From 2004 to 2011, Terry Francona managed the Boston Red Sox, one of the most talked-about and scrutinized teams in all of sports. In FRANCONA, the legendary manager opens up for the first time about his eight years there, as they went from cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history.

From 2004 to 2011, Terry Francona managed the Boston Red Sox, one of the most talked-about and scrutinized teams in all of sports. In FRANCONA, the legendary manager opens up for the first time about his eight years there, as they went from cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history.

From 2004 to 2011, Terry Francona managed the Boston Red Sox, perhaps the most scrutinized team in all of sports. During that time, every home game was a sellout. Every play, call, word, gesture --- on the field and off --- was analyzed by thousands. And every decision was either genius, or disastrous. In those eight years, the Red Sox were transformed from a cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history --- only to fall back to last place as soon as Francona was gone. Now, in FRANCONA: The Red Sox Years, the decorated manager opens up for the first time about his tenure in Boston, unspooling the narrative of how this world-class organization reached such incredible highs and dipped to equally incredible lows. But through it all, there was always baseball, that beautiful game of which Francona never lost sight.

As no book has ever quite done before, Francona escorts readers into the rarefied world of a 21st-century clubhouse, revealing the mercurial dynamic of the national pastime from the inside out. From his unique vantage point, Francona chronicles an epic era, from 2004, his first year as the Sox skipper, when they won their first championship in 86 years, through another win in 2007, to the controversial September collapse just four years later. He recounts the tightrope walk of managing unpredictable personalities such as Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez and working with Theo Epstein, the general managing phenom, and his statistics-driven executives. It was a job that meant balancing their voluminous data with the emotions of a 25-man roster. It was a job that also meant trying to meet the expectations of three owners with often wildly differing opinions. Along the way, readers are treated to never-before-told stories about their favorite players, moments, losses and wins.

Ultimately, when for the Red Sox it became less about winning and more about making money, Francona contends they lost their way. But it was an unforgettable, endlessly entertaining, and instructive time in baseball history, one that is documented and celebrated in Francona, a book that examines like no other the art of managing in today’s game.

Contrary to popular myth and dogma, the men who consistently beguile women belie the familiar stereotypes. As Betsy Prioleau points out, legendary ladies’ men are a different, complex species altogether, often without looks or money. Prioleau cuts through the cultural lore and reveals who these master lovers really are and the arts they practice to enswoon women.

Contrary to popular myth and dogma, the men who consistently beguile women belie the familiar stereotypes. As Betsy Prioleau points out, legendary ladies’ men are a different, complex species altogether, often without looks or money. Prioleau cuts through the cultural lore and reveals who these master lovers really are and the arts they practice to enswoon women.

Contrary to popular myth and dogma, the men who consistently beguile women belie the familiar stereotypes: satanic rake, alpha stud, slick player, Mr. Nice, or big-money mogul. As Betsy Prioleau, author of SEDUCTRESS, points out in this surprising, insightful study, legendary ladies’ men are a different, complex species altogether, often without looks or money. They fit no known template and possess a cache of powerful erotic secrets.

With wit and erudition, Prioleau cuts through the cultural lore and reveals who these master lovers really are and the arts they practice to enswoon women. What she discovers is revolutionary. Using evidence from science, popular culture, fiction, anthropology and history, and from interviews with colorful real-world ladykillers, Prioleau finds that great seducers share a constellation of unusual traits.

While these men run the gamut, they radiate joie de vivre, intensity, and sex appeal; above all, they adore women. They listen, praise, amuse, and delight, and they know their way around the bedroom. And they’ve finessed the hardest part: locking in and revving desire. Women never tire of these fascinators and often, like Casanova’s conquests, remain besotted for life.

Finally, Prioleau takes stock of the contemporary culture and asks: where are the Casanovas of today? After a critique of the twenty-first-century sexual malaise --- the gulf between the sexes and women’s record discontent --- she compellingly argues that society needs ladies’ men more than ever. Groundbreaking and provocative, SWOON is underpinned with sharp analysis, brilliant research, and served up with seductive verve.

Eleven-year-old megastar Jonny Valentine knows that the fans don’t love him for who he is. But within the marketing machine, somewhere, this talented singer is still a vulnerable little boy, perplexed by his budding sexuality and his heartthrob status, dependent on his hard-partying manager-mother, and endlessly searching for his absent father in Internet fan sites, lonely emails, and the crowds of faceless fans.

