

Drunk with the Divine, Rumi wrote 20,000 poems of mystical, ineffable love of God. "There is a ferocity in his longing that maybe we don't understand," says Barks. Listen in and understand a little better. A wondrous, exhilarating look at the exultant poetry of Jelaluddin Rumi, the 13th century Sufi poet, with Coleman Barks.Coleman Barks taught poetry at the University of Georgia for many years, and is translator of The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems (HarperSanFra...

A masturbation meditation to use on your own or with a partnerThe sun laps though the palm trees as your wake from an afternoon nap on a deserted beach. Your boyfriend is lying next to you, an erection tight against his swim shorts. Leaning over to reach into your bag, you lift your ass in the air and your back arches seductively as you move. He takes the bait immediately and slips his hands into your bikini top to slowly massage your nipples; you're all alone, after all...

A year with the sensual, mysterious, and deeply spiritual poetry of Rumi, in a translation featuring 15 debut poems—365 poems for your daily dose of inspiration, spiritual healing, and deep self-reflectionThis stunning collection is a divine journey across each month of the year, offering 365 daily poetry reflections that with leave you both breathless and hopeful. Poet Coleman Barks has played a central role in making the Sufi mystic Rumi the most popular...

In the quiet of the forest, the darkest fears are born.The people of Dunballan, harbour a dark secret. A secret more terrible than the Beast that stalks the dense forests of Dunballan. A secret that holds David McCavendish, last in a long line of Lairds, in its unbreakable grip.It's down to Sally, David's lover, to free David from the sinister clutches of the Beast. But, with the whole town against her, she must ally herself with an

This deep conversation between Michael Toms and Coleman Barks will take you into the heart of approaching the divine and why we all love Rumi's poetry.

A masturbation meditation to use on your own or with a partnerYou've made a huge mistake at work and your furious boss has demanded you meet him back at the office tomorrow - Saturday - morning. The tension rises as you work together to finish the presentation and when he refuses to let you leave, something inside you snaps. He's still mad at you; is there anything you can do to make it up to him?The sexual partner is arrogant. Sexy checklist: masturbation, blow jo...

A masturbation meditation to use on your own or with a partnerThe thumping bass reverberates through your body as you dance in the sweaty living room of a house party. You can feel someone's eyes on the back of your neck and look round to catch the perpetrator. He orders you to follow him outside into the dark forest, where he pushes you up against the nearest true and growls 'I want you to be mine.'The sexual partner is frightening. Sexy checklist: vaginal penetra...

The poems inHummingbird Sleep move associatively between Coleman Barks's personal experience and his extensive reading, weaving together a wild and eclectic range of material. A discussion of Plotinus, Barks's appearance on PBS NewsHour, a note Keats once left on Wordsworth's mantelpiece, a splinter in the heel, and a quote from the Upanishads-all make their way into Barks's most recent poems, which achieve intimacy and expansiveness at the same time.