V Books

Expanded from Playboy magazine's "Axioms of the Mafia Manager"The world's oldest and best-organized conglomerate now reveals management techniques everyone can use. Unlike other guides to business, The Mafia Manager shuns theoretical verbiage to present the philosophy of leadership that founded and captained "The Silent Empire" through centuries of expansion and success. Some sample pearls of -"Be sure you understand what your boss has ordered before you act on his command. What if you whack the wrong guy, or bomb the wrong joint... Learn the art of asking questions."-"Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."-"Don't become involved in any office political battle without first asking yourself, 'What's in it for me?' and then 'What's in it for them?'"-"If you must lie, be brief."

"Like millions of women, Eve Ensler has been waiting much of her lifetime for an apology. Sexually and physically abused by her father, Eve has struggled her whole life from this betrayal, longing for an honest reckoning from a man who is long dead. After years of work as an anti-violence activist, she decided she would wait no longer; an apology could be imagined, by her, for her, to her. The Apology, written by Eve from her father's point of view in the words she longed to hear, attempts to transform the abuse she suffered with unflinching truthfulness, compassion, and an expansive vision for the future. Through The Apology Eve has set out to provide a new way for herself and a possible road for others, so that survivors of abuse may finally envision how to be free. She grapples with questions she has sought answers to since she first realized the impact of her father's abuse on her life: How do we offer a doorway rather than a locked cell? How do we move from humiliation to revelation, from curtailing behavior to changing it, from condemning perpetrators to calling them to reckoning? What will it take for abusers to genuinely apologize? Remarkable and original, The Apology is an acutely transformational look at how, from the wounds of sexual abuse, we can begin to re-emerge and heal. It is revolutionary, asking everything of each of us: courage, honesty, and forgiveness."--Jacket

A landmark in women's empowerment, this work remains highly relevant in the #MeToo era, celebrating the complexity of female sexuality. The 2018 edition commemorates the twentieth anniversary of V-Day, the grassroots movement aimed at ending violence against women and girls, inspired by Eve Ensler's influential piece. This special edition includes six unpublished monologues, a new foreword by National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson, an introduction by the author, and an afterword by Monique Wilson, director of One Billion Rising, discussing the global impact of the stage phenomenon. Witty, compassionate, and wise, this award-winning masterpiece articulates women's deepest fantasies, fears, anger, and pleasure, advocating for a world where women are safe, equal, and free in their bodies. Praise highlights its significance, with The New York Times calling it "probably the most important piece of political theater of the last decade." Kerry Washington reflects on its transformative legacy, while Variety describes it as "spellbinding" and "almost unbearably moving." The Los Angeles Times notes Ensler's "impassioned wit," and the Chicago Tribune calls it an "extraordinary" rhapsody of female essence.

"..Starts with Eve Ensler's tortured relationship with her own "post-forties" stomach and her skirmishes with everything from Ab Rollers to fad diets and fascist trainers in an attempt to get the "flabby badness" out. As Eve hungrily seeks self-acceptance, she is joined by the voices of women from L.A. to Kabul, whose obsessions are also laid bare: A young Latina candidly critiques her humiliating "spread," a stubborn layer of fat that she calls "a second pair of thighs." The wife of a plastic surgeon recounts being systematically reconstructed - inch by inch - by her "perfectionist" husband. An ageing magazine executive, still haunted by her mother's long-ago criticism, describes her desperate pursuit of youth as she relentlessly does sit-ups." "Along the way, Eve also introduces us to women who have found a hard-won peace with their bodies: an African mother who celebrates each individual body as a sign of nature's diversity, and an Indian woman who transcends "treadmill mania" and delights in her plump cheeks and curves. Then there is the veiled Afghani woman who is willing to risk imprisonment for a taste of ice cream. These are just a few of the inspiring stories woven through Eve's global journey from obsession to enlightenment. Ultimately, these monologues become a personal wake-up call from Eve to love the "good bodies" we inhabit."--Book jacket

Le ragazze capiscono tutto. È il loro modo speciale di essere nel mondo. Sanno tutto dell'amore, sanno consolare chi ne ha bisogno, hanno una spiccata intelligenza emotiva e affettiva, sanno anche quali colori abbinare, ma non per civetteria, solo per un innato senso del gusto. Spesso invece chi le guarda, chi vive con loro, sa poco o quasi niente delle loro vite. I genitori, la società, la religione vogliono etichettarle, manipolarle, impedire che si esprimano liberamente. Le pretendono belle, perfette, magre, obbedienti, sante. Non è difficile intuire quanto possa essere soffocante la condizione di ragazza, ma anche come renda le menti più attive e sognatrici, più ironiche rispetto a quelle dei loro coetanei maschi; come ne alimenti la forza, la consapevolezza. In queste pagine, adolescenti di ogni parte del mondo si esprimono, lamentano la solitudine, le imposizioni, i soprusi. Le ragazzine occidentali ossessionate dalla dieta e dal look, che fanno sesso senza sapere perché, le bambine segregate in casa, mutilate e picchiate in nome di un qualche Dio, le piccole operaie prigioniere nelle fabbriche, tutte raccontano lo stesso grande vuoto che da sempre è stato modellato intorno a loro. Come un paese senza nome, agli altri incomprensibile, sconosciuto. E svelano che non c'è niente di più falso della convinzione generale che la vita delle ragazze sia scandita esclusivamente da sequenze di fatti frivoli.