Eleven-year-old megastar Jonny Valentine knows that the fans don’t love him for who he is. But within the marketing machine, somewhere, this talented singer is still a vulnerable little boy, perplexed by his budding sexuality and his heartthrob status, dependent on his hard-partying manager-mother, and endlessly searching for his absent father in Internet fan sites, lonely emails, and the crowds of faceless fans.

Jonathan Franzen wrote in The Daily Beast that “no other writer, as far as I know, has invented such a funny and compelling voice and story for [this type of character.]” Now, in THE LOVE SONG OF JONNY VALENTINE, Wayne turns his sharp wit, flawless narrative ventriloquism, and humane sensibility to our monstrous obsession with fame.

Megastar Jonny Valentine, eleven-year-old icon of bubblegum pop, knows that the fans don’t love him for who he is. The talented singer’s image, voice, and even hairdo have been relentlessly packaged --- by his L.A. label and his hard-partying manager-mother, Jane --- into bite-size pabulum. But within the marketing machine, somewhere, Jonny is still a vulnerable little boy, perplexed by his budding sexuality and his heartthrob status, dependent on Jane, and endlessly searching for his absent father in Internet fan sites, lonely emails, and the crowds of faceless fans.

Poignant, brilliant, and viciously funny, told through the eyes of one of the most unforgettable child narrators, this literary masterpiece explores with devastating insight and empathy the underbelly of success in 21st-century America. THE LOVE SONG OF JONNY VALENTINE is a tour de force by a standout voice of his generation.

Disoriented and bloodied after a near-deadly fall onto the subway tracks, freelance journalist Nat Idle is positive that the man who had barreled into him did not do so accidentally. On a quest to find out why this was done to him, Nat uncovers a slew of mysterious deaths and a bizarre neurological disorder that is affecting the minds of Bay Area children. Can Nat solve the mystery without being able to trust his own mind?

Disoriented and bloodied after a near-deadly fall onto the subway tracks, freelance journalist Nat Idle is positive that the man who had barreled into him did not do so accidentally. On a quest to find out why this was done to him, Nat uncovers a slew of mysterious deaths and a bizarre neurological disorder that is affecting the minds of Bay Area children. Can Nat solve the mystery without being able to trust his own mind?

Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of a loving husband and family, Allison finally feels safe --- unaware that a stranger's brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life. For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows: a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.

Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of a loving husband and family, Allison finally feels safe --- unaware that a stranger's brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life. For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows: a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.

In this well-researched and highly entertaining biography, Paula Byrne gives us a Jane Austen many readers may not recognize: a woman who enjoyed black humor and was well aware of the political scene of her time. Byrne uses artifacts from Austen’s life as a starting point for her engaging chapters on the events that shaped Austen’s worldview and inspired some of the most beloved scenes and characters in all of English literature.

In this well-researched and highly entertaining biography, Paula Byrne gives us a Jane Austen many readers may not recognize: a woman who enjoyed black humor and was well aware of the political scene of her time. Byrne uses artifacts from Austen’s life as a starting point for her engaging chapters on the events that shaped Austen’s worldview and inspired some of the most beloved scenes and characters in all of English literature.

THE REAL JANE AUSTEN offers a startlingly original look at the revered writer through a variety of key moments, scenes, and objects in her life and work. Going beyond previous traditional biographies which have traced Austen’s daily life from Steventon to Bath to Chawton to Winchester, Paula Byrne’s portrait --- organized thematically and drawn from the most up-to-date scholarship and unexplored sources --- explores the lives of Austen’s extended family, friends, and acquaintances. Through their absorbing stories, we view Austen on a much wider stage and discover unexpected aspects of her life and character. Byrne transports us to different worlds --- the East Indies and revolutionary Paris --- and different events --- from a high society scandal to a petty case of shoplifting, She follows Austen on her extensive travels, setting her in contexts both global and English, urban and rural, political and historical, social and domestic --- wider perspectives of vital and still under-estimated importance to her creative life.

Literary scholarship has revealed that letters and tokens in Austen’s novel’s often signal key turning points in the unfolding narrative. This groundbreaking biography explores Jane's own story following the same principle. As Byrne reveals, small things in the writer's world --- a scrap of paper, a simple gold chain, an ivory miniature, a bathing machine --- hold significance in her emotional and artistic development. THE REAL JANE AUSTEN introduces us to a woman deeply immersed in the world around her, yet far ahead of her time in her independence and ambition; to an author who was an astute commentator on human nature and the foibles of her own age. Rich and compelling, it is a fresh, insightful, and often surprising portrait of an artist and a vivid evocation of the complex world that shaped her.