Autobiography: general Books

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis"A memoir wrapped in an elegy... [that] maps a strangely stunning life... [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion - for William, for everyone. This Isn't Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There's deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness - a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity." - Washington Post"Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn't Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty." - Tayari Jones, author of An American MarriageIf we're lucky, we all encounter at least one person whose life elevates and inspires our own. For Daniel Wallace, that was his long-time friend and brother-in-law, William Nealy. Seemingly perfect, impossibly cool, William was James Dean, Clint Eastwood, and MacGyver all rolled into one: an acclaimed outdoorsman, a famous cartoonist, an accomplished author, a master of all he undertook. William was the ideal that Daniel sought to emulate, and the person who gave him the courage to become a writer.But when William took his own life at age forty eight, Daniel's heartbreak led him to commit a grievous act of his own, a betrayal that took him down a path into the tortured recesses of William's past. Eventually a new picture emerged of a man with too many secrets and too much shame to bear.With his first memoir, acclaimed writer Daniel Wallace delivers a stunning book that is as innovative and emotionally resonant as his novels. Part love story, part true crime, part a desperate search for the self, This Isn't Going to End Well tells an intimate and moving story of what happens when we realize our heroes are human.Trade Review“A revelatory and reflective tale about how males perceive others and how they present themselves. More than anything, I felt compassion for their vulnerability and fear, and made me realize perhaps we are not so different, men and women, after all.”—Sandra Cisneros, author of Martita, I Remember YouNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South MagazineNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, Goodreads, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South MagazineNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, Goodreads, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South Magazine, Greenville JournalNamed a Most Anticipated / Best of Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, Goodreads, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South Magazine, Greenville Journal“In This Will Not End Well you will find the expected Daniel Wallace clarity, humor, and precision. But you will not find fiction. This is a true story about Daniel himself and his wild-man mentor and relative, William Nealy. Few writers can so seamlessly thread together love, loss, admiration, fear, pain, and hope. And this narrative is not traditional memoir-fare. It moves magically—unlike any traditional genre you’ve ever read. At times I experienced that thrill-feeling of a roller coaster dropping away from beneath me. This book is a rare gem gift from one of our very best writers.”—Clyde Edgerton, author of Raney“Daniel Wallace has written a ghost story – not the kind you have read before. It is a haunting story about a person he loved and, at times, loathed, who influenced the author’s life in ways never to be fully known or seen – a shimmering. Wallace -- whose prose is the truest kind, brave and somewhere between sharp-edged facts and magic -- chooses to “get in the cage with the tiger”, in this case, his brother-in-law William Nealy. Nealy is the famed cartoonist, writer, and whitewater adventurer who lived to defy death daily, until he didn’t. Wallace takes us to the edge of what scares us, death by suicide, and miraculously (no, skillfully) writes a book on grace. This brilliantly layered book is about what calls us to write, create, dance and even destroy those we love. What began as Daniel Wallace’s story became my story, too – the writer who lives “in that place between experience and understanding” and is compelled to touch bone regardless of the pain. I love this book. This Isn’t Going to End Well ended too soon -- and like all great ghost stories I want to read it again.”—Terry Tempest Williams, author of Erosion – Essays of Undoing“In This Isn't Going to End Well, you will find the expected Daniel Wallace clarity, humor, and precision. But you will not find fiction. This is a true story about Daniel himself and his wild-man mentor and relative, William Nealy. Few writers can so seamlessly thread together love, loss, admiration, fear, pain, and hope. And this narrative is not traditional memoir-fare. It moves magically—unlike any traditional genre you’ve ever read. At times I experienced that thrill-feeling of a roller coaster dropping away from beneath me. This book is a rare gem gift from one of our very best writers.”—Clyde Edgerton, author of Raney?“Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn’t Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty.”—Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage“Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn’t Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty.”—Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage“A bold and compassionate exploration of male friendship and the devastating impact of suicide.”—Kirkus Reviews“Wallace’s storytelling skill captures the vibrant personality Nealy showed the world, and his emotional candor the tragedy of a good man ‘who was toxic only to himself.’”—Booklist“A heart-cracking exploration of the ways we construct ourselves, and how, despite any facade, no matter how bold, it can all come tumbling apart.”—Garden Gun“A memoir wrapped in an elegy… [that] maps a strangely stunning life… [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion — for William, for everyone. This Isn’t Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There’s deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness — a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity.”—Washington Post“This Isn't Going to End Well outlines the complicated, tender truth about one mythical man.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution“This Isn't Going to End Well outlines the complicated, tender truth about one mythical man.”—BookPage“A eulogy, a cautionary tale, a love letter and a sob of anger.”—New York Times Book Review“The exceptional first memoir from Big Fish author Daniel Wallace is loving, honest and haunting… [with] honed prose and hypnotic pacing.”—BookPage"Exceptional… simultaneously sharp-edged and loving, honest and painfully haunting."—BookPage“In exploring his own particularly complicated grief, Wallace reveals his coming of age as a writer, the tragic yet inspiring life of his sister Holly, and a cast of larger-than-life characters as beguiling as any of his fictional inventions… Moving and unforgettable.”