Autobiography: general Books

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“I can fully recommend it, I read it cover to cover, the writing was excellent and was completely engrossed; the story is incredibly compelling.” -- Megyn Kelly, Megyn Kelly TODAY “I love this book—brave, brutal truths.” -- Rosie O’Donnell“[Hiding Out] brims with drunkenness, sexuality and urgency...She showcases excellent writing skills, packaging grit and grime into glistening prose. Her twisted mystery, family woes of the nastiest kind and multilayered love stories spin together to form a “can’t-put-down” read in Hiding Out.” -- Washington Post“[Tina Alexis Allen] doesn’t hold back in her memoir Hiding Out.” -- Teen Vogue“Tina Alexis Allen was tired of living in the shadows...She is hoping [Hiding Out] will encourage others to come forward and speak out against being abused.” -- FoxNews.com“Scandalous, resonant, and refreshingly free of self-justification, Hiding Out is a compelling tale of sin and service, concealment and disclosure, hedonism and righteousness...an in-the-moment dose of the exhilarating tragedy of being alive.” -- Mark Riebling, author of Church of Spies“Allen’s life — once dominated by cruelty and abuse — takes a deep dive into decadence, fueled by cocaine, champagne and Sir John’s never-ending supply of mysterious money. Hiding Out is about a lot of lies, and some are the ones we tell ourselves.” -- New York Daily News“Brutally honest and shamelessly truthful.” -- Fr. Richard Rohr, author of Falling Upward“Hiding Out is a whiplash read for its drama and intrigue, but it’s also an openhearted exploration of history, hypocrisy, and the fact that we may never know the answers to the questions that have shaped our lives.” -- Shondaland.com“This is not a book for the faint of heart. Tina scrubs her soul clean within its pages, uncovering and exposing the web of lies her young adulthood had become…[she] succeeds on all levels with this memoir you definitely will not forget.” -- Talk Nerdy With Us“A writer candidly confronts her personal truth in her quest for transformation, transcendence, and redemption.” -- Kirkus Reviews“Deeply felt” -- Booklist“Perhaps it’s Allen’s background as an actress and playwright that gives Hiding Out, at turns jaw-dropping and spellbinding, its dramatic tension and spot-on dialogue. Her memoir is as compulsive to read as it is heartbreaking. And that’s the truth.” -- Washington Independent Review of Books

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“His essays are pointed, ruminative, often barbed and funny reflections on how the fact of his skin color has posed particular lifelong challenges, questions, and anxieties.” — “Weekend Edition,” NPR “With candor, self-awareness and considerable humor, [Young] turns an unflinching eye on both himself and an American society constructed and sustained by racism.” — Washington Post “The VerySmartBrothas.com cofounder and senior editor for The Root has already established himself as one of our most vibrant voices on race. Now comes his first book, a blazing memoir in essays.” — Entertainment Weekly, “20 Great New Books to Read this March” “One of the freshest, most impor¬tant black voices on the internet.” — Mother Jones “Authentic, keen, and touching . . . The beauty of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker is that Young never tries to make it easy for readers. . . this timely and powerful book. . . like the work of bell hooks and Roxane Gay, should be required reading.” — NPR “A fascinating exploration of how race, class and gender, inform notions of black identity in American life [and] an astute critique of the contours along which black people survive the limitations of historic and systemic racism . . . language is itself a central character.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Readers who know Young’s work from the blog he co-founded, Very Smart Brothas, will recognize his voice, his fondness for lists, his precise, comprehensive and spectacular references to pop culture, his wit and his keen mind.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune “Fans of Young’s posts on VSB will recognize the wit, but these essays dig deeper than his typical blog posts. Here, you see his vulnerability and insecurities.” — Pittsburgh City Paper “Brave, incisive and witty. . . an essential American voice . . . Young is . . . the American writer who could bridge our racial divide . . . Sometimes as profanely magnificent as a Richard Pryor routine, but just as often droll in the vein of David Sedaris.” — Pittsburg Quarterly “With this absurdly trenchant, bouncy, tragicomic, expansive yet intimate book, Damon somehow, someway, made the page bend around my head and heart in a manner I honestly didn’t think the essay or memoir forms were capable of bending.” — Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy “In this funny, illuminating and occasionally gutting book, Damon Young wrestles with his own masculinity, fears and lies, all while remaining unrelenting in his determination to learn and teach something valuable about blackness in America. He more than succeeds, in a volume that is a pleasure and an education.” — Rebecca Traister, author of Good and Mad “Striking in its storytelling and imagery, in its honesty and humor, in its self-reflection and self-criticism, in its Blackness and humanity. Damon Young produced an unobstructed and unsanitized memoir that few people have the courage to write and all people should be encouraged to read.” — Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America “A passionate, wryly bittersweet tribute to black life…sharply observed…A must read.” — Booklist (starred review) “Darkly hilarious . . . Young’s charm and wit make these essays a pleasure to read; his candid approach makes them memorable.” — Publishers Weekly “Acid-etched insight.” — Library Journal “Damon Young is one of the most fearless and important young writers today. A devastatingly funny critique of racism, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker is a humorous and deep dive into the culture and a life lived in that precarious state we call blackness.” — Michael Eric Dyson, author of What Truth Sounds Like

