45 revealing interviews with fearless workers that will appeal to fans of Studs Terkel and television’s Deadliest Catch. Risky Living is a fascinating collection of candid and intimate conversations with forty-five men and women who describe, in gripping detail, how physical risk is a familiar companion in their working lives, and how they deal with it. This is the first work of oral history to focus solely on people who work dangerous jobs. In the great tradition of books revealing the real lives of working men and women pioneered by Studs Terkel, Risky Living takes readers:

• Inside Antron Brown’s car as he launches his top fuel drag racer from zero to over 300 miles per hour
• Alongside world champion bull rider Justin McBride as he attempts to stay atop a 1,600-pound beast
• Next to storm chasing videographer Jeff Gammons as he painfully remembers the screams of Hurricane Katrina drowning victims
• Right behind Cameron Begbie as he recalls fighting hand-to-hand against insurgents in Iraq
• Inside the huddle with two-time Pro Bowl NFL player Kassim Osgood
• In the back of the jeep with National Geographic wildlife photographer Andy Casagrande
• Down the shaft with coal miner Jeff Shiner
• Into the swamp with alligator trapper Tredale Boudreaux
• 100 stories up with high-rise window washer Walter Diaz

Risky Living reveals who these daring people are, what they endure for a paycheck, and how they feel about their jobs. They speak for themselves, in their words, and what they have to say reveals much about who they are, what they do, and why they do it. ....

In a stunning and completely new view of the solar system, an astronaut and a geologist team up to investigate, through parallel views made possible by cutting-edge space technology, how the earth itself can help science unravel the mysteries of the heavens.

Noted planetary geologist Ellen Stofan and veteran astronaut Tom Jones pair images of Earth—many captured by space shuttle and space station crewmembers—with astonishing scenes of alien surfaces beamed home by NASA’s far-ranging robotic probes. Vivid illustrations of searing lava plains, windswept deserts, and stark craters demonstrate how natural forces have shaped these varied landscapes. This comprehensive new portrait of the solar system brings to light an array of important features never seen until today—and it highlights, for the first time, the similarities and contrasts between Earth and its neighbors in space.

Anecdotal stories from space flights and exploratory missions make Planetology an absorbing read as well as an informative resource. The book’s unique concept draws intriguing comparisons across multiple physical processes, and its dynamic design offers a fresh approach to the study of space. With extensive media and science experience and contacts for both authors, Planetology is positioned for stellar success....

What if Studs Terkel wrote a book with Bill James? You'd have a book on what it's really like to make a living in the world of baseball.

For everyone who ever dreamed of making their love of baseball into their vocation, Working at the Ballpark will provide a view at their lives that might have been, with interviews with more than 50 people who make a living in major league baseball. Each is asked the same questions: What is your job? How did you get into this line of work? What does this job mean to you? From peanut vendors and equipment managers to general managers and star players, from John Guilfoy, who sells sausages at Fenway, to Chris Hanson, who plays "Bernie Brewer" in Milwaukee, to Omar Vizquel, who anchors the infield at AT&T Park, this is an insider's perspective on the enormous scope of the game....