—Chapter16“Novelist Wallace (Big Fish) pays loving tribute to his late brother-in-law, William Nealy, in this deeply felt memoir… Wallace’s elegiac narrative shimmers with deep admiration for a man who always played by his own rules and stood by the people he loved. This will entrance readers from the first page.”—Publishers Weekly“‘Unflinching’ is a word publishers like to use to describe memoirs. This Isn’t Going to End Well deserves the description as Mr. Wallace grapples with the past. It sounds like a heavy read, but it’s almost deceptively easy… Masterly.”—Wall Street Journal"Heartbreaking and real."—Garden Gun, "The Best New Books for Southerners in 2023"“Gripping… A story about the difference between the person we present to the world and the person we really are. It’s the gap between those two versions of ourselves that Wallace mines in this warts-and-all love letter to male friendship.”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution“Gracefully written (Wallace is incapable of writing an ugly sentence)… [Wallace] has done a heroic job here of trying to understand what we finally cannot know.”—Alabama Public Radio / Don Noble's Book Reviews“Piercingly sad, but beautiful.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune“A tribute, a memoir and a mystery... Heartbreaking and funny.”—WUNC (North Carolina Public Radio)“[Wallace] crafts a compelling narrative that pulls the reader headlong into a story whose energy never wanes. He’s thoughtful and thought-provoking... and he writes with courage and candor… [This Isn’t Going to End Well] is a memoir borne of intense experience and introspection, which is the only available panacea for what troubles us.”—PineStraw Magazine“[Daniel Wallace] writes like no other Southern writer I’ve ever read… This Isn’t Going to End Well is deeply moving, as any reader of Wallace’s fiction would expect.”—Salvation South“[A] brutally honest and true retelling of the life and impact of famous cartoonist William Nealy… championed by [Wallace’s] skillful narration and candid voice.”—Deep South Magazine“Gripping... sensitively and respectfully compiled.”—Southern Review of Books“It is not too much of a stretch to call this tale a Shakespearean tragedy. And it is powerfully and eloquently written.”—Star News“[A] moving meditation on memory, mortality, and masculinity and a beautifully written mixture of memoir and true detective story.”—Yes! Weekly“A mesmerizing combination of memoir and biography.”—Largehearted Boy“[Wallace] oscillates between memoir, elegy, and excavation to recount details, stories, and heartbreaking truths about Nealy—discovering more about his friend in death than he did in life—and reveals intimate, often difficult realizations about himself.”—Alta Online“This book is much like the belated ceremony Daniel conducted at Holly’s gravesite, as an absolution of sorts: a combining of ashes, an offering of grave goods, a willingness to forgive. A veil of secrecy lifted in compassion.”—Carolina Paddler“Vulnerable and engrossing all in one, this is an intensely personal portrait of grief.”—Kat Baltisberger, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill Magazine“[A] journey through one of those friendships marked as much by rapids and danger as by love and trust.”—Garden Gun"Wallace makes you feel like you are sitting with an old friend, reminiscing. The people rattle around in your head, and the writing is clean and clever… This Isn’t Going To End Well is gentle and kind, even when life is not."—Southern Bookseller Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisText in Spanish: Two daughters, who are identical twins, born and raised in Hartford, CT, decided to document the life of their adoptive father (Papi). In Tuesdays with Morrie, author Maribel Santana-Texidor and her sister Marisol Santana-Texidor share some of the great lessons they learned from Papi, which shaped their lives. These lessons were captured during intimate moments where Papi describes his childhood, his move to the United States, his job as a laborer, and moments of love and marriage. The lessons on how to maintain a healthy marriage and raise a family are invaluable. We also explore the importance of meeting challenges with humility. You will be intrigued by his love and level of commitment to his wife who was diagnosed with Alzheimer''s. He kept his promise to never leave her, until his passing in 2021. This included never placing her in a skilled nursing facility. And so, Papi became her caregiver for over 10 years, and when he was forced to undergo back surgery (spinal stenosis), his two daughters quickly moved in to care for Mami. Papi was in a rehab center for many weeks and couldn''t wait to recover so he could be reunited with his wife. You will be inspired by his life, and you will appreciate the many lessons he shares.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the summer of 2008 Kimberley Motley quit her job as a public defender in Milwaukee to join a program that helped train lawyers in war-torn Afghanistan. She was thirty-two at the time, a mother of three who had never travelled outside the United States. What she brought to Afghanistan was a toughness and resilience which came from growing up in one of the most dangerous cities in the US, a fundamental belief in everyone's right to justice and an unconventional legal mind that has made her a legend in an archaic, misogynistic and deeply conservative environment. Through sheer force of personality, ingenuity and perseverance, Kimberley became the first foreign lawyer to practise in Afghanistan and her work swiftly morphed into a mission - to bring 'justness' to the defenceless and voiceless. She has established herself as an expert on its fledgling criminal justice system, able to pivot between the country's complex legislation and its religious laws in defence of her clients. Her radical approach has seen her successfully represent both Afghans and Westerners, overturning sentences for men and women who've been subject to often appalling miscarriages of justice. Inspiring and fascinating in equal measure, Lawless tells the story of a remarkable woman operating in one of the most dangerous countries in the world.Trade ReviewA thoroughly riveting read * Sydney Morning Herald *Table of Contents1: The playlist 2: The Manchurian Candidate 3: I'm not a terrorist, I'm a taxi driver 4: Please help us 5: My name is Irene 6: False pretences 7: Give me your watch 8: The minimum is not guilty 9: You need to sit down 10: I don't have all day 11: Immoral crimes 12: Watch your back 13: Lock your doors and hide 14: Okay, baby. Breathe. Slow down. 15: Iron Doe 16: A man or a monster? 17: Wicked Ninja 18: Crocodile tears 19: Well, you must have done something 20: High fives 21: Article 71, I think 22: Oh . . . this is America 23: Motley's law Epilogue: The aftermath

