Neil D. Isaacs

Burton Raffel

Brenda Webster

The Green Knight, a mysteriously powerful creature, tests the honor and courage of King Arthur's youngest knight.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

We are a nation of gamblers: pari-mutuel wagering at horse tracks; blackjack in Las Vegas; the NCAA basketball office pool; even day trading on the internet. Gambling is both our national pastime and our predominant cultural metaphor -- play the field; beat the odds; take a chance on love. Yet gambling poses serious risks to individuals and to society as a whole. Neil Isaacs -- sports historian, licensed clinical social worker, English professor, and a gambler himself for more than fifty years -- seeks to shatter the myths interfering with our understanding of gambling addiction, its causes, and its treatment. He begins by systematically debunking several commonly held beliefs, demonstrating that there is no such thing as the law of averages, that gambling is not inherently sinful, immoral, or criminal, and that money is not always the prime motivator for gamblers. Isaacs shows how habitual gambling can lead to compulsive gambling, but avoids oversimplifying this condition. Arguing against a undifferentiated interpretation of pathological gambling as a simple impulse control disorder, he draws examples from fiction, film, and his own practice to demonstrate additional ways gambling can be abused. A radical departure from established views, You Bet Your Life identifies the costs -- in dollars, people, families, and credit ratings -- of society's failure to address adequately the burdens of gambling.

The Burdens of Gambling

You Bet Your Life

A Study of the Short Fiction

Grace Paley

Ever since he moved out of the house, Wednesday has become Simons favorite day of the week. It is the day he picks up his fourteen-year-old daughter, Leni, from school, drives her to her piano lessons, and enjoys a post-lesson weekly dinner ritual with her. But one Wednesday after he drops Leni at home, Simon suddenly has a foreboding feeling that something is wrong and is subsequently led down a path he never could have imagined. In thirteen poignant and compelling stories filled with a varied cast of characters including Billie Holiday and a thinly disguised Paul Newman, Neil Isaacs shares a glimpse into the high and low points in the lives of lovers and loners, siblings and spouses, and families and neighbors. From Marthas Vineyard to Aruba and the Caymans and from Boston to New York and San Antonio, his characters face life-changing moments and learn valuable lessons while dealing with lifes unpredictable challenges. One Thing and Another and Other Stories shares short tales that reveal the quirks and flaws of human nature and prove that we are all more alike than different.

One Thing and Another and Other Stories

A History of College Basketball

All the Moves

Rose A. Zimbardo

Selected essays on Tolkien's trilogy include W. H. Auden's essay on the hero's quest, C. S. Lewis's piece on the value of myth, Marion Zimmer Bradley's article on hero worship, Tim Shippey's piece on the film trilogy, and much more. Original.

Neil D. Isaacs

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