Temple Beth Israel, Portland, Oregon Print

Elizabeth, Countess of Dansmere, has to contend with the attentions of not one but two handsome gentlemen. What is the lovely young widow to do? The dashing count, Oswald Gulbridge, wants to marry her. But her sister's neighbor, the wealthy Mr. Dominick Markham, wants only revenge. For Dominick shares with Elizabeth a secret which could mean social ruin for herself and her son Nicky. The countess is ready to do battle - but her worst enemy may be her own treacherous heart!

Once in a great while, a book comes along that not only discusses a topic, but also changes the boundaries of that discussion forever. This is such a book, analyzing the four questions that have bedeviled Israel and Palestine for almost forty years: Why do we care about Israel? Why don't the Palestinians have a state? What is a Jewish state? Why is there no peace? Richard Ben Cramer's portrait of the Middle East is both up to the minute and timeless, enlivened at every step by his trademark humor...

In the closest thing he may ever write to an autobiography, Chuck Palahniuk provides answers to all these questions and more as he takes you through the streets, sewers, and local haunts of Portland, Oregon. According to Katherine Dunn, author of the cult classic Geek Love , Portland is the home of America’s “fugitives and refugees.” Get to know these folks, the “most cracked of the crackpots,” as Palahniuk calls them, and come along with him on an adventure through the parts of Portland you might...