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1986, as part of a Canadian team, Sharon Wood became the first woman from the Americas to summit Mount Everestand the first woman in the world to do so via the West Ridge from Tibet and without Sherpa support. But it's how she got there that is truly compelling.In Rising, the personal motivation that drove Wood to reach further and further heights are detailed through the years leading up to the career-defining climb. Often the only woman on expeditions, Wood was an outlier in a predominantly male bastion of high altitude alpine climbing. Against the backdrop of the stunning Himalayan mountains in the days before Everest became as commercialized as it is today, Wood explores the camaraderie and rivalry, the relatable challenges of falling in and out of love, and how she kept her drive to persevere. Subsequently, she recounts how she struggled with unexpected acclaim and expectations following her ascent of Everest, but ultimately found fulfilment and her place in the world.As she tells her story today, her perspective is steeped in six decades of life experience rich with adrenalin, change, reflection and humility. It is a tale that still feels poignantly relevanta testament to the strength of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles, whether mountain peaks, social expectations or self-imposed barriers.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDetective Sergeant Gurpal Singh Virdi's exemplary career in the Metropolitan Police Service ended when he spoke out against racism within it: an issue it has long paid lip service to tackling. What came after is simply shocking. On Wednesday 15 April 1998 Virdi was arrested, had his home searched and was suspended on charges of sending racist hate mail to himself and other ethnic minority colleagues. Dismissed in disgrace, an employment tribunal found that he had been racially discriminated against. The Met was forced to give him an apology and compensation. He returned to service but soon discovered, having been passed over for promotion, that when you challenge an organisation like the Met, you are a marked man for life. Freshly retired and due to stand in local elections as a Labour councillor, Virdi was arrested again and accused of the most horrendous of crimes: sexually assaulting an underage prisoner nearly three decades before. When it came to court, it took just fifty minutes to acquit the former police man of all charges, with the trial judge noting the likelihood of a conspiracy behind the case. But the damage had been done. For seventeen years the Met had pursued a vendetta against one blameless individual who dared to speak out against injustices, and it had driven him and his family to the edge of the abyss. This is the deeply shocking story of how one of the biggest institutions in the country brought the entire apparatus of state to bear in a campaign to destroy the life of one of its own officers in an apparent act of revenge.

