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THE SECRET TO LIFE is an amalgam of David G. McCreery's first book, NO SOFT LANDINGS, in its entirety and some of his second book, UNSTUCK AND OVER-IT. Also, there is new work near the end, reflections on a life that blossomed during Covid 19, which is a direct result of God-only-knows-what. His friends might say that it takes what it takes.

Unstuck and Over It: Thoughts on Alcoholism, Depression and Entitlement was written for the sufferer trying to make sense of why people in an alcoholic setting do what they do. Reacting in, at times, bizarre fashion when one has lived with one or many alcoholics, as the author did as a child, often surfaces later in life and is truly a mystery. Parenting and the mystical way in which it materializes is but one of the themes of this book. Toxicity resulting from believing that "appearances" are important is another.

David McCreery's memoir of growing-up in a family of alcoholics in Pittsburgh, PA began as a mere journal entry, one February morning. It would become a place to grapple with tormented questions about how it was that, despite the many blessings of affluence and education that had been bestowed on him, he was unemployed, alone, behind on his rent and estranged from the only family member he had ever loved. Alcohol had always been the go-to answer for his parents, two of his siblings and assorted aunts and uncles on both sides of his family. But David didn't have a problem with alcohol on that cold February morning. David had a problem with living.

This book examines the development of the state, the nation, and the economy on the far western frontier of Brazil during the period of the Brazilian Empire. The author argues that the province of Goiás, although physically in the center of Brazil, was effectively the far edge of the Empire, thanks to poverty and poor communications. Goiás thus provides a useful test case of the limits and effectiveness of nation-building and state-building and of economic integration into national and international economies during these years. The inhabitants of Goiás successfully struggled to develop an interprovincial “export” trade in cattle at the same time as local elites negotiated a durable and largely peaceful political compromise with the central government. Smuggling and tax evasion were key to the development of the economy, yet politics remained “pro-government” and largely unruffled by partisan strife until the last decade of the Empire.

This comprehensive study of rural development in Guatemala first examines the nature of rural society in the late colonial period and early decades of independence, and then details the massive and enduring changes caused by the spread of large-scale coffee production after the mid-nineteenth century. In the process, it also contributes to a number of important debates in Latin American studies and the theoretical literature of development: the structure of land tenure, the effects of the shift to export agriculure, the exploitation of indigenous populations, the forms of peasant resistance, and the role of state institutions in the politics of development. The book is in two parts. Part I describes rural life and economy in Guatemala through the cochineal boom of the 1850's. Part II shows how coffee dramatically changed the economy of Guatemala.

No Soft Landings: A Memoir is an account of one man's life in an upper middle class family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was riddled with alcoholism. It details his early years, the strange personality transformations of his parents during the "cocktail hour", the loneliness and undiagnosed depression that afflicted him and his siblings. The years pass, and the disease of alcoholism claim him and many of his family members. The account of his life and those of his parents and brother speak to unmanageability in an alcoholic setting, the pain and neglect in a family of charming, but troubled people. There are private schools, birthday parties and protestations of parental love, but the disease of alcoholism supplants every reasonable effort to forgive and make peace for generations. The book contains four seminal moments in the author's life; there is humour and tenderness throughout. One of the basic themes deals with the phenomenon of the "dry drunk' - a chaotic condition in which abstinence from alcohol is achieved, but without the support of a 12-step program.

The author situates the work experience in Latin America's broader history in a chronological order and divided into five periods. With each period, he discusses the chief economic, political and social characteristics as they relate to work, identifying with continuities from the previous period.