{"title":"May 2026","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"war11","title":"Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSteven Pressfield (Author)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn 480 B.C., two million Persian invaders come to the mountain pass of Thermopylae in eastern Greece, where they are met by 300 of Sparta's finest warriors. The Greek loyalists battle for six days in a prelude to their ultimate victory. \"Pressfield brings the battle of Thermopylae to brilliant life, and he does for that war what Charles Frazier did for the Civil War in \"Cold Mountain.\"\"--Pat Conroy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Steven Pressfield","offers":[{"title":"Unsigned","offer_id":43148734660861,"sku":"9780553383683","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Signed","offer_id":43148734693629,"sku":"9780553383683","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/products\/ScreenShot2021-05-19at10.14.06PM.png?v=1621480466"},{"product_id":"rhmoo22","title":"A Man at Arms","description":"\u003cp\u003eJerusalem and the Sinai desert, first century AD. In the turbulent aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, officers of the Roman Empire acquire intelligence of a pilgrim bearing an incendiary letter from a religious fanatic to insurrectionists in Corinth. The content of this letter could bring down the empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Romans hire a former legionary, the solitary man-at-arms, Telamon of Arcadia, to intercept the letter and capture its courier. Telamon operates by a dark code all his own, with no room for noble causes or lofty beliefs. But once he overtakes the courier, something happens that neither he nor the empire could have predicted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his first novel of the ancient world in thirteen years, the best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eGates of Fire\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTides of War\u003c\/em\u003e returns with a gripping saga of conquest and rebellion, bloodshed and faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Steven Pressfield","offers":[{"title":"Unsigned","offer_id":43148732793085,"sku":"9780393540970","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Signed","offer_id":43148732825853,"sku":"9780393540970","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/products\/9780393540970-us.jpg?v=1626210679"},{"product_id":"virtues-of-war-a-novel-of-alexander-the-great","title":"Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaperback\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eI have always been a soldier. I have known no other life.\u003c\/i\u003e So begins Alexander's extraordinary confession on the eve of his greatest crisis of leadership. By turns heroic and calculating, compassionate and utterly merciless, Alexander recounts with a warrior's unflinching eye for detail the blood, the terror, and the tactics of his greatest battlefield victories. Whether surviving his father's brutal assassination, presiding over a massacre, or weeping at the death of a beloved comrade-in-arms, Alexander never denies the hard realities of the code by which he lives: the virtues of war. But as much as he was feared by his enemies, he was loved and revered by his friends, his generals, and the men who followed him into battle. Often outnumbered, never outfought, Alexander conquered every enemy the world stood against him-but the one he never saw coming. . . .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Steven Pressfield","offers":[{"title":"Unsigned","offer_id":43148805931261,"sku":"9780553382051","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Signed","offer_id":43148805964029,"sku":"9780553382051","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/products\/9780553382051-us.jpg?v=1623952766"},{"product_id":"letter-to-the-father-brief-an-den-vater-bilingual-edition-the-schocken-kafka-library","title":"Letter to the Father\/Brief an den Vater: Bilingual Edition (The Schocken Kafka Library)","description":"\u003cp\u003eA son’s poignant letter to his father—from the author of The Metamorphosis and The Trial, and one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. • “One of the great confessions of literature.” —The New York Times Book Review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFranz Kafka wrote this letter to his father, Hermann Kafka, in November 1919. Max Brod, Kafka’s literary executor, relates that Kafka actually gave the letter to his mother to hand to his father, hoping it might renew a relationship that had lost itself in tension and frustration on both sides. But Kafka’s probing of the deep flaw in their relationship spared neither his father nor himself. He could not help seeing the failure of communication between father and son as another moment in the larger existential predicament depicted in so much of his work. Probably realizing the futility of her son’s gesture, Julie Kafka did not deliver the letter but instead returned it to its author.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Author: Franz Kafka","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44546620129533,"sku":"9780805212662","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780805212662.jpg?v=1708623587"},{"product_id":"night-of-the-grizzlies","title":"Night of the Grizzlies","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe best selling and original book on grizzly bear attacks. For more than half a century, grizzly bears roamed free in the national parks without causing a human fatality. Then in 1967, on a single August night, two separate and unrelated campers, a distance apart, were savagely mangled and killed by enraged bears.