Read more less

Book SynopsisVULTURE'S BEST MEMOIR OF THE YEAR 2023A NEW STATESMAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023When Shane McCrae was eighteen months old, he was removed from his parents and taken to suburban Texas. His mother was white and his dad was Black, and to hide his Blackness from him, his maternal grandparents stole him. In the years that followed, they manipulated and controlled him, believing they were doing what was best for him. His grandmother loved Shane but hated people who looked like him. His grandfather policed any perceived signs of Blackness his grandson showed. In their house, Blackness would always be the worst thing about him.Pulling the Chariot of the Sun is a revelatory account of what it can mean to be Black in America, written with virtuosity and heart by one of the finest poets writing today. This memoir offers acute insight into the larger story of a people stolen from their homes, dominated by white supremacy and lied to about their own history. And it illuminates how we all might be made whole again, through a tireless search for the truth and the joyful pursuit of what we love.Trade ReviewImaginative, lyrical . . . Memory itself is as much the central theme as the kidnapping and its aftermath -- DECLAN RYAN * * Daily Telegraph * *Striking . . . [Full] of many powerfully visceral ruminations on memory * * Observer * *A moving, slippery and imagistic prose memoir by one of my favourite lyric poets writing today -- RAYMOND ANTROBUSExtraordinary . . . a recreation of childhood trauma - and the trauma of never being free as a child to name it as trauma in the feverish pseudo-normality of this incredible and shocking situation. It's about race, class, imagination - and skateboarding - and is packed with passion and energy -- ROWAN WILLIAMS * * New Statesman * *Shane McCrae's powerful, indelible poet's voice has now extended to the memoir, and how fortunate are we that the very things that distinguish his verse - truth-telling, sharp observation, more than a sense of the moment, profundity worn lightly - grace his harrowing and enlightening tale about race and what makes an American family and why. An essential story for our times -- HILTON ALSPulling the Chariot of the Sun is the kind of story that pulls you right in with its voice, the kind of book that sways you with heart-wrenching honesty and beautiful music. There is something magnetic to this storytelling, which gives us an incantation of memory that is as moving as it is spellbinding. For what tears up the family in this book is what tears up this country still, prevents it from finding itself. McCrae's voice is vulnerable and direct and precise, the voice of a poet who teaches us again what musical prose can do. This is such a compelling and necessary book -- ILYA KAMINSKYShane McCrae's extraordinary memoir is a kinaesthetic feat in the art of remembering, a complex layering of, and a laying bare of, the trauma of a stolen Black identity. Each meticulous, mellifluous, sentence charts a journey with multiple detours, dead ends and unexpected destinations. It is befitting that catharsis comes through language itself, the language of poetry. Ambitious and profound, this book will leave an indelible imprint on the mind of the reader -- PATIENCE AGBABIA precise articulation of memory, its making and unmaking, McCrae's book is a vivid, churning and compulsive account of one man's personal reckoning with race, prejudice and the ideologies that haunt modern America. Written with a sharp and constantly-searching language, Pulling the Chariot of the Sun is as acute in its thinking as it is brave in its emotional charge -- SEÁN HEWITTA fantastic book, if harrowing. A story only reality could dream up -- JARRED MCGINNISA book by a man who was kidnapped as a child, and raised by his kidnappers, and no further attempt to describe what's in these pages can prepare the reader for the hardness of the story nor the dazzling light of McCrae's prose -- JOHN DARNIELLE

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Christian has achieved something very beautiful and funny with this book, weaving ordinary life and every day sadness into something hopeful and profound. I loved it.' Russell BrandAs a radio DJ in London, Christian O'Connell appeared to have it all. He held the number one spot nationally, with a faithful audience of millions who'd listened to him for years. Celebrities flocked to come on his show and no other radio DJ had won more awards.But not everything was as it seemed. Minutes before going live one morning, something happened that changed everything and led to a decision of seismic proportions. He quit his job, moved to the other side of the world, where no one knew him, and took on the toughest radio market in the world - Australia.Why? is the question he's been asked every day since landing Down Under. Until now he's never shared the real reason.No One Listens to Your Dad's Show is the story of Christian risking everything, uprooting his wife, two daughters and his dog to move to Australia. A move that lands him as a complete unknown in a country where, he soon finds out, no one wants to hear him on the radio.He was failing, fortysomething and falling apart.Until he wasn't.Trade ReviewChristian has achieved something very beautiful and funny with this book, weaving ordinary life and every day sadness into something hopeful and profound. I loved it. -- Russell BrandSmart and funny -- Ricky GervaisReading this book is like spending time with Christian. Funny and inspiring. -- Adam HillsTable of Contentsi: Prologue: My last show on air, London, May 2018 ii: Introduction: The story I don't want to tell you iii: PART ONE 1: The man in the shed 2: Son of Fonzie 3: Mind your language, Prime Minister 4: Halfway dead 5: Leslie and me 6: 'Every time you open your mouth, people will hate you.' iv: PART TWO 7: Come fail with me 8: Pets before dads 9: 520 hours to make it work 10: Nineteen-minute honeymoon 11: Clowns with feelings 12: Notes from Down Under 13: Neighbours 14: Embrace the suck 15: 'Try giving birth.' 16: The biggest decision I had to make 17: Meet my new nemesis 18: Notes from my wife 19: Home alone v: PART THREE 20: Life lessons in a boxing ring 21: Fudge Man save me 22: A disgusting man 23: New besties 24: I bought a house drunk 25: Replaced 26: Building the treehouse 27: The Peter Logan effect 28: Drives with my daughters 29: 'Man Walks into a Radio Station with Ten Thousand Dollars' 30: 'Who's Calling Christian?' vi: Epilogue What happened to me? vii: Some words from the girls viii: Thank-you note