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“His essays are pointed, ruminative, often barbed and funny reflections on how the fact of his skin color has posed particular lifelong challenges, questions, and anxieties.” — “Weekend Edition,” NPR “With candor, self-awareness and considerable humor, [Young] turns an unflinching eye on both himself and an American society constructed and sustained by racism.” — Washington Post “The VerySmartBrothas.com cofounder and senior editor for The Root has already established himself as one of our most vibrant voices on race. Now comes his first book, a blazing memoir in essays.” — Entertainment Weekly, “20 Great New Books to Read this March” “One of the freshest, most impor¬tant black voices on the internet.” — Mother Jones “Authentic, keen, and touching . . . The beauty of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker is that Young never tries to make it easy for readers. . . this timely and powerful book. . . like the work of bell hooks and Roxane Gay, should be required reading.” — NPR “A fascinating exploration of how race, class and gender, inform notions of black identity in American life [and] an astute critique of the contours along which black people survive the limitations of historic and systemic racism . . . language is itself a central character.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Readers who know Young’s work from the blog he co-founded, Very Smart Brothas, will recognize his voice, his fondness for lists, his precise, comprehensive and spectacular references to pop culture, his wit and his keen mind.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune “Fans of Young’s posts on VSB will recognize the wit, but these essays dig deeper than his typical blog posts. Here, you see his vulnerability and insecurities.” — Pittsburgh City Paper “Brave, incisive and witty. . . an essential American voice . . . Young is . . . the American writer who could bridge our racial divide . . . Sometimes as profanely magnificent as a Richard Pryor routine, but just as often droll in the vein of David Sedaris.” — Pittsburg Quarterly “With this absurdly trenchant, bouncy, tragicomic, expansive yet intimate book, Damon somehow, someway, made the page bend around my head and heart in a manner I honestly didn’t think the essay or memoir forms were capable of bending.” — Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy “In this funny, illuminating and occasionally gutting book, Damon Young wrestles with his own masculinity, fears and lies, all while remaining unrelenting in his determination to learn and teach something valuable about blackness in America. He more than succeeds, in a volume that is a pleasure and an education.” — Rebecca Traister, author of Good and Mad “Striking in its storytelling and imagery, in its honesty and humor, in its self-reflection and self-criticism, in its Blackness and humanity. Damon Young produced an unobstructed and unsanitized memoir that few people have the courage to write and all people should be encouraged to read.” — Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America “A passionate, wryly bittersweet tribute to black life…sharply observed…A must read.” — Booklist (starred review) “Darkly hilarious . . . Young’s charm and wit make these essays a pleasure to read; his candid approach makes them memorable.” — Publishers Weekly “Acid-etched insight.” — Library Journal “Damon Young is one of the most fearless and important young writers today. A devastatingly funny critique of racism, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker is a humorous and deep dive into the culture and a life lived in that precarious state we call blackness.” — Michael Eric Dyson, author of What Truth Sounds Like

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Book SynopsisA memoir—written in the wake of a cancer diagnosis—that zeroes in on the crux between two brothers: one who became an LAPD officer, and the other a terroristSunil Dutta is a twenty-year veteran of the LAPD. Before that, he was a biologist at the University of California and a translator of classic Indian poetry. Before that, he was a destitute refugee, one of so many uprooted by the genocidal violence surrounding the Partition of India. Back then, he had a brother. Back then, they were children together, chasing whatever fun and solace they could find in impossible conditions. Sunil looked up to Raju. He admired his strength, his character.Raju took a different path. He was arrested, he fled the law, he became a fugitive. He became a terrorist. Then he became a father—and then a murderer. After being diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer later in life, Sunil urgently wanted to understand what choices had led he and his brother do