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jack Olsen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44687939961085,"sku":"9780943972480","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780943972480.jpg?v=1711062459"},{"product_id":"unreasonable-hospitality-the-remarkable-power-of-giving-people-more-than-they-expect","title":"Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe must-read national bestseller that's redefining hospitality and inspiring readers in every industry. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- JP Morgan NextList Pick\u003cbr\u003e- Featured in FX's The Bear and Showtime's Billions\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWill Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHow did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eToday, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Will Guidara","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45565736714493,"sku":"9780593418574","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780593418574.jpg?v=1723668382"},{"product_id":"foster","title":"Foster","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn international bestseller and one of The Times’ “Top 50 Novels Published in the 21st Century,” Claire Keegan’s piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love; now released as a standalone book for the first time ever in the US\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas’ house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household—where everything is so well tended to—and this summer must soon come to an end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWinner of the prestigious Davy Byrnes Award and published in an abridged version in the New Yorker,this internationally bestselling contemporary classic is now available for the first time in the US in a full, standalone edition. A story of astonishing emotional depth, Foster showcases Claire Keegan’s great talent and secures her reputation as one of our most important storytellers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Claire Keegan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45603635036413,"sku":"9780802160140","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780802160140.jpg?v=1724868245"},{"product_id":"so-late-in-the-day-stories-of-women-and-men","title":"So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Celebrated for her powerful short fiction, Claire Keegan now gifts us three exquisite stories together forming a brilliant examination of gender dynamics and an arc from Keegan's earliest to her most recent work. In 'So Late in the Day,' Cathal faces a long weekend as his mind agitates over a woman with whom he could have spent his life, had he acted differently; in 'The Long and Painful Death' a writer's arrival at the seaside home of Heinrich Bèoll for a two-week writing residency is disrupted by an academic who imposes his criticisms and opinions; and in 'Antarctica' a married woman travels out of town to see what it's like to sleep with another man and ends up in the grip of a possessive stranger. Each story probes the dynamics that corrupt what could be between women and men: a lack of generosity, the weight of expectation, the looming threat of violence.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Claire Keegan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45603640901885,"sku":"9780802160850","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780802160850.jpg?v=1724868676"},{"product_id":"small-things-like-these","title":"Small Things Like These","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time.\" --Lily King,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebestselling author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWriters \u0026amp; Lovers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eSmall Things Like These\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eis award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn international bestseller,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSmall Things Like These\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Painted Porch Bookshop ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45707923325181,"sku":"9780802158741","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/ibg.common.titledetail-2024-10-01T161538.545.gif?v=1727817354"},{"product_id":"how-to-hide-an-empire-a-history-of-the-greater-united-states","title":"How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States","description":"\u003cp\u003eNamed one of the ten best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune\u003cbr\u003eA Publishers Weekly best book of 2019 | A 2019 NPR Staff Pick\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA pathbreaking history of the United States’ overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe are familiar with maps that outline all fifty states. And we are also familiar with the idea that the United States is an “empire,” exercising power around the world. But what about the actual territories―the islands, atolls, and archipelagos―this country has governed and inhabited?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn How to Hide an Empire, Daniel Immerwahr tells the fascinating story of the United States outside the United States. In crackling, fast-paced prose, he reveals forgotten episodes that cast American history in a new light. We travel to the Guano Islands, where prospectors collected one of the nineteenth century’s most valuable commodities, and the Philippines, site of the most destructive event on U.S. soil. In Puerto Rico, Immerwahr shows how U.S. doctors conducted grisly experiments they would never have conducted on the mainland and charts the emergence of independence fighters who would shoot up the U.S. Congress.