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis text collects: all that Helen Thomas wrote about the poet Edward Thomas; the volumes "As It Was" and "World Without End"; her letters to Edward; and separate memoirs of her meetings with W.H. Davies, D.H. Lawrence, Ivor Gurney, Eleanor Farjeon, Robert Frost and W.H. Hudson. The book has been assembled by Myfanwy, Edward's and Helen's youngest daughter. She includes her own account of childhood with her father, and his death at the Battle of Arras in 1917. She adds an appendix of six letters from Robert Frost to Edward Thomas. Helen wrote "As It Was", the story of her courtship and early marriage, shortly after Edward's death, and "World Without End" a few years later. In the original editions and later reprints fictitious names were used for the protagonists. In this edition the actual names are restored.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA compelling personal account of Terry Farrell’s life in architecture, as an influential Postmodern designer, architect-planner and principal of a leading global practice. What have the defining projects and watershed moments and encounters been in Farrell's career? How has did he secure significant building projects such as Charing Cross, The MI6 Building and Beijing South Station? What have the highs and lows been in realising such large-scale schemes? Providing the inside view of what it is like to be an architect at the top of his profession, this autobiography highlights what it takes to develop a successful international practice. Farrell, alongside his High-Tech contemporaries, was a game-changer in the way he ran his business, with a deep commitment to marketing and finance. Working with the private sector, he made a complete break from a previous post-war generation of firms that were almost solely reliant on publicly funded building programmes. Tracing the story of his early life growing up in Greater Manchester and then on the post-war Grange Estate in Newcastle, before attending Newcastle University and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and subsequently setting up in practice in London with Sir Nicholas Grimshaw in 1965, it highlights how Farrell, despite his working-class background, was able to seize the opportunities provided to him in the 1950s through free access to education. Featuring a richly illustrated full-colour section, including photos from his own private collection and images of Farrell’s most significant buildings, this book is a window into the life and career of one of Britain’s leading architects.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. A family background 2. The 1940s 3. The 1950s 4. The 1960s 5. The 1970s 6. The 1980s 7. The 1990s 8. The 2000s 9. The 2010s onwards Acknowledgements

Read more less

Book SynopsisPeter Cook has been a pivotal figure within the architecture world for over half a century. He first came to international renown in the 1960s as a founder of the radical, experimental group Archigram, winners of the 2002 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. He is also former Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, and Emeritus Professor and former Chair of the Bartlett School of Architecture (University College London).Suffused with Peter’s infectious energy, enthusiasm and charm, this intriguing memoir explores major themes in architecture through the lens of his life and work. Taking the reader on a journey through his colourful and wide-ranging career, it touches on his early years and architectural education, his relationships with key figures within the architecture community and his work teaching and lecturing internationally. It also provides an inside account of his leadership of the Bartlett, for which he is frequently credited as a central figure in rescuing the reputation of a once-ailing, now world-famous, school of architecture. Featuring full-colour images of his most famous drawings, including Archigram’s ‘Plug-in City’, and built works, such as the Kunsthaus Graz in Austria and the Vienna Economics and Business University’s Department of Law and Central Administration Buildings, this book is a window into the life of one of architecture’s most celebrated rebels.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements About the author Introduction 1. The provincial 2. The experience of London 3. “This’ll upset them”: The Archigram years 4. Becoming European 5. An evolving London base 6. The school as orchestra 7. Los Angeles 8. To the east, west and beyond 9. Drawing and building Answers to unspoken questions Timeline Image credits

Read more less

Book SynopsisOur house was a single-fronted cottage in the slum area of Carlton. There were no distinctive features to differentiate it from most of the small cottages ... Zelda D'Aprano, a working-class woman at the forefront of the Women's Liberation Movement in Australia, shows in her autobiography the same raw spirit she evidenced when chaining herself to the Commonwealth Building in Melbourne to protest unequal pay on 21 October 1969. The life of a remarkable woman who often battled alone for what women today take for granted. Zelda is a moving, down-to-earth recounting of the past, an insightful criticism of how society is structured and reminds us of the exuberance of the Women's Liberation Movement.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vii Author's Note viii Preface ix Zelda 1 Afterword 305 Appendices 401 Further Acknowledgements 407

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this one-of-a-kind anthology, lesbian sisters from several countries explore their relationships with one another. Through their words and photographs, both well-known and less-famous siblings reveal the many faces of lesbian sisterhood. Here is a fascinating chronicle of what it is like to grow up, come out, laugh, cry, work and live together, as sisters in a family and as lesbians in a world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA moving and often amusing collection of fiction, poetry and autobiography by top-selling and award-winning authors. Tales of blood and bloodlines – Irish grandmothers, ma’s and da’s, the Famine and the Troubles. Whatever the form, these are the stories, the music, the whispering dreams and the voices that ache to be heard. There is wildness and daring in these voices. They call up legions out of the sea and set fires alight. They hang out over garden fences, move restlessly, are dotey, beaming, weeping, powerful.Trade Review"A nice big fat value-for-money anthology with an extremely broad range." --Margie Cronin, "Refractory Girl

