Mark Stein is a playwright and screenwriter. His plays have been performed off-Broadway and at theaters throughout the country. His films include Housesitter, with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. He has taught at American University and Catholic University.

From outlawing bowling in colonial America to regulating violent video games and synthetic drugs today, Mark Stein's Vice Capades examines the nation's relationship with the actions, attitudes, and antics that have defined morality. This humorous and quirky history reveals that our views of vice are formed not merely by morals but by power. While laws against nude dancing have become less restrictive, laws restricting sexual harassment have been enacted. While marijuana is no longer illegal everywhere, restrictive laws have been enacted against cigarettes. Stein examines this nation's inconsistent moral compass and how the powers-that-be in each era determine what is or is not deemed a vice. From the Puritans who founded Massachusetts with unyielding, biblically based laws to those modern purveyors of morality who currently campaign against video game violence, Vice Capades looks at the American history we all know from a fresh and exciting perspective and shows how vice has shaped our nation, sometimes without us even knowing it.

Regardless of current events or personal opinions, Americans continue to revere the power and poise of the president of the United States. Yet, for almost as long as this nation has existed, we have simultaneously been forced to tolerate that occasional oddball who, for some reason or another, also decided that it would be a great idea to run for the most important office in the world. Rarely, if ever, have we looked at our fringe candidates for presidency with anything other than a sideways glance or fleeting interest; after all, how seriously can we expect to take someone running for the most powerful seat in the world under the moniker Vermin Supreme, or proudly representing the Flying Saucer Party? It's easy to look at those who have irreverently thrown their hats into the grandest of political rings as little more than attention seekers, hoping to finagle a few days in the sun before rightfully returning back to complete obscurity. However, to simply dismiss these candidates as nothing more than walking punchlines, (un)welcome distractions, and desperate fools looking to stroke their own egos would not be giving them enough credit; in fact, more often than not, these eccentric candidates have come to represent much more than political comic relief. The Presidential Fringe examines, for the first time ever, the complete history of America's relationship with the nefarious-and sometimes hilarious-men, women, and even animals that have thrown their hats into the ring. And while it's always easy to dismiss the political fringe as unworthy of our time and attention, closer examination reveals that, very often, it was in fact these very fringe candidates that planted the seeds from which mainstream candidates later harvested genuine, positive change. In fact, some of the policies, regulations, and behaviors we adhere to today are the direct result of fringe candidacy. Written with Mark Stein's trademark voice and direct, relatable style, The Presidential Fringe explores and explains an American landscape rife with the unlikely, unassuming, unexpected, and (in a few cases) unbalanced presidential hopefuls who, in their own way, have contributed to this nation's founding quest "to form a more perfect Union."

CAPTURE THE ONBOARDING MARGIN WITH THE "4 PILLARS" OF SUCCESSFUL ONBOARDING "Bringing a new employee on board can be the start of a rewarding relationship or the beginning of a missed opportunity. This smart book can teach you how to make the most of each employee's career starting on Day One." --Daniel H. Pink, author of DRIVE and A WHOLE NEW MIND "This book has the potential to change the way that we think about new hires and what is possible from the group. With the instruction provided, you can migrate onboarding from the administrative to the strategic, and deliver far greater value for your enterprise." --Betty Thompson, Senior Vice President, People Services, Booz Allen Hamilton "People are a company's most important asset. Successful Onboarding makes the case for the importance of effective onboarding in setting up employees for success." --Stephen Squeri, Group President, Global Services and Chief Information Officer, American Express Company "Hiring employees is the biggest investment most organizations make. Understanding how to make sure that investment sticks is what onboarding is about, and Successful Onboarding shows you how to do it right." --Peter Cappelli, Director of the Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania; author of TALENT ON DEMAND Fact: 1/3rd of all external hires are no longer with the organization after 2 years. What can you do about it? In a word: onboarding; although poorly understood, subject to narrow definitions, and with limited best practice understanding or management rigor. Consultants Mark Stein & Lilith Christiansen have worked with leading companies on it, and they've synthesized their work into a ready to use system. With Successful Onboarding, you can: Rewrite the employer-employee compact--to everyone's advantage Reduce time-to-productivity--while increasing the level of productivity and retention Make improvements at the systemic level--with gains realized with regularity * Enroll new hires in your company's strategic plan Successful Onboarding provides a business case, a systemic approach to the entire process, and instructive inside stories from Apple, Starbucks, Netflix, Microsoft, Baird, Bank of America, John Deere, and dozens of other industry leaders. "This is a terrific resource for anyone wanting to create an effective onboarding program." --Mindy Moye, Ph.D., Manager Employee Engagement, John Deere "In Successful Onboarding Lilith and Mark demonstrate the financial impact that the onboarding process can have on your organization, and provides a roadmap for improving your return on investment. The book has already changed the way we think about onboarding in our organization." --Andrew Blocher, Chief Financial Officer, Federal Realty Investment Trust "Goodbye old-school orientation and welcome to onboarding. A great reference to tailor your onboarding based on your culture and strategy. This book demonstrates how sound and creative onboarding can prevent a lot of voluntary off-boarding from high performing employees." --Sonia Narang, Director, Leadership & Organization Development, Sony Pictures Entertainment "Every company leader who is serious about delivering results through people should read this book. Successful Onboarding not only gives a roadmap to successful hiring and retention, but also addresses the common pitfalls that lead to adjustment struggles, discouragement and skepticism from new hires. This book rings true to those of us who coach leaders in the onboarding transition." --Kate Ebner, Co-Director, Georgetown University Leadership Coaching Program, Principal, The Nebo Company "This is an important book for business leaders who want to assure employee engagement from Day One! Practical and instru

In this fascinating book, Mark Stein examines "black British literature," centering on a body of work created by British-based writers with African, South Asian, or Caribbean cultural backgrounds. Linking black British literature to the bildungsroman genre, this study examines the transformative potential inscribed in and induced by a heterogeneous body of texts. Capitalizing on their plural cultural attachments, these texts portray and purvey the transformation of post-imperial Britain. Stein locates his wide-ranging analysis in both a historical and a literary context. He argues that a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach is essential to understanding post-colonial culture and society. The book relates black British literature to ongoing debates about cultural diversity, and thereby offers a way of reading a highly popular but as yet relatively uncharted field of cultural production. With the collapse of its empire, with large-scale immigration from former colonies, and with ever-increasing cultural diversity, Britain underwent a fundamental makeover in the second half of the twentieth century. This volume cogently argues that black British literature is not only a commentator on and a reflector of this makeover, but that it is simultaneously an agent that is integral to the processes of cultural and social change. Conceptualizing the novel of transformation, this comprehensive study of British black literature provides a compelling analytic framework for charting these processes.