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So begins Benjamin Taylor's Here We Are, the unvarnished portrait of his best friend and one of America's greatest writers. Needless to say, Philip Roth's place in the canon is secure, but what is less clear is what the man himself was like. In Here We Are, Benjamin Taylor's beautifully constructed memoir, we see him as a mortal man, experiencing the joys and sorrows of aging, reflecting on his own writing, and doing something we all love to do: passing the time in the company of his closest friend.

Marcel Proust came into his own as a novelist comparatively late in life, yet only Shakespeare, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky were his equals when it came to creating characters as memorably human. As biographer Benjamin Taylor suggests, Proust was a literary lightweight before writing his multivolume masterwork In Search of Lost Time, but following a series of momentous historical and personal events, he became—against all expectations—one of the greatest writers of his, and indeed any, era.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in LA in the late '60s, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s 20, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne.

It is a city of seemingly irreconcilable opposites, simultaneously glorious and ghastly. And it is Ben Taylor’s remarkable ability to meld these contradictions into a whole that makes this the exciting and original book it is. He takes his stroll around the bay with the acute sensitivity of a lover, the good humor of a friend, and the wisdom of a seeker who has immersed himself in all aspects of this contrapuntal culture. His curiosity leads him to many byways, both real and metaphoric, and his passion for this ancient city and its people becomes, in his graceful prose and amusing anecdotes, irresistibly contagious.

The first American book on personal finance, "The Way to Wealth" by Benjamin Franklin is still the best and wisest money book ever written. Originally published in 1758 as the preface to "Poor Richard's Almanack", this little gem has been through innumerable printings and sold millions of copies to those in search of smart but entertaining advice about hard work, earning and saving money and debt.

"Chemical Bliss" delves into the pivotal roles of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins in shaping our emotions, behaviors, and relationships. This insightful book explores how dopamine drives pleasure and motivation, oxytocin fosters social bonding and trust, serotonin regulates mood and cognitive functions, and endorphins provide natural pain relief and mood enhancement.

The story of Willa Cather is defined by a lifetime of determination, struggle, and gradual emergence. Some show their full powers early, yet Cather was the opposite—she took her time and transformed herself by stages. The writer who leapt to the forefront of American letters with O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Ántonia (1918) was already well into middle age. Through years of provincial journalism in Nebraska, brief spells of teaching, and editorial work on magazines, she persevered in pursuit of the ultimate goal—literary immortality.

This audiobook is filled with inspiring stories from the lives of great achievers past and present.

Courtesy of my controlling father, Marshall and I have been living together for the last couple of years. Because of his profession, we’d managed to stay out of each other’s way. His age and respect for my father is what kept him from giving in to my flirtatious advances. Over the years, we’d managed not to cross that line, until that one slightly drunken night.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in collaboration with his friend, William Wordsworth, revolutionized English poetry. In 1798 they produced their Lyrical Ballads, poems of imagination and reflection using "the language of men" - pointing the way forward for a generation of Romantic poets.

No matter what age you are, you must have experienced sleepless nights. This can be due to stress such as academic stress that most teenagers and young adults experience. The stress of an exam or a presentation the next day might have kept you tossing and turning all night. It could be that newborn babies are interrupting your sleep in the middle of the night, and you can’t fall back to sleep. It could be job-related like meeting a big client tomorrow or a big meeting with your boss. It could be anything!

There are things you want to buy but cannot afford. There are payments that are subconsciously stressing you out every month. Rent, mortgage, utilities, phone bills, streaming services, insurance, taxes, and the list goes on! You find yourself thinking about how much of your paycheck is left after paying for all these things? Do you even have enough left over to save for that trip you’ve always dreamed of, or that house you want to buy, or for your retirement fund? Don’t panic, it's not an irreversible situation.

After John F. Kennedy's speech in front of the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth on November 22, 1963, he was greeted by, among others, an 11-year-old Benjamin Taylor and his mother waiting to shake his hand. Only a few hours later, Taylor's teacher called the class in from recess and, through tears, told them of the president's assassination. From there Taylor traces a path through the next 12 months, recalling the tumult as he saw everything he had once considered stable begin to grow more complex.

A brief biographical sketch of Franklin's life, followed by a collection (published in 1899) of 670 aphorisms, apothegms, or proverbs—short, pithy, instructive sayings—that were scattered throughout the pages of his Poor Richard's Almanack over its 25 years of once-a-year publication (1732-1758). Many of these sayings are familiar to all . . . "a penny saved is a penny earned" . . . "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" . . . but there are many more for you to laugh at, ponder over and learn from!

Debriefing collects all of Susan Sontag's shorter fiction, a form she turned to intermittently throughout her writing life. The book ranges from allegory to parable to autobiography and shows her wrestling with problems not assimilable to the essay, her more customary mode. Here she catches fragments of life on the fly, dramatizes her private griefs and fears, lets characters take her where they will. The result is a collection of remarkable brilliance, versatility, and charm.

Goals in life change from time to time. As soon as one goal is achieved, a person usually moves on to the next one. But there is one common goal that binds humanity - happiness. No one can ever dictate what makes a person happy but there are certain guidelines that one can follow to reach personal happiness. These general guidelines are meant to be flexible. They should be tweaked according to one's lifestyle, goals, and principles. You will find that a happy life is not a privilege.

Deployment is hard. War is costly. And Recon Marine Sergeant Finn Cobalt is paying the price--overseas and at home. Courageous action jeopardizes his military career. Two rescue attempts go south, and secrets strain his family relationships. As guilt stalks his footsteps, his faith is brought into question. Is there anything left? Or has it been destroyed?

This book pulls together the principles of Christianity, personal finance, and success into one amazing resource. As you live the truths in this book, you will experience the joy of financial and spiritual freedom. You will learn principles to raise productive, self-sufficient children, insights on prayer and becoming a good receiver, why bad things happen to good people, how you can ensure an abundant life and retirement, the six habits of successful entrepreneurs, and how to develop the 10 habits of the prosperous.

Christ rejoices when we receive His gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and friendship. This book will help you more fully partake of Christ’s grace, peace, hope, love, and rest. The good news of God’s grace replaces feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy with joy, excitement, and confidence. The miracle of justification declares the imperfect as perfect in Christ and heirs of the celestial kingdom. With Christ, you are enough. Christ’s amazing grace is sufficient. Jesus is not just good at saving people. He is perfect at saving people. He is a perfect savior.

While investigating corruption and evil alliances within the American government, an assassination attempt on Vice President Aaron Banner leaves him in a coma. Only a week earlier, Aaron gave his chief of staff, Paula Brackett, an envelope with instructions to, "Open only if something happens to me". Paula soon finds herself fighting not only for her country, but for her life. While Aaron is in a coma, he is transported in time to personally experience key moments in history. This audiobook blends research and details of the founding of America with an inspiring and engaging story.