The Cannibal Within offers an evolutionary account of the propensity of human beings, in extreme circumstances to eat other human beings, despite the strong Western taboo against such practices. What sets this volume apart from the large body of literature on cannibalism, both popular and anthropological, is the underlying premise: cannibalism as an alternative to starvation is tacitly condoned by the same biological morality that would condemn cannibalism of other sorts in non-threatening situations. Deep as the taboos may be, the survival instinct runs even deeper. The title of the book reflects the author's belief that cannibalism is not a pathology that erupts in psychotic individuals, but is a universal adaptive strategy that is evolutionarily sound. The cannibal is within all of us, and cannibals are within all cultures, should the circumstances demand cannibalism's appearance and usage. Petrinovich's work is rich in historical detail, and rises to a level of theoretical sophistication in addressing a subject too often dealt with in sensationalist terms. The major instances in which survival cannibalism has occurred convinced the author that there is a consistent pattern and a uniform regularity of order in which different kinds of individuals are consumed. In considering who eats whom, when, and under what circumstances, this regularity appears, and it is consistent with what would be expected on the basis of evolutionary or Darwinian theory. In short, he concludes that starvation cannibalism is not a manifestation of the chaotic, psychotic behavior of individuals who are driven to madness, but reveals underlying characteristics of evolved human beings. Lewis Petrinovich is professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology of the University of California, Riverside and is currently a resident of Berkeley, California.

A Favorite Collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales: Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and many more classic stories

Children's Books

Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm

Literature & Fiction

Floris Books

Beside the Golden Door: Policy, Politics, and the Homeless (Social Institutions and Social Change)

James Wright's Address Unknown: The Homeless in America focused on the problem of homelessness during the mid-to-late 1980s, making an important contribution to the then-emerging public debate of a rapidly growing and increasingly visible social problem. Beside the Golden Door updates the story and our knowledge of homelessness through the middle 1990s, advancing the thesis that an emphasis on factors such as mental illness or substance abuse is descriptively accurate but fails as a causal account of the rise of homelessness as a social problem. The authors reject efforts to cast the issue in "either-or" terms, as social structure versus individual deficiencies, arguing that poverty and housing trends have created a situation where some people are destined to be homeless, but personal factors such as mental illness or substance abuse are critical in predicting who those people turn out to be. Beside the Golden Door details numerous dimensions of the homelessness issue: the rise in poverty; the decline of low-income housing; conceptual, measurement, and practical problems of counting the homeless and the Census Bureau's ill-fated 1990 effort to do so; the role of familial estrangement, mental illness, and substance abuse; and health status and behaviors. It concludes with discussions and comparisons of rural versus urban homelessness, street children in North and Latin America, and homelessness in post-industrial societies. The material in Beside the Golden Door will be accessible to undergraduate students and interested lay readers as well as specialists. "Both the content and style of this book make an excellent instructive read for students, practitioners, and scholars, alike."--Social Forces James D. Wright is Charles and Leo Favrot Professor of Human Relations, Department of Sociology, Tulane University and author of over thirteen books including Address Unknown and Crime and Violence in America. Beth A. Rubin is associate professor, Department of Sociology, Tulane University. She is the author of Shifts in the Social Contract: Understanding Change in American Society. Joel A. Devine is professor, Department of Sociology, Tulane University, and coauthor of The Greatest of Evils: Urban Poverty and the American Underclass.

The Town Musicians of Bremen

Müller, Gerda

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

A century ago, Max Weber articulated the animating spirit of the industrial age, the Protestant ethic. This book articulates how hackers (enthusiastic computer programmers who share with others; not computer criminals) represent a new, opposing ethos for the info. age. Underlying hackers tech. creations --such as the Internet & the personal computer -- are the hacker values that produced them. These values promote passionate & freely rhythmed work; the belief that individuals can create great things by joining forces in imaginative ways; & the need to maintain our existing ethical ideals (privacy & equality) in our increasingly technologized society. Takes us on a journey through fundamental questions about life in the info. age.

Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age

Pekka Himanen

In 1999, McCain wrote his best-selling memoir, ''Faith of My Fathers.'' That book ended in 1972, with McCain's release from imprisonment in Vietnam. This is the rest of his story, about his journey from the U.S. Navy to his run for the presidency, interwoven with portraits of the mavericks who have inspired him -- Ted Williams, Theodore Roosevelt, visionary aviation proponent Billy Mitchell, Marlon Brando in ''Viva Zapata!,'' &, most of all, Robert Jordan, Hemingway's protagonist in ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' who showed McCain the ideals of heroism & sacrifice, stoicism & redemption, & why certain causes, despite the costs, are worth the fighting for. This is the story of McCain's causes, the people who made him do it, & the meaning he found. Photos.

Worth the Fighting For: A Memoir

JOHN MCCAIN

Mark Salter

When you have always defined yourself by the things you do & suddenly you can t do them anymore, who are you? Joan Weimer wrestles with this unsettling question in Back Talk, her moving, funny, fiercely honest account of a year of loss & recovery. A wise & powerful book by a brave & spirited woman, Back Talk links autobiography & biography in an original & compelling way. Searing, powerful, ruthlessly honest. Two journeys intertwine here: the author s recovery from her own disability & her restoration of a forgotten writer, Constance Fenimore Woolson, to her place in American literary history. A book I couldn t put down.

Back Talk: Teaching Lost Selves to Speak

Biographies & Memoirs

Joan Weimer

Community & Culture

Even by the standards of Wall Street in the 1980s, Jeff Beck s amazing life story was too good to be true. One of the Street s most prominent investment bankers, Beck was involved in many of the biggest deals of the decade & made a fortune in the process. He was the Mad Dog, a veteran of hand-to-hand combat in the jungles of Vietnam & a secret billionaire. The only problem was, none of this was true. Bianco follows Beck s career from its beginnings & weaves together the contradictory strands of his personality. His story is a metaphor for an era that prized shadow over substance, expediency over heroism, money over love.

Rainmaker: The Sage of Jeff Beck, Wall Streetªs Mad Dog

Anthony Bianco

Professionals & Academics

The Hill of the Red Fox

McLean, Allan Campbell

Tom Strynd says he is going to drown Fankle the cat in the millpond unless Jenny rescues him, so even though her mother hates cats, Jenny takes him home. Fankle tells Jenny the stories of his different lives with pirates, in ancient Egypt and even with the Empress of China. George Mackay Brown weaves the story of Orkney's villagers into his writing in his own inimitable style, resulting in a rewarding read for adults and children alike.

Six Lives of Fankle the Cat (Kelpies)

george-mackay-brown

The Thirteenth Member

Science Fiction & Fantasy

HUNTER, Mollie

Science Fiction

"Epitaph School is the biggest in the world," said the Headmaster proudly, rubbing his hands together. "Not even I know how big it is." Endill Swift is rudely plucked from his home at Gibbet Hall and carried by basket over a deep and murky ravine patrolled by a man-eating eel to this detestable establishment. In Nettles dormitory he dreams only of escape. Within the walls of this island fortress lurks a motley crew of teachers - Mr Fractor, Mr Litmus, Mr Jotter (no prizes for guessing what they teach) and Matron, who tours the corridors on a motorbike. Take a wrong turning and you might be lost for years. But the Headmaster takes the prize for the biggest crackpot of all. Endill and his friend Mould work secretly on their giant catapult. Surely, one day, escape must be possible?

The Adventures of Endill Swift (Kelpies)

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Floris Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Floris Books