A Gorgeously Illustrated Collection of First-Person Stories on the Sublime Joy of Flyfishing Every fly fisher has one: that moment-that ineffable, transcendent moment-they can point to and say, That's it. That was when time seemed to stop and I felt fully alive. That's why I fish. Collected and framed by the award-winning writer Peter Kaminsky, The Catch of a Lifetime presents the moving first-person stories of more than seventy anglers recounting their catch of a lifetime. With its tales of brown trout in Montana and bluefish at Montauk Point, smallmouth in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and unforgettable adventures with giant taimen on the steppes of central Asia, bonefish in New Caledonia, white marlin in the Baja, and golden dorado in the tribal lands along the Amazon's headwaters, this gorgeously illustrated anthology is a transporting testament to the call that all anglers heed-to get out there and be one with the water. It distills perfectly the magic of the sport; you can't read it and not want to go fishing. The contributor list is a diverse who's who of writers, artists, sportspeople, and others who've made flyfishing a singular passion, including Carl Hiaasen, Joan Wulff, Tom Colicchio, Charles Gaines, Rachel Maddow, Mark Kurlansky, Brittany Howard, John McPhee, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Jared Zissu. Their encounters, their memories, the words they use to describe, say, a forty-pound salmon leaping into the air or the sight of a great blue heron soaring down the creek to steal a catch make this the book of a lifetime for any fly fisher.

Senator Chuck Hagel has long been admired by his colleagues on both sides of the Senate floor for his honesty, integrity, and common-sense approach to the challenges of our times. The "Los Angeles Times" has praised his "bold positions on foreign policy and national security" and wondered, "What's not to like?" In "America: Our Next Chapter," Nebraska-born Hagel offers a hard-hitting examination of the current state of our nation and provides substantial, meaningful proposals that can guide America back onto the right path.

In "America: Our Next Chapter," Hagel speaks the truth as he sees it--in a direct and refreshingly unvarnished manner. Basing his suggestions on thorough research and careful thought, as well as on personal insight from his years as a political insider, successful businessman, and decorated war hero, he discusses domestic issues--including the health care crisis, immigration, and Social Security and Medicare reform--and global climate change. He confronts foreign policy problems that the current administration has bungled or ignored, including China's growing economy; control of U.S. debt; India's and Pakistan's nuclear capabilities; and Iran's aggressive political, ideological, and nuclear stances. He decries the pervasive disease of third world poverty, arguing convincingly that this is where the real fight against terrorism must begin. Always true to the beliefs instilled in his childhood on the prairie, he speaks passionately about service--to one's country and to one's fellow citizens--as the path toward a renewed America. And, of course, he gives a candid examination of the debacle that is the Iraq War.

A staunch Republican yet a "hero to liberals"("Time"), Hagel asks the tough questions and delivers straight answers to America's most pressing problems. "America: Our Next Chapter" is a serious, honest, and, ultimately, optimistic look at our nation's future, from an American original.

Seasons of the Striper is a visually stunning journey to America s most epic salt water. It is as close to a firsthand experience as a reader can get without getting wet. With a foreword by Peter Kaminsky, this is the complete trout-fishing experience and the ideal gift for any angler s library. Experience America s greatest striped bass fishing with this richly illustrated volume, an ideal gift for any angler s library. Commonly called stripers or rockfish, Atlantic striped bass are among the most prominent and heavily targeted recreational species in the United States. The highly migratory fish can live for up to 30 years, grow up to five feet long, and weigh more than 75 pounds. They are caught from boats and from shore from the Gulf of Maine to Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, and the striper hot spots sing like sirens to the angler: Chesapeake Bay, Montauk, Martha s Vineyard, and Cape Cod. The number of people who fish for striped bass is well into the millions. This is the story of their fish. The author draws on three decades of observations and interviews contained in notebooks, as well the hundreds of hours he spends pursuing the fish each season from spring through late fall. The essays and photographs illuminate the fish through the seasons spring, summer, and fall and highlight its pursuit from the surf and boats, through day and night on fly, spin, and conventional tackle. Each section has an accompanying essay fish tales told in Sisson s unmistakably authentic voice that takes the reader along on memorable trips. For the serious saltwater fly fisherman, it is an album of shared experiences. For those new to the sport, it is an artfully crafted guidebook to the unique world that exists on the striper waters of America.