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Book SynopsisIn this poignant and timely memoir—written with the searing power of Beautiful Struggle and Born a Crime—Degrassi Junior High star Anais Granofsky contemplates the lingering impact of a childhood spent in two opposite and warring worlds.Though recognized around the world for her role as Lucy Hernandez on the hit show Degrassi, Anais Granofsky’s true childhood story is largely unknown. Growing up, Anais was caught between two vastly different worlds: her father, Stanley, came from a wealthy, prominent, white Jewish family in Toronto. Her mother, Jean, was one of 15 children from a poor Black Methodist family in Ohio directly descended from freed Randolph slaves. When Anais’s parents met at Antioch College in the early 1970s and soon had their first child, they didn’t anticipate being cut off by the wealthy Granofskys, or that Stanley would find his calling in the spiritual teaching of Bhagwan Sh

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“I always thought I was drawn to Sunny because of our similar backgrounds. But through her book I realize it’s because we’re both chameleons who are just trying to fit in. Thank you Sunny for writing a book that can teach even a know it all like me something new and invaluable.” — Don Lemon, CNN News Anchor “Sunny Hostin is an inspiring person, and her story is rich with insights into the different worlds and identities she has navigated. There is much to learn from I Am These Truths—for anyone seeking to understand those worlds, and anyone looking to translate life’s challenges and complexities into a fierce commitment to justice.” — Ronan Farrow, author of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

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Book SynopsisNamed a Best Book of 2021 by Newsweek and Recommended by People, TIME, USA Today, Real Simple, Glamour, Nylon, Bustle, Purewow, Shondaland, and more!Educated meets The Vow in this story of liberation and self-empowerment—an inspiring and stranger-than-fiction memoir of growing up in and breaking free from the Children of God, an oppressive, extremist religious cult.Faith Jones was raised to be part of a religious army preparing for the End Times. Growing up on an isolated farm in Macau, she prayed for hours every day and read letters of prophecy written by her grandfather, the founder of the Children of God. Tens of thousands of members strong, the cult followers looked to Faith’s grandfather as their guiding light. As such, Faith was celebrated as special and then punished doubly to remind

