"'What does it take to be good at something, when failure is so easy?' asks writer/physician Gawande . . . Diligence, ingenuity and 'doing right' . . . Gawande illustrates each of these qualities with stories from his own experience, [and] his observations of and conversations with other physicians . . . For young doctors . . . Gawande suggests five strategies: Ask unscripted questions, don't complain, 'count something' (be a scientist as well as a doctor), write something (to make yourself part of a larger world) and change in response to new ideas. A must-read for medical professionals-and a discerning, humanizing portrait of doctors at work for the rest of us."—Kirkus Reviews

"It’s the grand compendium of all that we know about how to undertake this most difficult of transitions. Gore’s new volume is the indispensable one-stop shop for the cutting edge thinking about how we’re going to solve this problem."—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

"It is impossible to know war if you do not stand with the mass of the powerless caught in its maw. All narratives of war told through the lens of the combatants carry with them the seduction of violence. But once you cross to the other side, to stand in fear with the helpless and the weak, you confront the moral depravity of industrial slaughter and the scourge that is war itself. Few books achieve this clarity. The Photographer is one. A strange book, part photojournalism and part graphic memoir, The Photographer tells the story of a small mission of mostly French doctors and nurses who traveled into northern Afghanistan by horse and donkey train in 1986, at the height of the Soviet occupation. The book shows the damage done to bodies and souls by shells, bullets and iron fragments, and the frantic struggle to mend the broken."—Chris Hedges, The New York Times

"The 130-page 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation . . . arguably places the attacks in context better than any nonpictorial book could, or any film or television show has done so far. And in the simple visual retelling of the written report's results, it carries a profound emotional impact that is disarming . . . Perhaps most important, the 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation takes a document that is more than 500 pages long and often difficult to penetrate and makes it accessible to a much wider audience—tightening the narrative and increasing the spectacle without the fictionalization . . . The finished product is so solid that Sept. 11 commission Chairman Thomas Kean went from skepticism about a Sept. 11 report comic book to writing the foreword."—Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

"Remember, this is a little kid, not even 10 years old, all alone. Hatred, by now, is the only thing that sustains him, hatred for his father, who so brutally double-crossed him, hatred for the Arabs, who he presumes are responsible for this war. There's no glamour here, no pitched battles, only unimaginable misery. Finally, after about two years in the camp, he's recruited into the SPLA, and his real troubles begin. He's beaten and tortured in every possible fashion . . . When he finally does get to kill a few Arabs, he feels no sense of triumph, just sadness. They're human, too, it seems. A couple of miracles happen . . . we know there is a happy ending; otherwise, there wouldn't be this book. Jal becomes a believing Christian and gospel singer. He sets up an organization to help lost boys, but he's  . . . often tired and sad and lonely, but in War Child he succeeds in making this crazy war and all its ramifications utterly grounded, specific and real . . . You'll come away from this book loving Emmanuel Jal."—Carolyn See, The Washington Post Book World

“Intern succeeds as an unusually transparent portrait of an imperfect human being trying to do his best at a tough job . . . In addition to telling Jauhar’s own story, Intern delivers a vivid portrait of the culture of a New York City hospital, with its demanding hierarchy and sometimes indifferent cruelty . . . The medical system ultimately wore down Jauhar’s most idealistic impulses, and yet allowed him to find a certain peace.”—Vincent Lam, The New York Times Book Review

"[Elizabeth Kolbert's] research is thorough. She gleaned much of her information from personal interviews and visits to localities around the world. Although she is clearly distressed by the lack of concern of the Bush administration about global warming and climate change, Kolbert tends not to use alarmist language to argue for a particular viewpoint, choosing instead to let her stories and interviews do the talking. That is an effective approach to a topic that could, in less-skilled hands, make for dull reading. And by the end of the book, the reader will have no doubt that the problem is a serious one."—Doug Macdougall, The Chronicle of Higher Education

"A venerated reporter, Langewiesche makes the case that the Miracle on the Hudson had two heroes—the pilot and his plane. While Langewiesche takes us through the dramatic event from all perspectives, he particularly focuses on how the genius advances in aviation and digital technology made that landing possible. Planes are now built to protect passengers from pilots, or at least the bad ones. Now geese, that's a different matter."—Sherryl Connelly, The Daily News

“Soul of a Citizen has been a powerful resource to get thousands of students involved in their communities, giving them the opportunity to apply their learning in meaningful ways.  This updated edition is both timely and exceptionally useful to campuses that want to reclaim higher education’s central role in educating responsible, democratic citizens.”—Carol Geary Schneider, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities 

"It would be unwise to dismiss McKibben's ideas as pipe dreams or Luddism. He makes his case on anecdotal, environmental, moral and, as it were, aesthetic grounds. An attentive, widely traveled writer and environmentalist, McKibben cites the success of local projects around the world, from a rabbit-raising academy in China to a Guatemalan cooperative that manufactures farm machinery from old bicycles."—Lance Morrow, The New York Times Book Review

Drawing on the experience of 1,400 Step It Up organizers in all fifty states, Bill McKibben—the author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy—and the Step It Up team explain how you can build the fight in your community, college, or place of worship.

"[Michaels] describes in eloquent detail how the liberal pursuit of social and economic equality was sidetracked by the pursuit of 'diversity.'"—Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune

"The decency of Jacqueline Novogratz shines through these pages and so does her strength. The stories she shares about the people she has met show the nobility of the human spirit and the breadth of the desire to stop suffering, to feed the hungry, to care for the sick, to empower the poor - in short, to make the world a better place. The Blue Sweater is a book of hope written by a practical idealist who won't take 'no' for an answer when it comes to building a better world. Jacqueline breathes new life into the phrase "a life of meaning" and she is living one everyday even as she asks us to join her."—Senator Bill Bradley

“This is a strong book, and it tells a complicated story in comprehensible, human dimensions.  Like all good journalism, it’s the hand holding up the mirror, the friend telling us to take a cold, hard look at ourselves.”—Los Angeles Times

"Fascinating . . . look at the water wars: between bottled water and tap water, between big corporations and local water interests, between consumers who say they want the convenience, cleanliness and even status of bottled water, and environmentalists who condemn bottled water as 'the moral equivalent of driving a Hummer,' producing tons of plastic bottles, racking up huge transportation fees and leaving behind a significant carbon footprint."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Fascinating . . . the cartoonist is in top form throughout . . . A story soaked to the marrow with heartbreaking insights . . . One of the best long-form comics of this decade, and Sacco’s greatest work to date.”—The Comics Reporter

“Michael J. Sandel is one of this generation’s most important philosophers because he combines a relentlessly inquiring spirit with a profound commitment to the idea of a common good. Justice is Sandel at his finest: no matter what your views are, his delightful style will draw you in, and he’ll then force you to rethink your assumptions and challenge you to question accepted ways of thinking. But Sandel does not leave you marooned on an island of skepticism. He calls us to a better way of doing politics, and a more enriching way of living our lives.”—E. J. Dionne, Jr.