James Bailey

Charmer Lewis had the looks of a male model and the smarts of a Harvard student. One would think he would be on top of the world, but that was not the case. Even as a small boy, he was always wondering why he was on this planet and the true meaning of his existence. He excelled in sports, but never enjoyed them. Not really. A home run or a strikeout never affected him like his peers. He was a beautiful man, with many female admirers, but had no real interest in anyone or anything His whole family died in a car crash when he was in his late teens, and, although saddened this happened, he really never had a deep connection with any of them. All of these things started to go round and round his brain until one morning, he got up and decided he had to do something drastic. Hence, he walked out of Harvard and stuck his thumb out at the nearest highway. Not soon after his trip takes him to unchartered territory when an escaped mental patient he encounters at a local diner accidentally shoots and kills the waitress who serves them. Now he not only has an unwanted guest to accompany him, but the fianc of the now deceased waitress, who just happens to be the local sheriff, in hot pursuit. During this journey he runs into a cast of quirky and unforgettable characters who believe that happiness for them could be found at the 50th anniversary of the Roswell UFO crash or in a pint of Vodka.

"The Greatest Show on Dirt is funny, fast-paced, and peopled with likable characters in a believable minor-league setting. In other words: manna for fans of sports fiction." -JOSEPH WALLACE, author of Diamond RubySet in the same beloved old stadium where Bull Durham was filmed, The Greatest Show on Dirt provides a look at baseball from a different angle. Players come and go, but there would be no games without a front office to sell the tickets, groom the field, and open the gates to let the fans in. A former Bulls employee who later spent six years covering the minor leagues for Baseball America, James Bailey has crafted a realistic, yet often hilarious, account of a young man's indoctrination into life in the bush leagues." I]t's not just believable, but is easy to imagine as being the starting point for a movie script--even with Bull Durham already a classic. Bailey doesn't use baseball locker-talk for shock value, but keeps the reader moving at the right pace, fully locked and loaded, trying to figure out how this crumbling old minor-league park will somehow expose the secret to life for at least one person who feels disconnected, but is willing to listen to see if it's speaking his language." - Los Angeles Daily News

JAMES BAILEY SUFFERED FROM A BIZARRE AND DEBILITATING FORM OF OBSESSIVECOMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD). HE WAS ACUTELY ANXIOUS ABOUT MIND-ALTERING DRUGS GETTING INTO HIS SYSTEM AND WARPING HIS BEHAVIOUR. PARANOID QUESTIONS WOULD ROUTINELY PLAGUE HIM. WERE PEOPLE TRYING TO SPIKE HIS FOOD? COULD HE GET HIGH JUST BY TOUCHING A PHOTOGRAPH OF A MARIJUANA LEAF? THE TREATMENT PROGRAMME HE WENT THROUGH AT A SPECIALIST AMERICAN CLINIC BROUGHT HIM FACE TO FACE WITH HIS NIGHTMARES. HE WAS ASKED TO MINGLE AND SHAKE HANDS WITH THE LOCAL JUNKIES, OVERCOMING HIS FEAR THAT WHATEVER THEY D TAKEN WOULD BE TRANSMITTED TO HIM THROUGH THEIR SKIN. THE LONGER HE RESISTED WASHING HIS HANDS, THE BETTER HE WAS GETTING. IT IS A TESTIMONY TO BAILEY S INDOMITABLE SPIRIT THAT HE IS NOW ABLE TO SEE THE ABSURDITY OF MANY OF THE BIZARRE SITUATIONS IN WHICH HE FOUND HIMSELF, AND THIS QUIRKY SENSE OF HUMOUR, COMBINED WITH HIS STRENGTH OF CHARACTER, HELPED HIM TO RECOVER AND GO BACK OUT TO FACE THE WORLD AGAIN. MAN, INTERRUPTED GIVES US A GLIMPSE INTO THE TORTURED WORLD OF A MAN SUFFERING FROM WHAT IS AN INCREASINGLY COMMON DISORDER. BUT FAR FROM BEING A DOOM-LADEN ACCOUNT OF MENTAL ILLNESS, THE RESULT IS UNIQUELY REVEALING, HILARIOUSLY ENTERTAINING AND WONDERFULLY REWARDING.

"A brilliant and comprehensive introduction to the most seminal component of leadership: wisdom. The diversity of the readings and wisdom of the authors make this a most original and valuable addition to the management canon."—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management, University of Southern California and author of On Becoming a Leader"This wonderful compilation proves that management is as much art as science, and that deep thinking can inform and inspire practice to be more humane, ethical, and, yes, wise."—Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Professor and best-selling author of Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End"If you'll forgive a pun, this is a wise book about organizational and managerial wisdom. It shows what's possible when some of our best thinkers turn their collective attention to such timely subjects as EQ, negotiation, global politics, and individual and organizational ethics."—Steve Kerr, Chief Learning Officer, Goldman Sachs, and Past President of the Academy of Management"One of the 'most promising' forthcoming management books."—EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT"To wade into the topic wisdom is to see organizing differently. To wade into this volume is to see wisdom differently. Both forms of effort embody a wonderful moment of wisdom itself."–Karl E. Weick, Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology,University of Michigan Some interesting issues emerge when one views organizations from a wisdom-based perspective. Does technology promote or inhibit wisdom? How do HR systems, organizational forms, management practices, and operational capabilities relate to wisdom? What are the ethical and social dimensions of wisdom? What makes a wise leader? Can wisdom be developed and utilized strategically? Do conceptions and manifestations of wisdom vary across cultures? Can one teach wisdom? Editors Eric Kessler and James Bailey have produced a ground-breaking compendium of globally renowned thinkers in the Handbook of Organizational and Managerial Wisdom. This Handbook systematically explores the characteristics of understanding, applying, and developing organizational and managerial wisdom. Key FeaturesOrganizes wisdom around the five primary philosophical branches—logic, ethics, aesthetics, epistemology, and metaphysicsApplies wisdom in organizations and management through international examples that synthesize a set of practical principles for academics and practicing managersOffers an outstanding collection of world-renowned scholars who give profound insights regarding wisdom

An extensive introduction provides basic information about Russian epics, their historical background, their poetics, the history of their collection, their performance context, and their main interpretations. In addition, their is a short introduction to each song, explaining its plot, allusions, and interpretations. A glossary of common terms and a selected bibliography of studies about the Russian epic in English and Russian are also included in the volume.

An extensive introduction provides basic information about Russian epics, their historical background, their poetics, the history of their collection, their performance context, and their main interpretations. In addition, their is a short introduction to each song, explaining its plot, allusions, and interpretations. A glossary of common terms and a selected bibliography of studies about the Russian epic in English and Russian are also included in the volume.