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat drives young women and what drives them mad? Twenty-something women talk about living their feminism. What they do, how they do it and why they choose to do it as feminists. The private collides with the public, anger with humour, desire with ideals. Writing themselves into the debate, these young women are talking up.Trade Review"I finished this book feeling very optimistic. There is a new generation keeping the fires of feminism alight... They are fierce and brave and funny, and they are willing to fight. We are in good hands." --Anne Summers, "Sydney Morning Herald"

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen Doris Kartinyeri was a month old, her mother died. The family gathered to mourn their loss and welcome the new baby home. But Doris never arrived to live with her family – she was stolen from the hospital and placed in Colebrook Home, where she stayed for the next fourteen years. The legacy of being a member of the Stolen Generations continued for Doris as she was placed in white homes as a virtual slave, struggled through relationships and suffered with anxiety and mental illness.Trade Review"A story of courage and survival, powerfully demonstrating how the human spirit can soar despite all the injuries and injustices which threaten to drag it down." --Lowitja O'Donoghue

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe C-Word is an honest and forthright account of cancer. It deals with the loneliness the partner of a sufferer faces, the gruelling treatments of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the terror and calm of facing death. A story of a powerful lesbian partnership, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of community.Trade Review"I highly recommend "C-Word" as a book that ought to grace the bookshelf of every lesbian household" --Ruth Wykes' "Women Out West"

