Next to the exhortation at the beginning ofMoby-Dick, "Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen'sPride and Prejudicemust be among the most quoted in literature. And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground.

Once, there was a remarkable person who led with love. Her company succeeded where its competitors struggled. Its customers were loyal, its employees loved to work there, and it was profitable year after year, for decades. This loving leader began her career as an executive secretary, yet the company's founder chose her to succeed him as president. When asked why, he said, "Because she knows how to love people to success." She is Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines.Lead with LUVis an extraordinary, wide-ranging conversation between Barrett and the legendary Ken Blanchard, author ofThe One Minute Manager. Drawing on personal experience, Barrett and Blanchard reveal why leading with love is the most powerful way to lead and how it can help you achieve truly amazing levels of performance. Discover:

• What "love" really means in the organizational context.
• Why leading with love is not "soft" management!
• How to use redirection and tough love to handle inappropriate behavior or performance.
• Why "servant leadership" is love in action, and how to make it work.
• How to build the compelling vision and culture that sustains leadership with love.

With help fromCliffsNotes on Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,you explore the first book-length narrative by an ex-slave that reveals the unique brutalities inflicted on enslaved African women in the South.

The chapter summaries and commentaries in this study guide expose you to a harrowing story of degradation and sexual exploitation; the struggle for freedom and self-definition; community and family; and writing as a means of freedom. Other features that help you study include

• An in-depth look at the life of the author, Harriet A. Jacobs
• Character analyses of major players
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Critical essays
• Glossaries of key words and terms
• A review section that tests your knowledge

Water for Elephantsis the story of Jacob's life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the "menagerie" and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass and as his reward he spends most of the novel beaten, broken, concussed, bleeding, swollen and hungover. He is the self-appointed Protector of the Downtrodden, and... he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August's wife. Not his best idea.