Short Personal Essay

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Book VII Metaphors We Live By: Control, Order, & Uncertainty Every system is built on an assumption that the future will cooperate. It rarely does. Plans outlive the conditions that made them sensible. Rules survive the problems they were written to solve. Metrics replace the goals they were designed to measure. And the people inside these systems adapt. Not to reality, but to the system’s version of it. Metaphors We Live By: Control, Order, & Uncertainty is a collection of forty essays examining how systems shape behavior, why order tends to become its own purpose, and what happens when ...

A grandmaster comes down from the mountain to heal more people. He gets called an asshole within an hour, mugged within a week, and spends the next twenty-one years learning to be a butcher. There are also protein pancakes. This is Volume One. From the Valley is a chapbook series about the gap between mastery in one terrain and competence in another. The series cadence is irregular by design. This is the only volume with a foundation — future volumes start where they start. The companion publication From the Mountain, free on Substack, carries the considered work: slow, patient writing ...

Versatile is a collection of 101 short pieces that help you become a better communicator. Each story, essay, or insight is written in a way that’s easy to read and understand. The topics cover everything from giving better speeches to handling awkward conversations, improving writing, building better habits, and understanding people. Whether you want to get better at public speaking, talk to others more confidently, or just enjoy interesting takes on everyday situations, this book is for you. You can read it from start to finish or flip to any chapter that grabs your attention.

Lydia Davis is a writer whose originality, influence, and wit are beyond compare. Jonathan Franzen has called her "a magician of self-consciousness," while Rick Moody hails her as "the best prose stylist in America." And for Claire Messud, "Davis's signal gift is to make us feel alive." Best known for her masterful short stories and translations, Davis's gifts extend equally to her nonfiction. In Essays One, Davis has, for the first time, gathered a selection of essays, commentaries, and lectures composed over the past five decades.  

In King Maker, you'll find 101 bite-sized stories, thought-provoking essays, and powerful insights designed to sharpen your communication skills in every aspect of life. Whether you're delivering a speech, telling a story, or simply making conversation, this book will help you connect, persuade, and leave a lasting impression.

Communication is more than just talking. It is about knowing how to act in a meeting, how to tell a good story, and how to understand the people around you. In Underrated, you will get 101 quick lessons that teach you the "unwritten rules" of life and work. What is inside? This book is not a boring textbook. It is a collection of short stories on: Public Speaking: How to tell if you’ve talked too long and how to use the same tips the world’s best speakers use. Work Life: How to deal with boring jobs, how to manage younger workers, and how to get noticed at the office.

Built for More is a collection of short stories, essays, and insights to help you improve your soft skills. Learn to think clear and speak even clearer. Each entry is meant to fuel your logic and imagination so you are better equipped to deal with people.

In her new collection of autobiographical essays, Nino Gugunishvili offers her reflections and meditations on grief and loss, on friendship and longing, on memory and aging, on writing, and not writing, told through her personal experiences, forming an intimate, confessional narrative.

Stories that will make you laugh, cry, and feel a thousand emotions in between. Following on the heels of his critically acclaimed first book of short works, A Flamingo Under the Carousel, William John Rostron continues with this second compilation of published works that utilizes multiple genres. Again, the reader is treated to tales of fiction, non-fiction, and his unique style of “almost fiction.” He spans the globe with stories that take place in London, Paris, and Rome…not to mention the oceans of the world and outer space. Rostron’s imagination brings you to the mysterious ...

Street Smarts is a collection of 101 short stories, essays, and insights to improve soft skills. The world is constantly changing, and the ability to adapt is more important than ever. It is time to ditch old modes of thinking for new mental models that allow us to thrive in a complex world. In Street Smarts, you will learn public speaking strategies to dominate the stage, content creation frameworks to build a powerful brand, methods on how to deal with loneliness and feel whole, how to unleash an attractive personality and form long-lasting connections, and more.

What if your next cup of coffee could change the way you see everything? Life comes with detours, dead ends, and days that feel like you’re running on empty. But sometimes all it takes is one good conversation — and a perfectly brewed cup — to see things in a whole new light. In The Coffee Shift: Perspectives, Cat Wisdom, and the Power of a Good Cup of Coffee, Beenie Mann invites you to pull up a chair, pour something warm, and join her for a series of heart-to-heart chats about what really matters. This isn’t your average self-help book. It’s part conversation, part comedy, part ...

This book is a collection of short stories that describe some of the unique incidents and experiences from my life. These are stories that have stuck in my mind for years. They are unforgettable. There have been funny incidents, near death experiences, moments of inspiration and periods of deep introspection. I also included a section with stories that explore racism and prejudice. I feel that this section of the book is very important. When I get together with a group of friends, we usually begin by talking about how our families is doing. Another subject may be the recent vacations that ...

Communication isn’t just about public speaking or writing emails, it’s about how you navigate the world, interpret culture, and interact with the people around you. In Golden Boy, you will get a masterclass in social intelligence, soft skills, and contemporary life. Through 101 short essays and stories, I break down the nuances of human interaction in the age of AI, social media, and shifting workplace dynamics.

Everyone has a story. Few realize they're telling it. The woman who asked for silence and talked for twelve minutes straight. The man who was already rich and needed you to know it. The groom who wasn't sure. The veteran who had nowhere to be. The kid who was going to be famous. I drove them all. I listened to every word. And before they got out of my car, I asked them one thing. No cash. Just give me a word of wisdom. What they said will surprise you. What it taught me might change you. My name is Smiley. I drive for a rideshare company. Every night strangers climb into my back seat and ...

Omnibus is an engrossing ride through Jo’s wacky world. There are articles and stories on ski jumps, drumming, music and dogs; even Mary Poppins gets a mention. There’s a friend lost, then found, then slowly lost again as his mind begins to crumble – thank goodness we shared some laughs in days gone by. There’s even a set of Antlers and my favourite aeroplane, the S71 Blackbird at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England. And then there’s the odd ride on a bus! No ordinary journey this. Many years ago, following some dire health issues, Jo and wife Jan discarded their long-term ...

Commitment is the anchor that holds your purpose steady when everything else pulls you off course. In Commitment: A Short Perspective on Keeping What Matters, Paul J. Ferguson reveals why commitment remains one of the most powerful—and most overlooked—forces in a distracted world. More than willpower or persistence, true commitment shapes identity, strengthens relationships, and gives our lives direction when certainty is scarce. This concise, compelling book explores: Why commitment collapses in a culture driven by speed, shortcuts, and constant reinvention How intention, steadiness, ...

David Bain offers ten essays on writing, with an eye toward helping new writers gain their footing and keeping the more seasoned scribe motivated. It also includes his essay "Basic E-Book Self-Publishing Advice for Newbies" which has already helped hundreds of beginning indie authors. A longtime college English prof and former newspaper bureau chief, Bain infuses these essays on the writing life with years of teaching, editing, and indie publishing experience, using an easygoing yet incisive style.

Discover the power of connection and communication with this diverse collection of short stories, essays, and thought-provoking insights. Exponential is your guide to mastering the art of expression, understanding human behavior, and navigating complex social dynamics with finesse.

From the acclaimed, award-winning author: Why are books so very powerful? What do the books we’ve read over our lives—our own personal libraries—make of us? What does the unraveling of our tradition of public libraries, so hard-won but now in jeopardy, say about us? The stories in Ali...