Bøker av Michael Powers

When two boys meet the first day of their high school senior year they navigate the obstacle course of gay romance, exams, parental expectations and peer acceptance. Helping each other overcome multiple challenges, they make it to graduation, but soon after they part ways. Decades later mutual need brings them together again. One needs the other to save his career. And one needs the other to save his life.

When Peter becomes a widower, his partnered gay friends quietly disappear. Deciding to relocate, Peter sells everything in California so he can return to his Midwestern roots. His first night back, Peter meets two very attractive younger men with only one obvious physical difference. Both show a surprising amount of interest in Peter. Flattered by their attention, he must choose the blond securities analyst from a wealthy family or the Jamaican medical intern. As he learns about boofing and fencohol, Peter discovers a sociopath can hide in plain sight. He also realizes the better choice for him is someone who already knows how to live outside the crystal bubble.

Before beginning his winter home search in Palm Springs, aspiring snowbird Griffin visits a piano bar on Open Mic Night. Expecting nothing more than amateur entertainment, Griffin meets an attractive young singer and they spend the night together. Lucas reveals singing show tunes is just a distraction while he completes his doctorate, the first of many surprises. Quakes, litigious neighbors, a Malibu beach house, and a sick ex-lover bring Griffin and Lucas closer. Initially reluctant to make a long-term commitment, Griffin discovers compelling reasons to change his mind.

Dalton dreads returning to the city he left 25 years earlier to see his sister one last time. After checking into his hotel he drives by all the old familiar places. Spotting a gay bar-restaurant near the college campus Dalton stops for dinner. Nearly deserted, the charming waiter explains most students have left for the summer. After some innocent flirting, Tate lets Dalton know he's available to date. Deciding a night with Tate might be a good distraction they spend the night together. Neither realize how much their lives are about to change.

Much has been written about the ups and downs of financial markets, from the lure of prosperity to the despair of crises. Yet a more fundamental and pernicious source of uncertainty exists in today's world: the traditional "e;insurance"e; risks of earthquakes, storms, terrorist attacks, and other disasters. Insightfully exploring these "e;acts of God and man,"e; Michael R. Powers guides readers through the methods available for identifying and measuring such risks, financing their consequences, and forecasting their future behavior within the limits of science.A distinctive characteristic of earthquakes, hurricanes, bombings, and other insurance risks is that they impact the values of stocks, bonds, commodities, and other market-based financial products, while remaining largely unaffected by or "e;aloof"e; from the behavior of markets. Quantifying such risks given limited data is difficult yet crucial for achieving the financing objectives of insurance. Powers begins with a discussion of how risk impacts our lives, health, and possessions and proceeds to introduce the statistical techniques necessary for analyzing these uncertainties. He then considers the experience of risk from the perspectives of both policyholders and insurance companies, and compares their respective responses.The risks inherent in the private insurance industry lead naturally to a discussion of the government's role as both market regulator and potential "e;insurer of last resort."e; Following a thoughtful and balanced analysis of these issues, Powers concludes with an interdisciplinary investigation into the nature of uncertainty, incorporating ideas from physics, philosophy, and game theory to assess science's limitations in predicting the ramifications of risk.