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Book SynopsisBut the world has also shown us that we have a lot we still have to fight for—as women, as black women, as mothers, as aging women, as human beings, as friends. In You Got Anything Stronger?, I show you how this ever-changing life presents challenges, even as it gives me moments of pure joy.Trade Review“However revealing Union is on her feed, she’s even more so on the page. Blurring the line between public and private, many chapters in You Got Anything Stronger? hinge on the very act of disclosure, the moments where Union relatably brings social media more in line with real life” — New York Times “You Got Anything Stronger? continues the project of unshackling. It’s soul-baring work.” — Washington Post "Heartfelt, vulnerable, witty, and sincere." — CNN “Union deftly writes about the life-changing diagnosis that led her to surrogacy as a path to moth­erhood; the impact of cracking open her family’s life for all to see; and how she discovered who she is beyond others’ projections. . . She makes you wish she were your best friend, her number saved in your favorites—a kindred spirit always ready to share real talk over a round of shots.” — Essence “In so many ways, You Got Anything Stronger? is about digging deeper into the genre of celebrity memoir—literally giving us something more potent—because Union is honest without crossing her own boundaries of privacy, passionate about social issues without being condescending, and owns up to her own mistakes and struggles while maintaining a really radiant and admirable self-love throughout the book.” — Shondaland "In her follow-up to her debut memoir, We’re Going to Need More Wine, actor and writer Gabrielle Union picks up where she left off, delving deep into her journey to conceive daughter Kaavia, her experience as a stepmom, and the rest — ugly, beautiful, and in-between. Break out the liquor, folks, because you’re going to want a stiff drink to go with this dish." — Bustle “You Got Anything Stronger? is a boundary-pushing, self-discovery inducing lesson on vulnerability” — Parade Even more open and relatable than her first. This time around the actor and author is opening up about her surrogacy journey, fighting against racial inequality in Hollywood, and her iconic Bring It On character, Isis. Grab a glass of your drink of choice and settle in, because reading Union's essays is every bit as satisfying as a nice, long chat with your best friend. — Popsugar Funny, tender, and so good. — Mindy Kaling, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Why Not Me? These essays are brimming with veracity, humor, and daring sincerity that becomes contagious. In depictions of motherhood, Hollywood, and even the most devastating realities, Union keeps a remarkably steady hand; she speaks with the warmth of a late night phone call. — Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age This is an absolute must-read. Gabrielle doesn’t just open up—she opens up conversations we need to be having. — Sunny Hostin, New York Times bestselling author of Summer on the Bluffs and I Am These Truths Here is that rare book that will not only touch your heart, but also send you back out there to stand up for yourself and others. — Meena Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ambitious Girl This book is a masterclass in authenticity and vulnerability, and I loved it! I drank up the words on the pages because this is Gabby’s heart wide open in print. It is a stunning read that is deeply humanizing and I’m inspired by the courage and humor in it. It’s just so DAMB GOOD! — Luvvie Ajayi Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual Gabrielle Union has written another wonderful book that pulls no punches. The searing honesty of You Got Anything Stronger? is a gift to readers. Union faces head-on the different ways women become mothers and partners in an emotionally resonant and universal way. Her voice is relatable, warm, and sharp. You owe it to yourself to curl up with this book and to pass it along to a friend. — Tressie McMillan Cottom, Professor and MacArthur Fellow Gabrielle Union is serving us another stellar memoir. . . She gets even deeper in this series of essays that detail what her life is like now, including her experience with surrogacy and racism in the entertainment industry. — Cosmopolitan, "15 Compelling Fall 2021 Books to Add to Your Reading List" The star actor and producer demonstrates her dedication to empowering young Black women and other marginalized people. As these essays ably show, Union is a dynamic role model for young Black women in all walks of life. — Kirkus Reviews Union returns with more wise, intimate personal stories. . . The respect with which she writes about the people in her life is a true testament to her character. Always smart, inviting, and generous with emotion, Union's second exquisite memoir reads like a conversation with your most enlightened, thoughtful friend. — Booklist (starred review)

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Book Synopsis“Far from growing up in the wealthy, fox-hunting circles she had always suggested, her mother had in fact been raised in a foundling hospital for the children of unwed women.” — Editor’s Choice, The New York Times Book Review“Extraordinary … fascinating, moving.” —The Telegraph“This emotional and transatlantic journey is a page-turner.” — Editor’s Pick, Amazon Book Review“Book groups will find as much to discuss here as they have with The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Educated by Tara Westover.” — BookListRecommended by The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, <

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Book SynopsisCNN''s former senior tech correspondent shares her front-row seat on the rise of Facebook, Twitter, and other new-media empires—and the geeks turned entrepreneurs who founded them.—PeopleAn unflinching, era-defining story of self-discovery and breaking barriers by award-winning investigative reporter Laurie Segall. In 2008, 23-year-old Laurie Segall was a newly minted assistant at CNN and was living in an East Village walk-up apartment. As Wall Street was crashing down, Segall began discovering a group of scrappy misfits who were rising from the ashes of the recession to change the world: the tech entrepreneurs.A misfit herself, Segall gained entrance to New York’s burgeoning tech scene, with its limitless cash flow and parties populated by geeks-turned-billionaires. Back at the news desk, she rose through the ranks at CNN, while these entrepreneurs went from minnows to sharks, building companies that would become our democracy and our social fabric: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Uber, Tinder.Over the course of a decade, Laurie Segall became one of the first reporters to give airtime to many of these founders—from Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) to Jack Dorsey (Twitter) to Kevin Systrom (Instagram) to Travis Kalanick (Uber)—while tracking their evolution and society’s cultural shift in the CNN startup beat she created. By the end of her tenure at CNN, she had become its on-air senior technology correspondent and had witnessed the rise of second-wave tech, from the boom to the “complicated years” to the backlash, as her misfits emerged as some of the world’s most influential leaders.A coming-of-age narrative chronicling an era transformed, Special Characters is, at its core, a young woman’s origin story—in love, in career, and in life—and an account of the humans behind the companies that have shaped our modern society. Filled with emotional heft and razor-sharp observations, Segall’s empowering memoir is a richly rendered backstage pass to the tech bubble that reimagined the ethos of our social, political, and cultural experience.“Fans of Brotopia or anyone who wants a backstage pass to Zuckerberg and some of the biggest co.’s of our time, you’ll devour this.” —The Skimm