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the years after World War II, Immerwahr notes, the United States moved away from colonialism. Instead, it put innovations in electronics, transportation, and culture to use, devising a new sort of influence that did not require the control of colonies. Rich with absorbing vignettes, full of surprises, and driven by an original conception of what empire and globalization mean today, How to Hide an Empire is a major and compulsively readable work of history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Daniel Immerwahr","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47119580725501,"sku":"9781250251091","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9781250251091.jpg?v=1768602410"},{"product_id":"unreasonable-hospitality-the-field-guide","title":"Unreasonable Hospitality: The Field Guide *Signed by Author*","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the New York Times bestselling author, former co-owner of the #1 restaurant in the world, and co-producer of the Emmy Award-winning series The Bear comes the much-awaited interactive guide to putting the principles of Unreasonable Hospitality into action in your organization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith over one million copies sold to date, Will Guidara’s book Unreasonable Hospitality issued a compelling invitation: “No matter what business you’re in, you can make the choice to be in the hospitality industry.” His lessons about service and leadership celebrated the one principle that never goes out of season: the human desire to be taken care of.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf Unreasonable Hospitality is the why, then The Field Guide is the how—a step-by-step roadmap to applying those lessons, including:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e• Building and leading your team with consistency, integrity—and yes, hospitality\u003cbr\u003e• Developing a culture of hospitality with five essential components—excellence, communication, collaboration, feedback, and repair—and the systems that will keep those values front and center\u003cbr\u003e• Creating bespoke gestures with the power to transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences—as well as how to create a ready-made toolkit of easily implemented ones that feel bespoke\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing deeply personal stories, his own as well as those of readers he’s encountered, the book is packed with practical exercises that are as relevant to the CEO of a Fortune 500 as they are to the ambitious intern at the front desk. Each can be done on your own, with your team, or company-wide at the annual retreat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeautifully designed and illustrated in full color, this delightful, participatory guide—meant to be marked up and discussed—will have you feeling like a kid about to crack open a new coloring book. You’ll walk away inspired, with a power pack of specific, immediately actionable ideas to help you elevate the magic in what you do—for yourself, the people you work with, and the people you serve.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Will Guidara","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47354086588669,"sku":"9798217045235","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9798217045235.jpg?v=1775499914"},{"product_id":"a-man-at-arms-a-novel","title":"A Man at Arms: A Novel * PAPERBACK","description":"\u003cp\u003eJerusalem and the Sinai desert, first century AD. In the turbulent aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, officers of the Roman Empire acquire intelligence of a pilgrim bearing an incendiary letter from a religious fanatic to insurrectionists in Corinth. The content of this letter could bring down the empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Romans hire a former legionary, the solitary man-at-arms, Telamon of Arcadia, to intercept the letter and capture its courier. Telamon operates by a dark code all his own, with no room for noble causes or lofty beliefs. But once he overtakes the courier, something happens that neither he nor the empire could have predicted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his first novel of the ancient world in thirteen years, the best-selling author of Gates of Fire and Tides of War returns with a gripping saga of conquest and rebellion, bloodshed and faith.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Steven Pressfield","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47362794684669,"sku":"9780393882391","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780393882391.jpg?v=1775684761"},{"product_id":"the-best-and-the-brightest","title":"The Best and the Brightest","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Halberstam’s masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy, with a new Foreword by Senator John McCain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.”