Travel writing, journalism and essays from more than ten years of exploring the Middle East. Compassionate, engaged and observant, Matthew Teller listens to people. In 27 stories from thirteen countries, he takes us from the heart of the region's biggest cities-Cairo, Riyadh, Dubai-to the furthest reaches of deserts and mountains in a quest for personal connections and human understanding. Author and documentary-maker Teller carries us along with beautiful writing about unique people and places. Track the fabled Arabian oryx from the edge of extinction to a celebrated return to its natural habitats. Explore the legendary souks of pre-war Damascus and Aleppo on a Syrian food tour like no other. Climb the peaks of Iraqi Kurdistan to discover an ancient citadel reinventing itself for the 21st century. In Kuwait he meets a community pushed to the edge of society. In Jordan he spends time with a master winemaker. Teller introduces marginalised communities of Egypt on a River Nile journey that breaks new ground, and hears from Qataris, Palestinians and Omanis who are pushing new cultural boundaries to bring change to their countries.

With eye-opening statistics, original data, and vivid portraits of people who live alone, renowned sociologist Eric Klinenberg upends conventional wisdom to deliver the definitive take on how the rise of going solo is transforming the American experience. Klinenberg shows that most single dwellers—whether in their twenties or eighties—are deeply engaged in social and civic life. There's even evidence that people who live alone enjoy better mental health and have more environmentally sustainable lifestyles. Drawing on more than three hundred in-depth interviews, Klinenberg presents a revelatory examination of the most significant demographic shift since the baby boom and offers surprising insights on the benefits of this epochal change.

The instant New York Times bestseller and publishing phenomenon: Marina Keegan’s posthumous collection of award-winning essays and stories “sparkles with talent, humanity, and youth” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of writing that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story “Cold Pastoral” was published on NewYorker.com. Her essay “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” was excerpted in the Financial Times, and her book was the focus of a Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times. Millions of her contemporaries have responded to her work on social media. As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful” (People).