A groundbreaking new approach to grilling vegetables and fruit from the author of Seven Fires and Mallmann on Fire Green Fire is an extraordinary vegetarian cookbook, as Mallmann brings his techniques, creativity, instinct for bold flavors, and decades of experience to the idea of cooking vegetables and fruits over live fire. Blistered tomatoes reinvigorate a classic Caprese salad. Eggplants are buried whole in the coals--a technique called rescoldo--then dance that fine line between burned and incinerated until they yield an ineffable creaminess made irresistible with a slather of parsley, chile, and aioli. Brussels sprout leaves are scorched and served with walnuts; whole cabbages are sliced thick, grilled like steaks, and rubbed with spice for a mustard-fennel crust. Corn, fennel, artichokes, beets, squash, even beans--this is the vegetable kingdom, on fire. The celebrated Patagonian chef, known for his mastery of flame and meat, the chef who romanced the food world with an iconic image of a whole cow dressed and splayed out over licking flames, is returning to the place where his storied career began--the garden and all its bounty. It's his new truth: the transformation wrought by flame, coals, and smoke on a carrot or peach is nothing short of alchemy. And just as he's discovered that a smoky, crackling-crusted potato cooked on the plancha is as sublime as the rib-eye he used to serve it next to, Mallmann's also inspired by another truth: we all need to cut down on consuming animals to ensure a healthier future for both people and the planet. Time to turn the fire "green." The fruit desserts alone confirm live fire's ability to transform and elevate any ingredient. Mallmann roasts whole pineapples, grills grapes, chars cherries, and then finds just the right unexpected match--melted cheese, toasted hazelnuts, Campari granita--to turn each into a simple yet utterly entrancing dish. Cooking with fire demands both simplicity and perfection. But the results are pure magic. By using this oldest of cooking techniques, you'll discover fruits and vegetables pushed to such a peak of flavor it's as if they'd never been truly tasted before.

STELLAR COOKOUT SIDES Move the meat from the center of the table and let these innovative side dishes steal the spotlight. Written by celebrated pitmaster Adam Perry Lang, Barbecue Sides includes a dozen-plus recipes for melting, creamy, and crispy dishes like Bubbling Bacon Butter Beans, Smoked-Corn Flan, and Scruffed Carbonara Potatoes that temper the strength of brawny barbecue mains without getting in the way of flavor. The menu is rounded out with a dozen additional recipes for fresh, sprightly, and green sides, like Mango Cilantro Salad and Green Apple, Cabbage, and Caraway Slaw, as well as pickled vegetables that add refreshing high notes and contrast to a plate. These first-rate side dishes will elevate your barbecue.