—The New York Times\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing portraits of America’s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraise for The Best and the Brightest\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The most comprehensive saga of how America became involved in Vietnam. . . . It is also the Iliad of the American empire and the Odyssey of this nation’s search for its idealistic soul. The Best and the Brightest is almost like watching an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”—The Boston Globe\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Deeply moving . . . We cannot help but feel the compelling power of this narrative. . . . Dramatic and tragic, a chain of events overwhelming in their force, a distant war embodying illusions and myths, terror and violence, confusions and courage, blindness, pride, and arrogance.”—Los Angeles Times\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A fascinating tale of folly and self-deception . . . [An] absorbing, detailed, and devastatingly caustic tale of Washington in the days of the Caesars.”—The Washington Post Book World\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Seductively readable . . . It is a staggeringly ambitious undertaking that is fully matched by Halberstam’s performance. . . . This is in all ways an admirable and necessary book.”—Newsweek\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A story every American should read.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David Halberstam","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47378014929149,"sku":"9780449908709","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/ibg.common.titledetail_2_42c060aa-f31c-4aed-8108-4a8cb30b01bc.gif?v=1776101395"},{"product_id":"unreasonable-hospitality-the-remarkable-power-of-giving-people-more-than-they-expect-signed-by-author","title":"Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect *Signed by Author*","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe must-read national bestseller that's redefining hospitality and inspiring readers in every industry. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- JP Morgan NextList Pick\u003cbr\u003e- Featured in FX's The Bear and Showtime's Billions\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWill Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHow did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eToday, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Will Guidara","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47398086476029,"sku":"9780593418574","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780593418574.jpg?v=1723668382"},{"product_id":"in-the-days-of-my-youth-i-was-told-what-it-means-to-be-a-man-a-memoir","title":"In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom two-time National Magazine Award winner Tom Junod, a searching, brilliantly stylized memoir about a charismatic, philandering father who tried to mold his son in his image, the many secrets he hid, the son’s obsessive quest to uncover them, and ultimately, the true meaning of manhood\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBig Lou Junod dominated every room he entered. He worshipped the sun and the sea, his own bronzed body, Frank Sinatra, and beautiful women. He was a successful traveling handbag salesman who carried himself like a celebrity. He’d return from the road with stories of going to nightclubs where the stars—Ava Gardner, maybe Liz Taylor—“couldn’t keep their eyes off . . . your father.” He had countless affairs and didn’t do much to hide them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLou could be cruel to Fran, his wife of fifty-nine years, but he loved his youngest son. Tom was a skin-and-bones, nervous boy, devoted to his mother, but Lou sought to turn him into a version of himself. He showered him with advice about how to dress (“A turtleneck is the most flattering thing a man can wear”), how to be an alpha male, and especially, how to attract and bed women. His parting speech when Tom went to college was: “Do yourself a favor and date a Jewish girl. They’re all nymphos.” When Tom started seeing his future wife, Janet, Lou’s efforts to entice Tom into his version of manhood accelerated on nights in New York, L.A., and Paris.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTom wrestled with Lou’s imposing presence all his life. When one of Lou’s mistresses stood up at his funeral and announced, “Can we all . . . just agree . . . that this . . . was a man,” Tom set off to learn the facts of his father’s life, and why he was the way he was. The stunning secrets he uncovered—about his father, his father’s lovers, and deceptions going back generations—staggered Tom, but in the process allowed him, at last, to become his own man, by his own lights.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man is an intensely emotional detective story powered by a series of cascading revelations. The book is a triumph of bravura writing; it is a tale of a son reckoning with the consequences of his father’s life, and in the end, the story of the son’s redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tom Junod","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47400481718525,"sku":"9780375400391","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780375400391.jpg?v=1776487878"},{"product_id":"in-the-days-of-my-youth-i-was-told-what-it-means-to-be-a-man-a-memoir-copy","title":"In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man: A Memoir * Signed","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom two-time National Magazine Award winner Tom Junod, a searching, brilliantly stylized memoir about a charismatic, philandering father who tried to mold his son in his image, the many secrets he hid, the son’s obsessive quest to uncover them, and ultimately, the true meaning of manhood\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBig Lou Junod