The only book of its kind, Tennis and the Meaning of Life is a resplendent collection of the best fiction (and poetry ) written about this sport/obsession. The stories are hilarious and sad, whimsical and philosophical - and thoroughly saturated with the art of the game.

Before there was a Disneyland, there was Knott's Berry Farm. What started out in the early 1920s as a small, roadside berry stand in Buena Park, California, grew over the next 60 years into one of the most popular amusement parks in the world. Its founder, Walter Knott, along with his wife and family, knew no boundaries when it came to expanding his small berry market and tearoom into the world-famous Chicken Dinner Restaurant and later adding his ultimate achievement, Ghost Town. This book documents the early history of Knott's Berry Farm, featuring over 200 rarely seen images.

For those who care about literature or simply love a good laugh (or both), Charles Portis has long been one of America's most admired novelists. His 1968 novel "True Grit" is fixed in the contemporary canon, and four more have been hailed as comic masterpieces. Now, for the first time, his other writings--journalism, travel stories, short fiction, memoir, and even a play--have been brought together in "Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany," his first new book in more than twenty years.

All the familiar Portis elements are here: picaresque adventures, deadpan humor, an expert...