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs I stepped over smashed crockery, broken glass, pools of milk, juice and water in my kitchen, I felt a surge of anger and recalled the pain of the many black eyes, cut lips, and broken bones that Michael had inflicted on me, and I thought, ENOUGH. So many of us ask, How can this be happening? How did love turn into abuse and violence? These are the questions that Patricia Hughes, renowned author of Daughters of Nazareth, continually asked herself. Like so many women, she stayed in an abusive relationship. Convinced that she somehow was responsible. She writes powerfully of being pulled into the cycle of fear, abuse, giving in, forgiving. Enough is a story rarely told, and she tells it without self-pity, sentimentality or blind anger. Overcoming huge hurdles Patricia Hughes provides the reader with an honest account of all the ups and downs she encountered.Enough is both an inspirational story and a first hand guide for any woman in an abusive relationship.Trade Review"This is an articulate, thoughtful, accessible look at the phenomenon of violence ... This sympathetic first-hand account of finding life after abuse is destined to help all those who find themselves in a similar position." -- Shaunagh O'Connor, Herald Sun."[T]he momentum of Enough carries the reader along. You want to know what happens next, how Patricia will extricate herself from her nightmarish situation. The brave tale of ojne woman's survival could be a useful manual to the many thousands of women in our society living with domestic violence." -- Janet Graham, North and West Melbourne NewsTable of ContentsMeaning; Urda; Origins; Futhorc; Magical inscriptions; Memorial stones; Fascism; Titles; Cosmology; Nature; Qabala; Vision; Werdandi; Rune stance; Breathing/ Vowel song; Problems; Tune in; Health?; Divination; Alignments; Sigil sorcery; Seiethr and Seething; Energy; lda; Rune companion; Sources.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Scots conquered the world. They just forgot to tell anyone about it. This book remedies that situation. Packed with humour and wisdom, it is at once a set of light-hearted anecdotes, an exemplary story of the Scot''s diaspora and an autobiography that shows how one man overcame the obstacles set against him. As he rambles through several continents, Bill pokes fun at his own ineptness and celebrates his hard-won successes. Colourful vignettes weave a tapestry of (mis)adventure, perseverance and fortunate coincidence. Bill is an engaging observer, somewhat innocently out of touch, voicing deeper truths. This book has serious lessons for people who may forever feel misplaced.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAround One More Point is a journal sketchbook of writings, photographs and drawings that capture the adventures of B.C. artist and paddler Mary Gazetas, who has journeyed with family and friends on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Inside Passage and Haida Gwaii for almost 25 years. This work, with its powerful visual imagery, includes stories and art created when Mary first started taking ocean canoe trips in the ''80s with her twin sister and her children. Since those pre-Gore-Tex days of primitive beach camping and paddling in all kinds of weather, the trips, the people and the artwork have changed.What hasn''t changed, though, is her passion for the character of the coast, and she returns every summer, bringing home material to be transformed into a variety of artistic expressions. The journeys include paddle trips in Barkley, Clayoquot, Nootka and Kyuquot sounds, the Broughton Archipelago, the central coast and Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). This evocative journal will take readers on a journey, inspiring some to go to these beautiful places themselves-to go around one more point.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn her best-selling first book, Home: Tales of a Heritage Farm (2005), Anny Scoones introduced readers to historic Glamorgan Farm. In Home and Away, Anny presents more stories about the joys and sorrows, excitements and mishaps and also takes readers farther afield, sharing with them her travels to other parts of Canada, to New York and to such places as Malaysia and Belarus. Her travel tales offer not only her keen observations on what she sees and experiences while away, but also her perspective from afar on the importance of having a place to return to that truly is home. Anny has owned Glamorgan Farm since 2000. Located in North Saanich, B.C., it''s one of the original farms and homesteads on Vancouver Island, established in 1870 by Richard John. She is restoring the historic structures and raising heritage breeds of livestock. The front meadows are gardened by an herb gardener and a group of mentally challenged adults who grow organic, heirloom varieties of flowers and produce. Anny writes candidly and colourfully about real things, from visits with her family-she is the daughter of internationally acclaimed artists Molly Lamb Bobak and Bruno Bobak-to simple pleasures like arranging bowls of pears and hearing the owls in the woods at dusk. She writes about making bonfires, sitting with a dying horse, playing with a 700-pound sow and visiting the SPCA. Some of her tales are told with humour, some in sadness, but all tell the truth about living, observing and creating, whether at home or away.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAfter collapsing from stress in a posh Vancouver restaurant, Ted Ferguson decides to abandon his workaholic lifestyle and move his family to the secluded back roads of Northern Alberta, where electricity and indoor plumbing are a luxury and surviving another winter is a blessing. With his wife and young son in tow, Ted rebuilds his life surrounded by a close-knit community while encountering, among other unique characters, a vengeful dentist, a barefoot farmer living in a hillside dugout, and a store clerk who could very well be Canada''s most dedicated gossip. Humorous and insightful, this fish-out-of-water tale captures a radically different lifestyle that many urbanites dream about but will never gather the courage to attempt themselves. Back Roads speaks to the survivalist in all of us while displaying one man''s resolve to reconnect with his family, the essence of life, and himself.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn August 1979 twenty-seven-year-old Mike Trueman set sail from the south-west coast of Wales, en route to Cornwall. The young army helicopter pilot was helping to move his friend's yacht from Northern Ireland to the south coast of England. But as they sailed out into the Irish Sea, the sky turned progressively darker and the winds gathered pace. Over the next twenty-four hours the two young sailors battled to survive force-10 gales in what became known as the Fastnet disaster and which claimed the lives of fifteen sailors off the coast of Ireland.Almost seventeen years later, Trueman was at Camp 2 at 6,400 metres on Mount Everest as the May 1996 tragedy unfolded high above him. As stricken guides, clients and Sherpas tried to survive the fierce storms which engulfed the upper mountain, Trueman was able to descend and - using his twenty-four years of experience as an officer in the British Army - coordinate the rescue effort from Base Camp. The Storms is the remarkable memoir of a British Army Gurkha officer. Trueman, a veteran of twenty expeditions to the Himalaya, gives a candid account of life inside expeditions to the highest mountain in the world. He gives a unique personal perspective on the 1996 Everest storm, as well as on the fateful day in May 1999 when Briton Mike Matthews disappeared high on the mountain after he and Trueman had summited.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisRobert Lunt lived in Argentina from 1977 and worked in the north with the Wichi people, chiefly as co-ordinator of the Bible into the Wichi language. He married Margaret, a former missionary doctor and their two daughters were born in Argentina. Part 1 recounts their life in the Chaco, the homeland of the Wichi people. Life's precarious and unpredictable nature is described with realism and plentiful anecdote, all infused with characteristic humour.. Part 2 tells the story of the Wichi Bible translation with its linguistic and cultural challenges and Robert Lunt's tremendously gifted and unconventional Wichi colleagues, people who created a work described proudly by the Bible Society of Argentina as "the first complete Bible in an authentically Argentine language".Trade ReviewWow!!! What a story! 'Chaco Challenge' is a fascinating and inspirational account not only of bringing Christ in word and in action to people in the outback of Northern Argentina, but also an account of the dramatic change of life style for the Lunt family; what a leap of faith for Robert and his wife, Margaret, with their two small daughters to immerse themselves in the almost unimaginable trials and difficulties of daily life with the indigenous Wichi people! It is a story well worth sharing and I hope it reaches a wide audience. Roy GascoyneTable of ContentsPART 1 1. Pointing the way to Peace 2. A town called Juarez 3. Cesar 4. Missions of mercy 5. Reginaldo 6. A virtuous and industrious woman 7. Two Antonios 8. A school to remember and treasure 9. School Governor 10. The Wonder of this Church 11. Bishop Mario and his colleagues 12. Special Measures 13. Otamsek 14. The hardest chapter 15.'Foreigners only' 16. All welcome 17. God is with us 18. Tramites - or Termites? 19. A night on the rails 20. Training for mission? 21. Coaching for mission? 22."History is more or less bunk" (Henry Ford - and some of your vehicles too, Henry 23. What's in a nickname? 24. Celebrating, Living 25. More wildlife 26. Learning to communicate (with difficulty) 27. What do you do in the evenings? 28. A UK aftermath 29. A UK-Argentina aftermath 30. A new resource Appendix: The Travails of a Gendarme PART 2 1, The rise and fall of Black Cover 2. Promising beginnings 3. The Old follows the New 4. Eureka! 5. Your consultant will see you 6. Translation Issues 7. The Dreams and Sayings of Translator Isidro 8. Teaching the language 9. Other publications Appendix 1: Examples from the translation Appendix 2: Matthew 5:3-12: the Beatitudes Appendix 3: Sounds and Letters