dominated every room he entered. He worshipped the sun and the sea, his own bronzed body, Frank Sinatra, and beautiful women. He was a successful traveling handbag salesman who carried himself like a celebrity. He’d return from the road with stories of going to nightclubs where the stars—Ava Gardner, maybe Liz Taylor—“couldn’t keep their eyes off . . . your father.” He had countless affairs and didn’t do much to hide them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLou could be cruel to Fran, his wife of fifty-nine years, but he loved his youngest son. Tom was a skin-and-bones, nervous boy, devoted to his mother, but Lou sought to turn him into a version of himself. He showered him with advice about how to dress (“A turtleneck is the most flattering thing a man can wear”), how to be an alpha male, and especially, how to attract and bed women. His parting speech when Tom went to college was: “Do yourself a favor and date a Jewish girl. They’re all nymphos.” When Tom started seeing his future wife, Janet, Lou’s efforts to entice Tom into his version of manhood accelerated on nights in New York, L.A., and Paris.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTom wrestled with Lou’s imposing presence all his life. When one of Lou’s mistresses stood up at his funeral and announced, “Can we all . . . just agree . . . that this . . . was a man,” Tom set off to learn the facts of his father’s life, and why he was the way he was. The stunning secrets he uncovered—about his father, his father’s lovers, and deceptions going back generations—staggered Tom, but in the process allowed him, at last, to become his own man, by his own lights.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man is an intensely emotional detective story powered by a series of cascading revelations. The book is a triumph of bravura writing; it is a tale of a son reckoning with the consequences of his father’s life, and in the end, the story of the son’s redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tom Junod","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47419277377789,"sku":"9780375400391","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780375400391.jpg?v=1776487878"},{"product_id":"the-hunters","title":"The Hunters","description":"\u003cp\u003eCaptain Cleve Connell has already made a name for himself among pilots when he arrives in Korea during the war there to fly the newly operational F–86 fighters against the Soviet MIGs. His goal, like that of every fighter pilot, is to chalk up enough kills to become an ace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut things do not turn out as expected. Mission after mission proves fruitless, and Connell finds his ability and his stomach for combat questioned by his fellow airmen: the brash wing commander, Imil; Captain Robey, an ace whose record is suspect; and finally, Lieutenant Pell, a cocky young pilot with an uncanny amount of skill and luck.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDisappointment and fear gradually erode Connell's faith in himself, and his dream of making ace seems to slip out of reach. Then suddenly, one dramatic mission above the Yalu River reveals the depth of his courage and honor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally published in 1956, The Hunters was James Salter's first novel. Based on his own experiences as a fighter pilot in the Korean War, it is a classic of wartime fiction. Now revised by the author and back in print on the sixty–fifth anniversary of the Air Force, the story of Cleve Connell's war flies straight into the heart of men's rivalries and fears.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"James Salter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47469019988221,"sku":"9781619020542","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9781619020542.jpg?v=1777297489"},{"product_id":"unreasonable-hospitality-the-field-guide-unsigned","title":"Unreasonable Hospitality: The Field Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the New York Times bestselling author, former co-owner of the #1 restaurant in the world, and co-producer of the Emmy Award-winning series The Bear comes the much-awaited interactive guide to putting the principles of Unreasonable Hospitality into action in your organization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith over one million copies sold to date, Will Guidara’s book Unreasonable Hospitality issued a compelling invitation: “No matter what business you’re in, you can make the choice to be in the hospitality industry.” His lessons about service and leadership celebrated the one principle that never goes out of season: the human desire to be taken care of.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf Unreasonable Hospitality is the why, then The Field Guide is the how—a step-by-step roadmap to applying those lessons, including:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e• Building and leading your team with consistency, integrity—and yes, hospitality\u003cbr\u003e• Developing a culture of hospitality with five essential components—excellence, communication, collaboration, feedback, and repair—and the systems that will keep those values front and center\u003cbr\u003e• Creating bespoke gestures with the power to transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences—as well as how to create a ready-made toolkit of easily implemented ones that feel bespoke\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeaturing deeply personal stories, his own as well as those of readers he’s encountered, the book is packed with practical exercises that are as relevant to the CEO of a Fortune 500 as they are to the ambitious intern at the front desk. Each can be done on your own, with your team, or company-wide at the annual retreat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeautifully designed and illustrated in full color, this delightful, participatory guide—meant to be marked up and discussed—will have you feeling like a kid about to crack open a new coloring book. You’ll walk away inspired, with a power pack of specific, immediately actionable ideas to help you elevate the magic in what you do—for yourself, the people you work with, and the people you serve.