An acclaimed historian sleuths out literature’s most famous vampire, uncovering the source material – from folklore and history, to personas including Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman – behind Bram Stoker’s bloody creation.
 In more than a century of vampires in pop culture, only one lord of the night truly stands out: Dracula. Though the name may conjure up images of Bela Lugosi lurking about in a cape and white pancake makeup in the iconic 1931 film, the character of Dracula—a powerful, evil Transylvanian aristocrat who slaughters repressed Victorians on a trip to London—was created in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel of the same name, a work so popular it has spawned limitless reinventions in books and film. 
But where did literature’s undead icon come from? What sources inspired Stoker to craft a monster who would continue to haunt our dreams (and desires) for generations? Historian Jim Steinmeyer, who revealed the men behind the myths in The Last Greatest Magician in the World, explores a question that has long fascinated literary scholars and the reading public alike: Was there a real-life inspiration for Stoker’s Count Dracula?
Hunting through archives and letters, literary and theatrical history, and the relationships and events that gave shape to Stoker’s life, Steinmeyer reveals the people and stories behind the Transylvanian legend. In so doing, he shows how Stoker drew on material from the careers of literary contemporaries Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde; reviled personas such as Jack the Ripper and the infamous fifteenth-century prince Vlad Tepes, as well as little-known but significant figures, including Stoker’s onetime boss, British stage star Henry Irving, and Theodore Roosevelt’s uncle, Robert Roosevelt (thought to be a model for Van Helsing).
Along the way, Steinmeyer depicts Stoker’s life in Dublin and London, his development as a writer, involvement with London’s vibrant theater scene, and creation of one of horror’s greatest masterpieces. Combining historical detective work with literary research, Steinmeyer’s eagle eye provides an enthralling tour through Victorian culture and the extraordinary literary monster it produced.

Who Was Dracula?: Bram Stoker's Trail of Blood

Biographies & Memoirs

Steinmeyer, Jim

Arts & Literature

TarcherPerigee

An intimate and engaging journal that offers a pick-me-up on every page. Feeling lonely? Pensive? Peeved? Questioning? This deceptively simple book offers perspective, hope, and a twist of existential metaphor - and is perfect to pick up again and again. Unlike a linear journal, this book can be opened up to any page, encouraging and engaging readers time and time again through continued use. Rather than simply complete tasks and turn pages, users are encouraged to leave their mark, and if they land on the same page days or weeks later, they can review, reflect, and revise their previous response. Perfect for anyone who loves to explore ideas, record thoughts and feelings, and capture those fleeting but amazing moments of everyday life. ***THINGS ARE WHAT YOU MAKE OF THEM: Life Advice For Creatives - Insights and inspiration for anyone who makes art (or anything else), from the popular author of 1 Page at a Time and Pick Me Up. Available October 2017.

Pick Me Up: A Pep Talk for Now and Later

Self-Help

Kurtz, Adam J.

Creativity

“Evan consumes so much content and then knows how to DJ it to inspire people.” —Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times bestselling author of #AskGaryVee and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook In this bold and empowering guide, entrepreneur and social media sensation Evan Carmichael shares the secret to turbo-charging your path to success on your own terms. With thought-provoking questions and inspiring, instructive examples, Your One Word will help you nail down your personal mottos - the word that captures your purpose and passion. With this operating philosophy in hand, you will then learn how to leverage this powerful tool to create the business and future of your dreams. Aimed at entrepreneurs as well as intrapreneurs, managers, and anyone else who wants to achieve success in a powerfully meaningful way, Your One Word more than just a useful tool. It's also an inspiring and enlightening read.

Your One Word: The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business and Life That Matter

Business & Money

Carmichael, Evan

Business Culture

YouTube sensation Matthew Santoro amazes with eye-opening facts that are sure to blow your mind. Matthew Santoro's originality and humor has attracted millions of fans, making him a beloved YouTube star. His weekly videos on amazing and little-known facts are eagerly anticipated by his many subscribers and followers around the world. In his first-ever book, Matthew's love of weird and wacky knowledge explodes with new facts and stories from around the planet, and beyond. Surprising, and always entertaining, Mind = Blown offers even more of Matthew's unique take on this hilarious, crazy world: The most ridiculous laws from past and present Crazy doppelgangers of people, places, and unexpected things Historical wizards who actually lived Real-life animal avengers And a special section: Japan Blows My Mind! From shin-kicking competitions and beer pong-playing robots, to enormous fire-balls shooting through space, you won't believe what you'll discover in Mind = Blown. But beware: there is too much astounding trivia for any one mind to contain!

Mind = Blown: Amazing Facts About This Weird, Hilarious, Insane World

Humor & Entertainment

Santoro, Matthew

Puzzles & Games

"This is a must-read for every family that yearns to create peace and harmony.” --Shefali Tsabary, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Conscious Parent Tired of yelling and nagging? True family connection is possible--and this essential guide shows us how. Popular parenting blogger Rebecca Eanes believes that parenting advice should be about more than just getting kids to behave. Struggling to maintain a meaningful connection with her two little ones and frustrated by the lack of emotionally aware books for parents, she began to share her own insights with readers online. Her following has grown into a thriving community--hundreds of thousands strong. In this eagerly anticipated guide, Eanes shares her hard-won wisdom for overcoming limiting thought patterns and recognizing emotional triggers, as well as advice for connecting with kids at each stage, from infancy to adolescence. This heartfelt, insightful advice comes not from an "expert," but from a learning, evolving parent. Filled with practical, solution-oriented advice, this is an empowering guide for any parent who longs to end the yelling, power struggles, and downward spiral of acting out, punishment, resentment, and shame--and instead foster an emotional connection that helps kids learn self-discipline, feel confident, and create lasting, loving bonds.

Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide (The Positive Parent Series)

Parenting & Relationships

Eanes, Rebecca

Family Relationships

Internationally recognized expert on raising and educating boys, Dr. Tim Hawkes shows parents of tween and teen boys how to approach difficult but important conversations. Every parent of a teenage boy knows there are certain conversations they must have with their son but often they put them off--or worse, don't have them at all--because they simply don't know where to start. In Ten Conversations You Must Have With Your Son, Dr. Hawkes provides parents with the essential information you need to negotiate your way through what can often be very difficult territory about the why, what, and how of ten key topics: love, identity, values, leadership, achievement, sex, money, health, living together, and resilience. Each chapter offers suggestions for how you can connect with your sons on these issues while sharing your own experiences and knowledge with your boys. A headmaster of 25 years, Dr. Hawkes is in a unique position to know what goes on inside the minds of teenage boys. He understands what they need to know to best prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities, challenges and demands that life will make on them. Ten Conversations You Must Have With Your Son is the one book anyone with a teenage son should read to help them prepare him for adulthood.

Ten Conversations You Must Have with Your Son: Preparing Your Son for a Happy and Successful Life

Hawkes, Tim

Two of today's maverick authors on anomalous experience present a perception-altering and intellectually thrilling analysis of why the paranormal is real, but radically different from what is conventionally understood. Whitley Strieber (Communion) and Jeffrey J. Kripal (J. Newton Rayzor professor of religion at Rice University) team up on this unprecedented and intellectually vibrant new framing of inexplicable events and experiences. Rather than merely document the anomalous, these authors--one the man who popularized alien abduction and the other a renowned scholar and "renegade advocate for including the paranormal in religious studies" (The New York Times)--deliver a fast-paced and exhilarating study of why the supernatural is neither fantasy nor fiction but a vital and authentic aspect of life. Their suggestion? That all kinds of "impossible" things, from extra-dimensional beings to bilocation to bumps in the night, are not impossible at all: rather, they are a part of our natural world. But this natural world is immeasurably more weird, more wonderful, and probably more populated than we have so far imagined with our current categories and cultures, which are what really make these things seem "impossible." The Super Natural considers that the natural world is actually a "super natural world"--and all we have to do to see this is to change the lenses through which we are looking at it and the languages through which we are presently limiting it. In short: The extraordinary exists if we know how to look at and think about it.

The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained Is Real

Politics & Social Sciences

KRIPAL, JEFFREY J.

STRIEBER, WHITLEY

Philosophy

How do you actually find meaning in the workplace? How do you find work that makes your heart sing, creates impact, and pays your rent? After realizing that his well-paying, prestigious job was actually making him miserable, Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky started asking these big questions. The Quarter-Life Breakthrough provides fresh, honest, counterintuitive, and inspiring career advice for anyone stuck in a quarter-life crisis (or third-life crisis), trying to figure out what to do with your life. Smiley shares the stories of many twenty- and thirty-somethings who are discovering how to work with purpose (and still pay the bills). Brimming with practical exercises and advice, this book is essential reading for millennial career changers and anyone passionate about getting unstuck, pursuing work that matters, and changing the world.

The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters

Smiley Poswolsky, Adam

An engaging, inspiring exploration of the surprising value of setbacks—and how we can use them to succeed As an award-winning sports journalist, Sam Weinman has long studied the ripple effects of losing. But as a father of two competitive boys, he struggled to convince them that failing—whether losing a hockey game or bombing a math test—can actually be a critical part of success. So he sought out the perspectives of men and women who have turned significant setbacks into meaningful comebacks—and sometimes even new careers—to illustrate how we can not only overcome defeat but grow stronger from the experience. Blending firsthand interviews and advice from professional athletes, business executives, politicians, and Hollywood stars with expert analysis from leading psychologists and coaches, Win at Losing reveals how renowned figures—from Emmy Award–winning actress Susan Lucci to golfer Greg Norman and politician Michael Dukakis—have prevailed and even triumphed in the aftermath of loss, humiliation, and rejection. In showcasing the ways our most difficult moments can be turned into powerful growth opportunities, this lively and moving guide asks readers to redefine what constitutes success and failure, and offers an essential blueprint for harnessing the power of setbacks to achieve what we want in life.

Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains

Weinman, Sam

WAVE is not your average coloring book. Once opened, it unfolds into a nine-foot-long panel, featuring a continuous and dream-like illustration by rock star contemporary artist Shantell Martin. And this unique book also provides a blank canvas: After you add your splash of color, use the reverse side to create your own unfolding illustration, for a final product that’s both inspired and inspiring. WAVE will bring the art gallery to your living room, a perfect display piece and an opportunity for daring colorists to transform a piece of art in a whole new way.

WAVE: A Journey Through the Sea of Imagination for the Adventurous Colorist

Arts & Photography

Martin, Shantell

Graphic Design

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