Conventional wisdom says that all we need to do to stay fit and trim is to exercise regularly and eat a low-fat, whole-food diet. Yet more and more people want to fast, forgoing food altogether. But should we fast? And does fasting speak to something deep and immutable within us? Why are we so well adapted to undertake it? And is there a way we can balance the demands of our busy lives with an ancient ritual that requires taking time to rest and rejuvenate? This book tackles all these questions and more. It shows that the story of fasting has roots in the most fundamental aspects of the human condition, and is in fact a quest for mastery – over our bodies, our minds, our health, our circumstances and our fate. And the book tells of the hopes, anxieties and convictions that set us upon that journey.

An essential and galvanizing on-the-ground account of how oxygen suddenly and miraculously flooded back into the American brain.--Jonathan Lethem [Occupying Wall Street] runs through OWS' beginnings and provides a fascinating look at how Zucotti Park functioned, the disagreements and difficulties in running the community, and contains first-hand accounts of some of its most dramatic moments. Part souvenir, part how-to guide, this is a remarkable and unique book.--The Huffington Post For two months this fall, Zuccotti Park was the site of an extraordinary political action. Home to the hundreds of anti-capitalist protestors, the park became a communion of sharing and consensus in the heart of a citadel defined by greed and oligarchy. In the early hours of Tuesday, November 15, the occupiers' camp was destroyed when police swept suddenly into the square. But if the occupation at Zuccotti was destroyed that night, the movement it spawned across America has only just begun. Occupying Wall Street draws on extensive interviews with those who took part in the action to bring an inside-the-square history to life. In a vivid narrative, the key events of the occupation are described, and woven throughout are stories of daily life in the square focusing on how the kitchen, library, media center, clean-up, hospital, and General Assembly functioned, all in the words of the people who were there. Writers for the 99% is a group of writers and researchers active in supporting Occupy Wall Street who came together to create this book.

Fermented Foods serves up the history and science behind some of the world's most enduring food and drink. It begins with wine, beer and other heady brews before going on to explore the often whimsical histories of fermented breads, dairy, vegetables and meat, and to speculate on fermented fare's possible future. Along the way, readers will learn, among other things, about Roquefort cheese's fabled origins, the scientific drive to brew better beer, and the then-controversial biological theory that saved French wine. Fermented Foods also makes several detours into lesser-known territory - African beers, the formidable cured meats of subarctic latitudes, and the piquant, sometimes deadly products of Southeast Asia. It is a fun, yet comprehensive and timely survey of the world's fermented foods.