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Will Guidara","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47517042737405,"sku":"9798217045235","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9798217045235.jpg?v=1775499914"},{"product_id":"the-arcadian","title":"The Arcadian: A Novel* Pre-Order (release May 26, 2026)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe best-selling author of Gates of Fire and A Man at Arms presents a gripping, genre-bending story of a mercenary in late medieval Spain and the eternal costs of violence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpain in the 1500s. The Iberian Peninsula is fractured, faiths collide, and war brews. Into this world rides Telamon―soldier, killer, eternal outcast―drawn into a brutal conflict between Portuguese invaders and desperate Andalusian defenders. But he is not alone. Traveling with him through time and lifetimes are others―comrades, lovers, enemies―each reborn in a new guise, all of them entangled in a tale of cosmic justice. As he builds to a siege that represents one of the most remarkable battles ever put to paper, Steven Pressfield, the renowned master of the historical epic, poses questions that every warrior confronts: Can a man born to fight ever lay down his sword? And is redemption possible after so many lifetimes soaked in blood? A gripping standalone novel, as grounded in gritty realism as it is in the mysticism of the ancient Greek world, The Arcadian is a tale of war, fate, and the search for release from a cycle as old as time itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Steven Pressfield","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47517044670717,"sku":"9781324124252","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9781324124252.jpg?v=1778296727"},{"product_id":"revolutionary-road","title":"Revolutionary Road","description":"\u003cp\u003eNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • Frank and April Wheeler are a bright, beautiful, talented couple in the 1950s whose perfect suburban life is about to crumble in this \"moving and absorbing story” (The Atlantic Monthly) from one of the most acclaimed writers of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The Great Gatsby of my time...one of the best books by a member of my generation.\" —Kurt Vonnegut, acclaimed author of Slaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerhaps Frank and April Wheeler married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank's job is dull. And April never saw herself as a housewife. Yet they have always lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. But now that certainty is about to unravel. With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his introduction to this edition, novelist Richard Ford pays homage to the lasting influence and enduring power of Revolutionary Road.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richard Yates","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47517047292157,"sku":"9780375708442","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780375708442.jpg?v=1778297098"},{"product_id":"light-years","title":"Light Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eA brilliant portrait of a marriage from the PEN\/Faulkner Award-winner and author of A Sport and a Pastime, with an introduction by Richard Ford.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Light Years is a novel of almost holy radiance to me. It is great in every sense of the word: vast, and timeless, and enduring.”—Lauren Groff, bestselling author of Fates and Furies\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Remarkable. An unexpectedly moving ode to beautiful lives frayed by time.”—James Wolcott, Esquire\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[A] twentieth-century masterpiece. At once iridescent, lyrical, mystical and magnetic.”—Bloomsbury Review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNedra and Viri's favored life revolves around delightful dinners, imaginative games with their children, enviable friends, and idyllic days spent skating on a frozen river or basking in the sun on the beach. But even as Salter lingers over the surface of their marriage, he lets us see the fine cracks that are spreading through it, flaws that will eventually mar the lovely picture beyond repair.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeductive, witty, and elegantly nuanced, Light Years is a classic novel of an entire generation that discovered the limits of its own happiness—and then felt compelled to destroy it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"James Salter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47517049028861,"sku":"9780679740735","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0472\/7069\/0970\/files\/9780679740735.jpg?v=1778297281"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.thepaintedporch.com\/collections\/may-2026.oembed","provider":"The Painted Porch Bookshop ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}