Collection of critical and analytical scholarly essays on the music of Ravel by prominent scholars. Unmasking Ravel: New Perspectives on the Music fills a unique place in Ravel studies by combining critical interpretation and analytical focus. From the premiere of his works up to the present, Ravel has been associated with masks and the related notions of artifice and imposture. This has led scholars to perceive a lack of depth in his music and, consequently, to discourage investigation of his musical language. This volume balances and interweavesthese modes of inquiry. Part 1, "Orientations and Influences," illuminates the sometimes contradictory aesthetic, biographical, and literary strands comprising Ravel's artistry and our understanding of it. Part 2, "Analytical Case Studies," engages representative works from Ravel's major genres using a variety of methodologies, focusing on structural process and his complex relation to stylistic convention. Part 3, "Interdisciplinary Studies," integratesmusical analysis and art criticism, semiotics, and psychoanalysis in creating novel methodologies. Contributors include prominent scholars of Ravel's and fin-de-siecle music: Elliott Antokoletz, Gurminder Bhogal, Sigrun B. Heinzelmann, Volker Helbing, Steven Huebner, Peter Kaminsky, Barbara Kelly, David Korevaar, Daphne Leong, Michael Puri, and Lauri Suurpaa. Peter Kaminsky is Professor of Music at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Elemental, fundamental, and delicious is how Anthony Bourdain describes the trailblazing live-fire cooking of Francis Mallmann. "The New York Times" called Mallmann s first book, "Seven Fires," captivating and inspiring. And now, in "Mallmann on Fire, " the passionate master of the Argentine grill takes us grilling in magical places in winter s snow, on mountaintops, on the beach, on the crowded streets of Manhattan, on a deserted island in Patagonia, in Paris, Brooklyn, Bolinas, Brazil each locale inspiring new discoveries as revealed in 100 recipes for meals both intimate and outsized. We encounter legs of lamb and chicken hung from strings, coal-roasted delicata squash, roasted herbs, a parrillada of many fish, and all sorts of griddled and charred meats, vegetables, and fruits, plus rustic desserts cooked on the "chapa" and baked in wood-fired ovens. At every stop along the way there is something delicious to eat and a lesson to be learned about slowing down and enjoying the process, not just the result."

Long before award-winning chef Michel Richardmade his first cote de boeuf or prepared hisfirst foie gras terrine, he was a pastry chef. InLos Angeles, pastry lovers lined up outside his bakeshopon Wilshire Boulevard, waiting to enjoy the breadsand treats they'd heard were the best in town, maybeeven better than anything in Paris. Now, in this outstandingcollection, the superstar chef returns to hisfirst love, the food that made him famous--desserts.

Here are mouthwatering, foolproof recipes forAmerican favorites such as pecan pie and poundcake; Richard's personal inventions, such as FloatingIslands with Melted Chocolate Morsels and the "coffeecloud"; reinvented French classics, such as profiterolesand the Christmas log (buche de Noel); fruitfavorites, including tarts and Pavlovas; and, of course, plenty of cookies.

Going beyond traditional cookbooks, Sweet Magicshares Richard's insights into the thinking and craftbehind every aspect of dessert, with brief essaysthat explore, explain, and entice--highlighted by thechef's own playful illustrations.

Creating exquisite dishes with only a few simpleingredients--butter, eggs, sugar, flour, chocolate--demands the instincts of an artist and the soul of amagician. Sweet Magic will unlock the inner dessertwizard in every home chef, guiding both newcomersand old hands past common missteps, to seduce themost flavor and texture from every ingredient.

In all of her roles -- athlete, wife, mother, role model, and cancer survivor -- Olympic gold medalist Peggy Fleming has relied upon the discipline she cultivated as a young skater. Now in this intimate memoir, she eloquently reveals her fascinating life story and shares her secrets to serenity and success.

The long Program

In the 1968 Olympic Winter Games Peggy Fleming not only captured the United States¹ only gold medal, but a country¹s collective heart as well. A young woman who embodied both stunning athleticism and magnificent grace, Peggy Fleming reluctantly became an instant celebrity. In the decades that followed, she also triumphed off the ice -- commentating for ABC Sports and nurturing a long-standing marriage while raising two delightful sons.

But Peggy¹s toughest challenge came in 1998 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Here, Peggy candidly details her courageous physical and emotional battle. She also explains how she ultimately prevailed, and why she became an outspoken, highly visible promoter of breast cancer awareness. Most important, she relates how every person¹s life has its own version of the long program, those precious years that take little girls and turn them into wives, mothers, grandmas, and survivors. A compelling memoir that deserves the highest marks, The Long Program is both a portrait of a remarkable woman and a collection of inspiring lessons on how each of us can be our best.