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a very different book from the traditional speed-merchant genre. Richard Noble has had the ambition all his adult life to see Britain excel in engineering on the world stage and throw off the country's dismal culture of safety first and risk aversion. His achievements in the highly insecure world of record-breaking emphatically demonstrate his commitment to his cause: he brought the Land Speed Record back to Britain in 1983 when he drove his Thrust 2 car to 633mph and 14 years later he led the ThrustSSC team to achieve the first supersonic record at 763mph with Andy Green driving. In his book Take Risk! he tells the extraordinary stories of his 11 projects in record-breaking and aviation that all saw people and companies go out of their way to join him in his exciting endeavours - and take risk.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a book that takes the reader on a detailed tour of many of the shores of Britain and Ireland and explains the reasons for their remarkably different scenery. Why, for example, do the rocky coastlines of Western Scotland and Ireland contrast so markedly with the sandy beaches of East Anglia? It describes how the complex coastline of North Wales evolved over some seven million years and also traces the ways in which the human impact has changed all our coastlines from prehistoric times to the present day. Crumbling cliffs, stark headlands, coral beaches, shingle spits, sand dunes and salt marshes - all are here, as are stories of Gaelic speakers, fisherman's tales, saints and shipwrecks. One of the book's most distinctive features tells how the author took part in one of the National Trust's most successful initiatives, termed Enterprise Neptune; how it was conceived and how it has led to the acquisition of more than 775 miles of shoreline to be conserved for the nation in perpetuity. The book also explores how famous artists, writers, poets and composers have been inspired by coastal scenery to produce some of their most important works. And what does the future hold? What changes can we expect along our shores? The concluding chapters examine the escalating threats resulting from increasing human occupation and development and from the impact of climate change. They outline some of the ways in which the National Trust is responding to these challenges and how it is planning to manage our coastal environment for many years to come.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt was the summer of ''43 on a Cariboo ranch. He was 12 and had to become a man. If you were a man, you could become a cowboy. Join the author on this nostalgic look back on the joys, frustrations and observations of growing up and discovering where he belongs. Excerpt from Eldon Lee''s foreword: This book by Alan Fry is probably the best book ever written on ranch life in the Cariboo. His account of everyday events is so perceptive and so true to the mark that all we country types yearn to re-experience its joys, and its miseries. The Ranch on the Cariboo is a good book and while it may not make a pretty sight to the tractor jockeys, by damn it is authentic; I should know because I was raised on a similar ranch just 18 miles north.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAfter Royal Navy captain Sir John Franklin disappeared in the Arctic in 1846 while seeking the Northwest Passage, the search for his two ships, Erebus and Terror, and survivors of his expedition became one of the most exhaustive quests of the 19th century. Despite tantalizing clues, the ships were never found, and the fate of Franklin''s expedition passed into legend as one of the North''s great and enduring mysteries. Anthony Dalton explores the eventful and fascinating life of this complex and intelligent man, beginning with his early sea voyages and arduous overland explorations in the Arctic. After years in Malta and Tasmania, Franklin realized his dream of returning to the Far North; it would be his last expedition. Drawing from evidence found by 19th-century Arctic explorers following in Franklin''s footsteps and investigations by 20th-century historians and archaeologists, Dalton retraces the route of the lost ships and recounts the sad tale of Franklin, his officers and men in their final agonizing months.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFinding Jim describes Susan Oakey-Baker''s struggle to confront the realities of life after the death of her husband, renowned mountain guide Jim Haberl, the first Canadian to summit the most difficult mountain in the world: K2. For fifteen years they had spent time adventuring together around the world: skiing the Himalaya, rafting in Nepal and mountaineering in North America. In time, they got married, solidified a home for themselves in Whistler, British Columbia, and planned on starting a family. But the future Susan had imagined was not meant to be, and when Jim was killed in an avalanche in the University Range of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska, she was faced with a loss greater than anything she ever could have expected. After Jim''s death, Susan spent time retracing the adventures they took together, in a desperate and obsessive attempt to gather and hold on to as many memories of him as she could. She travelled to the place in Alaska where he lost his life; searched the Queen Charlotte Islands where they had first met; trekked to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro where they had journeyed the year before his death; and scoured the hills around their Whistler home for traces of the man she had expected to spend the rest of her life with. In the spirit of books like Joan Didion''sThe Year of Magical Thinking and Maria Coffey''s Fragile Edge, Susan Oakey-Baker writes eloquently of her efforts to relive and reanalyze her husband''s death, to defy the pain that such a loss causes and embrace the healing power of mountains, adventure and wilderness as she reimagines her new life.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less