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Chongda paints a tantalizing portrait of a changing China in his dazzling English-language debut. [Vessel] shines with the bright talent of an excellent storyteller." — Publishers Weekly "Deeply moving...Cai’s deep respect and love for the people who are important to him shine through in his beautiful and poignant profiles." — Booklist “Vessel is an exploration of the self and the other, and of the past and the present. It opens up in this new field of nonfiction, a new frontier that is thoughtful and well-written but also wholly unique.” — Yan Lianke, author of Three Brothers: Memoirs of My Family and The Explosion Chronicles The people that inspire you are like beacons in the fog...For me, Cai and his book have become another beacon.” — Golden Horse Award-winning actor Andy Lau "Vessel sails briskly over rough seas, bobbing and weaving in stormy waters. It’s never smooth sailing, but Chongda’s candor and courage make up for the tumultuous ride." — BookPage “Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary life in China, and highly recommended for memoir enthusiasts in general.” — Library Journal (starred review) "Vessel is a unique look into the background of a thirty-something in contemporary China." — Asian Review of Books

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Book SynopsisNamed a Best Book of the Year by: Time * New Yorker * Sunday Times (UK)From New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg comes a dazzling memoir about unlocking and embracing her creativity—and how it saved her life. In this brilliant, fierce, and funny memoir of transformation, Jami Attenberg—described as a “master of modern fiction” (Entertainment Weekly) and the “poet laureate of difficult families” (Kirkus Reviews)—reveals the defining moments that pushed her to create a life, and voice, she could claim for herself. What does it take to devote oneself to art? What does it mean to own one’s ideas? What does the world look like for a woman moving solo through it?As the daughter of a traveling salesman in the Midwest, Attenberg was drawn to a life on the road. Frustrated by quotidian jobs and hungry for inspiration and fresh experiences, her wanderlust led her across the country and eventually on travels around the globe. Through it all she grapples with questions of mortality, otherworldliness, and what we leave behind.It is during these adventures that she begins to reflect on the experiences of her youth—the trauma, the challenges, the risks she has taken. Driving across America on self-funded book tours, sometimes crashing on couches when she was broke, she keeps writing: in researching articles for magazines, jotting down ideas for novels, and refining her craft, she grows as an artist and increasingly learns to trust her gut and, ultimately, herself.Exploring themes of friendship, independence, class, and drive, I Came All This Way to Meet You is an inspiring story of finding one’s way home—emotionally, artistically, and physically—and an examination of art and individuality that will resonate with anyone determined to listen to their own creative calling. 

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Book SynopsisThe sharp and surprising true story of a woman who finally sets out to understand her past, and the mother she had one day hoped to forget. Full of unexpected twists and unbelievable revelations, American Daughter is an immersive memoir that will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last page.For years, Stephanie Plymale, successful CEO and interior designer, kept her past a fiercely guarded secret. Only her husband knew that her childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: neglect, hunger, poverty, homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a harrowing lack of medical care, and worse. Stephanie, in turn, knew very little about the past of her mother, who was in and out of jails and psych wards for most of Stephanie''s formative years. All this changed when a series of shocking revelations forced Stephanie to revisit her tortured past and revise the meaning of every aspect of her compromised childhood. American Daughter is the extraordinary true story of a young girl growing up on the wrong side of the American Dream. Stephanie has slept in blankets on the floor of crowded apartments, lived in the back seat of a car with her siblings, and spent decades looking over her shoulder at a mother who might just as easily hug or harm her. American Daughter is at once a moving account of a troubled mother-daughter relationship and a meditation on resilience, transcendence, and ultimately, redemption.  

