Tessie, the object of his desire, down to earth, where she keeps her secret;

Burt & Ellen, a CEO and his wife on the brink of disaster;

Neil the cruise pianist shielding his past, besieged by the women passengers;

Gene a former gentleman host trying to recapture a lost love; and

Hector the professor with a special affinity for a shipboard Lolita.

Half the occupants of fated table 13 are convinced this trip is their last hurrah. The other half have yet to realize their fate. These massive characters with their ambitions and agonies burst through the pages with Gardner's engaging style.

This is storytelling at its finest.

The winning stories were selected by Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Walter H. Page, William Allen White, Ida M. Tarbell, and Mark Sullivan.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States (1901-1909). A Hero of the Spanish-American War, he served as governor of New York (1899-1900) and U.S. Vice President (September 1901) under William McKinley. In addition to holding the elective offices he was also a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, Police Commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Colonel of the Rough Riders, all by the age of 42, at which time he became the youngest man ever to hold the office of President. In 1906 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for this mediation in the Russo-Japanese War.

"For and Against" is the frank and engaging account of this historic show's original reception, capturing the full range of impassioned opinion both for and against the new art. First published, remarkably, by the show's organizers and sold at its Chicago venue, "For and Against" has long been out of print, but this new, expanded edition brings the Armory story to life once again.