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Book Synopsis“ Sparkles with humor, joy and wit. London’s Number One Dog-Walking Agency bounds along with the energy of a rambunctious pup and exudes the wisdom of a beloved canine with an old soul (you know the type). — BookPageThe irresistibly charming memoir of a young woman who started her own business as a dog walker for London’s busy, well-heeled dog lovers. A true love letter to London, dogs, and growing up. Aside from the odd biter or growler, the occasional bolter and the one dog who didn’t want to walk, the canines were the easy part. They were a muddy, messy joy in all shapes, sizes and breeds, from greedy Labradors to pampered pugs and everything in between. It was the owners who were the real challenge, a giddy mix of the over-protective, the clueless, the eccentrics and the perfectionists. There is no rule book on how to navigate the obsessions of the London dog owner. A degree in human psychology would have been far preferable to any sort of animal qualification. Not that I had either…In 2006, Kate MacDougall was working a safe but dull job at the venerable auction house Sotheby’s in London. After a clumsy accident nearly destroyed a precious piece of art, she quit Sotheby’s and set up her own dog-walking company. Kate knew little about dogs and nothing about business, and no one thought being a professional dog walker was a good use of her university degree. Nevertheless, Kate embarked upon an entirely new and very much improvised career walking some of the city’s many pampered pooches, branding her company “London''s Number One Dog Walking Agency.” With sharp wit, delightful observations, and plenty of canine affection, Kate reveals her unique and unconventional coming-of-age story, as told through the dogs, and the London homes and neighborhoods they inhabit. One walk at a time, she journeys from a haphazard twentysomething to a happily—and surprisingly—settled adult, with love, relationships, drama, and home ownership along the way. But, as Kate says, “It’s all down to the dogs” and what they taught her about London—and life. 

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Book SynopsisA son?s lessons from his single mother?atwenty five year old widow who took control of her life, defied expectations and raised him into a manhood of his own?from the author of the acclaimedThe Accidental Life.As a child, Terry McDonell imagined epic stories about his father, a fighter pilot who died in World War II. But, as he discovers in this dazzling memoir, the real hero in his life was his mother, Irma, who moved with him to California hoping for a new life and raised him through difficult times.Like most headstrong boys growing up in mid-century America, McDonell took his mother for granted, never giving her life much thought. He was bright, cocky, and determined to make his own way, separate from her and from his complicated roots. But as he matured, built a career, married, divorced, remarried, and raised his own sons, McDonell came to see that Irma had lived her life in a way that allowed him to discover what he wanted his own life to be. The person he was would be forever tied to Irma?s courage and wisdom and love. From his recollections?a series of colorful, deeply personal, sometimes funny, stunningly composed vignettes?an intriguing and poignant portrait emerges.Irmais the story ofa formidable woman who built the life she wanted as she raised her son to be the kind of man and father he had longed for but never knew.

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1912, this novel was one of the first to present a frank picture of being black in AmericaMasked in the tradition of the literary confession practiced by such writers as St. Augustine and Rousseau, this autobiography purports to be a candid account of its narrator''s private views and feelings as well as an acknowledgement of the central secret of his life: that though he lives as a white man, he is, by heritage and experience, an African-American. Written by the first black executive secretary of the NAACP, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, in its depiction of turn-of-the-century New York, anticipates the social realism of the Harlem Renaissance writers. In its unprecedented analysis of the social causes of a black man''s denial of the best within himself, it is perhaps James Weldon Johnson''s greatest service to his race.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the Table of ContentsIntroductionSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the TextPreface to the Original Edition of 1912THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MANExplanatory Notes

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Book Synopsis“As good as we humans are at division, we’re better still at connection. Ties That Bind shows this again and again.” —The New York Times“A testimony to the power of narrative and vision. . . . The collection successfully fulfills its mission: to make readers feel 'more connected, awake, and alive.' —Publishers WeeklyA celebration of the relationships that bring us strength, purpose, and joy Ties That Bind honors the people who nourish and strengthen us. StoryCorps founder Dave Isay draws from ten years of the revolutionary oral history project’s rich archives, collecting conversations that celebrate the power of the human bond and capture the moment at which individuals become family. Between blood relations, friends, coworkers, and neighbors, in the most trying circumstances and in the unlikeliest of places, enduring connections are formed and lives ar

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Book SynopsisA deeply affecting memoir of motherhood and daughterhood, and how we talk about both, from popular writer Laura June“Laura June writes with wit and melancholy, unabashed joy and tenderness. . . . When I reached the end, I found myself in tears.” —Roxane Gay Laura June’s daughter, Zelda, was only a few moments old when she held her for the first time, looked into her eyes, and thought, I wish my mother were here. It wasn’t a thought she was used to having. Laura was in second grade when she realized her mother was an alcoholic. As the years went by, she spiraled deeper, and by the time of her death, before Zelda’s birth, the two had drifted apart entirely. In Now My Heart is Full, Laura June explores how raising her daughter forced her to confront this tragic legacy and recognize the connective tissue that binds generations of women together. As she documents in beautiful and irreverent prose t

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